Boss Evolution

Start simple is what i think, especially when ya have so many of something to give. You can incrementally add more each time. This is a great system unless ya get people bored on the way to the exciting conclusion. So many movies and also games suffer from this.

But i am here to talk about the fact i have 'finished' my first and second level bosses. This is a proof of concept for me, to know that i can keep expanding on what this boss does, but keep it exciting and challenging enough as it develops. Yes, that is right. I aim to use the same boss for every level. This means that he needs to evolve.

Here is the boss from my first level...

When he comes on he basically just sits there shooting bullets at you. He fires a simple sequence of a trajectory fire, and then a dual-split trajectory fire. The second one causing two bullets to go either side of you. You must dodge through them to shoot him, as he will not be moving into your bullets, obviously.

Here is the second level boss...

This is the same boss i hear you cry! Well duh! But this boss once he comes on does NOT stand still. Nope siree, he starts moving in a very simple up and down pattern. while he does this he fire a nice trajectory bullet as he passes over the vertical center. Then when he changes direction at each end he fire that dual-split trajectory bullets. This means now bullets are coming from different directions at you. They are also a slight amount more up tempo (fires faster, as you can see from the pictures). This means even more dodging than the lazy dodging of the first boss. This boss is actually quite exciting, and he actually does move into you firepower (not that i am showing that!).

This bosses test graphics are probably frightening most of you readers away i am sure. Well Gameplay is king in my house. And though i love Mommys best games, and what they are achieving. Shoot1up (which i own), is not truly my kind of skillfull shooter. It is a bit messy, and relies on getting enough new ships to combat the ones you WILL lose. However this shooter should be able to be completed with no loss of life, and in fact i will be testing the difficulty to make sure that i do not even take a hit while playing properly. The extra hits your ship can take are there as a catch, or safety net. But now i am waffling about general game design philosophy. so time for bed.

G'night.