Weekly Progress 10/1: New Features and Critical Bugs!

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Hola! Another week means another update! Last week we brought in Route 29 to story mode, which meant some really exciting things! Seeing wild pokemon in the map, your first party pokemon following you, capturing new pokemon, and hunting for shinies. But with that brought a new set of features that need to be added and a new set of problems and bugs to fix! That is the nature of games. So let's talk about what is coming this week.

Critical Bugs:
We have a number of what I like to call critical bugs. Bugs that really ruin the experience of the players and should have priority in being fixed. For this update we have 3 of such bugs.

• Saving not working (sometimes) - This one is pretty hard to fix because it sometimes works and it sometimes doesn't. You guys have given me some info that will help track it down. A reliable method to making this bug happen would be appreciated if you guys can come up with one. I have to be able to recreate the bug to solve it.
• Not learning moves - Apparently if more than one pokemon has to learn a move or evolve there are some cases when they don't. This is linked to using faster speeds in battle when this happens.
• Hole in the Route 29 map - There seems to be a gap somewhere in the map that lets the user get inside the forest where they shouldn't be going to. I mean to find this hole and do something fun with it.

Features:
After the critical bugs are dealt with (or after I'm tired of trying to fix them) I'll move into new features that I think are necessary before the game can progress much farther. The way I decide which feature should come next depends on what you can do in the game and how much use it is going to get by you guys. It's all about effort vs reward when choosing what to work on next.

• Trading Center for PTD2 - To me this is a staple of the game and what really supports me to keep developing the game. It will start as a copy of the PTD1 version but I will be improving it over time. You guys have given me a lot of great suggestion to what and how the Trading Center could be improved.
• 1v1 Mode Changes - I'm honestly not sure if this will be a quick change or if it's going to take the whole week. I'll have to make the changes and then rebalance the mode so that it won't be too easy/hard. If you don't know what the changes will be check out last week's blog.
• Mystery Gift - Zorua is ready to go but I have to work things out with the sponsor and make the screen for this to get it out.
• Day and Night - This is an interesting one, adding the Day and Night cycle to story mode. This will mean new pokemon to catch and new npc dialog for different times. I also have to answer some questions like: Will time only move forward in Routes? (Like you can be in a town and time will stand still, when you go in the route it will gradually change to night and back to day again. Then go back into town and it will be what ever time you ended up in but it won't change until you go to the route again.) And the technical aspects of how I will do it. Will I use a tint effect or a movieclip overlay? (Technical speak)
• Held Items - This one is pretty fun too. Probably start with berries. I have this idea that berries can have multiple charges. So they last more than one use with a cooldown between uses. Also leads up to super berries that have unlimited charges.
• Releasing Pokemon - Now that you can capture pokemon you need a way to get rid of them.

I also have some left over items from the last few weeks. So that's what I have this week I hope to cover a lot of it. Keep checking back to see how I'm doing, ask questions, give suggestions, or encourage me. It's up to you!

Weekly Progress:

Alpha v1.19.9: 1v1 Mode Changed! Bug Fixes, Small Changes, Pokemon Center!: Released! 

• Mystery Gift Screen (100%)  - OUT NOW! Get your Zorua!
• PTD 2 Pokemon Center OUT NOW!- Note: Other pages, such as Daily Gift, Inventory, Game Corner will be added/changed later on as the game develops.
• Create Trade Page - You will be able to make up to 3 separate request for your trade. Meaning you can request a Shiny Zorua OR Shiny Rattata OR Shadow Sentret. Also you can specify gender. Each request can have up to 10 pokemon up from 6.
• Your Trade Request Page
• Search Trade - Can now search by Gender and you can view all 3 possible request the other trainer has put up.
• Searching for any gender instead of just Male or Female for both regular search and want search
• 1v1 Mode Changes - Note: The last level might be a little too hard right now, I'll fix it up next week.
•  Defeated target will no longer give out experience
• Evolutions will not be available for unlocking
• Every pokemon will now start at level 5
• You will level up with candies that are given out after beating levels
• When you use a checkpoint you will get the same amount of candies that you would have received if you have beaten all the way up to that point. So you can skip the previous levels and still have a powerful team
• Lowered the cost of some pokemon.
• Made the level with the old Hiker easier.
• Added the Pokemon Center to the Mode Select Screen
• Fixed a bug that is preventing new users from saving their game
• Fixed a percentage problem on Sentret's waves
• Made it so you can play PTD 1 and PTD 2 at the same time

Alpha v1.19.5: Bug Fixes, Small Changes and additions: Released! 

