Windows Boss 101 (2018.01.08) Big Free Update this Week

[Tim]

Welcome to the latest Boss 101 update.

Let’s talk about some of the UI improvements and touchups we have done in Boss 101 over the last year. What we are going to do is look at a build of the game from ONE YEAR AGO and compare it to today’s build. What I would like to point out is how many things have remained the same and touches we have done to make things clearer and easier to understand. Overall I feel YOU will enjoy the changes and rest assured we are making sure the WHOLE GAME has as much polish as we can muster for the release.

Upgrades Room

We spoke about this one a while back but here’s a refresher. Upgrades are on the second floor of the Command Center and they are where you can go for basic overall improvements of your main character and weapon. Additionally you can invest in a construction project to get access to ROB’s secret store.

So – we have a snippet here of the game tutorial giving you an overview of the upgrades in the room. Notice even BERL is hesitant to talk about the Debug upgrade! Guess you will just have to get down there for yourself.

Health – then and now

The Health upgrade section is a pretty good example of what has been happening. The old version wasn’t bad but we wanted a new one with the information a little clearer (more on that later) and a little more in line with the Boss 101 game aesthetic.

The old version

New and Jazzier

So – some of the reasoning here is we wanted to leave space for dropping in numbers after all the tunes are done. You’ll notice we have levels of upgrades but the idea is we have left the door open for tweaks in the way the information is displayed. Once all the final gameplay tunes are in and balances then we will come back here for a last pass on the display. The same will go for all the upgrade sections.

The Bounty section

This is where you adjust your end of round bonus. In here you can give yourself a health boost in cash. As with the health – this will be revisited once all the final values are in. The current setup allows for a really easy change to this display.

Old

New

Main Gun Damage

Personally I think this upgrade benefited GREATLY from the UI improvements. This is the indicator of the damage your main gun will do. The old was a simple bullet and icon coloration. Now we have all the different machines guns YOU WILL SEE IN GAME represented here. It’s pretty clear what’s happening, right? HA!

Old

New

Debug Store

This was another one long in the works. The debug store was always a tricky concept to sell in this room. The original idea was we had a totally secret room that you had to buy to ‘discover’. You would not have been given any information other than this obscure looking upgrade slot. As you dropped your cash down you would have been slowly building a button on the command center controls. Well, the idea is still there but we make it a LOT clearer what is going in with the design of this upgrade, the tutorials and the actual in-game displays.

Old

New

Boss 101 Screenshot

Putting the last touches on the Tank Battle Mini Game (Start Screen)

Wrap up and release date

We’re working on a release date announcement (sooner than later) and a final series of gameplay videos for your enjoyment as we head into the last part of development. It has been a LONG, long ride and no one wants this game in your hands as much as we do – TRUST US!

Realistically though – we will not put this game out there before we put our all into it. We’re right next to the finish line, the end is near but this is the time to keep a steady resolve to BRING YOU OUR BEST! You will be adventuring in Boss 101 soon people – THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND HANG IN THERE!

And….. remember to….. LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Please put Boss 101 on your Steam Wishlist us if you would be so kind

http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920

Thank you!

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the Boss 101 update!

Hope your day is going well and thank you for checking in on us. Let’s get rolling shall we?

Mazard – the arcade game of Mazes and Wizards in Boss 101

We’ve been looking at some of the other arcade games you can play INSIDE Boss 101 and here is yet another. It’s Mazard and it continues in our theme of retro arcade action. We have some work in progress shots for you to look at.

The rules are simple – destroy all the aliens to survive. You have a maze, your gun and a bunch of bad guys to deal with. The problem is some of them are invisible but FEAR NOT! You have a radar to spy them out.

Check out this sample of the maze in action

Our hero going through some of his animations

The maze is a tough place and pretty unforgiving. Think you can get the high score? MAYBE YOU CAN! We will have to see when the game launches.

Another WIP of the Maze art

High Scores and Global Leader boards

So we know you might want to compare some of your rankings with OTHER friends. In addition to local high scores we have your friend’s leaderboard as well as the global leader boards for all the arcade game. CHECK IT!

Sample of the various leader boards (note, some scores are ridiculous for testing purposes)

Pet Hill Art Wrap up

One of the last things in Pet Hill was the addition of the various new and vacant signs to identify the pet friends you have and don’t have…

Good News Everyone – Options on every screen!

It’s likely this is more an expectation than an exception but we added the ability to access the options panel from near every screen in the game. We also added an insta-pause if your game was to lose focus. YAY!

Boss 101 Screenshot, Endless Boss Launch

The elevator ride to the Cosmic Clicks Rocket in Boss 101!

Thanks again for stopping by and thank you again for your support and letters! We appreciate it!

Remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Please put Boss 101 on your Steam Wishlist us if you would be so kind

http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920

Thank you!

 

[JaimitoEs]

Awesome development! this is made for the success!!

 

[Tim]

Awesome development! this is made for the success!!

Man - we sure feel that way too! HAHAH. Ideally we are proven correct. We're working hard to put in the love and details we would want in any game!

Thanks for the comment!

Best,

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Boss 101 - BIG FAT RELEASE UPDATE!

Good news everyone! We’re going to talk about the upcoming Boss 101 release date, pricing and even the Boss 101 Soundtrack! YOU HEARD RIGHT!

Boss 101 Price Target - $9.99

Yep, that is what we are planning on selling Boss 101 for on Steam. Less than 10 bucks! A BARGAIN AT TWICE THE PRICE I SAY!

There are nuances in the reasoning for our price but the overriding factor was to hit a sweet spot which put Boss 101 in as many hands as possible AND give us financial breathing room to continue working on the Boss 101 franchise (i.e. Boss 102, 103, etc).

We thought long and hard about a higher price point and though we love to image a glorious deluge of purchases at ANY price we felt $9.99 was just the right amount of “wow” and value YOU NEEDED to want to buy Boss 101. You are getting a ton of our blood sweat and tears for that price but more than that – you are getting a ton of game entertainment! Check them dev blogs for evidence!

We have put everything in Boss 101 we felt was needed. The main storyline, equipment, stores, WIKI, mini-games, PET FRIENDS, collection, arcade action, gopher buddies, and THE JOKES!!! It’s all there and you get it for what we think is a great value. Ideally this price will bring you a lot of fun and ZERO regrets. Also – wouldn’t it be nice if you recommended Boss 101 after you played it too?!?! THANK YOU!!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Release Date News – or “When can I buy the gol-darn game?!?”

