Weekly Progress 9/25: New Stuff! Starting locations for Creature Universe!

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Greetings! Welcome to another amazing week of Sam and Dan games! Last week we almost completed our goal of releasing both a 1v1 level and a story level but we didn't quite make it. I did release it yesterday night which is pretty close I guess. This week again we will attempt to do a Story levels among other things! We love to give you guys content and we love making it. We will also talk a little bit about the starting towns/cities/villages for the first 3 starters in Creature Universe TD. Sound good? Great! Let's get to it.

New Story Level
This week we will finally get out of New Bark Town and into Route 29! You might have noticed that once you defeat a battle you aren't able to repeat this battle over and over like you could on PTD1. Well on Route 29 you will be able to repeat battles, catch new pokemon, hunt for shinys! I'm looking forward to making this and finally be able to see pokemon walking around in the wild instead of just having random battles. You will also get your PokePad which will act as a pokedex, a computer and it will also heal your pokemon between battles. Along with this I'll be working on getting your first party pokemon to walk behind you. If I have time I'll be adding the first Mystery Gift and the Trading Center for PTD2. Lots to do!

Look! 1v1 is evolving!
I've decided to make some big changes to 1v1, remove a lot of the grinding and focus more on strategy and choices. This requires some shifts on how things work. I'm still thinking about it so not everything is finalized yet. But here are some of the things that will change:

• There will be no more experience gained from defeating the enemy.
• You will level up by using rare candies that are given out by beating levels.
• When you use a checkpoint you will get the same amount of candies that you would have received if you have beaten all the way up to that point. So you can skip the previous levels and still have a powerful team.
• Every pokemon will now start at level 5 and evolutions will not be available for unlocking.

I'm still figuring out what exactly I will do with the coins, but I have a few days to think about it. My main goal is to make it so it doesn't feel like you need to grind for the coins to be able to beat a level. 

So that is a little preview of what we have coming for you this week. Check out the weekly progress below to see how I'm doing during the week. I also added a new "My Status" which will tell you if I'm currently working or not.

Weekly Progress:

My Status: Not Working. Be back later. Hoping to release Route 29 by Friday.

Alpha v1.19 Progress List:

• Note: There was a bug with previous versions of the game. Some people when they play 1.18 Story Mode will be prompted to start their profile over again because of this bug. It will not affect everyone. The other option I had was to delete everybody's Story Mode Profiles which I don't want to do. So if you see the message just start your profile over again and everything will be fixed. If you don't see the message then just play as usual. Thanks!
• Fix some typos (100%) 
• Slightly Decreased the HP boost on your rival's starter (100%)
• Make the pokemon in your first party slot follow you in the map (100%) - Fun stuff but you won't be able to talk to it like in the other games.
• Fix Map Issue in Elm's Lab on Story Mode (100%)
• Fix Issue with Speed resetting between waves in Story Mode (100%) 
• Make Story level music stop playing when you leave story mode (100%)
• New Story Level - Route 29 (85%)
• Level Intro (100%)
• Before you get the PokePad (100%)
• After you get the PokePad (100%)
• Implement PokePad (100%)
• New Map (100%)
• Battle Layout (100%)
• Swarm Layout (100%) - Normal Tower defense fight
• Single Layout (100%) - 1v1 style fight
• Battle Waves (100%) - Both 1v1 and normal version for each pokemon
• Pidgey (100%)
• Rattata (100%)
• Sentret (100%)
• Pokemon Map Behavior (33%) - how the pokemon will behave in the map
• Pidgey (100%)
• Rattata (0%)
• Sentret (0%)
• Level Ending (100%)
• Add a Spawning System (25%) - This will control how many and where each pokemon spawn in a route.
• Saving Extra Info for Pokemon (0%)
• 1v1 Mode Changes (0%)
• PTD 2 Pokemon Center (0%)
• Mystery Gift Screen (0%)  
• Add a graphic for removing a pokemon from the field (0%) - To better tell what is going on when fighting and NPC trainer.
• Add new Level Item interface graphics for the ui (0%)  
• Added which pokemon you will be battling in the next battle in 1v1 mode (0%) 
• Make pressing Enter to trigger a lot of the menu buttons (0%) Pressing enter to log in instead of clicking on it. 

Creature Universe Starting Locations!
 Like I've mentioned before each starting creature will have it's own starting location instead of have all 3 available in one town. What this means is that we can really do something special for the starting locations. Giving each of them their own unique style and appearance. For Creature Universe we really wanted to do something different. Instead of realistic towns that are... well kinda boring. We really wanted to do something interesting for each town. Below I will show you some sketches that our artist made to create the mood of each starting location. Keep in mind that these are concept sketches they don't represent the final look of the locations. Also some of these are there to strictly show an idea and not intended to look amazing. Keep that in mind!

First is the grass starter zone. The grass starter is the chameleon, they mostly live on trees so why not make the town live on top of trees. Not shown in the concept is the flooding that occurs during the rainy season which is the reason they build higher up and the water that is under the trees.

Work In Progress Concept of the Grass Starting zone

Then we have the fire starter zone. This place is more industrial, more gritty, it's a mining town. The fire starter zone will have a lush reservation area that the creatures live in that will be very contrasting with the rest of the zone. The fire koala family helps with refining the metals and treasures found in the mines. They also help create the steam that gives power to the town. I don't have a picture as the one I had didn't really show off the town it self but a mining cave.

Lastly the water starter zone. This place is more outdoors in a place surrounded by mountains. Not shown in the concept is a zone that is dried up due to recent droughts. This zone will be divided between a rich part and a poor part. The water buffalo need water to use water so even with them around they don't completely solve the drought problem as they can only use water in their supply to defend themselves and keep themselves hydrated while doing work like pushing carts and what not.

Work In Progress Concept of the Water Starter Zone

So there you have it! Three different concepts for the starting locations. Remember these were just for ideas and should give you a little sense of what each location will be like.

That is all we have for you this week. As always let us know what you think!

Weekly Progress and Anpo Starters

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


Hey guys and gals! Welcome to another week of Sam and Dan Games. This week we have some sneak peak at the Creature Universe Starters and the weekly progress for what will be new in Pokemon Tower Defense 2 this week. Enjoy!

