The Mad Piper by psychic_ash

[raw]
made by psychic_ash for Ludum Dare 46 (COMPO)

A tower defense game where you defend a village from invaders. These invaders are bent on kidnapping the children of the town and taking them off to an unknown fate. Protect the children, keep them alive.

I made the game in game maker studio 2, using aesprite and the internal image editor for the graphics. I used sfxr and chiptone for sound effects. I used chrome musiclab for the music. I used dr. pepper for energy and tylenol for my headache. :P

Second LD. Happy to be a part of it.

Edit: Fixed the bug with the cannon tower. It would crash when searching for multiple targets in the blast radius to do damage to. It works as intended now. Reuploaded to itch.io with only the minor bug fix

Another Edit: Fixed a bug with the building mechanic's cost feature. There was a typo with one of the towers so it would crash if you canceled building and it tried to refund the "csot".

Ratings

Overall 941th 2.9⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Fun 932th 2.686⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1022th 2.429⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 943th 3.029⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 980th 2.514⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Audio 695th 2.652⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 787th 2.107⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 981th 2.328⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Given 32🗳️ 40🗨️

Feedback

slimabob
20. Apr 2020 · 03:25 UTC
This is a really cool way of making a unique tower defense game that fits the theme! I like the artwork, and it was cool to see the sprites full-sized on the instructions page (I think the last sprite is the best one!) Great work on your entry :)
Shouji
20. Apr 2020 · 03:56 UTC
The idea of having the enemies walk back the way they came is really cool! I just wish that there was more freedom in placing towers, but I loved your game!
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 04:06 UTC
@slimabob Glad you liked it. That last icon was the one I was most proud of :)

@shouji Thanks, I wanted to randomize where you could put the towers and add a balance in later levels between expanding the village or taking up space with towers but I wasn't able to get it in time :( I do plan on working on this project to knock off my todo list. But I am glad you enjoyed it
Ioan Pop
20. Apr 2020 · 04:45 UTC
Really unique take on the TD games! Loved the graphics. I actually had a nightmare about babies last night so this is giving me some flashbacks :P
gamurmakesgems
20. Apr 2020 · 04:51 UTC
![error.png](///raw/0dc/62/z/2d0df.png)
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 04:52 UTC
@gamurmakesgems I'm on my phone atm, but I will take a look at that first thing in the morning. I had run into that error once before but I thought I had fixed it. Hmmm. I'll look further into it.
ForeverTrash
20. Apr 2020 · 04:54 UTC
Amazing job for your 2nd ludum dare. Awesome little 8-bit graphics, some nice audio, and a good concept. Had me playing for a while got to level 6. Definitely more intricate than other tower defense entries!
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 05:08 UTC
@forevertrash thanks for the comments. I really appreciate it.
Retti01
20. Apr 2020 · 08:52 UTC
Goog job. Good concept. One of the vest tower defense in here.
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 12:46 UTC
@retti01 thank you so much :D I appreciate it.

@gamurmakesgems bug has been squashed. Thank you for bringing it o my attention.
Artylo
20. Apr 2020 · 15:09 UTC
Fairly simple TDF game, with a unique spin on it. I don't really see the enemies going anywhere but the first building and just going back to the start, so no point in really having any towers outside of the first few slots. The first tower doesn't really seem to do much, even when I had 5 of them, they could barely take an enemy down. Maybe also zoom the game in.
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 15:40 UTC
@artylo yeah I so wanted to add a camera/view on this but I ran out of time. I plan on updating this through the month and that's one of the things on the list to do.

NOTE: I realize that doesn't help us here today though :P
Cameron Borthwick
20. Apr 2020 · 16:57 UTC
Game could be more difficult, waves seem to not increase in intensity very much. Nice art and sounds though and good use of the theme. well done.
mehrdadsh
20. Apr 2020 · 17:11 UTC
nice stuff man
niterich
20. Apr 2020 · 18:26 UTC
I think you have a great start to a video game here, but it could use some more playtesting. I found I could easily win by putting down nothing but archer towers, and that I couldn't defeat a single enemy with bombers because they're so slow and weak.
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 18:29 UTC
@cameron-borthwick - I had started to incorporate subwaves to a level and increasing difficulty from there. There just wasn't enough time. Story of the jam for most people right? I added my trello to the itch page and I'm planning on updating it over the next month. I really enjoyed working on it.

