Zeffir’s combat will consist of two methods of attacking the player:- Robots:Zeffir will battle the player by summoning robots to fight Sam. These will
be all manner of robots that Sam has been fighting throughout the game, and they
will emerge from various compartments throughout the large, domed room in
which Sam and Zeffir battle. Sam will have to defeat these robots as he normally
would in the rest of the game. Zeffir will bring out a maximum of three robotic
adversaries at a time. - Tuning Fork:Zeffir will also hold a six-foot-long tuning-fork-like device in his
hand. When Zeffir strikes this bar on the rails of the Negativity Platform, it creates
a sonic blast, which he can aim at Sam. If the blast hits Sam, he will be temporarily
stunned and have to stop flying and raise his hands up to cover his ears. This will
make Sam particularly susceptible to robot attacks, since he will be unable to move
or throw projectiles.
The player will be able to defeat Zeffir using a variety of different tactics, which can
be used in different combinations: - Brute Force:Once hit with a lot of projectiles of the right sort, Zeffir will finally be
defeated. Only some of Sam’s projectiles will work, however; the Magneto-Mass
and Spring-Cage will be ineffective against Zeffir, while the others will slowly wear
him down. It will take a lot of hits, however, and Zeffir will do his best to bring out
more robots and to blast Sam with his Tuning Fork at the same time. As a result this
is the most difficult of the ways to defeat Zeffir, but it is also the most obvious. - Disable Negaposts:Zeffir’s Negativity Platform is actually held aloft by four
Negaposts, which are on the ground in four opposite corners of the room. As Zeffir
moves about on the Platform these posts glow. Sam will be able to take out one of
the posts by hitting it with three water balloons. When the post goes out of
commission, Zeffir temporarily loses control of his craft, only to regain it quickly.
Sam will need to incapacitate all four posts before the Negativity Platform will
actually stop working and clatter to the ground of the room, where Zeffir will
surrender. - Get Zeffir’s Ear Protection:The player will notice that Zeffir is wearing a bulky
pair of “ear protectors,” large devices that look like headphones but which serve to
block out the dangerous sound of the Tuning Fork. If the player is clever enough, he
will realize that if he hits the Negativity Platform hard enough the ear protectors
will be knocked off of Zeffir. They cannot be knocked off simply by pelting Zeffir
with projectiles, however. The player will need to cause Zeffir to steer the
Negativity Platform into a larger swinging girder that hangs from the top of the
domed room. If Sam is simultaneously pushing the girder while Zeffir is flying
toward it, the impact will knock the ear protectors right off. If the player then flies
Sam down to where the ear protectors fell, Sam will put them on. Now Sam is
immune from Zeffir’s blasts and will have a much easier time defeating him, using
either brute force or by disabling the Negaposts, as described above.
570 Appendix A: Sample Design Document:Atomic Sam