Evil Genius News

Hello! Rich Edwards back again, Lead Designer on Evil Genius 2: World Domination.

We’re here with another Development Blog, this time covering minion Traits. It’s a broad topic, but every character in Evil Genius 2 can have Traits – these inform the personality and the behavior of that character. Traits come out in all sorts of different ways, so let’s dive in and see what they’re all about.

[h3]Trait-ing Places[/h3]



I’m going to address the unspoken first. You and I are two different people. I enjoy puzzles, I’m soft spoken, and I wear comfortable hoodies. You’re a fan of Evil Genius 2: World Domination, so I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say you’re some sort of incredible super being, blessed with amazing charisma, a keen mind, and excellent taste. Aren’t you amazing?

In Evil Genius 2, we call these differences Traits.

Whenever a new character is called into existence they are assigned a number of Traits. Perhaps they’re a Homebody, or have a Fear of Needles? They could be a Workaholic, or have a Sweet Tooth too.

Traits run the gamut from sillier little Easter Eggs (watch your minions closely for some of those), through to them being former Agents, with the ability to see through disguises more effectively. Certain minions could have disastrous traits, which might even work against you.

Did you know that a minion can be Oblivious? This means they can’t see through disguises, letting enemy Agents run rampant – a trait to be avoided. They could also arrive in your Lair with a nasty case of Hay Fever? A sniffling worker will do everything they can to avoid becoming a Biologist – but if they do, and they have to work with dangerous, pollen spewing plants in the Laboratory? Well, then they’ll lose health more rapidly.

Minions can have a number of traits, so make sure to inspect your workforce regularly. If you want to get in there, micro-manage and root out the weaker employees, then you absolutely can. In fact we encourage it. Who wants to employ a Lazy, Oblivious Worker when you could hire someone is Dedicated and Oblivious? Wait – that’s isn’t much better…

While you can’t filter minions by Traits when employing them – an Evil Genius doesn’t involve themselves in middle management. Instead, it’s simplicity itself to execute a minion after recruiting them. Not only does this… terminate their employment, it also provides a temporary boost to any witnesses. After all – if you saw someone executed in front of you, you’d probably work a little harder, too.

(Editor’s Note: that isn’t how Rebellion operates. We’re much fairer. All executions are done in trial by combat.)

Every worker minion in Evil Genius 2 comes to you with a basic set of traits. However, when you skill them up through training methods, they become inherently better in one aspect. So a minion might retain some traits, but they’ll gain new attributes. Some traits, like Pacifism, might even disappear with enough combat training.

There’s nothing quite like making a minion punch something enough until they enjoy it. Not that you’ll be overseeing this process every single time, mind. Training is mostly big picture stuff – if you say ‘I want X Guards and Y Technicians’, your minions will then organize themselves into teams, training themselves up automatically until they can call themselves a Guard or a Technician.

However, that could take a while, a potentially daunting prospect if you need specialized minions a little quicker. So, you can assign existing minions to assist with training, speeding up the entire process. Your minions are always helping train their own replacement, filling in slots based on how many specialists you want. Nobody wants to get involved in micro-management. There’s a World to dominate, and that’s Big Picture Stuff.

[h3]The Deception Tree[/h3]



As any Lawyer will tell you, all Crime comes in one of three flavours. It’s either a Muscle crime, Science-y, or mired in Deception. That’s why we themed our minions after these three criminal aspects, creating the Muscle, Science, and Deception Tree.

What can I tell you about the Deception Tree? It’s instead a career path for minions who excel at keeping your enemies misinformed.

Let’s take a look at how your minions can help reduce the stats of your enemies, and keep your Casino running! The Deception Tree covers all the minions that can work in the Casino, ensuring no Agents infiltrate your Lair, keeping them all handily distracted. Valets are the lowest rung of this ladder of lies – keeping people occupied, but their powers can only stretch so far. Eventually, they’ll progress to becoming a Socialite or Spin Doctor, who can in turn become a Counter Agent, the final tier of The Deception Tree.

