Karawasa

After playing Tower Defense Tycoon I found out that you can survive for 15 minutes without building a single tower. That's the first 10 waves. A similar effect occurs in Squadron Tower Defense. There a leak catcher exists that will get you by for awhile. Element Tower Defense has no such mechanism. You can easily die before wave 10 if you are noob and not playing at the right difficulty. This turns off a lot of players. Why should leaks early game count as much as leaks end game? I'm starting to think they shouldn't. I propose we change this. What comes to mind for me is a progression system. The first 20 waves could count as 0.5, the second 20 as 1, and the last 20 as 1.5. This would allow noobs to survive longer. Top level players will not leak early anyway. Mid game remains the same. End game gets harder! Thoughts? Alternative progression?

Oh how I wish you were right. The truth is that ETD is a more hardcore game. BNET players expect a TD to be casual. I admit that the learning curve can be reduced with better presentation...and I am working with Skrow (TDT guy) on that. But, at some level there is simply nothing to be done without dumbing the game down.

Hotfixed.

Major performance improvements! Changelog: -Reduced map loading time by a significant amount -Changed map lighting for slight performance improvement -Optimized performance in blue's area (Mazing) -Improved Vapor (FW), Infrared (FN), Hail (DLW), Ice (LW), Runic (DFL) Towers performance significantly -Improved Jet (EW), Tidal (LNW), Quake (EFN), Barb (DEN), Poison (DW), Fire Towers performance -Improved Disease (DN), Flooding (DNW), Gunpowder (DE), Earth, Periodic Towers performance slightly -Added a 0.25 second delay between creep spawns (Wars) -Added a 0.5 second delay between fruit spawns (Defense) -Pathing arrows added to indicate creep movement (Mazing) -Pathing dummy no longer blocks placement; slowed its movespeed (Mazing) -Returned starting mineral to 70 (Wars only) -Interest now stops with bounty stopping (Wars only) -Halved mineral bounty for two person teams (Wars only) -Nerfed pure essence mineral bonus to 2.5*wave*wave from 150*wave -Nerfed movespeed bonus, buffed regeneration bonus (Mazing) -Buffed Muck (DEW), Polar (ELW) Towers to 250 damage from 200 -Buffed Incantation Tower (ELN) to 120 damage from 80 -Buffed Jinx Tower (DFN) to 800 damage from 600 -Buffed Nova Tower (FLN) to 150 damage from 75 -Buffed Ion (FLW), Erosion (DFW), Barb (DFN) Towers to 100 damage from 50 -Buffed Forge (EF), Trickery (DL), Well (NW) Towers to 70 damage from 66 -Buffed Life Tower (LN) to 24 damage from 22 -Buffed Pulverize (EFN) to 45% from 40% -Buffed Tidal Tower (LNW) attack to 90 from 80 -Tweaked Polar (ELW) Tower to 500 damage and 1.5/3 AoE from 250 damage and 2.25/4.5 AoE -Buffed Napalm (Hero) to 12 stacks from 8 -Fixed Arbitrage (Hero) giving bounty bonus to all kills

After some discussion and deliberation I am leaning towards 6-2 (#5). Thoughts people?

I wonder if you could do one or two 4 WP that do not change the start and end? I'm mainly looking to preserve those so the three 6 WP are nice for instance. What is your favorite?

Excellent read. I will include some variant of this in the next update.

Changelog: -More XP is now given -Increased starting mineral to 90 (Wars only) -Increased HP growth of bosses tier 1 and 2 (Wars only) -Increased spawn cooldowns in Mazing (Wars only) -Nerfed Quark Tower (EL) to 40 damage from 50 -Buffed Magnify Tower (DF) to 180 damage from 160

Glad to hear it. Thank you! At least games are much easier to fill now .

After months in the making...I present this massive update! Changelog: -Support for Arcade -Implemented Tower Wars mode (2.0) into the game -Implemented Builder Weapons mode into the game -Buffed the creep HP growth exponential (made the game harder) -Tweaked Casual Type countdown timers for a faster game -Added a hero icon for the builder and summoning center for easy access -Remade the hero ability/buff selection pane to be data driven (you will like it) -Camera now starts at the summoning center instead of your builder -Added placement range indicators to towers -Added alerts for vespene and essence gain to the UI -Improved the text for various voting menu options by adding more detail -Increased voting time for the first menu to 60 seconds -Removed bonus vote weight for host -Tweaked Networth calculation to remove discrepancy between random/non-random -Tweaked Napalm to 6 AoE from 4.5 and 50 damage from 70 -Buffed Flamethrower Tower (DEF) to 150 damage from 140 -Buffed Ephemeral Tower (ENW) to 500 damage from 480 -Tweaked Ephemeral Tower (ENW) to -15% every 3 seconds from -20% -Tweaked Mildew Tower (EN) to 40 damage from 35 and 10 range from 12 -Buffed Oblivion Tower (DLN) to 500 damage from 400 -Buffed Forge (EF), Trickery (DL), and Well (NW) Tower ranges to 12 from 10 -Buffed Quake Tower (EFN) base attack damage to 250 from 200 -Nerfed Cannon Tower (DE) to 11 damage from 12 -Buffed Celerity Tower (FNW) to 1 speed from 0.66 and 600 damage from 330 -Nerfed Periodic Tower to 8000 damage from 9000 -Tweaked Quark Tower (EL) to 3 AoE from 2.5 and damage to 50 from 60 -Tweaked Poison Tower (DW) to 0.31 speed from 0.66 and 14 damage from 30 -Nerfed Contamination (DW) to 0.9 gain from 1.2 and 4.5 cap from 6 -Made Orbit (EL) path clockwise instead of counter-clockwise -Swapped position of Focus Out and Focus In on Magnify (DF) Tower -Swapped position of Expand and Contract on Quark (EL) Tower -Buffed Impetus on Hero to 600 base damage from 300 -Buffed Grim on Hero to 300 base damage from 200 -Buffed Napalm (cast) on Hero to 8 AoE from 6 -Nerfed Pulverize on Hero to 4.5 AoE from 6 -Improved map loading time -Fixed incorrect starting timer values on Casual Type -Fixed a performance issue when using Fire Up (EF) and Quark Tower (EL) together -Fixed early wave ending with Team Mode on -Fixed voting menu delay if a player quits -Fixed the Hero being unselectable with drag select -Fixed Fungus Tower (EN) projectile errors -Fixed player name not displaying correctly upon death -Fixed some frequent memory leaks (i.e. performance improvement) -Fixed a rare interest bug upon rematch -Fixed a minor camera error regarding rematch -Fixed the double death message -Fixed the not enough terrazine error message (Hero) -Fixed the healing creeps healing player units -Fixed the hitbox detection for Quark Tower (EL) projectiles -Fixed incorrect starting timer values on Short/Extra Short Mode -Added website to loadscreen -Added WindStrike to credits

