Week of Design

Techno Towers

This week I primarily worked on designing new features to be added to the game as well as providing support for the particle effects pipeline. I came up with ideas for a new map, enemies, towers, terrain types, and relics. I also implemented one of the new terrain types as well.

New Map:

I designed this map intending for it to be the final level of the game and so I made sure to have many areas that would be near impossible to defend using only one or two towers. This was so that the player would be forced to use their ability to move towers as well as plan for future waves. In order to do this without adding too many restrictive can't place tower zones, I created the bulletproof wall terrain type. This was because I wanted to make the level feel open so that the player would have as much freedom as possible so that they are choosing where to place towers and not just placing them wherever they fit.

Terrain Type - Bullet Proof Walls:

These walls were created in order to make it so that the paths the tower can shoot at can be limited without adding huge areas of can't place tower volumes that end up feeling restrictive. They would also increase the complexity behind choosing towers because some towers like the mortar will be able to shoot over it while others can not.

Terrain Type - Road:

This terrain type creates a path on which the player moves faster. The idea behind this was to make a way for the player to be able to move large distances fast without creating a vulnerability where enemies can spawn.

Enemy Type - Elemental:

This enemy takes reduced damage from all but one damage type and increased damage from that type. This enemy can either be spawned as a specific type or be set to a random type. The idea behind this was that it would encourage the player to diversify their towers and to give a reason for the different damage types' existence. It also would encourage tower movement since only specific towers would be able to effectively kill these enemies.

Enemy Type - Coward:

This enemy has an indestructible shield that protects it from all damage coming from the direction of the player. This enemy is intended to engage the player with the combat mechanics by making the player's location an important part of defeating these enemies.

Tower Type - Bastion:

When an enemy touches this tower they are stopped until a health bar on the bastion reaches 0 after which the enemies are able to move again and the bastion's health begins to regenerate. These towers can be placed on paths and have no regard for tertian type. The idea behind this tower was that it would be a way for the player to react to particularly strong waves or to be able to shore up far away but critical paths while the player is busy moving towers.

Tower Type - Accelerator:

This tower would be an extremely large tower that would be placed without regard for paths or terrain. It would have a stream of partials that would damage and push enemies in a direction. It would also push the player giving them the ability to create one-way paths. It would also create paths through cant place tower volumes and bulletproof walls allowing the player to make shortcuts through these areas. The idea behind this tower was to make a way for the player to create their own paths and streamline tower placement in an interesting way.

Relic - Trailblazer:

This relic would make it so every time the player walked over an area they would gain bonus movement speed in that area the next time they walked over it. The idea behind this relic was to encourage players to think in advance about where they will be moving towers to and from and then to streamline that process.