- Second Demo Alpha for FrankenStorm Full Game is Available Now! - 1 September 2023
The second version of FrankenStorm TD (full game)'s alpha demo is out now! It'll be available throughout the Steam Strategy Fest that's currently running, and for a few days afterwards, so jump in and give it a go while you can 😀 The demo can be accessed via the full game's Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1857390/FrankenStorm_TD/ If you played the first version of the alpha, you can find some patch notes here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1857390/view/3663169144654883234?l=english We hope you enjoy the alpha, and welcome you to share feedback in the game's Steam Community, or in our Discord: https://discord.gg/59Vbveh2z9 The imbeciles are coming, get ready ⚡
- The First Playtest for the FULL GAME is LIVE - 5 May 2023
We are excited to announce that the Demo Alpha of FrankenStorm TD (the new FULL GAME, not the Prologue) is LIVE! Thanks for being involved and following our progress! This will be the first public playtest. It's still early days, and there is a lot still to come, but we've reached a point where it's playable and challenging and we are keen to let you get your hands on it so that your feedback can help us improve and prioritise our next steps! In this alpha version of the demo there are 3 survival mode maps where you can try to survive as many waves as possible. Later in the full demo there will be a sample of the campaign and different play modes that can also be won, as well as leaderboards, meta progression and much more. Playtest Sign Ups are open for 7 days. Sign up now: For first access to future playtests join our newsletter: https://subscribepage.io/Doodad https://store.steampowe…
- FrankenStorm TD (Full Version): Steam Coming Soon Page and First Trailer is Up! - 20 December 2022
We've had our heads down, working hard on the full version of FrankenStorm, and are delighted to finally be able to share some progress with you all! Here is the full game's Steam Coming Soon page, and we hope you enjoy the first trailer: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1857390/FrankenStorm_TD/ As you can see, it's a huge increase in scope compared to the prologue. A recap of some of the changes that are visible so far: - Switch from 2D to 3D 😮 - New types of structural rewards: different towers and traps - New maps with their own environmental mechanics (not just skins like in the prologue) And there's a lot more that's not yet visible: - A full campaign with different branches to go down. Branches will be unlocked based on what you've got salvaged! - Many more enemy types planned - A crafting system to bring new life to old salvaged rewards - A complete rework to the code that run…
- Dr Frank N. Storm PLUSHIE - 23 February 2022
A plan has been set. The schematics have been drawn. It's only a matter of time until this experiment's inevitable success - those imbeciles won't be able to stop us now! Yes, of course I'm talking about the new Dr Frank N. Storm PLUSHIE that will be gracing the Earth with its presence in the months to come! Although we must keep the precise schematics a secret for now, we're running the numbers and planning for success. This campaign will be a partnership with Makeship, who've successfully executed limited run, collectible plushies for many games we know and love, such as... Carbot's StarCraft Zergling Ninja Kiwi's Bloons TD Dart Monkey So let us bring the Dr Frank N. Storm plushie to life together! Hit the 👍-button on this announcement to help us run the numbers, and join the Discord for updates and launch news. Enough banter now, I hear the clanging of pitchforks approach ⚡
- Season 2 launched! v1.1.0 Patch Notes - 23 February 2022
New Features Salvage set editor! See a detailed preview here Trashing salvaged doodads now refunds 50% of their Salvage Point cost Season 2 is here! Details follow... Season 2 details Highscores for the v1.0 leaderboard are now locked permanently, including for any in-progress saved games, and are only viewable for history. A new v1.1 leaderboard is available, and the all time leaderboard continues to be available both for viewing and setting new highscores. For a highscore to be eligible for the v1.1 leaderboard, you must not have any salvaged doodads from past seasons equipped. That means you must use a salvage set consisting entirely of new doodads, although you can use salvage points earned in the past to help salvage these new doodads. Balance Changes All balance changes below only affect newly found doodads, unless otherwise mentioned. There are significant nerfs to the most power…
- Season 2 Release & Dev Live Stream Timing + Salvage Set Editor Sneak Peak - 22 February 2022
Pardon the very short notice, but here are the season 2 launch and live dev stream time in a few timezones: Feb 23 12am GMT Feb 23 11am AEST Feb 22 4pm PST We're preparing our sacrifices to the code gods to ensure a timely launch and live stream tomorrow, so prepare your alibis to avoid work and join in the fun as season 2 of the FrankenStorm Prologue begins with a fresh leaderboard. What do you mean, Season 2? Highscores for the v1.0 leaderboard will be locked permanently, including for any in-progress saved games, and will only be viewable for history. A new v1.1 leaderboard will be available, and the all time leaderboard continues to be available both for viewing and setting new highscores. For a highscore to be eligible for the v1.1 leaderboard, you must not have any salvaged doodads from past seasons equipped. That means you must use a salvage set consisting entirely of new doodads…
