Pixel Defenders Puzzle (by Gary Whittle)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Vovin, Dec 15, 2012.

  1. LordGek

    LordGek Well-Known Member
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    Feb 19, 2009
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    Oh! Endless Assault was JUST the mode I was looking for, thank you SOO much!
     
  2. Teh_Ninja

    Teh_Ninja Well-Known Member

    Mar 12, 2010
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    Waiter at Chili's
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    Awesome news on the update, I can't wait to try it out once I'm off work.
     
  3. Amenbrother

    Amenbrother Well-Known Member

    Jun 24, 2011
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    Man this update is AMAZING! All kinds of new stuff to do, I am loving the GC acheivments!!! I am addicted all over again lol
     
  4. LordGek

    LordGek Well-Known Member
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    Feb 19, 2009
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    While this new mode is 95% of everything I could have ever hoped for, any chance the magic baddies can be added back in in a slightly revised way? It isn't that I'm in love with how they are implmented in the main game as much as the fact that many of the heroes have abilities especially tooled for use against magic users. If magic users don't exist in this mode, the hero abilities made especially for them have no point in this mode. If easier maybe the heroes with abilities especially geared toward magic users could have slightly altered abilities in this mode so as not to be irrelevant.
     
  5. formulae

    formulae Well-Known Member

    Dec 15, 2012
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    Well, my thanks to you and the other posters in this thread who helped with all the input - most of the fixes/additions in the update are a direct result of the feedback from this thread :)
     
  6. Amenbrother

    Amenbrother Well-Known Member

    Jun 24, 2011
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    Its alot of fun to play this game!
     
  7. formulae

    formulae Well-Known Member

    Dec 15, 2012
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    Glad you're enjoying it :D
     
  8. y2kmp3

    y2kmp3 Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    #128 y2kmp3, Jan 21, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2013
    formulae,

    Can you explain why some levels do not give any bonus items even though I scored three stars?

    Also, there appears to be a graphical glitch such that level 2 shows 3 stars even though I had yet to play the level.

    Also, is it possible to win the entire campaign without LOSING A SINGLE POINT on your VIP (that is, truly flawless victory)?

    Can you explain the ratings for "turns taken" and "highest tier unit"? I am getting half stars but have no idea by how far I missed the goal?
     
  9. sortvind

    sortvind Well-Known Member

    Sep 13, 2012
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    loving the update!
     
  10. sweetdiss

    sweetdiss Well-Known Member

    Jun 15, 2009
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    iCloud next time maybe? : )
     
  11. september

    september Well-Known Member

    Sep 14, 2012
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    There's a surprise
     
  12. Jet_Black

    Jet_Black Well-Known Member

    Sep 19, 2012
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    Can't believe I missed this. What an amazing variation on match 3, with added strategy & awesome pixel graphics to boot! So glad to have downloaded this.
     
  13. formulae

    formulae Well-Known Member

    Dec 15, 2012
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    You should get bonuses for every level that you 3-star which you did not previously have 3-stars for.

    Sounds like a bug. Did you upgrade the game from 1.0 or install from new?

    It's possible, especially since you can heal the VIP with Megapixels. A lot of levels require the VIP(s) at full-health for 3 stars.

    This is planned for the next update!
     
  14. y2kmp3

    y2kmp3 Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    Is it possible to win ALL battles WITHOUT losing any point from ALL of your VIPs and without using the store?

    I am beginning to think that this is mathematically not possible.

    For example, for Level 11, I counted the number of "turns" it takes for the monsters to amount an attack for Wave 1, Wave 2, and Wave 3. The number of turns needed for the monsters to attack is far less than the number of turns necessary for you to trade up your army to be strong enough to wipe out the entire enemy wave before it attacks. The only way to get around this is if somehow, by chance, you get many (and many) tiles of upgraded units (not the lowest units) so that you can trade up to high powered units quickly. However, if the majority of the units you get is the lowest unit, it is mathematically not possible for you to upgrade fast enough to eliminate ALL of the waves without any monster from any wave firing at least one shot at your VIP.

    Can the developer comment on this? Is the battle winnable this way?
     
  15. formulae

    formulae Well-Known Member

    Dec 15, 2012
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    Not sure I understand your question. All the levels are completable (and have been completed) without using any stock items at all.
    This is besides the point though, as stock items are a part of the game (which is why you earn them as you progress, and can earn them at any time via endless mode), due to the fact the game is inherently random (the next piece is randomly chosen), and so each time you play a level it will be different from the last (maybe more lucky, maybe less).

