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Tower of Guns - Mix roguelike, Quake, and some bullet hell in a steampunk blender...

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More_Badass

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by Terrible Posture Games
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$9.50 for PC
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Official Site
Trailer
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Tower of Guns has been Greenlit!
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Tower of Guns is a fast paced shooter for the twitch gamer… with a few roguelike-like-ish elements to keep it fresh with each playthrough. Think of it like FTL or Binding of Isaac mixed with Doom 2/Quake!

  • SINGLE SITTING FULL EXPERIENCE: For all of those who have too many games (or too little time) this is a game you can pick up and play again and again without remembering where you were or what you were up to. If you’re gonna win, you’re gonna do it within an hour or two. That’s a big if though… it won’t be easy.
  • ALWAYS A FRESH EXPERIENCE: Random enemies, random powerups, random bosses, tons of unlockable items and weapons…even random-level compositing! You never know what to expect when you sit down in front of Tower of Guns.
  • CRAZY POWERUPS: You’ve played first person shooters where you can double jump, but have you played any game where you can centuple-jump? You can in Tower of Guns, with the right items.
  • GUN-MODIFYING MADNESS: A gun and its qualities aren’t tied together in Tower of Guns. Do you like rocket launchers? You’ll like them more if you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a “shotgun” modifier. A rocket-launching shotgun is very satisfying.
  • OLD-SCHOOL TACTICS: For the fans of the faster shooters, it’s all back: circle strafing, bunny hopping, rocket jumping. Tower of Guns is all about moving fast!
  • NO LIMIT LEVEL DESIGN: Hate invisible blocking walls that keep you from exploring a cool vista? I do. They’re outlawed in Tower of Guns. If you can see it, you can get to it…if you have the right items.
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Work continues, I’m now on build v0.78, and the end is a fuzzy dot of light on the horizon..there’s still so much work to be done, but here’s what the build currently includes:

  • 7 stages in the game: Foyer, Foundry, Gearworks, Armory, Battlements, Logistics, and Sanctum
  • Many enemy spawning configurations (dunno if it’s enough yet)
  • 18+ guns selectable (or findable, if you’re lucky) -roughly- balanced
  • 11 ‘Perks’ selectable
  • 10 Weapon Mods (though, they aren’t without some bugs still)
  • 43 Items
  • 12 Bosses
  • +26 different mobs (not including hugbots)
  • Badge system for upgrading mobility, stats, and more!
  • Decent chunk of the game’s options, including FOV, resolution, keybinds, etc
  • And: shops, loot, weapon leveling, ‘secrets’, dialog/story stuf, most HUD elements, much of the main menu, weapon selection and perk selection, endless mode, and a ton of other junk.
  • Randomization is in varying states of completion in the various stages, with the Foyer being the most complete. The newest stages added (Armory, Sanctum, Battlements) only have a token set of rooms each. The game takes about 30-40 minutes to play through right now. You can speed run it in half that if you’re not interested in being thorough.
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What the press thinks:
Greenlit Gaming
Not awesome enough? How about crazy power-ups that will allow you to take the double-jump to centuple-jump and the ability to mod guns with the properties of other guns; The latter allowing for the mix of rocket launcher and shotgun to create the rocket-launching shotgun. Twitch-based old-school gaming. Randomly generated levels. Modifiable weaponry. Crazy power-ups. Intense and challenging play sessions. Rocket-launching shotguns!
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RockPaperShotgun
Tower of Guns is a splendid first-person robot-shooter with randomised elements and power ups that stack, creating weaponry and skill sets that are ludicrously powerful and ludicrously ludicrous.
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IndieStatik
So the idea is to climb the Tower of Guns, but in your way are cannons of various sizes (some get huge) and robots that will attack you. Each floor has a series of rooms full of enemies that you can either run by or take your time to shoot, collecting the previous weapon upgrades as you do. There’s also a boss at the end of every floor to defeat too...
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Bought the game in the NotOnSteam Sale

Initial thoughts:
Some games can be neatly categorized into a genre. Others encompass so many elements that a single genre can't contain them. Tower of Guns is one of the latter. Mix a twitchy FPS, a roguelike, and some bullet hell in a steampunk blender and you'd get the wild frenetic Tower of Guns.

