QUOTE(Russ @ Feb 12 2011, 04:39 PM)
I hope this doesn't meant we'll have bosses the size of a galaxy to fight. Have you made any of the bosses yet?
What, are you talking about the Final Boss?
Mehehe, no spoilers for you~
No, sir, I have not. In fact I haven't even scripted the minibosses.
Although maybe that spellcasting Abei could count. He's more of a minigame though.
My point was that the Bosses are going to be a lot more intense than the Minibosses, gameplay-wise. While the Minibosses might just be considered really tough enemies with a lot of HP, a Health Bar, and several different kinds of attacks, the actual Boss battles at the end of each mandatory dungeon would practically be cut off from the standard game engine, the way they operate. Their handling of damage will be different, the way Felix takes damage will be different (for example, one attack may launch a flurry of long-range punches and every single one could land for minor damage without Felix flickering and getting that 1-second invincibility, rather than one stronger hit... or, one boss could maybe grapple Felix and crush him steadily until you break free by mashing the buttons), the way his items act will be different, among many other engine-overriding additions.
My big focus, however, will be the
Punisher Gimmick. Namely, all major Boss fights are very freeform and can be fought a large number of ways, but among them there are techniques you can pull off that will cripple the Boss and leave him WIDE OPEN to your attacks for several seconds (read: we're talking like x4 or x5 damage). Again, my big inspiration for this idea is from Viewtiful Joe, where all bosses were like this. So like, if you're fighting a boss with one eye, and you see this eye suddenly flash open and charge up for a massive laser blast, and you're quick-thinking enough to land a Slingshot bullet there right away, the surprise attack will stun the boss and stop his attack before he launches it, and allow your attacks to do great damage for the short moment until he gets on his feet again. That sort of thing.
They'll be smart, too. They'll try to block or avoid your attacks. Consider another example: A Darknut-esque boss with a huge shield will attempt to always face you, or jump over you if you've got him backed into a corner. If you lay a bomb, he'll do his best to stay clear of it until it explodes and is gone. But if you lay a bomb, and THEN corner him with close-combat, and he has no choice but to jump over you and the bomb gets him, he'll drop his shield and the Punisher Mode will activate, giving you an excellent lead against him as you slice off several large chunks of his HP Gauge. Things like this take serious skill to pull off, and a LOT of experimentation for that matter. Maybe it'd be safer to fight him long-range with the Wand or whatever, but it'll take longer to beat him, and then he'll be fighting you with his Crossbow or something, so you have a different threat to deal with instead. Whatever suits your style.
Regular Minibosses won't be quite this dramatic.
Regular Minibosses would play like Bosses and Minibosses from, say, the Gameboy Zelda games, where you'd be trapped in the room until you defeat the single superior creature presented to you. The only difference is it'll use the same Bonus Tally splash screen I displayed during those Skirmishes. (Big Bosses will do that too, of course. After a sweet cutscene and an even sweeter explosion sequence. And so will minigames, yet again the types of bonuses will be different-- I think I'll only award Rupees when the player beats his current high score, so he can't keep getting more and more indefinitely.)
As always, I'll say this: NO PROMISES!
QUOTE(Pokemonmaster64 @ Feb 12 2011, 06:44 PM)
Supergalaxy Bossen Lagann!
So I've heard many mentions of the wooden doll enemy. Could you refresh my memory on what exactly that was, Schwa?
More like
this. But good to see that you're thinking about it.
Oh, the Wooden Doll? Certainly!
Here he is on the left,
barely missing Felix with his lightning-fast Dagger Throw attack, which he only ever uses when he's far-range from Felix.
We dodge, and get close to attack with the Sword.
Then this happens.
The Wooden Doll utilizes shadow magic to phase out of danger in a diagonal line, materializing a medium distance away and launching a Shruiken counterattack. Just barely managed to avoid those, too! (The Shruiken damage and speed are a LOT less than the Dagger, though, but they fly at an angle, the Dagger only flies in straight lines, and the Dagger is only used at far-range.)
If you attack it right after it's done a teleport or a Dagger, it won't be able to right away, and you can get off one or two hits successfully. The key to beating the Wooden Doll is to keep pressure on it; it's not HARD to kill, but your chances against it are worse if other enemies are pestering you meanwhile, so one tactic is to just stay clear of its Daggers until you kill everything else on the screen, and then dogfight the Wooden Doll without having to worry about obstructions. Also, burn any bushes in your way first, the Wooden Doll is less and less of a threat the more moving-room there is on the screen.
The Wooden Doll is resistant to a lot of weapons, but is weakest against the Sword and other close-range weapons. You can snipe it with the Slingshot for greatly reduced damage but no danger of it teleporting; not recommended, since he can still use Daggers in this scenario, and it's a lot less of a risk to take on his Shruikens and quick-dodging instead of the extremely powerful, lightning-fast Daggers.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, but the Boomerang can destroy the Shruikens. It can stun the Wooden Doll, too, but it
cannot prevent it from teleporting while it's stunned. (I might change this so that it does prevent the teleport. We'll see.)
QUOTE(theZCking @ Feb 13 2011, 05:40 AM)
Please make a userbar, this quest looks amazing. After looking at all the shots and videos, this has to be the best thing I've ever seen in ZC. Keep up the good work.
I promise there will be a userbar AFTER the first Public Demo, but not until then. Hope that helps.
This topic is locked
And no, they're not simply just set to Vire-style walking. Their jumps are erratic and chaotic, making this enemy-- while not especially dangerous (except for maybe in big groups), one of the most irritating and impossible-to-track foes you'll face in this game. Note that you can't hurt them while they're in the air unless you are as well. Unless you're paying attention, your sword CAN miss even when point-blank range as they just barely hop over your blow and clobber you with an uppercut. When you get the Roc's Feather (yes, I decided there will be one but it is VERY late-game), though, you have the option of trying to hit them out of the air by jumping as they do.
