Canterlot Siege Comes to Android

Canterlot Siege (Android)

 There seems to be a decent portion of the fandom that is addicted to playing Canterlot Siege, and Nitrouspony has decided to feed their addiction with an Android port of the game. Now I don't play Canterlot Siege myself that much, but for those that do (and aren't iOS users, who'll have to wait a bit longer for a port) this must be a godsend. Interested in giving the port a shot? You can download the .apk file over at http://sta.sh/0k8abuu6ijo. Have fun!

Nightfall Beta v3.89

Nightfall

(Download)

 It seems that Night Breeze of Silly Mares Games will be especially busy this November due to college, and since the real fourth beta for Nightfall isn't ready yet he's decided to make a relatively minor release in the meantime to pacify the masses. Enjoy, fellow pony fans, as I look into the possibility of eventually switching over to the Ghost blogging platform while listening to sludge metal and wondering why the fridge's water dispenser pours warm water instead of cold (which doesn't make any sense to me).

Release notes have been copypasted below the break.

• Collecting structures now restores half of its energy cost. 
• Added air dash. 
• Enemies' AI improved. 
• Shadowbolts and some bosses can now stun the player/mercenaries. 
• Items and structures can now be sold. 
• 'Force night' option now gives some extra money in Normal mode. 
• Creative mode now features double money gain. 
• Light Torches now show their area of effect before being built as well. 
• Shorter position cooldown for building. 
• You don't lose lives anymore by falling off the map. 
• Lower drop rate for power-ups. 
• Added 'Game speed' option (F5). 
• Game is now slightly faster by default. 
• Changed 'show/hide coordinates' key to F7. 
• Other minor changes and bug fixes.

Canterlot Siege 2

Canterlot Siege 2

 Last year's Canterlot Siege was extremely popular amongst the My Little Pony fan community in general, although I wasn't all that fond of it myself due to my not being a real tower defence person. Since I am really not suited to reviewing this sort of thing I'll just wait for Arctic Lux or Enigma Sage to do it later, but needless to say most of you who liked the first entry will probably end up enjoying this one. Also, playing strategy games in general with a pounding headache is a terrible idea, and will probably make anything but the biggest pushover feel like a horrible nightmare.

In other news, my screenshot utility is working properly now that I uninstalled the proprietary Radeon drivers. Huzzah! Now, if only the open source drivers did a better job at controlling the fan speed...

Nightfall Beta 3

Nightfall

(Download)

 Yep, Silly Mare Games has released yet another beta for their upcoming Nightfall project, and it comes with plenty of improvements such as an inventory system, along with a compass to prevent the player from getting lost while exploring the world. Of course, there are also a decent amount of balance upgrades to further polish the experience before release, along with some new night stages and whatnot for those who breezed through the original beta.

I would write more, but I'm rather tired so I'll just copy & paste the changelog below the break. Goodnight, and enjoy the game!

• Added Inventory and Items system/menu (including Frost and Flame Towers). This is huge. Items are not dropped very much, but you can search for 'Mystery Bags' around the world as well, and I'll be probably adding more and more items in later versions.
• Added Spirit system. Pretty much like MP in RPGs.
• Added Compass system. The game really needed this. Now you can wander around without worrying of losing your way back to your base.
• Added 10 more nights (new enemies, bosses, etc.): up to night 30. Still no story though, just plain old sandbox-building-and-killing-and-upgrading-and-total-chaos nights like it's always been.
• Unknown structures cannot be collected anymore. You better search for a nice spot amongst some pre-placed trees, because a strategic location is a must now. You won't be able to collect those structures you haven't unlocked yet.
• Structures can now be healed using spirit. Thanks to EggheadDash for this idea!
• Longer starting attack range. Because I don't know what I was thinking. The range was ridiculously short.
• Dirt Blocks no longer cost energy. Again, thanks to EggheadDash for the idea!
• All characters constantly regenerate energy now (slower than Applejack, though). It's small, but it's there, and makes a huge difference.
• Rainbow Dash now pierces through enemies while flying.
• Pinkamena mode now doubles up defense as well.
• Wider range for Light Torches' effect.
• Turret Towers have slightly better aim.
• Lower price for some structures.
• Shorter days and nights. 200 seconds each, instead of 250.
• Enemy spawn is now limited to a maximum number of simultaneous enemies.
• Enemies rebalanced. A lot.
• Added 'Dirt Block' hotkey (ctrl). And again, thanks to EggheadDash for this idea as well!
• Added 'order mercenary go to point' key (F). Silly Flitter kept blocking the entrances.
• Several key changes: 'Mercenaries menu' to G, 'force night' to Backspace, 'Achievements menu' to T, and 'show/hide coordinates' to F5.
• Game window is now resizable.
• Other minor changes and bug fixes. A LOT, actually.

