Creating Boards in Visions of Zosimos

Inside look at the Brighted Mire and Onyx Slick Maps

As mentioned in the previous post, being able to test our boards on paper was one of the best perks of working on a game like Visions of Zosimos. However, before anything is tested, we need to design the boards that players move around on. There are many factors that go into creating a board, but let’s go over some of the key components. The first factor is whether it is a PvP (Player Vs. Player) or PvPvE (Player Vs. Player Vs. Enemy). This determines the amount of hexes each map will contain. A PvP is meant to be small enough for players to engage quickly, but large enough to build their arsenal of physical, magical, astral and terrain tiles. On the other hand, PvPvE maps primarily depend on the amount of bosses and monsters that will need to be placed.

Our Blighted Mire map is currently undergoing a redesign based on player feedback. The goal is to create environments that our consumers want to play and feel they have greatly influenced. We have decided to make the Blighted Mire smaller so that players can engage the bosses and opposing players at a much faster rate. These adjustments have tremendously sped up the momentum of games on this map. It currently has a total of two bosses and six wandering monsters. Players will truly appreciate the adjustments we have made since early alpha and advise you to experience it for yourself. Another major focus has been on landmarks for boss spawns and making sure that they are unique to this specific map. We will continue to test and improve the Blighted Mire, along with all maps, through prototyping on paper and using our unique board creation tool created by Forever Interactive’s Programmers.

Our Onyx Slick is one of the most recently designed maps. We are very pleased with the production thus. This map is much larger than the Blighted Mire and has multiple choke points covering the left and right sides of the board. The bosses are designed around the map, opposed to the Blighted Mire, where the map is designed around the bosses. It is evident as you play because the Fallen Celestial patrols most of the top region of the map and Grendel patrols the bog. The Void Spider stays at the bottom of the map where players fear to go, but with the right incentive, you may take the risk.

Thanks for reading the latest post! Check out the improvements in the next alpha update and be sure to send your feedback. We are listening and fully support early customer engagement!

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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/