SC2Mapster

Quote from Keyeszx:
Quote from zeldarules28: Go

Can it be 1 unit vs the boss instead of an army? It will be cool if it has like 5 stages and all sorts of other stuff.

I was having a conversation with a friend about bosses. He says that WoW bosses are like any other but I think they aren't that creative. Something about WoW style bosses just bore me. Bosses like in Metal Gear Solid, Batman AA, or even Phantasy Star Online just appeal to me more because it's just one on one or not a whole army against one guy. The bosses are more interactive, with PSO being the least so. WoW feel too simple since imo they just stand there and cast spells from time to time. Such simple AI compared to other bosses imo.
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"I've never played WoW before but here's what I think of it"

Anyway this contest sounds fun. I can think of several encounters which would translate well into SC2.

Interesting contest for sure,

Even though i'm just starting out with the editor i'll give it my best shot.
Anyone got some advice on how to go about creating these 'boss maps' for beginners?

@vjeux: Go

How many submissions are allowed and does it have to be a new map or can i submit all of my Planetary Boss Minis :)

@Bounty_98: Go

generally for contests, the fun part is that everyone has the same time constraint. Its an honor system so you can submit them and lie about it, we wont know, but your generally supposed to come up with a map in the time of the contest.

@drummerboy1151: Go

I've been making the Planetary Boss series since beta (pretty sure vjeux knows about it). Pretty sure they would know it was made pre contest lol

Quote from urashimakt: Go

@Keyeszx: Go

I'd like you to say hi to boss events like C'Thun, Kael'thas, Lady Vashj, Mimiron, Yogg-Saron, and Professor Putricide. These bosses all had very fun mechanics that did not involve very much standing still, even for the boss. Of course, since WoW is an online game played with multiple people there are fudged areas to account for the need to communicate and the fact of latency.

Single player games, requiring neither, have the luxury of being able to be very primal and touch upon your timings and instincts rather than your brain. I assure you though, it has very little to do with the complexity of the "AI".

I think some of those bosses my friend mentioned in the conversation. We were in class so I couldn't hear completely but some of it sounded kind of fun. But I never got that far into WoW because I got bored first of questing before I could do many raids.

@Khalan3: Go

Woah good idea. Boss fights were allways my favorite in wc3, but Im still learning data editor in sc2 -.- Too bad its wednesdaymorning now so I cant run the editor... fail.

Tho, I hope I can find 2 more people to test my map since I was allready busy on a 4 v AI hero RPG. Prolly gonna create an AI for computer heroes aswell...

Can anyone who thinks they can release high quality boss rush maps, make a credits scene with a cool end music?

you really should watch this boss, its so epic! (i didnt make it, but i will particapate)

and part 2

@thommiej: Go

While the fight is kinda epic. I greatly dislike some of effects. It just doesnt look good if you use some beams at 200 scale or make spam of effects.

The ground spike spell also looks a bit lame. I think blizzard used same method in uberlisks spell tought....so I wonder if it could be done better.

@zenx1: Go

i know, but remember i didnt make it :p

I always absolutely loved how visually pleasing Planetary Boss Minis are. My only gripe with them, if any, is the universal strategy of "Run away and spawn Broodlings". I like a little more variety and new challenges in my playstyle.

10/10 on all the work that goes into them.

@urashimakt: Go

Try that strategy is Zladicar :).

Planetary bosses kick butt... but yeah, they were made before this =(

@Molsterr: Go

I'm making a new one for the contest :)

@Bounty_98: Go

cant wait then, they are very unique for sure!.

@thommiej: Go

I created that DNA Wars boss battle... actually I only made that whole deal as an exercise in creating button prompts. And I don't think it's very good but that music sure did sync up absurdly well. If you're interested in any of the effects/triggers/whatever, you can find the map @: http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/dna-wars/files/8-voldemon-demo/ Though it was made back in beta so I actually don't even know if it will open anymore.

Zaraf managed to pull me away from my Starcraft Tactics project to create a boss for this contest/his smashTV map. Hopefully we can come up with something neat!

When making a boss, try to avoid:

- Using SC2's attack and move feature, you wanna avoid having your boss being able to do hit and runs and unleash rapid melee attacks for little to no reason. Its the same way as you would "imagine" a boss fight, it's challenging because of it having new tricks, not just because it's so repetitiveness and fast. There is no reason to make a "super" tank boss that is also super fast.

- Giving the boss a single ability, try to give them a vast number of "options" when using it in a boss battle. Bosses should prioritize certain options to their current health or based on the situation of the area.

- Making the boss battle feel like a cheap knock off of SC2 in a third person game, take your time to make it unique in a way that it doesn't disappoint people right off the bat. Yes I'm thinking indie leveled games for maps like these, which is what blizzard considers "high quality".

I have a few suggestion to make boss battle unique:

- All boss battles have a area attack that occurs once in a while, and a common attack that occurs after a period of time. Be sure to add a AI trigger in it to "switch up" it's game so it doesn't repeat the same pattern endlessly. An example is using the campaign's laser drill as a boss, making the map vast, and making it so the characters has to follow an objective to shut down the machine or risk being fried by a super long range laser. Make sure the laser can only "target" after every 2530 seconds, and when it tracks a target, it stops aiming and shoots a line of laser in that direction! This is the vital part that some people miss. On on this later.

- Bosses shouldn't chase it's targets, it should rather summon minions to do the dirty work if the players are too far away.

- Bosses should always have a backup plan, in that case that it's not doing too well in a short period of time. Berserk status is one possibility, raising the speed of which it "acts".

If you'd rather keep doing WoW boss. Don't. It's just better if you created a new boss from scratch, and plan out all it's features that you'd want.