Windows Boss 101 (2018.01.08) Big Free Update this Week

M

milch

Guest
wow everything abaout this looks amazing! good luck on the release :D
great to see streamers already picked it up...
i know this is stupid, but i especially love the typewriter effect in the textboxes, how the text strecthes out with every letter haha you guys really paid attention to details
 

Tim

Member
wow everything abaout this looks amazing! good luck on the release :D
great to see streamers already picked it up...
i know this is stupid, but i especially love the typewriter effect in the textboxes, how the text strecthes out with every letter haha you guys really paid attention to details
Thank you so much! Really appreciate the nod to the work we put in. You're right in guessing about the little things. That text stretch was actually put in by our lead programmer Joshua when he noticed the way the game was drawing our dialog font. Apparently (and I'm remembering on this) we had a slightly strange font set up he was trying to work around that cause a strange draw when he made the dialogs. Well, he took tat weirdness, did some whammy jammy and made what you see now. I love the new look and it really adds a nice touch to the whole thing.

Thank you again and thanks for checking us out!

-Tim
 

Tim

Member
Holy Guacamole! Boss 101 will be released THIS COMING WEEK!

That is correct. This Thursday, November 2nd will be the official release of Boss 101 to YOU.



Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

What a freaking journey and thank you for joining us. It’s been about three and a half years with you and all our friends on this development ride. We’d like to take a moment to thank you and tell you how much we appreciate your support during the creation of our game.

I don’t think we have to tell you how much it means to have the nice comments and mails we’ve been getting. This along with the early coverage of the game are inspirational to say the least. We’ll post the details below about getting your hands on Boss 101. For right now we want to share our last PRE-release devblog with you and give you a big THANK YOU!

Never ever give up

You have no doubt heard your share of platitudes and catchy phrases over the years. Maybe you heard this one “Never give up.”

I’m here to tell you that is the best advice you can get. If you have a dream, an idea, maybe a goal you want to achieve. Then do it and don’t give up. It will take work. It ALWAYS takes work. Hard work, through a lot of ups and downs. Stick to it and keep heading in the direction of your dream. Not only CAN it happen but it WILL happen.

When we started on Boss 101 we didn’t have every little thing figured out. What we DID know was we wanted to make a fun game FOR YOU and entertain people with our characters, world and story. The gameplay was always important but we left a lot of room for things to emerge as we developed. Pets would be a good example of something that just felt right, so we did it. We loved the idea of having pets that get cared for and stay with you. Heck, they even follow you around the place if you want them too! Arcade game, hats, gophers and more. So many things were put in Boss 101 because they fit the fun world we were making.

It took much longer than we thought and that’s OK. It was a journey we felt was worth it. Now we are about to release our game to you, our friends and fans. We did our best. We left NOTHING on the table. It’s all there for YOU and it’s at the best price we could manage. We want you to feel you got a huge amount of game for the best price.

So, if you are interested. If you have been following these blogs and think the game looks fun. If you want to have a great time with Steve, Max and the whole gang. Then head on over to Steam, wishlist us and then if you REALLY want to help us out – please consider making a purchase of Boss 101 when it releases. It would mean so much to us! We promise you will get OUR BEST GAME and we also promise with YOUR SUPPORT we will keep the entertainment coming!

2014 and 2017 – A SAMPLE OF THREE YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT

Let’s have a little retrospective of how three years can evolve some of the areas shall we?

Starting with the Command Center entry area.

2014
Pretty basic, nothing wrong with that. Look at that upgrade room though!



2017
The latest and greatest. Quite a change huh? Look at how the area filled up and the place got so much more decorated. Also – the Upgrade room took a developmental turn too!



Moving to the Map Room

2014
OK- nothing to write home about here. Pretty straightforward and a lot of Earth names for the original cities.



2017
OK – WAY cooler and much jazzier! Look at all this stuff! Come on – this is how you do it when you hit the galaxy for adventure. Even your pet is here!



2014

Level 1 boss fight sample. THIS CITY! THE HAT! Oh man! Look at that machine gun too! Wow – the funny thing is the Bosses were done THREE years ago!



2017

Level 1 Boss fight now. OK – the movement, the city, the action. Much smoother and we added a lot of little touches (like the minions, health bar upgrades, the top UI bar, and on and on!)



