Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by SnipeHeart »

CONTEST IS NOW OVER

Thanks for those who were able to submit the entries that you did, especially those who had stuff going on at the time - I appreciate your effort.

The following are the entries:

White Glint - DZR Squadron
TBD - Crusader
4boxes - Eliminator - Fraxy Type
Dracmeister - Suckerpunch Delivery
Larkness Monster (Vortexreaper) - Dimension Master Kinsephal
TheMMM - No Man's Land
DrThunderous - Fanblade Warship
CoreShooter - BEST EVER

Thanks for entering, judging will begin soon enough.

EDIT: Names are fixed.
Also, the judges are Alex, Flan, and myself.
Last edited by Xeilumardrox on Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:22 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Fixed my boss' name for you

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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by ShadowHunter »

i didnt enter i just randomly posted a video of tbds updated entry
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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by TheMMM »

Actually my boss is called No Man's Land. Deadlock is the name of the guy who fights it in the video I posted.

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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by dracmeister »

My boss is named 'Suckerpunch Delivery'
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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by CoreShooter »

Image
Thank you all for awarding me this prestigious honor.

Indeed, this victory could not have been possible
without the very community that supported me all the way through.

With that, I would like to dedicate my win to all these fellows who have truly inspired me.
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It's ragequitting

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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by Xeilumardrox »

Boundary was just the video title. My boss is actually suppose to be called Dimension Master Kinsephal.
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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by SnipeHeart »

Here is what Flan has to say on the bosses:

Well then. I'll start by voicing my disappointment with Quickboss VIII's judging, and I hope it will be resolved in the near future. Please? Pretty please? Anyway, I'll be posting my thoughts in reverse rank order, because obviously I have to save the best for last. Here's a run down of the process I'll use to determine the ranks, and exactly what I'll be writing up:
- I'll be playing against (almost) all of the bosses personally, in addition to watching any video associated with them.
- I'm going to try and analyse every individual attack, as well as the design and fluidity of the boss.
- Rather than scoring the bosses based on each area and then working out an average, and then using that to determine rank, I'll just assign the rank based on how I felt the boss was as a whole.
- I will be writing my thoughts on the bosses in the following order: White Glint, TBD, 4boxes, dracmeister, vortexreaper, TheMMM, DrThunderous, CoreShooter.
- My list of rankings will be at the end of this post, along with some final thoughts and proper summaries of the boss' good/bad points.
- I will not sugar-coat things, and I will not give constructive criticism in my thoughts. I would like to establish that these are just that: My thoughts while I experience the boss, given to provide insight as to why my rankings are what they are. If you would like constructive criticism from me, then do get in contact with me, but this isn't the place for that.
- Lastly, since I am doing a step-by-step analysis of every attack, I cannot possibly cover every aspect of every attack in words, so I will just discuss my most imminent thoughts. What I'm actually saying is that the important stuff is at the very end.

Without further ado, let's begin (I feel like I'm writing a shitty essay).

#-- White Glint: DZR Squadron --#

And we start with this. I don't know what to say, I really don't. Can you even call this a boss? Even the video just abruptly ends with no credits or fade-out or anything, I was expecting something after that. But no. After playing it, it really is just 5 drones with annoying movement that spam bullets and missiles at you. That's all there is to it.

I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to say. They're annoying to dodge, and the TRY doesn't even set up window size for you. There's no player weapon, it's just so... bland. Just like the ending of that video, I will make my conclusion swift and abrupt: Boring.



#-- TBD: Crusader --#

Alright, something with actual substance. I don't know if the boss uses a randomiser or what, but the attacks loop weirdly so I'll just comment on them in order of appearance (which is the same as in the video).

Let's get started. Since the boss doesn't have phases, I'll just do a single general summary.

[- Boss Thoughts -]

[Design] Firstly, the design. It's simple, small and there's not a lot to it, but that's fine. It's adequately detailed and while I may not consider it good, it is certainly average.

[Attack 1] The first attack, like the design, is simple. I would be a liar if I said it wasn't typical of bosses like this. It feels a bit lacking in originality in general. Other than that its difficulty is fine, I have nothing more to say on it.

