How did I make it? (Just Boss Fights)
Alex Hu
Project of 30 people
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3572440/Just_the_Boss_Fights/
Where To Start
My initial design concept was to combine "soft" and "hard" elements in a hermit crab-themed duo boss. The boss could split into two parts: the crab and its shell, each attacking the player separately. The shell, representing "hard," would roll around the arena trying to crush the player, while the crab, representing "soft," would attack by throwing snowballs. The player would need to use the shell’s attacks to damage the crab, or the crab’s attacks to break the shell.
However, after discussing with the engineers, this design was ultimately rejected. The main issues were the fast-paced attacks and excessive projectiles, which left players with little time to react and made it hard to implement a counterattack mechanic. Additionally, changing the snowball properties in each phase added unnecessary workload for the engineers. In the end, I decided to redesign the duo boss and submitted a new proposal.
Duo boss changed to Knight and Jester!
In the second proposal, I shifted the design concept from "soft and hard" to "blunt and sharp." The knight represents “sharp,” attacking the player by swinging or throwing a greatsword, while the clown embodies “blunt,” standing on a ball to throw bombs or roll the ball to attack.
Learning from the previous attempt, I kept the bosses’ basic attacks consistent across all three phases, instead creating evolved variations to gradually increase difficulty. This ensured a smoother difficulty curve and reduced workload for the engineers.
To simplify the mechanics and avoid overwhelming the player, I designed a system where the player can use a single skill to deflect projectile attacks from both bosses. If one boss is hit by a deflected projectile from the other, they will enter a brief stunned state.
Next, Lets Create Something More
Numerical design of Frog Wizard
As the first boss, I set the Frog Wizard’s damage and speed values relatively low. My Duo Boss proposal was eventually approved by the engineers, and I documented all attack details thoroughly in the design doc.Attack design of the Dragon boss
Compiled and organized the designs into the design document
Discuss with other designers and write down the expected game loop.
Make Dream Come Ture
The state machine is designed based on the boss phases' difficulty curve and the player's distance from each boss.
In phases one and two, if the player stays far from a boss, it will use ranged attacks; if close, it will switch to melee. At mid-range, the boss will try to close the gap for a melee strike. In phase three, the boss becomes more aggressive at mid-range, frequently mixing ranged and melee attacks to reduce the player's reaction time.
The Most Important Part In Every Game Production
A large number of user experience research tests were conducted on the game for both ordinary players and professionals. Based on the tests, continuous adjustments were made to the game's numerical values, readability, and difficulty curve.
Done！Meet Our Team!
Screenshots!
Team photo！
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That’s Me!
The Reflection
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