The Casino is a necessary part of keeping your Lair running. After all, without it your Island is just your lair, making it the perfect target for the Forces of Justice. When operating your Casino, Tourists will naturally flood to your island – who could resist gambling in paradise? Unfortunately, they tend to distract Valets from their real purpose – distracting Agents. Which brings us to…
Drumroll please. Swing a spotlight over this way because our next minion won’t put in an appearance unless we make a fuss. Enter the Socialite.

The Socialite is a loud, brash presence, who draws a lot of Tourist attention, allowing your other minions to distract more Agents. Sometimes, being a chatterbox does help.

The Spin Doctor, on the other side, acts as a sort of damage-dealing character, reducing the skill of any Agents that are approaching your lair – confusing them for a while, ensuring they can’t do their job effectively. If any Agents do stumble across anything suspicious, then the Spin Doctor will be right there with them, ensuring that everything is normal – Look, every Casino has a ray gun, have you even been to a Casino before?

And lurking behind the scenes this whole time is the final Deception Minion: the Counter Agent. These folks are incredible at seeing through disguises, and lowering Agent skills – rooting them out and damaging their ability to perform their mission before they even set foot in the lair. They won’t convince them to go home, but they will ensure that Agents can barely perform. A good combination of all of these minions will ensure a flawless operation. For more details on how to keep your Lair running smoothly…we suggest you wait for our next blog post.

Minion traits is a complex system, but I hope I was able to give you all enough information to excite you. We’ll be back in another two weeks with another Dev Blog, so see you all then. Remember, make sure to check out the Evil Genius 2 Discord Channel to discuss this post and anything else Evil Genius 2 related.

I better get out of here, my producer is getting out the dueling pistols. It would appear that whole ‘trial by combat’ thing was no empty threat. Until next time!

Rich Edwards

Lead Designer

Hello. This is Rich Edwards here, Lead Designer on Evil Genius 2: World Domination.
In today’s Development Blog we’ll be covering Lair Building. The best criminal masterminds put a lot of thought into their Lair and we know this is something you’ve been asking us to divulge more on, so let’s get right to it.





Let’s tackle the elephant-sized-device in the room first. You might have noticed in our trailers that your minions have a fancy new tool they’ve been putting to use. The Lair Builder 5000 is its name, and it is the answer to ‘how do your minions do X?’ The Lair Builder is a state of the art multi-tool, allowing minions to do all manner of things throughout the Lair – from destroying solid rock to putting up new walls, all the way through to constructing equipment and sucking up body bags. It’s a brilliant tool that all minions have access to, and it’s definitely a lot cooler than giving them pick axes and shovels.

I’ve seen a few of you mentioning this online, and wanted to dispel a small misconception about the Lair Builder 5000 – it doesn’t create furniture out of thin air. Your minions will still need to pick equipment up from the depot and carry it into the Lair, but these items are often heavy, and let's face it, your workers aren't the strongest people in the world. The Lair builder simply turns the heavy, back-breaking labour into more manageable back-straining labour. When it comes to adding items to your Lair, we’ve kept the flow from the original Evil Genius is still intact, not to worry. We just thought we’d enhance how minions go about their business – and honestly, a spy-fi gadget is far fancier than crates, as is befitting for your stylish underground Lair.

We're also doing our level best to ensure that the feedback on building is more immediate. If you give an order - say, if you lay down a plan for a brand new Inner Sanctum, complete with impressive boardroom table and chairs you’d literally die for - the minions will immediately start work. As soon as you hit Confirm on your build order, you'll see a horde of jumpsuits converging on the building site, brandishing their Lair Builders, eager to get to work.

Let's talk about dynamite briefly. We loved how that felt in the original game, how satisfying it was to watch the ripple of explosions expertly, and improbably, carve a winding tunnel through the mountain. That feeling is still there as your minions tunnel into the bedrock tile by tile. Only now there’s far less waiting around for stacks of explosives to be piled haphazardly against the wall.

