--- DevDiary ---

<Back>

- 2024/03/23 -

This week, I continued working on Ilriss.

There isn't much to say so far. I said earlier that all bosses in Sunrise Doll were at various stages of completion, and Ilriss was in the camp of the bosses that I knew the visuals of, but not necessarily the attacks of. I've spent this week brainstorming the exact attacks Ilriss would have, and I tried implementing them into the game to see how they'd work out.

The primary mental hurdle that I struggle with is the dimensions of the battlefield. Ilriss is supposed to be a boss that turns the battlefield into a bullet hell, and, even though the inspiration game has the same exact dimensions, I keep imagining Ilriss' attacks as if they were on a much more vertical screen, with lots of empty space between Pawn and her.

Personal space.

The fact that Sunrise Doll both allows and necessitates the ability to hit the bullets back means that Ilriss' attack pattern has to be varied, so that the player can't spend the entirety of the battle pressing "Attack" while standing still, and that the player doesn't spend the entirety of the battle dodging unreflectable bullets - all while delivering a visual spectacle to them. The horizontal space is important, and I think I have the necessary ideas to push the player to use them, both with a carrot and with a stick.

Unlike Prime Sin and the other "normal" boss, Ilriss' boss battle utilizes the Enemy counter as her health indicator, as her behavior does not change depending on the damage she has taken. Particularly, this also means that the player has access to the exact value of Ilriss' remaining health, to let them plan all-in attacks, and compare the "Enemy" number with the "Time" number to have a rough idea of how well they're doing.

Speaking of Time, Ilriss' boss battle, as well as the other "Peer" boss battle, do not feature Time Rain at all. Normally it is a countdown to the point where the stage racks up in difficulty, but with Ilriss, you only have so much time to defeat her. I plan to make the timer generous enough to let casual people ignore it for the most part.

I am really looking forward to implementing Ilriss in full.