The power of feedback and more changes! plus PTD3 Mystery Gift!

Hail!

The power of feedback

So last week I released the first prototype for you to play with and take a look at how my initial ideas for Cosmoids TD have been taking shape. While I didn't get a huge amount of feedback, I did get some key ones that will actually impact and change the game.

The change I'm going to make is that instead of having your Avatar have to go to spots to place the cosmoids. The cosmoids will instead go from the Avatar to their spots. So the speed at which your units will move to and from spots will always be based on your cosmoids speed. This always allows you to quickly place your units on the map, instead of having to wait for your avatar.

However, even though your avatar will no longer be moving to place cosmoids I still plan to have your avatar move for things like healing or buffing your cosmoids.

More changes

Lately I've been focusing on how Cosmoids TD will be different from the PTD series. It's a mix of seeing what worked and what didn't work for PTD in my eyes and trying to change things up to make them more interested or require a little more planning. One of the first changes I thought about was about how your Cosmoids will level up.

Leveling Up

First a small history lesson, in PTD1 your towers would gain experience by battling, very similar to the original Pokemon games. Your tower had to be a part of the battle for it to gain experience. Once they gathered enough experience you could use your PokeDollars to level them up. This was pretty interesting to me because it made you have to make a choice in which tower you wanted to level up first. However as you played the game, the amount of dollars you got was so high that leveling up was no longer a problem and so there was no longer a choice.

So much so that in PTD2 and 3 I no longer had leveling up cost anything. Looking back I think Tower Defense games are very much about choosing what you do with your resources so this is something that I want to bring back for Cosmoids, with a twist.

My current idea is that when you defeat an enemy cosmoid you will earn what I'm calling "Meteor Dust", this dust is essentially your resource to do many things in the game including leveling up.

The change is that your Cosmoids doesn't have to see battle to level up, you can simple "give" it some Meteor Dust to make them level up. So you will still be battling to get dust and then once you have enough to level up your Cosmoids the game will let you know and then you can make your choice whether you want to use it to level up or to purchase an item etc. You can also choose which of your Cosmoids will get the dust. The challenge will be to keep the dust as a somewhat more limited resource compared to PTD1 where money was plentiful after a certain point in the game removing any choice.

Single and Active Attacks

As I'm designing Cosmoids I'm going through all the areas of PTD and seeing what I want to change and what I want to keep the same. So lately I've been looking at Attacks. In PTD your towers have 4 attacks to mirror what exist on the pokemon games. For Cosmoids I may be rethinking this, some of the ideas I have are towards lowering the amount of attack switching that can currently exist in the PTD series and focus more on interactive active attacks similar to Champions! The Last Defense, where you would have a more active role in attacking your waves.

As with everything, the design can change and evolve over time when creating a game so these can be subject to change.

PTD3 Mystery Gift!

For PTD3 while I'm no longer developing new content for it, like new levels etc. I will still be doing mystery gifts as I can do those relatively quickly.

This week's Mystery Gift is... Qwilfish!



I still have plenty of task for the Prototype v2, I've added the change in Tower placement as part of my list. You can play v1 of the Prototype by clicking here.

Prototype v2 Task:
  • Design - How will leveling up and experience work? (100% Completed)
  • Programming - Scrolling the map (100% Completed)
  • Programming - Avatar no longer has to place Cosmoids in their spots (100% Completed)
  • Design - Incoming Wave Alert System (100% Completed)
  • Design - How much enemy unit information will you have in level? Before the level? (100% Completed)
  • Art - Incoming Wave Alert Icon Placeholder Graphic (100% Completed)
  • Art - Unit UI Graphics Used for buttons or menus (100% Completed)
  • Programming - Incoming Wave Alert Location Tracking (0% Active)
  • Programming - Incoming Wave Alert UI Popup and Confirmation (0% Not Started)
  • Design - How to view friendly unit information? leveling up? targeting options?
As always let me know what you think in the comments below or email me at sam@sndgames.com or on my twitter!