Let’s ease into this one first. As you know we are ENTIRELY self-funded. We didn’t do a Kickstarter nor are we being subsidized by any publisher or third party. That’s right folks – we’re what you might call INDEPENDENT! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

That said – we have only had one main commitment to Boss 101 and that is to make sure YOU get the most value for your money. That means putting our best into the game and making sure things are as amazing as we can make them. Many times this pushed the date out a little further but the end result is a MUCH better game. If we had stuck to the original release schedule we would have been in development for about six months and Boss 101 most likely would have been a glorified web game brought to Steam. Maybe that would have been enough for some developers but it was not enough for us.

We looked at Boss 101 as it was coming together and thought “We have something special happening here and with some more ‘oomph’ it could be VERY special.” So we put in the time and polished features. We added gameplay we felt we needed. We added in the story elements that helped fill in the universe we envisioned. Then we spent (and still are) a lot of time polishing.

It was NOT enough to just ‘make a game’ and put it on Steam. We want to bring you a game with fun, entertainment and a high content value. To that end we have been working hard and waiting till we felt we were close to talk about a final release date. Well, that day is finally here.

The target right now is the beginning of 2017. This would be ideally end of January or beginning of February. Yes, it might be a little saddening to hear the game won’t hit Christmas but check this out. We COULD have hit Christmas and probably given you a pretty decent Boss 101 game. After all – we are mostly polishing and tuning the game. The thing is we didn’t want to rush into a late November or December ship date and get buried under a mountain of gaming press for every release around that time. So we looked at the game, the calendar and decided we might as well keep the focus on polish and cleanup over the next month and wait till 2017.

So yes, we are on track for a release. Yes, we are only on polish and sound (more on that below) and YES we feel you will be getting our best effort which is WHAT YOU DESERVE! As always – we reserve the simple right to hold things while we tighten the needed bolts and fix the needed bugs. It’s important we bring you our top effort.

So, Boss 101 Release – Early 2017 with a rough target end of January or early February. We’re getting there folks and we will keep you posted regularly. If you have any doubts about the game or are wondering where all our time and money are going then please take a look at any of our devblogs. We have well over two years of TWICE weekly updates and you can pretty much see we aren’t sitting around.

YOU KNOW WE LOVE YOU!

Soundtrack for Boss 101 and Album info!

We have been quiet about the music for Boss 101 but that doesn’t mean we aren’t ACTIVE. We have been speaking with a CLASS A fellow named Martin Millar for over a year now. He has been in touch regularly, is supportive of Boss 101 AND a top notch composer.

Martin will be providing Boss 101 with a musical foundation. That will mean themes, background music and various tunes you will hear throughout the game. He’s a longtime composer with a ton of talent. Check out his work here:

Martin Millar on BandCamp

We’ll be posting samples of his work but in the meantime visit his site – really great work. Additionally we are working with Martin to create a Boss 101 album that you can purchase separately (if you so desire).

Store Update, NEW VIDEOS, SCREENSHOTS AND MORE!

Of course - expect some new videos about gameplay in the coming time leading to release. We are aiming for a new one before the end of the year and think you will enjoy it A LOT! After that we are planning more 'snapshot' videos which highlight various parts of the game - EXCITING!!!

Check out the ongoing update at our Steam Store!



Ok – onto the update!

VFX and More!

We are hammering away at VFX touchup and came across a great little utility called Geon FX for GameMaker. In short it is a standalone particle editor for GameMaker and it is VERY nice. For where we are in polish it really nice to be able to load and edit VFX tweaks. Let’s look at something we just fixed shall we.

Damage States for the Bosses

As you damage the bosses they show the damage externally. What this means for you is a set of sparks, smoke and flying debris. What we did was setup all the bosses with bones that would be used as 'damage bones'. When the player does enough damage the boss has a small chance to have a bone smoke, spark or something exciting.

Here's a sample of the early setup. You can see the bones are all lit up here. Mostly this was done as a sample so we could tell things are work..

First pass test of the VFX Bones

In Game sample

Here's a setup in Geon FX - this is where the smoke and VFX magic gets made!

Let's look at some samples of Smoke and Fire VFX for the bosses. ALL GOOD!!

Fire example 1 - sample from editor

Fire example 2 - sample from editor

Sample Explosion

Wrapping up for today

OK - HUGE update - hope you enjoyed it and if you have any questions, drop us a line.

As always, we appreciate your support and look forward to bring you Boss 101. We hope you are looking forward to the release. It's happening folks!

Talk with you soon and remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!!!

-Tim

Please put Boss 101 on your Steam Wishlist us if you would be so kind

http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920

Thank you!

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update

Let’s check out what is on the menu today shall we?

End of Round Awesomeness

So when you win a round in Boss 101 we want it to be awesome. Awesome being defined as rewarding and fulfilling. You just completed a round against a tough boss and here you are at the end to collect cash, awards and other bonuses – why not make that as cool and fun as possible, right?!?! YAY!

So check out some of these images here showing the various moments you can have at the end of the round.

In this image we see a still from a time out screen. In this round you are getting a sense of the whole layout and placement of the panels.

With this in mind let’s look at panels in motion. Here we have the beginning of the transition. This is a closeup of the main panel right at the end of the round.

The thinking here is we start things with a bang. Some dynamic movement to announce where you are and what you have done. We bring in the round name, the medals for the boss killed and show you your basic rewards.

Award Time

The same kind of stuff is going on when you receive a medal. Bring ‘em up and slap ‘em down. We set it up so you can speed through ALL of these processes and still see the basic cool stuff. We know you will be seeing this panel a lot so we want to keep it exciting all the time.

Cash Money

When the awards are done it’s time for a cash deposit. Check out the ridic loot drop! (yah, maybe that could use a slight tune…. HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!)

Fireworks too!

Of course who doesn’t like FIREWORKS. You can start aiming and letting off bottle rockets just to celebrate having a fun time. Why? Because WE LIKE YOU that’s why!

Come on now – that’s what an end of round celebration should be. Fireworks, awards and CASH!

Lightning Gun

Here are a couple tunes for the lightning gun.

Checking out the moves and how the lightning flows against a single target

Trying out the jumping from multiple targets.

Ok folks – we’re hoping you enjoy these looks and thank you for the emails and comments. It really means a lot. We’re cutting a new video to showcase the game and bring you the latest look. YES!!

Remember to always and everyday – LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Please put Boss 101 on your Steam Wishlist us if you would be so kind

http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920

Thank you!

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the Boss 101 update and thank you for joining us again!

ROB’s Room is watching out for you

We wanted you to know you are safe when you are running around the Command Center. ROB has dropped in a bunch of safety monitors in all the public rooms and entrances. This is to ensure YOU are safe and sound from a base invasion.

