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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0008994Valley 1Suggestion - Enemy IdeasJul 21, 2012 12:21 am
ReporterMatthew Carras Assigned To 
Status consideringResolutionopen 
Product Version1.200 (Post-Launch Series 2) 
Summary0008994: Evolving / Multi-Stage Enemies and Bosses
Description- New enemies (and bosses) that start at a "larval" stage and eventually turn into a much more dangerous version if you leave them alone for too long (staying in the same chunk), comparable to a microboss. This goes along with the large amount of insect-like enemies.

- If the "larval" stage is used for a boss, it could a new boss type that basically has a timer before it gains a bunch more power. Killing it in its larval stage would greatly weaken its true mega-boss form (because you interrupted the metamorphosis)

- Multi-stage bosses which have different forms, getting progressively harder.

- <Ghost> of <Boss> which has a chance to spawn after its death. Since the boss is dead, the way is opened, so this version should be especially hard with lots of miasma spawning. But if you defeat its ghost, there may be extra rewards...
TagsNo tags attached.
Internal WeightFeature Suggestion

Relationships

related to 0008940 considering Pyramids pointless? 

Activities

Blahness

Jul 20, 2012 9:56 pm

reporter   ~0027000

I especially like the "Ghost of Boss" idea. Maybe have the room darken (All existing lights are extinguished), and state "A powerful spirit is approaching...", with the shape of the boss glowing to signify that it's going to go into ghost/spirit form. That way, you'll have 15 to 30 seconds to escape instead of fighting it, and some time to be aware of what's about to happen and get ready.

Multi-form bosses and larval-timer bosses are also never a bad thing, though they can be tricky to balance.

Overall, though, I love the idea of random tougher forms or ghost forms.

Pyrrhic

Jul 20, 2012 11:39 pm

reporter   ~0027006

^ I think many players (myself included) are really picky about their lights...so I really don't like the idea of extinguishing them. That's a minor issue, though.

All in all, multi-stage bosses seem like a cool idea, as do ghosts of bosses.
That said, I agree with Blahness that the balancing of them can be tricky. If a boss is hard enough in their early form, they can just seem way too hard in their latter forms. :/

Also, I don't know about encouraging the player to rush the boss (if the boss has a larval stage which, if you damage it a lot, makes its latter stages weaker). I like the game's theme of letting players take their time and/or back out of a situation as they see fit. So that specific idea, I don't like.

I wonder how a boss that got weaker over time would feel? For example, imagine a boss called "Overgrown Blue Amoeba", and as you dealt more and more damage to it, it'd shrink more and more.

Blahness

Jul 21, 2012 12:21 am

reporter   ~0027009

Well, extinguishing the lights is for dramatic flair, emphasis and to force the player to go "oh crap oh crap oh crap". They have 30 seconds to re-light the room as desired.

The balancing issue I was talking about was specifically in relation to larva. It needs to be killable enough for players specializing in close-ranged high-DPS to kill it reasonably consistently, but not for defense-specialized or tactical players to be able to kill it. I don't mind if evolving monsters are hard - these are the kinds of things I'd want to see in continent 3 and up only.

Larva, as long as they don't hatch, should reset their hp and hatch timers after 10 seconds out of the room. That way, if you see the larva, you can exit the room and plan and set up. (Or, alternatively, pause.)

I like the idea of a shrinking-over-damage amoeba. Maybe make it move faster and more erratically as it gets smaller (but maintain the same damage output and risk, otherwise the boss becomes boring and trivial after you get past "the hard part".

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Jul 19, 2012 9:46 pm Matthew Carras New Issue
Jul 19, 2012 9:47 pm Matthew Carras Description Updated
Jul 20, 2012 10:00 am tigersfan Internal Weight => Feature Suggestion
Jul 20, 2012 10:00 am tigersfan Status new => considering
Jul 20, 2012 9:56 pm Blahness Note Added: 0027000
Jul 20, 2012 11:30 pm Pyrrhic Relationship added related to 0008940
Jul 20, 2012 11:39 pm Pyrrhic Note Added: 0027006
Jul 21, 2012 12:21 am Blahness Note Added: 0027009