The Trick I Used to Make Combat Fun! | Devlog

Combat keeps the player engaged as they explore my game, so I improved how the enemy interacts with the player and their environment. This tweak made combat so fun that a tester spent over an hour repeatedly fighting a handful of enemies. At this point I knew I had an engaging combat system!

Howdy, and welcome to the 12th indie game devlog for Zoe and the Cursed Dreamer. A 2D Pixel Art Open World RPG made with the Godot Engine where you will explore an immersive world, meet lovable characters, and decorate your home!

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The article that inspired this:

[GameEndeavor]

NOTE: I'm not using this as a replacement for path finding. The purpose of this is to control how the AI behaves in its local environment. ie avoid clumping together, strafe the player, flee from the player but don't get stuck on walls. NOT get from point a to point b.

The fact that it can avoid simple obstacles is an emergent behavior that came about naturally from this system, but not the primary way of avoiding them. Without proper path finding, the ai will get stuck if there is a wall between it and its target. However, you can combine this with a pathfinder, if you have it seek along the path instead of directly at its target. :)

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[acutedog]

I have literally no idea what you're talking about, and I still love it

[grrr_lef]

Maybe keep the "gets stuck in a corner" pattern for some enemies and give them a "panic" modifier to their appearance. Stupid behaviour in stressful situations is not unrealistic.

[vittosito]

I've been tricked into learning math

[RugbugRedfern]

Holy crap those enemy battles look amazing. I'd love to stumble across some enemies fighting randomly and help out a side!

[mondobe]

That’s a pretty complex AI system, glad it works!

[alexnoman]

I remember vividly a full-scale battle between sentient hostile creatures in the first zone of Van Helsing I, redcoats against werewolves. It stuck with me ever since. It's unexpected and makes you feel less destined and more like a piece on a larger board. I recommend you play with that discovery!

[danteleonel]

One thing that could make the Enemies look more convincing in their environment, is that they could probably have a “environment interaction animation” such as the seed enemies eating the grass, playing around. Or the skeletons looking around suspiciously, or their arms fall of and they grab it back. Something that adds flavor to them and would make the ambience feel more natural and lived in.

[bagandtag]

This AI looks smooth AF. I tried to make something like this a while ago and failed miserably. But I'm feeling inspired to try again now.

[Mewseeker]

Imagine this situation:

Enemies start to fight each others.
"Awesome!"
Enemies start powering up as they kill each others
"Oh no!"

[Saturn]

"I spent an hour fighting skeletons" oh man... I remember those days. You implement something and enjoy it so much just to see it working. It's also why I've logged more hours in my own game on Steam than any other game I own.

[NilesBlackX]

2:45 "subliminally clicking blue thumbs" is pretty clever

[marksmod]

The mathematics pays off in the end. This looks good

[actually_a_sign]

That skelly newton's cradle at the beginning was hilarious.

[platinum]

I could see this AI being very scary when combined with a speedy enemy that wants to zoom around the player to disorient them before engaging

[ludosgd]

NEW GAME ENDEAVOR DEVLOG
This combat looks SO good. Thank you so much for sharing your progress, all these devlogs are super insightful!

[javgroman]

Vectors are so useful for giving entities a sense of intelligence and you demonstrate this so well and your results are so natural and fun to watch. You use vectors like an artists uses to paint to make something come alive. Love it all!

[SuperCaptainFail]

I’m glad this video popped up in my recommended. Your commentary is very charming and explains some of the more complex mechanics efficiently. I hope your channel and your game become more popular!

[Exsulator]

Would be cool to have a wolf type enemy that only attacks when they are multiple, and circles the player like real wolves would. The wolves will be much more likely to attack the back of the player, meanwhile other wolves will feign attacks and cancel them. Only one wolf attacks at any one time, but many wolves can feign attacks. Any wolf that is chased by the player would escape and return to circling

[iLikeCoffee]

It was surprisingly refreshing to see you explain the math of the functions in such a straightforward and useful manner. This kind of logic seems as though it would be incredibly useful in a wide variety of games. Thank you.