
Ask HN: My tower defense game is almost ready to launch - atum47
Hi everyone, I&#x27;ve been working on this tower defense game and I&#x27;m inviting people to get to know it because I plan to release it soon. I&#x27;m just serious in doubt where should I released it, given that I want to charge people a small amount of money.<p>Where would you like to play this? On your cellphone or desktop? Any specific platform (steam, itch.io)?<p>I&#x27;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&#x2F;Google polemic)?<p>Please, help me out on this. Here&#x27;s a little play through I recorded today.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;victorqribeiro&#x2F;status&#x2F;1294354454024724481" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;victorqribeiro&#x2F;status&#x2F;129435445402472448...</a>
======
prepend
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
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?

~~~
prepend
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)

------
ygjb
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
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?

~~~
ygjb
actual play video would go farther. I also recommend that if you are going to
start promoting a game that you post in a number of places; There are a bunch
of subreddits that are great for that
[https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/) and
[https://www.reddit.com/r/IndieDev/](https://www.reddit.com/r/IndieDev/) are
two that come to mind.

One of your goals should be to solicit feedback and start to grow a community
around your game where you can quickly solicit feedback through both videos,
and playable prototypes of new features. I haven't watched your devlog yet,
but if you are amenable to creating that kind of content, get a patreon going
and build from that :)

Building community pathways and winning support from your players are the
"diversify your portfolio" of indie game dev (and something I would be doing
if I didn't have a demanding day job :P )

~~~
atum47
that's a good feedback, thanks

I've been trying to grow a community around the game, but haven't being
successful yet.

I love HN cause I always get really good advice here. The last time I was here
with a game (Qubes) I end up publishing it for free on itchio. This time I
feel I can make some money out of it (without each player spending a great
amount)

~~~
ygjb
Oh snap! that's a fun little game and I didn't make the connection, my kids
like it! It's _exactly_ the kind of game that you should polish, and make
available for people to pay for to support you. Whether it's ko-fi,
buymeacoffee, patreon, or just a paypal donation button - monetize that stuff.
I can certainly say that something that keeps my kids entertained for a couple
of hours during COVID is worth a few bucks to me :D

~~~
atum47
really glad to hear this. What kind of device they use?

~~~
ygjb
Android tablets and Windows notebooks (w/ controllers for one of them)

------
_jjkk
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
yes, the textures are easily swappable, I just don't have resources to hire an
artist right now

~~~
remram
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.

------
atum47
Here's a playlist where I was login my progress developing the game.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgjByP-
EhdA&list=PL3pnEx5_eG...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgjByP-
EhdA&list=PL3pnEx5_eGm8bxSuuvG8clC83-DzleIyF)

------
capableweb
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
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).

------
sethammons
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.

------
tsherr
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
I'm working on differentiate this game from others while keeping it fun. let's
see if I can

------
Foober223
> 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
Good to know, thanks

------
dave333
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
that is something to consider. thanks for the input

------
atum47
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
May I suggest visiting the creators awesome website:
[https://victorribeiro.com/](https://victorribeiro.com/)

~~~
atum47
thank you =)

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

~~~
atum47
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.

------
aliswe
How are you developing this? In Javascript? WebGL?

~~~
atum47
yes, JavaScript but no webgl

~~~
aliswe
How about rendering it to a 3d surface, and then putting 3d models on top?

~~~
atum47
you said a rendered sprite (fake 3D)?

~~~
aliswe
And no, I mean real 3d!

~~~
atum47
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

