Tropes

Maris Zaharevics

ID NO: 000932943-9

Vulnerable areas

TROPES RESEARCH REPORT

00|Foreword

     The "Weak Spot" tropes are very common in computer games when the player is facing an enemy, which is evidently stronger than any previously defeated opponent. Usually, this enemy type belongs to a Boss NPC class resembling a transition to a new section of the game when defeated. An overwhelming majority of games have this type of a system giving the final test to the player before switching to a new chapter. The test itself requires a well-designed balance of a difficulty, keeping player's attention at its highest level as well as giving an experience of the accomplished task of incredible complexity. Doubtless, if the enemy is represented by the embodiment of power, there will be no chance for the player to conquer the field. Therefore, in-game Bosses have borrowed the concept of  "Achilles' heel" giving the player an ability to defeat knowingly stronger enemies. The realization of this trope was significantly limited due to the technical features of that time. However, this made the beginning and the possibility of further development of the "Weak Spot" feature for the games we are playing nowadays.  

     For an in-depth research, this report will include two completely different games with an identical concept of vulnerable areas located on the Boss NPC - the "Contra III" (1992) and the "Dead Space" (2008). Both of these games include Boss levels where the player is using a similar strategical approach to pass further within the game. 



01|exx 

Contra III

     The real life is full of examples how the object can be destroyed without using brute force if the attacker is familiar with the structure of the object. We don't need to use a specific weapon to stop microwave from working. All we need is the understanding of causal relationship or logic to unplug the microwave from the electrical source. The same meaning is also embedded in the strategy which is used by the player to win. However, the differences are still present. The game guides the player with the help of a visual hint as it could be quite challenging to identify the weak spot on the creature which the player has never seen before. This is one of the major differences between older and newer game bosses, as due to the restrictions of the animation and the technical aspects the weak areas arrangement on the body sometimes did not have a logical explanation. 

Contra III: Alien Turtle

The most common way of guiding the player's attack line is well defined in the video shown above.  When the level of the boss is reached, the player has an ability to explore the enemy during its presentation of the scale and strength. A victory over the boss may require several attempts to understand the mechanics and strategy for a decisive bout. The red, blinking sphere attached to the boss chest attracts player's attention hinting at the importance of this object. Direct hit in this area does not allow the player to understand whether his attacks cause any damage referring to the player's previous experience or the intuitive component of the game. Simultaneously, heavy boss attacks do not give an opportunity to easily destroy a vital object causing the player to experience an extremely intense gameplay. The scheme used in this boss level is only the sub-section of the main "Weak Spot" Trope and there are several more varieties no less interesting in terms of realization. 

Contra III: Terminator

     Unlike the first video, this example has slightly different aspects helping the player to understand that his attacks have consequences to for the boss. The "Weak Spot" is located on the head area, and it is not entirely clear whether the blinking sphere decides that either or all of the head surface takes damage regardless of the position of the jaw. However, there are patterns that allow the player to determine when a boss's special attack begins. The signaling highlighting disappears giving the player the opportunity to prepare for defensive action. At this point, any attack produced by the player has no mild effect despite the fact, that the "Weak Spot" is just there.  This mechanic is incredibly popular in hundreds of games as it has a mixture of sub-sections of the same trope. Newer games include some workarounds allowing the player to experiment with attacking strategies by expanding the possibilities of the trope. 

Contra III: Alien Spider

     Some bosses have multiple layers of protection that the player must destroy alternately. This system includes the destruction of vital equipment for the enemy, highlight the weak points and information about the damage level. The concept of this trope requires the player to destroy vitally dangerous firearms, immobilize the object by destroying its joints/wheels/arms etc. and complete the task by attacking the very last weak point to proceed to a further level. 

"Dead Space": Boss fight

     It is quite obvious that it is the tentacles that act as a weapon against the player. Therefore, the player needs to understand that this is his priority target.  Fortunately, despite the incredible size, the tentacles themselves have a weak spot. The point itself is allocated with a different color palette, allowing the player to assume that this is the target in which the player must shoot. 


     The realism of the multi-layered weak spot depends on the game setting or technical limitations of the game engine. A modern game most likely will use references from the real-life features assigning particular engineering solutions for robotics, vehicle or weapon manufactory if the in-game enemy is related to these technical aspects. For the organic enemies, the game designers will use examples of fauna and its anatomy, to create a believable enemy so the player can use the logic and experience when performing the attack. It should be borne in mind that most bosses are of alien origin, or created based on different fantasy ideas excluding the opportunity for the player to identify a weakness immediately. Based on this fact, the location of the weak point should be allocated, but not too insistently so that the player could guess that this particular stretch of the enemy can be destroyed. 

DEAD SPACE

Dead Space: Final Boss

     The final boss in the "Dead Space" describes the above-mentioned aspects of a layered defense mechanics. The initial objective is to destroy the weak points on the body of the enemy. They are very clearly identified and leave no doubt that these areas should be attacked. Simultaneously with the attack, the player must avoid the tentacles of the enemy, the similar idea has been described in the previous paragraphs. After successful completion of the first phase, the player receives the opportunity to locate the second weak point. To make the fight more difficult, the vulnerable area becomes irresistible during heavy attacks produced by the boss opening only at specified times. It is very important for game designers to determine the balance between attacking phases as the bout may be too difficult forcing the player to refuse from further playing due to loss of enjoyment. The originality of the location of vulnerable spots also affects the interest in the game. If the boss is too light, this can reduce the level of interest in the game as a whole. 


