0 reviews
  • Add Review
  • Subscribe
  • Nominate
  • Submit Media
  • RSS

Devlog 2: Skills are Boss

  • slash
  • 04/25/2016 11:42 AM
  • 3528 views
Hey everyone! It's been a couple of weeks, and BOSSGAME progress is still going smoothly. I'm currently working on getting a final playtest out before I dive headfirst into the final sprint. But today, I'd like to talk a little more about Fighting Bosses.

CHARGE and UNLEASH


Hey, what's up? I'm Anna! Last time, Lily explained Taunting and defense. Today we're going to learn about the cool stuff - fighting!

In addition to taunting, each of us can use one skill a round. We can equip four skills at a time, and as we defeat more bosses, we'll learn more skills. Switching our skills around to match our next fight is gonna be important!

In BOSSGAME, our skills fall into two types: Charge skills and Unleash skills. Charge skills raise your Energy, and Unleash skills use all of that energy to power a super-cool ability! Unleash skills are the most powerful moves we have, so saving up Energy to Unleash at the right moment is clutch! Got it? Okay!







All of us have a good mix of Charge and Unleash skills. Charge skills grant you 1 EN, and Unleash skills use all of your EN to power themselves. An Unleash skill with only 1 EN won't be any more powerful than a Charge skill, but at 3 EN, they're pretty frickin' impressive!


Okay, you probably get it, so let's skip to the fun stuff ;) I made a chart of a few of the skills you'll see in the game!

~Shieldblade~

Deal damage and gain SP.

~Lily's Embrace~

Gain SP per EN. Intercept all attacks that would hit allies this turn!
~Passionbolt~

Deal damage and increase your ATK for three turns.

~Go! Go! Go!~

Massively boost an ally's ATK for one turn, based on EN!
~Ruin~

Deal damage to an enemy over the next three turns.

~Fountain of Light~

Shield one ally for a lot, then shield all allies for a little, based on EN!
~Jab // Cross~

Jab: Deal light damage, then become Cross.

Cross: Deal heavy damage, then become Jab.

~Haymaker~

Deal massive damage based on EN, but hurt your friends as well!


The first skill for each hero is used to charge up so you can unleash the second one! Unleash skills are super powerful, and we can use them to counter the bosses' plans or to flip the battle around!

Okay, sweet. We did it! That covers the basics of skills in BOSSGAME. Next week... idk! We could let Derek talk about something... maybe... or we could bring back Lily! That sounds like a good plan :D


Posts

Pages: 1
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
Nice! :DDDDD I likey! ^_^ Also, <3 Anna!
So that's what the battery symbol was.

Hmm, and the boss seems to have their own meter so you'll know when they're about to do their special attacks.
Jab: Deal light damage, then become Cross.

Cross: Deal heavy damage, then become Jab.
So he Jabs and then Crosses? Sounds kind of infinite looping since they apparently lead into each other.
Next week... idk! We could let Derek talk about something... maybe... or we could bring back Lily! That sounds like a good plan :D
I'm Mirror Boy trash. But umm, you could do a mini-skit where the person you chose starts talking but then Derek pops in saying that he's supposed to get his turn but then Lily/Anna/whatever says that they took away his talking privileges after what happened last time (referencing him being a 'pain in the ass').

I guess it'd be kind of funny? I dunno, I was thinking about the Tales series and their skits where they talk about the current events going on in the story. You get to learn about the characters and sometimes the topic is just random and ends up funny.
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
These look pretty cool! Do the characters gain more skills as the game progressed? Or is this it and players need to figure out when to use what move? There's great potential here, either way.

Question: Does the collateral damage from Derek's Haymaker directly damage allies? Or does it hit their SP first?
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
author=unity
Nice! :DDDDD I likey! ^_^ Also, <3 Anna!


:D thank you, thank you! /bow

author=Red_Nova
These look pretty cool! Do the characters gain more skills as the game progressed? Or is this it and players need to figure out when to use what move? There's great potential here, either way.


