2018.01.18 Boss 101, future games and ShMUPS devblog

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome to the latest Boss 101 update!

Thank you for joining us again as we talk this week about the Boss 101 Steam Achievements! Exciting stuff right?

Steam Achievements

So you know we have spoken about the various in-game alerts for things like minor quests and story related activities. Well, a few of these dovetail into the main game achievements you can get. We have a list below of all the main achievements as well as the name of the achievement.

As you might guess the goal of these is to give YOU some fun challenges as you are playing the game. There are a few about collecting things and to get some of them you will end up doing a little dive into the story and background we have in the game. Mostly though – we aimed the majority of them at the core game loop with a bunch of hidden ones for people who want to explore all the aspects of the game.

Things like the hat collection and gun collection are not small things to do as we have nearly 260 hats in the game and about 50 or so guns. You do get some freebies but the rest you will have to earn. Ideally though – that will be enjoyable for most of you (at least we hope so). Every single hat and gun is crafted to be a cool addition to your game. It’s pretty exciting for us to be heading into the finish since we want to know how YOU will feel about Boss 101.

OK – check out the latest…

Spoiler

Part  1



Part 2



Part 3



In Steam!



Boss 101 Screenshot



Go power beatdown armor!

Making Boss 101 and heading into the finish

I need to take a break here and tell you about two people who are working with me to bring you the best game possible. They are none other than Manon and Joshua. I know I have spoken about our team in the past and you might guess I have the utmost respect for their efforts and commitment in bringing you Boss 101.

You already know we are the people who MOST want to see Boss 101 come out. It’s in our best interests to get you the game sooner than later and every day it’s not in your hands is a day we aren’t generating income from the release.

The thing is, and this is the point I am driving at, we want you to have the best game possible. That gets a LOT of lip service in the game development community. Along with the words “Metroidvania” or “Souls-like” you probably hear “bring you the best” just as much. The final proof will be in the shipped game but we are indeed committed.

This take a lot of effort and willpower and I can tell you right now if it wasn’t for those two the Boss 101 you would be getting would be vastly different and in many ways a much poorer game. These two have gone all in and together we have a game we are really proud of. Again – I know you might hear this little line a lot but we are living our dreams.

I guess I’ll leave it with this. It’s not been an easy road since we effectively did everything the ‘hard’ way. We didn’t take shortcuts on quality. We WERE efficient but we didn’t skimp on the extras we wanted to give you. The game is about high value for you the player.

I was speaking with Manon earlier this week and we were talking about how none of us expected the game to go past ONE year much less turn into THREE years. Think about that. Sounds crazy right? Now go back and look at our development blogs from one year ago, from TWO YEARS ago. See that game there? That’s the one you would have gotten at the time. It would have been OK I guess but it wouldn’t be THIS Boss 101 and honestly this is the BEST one we can give you.

There’s not much time left in the polish and bug phase. We expect to announce a date soon and WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. We know you want the game. We know you have been waiting. WE KNOW YOU MIGHT THINK US CRAZY TO PUT ALL THIS EFFORT IN.

Really though – it is what we need to do to feel good about shipping Boss 101.

Thank you Manon & Thank You Joshua.

If anyone is still reading this and has any doubts about following a lifelong desire or dream. Do it. You will never regret it. You will never look back on taking a bold risk to make your life better. It’s in the EFFORT we improve.

Do that and remember to always – live your dreams!

Best,

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome to the latets Boss 101 update!

Thank you for joining us and we have some exciting news YOU can participate in right now!

Design a Hat for Boss 101. Well, more like SUGGEST a Hat for Boss 101! HAHA!

So yes, we are planning on getting Boss 101 in your hands soon and ONE LAST THING we are doing is running a contest to YOU to suggest a hat. Drop us a line anywhere (details follow) and we will collect all the submissions and pick on to go into the game in true Boss 101 style. Suggest what you like but realize that we will have to respect various licenses and copyrights. Also we will be taking any suggestion and Boss 101’ing in our own way. You only need to supply a suggestion and we will put it on the list.

General Contest Rules and Guides:
- Entry is free and thank you for your support!
- Suggest any subject, theme or person you might like to see as a Boss 101 hat
- You can suggest anything - animate or inanimate!
- Please use common sense. Offensive or tasteless suggestions aren’t needed or welcome.
- If your idea is chosen we will do our best to bring it to life
- You can suggest in the replies here or mail us at hatcontest @ boss101.com (remove spaces)
- The contest will run three weeks

Check out a few of the lids you will share space with if you get selected!

Spoiler

Ok – onto BOSS INTERACTION!

We always enjoyed the idea of a little boss interaction with the player during the battle. It’s something we built into the bigger boss encounters. The general idea here is we are always looking for ways to entertain you. Occasionally as you battle the boss will blurt out a little phrase while he’s attacking. It’s mostly a nod to the idea the bosses are like you. They are screaming at their opponent as they look for the best shot or try to get in the winning blow. Check out some of the possible things a boss might say as you whale away.

The riddler!



The comedian!



The cheater!



The challenger!

OK – just a small sample of what you can expect when YOU play Boss 101. There’s more to come of course and we will be showing you as much as we can leading into the release.

Thank you for stopping by and drop a suggestion below if there is a hat idea YOU would like to see!

Thank you and remember to always LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome back to the Boss 101 development update for the week! Thank you for joining us!

Help us design a hat!

Do not forget the hat contest is still going on for this week and NEXT. All you need to do is reply to this post and suggest a hat you would like to see in Boss 101. THAT’S IT! If we choose your idea we’ll make it and YOU and YOUR FRIENDS will get to see it in Boss 101. Some basic notes about the contest.

General Contest Rules and Guides:
- Entry is free and thank you for your support!
- Suggest any subject, them or person you might like to see as a Boss 101 hat
- You can suggest anything animate or inanimate!
- Please use common sense. Offense or tasteless suggestions aren’t needed or welcome.
- If your idea is chosen we will do our best to bring it to life
- You can suggest in the replies here or mail us at hatcontest @ boss101.com (remove spaces)
- The contest will run till August 8th 2017

On Screen Warnings

As you may know already we have a series of status effects in the game that can trip up your fight against the bosses. Of course we provide you with PLENTY of counters for any move a boss can make but we are always accounting for the times when you may get caught flat footed. For those times we have on screen warnings to tell you what is going on and what you need to do.

In the great effort to clean up and polish the game we have been re-examining assets we made one, two or even three years ago. THREE YEARS! Holy moley!

The status arrows and warnings were done a while back and when we were tuning the game we wanted to add a little punch to them so they stood out and you could see them a little better. Let’s take a look at some of the before and after shots so you can see what we are talking about.

