Designing Boss Mechanics

Back in 2012, we discussed the process of creating lore for our big boss, Grendel. The lore behind the boss as well as its physical appearance has helped our mechanics designers create unique and interesting boss battles. Once we know who the boss is and what they might look like, designers can decide where the boss may be placed on the map and how they react to decisions players will make and how they prioritize their decisions. At this point, we can also decide what special abilities our bosses have and how they react offensively and defensively.

One of the easiest examples of creating mechanics based off physical appearance comes from our Fallen Celestial. The Fallen Celestial can use its wings to fly over occupied tiles due to player minions or even wandering monsters. We made this decision because we made the Fallen Celestial prioritize the player Homunculus if it is within attack range. Otherwise, the Fallen Celestial will attack the strongest minion closest to it.  The wings make it possible for our boss to prioritize targets with ease.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="346"] Early Fallen Celestial Concept Art[/caption]

The Void Spider is another boss that we based its special abilities on appearance.  However, we also used the environment to enhance its mechanics making it one of our most unique boss encounters. The idea of the Void Spider was all about striking fear into our players.  Within its lair lies ambush tiles randomly placed triggering webs that halt minion and Homunculus movement. Once caught, the Void Spider will spawn and attack its captured prey. Around the time of creating the Void Spider, we also created the back attack mechanic. Due to the size and appearance, we made it so you can not back attack it and the Void Spider will always counter attack.

As fun as designing out the big baddies are, it tends to be a lot of work.  Once you have the basic mechanics down and paper prototyped, it needs to be detailed out extensively for our programmers. The game engine needs to know every little detail for the boss to works which programmers relay to the game engine. The only way programmers know this is through the designers documentation which needs to be thoroughly detailed.

Remember to join our Facebook Alpha Community if you have or need a key! Every Saturday nights at 8:00pm CST we hold a play night with developers so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask us!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/652653378128073/