Sqdef, My Tower-defense Game

[hitbyambulance]

an idea that occurred to me as a result of the maze-like maps was having purchase-able barricades/walls (either placeable anywhere, or in pre-defined locations) that would temporarily block the invaders' progress - they would be battered down after a while, or eventually disappear - which would force the invaders to back-track, or even pause.

 

[prairiefire]

Okay, so i've been wasting a lot of my spare time playing desktop TD...(thanks b._.o._.b ) and also had played a lot of flash element TD previously and I thought i'd share my TD experience. I'd have to say that I did enjoy being able to decide where to put my towers along with being able to upgrade them (desktop TD)... that was a nice feature, mostly because I could try out different configurations and it kept it challenging for quite a while, until I found the configuration that worked best for me, then the game seemed repetitive. The same goes for flash element TD, once I figured out the ideal places to put the towers on the one map they offer, it started to get a bit boring.

Both games, up until I figured out how to stop all the creeps, were incredibly addictive and then I found that once you know how to stop them all, then you move from stopping them to trying to get the highest score. Okay, so this last point is where there are drawbacks to these games - to get the highest points, the flash element TD game requires you to accumulate interest and sell unused towers. This turns the game from a "destroy creeps" to a "learn how to accumulate interest" sort of game. If I wanted to play the game "the time value of money", i'd play a virtual banking game .

Desktop TD has you gain more points if you kill creeps in a shorter amount of time. IMO, this makes desktop TD's method of gaining a high score much better, but you're still faced with the same creeps on the same map (assuming you've made your ideal map). The real strength of Desktop TD is that there are also challenging modes and fun modes, which change the strategy of the game and keep me playing.

Now, why am I saying this? I think having different levels and a level creator, like you planned Alex., is a good method to go by. That way there is always a new challenge. The fun part of these games comes from trying to kill the creeps before they get past, not tweaking how you kill them quicker or doing so with the most money left over. I think that this game should always makes it difficult to stop ALL of those creeps. If that is met, then I think it will top both of the previous games I mentioned.

Thanks for the hard work on this game Alex., I look forward to playing it when it comes out (beta testing?? )

 

[fusion_power]

We all still waiting for a playable beta... From my point of view, the game looks playable and testable... ^^

 

[Alex.]

Hey guys, sorry for no updates lately. I didn't get around to working on it much because I was working on something else. I'll have something good by the end of the month though. It's playable, but I'd rather finish the editor, since that will change a lot of things in how the game works.

I agree with you Prairiefire, the funnest thing is stopping the creeps - doesn't matter how. I like the Desktop TD game, but it's a slightly different thing than what I had in mind, at least for now.

I'll keep you posted with updates, shouldn't be too long.

 

[The-Kenny]

In front, sorry for my Bad english

I'm glad to hear that you still work on the Game.
I look foorward for a release^^

And if you need a further beta tester, here I am

 

[fusion_power]

I agree with you Prairiefire, the funnest thing is stopping the creeps - doesn't matter how. I like the Desktop TD game, but it's a slightly different thing than what I had in mind, at least for now.

I prefer the more simple FlashElement gamestyle. Creeps just slowdowned by special turrets.
But for the Future, your nice Game could include different game modes so everyone can choose his prefered mode.

 

[b._.o._.b]

I prefer the more simple FlashElement gamestyle. Creeps just slowdowned by special turrets.
But for the Future, your nice Game could include different game modes so everyone can choose his prefered mode.

There are so many ways to play this game, imo most important part for good gameplay is speed.

but I'd rather finish the editor, since that will change a lot of things in how the game works.

Finish the editor? Ahum... do we get a change of making our own levels? If so... that would be amazingly great!

 

[___]

I can hardly wait... this is going to be great. I think I know my new homebrew favorite already!

 

[Destructo2000]

Gah! I can't wait for a release!

 

[Alex.]