• Fixed a bug that some battles in story mode give you money when they shouldn't 
• Even after you have more than 6 pokemon, the game will put the first 6 on your party in story mode
• Instead of disappearing completely, Sentret that are hiding will now just be faded
• Wave Security
• Prevent users from playing story mode and using the PTD 2 Pokemon Center at the same time to prevent duplication exploits that come when trading is activated.
• Saving Bug - FIXED OMG! It was a stupid server problem, so it should work now!
• Gap in the Route 29 Map - Did something fun with it.
• Added a Police Officer infront of Route 46's entrance
• Randomize the level and distance of the wild pokemon waves to break the uniformity of them
• Pokemon Center  
• Picking which profile to enter - The profile page will now show profile that you have made from PTD 2, including your avatar and version color.
• Side Bar - Integrate PTD 2 info into the side bar.
• Home Page for PTD 2 - Being able to retrieve or release any pokemon to your corresponding profile.
• Adoption Page- This page includes Shiny Starters and Shiny Zorua to start.

Creature Universe TD
Last week's CU meeting that I had with the team was really short. We updated each other on what we were doing and called it a night. The game is progressing but I don't have a lot to share with you guys this week. Next week I hope to bring you guys some new creature designs and info.

That's all we have for you this week. Keep checking back to see how I'm doing, and as always, let me know what you think!

Weekly Progress: Memorial Day

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!


Hey guys this will be short and sweet, it's memorial day weekend here in the United States which means everybody is relaxing and not working. Including us! Dan was out for the week end, I barely touched the computer and I'm assuming the artist also did as they pleased.

Progress is happening for PTD2 1v1 mode. I know a lot of you have been waiting and waiting and waiting but we are pretty close. If nothing else goes wrong (It did.. I deleted a bunch of files by mistake, but its taken care of now) I expect to have something to show you guys by this weekend! I might run into some issue that can delay the release so keep that in mind.

Well... I said it was going to be short, so just have a good week and look forward to the weekend!

Pokemon Tower Defense 2: Creating replayability

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Well that was fun... not! We are finally back up and running here at Sam and Dan games. We had outgrown our GoDaddy Shared Hosting server and had to move to a new Virtual Private Server over on Wired Tree. The process was very painful. This was mainly cause I myself had very little access to the server. I did have access to the files and database so I managed to manually move millions and millions of pokemon over to our new server. They did not like it! But they seem pretty happy now in their new home. As one might expect we went from a really low 7 dollars a month to a bigger 50 dollars a month on web hosting cost. Thankfully you guys have been very supportive and thanks to you guys we are able to cover the cost with no trouble. If we continue to grow you can rest assured that we will continue to upgrade to meet the demand.

Spring semester ended about 3 weeks ago around the time when PTD 1 was finished and I think mentally it put me in relaxed state. After finishing a race the last thing you want to do is start a new one. Now 3 weeks later I've had time to relax, spend time with the loved ones, and think about the next steps.

The reality is that Dan and I wanted Hero Tower Defense to be much farther a long at this point in time. If that would have happened there would have been more time to really get PTD 2 developed and ready to go. As you can see though HTD is still in very early stages so it means that for us to continue surviving PTD 2 and Creature Universe (ANPO) must move forward. This is something that a lot of you wanted so I think it works out for everybody.

For PTD 2 my main priority right now is to create a mode with high replay value. The reason for this is that the story mode will take longer than a week this time around and I want something that you guys can continue to play even when you are done with the story. For these modes I have two different ideas:

One on One Mode: This mode would be very similar to the Champion level in PTD 1. You and your opponent can only use one pokemon at a time. In this mode you would be able battle against a computer character or against other players. You would also be able to do two vs two and three vs three. You would start out with some very basic pokemon and then as you play more you will be able to get new pokemon to use in this mode.

Survival Mode: This mode will be more like a traditional Tower Defense game and more like the traditional levels of PTD 1. Your pokemon won't retain their levels so when you play this mode your pokemon will start at a base level and you will level them up to battle against computer waves coming at you that get harder as time goes on. As you play more you will be able to get new pokemon to use in this mode.

Both of these modes would feature pokemon from Generation 1 to start with but can grow to have pokemon from many generations.

So which mode do you want to see first? Let me know on the blog poll!

Also if you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them, as always let me know what you think!

Pokemon Tower Defense's Final Release! A postmortem, and looking forward to the future!

Want to get the Shiny legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

It has been a long time coming but the end of Pokemon Tower Defense is here! From start to finish it has been a year and a half. Blood, sweat and tears! But the outcome has been more than worth it. We have leveled up, and evolved so much from the beginning. We went from hobbyist to full time game developers. From no fans to thousands of fans. This is only the beginning of our long journey and we want you to come with us!

As you move forward in any stage of your life it's important to look at your successes and your mistakes. There is a lot of valuable information in these things, especially your mistakes. In our case we will examine what I think went right in PTD and what went wrong. These things will help me with the development of PTD 2.

What Went Right

1. Crossing Pokemon with Tower Defense - This was the most critical element to the success of the whole game. Fortunately we got it right. I knew just the name Pokemon Tower Defense would catch many people's attention but the combination of elements will make them stay. From catching pokemon and using them as your towers, to having your towers stay leveled up and evolved between levels. This is something that I plan to continue and expand for the sequel. Adding breeding and pokemon holding items among other things will help the game move to the next level.

