Hero Tower Defense Tuesday: Day 7! Talents, Kevin's Blog and game progress.

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Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Tuesday!


Sketch of logo


Go here to read the Day 6 of Hero Tower Defense Tuesdays.

Sam again, working hard on the PTD update which is why this came so late.  I will continue talking about the talents and elements in this post plus give you guys an update on where the game is in programming so far.


If you haven't read last week's post then you will probably be really lost so I suggestion you give that a quick look and then come back to read this.


First a lot of you commented on adding more elements to the mix and while that may be possible we want to keep it pretty simple at first and then in the future possibly add more elements as we go. Today when I explain the talents more you will see why we want to keep it at 5 elements for now.


Okay so in HTD the elemental talent system has some pretty unique features.
  • Every character gets the same elemental talent tree, regardless of what you pick.
  • Regardless of what element you are attuned to, you can pick skills from any element. (If you are attuned to Fire you can still pick up water element skills or shadow element, etc.)
  • Skills are separated by Physical and Magic and then by elements. (See picture below)

Mock up of Elemental Talent Trees
  • You can get special combination of moves by fulfilling the requirement of that move. Combination moves are special moves that sometimes give you a different version of the original move or a move that will trigger a special effect on a previous move. An example of this is a Tier 2 Magical Fire move that will create Magma Armor for your character, if you get a Tier 2 Water skill then it will unlock the combination move for the Magma Armor which is dousing the Magma Armor cooling it down and turning it into a Magma Stone Armor. The Magma Armor will help against magic while the Magma Stone Armor helps against physical attacks. In the picture below the requirement for Tier 1 Fire is to get any Tier 1 Light Move. You can see that now the combination move for Fire is unlocked. Note: Combination moves are free and don't cost points.
The combination requirement for Tier 1 Fire is Tier 1 Light, the combination move for Fire Tier 1 is unlocked.
  • You will get 15 points to work with once you reach the highest level in the game. You can go pure on an Element and it will unlock an Ultime move that you can use your last point in.
Using 7 Points on Fire Physical and 7 Points on Fire Magical will unlock an Ultimate Fire Move (not pictured)
  • Putting 3 points into all the elements will unlock all the combination moves for all of them, this will get you more versatility. Doing this will unlock a special move that will be free. But not as powerful as an Ultimate Pure Elemental move.
Putting 3 points into every element will get you the most elemental skills, and will unlock a special move for free (Not pictured on this mock up)
  • Other special arrangements like putting 7 points in one element and 7 points in a different element will give you an Ultra move. Also putting 5 points in 3 different elements will unlock a special move.
I know this is a lot to take in and it might be hard to understand without being able to play with it but this is the most we can offer right now.
With this system you can create a character as you see fit, do you want him to shoot fire balls and be able to heal with water? Go for it. Want to be a pure Shadow Master? Go for it. Want to be a pure physical machine? Go full physical fire and shadow. There are so many possibilities to what you can do! But we aren't done yet.

You might be thinking well what about classes? While the Elemental Tree system will let you go wild and create your own special class, there is also a Specialization Tree that you will get access to. The Specialization tree will allow you to pick more specific abilities both passive and active to your character. These will be more restrictive in that they require certain points to get them. When you put a point in the physical side of the Elemental Tree you will get a Physical Specialization Point that you can use in the Physical side of the Specialization Tree, same with magic. The specialization will help you define you character more with categories such as Defense, Stealth, Healing, Damage. Want to be a powerfull mage that can take hits like a tank? Well you can! Gone are the days of picking a class and being tied down to what you can do, we hope you will enjoy this system and help us fine tune it as we move forward.

Let's talk about our great artist, Kevin, for a little bit here. Kevin came to Dan and I requesting that he wanted to make his own blog that focuses on the art for Hero Tower Defense. While at the beginning we had our doubts on the whole idea, we finally decided to try it out and see how it goes. So click here to check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD. On top of that we will be posting small summaries each week here about what's going on in his blog so that you don't miss a thing. So go check it out!