Thanks for your support, and see you next week!

Comments

  1. Hey Sam,
    So about attacking, I understand limiting the amount of moves for each Cosmoid, but you mentioned something about making it like Champions. The problem I had when playing through Champions is that I didn't know what anything did. I understood the premise of the special attacks, but I didn't know what to do while waiting for each attack. If you do want to make it as the same layout as Champions, I would suggest introducing each element of game play slowly as to not overwhelm the player.
    Personally, I enjoy the freedom of being able to choose your move set easily in PTD. It allows for different strategies against harder enemies and really sparks the creativity inside the player. In the end, you probably know what is best for the new game, I'll be looking forward to it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My main idea is that you will still have level up moves so you can still choose which moves to bring to battle but I wanted to cut down on the move swapping that happens when you are inside the level. I still have to see how that feels but I'm wanting to try it.

      You are right that it is good video game practice to slowly introduce elements instead of having them all on at once, and something I need to keep in mind.

      Thanks for the feedback!

      Delete
  2. The attack changes sounds like it may limit strategies, what could be sad (examples would be one attacking + 3 self-buffs or 2 attacks + 2 party buffs). The "Meteor Dust" system sounds like we will have to wait before actually seeing how it works (note: I'm a bit worried about power spikes or huge "walls" based on the description you gave us) to give proper feedback, but remember that while you're not forced to follow PTD neither have you got to follow the "standard" Tower Defense game style. I'm looking forward to keep giving feedback on latter posts. While this, being original and creative sounds hard but give it your best :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will still be able to swap attacks for other ones but I was considering limiting how many or which types you could bring on one Cosmoid on the level.

      For Meteor dust I'm not sure what you mean by power spikes or huge walls, please elaborate if you can :)

      You are right when you say that I don't have to follow the "standard" tower defense, there really aren't any rules. It's going to come down to what is more fun and interesting for me and for you the player.

      Keep the feeback coming :)

      Delete
    2. Power Spikes would be such as you keeping a lot stored to use it all on a new, say for example if you are playing something like Pokemon Fire Red and catch a Dratini, then in a blink of an eye you have a Dragonite. (not sure if clear yet). Huge walls would be in times when the limited supply of Meteor Dust, specially if not used highly efficiently, wouldn't suffice for the player to get through (best comparison I can think of is Cerulean gym if your starter's a Charmeleon). The balance would be sensible not to over-power nor under-power the player.... but your games usually had a lot of things overpowering the player & I only realized now this no longer sounds like a big priority for you.

      Delete
    3. I do care about the balance of it all, if you do save up for a "Dratini" that means you didn't use it before you got the "Dratini" so that may be a disadvantage.

      There probably needs to be a way to get a "refund" for your Meteor Dust in case you used it "wrong" but with some lost. (like a 10-20% penalty)

      Delete
  3. I've got some ideas, some questions, some idea/question hybrids, and maybe some random thoughts about Csmoids TD. So, here they are:
    Reading about the Meteor Dust and how you plan to implement it seems very interesting, and I have some thoughts on it. I like not having to battle with whatever Cosmoid I want to level up, but depending on how many types/elements the game is going to have... I'd like enough dust to level at least one of every type with reasonable grinding, plus some to experiment with different Cosmoids. But too easy, and it wouldn't be a challenge. You could make something where the amount of dust depends on the average level of your Cosmoids vs the average level of the enemies, but that could be abused by keeping Cosmoids at the same level. Making it so using the same team without changing levels would lower the amount of dust received would punish people who are attached to their team. Honestly, I don't really know how to implement it well, but I figured I might as well add some of my thoughts on this.
    Out of curiosity, how many Cosmoid types are you planning on adding? Having many types could be quite fun, but having a low-ish amount of types would make it easier to learn and get into (I'm assuming you're straying from Pokemon typings, and will have your own). Will you implement something similar to the elementals in PTD3? If so, will you be separating them by version like you did in the PTD series? I would also like if the Secrets (such as Pichu attracting Pichu) made a comeback in this at some point. I also wonder if you are planning on a alternate version of TMs in this. Will you be allowing hacked versions of Cosmoids TD? I do, in fact, realize that you don't have all the answers at this stage of the game... but that doesn't mean I can't ask. ;)
    Sorry for all the questions, and thank you for reading this giant wall of text! I feel like I may have repeated myself in some parts, so sorry if I did. :P :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The plan I have now for Meteor Dust to be given out like experience points, where the amount you get is based on the enemy level and type and the amount you need to level up grows exponentially as your level goes up.

