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Work in Progress / Zombie Onslaught Tower Defence

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Talak
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Posted: 26th Nov 2008 17:43 Edited at: 20th Dec 2008 15:22
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Please visit my website and forums for more information:
http://www.whiteanvilgames.com

The Beta Demo is now out and updated to 0.86:
http://www.whiteanvilgames.com/games.html

Quote: "0.86 CHANGELOG
- slightly zoomed out top-view to fit in low resolutions
- faded background in top-view
- fixed resolution switching bug
- game now starts in fullscreen mode by default
- when skipping to next wave, supply points increase by the amount they normally would have if the countdown had continued
- fixed artillery firing bug
- reduced zombie collision radius
- zombies are close together now
- fixed binocular upgrade not being applied if the soldier is upgraded
- balancing tweaks
- added alternate barrier models
- added defensive upgrade models
- added basic special unit models
- fixed new game bug
- fixed minor interface bugs
- zombie health increase per wave decreases slightly each time for better late game balance
- reduced lag from area of effect soldiers
- fixed achievement popups not always appearing

0.85 CHANGELOG
- tweaked teargas and molotov
- fixed sound bug
- added info on how to obtain achievements to the Achievements menu
- can now sell barriers

0.84 CHANGELOG
- added zombie and weapon sounds

0.83 CHANGELOG
- reduced lag
- minor interface fixes
- grenades are now lobbed
- added grenade models

0.82 CHANGELOG
- fixed artillery not being able to be placed under certain conditions
- fixed placement issues
- fixed options screen 'x' toggle

0.81 CHANGELOG
- fixed zombies bypassing maze under certain conditions
- fixed soldiers increasing in damage unintentionally
- health set to 20
- starting supply points set to 150
- supply points earnt per kill reduced
- starting zombie health increased, zombie health % increase per wave decreased
- increased number of zombies per wave
- zombies come out quicker now
- countdown increased to 20 seconds
- fixed bullets hanging in midair
- increased hitbox size"


I'd appreciate any feedback and bug reporting at the forums:
http://whiteanvilgames.com/forum/index.php

Progress
Mechanics: 100%
Graphics: 25%
Sound: 75%

I've had DBPro for over a year, and dabbled in it occasionally. I finally set out to complete a game. Tower Defence games are relatively simple, and great time-wasters, so that's what I've been making.

The prototype is pretty much complete, with unlimited progressively stronger waves, economy, score, and smooth pathfinding with blocking prevention.

Most graphics are placeholders for now.

Some features:
* Military vs. Zombies
* Open maps of scaleable size
* Unlimited waves option
* Upgradeable soldiers
* Defensive and offensive upgrades
* Soldiers also earn experience
* Achievements that give small permanent bonuses
* Special units that affect all soldiers on the map
* Standard, long range, high rate-of-fire, splash, slow, and firefield damage and effect types

It supports all resolutions (minimum 800 pixels wide) and aspect ratios, as well as fullscreen or windowed options. The interface is designed to be 800 pixels wide, so any resolution that is at least 800 pixels wide is supported (this includes 800x480 for older EEEPC's etc).

Edit: Removed old screenshots, see http://www.whiteanvilgames.com/games.html for newer screenshots

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Alfa x
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Posted: 26th Nov 2008 20:51
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It's looking good, I wish you best of luck finishing it.

Do you have videos?

It will have net play?.

Regards.

Alfa X.
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Anonymous User
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Posted: 26th Nov 2008 21:25
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Very nice, but do the zombies attack the soldiers? Would kind of make sense.

???
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Talak
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Posted: 27th Nov 2008 01:05 Edited at: 5th Dec 2008 12:06
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Thanks for the comments.

I don't have any videos, but I could upload a demo soon. I'd like to get a little more done first though.

I'm not planning on net play, though it may have online scoring.

Regarding zombie attacks, I've been considering it. The defensive upgrades I mentioned include sandbags and barbed wire, to prevent zombie attacks. I want to keep the maze aspect.

Edit: I've updated the screenshot in the first post.

Edit 2: Another screenshot. I've added an as yet untextured, unanimated base model for the zombies and soldiers:

Edit: Removed old screenshots, see below for newer screenshots

Zombie Onslaught Tower Defence
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Pbcrazy
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Posted: 28th Nov 2008 23:49
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looking good!

i especially love the blood overlays, adds a nice touch to it.

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Talak
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Posted: 29th Nov 2008 14:57 Edited at: 5th Dec 2008 12:07
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Thank you
I'm planning on adding other little optional effects such as footprints, particle effects, persistant dead bodies etc. I'm considering night scenes with floodlights, not sure yet. Blood will be able to be turned off of course.

