View Full Version : Tower Defense 1990 (NES)
Page:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1075045484/tower-defense-1990-a-new-nes-game/description
Trailer:
https://ksr-video.imgix.net/projects/3184610/video-843586-webm.webm
A New Tower Defense Game for the 8-bit NES
Tower Defense 1990 is a new homebrewed game from Retro Wonder Workers. It is designed for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is currently in development.
The game is part action, part puzzle, and part strategy.
Build towers and defend your castle from hoards of marching enemies. Lose all your peasants and it's game over!
It has already met its funding goal. It's $5 for the ROM or $45 for the NES cart.
Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1075045484/tower-defense-1990-a-new-nes-game/description
megasdkirby
12-19-2017, 07:00 AM
The $150 is kinda expensive for what is offered. A different color cart is around the same price as a gray one (unless it's an unorthodox color like gold, silver, or even clear). And the ROM can easily be hacked to include any message one wishes (for those who know how). And to make matters worse, a person can simply just pulled rchase the ROM and make a repro themselves.
Hmm, at least he got the amount he needed. That is what is most important.
I'm gonna pledge $5 for the download of the ROM - to me, it's worth it.
megasdkirby
12-19-2017, 10:50 PM
Definitely!
I was thinking the same, just in case he uses a mapper that can't be repro'd yet. 😻
Tower Defense 1990 is making a lot of progress. 12 of the 13 levels have already been fully implemented. There's lots of musical tracks. A sound test option for listening to the music has been added as well as a passcode system for maintaining progress. It seems like it will be ready before this summer.
Here's the latest news, including box and manual artwork and a sample of the music. (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1075045484/tower-defense-1990-a-new-nes-game/posts/2105562)
Well here's a surprising notice from today:
I was able to reorganize my game to use the UNROM mapper/board. This board will increase the number of levels possible. I'm unsure of the exact number of levels, but it will be more than 20.
megasdkirby
02-09-2018, 05:35 AM
Very nice! He now has access to at least 1Mb. I guess it was being programmed using CNROM as the board?
megasdkirby
03-20-2018, 04:58 PM
What ever happened to this game?
Gameguy
03-20-2018, 10:01 PM
What ever happened to this game?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCFUGCOLLU
Ah yes, "Take the money and run." Except not. That's FUD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt) and nothing more.
Retro Wonder Workers, the company which is making Tower Defense 1990, is still working on TD1990. Unsurprisingly, programming in 6502 assembly language within the constraints of the NES's hardware is difficult and time consuming, especially when your group is only one person. However, the game will nonetheless be released during the first half of 2018 according to reports.
In the meantime, RWW's previous game which was already released, Brilliant Pebbles, an Asteroids clone for NES (http://www.retrowwgames.com/brilliantpebbles/brilliantpebbles_frames.html), can be bought on gray cartridge with label and dust sleeve. Here is his eBay store with feedback from the sales of this NES game (https://www.ebay.com/usr/chronos3000).
Retro Wonder Workers' YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY0v5FOmnSmYTkAs3-Quv3Q/videos) has some videos of his homebrewed games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJfIZvrbVGY
It looks like the game is shipping in April according to the newest info.
The game's binary is almost complete. I have a stable beta version that I'm currently testing; the game is in the test phase. All the various sections of the game (e.g., the title screen, credits, and game over screen) and the levels are basically done.
I expect to ship rewards sometime in early April.
A movie of the latest game appears below. It shows level 1. The actual framerate is the usual 60 fps with NTSC; the framerate is low in the video.
Cartridges
I have all the cartridge supplies. I was able to put the game on a real cartridge and play it on a real console. The game uses a UNROM board/mapper, which has 128 KB PRG-ROM and 8 KB CHR-RAM.
The first cartridge. Features the limited edition label from the Kickstarter campaign.
Top label
Boxed Release
I also have all the supplies for the complete-in-box version. The instruction manual is in color and is 24 pages.
Box image 1
Box image 2
Box image 3
Latest Music from Zi
Intro
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Stage Splash
Level Complete
Credits
Game Over
Images, videos, and music: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1075045484/tower-defense-1990-a-new-nes-game/posts/2146478
Game Is Shipping posted by Ryan Lloyd (Creator) on April 29th.
After several iterations of testing and repairing problems, the game is done. The game is very stable, and I haven't seen the game crash or otherwise go off the rails. The game is challenging, but I've played it the whole way through. I may post videos showing a "walkthrough."
I've shipped about half the cartridges. If you haven't received a shipping notice, your game should ship soon.
If you receive a damaged package or the game otherwise does not work, please contact me. I tested every cartridge just before shipping. I shipped the games in perfect condition, but sometimes packages get mysteriously damaged while in the hands of a postal service.
I tested the game mainly on my original front-loading NES. It should also work on the Retron systems, which worked for me. We all know the problems of a blinky NES. If your cartridge does not seem to work, try re-inserting it or try a soft reset. Your pin connector may also be loose (I'm on my ~6th pin connector).
I plan to share the digital files (ROM and manual) soon. I'll post a link.