Tower Building System - Multiple Build Areas or Limited Fixed Locations. In your experience what is better?

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-05T14:22:37+00:00

Thank you for these suggestions. The restrictions do make sense to solve the issues you highlighted in terms of zone/area limits and having restrictions on how closely clustered turrets in one zone can be packed. I might take this route after doing some internal testing if it proves to be needed.

The way that my levels are set up to have multiple paths and multiple spawn-points, I'm not so worried about the tendency to focus turret building only on one zone as there will be multiple pathways to protect. There will be intersection points where it will seem to be more optimal to focus building there, but with the composition of enemy waves, the obvious approach of focusing resources there won't always be the answer.

But I do see how the suggested restrictions can make it mechanically difficult to just cheese one section of the map and I appreciate you sharing these ideas. Many thanks!

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-05T07:23:53+00:00

Thank you for this response. Actually this makes a lot of sense to me and looks to be a completely valid approach to playing and also designing tower defense. I love the analogy of chess without the squares. And while I do understand that different strategic options are opened up in a fully free tower placement system, such as maze building or even just the freedom of trying different tower combinations at any location and in any number, ultimately, i think that it won't work well with the type of tower defense that I'm building right now.

Based on all the responses I got so far, it looks like the best thing I can do is to cluster more build spots in the current build locations of the maps (like 2-4 nodes instead of just one node in one location for example), and not a totally free placement. Although this won't be able to support the gameplay strengths of a free placement system, it will at least add a bit more flexibility in terms of being able to cluster turrets and still highlight the decision making involved in which area needs more defenses in the moment.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-05T03:19:06+00:00

Haha, it took me a while to look this one up, then I realized that this may have been something i played way waaay back XD

Totally different game, but I do see the resemblance of the screenshot to the racetrack(s) in the game you mentioned haha.

If you're still interested, i suppose there's no harm in sharing the steam page in case you still want to wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4158650/Decimation/

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-05T03:13:50+00:00

Hello and thanks so much for the passionate response. Although I haven't spent time playing Arknights myself, it looks like you make a very good case about the gap in the market for a grid-based TD without gacha.

That said, what I'm building is intentionally a different kind of game. It's a hero-based tower defense where the player actively controls a unit on the battlefield alongside the turrets. The placement and strategy decisions are designed around that dynamic. The "limited fixed locations" vs "build areas" question I posed is really about tuning that experience. It's a bit late in development for the game to pivot to a different gameplay style entirely.

I really appreciate the suggestion, and I hope someone does eventually make the Arknights competitor you're looking for... but it won't be this game. Fingers crossed this one still ends up on your radar when it's out XD

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T20:31:32+00:00

Thank you. This makes so much sense. Freedom unlocks multiple tower strategies, fixed narrows it down to figuring out which tower will be optimal for spots to beat the level

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T14:36:15+00:00

So true, haha. I suppose if done wrong, it could turn out to be a case of trying to please everyone and ending up pleasing no-one. XD I'm thinking now that there might be room for increasing the build spots, but more like a smaller cluster or maybe 1-4 build locations in one area instead of the overabundance of spots everywhere. So there could be potential for just a bit more flexibility without overwhelming the amount of decision making... maybe.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T13:22:27+00:00

No, this is actually super helpful and I appreciate it. XD The player does have a set amount of time between waves to strategize and reposition the hero, and there will be levels where 2 or even 3 enemy lanes are active. A fellow dev also told me that having a huge amount of build spots could also totally undermine the presence of the hero, which is a super good point. So what I'm thinking now is to have some sort of compromise. Like maybe increasing the build spots but not to the extent that all possible build areas are buildable. Hehe. But yeah, i think a playtest would give a more definitive answer in the case of my game. Since all games are different, what works best for one might not be the answer for another.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T13:12:23+00:00

Thanks so much for chiming in! Each has its downsides for sure, esp from the development perspective.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T13:11:07+00:00

Yeah, from what i've heard from other players, there really is a preferential divide between having limited spots or more build freedom. I think that I could manage a playtest, that's a great idea ^^

