Did you think being a sheepdog was all about sitting in a lounger chair, drinking piña coladas and playing sudoku while your sheep graze in peace?

The Sharpshooter

Howdy! Welcome to the Tips & Tricks blog, my attempt at helping all the struggling Sheriffs out there.

I’m Olle, designer and programmer of SteamWorld Tower Defense. I’ve been making games since I was 15, and it’s still as enjoyable as my first attempts. I wanted to add something new to the genre with this game, and Sharpshooters is one of those ideas that made it all the way.

The Sharpshooter is one of the “tower” types in SWTD. Sharpshooters are high-damage, low-cost, versatile snipers with great damage-per-gold ratios. They inflict insane amounts of damage, killing most targets with a single hit. While their reload times are long, they’re dirt cheap compared to the punishment they deal out. You simply can’t get more bang for the buck in SteamWorld.

The downside? They’re manually fired. They won’t do squat until you give them a target. However, another way of viewing it is that you are given full control over the target and timing of the shots; for example, they’re the perfect way of taking out those pesky dynamite-wielding hobos before they get the chance to wreck havoc in your lineup. However, you’ll need good multitasking skills in order to handle more than a few Sharpshooters.

It’s often a good idea to keep some space between them. When you focus a target (i.e. tap it), all Sharpshooters within range will fire at the target and will then need some time to reload. This is true even if the poor fellow would have gone down with a single shot!

Bad layout: with overlapping range circles, the two Sharpshooters will fire at the same target all the time. This often leads to overkill.

Better layout: here you can single out targets on the right path without firing your left Sharpshooter.

The best way to go is often to have little or no overlapse in the range circles, but I couldn’t fit that into a single screenshot

While tricky, mastering the use of Sharpshooters is key to SteamWorld Tower Defense. They are your most cost effective way of taking out dangerous enemies while avoiding damage to yourself. Practice makes perfect – it’s quite satisfying when you learn to multitask more than a few of them. In my experience, you’ll need to handle at least four at once to beat the campaign!

Happy sharpshooting!

If you’ve found this post helpful, post a comment or send me an email at olle@imageform.se

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För de av oss som inte kan packa väskan och dra till E3 mässan återstår bara en sak, att följa vad som händer på twitter, facebook eller flickr. Samt att bunkra upp med snacks och ordna sin egen tv-spelturnering på kontoret förstås. (Yarr! May the best pirate win!) Den 15:e juni går mässan av stapeln i Los Angeles.

SteamWorld Tower Defense is an action packed strategy game for Nintendo DSiWare™. Set in a wondrous world of steam engines, brass and polished wood, you take the roll as Sheriff of the Cowbots, the robotic master race of SteamWorld.

All is not right in the great Western reaches – the humans are invading your lands! They have a mad lust for gold, incomprehensible to even the greatest of Thinkbots. As they get ever closer to your capital city, you must stop them before they reach your gold mines!

Use the special skills of your robots to your advantage in this original Tower Defense variation, where strategy and execution are equally important. You take an active part in the defense by directing your Sharpshooters at extra dangerous targets. Taking out explosive enemies in the midst of their own ranks has never been as satisfying!

Available now for 500 Nintendo Points™ on your Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™ handhelds. Released in the following regions: America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Click here to see how you buy Nintendo DSiWare games, or visit our Tips & Tricks blog for some strategy hints!

Questions? Mail contact@imageform.se.

SteamWorld Tower Defense © 2010 Image & Form International AB – All rights reserved.
Nintendo trademarks used under license. Nintendo DSiWare is available only through the Nintendo DSi system.

The new iPad arrived at the office yesterday, and Mike is like a kid in a candy store. Big thanks to David for bringing the treat!

Lycklig som ett barn i en godisaffär sitter Micke och surfar på iPaden. Stort tack till David för “utvecklingsverktyget”.

First day at work, Olle on the left hand side.

The last addition to Image & Form is Olle. We found him through twitter and this is how we introduce him:
“Olle programs things that no one understands or dares to discuss, so he gets his pay checks without questions. He’s at least one generation younger than the rest, so we understand neither what he says or wears. Otherwise always on time and impeccable.”

What’s your favourite film?
Aliens (That is the one I have seen the most times – starship troopers is the runner up).
Spare time? Hobbies?
Cooking & building games.
Anything else?
I’m hopelessly nostalgic about old classic nintendo games and the retro game scene.

Första dagen på jobbet, Olle till vänster.

Senaste tillskottet till skaran på Image & Form är Olle. Vi hittade honom via twitter och så här introducerar vi Olle:
“Olle programmerar saker som ingen förstår eller vågar ifrågasätta, så han sitter ganska säkert. Han är minst en generation yngre än resten av oss, så vi fatter varken vad han säger eller har på sig. Är annars helt oklanderlig, eller ja, han är ju från Trollhättan förstås.”

Vilken är din favoritfilm?
Aliens (nog den jag sett om flest gånger i alla fall – starship troopers kommer på nära andraplats).
Fritid? Hobby?
Laga mat & bygga spel.
Och annars då?
Jag är hopplöst nostalgisk för gamla klassiska nintendo-spel.

www.yerkaland.com

Came across the wonderful paintings done by Jacek Yerka today and fell head over heals in love with his wonky, bizarre and colourful worlds. More of his paintings at: www.yerkaland.com