Laggy
I like the concept, the graphics are spectacular, and I think the game is pretty innovative, but the levels get progressively slower as time goes on, and it eventually becomes pretty much unplayable. I'm not sure why that is; might have something to do with the particles causing a long-term slowdown, because it doesn't look like there's too much more on the screen in later levels; at least, not enough to cause that great of a slowdown. But it's definitely the one thing I'd try to fix.
Hi Jett,
I have been chasing down all of the things that might be causing the slowdown issues. The particle effects could definitely be it (which is one of the reasons I put the disable features in the game options menu)
It only slows down for me when I play it in a browser. When I play it in my standalone flash player, or as a projector it's about 10x faster and never slows down. I'd love to find out if other game makers have run into this issue before, but i'll keep digging and see if I can improve performance!
!(>_<)!
Kill the lag
Looks like I'm part of a crowd here that thinks this is a pretty tight defense game, but it slows to an absolute CRAWL sometime in the level 20's. I've tried this with two different computers, Firefox and IE, and I even tried downloading the standalone, and I get the same results. That to me is a major flaw, so I'm knocking off several points for it. I'm not sure what it is, but Oroboros has the same problem and I've noticed that both games use a lot of particles, so maybe that's causing the long-term slowdown.
Pretty sweet
Been meaning to review this one for a while. It's a really nice game and challenging, but its downfall is that once you discover the one truly effective strategy (in short, a shitload of fully upgraded ice towers), every map except impossible plays out almost exactly the same.
I think that any sequel you make for this should make room for more diverse strategies, and also some more interesting maps. All the current maps have point symmetry, which tells any savvy player that any effective turret formation can simply be duplicated on the other side; asymmetrical maps would force players to adapt to the "landscape" more to find the best places to attack creeps from.
For beginning or struggling players, here's my usual strategy. I'll just count grid spaces, starting from the top left as (1,1), for positioning:
Easy:
1 Level 2 MG (machine gun) at (7,7)
Upgrade MG to level 4
Build FT (flamethrower) at (9,7)
Maximize MG and FT
Build and maximize second FT at (13,7)
Start building IT (ice tower) in the rectangle between (9,5) and (13,9)
Once IT grid is complete, sell MG and FT and build as many LT (light tower) as possible, anywhere that gives good coverage.
Hard:
1 Level 2 MG at (6,7)
Second MG at (16,7), upgrade as needed to prevent creep escape but focus on original MG and FT's
Upgrade MG to level 4
Build FT at (7,7)
Maximize MG and FT
Build and maximize second FT at (15,7)
Start building IT in the rectangle between (9,5) and (13,9); may not need to completely fill in
Once IT grid is complete, sell MG and FT and build as many LT as possible, anywhere that gives good coverage.
Very Hard:
1 Level 2 MG at (9,7)
Second MG at (13,7), upgrade as needed to prevent creep escape (this will require quick reaction time; depending on the random damage range, a few creeps might escape no matter what you do)
Upgrade both MG's to level 4
Build FT at (10,7)
Build second FT at (12,7)
Maximize MG's and FT's (cheapest upgrades first)
Start building IT in the rectangle between (9,5) and (13,9) (noticing a pattern here?); may want to sell MG and FT to fill in IT grid as much as possible.
Once IT grid is complete, sell MG and FT and build as many LT as possible, anywhere that gives good coverage.
Impossible:
You're on your own. No strategy I've used has gotten me past the round of large white circles.
Quick notes on alternate strategies:
I've advised not upgrading the LT's because building additional level 1 LT's is more effective due to the stacked armor piercing. Really, though, your IT grid should eventually freeze all the creeps in one place, at which point it won't really matter what strategy you use to finish them off.
Lightning towers work fairly well by themselves, but their stun ability will sometimes cause other turrets to target the stunned creep instead of the frontmost creep, which may cause your IT's to let creeps through by the droves.
I've never gotten much effective use out of the two splash damage towers (plasma and void).
Pretty good
Overall, I like the concept and execution.
I've got to say, though, level 31 is PISSING ME OFF. Any way I try to solve it always turns into one of about half a dozen not-quite-right configurations I've hit again and again, to the point where I'm wondering if the level is bugged and it's actually impossible. The three 5-pieces seem to be the key, but there are only so many ways I can position them so that it's even possible to surround them with 5 pieces each.
I'd almost like to buy it. Too bad I can't.
I never thought I'd say this about an internet Flash game, but this is actually a unique-enough version of this tired old tile-switching puzzle game model that I'd actually consider purchasing the full version if the price was reasonable (read: no more than $10). Unfortunately, said "full version" seems to be an even greater myth than the Roman gods themselves.
