28/01/2021-Concept & Sprites: Bosses
Boss Concept 1: ‘Rat Boss’
Currently the boss is unnamed, but the rat boss will be the first boss to fight in the game. The rat will be the leader of the level’s pigeon and rat army trying to stop Bilgert’s chase of the seagull.
First draft:
I have drawn up how the boss will look in-game as a rough draft, possible attack styles and animations and the reward for beating said boss. Oliver wants unlockable outfits for Bilgert, and since the boss is a rat, I felt a pest control hazmat suit was in order.
1/02/2020- Rat Boss first attempt
Here’s my first attempt at the rat boss, I am quite happy with how it turned out. We are using my concepts as prototype’s for now and if change is needed I will adapt upon them. I think I did a good job with reflecting the old, fat, lazy general aesthetic I was going for. Can’t wait to see how some of this stuff goes down in game, expect a concept sheet soon.
I have reused my sketches for quickness. Ideas for a death would be that he turns into a big cheese or vanishes, with his cap floating down to the ground.
13/4/21- My return to college
Over the last two weeks, I have been not only enjoying my holiday, but installing new software so I may animate my sprites in a far less complex fashion. While most are already done, they need to be tested via an animation timeline, which is what I am doing today and further on.
Here are the idle animation frames I have made for the Rat Boss, now named ‘Captain Vermin’. There are 3 frames, with more development to come on them, but it serves the purpose quite well.
Some things I want to add or change include the belly jiggle and the tale moving.
I took inspiration from the Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time game I used to love when I was a kid, and some of the idle animations for enemies you would fight in turn-based combat.
15/04/2021- Attacks:
As documented above with my drawings, ‘Captain Vemin’ as he is now called will have a handful of attacks that Bilgert will have to fend off. These include:
- Slash
- A simple, not-so powerful hit move.
- Orbital Fromagement
- An orbital strike of slow-moving missiles Bilgert will have to dodge.
- Reinforcements
- spawns in 2 smaller grunts as a distraction, which may even drop med kits.
- Cheese Throw
- Block of cheese hurtling towards the player.
Cheese Throw:
I wanted the boss to throw the cheese sort of like how someone would bowl the ball during a cricket match, and for the cheese? It was very simple. A looping, 360 degree animation so we can test speeds of travel with it and see which one is best without it looking too slow for the movement or too fast for the speed it is travelling.
I will also be repurposing the above throw animation into a scratching animation for the simple hit/slash attack.
Orbital Fromagement/ Reinforcements:
The missile is a fairly simple animation too, the only thing that really changes is the size and direction of the flame. The animation for captain vermin is as follows: he looks and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a radio, he speaks into the radio momentarily leaving him open to attacks, as this happens, missiles will spawn in the sky and fall down at a reasonable pace so Bilgert can dodge the attack.
In the other scenario, two enemies, most likely a rat and bird brainz will run from the sewer entrance to attack Bilgert.
9/2/2021- Boss 2: Fishguts
Fishguts is a goldfish with glasses inside of a tank, which is used as the cockpit for a gigantic mech deployed to stop Bilgert getting his worm. With capabilities of firing captive floppers (grunt, flips across the floor towards Bilgert) and water guns, this mech is lethal to anyone. Unlike the rat or Bobby, Fishguts will tower over Bilgert, utilising stomp attacks, water gun, flopper flinger and more to defeat him.
23/02/2021– Using the above piece as reference, I created an in-game look for Fishguts and what he could look like in the final game. Scale-wise, I would like Fishguts to be the biggest boss in the game, a large, agile, skilled combat mech who is somewhat hard to take down, firing fish projectiles and launching floppers (enemy type to replace Bird Brainz in the sewers) and a large water gun to take Bilgert out.
17/03/2021– After a long while of contemplation, failed attempts and thinking, I have finally finished the base for Fishguts. I made a few changed to the design for simplicity’s sake and also managed to pull of some others I really like.
Fishguts is a mech controlled by a smart Flopper, who wears glasses, and has trapped a bunch of his dumb brethren in a secondary fish tank which serves as the belly of the mech. This serves as the ammunition for the water gun, the fish launcher and the super laser.
22/04/2021- Fishguts new design/idle anim
I decided I wasn’t too happy with the previous attempt at Fishguts design, so I used my original concepts as a base and I am FAR happier with this new design. The feet are clenched into the floor, meaning he will not move or move often, however the arms have a battle ready pose to them. Going to be running through attacks in the coming days.
26/4/21- Attack animation
I have only worked on one for now, as Luc has told me that for times sake we are only having one attack per boss and if we get the time we go back through and work some more. I feel like I worked my best on this one, as I have added little swoosh animations and used quite a few frames to make it look pretty. The animation depicts Fishguts using the bottom half of his gun, which doubles as a claw, to snap at the player.
Other animations I have drafted include a shooting one, a flopper spawner one, as well as a stomp.
Boss 3: Bobby [CUT]
NOTE: After some discussion we decided to cut Bobby as a miniboss due to time constraints. I am sad my little dog will not appear in our game, but I am happy we have made this wise decision to make sure we are calculated with the time we have.
Bobby is the name of my actual dog, and I wanted a way to add him into the game in some way. In real life, he is very energetic, playful and violent sometimes, he always wants to pick a fight with you. In the game, Bobby has been kidnapped against his will by Crackbeak and turned into a monster. He now shared humanoid features, with a buff torso and arms, a bizarre 1940’s style fashion sense and a taste for cigars.
Bobby conceptually is designed to be the counter to Bilgert, sort of like how Dark Samus is to Samus, or the shadow Mario’s from Mario Galaxy are to Mario, or the Elites from Halo are to Spartans like the Master Chief. Bobby will use similar fighting patterns and attacks to Bilgert, so it is up to the player how that is stopped, evaded or countered. Bobby will also throw bones and dog toys at Bilgert, so the player is forced to dodge.
As you can also see, I have designed a new outfit for Bilgert. Right now it goes unnamed and is designed to look quite ridiculous on some buff, extremely angry toad. I want to call it either fishguts or merman Bilgert, as it is won by defeating Fishguts.
23/03/2021- I have began to colour and make some of my sketches into actual concept pieces for later.
here’s Bobby all finished concept wise, Bobby is now a brainwashed buff humanoid with a thirst for blood, hired by crackbeak to stop Bilgert.
An idea for one of Bilgert’s outfits.
4/5/2021- Crackbeak, the final boss
Today, I will be taking the responsibility of crafting Oliver’s vision of the main antagonist of Toad Out of The Hole: Crackbeak. Crackbeak is Oliver’s creation, and he has a unique facial design I need to replicate carefully to be consistent. I will be changing the design to a humanoid one, so that the fight is easier to animate and the attacks simple to think about.
Originally this was Oliver’s job, however it transferred to me due to the rest of the team being busy. On the plus side, this is my final job. After this, I am free to do whatever I see fit to improve my sprites, animations or otherwise to make sure the game looks great. Maybe I will even design more outfits.
6/05/2021- Crackbeak Animation sheets
Wanted to have a short and sweet animation for Crackbeak’s idle, the reason being for easiness and lack of ideas on how to make this animation anymore than him just standing breathing with fists raised. I feel like I managed to do a good job at fleshing out his attack animation, with a powerful hook.
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