[h3]As Maximillian says – Faster. Faster, faster.[/h3]

Also, there’s an auto-decoration system –if you don’t want to take the time to decorate your Lair, you can relax, safe in the knowledge that each room will look amazing right from the start. A number of decorations will appear on your walls automatically, fitting themselves around any items you’re adding. But this is a Lair Builder at heart, we know you’re going to want to decorate the rooms yourself, so we’ve made sure there’s a whole host of cosmetic items available to you.





Corridors. Who doesn’t love corridors? The endless stretches of safety lights, the quiet humming of generators. The distant sound of squeaking rubber soles.

And that’s before we even mention the total lack of hiding places for Agents or the concealed death traps built into the walls and floors.

Corridors make the ideal home for your Trap Networks. We experimented early on with having them in multiple rooms, but it turns out that minions find it hard to sleep next to saw blades, guards kept falling into the shark tanks, and let’s not even mention the time Eli got too close to a flamethrower. So, we decided to adhere to some form of health and safety in our Lair constructions.

They’re also great places for gunfights – with great line of sights. Think of the corridor as the veins connecting your Lair, allowing you to spot undesirables with relative ease. Minions don’t hang around in corridors…so that could be an Agent in disguise.

For their unassuming nature, corridors might just be the most important area in the Lair. Making sure that minions can get where they need to go quickly, while ensuring any Agents who break through your security get lost in the maze is just one of the many aspects you’re going to need to account for when you’re building your Lair.

Or you could even remove corridors entirely. If you want to connect your barracks straight to a Mess Hall be our guest. You are the Genius, after all.

There’s also doors to consider. Yes, doors. The indefatigable Forces of Justice have many tricks up their sleeve, but each of their Agents struggles with certain doors. I’m not going to reveal all the combinations here, but…it’s worth considering the types of agent you’re going to come up against, and trying to beat them at their own game. A Rogue might get past a simple door’s security with ease, but a high tech laser grid? That’s trickier.

You might have also noticed that your Lair now has multiple floors…the possibilities for crafting your dream Lair truly are endless, but watch out for the Forces Of Justice attacking on multiple fronts. You’ll have to make sure all your floors are properly defended.



Of course, we have all sorts of rooms in the Lair for you to get your heads around - but you’ll want to pay special attention to the Barracks and the Mess Hall. These two rooms serve very important purposes in your Lair – helping to replenish your minions’ stats. A hungry workforce can’t perform adequately, and if your minions don’t have the rest they need to function, then your Lair is going to suffer.

The Barracks is actually the only room in the Lair that can contain Beds – which, as you might expect, are completely necessary for helping your minions rest up. They’re also one of the cheapest rooms in the game to build, because the value of a good nights’ sleep is absolutely priceless. Similarly, the Mess Hall is the only room in the game that contains furniture that allows them to take a lunch break – no snacking on the job. Your minions will automatically gather at these two locations when they feel either tired or hungry, which is definitely one less thing to worry about as you’re plotting your eventual World Domination.

Just keep an eye on those rooms. If a significant number of overworked, tired, hungry minions gather in one place for too long… Well, let’s just say that you might be a Genius, but you are outnumbered…





That’s it for Lair Building Basics. Remember, we’ll be back in two weeks’ time with yet another Dev Blog, so we’ll see you then. Until then, make sure you check out the Evil Genius 2 Discord Channel if you haven’t already joined – it’s a great place to chat to like-minded fans, and who knows – maybe a couple members of the dev team will pop in from time to time.

Maybe a couple of us are already there. Watching. Scheming. Waiting for you to betray your weaknesses so we can spring into action.

Who can say?

Rich Edwards
Lead Designer

Hello! My name is Rich Edwards and I’m the Lead Designer on Evil Genius 2: World Domination. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here talking to you guys about our game. But let me give it a go.

I joined Rebellion to work specifically on Evil Genius 2 as a massive – and I mean massive – fan of the original. This is my dream project and I’m so thrilled to be finally able to talk more about it.

