Really Interesting variation on a Tower Defense Game

[Full Metal Lotus]

Essentially you are trying to defend your cake from ants.

Unlike most tower defense games, the ants follow no set path, but instead have a well written AI routine in which they learn to avoid your defenses (ant cannons).

In the first rounds, they more or less swarm randomly, but as the levels increase they "learn" the best routes to get to the cake and bring a piece back to their anthill.

Give it a try if you like these sort of things. So far, my best is Level 26.

http://towerdefencegames.com/ant-buster.html

Regards
FML

[Pushkin]

Thanks for the link, funny to see them doing a little dance at the higher levels when they break through.

The rising costs of the towers is as much a factor in difficulty as the AI though to be fair.

[Malacandra]

Yes. I've got way past Level 26 in this game Think in terms of exterminating the nest, not defending the cakebut the incremental cost of the towers does you in, as does the freakin' high health levels of the ants sooner or later. There comes a point where it's not about artificial intelligence any more, but artificial stupidity - the ants have enough hit points to steamroller straight through your defensive line, and your only hope is that they don't realize it.

[Full Metal Lotus]

Level 53 now...

it gets a bit easier if you learn to upgrade your cannons (duh)...

(I only played about 10 games until I realized that)


FML

[Malacandra]

Yes, that is way more cost-effective than building more cannons, except at the very start. Later versions of the game allow more upgrades, but you still get stomped sooner or later, I've found.

[Cheesesteak]

I've managed to get up into the 70's. Some weapons are flat out better than others, I generally wind up with 2-3 different turrets.

I use mostly rocket launchers for the heavy lifting. Ice Cannons are nice to slow down the ants, giving you more shots from the RLs, but they have too short a range. I think the highest triple cannon is pretty good too.
I used to have a cheat sheet reminding me of the exact upgrade path to each cannon type, that's a nice thing to have around.

[RickJay]

Level 50 on my first try.

Because they can didge bullets, the key is to start building cannons near the nest where you know they have to be. Then upgrade and add cannons once they've established a route.

[clairobscur]

Fun for a while, but it becomes boring at some point because the cost of guns is so high that you don't do anything apart from waiting until you can buy another gun.

I don't know about level, but I couldn't score more than about 10 000 points (level 50-55, I think)

[Apocalypso]

I've played this one before. Got to around level 60. I put a couple poison sprayers around the hole, that worked early on but became useless later, so I changed them up. I like that you can change your guns at any time to suit your needs.
I also found a version of this game that gave you a boatload of cash to start with. Still didn't make it to the end though, heh. This is one of the more difficult Tower games I've played, the ants HP just grows beyond your ability to whittle it down.

[Antinor01]

Even using the money cheat to have the grid all but filled with fully upgraded weapons I think about level 78 was my best.

[Grumman]

I got to around level 62, but eventually you get to the stage where even concentrating fire from every turret isn't enough to stop a single ant waltzing straight through with the last piece of cake.

Not a great game, in my opinion.

[Dead Badger]

The ice turrets are crucial, and in combination with the missile launchers got me to about level 70. Here's (http://www.nonoba.com/ballerbryan4/ant-buster-money-hack) a money-hacked version if you want to experiment with different combinations of turrets.

[Malacandra]

Just died on level 69 with two ice cannons, one poison spray and seven or eight missile launchers, the last never really used as the ant carrying the last piece of cake was already past. For the player it peaks in the early forties when you are getting some good towers in play and making some money; after that, it's so hard to kill ants that the money pretty much dries up. And seeing a nearly-dead ant pick up the cake and get nearly all its health back doesn't help either.

[RyJae]

The ice turrets are crucial, and in combination with the missile launchers got me to about level 70. Here's (http://www.nonoba.com/ballerbryan4/ant-buster-money-hack) a money-hacked version if you want to experiment with different combinations of turrets.

Grrr that was just wrong now I have to play that awful game again :) currently level 91 and defending those last two with all my weapons! I did learn aiming at them makes it more effective defense.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4997/antssg6.jpg

[RyJae]

I died on level 95, and that was with all that money. Unbelievable little buggers, won't die for anything. Switched to some poison and that was a huge mistake getting rid of the ice right by the cake. The poison didn't seem to hurt them at all, at least the ice slowed them down to allow the missiles to do the blowing up.

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4971/9112008101016pmmq9.jpg

[Justin Credible]

That was fun. I got to level 49.

[AllWalker]

I had an interesting game. First try, was doing really well - level 40 with a full cake. Then - oh no! - I have to go to class. So I leave it running, unattended, for an hour.

When I get back, it's Cake Over. On level 55, with 4345 gold in the bank.

Makes me wonder how far I could have got...

[Cugel]

the ants have enough hit points to steamroller straight through your defensive line, and your only hope is that they don't realize it.

They do themselves what is a basic tactic - get the enemy going back and forth through your fire. If they just made a beeline (or is it antline?) to the nest it'd be over much quicker.

[Bryan Ekers]

I get the impression the "A.I." consists of "ouch! turn left!"

[Glassy]

I'm currently on level 70. I have 10 rocket launchers and no money.

What with the smoke and the shrapnel and the charred ant guts, I'm thinking that my remaining one slice of cake is less than appetizing.

[Larry Borgia]

What is the upgrade path to rocket launcher?

[Grumman]

What is the upgrade path to rocket launcher?
Follow the big gun path (the leftmost option), then pick the rocket launcher instead of the final upgrade.

[VarlosZ]

I prefer Canyon Defense (http://www.miniclip.com/games/canyon-defense/en/). Tip: don't neglect to build walls; they're useful as a means of funneling traffic to high coverage areas, and even more useful as gun platforms right in the path of every vehicle.

[Malacandra]

I prefer Canyon Defense (http://www.miniclip.com/games/canyon-defense/en/). Tip: don't neglect to build walls; they're useful as a means of funneling traffic to high coverage areas, and even more useful as gun platforms right in the path of every vehicle.

And good for making vehicles take a longer route, and even for providing building space for some more of the large improvements. Top tips spoilered: Multiple Recyclers are cumulative in effect - with a lot of them in play you can make an insane amount of money.
Selling and re-buying a Wall Factory makes a section of wall available immediately. You only ever need two WFs at once to qualify for the Laboratory - otherwise you should have one or none.
Doing the same with the Nuclear Silo makes a missile available at once.
My best is somewhere round 280,000 IIRC.