In Development

What if you were inside the RTS instead of watching from above?

First-person cooperative tower defense with procedural worlds, adaptive enemy AI, and a power grid system that creates emergent gameplay. Built from scratch in Godot 4.

See How It's Built

The Interesting Problem

Tower defense has a perspective problem

Tower defense games are strategy games where you watch from above. You see the whole map, place towers on a grid, and optimize paths. It works, but it throws away something interesting: what does it feel like to be on the ground when the wave hits?

First-person perspective changes everything about the genre. You can't see the whole map anymore, so you need teammates calling out threats. Tower placement becomes spatial reasoning in 3D, not a grid puzzle. And the power grid — routing energy from generators to towers — becomes an emergent optimization problem where you're trading coverage against efficiency while enemies are actively trying to flank your weak spots.

The adaptive AI is the piece that makes it work. If enemies just followed fixed paths, first-person perspective would be a gimmick. But enemies that learn your defensive patterns and evolve their approach force you to continuously rethink your layout — and that's where the perspective shift creates genuinely new gameplay.

Architecture

How the systems connect to create emergent gameplay. 

World Generation
  |
  |-- Biome Selection -- noise layers --> terrain mesh
  |-- Resource Distribution -- power nodes, build zones
  \-- Path Network -- enemy routing graph
      |
      v
Player Systems
  |-- Tower Placement -- spatial validation, grid snapping
  |-- Power Grid -- generator > relay > tower routing
  \-- Upgrade Trees -- kinetic / energy / support branches
      |
      v
Enemy AI
  |-- Behavior Trees -- per-type base behaviors
  |-- Pattern Memory -- tracks player defensive layouts
  \-- Evolution Engine -- adapts tactics each wave
      |
      v
Multiplayer
  |-- Steam Networking -- 1-5 players
  |-- Shared Resources -- cooperative economy
  \-- Threat Callouts -- positional voice/ping system

Technical Highlights

The design decisions that shape how Living Stone plays.

Procedural World Generation

Four distinct biomes generated fresh each session using layered noise functions, erosion simulation, and resource distribution algorithms. No two maps play the same.

Power Grid as Gameplay

Towers need power routed through a player-designed grid. This creates emergent optimization puzzles — balancing coverage, efficiency, and redundancy under pressure.

Behavior Evolution AI

Five enemy types that adapt their behavior based on your defenses. They learn your patterns, flank weak points, and force strategic pivots mid-wave.

Clean Room Reimplementation

Not a mod or a fork. Built from scratch in Godot 4.6 with all-GDScript architecture, data-driven design, and no engine-specific vendor lock.

Co-op Multiplayer (1-5 Players)

Steam-powered multiplayer with shared resource pools and coordinated defense. Tower placement, power routing, and threat callouts require real teamwork.

Data-Driven Design

Tower stats, enemy behaviors, biome parameters, and upgrade paths are all defined in data files. Balance changes and new content don't require code changes.

Four Biomes

Each biome changes the rules — different terrain, different hazards, different strategies.

Tundra

Frozen wastes with limited build space and visibility-reducing blizzards.

Volcanic

Unstable terrain with lava flows that shift paths and destroy unshielded towers.

Forest

Dense canopy with winding paths, ambush corridors, and abundant resources.

Desert

Open sightlines and long range, but scarce power nodes and sandstorm disruptions.

Built With

Open engine, clean room implementation. All GDScript, data-driven design.

Godot 4.6.2 GDScript Steam Networking Procedural Generation Behavior Trees

In active development

The Living Stone is being built in the open. Follow the development on GitHub.

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