OK folks thanks for hanging in there. Next week on Thursday Boss 101 will be available on Steam. If you are interested and we hope you are then we would LOVE you to check out the game! It’s TEN PERCENT off for one week! Check out the trailer and the details below!

As always remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Link to launch trailer here:
 

Tim

Member
Boss 101 is OUT RIGHT NOW!



The day is HERE friends! Three and a half years of MAKING MAGIC can be yours for a mere $8.99 on Steam. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!?!

$8.99 – A bargain for you!

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Check out a bunch of NEW videos for your enjoyment and thank you so much for your support.

Check us out on Steam – We’ll be on the forums and hanging out there as much as we can. We want to make the release as smooth as we can!

Boss 101 Streams and Videos:

The Boss 101 Release Trailer – Start with this if you are new to Boss 101



Endyo on Twitch Playing Boss 101
https://go.twitch.tv/videos/186708706

Early look at Boss 101 release (Polish Language)



Interview with Tim from the Donley Time Foundation on Developing Boss 101



Thank you!

Thank you to our friends and fans over the last three and a half years. It’s been an amazing ride and we appreciate all your support. Thank you so, so much! We made Boss 101 for you and with your support we would love to CONTINUE making more games in the series!

Also – we will be back this weekend for a development update about how things are going! Check back then and in the meanwhile you can catch us on our Steam Store Page.

And as always – remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!
 
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F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
Boss 101 is OUT RIGHT NOW!



The day is HERE friends! Three and a half years of MAKING MAGIC can be yours for a mere $8.99 on Steam. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!?!

$8.99 – A bargain for you!

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Check out a bunch of NEW videos for your enjoyment and thank you so much for your support.

Check us out on Steam – We’ll be on the forums and hanging out there as much as we can. We want to make the release as smooth as we can!

Boss 101 Streams and Videos:

The Boss 101 Release Trailer – Start with this if you are new to Boss 101




Endyo on Twitch Playing Boss 101
https://go.twitch.tv/videos/186708706

Early look at Boss 101 release (Polish Language)




Interview with Tim from the Donley Time Foundation on Developing Boss 101




Thank you!

Thank you to our friends and fans over the last three and a half years. It’s been an amazing ride and we appreciate all your support. Thank you so, so much! We made Boss 101 for you and with your support we would love to CONTINUE making more games in the series!

Also – we will be back this weekend for a development update about how things are going! Check back then and in the meanwhile you can catch us on our Steam Store Page.

And as always – remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!
Congrats for the release!! Will be a success for sure!!

How long this was in development?
 
Congratulations on the release. I am sure you are limited with what kind of info you can release, but I'd love to know how the process was to get going and is going (success), etc... through Steam.
 

Tim

Member
Massive congratulations on the release, dude!
Thank you so much!

Congratulations on the release. I am sure you are limited with what kind of info you can release, but I'd love to know how the process was to get going and is going (success), etc... through Steam.
Thank you and we will try to be as transparent as we reasonably can with the progress of Boss 101. I was there once too and very curious about Steam and it's workings.

-Tim
 

Gravedust

Member
Only got to play for a few minutes last night, but wanted to say congrats! You made an great game. :) Plays wonderfully, and it's obvious that a lot of time and love went into it. I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time flying around and seeing what the higher difficulty levels have to offer.

Anyway, thank you (and the rest of the team) for making a creative, fun, and polished shmup experience at the price of a good deli sandwich. ;) Wishing for your massive success in the future, y'all deserve it. :)
 

Tim

Member
Only got to play for a few minutes last night, but wanted to say congrats! You made an great game. :) Plays wonderfully, and it's obvious that a lot of time and love went into it. I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time flying around and seeing what the higher difficulty levels have to offer.

Anyway, thank you (and the rest of the team) for making a creative, fun, and polished shmup experience at the price of a good deli sandwich. ;) Wishing for your massive success in the future, y'all deserve it. :)
Really appreciate the kind words and the purchase! Great to know you are enjoying the game and having fun. Also looking forward to hearing about how you enjoy the ending and wrap up, hopefully we give you a smile!
 

Tim

Member
Hello and welcome to the first week of Boss 101’s release!



Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

We wanted to thank you for all your support and take a moment to reflect on the moment. First though – let’s look at some videos and updates from around the web.

First off a quick blurb on the upcoming Release from Joel Couture of Silicon Era
http://www.siliconera.com/2017/11/02/shmup-boss-101-gives-players-hand-creating-bosses-fight/

SodaJunkie took a look at the game too!


Retromation did a look too! We hope he does more!


Then we have what was one of the NICEST things to happen for us during launch. Our good friend Matt “ToborPrime” Fitzgerald did a live stream countdown to the game’s release. In it he played the game for a marathon right up till we hit the publish button. Check out a few of the videos below and see how AWESOME his voices for the various Boss 101 characters are!

Boss 101-a-thon, Part 1


Boss 101-a-thon, Part 2


Really hilarious stuff and we can’t thank him enough!

Very Thankful and Humbled

Now I (Tim) wanted to take a moment to share something with you today. I posted earlier on my Facebook page about this but it bears repeating here in this post. I am extremely proud and happy of the work Manon, Joshua and I did on Boss 101. The response from people has been great and I even got a message from a friend I hadn’t spoke with in over 30 years telling me he and his son were playing the game and having a blast. That was awesome and meant so much!

We still have work to do to get the word out but I think it’s time to take a moment to celebrate the achievement. Below is my post on the shipping of Boss 101 (with minor edits).

Please enjoy!

I wanted to drop an update about the latest and greatest news I have! Please forgive the public nature of this note but I had to share the moment with you. A few of you might know this already so consider it a refresher.

I embarked on a journey years ago to work at a pace I could control and on subjects I found personally interesting. Thankfully I was able to team up with two incredibly talented people and together we started on a game project.

Here we are three and a half years later. A lot of time for sure and it caps one of my most satisfying and fun experiences in games. Let’s be clear – I’ve had the privilege of working with many talented people over my career. I learned my craft from far smarter folk who saw fit to give me a break when I needed one. I wouldn’t be here or anywhere unless I stood on the shoulders of giants who took pity on me when I needed it most. From those people and my sainted parents, I stand before you now.

Still, I have to talk about the great fortune and amazing project I’ve been on over these last years. The game is called Boss 101 and I am telling you right this instant you CAN live your dreams. Anything is possible if you are willing to put in the effort. That’s not mumbo jumbo claptrap, that’s the TRUTH.

Boss 101 is a project of pure creation. Myself along with my friends Manon and Joshua managed to make something I personally never thought I’d see. A game without any apologies or compromise. The game we released is basically the game we wanted. That release was based on nothing except two questions we asked ourselves over and over. “Is it fun?” and “Is it done?”

That’s it. That got this game finished. When we started, the project was small and the scale was limited. The framework went up quickly and we started asking “Is this fun?” If the answer was no then we worked to add things to make it fun. Adding features we felt had value. From there we iterated and played the game. At every step the same question was asked “Is this fun?” This was coming out of our own time and effort. No publisher. No Kickstarter.

At one point the game pretty well hit all the story beats and we felt the value was there for anyone who would buy it. So, we released it.

And you know what? When I hit “Publish” on Steam this past Thursday I felt something strange. I felt no urge to apologize for the game. No sense of “Well, if we only had a few more months” or “You know, you should have seen the ideas we LEFT OUT! OH BOY you would not believe how awesome they were!” It was strange as we got past the first few hours of release and early buyers were playing and commenting on the game. Most all were getting the vibe and liking what they saw.

Really though, really, and I mean this - the game was already a huge success before I hit that publish button. It was a success because it proved something I long imagined possible. You can live your dreams. It’s doable. You can even do it with other people. Heck it’s BETTER when you journey with other people. Friends. Family. People you trust and can laugh with. Makes the whole shebang a lot easier.

In fact, you might learn something important about yourself while you’re on this journey. I pretty much guarantee it. I can’t tell you what that lesson is since it varies from person to person but I can tell you one thing. If you live your dreams, one day - at the end of your grand life, as you lay there thinking to yourself during your final moments on this magnificent planet – you won’t wonder “Well, if I only had a few more months” or “You should have seen the things I WANTED to do! OH BOY you would not believe how awesome they were!” No ma’am. No sir. You’re going to feel right cause you didn’t compromise.

