Project Overview
Out on the Homestead, players must Spill Blood to Make Money and survive unceasing waves of monsters.
Homestead is an Isometric RTS Tower Defense Game where layers manage the expansion of the Homestead by spending blood extracted from the ground to fuel powerful towers and water their crops. To succeed, players must balance economic growth with successful defense - combatting enemies from all four cardinal directions.
Homestead is inspired by tower defense and strategy games like Rogue Tower and Into the Breach.
Homestead is a prototype developed as a solo project where all assets and systems were authored by myself. As a prototype, Homestead was an Exploration into Resource Economies. I delved into the world of Sources, Drains, Traders, and Converters and gained experience balancing a game where the Sources of a key resource were also their biggest Drains.
My Contributions
Designed Resource Economy
+ Designed Key Resources of Blood and Money
+ Designed Blood Pump and Sprinkler Buildings in line with core Aesthetic
+ Balanced Resource Availability for ideal Game Flow/Progression
+ Designed Key Resources of Blood and Money
+ Designed Blood Pump and Sprinkler Buildings in line with core Aesthetic
+ Balanced Resource Availability for ideal Game Flow/Progression
Created Grid-Based Construction System
+ Quick Access Radial Menu
+ Immersive Preview Communicating Relevant Statistics
+ Building Selection, Purchase, and Placement
+ Building Upgrades via Replacement
+ Resource Economy Integration via Cost and Upkeep
+ Quick Access Radial Menu
+ Immersive Preview Communicating Relevant Statistics
+ Building Selection, Purchase, and Placement
+ Building Upgrades via Replacement
+ Resource Economy Integration via Cost and Upkeep
Created a Modular Development Frameworks
+ Enemy and Building creation via Data Tables for expansion and balancing
+ Editable Statistics like Health, Cost, Attack Power, and Range
+ Enemy and Building creation via Data Tables for expansion and balancing
+ Editable Statistics like Health, Cost, Attack Power, and Range
Created Enemy AI
+ Capable of grid traversal
+ Obstacles and Target Recognition with proper responses
+ Tied Enemies to Resource Economy via Blood Resource spilled on death
+ Capable of grid traversal
+ Obstacles and Target Recognition with proper responses
+ Tied Enemies to Resource Economy via Blood Resource spilled on death
Created Cell-based Wave System
+ Designed for curation of unique encounters and wave compositions
+ Incorporates directional and quantitative inputs for balancing
+ Designed for curation of unique encounters and wave compositions
+ Incorporates directional and quantitative inputs for balancing
Conducted numerous playtests and implemented a variety of feedback.
Managed development using the Waterfall Method.
Project Breakdowns
Homestead Pitchdeck
Blood and Money: Spilling Blood
The core gameplay loop of Homestead lies in the cyclical generation of resources and their subsequent delegation.
Blood is spilled by killing enemies as they approach the Homestead. When enemies are killed the blood they spill is soaked into the surrounding tiles - ready to be extracted.
Blood and Money: Extracting Resources
Blood is extracted via Blood Pump placed near blood-soaked tiles. Once extracted, Blood because a resource for fueling other buildings and towers.
Crucially, Blood is for the generation of money via the Blood Sprinkler which expends Blood to greatly enhance the generation of Money from Crops. Money may then be used to purchase more pumps and towers to extract greater quantities of Blood.
Screenshots Illustrating Standard Game Progression
