Zombie Fortress - Survival Tower Sim

[hyung]

Originally Posted by Ell Tee

I'll have to agree that TT has only 2 types of rooms, however, personally, I think that it's the good point of TT since its simple gameplay and easy to reach with many kind of players, since that, TT reaches out bigger market. Doing more complication is not always good since it will be less friendly and even with PvP (I like it), but not sure with other "most" peoples.

Personally, I think having a more complicated game is okay, as long as players don't feel overwhelmed at any point. The trick is to gradually add more features as the game progresses.

[GoofyJmaster.]

Originally Posted by hyung

Personally, I think having a more complicated game is okay, as long as players don't feel overwhelmed at any point. The trick is to gradually add more features as the game progresses.

Personally, I want a more complex game. I don't know how many times I have to say it, but TT is a disgrace to sims--obviously my opinion. Plus, running a hotel just wasn't fun.

Are the animals and food that you grow going to play a direct role in the game?

Will there be GC achievements?

Will the time be scaled down or real time?

Will there be major setbacks for doing things wrong or losing PvP?

If you can't answer these, that's fine.

[undeadcow]

The whole freemium/IAP thing is such a turn off I don't think I'll be looking forward to Zombie Tower anymore. Good luck.

[hyung]

Originally Posted by Ell Tee

Energy?

Awesome, thanks for the feedback. I'll bring it up at our next team meeting, and we'll see what we can change

[gunxsword]

Energy!?
I'm out.

LEVELS!?
Facepalm. Just another freemium game.

[hyung]

Originally Posted by gunxsword

Energy!?
I'm out.

LEVELS!?
Facepalm. Just another freemium game.

I have to admit, I didn't know that people hated energy so much. I'll see what I can do to change or get rid of it!

[Noman]

Originally Posted by hyung

I have to admit, I didn't know that people hated energy so much. I'll see what I can do to change or get rid of it!

I think it's just a symptom of the problem, you know, a legitimately impressive looking game that seems to be spoiled by turning it into "just another freemium game". Don't get too discouraged, but this is truly disappointing.

[hyung]

Originally Posted by Noman

I think it's just a symptom of the problem, you know, a legitimately impressive looking game that seems to be spoiled by turning it into "just another freemium game". Don't get too discouraged, but this is truly disappointing.

Fair enough, thanks. We definitely want to avoid making "just another freemium game", and everyone's feedback has been helping a lot.

One thing I've noticed so far is that we (meaning our dev team) have been so close to the details, it's been easy for us to lose track of the big picture.

[gunxsword]

Levels aren't bad but most of them are done poorly, either in terms of poor/pointless unlocks for the current level, uneven difficulty scaling, lack of useful unlocks. Do it well and you'll have an addicting freemium game where players constantly play because it's FUN to level up (not where it becomes an obligation to overcome an obstacle).

On PvP. I don't like it in a freemium for many reasons:
1. Increases competition, esp when you can 'pay to win' or degenerate into a state where you HAVE to pay to compete. This situation is worse if there's no way to stay out of it (eg those kingdom building games).
2. The problem worsens if PvP is a major component of the game (kingdom building games). Refer to point 1.
3. Assuming there's more functions than PvP, eg. social functions, then people who choose not to socialize with other people in freemium games will miss out on lots of, worst case scenario, essential items for progression or just high value items.
4. In many cases, includes mandatory Wi-Fi/3G connection. I'm sure I'm not the only one without a constant connection for my device.

Need I say more? Tiny Towers was blissful because it was simple, elegant and most importantly, a casual sandbox game (Goofy why did you call it an sim?) that allowed players to play and progress at their own pace, secluded from the world.

Please, this game is starting to sound like JUST another freemium game with a constant stream of activities to do 'like Tiny Tower' than a 'zombie themed Tiny Tower'. This game is clearly closer to the generic former than the legendary latter.

[hyung]

Originally Posted by Ell Tee

Personally, I don't get "just another freemium game" just yet since not all freemium games are dull and not worth playing.

However, using energy is somehow killing a game since it won't bring fun to player.

I'm still loving this game, digged by the art.

Outside of Tiny Tower, what other (non-action) freemium games do you like?

We just had a team meeting to talk about energy, and we pretty much agree with you. The consensus seemed to be that energy sucks because it's artificially added just to get players to keep inserting coins.

It also struck me that Tiny Tower has an energy mechanic, but it's disguised. Instead of waiting on an energy timer, players wait for rooms to restock. The differences are that your "max energy" increases every time you get a new room, and waiting to restock seems to make more intuitive sense than waiting on a generic energy timer.

The big question is of course, can we think of a way to earn "enough" money from the game without having to add something tacky? We're working on it.