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Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Great Thing About Card Games

The great thing about card games is that you can have a pack of cards, a new sleep pad of papers, as well as a pencil in your pocket and be willing to play where ever you might be. Even though board games are great, they are a bejesus of your lot more challenging to handle about together with you, and you should typically need to teach the policies; together with card games, nevertheless, there are some classics that just about everybody knows.

Bears is a great instance; generally everyone knows how you can participate in it, as well as for those that never, it's easy to train. Minds can be another excellent introduction to the concept of trick-taking game titles, leading to more advanced games such as Spades (which utilizes an ordinary deck) along with Tichu (that will not).

Rummy is the one other old a single..better, it's actually a variety of equivalent games, in which players attempt to make pieces. Although simpler versions are easily played simply by actually children, more complex versions just like gin rummy are generally made a decision usually by ability, using experienced participants normally smashing new players.

Essentially the most popular card games nowadays, however, are comparing games. Although this group incorporates a various card games, the most notable would be the playing game titles: blackjack and also poker. Poker, needless to say, includes a amount of variants, from Texas Hold'Em to be able to Omaha in order to Deuce or Better Three-way Draw. Of these video games, people are usually rivaling to achieve the finest "hand" regarding cards, and customarily far better about whether their own hand will certainly beat that relating to the opposite players (poker) or perhaps the vendor (blackjack). From the time the actual growing market around the globe Series of Poker about ten years ago, these kinds of have become even more a part of everyday routine in America.

Popular Games Played During Baby Showers

When you're gonna have a very baby, a baby shower is one of the routines that you ought to certainly not miss. This is the most exhilarating elements of giving birth. Aside from receiving a lot of presents for your baby, you can also celebrate what's promising of getting a baby together with your friends. This is also a method of obtaining anyone to get a lot more excited to the baby. A baby shower is somewhat split into numerous pieces and something ones will be actively playing the popular baby shower games. These are generally essentially games that are really intended to be played within this celebration that make the actual get together much more entertaining, entertaining and unforgettable.

In addition to the entertaining and enjoyment that this games bring, fortunately they are of great help for the parents-to-be. This really is making about the undeniable fact that there are game titles which examination the data with the parents-to-be in terms of the things that baby requires and how to properly manage their new baby. This way, the parents-to-be will even achieve more information and knowledge in relation to carrying a child. There are several varieties of games that you could look into or perhaps whomever arranges case. Picking out the games to be played throughout the actual shower may well be determined by a number of deciding factors like your gender of the baby, if your you're going to get twins/multiple babies or if perhaps you will embrace 1. Here are several of the very most popular baby shower games which can be taken into consideration.

"Guess the Baby Food" is amongst the mentioned games. From your name themselves, farm ville is about speculating the baby food which are positioned on a desk. There needs to be two groups when playing the game the other by one, each person in the two clubs should come forward to the table to be able to suppose the baby meals. This will likely not really sound extremely challenging, does it? The cruel component is the down line need to guess the baby foods using a blindfold. You will have someone who are usually in demand in giving the gamers while using baby foods to be able to imagine. The team that will acquire most of the appropriate responses will probably be stated because champion.

One other game to take into account is the "Baby Pictures". Evidently, mafia wars requires a great deal of images and this is really a exciting game to play. Essentially, you and everyone that happen to be participating in the baby shower ought to deliver his or her baby pictures. These kind of photos mustn't be to proven to various other guests to really make it very complicated. Each of the photos must be posted over a board and everybody will be presented a chance to create their guesses as to that's who owns that one image. Then your one who should be able to suppose almost all of the pictures will win.

Fun, don't you find it? As a result, it is best that you can prepare the baby shower properly you need to include a few baby shower games in your soul organizing. Besides the two online games that were mentioned above, you may also consider various other possible video games online pertaining to baby showers or question some of your pals for extra concepts.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Weekly Progress 9/25: New Stuff! Starting locations for Creature Universe!

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Greetings! Welcome to another amazing week of Sam and Dan games! Last week we almost completed our goal of releasing both a 1v1 level and a story level but we didn't quite make it. I did release it yesterday night which is pretty close I guess. This week again we will attempt to do a Story levels among other things! We love to give you guys content and we love making it. We will also talk a little bit about the starting towns/cities/villages for the first 3 starters in Creature Universe TD. Sound good? Great! Let's get to it.

New Story Level
This week we will finally get out of New Bark Town and into Route 29! You might have noticed that once you defeat a battle you aren't able to repeat this battle over and over like you could on PTD1. Well on Route 29 you will be able to repeat battles, catch new pokemon, hunt for shinys! I'm looking forward to making this and finally be able to see pokemon walking around in the wild instead of just having random battles. You will also get your PokePad which will act as a pokedex, a computer and it will also heal your pokemon between battles. Along with this I'll be working on getting your first party pokemon to walk behind you. If I have time I'll be adding the first Mystery Gift and the Trading Center for PTD2. Lots to do!

Look! 1v1 is evolving!
I've decided to make some big changes to 1v1, remove a lot of the grinding and focus more on strategy and choices. This requires some shifts on how things work. I'm still thinking about it so not everything is finalized yet. But here are some of the things that will change:
  • There will be no more experience gained from defeating the enemy.
  • You will level up by using rare candies that are given out by beating levels.
  • When you use a checkpoint you will get the same amount of candies that you would have received if you have beaten all the way up to that point. So you can skip the previous levels and still have a powerful team.
  • Every pokemon will now start at level 5 and evolutions will not be available for unlocking.
I'm still figuring out what exactly I will do with the coins, but I have a few days to think about it. My main goal is to make it so it doesn't feel like you need to grind for the coins to be able to beat a level. 

So that is a little preview of what we have coming for you this week. Check out the weekly progress below to see how I'm doing during the week. I also added a new "My Status" which will tell you if I'm currently working or not.

Weekly Progress:

My Status: Not Working. Sleep time. Hoping to release Route 29 by Friday.