Be true to yourself everyone. . . and live your dreams.

-Tim

All right – go out and get Boss 101 if you haven’t already! It’s on sale this WHOLE WEEK!

Thank you!!!

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date:
November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99 $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

 

Tim

Member
What a week!

Boss 101 has been out a week and thank you for everyone who purchased and supported the game. If you haven’t yet got your copy then we have some really good news. Apparently Steam has more copies available for purchase – in fact we understand the amount of copies is near unlimited! That doesn’t mean you can’t rush right over there and get one now. Do it!

Thank you for your support!

We appreciate the letters, comments and reviews for Boss 101. We really are glad many of you are enjoying the game and we are looking forward to bringing you more!

So – what’s been going on SINCE the release?

Well, Boss 101 is still our number one priority and that is what we have been working on! Guess what? We’ve been doing bug fixes and even adding some features!

Difficulty Settings!

Check this out! We added the ability to change your difficulty in Boss 101. If you want you can go EASY to ULTRA now! From our build notes!

From the options panel


Three settings you can change on the fly!


Easy - this is what the game shipped as. All settings are the prior version of Boss 101. Personally speaking this is a good choice if you want to enjoy the story and have some easy fun. It can be challenging at times but more than likely you will have a few relatively easy to beat bosses early.

Normal - This setting has a few thing new. The normal story mode has an adjusted curve where the early bosses hit a little harder and have more hitpoints. The overall scaling ends up at the same point the old game does but the early game is more of a challenge. This mode does rely a lot more on picking a good hat to help you against a boss.

Also - the Endless Boss has a tweaked curve to make it a lot more fun and challenging. I HIGHLY recommended checking out the Arcade Mode. We've been testing it and it's a blast. It only drops level 3 guns now BUT the bosses are much hard and subsequently much more fun.

Ultra - This is things cranked up a bit. The normal story mode is a bit harder than the Normal setting and bosses have more HP and hit harder. Also the scaling ends up way past the normal game. In other words - the level 20-31 bosses are on a new level of tough. Additionally all the status effects (freeze, webbed, etc) last a little longer. Again - hats will help counter these.

This mode also has Endless Boss tweaks and the bosses hit hard in here. Should be fun to use arcade and iron bot if you want to earn some cash for the main campaign.

So we listened folks! We want Boss 101 to be a fun game for you and if there is more we can reasonably do – we will. Mostly we wanted to preserve the game people were enjoying but add things for people who wanted a little (or a lot) more challenge.

Extra adds and fixes

We also did a lot of quality of life fixes. One of our later boss fights got some visual indicators to help players. We did tweaks and tunes to fights and power levels to make things a lot more fun.

Endless Boss

Check this out. We did a bit of reworking to the tuning in this area. Personally I think it’s a LOT more fun and probably closer to the original arcade experience we imagined when we made it! It’s actually tuned to be harder BUT we only give you the most powerful guns in the game now. More power for your blasting!

Some clips from me getting shellacked by a tough boss combo!





Boss 101 Playthroughs with ToborPrime

Two more videos in the series!

Part 5




Part 6




That’s all for now folks and thank you for being there for us! We’ve got more news and continued support of Boss 101 coming your way! Thank you and remember to always. . .

. . . LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!
 

Tim

Member


Welcome back to the latest Boss 101 update!

We are still going strong folks and bringing you the latest magic.

We’re a little over two weeks into our Steam release! We have a solid set of positive reviews there and people seem to be enjoying the game. If you haven’t already we recommend you check out the latest and greatest. We have been working to clean up little bugs and issues we and our fans have found. Minor stuff to be sure but all good quality of life improvements.



Upcoming Announcements

Apologies in advance for being coy but we expect to be having some exciting news for you in the coming weeks. While we can’t speak specifically to the announcement at the time sine things are still in motion, we are happy about what’s coming and expect you will be also. Trust us – we’ll be keeping you posted.



Man, look at some of these leaderboard scores on the arcade machine! A few of you are pretty freaking good at our games. Maybe we have to drop back in there and see if we can pass you up. Though looking at the high scores, I don’t think it would be easy to beat any of those!





We have some reviews from friends and fans to share too! A video review and a writeup!

