First off, Starbound is not exactly Metroidvania, since such games are marked by deliberate map design. However, when I was browsing the suggestion compilation thread I found there was only one listed entry for enemies. This immediately made me think of Terraria having only a handful of different AI types, despite being a more combat-focused sandbox game. Compare this to Metroidvania games where there are always quite a few memorable foes to encounter. For this reason, I decided to suggest some ideas from these games that were not really seen in Terraria, since I figure most of the content from Terraria will have procedural generated analogues in Starbound. I won't be following the mob suggestion format for three reasons: I don't care about drops, loot, stats, spawn conditions, or appearance. The key to memorable mob encounters, in my humble opinion, is how they move and attack. The second reason is that this is actually a list of foes from Metroidvania games that may provide inspiration, rather than new and unique mobs. My intention is that these ideas could be incorporated into procedural generation. The final reason is that I expect most of the creature's qualities will be based on procedural generation, which I'd prefer over unique mobs that would likely be rare and lacking variety. 1.) the bone pillar These are so iconic. These stationary mobs shoot at you from afar. In the Zelda series they are called Beamos. In any form, this sort of foe is not too challenging, but they force the player to think about timing and positioning before they charge in. Since shooting straight across in one direction is not very threatening in a game like Starbound, adding the ability to aim or perhaps granting defensive bonuses to compensate for lack of movement might be good ideas to alter this model. 2.) the white dragon These are not much different from the jungle weeds in Terraria, except that they don't just charge at the nearest player. They move in ways that are more difficult to predict, making them harder to kill from afar. They can make players calculate risk and timing before they try to pass, and if these are given a projectile attack then they become even more threatening. Only the head is vulnerable. 3.) the quetzalcoatl These are often found in pairs, and are actually much different than their white dragon cousins. These guys leave a trail of damage, much like the wyverns of Terraria, except that they can't move through walls. Rather, they bounce about the floors and walls, leaving large arcs that limit the player's mobility. With more than one of these, the player can quickly rack up damage while trying to escape their prison and attack the head of the beast. 4.) the dry bones While Mario games are not Metroidvania at all, these foes present an interesting challenge. When defeated, they simply get back up and try again after a few moments. They are immortal, and in some cases have projectiles. Since this immortality might present some problems in a game like Starbound (I can think of a few exploits) an easy solution would be to allow them to regenerate only a certain number of times, or be killed by certain types of attacks. 5.) the cacatac It scoots about and then BAM! It shoots in all directions. This type of attack is more difficult to avoid and may force players to fight it from further away, where there is more room between the shots. The key here is the attack spread. Mobs that can fire in a spread make it much harder to simply jump or duck between shots, and provide good support for other mobs as well. 6.) the skree It waits in the darkness and then suddenly swoops down upon you. The surprise you get can be quite a rush if you don't spot it in time. There isn't that much to say about it except that while it is no creeper, it can be a good surprise to the unsuspecting player. 7.) the sidehopper The only noteworthy difference between this and Terraria's slime AI is that these can be upside-down on the ceiling, as though gravity is reversed for them. It's just an unusual thing to see, and can throw players off when they are not expecting it. 8.) the persephone She is easily recognized as an enemy in a Metroidvania game, but in something like Starbound she could be a bounty hunter who is cleverly disguised as a valuable NPC. There is not much to say about her movement or attacks, but it might be an interesting thing to add to certain quests, for example. 9.) the witch These lovely ladies fly about and utilize a shield that protects them from the front. Then they charge up a spell and let loose with all their fury. In Starbound there is already a system in place for shields, and counterattacks could make mobs like this particularly dangerous. 10.) the ukoback They float about aimlessly, leaving a trail of fire hazards floating in mid-air. They need not be fire, but floating foes that leave hazards like this can be very irritating if they are left unchecked, and when there are other mobs charging at you these ones can easily be forgotten. Forcing players to gauge threat level of multiple mobs is a good aspect in all of the Metroidvania games I have played, and is even a fun aspect of Terraria when you see a chaos elemental, illuminant bat, and an enchanted sword coming at you from different angles. 