You can see some of the cameras here. Are there more? Maybe, maybe not. We can’t show you all the secrets just yet! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Sample of a camera

Hat Room Surveillance

Upgrade Room Surveillance

Another location off the beaten path

See – you’re safe and sound in the Command Center. The Professor and ROB are keeping the area scanned and safe.

Edge of Screen Warnings

You know we have a few bosses that can toss stuff from off screen. Well, we are in the process of tuning your in-game early warning system. Check this out.

Sample 1

We created a warning symbol to alert you to the dangers from a sneaky boss. Here’s a pass of the alert system complete with a laughing skull.

Sample 2

Boss 101 Screenshot

Looks like a boss is making a warp getaway. You going to go after him? You can!

Happy Holidays for 2016 and beyond

OK – you have been hanging in there with us for nearly 3 years. We appreciate it and we appreciate you coming here to check out the updates as we have been making Boss 101. The plan going forward is just bug fixing and polish. We have a short break planned at the end of the year for a rest and family time but expect updates regardless.

Thank you again and keep checking back. Boss 101 will be in your hands sooner than you think!

Remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Please put Boss 101 on your Steam Wishlist us if you would be so kind

http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920

Thank you!

 

[JacobV]

The particles are looking awesome! But I dunno how I feel about the screen warnings taking up an entire side of the screen. It could be a bit distracting if you're trying to dodge things from multiple places. Maybe just have a smaller arrow over the point where the actual obstacle is coming in?

 

[Tim]

The particles are looking awesome! . . .

Thanks and yah - the warning system is getting a few tunes as we mentioned. Keep checking back for more updates and looks at the game in development.

Best,

-Tim

 

[artcadev]

This game is looking better and better each time I look at it. Really wish to play it next year also inspiring to keep learning GMS and programming in general. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Tim]

This game is looking better and better each time I look at it. Really wish to play it next year also inspiring to keep learning GMS and programming in general. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks so much. The game has been a supreme team effort and we all hope you and others will enjoy it when it comes out!

As always, check back for more updates as we near release!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back and GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! The new gameplay video for Boss 101 is here!

Boss 101 December 2016 Gameplay Trailer

Let’s get straight to the good stuff shall we. This is the culmination of nearly three years of development efforts and we still can only show you a FRACTION of the game you will get. Check out the trailer here:

>>>DIRECT LINK to Boss 101 December 2016 Gameplay Video on YouTube<<<

Boss 101 Steam Store Page - please wishlist us!
Release Date: Early 2017
Price: $9.99 (look how much YOU get for UNDER TEN BUCKS!)

What you are seeing is a broad look at many of the gameplay systems you will be dealing with in Boss 101. Not only do we have a fun story about friends and adventure but we put in a cool system to battle with robot baddies. You have hats, guns and abilities to upgrade and take into battle but the CRAZY PART is you can ROLL YOUR OWN BOSS. Sure, make who you want but then you will have to match him against your own abilities. Bosses are tough so plan carefully. You might get a boss that is strong against, say, a fire attack so you will want to avoid bringing your flamethrower. Basically, you will have to do a little research to bring YOUR best into the battle. Better battles mean more money for upgrades. Find more people and bring more friends back to the Command Center! EVERYONE WINS WITH MORE FRIENDS!!

Here are some stills from the video for your viewing enjoyment. Notice that BERL helps walk you through some of the more complicated moments.

More Videos on the way

We have a series of deep dive videos planned as we head towards release. Starting in the New Year we would like to highlight various aspects of the game and give you a better look at the systems and sections of the game. Things like stores, upgrades, characters, even PETS! Stay tuned for more as we head forward.

What’s Left in Development

As we mentioned – it’s all about polish and cleanup. Nothing too surprising but we want to bring you the very best we can. Because of this we are making sure things are nice and tidy and play well for you. Believe us, NO ONE wants the game done more than us. We want to see Boss 101 in your hands and you happy about the final product!

Happy Holidays to you, your family and friends!

OK – huge update and please enjoy the video. It was the true product of blood, sweat and tears and we did it not only for ourselves but we did it to bring YOU the Boss 101 experience. Hang around, wish list us on Steam if you would and we will keep counting down to the release date.

Always remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Hello and welcome to the end of the year Boss 101 update!

Happy Holidays and thank you for your support!

>>>DIRECT LINK to Boss 101 December 2016 Gameplay Video on YouTube<<<

As we head into 2017 we want to thank you SO MUCH for the support you have given us over the last 2 plus years. We have been working to bring you our best and that has meant some delays but overall we feel it has been for the better. The new video is out, we are wrapping up the game and polishing and best of all you will be able to play Boss 101 soon for your self.

We always recommend you live your dreams. Boss 101 is no exception to that thought. We have been living our dreams for nearly three years and with the release on Boss 101 we are hoping that YOUR KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY will help us continue that dream. We made this game for YOU, we made this game for US. Most of all we made Boss 101 to entertain.

Upcoming videos

Starting in January we will be doing a series of videos (ideally weekly) to highlight some of the main features of Boss 101 you might be interested in. Things like the various stores in the game, upgrades and weapons. These will be short animated looks with BERL as your guide. If you are wondering how things look in action then get ready to see a LOT MORE of Boss 101 in action.

Some progress from the last year

Weapon Madness

Check out some of the crazy weapons you will have access to!

Throwing Weapons

Picnics on a hill with friends!

ROBs house of awesome deals!

Hat store!

Mister Squirrel - can you find BERL’s old friend in the Command Center?

Don’t forget the game is MEGA-configurable!

Weather too!

Boss 101 has his own problems!

When life gets you down head to Pet Hill and find a pet buddy to hang with!

OK folks - there is more to come and MANY more looks at the game. We hope you have had a chance to check out the latest gameplay video and if you haven’t HEAD ON OVER THE YOUTUBE LINK!

We will see you NEXT weekend and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

Take care, have a great holiday and remember to ALWAYS - live your DREAMS!

-Tim

Please put Boss 101 on your Steam Wishlist us if you would be so kind

http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920

>>>Link to Boss 101 December 2016 Gameplay Video on YouTube<<<

Thank you!

 

[Tim]

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Thank you for joining us here again in the new year – THE YEAR OF BOSS 101! Yes folks, we intend to get Boss 101 in your hands as soon as possible THIS VERY YEAR!

Boss 101 not only will have the action on high but there will be the HUMAN element. We are telling you the story of two buddies who not only come together to save the galaxy but who also learn a lot about friends, family and how much they mean.

