Really wanted to show you my appreciation for the great game, "BESIEGED" that you have created. Runs smoothly and is well-balanced.
Would love to see some new items added into future games. They may not be realistic or may out-balance the game but then, who knows?
1. New "Weapon" - Stuffed Barrels - only for close-quarters combat. Does more damage than arrows when dropped directly onto skeletons doing melee damage right underneath the castle. Can be used to slow/knock-back enemies inside or on the bridge but not beyond the bridge, but only does 1/2 damage than arrows to oncoming marching enemies.
2. New Special Upgrade - Ice Arrows - does more damage than regular arrows and freezes the undead and halves the movement speed for a few seconds. The freeze time can accumulate if the enemy gets hit by more than one arrow (and still not dead by then).
3. New Feature - In-Game Repairs - if there's more than 50gp left before entering the next level, there will be an extra button to activate "in-game repairs" to the castle. The number of repairs available to the player depends on how many multiples of 50gp the player has in his/her treasury. If it drops below 50gp, the button will deactivate and the player will have to try and survive until the end of the level when more gold is available for repairs. This option gives the player a last glimpse of hope to survive the onslaught a little longer, but would also make it less likely for them to store gold and buy upgrades later on. Players should only use this option if all else fails.
4. New Tower - Carpenters - an alternative to item 3 above, the player may hire a small number of carpenters to repair the castle in-game without additional cost (so the castle "regenerates"). The repair rate depends on the number of carpenters hired (max. 3-5). Building this tower may make paying for repairs unnecessary, but may cost more overall if all upgrades were purchased (the cost of the carpenter and the tower should therefore be balanced). Players are given this option to better plan for their defenses (for instance, to focus more on regenerating the castle than fortifying it or vice versa).
5. New Weapon - Blessed Throwing Hammers - A weapon that does devastating damage to skeletons and undead and generally more damage than arrows to siege weapons and dragons, but has a SLOW rate of fire and takes a LONG time to recharge even with upgrades. Useful to reduce the undead population if it gets too dense.
6. New feature - Continue From Last Save - This feature is available while the player's castle is still around but is no longer available once it gets destroyed. It is frustrating to start afresh every time your castle gets overrun. This feature allows you to continue from the last save point (e.g. at the purchase upgrades screen at Level 10 where the castle was last destroyed) so that the player may correct any mistakes made, say in choosing upgrades or in battle. The "New Game" button should remain available if the player indeed wants to start afresh. I wouldn't call this continuation feature cheating though...
7. New feature - Monster Drops - undead or other enemies may randomly drop a few gold pieces that the castle takes into its own treasury. Tougher enemies typically drop more GP than regulars, with wizards, bosses, dragons etc. giving guaranteed drops. Drops may also include power-ups like temporary damage boosters, temporary reinforcements (say add 2-3 more archers to the castle to boost the no. of arrows fired for a short time), castle repairs, instant full recharge to all weapons or even temporary invulnerability to the castle. Drops are typically acquired automatically, though this can be programmed to make the player shoot and hit the non-gold drops to get them (but this may affect their accuracy rating so it is not recommended).
With the above new features, the game's balance in all difficulty modes would need to be tweaked so as to make it neither too easy nor too hard to beat. Hope to see these features in your later games.
KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORK!
