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Squid
01-04-2009, 12:40 PM
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r219/Adabot/tdalogo.jpg

So it appears I may actually post some of my work on the forums. This game is actually designed to be an XBLA game, but I'm writing it in GM first. I hope to someday port it to XNA, polish it up and enter it into DBP.

The game itself is a combination of Desktop Tower Defense (www.kongregate.com/games/preecep/desktop-tower-defense-1-5) and Geometry Wars (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometry_Wars). While at the core this is very much a tower defence game. There is also a healthy measure of top-down shooter action thrown in. As the name implies, this lends an arcade/action nature to the game. The game is far more intense than standard tower defence, while still keeping the strategy, resource management and planning that make TD games so addictive.

Look out for a download coming in the next few days.

===DOWNLOAD===

TDA v1.0 (http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=TDA01.rar)

== Gameplay Controls ==
Movement - Left Analog (WASD)
Aiming - Right Analog (Mouse)
Cannon Tower - A - (1)
Laser Tower - B - (2)
Ice Tower - X - (3)
Rocket Tower - Y - (4)
Fire/Build/Upgrade/Sell - Right Trigger - (LMB)
Upgrade Mode - Right Bumper - (E)
Sell Mode - Left Bumper - (Q)
Weapon Upgrade Mode - Back - (F)
Pause/Resume - Start - (Escape)

== System Controls ==
Y - Jump wave timer to 5 seconds
B - Toggle bloom filter
G - Toggle grid
C - Toggle controller / mouse control
F1 - Help (This document)
F4 - Toggle Fullscreen
F9 - Screenshot

Enjoy...

TDA v2.0 (http://www.squidcor.co.za/uploads/TDA02.rar)

Changes:
- Minor balance changes
- Small bug fix
- B now toggles the bloom filter

TDA v3.0 (http://www.box.net/shared/ooal2qi4ta)

Changes:
- Xbox 360 Controller support
- Added Portals
- Added score and gold drops
- Hunters move faster
- Score bonus for defeating a wave quickly
- Crash fixes
- Laser graphics bug fix
- Wave balance tweaks
- Increased perks for rocket weapon upgrades
- Spelling error correction
- More efficient path-finding
- Next wave type is now shown during setup time
- Improved upgrade selection graphics
- Enemies now fire bright blue bouncy boomerang bananas

TDA V4.0 (http://www.filedropper.com/tda04)

Changes:
- Fixed rare crash bug
- Laser bug fix (phroeals this time)
- Fixed bug where countdown would start for next wave before current wave is finished
- Fixed exploit where players could wall off their lives
- Changed portal graphics
- Enemies that have just gone through a portal will no longer appear near the player
- Fixed bug where tower stats would draw out of their borders
- Fixed tower selling bug
- Added menu system
- Reworked pause system
- Fixed bug where resuming would activate tower build mode
- Added option to start the next wave in advance
- Added game saving
- Added game loading
- Added savegame preview
- Fixed bug that caused crash if no towers had been built by the start of the first wave
- Added morphing perlin noise background
- Fixed crash bug relating to instances not destroying themselves properly
- Game will automatically turn of the bloom filter if performance is low
- Fixed bug that caused controller debug information to appear in the window caption
- Fixed incorrectly displaying tower information
- Changed upgrade display for level 10 upgrades
- Changed grid drawing depth

dislekcia
01-04-2009, 01:28 PM
Ooh!

Should be interesting. Just a couple of quick things: The "arcade" word could be moved down a little in the logo, obscures some rather meaningful parts of the letters E, R and F, making reading them sorta hard if you don't already expect "Tower Defence"; What are you doing to make the game not be like PixelJunk Monsters?

I do think the combination of both genres could be an epic amount of fun though, keen to see what this ends up being.

Squid
01-04-2009, 01:53 PM
The "arcade" word could be moved down a little in the logo, obscures some rather meaningful parts of the letters E, R and F, making reading them sorta hard if you don't already expect "Tower Defence"

I was wondering about that myself actually. I'm sure I'll get round to the logo once the gameplay is done.