YOU will be part of that family. You get the experience this from the ground floor up. We put you in their life and you can walk the walk. We always say to live your dreams and it may be a corny line but it’s the truest one we can think of. It means to reach for your dreams, work on on your dreams and then make them real. The point is the EFFORT you put into something determines the worth. We’re putting everything we can into Boss 101 and leaving nothing on the table.

One nice thing is YOU directly benefit. You get our best! OUR VERY BEST!

Ok – onto the update and a new announcement about the coming plans as we head closer to the release.

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!


Video Updates

We already spoke with BERL and we also gave him a new position at the Donley Time Foundation. He’s our inteocution Ambassor for the video series we will be presenting to you. We are going to be making short lips with BERL to highlight parts of the game and give you a clear understanding of the landscape you will be playing in.

Berl in Rob’s Room

Berl in his charger in Rob’s Room (closeup)

Like in the December Gameplay video – we will have BERL ‘host’ the videos and tell you what he knows about the various systems. Of course BERL may be a LITTLE rusty about some of the places in the Command Center but he’s REALLY good at improvisation!

Some topics BERL will cover:

Topic: The weapons and guns in Boss 101

Topic: The galaxy YOU explore!

Topic: HATS! All you need to know!

Topics: Pets – your buddies!

And much much more!! Stay tuned and we will talk with you soon…. As always….

Remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[Geoff Jones]

Hey the game looks awesome! One thing I wanted to mention though, I noticed some screenshots of Marvel characters (Iron man and hulk) I'd suggest removing those characters from the game as it could land you in some intellectual properly hot water.

 

[Tim]

Hey the game looks awesome! One thing I wanted to mention though, I noticed some screenshots of Marvel characters (Iron man and hulk) I'd suggest removing those characters from the game as it could land you in some intellectual properly hot water.

YO! Thanks so much for checking us out! Yeah, we are doing a "trademark check" on all assets to make sure we tone down anything which might seem to drift into copyright violations. This would include the hats of course!

Appreciate the support and concern though! Keep tracking us, we're getting there!

-Tim

 

[Geoff Jones]

.

 

[Geoff Jones]

I saw a few others now as well. The white walker, one that looked like "Adventure time" and a Sailor Moon hat? How are you doing the "trademark check" and how are you determining whether or not you have violated someone's IP? You are walking a very dangerous legal path if you include these characters... I don't mean this to sound harsh, but the Marvel characters havn't "seemed to drift into copyright violation", they are a blatant IP violation as far as i can see... If you are dragged to court; even if you are in the right, you could end up losing everything. Its just not worth the risk.... sorry to harp on

 

[Tim]

I saw a few others now as well. [snip]... sorry to harp on

Geoff, first off appreciate the concern. I could give a long a detailed answer but I think the better path is to just say we will be adjusting as needed to make sure we're safe. Some of the stuff you're seeing is earlier mock-ups and first pass for the feel so it's best not to get too caught up with "ah-ha's" and "how can you do that's" when we are aware already and spoke with about it two posts earlier. We could also spend a lot of time going back and forth about how we are doing this but I think we are running the risk of heading into the weeds with the details and missing the bigger picture which is "we understand you and appreciate the re-iteration". The final released work will be well out of the concern areas you mention.

If you are interested in BETA testing the game and getting a look at the process you can PM me your email (as can ANYONE on this forum). We will be looking for testers and people to check out the game and give us their thoughts so there is a great opportunity if you are interested.

Thanks again for the support!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

Today we are starting up the VIDEO series for the game. These are all hosted by BERL and the first one is a basic intro to the Command Center. We will be diving into many aspects of the game from here on out so keep your eyes peeled for things like guns, hats, upgrades, the map room and the Make A Boss among other things.

Lots to cover so let’s get to it! The first video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 1 - The Command Center <<<

Some images from the video!







Boss 101 Screenshot

Cash collecting at the end of a hard round! YOU EARNED IT BUDDY!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

So check this out – for the next set of updates we will be exploring the game and the various systems with videos. The idea is to give you a good look at some of the FUN things you will be doing as well as answer questions about how things work in Boss 101.

So keep coming back and check out the latest as we go. We promise to keep it interesting. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101. It means a lot to get your comments, emails and feedback. As always, be yourself, believe in yourself and….

… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

The video series with BERL continues! These are all hosted by BERL and this one covers the guns store including some off the beaten path looks at guns not on the regular tour!

Lots to cover so let’s get to it! The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 2 - The Gun Store <<<

Some images from the video!







Boss 101 Screenshot

A boss has a positive outlook when the battle starts. Hope your day is positive and LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Up next are the Command Center Map Room, the Upgrade room, the Hast Store and the Make a Boss! (and some more!). So keep checking back and check out the latest. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101. As we work on the final stages we are COMMITTED to bringing you the best game we can. As always....

… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

The video series with BERL continues! These are all hosted by BERL and this one is all about the AWESOME ARCADE MACHINE!

The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 3 - The Arcade Machine <<<

Some images from the video!







Screenshot of the Day

Boss 101, keep on keeping on and win the fight! You can do it and live your dreams!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Up next are the Map Room, the Upgrade room, the Hat Store and the Make a Boss and more! So keep checking back. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101! It means a lot to know you are rooting for us.

As always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

The video series with BERL continues! These are all hosted by BERL and this one is all about the Boss 101 Upgrade Room, or at least HALF of the upgrade room!

Watch BERL max out an upgrade and show you some secret stuff about editing the user interface in Boss 101. TOO RIGHT!

The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 4 - The Upgrade Room <<<

Some images from the video!







Boss 101 Screenshot of the Day

Battling a fireball spitting, beam firing robot T-Rex near the Robo Homeworld!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Up next are the Map Room, the Gopher upgrades, the Hat Store and the Make a Boss and more! So keep checking back. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101! It means a lot to know you are rooting for us.

As always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Got a nice shout out from IndieDB this morning.

Boss 101 on IndieDB



Head on over the their main site if you get a chance. A nice community like this one and a great place to discover indie developers. TIGForums may appeal to those looking for a more traditional devblog type setup. Regardless, places like these deserve your support since many devs don't post everywhere.

As always - LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

The video series with BERL continues! Hosted by BERL, this one is all about the Boss 101 Upgrade Room and the GOPHERS in it! Watch as BERL talks about how you can find and RETURN gopher buddies to the Command Center.

The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 5 - The Upgrade Gophers <<<

Some images from the video!







Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Up next are the Map Room, Hat Store, the Make a Boss and more! Keep checking back. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101! It means a lot to know you are rooting for us.