First up is Daniel Weissenberger reviewing Boss 101 for Game Critics. Let’s be frank – Daniel gets it and his review is a great look at our game!

Link to Write up
https://gamecritics.com/daniel-weissenberger/boss-101-review/

Next up is a video look at Boss 101 from Chef Fitaurus. He also really gets the game! One thing we wanted to add here is we added in difficulty settings around the time he posted his review so just remember you CAN adjust Boss 101 to be harder or easier if you like. It’s really up to you!

Video




Ok folks – we have more coming and thank you for all the support. Expect some news from us soon and remember to always – LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

 

Tim

Member
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest Boss 101 Update

Today’s Topics:
- News from the Team
- Videos for you!



News from the Team

We’ve been busy working on some new items in preparation for an announcement we expect to be giving you in the coming weeks. Perhaps even a COUPLE of announcements! This is Boss 101 related stuff folks so it won’t be long till you know!



We’ve also been playtesting and looking for bugs in the game. There’s a planned patch with a few quality of life upgrades and also an asset update which I want to talk about for a moment.



Boss 101 has a LOT of animation assets, close to 4000 if you can believe it. Most of those are Spine .json files. So you might imagine that we have TONS of files across almost four years of development in various versions of Spine. We recently did a huge sweep to update these files and bring them all up to a recent uniform format.



The idea here is we are now in a MUCH better position to fix any problems and also bring Boss 101 to other platforms. Great news for us and great news for you! As a reference we have some files that were about three years old banging around in Boss 101. Most of these were old core systems like the Make a Boss and parts of the UI. The rest were things like environmental art and some super old cinematic assets.

We expect to push this update out soon but first we will be testing to make sure everything works well!



Videos and Reviews for Boss 101

A bunch of new stuff went up this week for you to check out.

First off we have an interview with Indie Game Riot and yours truly (Tim). This was from earlier in the week and it was awesome to talk with Josh again. He has been a supporter from WAY back and we really appreciate his help!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/203565083

Next we have The_Jaydles with a Boss 101 livestream!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/203481101

Finally we have DJ Tiger Fox with the next to last video of their Boss 101 complete playthrough





Great stuff from all our friends and we do appreciate the looks!



OK – talk with you soon and remember……..

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!
 

Tim

Member
Welcome back to the weekly Boss 101 update and thank you for joining us

This week has seen an update to the main game, new video reviews, a podcast and gifs of the Boss himself. Let's get rolling.



Boss 101 Main Game Update

We did an update yo our main build for minor performance increases and clean up some minor UI issues. You can check the build notes on the Steam page for more info. The overall effect is a smoother experience for everyone.

Boss 101 Video Review

Gamers' Compass really gets it when it comes to Boss 101.

Link here:


The Big Giant Head Game Dev Podcast - Episode 8

Big Head Podcast Link here


Talking game dev with Matt "ToborPrime" Fitzgerald. Well, game dev, Boss 101, Savage: Shard of Gosen and a lot of other random things. Hey we filled over two hours and could have gone longer! Really fun and check it out if you want to hear a lot of ramblings on both our games!

Check out Matt's game - Savage: Shard of Gosen here
Savage Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/408060/SAVAGE_The_Shard_of_Gosen/
Main Site: http://www.planettobor.com/savage/
IndieDB DevBlog: http://www.indiedb.com/games/savage-the-shard-of-gosen

Boss 101 Video Look at Boss 101 Himself

Right here:


Check out some of the battling gifs with Boss 101 himself.

One of the main intros


Dodging meteors


Clearing the way


Thank you again for your support and thank you so much for coming back to check out the latest. We are keeping up with the updates and working hard. We hope to have some new announcements for you before the month wraps up.

Talk with you soon and remember to...

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim



Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Boss 101 Steam Store Page:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

 

Tim

Member
Welcome BACK to the weekly Boss 101 update!

Wherever you are we hope you are gearing up for a great end of the year and happy holiday season.



Let’s get rolling with a new Boss 101 review from RetroNuke



Now this is the kind of person who ‘gets’ what we were going for and seems to have enjoyed our game for what it is. Check this blurb out…

“Boss 101 is a delightfully modern twist on a classic arcade genre. Modern elements of customization, boss creations, level exploration, and many hidden Easter eggs provide a gaming experience that is likely to leave a lasting impression. The use of randomizing boss battles is just the icing on the glorious pixel-art cake. At $10 on the Steam store, this little gem has so much to offer, it is absolutely worthy of a spot on that game list of yours.”