11.) the devil This guy surprised me so bad when I was first playing through Aria of Sorrow. They appear when you get close to their spawn locations, with very little warning. He's big, floats around, stops to wave his arms a bit, then tosses a spell at you. There are two key aspects here that I like. Firstly, he just pops up out of nowhere! In Starbound, I can see this being implemented as mobs that spawn on-screen, perhaps due to teleportation of some kind. The chaos elemental has similar teleportation aspects, but that leads to the second interesting quality of this mob. The spells are different between each iteration of this mob throughout the game. It chucks a big meteor, shoots lightning, or a fireball spread. This goes back to the cacatac's projectile spread, which adds more depth to the encounter. As for spells, just chalk it up to psionics or give it some acid/energy producing glads and there you have it. 12.) the axe armor Another iconic figure, his trademark attack returns like a boomerang to attack you from behind. While this is not a big surprise due to the slow speed of the attack, mobs that use boomerang-like projectiles could be an interesting challenge. It forces the player to keep track of both the mob and the projectile, and any other mobs that might show up. Naturally, the attack should be aimed in Starbound rather than fired straight ahead, since that only works well in Metroidvania because the spawn environment is completely controlled and not random. 13.) The Metaur! The way these things protected themselves was so annoying, you had to attack at the same time they did, and then you put yourself at risk for counter attacks. I suppose like Sniper Joes, these are somewhat included by humanoid mobs who wield shields, and Tiy has already mentioned that some mobs will have natural shields, requiring you to hit their weak spots. Still, looking forward to the challenge. 14.) The Medusa Head! Like, OMG! So much fun and frustration has been created by these guys. They fly from either side of the screen, ignoring walls, and they float up and down while moving across the screen. They don't fly AT you, but they are a very irritating hazard. Compare with Terraria's Meteorheads which did virtually the same thing, except that they flew directly at you. Having both types of AI would be a good way to keep up the variety. 15.) The Sky Fish! It does not attack, but this rare creature randomly slices across the screen at supersonic speeds. If you manage to kill it, there are always substantial rewards involved. In Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, this is achieved by using a spell that slows time down to the point of being nearly stopped. There could be similar technology available in Starbound, allowing you to take advantage of this uncommon resource. 16.) The Mimic! They can be quite a surprise! Cheap thrills and good loot are the name of the game with this one. They hop around, just like a slime, so don't think that they are really all that special. Even so, they are work including, since creatures that have chameleon adaptations would work great in a Sci-Fi setting. "Hey, let's turn on the lights in here... Hold on... That's no lamp..." --Last Words. 17.) The Pipi! These guys drop an egg that explodes, releasing about five Ko-Pipi that swarm towards Mega Man. You always want to destroy the pipi or the egg bomb before it releases the smaller guys because they are such a pain to avoid. Any flying bomber mob would be good, but when the bomb releases what is effectively a burst of homing projectiles, it makes it very fun and threatening! 18.) The Spike Ball! 19.) The Blazing Wheel! Traps that spawn in certain environments would be great. You could design your base to take advantage of these, perhaps. Imagine these and some Medusa Head mobs flying around, perhaps a few Bone Pillar mobs firing at you from the walls, while an Ukoback mob proceeds to drop floating fire mines all over the place because you are too distracted to stop him. Obviously, this sort of situation would only occur on very high threat level worlds where the spawn rate is very high. 20.) The Chain Chomp! Any gamer who played Super Mario Bros 3 remembers these annoying foes. They bounce around in a way that makes them seem passive, then suddenly pounce from their rooted position. Typically tied to a block, they bounce around madly when released. Highly aggressive, sometimes hard to predict, and invulnerable in the source game. They should either be highly resistant or immune to knockback, and fairly durable or indestructible until they are released from their leash. 21.) The Tap-Tap! These prickly little buggers are not very threatening. They harm you when you touch them, and simply march forward at an easy pace. Their strength lies only in their durability, since they are invulnerable in the source game. Unlike the Chain Chomp which exists primarily as a hazard, these mobs are more mobile and are dealt with by knocking them away and dealing with them later. They would be very weak to knockback, but very resistant to damage. 22.) The Grinder, Seedy Sally, and Short Fuse! Basically, monkeys that toss bombs and other damaging projectiles at you. They climb trees, but can be knocked down to stop them from attacking effectively. The first line of defense on planets populated by the Apex, perhaps? These foes might force melee players to whip out that spare ranged weapon, or even resort to chopping down trees to stop these annoying foes from being too much hassle. As I mentioned, these are only suggestions about qualities that could be added to the mix during procedural generation. If any of my ideas add anything at all, I'll be glad I could help. : ) (EDIT: Moved new suggestions to the OP.)
Yea it is nice, but we can't use the img, probably we could substitute it with something else yes with almost or close similarity.
I was thinking the actual mob would be procedural generated, so the monster would look different every time. The entire point is to have more possible outcomes. Using the guns as an example, if there are 5 barrels, 5 bodies, and 5 grips for a given type of gun, that would result in 5*5*5=125 possible guns. For mobs, you have heads, bodies, legs, wings, size, etc... as well as movement AI and attack options. New attack options and movement AI would allow for a much larger variety of random mob spawns. I don't want to add one new mob to a game that will have thousands, I want to inspire the dev team to find ways of adding entire new types of mobs.
