April 26th-29th 2013 :: Theme: Minimalism
Ludum Dare 26 — April 26-29th, 2013
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Linux users (like me !) try the Chrome Native Client build here: http://omgwtfgames.com/wp-content/uploads/games/LD26/web/DEF_NaCl/DEF_NaCl_nacl.html
Def is a tower defence challenge that embraces MINIMALISM, while not forgetting that it should also be a VIDEOGAME.
Point of interest: There are no 'paths' initially. Enemies lay down pheromones (Ph), and tend to move toward high Ph levels so they build their own path. Towers cannot be placed on 'locked' squares with very high Ph levels. Killing an enemy reduces the Ph level of the square it occupies, so enemies have a tendency to rebuild paths to avoid defences.
Instructions:
* Use the mouse.
* Left click the toolbar (left hand side) to select a tower type.
* Left click the map to place it.
* Right click towers for a small refund.
* ESC exits.
Credits: Font is Dusty by dustBUST. SFX with bfxr & Ableton Live 8 (Psynalog Square Bass). Music with autotracker.py.
TwitchTV video (44 hours worth !!) here: http://www.twitch.tv/omgwtfgames/b/396202992 (Update: Video is gone. Who knew, Twitch only keeps them for 4 days - I didn't get a chance to catch the highlights :/)
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 66% |
| #184 | Overall | 3.59 |
| #224 | Fun | 3.39 |
| #225 | Graphics | 3.61 |
| #371 | Theme | 3.73 |
| #374 | Audio | 3.00 |
| #443 | Mood | 3.03 |
| #650 | Innovation | 3.00 |
| #946 | Humor | 1.70 |
Comments
This is really nice - very well made and fun to play. I scored 1560 on my third try, which I suspect is due to the purple tower being a teeny bit overpowered. ;-)
(1560 was when I gave up. I was clearly never going to lose.)
Very nice, very fun to play. And fits the theme perfect. Purple tower is very powerful. Get a few of out and i'm not sure i'll be losing any time soon.
I enjoyed this minimal TD game a good bit. I particularly like the idea of using the pheromone trails to guide the creeps. I managed to survive 329 seconds on my second try and kill about 450 creeps. Definitely could use some further balancing and it does tend to get a bit boring in the mid game until the creeps ramp up their spawn rate.
I thought I had it all figured out and this was too easy once I got a wall of of the higher towers in their face. Nice that they managed to focus fire and start taking me down. Took down 617 of them before they got me though. nice work
The balancing isn't perfect, a wall of purple tower is overpowered, but that was definitively enjoyable.
You should set money amount near towers shop, and give money at the begining. It takes me a moment to understand what to do. Very well done. Congrats :) Done 2666 kills !!
http://imgur.com/DiaNRis
At that point the sound is like something out of a nightmare.
Great minimalist TD game!
Nice game, didn't find it all that easy, but then again, I have no experience with tower defense games... oh well! :)
Awesome! I made it to 27 kills. Love how hard it is and how scarce the resources are. The pheromone trail idea is neat too. The music and audio are great, it is maybe a bit too hard to get anything that feels like victory in the game though.
The pheromone idea is inspired. Isn't that what ants do?
I agree with others about balancing and also that it's hard to know how blue squares differ from purple squares when starting out, but I like its simplicity, and it feels satisfying to play.
Once you know how to def, it's really fun just watching the neon effects. Fantastic.
Once I figured out the optimal strategy, I managed to fill the entire screen. I enjoyed it while it lasted, though.
Really fun game, if somewhat difficult to get into the first few times. You did a great job with the theme, distilling the essence of the tower defense genre.
I also dig the "Monaco" vibe of the graphics.
Congratulations! :)
One of my fav entry so far :) The visuals are awesome. You nicely used the theme, even the title is minimalist :)
A very fun tower defense and giving it high graphics score, thanks for sharing!
This game is really great, couple of ideas, obvious point people have pointed out is the over powered units. Either adjust that perhaps something like stage 2,3..... for when you fully push back the enemy. Would also suggest an audio manager so that when (say 5+) sounds are stacked it doesnt stack any more, epic livid audio stack :D
I love how chaotic it gets as you play it for while. Lovely presentation as well.
Nice game. When I got 2 full lines of turrets it became too easy :p, played untill I got over 1000 kills. Enjoyed it. Good job!
I leave the tower alone a little bit to give my feedback - if you implement two 10$ squares, covering all the area, and then covering all the columns... you win. Simple like that.
But it's very good design.
With a little bit of balancing this would be great. It gets to the point where you pretty much just can't lose if you spam the enemy with towers. Overall really good, though. Nice job!
I definitely like the "pheromone" movements, it adds a nice emergent layer to the game. It's pretty simple tower defence past that, but a well polished and fun take. =)
Pretty cool. Quiet easy but its pretty intense once the enemies start spawing full speed.
A really satisfying minimalist TD. The not-quite-just-blocks art is really polished and appealing; I love the restart flare for example.
I like TD's but I'm not very good at them; for me this is nicely balanced: I don't have to panic and rush at first, but it's not forgiving of poor tactics either. Feels like a genuine distillation of the essence of TD, and I just love the pheromone trails concept.
Nice concept, took me a while to get it but when I did I quickly took control of the whole map, 3000 kills right now and the enemy can't go past first column.
A little hard to understand, too easy when it's done. No way to win? It would have been a great feature ;)
Very fun game. And nice graphics.
At 330s, the monster being really angry.
Really cool game!
I don't typically like tower defense games, but this one was pretty interesting! Liked the pheromone system!
I would post my score, but I could survive indefinitely:
http://www.pacifistgames.com/files/towerDefense.png
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I managed to get to only 26 kills. I've found that the AOE tower seems slightly more effective.
It's a nice twist to tower defense, certainly preferable to having 50+ towers and more enemy types than you can count.