First off is the basic struggle arrow. This is what you would get when you are frozen or webbed in the game. It is designed to inform you about how to deal with your current status. We have a countdown that speeds up if you wiggle your control directions. Classic struggle stuff. Check out the before and after. You will notice things were scaled up and we added a nice glow around the edges to pop it off the screen a little better.

Spoiler

Old Version


New Version


Here’s another status indicator that got a touch up. Check out this before and after.

Old Version


New Version


Finally we have MISTER SNAIL! Some of the boss weapons can slow your movement speed so we have Mister Snail to tell you about it. LOOK HOW HAPPY HE IS!

Old Version


New Version


Some examples of the Work in Progress shots from the game

Old version WIP in game – old number countdown and old art


New version WIP in game – old number countdown and new art


Screenshot mock up with the new number countdown


Boss 101 Screenshot

Shower and stay clean even in the middle of battles!

OK – that was a lot to cover and we hope you enjoyed this look at the progress towards final. We expect to do a status update about where we are in the next week or so. Generally speaking - it’s all good news so stay tuned and THANK YOU for all the support.

Please always remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[BulletMagnet]

Hmm...I haven't seen the full list of hats you've already got so I'm not sure if I'd be suggesting repeats here, but I think one or two tributes to other shooters might be neat to see...maybe a hat shaped like a pixelly Space Invaders alien, or maybe Reko's twintails from Mushihime-sama (or change the color and make it a Sailor Moon or Hatsune Miku reference instead).

[Donley_Time]

Hmm...I haven't seen the full list of hats you've already got so I'm not sure if I'd be suggesting repeats here, but I think one or two tributes to other shooters might be neat to see...maybe a hat shaped like a pixelly Space Invaders alien, or maybe Reko's twintails from Mushihime-sama (or change the color and make it a Sailor Moon or Hatsune Miku reference instead).

Good stuff man - we do have a few retro shooter tributes already BUT we added your ideas to the hat contest list regardless!

Thanks so much!

-Tim

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome to the latest Boss 101 Update!

Some quick development updates and then onto the main development blog!

Very Super Early Beta Testing has begun!

Yep, you heard right – we have started to send out Steam keys to selected groups for play testing feedback. If you think you are on that list and haven’t gotten a key – please be patient. You can always mail us at hello(at)donleytimefoundation(dot)com if you have any questions.

General feedback is positive and we’re doing gameplay tweaks to make things smooth for the end user. All in all though – no major hitches and we’re moving forward with wrapping the game up.

Making an In-Game Wiki

You know about the Professor’s Wiki in Boss 101! Originally this was the place for neat lore about the various people you meet in the game but has expanded a bit.

You can see here we have the main Command Center and the WIKI itself.

Spoiler

Each page here ORIGINALLY started as a straight piece of art displayed all at once. This art included the words, images and placement or everything. This was my personal idea (me being Tim) and let me assure you it was a terrible one. HAHAHAHAHA! Joshua had a much better idea about how to do this. Basically, do it the right way (like almost everybody else would). We broke the page into pieces, art, words in an XML file, animations, etc. All this is created separately and then assembled in the AMAZING editor that Joshua created for our game.

Editor



Samples of the art









In the editor here you can see we have places to assign art, images and the like as well as write up the words for the page. REALLY NICE STUFF and a huge speed improvement over the old way.

Now – of course, we just had to go and fill it with awesome information for you – which we DID!

Design a Hat for Boss 101. Well, more like SUGGEST a Hat for Boss 101! HAHA!

Suggest-A-Hat Contest Ends Next Sunday August 20th

So yes, we are planning on getting Boss 101 in your hands soon and ONE LAST THING we are doing is running a contest to YOU to suggest a hat. Drop us a line anywhere (details follow) and we will collect all the submissions and pick on to go into the game in true Boss 101 style. Suggest what you like but realize that we will have to respect various licenses and copyrights. Also we will be taking any suggestion and Boss 101’ing in our own way. You only need to supply a suggestion and we will put it on the list.

General Contest Rules and Guides:
- Entry is free and thank you for your support!
- Suggest any subject, theme or person you might like to see as a Boss 101 hat
- You can suggest anything - animate or inanimate!
- Please use common sense. Offensive or tasteless suggestions aren’t needed or welcome.
- If your idea is chosen we will do our best to bring it to life
- You can suggest in the replies here or mail us at hatcontest @ boss101.com (remove spaces)
- The contest will run three weeks

Don’t forget the Suggest-A-Hat contest wraps up next Sunday. We have a ton of entries and many good suggestions, drop yours in if you haven’t. You may be happy to know we MIGHT be able to open up a few more slots for suggestions. We’ll keep you posted!

Thanks for joining us today and we appreciate your support. With the Early Beta testing going on you can be assures we are wrapping things up. Look for more news about a release date soon and thank you for hanging in there with us as we wrap Boss 101 up.

We know it’s not always easy to wait for something you are excited about but we also want you to get our very best product. Thank you again and talk with you soon!

Remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[BulletMagnet]

If you don't mind a couple of additional hat suggestions:

- Not really a "hat", but methinks the spiky hair, yellow/green skin tone and half-mech face of C.A.T.S. from the infamous Zero Wing intro might be a worthwhile fit, even if most people have no idea it came from a shmup and haven't seen it in years, heh.

- If you haven't already done enough knight helmet variations maybe one based on the played character from Lords of Thunder would be cool.

- To segue from there, somehow the vision of a gloriously flowing Conan the Barbarian-esque mane/headband combination on top of the MC makes me chuckle.

- On the less illustrious end of the silliness spectrum I also like the idea of a plain ol' metal bucket over his head, and the handle flopping up and down when he speaks.

- Max reminds me, as it happens, of Maxwell from Scribblenauts, so maybe a variation on the latter's "rooster hat" would be interesting (just check with the copyright lawyers first...y'know, in case my previous suggestions haven't already got that ball rolling).

[Donley_Time]

If you don't mind a couple of additional hat suggestions:

- Not really a "hat", but methinks the spiky hair, yellow/green skin tone and half-mech face of C.A.T.S. from the infamous Zero Wing intro might be a worthwhile fit, even if most people have no idea it came from a shmup and haven't seen it in years, heh.

- If you haven't already done enough knight helmet variations maybe one based on the played character from Lords of Thunder would be cool.

- To segue from there, somehow the vision of a gloriously flowing Conan the Barbarian-esque mane/headband combination on top of the MC makes me chuckle.

- On the less illustrious end of the silliness spectrum I also like the idea of a plain ol' metal bucket over his head, and the handle flopping up and down when he speaks.

- Max reminds me, as it happens, of Maxwell from Scribblenauts, so maybe a variation on the latter's "rooster hat" would be interesting (just check with the copyright lawyers first...y'know, in case my previous suggestions haven't already got that ball rolling).