[Attack 2] The next attack is more complex fundamentally, but still appears basic enough and is of an acceptable difficulty compared to the first. The powerball maze at the end of the attack seems pointless, however, as it is easy to navigate through and, even with the homing lasers from the next attack, poses little threat.

[Attack 3] Just homing lasers being spat out at the player, very easy to avoid. Lazy.

[Attack 4] I dislike the Panel-Rolling M just phasing in like that. (I'll be sure to make that apparent when I comment on the other bosses' too, just letting it fade in with the default phase in animation seems really lazy to me). The attack in general poses no threat to the player as there are tons of safe spots, even with the sonic wave pulling the player in. The part of the attack where the ship returns seems pointless too, as even though I let it hit me, due to the lack of an OHKO system, it didn't kill me. Generally a poor attack.

[Attack 5] Simple, reminiscent of the first attack. Eh. It's ok.

[Attack 6] Definitely need warnings where the boss is going to shoot from, and the ion rings are easy to dodge. Feels incomplete.

[Attack 7] AKA: Homing Lasers MK-II.

[Attack 8] Lasers. Cool. 10/10. Best attack on the boss. Dislike projectiles fading out on-screen, but that's a personal thing - Nothing wrong with it, just seems like bad form.

[Attack 9] http://i.imgur.com/hpfeITP.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; BEHOLD MY MIGHTY FORM AND DESPAIR, YE MORTALS. QUIVER IN FEAR OF MY SPLASH ATTACK. No, really. It does nothing. I'm just sitting here, waiting for the attack to be over so I can damage the boss. ZZZZzzzzzz...

[Attack 10] http://i.imgur.com/ncZboRr.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; In the off chance it does fire something at me, it won't exactly be hard to dodge. (Source: It did fire something at me and it wasn't hard to dodge)

[Finale] Way too hard. In fact, maybe even impossible to beat it without dying. No, really, what were you thinking?

[Boss Thoughts Synopsis] To put it bluntly, the design was mediocre. The first two attacks were of satisfactory quality but they felt lacking. The third and fourth attacks suffered from general laziness. The last two attacks before the final especially make me question whether you actually play-tested the boss. Well, all in all, it wasn't terrible. Below average, I'd say.



#-- [][][][]: ][ Eliminator [Fraxy Ver] --#

Another boss I can't do anything in-depth on. A shame you changed entries, I was fully prepared to rip Aunvertex apart.

Well, to be fair, I do like this boss. There's just not much to it. It has fancy effects, but not many attacks and doesn't fair well as a standalone entry. Its only problems are its difficulty and the fact it spawns on top of the player's spawning position whilst giving them very little time to react. At the end of the day though, this is really just a midboss.



#-- dracmeister: Suckerpunch Delivery --#

The following thoughts were created and shared by flan, for free. You know, you could've used WinRAR or something...

Anyway, I will be mostly basing my opinion of this entry off the boss, rather than the stage preceding it (you should consider yourself lucky...), but the stage will of course also be a factor.

[- Stage Thoughts -]

Why did you use that horrible PG set. It's eye-searing. And that background. Oh my god. This is a bit dickish, but come on. I'm prepared to forgive you just this once, but if that seriously looks acceptable to you... Ugh. Maybe I'm overreacting, there's just a lack of really good PG sets.

As for enemy placement etc., well, at least make the helicopters spawn off-screen so you don't see them phasing in. The stage is really easy in general, and maybe I shouldn't call it a stage but just the introduction to the boss. Either way, it feels a little pointless. It's too long to be an introduction and too short to be a stage. I don't know.

[Stage Thoughts Synopsis] Why does it even exist. Oh, also. You people who use TRYs. Set the bullet colour please, I don't want to have to manually change it to something visible against the background, that's your job. It's a big deal!!

Now, onto the boss.

[- Phase 1 Thoughts -]

[Design] Eh. It looks forcibly meshed together and the repeated parts disturb any flow it might otherwise have. It's ok I guess. Not fantastic.

[Attack 1] Just grenades. They can be avoided by clinging to the bottom of the screen for a while which is a bit of an oversight, and even without that safespot they don't pose much threat. Very lacklustre.

[Attack 2] Lazily spread out grenades from the side. At least give them a random pattern rather than a sloppy intrusion from the side like that.

