Apr

Warcraft Tower Defense for the NDS

Written by Neil Galloway

I just loaded Warcraft Tower Defense version 0.4 on my NDS tonite. It has been out for awhile, but I finally got around to it. I thought it would be a good time to provide instructions on getting it to work. At least on my hardware.

UPDATE: Version 0.5 is out. Read about Warcraft Tower Defense 0.5 Released.

UPDATE: He is no longer working on this program and has publicly released the source code.

For those of you who don't know what it is. WTD (Warcraft Tower Defense) was a style of custom map for Warcraft 3 on the PC. It involved building towers to kill off waves of creatures who walk along a pre-determined path. If you didn't build the towers in an efficient manner, some of the creatures would get through and take away from your lives. You are trying to build the impassable gauntlet you could say. Simple, yet an addicting game.

Anyhow, someone has written an adaptation of the original game for the NDS that works awesome. Here is the link for the Warcraft Tower Defense homepage.

My Hardware

I have Nintendo DS Lite (NDSL) with a Supercard Lite and Super Key. The Supercard Lite takes a microSD card for memory storage. I use the 1GB Kingston microSD.

Getting Warcraft Tower Defense Running

There are a few steps here. I am just writing about what I had to do to get it working for myself. If you have any suggestions or instructions for other hardware, let me know. I will post it and put a link to a site for you with whatever keywords you want in this article.

Instructions for NDSL, Supercard Lite, Super Key

Download the latest version of Warcraft Tower Defense from the Warcraft Tower Defense Homepage.
He provides it as a RAR file so you will need a program to unpack it. Make sure you don't click on the source code link as he is now sharing that as well.
In the RAR file is a Maps folder. Copy this into the root folder of your memory card. He contains a default set of maps and if you find more on the internet, this is where you will save them to.
Download the DLDI patch file and patcher if you don't already have them at the DLDI site.
I personally downloaded the SuperCard Lite DLDI and Win32 GUI DLDI Patcher.
Patch the \_Fats Version\TowerDefense.sc.nds file.
- I started the Win32 Gui by unzipping the Win32 zip file I downloaded and double clicking the dlditool32.exe file inside. It opens a window.
- I clicked the ... button to the right of the DLDI File field and selected the folder I saved my SuperCard Lite DLDI file from above. The picklist then shows the available DLDI's.
- Select the SuperCard Lite(TransFlash MicroSD) option.
- Click the ... button to the right of the Binaries field. Select the file \_FATS Version\TowerDefense.sc.nds from the RAR file you downloaded earlier and click Open.
- Click the Patch button. The existing TowerDefense.sc.nds file will be overwritten with a new one.
The file should now be patched.
Copy the now patched \_FATS\Version\TowerDefense.sc.nds file onto your memory card into the root folder.
Boot your NDS and load the file TowerDefense.sc.nds.
Enjoy!

There are more instructions on the homepage for Tower of Defense and a gameplay PDF is included in the RAR file you downloaded as well. As of April 2007, this project is still being worked on and new versions are coming out. There is a multiplayer button in the game that is grayed out right now. Hopefully this will be up and going soon.

Where Can I Find More Maps?

Our friend Google can help us find some. The homepage also has a NDS Warcraft Tower Defense Maps section.

Problems

Here are some of the problems I had with mine.

The game boots fine, but when I press the Solo button and go to choose a map it says FAT init error!

I get this error when I have not patched the TowerDefense.sc.nds file. Follow my instructions above to patch it with the DLDI file.

When I try to load the game, both screens are white and nothing happens.

You have used the wrong TowerDefense file (TowerDefense.nds). Make sure you are using the TowerDefense.sc.nds from the _FAT Version folder.

When I try to load the game, the memory counter goes over the stated memroy number, pauses for a few seconds, and then sits at the GAME BOY screen.

You have used the wrong TowerDefense file (TowerDefense.nds.gba). Make sure you are using the TowerDefense.sc.nds from the _FAT Version folder.

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Category: NintendoDS

3 Comments

René Says:
2008-09-22 14:15:51
there is no TowerDefense.sc.nds in the .rar ?!?!?

Kalel Says:
2009-07-17 15:47:26
when i start it the screen goes all withe then nothing happends

josh Says:
2010-07-02 17:28:09
i have followed each step and it wont load properly, it gets about 5% through then stops