Creature Universe (aka ANPO) Starters:
Okay so every creature game should start with the trainers getting their first creature. In pokemon you started in one town and you picked from three different starters. In most games in the series you could pick from a grass, fire or water pokemon. My first thoughts in designing ANPO were "okay why not have different types available? Why not have all types available?" I thought it would be great if you wanted a specific type to be your starting type. Why only have 3 choices? Then I said "wouldn't it be cool if each starter had a different starting location?" What if since each city specializes in a certain type why not have a starter on each city and have players decide which city they wanted to start from. That all sounded great! But then I came back to earth and thought about how many different types we might have and about how long it would take to make all those cities right from the start. Okay so I like the idea of different cities for each starter. I like the idea of letting you choose which type you want to start. But to release the game I have to limit how many starters I will release the game with. So let's go back down to 3 and then as the game progresses we will add more. Okay so 3 starter types for 3 cities. The starters will be like that cities mascot. They will be an important part of that city. That is the creature that young trainers from that city receive when they first start training.

Now which 3 types should it start with? My first thoughts were to not do fire, grass, and water. Let's make it different! WOOOO! How about flying, ground, electric? Hmm it doesn't quite work out... Flying isn't super effective against ground... Also it's not that intuitive to figure out who beats who... not as nice as fire, grass, and water. So I decided okay I want more than 3 types for starters but if I only have 3 types then they will be fire, grass, and water. So a few weeks back I had my artist, Kevin, Bill, Evan, Josh and Joel, start coming up with concepts for creatures for ANPO. We have over 100 designs already! But I like to present to you the work in progress sketches of the water, fire, and grass starters for ANPO!

Work In Progress ANPO Starters

Weekly Progress:
This week for PTD 2 will we have another 1v1 level, this level should be enough for kakuna and metapod to level up to 10 so I will include the unlocks for those. Also I'll be pushing for saving in the story mode and the second quest where you can actually pick your starter. Plus if I have time during the week I'll add any small fixes or changes that I find.

Alpha v1.14 Added the Girl Avatar for story mode, saving for story mode, Bug Fixes and Changes (9/2/12): Released!

• Fixed a bug that was making attacks that should do at least 1 damage do 0 damage - Like Poison Sting on Geodude
• Fixed a bug that prevented a pokemon from learning an attack when it evolves and you beat a level
• Fixed a bug with attacks with an initial cooldown having a cooldown glitch
• Removed Prof Oak's winning text and added different text in Story Level 1
  
• Added Johto Starter sounds to the Story Level 1 Intro
• Added the correct lost popup to Story Level 1
• Implemented the girl avatar in story mode
• Fixed being able to enter houses through windows and walls in Story mode 
• Lowered the Geodude's level in Level 6 of 1v1 to 10, 11, 12 respectively, also lowered the amount of buffs they do before attacking
• Gave Professor Oak the correct questions to ask the player on Story Level 1 Intro
• Fixed a bug with beating a level while playing at a higher speed
• Added properly deleting profiles when the delete button is pressed  
• Added saving your story profile

Alpha v1.13 New Level, Bug Fixes and Changes (8/28/12): Released!

• 1v1 Level 6
• Intro
• Level Layout
• Waves
• Ending
• Added Butterfree and Beedrill as unlockables
• Lower the effect of speed changes to attack speed
• Update speed changes to attack cooldown in real time instead of only when a new move is going to be done

 That's all I have for you this week, keep checking back to see how I am progressing on the update, and let me know what you think of the starters and the weekly progress in the comments below or on twitter.
Thanks!

Weekly Progress: New PTD Fan Film, New Race for HTD Approaches!

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Okay lets talk about some new exciting stuff! First my brother just published episode 3 of the Pokemon Tower Defense Fan Film, this is probably my favorite one so far, click here to check it out now!

Also the artist for HTD have been hard at work on a new race for HTD and are planning to unveil it soon, check out the teaser shot on Kevin's blog, click here to check it out!

For PTD 2 I'm still working hard on getting it done, I've been trying to post more pictures and even movies about my progress so you guys can see what is coming.

Fixing bugs (50%)
Have Speed altering effects affect the pokemon's attack speed (100%) 

1v1 mode - level 1 (100%) - Intro level, pretty easy and short.

• Level Intro (100%)
• Level Layout (100%)
• Level Waves (100%)
• Level Ending (100%)

Level Ending Screen (Postponed) - A stat screen that will tell you how much money you earned on the level plus other things.
Pokemon Upgrade Screen (100%) - Adding the two suggestions that you guys requested, being able to change your pokemon in the screen and showing the pokemon's stats. Other additions are showing the nickname of the pokemon along with its name, showing the gender by symbol and background color. Also you can see that you can see your abilities and their description and also change them before the level. Finally I added a new pokedex button that will take you to the pokedex information of this pokemon. It will be more detailed than in ptd 1. You can see a work in progress shot below. (Note: I'm using pokemon with random moves in them for testing purposes, you can't learn these move on Onix without hacking)

Newer version, female onix, pokedex button, and ability window

Level User Interface (100%) - The Level UI will be changed to incorporate new mechanics and to not take up as much space as the previous one. Some new features you will notice in the screenshot below is being able to change a pokemon's move mid battle without having to go to the pokemon check menu, it will also help you keep track of the move's cooldown (not pictured below). Another thing you will notice is zoom, speed, and other info will be smaller and not take up as much room as before but still very visible. Where the pokeball used to be there is now a temporary box and an arrow. The box represents the current item you have selected. To change the item you click on the arrow to get a quick menu to pick your item. Items you can pick will be different pokeballs, medicine, berries, and battle items. The last thing you will notice is the 3 professor oaks on the side. For the story mode you will be able to use your traveling partners pokemon in battle! So you will be able to swap between the 3 trainers. One thing that is missing is the menu button, pause button, the special abilities button and some other small things.

Latest Version of the Pokemon Buttons

Party Selection Screen (100%)- Slightly refined, added new sorting options that you guys requested, plus additional settings to each sorting option as seen in the pictures below.