[Attack 3] Honestly, I don't have any immediate thoughts on this attack. The pattern the grenades create is lazy and ugly. It's blatant spam.

[Attack 4] http://i.imgur.com/EIevJzK.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I'm a God walking (flying) amongst mere mortals. Oh, you have homing lasers to snuff out safe-spots? Shame they don't OHKO me. I'm not saying that OHKO systems are the solution to all your problems, but OHKO systems are the solution to all your problems.

[Attack 5] The energy wall at the bottom is too high up so the reflect rays can't actually hit me there, and with that the attack becomes child's play. Even without cheesing it it's pretty easy.

[Attack 6] Safe spot mania. Lasers feel unnecessary, and don't have very good cohesion with the boss.

[Attack 7] Straight-forward bullet hell. Fun.

[Attack 8] Don't you think

[Attack 9] these attacks

[Attack 10] are a little

[Attack 11] too short?

[Phase 1 Thoughts Synopsis] Eh. The design is nothing special, and the design of the options is, well, they're just barrier parts - They're, like a lot of things in this contest, lacking. By the end it just felt like a spam-fest. The attacks didn't have much thought put into them and the difficulty curve was non-existent. I'm not even going to check if there's more attacks or if they loop, I've seen enough of this Phase.

I'm not entirely sure how to get the additional form, and way too lazy too look it up (probably something to do with not dying, it's hard thinking of what to type whilst trying to stay alive sometimes), so I'll just use the video for the rest of this. I'll use video timestamps to mark the attacks I didn't see. For reference, the video link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rvTW3JjdbA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[3:41] Projectiles fading out on screen, and a typical over-used attack. Well, I can't say those are inherently bad things, but it's a bit creatively lacking.

[3:55] I would love this attack, if it weren't for the fact that plasma rings are useless garbage.

[4:05] Yo guys, did you know? There's this attack part, and it's called Ripple...

[5:20] More spam without much thought put into it.

And now, Phase 2.

[- Phase 2 Thoughts -]

[Design] Well, it's one of those RAIWAT things. It suffers from the same flaws as the Phase 1 design.

[Attack 1] Easily the best attack so far, as it actually poses a substantial threat to the player.

[Attack 2] Another straight-forward, good attack. I honestly don't know what else to say - It's far easier to tear apart attacks than to compliment them when they're as generic as this.

[Attack 3] Well...

[Attack 4] I guess your good attack streak couldn't last forever. I mean come on, there was basically no effort put into these last two. I don't even need to say what's wrong, do I?

[Finale] I can't really say much about the laser since it's a reference, and the attacks from here on out are solid, so I don't really feel the need to comment on them. I'll treat them all as part of the finale.

[Phase 2 Thoughts & Boss Thoughts Synopsis] Much better than the first phase, design was nicer too but still had the same flaws as the design of everything else in this TRY. Maybe I was a bit harsh, but this isn't bad by any means. It's just not very good.



#-- vortexreaper: Dimension Master typicalvrname --#

Due to the nature of this boss, I can't do an attack-by-attack analysis on the first form or the secret form (and good riddance, less work for me!), but I'll do one for the second forms. Lastly, to avoid complications, I'll be marking attacks by their position in the video (from 3:50 onwards for Phase 2 and 5:50 onwards for the Secret Form). For reference, the video link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv1wrkdVl0s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(for elaboration on complications: I've already fought two bosses with weird attack looping and I don't want to risk it again)

The first form, however, was a pleasant surprise. A bit of a trip back into the past, and a generally good free-roam boss. Very gimmick-oriented, and not too difficult. The design of the boss is poor, however. It's too static, and suffers greatly because of that. Another gripe is the warning effectors used - specifically, the arrows. They feel out of place when the actual attack is a circle of grenade explosions. To summarise, the first form is fine, but nothing astounding. I'd even go so far as to say I prefer drac's entry at this point.

... But jesus, it just gets better from there.

[- Phase 2 Thoughts -]

[Design] I mean, oh my god. That intro. Yes. So basic, but so good. And that sword. The design hasn't changed at all but I needed to put that somewhere goddamnit.

