A metric butt-ton of things got in the way of me making progress with Unicorn Training. Exams are relentless and comic-con weekend ensures low-productivity. Tonight is different because I had a full hour to myself and I spent it finishing up the first bosses for the game!
Getting things organized was a hassle because all the bosses need to be pre-placed in their scenes and have all their prefabs ready. Unlike normal enemies I can't just spawn them anywhere due to how complex they are.
The first boss I did was the Shield Spell boss who uses surrounding diamonds that shoot then disappear when hit. Those diamonds respawn after a few seconds so the player needs to keep some distance or else risk being hurt when it comes back. The purple eye on the stand can also shoot by itself, sending out a big ball of electricity every few seconds.
The next boss I managed to finish was the Bounce Spell boss who shoots off rebounding blasts that go nuts off the walls. That guy has turrets in the room backing it up with standard energy ball attacks. I was able to copy most of the Shield boss' design for Bounce so it was easy to crank out. Due to a glitch, Bounce has started a tradition of spell bosses being impervious to the type of attack they shoot. Pyre will be fire proof, Hex won't cough, etc., except in the case on non-offensive spells like Splash and Shield.
Unlike normal enemies, bosses don't get knocked back and only have one wave (I'd like multi-phase bosses next time) and only finish when the big guy goes down. This meant going back over all my enemy scripts and making sure they don't respawn or count towards ending a battle when they get killed. Bosses also have tons of health so be ready for a tough fight even if you've maxed out on stats. You can fight them in any order so you can come back to harder ones at any time via the house's crystal ball.
I have yet to script the events that happen once a boss is finished (disappears from room, get the crystal heart, warp back to home base). I'll be doing that once they're all done. All I want is to have the last of the game's AI coded and running. I want live enemies and treasures in my alpha build.
It's October now and I really need to get this game done in time for my birthday (talk about a cool present!) so I can have a really cool game to my name before turning 21, then releasing it to the public as my first notable action as a 21-year-old. Time to race to the finish. I won't let school get in the way too much. I need at least one hour of gamedev a day and the entirety of every Sunday.
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