QOTW: In 7 Days to Die, what would the ideal boss look?

Pokketninja

Pokketninja

Creator Manager
In 7 Days to Die, what would the ideal boss look? I've seen people talk about what they would hope to see or gave ideas of what a boss would actually look like to them? Would it be something like bosses for each biome? I'd love to just get the conversation going.
 
Nonexistent. I don't think bosses really fit within 7 Days, unless we're potentially talking about human/bandit bosses (like some sort of mad scientist experimenting with zombies or whatnot.)

Definitely don't want to see giant bullet sponges with waves of enemies or whatnot that make no logical sense within the world.
 
As much as I didn't mind the Frostclaw or previous Plague Spitter for their "sticking out", if 7DtD implemented a 'boss' system, I think it'd have to be especially tonally and thematically consistent - things that don't have to be thought on to accept. (For example, I could easily accept the Frostclaw as a mutation, but it's something I had to think on to logically rationalize its presence).

In that vein: maybe Pine Forest has a variant of a zombie bear or Grace; the Burnt Forest could have some body-horror-movie-grotesquery of multiple zombies that melted together during the fires; the Desert with something truly obnoxious like a Zombie Rancher on Zombie Horseback that stays at a Zombie Distance; Snow I have no idea; Wasteland is probably the easiest to conjure a 'mutation' idea for a boss thing, and there's likely better ideas for that than anything I could come up with.

The first of two main points I'd be firmest on is that they're kept unique and special - never appearing in blood moons or in other POIs or wandering on their own in the world, only in their specific POI or only in a very conditional circumstance, like the traders making you deal with the 'boss' as the 'special job' that gives the tracker for the next trader at the end of a quest tier. The second point is, as Vaeliorin said, they aren't just bullet sponges or swarm-bringers; health-as-difficulty is rarely ever fun, the bosses should have some gameplay gimmick that isn't Screamers 2: FPS Drop Boogaloo (and also not Special Stone Axe of Slaying This One Thing And Not Useful Elsewhere). As an example, maybe whatever the Snow biome boss is, it can do something that 'freezes' guns so you have to use melee or throwables, and so on.

I'd be perfectly happy if there are no 'boss' enemies, but if they are added, I think it's very important they're done carefully and "right", so overall I think they're in the 'more trouble than they're worth' category. Human and bandit bosses could be a compromise on that, provided they're still not John Smith and his Bulletproof Face-style health-sponges.
 
Vaeliorin said:
Nonexistent. I don't think bosses really fit within 7 Days, unless we're potentially talking about human/bandit bosses (like some sort of mad scientist experimenting with zombies or whatnot.)

Definitely don't want to see giant bullet sponges with waves of enemies or whatnot that make no logical sense within the world.
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I agree

Pokketninja said:
In 7 Days to Die, what would the ideal boss look? I've seen people talk about what they would hope to see or gave ideas of what a boss would actually look like to them? Would it be something like bosses for each biome? I'd love to just get the conversation going
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No bosses for me. As others have mentioned, I think only a bandit leader or something like that would fit the game; I think the irradiated and colored zombies are enough bullet sponges. Also, I’m not a big fan of the giants. I’d prefer zombies with different behaviors, like the Spider, the Spitter, or Chuck—maybe a new male Screamer or something that changes the behavior of the surrounding zombies.

Also, more zombies—zombies everywhere.
 
I don’t really like the idea of bosses as something that appears all the time or on hordes but if there was one unique creature per biome with its own hidden POI and story, I think it could actually work. At the same time, they wouldn’t need to be something completely absurd or disconnected from reality. They’d work best if they still felt believable within the world of the game more like extreme mutations of existing creatures, failed experiments, or infected animals and humans pushed far beyond natural limits, rather than random fantasy monsters that feel like they belong in a completely different game.

They could also guard unique items or loot that can only be found in those locations, with clues scattered throughout the world pointing to where these places are. Ideally, these POIs would be well hidden, preferably underground, like secret military experiment sites involving humans and animals, designed to survive the conditions of the apocalypse.

For example, if Frostclaw, which I didn’t really like as a roaming enemy, had its own dedicated location in the snow biome an ice cave with its own story it could work much better. Before the fall of the world, it could have been a military experiment. Scientists were trying to create soldiers resistant to extreme cold. Mutagens were tested on prisoners, and human DNA was combined with genes from arctic predators. The experiment spiraled out of control during the evacuation of the facility.

The cave is buried in ice, and inside there is complete darkness. You can see claw marks carved into the walls, and an eerie silence hangs in the air but something is still there, moving just out of sight.

I think this kind of approach would add a lot of atmosphere and charm to the game without breaking its tone, since you wouldn’t see these creatures on a daily basis. They would feel more like rare curiosities hidden in the world. Of course, not everyone would like it, but in my opinion it would be a really interesting and immersive addition.
 
I can get behind "boss" as a role. That is, they have some affect on those who support them and organize things. A "screamer" to me is a boss as they summon more zombies.

I can get behind "boss" as an objective. That is, they're the principle element of a faction and dealing with them is an important part of a story.

I'm not a fan of "boss" as a bigger, special bad guy that guards some advancement of achievement and has to be defeated with some silly tactics. This is a reason I returned "Valheim" and why I quit raiding in MMOs. I think I would say it is the silly tactics and contrived situations that contribute to my dislike. I'm not sure I'm adequately expressing a distinction. I don't really think of Gracie as a boss, if that helps.
 
Boss is probably the wrong word as that implies mini games or special purpose. Tougher, or end game (high game stage) zombies would be more like it although when they bring in the story line, bosses may be applicable.

One I would like to see would be based on the Arch-vile from Doom 2. A zombie that uses/affects other zombies that are killed around it, so you have to work out whether to ignore (and get through) its satellite zombies to kill it while its week or kill of the other zombies so there not in the way but causing it to get stronger.