Review: Canterlot Siege

Play it on the Equestria Gaming Arcade

or on DeviantArt

Good (late) evening, mares and gentlecolts! For all of you teaching and learning this fall - myself included - who are regretting the end of another fantastic summer, I have just the thing. As for the rest of you, you'll probably enjoy this too. 

Yes, the fabulous futzi01 has once again landed a game upon my reviewing table. And it's a tower defense title, no less - something which we can never have enough of. Can the mane 6 blast their way through parasprites, griffons, and diamond dogs to become a fandom classic, or do they fall a little short? All this, and a secret code, after the break!

In Canterlot Siege, one places ponies around a the map in order to defeat waves of enemies - pretty standard tower defense fare. All of the mane six are available, and each one has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Each can be upgraded five times, becoming immensely powerful by the final upgrade. The game includes a pleasant amount of strategy, forcing you to optimize your tower layout for each enemy type while not becoming overwhelming. Additionally, it includes targeting options: you can set each pony to target the weakest, strongest, or farthest forward enemy within it's range.

I found the game playable, polished, and balanced - meaning that it definitely met my expectations for a tower defense title. In addition, the difficulty increases to the point where even more serious fans of the genre should find an enjoyable level of challenge. My only qualm was that occasionally, when the option to target the farthest forward enemy was selected, your ponies would fire on enemies further back along the path.

Strategy-wise, figuring out pony placement and how quickly to upgrade was key. Earlier upgrades buffed your ponies' attacks only slightly, but were cheap enough that they were well worth buying. Keep in mind that while one pony, depending on it's placement, might not need a range upgrade, it might be essential for another. Augment your bits by calling waves just far enough apart so that no tower has to fire upon multiple waves at once (unless your infrastructure can handle it.)

[MILD SPOILER ALERT] I told you I'd give you a secret code, right? As in a few of his other games (I'll leave it up to you to discover which ones) futzi has included a secret unlock related to the Konami Code. By keying in the particular sequence (up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a) on any level, you unlock Twist Mode, which turns all enemy types into the unlucky filly.

There's not a lot to fault in this game. It's charming and very polished, and, thanks to it's rare qualification as a tower defense game, I'd give it a high spot on my list of pony flash. While perhaps not a massive undertaking, it stays within it's limits and solidly lives up to it's billing. 

Nightfall Beta

Nightfall

 Over the past few months we've been posting videos of Nightfall, a sidescrolling platformer/tower defense/whatever game by Silly Mare Games. Development went along smoothly, and now they've already released a beta build of their game (which was quickly followed by another with various balance improvements). The demo even features several bosses: a rarity for a pony fangame, which almost guarantees an appearance by our favorite swiss cheese-legged queen. Still, I am curious to see what other bosses they have in store...

 Given that the game is a beta and still in active development it's unfortunately more than a bit too early for us to review it, but you folks can still play it and perhaps give Silly Mare Games some feedback.

Little Pony Big War

Little Pony Big War

Man, when May assessment season hits the fandom, it hits hard. This time of year, a lot of game developers (and us blogponies, too) are completely pinned down, but things should pick up speed as summer approaches.

Baejongkim's Little Pony Big War is part strategy, part tower defense. In battle, the player must manage his resources, building mining bunnies and sending out troops to counter an onslaught of Diamond Dogs. Stylistically similar to the Flash classic Age of War, the goal is to build up enough troops to successfully destroy your enemy's base. The handy mini-map displays an overview of units on the screen and the status of the midfield turret.

Although the basic premise is simple, Little Pony Big War has more than enough late-game content to keep you playing. Extra hero units (members of the mane 6) and infantry can be bought and upgraded outside of battle, and are a huge help during the later levels. Overall, it's one of the better flash games I've played recently - Enjoy!

Nightfall Beta Five

Nightfall

(Download)

 Today marks the release of Nightfall's fifth beta, along with all the new features and balance adjustments that such an update usually entails. So if you've already finished My Little Investigations (or haven't gotten around to playing it, like yours truly) and have some spare time, you might as well give this a spin and see if the changes are for the better or not, since apparently the game is getting fairly close to leaving beta and will be considered stable once it does so.

Changelog below the break.

