[TUTORIAL] Enemies

Review by superpiggy on Sunday, July 15th 2012

Official Platformer Enemy Tutorial

Super's Second Tutorial!

Enemies...Possibly the single most important game piece in any platformer. Enemies provide difficulty, excitement, and most importantly: gameplay. A piece so crucial to Sploder games must be taught how to be used. Today I am here to teach you how to use enemies in your game and how to defeat enemies in other games. This guide will help you see games through an Editors' eyes and possibly contribute to your chances of your games being featured.

Directions: Play Enemy Tutorial in a separate tab while reading this page. Read each part when directed to do so in the game.

Part One

First off, before I say anything about platformer enemies, you must promise me one thing. USE COMMON SENSE! Along with the rest of your game, use common sense when placing enemies. For example, do NOT place Fire Trolls underwater. Anything similar to this will make your game look sloppy. Place enemies that correspond to the environment around them. That Fire Troll would look much better near lava or hot blocks.

How to complete Part One: Walk forwards. Be careful of the Fire Troll, as it may be able to shoot through the floor tiles.

Part Two

There are two main types of enemies. They include ranged enemies and melee enemies. What classifies ranged enemies and melee enemies? Ranged enemies can damage the player from a distance, whereas melee enemies can only hurt the player when in close range.

Melee Enemies

Thug

Snarley

Thor

Mongol

Mutant I

Mutant II

Big Mutant

Robot

SegFault

George

VampireBat

Rocky

Big Robot

EnemyMech

Kikuchiyo

Ranged Enemies

Archie

Ninja

Mercenary

Minion

Native

Probe

Fire Troll

Part Three

Melee enemies. The Sploder platformer creator is consisted of mainly melee enemies. Melee enemies must be in close range to damage the player. Every melee enemy is grounded except for the SegFault, so almost any powerup will help the player defeat melee enemies. These enemies tend to be easier to defeat without powerups than ranged enemies, where the player may have to use tactics to kill without powerups.

Some melee enemies do little damage, whereas some do heavy damage. It's your job, as both the creator and the player, to find out what tricks each enemy can do in combat (some can jump, some can kick, and some just hit extremely hard) and incorporate their abilities into your games.

Part Four

Ranged enemies. Ranged enemies are typically found much tougher to defeat than melee enemies (without powerups). As I stated before, some enemies can kick, jump, et cetera. Most ranged enemies use this to their advantage and damage the player while the player is stunned or kicked back. The player must use tactics in order to defeat ranged enemies. For example, jumping on the enemy's heads is very effective, as it stuns them for a short period.

Be careful when placing ranged enemies in your game. If there are too many enemies and not enough powerups or health, the player will be defeated too easily (Note: This also applies to melee enemies, but ranged enemies are usually found to be more difficult to kill)

How to complete Parts Two through Four: Enter either the green or yellow teleporter. Continue and take the key. Enter the purple teleporter. Repeat this step with the teleporter you did not enter before. Once you have both keys and you have used the purple teleporter again, take the center path and continue through the two key doors.

Part Five

Water enemies are strong melee enemies. Their primary weakness is that they cannot survive out of water. The player should use this to his or her advantage when being chased by water enemies (as they are vary hard to kill head-on). In addition, when making a game, be sure that your water enemies can't be defeated in a way you do not want them to be killed.

How to complete Part Five: Walk forwards.

Part Six

As you may have guessed, powerups are important to games with many enemies. Armor, health, weapons, and sometimes Atomics are necessary to defeat a large amount of enemies or "mob." For instance, it would be almost impossible to defeat an EnemyMech without some sort of powerup (like a Power Suit). Make sure to place powerups to make it possible for the player to kill the enemy. Don't be too nice, though. Everyone loves a good challenge!

How to complete Part Six: Press the up arrow (or W) to enter the Power Suit. Press the space bar to attack the EnemyMech to the right. Once the EnemyMech has been defeated, press the down arrow (or S) to slip out of the Power Suit. Continue right into the building.

Part Seven

Do not let the player be able to skip enemy confrontations! Force the player to fight the enemy! You can do this by placing enemies in small hallways as shown in the Enemy Tutorial game. Also, do not let any of your enemies be vulnerable to nearby hazards (hot blocks, lava, spikes, et cetera).

How to complete Part Seven: Defeat the Thug and continue through the building.

Part Eight

Use powerups strategically throughout your game. Keep it a challenge for the player. Just a few powerups can make an impossible game easy (Note: There are many powerups in the Enemy Tutorial because this is merely a demonstration for you. Do not make a game with too many powerups, unless they just barely help the player through the game. Editors do not like games that are too easy).

How to complete Part Eight: Obtain all powerups and defeat the Mutants. Continue to your right.

Part Nine

So far in the Enemy Tutorial, you have faced only melee enemies. In addition, you have only used melee weapons. Here comes the ranged enemies. Notice how I have given you ranged weapons. Ranged weapons make you pretty much even in strength as most ranged enemies, so use these powerups to your advantage. When making a game, it is usually best to give the player ranged weapons when against untouchable ranged enemies and melee weapons when against nearby melee enemies.

How to complete Part Nine: Take all the items from the crate and shoot the ranged enemies. Continue forwards when both the Native and the Mercenary have been defeated.

Part Ten

Like I said before, tactics are useful against platformer enemies. Many of the enemies have special weaknesses. For example, an Archie's arrow can easily be blocked by a shield. Again, it's your job to find these weaknesses and become both a better player and a better game maker.

How to complete Part Ten: Block the Archie's arrows with your shield (press shift to use your shield) and then defeat him with your RailGun. Continue up the ladder and complete the game.

Well, that's about it. I hope this tutorial helps you the way it has helped me. Please comment and tell me what you think, besides, you are now even cl'oser to becoming the next Sploder Legend! ;)