[Attack 1] Teleporting sword ball rain. I mean, well, basically, yes.

[Attack 2] This is literally like a conversion of the wavy wall attacks onto a free-roam boss done right. I'd also like to take this moment to say the difficulty curve on these attacks is perfect.

[Attack 3] When I was watching this video for the first time I was grinning so hard I ended up having a mouth like the Joker's. Looking back at it now I realise that these are pretty standard, though solid attacks. But if you seriously watched the video for this boss for the first time thinking it was just above average (which it really is), then you aren't human. Ok, that might be going too far, but seriously this boss is the hypest thing.

[Attack 4] Ok, I've calmed down. Let's do an actual analysis (it's not just because this attack is one of my least favourite or anything (besides can you even call any of these thoughts an analysis?)). The attack is literally just bullets slapped on a rolling panel with swords chasing you around. The warnings are adequate, and it's not too difficult to avoid, and is just generally a good attack.

[Attack 5] Cliché charging attack into a burst attack, except the charging on this is fairly quick so it doesn't get tedious like these attacks can be. Good execution of a decent, albeit unoriginal, idea.

[Phase 2 Thoughts Synopsis] A generally well-rounded phase with no major flaws. Some attacks could use a bit more work, but honestly there's nothing wrong with it bar the static design. Especially when it's teleporting. It's just weird.

Now, the Secret/True Form is what really makes this boss, in my opinion. The way the boss transitions from a Free Roam boss to a Fixed Area boss is great. The laser which creates the energy wall the boss uses for attacks is also a nice touch. This form has a plethora of great attacks and combines a lot of them, resulting in fun game-play and is just visually impressive in general. I can't express enough how much I love the attacks, so I'll just leave it at that.

Overall, I'm a little disappointed that the design didn't change throughout the fight, but the boss was just generally fantastic.



#-- The MMM: No Man's Land --#

This boss is the real reason I said I'd play through "almost" all the bosses (I -did- play it, I just didn't play through all of it, to clarify). I simply do not have the time to sit through this thing. It has way too much HP. Way too much...

TheMMM « Sun Jul 13, 2014 9:15 pm »
TBD wrote:
I feel like MMM's boss needs less health
Having checked my footage of my boss, I do agree that some of the cores(Especially the final core of phase 2) need a health reduction. However, I'll update the health later, since it'll be funny for a long boss to be in a contest that has "Quick" in the title.

... Hahaha, yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. (... I hate you ;~;)

But yeah, I'm not doing an in-depth attack-by-attack analysis for this one since I can sum this up easily with a few choice sentences. The boss is boring. The design is dull, meshed together, and is literally just a lump of parts spammed over (at least dracmeister put thought into his mesh of parts). The attacks are boring and a lot have easy to find safe spots. It has way too much HP. It's tedious to fight. Sorry, I really don't like this boss.



#-- DrThunderous: Fanblade Warship --#

Oh man. DrT entry. Hype.

Another boss I'm not doing an attack-by-attack analysis on because the nature of its attacks are unpredictable. Regardless, to summarise my thoughts on this boss: It's just a bullet hell boss. It's very average. A lot of the attacks have projectiles which move way too fast, however, and it's difficult to play at 39 fps. I feel the boss would be too easy if the projectiles were any slower, however. The attacks in general though are fine, but not visually impressive. In that regard, the design is similar to the attacks - presentable, but very bare, throughout all its phases. The design does make the boss memorable though, but I can't decide on whether that's a good thing...



#-- CoreShooter: BEST EVER --#

Just as you failed to predict the winner of the World Cup, you failed to predict the winner of this contest.

I'm sorry.



#-- Final Rankings & Miscellaneous Notes --#

Rank 8: BEST EVER (CoreShooter)
I can't think of anything funny to put here.


Rank 7: DZR Squadron (White Glint)
Well, this should've been expected. What can I say? It just doesn't have a place in this contest.


Rank 6: No Man's Land (TheMMM)
I'll just copy what I said before: "The boss is boring. The design is dull, meshed together, and is literally just a lump of parts spammed over (at least dracmeister put thought into his mesh of parts). The attacks are boring and a lot have easy to find safe spots. It has way too much HP. It's tedious to fight. Sorry, I really don't like this boss."