All great suggestions and thanks so much! We put them all on our list and announce once the contest wraps up!

Appreciate the support!

-Tim

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and thank you for joining us again in another weekly Boss 101 Update. Let’s get on with the show, shall we?

How to Make a Hat in Boss 101

With all the talk about hat contests we wanted to revisit how we make hats for Boss 101. In the three plus years of development a lot of ideas have come and gone but hat making has stayed the same. Why you ask? Well, we hit upon a pretty simple way that works well for us though YOUR mileage may vary.

Boss 101 has limited animation on the main character. That’s as much a decision based on team size and time as it is on style. One of the side effects of this was making costumes or hats is MUCH easier. We basically use hat stickers to cover up the main character. This can be a partial or a complete cover but the result is the changing of the appearance.

Another nice thing is we can add in minor limb animation and eye blinks for maximum cuteness! Check out the behind the scenes below!

Spoiler

Setup with all hats in a file


Picking one to edit - animation check


Sprite test


Hat Test in game


Hat Contest Ends Today

Hop you got your suggestions in! We had a LOT of amazing suggestions and are going to have to pare down all the good ones. In fact we have SO MANY amazing suggestions that we will likely be putting any we didn’t pick on the Boss 102 list! You see how we are! We appreciate all your help and thank you again!

Look for updates and WINNERS in next week's big update!

Reminder

We have a ton of great suggestions but could always use another if you have one!

Design a Hat for Boss 101. Well, more like SUGGEST a Hat for Boss 101! HAHA!

So yes, we are planning on getting Boss 101 in your hands soon and ONE LAST THING we are doing is running a contest to YOU to suggest a hat. Drop us a line anywhere (details follow) and we'll collect all the submissions and pick one to go into the game in Boss 101 style. Suggest what you like but realize we will have to respect various licenses and copyrights. Also we will be taking any suggestion and Boss 101’ing it in our own way. You only need to supply a suggestion and we will put it on the list.

General Contest Rules and Guides:
- Entry is free and thank you for your support!
- Suggest any subject, theme or person you might like to see as a Boss 101 hat
- You can suggest anything - animate or inanimate!
- Please use common sense. Offensive or tasteless suggestions aren’t needed or welcome.
- If your idea is chosen we will do our best to bring it to life
- You can suggest in the replies here or mail us at hatcontest @ boss101.com (remove spaces)
- The contest will run three weeks

Thank you for your time and we appreciate all your support!

And as always - remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome to the Boss 101 Weekend Update. Lots of news as well as results from the Suggest a Hat contest are in this update! Let’s get moving shall we?

Hat Contest Winners are HERE!

First off – we had originally planned to have three hats made for the contest but since there were so many great suggestions we upped that number to SEVEN. That’s right we picked seven hats from YOUR SUGGESTIONS to be put inside Boss 101. We had nearly 200 entries across seven websites and THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking a moment to suggest something to us!

The winners are below and as you look at them please consider the following points if you don’t see YOUR particular suggestion in the winning bracket.

- Some entries were copies or close to hats we already had in the game. As a reference we had nearly 300 hats in Boss 101 BEFORE the contest. Many suggestions ended up being close to hats we already had and they didn’t make much sense to do again.
- Your winning suggestion might have been combined with a similar suggestion. We had a few duplicates and some of these were chosen by the team.
- Your hat suggestion might have gotten modified to fit the Boss 101 style. This is not a slam on anyone’s suggestion but it is part of our effort to stick with the art style and game themes we have.
- Any suggestions we didn’t choose and isn’t already being done is now on list of possible hats for Boss 102. So much good stuff will not go to waste!
- If your hat idea wasn’t picked you’re still a good person and we love you!

Spoiler

Take a moment to check out the selections below. Each selection has a sample animation as well as a sample of the new bullet you get when wearing the hat.

Hat 1
Cat ears and paws bullet


Who doesn’t love to wear kitty ears?! You can in Boss 101!

Hat 2
Bin with garbage bag bullet


Take the trash out with hanging out in the bin

Hat 3
Old school bank robber and money bag bullet


Clean ‘em out!

Hat 4
Clown Hat with spinning water flower bullet


Clowns can be scary or your friend. You decide!

Hat 5
Bird Nest hat with bird and egg bullet


Look at those little cute birdies!

Hat 6
Old School Arcade enemy with retro bullet


Invasion Time!

Hat 7
The kind of a hat a cat might wear with umbrella bullet


You can have lots of good fun that is funny with this hat.

A sample of the clown hat with bullet in action in the game!


OK – hope you enjoyed this look at the winners and thank you so much if you took a moment to enter and participate. We appreciate all your support and words of encouragement as we near release!

Next week – Development News as we Near Ship!

Boss 101 Screenshot

Today we are highlighting a Boss 101 hat of none other than Martin Millar (Bocuma) who contributed some of the tunes you will hear in Boss 101.

Check out his music here: https://bocuma.bandcamp.com/

Big development update next week so tune in then for news of our progress to shipping!

Till then thank you again and remember to always LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim



Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome to the Boss 101 Weekly Development Update!

Ship date and Project Status – hint – GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

Let’s get to the main question on many people’s minds. The SHIP DATE for Boss 101 – aka “When can I get my hands on it?” First you will have to indulge us a little with a SHORT progress update before we start rolling on that hot topic. Between points look for screens and updates about various Boss 101 systems!

Spoiler

Picnic Time: Learn more about the characters and the world


Some points we will cover in this post!

1. Developmental Team Progress
2. Status of the Project
3. Expected Date Range
4. Plans for ship and beyond

Development Team Progress

OK, there is no way to simplify this one other than to just come right out with it. A giant confluence of personal events happened in the last few weeks that effectively slowed us down on the way to ship. We can’t and won’t bore you with the details but it involved not just one but TWO of our team having several important family events happen as well as what can best be described as an act of nature (FYI – this is Hurricane Harvey in the Gulf Coast and we live in the southern United States).

All of us are safe and fine and our families are doing well. I mention the hurricane mostly since it slammed us right around the time of the family visits and put some slight hiccups in the timing of our plans. All is getting straightened out so no worries.

I do mention this stuff because I want to be honest and straight forward with you about what is going on. I have said it before but we are three people and for the last three years we have pretty well worked ahem – rigorous game development conditions. (Also known as – eating lots of ramen).

No complaints here and we aren’t looking to make excuses. Thing is, we can’t ignore life completely during game development and this close to the end we do our best to stay completely focused. Alas, that just could not happen in the last few weeks.

Regardless, what’s done is done and now let’s move onto the next topic.

Kite Hill: Relax with your pal and your pet on Kite hill. Talk about life, ice cream and the universe!


