For my research I am going to look into a range of tower defence games such as bloons, curse treasure get your hands off my gems!, age of war, bloons and plants vs zombies from these I plan on finding what makes these games successful and what qualities I wouldn’t use in a game for given reasons. I am also going to look into the focus of the tower defence game which will be evolution and growth, because of this I’m going to look into games movies and books that feature evolution.
Evolve
Evolve is a game that is based around growth and evolution, in game the character can start by being a small weak creature that has to fend for its self to gain energy to evolve, to do this it must face against weaker monsters and avoid those that are stronger that itself, however the monster is able to evolve very quickly, this both changes its size and strength showing how much evolution can change a creature. The game allows the player to both play the monster and the hunters who are after the monster this makes the game more interesting with its concept of evolution as depending on which team the player is fighting on makes quick evolution either a burden or an asset. Because of how this game is hugely impacted by evolution a has a range of effects that are determined by the evolution of the monster such as who fears it and its traits these features would be a good idea to look into for my game, even if the player will not be able to play as the enemies in the game that I am going to help create, the players evolution will affect the ways that the enemies work as they too will need to evolve to keep up with the player.
After playing the game evolve I saw how evolution and growth can have a huge impact on a game; in the game after a player has evolved everything changes as they grow larger and much more powerful and so becomes a much stronger opponent, from this in the game that I’m going to make I’m going to make sure evolving makes a huge impact with the player, this will be by changing the characters appearance, speed and size, this will also have other effects, this is because after playing evolve I found that it was fun because when the player evolve they truly felt that they had gotten more powerful and more fearsome, because of this the player should be able to constantly tell that because they have evolved their character has changed and become better, such by the difference in the characters speed, this is so the player can tell that it is important for the player to evolve and to progress in the game.
X-Men
The x-Men movies are a great way for inspiration for a game based around evolution, this is because the movies show how the world would react to animals that have evolved differently from others of the same species such as how humans hate the Xmen, because of this in the game that I’m going to help create it could have aspects of creates from the same species turning against their evolved offspring, X-men also gives a range of ways that a create could evolve such as devolving like the character beast does, this could be implemented in our game so there are ways to turn back into what the character previously was or other aspects that could happen though mutations such as hands for feet, showing how evolution can have problems.
Books with evolution
Charles Darwin the origin of species could be a great way of getting ideas for growth and evolution as the book explains his theory. One thing the book suggests is the idea of survival of the fittest from other scientists such as spencer which suggested only the strong survive by using power and its abilities which could be a way evolution in a game could work, this could mean for example stronger enemies over time as the enemies would keep evolving and becoming stronger The book also suggests how one animal could have evolved into others slowly over time, for our game we could use the idea that one animal slowly thought different stages evolves to become another other time, such as a monkey to a human.
Digimon
Is a series that monsters battle other monsters; during the series the monsters must evolve to become stronger to defeat new threats; this is a concept that would be good to add to our game, as on the series the monsters grown in size, strength and speed; because of this they can defeat stronger enemies, to evolve the monsters need energy, this could be a feature of our game, it would work by if the player had gathered enough energy they could evolve to become something stronger and better.
Metamorphosis
Though not strictly evolution, metamorphosis is a huge type of growth and has qualities like evolution. It has a huge change from one animal into another which is similar to evolution, it also made me consider how one animal can evolve and become something completely different and unrecognisable, such as a caterpillar (land) to butterfly (flying), this could work really well in a boss battle, if a boss evolve and suddenly all of its mechanics changed like a caterpillar to a butterfly changes so it’s not just visually different, this could be an aspect that is implemented into the game.
Bloons
Bloons is a tower defence game that has enemies following a path to reach the players base to deal damage the enemies always spawn in the same location and follow the same path each time. Enemies following a path is extremely common for tower defence games however over time it becomes very easy and predictable, this makes the game quickly become repetitive and leads to the game becoming boring, however the enemies in the game have a varied health has indicated by their appearance; this makes the game more interesting and it makes sure the game is less repetitive. The game has sound effects such as the poping noise however this seems to be the only sound effect, this means the game can quickly get boring as there’s no sound to make the game more interesting.
