The Ladiator

You are The Ladiator, and must defeat the great titan Ago in the arena!

How to Play:

A /D keys to move Left/Right

Left Shift to dodge, Space to jump

Left/Right mouse to use Primary/Secondary attacks

Choose wisely! Select a weapon from the 3 options at the start, the boss will have access to the other 2 choices to use against you.

Submitted for the Boss Rush Game Jam 2024

Cover art by: @kaya.palacio

Design Details:

The outline for BRGJ24 had us explore the concept of Exchange as it applies to the boss rush genre. In The Ladiator, the idea has been interpreted into a single boss that has access to the same weapon choices the player does, but will only use the 2 options that the player doesn't select and a mix of different attacks between each of them. 

These weapons define the bosses move set, and ideally provide a reason for a player to replay the fight. Navigating unique combinations of these attack patterns and exploring the shifting experience should keep things entertaining, and was something I found to have potential if executed on well.

Additionally, the players actions will cost stamina limiting the player to a finite economy of options. Stamina can be replenished passively, but it will be essential to exchange moments that would appear best to attack with those where it may be necessary to preserve enough stamina for a dodge.

Reflections:

Originally there was a plan to have 3 bosses that could be faced in different sequences and all would need to be defeated to win the game. Working solo to develop for this project, much to my chagrin I discovered midway through that was never in the cards. :,)

Designing the game and its elements bottom-up was eye-opening and allowed me to engage more directly in developing, and spend less time tweaking the characteristics of the code. Characters could be dynamically called on to take damage regardless of their identity. The AI personality handler could be made responsible to push buttons that made it's character move similar to the way the player moves their character, and all pieces fell smoothly into place from there. This flexibility was essential in development, and saved a tremendous amount of time. 

Bugs, bugs, bugs. There's a swarm of locusts in this one. Plenty of room has been left for the player to explore and open that can on this project. A necessary and befitting mark of any game jam, I'll tell myself. Hopefully the interpretation of the assignment persists and makes its way across the screen to you. 

Thank you for trying the game out, and let me know what you think can be improved for my next one!