Engineering The Perfect Enemy

[@ArchitectofGames]

Follow me on twitter! I'm like @Dril but about as coherent and less funny: twitter.com/Thefearalcarrot Fun fact, if you're a patron then you'll be amongst the last to be annihilated when I escape my thousand year imprisonment and take revenge on humanity: www.patreon.com/ArchitectofGames

[@owenhotte2164]

Nice to know you'r a fellow chuggaa fan. always nice to see one.

[@jonny5096]

Love your videos Adam!

[@ninetales53]

On the description says that Wandersong came in 20128?

[@NihonNiv]

I have to say, you still sound really young for someone who is more than 2481 years old!

[@JDyo001]

love the variety of games you used footage off, makes it much more entertaining and pleasent to look at than just 2 or 3 games for one video :)

[@BackfallGenius]

+1 for shouting out Prey. SO many games try to create a feeling of tension and anxiety through gimmicky psychological horror game mechanics, but none of them stick the landing as well as Prey's Mimics do. Every new area you discover, every new room you enter, and every object you see lying still, there's only one thought in your mind: "there's a mimic here...", and the designers did SUCH a good job of carefully placing them so that you can notice one extra fifth chair that seems out of place at a table that seats only 4 people, or how sketchy it is for two fire extinguishers to be placed right next to each other, and immediately a switch goes off in your head saying "definitely a mimic", and that slight sense of suspicion combined with a point blank shotgun blast at an inanimate object resulting in exploding alien bits with the "Surprise attack +100" popup as you revel in your observation skills is nothing short of pure catharsis. ...and then there's times when you walk into a room and whack a mug with a wrench after 20 seconds of intensely staring at it only for it to be a regular mug and you feel like the biggest idiot in the world, but in reality it's the Typhon paranoia that's really gotten to you. that's the mark of good game design.

[@JediMaestr0]

Even though I'm terrified of jumpscares, the mimics make me kinda wanna play Prey. Sounds interesting, although creepy.

[@5peciesunkn0wn]

Is Prey a fun game to play?

[@thesatelliteslickers907]

My favorite experience with a mimic from prey was seeing a garbage can laying on its side at the base of a stairwell. Then looking up to the top of said stairwell to see a second. Identical trash can sitting in a pretty inconspicuous spot and putting two and two together that the second trash can was a mimic, that tossed the original down the stairs when it transformed. Taking the originals place

[@foofoo1445]

...And then they sabotage their own good work by giving you the psycho-scope upgrade that scouts and marks mimics. Like that upgrade just completely eliminates a large part of the game and removing the paranoia.

[@TupDigital]

I just bought Prey a week ago. Im 12 hrs deep, and I quickly realized that Prey is delivering the kind of gaming experience I am always seeking but RARELY find. PLAY THIS GAME.

[@kylegantert4568]

My favorite enemy design is when enimies fight each other. This establishes factions and relationships with other enemies making the world more believable and grander.

[@gmalamat1393]

Ships on black flag

[@saacattaac007]

Like Guardians and Hinoxes in BoTW, or Moblins and Bokoblins from the same game. A really amazing example though of the whole factions thing is in Kid Icarus Uprising. When you enter certain chapters with multiple factions of enemies (underworld, forces of nature, aurum, cell) they’ll fight each other. Then later in the game you face the trial of the Hephaestus of Kid Icarus. He creates an entire parallel world for the trial, creating exact copies of faction troops, except instead of fighting each other, they fight you, which is a nod to the fact that Dynos created them.

[@AleK0451]

monster infighting is a way more interesting mechanic that the player can actually use as a tool

[@AleK0451]

the duke nukem forever dlc had aliens and terminator robots fighting each other with duke as a third wheel in the fight which i find fucking hilarious that dnf of all games has an interesting enemy mechanic

[@MagnustheMage]

In The elder scrolls 4: Oblivion each goblin cave houses a different tribe of goblins. if they encounter each other (This is most easily seen by dropping two staffs from different tribes on the ground and waiting for the goblins to arrive) then they fight. There's also a cave where this happens naturally, if memory serves me correctly.

[@Th3_Sp4Ce_M0nK3y]

In my Prey playthrough, I had a mimic transform into an explosive canister, it was next to the original Good times

[@TheDuckMaster12]

Th3 SpAc3 M0nK3y you mean your preythrough

[@alasdairsinclair916]

That’s nothing. When I first got a hand gun, it was from a body on the ground. But there were two guns, one that was centimetres from his hand, and another by his feet. So of course I thought the fake was the one at his feet when it was the other one. Serves me right for assuming the game would be that specific.

