[WIP] Contra-esque boss

[Lazy Brain Games]

This is the final boss for an upcoming game, I'm kinda stuck with the palette I have, but I think the color choices pretty much make sense I started with the left half, so the light is supposed to be coming from the top left (the right side is just a flipped copy). Somewhere along the line I got a little lost in the this one lol. I might redesign the head to distance this thing from the contra reference, I don't want my Contra envy to be too obvious lol. I don't know what the heck I'm doing with the neck, but it's gettin' there

[coffee]

I do like this one!

And yes, the colours choices works well here.

I don't know what your plan is with the bosses eyes but you could use the brown to shade them just a little bit. There is also an anoying small red spot where it seems to lack a pixel in the bottom of the eyes.
Above the eyes. the head I guess. Before the neck. there is a white space. The shading there is kinda bad and "squareish". I would look into that if I where you. There are some more spots where the AA doesn't quite work but I guess it's not a huge problem. All up to you

Other then that, pretty good job there bud!

[piffany]

Very nice! Are the eyes supposed to be protruding spherical bug eyes? If so, they really need some highlights

[timeatscookies]

I haf to agree with coffee about the white space that is "squareish". I'm not exactly sure about the species of this beast, but I assume it's insectoid, and in that case I feel like I would expect the neck to either be skinnier or thicker when connecting to the head. For example, the segment connecting the head of ant to its thorax is quite skinny, but a grasshopper's head would seem to be of the same thickness as the body. Just a thought. After all, it's your boss; do it how you see fit.

But overall, I must say excellent job!  I really like the Contra tribute a lot. Oh, and I think the palette is just magical!

[Lazy Brain Games]

Thanks for the input guys! I did some general cleaning of the body to address the blockiness. I made a new head, I like it, but I don't love it There is a part of the game where there is no head, so I put that up as well just to be thorough

Updated boss


Boss headless


Boss head


I tried to make the face a bit more menacing, I think I did okay, but it feels like he's still missing something. The body is pretty much where it needs to be I think I might end up having the head move around independently (ala Contra) so there might be a kind of arm/ball thing in the furture
There are still a couple of problem spots, but this guy is pretty much ready for prime time! Thanks for the input! It really helps!

EDIT

Just thought I'd show a pic of him in-game. I think I like the face better now that there's lasers coming out of it lol

[timeatscookies]

Dude, I could totally see that new head with those weird mandible thingys that predator's have on the sides of their mouth. That's just my opinion though . I think it could fill in some of the narrowness at the bottom of the head. It's looking awesome regardless. I think the whole thing looks more detailed now.

The body with no head; is it gonna stay as an open hole? I was thinking some guts or some kind of insides visible on the outside or around the edges would be nice. But you may want to just keep it an empty void lol.

Out of curiosity, are you the one making the game? Depending on what kinda shmup is it, I think it would be neat-o if the final boss had tiers you must fight through. Something sorta like the Metal Slug mother ship final boss (I can't remember which one). Maybe entering inside the monster or proceeding past his head to take out the rest of the body. I always thought it was cool when the boss would seem defeated, then you discover its just the beginning xD

[Lazy Brain Games]

Wow, it was like you where reading my mind! I'm totally adding some mandible type things I am the one making the game, so I can say there's an assload of boss battle goodness In fear of getting too far off topic, I'll just briefly state that there's a number of phases for this boss. Here's a peak at a couple of other forms, all these forms are fused together to make one ultra-epic boss battle SPOILER ALERT!

(1st) Mechanized form:


(2nd) Embryonic form:


(3rd) Adult/Monster form:


Now that I've worked so much on the last form, the others kinda look crappy lol. But that's okay, the adult form is kind of the "money shot" for this game I'll edit this post once I've redone the final boss If you're interested in discussing this game any further or are interested in testing, drop me a line at lazybraingames@gmail.com Thanks for the crits everyone!

[Cure]

color edit


my thinking was the brown was too warm for the metal parts and I just find purplish reds more interesting. and greys are more interesting if they're tinted a bit with a color.

[yrizoud]

I think it would be more impressive if the the whole screen background was organic, it would feel more like the player ship has to fly over part of the huuuge boss before reaching a vulnerable part. Of course it depends if the engine can support it, and if dark colors are available (readability is critical for a shooter)