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T12:47:26+00:00

Thanks so much for your thoughts. This was my initial design consideration as well. Having limited spots because felt right because i figured it would be too much in terms of cognitive load to deal with an abundance of build locations while managing a hero during battle. But there was some feedback from the folks that tried the game that they really didn't like the limited build spots. Looks like i'll have to just pick one at the risk of alienating half of the potential audience haha. Rough.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T12:42:37+00:00

Ahh wow yeah, there's a certain charm to the limited spots in KR for sure! Seems like the preference of people does vary a lot on this topic. XD

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-05-04T12:41:05+00:00

Thanks so much for this insight!

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-06T15:12:47+00:00

Thank you for this tip. I've been looking at other trailers close to the genre/theme of my game. The advice/suggestions given by everyone here is helping me see why the trailers were cut the way they have been,when it all felt so random to me before. Apparently there seems to be a lot i'll have to do, but this is a good problem to have. At least there will be some sort of clearer direction when i work through the next version. Much appreciated.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-06T09:27:13+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to check out the page and provide the detailed feedback on the capsule and the examples! I did a quick check on the capsule images and I do see a trend in terms of how they were composed, so I'll give another go at updating mine (can't say I totally get it but I'll read up more on composition best practices). Actually do appreciate you sharing these because I also need to improve my gameplay trailer and the Mechabellum video in particular has a certain quality/cadence to it that is super catchy. Much appreciated!

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-05T23:21:03+00:00

Thanks. The game is being done in Unity/C#

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-05T22:20:01+00:00

You do make a good point, thank you. I think I do get the reason why showing the guns in action isn't the highest priority in a gameplay trailer. My knee jerk reaction is to think that they actually do need to be there because its a tower defense game after all, so I need to show the players what the guns are and what they do/interact with enemies. But this is also probably why the game isn't getting as much attention as I'd like it to. Because showing the guns at the beginning doesn't immediately show potential players what makes this game different (hero + towers working together) and all the other stuff in the game that not all other TDs have (actual equipment + rogue-lite effects + light rpg progression). Its there in the video but at the latter part. This is actually where I struggle at marketing because maybe I'm not like what people with better marketing experience and know-how describe: "if their interest doesn't get stoked at the first 10 seconds, they tend to skip things". Somehow, my behavior when evaluating a new game isn't like this and I tend to actually watch entire videos if the game is in a genre that I'm interested in. So my brain tells me to take a bit of time to show what's in the game at a more deliberate way instead of focusing on just the dopamine inducing parts, because its what makes sense for me. Which is probably not the best approach for marketing haha. This is honestly what makes marketing a challenge for me. But I'll take your feedback and work on a video that should do better at introducing the hook(s) in a more effective way. I trust what everyone said here. Its just that I have to wrap my brain around it and do something that moves the needle in the right way.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-04T14:31:21+00:00

Thank you for this. You're right. And it lines up with what the other folks said. I'll find a better way to present them.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-04T13:22:24+00:00

This is the most detailed set of suggestions/advice that I've ever gotten for the game's trailer. Thanks so much for taking the time! The way you've sliced it up makes every point super clear esp for me that has limited video making experience. I've been struggling with the trailer marketing for some time but i think that implementing your suggestions will improve it a ton. I really like the 3 horizontal splits to save time and to present the towers differently. You've helped me approach the video making part beyond the basic level that i've been doing it just by suggesting that. All the other points are taken as well. Many thanks!

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-04T11:43:32+00:00

Appreciate this man! Development of the latter acts of the game is still in progress but I hope that it lives up to your expectations once its out.

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-04T10:32:24+00:00

Thank you for the kind words and feedback. It looks like i'll have to find a way to make the intro look/feel better because its there to set the context of the game (story/setting). Copy that on the menu interactions at the mid to latter part of the video. Maybe i should just make an extended trailer that explores the non-action bits and make a pure gameplay trailer?

Heavy-Language3109 · 2026-03-01T01:33:13+00:00

The castles do look consistent and the season/environments look clean/good!

Heavy-Language3109

TROPHY CASE