Showing new sorting options with sub menus

Any attacks that need to be modified for level 1 (100%) - Setting up the new stacking debuff mechanics. No longer will stat changing attack run out. They will also stack so you have to keep applying it to get the max effect. Watch the video below for a small preview. The graphic will get slightly bigger and stack as the debuff stacks. Also your pokemon will prioritize targets that have the lowest stack or no stack at all.
Attacks Completed:

•  Tackle, String Shot, Harden, Confusion, Poison Sting, Fury Attack, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Focus Energy, Bite, Sand Attack, Gust, Peck, Growl, and Leer.

Level 1 Pokemon Abilities (100%) - Adding any missing abilities for the pokemon found in the first levels.

• Keen Eye, Tangled Feet, Big Pecks, Shield Dust, Run Away, Shed Skin, Compound eyes, Tinted Lens, Swarm, Sniper, Guts, and Hustle. 

Pokemon can now learn attacks before and after they evolve on a level up (100%) 
Creating the profile, profile_story, profile_1v1 classes (Programmer lingo) (100%)
Pokemon Buying Screen (100%)
Loading (100%)
Saving (100%) 
Item Buying Screen (Postponed) - Items will be postponed for near future update.

During the week I will keep adding more things and updating what I'm working on. This will give you a better look at where I am at with getting the release done.

thanks for all the support, I really want to get this out to you guys so please be patient! As always let me know what you think about the fan film, htd race teaser and ptd 2 progress! Thanks!

Hero Tower Defense: Scheduling

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Alright, time for a update on some HTD related stuff. First off as you may have noticed from the title and date of this post is that I will no longer be sticking to a new HTD post every Thursday. Reason being is that sometimes there just isn't much to report since we are taking our time with the new releases even though we are continuously working on it. So it would seem to make more sense to just make a post only when there is something worth posting about rather than trying to fill a weekly requirement. Plus it uses some valuable time that I could be using to work on the game instead. With that said I'll still be posting about HTD fairly often just not as consistently as before.

Now onto business. Sam and I put on our business hats and decided that the best thing for us would be to let Sam focus on getting PTD2 going and put the programming for the new HTD graphics setup on hold. The reason is a pretty clear one, more people want to see PTD2 than HTD and we're all about giving you guys what you want. However, don't mistake this to mean HTD progress is stopping. That's not true at all, all that's on hold for now is the programming part, the graphics are still being worked on. If you've been following Kevin's blow you probably already know this (linke at the bottom of this post). In fact, once Sam gets a playable version of PTD2 out he will be dedicating some extra time to HTD in order to get everything moving again. Another thing to keep in mind is that since the graphics are still being worked on in the meantime that the next release of HTD will contain even more reworked content than we originally planned for.

For those of you that have been looking forward to the next HTD release (like me) and have been patiently waiting, I apologize for the temporary delay but it's ultimately a better route for the company to take. It shouldn't be too much of a delay though really. And for those of you who want to point out Ninja-ja I'll assure you this is a different case because there is more than just one person (me) working on HTD. Plus, a new version of Ninja-ja WILL come out eventually. I just need to find time for it which is scarce these days.

Thanks for all the continued support guys!


In the Works:

Design

• Commander/Player Skills (25%)
• Stat Progression (5%)
• Pet System (50%)

Graphics

• Unit: Human Male - Animations (90%)
• Unit: Race #2 - Concepts (20%)
• Unit: Race #3 - Concepts (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Concepts (80%)
• Unit: Creature #3 - Concepts (20%)
• Unit: Creature #4 - Concepts (10%)
• Weapons: Batch #2 - Assets (20%)
• Armor: Batch #1 - Assets (10%)

Programming

• Interface: Setup (75%)
• Unit: Setup (10%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Be sure to leave any ideas, suggestions, or other feedback you might have in the comments! Thanks!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 42 - Creatures Vs Races

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Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 41 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

Progress on the new art and graphics system is still underway and is going well. We're doing our best to get a new release out to you guys ASAP but we aren't looking to rush it out just so we can have something. I never liked seeing that happen in other games and then having to deal with all sorts of annoying bugs. Granted we're a small group and can only find so much but we do what we can. :)

Now, on to the topic at hand. Creatures Vs Races! In HTD when we say Creatures we are typically referring to enemy units and when we say Races we are referring to playable heroes. However, there will be units that are both playable races and creatures that you fight. The HTD world isn't one with race wars going on with one versus another but rather just a world full of all sorts of races and creatures that have various factions within different groups. Some are good, some are bad. This allows us to be a bit more versatile when it comes to designating enemies for maps because we can mix various kinds of units together and still have it make sense.

You might be wondering why aren't all units just creatures and playable races. Well, because it would be difficult to make something like a slug into a playable unit. The playable races require far more animations and set up in order to work with the system we've established. The main reason is because they are dynamic and allow for weapon and armor swapping which requires a lot more assets and work. However, we can always use creatures as companion pets/combat pets since they are a more limited version of a playable unit. So some might end up being available in that respect.

Another good thing about having creatures as pets and races as enemies is that we can reuse assets that we already have. It's a huge time saver and provides some additional diversity, especially the races. For example, we can use the human race as an enemy and have all the armor and weapons available to outfit them however we like and even give them variations among themselves. We can also use their animations to do different things with. All of this essentially for free since we already have them available for the playable human race.

We're all looking forward to the next release and hope to share it with you guys soon. Thanks for the continued support!


In the Works:

Design

• Pet System (50%)
• Interface Revision (100%)

Graphics

• Unit: Human Male - Revision (100%)
• Unit: Human Male - Animations (25%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Melee Concept (75%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Ranged Concept (75%)
• Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
• Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)

Programming

• Graphic Processing Revision (75%)
• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Be sure to leave any ideas, suggestions, or other feedback you might have in the comments!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 41 - Show and Tell

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Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 40 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

Unfortunately the new release won't make it out this week because we were originally thinking we could set up the new interface menus using a mix of the old graphics process with the new graphics process. It seems now that we can't actually do that or it wouldn't be worth it because we'd have to redo it anyway. So we're taking the more efficient route by continuing to work on the new graphics process and then once we have that set up we'll be able to throw together the new interface and it'll be set for good. However, I wanted to give you guys a little bit of a preview in the meantime.