true about generated mobs different looks, I am getting tire of terraria have the same looks, even they r zombies, there is only like 2 different looking zombie in there and that is it. I want see is something purple looking in there, but they bang up the update for that so...yea. Anyway back to the topic agree to ur point, I would hate seeing same monster over and over with its same colors or whatever parts it is made out of. P.S CPR
Exactly! And I'd really hate to encounter the same enemy AI over and over. Even if it looks different, if it still charges straight at me with all the predictability of the sun rising in the morning, then I'll recognize it for what it really is-- A zombie by another name (and appearance). Obviously changing the appearance is good, but I want lots of variety in the random mobs behavior, too. Does anybody else have any memorable mobs from other games that they can think of? How about an enemy that throws grenades and runs for cover instead of directly attacking?
there is the super old megaman style monster, donkey kong, Super Mario, one the "old" elder scroll games, "Dig" the old game (its base on nice story, but hell lot pure puzzles also it involved alien tech stuff), and starcraft (not 2), that pretty much I am thinking still at this point, but still thinking.
ur yw, anyway I just realized something else too...I forgot that ninja game in sega old game system, also , shinobi 1-3 I think that so far made, sonic, doom old game style, just found out ROBO ALESTE the one the "robot game". pretty much that how far I am going research old sega games.
Maybe certain mobs should support each other in combat. A mob that uses some sort of magnet or vacuum attack that pulls the player closer, while a slow moving mob with high defense uses powerful melee attacks. The two could spawn in tandem and not move further than a certain distance from each other. There could even be a third mob who snipes at you using long ranged attacks and staying behind the other two for cover. It would require you to think carefully about how you would engage the fight. [EDIT: Moved to OP]
The mobs from Donkey Kong Country! It is so hard to find images of the mobs from this game! Seriously! 23.) Army, the armadillo! He rolls up into a ball and rolls at you. When attacked (read: jumped on) he unfurls from his durable ball-state. Effectively, he counts as shielded. He works like the Metaur except that he rolls at you with a melee attack instead of attacking at a distance. Could be redesigned as a rolling space-porcupine, perhaps? 24.) Clambo, the clam! It is functionally the same as the Cacatac, except that instead of moving, it protects itself when it is not attacking. Again, this is similar to the Metaur, but it fires in a wide spread that is more difficult to dodge and adds some depth to the combat. 25.) Manky Kong, the traitorous Kong! He tosses barrels at you that roll along the ground. That is the only important aspect of this mob, his attacks travel along the ground. Maybe this could be a ground-slam attack that sends some sort of shock wave towards your character.
26.) The Rockkroc! This deadly foe loves to play games. When the lights are green, attacks will not be seen. When the lights are red, he charges ahead! In Starbound this concept should be revised to fit the new environment. Maybe the best way to implement this idea is to have subterranean mobs who are strong, but only attack when they are caught in the light and become passive when they are left in the dark. 27.) The Blooper! When I was little, these were the one and only reason I hated water levels in Mario games. In Super Mario Bros 3, they occasionally came with a group of smaller children that could be sent out to attack in various directions. Both the unique movement of this mob and also their ability to attack using cohorts should be possible AI traits that could be encountered in Starbound.
I like the idea of a few of these such as the mimic and sky fish but some of them dont seem to fit in with the game style, like the white dragon. I see this game as more sci-fi and adventerous and want to see something new and am therefore unsure on having lots of old school rpg and common gaming mobs - dragons, devils, zombies that sort of stuff. A few might be ok and with procedural generation it may not seem as repetive but hopefully they wont be just a few type of mobs just procedurally generated so 100s of type of dragon or something.Also mobs from games like mario would most likely be copyrighted and Tiy would have to get permission to add any of the mobs from other games. Even similar ones could cause a company to try and sue one another. PS. you can edit your posts together to save space
I don't think you understand what I'm saying here. I ONLY care about how they move and attack. What I mean is that the "Dry Bones" could be a sentient ooze creature, a self repairing robot, or an animal that plays dead before attacking again. The "White Dragon" could be a carnivorous plant, a mechanical arm with a drill attachment, or a creature with a long neck that attaches to walls. These mobs are from other games. I don't want them to look anything like what I'm showing here-- they should be totally new in Starbound. It we only had two types of mob AI, then we'd only really have two types of monsters. That is what I'm trying to avoid here. I'm just trying to help the Devs brainstorm additional traits that the mob AI could possibly have. What would be really awesome is if they could combine different AI types. For example, something like the "Mimic" that looks like a torch until you come close, then starts swimming around in the air like the "Blooper", and it shields when it isn't attacking like the "Clambo", and then fires a spray of projectiles like the "Cacatac", all while leaving floating mines behind it like the "Ukoback". This sort of dangerous and complicated mob would only be found in dungeons on high threat level planets. This would be totally unique to Starbound, but uses only ideas that I've listed above.
It could be an oxymoron. Or perhaps I am such a prolific Pokemon Master that I can even make a lowly Luvdisc lethal.