What are you doing to make the game not be like PixelJunk Monsters?

*Googles PixelJunk Monsters

Aequitas
01-04-2009, 01:59 PM
Ok so ... I had an idea here.

What if towers don't shoot. only the player ship can shoot, but the towers around you affect the type of shot that you have? The level of the tower determining how awesome the shot is.

Now think that you can combine the shot from different towers ... but only if the towers are high enough level to allow combining.

Squid
01-04-2009, 02:43 PM
Ok so ... I had an idea here.

What if towers don't shoot. only the player ship can shoot, but the towers around you affect the type of shot that you have? The level of the tower determining how awesome the shot is.

Now think that you can combine the shot from different towers ... but only if the towers are high enough level to allow combining.

That does sound cool. The way it works at the moment is half the enemies go for the player's base. The other half go for the player itself. Of course, you can lead the other half down your maze. Provided your defence can handle the extra load.

Chippit
01-04-2009, 04:27 PM
I remember doing something not unlike this (as a map for War3), but in reverse. That is, you weren't defending, you were the one building the attacking forces, and the AI would try to stop you. Good luck with finishing this one. Hopefully you'll get further than I did.

edg3
02-04-2009, 09:04 AM
Bit OffT: Chippit: Ever seen/played tropical tower wars?

OnT: It might be a bit difficult to move your player around and place towers at the same time, so perhaps you should do the spawning in waves, with like 20 seconds in between so you can place new towers, and replace old ones sort of thing. The reason I say replace is you could have some cheap tower that upgrade along two certain paths, or a more expensive tower that wont upgrade near as many times but is more usefull.

dislekcia
02-04-2009, 10:06 AM
I'm so thinking a Hertzog Zwei vibe for this game... Pick up turret at central location, fly it to where you want it deployed, drop it off. Can't fire your weapons while flying, but you can "transform" into a giant robot that's stuck on the ground but has oodles of firepower...

Gazza_N
02-04-2009, 10:16 AM
Heh, Tower Defence hybrids abound in Game.Dev nowadays, it seems. ;P This does look like it could be pretty intense, and I really like the idea of expanded turret functionality that Aeq's put forward. It adds even more strategy to the game.


but you can "transform" into a giant robot that's stuck on the ground but has oodles of firepower...
*Predictably, Gazza's ears prick up*

01DT!m3r
02-04-2009, 03:53 PM
A bit off topic: but how about a tower defence game.dev competition . To maybe bring TD back to something exciting .pretty much what squid has done here .

Squid
02-04-2009, 05:53 PM
I haz a screenie:

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9430/tdascreenie.th.jpg (http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9430/tdascreenie.jpg)

Expect a download within the next couple of days.

Squid
03-04-2009, 05:10 PM
Download available in the first post. Press F1 for instructions.

[EDIT]

I just realised you can still block off enemies from your base entirely. This will be fixed soon. In the mean-time, don't do it :<

Gazza_N
05-04-2009, 02:50 PM
It's lagging quite a bit on my ancient Computotron, so playing it has been... problematic. Any way to kill the bloom shader thingy? I suspect that's what's causing misery.

Squid
05-04-2009, 05:08 PM
Okay, new version. Couple of minor bug fixes and balance tweaks. Hit B to toggle the bloom effect. Look in the first post for the link.

Higushi
05-04-2009, 11:38 PM
Cool little game Squid. It's not just another average tower defence remake; you've put in some interesting things that make it your own. I like that.

The having to move the builder around to place towers brings in a little strategic aspect of its own, and being able to shoot from the builder adds more of a "live action" aspect to an otherwise "wait and see" kind of game... As mentioned above, I also think you should build on that aspect.