New screenshot, with 3d barrier model, the start of the soldier model, and upgrade options beginning to be implemented:

Edit: Removed old screenshots, see below for newer screenshots

Zombie Onslaught Tower Defence
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Talak
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Posted: 3rd Dec 2008 19:12
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Sorry about the double-post, but I wanted to post another update.

The first tier of offensive upgrades is complete, and includes slow, splash and firefield effects, as well as rapid fire and long range.

This adds a bit more strategy to it, for example slowing down the enemy while they walk through a corridor of firefields. There will be a second and third tier of upgrades with progressively stronger effects.

The transparent effects you can see here will be replaced with explosion, smoke and fire effects.
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Talak
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Posted: 4th Dec 2008 19:05 Edited at: 4th Dec 2008 20:51
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All offensive and defensive upgrades are now fully implemented (16 different weapons and 4 defensive upgrades in total). Not too many more mechanics to do now.

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Alucard94
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Posted: 4th Dec 2008 22:07
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Looks awesome!


Alucard94, the member of the future of the past.
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Xenocythe
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Posted: 4th Dec 2008 23:32
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Sounds and looks like its going great. Congratz.

3.11 We do not tolerate posts made for the purpose of putting down another forum member, group of members, religion, our company, our staff or any of our moderators, past or present.
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Talak
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Posted: 4th Dec 2008 23:33 Edited at: 5th Dec 2008 19:40
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Thanks!
I've got the zombie types implemented now, but I'm trying to get randomised zombie types working with Current and Next readouts. It's probably something simple that I'm missing.

Edit: Got the zombie types finished and a few other little things. All that's left on the feature side of things is a menu, achievements, and zombies being able to attack the soldiers. Then I'll probably release a demo while I work on graphics and sound.

I've tested the game on an EEEPC 900 (mini laptop) and it runs steadily at over 40fps (without shadows). So it should be fine on most PCs. All graphical options will be able to be turned off.

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Talak
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Posted: 6th Dec 2008 20:56 Edited at: 7th Dec 2008 22:26
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A few of the 40 achievements that can be earnt:

Being awarded an achievement:


A list of all earnt achievements:


A mouse-over reveals the effects of an achievement:


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Mr Kohlenstoff
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Posted: 7th Dec 2008 16:42
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Quite cool... might be a somewhat dumb question, but are you inspired by Left 4 Dead?
Well, L4D is one of the best games I've played for many years and tower defense is imho the best 'game mode' from Warcraft 3, so I'm looking forward to testing the game anyway.

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Talak
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Posted: 7th Dec 2008 16:47
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No, I haven't actually played L4D yet. I just played a lot of tower defence games until I decided to make my own, and picked a theme.

All that's left to do before it's feature complete is the rest of the menus.

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zzz
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Posted: 7th Dec 2008 19:29
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Wow, this looks really good! Nice work!

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Talak
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Posted: 7th Dec 2008 22:30
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Thanks!

I've updated a couple of achievement screenshots a few posts back.

All that's left to do feature wise (unless I've forgotten something) is to implement the options menu and write a help file. Then it's out with a demo and on to graphics and sound.

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Talak
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Posted: 8th Dec 2008 21:37 Edited at: 8th Dec 2008 21:47
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I've added a website and forum. Link is at the first post or in my signature.

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Talak
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Posted: 8th Dec 2008 21:46 Edited at: 8th Dec 2008 21:47
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Apologies for the multiple posts. Signature is working properly now.

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C0wbox
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Posted: 8th Dec 2008 22:03
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@ Talak
You know to test a sig all you have to do is edit a previous post.

And by the way, I'm intrigued, what do you mean by "Indepentdent" Games Studio? Is it that it's independent of other studios, or is it just you being independent?

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Talak
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Posted: 8th Dec 2008 23:21
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Yeah, I figured that out a little too late

Independent in my case just means that I'm an indie game developer like most other people here.

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C0wbox
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Posted: 8th Dec 2008 23:28
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@ Talak
Ah ok

Thanx
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Talak
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Posted: 11th Dec 2008 04:50
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What are peoples thoughts on demos? The game is now feature complete, all the programming has been done (barring anything else popping up).
Are people willing to play a feature complete demo where some things are still represented by cubes and the enemies slide along the ground? Or would you rather wait until I have some more graphics and sound done?

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The admiral
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Posted: 11th Dec 2008 09:38
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Its prob a good idea to demo now so you can fix any bugs with the logic etc.

