Terrorformer TD Devlog # 12: Adding Inter-Game Progression

This is the twelfth post in an ongoing series about the development of my thesis project, Terrorformer TD (formerly Clockwork TD).

I honestly spent more time thinking about whether this should be #12 or #1 after the game's name changed from Clockwork TD... in the interest of keeping everything connected and searchable for posterity's sake, we'll continue the existing tag and the numbering and leave the taxonomy be (for now).

The final piece of getting the game to Alpha and having all systems implemented is making it into a true roguelike: having a player progression outside of the core gameplay loop that enables them to customize or upgrade their starting loadout, giving them a leg up at the start of new games. This is a milestone I'm excited to have reached; along with a Main Menu, Settings, and Loading/Saving individual game sessions, it's one of those moments in a project where it feels like you're working on actual game and not just tinkering with a core gameplay loop that's fun.

As part of starting a new game, the player now customizes their Home Tower, having a direct impact on their game's starting modifiers for things like projectile damage, tower range, or enemy speed. Home Tower parts are reflected in-game via unique models; players can even add a weapon to their Home Tower to help aid in the fight:

As part of the streamlining that I started with the terraforming (removing the Upgrade button and replacing it with the existing Tile Height Bonus system via Elevating tiles with towers), I also wanted to cut down some of the in-game player options in order to keep the attention on the core gameplay features. Instant Boosts were previously unlocked by Towers; the idea was that you would get a themed Instant Boost added to the available pool to go along with a tower (so something like all towers get the Ice/Slow effect for a round, unlocked with the Ice Tower). Spells were unlocked the same way as Towers; I considered bundling them with Towers for awhile, but decided against it while I kept the idea of fleshing out Spells further alive. With the Loadouts system, the player selects the available Instant Boosts and Spells to start the game with, allowing the Tech Tree window to become more readable (via their removal) and ensuring that the Spells are easier to find during the the heat of battle (by moving them into their own top-level menu):

Player experience is granted at the end of the game based on the number of rounds they survived and the difficulty they played at:

The final technical feature needed for Alpha is the Achievements system, which will also be used as the basis for Locking/Unlocking the player's available Loadout components (when combined with their Level). After that, it will be my pleasure to start seeking out a wider audience of play-testers to provide feedback!

Soon!

View the full version of this post at onewinter.net.