Rank 5: Crusader (TBD)
I'm 90% sure this boss would have ranked higher if you had actually properly play-tested it beforehand, and put more effort into the attacks. The design was fine, whatever, but some of its attacks were just unacceptably bad.


Rank 4: ][ Eliminator [Fraxy Ver] (4boxes)
Whilst I love this boss, I just can't rank it higher. It doesn't feel finished, and in fact I know it isn't finished. It doesn't have much going on and is, like I mentioned before, just a midboss.


Rank 3: Fanblade Warship (DrThunderous)
I was honestly stuck between choosing this or drac's for third/second - it was seriously tough. And, to be honest, I didn't want to put drac's in second place, but I really can't justify placing this entry any higher. It's just a straightforward bullet hell boss, but its design is very lacking and some of its projectiles are way too fast. On the other hand, it has some good bullet patterns and doesn't last long enough to get stale, and that's why it's earned at least third place.


Rank 2: Suckerpunch Delivery (dracmeister)
While the designs were lacking, the pre-boss fights felt pointless, and the bullet patterns were in general lackluster, I can't say this boss really had any other competition before it. It was a bit boring, but it was just better than the other bosses. I don't know. It was just above average.


Rank 1: Dimension Master typicalvrname (vortexreaper)
Not a surprise at all. Fun boss that takes full advantage of a gimmick at the start, then evolves into something brilliant. Overall, I don't really have anything too bad to say. Some of the attacks felt plain, and whilst the first phase was gimmicky, its attacks also weren't stellar. The secret form more than makes up for its lacklustre attacks in the first and second forms, but that one bouncing attack could have used a little more work...



There were absolutely no exceptional designs this time. I'm really disappointed. I was looking forward to both Aqua and Garo/Haku's entries, but they didn't make it in time. The latters' looked really good (apart from the PG set)! I know I probably put way too much effort into judging this, but I wanted something to do and this was a fun task (but I'm never doing an attack-by-attack analysis again - seriously, what happened to just putting attacks on a loop, why you gotta combine them or have weird looping?! It's so frustrating!). Finally, maybe some people will get upset at my thoughts, but like I said, I'm not sugar-coating anything, and I'd like to think I'm not biased (well, that's what we have multiple judges for anyway).

I'll leave you all with some motivational words from me: At the end of the day, if you learn from your mistakes and/or poor design decisions, and had fun making the boss, then in the end you can still be proud of yourself, no matter how good or trashy the boss was.

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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by CoreShooter »

Sounds like a victory to me!
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It's ragequitting

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Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by SnipeHeart »

Alright, here is my judging, opinions, etc. on all the entries. Note a few things:
- These are my opinions.
- If you get offended by what I have to say, oh well, life’s tough and full of disappointment. I’m posting this as a judge, not as your mom or someone who will coddle you and hold your hand.
- If you complain to me about what rank I gave you, I’ll tell you to get over yourself.
- List of rankings at the bottom of the page. It’ll be the tl;dr version.
- Unlike Flan, I won’t analyze each individual attack, just the bosses in general.

Here are the bosses in the order I played them (Basically, 1st entry to last entry in the order they were submitted.)

White Glint - DZR Squadron

Not a whole lot for me to really comment on this boss. It feels like something I’d imagine to be a default boss in Fraxy, except a little harder. It really does feel like that to me. It’s simple and the flight patterns and the attacks are more of a hassle than anything else, really. If I had to say anything good about it, I suppose it’s a change of pace from most of the other entries, which, I admit, was refreshing. This was the first entry posted, and that definitely shows.

Dracmeister - Suckerpunch

It was okay, I suppose. The player weapon was more or less useless in terms of damage. The bit before the boss felt like it was something thrown in for the sake of just throwing in. The drones were pretty bland and boring, and the designs were also kind of lackluster. The attacks weren’t anything special, either. I do appreciate the fact that a bit was put in before the boss, but it was so short and there being only 3 types of drones makes it more of an annoyance than anything else. By the third time I was going through it, I found myself just wishing the boss would come already. The boss itself suffers from very similar problems. The design was nothing special, and the attacks were what I’d expect from a cookie-cutter Shmup boss.