[@onyourleft9273]

@@TheDuckMaster12 lol

[@klutzkoady4996]

@@alasdairsinclair916 lol but it was that specific, he dropped the gun than fell down

[@markedforstrike]

Since playing Magicka 1/2 with my friends I know that the perfect enemy is your friends. They are dangerous. They have personality. They synergise with each other. And they will kill you. Many times. Just4fun

[@femimark5021]

Crash to desktop

[@rompevuevitos222]

It really depends on the tools they have, in a traditional shooter where you can often be instakilled with the right weapons it's funnier to play against the AI On games where skill ceiling isn't as high it's funnier with friends

[@ineffabletryx6528]

Femi Mark Ahhh, you are an intellectual I see.

[@funninoriginal6054]

You think thats bad? Wait until you play uno with more than 3 people.

[@georgiykireev9678]

I remember playing the first one with my friend... Kept unintentionally killing him because my main mode of attack was lightning spam. "qfasa" and "qfqfasa" are forever ingrained in my muscle memory. He was more creative with it tho, somehow making some exploding ice crystal thing that, for some ungodly reason, did 4.5k dmg. Fun times

[@everinghall8622]

The enemies in prey were simply perfection, I remember my first real encounter with a phantom, upon spotting me, it fired a kinetic blast, of course forcing me to dodge, also causing the pipes behind me to rupture, so I tried to run around a nearby pillar to lose it momentarily and run away, then it teleport in front of me and kicks my teeth in, I try to run again, and see a gun in the ground, the gun turns into a mimic.... That was some good fucking gameplay...

[@SteffenThole]

This sounds like an absolute nightmare. Kudos to the devs

[@ToaArcan]

"Getting sniped out of nowhere isn't very much fun." Multiplayer Shooter Devs: I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that.

[@xellanchaos5386]

"It's fun sniping people outta nowhere." *Proceeds to get executed*

[@PoisoningShadow671]

One of my favourite things about enemies done right in say, Halo or Titanfall is how they verbally react to a situation by a player. Titanfall 2: Kill a few IMC grunts and the last dude starts having panicking dialogue Same with Halo, pop a few grunts, rest come scrambling, or the funny quip here and there when you kill a brute in H3, etc.

[@AccountProto5X]

If you hang around long enough in your Titan and stare down the last grunt, he'll just give up, it's a neat little detail. Crysis 3 (maybe 2 as well, but I can't remember) had some great reactive dialogue for the CELL grunts.

[@cursedcliff7562]

Also in TF2 everybody talks,not just in the voicechat,but the classes interact Medic and heavy in particular

[@jasonalbert6251]

You can’t hear it over their radio filters at all, but the enemies in Half Life and Half Life 2 have lots of complex dialogue.

[@Man-xn1fp]

“They’re trying to corner us!” _Is in the middle of an empty field_

[@a.morphous66]

My favorite part about Halo enemies is how the Grunts react when an Elite or Brute is killed. They can scream and flee (Leader is dead! Run!), or they pull out a pair of lit grenades and suddenly become a lot more dangerous. Edit: I just got to the point where he talks about literally this, I’m a stupid

[@maxs8213]

I had to write several essays about Frankenstein and its theme, so that inclusion and the remark of "yeah, I've read a book" connected with me on a spiritual level

[@Snow-sx5ev]

Omg that sucks my dude

[@aldoushuxley5953]

Why? I thoughts Frankenstein was a brilliant novel

[@maxs8213]

Jonathan Böcker It is, but it’s is made worse when you have to analyse and break it down instead of just enjoying the novel. If I had read it for leisure then I would have enjoyed it but alas.

[@aldoushuxley5953]

@@maxs8213 yeah I get it. I hated Reading Classic novels in school. Now I love them. Books arent there to be analysed, they are there to be experienced. Analysis should come naturally, because one wants to learn more about the Story.

[@a.morphous66]

@@aldoushuxley5953 Exactly. I love analyzing poems, books, songs, etc., but only so far as the discovery of meaning can come naturally through reading and listening. For example, my favorite band (The Oh Hellos) writes songs that you have to think about in a very English-class-ish way in order to fully understand, but I love doing that because I chose to do it and I can do it in my own way. When someone makes me sit down and read it line by line or paragraph by paragraph it just loses all its magic.

[@Funkopedia]

This is obvious, but to expand on your 5th point: On relating the enemy to you. Taking Mario as an example. The game is based on jumping, so all the variations in the enemies and their behavior and movement are in reference to the jump. Goombas, the various types of turtle, the beetle, the flower. It covers every combination of how a jump can interact with this creature. None of these variations would work in a shooter, except maybe the jumping ones would be harder to hit. On the other hand, shooter behavior: dodging, hiding, using a shield, rushing you, different types of gun they shoot back with. These relate to your aim and perhaps what type of gun you've got. When the character and the enemies match up in such a way that another hero could not replace you, that's a good game.

