Defend the Highlands - Released

[Ronald_McScotland]

Now available on Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/374830/

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Defend the highlands is a humorous strategy/tower defense game about a Scottish pub owner whose pub is invaded one day by a bunch of drunken Irish, English and Welshmen. He enlists the help of his patrons to fight off the invaders in a highland pub brawl where high-velocity bowls of porridge are the weapon of choice.

After that, he goes on a tour of Scotland to kick the invaders out of several other iconic places, including Loch Ness, Stirling Castle and many more, using a variety of wacky and highly Scottish weapons, from haggis catapults to porridge cannons.

Defend the Highlands Early Access Trailer

The Combat System

The core mechanic of the game is the strategic use of defensive positions. These come in two types. Firstly, cover positions, which simply provide protection against enemy projectiles. These are found around each level, and can also be built by the player. Enemy ranged units will also make use of these for protection.

Secondly, there are emplacements, which as well as providing cover, also provide offensive capabilities. They aren’t found in the levels, and must be built by the player. They are more expensive and have fewer hit points than cover positions, so need to be placed carefully and well guarded. Emplacements are only of use if they have a Scotsman manning them.

The Recruitment System

New Scotsmen will spawn on the edge of the map at a rate determined by how many men you have playing bagpipes. Any Scotsman can be ordered to play the bagpipes. However, Scotsmen can’t fight or operate emplacements while playing the bagpipes, so bagpipe players need to be well defended.

Each Scotsman uses up porridge at a fixed rate. The more Scotsmen you have, the faster you’ll go through porridge. You can get more porridge by ordering Scotsmen to harvest oats. Oat fields are scattered throughout each map, and are important points to defend, to ensure a full porridge stockpile.

If you run out of porridge, Scotsmen will gradually begin to desert, so it is important to balance the number of men playing bagpipes with the number of men harvesting oats.

The Command System

Scotsmen can be selected by clicking or dragging a box around them, and ordered to move, attack or take cover by right clicking on the target or destination.

Newly spawned Scotsmen will automatically find an unoccupied cover position or emplacement and move there. They will fire on any enemies that come in range, and fight in melee with any that get too close.

Any feedback or questions would be much appreciated:)

[primus88]

This looks really fun!
Can;t wait to see more.

[ensiferum888]

Man I wish I had this kind of creativity when thinking of a game concept. It seems I can only copy major genres.

This is great I love the idea. Keep it up I want to play this!

[Singularity]

Love it

[Ronald_McScotland]

Thanks guys, I’ll keep you updated. I’m aiming to have a demo available in December.

[Ronald_McScotland]

I’m getting pretty close to having a playable demo ready. In the meantime, here’s a spotlight on some of the defenses you can build in the game.

The Porridge Cannon

The porridge cannon fires a spray of hot porridge over a short distance. It therefore excels at defeating enemy melee units approaching your line. At the further end of its range, it is also a good way of whittling down the health of closely packed groups of enemies. It is less effective against enemies in cover, and has a narrow arc of fire, so is vulnerable to enemies approaching from the side.

The Golf Tee

The golf tee is very long ranged and accurate, perfect for sniping enemies long before they get close enough to attack. It excels at taking out long ranged enemies in cover, and can easily hit a moving target. It has a wide arc of fire, allowing it to target almost any enemies in range. However, it provides little defense against incoming projectiles, making it vulnerable to ranged enemies who get close enough.

The Haggis Catapult

The haggis catapult fires exploding haggis which do devastating area damage. They are long ranged, and their trajectory allows them to fire over buildings and other obstacles that no other weapon can. They are perfect for bombarding the enemy from a distance, especially when they are clustered together. However, it can’t fire on enemies once they get too close, and its low accuracy makes it poor for defeating individual enemies.

The Turnip Turret

The turnip turret rapidly fires turnips at the enemy. Its mediocre accuracy makes it very much a spray and pray weapon, perfect for mowing down nearby enemies or large groups, but poor at hitting enemies in cover. It is very expensive and easily destroyed, so must be placed carefully and well protected. However, when used well, it can be the most devastating weapon in the game.

The Cheese Wheel Station

The cheese wheel station allows Scotsmen to roll giant cheese wheels downhill, which crush any enemies in their path. Their range is limited only by how far they can roll before being stopped by an obstacle or running out of momentum. When placed well, they can deal a heavy toll on enemies ascending a hill. When placed poorly, they can be useless, or worse, can even kill your own men if the lay of the terrain causes the cheese wheels to roll into your own positions.

[Ronald_McScotland]

Now for an overview of the enemies.

The Irish Potato Thrower

The Irish potato thrower is the enemy’s most basic missile unit, who as the name suggests, attack by throwing potatoes. They will also utilize cover if it is available, which makes them much more difficult to fight.

The English Cricket Player

Cricket players excel at taking out your defenses. They bowl a highly accurate cricket ball as they approach, to take out the Scotsman manning a defensive position, and then use their cricket bats to destroy it. Fortunately, they are expensive for the enemy to recruit and have less health than other enemy melee units.

The Welsh Rugby Player

To celebrate a recent victory, the Welsh rugby team have decided to invade Scotland. They are the most powerful enemy melee unit in both health and attack. However, they have no interest in destroying your defenses, only beating Scotsmen to a pulp.