A suggestion: Perhaps use the RMB to cancel any current option the player may have selected (like placing a building, buying or selling, etc.). It's more of a natural mapping and aids the flow of controls.

edg3
06-04-2009, 10:06 PM
Ok, I tried version 1.0 and now 2.0 and in 2.0 the enemies can walk through my towers. :< I can get a screenshot if you want.

Nandrew
07-04-2009, 07:43 AM
Damn you, I've been hooked on TDs for the past 24 hours now.

I like this concept, you're clearly drawing inspiration from a variety of good TDs out there, so this indicates a bit of research going into the game plan. I'm currently just going to suggest one or two game tweaks along those lines:

- Your controls aren't doing it for me at the moment. Higushi's suggestion strikes me as particularly appealing, as I found myself right-clicking on impulse to try "shake off" a building block, upgrade menu and the like.

- Aside from simply finishing the game (which would be an obvious goal, provided that's possible) I think that another dedicated player goal would be achieving a high score. This is what usually draws people back to gems such as Desktop TD -- score has long been neglected in modern games, but some titles have still found a way to make it matter to players. A lot.

Consider the elements in your game which could contribute to score. Right now, I only see you getting stuff for killing creeps. How about a score bonus for accelerating time and sending the next wave early (Desktop TD-style)? Could you increase your score by more rapidly destroying a creep wave after it arrives? Could cheeky (advanced) players actually invest money in score-boosters instead of spending it on towers, giving you less to defend with but ensuring a greater percentage return on score for all kills that follow? Heck, you could even use the classic idea of dropping a temporary "score beacon" somewhere on the screen every minute or so, forcing the player to abandon the base to grab a bonus. I'm sure that there's loads of potential score bonus ideas that could reward the player for being daring, quick or efficient in some or other way.

- You spelled "mitosis" wrong! Correct it! Quickly! Before players lose all respect for your game! Time is of the essence!

Squid
07-04-2009, 12:34 PM
Ok, I tried version 1.0 and now 2.0 and in 2.0 the enemies can walk through my towers. :< I can get a screenshot if you want.

Bleh, a screenie would be nice. It sounds like it may be a path-finding issue, does it happen with every maze design you try?


Your controls aren't doing it for me at the moment. Higushi's suggestion strikes me as particularly appealing, as I found myself right-clicking on impulse to try "shake off" a building block, upgrade menu and the like.

I agree the controls aren't perfect (granted they're designed for a controller). I'll put the RMB-cancel functionality in, though I'm a little worried it may cause cause accidental triggering of the "soon-to-exist" EMP ability.



Aside from simply finishing the game (which would be an obvious goal, provided that's possible) I think that another dedicated player goal would be achieving a high score. This is what usually draws people back to gems such as Desktop TD -- score has long been neglected in modern games, but some titles have still found a way to make it matter to players. A lot.

Consider the elements in your game which could contribute to score. Right now, I only see you getting stuff for killing creeps. How about a score bonus for accelerating time and sending the next wave early (Desktop TD-style)? Could you increase your score by more rapidly destroying a creep wave after it arrives? Could cheeky (advanced) players actually invest money in score-boosters instead of spending it on towers, giving you less to defend with but ensuring a greater percentage return on score for all kills that follow? Heck, you could even use the classic idea of dropping a temporary "score beacon" somewhere on the screen every minute or so, forcing the player to abandon the base to grab a bonus. I'm sure that there's loads of potential score bonus ideas that could reward the player for being daring, quick or efficient in some or other way.


This is something I've thought about, and uncountably a good idea. I was always thinking of making plenty of score related achievements at some point. I think the score will be based on killing as many creeps as quickly and cheaply as possible. I think score beacons (or other pickups) is an awesome idea. ^5 Nandrew.



You spelled "mitosis" wrong! Correct it! Quickly! Before players lose all respect for your game! Time is of the essence!

<_<

>_>

...

DON'T TELL CHAPPAT!

Chippit
07-04-2009, 02:01 PM
<_<

>_>

...

DON'T TELL CHAPPAT!