- v1.0.10 Update - 8 February 2022
Change log: During wave one's construction phase, you can now press R or a button at the top-left to instantly re-roll switch positions You can now toggle a Friends Only leaderboard display, to see your ranking amongst only your friends You can now click the photosensitivity warning to skip it Added master volume setting Wave rewards can no longer roll a Masterpiece with the same penalty as a Gadget or Doodad in that set - previously only Gadgets and Doodads had this rule Certain Masterpieces have had "overly self-synergistic" penalties removed from their random pool (only affecting new reward choices), specifically: Unstable Acceleration, Fanaticism and And Another One will no longer roll speed related penalties Larger than Life will no longer roll life related penalties There are now skulls scattered around the UI indicating when Nightmare difficulty is being played, suitable for most…
- New Season Plans & Current Season Review - 4 January 2022
We're about 6 weeks into Prologue's launch now, which is about half way to the game's second season. Let's talk about what these seasons mean, what to look forward to in the new season, and how things are going in the current (1st) season 🙂 Seasons the what now? FrankenStorm TD: Prologue will release with a new "season" about every 3 months, for two main reasons: 1. To add a new, blank leaderboard for a refreshed competition 2. To roll out significant balance changes, largely in response to what turned out to be over or underpowered in the previous season, without unfairly affecting the current season's leaderboard Old salvaged doodads cannot be used to compete in a new season's leaderboard - you'll need to start a fresh new set. But you can keep old ones and still play for the All Time leaderboard if you want to. Unspent Salvage Points will be retained and usable when a new season beg…
- Launch Reception and Future Plans - 29 November 2021
We launched less than a week ago and already thousands of players have their names on the leaderboard, and we've been sitting on the Steam store front page almost the entire time (what?!? 😱) - totally unreal! In this time many players have joined our Discord, or voiced their opinions and suggestions in reviews or forum threads, and it's clear that there's an appetite for more things FrankenStorm, and that there are many ways to do what the game's already doing a lot better. Being honest, it's all been a lot for us to take in, and we've taken some time to figure out how to proceed from here. Finally, here are our plans which we think will best address the current state of the game, and the way forward to something bigger and better: FrankenStorm TD: Prologue The current game will change to the prologue version of FrankenStorm, remaining 100% free and continuing to deliver the tight, foc…
- v1.0.4 Update - 29 November 2021
Change log: Photosensitivity warning when the game opens Setting to Simplify Explosions, replacing nova, explosion and stasis trap graphics with simple rings that don't look as good but are a lot easier on the eyes, which can be helpful if things get spammy This was rushed out to improve the comfort of some players. We'll still put in more time to make it look a little better in an upcoming update Switches now have numbers floating on top of them indicating their ordering Lightning Conduit VFX are now coloured red instead of blue so it should be easier to see which towers have more stacks than others Bug fixes: Floating text for critical strikes and dodge no longer stop appearing when enemies are hit quickly later in the game Fixed an inconsistency with how enemies were spawned. Now if you have 150% brute, 100% hound and 250% hawk chance, that'll effectively mean 0% standard and approxi…
- Launch Stream with one of the developers - 25 November 2021
Checkout some roguelite tower defense action with one of the developers!
- Game Launched! Leaderboards filling, and memory leak fixed 😣 - 24 November 2021
The live dev stream accompanying the release was great fun, and it was awesome to answer questions and compete with the amazing players who blitzed the fresh leaderboard! Unfortunately we had to stop and get straight to bug swatting, as a major memory leak was reported from one of the leaderboard champions. The good news is, that's been solved, and the game's already been updated with a fix 😀 So make sure Steam is restarted to pick up that update. The game should run much more smoothly, including when transitioning between scenes/the menu (which I experienced as an issue during the stream). Anyway, enough of that - go complete your experiment! See you on the leaderboards 👍
- Launch Stream with the Developers - 23 November 2021
Checkout some roguelite tower defense action with the developers! Feel free to ask us questions in the chat or suggest some challenges for maze-master Bilal!