Pick your gun, pick your perk, and go. Skills and reflexes are your only allies once you enter the fast frantic world of Tower of Guns. Blowing away enemies drops health and weapons upgrades; getting hurt not only damages you but also reduces the level of your weapon. Evasion and quick aiming is key to survival.

And you'll need every extra weapon boost, mod, power up, item, and as much loot as you can acquire to survive the chaotic onslaught that awaits you within the titular Tower. Each playthrough offers randomized levels and enemies to blast away and the chaos only increases with each room. Dozens of bullets, ricocheting saw blades, cannon balls, hovering drones, rolling spiked balls, and more relentlessly attack en masse. Luckily with the right perks and power ups, you can be a triple jumping badass wielding a mine throwing shotgun who doesn't take fall damage. Enough to survive? Maybe...

Tower of Guns is still in alpha, just over 50% completed, but the current version is still very much worth a purchase. It's fast, frantic, and just wild fun.
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Later impressions:
Man, Tower of Guns, now that I've played more. I've had moments of utter frozen in place shock in this game. You never know what's behind the next door (you shoot doors to open them btw). You could go through and be met with dual spinning crosses, each arm sporting multiple turrets. Or maybe you enter a massive room, only for dozens of flying mines to appear.

That's another thing. The areas aren't one-room locations like Paranautical. We're talking multi-tiered, multi level areas with maybe lava at the bottom and a launcher pad to boost you to the top level on one end and a terrace filled with multi-barreled cannonball firing turrets on the other and spiked top things in between and bullets the size of your head flying through the air

You can't stop moving. It's just crazy, And I haven't even mentioned the bosses
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This actually looks really awesome. With the onslaught of games taking cues from Rougelike's lately, I feel we need more FPS games doing the same. I'll be picking this up while it's on sale tomorrow.
 
Bought this a while ago. I very much like the premise and have been providing feedback to the developer on Twitter and on his forums--a few which he implemented (you're welcome increased pick-up radius!).

The only thing he needs to work on in my opinion is the number of enemies per stage, and the ability to just run towards the door and get out of the area without killing anything.
 
I will preface this by saying I'm biased, but both this game and it's dev deserve your support. He's one of the nicest dudes I know. Plus it's fun! And cheap! And fun!
 
More_Badass: How tolerant is it of lower-end systems? The system requirements on the game's site worry me slightly, but I recall that your own system isn't very powerful. How does it run for you?
 
EmergentFocus said:
More_Badass: How tolerant is it of lower-end systems? The system requirements on the game's site worry me slightly, but I recall that your own system isn't very powerful. How does it run for you?
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Actually when I bought this, I had the same fears. I mean, if Outer Wilds and Sir You Are Being Hunted were so laggy...but surprisingly Tower of Guns runs pretty well. And there's still optimization to be done so the performance will only get better.

I've had dozens of moving projectiles and enemies (plus a boss) onscreen and while there was some slowdown, it always remained playable. And I've played games where the lag is just horrible, so ToG's performance was a pleasant surprise
 
A little bit Quake, a little bit rogue-like, a little bit Serious Sam...

I'm having a lot of fun with it. And for only being 56% complete, I'm really looking forward to the final build.
 
More_Badass said:
Actually when I bought this, I had the same fears. I mean, if Outer Wilds and Sir You Are Being Hunted were so laggy...but surprisingly Tower of Guns runs pretty well. And there's still optimization to be done so the performance will only get better.

I've had dozens of moving projectiles and enemies (plus a boss) onscreen and while there was some slowdown, it always remained playable. And I've played games where the lag is just horrible, so ToG's performance was a pleasant surprise
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Thanks. Outer Wilds doesn't run too badly for me, so maybe I'll take a chance with this. I'll ponder it over the next day or so: I also need to save some money for Bionic Dues next week...

Incidentally, for anybody wanting to see more of Tower of Guns in action, RockLeeSmile has an Indie Impressions video and an ongoing Let's Play series on his YouTube channel.
 
Those who are playing, favorite weapon and perk so far? Of the three weapons I've unlocked, Iike the shotgun + no fall damage the best. That no fall damge perk is so useful in the larger rooms, gives you much more maneuverability
 
I wish this game best of luck sincerely but almost every word in the OT is something that is just exactly the opposite of my taste in games.

