CSTSF 2016 Modding Competition Discussion & Submission Thread

you know I wrote a general-purpose "use numeric variables in TSC" hack that anyone is allowed to use ... right?

I couldn't apply that. Still, it can't apply for all the variables for where and what stuff the towers are anyway.

 

Ok so here are my thoughts on Critter TD:

This is actually a fun little game, at least for the first few levels. Placing down towers and watching the critters die is pretty fun, and there's a bit of strategy on where to place towers to optimally kill critters. Experimenting with all the different towers in different spots was pretty neat.

However it soon becomes apparent that the game isn't really balanced. You pretty much just need to save up enough money to buy the more expensive towers and then start placing those as soon as you can. I thought the super missiles were my best bet though, until I had a map full of fully upgraded super missiles that the last wave just walked through and killed me. It seems that for pure damage, the spur is actually the best (I think you're unable to actually win some levels unless you have a map full of fully upgraded spur towers for the last wave). So once you learn this the game sort of just follows this pattern:

1) Build some cheap towers (bubbler, fireball, etc) to survive the first few waves
2) Save up enough money to build 1 spur tower
3) Start building only spur towers
4) Win

This was pretty much my whole strategy for the entire game once I figured it out. There are some levels where you hide the spur behind breakable blocks (which is a neat idea by the way), but it didn't change much besides making me build a few specific towers in places to unlock the spur for that level.

So that being said, the game could use some balancing so that you have some incentive to place some of the other towers. Maybe make the other weapons less terrible in terms of DPS? Or maybe make it so the final wave doesn't require all fully upgraded spurs?

Another thing is that I think it's a little ridiculous that we even have enough money to put fully upgraded spurs on every tower. If money was a bit more scarce, then maybe the player wouldn't want to tear down towers they've already built to put down more spur towers.

The individual levels themselves are also kind of on the long side. I'm not sure every level needs 30 waves? It became more of a grind at the end rather than a challenge. It'd also be neat if the waves were different for each level.

The music is okay but I really wish you used more than 1 track for the levels. The same track playing on all the levels kind of gets annoying after 2 levels or so.

I'm also really not a fan of the map hazards. I'd like to focus more on just building towers than avoiding spikes while building towers. I think it makes the game difficult in an unfun way. Especially the ceiling spikes, which you can kind of get "stuck" on as you have little to no invulnerability frames.

And now let's talk about the ending:

Spoiler

Or how there wasn't one? Not even a "good job you did it" screen or something. Kind of anticlimactic after beating the last stage for absolutely nothing to happen.

So in conclusion, it's a neat and fun concept but the levels are too long and the game needs some balancing so it doesn't just become "build spur towers: the game".

 

Ok so here are my thoughts on Critter TD:

This is actually a fun little game, at least for the first few levels. Placing down towers and watching the critters die is pretty fun, and there's a bit of strategy on where to place towers to optimally kill critters. Experimenting with all the different towers in different spots was pretty neat.

However it soon becomes apparent that the game isn't really balanced. You pretty much just need to save up enough money to buy the more expensive towers and then start placing those as soon as you can. I thought the super missiles were my best bet though, until I had a map full of fully upgraded super missiles that the last wave just walked through and killed me. It seems that for pure damage, the spur is actually the best (I think you're unable to actually win some levels unless you have a map full of fully upgraded spur towers for the last wave). So once you learn this the game sort of just follows this pattern:

1) Build some cheap towers (bubbler, fireball, etc) to survive the first few waves
2) Save up enough money to build 1 spur tower
3) Start building only spur towers
4) Win

This was pretty much my whole strategy for the entire game once I figured it out. There are some levels where you hide the spur behind breakable blocks (which is a neat idea by the way), but it didn't change much besides making me build a few specific towers in places to unlock the spur for that level.

So that being said, the game could use some balancing so that you have some incentive to place some of the other towers. Maybe make the other weapons less terrible in terms of DPS? Or maybe make it so the final wave doesn't require all fully upgraded spurs?

Another thing is that I think it's a little ridiculous that we even have enough money to put fully upgraded spurs on every tower. If money was a bit more scarce, then maybe the player wouldn't want to tear down towers they've already built to put down more spur towers.

The individual levels themselves are also kind of on the long side. I'm not sure every level needs 30 waves? It became more of a grind at the end rather than a challenge. It'd also be neat if the waves were different for each level.

The music is okay but I really wish you used more than 1 track for the levels. The same track playing on all the levels kind of gets annoying after 2 levels or so.

I'm also really not a fan of the map hazards. I'd like to focus more on just building towers than avoiding spikes while building towers. I think it makes the game difficult in an unfun way. Especially the ceiling spikes, which you can kind of get "stuck" on as you have little to no invulnerability frames.

