Minimalism Tower Defense by Rubricet

[raw]
made by Rubricet for LD26 (COMPO)
A pretty simple (or you could say minimalist) tower defense game. The game itself is never ending, with the map layout being randomised at the start of the game. Each wave is also randomised among three different enemy types, and you have three types of tower to combat these.

The pathfinding is a little iffy to say the least, but it gets the job done (mostly).

This has been my first attempt at a Ludum Dare, and it's been great!

Both of the download links are the same as I included the source in the original zip.

Edit: Quick extra note: If the enemies become stuck, either at the start or sitting on a gem, it'll mean that their path was broken. Best way to get around that issue is to sell one the tower that broke the path, which is usually the tower that was last placed.

Ratings

Coolness 61% 3
Overall 3.00 721
Audio 2.55 641
Fun 3.15 408
Graphics 2.48 983
Humor 2.12 633
Innovation 2.17 1169
Mood 2.46 962
Theme 3.37 722

Feedback

Tate
29. Apr 2013 路 00:22 UTC
The concept behind this is amazing for a 48 hour compo. Great job in pulling off this much. Very hard, but fun!

The only thing I noticed as a bad thing was that when you build a tower on the bottom of the screen, it's impossible to sell it since it goes off the screens edge. Otherwise, I didn't even notice any REAL issues with the path finding. For the most part, the computer was running over me haha.
馃帳 Rubricet
29. Apr 2013 路 09:34 UTC
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

That issue was an annoying one (the same happens if you build too close to the top and you can't upgrade). Unfortunately I didn't get around to fixing it in time.
MagiMaster
29. Apr 2013 路 10:09 UTC
I ran into a lot of bugs. If you build a tower while the enemies are on screen, they go off the grid trying to update their paths. After a while, it wouldn't let me build new towers and eventually the enemies got stuck in the doorway.
manabreak
29. Apr 2013 路 10:13 UTC
Cool execution, although I think I "broke" it - the enemies didn't come out from the hole, just stood there and my only tower killed them all. :]
馃帳 Rubricet
29. Apr 2013 路 10:29 UTC
If the enemies stop moving, it means that their path has been broken, you can get around it by selling the last tower that you placed (that's usually the one that did it).
Mythalore
29. Apr 2013 路 10:48 UTC
Nice. Very difficult unless you block the entrance, but well made otherwise.
cmayhem
29. Apr 2013 路 11:38 UTC
Very fun, amazing work for this short a period.
One thing: I got stuck between two moving walls, not sure if that is design.
m64
29. Apr 2013 路 12:55 UTC
Very nice game. There is an easy winning strategy where you place an explosive tower at the level entry, however overall this is a great production for 48 hours.
Holofire
29. Apr 2013 路 12:55 UTC
Very nice idea. Matches the theme very well. I did however run into a bug where the enemies kept getting stuck and my towers couldn't reach them.

Nice work for 48 hrs.
Kvisle
29. Apr 2013 路 12:57 UTC
Works fine in Linux, just run it like this;

java -jar LD48.jar


I managed to cover the entrance with a tower, making it impossible to lose.

The UI could use some work, since the circular menu can appear partly off-screen, some choices are unavailable for certain cells.

I like it! Good job.
PushmePullyu
29. Apr 2013 路 13:07 UTC
Good TD game. I wish I had a slowdown turret though, those fast enemies are irritating :3
Covenant
29. Apr 2013 路 13:36 UTC
Nice job... I blocked the entrance and they didn't break down the towers, so they just got shot over and over again...
Sometimes I lost the ability of building new towers, don't know why...
pansapiens
01. May 2013 路 02:12 UTC
I really like the gem stealing variation, and the balance seemed reasonably well tuned (having also done a tower defense type game for my entry and not getting the balance quite right, I appreciate how tricky this can be :) ).
Tyro
02. May 2013 路 15:09 UTC
Well hey, I was surprised that this was the first tower defense game I'd seen for the LD. It seemed like a genre that you could apply minimalism to easily.

It seems a little glitchy at times. The giant red and green spheres will sometimes collide with the wall and just stop, rather than trying to escape with my green triangles. I also couldn't place my tower on one occasion after starting the game. But you know, it's fun when it works. Good going!
cardboard
03. May 2013 路 01:43 UTC
It's like I am composing music as I destroy enemies :D I normally don't enjoy tower defense games all that much, but yours was minimal enough that I didn't have to worry about which towers to get and where to place them. I like the bullets effects. Great game and great job.
Doublecaster
06. May 2013 路 14:23 UTC
This was really good game. I really liked the fast pace of this game. It could have somehow shown how many towers you can build.
Also at some point when I tried to reposition some of my towers I sold one but couldn't build a new one after that.
netmute
06. May 2013 路 14:33 UTC
I'm on a Mac. Sorry :(
jadams
06. May 2013 路 16:15 UTC
There are a few bugs, as people have mentioned already. Also some visual indication of the upgrade level of the towers would help.

A solid tower defense otherwise.