Suspense Defense

Top-down tower defense with procedurally generated maps — no two runs look the same.

A top-down tactical defense game built in C++ from scratch as a freshman project. Each run uses a procedurally generated map (Cellular Automata), so layouts are always different. Enemies navigate toward the base using a custom A* pathfinding implementation.

Implemented Random Map Generation using Cellular Automata algorithms to ensure varied gameplay layouts.
Developed an A* pathfinding system from scratch for intelligent monster navigation within procedurally generated maps.
Balanced game difficulty through iterative testing and wave system tuning.

Technical Deep Dive

Custom Engine Layering

Built a lightweight engine layer handling rendering, input, and audio responsibilities. Established early ECS-like boundaries so gameplay systems could evolve without direct dependence on framework-level APIs.

Architectural Decoupling via Mediator

Introduced a Mediator pattern between UI and gameplay logic to remove direct cross-system dependencies. Centralized message flow reduced coupling, improved testability, and made iterative feature additions safer.

Algorithm Core: A* + Procedural Maps

Implemented grid-based A* pathfinding with obstacle-aware traversal and integrated a seed-driven procedural map generator (Cellular Automata based) to produce varied playable layouts for repeatable difficulty tuning.