The admiral
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Talak
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Posted: 11th Dec 2008 10:36
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The Beta Demo is now out:
http://www.whiteanvilgames.com/games.html

I'd appreciate any feedback and bug reporting at the forums:
http://whiteanvilgames.com/forum/index.php

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White Fang 12
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Posted: 11th Dec 2008 13:56
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Well Talak, its a good game but, i noticed the bullets sometime are stuck in mid air and never go away, Second I had lag 12 fps (No my computer does not stink) i think it because the character models are too smooth, meaning they look rounded, which to me means they have a lot of unneeded polys, all i have to say is make the models less smooth because first of all it's unneeded polys that cause slow down, it you do it right no one will know its a bit blocky because most people don't zoom in all the way.

I'm a noob help will be accepted
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Talak
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Posted: 11th Dec 2008 14:03 Edited at: 13th Dec 2008 03:36
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Thanks for the feedback. That's weird about the bullets, I delete them all at the end of each wave. I must be missing something.
Regarding the character models, they're just stand-ins. I'll reduce them.
Don't forget to check the options menu and lower some settings if you haven't already, especially shadows.

Edit: Hmm, sometimes I get lag, and other times I don't. I tried replacing the zombie models with cubes and the lag can still happen. Try running in fullscreen mode instead, I noticed that moving over a link in firefox while playing ZOTD can sometimes slow things down.

Demo updated http://www.whiteanvilgames.com/games.html.
Quote: "0.82 CHANGELOG
- fixed artillery not being able to be placed under certain conditions
- fixed placement issues
- fixed options screen 'x' toggle

0.81 CHANGELOG
- fixed zombies bypassing maze under certain conditions
- fixed soldiers increasing in damage unintentionally
- health set to 20
- starting supply points set to 150
- supply points earnt per kill reduced
- starting zombie health increased, zombie health % increase per wave decreased
- increased number of zombies per wave
- zombies come out quicker now
- countdown increased to 20 seconds
- fixed bullets hanging in midair
- increased hitbox size"


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Talak
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Posted: 14th Dec 2008 07:50
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Demo is updated.
Quote: "0.83 CHANGELOG
- reduced lag
- minor interface fixes
- grenades are now lobbed"


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tha_rami
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Posted: 14th Dec 2008 12:38
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Those achievements really are added value. Makes such games far more fun .


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Grandma
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Posted: 14th Dec 2008 12:53
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Awesome addicting game. I'm keeping my eyes on this one.

Make the grenades a little bigger perhaps. And the teargas seemed a bit overpowered. I didn't need to do anything for about 30 waves after I bought that guy.

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Talak
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Posted: 14th Dec 2008 15:29 Edited at: 15th Dec 2008 05:33
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Edit: 0.84 had a crash bug, please re-download it for the fixed version.

Thanks
Yeah, balancing is still an issue. Thanks for the report, I'll tweak them a bit.

Demo is updated.
Quote: "0.84 CHANGELOG
- added zombie and weapon sounds"


I'll also be adding info on how to get each achievement to the Achievement menu in a future update.

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Talak
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Posted: 16th Dec 2008 02:26
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Demo updated (http://www.whiteanvilgames.com/games.html)

Quote: "0.85 CHANGELOG
- tweaked teargas and molotov
- fixed sound bug
- added info on how to obtain achievements to the Achievements menu
- can now sell barriers"


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dark coder
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Posted: 16th Dec 2008 05:05
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It's not bad, however I found it way too easy, once I upgraded one of my dudes to the Machine Gun I was pretty much free to make my fortress and in the end I was almost at level 70 and had fully upgraded Sniper and Machine Gun units, most of the enemies barely made it past 5 blocks before being destroyed by my synchronised wall of sniper fire.

One major annoyance was the tooltip caption box at the top of the screen, I only tried it in the default resolution but that box blocked my view for placing units, so at the start zombies got past my barricade when I didn't notice there was an extra layer at the top. Also once I got all my upgraded units I didn't really see a point in having any of the other towers, and the artillery unit was especially useless. Plus I didn't realise the buff tower things were only placeable once and affected all units(most versions I've played they only affect a certain area). Lastly most of the achievements seem a bit excessive, 200 of each unit? isn't that almost the whole playing field? :/

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Talak
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Posted: 16th Dec 2008 07:01
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The game's not balanced yet, I'm working on it.
I've fixed the caption box, thanks.
The ingame help file (Main Menu \ Help) explains the global units.
You earn achievements over multiple games.