Finally an update

Everything is coming along nicely. I did some work on external level support and all-around fixes. Now I'll get to special buildings and different levels within maps. Then, a few small things, followed by the first beta

 

[b._.o._.b]

Finally an update

Everything is coming along nicely. I did some work on external level support and all-around fixes. Now I'll get to special buildings and different levels within maps. Then, a few small things, followed by the first beta

Looks fantastic!
If you're ready to get some testing done, I'm willing to do that horrible job

 

[fusion_power]

Finally an update

Everything is coming along nicely. I did some work on external level support and all-around fixes. Now I'll get to special buildings and different levels within maps. Then, a few small things, followed by the first beta

Looks good, I like this color setting. Better for the eyes than the bright white versions I think

What is the "system" for playing levels? One wave per level? Or must I survive a specific number of waves per level to reach the next? How works your mentioned map-thing? ^^
Will there be a mode where I can select a level and play it until I die? (the classic "one level tower defense mode" I think)

 

[Alex.]

Looks fantastic!
If you're ready to get some testing done, I'm willing to do that horrible job

Sometime next week I hope!

Better for the eyes than the bright white versions I think

I think so too, that's the main reason I changed it.

What is the "system" for playing levels? One wave per level? Or must I survive a specific number of waves per level to reach the next? How works your mentioned map-thing? ^^
Will there be a mode where I can select a level and play it until I die? (the classic "one level tower defense mode" I think)

Each map will have a series of waves. Once you defeat a wave, you can start the next one. When you beat all waves, you beat the map. You can play any map in any order, they don't have any links to each other.

 

[fusion_power]

What is the "system" for playing levels? One wave per level? Or must I survive a specific number of waves per level to reach the next? How works your mentioned map-thing? ^^
Will there be a mode where I can select a level and play it until I die? (the classic "one level tower defense mode" I think)

Each map will have a series of waves. Once you defeat a wave, you can start the next one. When you beat all waves, you beat the map. You can play any map in any order, they don't have any links to each other.

ah, ok. So the Maps have no fix "skill". I think there are easier and harder maps, depending on the paths but this needs intense beta-testing of course. It would help to classify all the maps in a skill-ranking (from 1-3 or so) so beginners can use easier maps at first or all maps have a increasing Number from 1-whatever and easy maps are at the beginning.
Just some thoughts. ^^

 

[Alex.]

I need your feedback on something: should the maps have more (smaller) tiles? Here's a quick mockup:

instead of

One one hand it would increase the number of possible map designs, which is a great thing considering there will be a map editor, but on the other hand everything may be too small and may tire the eyes too much. What do you guys think?

 

[Yorper]

I personally think the much larger tiles looks best. Otherwise you could flood the map with towers and therefor make it less of a challenge. Also like you say it is much easier on the eyes.

 

[b._.o._.b]

The small tiles you can compare with playing centipede (mame) on the gp2x. I don't find that really tiring for my eyes. I like more map design possibilities, so my vote will go (for now) to small tiles.

Maybe make choosing the tiles optional?

 

[fusion_power]

I need your feedback on something: should the maps have more (smaller) tiles? Here's a quick mockup:

instead of

One one hand it would increase the number of possible map designs, which is a great thing considering there will be a map editor, but on the other hand everything may be too small and may tire the eyes too much. What do you guys think?

Pff....hard to say. Booth would have advantages I think. This should be tested on a GP2X screen. While doing GFX for some GP2X games here and ther I had found out, that a graphic on PC and this Graphic on GP2X are 2 completely different experiences. So without live on screen testing, such decissions are a shot in the air.

Hmm, a cool Zoom-Function would be the best if you can't decide between big and small. If I had to make a decission, I would take the bigger tiles. Maybe you don't see that much but what you see is big and clear enough for not to loose the overview in heavy fights. The smaller gfx could be a problem with many turrets, many enemies and many bullets. At the end you only see zillions of little squares on screen and your eyes are bleeding. :lol:

Maybe you can experiment with the smaller tiles. Maybe booth can be used: Small Maps have bigger tiles, bigger maps have smaller tiles. But I would prefer a scrolling function for bigger maps and standard tiles.
Well, I can tell you more when I have the game on my GP2X.

 

[prairiefire]

my vote is for larger tiles. I think the smaller ones would get too finicky when placing them and they're harder to distinguish. the larger tiles look better to my eyes and i think makes the game more challenging since you have less opportunity to put many tiles in the best locations. can't wait for a beta release... i'm up for testing

 

[Mikey242]

Wow looks awsome Alex. I would also go for the larger tiles, it just looks better.