That said thank you for the effort and I hope people will like the game!
 
RPS just dropped a shtitload of praise on the game:
TOWER OF GUNS. I can’t get enough of this game. Even though it’s just over half finished (“56% complete”, to be precise), it has properly got under my skin. I think it’s the best FPS I’ve played all year, and I can’t think of any FPS I’ve enjoyed that has been quite this fast since before id designed their games around using an Xbox 360 controller. I remember musing to myself around about the time that The Binding Of Isaac came out, that someone should totally take the structure, and apply it to a Doom-esque FPS. This is pretty much that, although it’s perhaps more Quake inspired.

It’s a somewhat roguish FPS, where you can beat the game in an hour or two, or die trying. The enemies are amazing, obviously designed around not having particularly complex AI, but still representing an interesting challenge. Who doesn’t want to have a shoot out with a MASSIVE CANNON? The environments are at times astonishing, with huge rooms that are wide, tall, and full of hazards and interesting nooks and crannies (be on the look out for secrets). The upgrade system is amazing, where you’ll often get hilarious or ridiculously powerful combinations (I was using the rapid fire gun the other day, and then got the rapid fire mod), and it seems to not put any unnecessary cap on things, so you can basically keep upgrading your speed until it’s actually too fast, or stack double jump on top of double jump on top of double jump. You can’t stop moving, and every session something different happens. It’s quite funny, it’s got mad graphics, and each new build I’ve played has been a marked step up in polish and content. [/b]Buy this game.
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More_Badass said:
RPS just dropped a shtitload of praise on the game:
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Just to be clear, that is not from one of the core RPS staffers, that guy just posts weekly deals so take that with a grain of salt. He runs his own deals site at http://savygamer.co.uk/

That being said, this is a really fantastic start to the game. I am not a big FPS guy (especially if they are boring-as-hell military shooters) and I think the game is great. Binding of Isaac as a FPS is definitely the most apt description I have seen thus far.
 
How is the movement? I saw the trailer and watched a lets play from a month or two ago. Is there any strafing or bunny hopping? When people start talking about Quake my mind immediately jumps to movement and positioning, but most of what I'm reading seems to be about the roguelike features. Regardless this looks pretty fun and I'll pick it up to see how it compares to Paranautical Activity (which is pretty fun).
 
dtg said:
How is the movement? I saw the trailer and watched a lets play from a month or two ago. Is there any strafing or bunny hopping? When people start talking about Quake my mind immediately jumps to movement and positioning, but most of what I'm reading seems to be about the roguelike features. Regardless this looks pretty fun and I'll pick it up to see how it compares to Paranautical Activity (which is pretty fun).
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I like this game way more than Paranautical activity, the gameplay feels a lot better to me. Strafing is pretty critical so no worries there, the bosses I killed required a lot of circle strafing to get down before being overhwlemed. As for bunny hopping, I didn't try but I doubt it works since you can upgrade to double jump (and triple jump and quad jump and you get the idea).
 
Bought this today, really been enjoying it so far. Love the oldschool feel of the guns and movement, and the amount of luck needed to consistently do well doesn't irk me nearly as much as Binding of Isaac.

Also, everyone should beat a stage under par and get the rapid fire gun. It puts all the others to shame.
 
The room designs continue to surprise.

One was filled with cubes that boost you around and slow down time, another had a huge gravity beam
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But this one was my favorite so far. The floor was just a bunch of moving columns. That was a cool sight to see when the door opened
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Finally beat a stage, made it to Gearworks...
 
Picked this up a few days ago. Can't wait to play, but paypal put a hold on my payment :/

Looks great though!
 
