Flash Element TD

Flash Element TD
Developer(s)	David Scott
Distributor(s)	NovelConcepts.co.uk, Casualcollective.com
Designer(s)	David Scott
Version	1
Platform(s)	Adobe Flash
Release date(s)	January 12, 2007 (Version 1.0)
Genre(s)	Tower defense
Mode(s)	Single-player
Media/distribution	online Flash game
System requirements Flash-compatible web browser, Adobe Flash

Flash Element TD (FETD) is a Flash-based browser game of the tower defense game genre created by first-time game designer David Scott in January 2007. The game had been played over 140 million times as of March 2009.^[1]

Gameplay

The game is played on pre-defined path of dirt with grass banks on either side. The player must prevent a set number of enemies, known in the genre as "creeps," from reaching the exit. This is accomplished by building and upgrading towers that shoot at, damage and kill the enemy creeps before they are able to reach their objective. The player can not change the path of the creeps but must instead select where to place towers, which towers to use and which towers to upgrade to defeat each level. But at some times, though, the player gets unlimited money when they play. This is still unknown to people why this happens.

The creeps come in waves at set intervals. Each wave of creeps has different characteristics, such as their speed, armour and resistance to certain types of towers. For each wave, the game rotates among the types of creeps. Several times during gameplay, boss waves will appear. These waves consist of just one large creep and are extremely difficult to defeat.

Every time a player defeats a boss they earn coins which they can spend on increasing the interest earned on money not spent or to unlock new towers.

The player has a set number of lives that diminishes every time a creep gets through the defenses the player has built and reaches its objective. Upon loss of the last life, the game is over.

History

Development

David Scott got the inspiration for Flash Element Tower Defense in 2006. He noticed that no one had created a Tower Defense game using Flash and only started work on FETD as a technical exercise to see if it was possible. The map and name is based on the "Element TD" map created for the RTS game Warcraft III, David Scott created a much simpler version of the map that could be played using only a browser. The game was launched in January 2007 ^[2] and still has growth to this day.^[1]

Distribution

Originally, the game was promoted through the web service StumbleUpon. It eventually found its way onto several flash game sites, 4 years later can be found on 25,950 sites and has had over 183 million views.^[1]

Updates

The original release version of the game, version 1.0 was released on the 12th January 2007. New versions were uploaded daily with the final version released on the 22nd of January. FETD has not been updated since and still increases in popularity some 2 years on.^[1]

In December 2007, Scott and Paul Preece also created the Casual Collective, whose flagship game was a multiplayer version of Desktop Tower Defense.^[3]

On the 12th of January 2008, 1 year after its release, version 2 was released.^[4]

Reception

Flash Element TD was played by nearly 500,000 users within the first few hours after launch.^[5] It was eventually embedded on nearly 12,000 different websites,^[6] and downloaded more than 140 million times by the end of 2008.^[7]

References

^{[1] [2]}

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Mochibot statistics". MochiMedia. https://www.mochibot.com/shared/trafficreport.html?key=d9ffe452c77b9358e7e43704ee4e6d6b. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Jay is games review". JayisGames. http://jayisgames.com/archives/2007/01/flash_element_td.php. 
3. ^ "It's Alive!". Novel Concepts. http://novelconcepts.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/its-alive/. Retrieved 2008-08-18. 
4. ^ "Version 2 released!". David Scott. http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/01/flash_element_tower_defense_2.php. Retrieved 2008-01-12. 
5. ^ "Tower Defense Creators Launch Flash Games Portal". Edge Online. http://www.next-gen.biz/news/tower-defense-creators-launch-flash-games-portal. 
6. ^ "Next level: Tower Defense creators build new game company". CNET. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10100740-2.html. 
7. ^ "Interview: Flash Tower Defense Creators On VC Deal, Social Gaming Site". GamaSutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21102. 

External links

• Flash Element TD 2 at Casualcollective.com
• Flash Element TD 2 at TowerDefence.it