Back during GDC of this year, Nintendo announced a new framework for Wii U eShop development called the Nintendo Web Framework. What this does is essentially allow developers, such as myself, who specialize in development on the web, to create Wii U eShop games made in HTML5. This means I can create games that are made with JavaScript, Canvas, and CSS. Since my primary job deals with creating websites in PHP and HTML5, I thought this program could be perfect for me.

I eventually signed up for the program and became an official Wii U Developer. By early September, I had my first Wii U dev kit. Luckily, Nintendo of America was kind enough to send me a free loaner kit, thus lowering my overall development cost to nearly zero. I have been working on a game these past few months to test out this new program, as well as to make a game I happen to be interested in making. This will be the first official unveiling of my very first game.

ZaciSa’s Last Stand

Publisher: ZeNfA Productions

Platform: Wii U eShop

Genre: Tower Defense

Planned release: Late December 2013 or early January 2014.

Price: $2.99

Region: North America with rest of the world to follow shortly after launch

Resolution: 1080P at 30FPS

What is it?

ZaciSa’s Last Stand is a simple, yet challenging, 2D tower defense game set in space. The main concept is that you have to defend your base from an onslaught of enemy ships that seek to destroy you and your way of life. To do this, you will deploy different Bot weapons, such as a Sentry or Bomber to destroy them before they get to your base. The game will start out easy enough — at least in theory — with only something small, like twenty weak enemies. Every level you survive will result in more waves of enemies with increasing strength. You gain points and money for every ship you destroy, as well as a nice bonus at the end of each round. You use this money to not only build more Bots, but also different kind of upgrades. Can you survive the onslaught?

Multiple Maps

The game will launch with four different maps. The maps are as follows: Space Station 001, Asteroid Mining Station 6, Hyperspace, and Moonbase. You can see a preview of each of these maps in the reveal trailer below. These were designed to change up the game flow to allow for different strategies to be tried out. Though the game will launch with four maps, I plan to continue supporting the game by adding in brand-new fun and challenging maps for free with post-release patches.

Features

This game will have multiple features when it launches. This includes a default Hard mode, as well as an Easy mode for those that want to try out the game without it being as challenging. The game will feature both local and online leaderboard rankings for each map and mode. This allows you to see how well you are doing against the world and all your friends. The game also features a small local co-op support for the mobile drone bots. Up to four different people can use a Wiimote to control and move any on-screen drone in plane. This allows for your friends and family to get into the action and help you out while adding a new level of strategy to the game.

Launch Plans

I plan to submit this game to Nintendo by the end of the month and, if things go well, I am hopeful to have the game released on the Wii U eShop by the end of December or early January. The game is set to launch with a low price of $2.99. Since this is my first time creating a game and publishing it all on my own, I am currently only focusing on the North American eShop market. If you are in Europe or other parts of the world, don\’t worry too much: I plan to concentrate and make it my priority on getting the game released elsewhere after the North American launch. Future games by me will be released closer together or at same time across the different regions. I am trying to take this one step at a time, so I hope everyone understands.

Wii U GamePad Support

Since this game was developed from the grounds up for the Wii U, I made sure to take advantage of the Wii U’s GamePad controller. I used and designed the GamePad to allow for simple and intuitive control over the game. The main action takes place visually on the TV screen, as demonstrated by the reveal trailer, but a lot of the actions and inputs to control game game are found on the bottom screen. This allows the game to be easy to handle instead of difficult and cumbersome if it was all on the TV screen. The first time you play the game or even look at it, you will understand what I mean.

ZaciSa’s Last Stand Reveal Trailer

Wii U Gamepad Screenshots

If you are interested in this game or have any questions or comments, feel free to do so in the comment section below. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter at @GregWiggleton and my gaming company @ZeNfaGames.