Drew Graham - PPJ 3

Week 3:

• Enemy AI prototyping: 8 hours

• Merge resolution: 1 hour

• Applebees business trip: 1 hour

Total: 10 hours

I finally got down to implementing some proof-of-concept enemy behaviors for a more complex AI. I implemented the abstract Enemy class structure; the central "brain" component for behaviors is the Tactic component, which sends commands to the Enemy's MoveComponent and AttackComponent (whose implementations vary per enemy).

Below is an interesting result: I was prototyping a Surround Tactic that makes the enemy pick a random position around the player and (once implemented) use attacks. While testing, I made it pick a new position around the player, stop for a second, then do it again. This resulted in a more interesting, erratic movement pattern.

In this movement pattern, the enemy moves towards a random position near the player, pauses for a second, and repeats.

I think it'd be a great fit for the Hellbat to give it a more aggressive pursuit behavior, maintaining a distance from the player while firing projectiles.

Originally I had intended to just use this to make a group of Steamons surround the player and attack from different angles, but I think it can work for both! Despite the simple prototype below, I'm happy with how this turned out.

Next up will be implementing attacks and integrating enemy animations.