Status of the Project

Going VERY well. We’ve been handing out BETA keys to people and getting great responses. At the same time there is a fine tuning pass and many bug fixes happening. This is all going about as well as can be expected and nothing super surprising has occurred at this point. Mostly, it’s just been solid work all the way through.

Still, we are determined to clean up the game as completely as we can FOR YOU and for us. This does mean some tuning and bug fixes are still in the works but we are really in that final stretch.

Refueling the Cosmic Clicks Ship Between Endless Boss Rounds


Game Attack – what out for the robo-fleas!


Shipping Date (Range)

Well, the short story here is we expect it out BEFORE Thanksgiving this year (that’s November 23rd I think). Really though we expect it out before that.

There are a lot of reasons for this thinking. There are no new features. We are primarily tuning and bug fixing and the work we have on the list is not pressing, it’s just time consuming. That adds up to not a lot left and a LOT of confidence on our end.

Still – that’s not an EXACT date I know. I can tell you this, the MOMENT we think we can drop the landing gear we will TELL YOU A SPECIFIC DATE! Right now, it just wouldn’t make a lot of sense to say Nov 23rd since we might be earlier and saying something too early only leads to frustration BEYOND the normal development frustration of waiting for a game you want.

We would LOVE to get the game in your hands in the next month and if we see that is a real possibility we will post on every site we can and broadcast it all over. Right now the ONLY reason we aren’t laying a date down is there is just enough stuff left and there was just enough of a production hiccup (see talking point #1) that I (Tim) feel we need a week or two to stabilize before getting a clear assessment.

Again – we are not holding on to the game for any reason other than quality for YOU. Please remember we do NOT have a publisher and all development comes straight out of our own money. Ours. Not a Kickstarter. Not a publisher. Not a gumball machine. Our own money pays for Boss 101 and so does our own time.

I know it can be hard to not have a simple date to look forward to but the whole point of Boss 101 was to make a game we felt right about and felt gave you the most value and fun. Laying a date down before we feel good about it doesn’t get you or us anything.

Trust us though – I’m sure MANY smarter people would and could have made Boss 101 in a different and perhaps faster fashion. Sure, sure. I can guarantee one thing though – the Boss 101 YOU play will be packed with as much FUN and VALUE as we can give you. We really hope you feel the game was UNDERPRICED at $9.99! HAAAAA! Wouldn’t that be nice! More game for you and a great price!

Tutorials from good ole BERL!


Play an Arcade Tank Game inside your Command Center – earn points and prizes!


Post Launch

This will be dedicated to any and all bug fixes found by ourselves and the community. Also we will be looking at consoles and other languages.

For the last two on that list (console and other languages) it is possible we may partner with the RIGHT publisher or team to create a console or language port. That does remain to be seen and it also will depend on YOUR excitement and purchasing of the game. We would love to get Boss 101 on as many console and in as many languages as possible!



Bonus talk – New Video

Oh yah – we are looking at creating a new video as we near the launch date. Lots of fun stuff to show you so look for that announcement too!

Boss 101 Screenshot of the Day

There's always time for ice cream. Always.

Lots of things and thank you for hanging in there! We are coming down to it and appreciate all your support and understanding. As always comment or questions welcome!

Remember to ALWAYS LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[BulletMagnet]

Looking forward to it - in case anyone on your end didn't catch it yet, there's a typo in the last GIF's text, it says "that is does" when it should be "that it does".

[Donley_Time]

Looking forward to it - in case anyone on your end didn't catch it yet, there's a typo in the last GIF's text, it says "that is does" when it should be "that it does".

YAY! And thanks for the catch. We will recheck the dialog but I think that one was fixed last week (gif is a week plus old).

-Tim

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Welcome to the Boss 101 development update and we hope you are doing awesome!

Tuning and polish CONTINUED!

As you know we are winding down the project and the last things on the list besides bug fixing are the tuning and polish for the game. Let’s talk about balancing the nearly 300 hats we have in the game shall we?

Hat Tuning

So, to deal with the AMAZING amount of hats and give you the most fun we did a few things…

First – we allow you to wear a hat for its ABILITY or its LOOK or BOTH. That is to say you can look one way and still use ANOTHER hat for its powers. This was something we added a while back when we realized you might find a nice hat you personally like but have another hat with abilities you need.

For us personally we appreciate when a game allows us to dress up our characters the way we want. We wanted to give YOU that ability too!

Spoiler

Equip a hat for costume, ability or both


BERL walking you through how the store works in the tutorial


Equipping hats for both ability and costume examples


After the hats are in we then move into the handy dandy editor to assign abilities, balance things and adjust the cost of the hat.

All this is done in here:


Of course if you want to see where things REALLY start then you would look at this spreadsheet created with all the hats on it. It’s where the balancing starts. Initial numbers, powers and cost are laid out here and referenced as we transfer them into the editor.

Honestly, it’s a lot easier to start with a spreadsheet like this since you can look at everything at once as well as create relationships and track totals for things like “how many hats use the fire resistant ability” and stuff like that.

Example


Once done in there we transfer all the work from spreadsheet to editor and into the game


Boss 101 Screenshot

Fighting bosses in a warp while space whales look on. Did we mention you can dress as a clown if you want?

OK – this is a simplified look at the process but does cover the basics. Really it comes down to what feels right in the game and what feels the most fun for you the player. Spreadsheets and editors are only the start.

Thanks again for stopping by and remember to always LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome to the latest Boss 101 update!

Tuning, polish and everything else

We’re still in it folks. Bringing you our best as quick as we can. This week saw a lot of final weapon balancing along with a bit of dialog adjustment. Mostly we are looking to fine tune the Boss 101 experience and give you a fun world to explore and learn about. We’re not going to shortchange you on the action either – we want that to be fun as well!

To that end let’s look at some of the things we added in the World Building category. You might have noticed the Hotline phone in the Command Center already. It’s the place Tanya and other important people can contact you about important news in your section of the galaxy.

Here we see a conversation with Tanya and the guys. Needless to say they can be a bit.. ahem… irreverent.

Spoiler

The idea with the phone and other things in the Command Center is to help the place feel like something with lots to explore, see and interact with. When we are working on Boss 101 the big question is always “Is this fun?” and “Will the player understand this?” A lot of times we are going on gut instinct but we like to think we are giving you an extra big value when you play Boss 101. There is a lot there for you to explore or not explore. It’s really up to you!

End of Round Fun

We spoke about this before but we added a few little fun bits to the end of the rounds to make your rewards even cooler!

Cash goes flying from the tally area to your cash bar. Come on now – who doesn’t want a jackpot! You can speed it up by pressing the action button too!



Also, the medal slam down with your button presses for extra interactive fun! You know you like slammy whammy award plates! They’re fun! Haha



Finally we end with a little peak at one of the cinematics from early in the game. This is the guys relaxing after a hard day’s battle. Everyone needs a break. Steve and Max are no exception!