The Leprechaun

Leprechauns are the only enemy that doesn’t attack. Instead, they steal your gold, if allowed to reach one of your Scotsmen.

The Ancient Briton Warrior

Ancient Briton warriors are fast, cheap, and can attack Scotsmen and defenses alike. They have low health, but can still easily overwhelm you with numbers.

The Posh Englishman

Posh Englishmen are the slowest and lowest health enemy in the game. But don’t be deceived, they can lob a teapot over a surprising distance, which can shower multiple Scotsmen with scalding tea when it smashes.

The Welsh Sheep Rider

Sheep riding is the second most popular sport in Wales, after rugby. Their woolly steeds allow these Welshmen to move very quickly around the battlefield. They will attempt to ride in behind your defenses, where they can hit your men from behind with cheese on toast.

The Beefeater

England’s finest, and most slow moving soldiers, the beefeater’s gun is slow firing and inaccurate, but packs a punch. The high damage makes them especially dangerous to your hero characters. They will have a hard time hitting Scotsmen in cover, but can easily one-shot-kill anyone in the open.

I’ve also started a facebook page for the game, so check it out if you’re interested - Redirecting...

[Chemaxmax]

It’s so funny I need to play the demo!!!

[Ronald_McScotland]

Wait no longer folks, you can get the demo here - https://www.dropbox.com/s/rtant21l88fbin0/Defend The Highlands Demo.zip?dl=0

Would love any feedback anyone’s got. I’ve included a feedback form with some questions if you want to use that, but you don’t have to, just let me know what you think here.

It’s still beta at the moment, so there might be some bugs or glitches. If you notice any, let me know.

If you like the game, you can follow the facebook page - Redirecting...

[renman3000]

It wont open (in Unity) buddy!

[Ronald_McScotland]

@renman3000

It wont open (in Unity) buddy!

It shouldn’t open in unity, it’s a standalone. You should just have to run Defend the Highlands.exe to play it.

[renman3000]

@Ronald_McScotland

It shouldn’t open in unity, it’s a standalone. You should just have to run Defend the Highlands.exe to play it.

I’m on a Mac.

My Scottish blood is bummed.

[Ronald_McScotland]

Oh, I should have thought of that. I’ll make a Mac build when I get back from work today.

[renman3000]

Right oh mate!

[Ronald_McScotland]

Mac version of the demo - Dropbox - Error - Simplify your life

I don’t have a Mac to test it on, so could you let me know if it actually works Rennie?

[Chemaxmax]

I played the demo and I like it I’m working so I cannot spend so much time playing. I’ll play it again this weekend or maybe earlier

[Philip-Rowlands]

I gave it a try last night, and while I only finished the tutorial, it’s brilliant! That said, I think the camera should be able to rotate to the left/right, allowing more perspective of the battlefield.

I also have a suggestion for the Potato Thrower: perhaps you could create a mini-boss version for the later levels which throws flaming bottles of poitín (AKA the Irish version of a Molotov cocktail).

Makes note to continue playing tonight

[Ronald_McScotland]

Thanks guys. You actually can rotate the camera by holding the middle mouse button and moving the mouse. One of the things I will be changing in light of some other feedback I’ve gotten is to make the tutorial have a controls section where it only progresses once the user has used the control being explained. At the moment it does say it in the text box, but it doesn’t check that the user has actually done it, so you probably just missed that instruction.

I have toyed a little with the idea of boss characters, so I’ll keep that in mind. At the moment I want to focus on getting the game finished and well polished by my deadline, but if I finish with time to spare that’s certainly a feature I’d consider adding.

[Ronald_McScotland]

The Levels

I’m aiming for 20 levels in the finished game. Here’s a preview of the 5 levels I’ve done so far.

The Wee Bevvy Pub (Tutorial Level)

The Wee Bevvy Pub is where the invasion first strikes. Alfredo has to rally his Scotsmen to defend against waves of Irishmen and Englishmen. It is a fairly simple level, but a wise Scotsman will make use of the raised balcony to hit the invaders from above.

Skanky Sporran Village

Skanky Sporran is a small village in Northern Scotland. The gaps between houses provide useful points to fortify, and the flat roof of the local deep fried Mars bar shop is a handy vantage point from which to attack approaching enemies.

Highland Glen

This tranquil glen is nestled among the rocky hills of the Scottish highlands. The player begins in a good defensive position, but in order to secure additional oat fields, will have to venture out into a low lying area where the enemy stationed on the ridge above will have a distinctive advantage.

Porridge Farm

There is plenty of porridge to be had here. Unfortunately, frequent cow stampedes charge across the recently plowed field, killing any Scotsman who gets in their way. On the upside, they will also trample down approaching enemies if the player hangs back.

Stirling Bridge

The bridge will funnel enemies into a narrow killing area which is easily defended. However, most of the oat fields are on the other side, so a wise Scotsman will venture out to stockpile resources, and only fall back to the safety of the bridge as a last resort.

[gamadgames]

Nice, I hope that one day i can also make such great models.
I am definately going to play this when it comes out.
Do you work alone or have you/this game a team of developpers?