Hola/Hello
Welcome to Decrypting the Station #2, where we will redirect our attention to the Bots family.
For the newcomers, what is this blog about? In this series of blogs, we will cover different elements of Endless Dungeon, such as the different monster families, the Meta Progression, etc...
Last week we started with the first family of monsters, the bugs. But today, it is time for the "Rise of the Machines". Here we will be going into the details of the Lore, the game designer part (what we called Gameplay), and the Art process.
THE BOTS
LORE
The Bots are the station systems that handle tasks like cleaning, security, transport, basic medical care, meal delivery, etc.
They are pretty much doing what they have always done—getting rid of intruders, cleaning up things that shouldn’t be there, making sure that nobody is carrying weapons in the Station, etc. They probably spend a lot of time getting rid of Bugs and Blobs (when there are no Heroes around).
They could be anywhere in the Station, but are most likely to be found in secure areas, or guarding important systems.
Let's see what Jeff, our Narrative Director, can tell us about them:
Bots! Of course. What would you most expect to find on an abandoned space station? Hostile, aggressive, trespasser-hating bots. Honestly, if we didn't put them in there the community would probably complain (and they would be right).
Ever since the first science fiction authors - or ancient world philosophers - thought of them, the idea of sentient non-humans created by humans has been a cultural obsession. Whether it is programmed-to-be-evil Terminators or programmed-to-be-cute R2-D2's, pop culture is packed with robots that cover the scale from helpful to hostile. Initially they were thought to be helpful, though there is a hint at their attitude problem when you learn that the modern term "robot" actually comes from a Czech word for "forced labor"... Uh-oh.
Of course, they're hostile! Wouldn't you be, too, if you were built and controlled to go out and die while serving someone else's purpose? With robotic major and minor factions (Automatons, Sowers, Remnants, Epistis, ...), the Endless Dungeon absolutely had to have robotic enemies.
GAMEPLAY
To talk about the Game Design (with some Lore) we have with us Benoît, Co-Lead Game Designer. But I will leave it to him to do the presentations :P
Hi all, I'm Game Designer and Narrative designer of Endless Dungeon and really happy to be part of this great mix of genre since its beginning. While we were thinking about the 3C (camera, control & character) of that very unique adaptation of the DotE gameplay, I also had the chance to design monsters. Let me tell you a bit more about the design intentions behind the Bots monster family.
So, What was the intention of the team behind the Bots?
We designed the Bots to be a bit more tanky than Bugs, still a bit fast, and also a bit more advanced in terms of organization. Fighting was not the initial function of the Bots, centuries ago, when the station was running normaly. Nowadays, they are tough metal creatures which are endlessly created through station supply chains to fight against intruders.
Let’s get down to business
One of the first monsters we created. Heavy and relatively slow to move and attack, this Bot is also one of the first monsters you will encounter with a bit more Health. We designed it with the Refurbisher and tried first to make them work together, with the Refurbisher hidden behind to provide regeneration to an imposing creature (although it is not a high tier).
The Refurbisher was our first support monster. It immediately worked quite well at forcing you to move around the monster it is healing, in order to eliminate it in priority.
The Drone combines the ability to fly over level holes and low props while attacking you by distance. It is also the only monster using guns with a good fire rate.
Like in other monster families, we were looking for one using a damage type. We had decided to associate to each family one damage affinity they are keen to use. For Bots, it is "Light". The Praetorian has been designed to look a bit like a first miniboss you would encounter at some point at defeating Bots. It has both a distant and a melee attack, both dealing damage of type "Light" which is very unique.
This one is the first monster we designed to force you to protect your installation in priority, such as generators, research terminals, turrets and eventually your Crystal Bot. This Bot is particularly deadly when facing a single isolated target and is the only one able to attack by distance over room walls.
ART
Hadrien, the Lead 3D Artist, is joining us today to explain to us the intention and aesthetic when designing the bots.
Bots are basically old endless technologies used for security or maintenance, mostly physical work. Since then the hostile A.I. is using them to harass the characters and follow its own goals.
The aesthetic aims for a similar look to the rest of the endless environment: Sharp shapes and cold materials.
We try to exaggerate some key features that make them recognisable as Bots. Weapons and tools must be visible, using hard edges and mechanical shapes.
Their function and archetypes are inspired by wildlife or insectoids, as their real-life counterparts: shape follows function. That’s why bio-inspired robot designs and locomotion animations fit well with their predatory actions in-game.
As usual with monsters, their danger levels are mostly shown by their sizes and global visual archetypes.
And with this nice Destroyer walking (reminds me a bit of War of the Worlds, on a smaller scale if we compare haha) we are ending today's blog.
What can you expect for the next blog? It will be the remaining monster family you have seen, the Blobs.
Before finishing, we wanted to mention that we will update the blogpost (Soon™) including some basic visual stats about the monsters, so you can see more or less what to expect from each of the monsters.
See you in the station ^-^
