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2017.04.08 Boss 101, Three Years of Progress

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.

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!

2017.04.01 Boss 101, Super Bombs!

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.

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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMQ1CrYeac

Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

2017.03.25 Boss 101 Polish and Fun pt 2

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!

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!

2017.03.18 Boss 101 Update, Polish and Fun pt1

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

2017.03.12 Boss 101 Update – Hat Room Video!

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 hear 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 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