If you’re wondering why this wasn’t posted on Saturday, that’s because I decided retroactively that these “daily” posts would be more manageable if they were only on weekdays. I’ll see about upgrading to every day once I’ve got the regular update schedule thing down.

Today’s topic is enemies. This is an area where it can be easy to go overboard with large amounts of content. To maximize the economy of development, we want to aim for only a small number of enemies that each provide a distinct, interesting challenge to the player, ideally ones that don’t require a large amount of unique graphics for each one. This small list of enemies can then be combined in different groups, layouts, etc. for specific enemy placements to mix up the moment-to-moment gameplay.

To get the most bang for our bang, we need to identify the core function for each enemy type, of which there should probably be 3-5 in total. There might end up being a couple attributes jammed together onto a single enemy, but this isn’t a huge problem as long as each one is distinct. Properties I’m interested in include:

• Stationary ranged attackers. These should fire in a predictable pattern or reliably shoot whenever passes in front of them. In isolation this predictability will make them relatively easy to avoid, but in combination with other hazards the player may have to think about their approach.

• Mobile but non-aggressive enemies. These should move in a predictable way but not respond to the player, so they’re just kind of in the way. Something like the Medusa Head from Castlevania, which spawns randomly and just moves lazily across the screen, would be ideal. Since this is technically more of a projectile than an enemy, they should go down in one hit no matter what.

• Mobile melee skirmishers. These should approach the player when they get close, either in a slow and inevitable fashion or quickly but with a slight delay before attacking. In either case, being able to knock enemies back with melee attacks is important for these guys. Probably one or two melee hits should be sufficient to finish them off.

• Large, beefy monsters. Another classic Castlevania-type enemy, a slow-moving (or stationary) but powerful behemoth. If possible these should be large so the player has to deal with them to pass through. They should attack every once in a while (with a tell to let the player know it’s time to back off), leaving small windows of time for the player to strike back. Even more than other enemy types, they need to be resistant to ranged attacks so the player feels somewhat threatened (although if the enemy has its own ranged attack that fixes the problem - a floor-hugging projectile would be good).

This list already provides plenty of interesting archetypes to work with. The one wrinkle so far is that with the setup we have, ranged attacks will probably have to be relatively weaker than melee attacks in order for melee attacks to be viable. We’ll be looking at ways to possibly counteract that in future. For now, though, here’s a tentative list of enemies for our game:

1. Skeleton Archer. Fires arrows horizontally as long as it has line of sight of the player (in either direction). Takes two melee attacks or three ranged attacks to defeat.

2. Floating Skull. Floats across the screen from right-to-left (or left-to-right) in an undulating pattern, doing damage and disappearing on contact with the player. Generally spawns randomly in groups when it appears. Takes one hit from any weapon to defeat.

3. Bouncing Skull. Like the Floating Skull, but bounces along the ground and has faster horizontal movement.

4. Skeleton Charger. Swiftly runs toward player when they come into view, slashing at them once in range. Takes two melee attacks or four ranged attacks to defeat.

5. Skeleton Knight. Wields a shield to block attacks and a sword to attack, but does not pursue the player. Immune to attacks from the front while blocking, but leaves itself vulnerable when preparing to attack, and will turn to face the player if its back is exposed. Ranged attacks when it’s blocking break its guard temporarily. Takes four melee attacks or six ranged attacks to defeat.

That should give us plenty of options to work with. Why are they all skeletons, you ask? Find out next time, as we dive into the aesthetic/narrative concept for this game!