What Kind of Game are we Talking?

To The Boss is a 2D arcade style beat 'em up with power-ups for initial release on the iPad. The release version will have 5 large levels with unique enemies and bosses.

The Protagonist

Empowered by your will, and fingers, the character you will be running around as wants to be The Boss. He'll bludgeon his way through anything that impedes his progress along this path. As you power up, you will find yourself inflicting brutal damage on enemies and eventually getting to choose the path of a swift bio-enhanced beast or a hulking teched-out behemoth.

The Game World

Each level and associated boss is a chance for us to poke fun at another despised persona or overused theme (clowns, the undead, werewolves, pirates, ninjas, and more!). We have the basics of each of them worked out on paper, but we'll be running through them in more detail in the initial dev/design meeting video.

Here Comes the Game Making Knowledge!

We thought it was time to take a slightly different spin on videos about a game as it is being made. In addition to doing a monthly dev/design diary, we're offering the ability to see the core parts of the game development and character design processes. As we build the game, we'll be doing screencasts of each part. If you've ever wanted to learn how to games are made, this is your chance.

What are These Screencasts all About?

The screencasts are available separately at the $150 backer level, or combined at the $250 level. At least one of each will be released weekly:

ART (by Dedwerkz):

The art screencasts will show the ebb and flow of the character creation and animation process. Not only will the original written notes and discussions of the characters' various traits be reviewed, but a catalog of the various stages of design will be shared with the appropriate tier of backer. This means the lucky few will see character designs go from note to concept then finished character and finally sprite. This is a chance to see the various tools of the trade be used in a way to create a fully realized product. Moreover, this is an opportunity to see the various epiphanies and mistakes of the artistic process build and grow towards fruition. Simply put, this is graphic design with a "warts-and-all" honesty that a textbook or lecture can't give you.

DEV (by Jason):

The developer screencasts will highlight the each component of game creation, including everything from programming the menus, main character, levels, enemies, movement/attack rules and more. Portions of the development process will require too much detail for one screencast to fully describe, so some weeks there will be multiple screencasts. By the end of this process, you will hopefully see games from an entirely different perspective, knowing what is clicking and spinning under the hood, and recognizing just how much can go into each component. In addition to the in-depth looks at the building blocks of the game, there will be supplements that include the code from the screencast and links to additional information. Since To The Boss is being released for the iPad, we will also be diving into optimization for mobile devices.

Why for iPad?

We have yet to see a beat 'em up that we like for the iPad (not to say they aren't out there, we just haven't seen them yet). The ones we have tried all seem to be ported from other systems or use joystick controls. We're taking this as an opportunity to make one that focuses on the unique capabilities of the touch screen as the controller, rather than superimposing a joystick onto it.