Samba of the Wolves is the first game I attempted to make boss battles unique. Blocking Ivy and throwing rocks at Violet was a nice try for a first time but it didn’t play out very well.  There was also, Archie who was vulnerable to being hit in the back which also felt like a cheap gimmick.

Dream Master ditched the idea of unique bosses and really you were just left fighting harder versions of regular opponents. I think bosses were too hard actually about halfway through. The 3 colored Felix’s at the end is unique are someways but hitting the Felix that matches the light color is still pretty cheap.

Tandem Tales was pretty well done given the nature of the game. Trickster and his 3 colored bands was my first attempt at a boss fight that didn’t have any fighting. There are some things I could definitely have done to improve it and I could have made it more obvious that the bands will hurt you when fully lit but all that aside it works just as I wanted it to. Super Ego still wasn’t much different from the regular guys but aside from not giving enough clues on how to beat him, I think that fight was also well crafted.  In truth however, his strategy would probably be more suitable for a special enemy in the game or mini-boss more so than a boss.

Tale of the Night only has one boss and because it’s the latest game I won’t get too into specifics but I think Haggard’s fight turned out very well. If the series was still as focused on fighting, I wouldn’t mind every boss fight being like this but with events and attacks being unique to each boss. What I did with haggard was FAR from the limit of the system. There’s a lot I stripped away from the fight because they required parts of the game engine that I hadn’t made yet. Those parts will resurface next game. In the original fight with Haggard there was much less hand to hand combat.

Lithodora of Despair will try and pick up where Tale of the Night left off in boss fights originally. Also, due to the adventurous aspect of the game, I’d like to try and reintroduce strategic elements for some boss fights. I don’t have much experience in boss fights so I won’t promise a spectacle but you’ll definitely see some more effort in the field.  If the player doesn’t have an adrenaline rush during big bosses I haven’t done my job.

1. No PC Version
   I was constantly concerned about keeping my graphics to a minimum so that the game would be more accessible. Now that I’m doing 360 development I know what my graphical limits and I have a lot more power to wield. It’s also nice to know there will be a controller that everyone will be using.
2. Feedback
   When Tale of the Night released I got kicked in the face pretty hard a few times. What little  feedback I got with previous games was all  good, so I wasn’t used to any really negative feedback. Welcome to the real world I suppose. It was a rude awakening but with my faults revealed I can transcend into a new realm of work. Of course there was also positive feedback so I also have an idea of the areas I’m doing well in.
3. A Finished Work
   Every single game beforehand was always a demo of something. I believe that’s the real story behind me never using the same engine twice. I’m taking this game extremely seriously because I know it’s not some free game I’m just throwing out on the internet or something just to be patched up later. Having the opportunity to be in a true marketplace changes everything. Tale of the Night showed me a whole new world possibilities.
4. Finally 3D
   Need I say more? I’ve been yapping about it for months.  I’m looking forward to gaining more control of the camera for dynamic views, having complete representation of the characters, and finally having that open world feeling. Mostly perhaps, I’m looking forward to not dealing with all those programming problems I had.
5. A Real Story
   I like writing , and anyone’s that’s explored the web page can likely tell Felix stories are much more detailed than I’m letting on. I won’t promise that the story will shock you or be filled with twist and turns, what  I’m really striving for is  detail.  Aside from my very very first one, this will be my only game that uses a recurring character as the antagonist and that always makes me want to apply special attention to  the story.

There are other things I’m excited but these 5 say enough for me. I think it will all begin to show when I start work with the prelude chapter.

I still don’t have anything new to show so once again I’ll bring in something old and discarded. Before I probably even started programming I made this stage demo. There’s a fire and Felix must save, Catrina, from her burning mansion. If you read this walkthrough you’d clearly see the game was never meant to be about busting heads all the time unless you include puzzles that may give someone a headache. While the following walkthrough isn’t very well made or well thought out, I do think it gives a real sense of my style of adventure which is a bit more akin to point and click games. The picture shown is actually just the first floor.

1. Use something from the backyard to break the glass in the backyard

2. Go to the library take the step ladder and then climb into the dining room through the back window.

3. Turn on the thermostat to put out the fire next to the vent in the living room

4. Grab a screwdriver from the utility closet and climb out the living room window.

5. Take the screwdriver and wedge the window open to the kitchen

6. Get the fire extinguisher from the kitchen and head to the bathroom

7. After putting out the fires go in the bathroom and get the plunger

8. Go to the utility closet and combine the plunger with the rope

9. Use the rope and plunger and throw it into the broken off water drain outside and use it to climb up to the veranda.

10. Go into the workroom and out the window grab on the gutter outside and shimmy across it to the balcony.

11. On the balcony, grab the vines draping around the rail.

12. After breaking the balcony window lasso the vines across to the rail above the upstairs grand hall.

13. Climb across the vine and go to the upstairs utility closet to get a wrench.

14. Go back to the balcony and use the wrench on a loose gutter on the other side of the balcony.

15. Shimmy across the gutter to the master bathroom.

16. Exit out the master bath to the bedroom where you’ll find Catrina knocked out.

17. Take her credit card and exit out the bedroom to the hall and use it to enter locked doors like the guest room

18. In the guest room, drag out the dresser into the hall in front of the stairs.

19. Get Catrina and place her on the dresser.

20. Felix will Jump on the dresser as it goes through the fire breaking through the door and the gate outside it to safety.

If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, that was confusing, a bit obtuse, and there were a lot of things on there that probably wouldn’t even work (the vent, screwdriver on a window, plunger, sliding down a curving staircase on the door). I’m still questioning the arrangement of the house also. I also think I was going to throw a time limit in there too! It’s certainly not the best example of Felix adventuring but I think you get an idea where the heart is. That still hasn’t changed.

On an unrelated note, Happy Valentines Day