      So you can use high level cosmoids to "farm" low level enemies for meteor dust, this would be good for cosmoids at levels near the enemies that you fight but not as good for higher level cosmoids.

      The way I'm thinking about it is a more convenient experience system.

      As far as typing, I do really like the Pokemon types and will definitely have a lot of the same ones with maybe some new ones. The actual amount that the game will have is still up in the air. But you are right that having too many too soon can be a little confusing.

      Still thinking about if I'm going to do something like elementals, I will definitely do shiny cosmoids (different coloring but same stats, type etc) I'm currently thinking of what different rewards the game can offer that would be interesting but not too hard to produce.

      I'm a big fan of little secrets in games so I do want to add those again for cosmoids. TMs are a great idea that I do want to add something similar. Hacked version I'm not sure if that will exist but maybe there is a way to adding it to the game. Maybe an easy leveling mode or something like that built into the game.

      Thanks for the great feedback! Keep it coming!

      Delete
    2. Hi, I want to giveaway my account, contact me at sjoes114@gmail.com if you're interested.

      Delete
  4. Sam can you make a transfer back to ptd2 from ptd3 please

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And when are you going to post your next blog post

      Delete
    2. I am planning on allowing some transferring back to ptd2 but I don't have a specific date for it. Also my current schedule is to post every saturday.

      Delete
    3. Then why didn't you make a blog post on saturday

      Delete
    4. Was pretty busy, and didn't get much done, sorry abou that

      Delete
  5. so, PTD3 (and the series as a whole) is permanently dead, right?
    That's a shame, but I wish you luck on your future projects.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PTD3 is no longer getting new levels but I will do mystery gifts for it, for those who are interested but the series itself will live on in Cosmoids.

      Delete
  6. Maybe you could allow us to freely place the cosmoids on most levels and limit it on others. Also for levelling up, maybe instead of just getting more stats maybe there should be a way to improve the gains of levelling up by providing your cosmoids care through items and mini games and those gains could be abilities or stats

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. so have like a friendship stat, that could grant new attacks?

      Delete
  7. hola sam se que vas a tener que traducir este mensaje pero bue :v mira me encantan tus juegos pero para cuando un ptd en español? me encantaria jugarlo y hasta puedo ayudar en su traduccion bueno supongo que ves mi email asi que cuando tu quieras me contactas ;v

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate the offer but right now I would only be looking to translate Cosmoids at a later date :)

      Delete
  8. "As far as typing, I do really like the Pokemon types and will definitely have a lot of the same ones with maybe some new ones. The actual amount that the game will have is still up in the air. But you are right that having too many too soon can be a little confusing." It wouldn't ever be too many at once provided you don't add every single type too soon. For example, there could be a few regions of the planet/cosmos (or wherever you situate Cosmoids) that could have a majority of certain types. Taking Pokémon (Red/Blue and I guess that majority of others) for example, you first meet one of the 3 starter types, then Normal, then "slowly" others (flying, bug, poison, rock, ground [....]).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah that would be the best route which is to have many types in the game but don't introduce them all at once but sprinkle them through the levels.

      Delete
  9. I wish you would continue making levels for ptd3 I have been playing ever since pokemon ptd was started, and have enjoyed the stories and levels

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the series, but I will be focusing on Cosmoids I hope you will enjoy that as well.

