Archive: 8 posts

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Anyway, I'm having a bit of trouble with my new level. I started drawing out a rough (and I mean rough) sketch of how I want it to look, basic mechanics, and whatnot. The problem arises here: I want to implement some enemies, but I've heard from countless sources that I shouldn't use MM's objects at all, and I have no idea how to make enemies at all. So, I guess I'm just looking for some tips on making enemies, some creative inspiration, etc. I have two different kinds in mind: 1) Your basic rolls-towards-you-when-it-sees-you enemy, a la the ninjas in The Islands 2) What I call "chain enemies" (it was like 1.30 in the morning when I was making this, shut up). Basically, these are just things that look like enemies, but haven't brains or anything, just gas behind them a la the ghosts in the third Gardens level. Both of these are going to be in a cave-type setting, so I was thinking like some sort of cave rats or something for the first ones and bats or something for the second ones. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I apologize if this is in the wrong section, I'm still getting used to things around here.

2009-07-07 15:51:00 Author: dandygandy2704 Posts: 1002

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Nope, this is the perfect section. I'm not sure what you mean by rolling towards you, but I had a pretty sweet idea for that. You can emit objects with rotational velocity, so you can make your rats somewhat round and then use a proximity switch set to 1 time, attached to an emitter that shoots the rats out of dark holes spinning at a certain speed. Play with the spinning speed such that it looks like they're coiled up and rolling towards the play until they get close, then land on their feet and are just typical pounce and kill enemies. As for the Chain enemies, these are hard to make unique and have been done a million times, so use every artistic strand you have in your body to make the looks of the enemy cool. Use wobble bolts and pistons if you must to make them animated (like the little bats in story mode) and play with stickers until you make the sweetest looking 2D enemy you can. That's all I got, if you want help making in depth complicated creatures I'm much better at that. Good luck!

2009-07-07 16:43:00 Author: LuckyShot Posts: 713

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Hi dandygandy. Yes, you've come to the right place! First of all, about using the Mm objects. Most people recommend not using them because: 1.) They've been overused 2.) It's considered unoriginal/lazy 3.) They eat lots of thermo I say why the hell not, if they perfectly fit your level and add to aesthetics and gameplay, feel free to use them. Making what YOU enjoy is what the game is about, so don't limit yourself because of how other creators might feel about certain things. With that said, it IS more fulfilling creating your own awesome monsters from the ground up! You can use the Mm objects as guides to learn how they work, how they're made or for getting ideas for your own. The cave bats sounds like a great idea. The caves provide many monster opportunities. how about a swamp monster that jumps out of the river! Or a rock monster hiding in the dark! Maybe even giant spiders that shoot you with slimy toxic goo! Also remember that the environment itself can provide obstacles as dangers. Lava for instance, or falling rocks etc. Hope those few ideas help you with some inspiration. The roll-towards-you monsters and the "chain-monsters"/hanging monsters are nice and simple to work with, but don't forget the "shoot-at-you" monsters and the "corner-you/dangerous body" monsters. What works for me is to think of what would normally already be found in that environment, and then work from there. Goodluck!

2009-07-07 16:44:00 Author: noddle111 Posts: 174

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@LuckyShot: What I meant by roll towards you enemies was something like the little ninjas in The Islands, with the brain set to follow or some such. Basically, when you enter a certain range, they activate and start coming towards you. I liked your idea for the cave rats, I'm just not sure I'm proficient enough yet to make something like that. xD;; @noddle: Thanks for the suggestions, but this doesn't look like it's going to be a very in-depth level like that, if you know what I mean. The way I have it drawn out, there are three or four ground enemies, and the same number of chain enemies. I'm also planning on throwing some spikes between the chain enemies to make it just a little bit harder. I mean, I'm sure I'll use enemies like what you said in the future, but I've already got a lot of this level planned out, and I'm not seeing much room for and sort of shooting enemies... Plus, I haven't got the MGS Pack, so I can't use those annoying orbs that vaporize you anyway. (I haven't the slightest idea what they're called...) I really stopped planning after two pages of paper, because I have no idea what my thermo is going to look like, so maybe if I have a huge surplus of thermo and I decide to keep the level going I'll use what you've said.

2009-07-07 17:08:00 Author: dandygandy2704 Posts: 1002

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Well, to that thermo comment, just be sure to optomise as best as you can. (ie, use as few materials as you can, tweak all emitters so they save space, etc.) as to your enemies, obviously they should be deadly in some way MM makes their enemies attack in a variety of ways, the more creative you can get with attacks, teh cooler it looks. Its also cool if you can give them some sort of real challenge, not just the average jump on top of the enemy, and it dies, routine. By making the brain have limited time for when you can pop it, you create a whole new ballgame. (ie: little butlers in the wedding). kind of unrelated, but be sure to put in the monster tracker things (they look like little white lights, but i really can't think of the name) to be sure your rats don't walk off cliffs

2009-07-07 20:25:00 Author: Burnvictim42 Posts: 3322

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Thanks for that, I'm probably only going to be using two or three materials max. And, yeah, I know about those monster boundary things, and I was planning on using them.

2009-07-07 20:56:00 Author: dandygandy2704 Posts: 1002

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OK - So a few pointers on making enemies: Create the shape and materials you want first. Once you make them "alive, adding/editing materials can render them non functional. To make them roll, go to your tools in the pop-it menu, there's a section for creating creatures, with magic mouths, eyes, brains, legs, and wheels. Grab a wheel (you can use more than one, but it will stand up on just one if you like), size it accordingly and attach it to the bottom. Now add eye(s) if you like, danger if you like (spikes, fire, electricity, whatever). And finally (always last) add the brain unprotected if you want the player to be able to jump on it or shoot it to kill them, protected if you want to do it only via switch. The brain will make it alive. Tweak the brain now to either: follow (as the ninjas do), avoid (? - I think... sorry not in front of my PS3 right now), or ignore. If you choose ignore, then you really need the perimeter markers mentioned in an earlier post, otherwise they will just keep moving in one direction until they run into an obstacle. As for the perimeter markers... they need to go down first - if you put them down after the monster is created, they just don't work (unless this has been fixed). So... if you should forget this, then capture your monster, place the markers, then place a new version of your captured monster.

2009-07-08 01:24:00 Author: v0rtex Posts: 1878

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the markers work after the monster has been placed. so i guess thats been "fixed" (i never had monsters when that didn't work ). another piece of information you may find useful is the option of making brains vulnerable. If a brain is vulnerable, the enemy is vulnerable to deadly material (like fire and electric materials, and i think explosions) and switches set to one shot. So if you were making a monster and you wanted something like a sword or a paintinator (which i know you said you didn't have, its just for an example) to kill the enemy, you can use switches to kill it manually.

2009-07-08 05:26:00 Author: Burnvictim42 Posts: 3322

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