Two weeks ago our Spin Doctor Sadie launched the Evil Genius 2 Development Blog and she promised you guys some brand new info in future posts. Well, here we are!

In today’s Development Blog post I’ll talk about one of the key aspects we’re reprising in Evil Genius 2 and how we’re putting our own spin on it. Let’s dive into the world of Henchmen.

[h3]The Best Bet for Odd Jobs [/h3]
In Evil Genius 2, you’re going to embrace your Inner Mastermind - the one we all know you have – and make a bid for World Domination. You’re the big picture guy with a horde of loyal minions, but sometimes you’ll need a powerful Right Hand.

If the Genius is the leader of the Lair, then Henchmen are the next rung down. If you’ve got something that needs doing immediately, that is of utmost and urgent importance, then Henchmen tend to be the best way to get things done. Henchmen don’t start off as your lackeys, though. As you begin and progress through each of the campaigns in Evil Genius 2, you’ll encounter them as Crime Lords.

[h3]Crime Lords: Your New Favourite Rival[/h3]
Crime Lords are scattered across the world. As you explore, you’ll encounter them as impressive adversaries who have their own criminal empires. Like you they’re absolutely terrible pieces of work, but unlike you they lack the ambition, scale or power to take over the world.

Each Crime Lord has their own side story featuring three separate objectives. These are significant, optional missions that will take you some time to complete. Once the dust settles, you’ll be deciding their fate. It’s up to you to decide which of these Crime Lords you want to coerce to help you on your path to world domination, and which you decide to… do away with.

A Crime Lord isn’t going to bother you unless you’re active in their territory, but beyond that the criteria for triggering a rivalry and unlocking those objectives can vary enormously. It could be based on what you’re doing on the world stage. It could be based on what you’re doing in your Lair.

For example, you’ll catch the attention of Eli Barracuda Jr. by committing enough crimes in his territory. Do that and the all-muscle-and-smiles Crime Lord will make himself known and attempt to solidify control of his empire.

Once Crime Lords make themselves known their side-story objectives put you in direct conflict with the malefactors themselves.

I want to reiterate that these are side missions separate to creating your big old Doomsday Device and taking over the big old world. Pursuing a Crime Lord comes at the cost of deviating resources from that main objective.

There’s also a risk that the Crime Lord will invade your Lair with a team of their goons in tow and kill some minions. “So what?” I hear you say. “I’ll hire some more.” I like the way you think, but let’s be clear: They may also break your equipment, steal your Loot, sabotage your Doomsday Device… or even commit the worst sin of all and attack you directly. Needless to say, you can’t rule the world if you’re dead.

Of course completing the Crime Lords’ side objectives gives you the option to extend the hand of friendship – Worst Friends Forever – and help resolve whatever issues you two crazy kids had. Then the Crime Lord will officially become a Henchman and part of your growing entourage. It’s a bit like having an arch enemy, then discovering that you have a lot of things in common, like a love for tropical islands, underground Lairs, and death rays. Because that’s exactly what it is.

You can have up to five Henchmen in your employ at any time, and we have a fair amount more than that in total. Today, though, let’s pick two and go into detail on them, shall we? And where better to start than two who made their debut in the recent gameplay trailer. I’ve already mentioned one of them, so let’s start with Eli Barracuda Jr.



[h3]All Charm, Plenty of Bite[/h3]
Eli has never been impressed by the Evil Geniuses of the world. You see, while they might have gotten by with mad science or legions of disposable minions, they very often lacked _charm_. Eli has built his brand on that, making his name in the New York underworld as a skilled businessman and negotiator. Now he’s a Crime Lord who rules with a winning smile and a dangerous glare. He’s the king of all kingpins and if you come for his territory he’ll defend his kingdom without hesitation.

As a Henchman, Eli brings considerable charisma and muscle to your arsenal and he will respond directly to your commands. Unlike Minions – the yellow-suited, lowest-rung subordinates you’ll have seen in our trailers - each Henchmen has two special abilities that you can use at any time.