- Full Release Scheduled for Nov 23/24 - 23 October 2021
Steam Next Fest came and went at the beginning of the month, and we had a blast streaming it to our biggest ever stream audience - peaking at 2,200 viewers and even popping up on Steam's front page! Indeed we loved the Steam Next Fest, and we hope you did too - we got solid engagement in the updated demo and were very happy with the feedback received, and the stats shown. The demo was shut down a few days after the Fest ended so we could continue focusing on the final release, and with that segue... --- Release Date Moved from Late October to Late November We initially planned on releasing at the end of October but it just wouldn't have been enough time for us to finalise all the art and game features in time to prepare new store assets, trailers, and other promotional materials. Instead of trying to rush things, we've pushed back the release a month. This'll help the game make the most…
- Roguelite TD Dev Gameplay, Game Design & Concept Chat - 7 October 2021
Check out some roguelite tower defence action with one of the developers of FrankenStorm. The demo is also live until the end of the Fest - download it, give it a go, and let us know how far you get! Join the Doodad Games Discord and follow the game's development, and that of all the future TDs we'll make: https://discord.gg/sqXEFyptdz
- Roguelite TD Dev Gameplay, Challenge Modes, Game Design & Concept Chat - 5 October 2021
The first Steam Next Fest live stream was good fun and now we're back for another round! Learn about FrankenStorm from the source, and ask any questions you have on your mind. The demo is also live until the end of the Fest - download it, give it a go, and let us know how far you get! Join the Doodad Games Discord and follow the game's development, and that of all the future TDs we'll make: https://discord.gg/sqXEFyptdz
- Open Beta w/ Dev Live Stream as part of Steam Next Fest! - 29 September 2021
We're a part of Steam Next Fest, where we'll drop our second 1-week open beta! The game will become available on October 1st, for a week until October 7, after which we'll wrap it up and work through user feedback in preparation for the launch at the end of the month. As part of the Fest, Bilal and Ethan will be running a live dev stream on Saturday Oct 2 7-9pm PDT (Sunday Oct 3 1-3pm AEDT). Watch the devs play while they talk about the concepts behind this TD, reveal some tips and strategies, and answer any questions thrown about. --- OLDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER Meanwhile we've been busy toiling away at improving the game. You'll have these new features to look forward to in the second beta: - more visual variety with 3 maps that are played in cycle - new enemy types that are associated with reward choice penalties, adding further strategy, variety and challenge to the mix - new mecha…
- 1-week Open Beta Wrap-up - 8 September 2021
The beta has helped identify some strengths and weaknesses in the game at the moment. Strengths: - Concept is fresh and interesting, worth digging into further! - Game has solid replay value, even with its current lack of variety - Systems are mostly good, can handle things well even as they become spammy - The game is approachable and the onboarding is working Weaknesses: - More balance required! - More variety required! Both in terms of visuals, and gameplay/strategical variety - Game gets super spammy too easily/regularly - Some communication issues, particularly around salvage We're going to wrap up this round of the beta and get into workhorse mode, to amplify those strengths and resolve those weaknesses. Your next chance to play the game will be during the Steam Next Fest, from Oct 1 -> Oct 7! See you then 👋
- 1-week Open Beta is Live Now, Until Sep 7 - 1 September 2021
Lots of dev to go before release at the end of October, but we've tried to tap into the essence of this TD concept in preparation for this open beta. There are insane combos to discover and build out, but enemies can also become unwieldy if you don't play your cards right. Give it a go and let us know your highscore! The beta will be open for 1 week, before we close it off and put our heads down addressing all the feedback we find. A second open beta is planned for the end of September, as a part of Steam Next Fest, and the full release is planned for the end of October. Feature Highlight: Steam Cloud Save Cloud save has been enabled even for this open beta, and it's linked to the main app so your progress will carry over. That means any highscores and salvaged doodads you earn now will stick with your account forever! Feature Highlight: Normal/Nightmare Difficulty Pick your poison. Nig…
- Dev Update: Salvage System + Upcoming Limited Time Open Beta - 16 August 2021
What was the last of the game's core systems we just finished? The SALVAGE system. The salvage system gives the player the opportunity to salvage doodads (powerups) they gather during gameplay, once they've gathered enough of salvage (currency) by completing waves. - Without salvaging, the doodads are temporary and will be destroyed once your current run ends. - At the end of the game, you can choose to salvage some doodads (if you can afford it). Those are then stored permanently to your account (and backed up via Steam Cloud). - There's a limit to how many salvaged doodads can be active at each time (based on rarity). It's not easy to salvage doodads - it takes quite some time to gather enough salvage, especially for rarer pieces. But the system will allow you to slowly develop a meta strategy, take a little control of the crazy RNG that drives the game, and give some min-maxing oppor…