Alpha v1.19 Progress List:
  • Note: There was a bug with previous versions of the game. Some people when they play 1.18 Story Mode will be prompted to start their profile over again because of this bug. It will not affect everyone. The other option I had was to delete everybody's Story Mode Profiles which I don't want to do. So if you see the message just start your profile over again and everything will be fixed. If you don't see the message then just play as usual. Thanks!
  • Fix some typos (100%) 
  • Slightly Decreased the HP boost on your rival's starter (100%)
  • Make the pokemon in your first party slot follow you in the map (100%) - Fun stuff but you won't be able to talk to it like in the other games.
  • Fix Map Issue in Elm's Lab on Story Mode (100%)
  • Fix Issue with Speed resetting between waves in Story Mode (100%) 
  • Make Story level music stop playing when you leave story mode (100%)
  • New Story Level - Route 29 (70%)
    • Level Intro (100%)
      • Before you get the PokePad (100%)
      • After you get the PokePad (100%)
    • Implement PokePad (100%)
    • New Map (100%)
    • Battle Layout (100%)
      • Swarm Layout (100%) - Normal Tower defense fight
      • Single Layout (100%) - 1v1 style fight
    • Battle Waves (0%) - Both 1v1 and normal version for each pokemon
      • Pidgey (0%)
      • Rattata (0%)
      • Sentret (0%)
    • Pokemon Map Behavior (0%) - how the pokemon will behave in the map
      • Pidgey (0%)
      • Rattata (0%)
      • Sentret (0%)
    • Level Ending (100%)
  • Saving Extra Info for Pokemon (0%)
  • 1v1 Mode Changes (0%)
  • PTD 2 Pokemon Center (0%)
  • Mystery Gift Screen (0%)  
  • Add a graphic for removing a pokemon from the field (0%) - To better tell what is going on when fighting and NPC trainer.
  • Add new Level Item interface graphics for the ui (0%)  
  • Added which pokemon you will be battling in the next battle in 1v1 mode (0%) 
  • Make pressing Enter to trigger a lot of the menu buttons (0%) Pressing enter to log in instead of clicking on it. 
Creature Universe Starting Locations!
 Like I've mentioned before each starting creature will have it's own starting location instead of have all 3 available in one town. What this means is that we can really do something special for the starting locations. Giving each of them their own unique style and appearance. For Creature Universe we really wanted to do something different. Instead of realistic towns that are... well kinda boring. We really wanted to do something interesting for each town. Below I will show you some sketches that our artist made to create the mood of each starting location. Keep in mind that these are concept sketches they don't represent the final look of the locations. Also some of these are there to strictly show an idea and not intended to look amazing. Keep that in mind!

First is the grass starter zone. The grass starter is the chameleon, they mostly live on trees so why not make the town live on top of trees. Not shown in the concept is the flooding that occurs during the rainy season which is the reason they build higher up and the water that is under the trees.

Work In Progress Concept of the Grass Starting zone
Then we have the fire starter zone. This place is more industrial, more gritty, it's a mining town. The fire starter zone will have a lush reservation area that the creatures live in that will be very contrasting with the rest of the zone. The fire koala family helps with refining the metals and treasures found in the mines. They also help create the steam that gives power to the town. I don't have a picture as the one I had didn't really show off the town it self but a mining cave.

Lastly the water starter zone. This place is more outdoors in a place surrounded by mountains. Not shown in the concept is a zone that is dried up due to recent droughts. This zone will be divided between a rich part and a poor part. The water buffalo need water to use water so even with them around they don't completely solve the drought problem as they can only use water in their supply to defend themselves and keep themselves hydrated while doing work like pushing carts and what not.
Work In Progress Concept of the Water Starter Zone
So there you have it! Three different concepts for the starting locations. Remember these were just for ideas and should give you a little sense of what each location will be like.

That is all we have for you this week. As always let us know what you think!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Weekly Progress, New 1v1 and Story Level! Types for Creature Universe!

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Hi everyone! Last week we had the second level of the story mode released. We got to walk around and talk to the citizens of New Bark Town and go on a little quest to save our starter. This is but the tip of the ice berg for story mode and hopefully you got a taste of what is to come. Did you like it better than the PTD1 style of just watching an intro playing the level and watching an ending? Let me know! Your feedback here in the comments, twitter, emails, facebook and on the forums help shape this game. Like I've said before I spend a good amount of time reading everything you guys write. I might not have enough time to answer them all like I used to but I do the best that I can to answer ones that are crucial or easy enough for a quick answer.

Okay so moving on to this week we will have both a new 1v1 level and a new story level! Lots of new content coming your way.

For both the Story and 1v1 level I will be adding some new technology to the game engine. I've been meaning to add this for a while but haven't had a lot of time. The new technology will be for the trainer you are battling against. Usually they will bring out a pokemon and you defeat that pokemon then they bring out their next one. It's very similar to how the waves work in PTD1 because I'm using the same engine for the trainers that I use in the waves. The new tech will be to allow for the trainers to have a team like you do and to be able to switch out pokemon in battle just like you can. Which will make the fights more interesting and dynamic.

Other than the new tech, 1v1 will now be headed to Route 3, we got some trainers to fight there and also a new pokemon to unlock. Can you guess who it is? All I can say is that it likes to sing a lot.

Speaking of sing, I will be making some changes to how the sleep mechanic works. Previously it would just put you to sleep for a certain amount of time regardless of how much damage you took. Now it will put you to sleep for a longer amount of time but taking damage will most likely cause you to wake up. Making it better for use against somebody that is attack you.

For the Story mode you will be challenged to your first fight. Speaking of this fight I've had reports of people finding an interesting way of leveling up your starter past level 7. This is pretty much my mistake so don't worry if you did it, I will be fixing it in the next version so it should no longer be possible.

Speaking of leveling, I also want to announce a new feature (inspired by my playing of Guild Wars 2)! In PTD1 you could very easily just level up enough so that a level was incredibly easy. In PTD2 there will be a limit as to how high you can be for each level to preserve that level's difficulty (to a point). So for example, lets say your starter is level 12 and you go into Route 29 (The first route in Johto). That means you would massively out level this stage. Most pokemon on this level will be level 2-4. What the game will do is temporarily turn your level 12 pokemon into a level 6 pokemon. Your pokemon will keeps its attacks, evolution, and abilities but it will have stats like it was level 6. Notice that the cap is higher than the highest level in the area but it is still within a certain range. Also since you get to keep your attacks and evolution you will still have an advantage. It just makes it so you can't simply steam roll everything once you get level 100 pokemon. What do you think?

I also plan to bring out the first Mystery Gift! We had a poll a while back and the first Mystery Gift for PTD 2 will be Zorua! Mystery Gift codes will be done a tiny bit different, you will still go to PlayTowerDefenseGames.com and try to figure out the code and you will also enter the code on that site's version of PTD2. Before you could go to any site and enter it but now it is exclusive to their site. Since most people would just find the code on a different site and just use it straight off without visiting our great sponsor.

Lastly I'll also be working on the PTD2 Pokemon Center. It will be very similar to the PTD1 but I still have to do a lot infrastructure changes. I don't think it will be out this week since I have so much to do but I hope to get a good amount done and who knows maybe it will be out too.

Alright so that was quite a bit of info. Let's look at the Weekly Progress list next. Also remember I update this while I'm working so make sure to come back every once in a while to see how I'm doing :)

Weekly Progress:

Alpha v1.18 New Story Mode Battle: Released now!
  • Fixed a bug with the Ability Intimidate that was preventing it from being applied to enemies that swapped into the battle
  • Fixed a bug that is preventing the Arena Trap Ability and other attacks that trap you from working on Enemie
  • Made it so Arena Trap will not work on pokemon that are immune to ground attacks
  • New Level Modifier Feature - This only applies for Story mode and not 1v1 mode.
  • New Story Level
    • New Character
    • Quest Intro
    • Properly load your pokemon to the profile
    • Properly saving Pokemon Information like leveling up, learning new moves and gaining experience
      • Get Pokemon Unique ID after saving
      • Get and Give Pokemon Position 
      • Sending Info
      • Receiving Info
    • NPC AI for battle
    • Battle Layout
    • Battle Waves
    • Quest Ending
  • Implementing a level cap at 10 for Story Mode
    • Lowering any pokemon that went over 10 back to 10
    • Implementing in the server
    • Implementing in the client
Alpha v1.17.1 Critical Bug Fix: Released now! 
  •  Fixed a bug that was preventing players from completing the second quest on Story mode 
Alpha v1.17 New 1v1 Level: Released now!  
  • Added Sponsor Intro
  • Made starters have a chance to be both female and male instead of just male
  • Fixed a bug that allowed you to keep leveling up your starter
  • Moved the Back button in the story level to a different spot
  • Made it so if you aren't facing an NPC then you won't talk to it
  • Made it so bumping into an NPC will now make it stop and face you
  • Changed the Police officers text for when you are a female character
  • Limited the amount of potions you can have on you in 1v1 mode to 15 - This won't be like the rare candy where you can only buy 2. This means that you can only have a max of 15 on you at a time but if you use any of them you can go back to the max for the next level.  
  • Made the Sleep status effect last 12 second but any damage taken has a 50% chance to awake up the target
  • Increased the cost of Kakuna, Metapod, Beedrill, and Butterfree in 1v1 mode  to 25, 25, 45, and 45 respectively
  • Added New Pokemon to the game (3)
    • Graphics (100%)
    • Shiny Graphics (100%)
    • Shadow Graphics (100%)
    • Stats (100%)
    • Attack list (100%)
    • Evolution Information (100%)
  • Added New Attacks to the game
    • Sing
    • Pound
    • Disable
    • Wrap
    • Glare
    • Fake Tears
    • Fury Swipes
  • Added New Abilities to the game
    • Cute Charm
    • Friend Guard
    • Intimidate
    • Unnerve
    • Illusion
  • Added Gym Leader Checkpoints to 1v1 - Once you reach a gym leader you will be able to start playing at that gym leader battle.
  • Added New Trainer AI Feature - Very basic trainer AI, when his/her pokemon faints he will take out the next one. Implementing feature into the game engine.
  • Increased Coin rewards for any level that gave less than 20 coins to 20 coins - This is help reduce the feeling that you need to grind a lot for coins. This also helps balance the fact that you can only hold a certain number of potions on you in this update. I'll be keeping an eye on the numbers and will tweak as necessary.
  • Added New 1v1 Level
    • Intro
    • Level Layout
    • Level Waves
    • Previous Level Ending Text
  • Added New 1v1 Trainer AI - This is the AI for the trainer in the new level.
  • Changed PTD 1 link on the main screen to point to the sponsor's website.
Alright now let's talk a bit about Creature Universe TD. Many of you might not know but Dan and I hold team meetings every week. We chat with our artist about Creature Universe, we see what everybody is working on and talk about the design of the game. So for the last few weeks we have been talking about the types that we were going to use for Creature Universe. This hasn't been an easy task. We all had different opinions. Some of us wanted to remove some types. Others wanted to add even more types. In the end we started from the beginning and asked ourselves which types MUST be around. After we figured that out we went ahead and added some new ones, combined some other ones and even removed some. Here is the list of the types that will be in Creature Universe! Granted this list could still be tweaked in the future. But for now this is what we have decided.

Normal/Neutral - Unlike Pokemon this type will actually be Neutral to all other types. It has no weaknesses but also no advantages. This type will also be more limited than I pokemon where a bunch of creatures had this type along with another one.
Fire/Flame - Pretty self explanatory.
Water/Aquatic - See Fire.
Grass/Plant - See Water.
Electric/Lightning - See Grass.
Air - This type is pretty much what flying is in pokemon.
Ice - See Electric.
Ground/Earth - This type combines what pokemon would have as Ground and Rock into one type.
Metal - This is kinda like Steel, but it can be different metals. Basically very strong and sharp.
Toxic - Like Poison type in pokemon but a lot better.
Dark - Like Dark in Pokemon but this is the type you would see ghost show up in.
Light - This type is something completely new. It's the counterpart of Dark. You would see more magical creatures like psychic show up with this type.
Mythical - This is the type for legendary creatures. The plan we have for it is that it is very defensive against all types except for Neutral, Light and Dark. It also has no offensive advantages.

So these are out types! Something old, something new, something combined. It's got a little bit of everything. The only types advantage we have figured out are Mythical and Neutral since those are really different from the rest. We are still working on specific type charts for the rest so stay tuned for that later on. Or what kind of type charts can you guys come up with? I would love to see them with explanations as to why you did what you did.

Also creatures will have almost like secondary "types" we are calling it species. For example your creature can be a type Fire but it can also be a bug species. Being a bug will carry certain advantages or disadvantages. Other species might be like "reptile", "mammal". We are still working on this part but I just wanted to mention it so you guys knew about it.

Well that was a lot of info! I hope you guys have a good week this week and as always, let me know what you think!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Weekly Progress, Pewter Gym Leader Battle and Level 2 for Story Mode

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Hey everyone! I hope you had/are having a good labor day weekend (in the states). I will keep this one pretty short and sweet.

Weekly Progress:
This week we will have a 1v1 level (Released now on v1.15), we finally reached the first gym! Fighting against the Pewter City Gym Leader Brock. Something special about gym fights is that you will get an increase reward for beating them. For one, once achievements are out you will get an achievement for beating the gym and it will include a reward for your story mode profile. Also you will get more coins than usual, I haven't decided the exact amount. I was thinking either having a high flat amount, or a flat amount plus refunding whatever you spent, or a flat amount plus another amount or whatever you spent, whichever is lowest. I'm still working out the exact details but just know that beating the gym will boost up your coin amount since it is a pretty good place to reach. Also it will unlock either all the starters or just one I also haven't decided and I might put a pool up to see which starter should be out.

On the story side of things I'm working towards level two which will have you getting your first starter pokemon. (Released now on v1.16) Last week I did a lot of the infrastructure for saving and creating maps and such. The more of that that I do the easier it will be to make new levels. I have redone a lot of the saving code to make it faster more efficient plus in PTD 2 story mode you have a map so I also have to keep track of where you are and things like what quest have you completed and what not. Before I would just keep track of level attempted and level completed. With this game things are more complicated so there is a lot more time spent building these extra things. I believe it will be worth it in the end since both PTD2 and Creature Universe will gain much from this.

So that is what I'm trying to accomplish this week, below is the actual list that I will keep updating by completing and adding new things.