As always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the Boss 101 Update!

The BERL videos will continue next week but we wanted to share a little update on the game’s release date and what is going on behind the scenes.

Polish and more polish

As we mentioned before – we are entirely self-funded and the great benefit of that is we can take the time to bring you something special. Of course, we aren’t interested in an endless development cycle but we are interested in doing our very best job with Boss 101. We wanted to take this update and highlight exactly the type of work that is happening when we say “polish”.

The Endless Boss

The Endless Boss is the arcade mode in Boss 101. It is probably closest to the ACTUAL game we had in mind when we started this journey. It’s a fun, action packed time with lots of powerups and a huge variety of bosses. Needless to say – the FULL Boss 101 game has gone way past that starting goal and ideally it has all been worth it. A couple things about the Endless Boss mode we will talk about today – the start area and the warp area.

The start area refers to the launch area you begin from. You go up an elevator ride to the top of the Cosmic Clicks ship and then begin your Endless arcade missions from there. While we were playing we noticed you simply screen transitioned from the Endless start area to your first mission. Hmm, that seemed a little abrupt so we took some game assets and made a short launch animation of the Clicks ship taking off.

Of course – since the launch area uses the environments from the Start Screen we had to add a switch case in there for the different times of day you can leave the Command Center from.

This is all an example of LITTLE things we believe adds a lot to the flavor of Boss 101. We didn’t HAVE to make the launch animation. The game is totally playable without it. We FELT it was in the spirit of the game to create it. It adds a lot to the moment and didn’t cost us a whole lot of time. Sure, we could slam through all the unneeded stuff just to be “done” but that isn’t why we’re making Boss 101. We’re making it to entertain you, we’re making it to be a HUGE VALUE to you and mostly we are making it the very best way we can.

Another area of the Endless Boss is the Warp Win Screen. In between rounds you have your money tallied and any awards given. From there you can move onto the next stage OR you can take a moment and fly around in the warp area. Why do we allow that? Cause it seemed like a fun thing to do. There’s no reason other than its fun and oh yah, you can blast meteors in there with your fireworks gun.

The Clicks Ship can take out Meteors too!

You see, this is the kind of stuff we want to make sure gets in Boss 101. That’s the spirit of Boss 101 you’re seeing. It’s about a fun universe with people you would want to know better and visit. The best way we can introduce you to this world is to show it to you through THEIR eyes.

Boss 101 Screenshot of the Day

Watch out for the boss spray and you got this!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

All right – that’s it for today’s update and look for more BERL next week!

Thank you again and remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

The video series with BERL continues! Hosted by BERL, today we are looking at the Endless Boss - ARCADE and IRON BOT for your enjoyment!

The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 6 - Endless Boss Mode <<<

Some images from the video!







Boss 101 Screenshot of the Day

Simple equation - grab the powerup and blast the boss!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Up next are the Map Room, Hat Store, the Make a Boss and more! Keep checking back. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101! It means a lot to know you are rooting for us.

As always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Video Update and thank you for joining us!

These videos are hosted by BERL and today we are looking at the Boss 101 Map Room!

The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 7 - The Map Room <<<

Some images from the video!







Boss 101 Screenshot of the Day

Weapon tuning and balancing time. We're "nacho" ordinary shooter! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Up next are the Hat Store, the Make a Boss and more! Keep checking back. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101! It means a lot to know you are rooting for us.

As always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[sp202]

The amount of art and slick menus in this game is insane! This is looking very cool, would love to play a demo.

 

[Tim]

The amount of art and slick menus in this game is insane! This is looking very cool, would love to play a demo.

Thank you so much! Appreciate the kind words and glads to hear you are liking what you see. We most definitely have put a ton of time and effort into making Boss 101 something special!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Video Update and thank you for joining us!

These videos are hosted by BERL and today we are looking at the Boss 101 Make A Boss!

The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 8 - The Make A Boss Room <<<

Some images from the video!







Screenshot of the Day

Take a break with the bonus round in Breakdown the Game. You can play this inside the Boss 101 arcade room!

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Up next is the Hat Store and more! Keep checking back. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101! It means a lot to know you are rooting for us.

As always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Video Update and thank you for joining us!

A big thank you from us to you! BERL is wrapping up the current series today with a look at the HAT store! You heard right! Now you can see how lids are attached. More videos will be coming down the line and expect more announcements about the progress towards our (ideally) very near release!

The video is up on YouTube right here. Check it out!

>>> DIRECT LINK TO THE BOSS 101 Video Series - Chapter 9 - The Hat Store <<<

Some images from the video!







Boss 101 Screenshot

Gameplay tuning with the player lightning gun.

Boss 101 Info Roundup

Release Date: Early 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Thank you for hanging in there with BERL! Keep checking back. If you have any ideas or suggestions we welcome them! Feel free to comment or reply below.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Boss 101! It means a lot to know you are rooting for us.

As always… LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Hello and welcome to the latest Boss 101 update!

A Break from BERL

This week we’re taking a break from the BERL videos and just talking about the game and what’s been going on.

The Update and “When Will We Be Done?” question

As you know – we have been doing regular updates twice a week for about three years. That’s ROUGHLY 310 updates all told. During that time we’ve shared our progress and kept you posted about the game. One thing we’ve been clear about (at least I would like to think) – is we are more concerned with making a GREAT game than with hitting a date on the calendar. I know that is pretty standard game dev speechifying but it’s how we actually feel.

Boss 101 is currently in the polish phase. That means we play it every day and assess the game for bugs as well as consistency. It’s the consistency thing you might care the most about. Consistency for us is making the game consistent and congruent within itself. It means each character, menu, UI panel and icon not only does its job extremely well but fits within the Boss 101 universe. It’s this very thing we feel will make Boss 101 a special experience for you when you play it. As much as we can we’re making the world of Boss 101 alive with interesting characters and locations. I would also say it’s the reason Boss 101 isn’t in your hot little hands as we speak! Rest assured we are hammering away 24/7 to get this done. Let’s go over some basic questions you might or might not have about the final ship date.

What is left on the list to do if you are just ‘polishing’?

A few things fall in that category as we mention. One is obviously bugs. Bugs being crashes, glitches and problems that arise when systems in the game don’t work as intended. It can be anything from game play issues to things like buttons not functioning when they need to.

Additionally, as we play we are encountering areas where they game could use a little oomph to make things more “Boss 101-ish”?

Can you give an example of this?

