For this week’s post, I’d like to write about my design of the boss arena, the interior and the end of our game.
For those of you who didn’t read my previous posts, where I think I mention the general ideas behind our game: my team is designing a game that will consist of the only level. Basicly, we try to deliver the whole narrative in one experience. Because of that, we need to finish our story after ending the only level of the game. This calls for more detailed planning of how the area where you fight the boss does look like.
Here is a sketch I made to show my team the thinking behind the boss encounter environment. This sketch will be later used by the artists to create the arena of the boss fight and to explain to the programmer the behavior of the boss and the reasons behind my ideas (for example hitting the wall or the egg’s spawn).
So, we have a circular arena on the top a crystal tree. The visualization of this is tricky since we are technically inside the tree, but let us ignore laws of physics and space. In this room, I placed the throne that is the final destination of the avatar. Then I tried to show that we will cover the throne with props. The throne is going to be revealed after the boss dies by destroying props. All of this connects to the scene that player sees in the beginning of the game where the avatar leaves an old, depleted thrones behind in another tree.
With this we show the player the begging of our story, it’s progression via player’s play and, finally, how the story ends and resolves.
I find that having a miniture story shot ’em up game that contains a closed story cycle is an interesting idea. It’s so easy to create a story but only manage to introduce the player to the first chapter due to the production time limit. When you are a student it’s easy to overscope.
Please note this is one of my older artifacts, not something that was done directly this week 🙂
lostingame.design 
Hi Gleb.
I am the one who will comment on your blog this week.
It is interesting how you managed to draw one sketch that could give the artist some inspiration on what to draw and at the same tie make it understandable for the programmers what to program as well.
It is also impressive that you made an interesting story that is played out in this single level that you have. I really like the story (if I’ve not misunderstood it) that you depleted another crystal tree on its energy and move on and take the next crystal tree that may, or may not, host a sustainable biological life system which you take over for your own gains, and probably drain that crystal tree till it is depleted as well. So, in the and you are the bad parasite guy.
I hope you get your game finished in time.
/ TUK.
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Hi Gleb,
I think you managed to describe the arena and end game of your game well. I remember your game from the Beta presentations and I’m looking forward to try it out during the Final-playtesting session.
It would have been nice getting to know a little bit more of what actually goes on in the arena during the boss fight. I kind of have an idea of how it plays out, but I’d like to know more about the fight itself. You write “how the story ends and resolves”. How does it end? I know there’s a throne in there, but why?
Other than this I think the post was written well. I really like the sketch you made. It gives me a very clear picture of the design of your cave and at least some hints of how the fight is played out.
Thank you for the read, see you at the playtesting!
/FIlip Swärdh
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