The last thing I wanted to talk about is how the programming is going for HTD. A lot of you keep asking when the game is coming out, and while the game is not close to being ready I will update you on where we are now. Each week I will provide an update.

I'm actually re-writing all the code for HTD using PTD as a reference. I have learned a lot from PTD and using all those lessons to make the code in HTD even better. HTD is also more detailed graphically so it requires more detailed code for attack effects. For example in PTD the pokemon will just tackle and hit the target in the middle of it. In HTD your character will move infront of the target and then swing it's swords. These differences make all the difference as far as presentation and code.

Work in Progress Picture, two characters attacking the dragon whelp.
Disclamer on the Picture above: We aren't going to have 10 units at once, only 5. I have 10 there as a previous test.

So that is what we have so far, the characters can be put on their spots and will attack an enemy that is going around the path. We are tweaking attack code and looking at how we can make the action easier to follow.

So which element will you choose?

That's what we have this week for Hero Tower Defense. As always let me know what you think!

Comments

  1. First, which elements will you choose?

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  2. I initially want to say fire because that is my usual element, but I want to experiment with the various elements to determine my favorite build.

    Are the points locked in place once assigned or can you arrange before each map to experiment different possibilities for various maps?

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  3. OMG!!! hopefully 2nd or third!!! this has never happened in my life!!!!!!!! :D

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  4. anyway, possibly 3rd or fourth!!! hehehe...
    i like this game's plans. i forgot to add this on my previous post for i was excited...

    so how will we get those units? will it be a normal "buy them" or like a unique idea, such as PTD?

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  5. I say HTD2 should introduce Steel and Dark types. Also shinies.

    Shame on you if you don't get the reference.

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  6. @Sly - I would think that you can pay a fee of some sort to rearrange them, but it won't be something that you will be expected to do constantly.

    @pokeman - More units will join your party as you play the game and you can customize them as you see fit.

    @Kevin - :)

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  7. @sam or Dan

    are you going to add a job upgrade system. For example you can upgrade a mage to fire, water light, dark or nature mage by doing a quest. You can still add all element skill points but you get an attack boost in the element you pick(like STAB in Ptd) but if you don't finish any quests (stay normal mage) you don't get a boost.

    Btw possibly 7th

    ??? (???? in ptd trading center)

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  8. Replies
    1. sam i want cherygrove city 2 be open

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  9. A fee would be very nice. It would maintain the rigidness of a real person roleplaying where ability scores, skills, and feats are unchangeable once selected; but also include the ability to experiment character build found in various video game rpgs. :)

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  10. Wow. My mind is blown. Never thought I'd see magic combinations in a video game, and good combos at that too!

    Ah well, at least the second strongest magic is free. Can't wait to see the Ultimate magic.

    A mage with a knight's defense. Ha! Only when cats leave rainbow trails! *Nyan cat passes by* O_O

    Still though, to think I can create the ultimate mage/myrmidon/knight/archer/soldier/fighter by tweaking around with the specialization tree! Sounds a heck of a lot better than class changes in Shadow Dragon (stupid dark mages...). Heck, the Mario and Luigi series had something like that to help distinguish/balance out the two brothers. Now if only we could apply a system like that in other RPG/tactical games. Then maybe some units wouldn't fail so hard! *glares at Micaiah*

    Good for Kevin getting his own blog! I'd like to see more of his art on the interwebs.

    Baw...I was hoping to get an uber army out there to smite mine enemies. Ah well, I'll half to settle with five uber units instead...

    Good to know that you're building off of PTD Sam! Should make HTD that much better! Not that it wasn't good in the first place but...um...I'll just leave now...

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  11. Cool tree system, it will become more clear once people see the actual combos working, but so far seems good =)

    About the respects, as I suggested some weeks ago, I think I'd be cool and more RP'ish that the fee to respect would be a quest or a chain of quests (well the suggestion was previously for the main element choise but lol)

    And I bet a lot of fire will come out =D

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  12. if there is a hunter/summener class will they then have pets? and will the pets stand on the hunters side or will they need there own spot?
    also will there be holiday events such as Christmas?

