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[Toma]

For impressions, links, gameplay hints etcetc, feel free to ask here, as I will be hawkeyeing this thread for the next 3-4 days until this offer expires. I'll be answering any questions here, as this is a refurbished dedicated thread and we'll just change the title back once the deal is over. I was shouting my lungs out when this game releases as this is a really, really remarkably well done game and now I can do that once more as $0,25 are hardly an excuse For further descriptions and links, see the original OP below.

Current offers:

$0,25 - get access to the Sentinel installer
$1,00 - get the Desura/Steam/Gog key once it releases on there
$1,50 - this number changes depending on the current average, get the Sentinel OST (Which is fucking awesome and the reason I love this game so much)
$10,00 - Get Sentinel, Soulcaster II AND the next game they put up (not yet known)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Info Box |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Main Developer Website - 10$
Greenlight Page
2 Level Browser Demo (Full game is not browser based)

Release Trailer (read the description below, I would live to link a better video since it doesnt show the music integration all that well): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5NNothi_-M

Windows/ Linux
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| What is this game? |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its a tower defense game with the tried and true formula of you defending your base against incoming creeps with your towers. However, this game differentiates itself from other Tower Defense game in 2 regards. First of all, just building towers wont get you anywhere. The game is HARD. Your towers have energy levels that affect the performance of these towers and you will need to adjust these energy levels accordingly to allow for the best possible level progress. It has some undeniable puzzle elements in that regard. The level design is also rather refreshing since it sometimes cleverly uses genre tropes against the player. E.g. Most powerful tower is always the best one to use? Wrong.

Another distinctive element and the reason I enjoy this game as much as I do, is the interactive electronic/house-y soundtrack. The music changes depending on where you place your towers and which energy levels you provide them with. The effects are sometimes rather subtle, in other times make a striking track to an outstanding one. Oh and yeah, the soundtrack is just way too good to be not exposed to a bigger audience. Its a game I mainly play for the soundtrack, to delve 20-30 minutes into these tracks and play a game that has been made with that soundtrack in mind. Its that good. Unfortunately, the track in the youtube video on the devs website isnt really the strongest selling point in that regard, but I highly recommend checking out the browser 2 level demo (The full version is downloadable). Completion might take you an estimated 20-30 hours if you are a somewhat decent player.

And the best thing? Finishing the game with medals on every stage to get the download link for the soundtrack. I think its an awesome fit as an incentive to play through the game. Earn yourself the soundtrack I also think that we'll need to share tactics in this level for each level, because some levels are deviously hard to master.

Oh and why madness? Did I mention this game is .. challenging? The dev himself warned me about it not going to be easy to finish it. I could use some help myself actually and need to talk about some strategies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Impressions |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pictures speak more than a thousand words:

Its tower defense, so I can see how people might be fed up with a bit, but its surprisingly challenging (including bonus challenge levels), stylish and the music is REALLY good. If you like that kind of house-y music, the game is really a treat for your ears. Glad I paid the 10$ for it. Just lost 1 hour to the first few levels, I actually wish I'd get these tracks as a soundtrack download. Its good enough to actually make my voting list this month and that I consider creating a thread for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Level strategies |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Includes tactical spoilers, obviously.

Level 001: Perfect

Level 002: Perfect

Level B01: Perfect

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Other stuff |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indie Game thread series, currently June:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=572913

 

[Toma]

Social experiment: What happens if you post a small Indie thread in a 18000 concurrent Gaf users because of a SONY/MS meltdown extravaganza.

#Fightingthepower

 

[Toma]

Oh and yes, its a tower defense game that I havent regretted dropping 10 bucks on at all. Its really, really good and you guys should give the demo a whirl. The game deserves some love and I need some people to talk about the levels with to get my soundtrack download

 

[hawk2025]

This actually looks incredibly cool. I think I will check it out!

 

[jtb]

well the title caught my attention; I'll check it out when I get a chance

 

[Wynnebeck]

Toma with the puzzle indie pickup. Keeping an eye out for it. I love music based games.

 

[Toma]

well the title caught my attention; I'll check it out when I get a chance

Thread title successful.

Toma with the puzzle indie pickup. Keeping an eye out for it. I love music based games.

Yeah, and I love the soundtrack. Its the first game in quite a while I can think off that I played for the soundtrack. Audiosurf/Beat Hazard I guess, but thats cheating since you chose the soundtrack yourself.

 

[Billen]

You need to add some gameplay videos to the living room, otherwise people wont stay and hang out.

 

[perfect free]

The "beat the game to get the soundtrack" hook is pretty cool, actually. And I love the aesthetic. I'll have to try the demo, although I'm not very good (or generally very interested) in tower defense games. Maybe this can be the exception!

