aablanco01
commented
6 years ago I got lots of player feedback about enemy types becoming repetitive, in which I agreed, but lack the ideas to come up with anything new. Until two new types dawned upon me:
Spiders: Spiders will 'leap' from the mountains and land in the middle of the battlefield, between two set locations, and immediately begin an assault to the tower. The design of these enemies is to give the player a surprise as these enemies don't spawn in the typical spot the ground/flying units start off and they get a head start in the attack. There are two types of these spiders, one being a glass canon - fast movement and high damage, but extremely weak versus well rounded, decent HP, ATK, and Speed.
Necromancers: They 'appear' in the middle of the battle field, floating in the air, and offer another unique assault to the player's defense with their abilities. The "Protecter" creates a force field that protects the enemies coming from the right from any incoming damage, it remains on screen until the player destroys it (It'll have its own health bar) and the player will have to finish the Necromancer off, before it attempts to cast another force field. The 'Attacker" spawns a bit more towards the right, usually behind the protector, and casts Shadowbolt (The purple flying units that attack the player's tower) every few seconds, creating another threat that can generate more problems for the player if not dealt with quickly. These will act as stationary targets as having them move will just act just as repetitive as the other units.
My primary goal is to get the spiders implemented as they'll be the easiest and make enemy types feel much more unique. The Necromancers are the next in line as a stretch goal, depending on how much I am able to complete and how much time remains. They are currently in engine and have some stats that are toyed with, but spawns still need to be done and the Necromancers will require a unique Attack/Action script for their special features.
Additionally, I'll be figuring out on how to allow for enemies to pass each other without forcing collision. In other words, if a unit is faster than the one in front of them, they should simply be able to walk right through them and carry on with their path, rather than be stuck behind and 'push' that unit forward.
What ever happened to the jumping enemies?
I think part of the problem is that all the enemies are in one of two patterns, and the two are very similar (flying high up enemy, walking low ground enemy).
I think adding some more dynamic enemy movement patterns will help keep players on their toes and not fall into overly repetitive patterns.
For example, you could have one of the flying enemies follow a wavy pattern as it moves across the screen.
Faster enemies could leap over slower ones.
You could have an enemy that is only vulnerable at certain moments, requiring more involved timing from the player. (easy answer: phasing in and out of existence. More expensive answer: force field or shield that is raised and lowered).
Maybe there's even an enemy that is bad to shoot? Not sure what that could be. Think of old shooter arcade games where there were hostages, etc. That keeps players guessing.
Maybe you have an enemy that doesn't walk in from the left. It could fall from the sky and then walk to the left, or spawn in somewhere in front of the castle?
Lots of potential, big key is, what can be done in the next week or so? That makes it more tricky...