6 ms·

Ask HN: My tower defense game is almost ready to launch

12 points by atum47 6y ago

Hi everyone, I've been working on this tower defense game and I'm inviting people to get to know it because I plan to release it soon. I'm just serious in doubt where should I released it, given that I want to charge people a small amount of money. Where would you like to play this? On your cellphone or desktop? Any specific platform (steam, itch.io)? I've been thinking about releasing a package of levels for free on my website and then sell (for a small price) packages with new levels. I think this is a good strategy where I could demo the game and if people really like it, they would contribute buying content. How do you feel about that? Could this strategy hurt me in the long way, if I want to become a game dev (Epic x Apple/Google polemic)? Please, help me out on this. Here's a little play through I recorded today. https://twitter.com/victorqribeiro/status/1294354454024724481 https://twitter.com/victorqribeiro/status/129435445402472448...

Foober223 6y ago
> Could this strategy hurt me in the long way No one can know for sure. Kingdom Rush (tower defense) started out as a free web-based game. Later they released on google and apple stores. Didn't seem to hurt them. Probably wouldn't have been a successful game without that initial free version. The free web game hooked me at least.
- atum47 6y ago
  Good to know, thanks
atum47 6y ago
Here's a playlist where I was login my progress developing the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgjByP-EhdA&list=PL3pnEx5_eGm8bxSuuvG8clC83-DzleIyF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgjByP-EhdA&list=PL3pnEx5_eG...
prepend 6y ago
What I really want is a fun pay once and get everything structure. Free to play requires unnecessary grind that really isn’t that fun. So please offer “IDGAF” $5 bundle or something like the original fieldrunners. Other than, iOS or Steam please. Epic is horrible to use as a gamer. I’m probably never going to register on your site to pay you. Mindustry is a good example of a simple, low cost game that runs through steam and iOS (and I imagine android).
- atum47 6y ago
  If I somehow convince you to register at my site (just email and password to keep track of who bought) you would be able to play the game on any device you want with a PWA app. you could install it on your phone and desktop and continue your game wherever you want. still not worth the hassle of typing the email and password?
  - TavsiE9s 6y ago
    Login with XYZ might be better suited. That way you really won't have to deal with storing logins, etc.
  - prepend 6y ago
    I appreciate you responding and that’s a nice offer. It seems minimal, but registering with a site, worrying about spam (although I’m sure you don’t do that) and worrying about potential breach or scam (although I’m sure your security is tight) isn’t worth it for a fun game. For minimal, spur of the moment things, I use one of the 10 things I’ve already signed up for. It’s not so much the effort of setting up an account, it’s the existing of just one more thing following me around. If I could give you $5 cash and get a floppy disk that would be way better :) (even though cash is impossible and nothing I have can use a floppy)
capableweb 6y ago
Is there any way we can play this? Otherwise, it would be wiser to use the "Ask HN" format, as "Show HN" is for things that people can play around with themselves, not videos to watch/articles to read.
- dang 6y ago
  Yes. I've changed the title to Ask HN. The Show HN rules have recently been updated btw: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.
- atum47 6y ago
  sorry about that, but pretty soon you'll be able to play it (as I told, I'll release a package of levels for free, no gotcha) I just made this thread to feel where should I invest my time now that I'll build the UI. (mouse/keyboard, touch, both..)
wyoh 6y ago
For tower defense, I'd prefer on phones/tablets.
- atum47 6y ago
  I'm able to publish for Android devices right way, but I just don't have what it takes to publish of iOs right now. I don't own a mac nor a Apple developer ID.
ygjb 6y ago
I think you should publish it on a personal web page, and on each of those platforms (Apple, Android, Itch). Without actually playing it, and only looking at the video you provided, it looks like a playable, but basic tower defense game. I don't think this is a game you can effectively charge for, for a few reasons: * It doesn't appear to offer anything unique over other basic tower defense games * It seems very simplistic; your playthrough video didn't appear to show a game start, round start, round end, or game end screen. It looks unfinished * It appears to be using stock art from the Kenney.nl site None of these are explicit reasons not to charge - I am an amateur game dev, and use the Kenney art for most of my stuff :) My games are also largely incomplete, there are things that I should add, but none of them are the game that I am working on, most of them are prototypes to build skills and test