I have searched far and wide, not leastly at the site linked through the flash game itself, and no method of purchasing a full version can be found. Your words are poison and you have crushed my dreams of building up a big-ass Rome worthy of Olympus (which incidentally is where the Greek pantheon resides, not the Roman gods), and also my dreams of supporting your crass commercial endeavor. I am off to wallow in sadness, knowing that I will never, ever be able to build that field thingy that's right after the village.
Very good
I've always liked your games, but I think this is by far your strongest. The gameplay is innovative and well-balanced. Some of your earlier games feel like a furious race against the learning curve, where a tiny mistake early on can compound itself over time and finally destroy you ten rounds later. This game has an organic feel to it and it seems like you can focus on several different "paths," i.e. choosing to buy different upgrades and abilities, and still play a decent game.
Just a couple of annoyances. A pause button would be nice in Survival mode; I hate having my high score ruined because the phone rings.
There's also a luck issue that can be very annoying. Sometimes a large explosion or a bounced shot can send small tanks flying right past the launcher, leaving no hope for recovery. I'd like to see something to balance this out because it always seems like that's what gets me while I'm playing an otherwise flawless game and makes certain strategies (like the Level 4 random reflection projectile) impractical to use.
I'd suggest replacing the "lives" with more of a "health" system where larger tanks to more damage than smaller ones when they slip by. If not that then perhaps a powerup that creates a temporary shield (even for just a fraction of a second) that can deflect small tanks. Nerf it all you want: give it a high energy drain, lots of tech points to purchase, have it only deflect small tanks and hell, only have it deflect tanks that aren't moving under their own power if you want (since they're the real problem anyway), but I still think it would be a valuable addition to the game.
Overall, though, it's great. It's the best one I've ever seen out of you and may be the best defense game I've ever played.
Complete ripoff
The best part about this game is that it's a ripoff of Desktop Tower Defence almost down to the very last detail and then you have the gall to put "ANY DISTRIBUTION/DUPLICATION IS STRICTLY NOT ALLOWED" on your title screen.
Nevertheless, I'll attempt to do an objective review. Let's see, since the "style" and "interactivity" are both straight out of DTD and if it turned out you just decompiled the DTD flash and stole the code I wouldn't be surprised in the least. So those are automatic zeroes; sorry, I'm only giving you points for things you did yourself.
The graphics aren't terrible in and of themselves except that they're dark and kind of your boring typical sci-fi industrial slop and besides they make the game run incredibly slowly if a lot of monsters are on the screen at once.
Sound is ripped out of Starcraft but I won't give you a straight-out zero for that because everyone and their mother rips their sound effects from Starcraft. However, the quality is crappy, especially when there's a lot going on at once (you start getting that wonderful "shouting into a microphone" effect), so I'm afraid that's a low score too.
As for violence well there sure is some shootin' and some killin' goin' on but whatever, I never got this category anyway. Is flash not good unless there's gallons of gore in it? Anyway, I'll give you a middling score to be on the safe side since as I said, I just don't know.
I'll give you a 10 for humor because of that hilarious copyright message that I mentioned previously.
I wasn't sure what to give you for an overall score so I just multiplied all of your other scores together and made that the result.
My constructive criticism on how to improve the game would be to scrap it and start over, this time with your OWN tower types and your OWN AI behavior and your OWN somewhat original gameplay system. I mean, I know that a TD-type games have a lot of similarities, I'm just saying don't make it a straight ripoff of someone else's version like this one.
Ugh.
Unskippable cutscenes, no mouse control even in menus, unavoidable damage from enemies, no save feature, and scripting bugs that freeze the entire game. There might be a pretty good game in there somewhere, but it's really hard to find.
Ok.
I commented that the demo seemed like a clone of Clash'n'Slash; I'm glad the subsequent levels show some more variety, but I'm still not sure I'm keen on this limited pathed movement setup; especially since aiming and dodging are linked, making it very difficult to do both at the same time. I'd like to see more variety of weapons and upgrades, and some tougher choices that would give the player more control over their player "build" (i.e. a tradeoff between flying speed and armor/HP or weapon power vs. firing rate/accuracy; multiple and increasingly powerful "levels" of weapons, etc.).
Props for capturing the retro style very well; I like the in-game graphics and music (though I hope to see more variety of music in subsequent episodes). Some more "emotes" for the dialogue pictures would be nice. Plot and dialogue are a little cliche, which fits well into the retro mold, but I'd like to see something new, too.
All in all, you've got me interested enough that I'll be watching out for the next installment to this series. Good luck, keep up the good work, and mix it up a bit.
Would be cool if it were original.
The graphics are slick and oldschool but can't hide the fact that this is a Clash'n'Slash clone. Sorry, I'm unimpressed.
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Joined on 8/14/04
Oroboros 
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