The game also has no way of being paused unless the player has completed the level.
This game has given me inspiration in what to do and not do with a tower defence game. The game has a range of aspects that I am inspired from for example how the enemies have a range of health that the player can easily see the difference with by looking at the appearance of the enemies, the game also has a simple but effective interface which makes it easy for the player to understand which is a feature that I would want in my game so players will understand and be easily followed, also because the player can evolve their structures such as increasing the attack range and speed of a tower it makes the game more interesting as the player considers more what kind of strategy they want to use, this feature could be used in the game I’m going to help create for example the player could buy an upgrade for their base giving it more health or a turret that can be upgraded.
The game has also influenced me not do some features it has, for example the game would be more interesting if the player didn’t know the location that the enemies were coming from
as with the way the game works it quickly gets repetitive which makes the game become boring, the game also doesn’t have a pause button which is annoying if the player suddenly needs to stop playing and do something, because of this I intend on adding a way to pause the game. The game also becomes dull very quickly as there’s only 1 noise that is played, I believe that sound is a very important part of gaming and because of this I intended of having a range of sounds in the game instead of one; these will be triggered by a range of events and there will be a sound track in the background; the aim of this is to make the game less boring over time for the players.
Plants vs zombies
Plants verses zombies has a range of qualities that would be good to transfer into another game, for example the game has a nice play out that’s easy for new players to follow and understand which is important for a game as if players don’t understand something they may neglect it or dislike a game because of it. The game can also be paused which isn’t very common with tower defences however is a good feature as it means the player can pause the game and leave it for whatever reason they have, this is a useful feature as it doesn’t make the game any easier or harder and instead gives the player some freedom within the game. The zombies also come from a less predictable path as they can use a few lanes to attack the player from, this makes the game more interesting when compared to games such as bloons, however this is can still become repetitive over time, because of this I could either try to use a system like this so the enemies are semi-random or I could instead make the game fully random by having enemies come from all directions this is to attempt to make the game more interesting so people will want to play it for longer as it will be less boring over time.
Curse treasures don’t touch my gems!
This game has a range of positive features for example the sound effects in the game, there are a range of sounds that can easily be muted at any time, this is a good feature as some players dislike the sound/music I believe it’s a good idea to have lots of sounds in a game as it makes the game more interesting to play.
The game also has a good use of interface, by using a simple layout, this is something that I would like to implement into my game, this is because I believe it’s a good idea when using an interface to keep it simple for players. The fast forward feature it’s a very good idea for this game and works well, however I don’t believe it would be a good feature to have in our game this is because the player plays like the towers the game would be too hard if they enemies travelled faster this is because it would become hard for the player to keep up
Features that I won’t be using that the game has is micro transactions this is because it will ruin the game and the game isn’t supposed to be having any payment options from the player, this is because I feel the game would become too easy if the player could use real money to be at an advantage over someone that doesn’t and so they won’t be added to the game.
Age of War
Age of war has great audio that suit every action so nothing feels out of place, this is good as it makes the game more immersive which is a feature may game players some seeing, because of this we could try using realistic sounds that are used in an effective manner. In age of war both the players and the enemies can evolve this makes the game more challenging as both sides become stronger and so the player must change their strategy accordingly, I believe that this would be a good feature to transfer into our game as it will make the game more interesting when the player gets further into the game. The game also has a range of classes that the player must fight against, this makes the game more interesting as they must deal with each class according; this could be a feature that we could have in our game, such as having a boss battle or having an enemy that seeks out the player instead of the base. The game also uses turrets, these are placed onto the base to give it some way to defend itself, this could be an idea that we could expand upon and so the player maybe could buy a turret for their tower and upgrade the tower as they progress. The game also allows the player to evolve and use better units this is going to be a feature that I’m going to use in my game, as when the player evolves they are going to be stronger than what they were before.