 

[Toma]

You need to add some gameplay videos to the living room, otherwise people wont stay and hang out.

I'd love to. Unfortunately, there currently is only the release trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5NNothi_-M

...which you cant overlook if you click on the devs website. The video does a poor job of showing off the music integration though and I wish someone else could make proper ingame videos of one or two levels. The release trailer does NOT feel representative to the game for me (read as: I was very positively surprised when I actually played the game). I tried myself to make a video but my notebook wasnt up to the task.

Added the release trailer to the OP nonetheless.

 

[Toma]

Oh and yeah, I already contacted the dev about making a better video to show off the music integration and he acknowledged that it would be a good idea. No clue when he might actually make one though. The demo took 2 weeks or something after the release to appear as well.

 

[Toma]

Already posted in the OP, but this is my current progress:

You can finish the levels normally without perfecting them, which gives you 1 unlock medal and allows you to progress to the next level. Perfecting the levels gives theses small black boxes inside the level sign and gives another unlock medal which you'll eventually need to unlock more levels.

 

[Toma]

I'll try making another video tomorrow. Maybe something else was screwing up my recording.

 

[gabbo]

Concept seems interesting, I'll keep an eye on this thread for more from you, since that video doesn't show enough for me to plop down $10. I'll also give that demo a go when i get some more free time.

 

[Toma]

Concept seems interesting, I'll keep an eye on this thread for more from you, since that video doesn't show enough for me to plop down $10. I'll also give that demo a go when i get some more free time.

Yeah, I can totally see that. I watched the video and was rather lukewarm about it at first as well. I only bought it because I basically buy any music related videogame, so this was a 10$ shot in the dark. Definitely recommend checking out the demo, which gives a good idea on how this game is being playing, but unfortunately doesnt yet show off the quite cleverly balanced levels.

 

[makingmusic476]

This looks awesome. I love games with this mix of visual style and music, and I love tower defense.

I voted for it on Greenlight.

 

[Toma]

Cant wait for some people to actually play it so they can chime in with me about the soundtrack

And feel free to ask questions guys if you are desperately stuck. I should have the tactics for the first few levels pretty much down I think.

 

[KuroNeeko]

Is it just me, or is this game pretty damn hard? I've been playing the browser demo, but I couldn't perfect it. I'm a pretty good hand at TD games, as well.

I'll give it a bit more time at lunch.

 

[Toma]

Is it just me, or is this game pretty damn hard? I've been playing the browser demo, but I couldn't perfect it. I'm a pretty good hand at TD games, as well.

I'll give it a bit more time at lunch.

->

However, this game differentiates itself from other Tower Defense game in 2 regards. First of all, just building towers wont get you anywhere. The game is HARD. Your towers have energy levels that affect the performance of these towers and you will need to adjust these energy levels accordingly to allow for the best possible level progress.

Oh and why madness? Did I mention this game is .. challenging? The dev himself warned me about it not going to be easy to finish it. I could use some help myself actually and need to talk about some strategies.

Its super hard, but not unfair. You really need to plan your strategy accordingly to perfect a level. Usually I go through a level without too much pressure to get a feel for the waves, then I start and try to play accordingly. If that still isnt enough, some old school notes might not be a bad idea so you know when you'll need to be prepared on which side.

Additionally, it took me a while to get a feel for the powering up/down turrets mechanic and its effects, which is crucial in this game.

 

[Toma]

And off to bed, will answer any potential questions tomorrow.

 

[Toma]

And good morning Gaf! This is a game you need to check out

 

[Vodh]

looks very cool, sounds very cool, plays pretty good... I like it!

 

[Markoff_Chaney]

From what I played of the demo, the key to perfecting a level would be tweaking the power consumption of each tower as the flow progresses. It played nicely and had a great hook with the firing of the towers in time with the beat.

I plan on picking this up at some point, but I'm earmarked through the next month or so.

Thanks for the more in-depth info and, always, the great OT for an indie that deserves more exposure!

 

[Toma]

From what I played of the demo, the key to perfecting a level would be tweaking the power consumption of each tower as the flow progresses. It played nicely and had a great hook with the firing of the towers in time with the beat.

I plan on picking this up at some point, but I'm earmarked through the next month or so.

Thanks for the more in-depth info and, always, the great OT for an indie that deserves more exposure!

Certainly, and it took me while to get a feeling for the power levelling too, but once I got into the rhythm of how it worked, the mechanics felt surprisingly fresh since its not only Tower spamming like in most other TD games.