Boss 101 Screenshots



Boss 101 visits the Command Center. Surprise!

Taking out the trash in Boss 101. Use that Garbage Bin hat with its trash bag bullets!

All right! Thanks for stopping by and we hope to be bringing you news of a release SOON! We know you have been waiting patiently and thank you for that. We feel the wait will be worth it and we’re working 24/7 to bring you the game!

Remember to always – LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

***ALERT! Images in thread except for the latest post has been put inside spoiler tags for faster loading. Remember to uncheck them when you read!***

Hello and welcome to the latest Boss 101 update

Friends, we have been working like DEMONS I tell you. DEMONS! We are looking to wrap up Boss 101 soon and by that we hope weeks. At the most we are talking about a couple months. Basically, the sooner the better!

So what the frag is taking so long!?!?

Nothing other than the work at hand. When we started this journey with you we knew there would be a lot of ups and downs. We knew some development features would go smooth and some would go rough. We knew and adjusted. We also feel we have been good about keeping YOU informed about the state of the game and the progress we are making.

Since we last spoke we have been dealing with things like damage tuning and store prices. We know that might not seem exciting to read but it's important and affects your experience. Because of this, we want to make sure it’s fun!

Upgrade Pricing

We are putting in final pricing for all the things like upgrades, hats and guns. FUN STUFF! You might be asking yourself “SELF, how do they do this?”

Good question – well we do it with spreadsheets and a heaping of ‘fun’. The idea is we want you to be able to get what you want and also not allow an easy stomp through the game. We are sure a few people will be able to do amazingly well though – no doubt.

How we did our pricing was to look at the rewards per round over the entire game, come up with an average amount you MIGHT get and then calculate how much money you can reasonably achieve by the end of the game. From there we took that money pool and divided it among the things you can buy. We left room for very expensive items and also the idea you might not be able to buy every single little thing in every store BUT that you would be able to buy what you need to finish the game and have fun doing that!

Spoiler

A sample of the Spreadsheet stuff (had to blur out the SECRETS folks)


A sample of the store for upgrades


Allowance for PlayStation controller display in the UI

A few of you might have wondered if we are supporting the PS controller type. Well, we spoke about this and are adding it to the game. Right now we are in the process of testing it and we’ll keep you posted. We know it might not seem like much to see the PS controller buttons on screen for various prompts but for a few of you who really enjoy their PlayStation style action they will appreciate it.

Check out the comparison shots

Endless Boss in PS Style


Endless Boss in Xbox Style


Arcade machines in PS Style


Arcade machines in Xbox Style


Boss 101 Screenshot



Be careful. You might not want to bring a Level 1 shotgun to a Level 29 boss fight!

Boss 101 Pirate Time Screenshot



Dress like a pirate while fighting a robotic pirate ship!

OK there you have it for the week. Believe us when we say we hope to be dropping a specific release date soon. The testing is going well and we are expanding it to more people in the coming days!

Thank you so much for the support and we do appreciate all your kind words! Talk with you soon.

Remember to always LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[quantumproductions]

Hey I remember hearing about this game a while back!
I'm excited to see that it's coming soon!

[Donley_Time]

Hey I remember hearing about this game a while back!
I'm excited to see that it's coming soon!

It is!!! We're almost at the release. Final date to be announced soon!

[Donley_Time]

Hello and welcome to the latest Boss 101 update!

What a week, what a week! Lots of things to talk about so let’s get moving shall we?

Playtesting and First Looks

Right out of the gate we have two first look videos for Boss 101. These are from Indie Game Riot and and Matt “ToborPrime” Fitzgerald. We provided keys and they both took time this week to look at the game live on Twitch (with some of the Boss 101 team in the chat).

We definitely have more of these coming but if you're curious how the first few hours of Boss 101 look (and the game plays) then give a look!

Spoiler

Matt’s Stream and video here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/178485251


Indie Game Riot Stream and video here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/178254787

Pretty exciting stuff and I can tell you it was amazing watching people play the game. I can’t speak for Joshua or Manon but MAN I was nervous as I watched them navigate around the game. We’re still balancing and playtesting but it looked like they had a lot of fun which is what mattered.

Recommend checking either stream out though Matt did do more varied voice acting for the Boss 101 characters! HAHAHA! He made Rob sound like Randy “Macho Man” Savage. WAHAHAH!

Tunes and tweaks

Gravity Gun!

Grab your opponent’s bullets and toss ‘em right back at them! One of my favorite guns in Boss 101



Plasma Gun

Fi-Zap! Disintegrate with the best of them. Can’t beat a good energy beam.



Equip Panel

Get the right Equipment when you ready for battle



Endless Boss - Arcade and Iron Bot Modes

Both are good money makers when you want to grab some extra cash.



Endless Boss End of Round

Watch your score add up



.. AND YOU CAN SHOOT OFF FIREWORKS! YAY!!

Ok folks – we’re working day and NIGHT to bring you Boss 101 as soon as we can. This week was a great one so hang in there. We do believe it won’t be long and PLEASE check out the videos if you are curious! They are worth it!

Thank you and talk with you soon and remember to always ….

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: 2017
Planned Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

November 2nd, 2017 – less than four weeks from now.



Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

There it is! The ship date for Boss 101.

We have been working on this game for over three years and the date is finally here. Really crazy stuff and we are excited and anxious about getting the game to you. All the updates, all the development and testing. It will all be in your hands soon.

We would also like to thank YOU personally for your patience. We know it’s not easy to wait for a game you want to play. We appreciate your patience and think you will agree it was worth the extra time. We’ve said it before but we certainly didn’t expect this game to go as long as it did. That extra time was about adding in the nice touches we felt were needed. Things like UI improvements, gameplay modes, tweaks to enemy behaviors, extra guns, extra levels, and on and on.

Overall thoughts

What a journey! Boss 101 started over three years ago with the idea to remake the web game. It blew up from there when I (Tim) was lucky enough to team up with two incredibly talented people (Manon and Joshua). The game has evolved so much and the driving design ideas were always “Is this fun? Will people enjoy this? Is this a cool surprise?”

Boss 101 aims to bring you the most entertainment we can deliver for your hard earned money.

Game price is $9.99 and we are looking at running a game launch discount for early purchasers. We want you to have the best price we can offer (and stay in business of course! Haha)

What’s left to do?

Mostly play testing. The last few weeks have been centered on playing the game and cleaning up things to make the user experience better. That will continue. We have more updates and videos planned too so stay tuned for those.

There are still tweaks for gameplay coming but all of that is relatively minor against the scope of the game. You can check out a new Twitch stream below for some examples. All in all though – things are looking pretty good.

New Gameplay Streams from Gaming Creations
https://go.twitch.tv/videos/180036985

Hat Store Displays

Let’s talk about some additions to the hat store to make things easier to read and understand.