mechanics for something else. It is awesome that you built this, and I think a better approach would be to publish it on each of your website, the Apple store, Google play store, and Itch. Publishing to each of those is relatively easy, and is a good learning experience. You could also offer players an in-app purchase to upgrade to paid version, and implement features that appeal to them (including something as basic as supporting you as an indie dev). Publishing those apps, and building a payment feature will be a big step in ensuring you have skills that are marketable as a developer, and help you learn the pitfalls of publishing, it also starts building a portfolio you can point at when applying for jobs if you want to go that route. Keeping the game free means that folks will be more likely to try and play your game, and if you build in social features then you can solicit feedback from players about what they like and don't like, which will help you learn about game design. Providing an option to pay creates the potential to make some (even a small amount) of money while doing this. Either way good job, and look forward to playing it once it's published somewhere!
- atum47 6y ago
  I have implemented the "world map" yesterday, but I didn't show it this time. Same with the UI, usually take a lot of work to do a UI that works well both in desktop and phones (with different types of screen). That's why this thread exists, I'm kinda feeling the crowd (is there's one). this is not supposed to be a revolutionary game, just a fun casual game with a large amount of levels so people wouldn't get bored. yes, I used the assets from Kenny, I do like his work and follow him on Twitter but the game is graphics agnostic, meaning that I could change the way it looks altering just one variable. if I could somehow create enough interest in the game, I could offer new skins, new enemies, new towers... did I convinced you that this is worth a few dollars?
_jjkk 6y ago
Art is important. Especially for a competitive genre like tower defense with hundreds (thousands?) of titles, programmer art just won't cut it. If you're hellbent on selling a tower defense game, have you considered hiring an artist to improve the look?
- atum47 6y ago
  yes, the textures are easily swappable, I just don't have resources to hire an artist right now
  - remram 6y ago
    No offense but this just won't sell. Unless you have a truly novel and amazing mechanic, this is just another TD game like the hundreds available for free anywhere (thousands on itch.io). Spending on art is not a nice-to-have here, it's a real requirement for people to take you seriously (though it might not be enough to get them to spend money). This video/screenshot won't get anyone to stop scrolling past, whatever the quality of the product.
tsherr 6y ago
I like tower defense games, but it's a crowded market. You'll probably need better graphics or really amazing gameplay. One thing that's critical in my book: "Normal" mode should beat new players regularly until they get the hang of the game. It's boring to win easily. I'd go Android and give the first x levels for free rather than in game purchases. Edit: typo
- atum47 6y ago
  I'm working on differentiate this game from others while keeping it fun. let's see if I can
atum47 6y ago
Ok, so today after this thread I added some new features to the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOfphxLT9mY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOfphxLT9mY Another all nighter, but I'm very happy with how things are going.
aliswe 6y ago
How are you developing this? In Javascript? WebGL?
- atum47 6y ago
  yes, JavaScript but no webgl
  - aliswe 6y ago
    How about rendering it to a 3d surface, and then putting 3d models on top?
    - atum47 6y ago
      you said a rendered sprite (fake 3D)?
      - aliswe 6y ago
        Do you use canvas rn?
        atum47 6y ago
        canvas rn? never heard of it, I use regular canvas
        aliswe 6y ago
        Sorry, I meant "right now". Apologies
      - aliswe 6y ago
        And no, I mean real 3d!
        atum47 6y ago
        I do have a 3D engine in progress, but I haven't implemented 3D animations yet. it wouldn't be hard to migrate this to 3D, but this is not something I've been thinking about right now
sethammons 6y ago
My favorite TD was RoboDefense on Android. Things I liked about it: first 10 levels free, under $5 to unlock the rest. Well designed leveling: you are always just this close to either unlocking the next upgrade or tower or so close to achievements like not letting a single baddie through. I found myself wanting to get 30s in at stop lights.
aliswe 6y ago
May I suggest visiting the creators awesome website: https://victorribeiro.com/ https://victorribeiro.com/
- atum47 6y ago
  thank you =)
dave333 6y ago
I would let people play it free and use adsense for revenue. I have done this with sudoku sites eg https://samurai-sudoku.com https://samurai-sudoku.com and it's definitely worthwhile.
- atum47 6y ago
  that is something to consider. thanks for the input