TBD - Crusader

The design of this boss was okay. It is clear that a lot more emphasis was put on the attacks of the boss than the design of it. It’s an okay boss, and I don’t have any huge issues with it aside from one thing - the difficulty curve. On some attacks, it was easy to just avoid it. Some of the attacks were pretty nice, I especially liked the one with the homing lasers, although even that one could have used something more to it. One attack really rustled my jimmies, though, and that was the last attack (The one with the pulsating ion rings and the laser that follows you ‘till the end of time. It wouldn’t have been a problem for me if A.) The Ion Rings insta-killed, and B.) The Laser didn’t follow you and last forever. Other attacks, most notably the energy egg that spawn powerballs, just came across as spam, too. All-in-all, an okay boss.

Vortexreaper - Dimension Master Dyslexia

Easily my favorite from the competition. The designs of the boss itself aren’t the prettiest, but the creativity of the boss is great. First, I’m surprised that part of it is free roam, which isn’t something really expected from as large-scale boss as this one is. I like the gimmick in the first phase of it, one thing I would say, though, is that the attacks when attacking the “body” of the boss are easily manipulated and, as a result, are even less of a challenge when attacking the extensions / stars / whatever. The second phase of it was pretty good. I love the sword effectors, they really make the boss into something else, and I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much if they were made of parts and not effectors. The attacks are enjoyable to play against and none of them seem too unfair. The extra phase of it (If you leave the area) was also very enjoyable. Slightly disappointed that it drops the sword effectors (Just because I really liked them), but it was still great. Again, none of the attacks seemed too unfair and it was enjoyable to play against. My biggest complaint has to be the final attack. If I were to look up a boss’s final attack in a dictionary, that’d be what shows up. It’s fairly trite and, when compared to all the other effectors and creativity in the other parts of the boss, bland. Still, kudos to you. I enjoyed it.

TheMMM - No Man’s Land

So this boss was the one that I played right after VR’s, and I have but one opinion on this. It’s the exact opposite of VR’s. The design is horribly bland, the attacks are littered with safe spots, and the ones that aren’t are so sudden and so fast that you either have to have the attack memorized beforehand or you’re dead. Halfway through the beginning part of the boss, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I switched to attacker and gave myself a level 5 bullet, and even then, it was like grinding on the granite and I found myself just wishing it would end already. What really disappoints me is that something like play testing should have worked most of those issues out. I was so excited to see this boss when I noticed that the video you posted was as long as it was (Didn’t watch the video), but when I played it, it fell very, very short from my expectations.

Dr. Thunderous - FANBLADE WARSHIP (THE CAPS ARE IMPORTANT)

This was a neat little boss that was short and sweet. It had a difficult edge to it, too. While it isn’t the most amazing thing in Fraxy ever made, I still really did enjoy this one. I had a lot of fun with it, and actually wished you’d make a longer version of this boss in the future. I’d encourage you to keep working on developing your designs on the boss, since those didn’t impress me. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. Good job.

4Boxes - Eliminator

Another short, little boss. It was pretty enjoyable to play against. The design, I thought, was pretty nice. The effectors were a nice addition, too. But then, the attacks started happening. The attacks didn’t look or feel coherent at all, and came across mostly as spam while the boss danced around laughing at you. Still, it was a pretty neat little boss and it was, for the most part, enjoyable to play against.

CoreShooter - BEST EVER

I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was obviously a joke boss. The silly movements in the arms and legs was something expected. But when the words came on, it caught me off guard,

10/10 would vote for

[I PUT THREE HYPHENS TOGETHER HERE TO SEPARATE THIS PART IN MY GOOGLE DOCS FILE BUT IT GOT EDITED TO "NO HYPHENS" AND I DIDN'T WANT THAT SO NOW YOU HAVE THIS LONG ANECDOTE INSTEAD: WHEN I WAS 7 I WENT CAMPING WITH MY FAMILY AND WE WERE MAKING S'MORES AND I LIKE MY MARSHMALLOWS BURNT TO A CRISP SO I SET IT ON FIRE AND IT FELL ON MY ARM WHILE STILL ON FIRE SO I RAN AROUND YELLING "STOP DROP AND ROLL" THANK YOU FOR READING THIS]

That’s all the bosses and my thoughts on them. Here’s the order of what position I’m putting the bosses in, from worst to best.

