Hey folks! Happy February! ITTA is still going through some bug-fixing and QA, so I thought I would share a look at ITTA’s main gameplay feature… mainly, those bosses!
So, if you’re going to make a boss-rush game, you need bosses that are exciting and interesting to fight, not just something that soaks/throws out a lot of damage. I’ve always been proud of the way ITTA’s bosses look and feel, and how they relate to the setting, but midway through last year I decided to spend some time really digging into making the way they play feel distinct as well. Revamping 18 bosses was no small feat, but thanks to some guidance and feedback from my publisher, I’m really happy with the result!
One of the best ways to illustrate this is with the first boss in the game. This golem is supposed to essentially act as a tutorial. They’re less difficult than the other bosses, since the goal for you is to get your “sea legs”, so to speak, and get a feel for how the game controls. Still, they should set the tone for what you can expect going forward, so some fairly significant changes were made!
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The first and simplest one is that the boss now moves faster and is more aggressive in pursuing the player. It makes the fight a lot more intense and menacing. The second thing I implemented was a clear shift in the middle of the fight. After the player does enough damage to the boss, it starts gets angrier and starts shifting its attacks up. It’ll even begin slamming the ground and sending out much more dense showers of projectiles.
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But the biggest change is the addition of this black… goop. You’ll learn more about it in game and what it represents, but now, later on in the fight, nasty black gunk will start to fall from the ceiling. It’ll turn into floating balls that will both form up around the boss to help protect it, and home in on the player, so they’ll need to shoot to destroy them.
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I’ve implemented these same changes across nearly every boss in the game, in different ways. Some might summon a giant hand that sweeps the battlefield, or spawn in an enormous sword that spears towards you. And of course, I’ve spent a lot of time tweaking things like speed, damage output (both from the player and the bosses!), and more. The end result is (I hope!) that the bosses will all keep you on your toes, and provide a nice escalating challenge as you go.
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As always, thank you so much for your time and support! If you haven’t already, please wishlist the game here on Steam! I’ve been working on ITTA for several years now, and it feels like a dream to realize I’ll finally get to share it with you all soon. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!
