tower-defense

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Original

English

🇨🇳

Translation

Chinese

Tower Defense

A playbook for tower defense — enemy pathing, wave spawning, tower targeting, and the economy that ties them together. This is a compositional skill: it orchestrates pathing, AI, and UI into a TD loop. It does not re-teach pathfinding; it defines the systems and the balance levers (DPS vs. HP vs. income) that decide whether a TD is tense or trivial.

一份塔防游戏开发指南——涵盖敌人路径规划、Wave spawner、Tower targeting，以及将这些系统串联起来的经济系统。这是一项组合型技能：它将路径规划、AI和UI整合为塔防游戏的核心循环。本指南不会重新讲解寻路算法，而是定义塔防游戏的核心系统与平衡杠杆（DPS、生命值与收益的关系），这些因素决定了塔防游戏是紧张刺激还是平淡无趣。

When to use

使用场景

Use when building a game where the player places towers that automatically attack waves of enemies following a path, spends earned currency to expand/upgrade, and loses if too many enemies leak through.
Use when designing wave composition/pacing, tower targeting priorities, or the gold economy.

When not to use: the player directly controls a shooter →

fps-shooter

. Free-form base building with needs →

survival-crafting

. For the pathfinding algorithm itself, use

game-ai

适用于开发这类游戏：玩家放置防御塔自动攻击沿路径移动的敌人波次，用赚取的货币扩建/升级防御塔，若过多敌人突破防线则游戏失败。
适用于设计波次构成/节奏、防御塔瞄准优先级，或金币经济系统。

不适用于： 玩家直接控制射击角色的场景 → 参考

fps-shooter

。自由形式基地建造类游戏 → 参考

survival-crafting

。若仅需寻路算法，请使用

game-ai

。

Core loop

核心循环

Prepare (place/upgrade towers with current gold) → start the wave → enemies path toward the goal while towers auto-fire → earn gold from kills → survive the wave → repeat against a harder one. The tension is a planning puzzle: is my current DPS enough for what's coming, and can I afford the answer?

准备阶段（用现有金币放置/升级防御塔）→ 启动波次 → 敌人沿路径向目标移动，防御塔自动开火 → 击杀敌人赚取金币 → 存活过当前波次 → 迎接难度更高的下一波次，循环往复。游戏的紧张感源于规划谜题：当前的DPS能否应对即将到来的敌人？我是否有足够的金币来解决这个问题？

Must-have systems

必备系统

Enemy path — waypoint lanes, or grid + pathfinding for maze TD (refs).
Wave spawner — timed, scripted sequences of enemy types with per-wave scaling.
Towers — range, fire rate, damage, projectile/hitscan, splash; placement validity.
Targeting — per-tower priority (first/last/closest/strongest/weakest) (refs).
Economy — gold from kills + wave bonuses; tower/upgrade costs; sell refund.
Lives / leak — enemies reaching the goal cost lives; 0 = game over.
Wave/prep UI — lives, gold, next-wave preview, start-next-wave control.

Enemy path — 航点式路线，或迷宫类塔防的网格+寻路系统（参考相关文档）。
Wave spawner — 定时的、基于脚本的敌人类型序列，每波敌人属性会逐步提升。
Towers — 射程、射速、伤害、投射物/即时命中、溅射效果；放置有效性判定。
Targeting — 单塔瞄准优先级（最先/最后/最近/最强/最弱）（参考相关文档）。
Economy — 击杀敌人奖励金币+波次通关奖励；防御塔/升级成本；出售防御塔的退款机制。
Lives / leak — 敌人到达目标会扣除生命值；生命值归0则游戏结束。
Wave/prep UI — 生命值、金币、下一波预览、启动下一波的控制界面。

Design knobs

设计调节项

Knob	Effect	Notes
Enemy HP growth/wave	upgrade pressure	Geometric ~1.1–1.2× (refs).
Income vs. HP curves	difficulty	Player should almost afford each wave.
Tower DPS / range / cost	tower identity	Cheap+wide vs. expensive+tall.
Targeting priority	optimal placement	Changes play more than raw stats.
Enemy variety	counters one-build wins	Fast / armored / flying / swarm / boss.
Leak penalty	stakes	Cost lives and lost bounty.
Upgrade vs. build economy	strategy depth	Diminishing upgrade returns.
Wave pacing	tension curve	Spike → breather → spike, not monotonic.

调节项	效果	说明
敌人生命值每波增长率	升级压力	通常采用几何增长，约1.1–1.2倍（参考相关文档）。
收益与生命值曲线对比	难度控制	玩家应刚好能负担应对每一波敌人的成本。
防御塔DPS/射程/成本	防御塔特性区分	廉价广域型 vs 昂贵高攻型。
瞄准优先级	最优放置策略	对玩法的影响大于基础属性数值。
敌人种类多样性	克制单一最优策略	快速型/装甲型/飞行型/ swarm型/ Boss型。
突破惩罚	风险提升	扣除生命值并损失赏金。
升级 vs 建造的经济平衡	策略深度	升级收益递减。
波次节奏	紧张感曲线控制	高峰→缓和→高峰，而非单调递增。

Patterns

模式示例

1. Wave spawner (timed, data-driven)

1. Wave spawner（定时、数据驱动）

python

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python

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Pseudocode. A wave is data: a list of (enemy_type, count, spacing). Spawn over time.

