There’s a new sheriff in town! At least if you think of this drifting heap of failing ancient technology as a town. Nobody on the station handed her a badge, either, but that’s not going to stop her. She was quite literally made for this role, and you got her on your team, you can count on this gun-slinging, shield-bearing robot to have your back.
As with all the heroes in ENDLESS™ Dungeon, there’s more to discover about her than we can pack into a single short trailer. Like her origins. We’re not even sure about those ourselves, to be honest, so maybe you can help us out by casting your vote!
We do know Bunker is keen on bringing law and order to the station, but what does she bring to your team? Well, with her shield and her metal body, she’s tough enough to put herself in harm’s way to protect the team. Her skills reflect this, too:
Triggering (Passive): Increases attack damage the more she gets hit within a short time.
Back Off (Special): Deploys her shield to generate a shock wave that knocks back, stuns and damages monsters.
Hunker (Ultimate): Creates an energy dome that attracts monsters while protecting her from the attacks for a few seconds.
We’re sure you’ve got a lot of questions about Bunker. We sure do. Like: What’s in her drink, and how concerned should we be the bar is serving it? Sadly, we can’t answer all of them yet, but here are some of the answers we got from the team.
- “Sheriff” is a bit of an odd title on a Space station. How did that happen?
- Part of what we wanted to do with TED was develop a narrative environment based on Galactic Western styles and tropes. Science fiction and Westerns go well together as they touch a lot of common themes – isolated communities, surviving in a difficult environment, motley groups of locals mixed with drifters and adventurers, exploring unknown frontiers, unpredictable law enforcement, and so on.
In the case of Bunker, we decided that the archetype she would represent would be the sheriff; after all, every town needs a sheriff who is the voice of law and order…
- Part of what we wanted to do with TED was develop a narrative environment based on Galactic Western styles and tropes. Science fiction and Westerns go well together as they touch a lot of common themes – isolated communities, surviving in a difficult environment, motley groups of locals mixed with drifters and adventurers, exploring unknown frontiers, unpredictable law enforcement, and so on.
- Bunker's job is protecting the rest of the team, and her big shield ties nicely into that. When creating a character, do you start with the lore, the look, or the gameplay? Or in other words, what came first, the tank or the shield?
- The way we do this stuff at Amplitude is highly iterative. I’ll be in one place with the designers, coming up with the different playstyles and archetypes; in the meantime, the artists are off in their corner coming up with whatever character art they think looks cool. We toss ideas back and forth, and things just start to coalesce. Or clot, if you look at it that way.
In the case of Bunker, the artists came up with the image, and it was pretty clear from their intentions that this would be the tanky character. So, while we knew we want that sort of paladin-y defender type, we didn’t have any clear idea (Human? Alien? Robot?) until the artists brought us the Bunker concept art. Which was awesome.
- The way we do this stuff at Amplitude is highly iterative. I’ll be in one place with the designers, coming up with the different playstyles and archetypes; in the meantime, the artists are off in their corner coming up with whatever character art they think looks cool. We toss ideas back and forth, and things just start to coalesce. Or clot, if you look at it that way.
- One of Bunker's skills attracts the attention of nearby enemies. How does that skill help you survive that?
- Every tank needs their aggro boost! Well, maybe not, because then game design gets awfully derivative… but in the case of this skill we have paired the aggro boost with a massive damage shield. It’s one of those things that is very useful when the waves of monsters look unstoppable.
- We've seen Bunker and Zed work together in previous trailers. But while Bunker seems calm and orderly, Zed strikes me as more of a rebellious hothead. Doesn't that cause some friction?
- Zed is definitely a hothead; the type to leap in fearlessly rather than be cautious and deliberate. Bunker is as brave, but much more responsible. There will be friction between some of the characters, but Zed and Bunker aren’t the worst!
- What would you say is Bunker's biggest contribution to your team when you venture out into the station?
- One of the key elements of the gameplay mix is tower defense – and Bunker can be a mobile part of that tower. She will be helpful in controlling a zone, slowing waves, and helping allies; all important elements when you are trying to manage the rhythm and intensity of attacks.
- In many games, the "tanky" characters are slow because of their heavy armor. Does Bunker have any trouble keeping up with her more nimble teammates?
- Fortunately, Bunker was designed (and the community gets to decide by who) with an awesome set of servomotors. She has no problems with speed or maneuverability!
We hope you enjoyed this brief look at another hero, and are excited to explore the station. Stay tuned to our channels, because there might be exciting news sooner than you expect. ;)