And now let's talk about the ending:

Spoiler

Or how there wasn't one? Not even a "good job you did it" screen or something. Kind of anticlimactic after beating the last stage for absolutely nothing to happen.

So in conclusion, it's a neat and fun concept but the levels are too long and the game needs some balancing so it doesn't just become "build spur towers: the game".

Okay. Maybe I'll buff the Super Missile Launcher a bit. Also I was planning a bonus level, so no ending yet.

 

my feelings pretty much echo GIR's
it's cool and fun but heck you for adding map hazards to a tower-defense and also can become repetitive

 

Alright, releasing a new update for Autopilot. Mainly just one or two fixes along with some additional polishing. For future reference, the download link in the original post will always be for the most recent version of the mod.

 

ALRIGHT! You know what I'm gonna do here? NOTES!

Spoiler

-Hmm, I expected a little more from this going in... until I was met with the default icons, a clunky opening cut-scene complete with out of place sound effects and a title screen which looks... eww.

-In the intro the QuoteOS booting thing feels really clunky. First of all, I wouldn't mind this bit at all if: The text was <TURd (heh), the healing sound effect didn't play at %100, and there was a <WAI after the %100 text was done.

-You've also gone and left the bloody Volume and Version buttons in the window frame, take these off god damn it! The Volume button just yells at you in Japanese-character-to-ASCII gibberish, and the Version button tells you the game was made by Studio Pixel.

-The title screen, or--more specifically--the title looks... ugh. And it's bad enough ignoring the fact that there are random specs of black all over it. Really? Come on now.

-OK, so as the title promises it's basically the opposite of Don't Let Go.

-This part is full of bad tiling. Especially the roof above me.

-Bad tiling CITY up in this cave! OK, the tiling throughout the cave is JARRING as fuck.

-Neat boss fight.

-"Next time you should take control!" Oh, so it's over already? OK, I s'pose the mod can be replayed with you controlling the player.

-My god, do you really expect the player to finish this mod manually? It's fucking ridiculous.

-Spikes do 15 damage. Fuck you, I'm not playing this anymore.

Yeah, SeasonsOfDestiny can be a hypocrite at times. By the way, it's not that ridiculous to redo the mod, even I managed it. I'm not going to spoil it here, but I'll give you a hint on how to pass the first part a bit faster.

Spoiler

You can jump off to the left side at the start, and then go right into the long vertically upwards wind current.

 

I just love how you guys just bit the hand that fed you advice for making your mods better. Seasons tries to help you, and you just spit on him and kick him on his sides.

 

I just love how you guys just bit the hand that fed you advice for making your mods better. Seasons tries to help you, and you just spit on him and kick him on his sides.

When did I say it was a bad mod? I only just said he was a hypocrite for using such harsh language at mistakes in others' mods, and refuses to admit mistakes in his own mod.

 

When did I say it was a bad mod? I only just said he was a hypocrite for using such harsh language at mistakes in others' mods, and refuses to admit mistakes in his own mod.

But he did admit his mistakes in an earlier post.

Alright, releasing a new update for Autopilot. Mainly just one or two fixes along with some additional polishing.

But you're way too focused on flaming the guy who made the mod than anything else involving the mod to realize that.

 

Can we not turn this into a contest of who's the least hypocritical and try to be good-naturedly productive instead because I don't care who thinks they're allowed to get uppity about what

 

But he did admit his mistakes in an earlier post.

But you're way too focused on flaming the guy who made the mod than anything else involving the mod to realize that.

Yeah. But what you don't realise is that I was the one to tell him these mistakes.

Can we not turn this into a contest of who's the least hypocritical and try to be good-naturedly productive instead because I don't care who thinks they're allowed to get uppity about what

Okay yeah. I'll stop this harassment then.

 

FYI autopilot is actually Really Easy if you use your eyes and think about when you should use autopilot and when you should not

 

-You've also gone and left the bloody Volume and Version buttons in the window frame, take these off god damn it! The Volume button just yells at you in Japanese-character-to-ASCII gibberish, and the Version button tells you the game was made by Studio Pixel.

do people even care about this?

 

do people even care about this?

no

 

wall of text I

wall of text II: electric boogaloo

My dude, you are trying way too hard to be "funny" in your "notes." All that you're accomplishing is sounding like a dick. If you could elaborate upon my tiling being "bad" and "JARRING as fuck," I would appreciate it consider that I didn't make a boxes of tiles void of flavor, like pebbles or dripping water. The only parts that are truly flat are structures that are supposed to be flat, like paths or roads.

It also isn't my fault that you can't follow the simplest of instructions or use common sense: if you die, it's your fault and your fault alone. If it looks like moving will kill you, it will probably kill you.

