What are your opinions about score unlocking upgrades?

from Stardock.net Forums

Hi I played the first 2 missions of the game.  It seems your total score over all missions determines when you can unlock higher level towers (you start with Level 1, then you have to earn so much score to be able to upgrade them).

That means there is a reason to beat the missions first on not maximum difficulty, then when you are prepared replay the mission at maximum difficulty later.

My opinion is that it is much better than having to spend metal instead to unlock upgrades, because balancing getting across-mission upgrades against getting more towers in this specific mission would be frustrating.  I also believe it is also better than spending research-only resource (like crystal in Sins of a Solar Empire) that you earn by mining the map, because trying to squeeze out maximum mining efficiency is not as fun as ensuring you destroy all enemies and complete all objectives.

The only mild disappointment I have is that replaying missions at higher difficulties pads out the game.  I would prefer spending that time playing new missions, but I understand that this is a low-budget game.

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Reply #1 from Stardock.net Forums Top

Having played many a TD in the past... score unlocking things is REALLY boring. I understand unlocking things through progression, but using arbitrary 'score' to unlock upgrades and towers is very boring as it adds needless grinding to the game. From what I've seen you don't even get a single score per mission, I can rerun the first mission 100 times and have everything unlocked. Score is great for leaderboards, but not for unlocking things.

I agree that having 'radioactives' (equivalent of crystal in the above example, in universe) be used for the upgrades would be great, instead of metal. As it stands I can get more value for placing a new tower as opposed to upgrading an existing one for over the cost of a new one. Maybe have salvaging stations give a bit of radioactives every kill and/or have mines producing them. I think the 'stars' you get for the bonus objectives should be able to be spend on global bonuses for future missions. A great example of this mechanic can be seen in "Cursed Treasure" "Gemcraft" and a bunch of other TDs online.

 

 

Reply #2 from Stardock.net Forums Top

Quoting Jakkillr, reply 1

Having played many a TD in the past... score unlocking things is REALLY boring. I understand unlocking things through progression, but using arbitrary 'score' to unlock upgrades and towers is very boring as it adds needless grinding to the game. From what I've seen you don't even get a single score per mission, I can rerun the first mission 100 times and have everything unlocked. Score is great for leaderboards, but not for unlocking things.

I agree that having 'radioactives' (equivalent of crystal in the above example, in universe) be used for the upgrades would be great, instead of metal. As it stands I can get more value for placing a new tower as opposed to upgrading an existing one for over the cost of a new one. Maybe have salvaging stations give a bit of radioactives every kill and/or have mines producing them. I think the 'stars' you get for the bonus objectives should be able to be spend on global bonuses for future missions. A great example of this mechanic can be seen in "Cursed Treasure" "Gemcraft" and a bunch of other TDs online.

When the next patch comes out only the maximum score for each mission will count, replays will not increase score unless you get a better score.

"Only the highest score for each mission counts"

https://forums.stardock.net/494237/siege-of-centauri-founders-version-2

 

I agree that 'stars' should let you do research to improve something.

 

I don't have an opinion on whether 'radioactives' could be used to upgrade towers instead of 'metal'.

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Reply #3 from Stardock.net Forums Top

Quoting Prof_Hari_Seldon, reply 2

I agree that 'stars' should let you do research to improve something.


I'd say stars should instead be used to upgrade the base level of the colony/turrets when you place them except for how stupidly easy they are to get. 'Use overcharge 3x' ok. click pause. click overcharge. set to slowest, time counts down as per normal (Bug) and then click again 2 more time. Doesn't even matter if you win. Stars are meaningless and give no sense of accomplishment. 'Rush 3 waves' ok. click rush 3 times and then quit. You don't need to finish. So dumb.

Reply #4 from Stardock.net Forums Top

For me. I played missions and stuff unlocked. I didn't really even understand the mechanics for quite a while. I certainly didn't sit back after the first mission and figure out how to min/max to totally optimize the gameplay. 

That said, someone who did figure it all out will publish a game guide and tell new players that after they finish mission 4 they should go back and do mission 1 again to raise their score. So I guess it is important to make sure the system works for players who kind of follow what the game designer's intentions were as well as those who want to optimize.