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2016.10.22 Boss 101 Finishing the Gopher Wiki

Welcome to the Boss 101 Update!

The Gopher WIKI! We spoke about this in July 2015 in this blog and it has come a long way. The good news for you is we kept at it and improved it.

Recall some of the old screens here:

The big change recently was the Game Editor we added. That one thing was responsible for a MUCH easier WIKI creation. Text, images and even the page number could be created and edited on the fly. Previously we had a combination of XML sheets and Excel documents with a lot of cut and pasting going on.

Screenshot of the current editor in action

Well, we took all the old data and moved it easily into the new editor. From there we ending up taking LESS TIME than if we kept using the old way. In other words the new editor was so efficient at making the WIKI pages we were able to beat the old deadline.

Here’s the Professor in the command Center with a link to the WIKI

When you are in the WIKI you can read up on backstory and interesting information about how things got there. You can also read about people who visit and even see if they bought you a gift. The whole thing is curated by ROB and the Professor with some help from BERL and the gang.

Sample shot of scrolling through the WIKI

We don’t know that everyone will read all the pages but for those who want history – it’s in there. The idea here is we want you to know about the world we are creating. There is so much going on but you can access it at your speed.

Pages on the WIKI

Check out some of the swift animations and loading screens we have

A shot of the WIKI in Spine.

Nice stuff right? It’s all for you and it’s what we are doing to make Boss 101 something special. Thanks for stopping by and remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon,

-Tim

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

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

Thank you!

2016.10.15 Boss 101, Tutorials and B.E.R.L.

Welcome to today’s Boss 101 Update and thank you so much for joining us. We do appreciate your time!

Tutorials and B.E.R.L.

So, let’s talk about Berl. Berl is YOUR guide to the world of Boss 101. We introduce him as the tutorial giver when you start a new game. Berl walks you through a lot of the basics in the Command Center and across the various game screens.

The Tutorials

We like to think Boss 101 is a pretty straightforward game but we won’t assume you will. We knew it would be a wise move to include some sort of walkthrough for a new player to get them familiar with the systems we throw at them. Of course, this is Boss 101 and we aren’t going to just toss a bunch of text at the screen – NOPE! We are going to let one of our own characters help you out. In this case BERL!

Berl in Rob’s Room (notice he’s off in a corner)

Who is B.E.R.L.?

Berl in his charger (close up)

Berl is the oldest jetpack in the base. He is much older than either Rob or Steve and built on older technology. Sadly that technology was a little dangerous so the guys had to give Berl help when he is in the Command Center in the form of lightweight anti-grav devices. Berl doesn’t like them but he knows he needs them. This all adds up to the fact Berl needs to spend a lot of time charging up those lifters much to his own annoyance.

Berl introduces himself

In an effort to help Berl feel a little more useful the guys let him give guided tours of the place to all newcomers. Berl will meet you when you start the game and point out useful things. The ONLY hitch here is Berl isn’t always welcome all over the Command Center so he may not know every little thing. That’s OK – he’s fine at winging it!

Check out parts of these tutorials done with Berl’s special twist. We think he’s a really great guy and when it comes right down to it, he just wants to make some new friends. Won’t you help him out?

Berl in the Make a Boss – notice how he can activate things to demo how they work

A Map Room intro with Berl

Gun Store

Upgrade Room – is Berl giving out secrets!?!?!? BERL!!!!

Isn’t he great? It’s nice to give ole Berl something important to do. Makes him happy with an important job and serves to help you out. A win all around. Look for more Berl as we move forward toward our ship date.

Thank you again 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!

2016.10.09 Boss 101, the Editors we use

Welcome to this week’s Boss 101 update and thank you to the new and returning people who read our updates. We aim to bring you interesting info about the ongoing development of Boss 101 as we head into the final phase of development.

Editors

You might already know we use GameMaker for the development as well as Esoteric’s Spine software but did you know we make our own editors also? Yes folks – WE ROLL OUR OWN! Joshua cooked up a swift editor so we can access some of the more useful items in the game and edit them with ease.

The thing we were looking for in our editor (at least during its initial creation) was the ability to edit some of the many description & item abilities in the game. We have hats and guns! We have passports, bosses and Wiki pages in the game. All these need some sort of description and detail for you the player of our game to enjoy. In comes the editor.

Prior to this we edited everything with a combination of Excel and XML sheets. That is fine for a small amount of stuff but when you have nearly 300 hats you have to think a little different in terms of scale and scope.

Wiki Pages

So here is a screenshot of the Professor’s Wiki editor. You can see we have a little line of text ready to go.

Moving into the actual game you can see we are able to NOT ONLY edit the text of the Wiki and the various pages but do so IN REAL TIME! How are those apples!?!?!?

Hat Editor

Look at some of the other things we can do with the Editor when it comes to Hats. Below we can see the ability to select and look at any of the hats in the game. From there we can edit the powers, name and abilities bestowed. Crazy huh?

Check out this snap of some of the various things we can edit and the result in the game. We can change power levels, names and the like all pretty easily. Makes things much quicker to debug and correct. Also means a better game for you!