Hero Customization Screen

This is the Hero Customization screen where you'll be able to change things like your Race, Hair Style, Colors, etc. You might notice that there's no character roster at the bottom. This is because this screen won't always be available, it's more of a triggered screen that will become available when you are presented with the option to change some of those features. For example it'll appear when you start a new game in order to make your main hero and when you get new customizable heroes or items/quests that allow you change race or hair color. For testing purposes we'll be allowing easy access to this screen from the Party Management screen till we are at a more finalized version of the game.

Party Management Screen

Next is the Party Management screen where you'll be able to set up the group you'll take into battle, enter battle, and for now, access the Hero Customization screen. On this screen you can see the character roster, navigation buttons, and a preview of the currently selected hero. The preview will also show you the hero's name, native element (behind the character), and their currently active skills. The Enter Battle text and icon will light up when there's at least one character in your active party.

Inventory Screen

And lastly we have the Inventory screen. Your currently selected hero's equipment is on the left and the shared inventory (all characters use the same one) on the right. The check marks on the Helm and Cloak slots are toggles for turning those items visually on and off. In order to see the details of any items/skills you would just hover the cursor over it and details for it will pop up in a window.

That's all I'm going to show for now, don't want the post to get too large. There are still some placeholders at work here but as you can see it's mostly an overhaul. Hopefully we can get a new release out for you guys soon so you can try it and provide us with some feedback. As you can see we're hard at work though and things are coming together nicely, the current content just takes some time to put together.


In the Works:

Design

• Pet System (50%)
• Interface Revision (90%)

Graphics

• Unit: Human Male - Revision (90%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Melee Concept (75%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Ranged Concept (75%)
• Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
• Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)

Programming

• Graphic Processing Revision (75%)
• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Suggestions and ideas are always welcome in the comments, thanks guys!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 40 - Revised Graphics and Interface Progress!

Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 39 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend! We were all a bit busy visiting with family and such so no game update this week. However, we have been making good progress with all the revising we have going on. The graphics are moving along and the revised interface is just about finished so we should be able to release a new update next week. There's still some tweaking to do but overall it should be a big improvement over what we currently have which is mostly a bunch of placeholders.

Some of you have commented on how it felt clunky and a bit confusing and that's definitely one of things we've addressed. This new set up should make all the menu screens much easier to navigate and more intuitive. One of the main features is that you can change characters from any screen and the navigation buttons that let you go to other screens are always available. We'll also be making use of tooltips for further instruction as well as displaying things like skill and item details.

With the interface out of the way I'll be able to help Evan with some of the 3D assets which should also help speed things up. Evan is working on the animations for the Human Male character which requires rigging the model in order to make it easier to animate. I'm getting a render scene set up which will be used for importing any assets and then rendering out frames for all three angles, lighting, and position. Once we have those frames Sam can take and implement them into the new system which will allow him to proceed faster and easier since he'll have some reference graphics.

So things are moving along slowly but surely. As I mentioned before we hope to have a new version available for you guys next week which should include all the new interface menu screens. We hope you guys will like it and we'll definitely be looking forward to everyone's feedback!


In the Works:

Design

• Pet System (50%)
• Interface Revision (85%)

Graphics

• Unit: Human Male - Revision (85%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Melee Concept (75%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Ranged Concept (75%)
• Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
• Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)

Programming

• Graphic Processing Revision (65%)
• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Suggestions and ideas are always welcome in the comments, thanks guys!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 39 - Community Request: Playable Races!

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Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 38 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

Just a short post this week while we continue to chug away at the next release which should be coming soon. Another benefit of the new graphics system is that it will allow us to more easily add additional playable races. Before it meant an exponential amount of more work when adding armor because of all the additional frames required for the new race. Now, since it's in 3D, it's just a little extra work fitting it to the model of the new race and then rendering out all the necessary frames accordingly.

So, what this means is we have a lot more flexibility with what sort of playable races we can put into the game since the workload is far less significant. This works out because we weren't going to have much focus on race wars and factions but rather on good and evil. In other words it'll be a common occurrence to see a mix of races working together on everything from daily tasks to fighting a common enemy.

This is where you guys come in. What are some races you would like to be able to chose from? Are you a fan of the tried and true trifecta of Human, Orc, and Elf? Are you more interested in an obscure race that you don't see so often such as Golems (like Kevin!)? Tell us what sort of races you'd like to be able to play as in the comments!


In the Works:

Design

• Pet System (50%)
• Interface Revision (75%)

Graphics

• Unit: Human Male - Revision (75%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Melee Concept (75%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Ranged Concept (75%)
• Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
• Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)

Programming

• Graphic Processing Revision (50%)
• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

And of course, leave any suggestions, ideas, or other feedback you might have in the comments!Thanks!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 38 - New Weapons! Revised Player Controls! MOAR Artists!

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Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 37 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

Alright well we're back up and running after some technical difficulties. Hopefully that doesn't happen again but you never know. You tend to run into some speed bumps no matter how much you plan ahead. Speaking of speed bumps, the transition to the new graphics system is going well. Evan just finished up a nice 3D model for the Human Male and will now start implementing the animations. We have to take things one step at a time since this is our first go at setting things up this way but once we have a system in place things will speed up. I'll also be helping with some of the 3D assets once I finish re-arranging the Interface and some other design and management tasks.

Kevin and Bill have been working on some new Creature concepts and we've also picked up Josh, another enthusiastic artist who is excited to work on some concepts for us. We've also picked up some assistance from Sam's brother, Joel. He'll also be helping with some art concepts and assets.

So you've probably noticed by this point that we've only been picking up additional artists, and lots of them. There are a few reasons for this. Primarily it's because art tends to take more time than everything else because of the sheer amount of art work required for video games. They have to create concepts with multiple views, then they have to be modeled in 3D, textured, rigged for animation, animated, and then rendered. And all throughout that process thing have to be tweaked, changed, and approved. In other words, it's time consuming. It's also better for the art to be done before programming so that when the programmer (Sam in this case) codes in something new he has the art assets to go with it. As you've probably seen we currently have a lot of placeholders scattered around HTD. That's because programming is ahead of the art right now. Granted we have to redo a bunch of art now with the new system but that is something that's pretty unavoidable and necessary, but it's a logical move in the right direction and we all agree it's worth the extra time and effort.

