Tower Defense Time !
Yeah yeah, let us write the anecdote first...
So I have started gaming again, had a bit of a break and focused a bit more on real life stuff for a while. (yes, gf and work etc etc does make you lose touch with yourself at the start) But things have settled down quite nicely recently so about two months ago I started playing WoW again. This obviously lead to me getting in touch with the community again and as always it in the end, made me realise why I stopped playing WoW in the first place. Enough of that, getting less and less gametime with WoW made more time for other games. I went from WoW to CS to LoL and eventually back to Warcraft 3. If some of you are not aware of this, me playing Warcraft 3 = Tower Defense Time !
Yes, I love Tower Defense, and the best ones are easily the custom maps in warcraft 3. No flash knock-off will ever make the cut if compared to these wonderful maps.
So I figured, why not write some recommendations for someone who would like to know what I mean by the best TD's ever.
Here is a list of some of my most played and most favorite TD's ever. (Bear in mind that my maplist currently holds some 100 different tower defenses)
But first, for those of you who do not know what a TD is, I can tell you that there are essentially two different kinds. The premapped and the MIY (maze it yourself) maps. (I will not go into tower wars because these are not pure TD's). In both kinds your mission is to stop creeps (or mobs, or minions or whatever you call them) to get from point A to point B. This is done by using static defenses called towers which shoots or slows or does other cool stuff to kill the creeps. In the premapped version of TD you have a premade creep-path along which you should place various kinds of towers in the most effective spot possible, these premapped versions can appear in a gazillion different ways and they usually have some sort of twist in them to seperate them from the others.
The other kind of TD is one where you require a maze. The most basic form of MIY TD is simply a start and a finish for the creeps and a huge open field in the middle. Basically what you need to do here, is to create the longest or most damage effective (preferably both) path possible for the creeps to wander so that you manage to kill them before they reach the finish line.
Sounds simple enough yes ?
I think I will skip the list for this time and just go into some other common mechanics of TD's.
There are basically so many different TD's that work in so many different ways that you really have to dig in yourself in Warcraft and try to get ahold of one that you fancy. But I will try to describe the most basic functions, aside from the difference between a mazing and a premapped one.
Most TD's usually start with you having nothing but some resources, and a builder. The builder is your most vital unit, it can move around and build towers. Now, towers and TD's can work in a number of ways, but the two most important functions to differ between is the upgrade and the mass TD. An upgrade TD usually focuses on buidling basic towers at first and then upgrading, this is very common in pre-mapped td's since you don't have to mass your towers but instead focus on placement. A mass TD is more common when you have to maze, these TD's focus on a clever use of many towers. The exception being in TD's where you can use special "mazing" towers which are usually cheap but does not attack. Anyway, in a mass situation, the first priority is usually to get a maze up ASAP. So that you with your cheap towers can tackle quite heavy mobs due to the longer creep-path and the more opportunities your towers have to fire on the creeps.
These mechanics are quite commonly one or the other, and it is also usually quite clear which one is to be preferred. But in my own oppinion, the best TD's are the ones who mix these two mechanics. For instance: I need a maze, I could mass this maze with a huge amount of the cheapest towers I get. It works really well on all ground levels... but as soon as an air level comes (air levels ignore mazes as they fly over them) I get busted and my balls get sold off to the creator of the TD. What I should have done, is make a slightly smaller maze, or maybe build it slower. And make sure that I can construct some better or more damaging towers in the middle of the creep path so they may shoot on air. That is usually how TD's work, either the ground fucks you deep from behind due to a crappy or limited maze, or the air shits on you because they fly way above any cool maze you have and make silly 'LoL's' at you.
These are of course just a few examples of how the tactics in a tower defense work, but it is good to know the basics, always.
I will end this now with saying the following:
If you do not own Warcraft 3, go buy it.. it is a must have for all gamers, even though you hate strategy games I feel safe to say that the custom maps community of Warcraft 3 is easily the largest. (I am rooting for starcraft 2 to get even more)
However, if you fancy trying some TD's out anyway to get a feel of the concept. Try the following games out on http://www.kongregate.com
Cursed Treasure
Bloons Tower Defense 4
Gemcraft TD
