Level Up.pdf

Non-Enemy Enemies 317
comes dialogue - the - player- is - going - to - tire - of- hearing - over- and - over- again. ”
Taunt the player physically as well as verbally. You can even build them
into your enemy ’ s attack moves. For example, in Maximo: Ghosts to Glory,
there is a sword - wielding skeleton that, every time he ’ d successfully hit the
player, would do a little flourish with his sword, like a gunslinger spinning his
guns before he holstered them. This flourish was created to give the player
an opportunity to strike back and wipe the grin off that cocky little so - and ­
so ’ s face.
Simple animations like idles and taunts go a long way in making an enemy
feel smarter than they actually are and provide lots of character. Has the
player retreated too far for the enemy to attack? Have it berate the player or
make “ come here ” gestures. Did the player successfully elude the enemy
with stealth? It should shrug its shoulders and mutter that they must have
been seeing things. Some games have guard enemies taking smoking
breaks or falling asleep at their post to make them easier pickings for the
hero. But keep in mind you don ’ t want every one of your enemies to act this
way, otherwise you ’ ve just thwarted the uniqueness you were trying to
achieve.
One last thing about enemies: sometimes you should let the bad guys win.
I don ’ t mean killing off the player in order to give your enemies a victory, but
don ’ t baby your players either 17 . Let the enemy get in a hit (or a cheap shot)
once in a while. Give the enemy a temporary invulnerable attack state. Force
the player to run away or at least block an attack. Have your enemies
outnumber the player several times over. Let them sweat it out as to whether
they ’ ll survive the encounter. The player should feel like they are actually in
danger from the enemies. A bad guy isn ’ t going to feel very threatening if
the player doesn ’ t have to struggle to defeat them. And the player ’ s victory
is going to feel hollow if the enemies don ’ t provide a challenge.
Non - Enemy Enemies
As mentioned at the start of this chapter, not every game has physical
enemies that are to be overcome with hot lead and cold steel. There are
plenty of ways to push and punish your player without resorting to fighting
sentient beings.
Gremlin. This character looks like an enemy, but doesn ’ t directly engage
the player. Instead, a gremlin will disrupt the game by undoing the player ’ s
17 I ’ ll be talking more about difficulty in Level 13 , so hold your horses.