To veterans of tower wars games in general, it's known that income is a flawed system, no matter how it's done. Whoever manages to abuse income the most while using minimal defenses that are enough to beat anything automatically wins. For Element Tower Wars, it may be a little different in that it's not permanent, but now it's a huge problem between balancing income and killing creeps. While the balance for it probably does exist, the addition of income and spamming creeps to win for EleTW makes it feel like a generic Tower Wars game, and as a result, the elements part feels like a gimmick. Technically, all of the depth and strategy is still there, but it's hidden and subdued under the force of "income".

Unfortunately, income is currently the best system for tower wars. But if it's flawed, that means it's possible for something better than income to exist - instead of taking 20 something matches to figure out that ultimate combo that can't be beaten and everything calculated, it'd be a game that has lots of different strategies and combinations, just like how the original EleTD set a new standard for Tower Defense games. Ideally, it would allow for simplicity with lots of depth. Easy to learn but hard to master (ex, see Hero Attack, very easy map to pick up).

No one has come up with a better system of income... till now. I'm asking this community to come up with the successor to income and tower wars games. Something that can compliment Element Tower Wars such that the original gameplay is still there without feeling like just some extra feature. Note that by changing the income system to something else, it could change the entire thing in that you wouldn't send creeps in the same way. Post your suggestions here, be it random, outlandish, crazy, or even if you think it's not gonna work. All ideas are welcome, and quite frankly, it's probably the only way to come up with something better.



(I'll put up random ideas on my end later.)

<What about Generator Towers, that just add some money every few seconds. so players can decide to invest in getting more BOOM or more economy

That's pretty much the same thing honestly. Think about it - in standard Tower Wars games, you send creeps, thus increasing your income. By creating a tower that gives you money over time, it's essentially the same thing as sending creeps to increase your income, except without the creeps. However, it were a controlled boost in money - say sacrifice 500 gold now and get say 750 a few rounds later, it would result in more BOOM rather than a steadily growing economy (or in income terms, an exponentially growing economy). Actually, that sounds kinda cool. I can easily see it abused, but if the game has it so that someone can send a surprise attack and catch you during that time where you have a decrease in gold and you need it, you may have just screwed yourself over.

I did some thought on this over the last few months, and while I haven't come up with a successor, I did think of a few ways for it to work. One, there is a map called Runecraft, where you have two resources - ink (like minerals) and income. That's right, in that game, income is a resource. In order to get higher research upgrades, you have to actually spend income and sacrifice your growth in economy. Two (something this game also does), make income global. Everyone gets the same amount of income and it increases gradually over the course of the game. I'm not going to go into how good the game is or not, but it is an interesting concept that I think should be worth checking out.

Another thing is that the current design of a Tower Wars game is based around sending creeps and gaining income. That said, a successor to income would mean a new design. Example, the towers you build end up sending the creeps passively over time (it is quite annoying to spam the creeps button as fast as you can), and the creep is different based on the tower built. Also, in the way that enemies get progressively stronger each round in a tower defense, the same should apply for a tower wars game. Every minute of the game may cause a 10% increase in health or some other effect.

Do keep the ideas coming in, and don't limit it to the current design of Tower Wars either.

There is a small gold goblin running arround, when he takes damage you get money.

You only get gold for killed creeps, you can send creeps to yourself.

<.<

Meh I don't know. I tried to think about it, but I didn't come up with something original that could also be a fitting gameplay.

I tried asking someone that didn't know what a Tower Wars map actually was. His answer ended up being the wrong answer for the current version, but it did bring a few new ideas to the table for a potential new map.



Plus the few concepts we have right now... I'd say this might do something. I'm going to try and ask some more people that have little knowledge of Tower Wars and see what answers I get.


EDIT: Some more quotes from random people I asked.





Then I told this next guy the basic concept and flaws of the game. This is what I got.




I'm getting some pretty good results, and that's just a few minutes of asking. I'll be sure to keep asking more people.

not about income but another food for thought,

at the moment u can unlock different builders by getting score ingame.
maybe we could use some kind of builder/spell/tower shop that works with that score as currency and sells spells and towers that then are usable ingame.

i guess scorefarming leads to more commitment to the game

Any ideas are accepted really. I dunno who will make the map... I just posted here cause well uhh... this is the best TD game I've played and this is the only SC2 map community I'm active in. Could try to convince Karawasa, no guarantees especially with him still continuing to refine EleTD and whatnot. Honestly, I'd wait till Heart of the Swarm is out before asking someone to make and develop it, because by then, the new map sharing system will have been out for a few months, and that could dramatically change how things currently are. If anyone else here is good at map making and would be willing to give a shot, go for it, but until that new system is out for a few months, we'll just continue with the general concept design fomulation of ideas and whatnot.




Gold goblin idea would actually work pretty well, especially if there's something similar to interest abuse, aka selling your towers and rebuilding them. A little guy running between waves would provide incentive to keep your defenses.



I'm suddenly thinking of Warcraft 3, lol. So a second resource in addition to the standard gold resource that's based more uhh... awards for doing specific things? That could be fun.



Hah, here's an idea for a Tower Defense game in general (actually, this borrows off a map concept I had for Starcraft 1, one that I'd make in SC2 if I had the skills). A bunch of players start on a large map with creeps spawning constantly from the middle. You have a starting area at the edge of the map that has a building you must protect from the incoming creeps. Strategically, this is the best position on the map, but you only have the basic towers and it's not a large area, so with only that, you won't hold it for long. However, you can expand outwards and build towers in positions adjacent to any position you control.

By capping and controlling a new area, you gain access to a new type of tower. Additionally, a defense mechanism building pops up for that area. The creeps then have to break through that defense before moving on, but keep in mind a new position will only cover one side, whereas creeps are coming in from multiple directions. The more areas you control, the larger area you have to defend, but the more tower types you gain. If a defense mechanism falls, all towers of that type will get a damage nerf (say, dealing half damage) until you take control of that area again. The closer you get to the middle, the stronger the tower you get (moreso by its ability, not necessarily its actual damage done).

Of course, there are other players. You may have trouble expanding due to a player blocking your way on the other side. I suppose each area also provides a new offensive option, whether it's a global creep bonus or something player specific. You would not be able to target players that you can't see (aka, only the ones right next to you). Expanding into another player's area can grant you control of their positions, but that makes you potentially weaker to the oncoming waves and a bigger threat to other players that come in contact with you.

Resources are acquired for killing creeps. Additionally, if a player dies with the creeps that killed him under the influence of an ability you used, you also get a good gold bonus.

To win the game, you must reach the center, cap the zone that spawns the creeps, and then hold that zone for five minutes. While the spawn zone is under your control, you control the creeps the spawn, but there is still a defense mechanism for the middle, and the creeps that are spawned DO go after that. The control you get over the creeps only refers to the types of creeps that spawn (probably by toggle). They get stronger and stronger over time as well. Now if you're in the middle, that means that most other players in the game will have the ability to target you in some way and make the creeps super powered in your areas. More than likely, you'll lose some zones and some of your towers will weaken, hopefully with the intent that your defense mechanism will fall and someone else can cap it. Every time the defense mechanism in the middle falls, the time required to hold the middle falls by a minute until it drops to 1 minute cap time.


Sound good? If you want, I can post my Conquests map design here as well, which is what this was based off of.