Hello everyone.

Let's say there was a tower defense game out for PC's that has a price tag of $2 to $5. What features must be included in the game for you, as the customer, to consider purchasing the game?

It would need to have something that the many freely available tower defence titles already out there don't provide; off the top of my head I can't actually think of anything that hasn't been done already.

Sorry, that's probably not very helpful, but if you're looking at the possibility of selling a Tower Defence game perhaps you could consider changing to some other project where you wouldn't be competing with literally hundreds of freely available Flash-based games?

It would need to have something that the many freely available tower defence titles already out there don't provide; off the top of my head I can't actually think of anything that hasn't been done already.

Sorry, that's probably not very helpful, but if you're looking at the possibility of selling a Tower Defence game perhaps you could consider changing to some other project where you wouldn't be competing with literally hundreds of freely available Flash-based games?

Well we're not dead set on making a commercial TD game, however we do want to make a TD game. (If anything the game will be for us and some friends to enjoy, I personally love TD games with survival modes.) I'm using this more of a basis on how to build a TD that would be enjoyable. My thinking is that if it's something you'd be willing to pay for, then it's likely a feature that the game should have that would get you to play it in the first place.

I disagree with jbadams. It is true that there are many free flash versions, but I would be interested in another "native" tower defense game along the lines of Defense Grid. Tower defense has been done a lot, so there is a lot of work to draw inspiration from. However, many flash games have good ideas but are lacking polish. The presentation would probably be the most important factor in my decision to purchase, as well as gameplay/balance (challenging difficulty, quality before quantity, a couple of towers with unique strengths/weaknesses and upgrade options are better than many that feel the same).

I disagree with jbadams. It is true that there are many free flash versions, but I would be interested in another "native" tower defense game along the lines of Defense Grid. Tower defense has been done a lot, so there is a lot of work to draw inspiration from. However, many flash games have good ideas but are lacking polish. The presentation would probably be the most important factor in my decision to purchase, as well as gameplay/balance (challenging difficulty, quality before quantity, a couple of towers with unique strengths/weaknesses and upgrade options are better than many that feel the same).

Kloffy are you saying you'd like it if the game had things such as:

-Polished Menus, not just "click start, game starts"
-Varying difficulties the player can choose
-Towers with few similarites to others

What about map selection, would you prefer a selection of pre-created maps to play on, or a dynamic map where you create your own obstacles for the creeps to pass through?

The most recent, and maybe the only, PC TD game I've bought is Plants vs. Zombies. And I probably paid $15 or $20 for it. What does it have? Free trial for the first part of the game, great graphics and humor, good sound.

Well, polish goes a little further than just the menus. I would like to see a consistent art style, nice graphics/sound and good user interface/controls. So if I were in a position to put together a development team, I would look for good artists. Obviously if you're doing this as a hobby, that is much easier said than done.

The other points are pretty much what I meant, yes. When it comes to maps, I would like to have some pre-created ones that require unique strategies. It might be cool to have an option to dynamically generate maps, but I would not put too much emphasis on that from the start.

Regarding the free trial, would it be preferred to be a browser version or a small download that would simply unlock to the full version with a purchase?

[quote name='kloffy' timestamp='1314515626' post='4854664']
Well, polish goes a little further than just the menus. I would like to see a consistent art style, nice graphics/sound and good user interface/controls. So if I were in a position to put together a development team, I would look for good artists. Obviously if you're doing this as a hobby, that is much easier said than done.

The other points are pretty much what I meant, yes. When it comes to maps, I would like to have some pre-created ones that require unique strategies. It might be cool to have an option to dynamically generate maps, but I would not put too much emphasis on that from the start.

Consistent art style is one of the biggest things I look for, I really dislike it when things look 'Frankensteined' together So regarding maps, a handful of unique maps packaged with the game at launch, and then the option of dynamically generated ones as an update down the road?

I've written down these so far as big additions:

-Free trial
-Polished game play, menus, GUI
-Consistant art style
-Pleasing graphics + sounds (music tracks and sound effects)
-Unique maps and strategies
-Tower variety with as little similarity as possible

I appreciate all the responses!

Regarding the free trial, would it be preferred to be a browser version or a small download that would simply unlock to the full version with a purchase?

Hmm, those both have up-sides. Web version is easier to get someone to try, and it doesn't have to be pure browser, flash or something is fine too. Download version there's a higher barrier to downloading it, but once it's on their computer there's higher motivation to buy it because who wants to either leave a half-played game sitting on their computer or delete it and lose their progress?

Here's one thing I wish PvZ had that it doesn't though - an updater. They released a new version with a little added content, but to get it I had to uninstall, lose my save game file, and start over. And from within the game there's no obvious way to check if a sequel or anything like that is available. Anyone who buys one of your games is WAY more likely than a random person to buy more of your games, so you are missing out on easy sales if you don't at least send them a notice when the next game goes up for sale. Though, you could send it to their email if you recorded that as part of the sale.

Hmm, those both have up-sides.

I like the point about the download version regarding saved progress, I did not even think of that!

Here's one thing I wish PvZ had that it doesn't though - an updater.

An updater is definately something we would include. I understand how much of a pain it is to not even learn of an update and then when you finally DO find out about it, it requires you to give up all that you already had.

How do you feel about something like a news feed at the bottom of the main menu (similar to Mass Effect / Dragon Age) that gives information about any available/upcoming updates or other games?