Alpha v1.16 Progress List: Released Now!
  • Add interactions with objects in the map (100%) - Interaction with signs, tv, etc. 
  • NPC Characters for first level (100%)- Prof and other people that live in New Bark Town
  • Level 2 quest
    • Chikorita Quest (100%)
    • Cyndaquil Quest (100%)
    • Totodile Quest (100%) 
    • Battle Intro (100%)
    • Battle Layout (100%)
    • Battle Waves (100%)
    • Battle  Ending (100%)
  • Add the Town Music (100%)
  • Add Saving your pokemon's info (100%)
Alpha v1.15 New 1v1 Level: Released now!
  • Pewter City Gym Leader Battle 1v1 Mode
    • New Attacks Needed
      • Rock Tomb
      • Custom Onix Attack - Boulder Throw 
      • Leech Seed
      • Vine Whip
      • Stun Spore
      • Pursuit
      • Mud-slap
    •  New Abilities needed
      • Chlorophyll
    • Level Intro
    • Level Layout
    • Level Waves
    • Level Ending
    • New Item Unlocked
      • Implement Item
      • Add limits to how many you can buy of this item
    • New Pokemon Unlocked
      • Add Stats
      • Add Moves
      • Add Graphics
    • Allow for multiple pages in the pokemon/item store pages
    • Add the TM/HM screen to allow learning TMs and HMs  - These will no longer cost money.
Guys I just want to thank you again for all the support, if it weren't for you guys going to the trading center, telling your friends about the game and visiting the blog we couldn't be doing any of this. I would be working a job that I would have no interest in and I wouldn't be able to make these games for you guys. Thanks again and as always.. let me know what you think!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Weekly Progress and Anpo Starters

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


Hey guys and gals! Welcome to another week of Sam and Dan Games. This week we have some sneak peak at the Creature Universe Starters and the weekly progress for what will be new in Pokemon Tower Defense 2 this week. Enjoy!

Creature Universe (aka ANPO) Starters:
Okay so every creature game should start with the trainers getting their first creature. In pokemon you started in one town and you picked from three different starters. In most games in the series you could pick from a grass, fire or water pokemon. My first thoughts in designing ANPO were "okay why not have different types available? Why not have all types available?" I thought it would be great if you wanted a specific type to be your starting type. Why only have 3 choices? Then I said "wouldn't it be cool if each starter had a different starting location?" What if since each city specializes in a certain type why not have a starter on each city and have players decide which city they wanted to start from. That all sounded great! But then I came back to earth and thought about how many different types we might have and about how long it would take to make all those cities right from the start. Okay so I like the idea of different cities for each starter. I like the idea of letting you choose which type you want to start. But to release the game I have to limit how many starters I will release the game with. So let's go back down to 3 and then as the game progresses we will add more. Okay so 3 starter types for 3 cities. The starters will be like that cities mascot. They will be an important part of that city. That is the creature that young trainers from that city receive when they first start training.

Now which 3 types should it start with? My first thoughts were to not do fire, grass, and water. Let's make it different! WOOOO! How about flying, ground, electric? Hmm it doesn't quite work out... Flying isn't super effective against ground... Also it's not that intuitive to figure out who beats who... not as nice as fire, grass, and water. So I decided okay I want more than 3 types for starters but if I only have 3 types then they will be fire, grass, and water. So a few weeks back I had my artist, Kevin, Bill, Evan, Josh and Joel, start coming up with concepts for creatures for ANPO. We have over 100 designs already! But I like to present to you the work in progress sketches of the water, fire, and grass starters for ANPO!
Work In Progress ANPO Starters
Weekly Progress:
This week for PTD 2 will we have another 1v1 level, this level should be enough for kakuna and metapod to level up to 10 so I will include the unlocks for those. Also I'll be pushing for saving in the story mode and the second quest where you can actually pick your starter. Plus if I have time during the week I'll add any small fixes or changes that I find.

Alpha v1.14 Added the Girl Avatar for story mode, saving for story mode, Bug Fixes and Changes (9/2/12): Released!
  • Fixed a bug that was making attacks that should do at least 1 damage do 0 damage - Like Poison Sting on Geodude
  • Fixed a bug that prevented a pokemon from learning an attack when it evolves and you beat a level
  • Fixed a bug with attacks with an initial cooldown having a cooldown glitch
  • Removed Prof Oak's winning text and added different text in Story Level 1
  • Added Johto Starter sounds to the Story Level 1 Intro
  • Added the correct lost popup to Story Level 1
  • Implemented the girl avatar in story mode
  • Fixed being able to enter houses through windows and walls in Story mode 
  • Lowered the Geodude's level in Level 6 of 1v1 to 10, 11, 12 respectively, also lowered the amount of buffs they do before attacking
  • Gave Professor Oak the correct questions to ask the player on Story Level 1 Intro
  • Fixed a bug with beating a level while playing at a higher speed
  • Added properly deleting profiles when the delete button is pressed  
  • Added saving your story profile
Alpha v1.13 New Level, Bug Fixes and Changes (8/28/12): Released!
  • 1v1 Level 6
    • Intro
    • Level Layout
    • Waves
    • Ending
  • Added Butterfree and Beedrill as unlockables
  • Lower the effect of speed changes to attack speed
  • Update speed changes to attack cooldown in real time instead of only when a new move is going to be done
 That's all I have for you this week, keep checking back to see how I am progressing on the update, and let me know what you think of the starters and the weekly progress in the comments below or on twitter.
Thanks!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Countdown to PTD 2 Story Mode, HTD Status Update, ANPO has evolved!

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Countdown to PTD 2 Story Mode -
The next release of PTD 2 will have the very first quest, below you will find out the progress that I need to accomplish to reach this release. More things will be added and updated as I work on the game. Keep coming back to see my progress.


New Story Level! Pokemon Center update! v1.12 (08/24/12): Released now!

  • Added a new title screen made by our artist Kevin!
  • Level 1 quest - Dream Training 
    • Intro
    • Level Layout
    • Level Waves
    • Ending
  • Add story profile screen
  •  Walking around feature
    • Collision map- Setting the hitboxes on level objects.
    • Level Boundaries - Levels won't scroll past their edge.
    • Character Boundaries - Your character will stay in the middle of the screen until it hits the edge of a level then it will be able to keep walking to the edge.
    • Added Depth Sorting to Level Objects - Depth will now be sorted for all objects in the map.
  • Create New Bark Town Map
  • Create Forest Spot Map
  • Create Lab Map
  • Create Your House Map
    • Your Room
    • Family Room
  • Create Other House Maps
  • Connect different map together - Allows for entering into a different area. 
  • Story Mode Graphics will now be from the GBA games instead of the DS games - The DS graphics are not easily available like the GBA graphics. 
Pokemon Center
  • Added a much requested feature to the Pokemon Center! You can now search for trades that must have a request, or not have a request or both! 
New Level, Bug Fixes, New Additions v1.11 (08/17/12)
  • Added the pokemon's current attacks to the "Buy Pokemon" screen
  • Fixed a bug in level 3 pokemon getting whiter if you keep bringing them in and out
  • Added missing attacks to Pikachu (Tail Whip) and Spearow(Leer)
  • Removed Butterfree and Beedrill unlockables until you can earn enough experience to reach level 10
  • Added a small global cooldown (0.6 sec) when a pokemon is placed on the field, this will prevent pokemon from attacking instantly upon their arrival, it also gives the opponent a possible free hit when you are swapping pokemon
  • Fixed a stacking graphical bug on the party screen
HTD Status Update - 
Essentially Hero Tower Defense has been put on indefinite hold. We still love the idea and would love to start it up again but a number of things didn't work out for this project. We went for a high quality of hand drawn graphics that we thought we could achieve in a short time but the reality is that these graphics will take years in man hours to create and we don't have the resources to complete them. This is why we switched to 3D graphics but with our limited resources this was still an issue. If HTD comes back it will have a very simplistic style similar to the mobile game BattleHeart. Another big issue is that I'm the only programmer and my time is split between PTD and HTD. With PTD 1 being over my deal with Dan was to move to HTD more full time and only do PTD2 part time. But because of the graphic issues and the slow speed of development I didn't really have a choice but to move to PTD 2 at full force. (Also you guys wanted PTD2 more!) It is really hard to code two different engines at the same time. Even if they are the same genre (tower defense). Like I said I do hope this game will come back at some point in some shape or another.

