Design of War Ender - Boss 2: RAWM
Originally published July 1st, 2020
Beneath The City, RAWM awaits...
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It's been a long time coming, but we're finally at the second boss of War Ender, RAWM. Fun fact: Did you know RAWM stands for Really Awesome Wrecking Machine? I promise, I'm not making that up on the spot. That's been RAWM's full name from the beginning. While the first boss, Wall of Lasers, wasn't exactly traditional, RAWM is much more in line with what one may expect when they think of a boss fight. A large, hulking creature who has its eyes (or in this case, eye) on crushing the player character. The Wall of Lasers was predominantly a test of the player's ability with War Ender's platforming and shooting mechanics. RAWM, on the other hand, will be forcing the player to heavily utilize one of the more advanced moves in War Ender, the dodge.
First, a look at where the idea for RAWM came from. The initial inspiration came about back when I was first playing a hot new game release of 2017, Metroid: Samus Returns. In that game, there was a recurring character that you eventually fought by the name of Diggernaut. When you eventually fight the robot, he uses a wide variety of attacks such as lasers and its own arms to fight. Another inspiration for RAWM came from Metal Slug, specifically from the Crablops boss used in Metal Slug 7. This character inspired RAWM's general appearance more than any individual attack and fight design ideas.
Speaking of which, now that we've gone over the origins of RAWM, let's get into the fight itself! As I mentioned earlier, this boss is primarily testing the player on their use of the dodge mechanic. They'll no doubt be well familiar with it at this point in the game between the different enemies and obstacles that demand its use, but RAWM is trying to make a statement here. In order to do well from here on out, you must use that dodge.
The very first move RAWM uses demonstrates this well. RAWM will send out a laser that travels across the screen horizontally. There's no jumping over it or hugging the wall for dear life, you have to dodge past it. This should hopefully get RAWM's intent across to the player, but if it doesn't then RAWM has quite the follow up move. A torrent of bullets, raining down from above, its hands (the laser bullets are shot out of these) steadily making their way to the center of the arena. Once again, the idea is to force a dodge here, but this time if the player doesn't the punishment could potentially be much more severe. Additionally, RAWM does this sort of “slam” attack where it brings his two arms together to the middle in a clapping movement. The player is given a little time in advance to register this move is coming, because telegraphing is always important in a boss battle. If memory serves, I believe RAWM will also use his attack where it swings his arms into the air and crashes them to the ground repeatedly, moving them slightly until they reach the center. However, I usually make it past the first phase before I can see that attack.
I think I did pretty well in the telegraphing department for this boss. Generally speaking the player will keep to the center of the arena since that's where they can fire at RAWM's head, which is where you must shoot lay damage. With one exception, all of RAWM's attacks start from a far side of the screen and takes a moment to reach the center, which should give the player the time they need to react. The exception is his electric field attack, introduced in a later phase, where he places his hands on the ground and sends sparks between them, asking the player to move away from the center. You'll likely get hit by most or all of these attacks the first time around, but after that you'll know what they do and can react accordingly the next time around.
The second and third phase introduce new attacks as the fight goes on, with the fourth phase being essentially a final exam. I mentioned the electric field attack earlier. A helpful tip with that attack: the electric field forces you away from the center, but if you know the timing, you can shoot-float back to the center a little early and lay on some extra damage while the electric field is still going. By the time you fall back down, the field should be gone. The final attack is perhaps RAWM's most tricky, the barrage of homing bullets. Like many of the other attacks, they appear from either side of RAWM, giving you a little time to react. Dodging is still required here, but I'm also asking the player to actively move around regularly here. In my opinion, the easiest way to dodge these is to run to the side opposite the first wave of bullets, then as the second wave appears, dodge past the bullets. The first wave will have disappeared around the time the second wave appears, meaning you're mostly dodging past the second wave of bullets.
Finally, there's another layer to the boss in the form of what I'll call “permanent obstacles.” In this case, the obstacles are rocket turrets mounted to the top of moving platforms on the left side of the arena during the third phase, and on both sides for the final phase. By now you'll probably notice that every boss will have some kind of permanent obstacle as the fight goes on. During the Wall of Lasers, the permanent obstacles more or less were the boss. Here, it's a few underlings forcing you to move around thanks to the homing rockets. RAWM's attacks were largely designed to make you use that dodge button, now the rockets are present to make you move around the arena more. This is also a reminder of the things learned in the previous level, 2-3. Moving platforms can be used for much more than platforming, you see. They can also make themselves useful in combat. This lesson was taught at the end of 2-3, and it's being reinforced here. As a reminder, it's always good to remind players of ways the game can utilize its various mechanics. It keeps things lively for the player, and it asks you as the developer to use what you've created as much as you can.
Once you've defeated RAWM, you've essentially told the game “yes, I understand dodging clearly and I'm ready for more!” While previous levels had you using the dodge quite a bit, I don't feel like anything forced you to use the dodge the way RAWM does. You're not going to get far in this boss without using it, whereas in previous levels you could perhaps find alternate ways around an obstacle or simply brute force your way through it. Throughout these first two chapters of War Ender, I've been trying to condition the player into playing a certain way, the way that I believe is not only the most fun way but also the way that will allow them to progress. Without understanding the physics of War Ender and the different moves available to you, you won't be able to finish the game.
After defeating RAWM, the difficulty of this game begins to really rise while the game's mechanics begin to truly shine. Chapter 3 and onward is where I feel War Ender really starts to show what it is capable of. The player will likely begin doing some wild things to achieve victory, but that's okay. Performing crazy maneuvers and acquiring this sort of “flow” is what I believe makes War Ender a fun game. Mind you, there's still a handful of new things left to discover. A new enemy type awaits in 3-1, and an entirely new faction is about to be introduced. Wonder what they're like…
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