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[SunWuKong]

Hello!

My first indie game Boss 101 is wrapping up and on the FGL auction block at the moment. I'll be putting up a post-mortem but wanted to put info I made plus a link to the game. From there you can play the latest and even use a debug mode to jump around.

Here's the link but you won't be able to see it unless you are a registered FGL member.

Boss 101 FGL Sponsor Link

Please wish me luck and read on if you want more info!

Boss 101 was a labor of love. After my last company shut down I decided to go my own way and make games myself. My experience is mostly in console and PC titles. That said - I have HUGE respect for those who sit down and hammer out games with small teams. It's a feat to say the least! Coming from teams of over 200 I have seen INCREDIBLY impressive work done here and other places which rivals or exceeds what multi-million dollar budgets have gotten.  

So check it out! The latest is below and I will be posting more soon.

Boss 101 Overview

Boss 101 is an arcade action adventure with you taking the role of Max, a teenager with a jetpack, in order to save the world.

The game is designed around the concept of short arcade rounds that reward the player with cash for upgrades and hats, fun and funny dialog, cool music and a constantly evolving sense of adventure to keep them coming back. You will fight robo-animals, samurai, aliens and DINOSAURS! You heard right!

Major Features:

101 levels across 9 worlds - you travel across the globe and into space as you battle your way to the final boss.

Branding - I will work with you to make sure your site gets maximum exposure in the game! Want custom stuff? Let's talk!

Procedural Bosses - You, the player, get to roll your own boss to fight. As you progress you face more bosses "mixed" from earlier levels

Cash and Upgrades - beating levels and bosses earns you cash for one of five major upgrades in the game. Including Super Max mode!

Customize your player with Hats - the player can outfit their character with 50 different hats, each of which grants one or more special powers like earning extra money per shot, doing more damage, health boost, damage reduction and speed boosts

Multiple powerup weapons during the rounds - rocket launchers, laser rifles, health powerups and the dreaded fist pistol are a few of the weapons you will see.

Tons of dialog - each level features procedurally picked dialog between Max, STEVE (his jetpack) and the boss of the level. Subsequent returns to your command center also feature changing dialog to move you along with the story and help you understand what has been happening. Yes - there is an end cinematic too!

Fully orchestrated Soundtrack - each level and game screen has an orchestrated score to help drive home the AWESOME adventure the player is on.

Boss 101 and sequels - this is also meant to be the start of a series of games centered on Max and the jetpack. In fact plans for the next installment are underway and I am more than happy to work with any sponsor on the idea of a continued series.

Please feel free to leave a message in the forum or contact me via PM with any questions you may have. I would love to hear from you and I am open to comments or suggestions.

-Tim

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[SunWuKong]

Oh yeah - there is a gameplay trailer too!

Boss 101 Youtube Trailer #1

[adganong]

Seems interesting, I think I have seen a few ideas similar to this concept of "Just Boss fights" kicking around on the forums before. In the trailer, was that an original piece of music? It was definitely good, but I almost feel like a more upbeat action kind of song might have given the trailer a better feel. The song you used made me more feel like I had just defeated someone in a boxing match, not that I was witnessing a small hero defeat a multitude of 'hard as nails' boss fights. But hey, that just me

[SunWuKong]

Seems interesting, I think I have seen a few ideas similar to this concept of "Just Boss fights" kicking around on the forums before.

Thanks! Yeah - the music is from the game. It's an orchestrated track I licensed (among other tracks). You do end up listening to a few different themes in the game depending on where you are progress wise.

The boss fights were fun to make. The procedural boss generator was the best way (at least for me) to create something I could handle myself. In the end there are 10's of millions of combinations I think (if you factor in all the variables used to make a round).

Appreciate the comment!

Best,

-Tim

[DanDecarlo]

Samurais and dinosaurs? You got my vote. Definitely something to watch.

[rundown]

Looks fun.
But will the diffrent combo's of boss parts make the gameplay diffrent enough?

