This may be a necro, but I feel that I need to say something. 2 years of work, only to be beaten out on the front page a few weeks after release to some of the worst games ever made in GE- it sucks. Just know that I still play it, and I'm sure a lot of people do as well, because it's still a very fun game.
I've played this game many times and I'd have to agree with yopeasants that it is in it's far superior to most maps made thus far, and I have yet to find a tower defense map that even stands a chance in comparison. It has a great complexity to the game and an incredible story, but despite this depth is still rather easy to pick up. With that being said, I think the reason people aren't playing it as much anymore is that the replay value of the map has some room for improvement. In my experience with mods on SC1, WC3, and now SC2 I've found that the maps that are popular and keep the people coming back have one of two characteristics (or both).
Firstly that they are fun games to play with friends or other people. Unfortunately I think that solo tower defenses like this don't stand a chance in this category. Personally, I played this game a couple times with different friends to show them the hilarious story and see their reaction to it, but in terms of playing together, now that we all have played the game enough to memorize the story, we have less of a pull towards playing this game over others we can enjoy together. As for how to improve this, I really have no suggestions other than making competition a bigger part of the game, such as providing minerals to the highest scorer on wave X or something.
The second aspect to a game with a high replay value is achievements / unlockables. The game Mineralz has been on the top of the popularity pages for months and it's a game in which you sit and watch for 90% of the game. The reason it's remained so popular is that every hour long game that you sit there and do nothing unlocks a new builder, more powerful perks or so forth.
So my suggestion to keeping the popularity up on the game (if that matters to you, of course) is to come up with some achievements for the game and some things you unlock for playing the game over and over again. For example different builder suits for Lester, more starting minerals, unlockable towers or something of the sort. It would certainly be a shame to see this game drop off of the list, it is hands down the best produced mod out so far, it just needs something to keep people coming back!
I've played this game many times and I'd have to agree with yopeasants that it is in it's far superior to most maps made thus far, and I have yet to find a tower defense map that even stands a chance in comparison.
I'm not hating on the game; it's a good TD. But did you try the TD he gave a shout out to in the end credits?
In the end, replayability is what keeps a map on top; above all else. Which is why so many poorly made maps stay on top. Replayability takes charge over good graphics and an interesting story.
This was the best TD i've played on sc2 so far, the only TD I have ever played that had a true story to go along with it. No offense to Kara, I really liked your wc3 version of ele TD much better; the older edits moreso than the new. Ele TD speaks for itself with its staying power though.
No offense to Kara, I really liked your wc3 version of ele TD much better; the older edits moreso than the new. Ele TD speaks for itself with its staying power though.
I'd appreciate it if you could PM me with why you liked the older edits more than the newer edits. The more detail the better and don't be afraid to offend.
Content consumption is unfortunately an issue for all "single player" maps. People "beat" the game and then they're done. You can do hidden secret endings or achievements or whatever, but that will only go so far. Even MineralZ, stupidly grindy as it was, eventually fell off the front page.
A new content update would result in a temporary popularity boost, but ultimately there's a very limited audience for replaying a map like this. I loved it, played it about 5 times, and then I was done.
For the niche group that does like playing these maps over and over (and all the people who weren't around during the "fame" period and missed out), I think the new Arcade stuff in 1.5 will be a nice boost for that. I'm really curious to see how Open Games play out with a bigger-than-beta audience.
If you played it in wc3. It will become even more boring SUPER FAST. It didnt really bring anything new that it should have when it came to sc2, kind of a shame...
TDs are fun, but there is only so much you want to play them, especially if its practically exactly same as older version.
If you played it in wc3. It will become even more boring SUPER FAST. It didnt really bring anything new that it should have when it came to sc2, kind of a shame.
It sounds like you are referring to ETD. If so, then you probably haven't played in ages. I'd say Wars, Mazing, Heroes, and Teams are quite new and different features. If you meant maps in general, please ignore.
I'm really happy that people are enjoying the game, and what's out there now was my vision for the game and I was only concerned with making a great TD. I did not design the game with the expectation that people would play it dozens of times. I think of it kind of like a summer blockbuster. You go see The Avengers one or more times and it's cool, but you could easily spend more hours watching sports each year - yet no one would argue that watching sports is cooler than The Avengers. Also for the record, The Avengers is a much better 2 hours than playing my map, let's just be clear about that.
I've been on vacation for a few weeks, so I wanted to provide an update on this project.
First - I have decided not to push this game into EU. I plan to only focus on preparing it for the 1.5 patch (a lot of work), and it will be available to EU when the maps become global.
Second - I tried to get this game published to the 1.5 beta a few weeks ago, but there is a terrible new bug that completely breaks the game. I really don't know what I'm going to do if blizzard doesn't fix this bug. (http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/5836263601)
Third - In the very short term, I plan on releasing a fast paced version of this game with all of the story removed. From whenever I can get the game working in 1.5, this fast version will be out a few weeks later.