Sure, here’s a simple one we worked on this very week. What I am about to explain might be pretty minor sounding and might seem minor. For us though, we have spent so much time on the game that it’s simply not worth it to skimp at this point. At the end of development we feel it’s really time to turn up the effort and bring you the highest effort and best value we can.

OK – here we go:

In Boss 101 we have guns that overheat and in the UI we have a little indicator to tell you when your gun is overheated. This has been in the game nearly three years. The icon is a generic pistol that gets the point across and all seems well on the surface.

Sample of the old generic icon in action

While playing the game during the tuning rounds we quickly realized a few things. One was the machine gun (the player’s main gun) was effect set to never overheat. The reasoning there is it’s the main gun and for a lot of gameplay reasons we felt it wasn’t a ‘fun’ thing to have your main gun constantly stopping to cool down. The secondary guns though were another story. They are generally more specialized and effectively the most powerful guns against bosses so they could benefit from a cool down mechanic.

Well, we looked at what we had. An old and well done UI drawing of what looks to be a Colt 45. Sure, sure – that is cool and all and YOU would probably understand what was happening there. For us though – we want the game to be special so we went and made little icons for EACH of the guns. MUCH cooler and much more in line with the kind of value we want to give you.

New version of overheat icon for pistol

New version of overheat icon for flamethrower

New version of overheat icon for shotgun

All New Icons for Overheat in the editor

This didn’t take a lot of time but we feel these are the touches which separate the truly amazing gaming experiences from the “it’s all right” gaming experiences. We want to bring you the best and as these opportunities pop up during the polish pass we look at each one and think “Is this a reasonable thing to adjust or change?” “Will it make the game more fun?” “Weill it help solidify the look, feel or work of Boss 101?” I assure you if any of those answers are yes then we do our best to bring you that change.

YOU DESERVE IT! When you plunk down your hard earned cash for Boss 101 you DESERVE to know we put our BEST EFFORT into the game.

OK - talk with you soon and to answer the question of "When will it be done?" - AS SOON AS WE POSSIBLY CAN. We do expect to make a date announcement when we are cruising into the last round of testing so stay tuned!

As always - LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Hello and welcome to the latest Boss 101 update!

How have we been doing you ask? We have been doing fantastic thank you!

Polish and Fun Part 2

As you know we are jamming in the final stages of Boss 101. This means a lot of gameplay testing and little touches to bring YOU the highest level of fun, charm and personality. This week has seen us deal with the usual assortment of bug fixes as well as touchups on the VFX in the game.

As with everything else the main focus is giving you the most entertainment we can inside the Boss 101 universe. We want this series to continue and the best way we can guarantee more Boss 101 is by making THIS GAME the best possible game we can.

Check out some of the little touches going into things like player pickups, boss deaths and the shooting VFX.

You might need some health in your Endless Boss battles…

Look out for the boss bullet sprays. They all have patterns you can dodge but the minions can make it tricky. You will want to wear your best hat for the job!

When you finally wipe a boss out you can enjoy the slap down.

Endless Boss Warp Time! You make new friends while traveling in deep space! You make friends everywhere in fact!

Did we mention every single hat has a custom machine gun bullet? YES! Katana bullet time!

Boss 101 Screenshot of the day

Everyone hanging out in Rob's Room! Poor BERL needs and extension cord!

Ok – that’s a quick look at some of this week’s updates and touchups.

Thank you again for your support and keep checking back for the latest news. We will keep you posted about the release date. Though if you were to ask us, it’s getting down to the last round!

Have a TREMENDOUS WEEKEND and always LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video:

Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[Tim]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Welcome back to the latest Boss 101 update and THANK YOU for joining us.

I’m not going to kid you – we saved today for a SPECIAL TREAT. You and only those reading this will see one of Boss 101’s most exciting super weapons this early. You guessed right, I’m talking about the mother lovin’ SUPER MISSILE UPGRADE!

YEAH BUDDY!

The SUPER MISSILE upgrade

This is one of the upgrades you can purchase in the Command Center. Unlike many other upgrades you are limited to three levels of power for the missile. This might seem like too little but when you are done reading this update you may think it is TOO MUCH! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

So let’s see what we have here with the upgrades – feel free to read the little text at your leisure. The deal with each upgrade for the missile is a small mission is required to get the needed parts. You didn’t think we were just going to hand this kind of weaponry to you without any work did you? Once you meet the requirements you can purchase the missile and then the fun begins! Let’s check out the various levels of power shall we?

First of all – every one of these bad boys can send out a shock wave that annihilates everything in its path. They hit enemies and once triggered can give you breathing room from a hail of bullets.

Level 1
This is your basic missile. You get 1 per battle and it has the smallest radius blast. Still, it can be MIGHTY effective if you place it right.

Level 2
This is the next one up. Bigger blast radius and you get TWO missiles per battle.

Level 3
BIG BANG BOOM! You get THREE missiles per battle and it has by far the largest explosion radius.

Boss 101 Screenshot

Friends are forever in Boss 101!

Yah – I could gas about the bugs we fixed and all that but come on – that would only be lost after seeing the glorious destruction of enemy armament. So I’ll leave you with happy thoughts for this week and talk with you soon. We’re getting there and it will be sooner than later. The only things we’ve been doing are play testing and tuning! Most everything else is DONE!

Take care, believe in yourself and LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Boss 101 December Gameplay Video:

Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the latest Boss 101 update and we have something super special for all you longtime blog readers. We opened up the WAY BACK MACHINE on a nearly three year old Boss 101 build and ran some comparisons to the latest and greatest.

First off – you gotta know by now we are serious about bringing you our very best. We put a lot of love into Boss 101 – making the world, the gameplay, heck, EVERYTHING as special as we can. When you put down your hard earned cash you will be getting a lot of TLC and ideally a really fun game to boot.

With that said let’s look at a build from nearly THREE YEARS ago against one from yesterday.

2014 The Intro Screen
Holy hell – this one looks a little bit different right? Look at the moon!!! Not even busted! The inside of the Command Center looks like a college dorm right before move in.

2017 The Intro Screen
MUCH better – look at this place! So much more going on and so many things happening. Room has way more life and the place has a lot more interest for you and a much better sense of the place you are in.

2014 Command Center Levels
Man, this was way, way back in the day. Look at the old version of the stores. The HAT STORE used to be a closet.

2017 Command Center Levels
Much better. Look at how the gophers make it all more interesting when they moved in and helped you with the tech.

2014 Map Room
Well, you can’t fault us for the ambition of the one. One thing though was the early room had the ideas but not the execution. We even had stars to rate levels!

2017 Map Room
Look at all the goodies in here. We have guides, medals and gophers working the area. Also you can see the progress of the gopher space station as the game progresses.