Oh yea! These are just a taste. Each character starts with four skills (Two Charge, two Unleash) and learns more as the game goes on. You can equip up to four skills at a time to each character, in any combination of Charge & Unleash.

Hmm, maybe I should write something about that next time! I probably could've mentioned it here. It totally slipped my mind.

Question: Does the collateral damage from Derek's Haymaker directly damage allies? Or does it hit their SP first?


Yup - it hits their SP! So, it's not too dangerous if you're in a good position, but if you've got allies in danger, it's a risky move. A few of Derek's more powerful moves put his allies in danger - he's just a little selfish.

So he Jabs and then Crosses? Sounds kind of infinite looping since they apparently lead into each other.


Yup! That's exactly how it works - it alternates between a low and high damage attack. There are a few skills in the game that work like this!

I'm Mirror Boy trash.


same



I've had a lot of fun doing these little blog-skits. I hope ya'll like 'em! There's gonna be plenty of scenes like this in the game, all sorts of bickering and dorky conversations and flirting~
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
author=slash
I've had a lot of fun doing these little blog-skits. I hope ya'll like 'em! There's gonna be plenty of scenes like this in the game, all sorts of bickering and dorky conversations and flirting~


I like all of those things :DDDD
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
ANNNNNA <3

Anyway, I'm amazed how Mirror Boy doesn't seem to have a reflection skill... or does he?
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
author=unity
I like all of those things :DDDD

Hehehe, excellent :D

author=Ratty524
ANNNNNA <3

Anyway, I'm amazed how Mirror Boy doesn't seem to have a reflection skill... or does he?

Ahh yea, he has a bunch! A lot of his skills have to do with mirrors or light, and some with the idea of fear. I'm still tweaking a bunch so I didn't mention these, but he can learn Tiny Mirror, Mirrorcast, and Mirror Burst, as well as Light Bubble and Fear // Hope!
NeverSilent
Got any Dexreth amulets?
6280
This sounds pretty good. Hopefully Derek's skills will be worth the damage on allies, else I might just tell him to go sit in a corner and think about his life.

All the other important things have already been covered, so I just have one more question: How does exchanging skills work? Can they only be allocated before a boss fight, or can you also swap them out mid-battle? Because the latter might potentially be overpowered - but if it's the former, the success on your first try at a boss might just come down to whether you equipped the right skills for this particular fight, and thus to luck. Or is it intended to work so that every boss can potentially be beaten by any possible combination of skills?
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
author=NeverSilent
All the other important things have already been covered, so I just have one more question: How does exchanging skills work? Can they only be allocated before a boss fight, or can you also swap them out mid-battle? Because the latter might potentially be overpowered - but if it's the former, the success on your first try at a boss might just come down to whether you equipped the right skills for this particular fight, and thus to luck. Or is it intended to work so that every boss can potentially be beaten by any possible combination of skills?

You can switch skills and other customization out of combat. The bosses are designed to be defeated in a multitude of ways, not just one!

In addition to that, this game follows the Super Meat Boy design philosophy - you're going to get your butt handed to you a lot, and that's part of the fun! While it's possible to defeat a boss on your first try, it's unlikely - part of the fights is puzzling your way through the boss's strategies and figuring out a way to counter them, through different tactics and different skills.

Because losing is a big part of the game, I've set up BOSSGAME to have as little friction as possible between you losing and you trying again. You can immediately re-fight a boss as soon as you lose, you can easily switch your party's setup, and you don't have to watch cutscenes repeatedly. These changes have gotten some good feedback so far and I keep tweaking things to make it as smooth and fun as possible :)
NeverSilent
Got any Dexreth amulets?
6280
I see, that makes sense. It's a bit of an unconventional approach. But provided that each single battle doesn't take too long - so the amount of stuff the player has to redo isn't extrmely high - I can see it working well.
Although it pains me a little to imagine poor Mirror Boy getting his butt kicked repeatedly...
Pages: 1