Fourth - This is the big one. I had always planned to release a new version of the game in HOTS that is exclusively competitive play. I've got about a dozen pages of notes and designs on this already. Players will be able to disrupt each other's parks, steal spectators, gang up on other players and eliminate them. The idea is supposed to be that you're running a business and competing against other tower defense businesses, and you need to run them out of town. There will be at least 30 levels that players can progress through, each one offering new unlockable bonuses. New towers, new upgrades, new facilities, new structures, special abilities, and bonus starting resources.
On top of all this, each game you play will be assigned one of 30 random "mutators" at the start, and the best players will be the ones who can most successfully adapt to the mutator. These mutators can change game rules, give bonuses to the weakest player, make it easier to disrupt the top ranked player, change the way you earn income, or just add a little dose of havoc into the game. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
Congratulations on getting Tower Defense Tycoon featured on Battle.net! I hope that this will get a whole lot more players to experience this wonderful map. You and your work certainly deserve it!
I said before (to Skrow) that a score of 6 million is not possible in this current version... Well, I proved myself wrong. Check it out:
Congratulation jebinitay !
I don't know how you managed to get that much score but hopefuly I will find out.
10 admission without Spectacular Finish feels impossible, unless you are using the double admission on kill bonus, rushing the split towers and the admission improvement.
40k spectators also feels hard to believe, in my best attempt I was able to get 12k by using an heavy spectators strategy (but I had only 5 admission)
My best attempt is only 400k overall value, and you have at least 3.5m...
I guess I will have to try harder !
He is still able to build them - just need to uncheck simplified command card option in game settings.
But yes, the map looks like it has some incompatibility with the current patch. What I mentioned:
1) speeches texts are not visible (intro's too);
2) some avians (before levels with their mutating) may fly above the end of the track, die and then take some popularity as the cost of it;
3) when park security is killed by a zombie there is an explosion but it doesn't any harm to zombies;
4) some font styles look not the same as they were before patch (countdowns for showtime for example).
Not sure if this is the best place for feedback, but I haven't found any other:
There's a bug with enhancement towers (ET) and destroying them. At least with auxiliary towers (AT) that have a focus on another tower, if the ET is destroyed, the AT (and its focus) keeps the ET buff and if you ever try to focus another tower onto the AT, you get an error that it is already focused. I haven't tried destroying the ET with other towers focused or know if it requires an AT with a focus or not, but I was able to replicate it on a subsequent run by doing the same thing.
This may be a necro, but I feel that I need to say something. 2 years of work, only to be beaten out on the front page a few weeks after release to some of the worst games ever made in GE- it sucks. Just know that I still play it, and I'm sure a lot of people do as well, because it's still a very fun game.
I've played this game many times and I'd have to agree with yopeasants that it is in it's far superior to most maps made thus far, and I have yet to find a tower defense map that even stands a chance in comparison. It has a great complexity to the game and an incredible story, but despite this depth is still rather easy to pick up. With that being said, I think the reason people aren't playing it as much anymore is that the replay value of the map has some room for improvement. In my experience with mods on SC1, WC3, and now SC2 I've found that the maps that are popular and keep the people coming back have one of two characteristics (or both).
Firstly that they are fun games to play with friends or other people. Unfortunately I think that solo tower defenses like this don't stand a chance in this category. Personally, I played this game a couple times with different friends to show them the hilarious story and see their reaction to it, but in terms of playing together, now that we all have played the game enough to memorize the story, we have less of a pull towards playing this game over others we can enjoy together. As for how to improve this, I really have no suggestions other than making competition a bigger part of the game, such as providing minerals to the highest scorer on wave X or something.
The second aspect to a game with a high replay value is achievements / unlockables. The game Mineralz has been on the top of the popularity pages for months and it's a game in which you sit and watch for 90% of the game. The reason it's remained so popular is that every hour long game that you sit there and do nothing unlocks a new builder, more powerful perks or so forth.
So my suggestion to keeping the popularity up on the game (if that matters to you, of course) is to come up with some achievements for the game and some things you unlock for playing the game over and over again. For example different builder suits for Lester, more starting minerals, unlockable towers or something of the sort. It would certainly be a shame to see this game drop off of the list, it is hands down the best produced mod out so far, it just needs something to keep people coming back!
Upload to 1.5 beta?
Then EU people and others can try it too (and Ill give you stars for that xD)
I'm not hating on the game; it's a good TD. But did you try the TD he gave a shout out to in the end credits?
Hint: Element Tower Defense
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Curse PremiumJust imagine if YouTD could be remade on sc2...
In the end, replayability is what keeps a map on top; above all else. Which is why so many poorly made maps stay on top. Replayability takes charge over good graphics and an interesting story.
This was the best TD i've played on sc2 so far, the only TD I have ever played that had a true story to go along with it. No offense to Kara, I really liked your wc3 version of ele TD much better; the older edits moreso than the new. Ele TD speaks for itself with its staying power though.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
I'd appreciate it if you could PM me with why you liked the older edits more than the newer edits. The more detail the better and don't be afraid to offend.
