Backyard Monsters

From CC Wiki

Backyard Monsters (Beta game)

Code	Critters
Graphics	Critters
Release date (tentative)	~ Early 2010

Singleplayer	Yes
Multiplayer	Maybe

Backyard Monsters (formerly Desktop Creatures) is an upcoming game by Critters, in which players create and manage a small town on some grassland. This base is part of a large world with many other players in it, which can attack each other. It can be seen as a mix of DTD, Travian, and The Space Game.

The game has been in development since the first half of 2009. The game is now in beta testing. Public release will probably take place soon after. As with all Casual Collective games it will be free to play, although extras can be bought. Unlike most games, it will initially only be released to Facebook.

History

Development started in the first half of 2009, under the name 'Desktop Creatures'. BM was a big project for the Casual Collective. Early 2010, it was decided that Backyard Monsters would (initially) only be released to Facebook. This led to a lot of protest, to which Critters reacted with a parodic YouTube video, showing Adolf Hitler getting angry for this move.

After the graphics initially had a different style, Critters decided to make the game look isometric. Some testers disagreed and thought that it should revert back. Critters argued that they had been wanting to go isometric for some time, but had never gotten around to it.

Name Contest

On Tuesday, December 29, 2009, Critters posted a news item saying that he was interested in having a different name from the working name used to that point in the process of creating the game, under the reason that Desktop Creatures has nothing to do with a desktop. The CC community responded with a huge List of new name suggestions and the game was renamed to 'Backyard Monsters' in Feb 2010.

Keys

After having been distributed to all alphas, Critters started to distribute a limited number of access keys each day. First to beta testers, later to a broader public.

The first pass key was handed out here:http://www.casualcollective.com/#clubs/Backyard_Monsters/Forum/General_Chat/50837/1 (ccpub101290)
The second pass key was handed out here:http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=342684208824&share_id=356987619396&comments=1#s356987619396 (fb10Rjoy23)
Third pass key here: http://twitter.com/backyardmonster Just for my followers, here is the key to gain access to Backyard Monsters... It is limited to the first 20 people to use it! (tw19FFG45)

For getting a key, check out the "Getting Access" section.

Gameplay

In Backyard Monsters, players start off with a small stretch of grassland. On that land they build a Town Hall (base), resource gathering buildings, defensive towers and offensive buildings. The goal is to attack other players and survive enemy attacks. All players are situated in the same world and the game goes on when players are not online. Both resource gathering and upgrading buildings can often take hours.

The game revolves around four resources; Twigs, Pebbles, Putty and Goo. Each of these can be gathered using dedicated buildings. These resources can be stored in Silos and are used to buy other buildings, upgrade buildings and research and create creatures. Using 'shiny', a fifth resource that can be bought for real money, people can buy certain improvements in game.

Getting Access

The game is currently in Alpha and requires a key to gain access. New keys are added at different times of the day and usually after an update.

For the best chance of getting a key do the following:

Join this club and monitor the forums: http://www.casualcollective.com/#clubs/Backyard_Monsters
Follow the official BYM twitter account: http://twitter.com/backyardmonster
Bookmark / Become a fan of the Facebook application: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=342684208824&ref=nf

Changelog

Main article: Changelog of Backyard Monsters

March 15, 2010
- Easier to move buildings
- Mushrooms now show the squares they block
- It should run faster full screen and a whole bunch of bugs have been squished
- The Level design contest has been extended 24 hours
- 60+ keys released

March 14, 2010
- All buildings had increase of size
- Looters temporarily turned off to allow users to re-adjust bases from previous change
- Overlap(s) prevented
- 40+ keys released

March 12, 2010
- New camera angle (3D Graphics).
- New graphics for workers and looters.
- 2 minute warning of looters spotted to give you a chance to prepare.
- 60+ access codes released.

March 9, 2010
- First non-Alpha release
- 20 access codes released to Beta Testers

Footage

These pictures of Backyard Monsters show how the development evolves. As it is still actively developed, things might still change or be removed. The older images are all several months old (click them to see when they were uploaded), they can be viewed to see how progress goes.