Boss Encounter Design / Implementation
Boss design is really challenging and something I enjoy quite a bit, though admittedly it does depend on the genre of the game.
To be honest, I enjoy boss design more when its puzzle based more than purely combat based. I am comfortable admitting I do not have experience nor a lot of interest in pure combat boss design. (though I love playing games that do it well!)
Most of the boss fights in Ray’s the Dead are very wacky, over the top ideas that featured a dangerous but clumsy aggressor. We asked the player to be patient and observe, looking for an opening and excecuting when the timing was right. Also an avenue to success was taking advantage of the recklessness of the boss and using it to accomplish your goals.
Mecha Mega-Crane
I have two favorite boss fights in Ray’s the Dead. The first is a fight against a giant shipping container crane shaped like a gorilla. The crane is constantly dropping shipping containers on the player while Ray runs around searching for weak points in the ground through which he can send his burrowing minions to attack the crane at its base.
All of the interaction was implemented via our visual scripting engine, which includes the animation and movement of the crane itself. This was possible because its movements are limited to simple rotation of its body and up and down movement of the shipping containers.
Some of the scripting logic used includes invisible zones on the ground that track the location of the player. The shipping container is following the player and if it ever comes within a certain distance of him, it would shake for a given amount of time (warning the player it was about to fall) before slamming to the ground.
Over time, the player becomes aware of this and can use it to their advantage, intentionally luring it to certain areas to use it to clear debris and knock out enemies. The player will lure it to a certain area, then move out of the way before it falls, landing where the player wanted it to land.
Bear C.L.A.W.
Another boss encounter I am proud of is our fight against a huge monster truck with a bear face.
This fight takes place in the parking lot of a bar. The layout of the cars creates a wide oval shape, with an occasional opening that allows the player a place to hide.
The truck is constantly moving through the open area, tracking the player, and it revs up to run him over when directly in front of him. Again with scripting, we are tracking where the player is located and the truck will usually take the shortest path to get to the player.
As if that weren’t enough, there are explosive barrel launchers on either side of the parking lot, that will launch these barrels at Ray if he doesn’t prevent it before hand.
After a set amount of time, the monster truck will change its course and ride on top of the cars in the center row, while blasting fire out from behind it. Naturally this will damage the player so they must avoid this.
BUT this is also the opportunity to damage the boss.
While the player is avoiding the truck, they must also knock loose these explosive red barrels. If the player attacks the barrel launchers before the barrel is launched, the barrel will fall out into the street and land in the center row. When the truck rides over the barrels in the center, they explode causing damage to it.
Everything about this fight is accomplished with visual scripting. The first implementation of this, the monster truck was nothing but a pink square running around the level!