Although I need to admit that this mechanic also makes some levels deviously hard.

 

[Toma]

Lets talk some strategies! The top spoiler only includes what you'll need to build and the lower spoiler is more specific.

Level 001 - Perfect:

Wave 1:

Spoiler

Nothing

Spoiler

Just adjust the power levels of the existing turrets and put the side with 2 creeps to level 4 and the side with 1 creep to level 1.

Wave 2:

Spoiler

Basic Turrets

Spoiler

Build 2 more power level 1 turrets (one on each side) and leave the power level 4 on the left side for the first few creeps. Then, on each side, give one turret 1 and the other one 2 energy

Wave 3:

Spoiler

Artillery and a basic tower

Spoiler

Build an artillery on the right side (so that it covers two flanks, the optimal positioning is 3 to the right and 1 down from the right starting tower) and power the left turrets down for a while to give more power to the artillery. Once the creeps from the left approach, change the power levels on the left side to at least 1+2 again. At the end you should have enough credits to build another basic tower on the left side

Wave 4:

Spoiler

Manual shot towers

Spoiler

Build 2 manual shot towers next to the goal as safety net, and adjust the power levels of the other towers accordingly if one side seems to be getting through.

 

[Toma]

Also, in case someone is reading this thread *hears an echo*, let me know if the layout/content for the hint posts does the job.

 

[CTLance]

Wow.
This reminds me of VectorTD.

That is not a bad thing, not in the least. Quite the opposite really.

Can't play right now, but will give the web version a go when I can.

 

[Toma]

Wow.
This reminds me of VectorTD.

That is not a bad thing, not in the least. Quite the opposite really.

Can't play right now, but will give the web version a go when I can.

The style? Definitely. The real star of the show is the music though, but its hard to explain that to someone. Hope some others check it out these days to post some impressions

 

[Hofmann]

I've been burned out on games lately. After a short brake, which I hope helps, I'll definitely check it out - the music bit sounds like my cup of tea.

 

[KodeAndGame]

Saw it and decided to pass on it for the time being. But being a Toma recommendation, it just moved up the wishlist. Thanks!

 

[Toma]

Saw it and decided to pass on it for the time being. But being a Toma recommendation, it just moved up the wishlist. Thanks!

Tried the free browser demo? I wasnt too convinced of the game before playing it, but playing it (with good headphones) makes all the difference here.

 

[KodeAndGame]

Tried the free browser demo? I wasnt too convinced of the game before playing it, but playing it (with good headphones) makes all the difference here.

Only just played a bit over lunch now. Will play some more when I get home. Music is great and mechanics are definitely more complex than your average TD game.

 

[Toma]

Will post the second level strategies later I think, if anyone is curious.

 

[Toma]

Lets talk some strategies! The top spoiler only includes what you'll need to build and the lower spoiler is more specific.

Level 002 - Perfect:

Wave 1:

Spoiler

3 laser, one artillery, at least one control

Spoiler

Put the two laser towers in the 2 obvious spots close to the middle. Afterwards, you'll need to place an artillery in the most promising spot (lower left). As soon as possible, add a few control towers near the goal as a safety net: Towards the end of the wave, you can add another laser to help your upper tower with the creeps.

Wave 2:

Spoiler

1 artillery, 1 laser, more control towers and mines if you researched them

Spoiler

Here you can basically build both lanes symmetrical so that each lane has the 2 lasers in the two obvious closest spots, an artillery in the best position and a few control towers as safety net. I recommend researching the mines and putting a mine towards the end of each lane (near the "goal").

Wave 3:

Spoiler

2 lasers

Spoiler

At this point, the level is basically already won. Just put another laser towards the "beginning" of each lane in that "obvious" spot(so you have 3 now per lane), and the nothing can touch you anymore! Enjoy the music and level up your turrets to get a feeling for the effects.

 

[KuroNeeko]

I will probably pick this up next week for something to play at work. I'm probably into the TD genre as much as Toma's into music so I usually try to support newer, more innovative TD games.

My first impression though doesn't place this one among the greats, but it's a Toma Selects® title so I can probably give it the benefit of the doubt.

Spoiler

Defense Grid
Plants vs. Zombies
Kingdom Rush
Comet Crash

among others...

 

[Toma]

I will probably pick this up next week for something to play at work. I'm probably into the TD genre as much as Toma's into music so I usually try to support newer, more innovative TD games.

My first impression though doesn't place this one among the greats, but it's a Toma Selects® title so I can probably give it the benefit of the doubt.

Spoiler

Defense Grid
Plants vs. Zombies
Kingdom Rush
Comet Crash

among others...