The full review here:
http://retronuke.com/boss-101-review-like-a-boss/



News and Updates

We spent a lot of this week prepping for the next steps in the Boss 101 process. Some of these will remain unannounced for the moment but we are chomping at the bit to tell you what’s been going on behind the scenes. Let’s just say there are contracts and signings happening and it’s all HUSH HUSH until we can spill the beans.



What we can tell you is Boss 101 is our passion and we want to keep bringing you our best. Any thing you can do to spread the word would be a big help for us. We are in the process of writing up a post-mortem on Boss 101 but one thing we can tell you is this. We did our best and brought you the best we could.



As we roll into the end of the year one of our holiday wishes is more people get to enjoy Boss 101. At the moment we have to report Steam sales are low. There can be a lot of reasons for this but the simple truth is we could use YOUR word of mouth or kind review now more than ever. If you played Boss 101 and liked it. Heck if you even know a friend who might appreciate Boss 101 then we would love your recommendation or support.



We’re hanging in there. As we mentioned, we have things cooking in the back room. Still – any and all support from you and the community at large would mean a lot. We’ll try and cover all the ups and downs in the post mortem but for now – help us, help you. You want more games in the spirit of Boss 101 – well now is the time to vote with your support and your wallet if you would be so kind.



Updating the engine

One thing we have been doing is versioning up our game engine. It’s been a slow process and that is mostly because we want to be careful with the updates until things are tested. We had a few hiccups earlier in the week but we sorted them out and did another minor patch.



Thank you again for joining us and wherever you may be remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!
 

Tim

Member
Hello and welcome to the Boss 101 Holiday Update!

Hope you are having a great day and that your end of 2017 is looking to be awesome.

We have a few things to talk about and then we are off for our own holidays with friends and family.

Gamasutra Post Mortem

We had our Boss 101 postmortem published at Gamasutra. In it we took a look at the whole development process, how we got from a Flash game to Steam and generally talk about everything we could think about! We wanted to drop in some snippets from that document so you can see for yourself!

Here’s a direct link to the blog: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Tim...tem_Making_Boss_101_and_living_our_dreams.php



Some excerpts

For the TL;DR crowd
Those looking for quick summaries of the right and wrong way to make a game, you can just keep on browsing. There are few sound bites here. I liken making a game to raising a kid. You might have a plan going in but the kid has their own personality and way about them. You can fight it or you can encourage it. Boss 101 was our kid and though the game came out differently than our plans I'm incredibly proud of the team and our result. We did indeed live our dreams.

For those wondering about making games themselves
If you are looking at making games and wonder if you should, I ask you this... is it your passion? Do you feel a drive to do this even if you aren't getting paid? Do you work on games in your spare time? If you do or even feel the urge to create games for the love of games then do it. JUST DO IT! Don't listen to the naysayers. Find supporters. Work hard and be dedicated. You can do it. You will do it. No one can tell you different.

For those wondering about "should I use this or that engine" or "this or that application for graphics, programming or sound"
Listen very carefully, there are no magic bullets in game development. Read that again please.
Everything worth two craps on this planet is the result of a lot of hard work, dedication and sweat. Games are no different. There are plenty of apps and engines out there. You need to do your own research. Do the legwork yourself and make decisions based on your talent and ambitions. What works for one might not work for you. We can talk about why things worked for us but you might be different. Remember that.



Picking a team that's right for you
If you got this far then heed my advice. I'm an an old vet who has managed and worked with many, many teams. The advice is....

Work with people you like.

This will make your journey a LOT easier and much more fun.

When looking for people to help with Boss 101 my only thought was "Who would I get in a foxhole with if the bullets were flying?" I put out ads on a bunch of art and programming sites. I ended up being fortunate to find two people who were not only talented but incredibly fun to work with. We shared many of the same gaming passions and complimented each other in our skill sets.