Shop
From the games that I have been looking into the interfaces are always simple layouts that can be easily understood , these interfaces seem to always be on the screen, I may change this so that the player will have a pause like screen as they are shopping, although this is different from the games that I researched use I believe this will be an improvement this is because this way they will have more time to read what items do and not be rushed, this is because the game will not be using wave mechanics, so because of this there won’t be time for the player to read information between battles, so I believe having a similar interface is important so players can easily understand, however it’s also important to give the player some time to have a look around the shop and because there would be an endless supply of enemies I believe pausing the game is the best way to do this so players don’t get frustrated.
Age of war could have an improved upon pause menu, this is because the pausing doesn’t stop any animations of the characters, this has a strange appearance as the characters appear like they are walking when they aren’t because of this I would create a pause menu that covers the game so the players can’t see still animations; the pause menu also doesn’t have any features on the game, such as returning to the main menu I believe this is a bad idea for a pause menu has it should not only pause the game but give the player some options such as quitting or other features such as resuming the game.
Player damage – hitting enemies
Not many tower defence games have mechanics so that the player can collide with enemies, because of this I looked into platformers such as Mario to see how they deal with player collision. After playing games such as Mario I found that when the player had been damage it became very easy for players to see that this had happened, this is because the player could visually see a difference with their character such as the character growing smaller and flashing for a few seconds, this could be a feature we could add to our game, this is would be done so when the player collides with enemies after this the player would be unable to shoot for a few seconds and could have visual effects so the player can tell that they have been damaged, this could be by making the character flash and also changing their appearance, this is to make the game harder and more interesting for the players.
Inventory
An inventory system could work well in our game, this could be added so that the player can use collected power ups as they are needed and store them until they are, although this isn’t common with tower defences games, age of war and curse treasure get your hands off my gems! Have similar features such as the mana and volcano attack of the player which after they have collected enough energy they can use stored ablates to help defend their base from enemies, so because of this the feature could work well within our game as it does for them.
Pause
A pause menu is not always found in tower defence games however I believe is an important part of games and should be added; from looking at games such as curse treasure get your hands of my gems! It’s a good idea to add a useful pause menu to a game and give the player a range of features they can use such as muting the game, quitting or selecting another level. Also from looking at some tower defence games such as age of war it’s also important not to have a pause menu that only pauses the game, as age of war doesn’t stop the players animations, this has a strange effect because the characters are animated however aren’t moving, because of this I would plan on
Money
Money is an important part of tower defence games as the player has to spend points to upgrade their defences to make sure they don’t lose. From researching tower defence games I found out that they can have a range of ways they use money, the tower defence game curse treasure get your hands of my gems! The game automatically collects money for the player so they don’t need to keep track on it, however other tower defence games such as plants verses zombies the player must collect the sunlight (money) themselves, I believe this is an more interesting approach this is because it gives the player more they can be doing while playing the game as there can be moments where not much is happening so the player can have more fun by being involved, this also makes the game slightly harder because the player has more to be doing; because the game isn’t supposed to be really easy and tries to keep the player engaged as much as possible I believe the player collecting their own money will be a good way to gain money.
Enemy health
Enemy health is an important part of tower defence games, this is because the games are more interesting as most enemies are not 1 hit kill and instead require a few hits to be defeated as my research has shown games can present different health enemies in different ways, for example age of war uses different character sprites for each character and like cursed treasure don’t touch my gems! both games have health bars above the enemies this is a good way to indicate to the player how much health each enemy has left, bloons has a different approach and uses different coloured balloons depending on how much health is remaining. Any of these methods would be a good idea to implement into our game, this could be done by having each enemy with the same amount of health for one class like used in age of war and for other types of enemies a different amount of health, the method isn’t too important as they would all work well.
Damage indication
Although my research didn’t show that tower defence games use shaking I believe it could be a good indication to players so they know when their base is damaged, this is because every game in my research had indications that the base had taken some damage, I believe by adding shake the players will feel more immersed within the game which would make the game more interesting, the game could also have an affect like the cursed treasure don’t touch my gems! by having a clear indication that the base has changed (the gems were taken) our game could have the base showing a different sprite so the player can easily tell they had taken some damage instead of trying to remember how many hits the base had taken.
Evolution of Defence 