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Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design - Second Edition
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Some designers believe that boss fights are too “old school”—that they grind game progression to a halt; that the time and effort to create bosses with their non-reusable artwork, hard-coded behaviors, and unique animations just isn’t worth the production cost. Boss fights create a skill gateway; whenever someone has told me that he quit playing a game, the reason was usually that a boss was too hard.
An alternative to these problems can be found in turning the boss fight on its head. Instead of making it about a big creature, make it about big drama. Make the fight personal to the player and more about pivotal moments in the story.
My friend, designer Paul Guirao (Dead to Rights, Afro Samurai), created what I thought was the best boss fight design I had ever heard. Early in the game, the player learns an arm-wrestling mechanic. At the climax of the game, the hero is knocked to the ground by the villain...
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