So we had an older setup in the store and of course we felt it was so easy to look at and comprehend. Well, let’s be honest here I (Tim) felt it was working as designed. Made sense to me! Of course that is not always the best barometer and playtesting proved we could use a little oomph to clear things up.

What were are talking about is the way hats display their abilities to the player. We have icons for powers and they give you various buffs against bosses. All hats are effectively benefit hats in Boss 101. We don’t have hats that hurt you or limit abilities. Hats will protect and grant bonuses and some are for looks. Knowing that we had to look at some of the symbology we were using.

The buff hats - First we replaced all the down arrows with little blue shields. That alone made things clearer about the hat’s abilities.

Close up of the icon work old and new


We also increased the number size on the display to make it more legible. Believe me there is a LONG story of how we got all these crazy hats with all these crazy abilities. HAHAH! At any rate – numbers got bigger but the real deal was in the hat info panel.

New Numbers Sizes and Icons in the Hat Store


In the Make A Room


Check out what we did here. We added a larger version of the number but the topper for us was the placement of the hat number at the end of the description with a percentage. We think that percentage makes it pretty clear how the hat works since we felt it was a little nebulous to people at first. Check out these examples.

Guide Panel with percentages and new design


Various Hats and Stats


Old and new Comparison


Ok folks, we still have lots to do in preparation for release so we’ll leave you here. Check out the Steam Store page and please wishlist us – WE HAVE A DATE NOW and it's close! Maybe Boss 101 isn’t your thing and that’s OK but perhaps a friend might be interested. We’d love you to pass along the good word about the game and help us get as many eyes on it as possible. We promise you won’t be disappointed to recommend this game to a friend!

Thank you again and talk with you soon.

Of course, remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Talk with you soon!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Shepardus]

It's honestly shocking to see a release date for this game

Good work, looking forward to seeing the result!

[Donley_Time]

It's honestly shocking to see a release date for this game

Good work, looking forward to seeing the result!

Not as shocked as us! hahah! We have been toiling away for a while! We said we'd only ship when we felt it had the quality and value we wanted for you.

Thanks for the kind words!

-Tim

[BulletMagnet]

Good to see the release in sight, looking forward to finally judging the bugger for myself!

[Donley_Time]

Good to see the release in sight, looking forward to finally judging the bugger for myself!

YAY!!! We are so excited to get it to you too!

Thank you!

[Donley_Time]

Hello all and welcome back to the Boss 101 update and COUNTDOWN to our November 2nd 2017 ship date!

Can you believe we are talking about shipping Boss 101? It’s been nearly three and a half FREAKING YEARS! WIZOW! So much to talk about so let's go!

First and foremost! The Boss 101 launch Trailer is done and out!

This is the latest and greatest trailer before release. We invite you to check it out if you haven’t already since it highlights the game quite nicely (at least we think so).

Link to trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocM-zAQYDH8



SPECIAL LAUNCH PRICE DISCOUNT for 1 week at launch!
Launch Discount 10% off.
Normally $9.99 --> Launch Promo Price $8.99

Let’s put ALL OUR CARDS on the table right here and now. Boss 101 represents a COMPLETE effort to bring you the most game for the best value. We wanted to double down on that idea so we are telling you RIGHT now the game will be TEN PERCENT OFF for the FIRST WEEK OF SALES.

That’s correct! You heard it here FIRST.

When the game launches on November 2nd it will not be the ALREADY LOW price of $9.99 but will be a PALTRY $8.99. Come on people – you have zero excuses now. We did our part. We brought you our best work for the lowest price we could and now you can help your old pals at the Foundation with your kind support. This is assuming you think Boss 101 will entertain which we think it WILL! haha

We need your recommendations, your shares, and when it comes down to it, your purchase. If Boss 101 strikes a chord we could sure use your support in any form. We considered higher pricing but in the end the deal was this – we wanted you to feel NO REGRETS when you buy Boss 101. We want you to love it, recommend it and most of all - enjoy it!

Thank you so much for your help and if you know anyone in your circle of friends who might be interested then please recommend Boss 101! We promise you’ll not regret it!

Steam Keys for Reviewers, Streamers or Let’s Play

If you want to contact us about obtaining a Steam key for review purposes you can do so by mailing hello(at)donleytimefoundation.com . Please put ‘Steam Key for Review’ in the Subject to help get your letter to the correct people.

Recent Twitch Streams of Boss 101 Gameplay

Spoiler

Check out Dan (Indie) playing our game yesterday 10/14/17. I (Tim) was there too and it was a blast to see Dan enjoy the game. Great times and we look forward to YOU playing too!

Link to Dan's Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/182174547



Also check out the recent 10/12/17 Thursday Night Gameplay Stream by LavenDoll with Boss 101 action – this was a fun one too! She LOVES the gravity gun and who can blame her. It’s pretty fun!

Link to LavenDoll's stream: https://go.twitch.tv/videos/181806632

What’s been going on with Boss 101 while we prep for release?

Glad you asked!

A lot of tuning, tweaking and adjusting things. Lots of little gameplay tweaks to weapons and the economy. Fixes for the dialog system story to make things clear and above all FUN!

We’re spending a lot of time just playing the game too! Mostly we are aiming to deliver a fun ride through the levels. It’s been great seeing streamers play the game and having a blast picking weapons and hats they like then blowing bosses away.

All in all – it’s been a busy but productive week. We are really looking forward to the release.

Expect us to be around post launch to help answer questions and fix any issues you might have. The ship date is only the beginning!

OK – back to playing the game and getting this ship-shape FOR YOU!

Thank you for stopping by and please remember to wishlist us and share the news about Boss 101’s release if you would be so kind.

And always…. ALWAYS… remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

Hello and welcome to the Boss 101 Update and countdown to the November 2nd release!

Ok – so much to talk about so let’s get rolling.

First up. Early looks of Boss 101

We have been sending out Steam Keys to people who contacted us. One of them is the awesome Katherine of Sky on YouTube. She decided to do an impromptu stream of Boss 101 this Saturday morning. Check out below for the feed. Really great footage and a good look at the game.

Katherine of Sky
Link to YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTIV3K ... NjoMoNaGtQ

Link to Boss 101 Stream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWiXxAz-oYA

Steam Keys for Reviewers, Streamers or Let’s Play

If you want to contact us about obtaining a Steam key for review purposes you can do so by mailing hello(at)donleytimefoundation.com . Please put ‘Steam Key for Review’ in the Subject to help get your letter to the correct people.

Heading towards release – about a week and a half

Would you believe us if we told you we're neck deep in playtesting? WE ARE! It’s actually been a lot of fun. We've been watching people play and playing the game ourselves. Personally (and this is Tim speaking) it’s such a blast to watch people discover things in the Command Center and across the game. We’ve been adding in little touches here and there to make things as smooth as possible for new and returning players.