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  13. @Chris Tan - Thanks, I'm also looking forward to finding what talent spec will suit me best :)

    @Gon - Yeah that would be pretty good.

    @Hmm - They would probably not take up a spot. Christmas? Maybe lol I don't know yet.

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  14. Cold!
    If you add it and acid. If not, probably one element for each character.

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  15. yes 15 looking forward to finding bugs also sam what do you use for programming and I'll choose hmmm hard choice i can't decide what type :(

    bugfinder

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  16. i wanna be a ninja/assassin with light light and MORE light

    am i 16th?

    lux

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  17. would you have like... 3 things on 1 account like ptd makes it easy to choose elements

    lux

    (again)

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  18. LOL I swear I'm not Hmm ahaha posting right after me about pets =P

    @Sam even tho I understand why you don't want to fill a spot with a pet, the position of the pets (for the ones that are not just decorative) may/could enter the strategy of one... no?

    ps: But I do like the way you think, mr/ms Hmm

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  19. I sincerely hope we'll get at least 5 save slots per account. I want to achieve ULTIMATE POUWER for every element!

    Otherwise, I think I'll go with mono-Fire and mono-Earth (maybe mono-Shadow).

    Props on the artwork ;)

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  20. I would pick Shadow or Water.

    AND is there going to be leveling?

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  21. fire element

    what program you use to make games? I want to create two more new games I do not know where to please respond.

    brasil

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  22. @ Hmmm - If I had to go out on a limb and guess (translation: -do not- quote me on this) there wouldn't be holiday events until next year. Come this holiday I imagine I'll still be hard at work on the foundation of the game, and I don't know if we'll want to derail that for the sake of some Santa hats or something.

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  23. @ Sam
    thanks for the info.

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  24. I'd probably choose a utility element, i dont know with one yet :)

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  25. water & ice =]

    -chan-

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  26. i would pick water and fire

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  27. Got a sweet idea! What if on release day of HTD we get 5 SND coins if we beat the level/levels. Also Sam this one for PTD could you make a chance for instead of Pidgeys and stuff with breeding moves like 1 SND coin (or just even add it with the chance of a shiny starter). That would be cool.

    I think I will choose a utility element.

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  28. Suggestion: on the very last picture with the gray 'empty' slot things, you could change the font to one of the less simple ones (one that matches the super-cool art style) and change the weird background gradient to a solid color or something.

    Sorry, it just really ticked me off when I was playing PTD and it looks kinda tacky against Kevin's art style. I don't mean to be rude or anything. Blarg.

    -Mr. Roboto

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  29. @Mr. Roboto - Please keep in mind that we will be posting a lot of work in progress pictures. All the ui stuff you see there is placeholder.

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  30. @sam
    you should add equipment that we buy or find so each person has 1 armor and 1 weapon and the weapon/armor increase/decreases certain stats and have elemental armor/weapons so armor would limit the damage from certain elements and weapon would increase attack of certain element and add a mixing station so you can mix random items or weapons and armor to create new ones and better ones, ex:mix bland armor with diamond to create diamond shield-increases defense alot but lowers speed

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  31. @Sam
    Did you stop PTD for HTD in this week?

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  32. @sam

    Will we only get 1 tree or separate trees for each character.

    ??? (???? in PTD trading center)

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  33. i was reading these messeges and some ppl sound like they played HTD and i was wondering " is it out yet?"

    so i would be happy to know that question


    -snowman

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  34. I don't believe HTD is out yet. I actually came here to ask if Sam had an estimate of when it might be out.


    P.S. Keep up the work guys, PTD is amazing and Im sure HTD is gonna be just as good/even better.

    ~Zack


    P.S.S I should really get an account to post on here regularly.

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