[SunWuKong]

Samurais and dinosaurs? You got my vote. Definitely something to watch.

Thanks! I worked to make the boss variety cool for people. The main thing I kept thinking as I made bosses was "Would I tell people about this game if I played it?". As in, is this game interesting enough to spark a later conversation. Most of the time my favorite games are the ones I end up telling friends about later. Something in them was cool or funny or memorable. I also worked to make each boss and weapon fun to see and beat.

Looks fun.
But will the diffrent combo's of boss parts make the gameplay diffrent enough?

I would like to think so. As I mentioned above I really did try to make the bosses different and the weapons interesting. It was a little challenging but in the end I believe it really makes the game fun. You can roll up some pretty weird bosses since all the parts work together. On top of that - parts are graded according to level and stage - so there is a formula to keep it challenging as you level up.

-Tim

[SunWuKong]

Here's one of the first in-game engine shots - it's been a long time since then but thought you might like to see where it started!

Max (the main character) is a human teenager. I went through a bit of a process getting him to where he is. Mostly the choices were based on time, my skill and the workload appropriateness. When I first started I had grand visions of a high resolution Ubisoft level animation game.

Some more screens from the game:

The mighty Fist Gun!

Finally - Who exactly is Boss 101?

[ashtonmorris]

Looks really great, love the gameplay vid. Lots of craziness

[Tom Horse]

I've watched the screenshots and I want to say:
WOW AMAZING EPIC KILL ME THIS IS AWESOME *O*

[moi]

I played it and I have to say I am a bit disappointed most of the boss battles consist in spamming the boss with weapons and last less than 30 seconds. This area could really be improved.
The concept and graphics aer cool though

[SunWuKong]

Some replies!

Looks really great, love the gameplay vid. Lots of craziness

Thank you! I am working on a followup game as we speak. I love the game a lot and feel there is a lot of good potential. A nice thing which has happened is since it was released many, many people have made some really good suggestions. A few were things I was planning in a sequel and some were things I hadn't even thought of. Boss 101 was my first go at a game all by my lonesome and I learned a ton. I've done a few games since then and now am ready to head back to the well on this one! Thanks for the nice words!

I've watched the screenshots and I want to say:
WOW AMAZING EPIC KILL ME THIS IS AWESOME *O*

HA!!! Thanks! I'd like to think the game is heading in a good direction in terms of sequels and followup. The first was a little all over the place and some tunes mos-def needed help but overall - I'm super happy with how it came out! Thank you so much for taking a moment to write!

I played it and I have to say I am a bit disappointed most of the boss battles consist in spamming the boss with weapons and last less than 30 seconds. This area could really be improved.
The concept and graphics are cool though

Totally agree. That is one thing I will be improving in the sequel. The balance of the game was at one point on the extreme hard end. Bosses would wax me left and right. Damage was super high and from boss weapons and player weapons were feeble. I went and re-tuned and err'd on the side of 'easier'. I think it went too easy for a better/more hardcore player. For the sequel I'm looking to adjust the difficulty to be a lot better and ease all players into the upgrades/hats as they play. Thank you for the comments and hopefully you and the others will check out the sequel when I start posting about it. I think you might enjoy it!

To everyone else. Thank you for the mail and the PM's as well as all the feedback on the forums/Newgrounds/Armor and Kong.

I made the decision a week ago to go with a Boss 101 sequel and really improve the things fans liked as well as really increase things like weapons, upgrades, effects, boss patterns and boss parts. One big thing will be to make the difficulty curve a lot more even. Boss 101 didn't really get super tough until the last 30 levels and at times the first 10-30 were pretty easy to clear out.

Thank you again and if you ever want to get in touch with me you can comtact me here or though me site or one of the many other places (Twitter, Facebook, etc).

Talk with you soon!

Best,

-Tim

Also - you can check out any and all of my games here. If you liked Boss 101, specifically Steve and Max then you might enjoy Cosmic Clicks. It's a clicker type game with those two co-piloting a ship across the galaxy.

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