Too late lol. All respect lost. Sorry. :<

AndrewJ
07-04-2009, 02:19 PM
I had my left mouse button kept down, and was pressing A at the same time. Could've pressed W to make this error happen, not sure.


___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Draw Event
for object Bullet:

Error in code at line 14:
draw_line_width_color(owner.x+8,owner.y+8,target.x ,target.y,3,c_red,c_red);

at position 51: Unknown variable x
___________________________________________
I clicked the Ignore button and carried merrily on my way.

I like the idea, it's just lacking that... something. I think it's the control scheme. Are you designing for X360 or PC? Maybe instead of having to tap a key to select to build a tower, then tap another key, then tap ANOTHER key for a different tower, just change tower modes when the player presses the appropriate button.

Also, why did the tank have to place the towers? I find that quite frustrating-just let me place them with my mouse!

Any tank bullet powerups? A rail gun would REALLY come in handy! :-)

Suggestion: Limit the enemy entrypoints to one or two until wave x, then three to wave y, then four to wave z etc.

Next few enemy waves indicator please! And please include a description with the indicator. Why? I want to pick up the game and play it, without having to memorise enemy colours and patterns.

dislekcia
07-04-2009, 02:22 PM
I really like Nandrew's ideas, especially the score bonus drop, that's excellent.

Two quick things: I suggest making the player's attack be a lot faster but proportionately weaker. Player's feel like they have more effect when they're spawning tons of projectiles instead of one every once in a while. Also, it feels like it's taking you ages to cover ground with turrets in the game... Like the size to defensive area is wrong. Either up the size of turrets or provide interesting terrain that monsters already have to navigate.

Ramperkash
07-04-2009, 11:25 PM
Just downloaded and tested it, but got the following error as I lost:


ERROR in
action number 1
of Draw Event
for object Bullet:

Error in code at line 14:
draw_line_width_color(owner.x+8,owner.y+8,target.x ,target.y,3,c_red,c_red);

at position 51: Unknown variable x

The game looks good though, but I'd really like to see the stats of the towers as I upgrade them, and I don't like exactly how you made the flying units and AA towers, I suggest making more towers able to hit them, and to make the air units a bit weaker, but making the normal units a bit stronger maybe.

Squid
08-04-2009, 01:11 PM
ERROR in
action number 1
of Draw Event
for object Bullet:


I'm working on this bug. I haven't been able to reproduce it thus far though.


I like the idea, it's just lacking that... something. I think it's the control scheme. Are you designing for X360 or PC?

The control scheme is designed for a controller. I've just managed to find a 360 controller library for GM, so expect controller support soon.


Maybe instead of having to tap a key to select to build a tower, then tap another key, then tap ANOTHER key for a different tower, just change tower modes when the player presses the appropriate button.

Good thinking. The original idea was that hitting any of the face buttons would cancel build mode. Since I'm making RMB cancel, the face buttons can now just switch.


Also, why did the tank have to place the towers? I find that quite frustrating-just let me place them with my mouse!

It's part of the game dynamic. It means you need to plan ahead a little more.


Any tank bullet powerups? A rail gun would REALLY come in handy! :-)

You can upgrade your weapons. I'm also thinking of putting in temporary drops though. Invulnerability etc.


Suggestion: Limit the enemy entrypoints to one or two until wave x, then three to wave y, then four to wave z etc.

Different types of waves come from different spawn points. The "group" waves come from all 8.


Next few enemy waves indicator please! And please include a description with the indicator. Why? I want to pick up the game and play it, without having to memorise enemy colours and patterns.

There is an indicator of the current wave. One for the wave to follow is a good idea though.


I suggest making the player's attack be a lot faster but proportionately weaker. Player's feel like they have more effect when they're spawning tons of projectiles instead of one every once in a while.

Nice. Nothing wrong with making the player feel good, even if they aren't really any more effective.


Also, it feels like it's taking you ages to cover ground with turrets in the game... Like the size to defensive area is wrong. Either up the size of turrets or provide interesting terrain that monsters already have to navigate.

