Week #013 and a Half: Obligatory Plug

Happy Hero Tower Defense Pre-Alpha Release Thursday!

I'm really only dropping an extra post here this week in case I have any followers who aren't also following the main Sam & Dan Games blog. If you aren't, news flash! The Hero Tower Defense Pre-Alpha has been officially released, just in time for the holiday break. Coincidentally, this post will also serve as a stage for any comments or critique involving the art direction of the game so far, instead of cluttering last monday night's post.

Please keep in mind that this is a pre-alpha, and a very early example of what we have in store for HTD. As I previously mentioned, we had to cut a few corners for this early release, but the promised content (human male player characters, additional hairstyles and equipment, to name a few) will be delivered in the coming months as we continue rapidly adding to this game of our's.

Speaking of the holiday break, along with Sam and Dan, I will likely just be taking it easy next week, and am not currently planning on making a blog post that week. If I have anything interesting come up that's worth sharing, I may still post, but there's no reason to blow off your families to sit here pressing refresh at hopes of getting another tally on the First! Comment Scoreboard (this post itself will not be counting towards said scoreboard, either, for those taking their commenting seriously).

I, along with all of us at Sam and Dan Games (that's right, all three of us!) hope everyone has a great holiday, and we'll see you in 2012!

Week #013: Whether You Have Questions or Not, I Have Answers

Another week, and while I'm still not one hundred percent, it's improved enough that I can get back into a regular schedule. I thank everyone who left their best wishes, it's nice to see I've already touched people before the game has even been released!

With less than two weeks left in 2011, I can assure you we're hard at work in order to bring you the first build of HTD before the year ends. We may have had to cut a few corners, but we're still planning on bringing all of that content to the table just within the new year. Let 2012 be known as the Year of HTD!

Last week, in order to make up for the lack of a proper blog post, I invited everyone to let their questions fly, and as promised, I'll take the time to answer them now.

Question: What's with the enormous skull resting in the entrance way? What's the deal with this so-called Treasure Lord? Is Gon even close to being on to something?

Answer: We really don't want to reveal that much about the Treasure Lord and the supposed trophies adorning his lair until we feel that it's time to do so. I, for one, feel that experiencing these encounters for oneself could be much more incredible than simply reading about them. I wouldn't call Gon's theory accurate, but I do think it has potential for future plot lines if he isn't too protective of the idea...

Question: Inspiration, do you speak it?

Answer: I tend to get this question a lot, even from fellow artists that are having trouble finding their own. Unfortunately I haven't come up with a solid answer to it just yet. Inspiration can come in many forms - as I'm sure most artists will tell you - whether it's seeing a movie, listening to music, playing video games or, of course, money. None of these have ever proven to be reliably consistent for me. When it comes to HTD in particular, I've drawn a lot of influence from many Super Nintendo and Gameboy Advance games, most frequently (and perhaps most obviously) Chrono Trigger and Fire Emblem.

Question: New races? When? Where? How? You're not going to phone it in with space goats and werewolves, are you?

Answer: Just like the Treasure Lord, I feel like it's simply too soon to talk about the future of the HTD races. We haven't really seriously begun talking about what's next, although, there is a good chance of it being decided through a future Community Impact Poll. As for the candidates, I believe we have agreed that elves and orc are a definite must, but I'm very much against sticking to this fantasy trinity and calling it a day. Not only will the elves and orc likely be unlike any you've ever seen, but I'll be making it my goal to make sure that any additional races are really unique in order to continue setting HTD apart from other games.

I really want to thank everyone again for their support so far. It's pretty incredible to see such support before the game has even been released... I can't wait to see where we are in a month or two!

Week #012: An Unwanted Vacation

Due to my ongoing health issues, I haven't been able to get much work done lately, as much as I've wanted to, and decided to take this week off from posting. Ideally, everything will clear up and I'll be able to return to regular, more interesting posts soon.

This post is mostly just to remind everyone to place their votes for CIP#002 if they haven't already. Get your friends involved if you want to! Also, so that those looking for a First! score don't stay up all night punching refresh.

Update: You know, let's fill the space with a question-and-answer session or something. Leave any questions in your comments, and I'll answer them either with my own comments, or all at once in next week's post, along with the CIP#002 winners. Filler sounds better than nothing, yeah?

Week #011: Sick Stylin'

One day, I will make an HTD boss themed around sinuses just so that I and the rest of the world can have an outlet for our rage. He will do nothing but sit there and take it, just as we are forced to do.

Community Impact Poll #002:

Human Male Hairstyles

Another slow week due to sickness, unfortunately. But I still wanted to get the poll up. CIP#002 will remain active until December 22nd, two weeks after the next post on the main blog. Unfortunately we were only able to decide on seven choices as opposed to the nine the female had, but we felt this was enough.

The poll itself is, of course, found off to your right right here on the blog (votes left via comments will not be counted). You only get one vote, so make it count!

Images represent a game currently in development.

It should be noted that with the first release of HTD now rapidly approaching, that my posts may continue to be on the quieter side for the next few weeks. This doesn't mean that work is done; far from it! We just don't want to spoil absolutely everything about the game before you even get a chance to play it.

I will still continue to bring you these weekly blog posts, and they'll be sure to pick back up once the new year is upon us!