Eli’s first ability is his legendary Charm. Order him to speak to an Agent and he’ll stroll over, sling an arm around the Agent’s shoulder and explain to them that there is nothing suspicious going on at this island. Why, yes, I am notorious Crime Lord Eli Barracuda Jr, thanks for asking, but I’m on holiday at this regular, run of the mill, tropical island Casino. Nothing to see here, okay? Good. Don’t you forget it.

It’s a potent ability that lets you defuse a potentially dangerous situation without commotion.

Eli’s other ability revolves around his, well, silver revolver. While Eli proves very useful in close-range fistfights, using this ability makes him utterly lethal with six bullets at long range.

We’ve mentioned previously that Minions can progress along three different archetypes: Deception, Muscle and Science. Henchmen tend to fit into these archetypes too, and Eli is proud to be considered Muscle. So while you should never neglect his ability to charm the enemy, you’ll definitely want him on the front lines when a fight breaks out.

Another Henchman you’ll want to have around when things get dicey is Full Metal Jackie.



[h3]We Need Guns – Lots of Guns[/h3]
No-one knows her real name – not even me. But what we do know is that Full Metal Jackie was once upon a time an Australian air force veteran. Travelling the globe, she learnt that selling weapons was a much better hustle than using them.

As a Crime Lord, follows the law of supply and demand, often setting up shop wherever there’s conflict. She’s absolutely willing to make an enemy if it lets her make a sale.

As you play through Evil Genius 2 you’ll realize the Crime Lords of the world are often well armed. They have to be getting their arms from someone and that someone is Full Metal Jackie. Now, you can’t have someone arming your enemies, can you?

Over the course of her missions you’ll pose as a buyer to attempt to secure a lucrative contract with her. However, Jackie’s far from stupid. Your Lair is home to the biggest weapon an arms dealer could hope to sell – your Doomsday Device…

As a Henchman, Jackie offers a very different set of skills to Eli, but she can also be devastatingly powerful in combat. Her default weapon is no less than a grenade launcher!

As if that weren’t enough, activate her Fire Sale ability, and she’ll unleash a barrage of incendiary attacks on your enemies. The end result is a tonne of damage, although some of that is going to be of collateral…

Jackie’s other special ability, Hand Guns, allows her to embrace her mercantile nature, literally handing guns to your minions. It’s a great ability to have to hand when you’re under attack.



[h3]WORLD LEADERS[/h3]
Henchmen are imposing forces in your Lair. You can send Minions on missions, but Henchmen are far too important to risk on the world stage. And yet they still impact the world from afar.

Henchmen can cause new missions and opportunities to become available across the globe. They can also change the landscape for you as a Genius seeking to commit nefarious acts. Recruit Eli and the criminal enterprises in what was his area will become more receptive to you.

Each Henchman brings something different to your organisation. I’ve only talked about two in today’s post but I want to leave you with this: These Henchmen play a key role in your strategy, helping inform your path to World Domination. Decide carefully which ones you’re going to bring into the fold and which you’re going to keep at arm’s length. There’s a lot more I could say about that but I think I’ve talked plenty for now!

We’ll back in two weeks’ time with another post. In the meantime, I’d like to encourage everyone to check out the Evil Genius 2 Discord channel if you’re not already part of it. There are loads of fans in it already and it’s a great place to discuss everything Evil Genius.

[h3]Rebellion Discord[/h3]

Right, that’s absolutely enough talking for now. Thanks for reading – see you in the next post!

Rich Edwards
Lead Designer

Join us at 18:00 UK Time for TheStitchyBaker Cross Stitch takeover!

Takeover, what a wonderful word...


http://twitch.tv/rebellion_official

[h3]EVIL STREAMIUS TODAY[/h3]
Today’s the day, minions! Join us at 18:00 UK Time for a small behind-the-scenes sneak peek! Let’s see how much information we can extract from those pesky devs.

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