Now then, on to more fun topics. We put a new version up with some new weapons! These were some of the last assets done with the old graphics system so we decided we'd just throw them in. And yes, some are massive, but who doesn't like swinging around huge weapons? The Boomerang is a melee weapon for now, but don't worry it won't stay like that, it's just a temporary arrangement. We also couldn't add the Ranged weapons we had made because we don't have a ranged animation yet and it'd look pretty silly trying to make it work with one of the current animations. So we're leaving those out for now.

Lastly, we're going to change the way the player interacts with the game a bit and make you more of a commander and less of a 5 person entity. Right now you have access to 5 characters and all of their active skills which you can use manually at will. We've come to the conclusion that this is too micro-intensive for what we want to do so we'll be removing that aspect of interactivity. They skills and everything will still be there to setup your characters with but they'll just do them automatically in combat and will be affected by the behaviors once we have those in. All we're really doing is removing the manual override you can do during combat. We will, however, be adding some new skills that only you, the player, can do. These skills will be along the lines of the Class Native Skill (the same for all heroes, it lets you transfer charges to another Hero), a skill that lets you temporarily power up a character, perhaps a skill that absorbs all charges your heroes have and then unleashing a powerful attack, and probably combination attacks where you'll select multiple heroes to perform a powerful attack that differs depending on the Native Elements of those heroes. I'll elaborate more on this later but we think it'll free up up the player to focus on more fun tasks like strategy and power moves instead of trying to micromanage every hero.

So, as we continue to catch up again on the new art and graphics process have fun with the new weapons and let us know what you think about the idea for the new player skills. Thanks guys!


In the Works:

Design

• Pet System (50%)
• Interface Revision (50%)

Graphics

• Unit: Human Male - Revision (75%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Attack Concept (75%)
• Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
• Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)

Programming

• Graphic Processing Revision (25%)
• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Be sure to leave any suggestions or ideas you might have in the comments!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 37 - Decisions, Decisions

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Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 36 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

This week we have some good news and some bad regarding the current state of HTD. As some of you may have noticed the game has started to run rather slow as we've been adding more and more to it. This was a worrying sign as we knew it would only get worse as we continued to develop the game. We also want to release HTD on other platforms, particularly the phone markets. The phones run far slower than the PC so we knew we were in trouble and needed to start looking into a solution.

After some research we did find a solution and did a few tests which were giving us some positive results. However, in order to take advantage of this solution it requires the graphics to be processed a different way than how we've been doing it. There are a lot of little details involved in this that affects how the graphics are drawn and animated but essentially we have to revise the majority of the graphics. So with that in mind we started discussing our options and other concerns that we might be able to fix since we have to adjust the graphics. This led to the concern of the armor requiring a lot of work, which we were already aware of but if we could somehow make it easier it would save a lot of time. We didn't want to reduce the amount of character customization that the players would be able to adjust using equipment and other items because we know a lot of people enjoy that aspect of the game. Plus, it was something we really wanted to have as developers.

We spent some time thinking about it and discussing it and decided that perhaps the easiest path to take would be to make all the graphics in 3D instead of 2D. It would still have a similar cartoony/anime style to what we have now because the 3D graphics would be rendered out using a cell shading method. The reason for going to 3D is because it removes a lot of tedious work after the upfront work is finished. Here's a few numbers to give you an idea of what we're talking about here. On average we have around 3 frames per animation and estimate to have about 8 animations for the characters. So right there we have 24 frames, now that's only one angle. HTD has 3 angles (Front, Back, and Side which mirrors) so now we have 72 frames to draw, per item. So take a helm for example, that requires 72 frames ot be drawn. A full suit of armor (6 parts) is 432 frames that have to be drawn and that's just for one character, one race, one gender. The female would require a different set of 432 frames for the same suit of armor. A different race would require another 864 frames for both genders, etc. As we add more more races the amount of work required for adding a single piece of armor increases by a lot.

So with that in mind let's go back to 3D. I work 8 hours a day doing 3D for my full-time job and Evan has been working in 3D for awhile and taking some classes in it as well. Kevin and Bill are more specialized in 2D but their talents aren't lost because we need lots of concept art for both designs and animations, and both of them are very good at it. So how does 3D help us solve our problem? Let's take the helm as an example again. First, we'll have to model it based on concepts. Then we set it up on the character. That character would be animated to match the concepts. Once he is set up with the animations we never need to deal with them again. Since it's 3D we can just attach the helm object to it's proper location on the character and it'll position itself for all the animations automatically. Sometimes we might have to manually adjust it for certain frames but it's still a one-time set up. After that we have cameras and lights set up for each angle all we have to do is hit the render button and it'll give us all 72 frames or 432 frames for a full suit within minutes. Adjusting it to work on another gender or race is also far easier, just some slight adjustments and it'll be all set. Also making different colors and such will also be much easier and faster.

While 3D does require a bit more upfront work, in our case it's very much worth it and we'll be able to keep all our customization that we wanted to have available to you guys. Now, this isn't like we're redoing the whole game, it's just the graphics really. Sam has to implement the new method of processing the graphics in order to speed up the game, which he's working on now, but once that's done we'll be right back to developing the rest of the game using placeholders and whatnot. We'll be leaving all the current graphics in as is for now. We may or may not add them as we go or just wait till we have a bunch done and do it all at once, we'll see.

So that's where we're at. It's a speed bump but worth working through. This is just part of the developing process, it's nearly impossible for a small team to prepare for every obstacle and plan everything out perfectly. Plus the way we are doing it with giving you guys updates as often as possible through the whole process can complicate that a bit as well but it's more fun for us. We should be able to catch up graphically in a reasonable amount of time since all the concepts and animations are already done for the assets we have now. There won't be an update this week and maybe not next week but we'll still be posting about our progress as we go. We're certain this is the way to go so bare with us while we make this transition, it'll be worth it!

