top of page

Quick Menu

9614ce1f-e2ee-422f-b2d2-7ca197082576.png
9614ce1f-e2ee-422f-b2d2-7ca197082576.png

2024

5 People

2 Weeks

Created with

Unreal Engine 5

Boss-ton Tea party

Student Project

This is a prototype for a mid game boss battle with a giant tea pot. 

Gameplay Design · Combat Design · Level Design

Project Set Up

​

Create an arena for an RPG boss battle of mid-game difficulty where the boss has two phases and an ability that influences the level. Our inspiration was the tea party from Alice in wonderland.

Boss attacks

​

The mechanics of this project were inspired by Breath of the Wild. I researched and categorized its boss attacks by type to use as a framework to design boss mechanics aligned with our game’s theme.​

Boss's attack pattern

​

After getting feedback from my team, I scoped down our attack options based on implementation difficulty, time and resources while prioritizing player challenges like pacing, functionality, combination potential and gameplay enrichment.

Preventing spamming with cool downs

​​

During playtesting, we noticed players could spam attacks to quickly defeat the boss. Acting on our Technical Designer’s suggestion, we added a cooldown timer, which, combined with the slingshot pullback duration, created a natural, frustration-free delay between attacks.

Preventing close combat with a wave

​

We also noticed that the teapot had a blindspot right at the base of its body so we added a small wave of tea to push the player away from the blindspot and penalise them with a bit of damage.

Combat Design​

  • Conceptualized the boss attacks. 

  • Set damage, speed, frequency and order of the boss attacks.​​​

  • Balanced the cool down, charge up time and range for the player slingshot. 

  • Placed spawning locations for the boss' re-location ability. 

  • Set the height for the tea flood. 

Reflection

I’m happy with the experience we created and the features we implemented, which provide a strong foundation for future growth. While not perfect, the project offered valuable insights and room for improvement.

​

Features I wish we had implemented include:

  • Slight rotation of the boss away from the player when the weak spot is exposed, to increase difficulty and encourage movement.

  • A more enclosed arena to make spinning teacups more threatening and reduce safe blind spots.

  • Hovering the teapot in phase 2 to add variety, menace, and an extra shooting challenge.

bottom of page