8.) TheMMM - No Man’s Land
While CoreShooter’s boss was clearly a joke boss, it didn’t make me want to not play Fraxy more than this boss did. Therefor, I’m giving this boss last place.

7.) CoreShooter
Lied. Not voting for. http://sadtrombone.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

6.) White Glint - DZR Squadron
So much more could have been done. It was fun, but not a serious entry with some of the better bosses. Sorry.

5.) Dracmeister - Suckerpunch
Generally okay, but needed so much more refinement. The beginning came across as something that was thrown in for the sake of putting something there, and after the first couple of times, was an annoyance. Designs and attacks were nothing special, either.

4.) TBD - Crusader
Pretty decent, just that some attacks were too easy, others were just right, and others were severely difficult / annoying / spam.

3.) 4Boxes - Eliminator
Pretty cool design, but the attacks felt more like spam than anything else. Still, I enjoyed it for what it was. One interesting idea would have been to make it a TRY and give people the option of choosing a difficulty.

2.) Dr. Thunderous - FANBLADE WARSHIP
I had difficulty choosing the 2nd and 3rd place, but this is what I decided on. It really came down to what annoyed me more, a lacking design or attacks. While a below average design is an eyesore, I can try hard enough to make it not ruin the experience. Unfortunately, attacks that annoy me can’t be ignored like that. Therefor, the lacking design of this, in my opinion, trumps the annoying attacks of 4boxes boss, but just barely. (If I could make them both 2nd place, I would.)

1.) Vortexreaper - Dimensional Master Whatchamajigger
Physical designs weren’t the greatest, but the effectors and attacks and the gimmick in the beginning were all very enjoyable and looked great. Congrats.

Thanks to everyone who entered, I appreciate the time and effort put into your entries.

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AlexMdle
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Epicness: micro skills

Re: Quickboss the IX - Summer Edition

Post by AlexMdle »

Well, it's 30+°C outside, I'm half naked and actually have nothing to do now.

Let's play some fraxy.


DZR

First thing I thought when I clicked on the download link was 'Whoa, why is it a TRY?'. There's nothing gained from doing this in a TRY, those fighters could just as well be put in a single fed, using some deploy cores. Honestly, this just makes it harder to run, since it does not set itself up properly(Window size, etc). Second thing, having seen the video, was 'This is gonna be severely unfun.'

In the end it was not as bad as I thought it'd be. I just mostly got blindsided by exremely fast projectiles and enemies divebombing me from off-screen, all while trying to hit the small, mobile enemy hitboxes, while moving in free roam.

And it was still over a minute later.

I don't even know what else to say. I hope it was more fun to make than it was for me to fight.


Crusader

Crusader is a weird little thing. It also smells strongly of inexperience.

It's small, relatively generic, moves in rigid straight lines, it's attacks are all incredibly easy and telegraphed, as well as just too long. Lots of projectiles are non-lethal, should they even manage to hit the ship, some are destroyable and don't add much to the pattern (Looking at you iorn rings/slow rays).

It tries a few things: Off-screen attacks, Circular movement, some mild ex param 4 manipulation, but ultimately just feels done on the fast, using the barest of capacities that the engine provides.


Eliminator

Well that's a mystery box. No video, no screenshot. Went into this with a blank slate. Ate power balls.

The boss looks ok. Can't pin much particular highs or downs to a fighter design. It's good for what it is, but not amazing in what it is. Browny points for the neat vapor trail effect.

The fighting experience tho. Manageable, to a point. That point is either where it walls you in with slow balls, unless you move around alot, or when it flies right into your face and pumps it full of orange, which usually happens when you move around alot.

I've actually settled on the continue screen and watched it's movement, to determine whether it has a set movement pattern, or moves randomly across the screen. I found the latter to be true, as it seems entirely content to fly way too close to player, even if you do your best to keep the distance. At that point any attempts at dodging feel futile.

Also there's pretty much only a single pattern worth of fighting content. It gets old fast. Thankfully the boss dies quickly enough, before it can become aggravating.

