player to avoid; once the player sees the Visionary’s blades start spinning at high
speed, she must be careful to move Sam out of the path of whichever direction the
blades are pointing.- Magnet: One tentacle has a giant, U-shaped magnet on the end of it. The
Visionary can turn on this magnet, attracting the metal in Sam’s rocket-pack and
sucking the player toward the robot. Sam will have to use all his dexterity to avoid
getting too close to the enemy, where the robot will be able to rip Sam’s
rocket-pack off using the tentacle arm with the blade attachment. - Smog:The third tentacle has a giant funnel on its end. From this funnel the
Visionary can shoot a thick, black cloud of gas, which will cause Sam to have an
uncontrollable (and game-ending) coughing fit should he be so unfortunate as to fly
into it. This smog cloud will hang in the air for some time after the Visionary shoots
it, and the player will have to be careful not to fly into that cloud until it dissipates.
As with all the boss monsters in the game, most of Sam’s regular projectiles will
not be very effective against the Visionary. They may slow down the robot for a
short time, but they will not permanently defeat it. The player will need to use the
setup of the level itself in order to incapacitate the Visionary. This makes defeating
the boss less a matter of dexterity, repetition, and perseverance, and more about
understanding the puzzle, which, once figured out, is not that hard to repeat. Since
the player is battling the Visionary at the end of the Harmony levels, the battle will
take place in a robot factory. The Visionary emerges from a storage crate riveted to
the ceiling at the top of the play area where Sam will battle the robot. Scattered
about the area are various appropriate pieces of equipment used in a robot factory,
as well as four high-powered fans. Sam will be able to turn on these fans by using
his “action” ability near them. He will also be able to use his Action button to rotate
the fans and change the direction they are blowing. By activating and blowing all of
the fans upward beneath the storage crate, Sam can create a windy vortex which
will be able to push the Visionary — since it is kept aloft by helicopter blades —
back up into the case. Sam will then, by using a switch near the crate, be able to
close the crate and trap the robot inside, hence defeating the creature.Max Zeffir Zeffir is the founder and owner of Zeffir Zoom, and is widely considered to
be the richest man on the planet. Zeffir started acquiring his fortune with his zipper
company, Zeffir Zippers, and then moved on to virtually every other industry he
possibly could. His companies include the aircraft manufacturer Zeffir Zeppelins,
the clothing line Zeffir Zest, and the Zeffir Zeitgeist news network.
Max Zeffir is also the employer of Sam’s parents and, as it turns out, the one
who kidnapped them in order to keep them quiet. Sam will finally have a showdown
with Zeffir in the end-game, where Zeffir will turn out to be quite a formidable
opponent himself.
When the player finally meets Zeffir he will be wearing a 1920s-style “railroad
baron” black pinstripe suit with an extra large top hat. Zeffir sports a stringy black
mustache and a mischievous grin. Zeffir will battle Sam on his Negativity Platform,
so named because it negates the effects of gravity. A circular disk that floats on the
air and is much more maneuverable than Sam’s rocket-pack, the platform features
waist-high handrails, which he holds on to while the platform flies around.
Appendix A: Sample Design Document:Atomic Sam 569