Discussion I need your ideas for unit abilities

Hello,
I am making a tower defense game
its like a classic simple game where units spawn and walk along a path and try to reach the end

those units have abilities that make them stronger in some ways

i currently have those abilities:
1. Health regeneration: that heals the unit every second
2. Evasion: unit has a chance to dodge incoming bullet
3. cc Immunity: unit cant be slowed or stunned

thats all of them.. not much

anybody is welcome to give me more ideas to make the units more interesting with more varity

 

i think a better way to come up with viable ideas for your game is to playtest it a lot, then you'll start to see patterns in how you play it, and then you can think about what change could be made to break up the patterns and generate new ones.

 

The best way I think to do this is to break down all the functional attributes that have an effect on gameplay, e.g.

- Health
- Damage
- Speed
- Aim
- Area of effect radius

Then connect each of these with different kinds of modifiers:

- Permanent increase
- Temporary regular increase
- Event-based (attribute modified when some event occurs)

Then create tradeoffs that make some kind of intuitive sense, e.g.

- Increase in damage + decrease in health
- Increase in speed + decrease in aim
- Increase in health + decrease in speed

Then you can further break things down - e.g. damage into ballistic vs. energy damage, armor vs. shield health etc - to create more possibilities.

Instead of trying to come up with individual abilities out of thin air, this way you break it down into a tree of possibilities starting from the core gameplay mechanics.

 

A couple of things to think about.

1. In what way are you making your game different to traditional Tower Defenses? I would look for a point of difference which can also suggest a bunch of implied twists or mechanics to your game. For instance, if it's Attack of the Zombies (I'm going for obvious, not original!) then that could suggest mechanics where dead bodies are left on the battlefield and then used as resources for abilities. Turn them into mines, re-resurrect them and send them back, have fields that attract / repel either living / undead units, and so on.

2. Does your game have a story? If so I would look for where that can inspire mechanics or abilities. For instance, if a significant aspect of the story is that the leader of one faction is an expert horseman, then that could imply a bunch of cavalry-inspired abilities.

I would think about these things before doing what Billy has suggested. Their suggestion is solid, but if you go straight for stats without thinking about why you've got those stats then you're less likely to make something which is engaging. For instance, running with the cavalry idea, I might add a "sturdy" property to units. Sturdy units move slowly but are more resistant to cavalry charges. I could then introduce abilities which mess with that property, e.g. an oil slick or magic ice which allows sturdy units to be pushed back. It also introduces the potential for interesting scenarios, such as a group of sturdy units shielding a group of weak ones, getting the player to mix up their tactics.

 

When they die they spawn mini units that run really fast.

 

Here's what chatgpt says

Sounds like you have a good start on your tower defense game! Here are a few more ideas for abilities that you might consider adding:

1. Damage reduction: This ability would allow the unit to take less damage from incoming attacks.
2. Attack speed boost: This ability would allow the unit to attack more quickly.
3. Splash damage: This ability would allow the unit to deal damage to multiple enemies in a radius around it when it attacks.
4. Healing aura: This ability would allow the unit to heal nearby allies over time.
5. Shield: This ability would create a temporary shield around the unit, reducing incoming damage.

You could also consider adding passive abilities that are always active, such as increased movement speed or increased attack damage.

Ultimately, the abilities that you choose to include in your game will depend on the balance and design of your game. You'll want to make sure that the abilities are interesting and fun to use, and that they don't unbalance the game too much. Good luck with your tower defense game!