I have a theory about people on teams and it boils down to this chart:



I know what you might be thinking "Hey, we need TALENTED people even if they aren't 100% onboard, they will still make a difference!". Yeah they will. They will sink your ship faster than a torpedo. You do not want talented people who aren't onboard with your project or company. Those people are leaders and if they don't like your project they will poison the studio in more ways than I can list here. You are far better hiring passionate people and training them up. They will go farther and do more. The other two quadrants speak for themselves I think.

I was fortunate with Boss 101 when I found two talented people who also believed in the project. From there it was a matter of making the game.

The Development Process of Boss 101

A common question we asked was "Is this fun?" about everything. We added fun where needed and subtracted or adjusted un-fun items. I'll list tenets of the game and explain each as we go along.
Entertain always - Every screen, round and aspect of the game was there to entertain in every way we could make happen. All game screens have at least some animations to prevent static or still moments. All screens contain items which relate to the world. Every time you play a minigame or sit on kite hill things are meant to fold back into the main Boss 101 narrative in interesting ways. As much as possible there were two or more bits of info, story or data in any player interaction with the game.



Tell a story - Boss 101 has a story and characters that exist in their world. We created a large narrative for the world and while parts might be unseen, it was all there when we made the game. This is what informed design decisions and ideas. It sounds absurd to say there is a reason for Make-A-Boss in any universe but we did come up with a reason and used it in the game. Things like this helped us make sense of the wacky nature of our game universe and lead to a lot of new ideas that fit well with everything else.

An example would be our BERL tutorials. These were done at the end of development. When coming up with how tutorials should look and function we referred to all the prior things in the game (story and visuals). We ended up creating a new jetpack character (BERL) who was a lonely janitor type. It made sense and gave the game a new person to play things off in the main game.

Give the player stories too! - We wanted to create a situation where players have stories to tell their friends and family. This could be from having an amazing game round, discovering a secret or maybe learning a fun bit of story from the main campaign.



Do things which make sense - this is an obvious thing but it might be one of the reasons the game took so long to complete. We regularly added time to development to do things that made sense. Adding in features like nice options sliders, difficulty modes, tutorials and a good amount of weapons and abilities for the player. Boss 101 started small and grew in organic ways. We didn't let the game get hampered by a deadline. We played, assessed and adjusted all the way through. A lot of times the discussion started with "Hey, this isn't Boss 101 enough!" haha



Make it right versus hitting a date - one huge thing we committed to early was making the game we wanted versus hitting a date. It seemed some of our favorite game companies favored this model too (Valve and Nintendo for example). It meant the game ran longer than estimated but it made Boss 101 something very unique and in our opinion - high quality. It's not a luxury everyone has but we felt we had to differentiate ourselves in some way and this was it. We took our time. To put this in perspective we had three people full time for much of our three and a half years.



Feature creep versus connective tissue - very much related to the above is the idea of feature creep versus connective tissue. Connective tissue for us were features that we did not plan for but upon testing a new system we would realize we needed something to bridge it into the main game. Maybe an interface, a sound, etc. It could be anything but we worked to make sure all the connective tissue was there.

Ok – there’s more in the postmortem so check it out!



What’s next?

We have a couple announcements we except to land first thing in the new year as well as a peel at the next project we are working on!

Thank you so much for your support!

Thank you again and again for all your support over the holidays and THANK YOU so much for being there with us during Boss 101’s development.

You helped us live our dreams and we want you to remember to always….. LIVE YOUR DREAMS TOO!



Talk with you soon and take care! Have a great end of 2017 and we’re looking forward to hearing about your adventures too!

Best,

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

 

Tim

Member
Hello and welcome to the End of the Year Boss 101 update!

Thank you so much for joining us and we have some special announcements for you! Let’s GET GOING, shall we?

Boss 101 Update in January – New Arcade Game being added!

Yes, you heard that correctly. We are doing a game update in January and among the various adds, there will be a new arcade game called Rob’s Adventure. You know how Rob is always wanting to have some fun? Well, now he gets to explore and battle bad guys.

Check out the screens – just a small sample of what you can expect!

You access Rob’s Adventure from the Command Center the same way you access all the arcade games. From there you can select Rob’s Adventure to get going!





Rob’s Adventure Title Screen



Ok – here are some samples of the game in action. You will battle through waves of enemies, one hit and you’re toast! Maneuver carefully and watch for the patterns in the enemy firing. The path is there but you must find it!