2014 Make A Boss Room
Yep, this is where it all started. Hard to believe but the basics and the BOSSES were done (at least art-wise)

2017 Make A Boss Room
This is the super sweet latest version. It’s got the commentary – the boss abilities, the new equip panel. YEAH BUDDY!

2014 Gameplay
Wow – we use to have the dialog box at the top of the screen and kinda janky too.

2017 Gameplay
So yeah, this got a lot better – just look at the intro section. More dynamic and the interface slides into view.

Destructoid Interview

Hey all - in case you missed it we have an interview with DeadMoon of Destructiod up right now!

Read about Boss 101, the team behind it and more!

Link here: https://www.destructoid.com/blogs/DeadMoon/shooting-the-💩💩💩💩-with-boss-101-419621.phtml

Ok – just look at all the work that has happened and we are in the final stretch. We HOPE HOPE HOPE you are as excited about Boss 101 as we are. We do appreciate the support and as always…

Remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920

Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[Rivo]

Oh my god. You're putting so much into this game! I'm looking forward to seeing how this does! It looks fantastic! So many unique ideas

 

[Tim]

Oh my god. You're putting so much into this game! I'm looking forward to seeing how this does! It looks fantastic! So many unique ideas

Well thank you so much! We really are working to bring you and all our friend and fans something super special! We appreciate the kind words!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the latest Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

Let's talk about progress and then onto the cool train boss!

How is the game progressing?

Great question and we have a lot of answers. It’s going well and mostly we are spending our days working on polish and bugs. It may seems like that’s been going on a while and it HAS BEEN GOING ON A WHILE! There’s a pretty obvious reason and it’s because YOU MATTER TO US. We want YOU to have the best game possible and we work on Boss 101 thinking how we can make the best for you.

Bugs, polish and cleanup is all being done to bring you the very best value we can. It’s taking a while since there are only three of us but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve said it before – rushing the game gets us nothing and you will remember a good game far longer than a game that shipped on time or early.

Remember, Boss 101 is entirely self-funded. We’re actually putting our money EXACTLY where our mouth is. We didn’t do a Kickstarter, no publisher is giving us cash. It’s all on us. Trust us when we say – that is a HUGE motivator to get things done as soon as we possibly can.

Thanks for hanging in there and thank you for the comments, support and email. We promise you the game will be in YOUR HANDS sooner than later.

Train Bar Health Icons

We continue our look at the final fit and finish of the game with the mighty train boss. Check out this guy and some of the goodies we are touching up on him.

At first the boss was simply a collection of train cars you battled one after the other. That’s pretty cool right? Well it’s NOT COOL ENOUGH. You see – we had these neat little dialog icons we use when the boss talks with you. You know what else those dialog icons work well with? CUTE HEALTH BAR INDICATORS!

You guessed it folks, we moved those little dialog icons to the boss health bar so you could see the layout of the train at the bottom of the screen. Check this out...

A shot of the bottom of the screen with the train icons on it. From here you can see the upcoming cars and help plan the best attack.

Close up of the little icons – THOSE FACES!!!

Of course – we went through and added all sorts of dialog and VFX to the various cars. We selected the correct layout for the train to give you breathing room between gun cars and allow a little rest. Here’s Steve and Max blowing up a box car.

Still you have to watch out for the minions flying around. Don’t get torched!

Some of the gun cars can drop huge energy balls – check this giant plasma shot. SUPER DEADLY but you can shoot it if you’re quick enough.

Of course there are gas tankers with jets of flame because – WHY NOT!

Boss 101 Screenshot

B.E.R.L. in his charging stand thinking about life. Be his friend in Boss 101!

Take care. Enjoy your day, Believe in yourself. Most of all though – LIVE YOUR DREAMS.

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us once again!

Submergible Bosses

Did you know that if equipped with the correct engine attachment ANY BOSS CAN GO UNDERWATER!?! This is true!

With the right ‘digging’ engine attached a boss will dive into the nearest street or body of water and continue their assault from the safety of cover. Check out this guy taking a dive into the seas.

Once a boss is underneath you have a couple choices. One is you can wait him out. He will re-emerge at some point. The other option is to attack the periscope and force him back out into the open where you can wail on him with your best weapons.

So here you are attacking with your lightning gun while he is underwater. That’s right – get him outta there!

You gotta watch out since the boss can fight back. He has the ability to channel his secondary attacks through the periscope! Check out that flame action!

Do enough damage and you get him back out like so.

Where you can shoot him proper in the face! BOOM! Like that bossy? Yeah, thought so! That’ll teach yah to hide underwater!

You see? We give you the options YOU need to take on the bosses in all their forms and look stylish doing it. At every turn we look to remove the limits to your fun by giving you options to choose the methods of attack you want.

Without getting too highbrow we like to think we give you a nice little puzzle when you confront a boss. Sure, there may be an aspect of randomness to the Make a Boss but we are countering that with YOUR ABILITY to analyze and adjust to his patterns on the fly. You aren’t entirely at the whim of fate. You make YOUR OWN FATE!

And also, as you already know – you must LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Did you see that coming?!? I thought so!

Boss 101 Screenshot

You like arcade games? Boss 101 has them! Relax and play one in-between rounds. Here's Tank War!

OK – take care and more to come. Polish and bugs are still happening and we made great progress this week!

Thank you again for all the letters, comments and messages! We appreciate your support tremendously.

Take care till next time!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[FredFredrickson]

Looks neat - like all the effects for the boss submerging - you definitely sell that it's going underwater.

A question: on the third gif, there's a moment where the paralax background elements (towards the back of the stack) shift backward a bit before moving forward again. This has the effect of making it appear that the camera is shifting planes. I was wondering if that was intentional, and if not, why does that happen - especially to an element so far in the background?

 

[Tim]

Looks neat - like all the effects for the boss submerging - you definitely sell that it's going underwater.

A question: on the third gif, there's a moment where the paralax background elements (towards the back of the stack) shift backward a bit before moving forward again. This has the effect of making it appear that the camera is shifting planes. I was wondering if that was intentional, and if not, why does that happen - especially to an element so far in the background?

There's a couple things happening there and I do believe one of them is the GIF making process itself. It's likely the combo of character movement and frame capture are creating or amplifying that shift. It's funny you should mention that particular one since it's one I had to "re-GIF" a few times due to weird anomalies from the capture session.

 

[FredFredrickson]

Ah, nice. Well, keep up the good work, then. Game looks amazing!

 

[Tim]

Ah, nice. Well, keep up the good work, then. Game looks amazing!

