A quick google would do the trick.
I used Cheat Engine 5.3 to edit one tower defense map... but yahh... I've only done it once so I've forgotten how to do this, but I remmeber I googled some tutorial.
Originally posted by: shortylickens
If you guys are gonna keep bumping this the least you could do is tell me what types of memory editor you used and what address in the money.
Are you trying to hack VectorTD or one of the other ones? If VectorTD, has your best score improved since your previous post and screenshot?Originally posted by: shortylickens
If you guys are gonna keep bumping this the least you could do is tell me what types of memory editor you used and what address in the money.
Short answer: some sort of cheating.Originally posted by: homercles337
Edit: i cant seem to break into the 5 million range. How the hell are people getting >30 million? :|
Since the starting parameters are the same for all maps (bank = $275, interest = 3%), this limit should hold if the levels have the same rewards.Originally posted by: Flatscan
I calculated 24,416,959 as a hard upper bound (assumes 0 spending) for Switchback.
There is a little bit of randomness in these tower defense games. The one in this thread seems to have the least amount of randomness in the tower defense games that I have played. But, it is still there.Originally posted by: homercles337
Ok, im still playing and now wonder if the damn thing may be stochastic. I can start one map the same way and the end result of the first wave is different. Must be stochastic.
Originally posted by: dullard
There is a little bit of randomness in these tower defense games. The one in this thread seems to have the least amount of randomness in the tower defense games that I have played. But, it is still there.Originally posted by: homercles337
Ok, im still playing and now wonder if the damn thing may be stochastic. I can start one map the same way and the end result of the first wave is different. Must be stochastic.
I find I played it best by opening 8 tabs and playing 8 games simultaneously. That way, I don't have to wait forever for them to circle around the bends (and the programmers forgot to include a simple "faster" button). Also, to maximize scores, you need to minimize spending. Especially early on. So, I found a strategy that allows for minimum spending. You buy just enough towers and just enough upgrades to barely beat the level. That is where the stochastic part comes into play. By the time I'm at the last level, only 2-3 of my 8 games are still active. At some point, I would get unlucky with the randomness and just barely miss an enemy - ruining the high score for the game.
If I can figure out how to animate in Visual Basic, I'll have my own tower defense game programmed. I could do animations in Basic, why am I struggling so much in VB? Oh well, I should try Googling around.
Originally posted by: homercles337
Yea, i have tried *both* minimal spending and maximal spending. For example, on an easy map i had ~$117k at level 42 (if you want the screen PM). I have also spent like mad so i have 20 "red rocket" towers at 10 with $8k left at level 50. Yea, 20, PM me for screens. I should make a movie of this. Its something to behhold. Both manuvers result in *never* busting 5M.
Originally posted by: DrPizza
I'm still struggling with FROG map. I've gotten to level 30. Tips??
Originally posted by: DrPizza
I'm still struggling with FROG map. I've gotten to level 30. Tips??
Originally posted by: DrPizza
I'm still struggling with FROG map. I've gotten to level 30. Tips??
This is the single best idea I've read. If there's a level that needs optimizing, the player can try slightly different arrangements in sequence without waiting, since all the waiting is overlapped between game instances.Originally posted by: dullard
I find I played it best by opening 8 tabs and playing 8 games simultaneously. That way, I don't have to wait forever for them to circle around the bends (and the programmers forgot to include a simple "faster" button). Also, to maximize scores, you need to minimize spending. Especially early on. So, I found a strategy that allows for minimum spending. You buy just enough towers and just enough upgrades to barely beat the level. That is where the stochastic part comes into play. By the time I'm at the last level, only 2-3 of my 8 games are still active. At some point, I would get unlucky with the randomness and just barely miss an enemy - ruining the high score for the game.
Maximizing spending is a great way to minimize score, assuming completion of the map. The score calculation is available in my earlier post.Originally posted by: homercles337
Yea, i have tried *both* minimal spending and maximal spending.
Originally posted by: kalrith
Good job, potoba! I'll have to try the frog map again some time.
Before I get into my little tutorial, I'll give a few general suggestions that can be used for any map. All of my towers seem to do better when set to "close". The only time I change this is for the Hard Grey levels, when I set some or all of them to "hard". Interest is added the moment you click "Send the Vectoids". I always wait until after clicking that to spend money so that I don't miss out on that extra bit of interest. Another thing to note is that the amount of money you have at the end of level 50 does not affect your score. Therefore, you can spend like crazy AFTER you hit "Send the Vectoids" for the last time.
Anyways, I played the Switchback map last night, leaked only once, scored 16,125,617, and wound up third on the daily leaderboard. This is by no means a perfect score, and I saw a lot of opportunities to do things better. However, I noted what towers I used at certain levels and took screenshots to show where I placed them.
This spreadsheet shows what towers I used for each level. The 1, 2, 3 at the top notes which tier the tower is, and the number in the cell shows what level that tower is. 2x10 placed under Red 3 would mean that there are two level 10 Red Rockets. I tried to take screenshots every time I purchased a tower to show its placement. If the screenshot shows a different level than what I list it as, it just means that I didn't take the screenshot until the level after I purchased the tower.
Level 1
Level 4
Level 18
Level 20
Level 22
Level 25
Level 28
Level 30
Level 31
Level 41
Level 43
Level 45
Level 48
Level 50
One change I would definitely make is to place the Red Rocket in level 28 2-3 spaces higher. I would've been able to hit the guys at the top a lot sooner that way.
I've actually only played it 4 or 5 times and never did much analysis on it before. I just wanted to help out the guys who were having a hard time breaking a score of 5 million.Originally posted by: potoba
wow, i didnt know you guys did such an analysis on the switchback. I just played it 2 times, got over it and forgot about it. I got horrible score, though. I had no money saved up in the bank afterwards.
On my computer, I crapped out around 8 games simultaneously. Turning sounds off and graphics down low helped a bit. But then, again, my computer is over 2 years old. So maybe you can do more.Originally posted by: kalrith
I've actually only played it 4 or 5 times and never did much analysis on it before. I just wanted to help out the guys who were having a hard time breaking a score of 5 million.
I played the frog map about 10 times to get to level 35. Next time I play I think I'll try the strategy of having several games going at once. I'm curious as to how you start out on the frog map.
Originally posted by: dullard
On my computer, I crapped out around 8 games simultaneously. Turning sounds off and graphics down low helped a bit. But then, again, my computer is over 2 years old. So maybe you can do more.Originally posted by: kalrith
I've actually only played it 4 or 5 times and never did much analysis on it before. I just wanted to help out the guys who were having a hard time breaking a score of 5 million.
I played the frog map about 10 times to get to level 35. Next time I play I think I'll try the strategy of having several games going at once. I'm curious as to how you start out on the frog map.
Also, don't be caught up in local minimums. You may find the strategy of getting to say, level 10, with the most possible money and points. But that doesn't mean you can't be doing better at level 15 with a different strategy. In other words, optimizing for long term gain, is more difficult than optimizing for the best possible short term gain on each level.