2. Community Involvement - Adding the feedback button and asking for help to improve the game, especially in the early stages of the game really helped to build the community. This is something that we will continue to do with all our games. Your feedback from comments, emails, votes on polls heavily influences the direction that our games take. Votes usually affect the games directly.

3. Weekly Updates - Waiting for the game to be completed was something that I couldn't afford to do. Releasing a game is similar to rolling a dice. The odds are mostly against you. The longer you take to roll the dice (release a game) the more risk you take on. Working on a game for some months and releasing it as an Alpha helps me to see if people are into a game and see if its worth spending more time on. Once the game was a success people just wanted more and more. I thought it would be great to have a new release each week almost like a TV series. Fans would be looking forward to the release each week, keeping the interest in the game going while being able to expose the fans to new ideas that I have for future games.

4. Pokemon Center - The Pokemon Center, most specifically the Trading Center was a great success even though it is very basic right now. It gave a chance for you fans to trade each other. I was also be able to add other options like the game corner to add other things to do in the game. The Pokemon Center will get improvements for the sequel that will make transferring and trading a whole lot easier. The ads on the Pokemon Center also help to fund the development of the game.

5. SnD Coins and Adoption - Snd Coins and Adoption really help fund our future games and also gave you the fans a chance to support us more directly while getting something in return. This system will be used for all our future games including PTD 2. In the near future we will add more ways to get the coins.

6. Game Story - Adding the story to the game (most Tower Defense don't have a story) really helped to make the game more compelling and gave a lot of chances to add cameos for characters from the anime and game. Also it added the opportunity to add references to other media that I enjoy. PTD 2 will have a new story that is loosely related to the first game.
 

What Went Wrong

1. Weekly Updates - Yes, I know I put this on the what went right section but it also went wrong in a lot of ways. I really think the quality of the game suffered due to the quick update schedule. While I'm proud of how the game turned out as a whole I know that if I had more time the quality would have risen drastically. Many times I found myself with a lot of interesting ideas but not having the time to implement them in time. The story suffered a lot also do to quick updates. Epic fight scenes were turned into just something mentioned in the dialog instead of me being able to show it. For PTD 2 we plan to take more time to make sure everything is like we want it while still trying to maintain a good schedule. More on that later.

2. The Grind - I felt that while some grinding was acceptable it was impossible to continue playing without having high level pokemon. This resulted in many people using the hacked version or having to grind out their characters while doing something else. I don't think this is fun and I want to reduce the need to grind in the sequel as I don't think it adds anything to the game. Shiny hunting will remain relatively the same but that is something that is optional.

3. Multiplayer - I had many grand ideas for multiplayer but I never got the time to fully realize those ideas. Also the way I set up the attacks in the game didn't lend themselves for multiplayer which affected how synched the levels are (not very). For the sequel I want to rebuild the attacks to work for a multiplayer setup. Also focus more on the multiplayer as it adds re-playability to the game.

4. Updating the game - Another big part that went wrong getting the update to the players. A lot of sites probably have older versions of the game that don't even work. For the sequel I want the game to check for the latest version and update itself so that everybody can get updates instantly as I put them up and I also won't have to be sending out updates to 5 different sites.

What else do you think went right and what else do you think went wrong? Let me know.

Now for the future!

My main focus now will be working on Hero Tower Defense, but that game will not be moving at the same fast pace as PTD so that will allow me some time to work on PTD 2 and our Creature Universe game (Project ANPO). I know some of you just want me to work on PTD 2 but the reality is that I also need to focus on original games that can take Sam and Dan games farther than a pokemon game can. Since we don't own the rights to pokemon I can't put the game on the different app stores and sites like Kongregate. Also PTD can get shut down at any point and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it so putting all my eggs in that basket is not a good idea.

I'm sure Dan will mention on this week's Hero Tower Defense blog but HTD is going to be getting some significant changes in the graphic department that will help speed up the development.

For Project ANPO Dan and I got to talk a lot about how the game will work and we made good progress on that. What I hope to do this month is work on a prototype so that I can start testing out the different mechanics that we have in mind and so that you guys can check it out and give us your feedback.

For PTD 2 the question I get asked the most is "When is it coming out!?" Well to be honest I don't even know when it's coming out. I will keep you guys posted. I did have an idea which is to make a special mode that has a lot of re-playability that will use the generation 1 pokemon (since I have all their stats and graphics already created) and release that first which will give you guys something to do while the game is in development. But even this mode will take a while to build so I don't have any specific dates to give out. Just follow me on Twitter and follow the blog for weekly updates to the game.

Alright guys, I really appreciate all the support for this past year and a half. I hope you enjoyed the game and if you want some more then I will be working hard to keep it coming. Thanks for everything you do!

As always let me know what you think!