Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
FiGuRe 3.12
Bosses are often much larger than the player's character.
Bosses tend to have skills that players have not encountered before—or, if they
have, in smaller doses. One of the aspects of good gameplay is a boss that is tough
enough to defeat your character but can be defeated by figuring out the strategy
to the fight. Bosses also tend to be unique in that no other character in the game
looks or moves like them, although that isn't a hard and fast rule.
Often, bosses are
recycled in games by
changing their color,
texture, or abilities.
Quest Givers
Quest givers can take on all forms in a game. They may be human or human-like,
animals, animated objects like rocks or trees, road signs, or pages from a newspaper
or journal with prompts or clues for the player to help decide what tasks to perform
in order to move forward in the game. Whatever form the quest giver takes on, its
role is to give scope and meaning to the task the player needs to undertake.
The design of the quest giver often reflects the look and feel of the game, and
their appearance may be tied into the quest. For example, if your quest is to kill
a boss that is harming the sheep that live nearby, your quest giver may be the
shepherd or even one of the sheep.
The quest giver can also provide hints to the player. Often the player can return to
the quest giver for further information if they get stuck. Most quest givers have an
icon over their head or stand out from other NPCs so the player will approach them.
In some games, the quest giver comes right up to your player if you're in the area.