I'm not too sure about this. I think once the enemies are more intent on catching you, you'll actually need the space around the maze for evasive manoeuvring. Pre-set maps is a decent idea for another game mode though.



The game looks good though, but I'd really like to see the stats of the towers as I upgrade them

The main problem here is hud space. I'd also like to include this somehow. Perhaps, a mouse overish popup or something.


and I don't like exactly how you made the flying units and AA towers, I suggest making more towers able to hit them, and to make the air units a bit weaker, but making the normal units a bit stronger maybe.

Lots of people have this problem but I think it's a fun dynamic. I enjoy the way you're constantly stressing over whether you have enough air defence. You just have to allocate resources well.

Right, how is the balance guys? To what wave level are you all actually getting?

Oh, and big thanks to everyone for testing. Great suggestions guys.

Ramperkash
08-04-2009, 02:48 PM
Lots of people have this problem but I think it's a fun dynamic. I enjoy the way you're constantly stressing over whether you have enough air defence. You just have to allocate resources well.

I think you're misunderstanding me here, having air waves, and making them hard is a good thing, but because only AA towers being able to attack air, splits it up into two games... kind of, while making one tower able to attack both air and ground units, makes the towers seem a bit more valuable, I started thinking of building only laser ice and rocket towers later on, because it seemed as though the laser towers are more effective than the cannon towers, but I didn't check up on it much (since I can't see upgraded tower stats)

While if the cannon towers were able to attack air units as well, then both building only laser and rocket towers, and building only cannon towers, would become possible options (I'm trying to simplify it a bit here to explain btw).

[Also: I think that bullet drawing error might be because the ship fires just as you lose (meaning the ship doesn't exist anymore) so it cannot get the positions of the ship, maybe check if you have lost yet or not before drawing the bullets or something.] Starting to think this isn't it, but it does happen when a unit gets to your base (and dies), but it depends on how you implemented it.

Lastly: I think I got to wave 36 or 38 or something, the (I think first) immune boss wave.

Edit: Oops I didn't understand the weapon upgrades at first, will try again using em this time.

Squid
03-06-2009, 11:28 PM
It's been two months to the day since the first release of TDA and I've finally managed to hack out a substantial update. Most of the changes were made to try and bring more shooter elements into the game-play.

Download link in the first post, F1 for help as always.

The most notable change is the inclusion of Xbox 360 controller support (technically it should work with other gamepads or joysticks). If you have a controller or joystick connected to your PC, but would rather use the mouse controls, you will have to press C to toggle the controller mode.

I'm not going to be around much for the next few days but feedback is still greatly appreciated.

dislekcia
04-06-2009, 02:09 AM
Bright blue bouncy boomerang bananas you say?

I shall have to see this with my own eyes.

Squid
20-08-2009, 06:09 PM
New update!

Check the first post for the link. I'd like to stress again that the controls are designed for a 360. So if you have an Xbox controller, using it is recommended. If you're having control issues. Press 'C' to turn off the controller support. If your framerate is abysmally low, press 'B'.

Thanks to dislekcia for hosting and big thanks to Herman for the awesome perlin noise tuts and code. Check it out yo (http://www.luma.co.za/labs/2008/01/20/perlin-noise/), and yo (http://www.devmag.org.za/articles/48-HOW-TO-USE-PERLIN-NOISE-IN-YOUR-GAMES/1/).

Nandrew
21-08-2009, 07:25 PM
Cool, I've tried it out. I'll try to get my hands on a mouse (it's lurking around here somewhere) and play more later because the control scheme is very awkward for a humble laptop trackpad.

I've been trying to think about the early game dynamics and easing new players into it, and I think I've got a suggestion: perhaps try and reduce the high amount of stuff that the player is exposed to in the earlier levels.

Right now, there's a serious amount of over-stimulation that occurs way too soon: roaming portals, a flurry of electric blue boomerangs, four different towers to choose from (and the ability to build potentially lots of basic towers from the get-go), several pickups and a veritable swamp of enemies. Some of these features should be staggered until after a few waves have passed.

