If the players' shields are on this enemy can "sap" the power from the submarine momentarily. (As a general rule, this range should be within the submarine pilot's view so that players can know ahead of time where the projectiles will be coming from.) Sappers - An enemy that is attracted to the electric field that the submarine gives off when its shields are on. Shooters - An enemy that shoots projectiles at the submarine when in range. When a charger hits the submarine with its charge, it jolts the submarine as if the submarine had hit a rock wall, stunting the sub's movement momentarily. Chargers - An enemy that swims around the submarine when aggro-ed only to occasionally stop and build up a "charge" which, when unleashed, sends it charging like a rhino in the direction of the submarine. Whether it be via tentacles, barnacles, crabs, etc. Invaders - An enemy that invades the submarine's interior space. It may also be logically removed via destruction of any invaders that act as its appendages. Cannot be removed via cannon, can be knocked off by bashing the sub against a nearby wall. Grabbers - An enemy that swims toward the submarine when aggro-ed, and grabs onto the submarine, causing the submarine to move slightly slower due to the added weight. Here are a few example enemy "classes" in our game: Biters - An enemy that swims near the sub and bites it when aggro-ed, causing a break or breaks in the sub's hull. So let me give you folks an example of how the class system works, and how it has helped streamline the design process. And in this case, it helps form follow function. The Enemy Class system helps us address this problem, and helps us as designers decide what role each class can play in the game, and how they can best be taken advantage of. This comes from the fact that I decided to draw something cool BEFORE figuring out what it should do. But given how much space this guy has to turn his head, coupled with the fact that players can only shoot him in the same spot that the projectiles are coming from, makes this an oddly designed and potentially frustrating enemy. Because in this case, I decided that he would shoot projectiles out of his mouth. Problem solved, yeah? Well no, not quite. To give an example, here's an enemy I drew a while back back before the enemy class system was established: Does it look unique? Sure, but what does it do? One may presume that the shell can't be attacked, but how on earth does this thing go about attacking players? Well after drawing it, I decided it would be a projectile enemy. Make it easier to design enemies based on function over looks first. Help teach enemy rules to the players in an easily explainable way, and B. Inspired a bit from the way Left 4 Dead handles enemies, and the need to have consistent rules in our game regarding enemies, we came up with a Class System for our enemies. Alrighty so in today's Shark Week update, I wanna tell you folks a bit about the Enemy Class System. So I guess technically it should be called "Enemy Week" in our case, but that's not as catchy. Hey everyone! So this week we thought we'd do something kinda fun, and have a series of Shark Week-related devlog posts! Every other day this week (meaning today, Wednesday, and Friday) there will be a new post regarding information about how we're going about doing enemies in our game.
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