All in all, It feels like it could be a good enemy setpiece, if some of the issues were toned down.



Suckerpunch Delivery

Uh.

First fight attempt: It destroys without getting to the final form.

Figure I missed some activation trigger. Shoot up the upper core a bunch on second try.

Boss timers screw up and the first and final form begin to play simultaneously.

Shoddy.

Anyway. I dont have any problem with the choice of PG, I think it looks ok. I agree with Flan tho, the bullet color should have been custom set. I underestimated how bad it gets until I had a chance to play the boss for myself. They become nearly invisible against half the screen.

The small army of drones before the boss is a neat idea. I like it. It is not particularly challenging on it's own and the bigger planes get kinda grating, repeating multiple times in a row. The player weapon also weirdly only manifests when the boss is around. I assume because it's actually a part of the boss fed.

Boss itself looks ok. It's mostly featureless, save for a few token 'bullet spawn points' and the big final form carcass stuck on top of the lower one. I guess it could have been done better, but it's serviceable.

Attack patterns are lackluster, at least in the beginning with some interspered later on. Difficulty in particular is all over the place, some patterns you can either outrun or hide from, others flood everything in hitboxes.

Biggest disappointment for me though is that there's nothing really interesting about this boss. It goes the angle of a standard bullet hell boss, but without doing it particularly well or sticking to any idea. I can safely say that it ties with Crusader for the least interesting entry in qb9.

Defensive Wall

Hahaha, no, I'm not gonna fight that.

This boss is 10% interesting idea, 90% padding. It's fight duration is four to five times longer than it should be.

The design is pretty atrocious, to be frank. The plates do not mesh together well, nor is there any interesting structure in each row. Instead they are roughly mashed together, then mirrored and for the most part, are completelly functionless.

The attacks on the other hand, are pretty good. There's a standard mash of bullets, but some attacks (like the horizontal one), seem interesting and have some thought put behind them.

Ultimately tho, it really is let down by how much it stretches itself without really coming up with anything new to stay worthwhile.


Fanblade Warship

Preface: Fuck YEAH.

A try with limited lives you say? And it's balanced all the way through? I actually had great fun playing it? Yeah. I really, really liked what I got.

The design is ok, it's slender, it's changing, but maintains familiarity through the entire fight. The attacks change their pacing, methods and actually take into account what you do and the health bar takes a few unconventional turns in how it actually displays 'boss hp'.

The gameplay is what really carries this entry and I'm kinda stunned that I dont have much more to say. It's good.


Best Ever

My god, it's full of stars.


Kisentpal

Well, we've all seen the video. This boss is the clear winner, right?

If you've read the post, VR made it very clear that there's a mechanic in which you shoot gaps in the barriers to move around. This already made me skeptical, I didn't recognize that mechanic in the video. It was not immediately obvious.

Then I started up the boss and ...I still have no clue how it works. The barriers never show any gaps, bullets never go through and whenever I try to pass, whether I shot it or not, there is 80% chance that I die, otherwise I pass harmlessly through clearly visible barrier.

This made it outright impossible to play the boss. And even after rewatching the video, it's very hard to recognize when you can actually pass and when you cant. This entire gimmick feels unnecessary and ruins the boss in it's entiriety for me.

It still has great attacks, stunning VR-grade effects and imaginative premise, but I can't make use of it when the base is just so cryptic and frustrating.




Here comes the ladder:

X. Best Ever

It is too great for this contest and requires it's own.

7. DZR

They fly and shoot, that's about it.

6. Crusader

It hopes in vain that the play will die if tries hard enough. Naive thing.

5. Defensive Wall

Reminds me of the time when all the bosses had ridiculous amounts of hp to stretch the playtime.

4. Eliminator

It's not that bad, per-se, certainly done well enough for what it is, but leaves wanting much more.

3. Suckerpunch

What /was/ the point of that solo power laser attack?

2. Kisenphal

It's really great and visually striking, but I just can't play it. The fact that you had to point that mechanic out to everyone should be a sign that it's not a good mechanic. Easily #1 without it.

1. Fanblade Warship

I had the most fun playing this thing out of all the entries. It's the most well rounded of them, as well as the most balanced test of skill. I couldn't be asking for more.
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