Helldivers 2’s developers explain how they created the Hive Lord, a giant tunnel monster that’s not only supposed to be another boss, but actually turns the planet into a hunting ground.
The idea emerged during the first HELLDIVERS. The author wanted to create a giant boss that fit the image of an underground terminator. Due to the technical limitations of the project at the time, the creature was made as large as possible, but the desire to create something larger did not disappear. So in Helldiver 2, the Hive Lord returns in an even more impressive form, with his skeleton giving players an early hint that they’re about to encounter a real monster.
When designing, the developers had six key goals: massive size, rare appearance, surface-destroying subterranean movement, brutal attacks, massive health, and the ability to lure creatures. The Hive Lord will react to explosions, shelling, and other ground disturbances, and too noisy gunfire will draw its attention. At the same time, his health is reflected on his body in segments, allowing him to see the damage done.
Creating such an enemy requires separate rendering and storage technology, its own navigation behavior, and a special interference tracking system. Even the sounds of his appearance were collected in an unusual way – among other things, they made use of the sound of chairs scraping against the floor. The idea of separate boss quests was abandoned: the Hive Lord should behave more like an almost unstoppable force of nature, freely roaming the map and hunting players, leaving them to choose whether to risk trying to kill monsters or wisely stay away.