It could have some or all the following abilities.

1: If there are no zombies near it for a while it calls for help like a screamer.
2: As zombies die near it or it walks over their body's it uses them to heal or gets stronger.
3: Chance of it re-animating a dead zombie.
 
When it comes to "bosses", I'd much rather unique enemies that can only be found in 1-2 POI's versus a Demolisher 2.0. Grace immediately comes to mind. It would be neat if a POI had a giant mutated zombie, or the 'king/queen' of all zombie bears.
 
I also don't really like the idea of bosses in this game. One big reason is that I would rather TFP add more types of regular zombies/enemies that you'd see all the time than a "boss" that you rarely see. The amount of work is relatively the same, but the impact on players is significantly different. Seeing a new enemy regularly is far more valuable to me than seeing an enemy only rarely. I can go entire games without seeing Grace since I don't intentionally look for Bob's Corn and I don't know that anyone intentionally looks for Grace's other POI.

Now, I am fine with an uncommon, but still regular, enemy that is stronger. I've been playing Night of the Dead, and I'm fine with the 2 headed zombies that you sometimes see. They aren't always there the way others are, but they aren't rare either. You see them often enough that it's okay. But actual bosses aren't needed in this game.
 
Pokketninja said:
In 7 Days to Die, what would the ideal boss look? I've seen people talk about what they would hope to see or gave ideas of what a boss would actually look like to them? Would it be something like bosses for each biome? I'd love to just get the conversation going.
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I wouldn't like bosses in the sense like a game like ark or Conan or a biome boss.

For a game like this I would hope more on like a tank from l4d but super rare and i wouldn't want biome bosses biome zombies are fine (aside from chuck he has anger issues). I dont want the bosses to be crazy. Something like grace is perfect (though grace could be stronger and break blocks better because hogzilla ranch is easy ish)
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Thank you @Pokketninja I love these chat with the forums
 
I like the idea of bosses. I'll disagree with zz a bit and say that as long as bosses can be configured I'd be happy with all types of bosses-- even those that gatekeep advancement.

I would even like bosses added that would require a team using asymmetric abilities to take down even though many people play this game solo. As long as such bosses can be toggled off for when we aren't playing co-op, it would be great to have them in the game.
 
Roland said:
I like the idea of bosses. I'll disagree with zz a bit and say that as long as bosses can be configured I'd be happy with all types of bosses-- even those that gatekeep advancement.

I would even like bosses added that would require a team using asymmetric abilities to take down even though many people play this game solo. As long as such bosses can be toggled off for when we aren't playing co-op, it would be great to have them in the game.
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That sounds horrible.
 
If we stretched the definition of boss to include special variant zombie types such as chuck, plague spitter, mutated and demo...

Smart zombies similar to the ones from Rebirth and Afterlife overhauls that can open unlocked doors and hatches. Curse their glowing fingers.
Glowing one similar to the Fallout video game series that buffs or converts nearby zombies to radiated strengths. Could have a scream animation that rapidly heals nearby radiated and deals radiation damage forcing players away from an area.
Silent zombies that makes less noise and has muffled footsteps to sneak up on the player.
The larger than normal Beshemoth zombie from the Darkness Falls overhaul would be a great addition to the base game, as well as other similar but non-demonic oversized zombies from other mods.
There was a bug that made plague spitters invisible from a distance at one point which reminded me of the Night Stalker demons from the Darkness Falls overhaul... stealth/cloaking zombies that you cant see till they get closer to the player would be fun. Imagine if the plague spitter was cloaked until just before it did its bee releasing scream.
The Darkness Falls overhaul also made all the fat enemy types spit like cops and i would like to see something similar in the base game, if all the undead can do is shuffle at you the game turns into a rhythm game where you press buttons to the zombie beat. What if the affliction on the mutated zombie allowed it to spit like the cop and could appear on any fat zombie type?
A fire type zombie that explodes when killed/explodes when nearby like a minecraft creeper/throws fire at you from range. Creates areas of fire like a molotov that deny areas to you temporarily.


...mini demo's riding chickens that charge at you and explode to cash in on the chicken jockey meme.
 
I have no problem with more zombie types, including ones with special abilities or "support"/"leader" zombies that buff the abilities of other nearby zombies. So long as they are common and not a rare boss that you almost never see. And so long as there aren't ridiculous scripted attacks like many bosses in other games or ones that just have a ridiculous amount of health.
 
I wouldn't mind proper bosses; ala Borderlands .. I just don't think the 1m cube world can really support them well, we'd need arenas but also AI that can adjust for the player bringing stacks of steel... I wouldn't even mind if they don't exactly fit zombie lore, if done well otherwise.

For "thematic" stuff, "horde leaders" could work, whether human or undead. A rando bandit slowly dragging a 100 zeds across your path on his minibike. Or a different looking undead leader, not necessarily too hard to kill, but staying behind the horde for cover; maybe small, maybe re-reviving the dead.
All kinds of mechanized bandits... just a couple on a gyrocopter, copilot tossing mollies. An actual tank (bring fire or explosives or go home). Anything in between.
 
theFlu said:
Or a different looking undead leader, not necessarily too hard to kill, but staying behind the horde for cover; maybe small, maybe re-reviving the dead.
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This description made me think of the Fallen Shaman in Diablo. :)

Roland said:
What? Don't you like configurable options? What's wrong with a toggle?
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I think they weren't saying having an option for it was necessarily bad, but that they wouldn't like that kind of boss and would most likely choose to disable them. I'd agree on that part. I wouldn't want that kind of boss either. I wouldn't care if it was an option, but I'd prefer they spend time making enemies that everyone will use and not something that only some will use.
 
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