The last week has seen a lot of quality of life touchups and bug fixes. All in all, lots of fun and we are REALLY excited about the upcoming launch.

Let’s look at some screens and things from the game shall we?

Dying in the game – the Robo Council gets to weigh in on your performance



Rob and the Professor – neat freaks!



Using the Friendship gun to make yourself some health packs



Joshua’s old tank game from 2007!



The new and old versions of the tank game concept



Banana Bombs! Watch out!



OK – folks – we are going to get back to play testing! Stay in touch and please put Boss 101 on your wishlist if you would be SO kind. We’re almost there and excited for YOU to check out the game! Remember there will be a ONE WEEK 10% off discount which will mean Boss 101 will only cost $8.99 at launch! We’d like to think that is a bargain but YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Talk with you soon and remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

Holy Guacamole! Boss 101 will be released THIS COMING WEEK!

That is correct. This Thursday, November 2nd will be the official release of Boss 101 to YOU.



Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

What a freaking journey and thank you for joining us. It’s been about three and a half years with you and all our friends on this development ride. We’d like to take a moment to thank you and tell you how much we appreciate your support during the creation of our game.

I don’t think we have to tell you how much it means to have the nice comments and mails we’ve been getting. This along with the early coverage of the game are inspirational to say the least. We’ll post the details below about getting your hands on Boss 101. For right now we want to share our last PRE-release devblog with you and give you a big THANK YOU!

Never ever give up

You have no doubt heard your share of platitudes and catchy phrases over the years. Maybe you heard this one “Never give up.”

I’m here to tell you that is the best advice you can get. If you have a dream, an idea, maybe a goal you want to achieve. Then do it and don’t give up. It will take work. It ALWAYS takes work. Hard work, through a lot of ups and downs. Stick to it and keep heading in the direction of your dream. Not only CAN it happen but it WILL happen.

When we started on Boss 101 we didn’t have every little thing figured out. What we DID know was we wanted to make a fun game FOR YOU and entertain people with our characters, world and story. The gameplay was always important but we left a lot of room for things to emerge as we developed. Pets would be a good example of something that just felt right, so we did it. We loved the idea of having pets that get cared for and stay with you. Heck, they even follow you around the place if you want them too! Arcade game, hats, gophers and more. So many things were put in Boss 101 because they fit the fun world we were making.

It took much longer than we thought and that’s OK. It was a journey we felt was worth it. Now we are about to release our game to you, our friends and fans. We did our best. We left NOTHING on the table. It’s all there for YOU and it’s at the best price we could manage. We want you to feel you got a huge amount of game for the best price.

So, if you are interested. If you have been following these blogs and think the game looks fun. If you want to have a great time with Steve, Max and the whole gang. Then head on over to Steam, wishlist us and then if you REALLY want to help us out – please consider making a purchase of Boss 101 when it releases. It would mean so much to us! We promise you will get OUR BEST GAME and we also promise with YOUR SUPPORT we will keep the entertainment coming!

2014 and 2017 – A SAMPLE OF THREE YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT

Let’s have a little retrospective of how three years can evolve some of the areas shall we?

Starting with the Command Center entry area.

2014
Pretty basic, nothing wrong with that. Look at that upgrade room though!



2017
The latest and greatest. Quite a change huh? Look at how the area filled up and the place got so much more decorated. Also – the Upgrade room took a developmental turn too!



Moving to the Map Room

2014
OK- nothing to write home about here. Pretty straightforward and a lot of Earth names for the original cities.



2017
OK – WAY cooler and much jazzier! Look at all this stuff! Come on – this is how you do it when you hit the galaxy for adventure. Even your pet is here!



2014

Level 1 boss fight sample. THIS CITY! THE HAT! Oh man! Look at that machine gun too! Wow – the funny thing is the Bosses were done THREE years ago!



2017

Level 1 Boss fight now. OK – the movement, the city, the action. Much smoother and we added a lot of little touches (like the minions, health bar upgrades, the top UI bar, and on and on!)



OK folks thanks for hanging in there. Next week on Thursday Boss 101 will be available on Steam. If you are interested and we hope you are then we would LOVE you to check out the game! It’s TEN PERCENT off for one week! Check out the trailer and the details below!

As always remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please wishlist us if you would be so kind!

Link to launch trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocM-zAQYDH8

[Donley_Time]

Boss 101 is OUT RIGHT NOW!



The day is HERE friends! Three and a half years of MAKING MAGIC can be yours for a mere $8.99 on Steam. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!?!

$8.99 – A bargain for you!

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

Check out a bunch of NEW videos for your enjoyment and thank you so much for your support.

Check us out on Steam – We’ll be on the forums and hanging out there as much as we can. We want to make the release as smooth as we can!

Boss 101 Streams and Videos:

The Boss 101 Release Trailer – Start with this if you are new to Boss 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocM-zAQYDH8

Endyo on Twitch Playing Boss 101
https://go.twitch.tv/videos/186708706

Early look at Boss 101 release (Polish Language)
https://youtu.be/WESxBhb3Xp0

Interview with Tim from the Donley Time Foundation on Developing Boss 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od_envUadl0

Thank you!

Thank you to our friends and fans over the last three and a half years. It’s been an amazing ride and we appreciate all your support. Thank you so, so much! We made Boss 101 for you and with your support we would love to CONTINUE making more games in the series!

Also – we will be back this weekend for a development update about how things are going! Check back then and in the meanwhile you can catch us on our Steam Store Page.

And as always – remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

Hello and welcome to the first week of Boss 101’s release!



Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

We wanted to thank you for all your support and take a moment to reflect on the moment. First though – let’s look at some videos and updates from around the web.

First off a quick blurb on the upcoming Release from Joel Couture of Silicon Era
http://www.siliconera.com/2017/11/02/sh ... ses-fight/

SodaJunkie took a look at the game too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPGLrPu64VU

Retromation did a look too! We hope he does more!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI3g4rTVvXw

Then we have what was one of the NICEST things to happen for us during launch. Our good friend Matt “ToborPrime” Fitzgerald did a live stream countdown to the game’s release. In it he played the game for a marathon right up till we hit the publish button. Check out a few of the videos below and see how AWESOME his voices for the various Boss 101 characters are!

Boss 101-a-thon, Part 1
https://youtu.be/_VI8hkio-Pw

Boss 101-a-thon, Part 2
https://youtu.be/bH0AqWFQR70

Really hilarious stuff and we can’t thank him enough!