• Added Ghost Structures system. This little feature may change the whole way the game is played! Pressing [Shift]+[S] over a structure turns it into a 'Ghost Structure', which allows you to shoot through them. In return, they receive 25% more damage from enemies.
• Added Trance system. You now have a little 'Trance' bar, which is filled by killing enemies or getting hit. In short, the more Trance you have, the more damage you make! A full Trance bar means x3 damage!
• Added autosave and quicksave (F5-F8). The game gets autosaved after each night, which you can load in case you get a Game Over. You can also quicksave (F5) and quickload (F8) your game at any time! (even at the main menu).
• Added new items and achievements. Trance and Invincibility potions!
• Improved enemies' behavior. 
• Killing enemies now also restores spirit. You have to kill them yourself, though! Not your towers.
• Trees now constantly regenerate HP. You couldn't heal 'em, but they can heal themselves now! No more worries.
• Structures can't get completely destroyed anymore upon falling/dying. Another big change here. Nothing was as frustrating as falling off the map (or getting killed) and walking back to your Base, only to find there was nothing left. This doesn't happen anymore! Structures still get damage upon falling/dying, but they can only be destroyed by enemies.
• Leveling up mercenaries costs less money. Half the price for all ponies!
• Mercenaries don't obstruct your building box anymore. Mercenaries were really annoying because of this. Luckily, you can build over them now, so don't worry!
• Added 5 more nights (new enemies, boss, etc.): up to night 35. 
• Last implemented night now loops (endless runs). You don't get 'enemy-less nights' anymore! Night 35 loops (without the boss) so you can keep playing if you want.
• 'Destiny Shift' costs much less spirit. NOW it's useful.
• Invincibility now lasts 10 seconds.
• Changed 'Game speed' key to F2.
• Other minor changes and bug fixes. There was this huge bug regarding night 25's boss which would prevent the game from re-generating the world. There are also more changes and bug fixes regarding enemy spawn rate, skills, achievements, mercenaries, store upgrades, graphics, and the like.

Nightfall's Fourth Beta

Nightfall
(Download)

 Continuing the grand tradition of Nightfall beta releases being uploaded at the appropriate time comes its fourth beta, with some lovely new additions/improvements such as an Adventure mode, more skills, and various much-needed performance fixes. That's right, you can finally run Nightfall at a fairly decent speed in Wine (although you probably won't be able to run the game at faster speeds, since that is done by increasing the framerate).

For convenience's sake, I've pasted the changelog below the break. Have fun with the new beta!

• Added position cooldown (for building) after collecting or breaking a structure. This prevents the old 'trick' of instantaneously replacing structures when they're low on health. 
• Light Torches now show their area of effect. Completely necessary to build your strategy! 
• Lower drop rate for potions and power-ups. It just felt like a grocery shop before this! 
• Collecting structures now restores half of its energy cost. Pretty convenient! 
• Added air dash. Double-tap the direction keys while in mid-air to extend your jumps! 
• Enemies' AI improved. No more 'all I do is attack the player' AI. 
• Shadowbolts and some bosses can now stun the player/mercenaries. You better be prepared! 
• Items and structures can now be sold. Need some extra money? Check it out! 
• 'Force night' option now gives some extra money in Normal mode. Forcing night is somewhat rewarding now! 
• Creative mode now features double money gain. It's Creative mode after all. 
• You don't lose lives anymore by falling off the map. Now you can be less worried while playing as a non-pegasi! 
• Added 'Game speed' option (F5). Would you like to fast-forward? Or maybe slow things down a bit! 
• Game is now slightly faster by default. It feels way more active! 
• Added 5 seconds of invulnerability and invincibility after losing a life. Those 5 seconds can make a huge difference! 
• Added Adventure mode (map 1). Explore the pre-made maps, collect the keys and find the exit! That's right, a whole new game mode for when you're tired of building! 
• Added hard mode. For you crazy guys who want the game to be even harder. 
• Added new skills and achievements. You gotta love Wave Attack! 
• Greatly improved overall performance. This took its time, but I'm really glad to say the game's performance has been GREATLY improved. And I mean A LOT. 
• The world now gets regenerated every 25 nights. I've had this idea for quite some time now. The whole world terrain gets re-generated after the 'big' bosses. Your stats, money and inventory don't change, though! Just the terrain and structures. You better start rebuilding before night falls again! 
• Your attacks now bounce off structures. All of them. 
• Other minor changes and bug fixes. And everytime I say this, I mean A LOT of minor changes.

The red points are the changes since the last version of the Third beta (v3.94b), so those of you who have been following the blog will be most likely interested in those.

Canterlot Siege 3: Inversion

Canterlot Siege 3: Inversion

 Hot off the queue of things that have lingered in our inbox for a depressingly long time, Canterlot Siege 3: Inversion is the latest entry in the line of Flash-powered tower defense games by futzi01 starring characters from the MLP universe. The main difference in this one is that now you're playing as the villains, trying to stop the good guys from reclaiming their home. Gameplay-wise, notable additions include the ability to place boss characters - fully upgraded attackers with special attack patterns - and additional variety in the level choices, going from the old design philosophy of different paths in a grassy field to levels with some actual variety in them, even if only visually. The game does get difficult fast - as someone not well-versed in tower defense games, I struggled to make it very far my first few rounds - but it becomes more manageable with practice.

 At this point I mostly post these things to keep a log of them. Most of the people interested in this game probably follow the author and played it months ago.