Picked it up so far. Played about a half hour. The jumping feels like a less shitty versus of the newer Nexus. So far, it's pretty fun, but I need to play it some more. I was pleasantly surprised by the FOV setting in the options menu. Always a good sign.
 
dtg said:
Picked it up so far. Played about a half hour. The jumping feels like a less shitty versus of the newer Nexus. So far, it's pretty fun, but I need to play it some more. I was pleasantly surprised by the FOV setting in the options menu. Always a good sign.
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Played a little more. Found a few things that I don't like. First, the levels are nice and big, but when you kill enemies the drops will actually disappear for awhile. A lot of levels have some lame shit that you to hit from far away, but if you do, there's a good chance you won't actually be able to pick up the drops because they'll disappear before you get to them. Second, you can't backtrack at all, so on the off chance that you find some hp, you can't leave it there and come back before you go to the boss room or w/e. I've gotten a few levelups for two weapons and they don't seem like they're doing very much in terms of game play other than +dmg. In general, there's a lot of lame shit in this game, and not very many tools for dealing with it. Some bosses are stupid easy, while others are somewhat more difficult. I don't even know if you can move fast enough to avoid the charge on the longhorn or stop it from charging the first time it hits you.

Also, The exp and hp bars are strict meters, so I have no idea how much damage I am taking or giving. Like I've been playing for over an hour now, and if you asked me how many hits can I take from a basic enemy or projectile like the cannon, I wouldn't be able to tell you. This also makes it kind of difficult to plan out what I want to do when I walk into a room.
 
Played some more, enjoying it a bit more. The movement doesn't feel quite right, and it's annoying to play without double jump as you can't jump up some small ledges without it. I was playing too slow and tacticool before. The game plays a lot better if you don't try and 100% every room.
 
More_Badass said:
Actually when I bought this, I had the same fears. I mean, if Outer Wilds and Sir You Are Being Hunted were so laggy...but surprisingly Tower of Guns runs pretty well. And there's still optimization to be done so the performance will only get better.

I've had dozens of moving projectiles and enemies (plus a boss) onscreen and while there was some slowdown, it always remained playable. And I've played games where the lag is just horrible, so ToG's performance was a pleasant surprise
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Finally went ahead and bought this. Initial impressions have been very positive so far, and the game indeed runs smoothly. Thanks!
 
From the Indie Thread:
rybrad said:
I don't think anyone posted this yet. Tower of Guns will be the next Indie Game Stand deal, highly recommend it, especially for the price. The game was also Greenlit recently so $1+ will (should) get you a Steam key on release.
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Not confirmed yet, but I'll check

Edit: Dev confirmed it, and he might be on GAF to answer questions and chat.
 
Wrack looks cool. Anyway, some great ToG news: new update!

- All ten "starting" weapons are now unlockable
- "starting weapons"? Yes, that means there are MORE weapons you can find in game at secrets and in shops...though they are rare
- All perks except one are now unlockable (so, ten so far)
- A whole boatload of brother Mike's new music is now in the game
- THREE new levels to play through: The Armory, The Battlements, and The Sanctum.
- More progress on room randomization. You can click on the "Dev Update" tab to see how far along each level is. The new levels only have one set of rooms so far, like usual for new levels.
- new 'Tilt' mechanic (the 'C' button by default): now you can teleport yourself out of bad level design!
- new items, enemies and boss (just one new boss this time).
- lots of other little things!
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Your continued bumps to the thread has finally caught my attention, I'll keep a watch out for this game as it nears release (or I hit a gaming drought, hehe). Still not a huge fan of early access personally. I like the look and sound of it!
 
Whoah, first I've heard of this - or at least the first ire call having come across it. Great OP! Next time I turn the PC on I'm going to pay money and acquire this collection of 1's and 0's.

Thanks.
 
peakish said:
Your continued bumps to the thread has finally caught my attention, I'll keep a watch out for this game as it nears release (or I hit a gaming drought, hehe). Still not a huge fan of early access personally. I like the look and sound of it!
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Game's going to be on sale for $1 from Saturday through Tuesday.
 
Hey guys! Dev here--a fan pointed me tot his thread and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have!

Tremis-I think you can still get Full Bore if you go over ten dollars and "make it a bundle" to unlock the previous and next IGS games. I'm not sure what comes next week though. Of course, you could probably get Full Bore by itself for less than that by default. I'm not sure what their not-on-sale price is.
 
Got an early copy from the dev to take a look a while ago. Can't recommend this game enough. The graphical styling of Borderlands meets Unreal Tournament style movement meets ALL OF THE FUN.
 
Bought, I love old-school first person shooters and games with roguelike elements, so this looked right up my alley. Will be back to post impressions.
 
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