Level Up.pdf

284 LEVEL 11 They All Want You Dead
attack, a huge enemy should be hit by a low, medium and high attack, and
so on.
Size also influences health. Larger enemies traditionally have more health
(are harder to kill) than smaller ones. This might account for why many
bosses are so darn big. Size will also dictate the enemy ’ s reaction to
attacks. Hit a short enemy with a knockback attack and they should go
flying. Hit a large enemy with the same
attack, and it may not even budge.
You ’ d be lucky if a gigantic enemy
even notices your attack, let alone
reacts to it.
They say variety is the spice of life.
I don ’ t know about spice, but I
do know it is variety that keeps a
player from getting bored. Size can
influence a player ’ s emotions too.
Defeating a huge enemy can make
a player feel heroic while defeating a
short one can make them feel like
a bully.
Now that you ’ ve determined size, ask yourself, what is my enemy ’ s
behavior?
• How does my enemy move?
• What does my enemy do when in combat?
• What does my enemy do when it is hurt?
Answer these, and you will have the foundation to a robust enemy. The goal
when designing enemy behavior is to not repeat behaviors. Even better,
design your enemy ’ s behaviors to complement each other.
A patroller moves back and forth or
up and down in a mechanical
fashion. The path of movement can
be more involved than this, but its
movement is always predictable.
A chaser pursues a player if they are
approached or some other condition
is met. In many games, patrollers can
turn into chasers when they see the
player or the player attacks them.