Very Thankful and Humbled

Now I (Tim) wanted to take a moment to share something with you today. I posted earlier on my Facebook page about this but it bears repeating here in this post. I am extremely proud and happy of the work Manon, Joshua and I did on Boss 101. The response from people has been great and I even got a message from a friend I hadn’t spoke with in over 30 years telling me he and his son were playing the game and having a blast. That was awesome and meant so much!

We still have work to do to get the word out but I think it’s time to take a moment to celebrate the achievement. Below is my post on the shipping of Boss 101 (with minor edits).

Please enjoy!

I wanted to drop an update about the latest and greatest news I have! Please forgive the public nature of this note but I had to share the moment with you. A few of you might know this already so consider it a refresher.

I embarked on a journey years ago to work at a pace I could control and on subjects I found personally interesting. Thankfully I was able to team up with two incredibly talented people and together we started on a game project.

Here we are three and a half years later. A lot of time for sure and it caps one of my most satisfying and fun experiences in games. Let’s be clear – I’ve had the privilege of working with many talented people over my career. I learned my craft from far smarter folk who saw fit to give me a break when I needed one. I wouldn’t be here or anywhere unless I stood on the shoulders of giants who took pity on me when I needed it most. From those people and my sainted parents, I stand before you now.

Still, I have to talk about the great fortune and amazing project I’ve been on over these last years. The game is called Boss 101 and I am telling you right this instant you CAN live your dreams. Anything is possible if you are willing to put in the effort. That’s not mumbo jumbo claptrap, that’s the TRUTH.

Boss 101 is a project of pure creation. Myself along with my friends Manon and Joshua managed to make something I personally never thought I’d see. A game without any apologies or compromise. The game we released is basically the game we wanted. That release was based on nothing except two questions we asked ourselves over and over. “Is it fun?” and “Is it done?”

That’s it. That got this game finished. When we started, the project was small and the scale was limited. The framework went up quickly and we started asking “Is this fun?” If the answer was no then we worked to add things to make it fun. Adding features we felt had value. From there we iterated and played the game. At every step the same question was asked “Is this fun?” This was coming out of our own time and effort. No publisher. No Kickstarter.

At one point the game pretty well hit all the story beats and we felt the value was there for anyone who would buy it. So, we released it.

And you know what? When I hit “Publish” on Steam this past Thursday I felt something strange. I felt no urge to apologize for the game. No sense of “Well, if we only had a few more months” or “You know, you should have seen the ideas we LEFT OUT! OH BOY you would not believe how awesome they were!” It was strange as we got past the first few hours of release and early buyers were playing and commenting on the game. Most all were getting the vibe and liking what they saw.

Really though, really, and I mean this - the game was already a huge success before I hit that publish button. It was a success because it proved something I long imagined possible. You can live your dreams. It’s doable. You can even do it with other people. Heck it’s BETTER when you journey with other people. Friends. Family. People you trust and can laugh with. Makes the whole shebang a lot easier.

In fact, you might learn something important about yourself while you’re on this journey. I pretty much guarantee it. I can’t tell you what that lesson is since it varies from person to person but I can tell you one thing. If you live your dreams, one day - at the end of your grand life, as you lay there thinking to yourself during your final moments on this magnificent planet – you won’t wonder “Well, if I only had a few more months” or “You should have seen the things I WANTED to do! OH BOY you would not believe how awesome they were!” No ma’am. No sir. You’re going to feel right cause you didn’t compromise.

Be true to yourself everyone. . . and live your dreams.

-Tim

All right – go out and get Boss 101 if you haven’t already! It’s on sale this WHOLE WEEK!

Thank you!!!

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Release Date: November 2nd, 2017
Price: [s]$9.99[/s] $8.99 (Promo Price for ONE week at Launch)
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!

[Donley_Time]

What a week!

Boss 101 has been out a week and thank you for everyone who purchased and supported the game. If you haven’t yet got your copy then we have some really good news. Apparently Steam has more copies available for purchase – in fact we understand the amount of copies is near unlimited! That doesn’t mean you can’t rush right over there and get one now. Do it!

Thank you for your support!

We appreciate the letters, comments and reviews for Boss 101. We really are glad many of you are enjoying the game and we are looking forward to bringing you more!

So – what’s been going on SINCE the release?

Well, Boss 101 is still our number one priority and that is what we have been working on! Guess what? We’ve been doing bug fixes and even adding some features!

Difficulty Settings!

Check this out! We added the ability to change your difficulty in Boss 101. If you want you can go EASY to ULTRA now! From our build notes!

From the options panel


Three settings you can change on the fly!


Easy - this is what the game shipped as. All settings are the prior version of Boss 101. Personally speaking this is a good choice if you want to enjoy the story and have some easy fun. It can be challenging at times but more than likely you will have a few relatively easy to beat bosses early.

Normal - This setting has a few thing new. The normal story mode has an adjusted curve where the early bosses hit a little harder and have more hitpoints. The overall scaling ends up at the same point the old game does but the early game is more of a challenge. This mode does rely a lot more on picking a good hat to help you against a boss.

Also - the Endless Boss has a tweaked curve to make it a lot more fun and challenging. I HIGHLY recommended checking out the Arcade Mode. We've been testing it and it's a blast. It only drops level 3 guns now BUT the bosses are much hard and subsequently much more fun.

Ultra - This is things cranked up a bit. The normal story mode is a bit harder than the Normal setting and bosses have more HP and hit harder. Also the scaling ends up way past the normal game. In other words - the level 20-31 bosses are on a new level of tough. Additionally all the status effects (freeze, webbed, etc) last a little longer. Again - hats will help counter these.

This mode also has Endless Boss tweaks and the bosses hit hard in here. Should be fun to use arcade and iron bot if you want to earn some cash for the main campaign.

So we listened folks! We want Boss 101 to be a fun game for you and if there is more we can reasonably do – we will. Mostly we wanted to preserve the game people were enjoying but add things for people who wanted a little (or a lot) more challenge.

Extra adds and fixes

We also did a lot of quality of life fixes. One of our later boss fights got some visual indicators to help players. We did tweaks and tunes to fights and power levels to make things a lot more fun.

Endless Boss

Check this out. We did a bit of reworking to the tuning in this area. Personally I think it’s a LOT more fun and probably closer to the original arcade experience we imagined when we made it! It’s actually tuned to be harder BUT we only give you the most powerful guns in the game now. More power for your blasting!

Some clips from me getting shellacked by a tough boss combo!





Boss 101 Playthroughs with ToborPrime

Two more videos in the series!

Part 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znh4_-OvEwE

Part 6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2idcBWJBwE

That’s all for now folks and thank you for being there for us! We’ve got more news and continued support of Boss 101 coming your way! Thank you and remember to always. . .

. . . LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

-Tim

Boss 101 Info Roundup
Out now on Steam!
Price: $9.99
Boss 101 Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/380920
Please check out the Steam Store if you would be so kind!