I'd suggest for a wave or two that you send in slightly fewer enemies which don't shoot as frequently, reduce the initial budget accordingly, remove effects such as the portal and pickups until after a few levels and make some other tweaks so that players can appreciate the game on a "micro" scale before being shunt into the big league. The first few waves are easy enough, yeah, but they can still provide information overload.

Part of this solution, I think, is to also show direct stats on what towers do: provide the player with a better indication of their effects (a quick damage description with a cold, hard damage number included would be welcome).

Those are my suggestions for now.

Squid
22-08-2009, 01:35 AM
Cool, I've tried it out. I'll try to get my hands on a mouse (it's lurking around here somewhere) and play more later because the control scheme is very awkward for a humble laptop trackpad.

I'm guessing your 360 controller is wireless then. Pity, it's much nicer on a controller. I'm struggling to provide a working control scheme for mouse/keyboard.


I've been trying to think about the early game dynamics and easing new players into it, and I think I've got a suggestion: perhaps try and reduce the high amount of stuff that the player is exposed to in the earlier levels.

Right now, there's a serious amount of over-stimulation that occurs way too soon: roaming portals, a flurry of electric blue boomerangs, four different towers to choose from (and the ability to build potentially lots of basic towers from the get-go), several pickups and a veritable swamp of enemies. Some of these features should be staggered until after a few waves have passed.

I'd suggest for a wave or two that you send in slightly fewer enemies which don't shoot as frequently, reduce the initial budget accordingly, remove effects such as the portal and pickups until after a few levels and make some other tweaks so that players can appreciate the game on a "micro" scale before being shunt into the big league. The first few waves are easy enough, yeah, but they can still provide information overload.


I've never really thought about that, but I agree with you totally. A tutorial has been on the todo list for a while now. As has different difficulty levels. I'd quite like to do the tutorial in a similar way to Mathstermind's tutorial. Which means introducing new things one at a time, and providing explanatory pop-ups when something new comes along.


Part of this solution, I think, is to also show direct stats on what towers do: provide the player with a better indication of their effects (a quick damage description with a cold, hard damage number included would be welcome).

*psssst* when you build towers, look to the right of the screen.

A full stats screen is also planned though (the menu option is already there :P)


From a gameplay perspective one thing I'd like from you lot is ideas on a secondary weapon and different enemy attacks. For the left trigger I was thinking along the lines of an emp that makes you invulnerable to enemies but disables towers for a short period, or some kind of ability that allowed you to pick up a tower and carry it around, acting like a turret.

Nandrew
22-08-2009, 05:11 PM
I'm guessing your 360 controller is wireless then. Pity, it's much nicer on a controller. I'm struggling to provide a working control scheme for mouse/keyboard.

I've been meaning to get myself one of those plug-in charge kit thingies for a while now. Battery maintenance on 2 Xbox controllers and a full Guitar Hero band kit can be confusing. ;_;


*psssst* when you build towers, look to the right of the screen.

A full stats screen is also planned though (the menu option is already there :P)


Ack! Must've missed that. I'll need to check on this more thoroughly.

Chippit
23-08-2009, 11:59 PM
I've been meaning to get myself one of those plug-in charge kit thingies for a while now. Battery maintenance on 2 Xbox controllers and a full Guitar Hero band kit can be confusing. ;_;



Ack! Must've missed that. I'll need to check on this more thoroughly.

Rechargable batteries > play and charge.

1) They're roughly equivalent in price, except the rechargeables come in 4, which is 2 controllers.
2) They work in ALL devices, not just your controller. So that's your guitar/drums and TV-remote, for when you're too lazy to get up.

Nandrew
24-08-2009, 01:36 PM
Yeah, okay, that's a convincing argument. But I'd like just one charge kit, I think, for those not-so-rare situations when my rechargeables all happen to mysteriously go flat at once.