V1.5 will be released today (I hope)
So here is the lastest on the Lushingon, it looks like the v1.5 update has finially passed the certification process – after a full week. This will fix the problem of the bombers which are impossible to kill – which is by far the biggest issue at the minute. The submission status is currtenly set on ‘Ready for Signing’, which should take a few hours.
This update does not however contain the ‘back button’ fix that is required by microsoft (I am required to fix this within two weeks) so this will be come out in yet another future update. The next things on my list of todos are:
- Awards at the end of the levels (this has worked so far in all my testing, but I’ll have another look)
- RPGs don’t shoot air units
- Set flak to ‘attack weakest’ and they don’t attack anything
I think once these 3 things are sorted, the game should be alot more enjoyable.
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Hi, I mostly enjoy this game. The graphics and mechanics are very good. However the difficulty is unbalanced. Even with the v1.5 update, I would put the first level which is rated “easy” at the same level as the hardest levels I’ve played with other tower defense games.
Usually there are a few levels where it’s actually more on the “hard to screw up” side to get the hang of the game.
I expect you have the best opinions on how to address this, if at all. It could just be decreasing the cost of most towers / upgrades.
Specific points of irritation:
1. Elephant gun emplacements, even upgraded, are obsoleted too quickly by advancing rank and then don’t sell for enough
2. The missile tower is completely ineffective against the bombers
3. Upgrades are too expensive from a cost/damage ratio. Either they should be more valuable or they should cost less.
I can eek my way to level 50 by very carefully replacing towers but it’s extremely difficult to then maintain the air defenses past the 2-bomber runs *and* at that time there are more of the white tank rushes which swamp even my upgraded turrets.
Your “expert” gamers should be able to finish at least the first level (“easy”) with very little concentration.
Michael Grier
March 1, 2011 at 2:00 AM
Hi Michael,
I totally agree with you, and I am having something of a nightmare regarding balancing.
I will address the three specific issues you mentioned (missile, elephant and general upgrades) in the next update v1.6 as they are perhaps the things that are most obvious. Of course I will also try and balance out the other towers, especially as you said the upgrades.
There was originally a plan that would see the player having to replace obsolete elephant gunners with turrets in the later levels, and the ‘missiles’ were exclusively for the faster ‘Helos’ (the fast air contraption thing). I think the lack of any documentation or tool tips within the game make this less than obvious.
About the few test levels (which are typically hard to screw up) – I think this would have been an option if I had more levels in the game. I was really trying to keep the game d/load to below 20MB originally so one needn’t connect to the PC to d/load the game; hence I kept only 5 maps in the release. Granted, each map takes around 30-40 minutes on one play through, when doing the updates currently, I want to be careful and not tip the balancing in the opposite direction. If I make it (inadvertently) too easy, then everyone’ll have completed it in one run and never come back. Of course, frustrating people on the ‘easy’ levels was also not what I had in mind.
*sigh* I hope v1.6 will sort these things out.
Thanks a lot though for your comment, and your pointers are greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
-John
lintfordpickle
March 1, 2011 at 8:28 AM
John, thanks for the reply!
I got to level 58 last night by investing heavily in turrets and upgrades. I’m pondering a strategy of ignoring the airplanes entirely since even three unupgraded flak cannons have a hard time with two bombers. Investing in them adequately plus building and upgrading turrets left me weak against infantry and a group of 8-10 super-soldiers waltzed through all of my upgraded MG nests.
Additional specific suggestions:
1. Undo / rewind. RPGs and missiles are too easily dropped in the heat of battle and then you’re stuck either reloading, selling or keeping. Actually a simple solution might be a 10 second period where you can sell it at original cost but that could be abused I suppose.
2. Area attack weapons. Notably it would be nice if the flamethrowers were effective for more than one foot soldier. That would really differentiate them. (Currently they seem to have high value against armor so that helps make them worthwhile but they’re not as effective for crowd control as one might think.)
Mike
Michael Grier
March 1, 2011 at 8:16 PM
Hi Michael,
I should be thanking you for the comments – I’m going to try and spend a full day (or as much as possible) concentrating on Lushington on Saturday and sorting out the balancing.
That is a great idea with the 10sec money-back policy.
Funnily enough the flametowers do actually damage an area (lvl – 30 units/pixels); as do the morters and howizters. Maybe I should consider a tower guide as well – and be a bit more generous with the damage dealt and area of effect (hell it’d probably be a good idea to check its working properly; but I’m sure it is
I’m sorry to hear about the bombers though, especially after I announced a ‘fix’ in v1.5 for them.
I’ll try and get a post up tomorrow with specifics I’d like to fix so that the four or so people who actually venture to the site can have a bit of input. The email feedback and (your comments) have been great so far for turning up bugs.
Much appreciated,
-John
John Hampson
March 1, 2011 at 9:59 PM