Alternative routes

Dead Space: Snow Spider

     With the development of games, weak points received more dynamic solutions and alternative ways of their destruction. Some Bosses can be destroyed only by means of additional items within the game world, such as a rocket in one copy, a heavy object capable of crushing an enemy, massive explosion etc. At this point, the in-game environment serves as a weapon itself. Thus the body of the boss will automatically become fully vulnerable. Such aspect of the game means that the prior destruction of the weak points will not kill the enemy, but will give the opportunity to the player to use the last decisive maneuver. Alternative ways to victory mean by themselves, that regardless of the chosen version of the attack, the boss can be destroyed. It is assumed that the player will spend a vast majority of his resources dealing with vulnerable points or will use an alternative attacking plan to gain a victory in a more sophistical way. "Dead Space" Snow Spider is a perfect example of this trope, giving an option to the players to use a convenient strategy. 



02|Outlines



     Game designers create vulnerabilities so that the player can identify them relying on one's own intuition, previous game experience, hints, and logic. It makes no sense to create a boss in form of a turtle and denote its weak point by the shell. If the enemy has eyes, limbs, specialized devices, obvious anatomical areas with a predetermined weakness it is possible to structure the most common "Weak Spot" areas. In older games, the most recognizable weaknesses would be limbs, head, eyes or the power source. Very often the tentacles of technical creatures acted as weapons, therefore they served as a priority for the player to destroy. Most of the weak spots were created based on anatomical and engineering references as these two fields cover all possible variations of design. An exception is amorphous creatures within the games, where the specialized weapon or spell is required to cause a damage. There are also certain types of damage that can act differently depending on the situation. 

KILLING FLOOR 2: SCRAKE

    

     Some types of bosses may have weak points only for a specific weapon.  It the "Killing Floor 2", the developers created the opportunity to destroy the enemy with different weapons and each specific weapon is able to open a unique weak point. For example, if the boss has a resistance to fire, it does not make sense to torture him with a flamethrower, instead, the player could use an adverse weapon or attacking strategy. This type of design can be considered as a hint to inform player what kind of weaknesses the boss may have. Again, using logic, the player can achieve the greatest damage with the weapon which obviously has a good potential.  

The trope itself is incredibly important in the boss fights as it creates a balance of complexity, plays with the player forcing him to use mind and knowledge as well as enriches the gameplay in overall. 



03|Praxis

Trope Practice

     This game level was built to identify the most frequently used tropes from a practical point of view. Several variants of targets have been established to determine the changes in the gameplay when the player is changing the attack strategy and his approach to problem-solving. Each target has a link to the report written above, therefore it will be easier to clarify the content of the video. 

Absolute Vulnerability


     The first target personifies the most accessible and at the same time the most monotonous example of the Trope. The player does not have the opportunity to locate and destroy vital components to brighten up the fight. Instead, the game forces the player to rely on a reaction and timely attack. The prototype shown in the video omits these nuances but still shows that sniper skills have no priority in this particular case. In some cases, the damage done will weaken the enemy, but for a complete victory, it will be necessary to look for other ways of attack, for example - environment, as it was stated before. To maintain the intensity, game developers have to find a comfortable balance by adding more HP to the boss NPC. The player, most likely will not feel any excitement if the boss will be defeated by a single shot as this will turn off the feeling of satisfaction. Therefore, the player must not have an overpowered weapon or the boss must have a decent amount of hitpoints to build up the tension during the fight. On another side, if the boss has too many HP and the fight itself is prolonged and monotonous, it can negatively affect the gaming experience. The combination of these nuances makes it possible to determine that the balance of time and complexity of the battle is crucial for a satisfying gameplay. 

Attack the head


     The most vulnerable part of our body is the head, therefore we can assume that it must apply to any other creature that has a brain located in the head. This is logical, but also boring as it takes away the sense of the importance of the find from the player. If there is an opponent in front of the player with an obvious vulnerability in the head sector, the player will be imprisoned in a system where he has to aim at one point over and over again for to win the fight. Of course, everything depends on the boss himself, if his movements are rapid, the head is protected from the player's attacks from certain angles and the overall behavior prevents the player from gaining an easy victory it heavily changes the situation, not in favor of the player. 

limbs


     The most famous and often used trope for the alien-like creatures which greatly complicates the passage of the boss do to some bilateral features of this type of "Weapon". Simultaneously with the attack, the player must avoid the threat coming from the enemy's limbs, and spent precious seconds searching for cover. It does not matter what kind of limbs type the boss has, it can be either a hand with a weapon or just tentacles - the player must destroy them since they are the ones that create the greatest threat. It is known, that any limb has a foundation and weak points and if the player will damage them it will be possible to neutralize the owner himself. The difficulty lies in the fact, that the target is constantly moving. Game developers are creating attacking patterns, so the player appears to be able to unimpededly perform the attacking phase during which the boss at a certain time gives himself to fire. After the destruction of the limbs, the boss is greatly weakened and loses its ability to attack. 


04|Conclusion





     The presence of weakened spots on the enemy's body which outperforms the player in all possible parameters is quite an intriguing aspect of the game. For an analogy, we can cite the battle of David with Goliath - weak against the strong, where the mind takes over and wins the fight. The player must feel that the battle can be won, although at the first glance it seems incredible. The variation of different sub-tropes of the vulnerable points gives the ground for creating interesting fights where the player can feel that he deserves the victory. There cannot be an exciting fight if this trope would not exist as it enriches the gameplay and expands the number of possibilities during the battle.  Developers also face the problem, where for the original solutions they must use all possible resources and creativity as it looks like this trope has exhausted all its variations. Perhaps, new solutions will be found and they will be no less interesting than those described in this report. 

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