12 points by atum47 6y ago

Foober223 6y ago

> Could this strategy hurt me in the long way No one can know for sure. Kingdom Rush (tower defense) started out as a free web-based game. Later they released on google and apple stores. Didn't seem to hurt them. Probably wouldn't have been a successful game without that initial free version. The free web game hooked me at least.

atum47 6y ago
Good to know, thanks

atum47 6y ago

Here's a playlist where I was login my progress developing the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgjByP-EhdA&list=PL3pnEx5_eGm8bxSuuvG8clC83-DzleIyF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgjByP-EhdA&list=PL3pnEx5_eG...

prepend 6y ago

What I really want is a fun pay once and get everything structure. Free to play requires unnecessary grind that really isn’t that fun. So please offer “IDGAF” $5 bundle or something like the original fieldrunners. Other than, iOS or Steam please. Epic is horrible to use as a gamer. I’m probably never going to register on your site to pay you. Mindustry is a good example of a simple, low cost game that runs through steam and iOS (and I imagine android).

atum47 6y ago
If I somehow convince you to register at my site (just email and password to keep track of who bought) you would be able to play the game on any device you want with a PWA app. you could install it on your phone and desktop and continue your game wherever you want. still not worth the hassle of typing the email and password?
- TavsiE9s 6y ago
  Login with XYZ might be better suited. That way you really won't have to deal with storing logins, etc.
- prepend 6y ago
  I appreciate you responding and that’s a nice offer. It seems minimal, but registering with a site, worrying about spam (although I’m sure you don’t do that) and worrying about potential breach or scam (although I’m sure your security is tight) isn’t worth it for a fun game. For minimal, spur of the moment things, I use one of the 10 things I’ve already signed up for. It’s not so much the effort of setting up an account, it’s the existing of just one more thing following me around. If I could give you $5 cash and get a floppy disk that would be way better :) (even though cash is impossible and nothing I have can use a floppy)

capableweb 6y ago

Is there any way we can play this? Otherwise, it would be wiser to use the "Ask HN" format, as "Show HN" is for things that people can play around with themselves, not videos to watch/articles to read.

dang 6y ago
Yes. I've changed the title to Ask HN. The Show HN rules have recently been updated btw: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.
atum47 6y ago
sorry about that, but pretty soon you'll be able to play it (as I told, I'll release a package of levels for free, no gotcha) I just made this thread to feel where should I invest my time now that I'll build the UI. (mouse/keyboard, touch, both..)

wyoh 6y ago

For tower defense, I'd prefer on phones/tablets.

atum47 6y ago
I'm able to publish for Android devices right way, but I just don't have what it takes to publish of iOs right now. I don't own a mac nor a Apple developer ID.

ygjb 6y ago

I think you should publish it on a personal web page, and on each of those platforms (Apple, Android, Itch). Without actually playing it, and only looking at the video you provided, it looks like a playable, but basic tower defense game. I don't think this is a game you can effectively charge for, for a few reasons: * It doesn't appear to offer anything unique over other basic tower defense games * It seems very simplistic; your playthrough video didn't appear to show a game start, round start, round end, or game end screen. It looks unfinished * It appears to be using stock art from the Kenney.nl site None of these are explicit reasons not to charge - I am an amateur game dev, and use the Kenney art for most of my stuff :) My games are also largely incomplete, there are things that I should add, but none of them are the game that I am working on, most of them are prototypes to build skills and test mechanics for something else. It is awesome that you built this, and I think a better approach would be to publish it on each of your website, the Apple store, Google play store, and Itch. Publishing to each of those is relatively easy, and is a good learning experience. You could also offer players an in-app purchase to upgrade to paid version, and implement features that appeal to them (including something as basic as supporting you as an indie dev). Publishing those apps, and building a payment feature will be a big step in ensuring you have skills that are marketable as a developer, and help you learn the pitfalls of publishing, it also starts building a portfolio you can point at when applying for jobs if you want to go that route. Keeping the game free means that folks will be more likely to try and play your game, and if you build in social features then you can solicit feedback from players about what they like and don't like, which will help you learn about game design. Providing an option to pay creates the potential to make some (even a small amount) of money while doing this. Either way good job, and look forward to playing it once it's published somewhere!