ANPO has evolved! -
ANPO or Creatures Universe has evolved! I left a secret label in the blog post but nobody seemed to notice, and if they did they didn't mention it. "nadpto" if you change it around becomes "anpotd"! If you read the HTD update you will note that I said building two engines is hard work. Work that I don't have the time or resources to do right now. So I had this grand idea to expand PTD2 and have an overworld and seeing pokemon in the wild. Those are ideas from ANPO. So why not use the same engine that PTD 2 will use and have our designers come up with new creatures, new stories, new attacks, new abilities, and new graphics for all of these to make a new game? This is the idea of ANPO TD (Creatures Universe TD). What this means is I get to focus fully on PTD2's engine and I get 2 different games out of it. For you it means you get to have PTD2 faster than if we worked on a different full game at the same time and you get a whole new game a long with it! The games will have many differences so don't think this is just a quick re-skin. We plan to have a Kickstarter for it to help us out with paying the designers and being able to keep you entertained. What do you think?

Thanks guys for the continued support, we have great things coming your way that I hope you will be excited for, I know you are all looking forward to the story mode (look at that poll!) so I'm doing my best to get it to you while still providing you with updates.

As always let me know what you think!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

PTD 2 1v1 Level 1 Released and PTD2's Name Change!

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


You can play by going to the "Play PTD2" tab. 


Pokemon Center Progress List:
  • Add de-leveling feature (0%) - For Casino Coins or SnD Coins (Similar to removing hacked version) you can lower the level of your pokemon. The purpose of this feature was to allow you to use your pokemon from ptd1 earlier in ptd2 but my faithful fans from the forum do not agree this is a good features. They argue that this will make the game too easy. (They are right! Level 10 Mewtwo still pwnes you!) So I will listen to them and not add it. I'm listening guys/gals!
New Level, Bug Fixes, New Additions v1.10 (08/16/12): Released now!
  • Level 5 1v1 mode
    • Intro
    • Level Background
    • Waves
    • Ending
  •  Attack Foresight needed a better attack graphic
  • Fixed an issue that was showing the wrong HP value in the pokemon check screen after playing a level
  • Added a stacking global cooldown to changing attacks on a pokemon - every time you change and attack a small 0.3 second global cooldown will be added to your pokemon. Normal play will not change, but spamming your keyboard changing attacks constantly will result in your pokemon not being able to know what you are asking him to do (a long global cooldown that resets once its done)
  • Fixed a problem with a pokemon learning a new move and another pokemon evolving at the same time, or two pokemon evolving at the same time
  • Added a confirmation popup when you try to exit 1v1 mode
  • Fixed pokemon getting hit when they are removed from the stage
  • Fixed Kakuna and Metapod not learning Harden when they evolve
  • Added unlockable Metapod, Butterfree, Kakuna and Beedrill when you evolve Caterpie or Weedle
  • Increased the cost of potions to 10 - Since buying a potion is pretty much like have a whole new pokemon the price was increased.
  • Changed Antidote to be unlocked at level 2
  • Added new item Parlyz Heal unlocked at level 3
  • Add a multiplayer map for 1v1 mode (Postponed due to poll results)- Before I get too deep into creating the story mode I have to make sure multiplayer will work with the new setup. So I have to start making/testing it as soon as possible. This will help story mode have multiplayer that actually works.
Bug Fixes, Work in Progress Story mode v1.09 (08/11/12)
  •  A work in progress version of Story Mode is in this version, you can only walk around, you can walk over things and you can walk outside the map. These are not bugs, the mode is simply not done yet.
  • Add missing description for a pokemon unlocked on level 4
  • Made Sand-Attack work on Flying types as it should
  •  Test Map New Bark Town for Story Mode - Story mode is totally not ready, what you see is where I am at currently. You can only walk around.
  • Main Characters Male and Female - Will use HG/SS character graphics as default.
    • Graphics
  • Pokemon for first Route of Story Mode - With a level cap at 10
    • Graphics
      • Regular
      • Shiny
      • Shadow
    • Stats
    • Abilities
      • Frisk
      • Insomnia
    • Attacks
      • Foresight
      • Hypnosis
  • Start adding Johto Starters for story mode - With a level cap at 10
    • Graphics
      • Regular
      • Shiny
      • Shadow
    • Stats
    • Abilities
      • Overgrow
      • Leaf Guard
      • Blaze
      • Flash Fire
      • Torrent
      • Sheer Force
    • Attacks
      • Razor Leaf
      • Poison Powder
      • SmokeScreen
      • Ember
      • Water Gun
      • Rage
New Level (4), Fixes, and Additions on Alpha v1.08 (08/09/12)
  • New Level for 1v1 level 4
    • Intro
    • Level Background
    • Waves
    • Ending
  • Abilities for future levels
    • Sand Veil
    • Arena Trap
    • Sand Force
    • Sand Rush
    • Rock Head
    • Sturdy
    • Weak Armor
  • Attacks for future levels
    • Astonish
    • Defense Curl
    • Rock Polish
    • Mud Sport
    • Bind
    • Screech
    • Rock Throw
  • Make Ash's pikachu and caterpie always be male - This matches the anime.
  • Added stat totals to the Buy Pokemon screen
  • Added a new item "Antidote"unlocked after beating level 3
  • Fixed items working on pokemon that don't need them or can't use them  - For example using potion on a pokemon with full health or is fainted, or using antidote on a pokemon that doesn't have a poison.
Bug Fixes and Additions on Alpha v1.07
  • Fixed bug with potion going on the wrong pokemon
  • Made Nidoran F be female
  • Made the enemy pokemon have the proper random gender - This will be based on the actual chance of that pokemon being female or male in the pokemon games.
  • Show gender and level in the life bar of pokemon in the field
  • Show gender in your party's profile blocks
  • Added a delay to having the screen scroll when you first drag a pokemon
  • Fixed issue with fainted pokemon receiving experience
  • Added keyboard shortcuts for various things
    • "P" for pause and play
    • 1-6 to select which party member you will command
    • Z, X, C, V to switch moves in the currently commanded pokemon
  • Changed Ash's Pikachu ability on level 3 of 1v1 to Lightningrod instead of Static
New Level on Alpha v1.06
  • New 1v1 Level (3) - Joey goes back in time
    Changes/Bug Fixes on Alpha v1.05
    • Added the buy items screen
    • Enabled item use in the levels
    • Added a pokeball next to pokemon that you have already bought in 1v1 mode
    • When buying a pokemon in 1v1 mode it will now say "You bought a pokemon!"
    • Change text during 1v1 tutorial to mention being able to change abilities 
    • Fix issue that would crash the game when your pokemon had certain abilities on
    • New Abilities for level 3 rewards
      • Poison Point- For Nidorans
      • Rivalry - For Nidorans
      • Static - For Pikachu
      • Lightningrod - For Pikachu
    • New Attacks for level 3 rewards
      • Scratch
      • Double Kick
      • Thundershock
      • Thunder Wave
    Changes/Bug Fixes on Alpha v1.04
    • Enable Ability Change in the Poke Check screen
    • Increased experienced earned by trainer owned pokemon by 50% 
    Changes/Bug Fixes on Alpha v1.03  
    • Make pokemon not take poison damage when taken off the field but they won't lose their poison status- Thanks @doofinc!
    • Added the missing coin prize after level 2- Thanks @opticALEXpert! Now you can start to pile up your money.
    • Let you skip cutscenes after you have beaten a level or seen it in the current play through
    New Level ready on Alpha v1.02
    • New 1v1 Level 2 - Joey heads to Viridian Forest
      Small Bugs fixed on Alpha v1.01
      • Music keeps playing after the level is over
      • Changing a move in the poke check screen in the level will not update the move on the level itself
      • Can't delete the 1v1 profile
      • Pokemon say they are level 1 when buying but are actually level 5

