It's finally here! 16 days ago, I released the first test-build for Mathematical Base Defenders: Reversal. Now, the website portion is complete (I didn't test it throughly), and I am ready to "confidently" say that Mathematical Base Defenders: Reversal is finally in public testing!

What's changed?

On 2023-01-20, I finally realized that the game isn't that playable due to there being tiles, or limited resources [1]. I tried playing it, and it has caused problems even to me (the creator). I finally realized I did something wrong, and I wanted to redeem myself.

So instead of making math equations, you now solve them! This means there will be no more tiles. Instead, you are free to type anything you want!

Having limited resources when you want/should have/need unlimited could also be breaking the flow, making the game unenjoyable. There will be no more resources, instead, you just have to solve math equations as fast as possible! This is easier to get in the flow on.

What else?

• I've rewritten the code in TypeScript, hopefully improving system stability.
• Better support for touchscreen devices. No more squinting to click that 20-pixel wide tile! Instead, there's an on-screen "keyboard" for you to type your answers in. I've also made it so you can quit a game on a mobile device without a keyboard.

For the 20 registered players (as of writing this), don't worry, your experience points (and level), game rank, and join date will not be reset. However, your scores will be reset sometime later, making the leaderboard clean and 100% filled with new-style submissions.

Where can I see updates?

Since Mathematical Base Defenders is now open source, you can visit the GitHub organization to view "raw" source-code upates! You can also find the game's social media accounts at the footer of the non-play subdomain.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand for hosting the annual National Software Contest! Without it, Mathematical Base Defenders probably wouldn't have been thought of back in 2020. Thank you for funding making Mathematical Base Defense (and then Mathematical Base Defenders) exist, and funding it with 5 figures (THB12,000 to be exact)!

While on the topic of National Software Contest, I would also like to thank KG07, Muq1937 and my project advisor for helping me with Mathematical Base Defense during the competition! (The original version of Mathematical Base Defense was made for NSTDA's National Software Contest, the persons listed here were in OG Mathematical Base Defense's development.)

Thank you for reading, have a nice day, and I'll see you in the game!

Note: Multiplayer will be released later.

And while you're here...

I kinda need help for something. I can't seem to find the perfect enemy speed. Can you help me? I might give you a reward.

Finally! Another progress report! This one is about the new Mathematical Base Defenders update, titled "The Reversal Update".

Since my final exams are over, this means that I will have a lot more time to work on the project!

Don't forget: Mathematical Base Defenders is now open source, so you can see what I've been working on to see if I actually worked on something. The project is currently being worked on at the reversal branch.

Gameplay Change

The original Mathematical Base Defenders (and Mathematical Base Defense) had a very complicated gameplay flow (in my opinion, as explained here), so I've decided change how the game is played, from making equations with limited numbers (which was inspired from math games/activites like the "24 Puzzle" and IQ 180) to just solving equations as fast as you can like a number-cruncher game because in my opinion, it's a true test of mental math speed.

I also believe the new gameplay would be much simpler and hopefully self-explanatory, as well as allowing for easier keyboard input (the original versions required users to remember which key corresponds to which tiles, and then it becomes a problem when there is no more of that tile you need for the expression, breaking "the flow" of speed).

This is what the new gameplay looks like. You can now just type in numbers that are the answers to math problems that you see, making it easier to get in the "flow".

Of course, Easy mode is still available, and I'm still waiting on feedback for the ideal enemy speed!

(Answers are in the range [-100, 100], which is subject to change.)

User Interface

The original Mathematical Base Defenders (and Mathematical Base Defense) had a user interface where the buttons are extremely small. I've decided to fix it by making the buttons really big and have pictures, with colors!!!

The "playfield" for the Reversal update is now vertical and has "definite" borders, which is now easier for people to see which is which (during Multiplayer). I also got inspiration of the new UI from (e.g.) TETR.IO and Jstris, which are stacker games I've played in the past which I like the gameplay and also the UI of (and think that it's easy to implement for my project.)

Also, I've also made it so that the score number has "dumb animations" like this (it can be turned off if you don't like it, of course):

Note that UI is subject to change.

(Planned) Release Date

I plan on finishing and releasing the Reversal Update before my birthday (March 9), which is a difficult thing to do, but since finals are over for me, it might be a little bit easier. Note that I will probably miss the deadline due to my incompotency and laziness.

I haven't been doing much advertising on the game's social media accounts either too.

But thank you for reading, and have a great day, and see you in the game (when it gets released!)

Welcome to a series of blog posts where I might (will) forget to make a new post about this series every week.

This is about progress reports for Mathematical Base Defenders.

So let's get right in to what I did.

Don't forget: Mathematical Base Defenders is now open source, so you can always see what changes I've made after this blog post.

The first progress report will be about better frontend and data presentation. Other progress reports may be of mixed content.

Let's dive in!

Transformations of "Player Instances"

I've spent the last couple of days allowing for "player instances" (i.e., the gamefield) to move and scale.

These are created for better multiplayer game experiences, so you don't have to stare at a small gamefield on 2 player games.

Note: This may not be implemented in the direct next update. At the moment, these transformations are only used for debug/development purposes, but if you want to see it faster, make sure to contribute!

Better User Interface

These are just some touch-ups to the user interface.

These include (but aren't limited to):

• Icons on buttons
• "Intermission" screens
• Better CSS on buttons

...and I've also made other small changes, including fixing some bugs (and creating new ones), attempting to better code quality, and attempting to get more players.

Finally, I'd like to end on a note that I fill the game is too hard for players. I realized that just because I can play it doesn't mean you guys can play it. I'm sorry. But you can help by finding the right enemy speed. Feel free to suggest the right enemy speed (or new mechanics that make the game easier) in the game's Discord Server! You can also directly add a feature by contributing!

There isn't much to say in this blog post, but thank you for your time, and see you in the game!