I'm making a 2d scroller in flash together with a friend, he paints and I code. I've started pondering on what behaviors the enemies should have, they will have both ranged and melee attacks. What's bothering me is that they will be to simple, just checking in which direction the player is walking close to attack or shoot isn't my idea of an interesting enemy. Making them patrol and check if the player is in visual contact is one thing I'm planning to implement but I'm quickly running out of ideas. I dont need anything fance for my first flash game but I need more ideas. What can you do yo make different enemies act differently? Things that set them apart, for example say that I have multiple enemies looking the same but with different capabilities what could be done to allow the player to distinguish them from behaviors instead of looks? Felt that this is more a design question than AI question atm.

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Original post by Psilobe What can you do yo make different enemies act differently? Things that set them apart, for example say that I have multiple enemies looking the same but with different capabilities what could be done to allow the player to distinguish them from behaviors instead of looks?

You could try:

- Flying enemies
- Enemies who do/don't shoot
- Shooting enemies of varying aggression and accuracy
- Enemies of varying speed
- Fixed/"turret" enemies
- Enemies firing "bullets" vs enemies throwing "bombs" which move in an arc
- Enemies firing a "spread" of bullets
- Enemies immune to either the player's melee or ranged attacks
- Enemies stuck to walls/ceiling
- Enemies that jump/bounce around

What about:

• Random Artillery - Enemy picks an angle and shoots randomly; delay between shots varies by enemy class
  
• Artillery With Bullet Bounce - Enemy's shots bounce before exploding. Player can angle a shield to bounce the shots right back on the enemy
  
• Charge Up Invul - Enemy is invulnerable until it charges up to fire
  
• Melee Knockback - Enemy can be knocked back in melee attacks but can also knock the player back
  
• Rhino - Enemy charges the player if they see them but can't see them unless you're right along it's horizontal plane of sight
  
• Mimics - Enemy appears to be something on the level such as treasure but attacks when you get close. Something, like subtle coloration, gives it away.
  

The Megaman series will be a good series to look at for ideas, since it featured a variety of 2D type enemies.

Enemies which can't see you until you get very close, but then start orbiting you, firing at you.
Enemies which can boost other enemies' weapon damage (like a commander)
Enemies which try dodging bullets intelligently
Enemies which can reflect bullets that are fired at the front, but not at the sides
Enemies that can only fire in the direction they are going, so they dogfight around the player.

Thanks, these kind of sugestions was exactly what I was looking for some mix and mash here should provide some more interesting enemies than just walk and slash.