      PTD 2 1v1 Mode Released!
      PTD 2 1v1 mode level one is now released!!!! Wooo hoooo! It took a long time just to get to this point so I want to talk more about the work that I did and about the 1v1 mode itself.

      When you play the level you will notice how short it is and might ask yourself, "Why did this take so long?" well the truth is that so much has changed inside of the game that it's unbelievable. You can expact 2-3 new levels next week for 1v1 mode since a lot of the foundation has been completed.

      Some major things that didn't make it in were the items. I almost had those done but I really wanted to focus on just getting the level out first. Also the pokemon check menu in the party select screen needs major work still and those things will come in the near future.

      For the level itself it was a lot of fun to bring back Joey for this mode. I thought it would be hilarious to see Joey go through this virtual training and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in there.

      For the mode itself everything you play you will be trying to reach as far as you can go, right now there is only 1 level so it's not very challenging to beat it but eventually there should be at least 100 levels for you to try to reach. If you lose you will start over but will get to retain any coins you gathered. If you go below 10 coins it will automatically reset your coin amount to 10 when you restart. Also any pokemon or items that you have unlocked will stay unlocked so that you can start with a more powerful pokemon the second time around.

      I would love to hear more about what you think of this mode so far.

      PTD2's Name Change
      The big elephant in the room would be the sudden title change for the game. We went from Johto's Shadow to Generations. Today I want to talk more about what this change. It is more than just a name change as you might imagine. PTD 2 will now contain pokemon and locations from all generations of pokemon!

      Another big change is how you will play the game.. and this is HUGE change so listen up!

      You will now be able to move around with your avatar and partners just like the real game! You will be able to travel from one region to another, truly being able to catch them all in one game.

      So what will be happening is that along the way you will encounter different people that need your help or are causing trouble. They will give you quest and you must complete and will unlock the ability to capture different pokemon. When somebody challenges you to a fight or when you run into pokemon in the wild (you will see the pokemon walking around in the map!) it will go into tower defense mode and you will battle in Tower Defense style.

      So this game will be what I like to call an "Open World Pokemon Tower Defense Game".

      A lot of the quest will be inspired by the anime so you will get to play out some fun events similar to the anime. There will also be quest that will be completely original designed by me!

      All of this will be for the story mode which will come at a future date, for now I'm focusing on getting more attacks and pokemon ready for 1v1 mode.

      I'm really excited about all of this and I hope you guys are too! As always let me know what you think!

      Tuesday, July 3, 2012

      Weekly Progress: New PTD Fan Film, New Race for HTD Approaches!

      Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

      Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


      Okay lets talk about some new exciting stuff! First my brother just published episode 3 of the Pokemon Tower Defense Fan Film, this is probably my favorite one so far, click here to check it out now!


      Also the artist for HTD have been hard at work on a new race for HTD and are planning to unveil it soon, check out the teaser shot on Kevin's blog, click here to check it out!

      For PTD 2 I'm still working hard on getting it done, I've been trying to post more pictures and even movies about my progress so you guys can see what is coming.

      Fixing bugs (50%)
      Have Speed altering effects affect the pokemon's attack speed (100%) 

      1v1 mode - level 1 (100%) - Intro level, pretty easy and short.
      • Level Intro (100%)
      • Level Layout (100%)
      • Level Waves (100%)
      • Level Ending (100%)
      Level Ending Screen (Postponed) - A stat screen that will tell you how much money you earned on the level plus other things.
      Pokemon Upgrade Screen (100%) - Adding the two suggestions that you guys requested, being able to change your pokemon in the screen and showing the pokemon's stats. Other additions are showing the nickname of the pokemon along with its name, showing the gender by symbol and background color. Also you can see that you can see your abilities and their description and also change them before the level. Finally I added a new pokedex button that will take you to the pokedex information of this pokemon. It will be more detailed than in ptd 1. You can see a work in progress shot below. (Note: I'm using pokemon with random moves in them for testing purposes, you can't learn these move on Onix without hacking)

      Newer version, female onix, pokedex button, and ability window

      Level User Interface (100%) - The Level UI will be changed to incorporate new mechanics and to not take up as much space as the previous one. Some new features you will notice in the screenshot below is being able to change a pokemon's move mid battle without having to go to the pokemon check menu, it will also help you keep track of the move's cooldown (not pictured below). Another thing you will notice is zoom, speed, and other info will be smaller and not take up as much room as before but still very visible. Where the pokeball used to be there is now a temporary box and an arrow. The box represents the current item you have selected. To change the item you click on the arrow to get a quick menu to pick your item. Items you can pick will be different pokeballs, medicine, berries, and battle items. The last thing you will notice is the 3 professor oaks on the side. For the story mode you will be able to use your traveling partners pokemon in battle! So you will be able to swap between the 3 trainers. One thing that is missing is the menu button, pause button, the special abilities button and some other small things.

      Latest Version of the Pokemon Buttons


      Party Selection Screen (100%)- Slightly refined, added new sorting options that you guys requested, plus additional settings to each sorting option as seen in the pictures below.

      Showing new sorting options with sub menus

      Any attacks that need to be modified for level 1 (100%) - Setting up the new stacking debuff mechanics. No longer will stat changing attack run out. They will also stack so you have to keep applying it to get the max effect. Watch the video below for a small preview. The graphic will get slightly bigger and stack as the debuff stacks. Also your pokemon will prioritize targets that have the lowest stack or no stack at all.
      Attacks Completed:
      •  Tackle, String Shot, Harden, Confusion, Poison Sting, Fury Attack, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Focus Energy, Bite, Sand Attack, Gust, Peck, Growl, and Leer.
      Level 1 Pokemon Abilities (100%) - Adding any missing abilities for the pokemon found in the first levels.
      • Keen Eye, Tangled Feet, Big Pecks, Shield Dust, Run Away, Shed Skin, Compound eyes, Tinted Lens, Swarm, Sniper, Guts, and Hustle. 
      Pokemon can now learn attacks before and after they evolve on a level up (100%) 
      Creating the profile, profile_story, profile_1v1 classes (Programmer lingo) (100%)
      Pokemon Buying Screen (100%)
      Loading (100%)
      Saving (100%) 
      Item Buying Screen (Postponed) - Items will be postponed for near future update.