Thanks so much! Appreciate the kinds words and the check in! More to come as we near the Steam release!

-Tim

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the Boss 101 Development update and thank you so much for joining us again!

Today we are talking about OPTIONS, specifically....

Keyboard Control

Hey look, we realize that Boss 101 will be released on Steam FIRST and that means there might be a few of you who might like to play the game on a keyboard. Well, guess what. YOU CAN!

Sure, we PERSONALLY feel you will get maximum enjoyment playing Boss 101 with a controller but to each his own. To this end we have setup Boss 101 to allow keyboard mapping controls as well as changing the various UI screens to reflect your configuration. What does this mean? Let’s see!

So we have the initial options screen to adjust your controls to your preference.

Of course you have the ability to reset to defaults if you want.

You’ll notice the keys will change if you touch the keyboard and go back to the controller that is plugged in.

Start Screen Controls

Hat Store Controls

Awards Room Controls

In this room and a few others we do little graphic changes to the menu to help things fit better.

Equip panel in the Make a Boss

You see how much we like you? We are making this game for you too! The deal is we are hoping to give you as many options as reasonable and possible.

Screenshot of the Day

Little pet buddies. Whales, kitties, birds, a unicorn and more! Look at this collection of friends and this isn't even half of them!

OK – talk with you soon and remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[Tim]

Welcome back to the weekly Boss 101 Update and thank you for joining us!

Boss Tuning and all around fun. Check out the latest haps as we work on bringing you our best.

How much longer you ask?

Well, we don’t have a pin on the calendar but we can tell you this. There are no major or minor systems being added and most of last week was testing. Of course along with the testing comes lots of little bugs that need to be fixed.

When we mention bugs these can be anything from things that crash the game to behavior which breaks the game. Maybe a bullet doesn’t register as a hit on a boss, maybe a player gun doesn’t fire or not enough money is rewarded on a kill. Things like that.

One thing we leave in where we find it is the fun. Sometimes it’s planned and sometimes it comes about organically as we're making the game. Check out this shot of the melee crow bar slapping minions. We put this death in early as a regular death for minions. It didn’t have all the bouncing it does now but it looked fun. As we were tuning the melee weapons this week we moved this particular death to this weapon class. Kinda worked out and looks hilarious. It’s fun, leave it in!

We’re still twizzling the effects a little but you get the idea.

Pirate Boss Tuning

Just working on the gun patterns to make his attacks interesting and fun for you. Always striving for a challenge balanced with excitement!

Watch it when he rises!

He’s got a long range freeze sword too! If that hits you are frozen in place for a moment and at the mercy of the boss. We did allow you to wiggle the controls to get out quicker though – we have you covered!

Robo Council Commentary on Your Death

When you die the Robo Council will weigh in on your performance. They’re a tough crowd to say the least.

Boss 101 Screenshot of the Day

Be yourself and live your dreams!

OK – more to come and keep checking back. WE’RE GETTING THERE!

Thank you and always remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[WingBat]

This looks fantastic! I can't wait to see it finished!

 

[Tim]

This looks fantastic! I can't wait to see it finished!

Thank you! Should be out and in your hands sooner than later. The three of us are just hammering bugs and working on polish! Thank you for your patience!

 

[Tim]

Hello and welcome back to the latest Boss 101 update!

Today we are talking about some of the weapon effects in the game as well as what makes a great game! Or, as I like the phrase it WHAT MAKES A GAME GREAT!

What makes a game GREAT!

I’d like to put something out there for all the friends and fans reading this. You really can be the person you want and live the life you want to live. You really can FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS. You might be saying “Oh Tim, that’s easy for you! You just gas around drawing sneakers on robot T-Rexes for a living.” Well it wasn’t always that way!

I have come to believe a great game is really made by great teams. Great teams are about inspiration, trust and most of all respect. I consider myself very fortunate to be working with two people – Manon and Joshua – who inspire me regularly to bring my A+++ game to the table.

When Boss 101 is released I believe in my heart it will be a great game. That’s not a brag or a boast. I say this because what you are seeing in Boss 101 is our best efforts and we are proud to stand behind the game. Will you PERSONALLY like it? We hope so. We would love you to purchase Boss 101 and feel you got a fantastic game at a great price. That is the hope! To that end we are working EVERY SINGLE DAY UNTIL RELEASE (and beyond) to make sure you get our best!

Weapon Effects

You know we're looking to give you the sweetest guns we can in Boss 101. We created what we HOPE is a great variety of cool guns to battle your way through the robo hordes. When we started most of the guns were based off standard types you see in many games – pistols, shotguns, bazooka, melee and even bows! Later we rolled in high tech ones such as Lasers and Multi-shots. Lastly we dropped in throwbacks to the Boss 101 web game – namely the ULTRA GUN!

Before we look at the VFX guns can have, let's quickly overview their use in game. To start with they all have inherent abilities like speed and power as well as unique attributes such as limited tracking (lightning guns) or giant areas of impact (flame thrower). From there bosses can be weak or strong against them. What this means is a boss might take MORE damage from a flame thrower and LESS damage from a shotgun. That is all explained in the game. At the start of each round you are given a chance to inspect the boss as well as YOUR EQUIPMENT so you can make the best choice to winning the battle.

But enough about that, let’s check out boom-booms! We set up a test room for the guns to help us sort out damage and twizzle the special effects till we got something special.

First up a high level pistol – nothing wrong with it and a SOLID gun. Hits hard and can do some damage on a single target.

The shotgun – a nice spread and a good punch. Little slower on the firing but overall a goodie!

Laser – here's a mid-level version doing work!

Multi-shot – a CLASSIC – lots of bullets, fast but each shot hits light. Them's the breaks with a gun like this.

Throwing knives! Come on! – these are just cool. Some bosses are weak against them too!

Wrenches – ok these have limited range but the high level pipe wrench hits in a 360 arc – BOOM!!!

For today we’ll wrap up the gun preview on the good ole ULTRA GUN. This is a holdover from the web game and one of the most powerful guns in the game hands down. Of course – we ain’t gonna just HAND THIS to you. You will have to earn it! But yah – pretty powerful!

The Gamemaker Podcast – Boss 101 Interview

In case you missed the announcement earlier this week. Check out this snazzy interview posted up at the Gamemaker Podcast. Learn about Boss 101 and hear my (Tim’s) actual voice!

Link here: Gamemaker Podcast Episode 4 - Boss 101



OK – thanks for checking in and remember to always – live your dreams!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

 

[RATInteractive]

ugh this artwork is gorgeous