atum47 6y ago
I have implemented the "world map" yesterday, but I didn't show it this time. Same with the UI, usually take a lot of work to do a UI that works well both in desktop and phones (with different types of screen). That's why this thread exists, I'm kinda feeling the crowd (is there's one). this is not supposed to be a revolutionary game, just a fun casual game with a large amount of levels so people wouldn't get bored. yes, I used the assets from Kenny, I do like his work and follow him on Twitter but the game is graphics agnostic, meaning that I could change the way it looks altering just one variable. if I could somehow create enough interest in the game, I could offer new skins, new enemies, new towers... did I convinced you that this is worth a few dollars?

_jjkk 6y ago

Art is important. Especially for a competitive genre like tower defense with hundreds (thousands?) of titles, programmer art just won't cut it. If you're hellbent on selling a tower defense game, have you considered hiring an artist to improve the look?

atum47 6y ago
yes, the textures are easily swappable, I just don't have resources to hire an artist right now
- remram 6y ago
  No offense but this just won't sell. Unless you have a truly novel and amazing mechanic, this is just another TD game like the hundreds available for free anywhere (thousands on itch.io). Spending on art is not a nice-to-have here, it's a real requirement for people to take you seriously (though it might not be enough to get them to spend money). This video/screenshot won't get anyone to stop scrolling past, whatever the quality of the product.

tsherr 6y ago

I like tower defense games, but it's a crowded market. You'll probably need better graphics or really amazing gameplay. One thing that's critical in my book: "Normal" mode should beat new players regularly until they get the hang of the game. It's boring to win easily. I'd go Android and give the first x levels for free rather than in game purchases. Edit: typo

atum47 6y ago
I'm working on differentiate this game from others while keeping it fun. let's see if I can

atum47 6y ago

Ok, so today after this thread I added some new features to the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOfphxLT9mY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOfphxLT9mY Another all nighter, but I'm very happy with how things are going.

aliswe 6y ago

How are you developing this? In Javascript? WebGL?

atum47 6y ago
yes, JavaScript but no webgl
- aliswe 6y ago
  How about rendering it to a 3d surface, and then putting 3d models on top?
  - atum47 6y ago
    you said a rendered sprite (fake 3D)?
    - aliswe 6y ago
      Do you use canvas rn?
      - atum47 6y ago
        canvas rn? never heard of it, I use regular canvas
        aliswe 6y ago
        Sorry, I meant "right now". Apologies
    - aliswe 6y ago
      And no, I mean real 3d!
      - atum47 6y ago
        I do have a 3D engine in progress, but I haven't implemented 3D animations yet. it wouldn't be hard to migrate this to 3D, but this is not something I've been thinking about right now

sethammons 6y ago

My favorite TD was RoboDefense on Android. Things I liked about it: first 10 levels free, under $5 to unlock the rest. Well designed leveling: you are always just this close to either unlocking the next upgrade or tower or so close to achievements like not letting a single baddie through. I found myself wanting to get 30s in at stop lights.

aliswe 6y ago

May I suggest visiting the creators awesome website: https://victorribeiro.com/ https://victorribeiro.com/

atum47 6y ago
thank you =)

dave333 6y ago

I would let people play it free and use adsense for revenue. I have done this with sudoku sites eg https://samurai-sudoku.com https://samurai-sudoku.com and it's definitely worthwhile.

atum47 6y ago
that is something to consider. thanks for the input