Content consumption is unfortunately an issue for all "single player" maps. People "beat" the game and then they're done. You can do hidden secret endings or achievements or whatever, but that will only go so far. Even MineralZ, stupidly grindy as it was, eventually fell off the front page.
A new content update would result in a temporary popularity boost, but ultimately there's a very limited audience for replaying a map like this. I loved it, played it about 5 times, and then I was done.
For the niche group that does like playing these maps over and over (and all the people who weren't around during the "fame" period and missed out), I think the new Arcade stuff in 1.5 will be a nice boost for that. I'm really curious to see how Open Games play out with a bigger-than-beta audience.
@Chiquihuite: Go
Agreed
If you played it in wc3. It will become even more boring SUPER FAST. It didnt really bring anything new that it should have when it came to sc2, kind of a shame...
TDs are fun, but there is only so much you want to play them, especially if its practically exactly same as older version.
It sounds like you are referring to ETD. If so, then you probably haven't played in ages. I'd say Wars, Mazing, Heroes, and Teams are quite new and different features. If you meant maps in general, please ignore.
I'm really happy that people are enjoying the game, and what's out there now was my vision for the game and I was only concerned with making a great TD. I did not design the game with the expectation that people would play it dozens of times. I think of it kind of like a summer blockbuster. You go see The Avengers one or more times and it's cool, but you could easily spend more hours watching sports each year - yet no one would argue that watching sports is cooler than The Avengers. Also for the record, The Avengers is a much better 2 hours than playing my map, let's just be clear about that.
I've been on vacation for a few weeks, so I wanted to provide an update on this project.
First - I have decided not to push this game into EU. I plan to only focus on preparing it for the 1.5 patch (a lot of work), and it will be available to EU when the maps become global.
Second - I tried to get this game published to the 1.5 beta a few weeks ago, but there is a terrible new bug that completely breaks the game. I really don't know what I'm going to do if blizzard doesn't fix this bug. (http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/5836263601)
Third - In the very short term, I plan on releasing a fast paced version of this game with all of the story removed. From whenever I can get the game working in 1.5, this fast version will be out a few weeks later.
Fourth - This is the big one. I had always planned to release a new version of the game in HOTS that is exclusively competitive play. I've got about a dozen pages of notes and designs on this already. Players will be able to disrupt each other's parks, steal spectators, gang up on other players and eliminate them. The idea is supposed to be that you're running a business and competing against other tower defense businesses, and you need to run them out of town. There will be at least 30 levels that players can progress through, each one offering new unlockable bonuses. New towers, new upgrades, new facilities, new structures, special abilities, and bonus starting resources.
On top of all this, each game you play will be assigned one of 30 random "mutators" at the start, and the best players will be the ones who can most successfully adapt to the mutator. These mutators can change game rules, give bonuses to the weakest player, make it easier to disrupt the top ranked player, change the way you earn income, or just add a little dose of havoc into the game. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
Tower Defense Tycoon is finally published in EU!
@SkrowFunk: Go
I played your map... It's AWSOME! Great thanks for this map. Me with friends were very satisfied and have lots of fun.
I have 1 question, can you please write names of songs and artists you used in the map?
We liked epic drum solo, but we couldn't understood what song it was...
Skrow,
Congratulations on getting Tower Defense Tycoon featured on Battle.net! I hope that this will get a whole lot more players to experience this wonderful map. You and your work certainly deserve it!
I said before (to Skrow) that a score of 6 million is not possible in this current version... Well, I proved myself wrong. Check it out:
Congratulation jebinitay ! I don't know how you managed to get that much score but hopefuly I will find out.
10 admission without Spectacular Finish feels impossible, unless you are using the double admission on kill bonus, rushing the split towers and the admission improvement.
40k spectators also feels hard to believe, in my best attempt I was able to get 12k by using an heavy spectators strategy (but I had only 5 admission)
My best attempt is only 400k overall value, and you have at least 3.5m... I guess I will have to try harder !
Gratz SkrowFunk, On being featured. :D
Great feature! Congratulations, SkowFunk :)
right can someone plz send up some pro replay for noobz like me please?
the map seems to be broken since sc2 patch 2.0.4 as f.o.r.e.m.a.n seens to be unable to build the research and design center.
He is still able to build them - just need to uncheck simplified command card option in game settings.
But yes, the map looks like it has some incompatibility with the current patch. What I mentioned:
1) speeches texts are not visible (intro's too);
2) some avians (before levels with their mutating) may fly above the end of the track, die and then take some popularity as the cost of it;
3) when park security is killed by a zombie there is an explosion but it doesn't any harm to zombies;
4) some font styles look not the same as they were before patch (countdowns for showtime for example).
Not sure if this is the best place for feedback, but I haven't found any other:
There's a bug with enhancement towers (ET) and destroying them. At least with auxiliary towers (AT) that have a focus on another tower, if the ET is destroyed, the AT (and its focus) keeps the ET buff and if you ever try to focus another tower onto the AT, you get an error that it is already focused. I haven't tried destroying the ET with other towers focused or know if it requires an AT with a focus or not, but I was able to replicate it on a subsequent run by doing the same thing.