Yes, I am to blame. While the SC2 version is more or less mature...there will be plenty of room (35 towers to be exact) for new ideas in the future... Keep the ideas coming!!!

Ok play the newest version on beta servers and see how it feels.

Done! Coming to patch 1.5 beta soon .

I have decided there is a place for upgrades after all. The following will be permanent; Buff attack damage for all your towers by X% (maxed 30%)Buff attack speed for all your towers by X% (maxed 30%)Buff the movespeed of your builder by X% (maxed 100%)Add a X% (maxed 20%) chance to receive double damage to all your creepsNerf the movespeed for all your creeps by X% (maxed 20%) The following won't be permanent; Yamato cannon with 3 second cast time does insta-killRecall (move) all towers in a 3 AoE to your builderCreate a vortex with 3 AoE that lasts for 10 secondsNukes a 6 AoE dealing 33% of Max HP as damageCreate a temporal rift with 4.5 AoE that gives instant build

StarCraft 2 Patch 1.5 is coming out soon. There is a new system for custom maps. We've consistently been at the top with a lot of success. Expect this and a MASSIVE update .

List updated!

This new menu would only be one additional button on the builder. When you click it then a new command card would appear (just like when you build something). Hell, I could just replace the current "Commands" button to the left of "Change Builder" with this new button and then no additional space is taken. I have decided to shy away from the upgrade idea. I don't think anything purchased should be constant for the rest of the game. So this menu will feature 14 different ABILITIES that cost minerals to cast. They don't need to be global anymore (i.e. could target a tower or point). Keep brainstorming!

ETD has come a long way on SC2 (and even more so from WC3). The new modes Wars (Patch 1.5), Mazing, Heroes, and Teams are great. They add a lot of replay value (depth) to the game. I want to continue this trend. But not with a mode... Here I am proposing a new core game mechanic. That mechanic is abilities on your builder. These would cost mineral and would take the form of buffs or nerfs in your area only (no PvP). You would purchase them from a submenu on your builder. This would be easy and streamlined similar to the build tower submenu (i.e. not some stupid pop up dialog). What I need from you guys are ideas of what these abilities could be. They should not be PvP so ideas that affect only you. Ideally we would come up with 14 (to fill the submenu). To get the ball rolling; Buff attack damage for all your towers by 30% for 15 secondsBuff attack speed for all your towers by 30% for 15 secondsBuff the movespeed of your builder by 100% for 90 secondsAdd a 20% chance to receive double damage to all your creeps for 30 secondsNerf the movespeed for all your creeps by 20% for 30 secondsYamato cannon with 5 second cast time does insta-killNukes a 6 AoE dealing 25% of HP as damageCreate a vortex with 6 AoE (sucks in all the creeps) at target point that lasts for 10 secondsRecall (move) all towers in a 4.5 radius to the position of your builderSend target creep back to the spawn pointBlasts a 4.5 AoE stunning creeps for 5 seconds

Here is how the new Tower Wars mode will work... TOWERS SPAWN CREEPS. There is no send menu. There is no target selection. Your towers will periodically spawn creeps for everyone. Elements are given every 2.5 minutes. Creeps gain 10% damage reduction every 5 minutes (max 50%). Creeps gain 150% HP every 5 minutes (max 900%). Refer to the attached document for creeps spawned by specific towers. All other towers spawn normal creeps with armor = damage type. Pures and Periodic spawn Fruit (that don't evolve). Each tower has its own timer to spawn a creep. Tower enters play with timer on cooldown. Different timers for different tiers of towers. Timer is really an autocast ability so you can disable autocast and sync your spawns. Mineral gain and interest work just like the main game. Higher tiers of the same tower spawn the same creep with 5x HP (except Ray/Grenade 3x, Pure 15x). Base HP for Ray/Grenade is 3, Single Element 90, Dual 270, Triple 1350. Ability Mapping.doc

It has been proven time and time again that TDs are popular. If we continue being the most played TD then we can expect to be near the top.

The beta is cross-realm. I'm not sure if that will continue when it goes live.

We are owning everyone in the beta. Consistently #3 most played and #4 highest rated. Tournament on hold until patch 1.5 goes live.

The beta was just released to the public. They added the Open Games List!!!

Changelog: -Added command to toggle fullscreen (-hide/show) -Fixed game breaking error after rematch with non-mazing -Fixed double click error in voting menus -Fixed double player eliminated message -Fixed pure essence bug in rematch