      Delete
  10. Sam, are you going to update ptd2 because the world tournament is to hard, even with a team of lv 110s! And gen 7 would be nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. won't be updating ptd2 anymore, focused on cosmoids

      Delete
    2. world tournament is made easier like 10 times already in the past.
      I beat it way in the beginning when it actually was difficult.

      Delete
  11. So it has been a full month now. When is the next post?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This weekend coming up, I've been working a lot of the story and world building which I want to talk about.

      Delete
    2. Nice! Thats sounds interesting.

      Delete
  12. It seems that PTD 3 recovers it's percent bar. Could it be a devine sign? even if it's not, I have some questions
    1: When you finally finish Cosmoids TD, will you continue PTD saga?
    2: Where we can find Cosmoids TD once the beta comes out?
    3: This is not even a question, all I wanted to say was... dude, I really admire your work. I've have played almost every game of yours since I discover the firest PTD. You bring us for our entertainment. Your game changed my childhood, or, better say, your game IT'S a part of my childhood. I'm a long time fan. When I discovered Pokemon Tower Defense, I always came running to my PC hopping for a new updating. You never failed me, you always fulfielled my expectatives, and I know you will do the same with Cosmoids TD. That's all, we love you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry if my english it's not good enough.

      Delete
    2. 1. No plans to go back to PTD, unless I can do it officially as a licensed product. Which could happen once I have an established studio.

      2. Android/IOS and PC

      3. WOW! That means a lot! I hope to continue surprising you and providing you with entertainment :D

      Delete
    3. I know you will and, again, sorry if my english it's not good enough.

      Delete
  13. Is there going to be Mewthree (or a Mewthree counterpart) in Cosmoids?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It will be more like your nemesis, hope to post more about the story and main characters soon, it will be a big change from pokemon

      Delete
  14. for the character i think u should let the player to decide the look of him/her .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There won't be many options in this game but I will be changing how the character looks from what it is now.

      Delete
    2. I think the character could have some sprites from pokemon

      male: Hilbert from black and white, Ethan from HGSS,
      Red from FRLG

      female: Hilda from black and white, May from oras, Dawn from DP and Pt or instead of Dawn could be Rosa from B2W2

      Delete
  15. sam
    1. do a blog post or at least update this one
    2. can we name our rivals
    3. could you add another region or whatever you call them in cosmoids in the full release like cosmoids gen 2 with new cosmoids at full release
    4. ADD A NEW POST CUS I JUST WANT TO PLAY THE NEXT PROTOTYPE!!!!!
    5. (optional) how do you get the ptd series to an officially licensed product and will cost money to play after

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh no i said "at full release" twice

      Delete
    2. And biggest question ever: where is dan and if theres no dan why is this called sam and dan games

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. and its the weekend
      well it is in england
      i really should put all my info on 1 comment and not 4

      Delete
    5. 1. ok, yes!
      2. Hmm maybe, haven't decided yet
      3. Will try to make it as big as possible given the budget
      4. see 1
      5. Would have to contact the pokemon company with my offer

      Delete
    6. so um you said yes for 1 and 4 so just do it cus i'm running out of rom hacks to play.

      Delete
  16. nice blog, i don't play much of computer games but i like mission games if i do so.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Guys, thank you for this post!
    This is very interesting ideas, but now you need to read this also

    ReplyDelete
  18. I cant catch pokemons in ptd 3. help please

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. do they have a blue health bar that never turns red? Blue health bar means you can't catch them, only ones with green health bar that turns red.

      Delete
  19. I want a mystery gift

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey Sam when is the next PTD3 update coming??
    Love the game an I really want to progress, but I haven't seen an update in a while now!

    ReplyDelete
  21. cant we make lv 100 and who in this game knows surf

    ReplyDelete
  22. you should make the save last longer so you don't have to restart the entire game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What do you mean, the save should last forever

      Delete
  23. do you ever plan to continue PTD3 as its been out for over a year with no recent updates?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Can you make a 25 precent chance to encounter shinies

    ReplyDelete
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