Day 24 - Bosses & Maps

Yesterday I talked about how I aimed to have some stuff done. Well, I got a tad bit distracted so some of it I did finish but I also made a tiny bit more work for myself. I'll start with where we left off yesterday and then circle back to some older stuff. Let's dive in and see what exactly I'm talking about here.

First up, the picture I showed yesterday is one you should forget. Here's the new version of The Hallowed Hall of Heroes:

The lighting is different in the game, but this is the final layout. So what exactly is going on here?

• Left side:
  • Graves of previous guardians who are forever immortalized here. This space is larger than shown, just getting the basic idea across.
  • I choose to put in cherry trees because they offered nice color here and really balance the image. Furthermore, it adds to the strangeness of this general area.
• Right side:
  • Lots of bookshelves that act as an archive chronicling the lives of the various guardians. Note that some shelves seem to be missing books and others are empty, implying rooms for lots more future guardians.
• Time pending, this room will be one you can explore fully with story elements to read. I will probably put a secret in here too if I do that because, well, that's what I do! For the time being, it is a cutscene where Hiro (and company, if they are here) comment about the area and such.

Obviously this looks a lot better and I'm really diggin' it. That brings me to the actual boss fight, and ending of Hiro's adventure here. I set off to make an arena to fight in but things took a totally different turn once I started doing this. I think I spent like 2 hours on this, and it all was with the thought, "what does this guy's life look like down here?" Apparently, this:

Really, I didn't need to make this space, but I felt compelled to do so. There is a lot of empty space in the center but at the same time this room feels lived in. I gave the big boss everything he'd realistically ever need to live down here. The guy is even keeping some of the books from the previous room in here, and presumably a few others. I even went as far as to plan a secret in this room (if I make this playable, right now it just exists). I do have plans for this space, in terms of gameplay, but it'll kind of depend on time. If I'm running short on time you'll either see this space in place of the currently planned space or not at all. Time allowing, this will act as a bridge to the planned space. Sound confusing? Don't worry about it. Just wanted to show you folks that I made it, even if it doesn't make the cut for the competition version of the game.

Circling back to Lava Level now. That's something I made progress on. The short level prior to the boss fight needed some overhauling. No changes to the map but the enemies were causing problems. I broke their AI in an interesting way, which I originally kept, but then had to heavily modify because the whole level stopped working if I did. As it stands, this level basically received no progress. The programming for environmental damage here is done, and there is an item to counteract it, but I haven't decided yet if I'll actually keep them in the final version. Right now, the level is very difficult without that so it is disabled. The player currently has no real issue with the monsters, but the objective of this map is to keep an NPC (who becomes an ally if you save him, and choose to accept him) alive but he is very squishy. Needs more tweaking in general.

However, the Lava Level boss is looking great! He's 60% finished, with most of the heavy stuff taken care of. Now I just gotta fight him a few times and make minor adjustments so the fight feels good. Here's a pic of his level:

This is at the very start of the fight. The room actually doesn't start this way, it has no lava in it, but once the fight starts the boss floods the room with the stuff trapping you on this small island. From there he sends his Demon Generals after you with some other nasty tricks up his sleeve! The music changes to indicate a phase change, along with dialog as well. This guy has three phases that rotate every 3 rounds. You can only damage the boss during certain times so you really have to plan this one out! So far, this is the most complex boss in the game and would actually make a fine stopping point in case of an emergency with the deadline coming up fast!

Lastly, the Graveyard boss is now sitting at 4/10 + a little in terms of completion. I really hate working on this guy even though I LOVE him so much. He is just a big pain in the butt to make. He'll get done though, since I'm putting him front-and-center as the first major boss. I had an idea today when I was working on him that would make him even more robust, but I have to table it because it would double his development time, and I just don't have that. He's on track to be completed by Monday.

So here were yesterdays goals:

Still to do:

1. Finish the Graveyard boss (remains at 3/10 of the way complete) - Incremental completion through the weekend.
2. Finish the first stage of the Lava Level - Should be finished by tomorrow.
3. Create boss battle for Lava Level - Visuals, music, and basic programming should be complete by tomorrow.
4. Finalize the design of The Hallowed Heroes Hall - This has been in progress since yesterday when I was laying out maps, not 100% in love with the current design but it would satisfy as a placeholder. Should note, this is a cutscene only (maybe some minor gameplay?) not the actual boss arena. See picture below.
5. Either:
   1. Implemented final boss + design the level - Preferred option, dependent on weekend time.
   2. Go with plan b with new game + plan (that'll make sense if I go with this) - Not as desirable.
6. Write the new game + cutscene

Item 1 is lookin' good still. Item 2 had a setback, but is otherwise on track for tomorrow or Sunday completion instead (depends on how busy I am). Item 3 is actually ahead of schedule since it is nearly finished, as opposed to just having the general groundwork done. I may even finish that tonight once I've had a bit of a break. Item 4 is done + did extra work, may still do a smidgen more if I want this place to be playable. Item 5 is TBD, but leaning towards item A for the moment. Item 6 I haven't even touched as it is literally the easiest but I need to settle on item 5 first, otherwise I'll have to redo it a few times potentially.

Edit:  I totally forgot to mention this! I added a new leveling system for each character, made balance changes, and tons of other little adjustments that make the game feel better as a whole. Additionally, went back to modify a cutscene to provide more story and build the world some more. Created a, "useless" item in this version of the game, but if you purchase it you get a fun little secret and developer note. It is a placeholder for features I want to include but don't have time to actually implement.

Man, the days are going quick! Be sure to use your time wisely so you don't miss the deadline or have to rush your product out.

-JS