In the Works:

Design

• Pet System (50%)
• Interface Revision (25%)

Graphics

• Unit: Human Male - Revision (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Attack Concept (25%)
• Unit: Skeleton - Concept (50%)
• Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
• Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)

Programming

• Graphic Processing Revision (10%)
• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

As always any feedback is welcome, let us hear what you have to say in the comments! Thanks!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 36 - Current Progress! Community Request: Crafting!

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Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 35 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

There won't be a release this week because Sam had some finals to study for but everyone has been working on things that'll be in the next update. Now that we have several artists helping us out we should be able to start adding more content each release. Loot drops, equipment/inventory saving, and character progression are soon to come along with some other things. We've also been researching more ways to improve performance and prepare for other platforms.

Some other changes we may be making is increasing the available unit placements for the heroes. Most unavailable spaces would just be blocked by some sort of environmental obstacle or away from the edges to prevent some other issues. However, there will also be another layer of placements to accommodate non-grounded units like flying pets or a hero with a levitation effect on them. This will allow for more variation and strategy which is always nice.

Another topic of discussion lately has been crafting/trade skills/professions (whatever you want to call them) and how they could work. We plan to have a lot of flexibility when it comes to changing the customization of your heroes. For example, you'll be able to change their hair color and hairstyle by doing something simple such as going to a nearby town. You'll also be able to alter the look and stats of your weapons through blacksmithing (either in town or perhaps through one of your characters). So say you have a sword with good stats and then you find a cooler looking sword later on that you like but it doesn't have very good stats, or vice versa. You could use a blacksmith to change your current sword to look like the other sword. So now you have a sword with the same stats but it has the new look. There may be some limitation to this in that it has to be the same type, e.g. a sword to a sword, not a sword to mace. The same could be used for customizing the way your armor looks.

Of course, you'll also be able to gather materials and create weapons from scratch. This would probably work like your typical RPG and allow you to break down other items to gain materials. Also, you'll likely acquire rare materials from bosses and quests that could lead to more powerful items.

we're throwing around some other ideas for crafting but I'm curious to hear from you guys about what you'd like to see or any ideas you might have. So leave us some of your suggestions in the comments and we'll be sure to check them out, thanks!

In the Works:

Design

• Story: Intro - Scene 1 (10%)
• Pet System (50%)

Graphics

• Inventory Screen (0%)
• Skill Selection Screen (0%)
• Light Skill: Radiate (Native) (10%)
• Light Skill: Shinning Strike(T1 Physical) (10%)
• Light Skill: Fleeting Light (T1 Magical) (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Movement (100%)
• Weapon: Edged Boomerang (100%)
• Weapon: Tall Axe (100%)
• Weapon: Boomerang (100%)
• Weapon: Spiked Club (100%)
• Weapon: Claw Knife (100%)
• Weapon: Basic Crossbow (100%)
• Weapon: Flintlock (100%)

Programming

• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Let us hear any of your crafting ideas or other suggestions in the comments, all feedback is welcome!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 35 - HTD Pre-Alpha v0.015 Release! Nature Skills!

Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 34 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

This week we bring you the Native and Tier 1 Nature Skills! We now have skills for each Element! The graphics for Light and Nature are placeholders for now but we'll be filling them in with something nicer soon.

Nature Skills have a bit more focus on utility rather than damage or defense. It will still have those things but you'll see they are more strategic in nature, no pun intended. For example, the Nature Native Skill heals a little but also immobilizes (roots) the target for 3 seconds. Useful for catching enemies that could be running off or going after certain characters at the expense of healing them slightly. On the other hand you could be using it as stackable heal for a hero that is mostly stationary.

You might wonder why you would use the Native Skill to heal instead of the Water Nature which heals for more and that can be answered with two reasons. One being Nature has additional utility in that it can also be used on an enemy to root them as mentioned before. And two, is that if an enemy is using a Nature Skill of their own that counters the Water Native then it'll wipe out the Water heal while the Nature heal would be safe.

As I've said before this will all make more sense as more skills and such get added. Same goes for why you can target your own heroes with direct damage skills that typically one-shot them. There's a reason for this that hasn't been implemented yet and the damage/health ratios are skewed a bit right now so it's imbalanced. We'll be addressing this in due time though.

One of the next things I'll be figuring out is how pets will work. I talked about pets awhile back in this post and got a bunch of good ideas from you guys so I'll certainly be taking those into consideration. Of course, feel free to offer some in comments for this post as well if you like. We always enjoy hearing ideas and suggestions from our fans!


What's New:

-Added Nature Skills (Using placeholder graphics for now)


In the Works:

Design

• Story: Intro - Scene 1 (10%)
• Pet System (10%)

Graphics

• Inventory Screen (0%)
• Skill Selection Screen (0%)
• Light Skill: Radiate (Native) (10%)
• Light Skill: Shinning Strike(T1 Physical) (10%)
• Light Skill: Fleeting Light (T1 Magical) (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Movement (20%)

Programming

• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Feel free to leave any feedback you might have in the comments, thanks!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 34 - HTD Pre-Alpha v0.014 Release! Light Skills! New Artist, Evan!

Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 33 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

Ok, so clearly it's Friday lol. I was away all Thursday so didn't have a chance to write the post and Sam was busy as well so we just put the update off till today. So, we'll just pretend it's still Thursday :P

Ok then, we've added the Light Skills. Probably the first thing you'll notice is the graphics for the effects and icons are a tad different than the rest.. as in they either aren't there or are very basic. Don't worry though, they're just placeholders while the final versions are being developed. The Native Light Skill increases the Physical and Magical Damage of the target.

We've also picked up another artist who will be helping us out with HTD graphics (we need a lot of them :D). So without further ado, welcome Evan! He's actually a friend of Bill's and is excited to be working with us on our games. Creating art for a game is very time consuming and tends to require more people than other areas so we're happy to have artists such as Bill and Evan helping Kevin out.

Nature Skills will be coming up next and with those we'll finally have all the Native and Tier 1 skills available for each element. We've got several other things in the works so don't worry too much if you don't see the %'s in the progress lists below changing much. That's just a list of some of the more major things that are currently in the works. Sometimes we have to do a bunch of smaller things that we don't bother listing there.

Thanks everyone!