        During the week I will keep adding more things and updating what I'm working on. This will give you a better look at where I am at with getting the release done.

        thanks for all the support, I really want to get this out to you guys so please be patient! As always let me know what you think about the fan film, htd race teaser and ptd 2 progress! Thanks!

        Saturday, June 30, 2012

        Hero Tower Defense: Scheduling

        Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.



        Alright, time for a update on some HTD related stuff. First off as you may have noticed from the title and date of this post is that I will no longer be sticking to a new HTD post every Thursday. Reason being is that sometimes there just isn't much to report since we are taking our time with the new releases even though we are continuously working on it. So it would seem to make more sense to just make a post only when there is something worth posting about rather than trying to fill a weekly requirement. Plus it uses some valuable time that I could be using to work on the game instead. With that said I'll still be posting about HTD fairly often just not as consistently as before.

        Now onto business. Sam and I put on our business hats and decided that the best thing for us would be to let Sam focus on getting PTD2 going and put the programming for the new HTD graphics setup on hold. The reason is a pretty clear one, more people want to see PTD2 than HTD and we're all about giving you guys what you want. However, don't mistake this to mean HTD progress is stopping. That's not true at all, all that's on hold for now is the programming part, the graphics are still being worked on. If you've been following Kevin's blow you probably already know this (linke at the bottom of this post). In fact, once Sam gets a playable version of PTD2 out he will be dedicating some extra time to HTD in order to get everything moving again. Another thing to keep in mind is that since the graphics are still being worked on in the meantime that the next release of HTD will contain even more reworked content than we originally planned for.

        For those of you that have been looking forward to the next HTD release (like me) and have been patiently waiting, I apologize for the temporary delay but it's ultimately a better route for the company to take. It shouldn't be too much of a delay though really. And for those of you who want to point out Ninja-ja I'll assure you this is a different case because there is more than just one person (me) working on HTD. Plus, a new version of Ninja-ja WILL come out eventually. I just need to find time for it which is scarce these days.

        Thanks for all the continued support guys!


        In the Works:


      • Design

        • Commander/Player Skills (25%)
        • Stat Progression (5%)
        • Pet System (50%)



      • Graphics

        • Unit: Human Male - Animations (90%)
        • Unit: Race #2 - Concepts (20%)
        • Unit: Race #3 - Concepts (10%)
        • Unit: Fire Gecko - Concepts (80%)
        • Unit: Creature #3 - Concepts (20%)
        • Unit: Creature #4 - Concepts (10%)
        • Weapons: Batch #2 - Assets (20%)
        • Armor: Batch #1 - Assets (10%)



      • Programming

        • Interface: Setup (75%)
        • Unit: Setup (10%)


        Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

        Be sure to leave any ideas, suggestions, or other feedback you might have in the comments! Thanks!


        -Dan

        Monday, June 25, 2012

        The return of the progress list! Personal matters!

        Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

        Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


        Hi guys, I'm feeling a lot better thanks for your concern and support.

        So last week I talked about making a non-gaming announcement this week. After 6 years of being with my girlfriend I proposed to her this weekend! and she said yes! I actually made her a very small game as part of the proposal since I am a game developer after all. She loved it and we are very happy, next step is to plan the wedding >.< haha so lets get back to games!

        Okay so PTD 2, this week I'm gearing up to work all out on getting this ready. Like always I like to be very open about what I'm working on so I will post a progress list of what I have to do and will be updating it all this week as I make progress on it.

        Party Selection Screen (100%)- Slightly refined, added new sorting options that you guys requested, plus additional settings to each sorting option as seen in the pictures below.

        New Party Screen Sorting Options
        Showing the sub options for sorting options
        Pokemon Upgrade Screen (60%) - Adding the two suggestions that you guys requested, being able to change your pokemon in the screen and showing the pokemon's stats. Other additions are showing the nickname of the pokemon along with its name, showing the gender by symbol and background color. Also you can see that you can see your abilities and their description and also change them before the level. Finally I added a new pokedex button that will take you to the pokedex information of this pokemon. It will be more detailed than in ptd 1. You can see a work in progress shot below. (Note: I'm using pokemon with random moves in them for testing purposes, you can't learn these move on Onix without hacking)

        Newer version, female onix, pokedex button, and ability window

        Pokemon Store Screen (0%)
        Level 1 (0%)
        Any attacks that need to be modified (50%) - Setting up the new stacking debuff mechanics. No longer will stat changing attack run out. They will also stack so you have to keep applying it to get the max effect. Watch the video below for a small preview. The graphic will get slightly bigger and stack as the debuff stacks. Also your pokemon will prioritize targets that have the lowest stack or no stack at all.


        Level User Interface (0%)
        Saving (0%)
        Loading (0%)

        During the week I will keep adding more things and updating what I'm working on. This will give you a better look at where I am at with getting the release done.

        That is all I have for today, keep checking back for more. As always let me know what you think!


        Tuesday, June 19, 2012

        Weekly Short and Sweet Update

        Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

        Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


        I'm feeling a bit sick so I will make this short and sweet.

        Zorua won the poll!

        I'm still working on PTD 2!

        Still don't have a date for it to come out yet (good things take time to create)

        Next week I will have a non-gaming announcement to make.

        Thanks for all the support, let me know what you think!

        HTD

        I'll just add a small update on HTD here. There's not much to report other than we're continuing to make progress on the graphics front. Sam needed to postpone working on the new graphics system in order to take care of personal matters. I'll be making a more in-depth post for HTD at some point this coming week. Have a good weekend everyone!

        -Dan

        Thursday, June 14, 2012

        Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 42 - Creatures Vs Races

        Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.




        Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!



        HTD Logo


        Go here to read Day 41 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.




        Progress on the new art and graphics system is still underway and is going well. We're doing our best to get a new release out to you guys ASAP but we aren't looking to rush it out just so we can have something. I never liked seeing that happen in other games and then having to deal with all sorts of annoying bugs. Granted we're a small group and can only find so much but we do what we can. :)

        Now, on to the topic at hand. Creatures Vs Races! In HTD when we say Creatures we are typically referring to enemy units and when we say Races we are referring to playable heroes. However, there will be units that are both playable races and creatures that you fight. The HTD world isn't one with race wars going on with one versus another but rather just a world full of all sorts of races and creatures that have various factions within different groups. Some are good, some are bad. This allows us to be a bit more versatile when it comes to designating enemies for maps because we can mix various kinds of units together and still have it make sense.

        You might be wondering why aren't all units just creatures and playable races. Well, because it would be difficult to make something like a slug into a playable unit. The playable races require far more animations and set up in order to work with the system we've established. The main reason is because they are dynamic and allow for weapon and armor swapping which requires a lot more assets and work. However, we can always use creatures as companion pets/combat pets since they are a more limited version of a playable unit. So some might end up being available in that respect.