 

ANONYMOUS SUBMISSION
DOWNLOAD​

 

By the way, what do you guys think of the new bonus level I added? (I haven't added much of an ending yet but I'll do that later)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wwp57g48s11w1f5/Critter_TD_v0.2.6.zip?dl=0
Also removed most spikes
To skip the rest of the levels, select 'Modtester Version' and the game will treat it as if you've completed the rest of the levels already.


Also, if anyone wants to use this entity I just coded,

Spoiler

The player-controlled Rainbow Critter

You can have the code in hex pair form, since I'm so generous.

Spoiler

0x445651
8B 4D 08 81 69 40 00 04 00 00 7E 3D EB 07 D9 55
89 E5 EB EC 9B 83 79 70 00 75 0D FF 41 70 66 A1
CC E6 49 00 98 89 41 40 F6 05 14 E2 49 00 40 74
23 F6 41 04 08 74 1D C7 41 14 01 FC FF FF E8 26
01 00 00 83 61 04 00 EB 02 EB 5D EB 07 C7 41 10
80 01 00 00 83 61 68 00 F6 05 10 E2 49 00 02 74
08 C6 41 68 04 C6 41 4C 02 F6 05 10 E2 49 00 01
74 08 C6 41 68 01 C6 41 4C 00 F6 05 10 E2 49 00
40 75 04 83 51 14 20 83 41 14 20 F6 05 10 E2 49
00 20 74 23 FF 41 78 83 79 78 07 7E 1A 83 61 78
00 E8 9F 01 00 00 EB 0F 6A 28 E8 90 C2 FD FF C9
C3 CC 83 21 00 C9 C3 8B 4D 08 83 79 68 00 75 0A
83 79 4C 02 75 04 C6 41 68 03 8B 51 40 66 89 15
CC E6 49 00 4A 7D 09 6A 01 E8 CA FF FF FF C9 C3
80 79 68 00 75 10 80 79 68 03 75 F8 F6 41 04 08
75 F2 80 41 68 02 8B 41 68 C1 C0 04 89 41 54 83
C0 10 89 41 5C 29 C0 89 41 58 04 10 89 41 60 80
79 68 03 7D 02 71 10 83 69 54 30 83 41 5C D0 83
69 58 F0 83 41 60 10 8B 41 10 8B 51 14 11 51 0C
11 41 08 F6 41 04 08 74 0E 83 61 10 00 83 61 14
00 83 61 64 00 71 39 C6 41 54 20 C6 41 5C 30 83
79 4C 02 74 0A C6 41 58 00 C6 41 60 10 71 08 C6
41 58 10 C6 41 60 20 EB 19 83 79 4C 02 74 09 C7
41 10 80 FE FF FF EB 07 C7 41 10 80 01 00 00 C3
EB 3E F6 05 10 E2 49 00 01 75 0B F6 05 10 E2 49
00 02 75 08 EB 2A 83 59 10 20 71 04 83 51 10 20
81 79 10 00 FE FF FF 7F 07 C7 41 10 00 FE FF FF
81 79 10 00 02 00 00 7C 07 C7 41 10 00 02 00 00
EB 3E 29 C0 50 50 50 6A 7F 6A 81 EB 44 66 D9 D0
5A 5A 50 8B 51 4C 4A C1 F2 0B 52 FF 71 0C FF 71
08 29 C0 B0 94 50 E8 94 97 02 00 8D 64 E4 20 8B
4D 08 FF 41 74 83 79 74 03 7C C7 83 61 74 00 C3
66 81 79 14 FF 07 7C 07 C7 41 14 FF 07 00 00 EB
23 E8 E9 9A FC FF 5A 5A 92 66 B8 00 02 98 52 50
F7 D8 50 E8 D7 9A FC FF 59 59 59 01 C8 8B 4D 08
51 50 EB 99 8B 41 0C A3 58 E6 49 00 83 25 54 E6
49 00 00 EB 72 F6 05 10 E2 49 00 0C 75 06 E8 6F
FF FF FF C3 29 C0 50 50 50 29 C0 40 F6 05 10 E2
49 00 04 74 02 F7 D8 C1 F0 0B 50 66 B8 80 02 98
50 F7 D8 50 E8 86 9A FC FF 5A 5A 50 8B 4D 08 FF
71 0C FF 71 08 31 C0 B0 94 50 E8 F0 96 02 00 83
C4 20 8B 4D 08 FF 41 74 83 79 74 03 72 A7 83 61
74 00 F6 05 10 E2 49 00 08 75 01 C3 F6 41 04 08
75 F9 83 69 14 7F C3 66 81 41 40 00 04 C9 C3

^ By the way, if you use this, please give credit, because I did spend quite a lot of time perfecting this. Replaces entity 150 'Quote,' uses the sprites in the same position as Last Cave/First Cave critters.