How do you make a boss in New World? Specifically an AI boss, not any other meaning of the word. A new video features Lead AI Designer Chad Redwitz and AI Designer Patrick Smedley chatting with Player Experience Lead Dave Hall about the process, and it follows a pretty familiar pattern if you’ve watched similar behind-the-scenes videos. The team works with the lore team to determine whom you’re fighting and why, comes up with an initial concept, adds in escalation mechanic, and then tests and refines to ensure the fight is fun but not too challenging or too simple.
What’s probably going to be more interesting to fans are game-specific elements, like how both designers wish they could go back and redesign Chardis because he’s just a little too simplistic. They also call out Neishatun specifically as a fight that they were happy with and one they feel came together well from a design standpoint. Check out the whole chat just below if you’re curious for more insight into the boss design process and results.