Hmmm, hard to compare really. I can see how Plants vs Zombies or Defense Grid was more engaging with their TD mechanics, but Sentinel thrives through the music and its difficulty. Perfecting or sometimes just finishing these levels is like a puzzle in itself, which I never quite felt in Defense Grid or Plants vs. Zombies. I think the closest to how the game feels challenge wise could be the harder Pixeljunk Monster levels.

But yeah, if you cant enjoy the music while playing (headphones), the game loses much of its appeal. I found myself starting it up a few times to listen to the game (while playing). If you take that out of the equation, then its definitely easily a tier below the "greats" in the genre.But then again, why should you? It might come down to how much you enjoy the presentation, music and puzzle like nature here, really. Oh and I thought the power adjustments made it stand out enough from other TD games to give it a whirl.

But yeah, I really, really like the whole package here.

 

[Messofanego]

Well, that's something new! Maybe if I get some free time, I'll get into this.

 

[Toma]

Well, that's something new! Maybe if I get some free time, I'll get into this.

The thread failed me so far. 1300 views and not a single person who said he bought it. At this rate, I'll never finish it since 1-2 levels seem outright impossible to me at the moment.

 

[Toma]

Kinda surprised there arent more TD fans on GAF. Maybe people are a bit fed up with the genre?

 

[Toma]

Also, small hint for everyone struggling:

1. Write down the creeper spawns in each level,that helps immensely in finding out which tower needs to be build when.

2. Restart the first wave until you found a tower configuration that worked and make a screenshot of it. As soon as you figured out how to play a wave, its usually not that difficult to replicate it. Do that step again for wave 2 then.

 

[KuroNeeko]

The thread failed me so far. 1300 views and not a single person who said he bought it. At this rate, I'll never finish it since 1-2 levels seem outright impossible to me at the moment.

*throws arms up in the air* I'm buying it, I'm buying it! Just let me wait until Tuesday; my credit card has enough stuff on it this month already! Gotta buy the new Planeswalkers game and maybe State of Decay too...*sigh*

* You mentioning Pixeljunk Monsters reminded me how much I love that game. Definitely deserves to be on that "greats" list.

 

[Toma]

*throws arms up in the air* I'm buying it, I'm buying it! Just let me wait until Tuesday; my credit card has enough stuff on it this month already! Gotta buy the new Planeswalkers game and maybe State of Decay too...*sigh*

* You mentioning Pixeljunk Monsters reminded me how much I love that game. Definitely deserves to be on that "greats" list.

My thread had a purpose! *strikes victory pose*

And yeah, I'd love a new PM game Especially fun in coop.

 

[Toma]

Maybe I can get to the extra zone walkthrough today.

 

[Toma]

This level also shows the puzzle-like nature quite aptly, since you'll need to figure out a very specific strategy and execute it properly to win. I really like the diversity the bonus levels provide.

Level B01 - Perfect:

Wave 1:

Spoiler

2 laser, 8 control and an upgradable worm defense in the middle

Spoiler

This level only has one wave, yet its rather tricky to beat if you dont know what you aim to do. The building plan is easily explained: First you'll build a laser on the left side, then a laser on the right side, and after that you need to fill all the spots on the bottom of the screen with (useless) control towers. You only need their energy so power them down as soon as you build them. With the new energy from the towers, you can power up the 2 laser towers at approximately the same level (the left one maybe 1 higher). As soon as the only worm enemy of the level enters the screen, make sure to give 1 power to the worm defense tower and upgrade it with any jewels that popped up. The power 1 worm defense with 2 jewel upgrades should be enough, and your other laser towers will need their power levels themselves.

 

[chrominance]

Sorry for the necrobump, hopefully this counts as a justified bump: Sentinel's the current game at IndieGameStand. No service keys yet, but as usual Steam/Desura/GOG keys are promised at $1 or above if the game gets onto any of those services (it's currently on Greenlight, I think). Went looking for GAF impressions and happened upon this thread, which I've apparently already visited at least once already!

 

[lordkosc]

thanks for the FYI , I picked it up!

 

[Americanmushroom]

That looks awesome. Will check it out when I get home

 

[Toma]

Yeeeees, more guys pick it up!

 

[Toma]

Thread title change bump.

 

[Toma]

Sorry for the necrobump, hopefully this counts as a justified bump: Sentinel's the current game at IndieGameStand. No service keys yet, but as usual Steam/Desura/GOG keys are promised at $1 or above if the game gets onto any of those services (it's currently on Greenlight, I think). Went looking for GAF impressions and happened upon this thread, which I've apparently already visited at least once already!

Thanks for posting btw, I would have completely missed it.