As you progress through more and more shooting waves of enemies you will encounter large bosses who block your progress



Besides this addition, we are working on various quality of life improvements to the game. These include performance boosts and general tweaks to make the game as fun as possible. We’re committed to Boss 101 and want you to have the best experience.

Upcoming Announcements

We have a few more new updates for you in January so stay tuned. Without giving too much away we can say this – we hope to see a lot more people getting access to Boss 101 soon! HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Also - we have been working behind the scenes to get rolling with our next big adventure.

Thank you again and Happy New Year

We want to take a moment to express again how grateful we are for your kind support during the development and release of Boss 101. We've been living our dreams so we can bring you the best entertainment possible. Boss 101 is only the beginning of our adventure together.

I think the end of our postmortem sums up our feelings well...

I am telling you right this instant you CAN live your dreams. Anything is possible if you are willing to put in the effort. That’s not mumbo-jumbo claptrap, that’s the TRUTH.

Boss 101 is a project of pure creation. Myself along with my friends Manon and Joshua managed to make something I personally never thought I’d see. A game without any apologies or compromise. The game we released is basically the game we wanted. That release was based on nothing except two questions we asked ourselves over and over. “Is it fun?” and “Is it done?”

That’s it. That got this game finished. When we started, the project was small and the scale was limited. The framework went up quickly and we started asking “Is this fun?” If the answer was no then we worked to add things to make it fun. Adding features we felt had value. From there we iterated and played the game. At every step, the same question was asked: “Is this fun?” This was coming out of our own time and effort.

At one point the game pretty well hit all the story beats and we felt the value was there for anyone who would buy it. So, we released it.

And you know what? When I hit “Publish” on Steam I felt something strange. I felt no urge to apologize for the game. No sense of “Well, if we only had a few more months” or “You know, you should have seen the ideas we LEFT OUT! OH BOY you would not believe how awesome they were!” It was strange as we got past the first few hours of release and early buyers were playing and commenting on the game. Most all were getting the vibe and liking what they saw.

Really though, and I mean this — the game was already a huge success before I hit that publish button. It was a success because it proved something I long imagined possible. You can live your dreams. It’s doable. You can even do it with other people. Heck it’s BETTER when you journey with other people. Friends. Family. People you trust and can laugh with. Makes the whole shebang a lot easier.

In fact, you might learn something important about yourself while you’re on this journey. I pretty much guarantee it. I can’t tell you what that lesson is since it varies from person to person but I can tell you one thing. If you live your dreams, one day — at the end of your grand life, as you lay there thinking to yourself during your final moments on this magnificent planet — you won’t wonder “Well, if I only had a few more months” or “You should have seen the things I WANTED to do! OH BOY you would not believe how awesome they were!” No ma’am. No sir. You’re going to feel right 'cause you didn’t compromise.

Be true to yourself everyone. . . and live your dreams.

Thanks again and have a FANTASTIC new year. Talk with you soon,

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

 

Tim

Member
Guess what is coming to Boss 101 this weekend for FREE!?!?

That’s right – a new arcade game for the Command Center - This one is called Rob’s Adventure and FREE TO ALL BOSS 101 OWNERS!

Rob is one of the caretakers on the Command Center in Boss 101 and has always wanted to go on an exciting adventure with the guys. Well, now he’s getting his own arcade adventure right there in the Command Center.



Rob’s Adventure

Join Rob and the Cosmic Clicks ship as they blast through way after wave of robotic enemies. You will even encounter Bosses who get progressively tougher! You heard right people this is old school SHMUP action. One hit and you die but thankfully there is always a safe path Rob can navigate through. Yes, the game does allow for unlimited continuous play but only for the best of the best.

How far will you get? Find out THIS WEEK!

Start Screen area





Dodging and weaving through the correct path! You can do it!



Or don't and pay the price!



Will you see ALL the bosses?









REMEMBER PEOPLE! THIS IS A FREE UPDATE TO BOSS 101! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!

Zazmo Arcade Pack coming soon!

Get ready for the Zazmo Arcade Pack or ZAP coming to you from your friends at the Donley Time Foundation. A new game altogether with arcade classis reimagined! Stay tuned for more information and news about the upcoming release!

Remember to always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 - Out Now on Steam
Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check it out if you would be so kind!
 
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