What's New:

-Added Light Skills (Using placeholder graphics for now)

-Made some performance tweaks

-Fixed female hair toggle showing for males


In the Works:

Design

• Story: Intro - Scene 1 (10%)
• Weapon and Armor Stats (100%)
• Map: Intro - Stage 2 (100%)

Graphics

• Inventory Screen (0%)
• Skill Selection Screen (0%)
• Light Skill: Radiate (Native) (10%)
• Light Skill: Shinning Strike(T1 Physical) (10%)
• Light Skill: Fleeting Light (T1 Magical) (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Movement (50%)

Programming

• Nature Skills (100%)
• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Any suggestions or feedback is welcome in the comments!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 33 - HTD Pre-Alpha v0.013 Release! Multiple Profiles Screen and a bunch of new graphics!

Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 32 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

Alrighty, another week another update! This time around we've added a Profiles Screen where you can set up multiple profiles. Having several profiles will have more purpose later on when things are more locked down (they are very open right now for testing purposes) and we add more features like achievements and whatnot. There will be a delete option eventually as well but since they are fully editable there's no need right now.

We've also added a bunch of new graphics for the menus that Kevin has been working on. Graphics for the some of the other screens are still in the works but you can get an idea of how things will be looking from these new ones. It certainly makes it look a lot more finished, so that's always nice to see.

The Party Screen has been revamped a bit with the new graphics and now mainly uses drag and drop functionality. It's far less clunky this way and overall easier to use. Some of you have mentioned this in the comments and suggested such things so expect the whole interface to become a bit more intuitive as we continue with development.

There have also been a few bugs you guys/gals have pointed out and we've fixed several of them. There's still a few we're working on but the biggest ones should be gone now. Thanks for pointing them out!

Light skills will be coming soon, there were some technical difficulties in the graphics department because the pen to Kevin's tablet bit the dust and he had to wait a few days while a new one shipped in. All is well now though and we'll see about getting them in asap!


What's New:

-Login Screen Graphics

-Profiles Screen (Multiple profiles)

-Party Screen Graphics

-Added Drag and Drop functionality to the Party Screen

-Added a Menu button (little gear next to the Zoom buttons) in the upper right while in battle. It will return you to the Party Screen

-Fixed a few bugs


In the Works:

Design

• Story: Intro Scene 1 (10%)

Graphics

• Inventory Screen Graphics (0%)
• Light Skill: Radiate (Native) (10%)
• Light Skill: Shinning Strike(T1 Physical) (10%)
• Light Skill: Fleeting Light (T1 Magical) (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Movement (20%)

Programming

• Light Skills (100%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Thanks for the support guys! Your suggestions, ideas, and feedback are always welcome and helpful so be sure to stop by the comments and let us know what you think!


-Dan

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 32 - HTD Pre-Alpha v0.012 Release! Inventory and Equipment!

Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

HTD Logo

Go here to read Day 31 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

This week we get to implement one of the bigger RPG elements of HTD, the inventory and equipment systems! Well, the start of it anyway, it's rather limited right now but we'll be building on it. Once again the graphics for the menus are temporary for the time being. Kevin will be replacing them with nicer ones soon.

The inventory is a place to store all your items that you gather through your travels. It will hold everything from potions to materials to ingredients to equipment. You can access the inventory and equipment screens from either the Hero Screen or by pressing the Inventory button in the bottom right during battle. The inventory itself is universal for all your heroes, they all share it. However, depending on the hero you have selected will determine which equipment is shown in the hero equipment window.

You can see that there will be quite a few equipment slots. Not all will be visual, smaller items like rings and necklaces most likely won't be visible on your hero. You'll also have a Main Hand and Off Hand weapon slots for both melee and ranged weapons. Your character will automatically switch between melee and ranged based on the enemies distance and the skill the hero is currently using. We'll get more into this later but basically you'll have Physical and Magical based weapons which your hero will choose to use for optimal efficiency for whichever skill they are about to execute.

Right now all that you can do is equip and unequip your armor and Main Hand melee weapon. You can move things around however you like; give each hero a different weapon, take off some of their armor, or take away all of their armor if you want to be mean (those of you that intentionally KO your own heroes will probably do this). Keep in mind that your equipment setup will no save for now, we're still working on that.

Currently none of the items have stats yet so you'll just be affecting visuals for now but those are coming soon! There's a bunch of stuff in the works that are taking some time but we're slowly but surely getting there. Some of you may have noticed the game getting a bit choppy after awhile. We're currently in the process of fixing this and should be able to resolve it soon.


What's New:

-Inventory System

-Equipment System


In the Works:

Design

• 
  
• Story: Intro (100%)
• Story: Intro Scene 1 (0%)
• Class Skills: Tier 1 (100%)

Graphics

• Inventory Screen Graphics (0%)
• Light Skill: Radiate (Native) (10%)
• Light Skill: Shinning Strike(T1 Physical) (10%)
• Light Skill: Fleeting Light (T1 Magical) (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko Concept (100%)

Audio

• Sound Effects: Light Spell (100%)

Programming

• Multiple Profiles (100%)
• Light Skills (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

As always feedback is welcome in the comments!


-Dan

Weekly Progress, Pokemon Tower Defense 2 Talents, Creature Universe (ANPO) Battle System!

Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


Hey! Nice to see you again! Like all Mondays it's time for the weekly progress blog here at Sam and Dan Games. If you haven't read last week's blog I suggest you read it. I talked about the ending of PTD 1 and the last update to come to the game among other things.

So keep track of my progress as I finish the game I will be posting updates here on this blog post.