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dark coder
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Posted: 17th Dec 2008 15:24
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I just got an error: Object already exists at line 2453, I must have been on wave 80~. But by that time the game was slooooow, you really need to optimize some of the stuff; I found the slowdown was caused by the AOE towers, so removing all my RPGs and flamethrowers fixed that, kinda. Also I tried setting 1024*768 windowed but it never saved it, I had to edit the save file manually to be that res, at least I think it was that res I tried, I can't seem to get it to save over it now. And you also need to make the game timer based or at least optimize it sufficiently, as when I had my AOE towers the game ran at around 10-15FPS which meant the rounds took ages to finish. Anyway I await the next release, as I do like TD!

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Talak
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Posted: 17th Dec 2008 17:15 Edited at: 17th Dec 2008 17:40
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The resolution bug I've already fixed for the next release. You're right, it needs optimisation. Right now the movement is timer based but the rest isn't, so if the framerate drops everything except the zombies moves in slow motion. Here's what I've done so far for the upcoming release:
Quote: "0.86 CHANGELOG
- slightly zoomed out top-view to fit in low resolutions
- fixed resolution switching bug
- game now starts in fullscreen mode by default
- when skipping to next wave, supply points increase by the amount they normally would have if the countdown had continued
- fixed artillery firing bug
- reduced zombie collision radius
- zombies are close together now
- fixed binocular upgrade not being applied if the soldier is upgraded
- balancing tweaks
- added alternate barrier models
- added defensive upgrade models
- fixed new game bug
- fixed minor interface bugs
- zombie health increase per wave decreases slightly each time for better late game balance"

I'm still working on balancing, and I'll get onto the framerate issues.

Edit: Found and fixed the major source of lag.

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Jimpo
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Posted: 18th Dec 2008 19:22
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Besides the balance being too easy, that was a fun demo. The zombies didn't even have a chance to walk past the first grid block! The artillery seemed useless, I didn't even see it fire anything.

My favorite part was the achievements. At first, I thought they were useless unlockables, but then I realized they actually add bonuses to the game. Great idea! Maybe I'll add something like that to my own project.

Dego
SFO
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Talak
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Posted: 20th Dec 2008 15:25
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Thank you Jimpo. The game is harder now, but I'm still working on balancing. Artillery is also fixed.


Demo is updated to 0.86. I'm working on particle effects, which I was going to include once they're done, but I'm going away for a week so I thought I'd release this now; hopefully it will fix most of the remaining problems.

http://www.whiteanvilgames.com/games.html
Quote: "0.86 CHANGELOG
- slightly zoomed out top-view to fit in low resolutions
- faded background in top-view
- fixed resolution switching bug
- game now starts in fullscreen mode by default
- when skipping to next wave, supply points increase by the amount they normally would have if the countdown had continued
- fixed artillery firing bug
- reduced zombie collision radius
- zombies are close together now
- fixed binocular upgrade not being applied if the soldier is upgraded
- balancing tweaks
- added alternate barrier models
- added defensive upgrade models
- added basic special unit models
- fixed new game bug
- fixed minor interface bugs
- zombie health increase per wave decreases slightly each time for better late game balance
- reduced lag from area of effect soldiers
- fixed achievement popups not always appearing"


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Grandma
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Posted: 20th Dec 2008 15:40
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Thanks for the new demo, however I get an error and can't start the game.

Unknown sprite error at line 650

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Talak
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Posted: 20th Dec 2008 15:46 Edited at: 20th Dec 2008 16:00
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Sorry, I'll check it now.

Edit: Fixed, uploading.

Edit2: Sorry about that, it was half-done particle code that I forgot to REM out. It's now re-uploaded.

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Grandma
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Sound does not exist at line 2700
Got it when some zombies made it to the end.
Haha, was some funny sounds before it came to a halt though. Besides the errors that creeped in to the demo, I see much improvement and it's definitely much harder! Nice.

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Talak
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Posted: 20th Dec 2008 17:31
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Thanks for the reports.
I reset the wrong variable for the sound cycle. Sorry once again.
It's now uploaded, hopefully for the final time!
Let me know of any other errors, I'm gone tomorrow for a week.

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dark coder
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The Molotov causes an error when it lands. I also found the game got too hard too fast even with most of the unlocks, maybe I just suck? Also when you go to place a prop that's blocking, if you move stuff around so that position is no longer blocking you find you cannot place anything there. And the stat readouts for the units was incorrect for me, it said the soldiers do 0.0 damage?

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Talak
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Posted: 21st Dec 2008 03:49
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Thanks for the reporting. Molotov fixed, difficulty lowered, placement issues fixed. I'm not sure why it's saying 0 damage, mine seems to display properly. Unfortunately I don't have time to track it down now, but I'll check into it when I get back.
Also, try using the defensive upgrades; the sandbags work fairly well to slow them down slightly, and the wire does a bit of damage, especially if they have to wind around them.

Demo re-uploaded.

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