Hm, one thing to keep in mind here, which I should have mentioned, is that I cannot DIRECTLY alter enemy movement. This is part of why none of the bosses move; patterns of the type that I use for bosses do NOT work if any RNG or any AI is included in the mix. They become capable of generating genuinely undodgeable situations. Bosses often do move in actual shmups, but they're usually following an extremely strict "script" that they never, ever deviate from, because the movement is part of the pattern.
But since I cant control that directly (engine just doesnt support it), yeah, they gotta be static.
And this same thing applies for alot of the enemies. All I can do, for movement, is a couple of things: I can set the movement TYPE, which is all pre-set AI-controlled stuff. Most of which have already been used in game (all of them, actually, I think), I can set the speed, I can set activation ranges when that applies, and that's about it.
Now, if you have a specific movement setup that you think might be interesting... and more specifically, that is open enough that it could be used in many situations, that one's worth putting onto Mantis, so Chris can see it; I could be wrong but I'm guessing that the AI is all his work. Sure as heck aint something I could do, that's waaaayyyyyyyy out of my skillset. If I tried to make an AI, it'd stand there for awhile, stare blankly at stuff, and then crash into a nearby wall and explode. Wouldnt be the smartest enemy ever.
That being said, this is some good feedback.
A few notes:
Foreshield: Yes, I agree, this one needs some sort of visual effect to signify a shield. That'd be one for mantis, that's more of an "engine needs to support this idea" kind of thing. I think it's an important one though.
Flea: Sorta meant to be a "popcorn" enemy. They actually would be more effective in large numbers, but that sort of idea doesnt work entirely well in this game. Right now though, they're kinda like a Goomba except more annoying and capable of actual damage if they get close (whereas Goombas just cause embarrassment instead of damage if you crash into one in Mario games...)
Crystochet: This one will be getting an overhaul. I agree, it doesnt do much at all, which looks very odd for a ship of it's size.
Burst Turret: The game considers these to be "snipers" for a reason
They're not meant to be faced head on. The difficulty of dodging the attack is fully intentional. The trick with these guys is to never be in a position where it's possible for them to hit you. Typically, if these guys are around at all, there'll be walls or something nearby that you can hide behind while waiting for it to fire, and then you can pop out and defeat it quickly before it fires again.
Spider: Yeah, I'm considering adding something to what they already do. I'm just not sure as to exactly what. It doesnt help that the particular AI they're using has a tendancy to get stuck in corners right now, which seems to be a bug.
Infiniforms: Spawning AFTER their projectiles? Eh? THAT shouldnt be happening... definitely not something that makes sense! Sounds like a.... display glitch? I dont know...
Blind Ladies: Hm, yes, might slow these down a bit. And maybe increase their fire rate just a tad to compensate.
Waiting Widow: The red one fires shots that are too fast. Going to change that. I might give it longer range in place of that, or something of that nature. The others are okay.... for now. I need to test them more against other types of player ships and setups.
Floating mines: These arent enemies actually! These are objects, like walls or breakables or treasure boxes. There have been numerous complaints about these though since they need to be hit with missiles to be destroyed, so that might be something to put on Mantis if you think it does in fact need to be changed. I could sorta go either way on them myself.
