Help me test my tower defense!

[Udyrfrykte]

So, I'm a hobbyist/indie game dev, and I'm atm developing a towerdefense that is going to be sold as a game-starter kit. Haven't used too much time yet, and won't use much more time when finished.

Anyhow, as I'm adding the last features the game looks playable, so I'd like for my escapist brethren to test the balance of my game!

The results of your play session will be uploaded to a database. Data of which wave you made it to, gold remaining, and what towers you made will be collected. This is just so I can analyse the data, nothing shady.
Please remain in the game till you've lost all your "guards" (one guard lost per enemy reaches the castle).

Feel free to deliver a comment in this thread about the game and if there is something you feel would increase the fun or playability in it.
The main purpose of this testing is _balancing_ though. It's a gamestarter kit, I don't work on making it fun to play, I work on the mechanics.

Enough rambling!
How to play:
Build towers from the buttons at the upper left side of the screen. Click a tower to bring up the upgrade menu.

Move the camera with WASD, also you can scroll to zoom.

The game:
http://www.hatefueled.net/games/towerdefense.html

(Oh, and the game is built using Unity3D, so you will need the webplayer)

 

[Cpt. Red]

Bugs:
* Rock Tower could knockback critters through walls so they got stuck. I'm guessing that your collision detection code either doesn't work properly.
* After a wave with men looking critters it didn't go to the next wave (if one exists)

Recomendations:
* Make it possible to actually see the range of the towers e.g. like a ring around then tower you have selected or are building.
* Don't buy a tower as soon as you click the icon but rather when you place the tower.
* Make it possible to abort buying a tower.
* Health indications on the critters.
* Some way to see more info about the critter this wave.
* Hard to see some of the numbers in the tower description.

You say that you don't mind it not being fun because you are creating it as a gamestarter kit but you why do you then say that "The main purpose of this testing is _balancing_ though." it doesn't really add up...

I didn't get to play many waves as it didn't continue after killing all the critters in one wave so I don't really have that much to say about balance.

Conclusion:
Buggy, not fun and you provide the player with way too little information.

 

[Udyrfrykte]

Bugs:
* Rock Tower could knockback critters through walls so they got stuck. I'm guessing that your collision detection code either doesn't work properly.
* After a wave with men looking critters it didn't go to the next wave (if one exists)

Recomendations:
* Make it possible to actually see the range of the towers e.g. like a ring around then tower you have selected or are building.
* Don't buy a tower as soon as you click the icon but rather when you place the tower.
* Make it possible to abort buying a tower.
* Health indications on the critters.
* Some way to see more info about the critter this wave.
* Hard to see some of the numbers in the tower description.

You say that you don't mind it not being fun because you are creating it as a gamestarter kit but you why do you then say that "The main purpose of this testing is _balancing_ though." it doesn't really add up...

I didn't get to play many waves as it didn't continue after killing all the critters in one wave so I don't really have that much to say about balance.

Conclusion:
Buggy, not fun and you provide the player with way too little information.

I intended the last wave to be impossible, so I wouldn't have to deal with win-conditions just yet. Seems like I will have to go back and add a couple of zeros to baddie-hp.

And as for why I want balancing when I don't intend to work much on the 'fun' aspect of it... Well, I have my reasons. I'm currently writing a thesis on the subject, so I prioritize certain things more than others.

I'm more interested in the balancing feedback than other feedback. perhaps I should add more waves.
Though, I will look into the rock tower thing, healthindicator and option to abort tower.

 

[MrTub]

Would be nice to see what the upgrade will do

 

[Cpt. Red]

I intended the last wave to be impossible, so I wouldn't have to deal with win-conditions just yet. Seems like I will have to go back and add a couple of zeros to baddie-hp.

And as for why I want balancing when I don't intend to work much on the 'fun' aspect of it... Well, I have my reasons. I'm currently writing a thesis on the subject, so I prioritize certain things more than others.

I'm more interested in the balancing feedback than other feedback. perhaps I should add more waves.
Though, I will look into the rock tower thing, healthindicator and option to abort tower.

The reason for me being able to complete it was thanks to the Rock Towers getting them stuck, otherwise I wouldn't been able to make it.

I played it once more to look at balance. It was hard to see how good the individual towers were as I couldn't really visually see how much damage they did or oh many units they hit.

* Who needs slow towers when you can force a unit to stay at the area all the time by using knockback? (not just by getting them stuck in a wall but actually knocking them back over and over again)
* Fire Towers didn't seem to do much but that is probably just because I didn't have any feedback on who they hit(thanks to no health bar) although they were potentially overpowered when you combine them with a couple of Rock Towers forcing the enemy to stay at the same place.
* Arrow Towers are a must in the beginning and they seemed good.
* Again hard to know how good the Poison Tower was as I couldn't visually see how good they were(health bar again). Also I didn't understand how the damage over time worked or what the final damage becomes.

 

[Udyrfrykte]

I'm compiling and uploading a new version now.
Got some new features and should have rockstuff + pathing fixed. And healthbars!

@Tubez
You can see what the upgrade does in the lower right corner.

 

[MrTub]

I'm compiling and uploading a new version now.
Got some new features and should have rockstuff + pathing fixed. And healthbars!

@Tubez
You can see what the upgrade does in the lower right corner.

Only showed the normal version for me, even if I upgraded it

 

[Udyrfrykte]

I'm compiling and uploading a new version now.
Got some new features and should have rockstuff + pathing fixed. And healthbars!

@Tubez
You can see what the upgrade does in the lower right corner.

Only showed the normal version for me, even if I upgraded it

I checked myself, I didn't find the problem myself. Sure it wasn't because they look very alike? I've made the upgraded towers bigger now, for a visual representation.

Otherwise, I had to revise a few things, so I'm compiling and uploading yet again.

 

[Cpt. Red]

You seem to have broken the wave system. If I'm not fast enough in killing all of them then the enemies disappear(long before reaching the castle) and a I get a new wave. If I kill them before this moment occurs then I get no new wave even though they are all dead.

A quick note on balance:
* Poison seems quite balanced now but then again I only got to play two waves this time. (Probably just because I can see how much damage they do)

EDIT:
Tried what happens if I didn't kill any of them and I don't get the problem of getting a new wave before killing all of them but they seem to get stuck on the last straight path to the castle. They keep going back and forth.

EDIT2: Updated the balance note.

 

[MrTub]

Arrow tower seems to be a bit op

Level 2 with a single upgraded arrow tower kills everything before you even see it
Almost the same with lvl 3 and 1x Upgraded and one normal
Level 4 with Slow and 2x Upgraded kills everything fast aswell

Would be nice to be able to sell towers
And mute the sound

Fire tower normal is really bad =/

Wave 7 turn around at the end and then goes up and then down again
same with wave 8
Wave 9 aswell.

Stops sending mobs sometimes.

 

[Udyrfrykte]

Thanks very much for the feedback guys!
I've found the solution for enemies getting stuck at the last path. Gonna revise and reupload.

Whew, I think I gotta whip myself and do a proper win-handling with several more waves. Gonna fix the last-stretch-bug, then do a bit bigger update.
Again, thanks! (Guess I should nerf the arrow towers, lol)

 

[Udyrfrykte]

Bump!
I've added a good deal new functionality and rebalanced (even though I know the towerbalance is a bit.. off)