    Furthermore, there are several abilities that the defenders possess that stop the enemy from successfully attacking the VIPs (or even heal the VIP) - this is all part of the gameplay.
     
  16. y2kmp3

    y2kmp3 Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    Sorry about this. It is kinda hard to explain. Let me be more specific.

    One of the criteria by which you are scored is the VIPs' health. Naturally, it leads me to question whether or not it is possible to pass EACH level with ALL of the VIPs' health still FULL. If it is possible, then a natural extension of this question is to ask whether or not it is possible to pass EACH level without ever getting ANY of the VIPs injured. This latter condition is obviously more difficult to achieve, as it means that NONE of the offense monsters must be allowed to get off a shot. It requires very aggressive attack plan on the monsters to succeed.

    For earlier levels, I was able to win using this "constrained" strategy. Then, beginning with Level 11, I had not been able to do so. Being curious, I recorded the number of turns it took for the monsters to attack with each wave. I then tried to determine if it would be possible to trade-up your units fast enough, taking the same number of turns, to units powerful enough to wipe out the enemies before any of them could attack. The answer I found so far was no. Thus, the enemies in that level appeared to be stacked in such a way that your VIPs would always get hurt (a bit) even if you were to play a perfect game. The only exception to this is that somehow by chance you are given so many high-powered units that you can stack up quickly.

    In your own testing, have you tried playing the game using this extreme constraint? I guess I want to know if I can push the game to its limit when playing with this strategy. The game is very winnable if the VIP can tolerate some injuries. I am asking if the same game is winnable with these special conditions (without using the store, of course).



     
  17. formulae

    formulae Well-Known Member

    Dec 15, 2012
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    Okay, I think I understand your reasoning.

    You're not taking into account all the variables though - for instance the Warlord (present in level 11, incidentally), has an attack which blinds enemies, making it possible to vastly reduce the odds of a VIP getting hit even if an enemy does perform their action. There are several such mechanics at play in the game, which all form part of the gameplay.

    Also, if the sample size is low you can't really conclude anything, as each level is variable in the amount of luck from playthrough-to-playthrough.

    I can tell you its possible (and has been done) to 3-star all the levels without using any stock items, but I can also promise you that its not easy ;D
     
  18. y2kmp3

    y2kmp3 Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    Thanks for the explanation. You raised a good point. Indeed, I had not mentioned other "chance" elements such as the Warlord spell to decrease the chance of a VIP hit. On the other hand, I wonder if the game is winnable by always being able to kill the enemy before its turn-count reaches zero. If so, then the blindness effect is largely irrelevant. ;)

    Is there somewhere I can find out by what cutoffs you are using for "star" rating in each of the three criteria? Right now, sometimes I would finish a level thinking I was doing good only to find out that I got half a star for "highest tier unit" or "turn taken". Right now, I have no idea how far or close I am.

    Lastly, how come some levels (such as level 2) do not have bonus items even when I have scored three stars?

    In all, notwithstanding my nitpick, I am very impressed by how much depth there is in the gameplay The way you have combined match-3 mechanics with turn-based strategy elements is brilliant.

     
  19. formulae

    formulae Well-Known Member

    Dec 15, 2012
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    No worries.

    This information isn't visible in the game right now, it's planned for the next update though.

    Not sure about that star thing - sounds like a bug. Did you upgrade the game from 1.0 or begin new with the latest version?

    Thanks! Glad you enjoy it :)
     
  20. y2kmp3

    y2kmp3 Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    #140 y2kmp3, Jan 23, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2013
    Great to hear.

    I just found out the update. Restarted the game and the star bug is now gone and the bonus item now returns too.

    This is, by far, the most intense (thought-provoking) match-3 game variant I have ever played. I have to plan so far ahead to make sure that the units all collapse to the proper position to trade-up. When you get up to 4-5 levels deeper, it is very easy to make a mistake.

    Have you given thoughts to an undo button (just a single undo will suffice)?

    Also, for Level 14, the enemy mage that hastens attack to the next turn comes on VERY EARLY in the level. So far, this makes it impossible to avoid an enemy attack on your VIP, since you simply don't have enough action points to kill off the mage or BOTH of the eye monsters before either attacks? Does this "impossible" situation make my chase of the goal of completing the level without an enemy hurting my VIP also impossible?

     

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