wave = [ ("grunt", 10, 0.5), ("runner", 5, 0.3), ("tank", 2, 1.0) ]

def run_wave(wave): for enemy_type, count, spacing in wave: for _ in range(count): spawn_enemy(enemy_type, at=path[0]) # enter at the path start wait(spacing) # seconds between spawns (use a timer/coroutine) # wave clears when all spawned enemies are dead or have leaked

undefined

wave = [ ("grunt", 10, 0.5), ("runner", 5, 0.3), ("tank", 2, 1.0) ]

undefined

2. Tower targeting (filter to range, then pick by priority)

2. Tower targeting（先筛选射程内敌人，再按优先级选择）

python

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python

undefined

Pseudocode. "First" (furthest along path) is the standard default for stopping leaks.

def acquire_target(tower, enemies, mode="first"): in_range = [e for e in enemies if distance(tower.pos, e.pos) <= tower.range] if not in_range: return None if mode == "first": return max(in_range, key=lambda e: e.progress) # furthest along path (stop leaks) if mode == "last": return min(in_range, key=lambda e: e.progress) # least progress (guard the entrance) if mode == "closest": return min(in_range, key=lambda e: distance(tower.pos, e.pos)) if mode == "strongest":return max(in_range, key=lambda e: e.hp) # burn down tanks first if mode == "weakest": return min(in_range, key=lambda e: e.hp) # secure kills / last-hit bounty return in_range[0]

undefined

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3. "Can this lane hold?" sanity check (DPS vs. HP)

3. “这条路线能否守住？”合理性检查（DPS vs 生命值）

python

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python

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Pseudocode. One tower's damage to one enemy crossing its range.

tower_dps = tower.damage * tower.fire_rate time_in_range = tower.range_coverage_length / enemy.speed damage_dealt = tower_dps * time_in_range

Lane holds if summed damage_dealt from covering towers >= enemy.hp (per enemy). See refs.

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Pitfalls / failure modes

常见陷阱/失败模式

Enemy HP scales slower than player income/DPS → game trivializes after a few waves. Tune the HP curve against the income curve (refs).
One dominant tower/strategy → no decisions. Add enemy types that hard-counter builds (armored vs. rapid-fire, flying vs. ground-only) and diminishing upgrade returns.
Maze TD that can fully block the goal → enemies get stuck/softlock. Forbid placements that sever the path; recompute paths when towers change (refs).
No next-wave telegraph → specials feel random and unfair. Preview upcoming composition.
Per-frame movement unscaled by
dt
→ speed varies with frame rate. Scale steering by
```
dt
```
.
Leaks only cost lives, not gold → leaking is sometimes optimal. Make leaks lose bounty too.
Monotonic difficulty ramp → exhausting. Pace spikes and breathers.

敌人生命值增长慢于玩家收益/DPS → 几波后游戏变得毫无难度。需根据收益曲线调整生命值曲线（参考相关文档）。
单一强势防御塔/策略 → 玩家无需做决策。添加能强力克制特定玩法的敌人类型（装甲型克制速射塔，飞行型克制地面塔），并设置升级收益递减机制。
迷宫类塔防可完全阻断目标路径 → 敌人卡住/软锁。禁止放置会切断路径的防御塔；当防御塔位置变化时重新计算路径（参考相关文档）。
无下一波预告 → 特殊敌人出现显得随机且不公平。需预览下一波敌人构成。
每帧移动未按
dt
缩放 → 移动速度随帧率变化。需按
```
dt
```
调整移动控制。
突破仅扣除生命值，不损失金币 → 有时主动放敌人突破反而更优。需让突破同时损失赏金。
难度单调递增 → 玩家易疲惫。需安排难度高峰与缓和期交替。

Composition (build it from these skills)

组合构建（基于以下技能搭建）

Pathing:
```
game-ai
```
for A*/flow-field/steering; for fixed lanes, simple waypoint following.
Enemy movement:
```
godot-2d-movement
```
(or engine equivalent) to move along the path;
```
unity-navmesh
```
for nav-based pathing.

Map:

godot-tilemap

unity-tilemap-2d

for the grid/lanes;

level-design

for map layouts.

Data:
```
godot-resources
```
/
```
unity-scriptableobjects
```
to define towers, enemies, and waves as assets.
UI:
```
game-ui-ux
```
for HUD layout, scaling, and the build menu;
```
godot-ui-control
```
for the concrete widgets (lives, gold, wave preview).
Polish:
```
audio-design
```
for fire/hit/leak sound cues.

路径规划： 使用
```
game-ai
```
实现A*/流场/转向寻路；固定路线则采用简单的航点跟随。
敌人移动： 使用
```
godot-2d-movement
```
（或对应引擎的同类技能）实现沿路径移动；使用
```
unity-navmesh
```
实现基于导航网格的寻路。
地图： 使用
```
godot-tilemap
```
/
```
unity-tilemap-2d
```
制作网格/路线；使用
```
level-design
```
设计地图布局。
数据： 使用
```
godot-resources
```
/
```
unity-scriptableobjects
```
将防御塔、敌人、波次定义为资源资产。
UI： 使用
```
game-ui-ux
```
设计HUD布局、缩放及建造菜单；使用
```
godot-ui-control
```
实现具体控件（生命值、金币、波次预览）。
打磨： 使用
```
audio-design
```
添加开火/命中/突破的音效提示。

References

参考资料

For path representations (waypoints / A* / flow fields), targeting modes, DPS and economy math, enemy scaling, and wave pacing, read
```
references/balancing.md
```
.

关于路径表示（航点/A*/流场）、瞄准模式、DPS与经济系统计算、敌人属性缩放及波次节奏的内容，请阅读
```
references/balancing.md
```
。