@mehrdadsh - thanks I appreciate it :D

@niterich - Thanks, yeah the balance is way off. I'm hoping to remedy that over the next month.
metalfist213
20. Apr 2020 · 20:04 UTC
I like the idea with the kidnapping. I think the music is a little monotone, but I like the sound effects.
Efmi_
20. Apr 2020 · 20:07 UTC
I placed the first couple of towers with the starting money, and then waited for the difficulty to rise up, which it didn't. Every wave died to the towers I placed at the start and the game didn't progress almost at all. I loved the graphical style, and the music and sound effects fitted in well. I think with more difficulty and progression this game could have been something really interesting.
stmatn
20. Apr 2020 · 20:32 UTC
Nice game. I like the graphcs, but the game is not very hard. It would be nice, if the difficukty would increase over time. The enemies could for example have more and more hitpoints.

I got the following error twice in the following situation:
* I had a basic tower placed
* That basic tower was selected
* I was in build wizard mode
* Mouse over the basic tower
* Right clicked mouse

![Unbenannt.png](///raw/484/1/z/2e2f2.png)
Lestat
20. Apr 2020 · 20:40 UTC
Cool game. Good job!
Clayton Does Things
20. Apr 2020 · 20:49 UTC
Made very well. Just really easy.
Clayton Does Things
20. Apr 2020 · 20:49 UTC
Made very well. Just really easy.
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 21:13 UTC
@metalfist213 thank you for the comment. Yeah, music is weak point. I don't really have a good ear for great music. Working on it though. I will continue to focus on that.

@efmi Yeah, I was not able to appropriately balance. I should have added more soldiers per round or beefed them up a bit. I plan on fixing that and adding to it over the next month.

@stmatn I had a partial wave script written but wasn't able to finish it. At the moment, every round another enemy gets added to the horde that's approaching. I realize after playing it a bit and hearing from comments, this very much needed an increase. I will address in future updates over the next month. Also, I apologize for the bug. I looked and that was a simple typo. I hate how that stuff sneaks in there sometimes.

@lestat thank you :D

@clayton-does-things Thank you for the compliment. I really wish I had had the time to balance it.
🎤 psychic_ash
20. Apr 2020 · 21:18 UTC
@efmi thank you btw for bringing the bug to my attention. I fixed the typo and it should be resolved now with the new version on itch. I appreciate your help.
Baconinvader
21. Apr 2020 · 01:34 UTC
Pretty sweet! Just wish there was more stuff, oh and also a way to remove towers that you place.
bereg
21. Apr 2020 · 13:06 UTC
The game is easy enough (or I didn't wait long enough for some rough enemies). It lacks some functionality like destroying and selling towers to place more powerful. I like the art and sprites are looking great.
Arinyl
21. Apr 2020 · 17:34 UTC
Pretty cool game! I'm a bit sad that we can't destroy already placed towers to put others, but apart from that it was good!
hyunkelw
22. Apr 2020 · 14:46 UTC
it's a nice idea but having the enemies go back after kidnapping the babies, not being able to destroy towers after putting them and the general balancing doesn't make the game really challenging, so it gets boring quite fast. But, on the bright side, you did it all by yourself and within 48h, and that by itself deserves prais! Plus, there's a lot of room for improvements ;p keep it up!
🎤 psychic_ash
22. Apr 2020 · 21:17 UTC
@baconinvader thank you for your comment. It is on the to do list. So many things I wanted to include... sigh. I'm glad you enjoyed the experience for what it was.

@bereg Thanks, I've been working hard on my sprites. I'm glad you liked them. :D

@arinyl I'm with you, I wish I had prioritized that a little higher on the list. But it was one of the things on the todo list that got cute due to time.

@hyunkelw thank you!!! Yeah, this was my first compo and frankly, that 24 hours makes a HUGE difference. Thank you for your kind words. I am proud of what I was able to accomplish, especially at my skill level and by myself.

For everyone: I have added my todo list to a devlog. I wish I could have added more of the features to the game during the two days but alas I did not. :D Thank you all so much for playing my game.
elysiagriffin
09. May 2020 · 19:42 UTC
Thanks for submitting your game for me to play on my livestream!

If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/615937007?t=3h33m20s

Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D

💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady

https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin
🎤 psychic_ash
10. May 2020 · 05:13 UTC
Thanks for playing it @elysiagriffin Wish I had gotten more challenging content in it and at least some button feadback. I'll keep that in mind next time. :D