• Viridian Ending (Movie Scene only level, sets up the last chapter of the game, Lickitung NPC trade will happen on this level) (0%)
• Intro (0%)
• Adding the crucial Lickitung NPC trade to the new level (0%) 
• Add Hyper Potion (0%)
• Ending (0%)
•  Power Plant (Zapdos, Electabuzz (Red Only), Magnemite) (0%)
• Intro (0%)
• Layout (0%)
• Waves (0%)
• Ending (0%)
• Seafoam Island (Articuno, Seel) (0%)
• Intro (0%)
• Layout (0%)
• Waves (0%)
• Ending (0%)
• Victory Road (Moltres) (0%)
• Intro (0%)
• Layout (0%)
• Waves (0%)
• Ending (0%)
• Elite 4 (Fight the elite 4 using the same team but team is completely healed between fights)
• Intro (0%)
• Layout (0%)
• Waves (0%)
• Ending (0%)
• Champion Fight (Champion and Mewthree)
• Intro (0%)
• Layout (0%)
• Waves (0%)
• Ending (0%) 
• Unknown Dungeon (Mewtwo) (0%)
• Intro (0%)
• Layout (0%)
• Waves (0%)
• Ending (0%)
• Add new moves to Pokemon Center's Move List (100%)
• Add Missing HMs (40%) 
• Fly (40%)
• Strength (40%)
• Surf (90%) 
• Graphics/Programming (100%)
• Adding to Pokemon's HM list (0%)
• Add Level Select Graphics (100%)
• New Moves (100%)
• Psystrike (100%) - Mewtwo 
• Adding new pokemon (87.5%) - Mewtwo, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Electabuzz
• Graphics (100%)
• Shiny Graphics (100%)
• Shadow Graphics (100%)
• Add Stats to game (100%)
  
• Relearn Moves (100%)
• TM/HM List (100%)
• Add to Save Code (0%)
• Add to Pokemon Center (100%)

As you can see there is a lot to be done! Keep cheering me on as we reach the final miles of this race!

Just like Hero Tower Defense every week I will talk about PTD 2 and Creature Universe (ANPO) leading up to the eventual pre-pre-pre alphas. Then just like PTD 1 and  HTD we will keep updating the games until they are finished. This is just our way of keeping you, the player, involved in the process of game creation as much as possible. So instead of waiting a year and a half to see PTD 2 and longer for ANPO we will talk about them and show you our progress along the way. PTD 1 took a year and a half to make, imagine if PTD 1 just released today?! The game would be totally different I would think, a lot of your feedback was incorporated. Also without you guys I wouldn't have pushed myself so far to get it done as fast. So I really think this method will work for us here, what do you think?

Pokemon Tower Defense 2

So last week I talked about a few new mechanics that I thought would help add some new freshness to the game. Most of you really liked the ideas so I'm very happy with that and will make plans on how to add those in. This week I want to talk about something that some of my favorite Tower Defense games have that PTD 1 didn't have. This "thing" that I'm talking about is Talents!

Introduction "Trainer Specializations"!

 I also love talents systems in games, and I think it will make a great addition to PTD 2. So let me talk a little bit (for those who care lol) about how this idea came to be and my different thoughts on getting to where I am with the talents now. So while looking at some other games and their talent trees I thought it would be amazing to have some sort of talent tree in the game. My first thought was "okay every pokemon will have a talent tree!" Then I was like.... "NO WAY!" having a talent tree on every pokemon, while interesting, would take forever and could prove to have many issues attached to it, including: overwhelming players, making the database even bigger and take longer to save and load! So then I thought how about if the trainer can specialize in a certain type of pokemon, almost like a gym leader! That sounded really cool to me.

So the way it works is that you will have a trainer level. You level it up by playing levels in the game. At the end of each level you will get experience points for your trainer. The higher and more difficult the level the more experience points you get. When you level up you will get talent points that you can assign on any of the specialization trees available. There will be a tree for each type of pokemon in the game. Each tree will give you bonuses not only for a particular type of pokemon but for all your pokemon. For example a fire talent might be like "Increase all your towers' damage by 5% if you have a fire pokemon in your party.". Talents will also unlock Special Abilities (I talked about these on the last blog) only accessible from talents.

So now that you read about Trainer Specializations, tell me what you think! Now onto Creature Universe!

Creature Universe (Project ANPO)

Last week I talked about the creatures feeling alive and dynamic. This is something that I want to show up in every facet of the game. This week I will start introducing the battle system. Note that this game is in a very early stage. You are pretty much getting the notes that I'm writing down as I come up with them. Something like a battle system is really hard to explain but I will try my best here to paint the picture in your head. Okay so for a long time I thought it would be very interested to make a game that when you told your "avatar" to do something he wouldn't do it automatically. Essentially your "avatar" would think about it first before doing it. Imagine you have a warrior character but his "courage" stat is low. So if you tell him to attack a dragon, he isn't going to run in there! While this is a good idea in theory... it probably isn't that much fun. Once you character has enough "courage" he might just do everything you tell him to. So what's the point?! It wasn't until I started thinking more about ANPO that I realized "Hey! I might bring this idea back!" but while I can bring part of it back, it needed some heavy tweaking.

Essentially you will control your avatar (your human trainer) and he will issue commands to your creature. Then your creature will try its best to perform your command. So what does it mean to "try its best to perform"? To me this means that creatures have limits! In pokemon a creature has some limits in the form of Attack, Defense, Speed, and PP. These are fairly straight forward, but I want to add some new stats into this game. What if your creature had a "Reaction Time" stat? I want the battles in this game to be in real-time instead of turn-based. So reaction time would be how long it takes from your command going out to the creature performing it. So lets say your creature is going to tackle the enemy but the enemy is about to throw a hyper beam kind of attack straight at you, and you the trainer select the dodge + left command! Depending on your creature and the timing of your command your creature will dodge or get hit by the enemy's attack.

Also a big change from pokemon would be the attacks! The moves in ANPO will be done by chaining a series of commands. The example I used above "dodge + left" is an example of this chaining. While just saying dodge (maybe to save time) will make a creature dodge in a direction that the creature chooses (probably random or based on something else) you can be specific and say "doge+left" or "dodge+front" etc. Each creature will have a set of commands that are standard for all creatures. Things like "dodge", "run", "attack", "jump" are examples of a few of the standard commands. But then bird like creatures will have "fly", "flap wings", "peck". Using a combination of these will result in different attacks! You will also be able to save custom combinations so you don't have to keep selecting them over and over.

So I hope this gives you a small view into what I'm aiming for. You don't have direct control over your creatures but you will be issuing them commands. As you get to know your creature more and more you will learn the timing for when to issue commands to be able to battle effectively. You will also be able to train your creature to increase its speed and reaction time.

I hope you guys have a good week, and as always let me know what you think on the comments below!

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