Hello, I was inspired by the ‘story telling as problem solving’ post to write up some of my own stuff and do a brainstorm for defender’s quest 2 and such. Here are the results!
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“Turns” that occur after every battle that update the game world in some way: weather, 1 enemy round added to all opponent levels, an “enemy turn” that advances from the opposite side of the map, etc.
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Maybe even a three turn system? 1 = player turn (move/combat/etc), 2 = enemy turn, 3 = neutral turn. It can be combined with either/or other game mechanics such as ‘rest/defend’ (against generic random attack levels), ‘prep to attack a certain area’ (gives a boost to attacking a certain level, but weakness against random attacks), or some other things.
-Optional endless battles for (every?) single combat level. (Maybe as an extra option, unlockable, etc)
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Endless battles with more than one ‘winning’ tier - something like reach 20, reach 40, reach 80 levels! Even if the later ones are nearly impossible/no tangible rewards, it is something to aim for - maybe just a ‘scrap’/exp bonus for every level past a certain point, so there is no achievement dependency on near-impossible goals.
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Level/layout types dependent on real-world environment, such as long paths, hilly defended fortresses, open plains, etc (you already did this somewhat very good, would like to see more influenced examples!)
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VERY big levels, that need scrolling/zooming/etc!
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More diverse attack radius. Already have small circles (berserkers, knights), medium circles (ice mages, dragon melee), defined circles (archers - which is VERY cool, btw! Never saw that before!), etc. How about: short/medium/long range square/fixed path, like a statue-still giant warrior with a huge sword or a fixed angle linear catapult/cannon, or a more widespread example of the archer - VERY large interior ‘no damage zone’, but a much farther ranged combat area? Or a melee fighter with a ‘diamond’ shaped area, etc. Lots of interesting things can be done with extending, defining and restricting effective areas! Super-long range cannon would also be neat, with a very large ‘no fire’ zone as well - ideal for large maps!
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Be somehow able to increase radius of melee combat ‘towers’, like with reach weapons (e.g. whips, spears, etc) and/or skill choices.
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Archer classes being able to go between ‘bow’ and ‘crossbow’ damage/operation mindsets (weapon or skill choices again).
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SOME sort of (near) unlimited (diminishing returns) ‘boost’ mechanic for in-play towers, skills, etc. Five levels seems very limited. There could instead be a point when boosted costs actually costs (much) more than the boosted returns, but it allows the choice to be there. Perhaps a level/skill based restriction that caps how many boost levels are possible.
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Place ‘towers’ directly in the path of enemies to act as a (suicidal!) roadblock (with appropriate warnings/etc, maybe as a sort of ‘spell’?)
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Other sorts of attacks/damage things: disease (mobs are contagious, and spreads to each other - most damage in condensed groups), (delayed) explosion (where they turn into bombs - generic or of certain elemental types, could even damage player towers), statue/frozen (where they actually block/impede progress behind them, forcing those mobs to destroy it to get by - maybe high level ‘ice’ effects?), escalating poisons (where the longer the ‘poison’ effect is active, the more damage it does - could apply to any DoT system), confuse/control (mob turned backwards against others), etc.
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Being able to set triggers/check marks for certain activity, such as a little check beside boosts/spells etc: [X] activate this when cool down is done, [X] activate when power is sufficient for boost (point cost +0 to +…), [X] Replace character when dead, [X] Pause/go to slow speed when a tower falls, etc. Could be either set on specific towers or via some global options.
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Multiple map ‘layers’: world, sky, underground, etc. (Sounds like something like this may already be a plan, though…?)
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Either/or skill trees (already planned, awesome!). Hopefully with MUCH higher/endless/diminishing returns skill options as well, for great customization/etc - maybe limits on each skill only dependent on total player/tower character level. Would potentially change them into different ‘sub-classes’, with varying appearances for greater distinction.
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Spell or ability that allows limited redesign of the map - perhaps an ability that allows to change the map a few squares around the ‘turtle’? Either temporary or permanent, though permanent would be ideal.
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Being able to ‘force’ the next round of enemies to spawn early/quicker. (Used in other TD games for quicker scores/levels/spamming groups/etc)
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In-map rewards/combinations that show weird/random rewards: like clicking on enough fish on a water level gives you a crocodile, stopping the first 10 rounds of enemies before a bridge gets you “Thou Shall Not Pass!!” knight, special ‘resupply drops’, etc. Can be used for all sorts of (minor) game mechanics and helps makes individual maps more ‘unique’.
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Combat/gameplay effecting map effects, such as tides, tidal waves/floods, lava flows/surges, meteors, heavy rain/snow/fog, daylight/nighttime/twilight, crumbling/dissolving landscape, shrinking/expanding level, ancient fixed weapons/cannons/etc (that can hurt mobs and maybe even close player towers?), etc. These could be overused and annoying, but carefully placed could add a lot.
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Multi-stage enemies (like past critters that spawn larva, etc) that benefit from being careful where you kill them, as they might explode, create a cloud of debris/ooze, spawn something that can move differently (e.g. through water), possess the nearest creature within a certain radius (good if nobody or a weak critter, very bad if strong!), etc.
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Different movement types as well as styles. TYPES would include ground-based walking, water-based swimming, air-based flight (maybe you will include this? It adds a very large amount of complexity, but I could argue for/against it both ways), and underground burrowing (unsure of how this would work - maybe only through certain types, and needs to come up every so often?). STYLES would include the WAY that movement occurs, including: mad sprinting (accelerates fast on straight paths, but ‘hits’ the end and needs to recover to change direction), straight line (oozes directly to ‘castle’, and/or flies, burrows underground), drunken path (wobbles around, 2 steps forward 1 step back, etc), and other such things.
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Modding/custom maps: make them somehow? Maybe even insert into main game as “modded mode” or some such?
Note that I don’t actually expect these all to be implemented, more to be idea seeds. :idea:
Thats it for the moment! Great game! 
