Today I made some good progress on game-mode stuff. I worked primarily on the ‘assault mode’. My current thinking splits the modes up thus:
Classic mode:
Basically tower defence, with real-time placement. Whether attacking or defending, your supplies increase gradually over time. You can spend them whenever you like, but they cap, so you can’t just sit on them for five minutes. This is an arcade style, keep placing troops or towers game, designed to be singleplayer. This mode works as attacker right now, although AI turret placement will need tweaking. I haven’t implemented AI for attacking yet.
Assault Mode:
Like classic, but with no real-time placement. The total attack (or defense) budget is split into waves, maybe 10 of them, possibly unequally. At the start of each wave, you place your units. The wave then starts, and you are fairly hands-off (apart from assigning priority targets). Once all the attackers units are destroyed or left the map, the wave ends and both sides (player and AI) place the next wave over the ruins of the first. Designed to be singleplayer.
Rush Mode:
Similar to the GSB challenge. This is basically assault mode with just 1 wave. Great big attacking horde vs heavily defended base. This can be played singleplayer or uploaded as a challenge for others (as attacker, or defender). I aim to work on this tomorrow.
Pitched Battle:
This is like rush mode, but neither side is defending. The map is basically a maze of connecting paths that take units right up to each other at point blank, or let them march past each other and fight. Units stop when they reach the enemy, and fire at point blank range. Should hopefully look like a Napoleonic era battle, with lasers and tanks. I aim to work on this maybe Thursday this week. Can be uploaded as a challenge for others.
Of course all this might change. It’s a silly amount of work for one dev in an indie game anyway, so adding anything more than this would be truly mental. I see now why so many tower defense games are so simple.