Here are the results happening real time in the game

Some of the other tabs we have going…

OK there you go. That is this week’s peek at the latest and greatest. Everything we do we are doing to make the best game we can and make sure YOU are entertained when you play Boss 101.

Thanks again for checking in and thank you for the letters and comments across all the places we post Boss 101 info. We all appreciate you taking a moment to look at the game and we aim to bring you our very best.

Talk with you soon and remember….. 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!

2016.10.01 Boss 101 Update, Picnics with Unicorns!

Welcome to the Boss 101 Update and thank you so much for joining us today! Lots to talk about so let’s get rolling.

The Attitude of Gratitude

You know it is really easy to talk about working on Boss 101 because it’s so fun. I mentioned this before but I have to give credit where it’s due. The team is what makes Boss 101 such a blast to work on. Manon (pixel artist), Joshua (lead programmer) and myself hammering away for the love of the game and for YOU!

If you ever wondered what it would be like to have an amazing life by doing what you love then WONDER NO LONGER! I can tell you it’s the best thing. There is only success in following your dreams. The rewards outweigh the cons by such an amount as to make the journey an easy choice. I know from the outside you might say “But Tim, I have a lot of responsibilities and can’t just go draw sneakers on T-Rex’s all day like you guys do on Boss 101” Ah, but you CAN!

Each day you can take a step towards your goal. Soon enough, you will see progress and sooner than you think you will be well on your way.

It’s that determination and the great fortune of finding two people like Manon and Joshua which make Boss 101 the easiest job I have ever had in my life. The actual work is there but it’s fun and I like doing it. A LOT!

So do it… FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS and by all means, bring as many people along as you can.

Adding Pets to the Cinematics

Did a pass on the cinematics to make sure the pets were showing up in all of them. We added a small blanket for all the pets in the appropriate cinemas. This allows them to sit or fly along with you during the course of the game. Check out these SWEET images….

Kitty in the vending room. Why does kitty have its back to us? Because it’s a kitty!

You can have Mister Whale fly around whilst you dine outside

Also – what would a picnic on a hill be without a UNICORN!!!

Cinematic Room Adds

Working on some adds to the cinematic rooms. Here are setup shots in Spine (by Esoteric Software) we input into GameMaker. Apparently there are some more Spine integrations coming for GameMaker so that might help swing it over to more people using it.

Setup the room and layout art and animation

Closeup of STEVE art and animation

Make A Boss Save Function

We added a save for the most recent boss you rolled. The idea here is you can roll a boss – see his stats and then if you need to go get a gun, take a break or otherwise step away from the boss generator you will still keep your most recent roll. We think it will allow more strategy and most of all MORE FUN FOR YOU!

Ok – that’s all for this update. Check back again for the regular look at Boss 101. YES WE ARE FINISHING IT! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

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

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

2016.09.24 Boss 101 Update Guns in the Game

Welcome back to the Boss 101 Update

Today we are giving you a tour of a few of the weapons you can use in Boss 101. If you’re a longtime viewer you might have seen a few of these but for those that haven’t here is the general idea; during the course of the game you will have access to the most MIGHTY weapons in the Boss 101 universe. Some will be accessible from the start and some will be unlocked as you progress. The various means of unlocking guns is for another update and you might guess they involve things like completion of rounds, general progression or even hitting specific goals.

When we designed the various guns we aimed for variety and designs we felt were ‘fun’ in the Boss 101 sense. Sure we have pistols and bazookas but did you know we have friendship guns and knives? We do!

Here we have one of the more straightforward guns. The pistol set. Three levels ranging from pretty much a pea shooter to a more solid firearm guaranteed to dent most robot armor. The pistol is one of your starting guns and though it is a weaker weapon some may find they like it.

Moving into some of the more hard hitting firearms we have the bazooka series. These pack a serious punch but have limited firing speed. They will do the trick for a lot of minions and put a crimp in most boss armor. The 976-BOOM is a fan favorite.

Bows! Everyone loves a good bow and arrow fight against a giant armored metal opponent. Check out this sweet progression of string weapons. That crossbow can get right in there on those tough bosses.

Throwing Knives Series! You might have thought the game was mostly about bullets and bombs and you would be partially correct. We have LOTS of those but we also have some NEW weapon types you will enjoy. The throwing knife series is all about quick firing and piercing damage. There are a few robo’s weak to this so packing one in your arsenal is a good idea.

Wrenches. You knew these were coming so here they are! This is a nice assortment of old reliable beaters. Get ‘em! They work, you just need to be up close to deliver the blow.

Interview with Indie Hangover

Quick re-post about the interview I (Tim) did with Jacob at Indie Hangover about Boss 101. Check it out!

http://www.indiehangover.com/interview-tim-donley-of-the-donley-time-foundation/

Jacob was very nice to allow us some airtime and it was a blast to talk with him.

Thank you!

That’s all for this week’s weapon looks but stay tuned for more peeks in the coming updates.

As always – remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!!!

-Tim