        Another good thing about having creatures as pets and races as enemies is that we can reuse assets that we already have. It's a huge time saver and provides some additional diversity, especially the races. For example, we can use the human race as an enemy and have all the armor and weapons available to outfit them however we like and even give them variations among themselves. We can also use their animations to do different things with. All of this essentially for free since we already have them available for the playable human race.

        We're all looking forward to the next release and hope to share it with you guys soon. Thanks for the continued support!


        In the Works:

      • Design

        • Pet System (50%)
        • Interface Revision (100%)


      • Graphics

        • Unit: Human Male - Revision (100%)
        • Unit: Human Male - Animations (25%)
        • Unit: Fire Gecko - Melee Concept (75%)
        • Unit: Fire Gecko - Ranged Concept (75%)
        • Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
        • Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)


      • Programming

        • Graphic Processing Revision (75%)
        • Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)



        Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

        Be sure to leave any ideas, suggestions, or other feedback you might have in the comments!


        -Dan

        Tuesday, June 12, 2012

        Weekly Progress: Working, PTD 2 improvements, small games, pick your first Mystery Gift!

        Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

        Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


        Working
        Work, work, work! That is what we are all about right now here at Sam and Dan Games. Let us look at what everybody is working on!

        First the artist, since all the graphics in Pokemon Tower Defense are taken from the actual games we don't really need artist for PTD2, I mean admit it you love my attack graphics! So all of them are working on Hero Tower Defense. Kevin, our first artist, made a great blog post about what the artist have been making this past month. Check it out here. Not in the blog is the work that Joel has done. Joel while working on the PTD Fan film and his other projects was able to complete some weapon designs and a weapon model. Dan will also be lending his hand at helping with the 3D models.

        Second the programmers. Yes there is more than one! I've been talking to him for a long time now about joining us and now he is finally ready. I would like to welcome Jonathan to the team. He will be helping with the programming starting off with some new game prototypes that I will talk about down below. I'm also a programmer, I'm working on HTD, PTD2, and also some prototypes.

        Lastly the designers. Dan as you might know is in charge of designing and managing HTD, with feedback from the team. He is also in charge of the HTD blog post and answering SnD Coin orders. I'm in charge of PTD, PTD 2, and the weekly progress blog. Dan and I work together to figure out what we should focus on and which paths should we take as a company.

        PTD 2 Improvements
        Believe it or not I can't just copy and paste all the code from PTD to PTD 2! A lot of it needs to be refined and some critical parts drastically changed. This is why it has taken so long for the 1v1 mode to come out. I'm here to tell you about some of the improvements that I have been able to make to PTD that I hope you will enjoy. So here we go.

        1. You can now swap tower positions by dropping a tower in the other tower's spot.
        2. Attack's cooldown won't reset if you change the move, return the pokemon or move a tower from its spot.
        3. Damage text will now be white and have a dark background behind it to make it easier to read the text. Also all types of damage will have the same color. Super effective damage will be larger, and ineffective damage will be smaller font. Also critical damage will show up as slightly bigger and in a yellow color. So that its easier to see when you get a critical hit or when somebody critically hits you.
        4. When you change the size of the map it will now center itself. (See HTD's map)
        5. You can't drag the map so that it will be off screen. (See HTD's map)
        6. Many other improvements to the level code.

        When you play PTD2 you will notice a bunch of small changes to almost every area in the game. I hope you guys will enjoy them when the time comes. (I'm still working on it!)

        Small Games
        So last week I talked about small games. Not sure if I mentioned it before but Dan and I are about big complex ideas. We like games with a lot of depth. I tend to go for the more easy to pick up and hard to master, and he tend to go for the hardcore from the start games. A good example would be my love for the Super Smash Bros series and Dan's love for the Street Fighter series. The problem is we don't have the money to make the big complex games, and even something of medium size (like HTD) will take us a good long while to make. So it is with this in mind that we want to produce some smaller but fun games for you guys to play. Three prototypes we are looking at are: A beat em up game designed by Kevin. A barrel jumping game (like the original donkey kong) inspired by the a concept from Joel. A simple RPG designed by me inspired by the 3DS RPG Find Mii. These will be fun games that will be connected in an interesting way that I'm not ready to reveal at this time.

        Pick your first Mystery Gift!
        So the 5th Generation of pokemon won for the first poll and you guys gave a lot of great comment as to who you wanted from different generations. I gathered up all the names and I picked the top 3 plus I added my own suggestion (Sandile) to the poll. Make your pick!

        That's all I have for you this week, thanks for the support and as always let me know what you think!

        Thursday, June 7, 2012

        Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 41 - Show and Tell

        Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.




        Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!



        HTD Logo


        Go here to read Day 40 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.




        Unfortunately the new release won't make it out this week because we were originally thinking we could set up the new interface menus using a mix of the old graphics process with the new graphics process. It seems now that we can't actually do that or it wouldn't be worth it because we'd have to redo it anyway. So we're taking the more efficient route by continuing to work on the new graphics process and then once we have that set up we'll be able to throw together the new interface and it'll be set for good. However, I wanted to give you guys a little bit of a preview in the meantime.

        Hero Customization Screen

        This is the Hero Customization screen where you'll be able to change things like your Race, Hair Style, Colors, etc. You might notice that there's no character roster at the bottom. This is because this screen won't always be available, it's more of a triggered screen that will become available when you are presented with the option to change some of those features. For example it'll appear when you start a new game in order to make your main hero and when you get new customizable heroes or items/quests that allow you change race or hair color. For testing purposes we'll be allowing easy access to this screen from the Party Management screen till we are at a more finalized version of the game.

        Party Management Screen

        Next is the Party Management screen where you'll be able to set up the group you'll take into battle, enter battle, and for now, access the Hero Customization screen. On this screen you can see the character roster, navigation buttons, and a preview of the currently selected hero. The preview will also show you the hero's name, native element (behind the character), and their currently active skills. The Enter Battle text and icon will light up when there's at least one character in your active party.

        Inventory Screen

        And lastly we have the Inventory screen. Your currently selected hero's equipment is on the left and the shared inventory (all characters use the same one) on the right. The check marks on the Helm and Cloak slots are toggles for turning those items visually on and off. In order to see the details of any items/skills you would just hover the cursor over it and details for it will pop up in a window.

        That's all I'm going to show for now, don't want the post to get too large. There are still some placeholders at work here but as you can see it's mostly an overhaul. Hopefully we can get a new release out for you guys soon so you can try it and provide us with some feedback. As you can see we're hard at work though and things are coming together nicely, the current content just takes some time to put together.


        In the Works:

      • Design

        • Pet System (50%)
        • Interface Revision (90%)


      • Graphics

        • Unit: Human Male - Revision (90%)
        • Unit: Fire Gecko - Melee Concept (75%)
        • Unit: Fire Gecko - Ranged Concept (75%)
        • Unit: Meerkat Non-Combat Pet - Concept (25%)
        • Unit: Goblin - Concept (25%)


      • Programming

        • Graphic Processing Revision (75%)
        • Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)



        Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

        Suggestions and ideas are always welcome in the comments, thanks guys!


        -Dan