[@wisecrack3461]

Absolutely agree

[@past874]

White hot rage while playing Animal Crossing? I'm listening.

[@trevordavison4078]

Pasta Heart *digs holes around neighbors houses so they can’t leave*

[@astrobagans6182]

@@trevordavison4078 I do this to the horse with the racing outfit. I don't like her and I don't know why

[@trevordavison4078]

Astro Dreamer lol poor horse neeeeiiighbor - bad pun, sorry. Animal Crossing is basically “Your friendly neighborhood sociopath” ... like a technicolor Disturbia

[@malaizze]

_You don't have to make the perfect enemy, you just have to not make the primal aspid_

[@dintour7660]

oh ok got it *makes Great Hopper*

[@malaizze]

@@dintour7660, _to the abyss with this one, kingsmold!_

[@residentfacehead3465]

Ok got it Makes Crystal hunter

[@blaise931]

Oh alright *makes a flukemon*

[@skeleleleletons5869]

K so if none of thoooooose *makes volatile vengefly*

[@nekokuza]

Gothic. Most mobs are territorial, and don't look for a fight, as I recall. Great thing, imo. Or Snappers that sneak up on you in packs.

[@Stefan-xt5sk]

Whenever I hear an orc (or more most of the time) drawing their weapon, my heart stops for a moment in panic xD I love that snappers and shadowbeasts slowly sneak up on you, because it gives you a fair chance to still get away while also being threatening and dangerous. For shadowbeasts it reinforces the idea of the mighty predator who's toying with you because you simply aren't scary to them.

[@franzluggin398]

Yeah, basically all enemies have a few traits that makes fights against them feel distinct. Wolves and goblins are pack hunters, meaning whenever they start threatening you, they pull every wolf/goblin within earshot into the fight. Orcs have really high aggro range, but will not find you via smell, meaning you're safe out of line of sight, e.g. when they face away from you and you're sneaking up on them. Molerats charge you without bothering with a threat first. Giant rats and scavengers are distracted by corpses they can feed on. Lurkers will prefer hunting goblins over fighting you. Boars and snappers are faster than you, and WILL kill you if you try to outrun them. Golems and orcs can block melee attacks unless they're busy doing some other animation (typically an attack of their own). Skeleton mages try to freeze you, making you completely at the mercy of the normal skeletons they can summon. And seekers have a rotation of spells that means you _really_ don't want them to be able to cast for an extended period of time (they can cast fire rain!). I think I could go on for some time.

[@manuki99]

It feels great to finally be able to support the channel since your videos are not only informative but they also cheer me up every time I watch them. Keep up the great work and stay as you are. Always looking forward to see what topics you pick next. Greetings from Germany and also you didn't pronounce my name wrong. If this comment seems weird or unnecessarily long I am sorry I just wanted to let you know that I think you are awesome and I'll be supporting you in the future as well.

[@RadleyBO0]

I would've thrown in a mention of the turrets in Portal and Portal 2, which not only reinforce the gameplay but also reinforce the quirky humor of the game. I'd say they're just about the perfect enemy and they can't even move around on their own.

[@opticowl5486]

I remember being 12 and playing through Portal for the first time and being so intimidated by the sight of GLaDOS in the chamber at the end of that hallway that I saved, quit, and didn't come back to it for another week because I didn't feel like I was ready. I was legitimately terrified. Your point about learning about enemies through observation before interacting with them made me realize part of what made that intimidation so visceral. I knew exactly what GLaDOS was like personality-wise, I already had a strong working relationship with her: I knew she was out to kill me, like a lot. But seeing her for the first time made me realize I didn't have any idea what she would actually do, or what she was capable of. I had been interacting with her indirectly for so long, but for all I knew in direct confrontation she was all-powerful. I think the fear of the unknown is incredibly powerful for gamers. If you die and you don't know why, it's cheap and unfair. But if you are set up for an encounter where you don't know what to expect, it can be one of the most exciting kinds of gameplay.

[@arthurgraton7165]

Thanks for making this video. I was in the middle of creating my first D&D dungeon and unsure of what enemies to use when I saw your vid. The timing couldn't be better!

[@davsc64]

The Red Dragon in Crypt of the Necrodancer. A miniboss that can definitly end your run. But the game signals you when one is coming and if you stick to his rules, he rewards you with a lot of gold. Also his firebreath can destroy barrels.

[@willmungas8964]

great fucking game, really all of the enemies can be included in one way or another

[@seasonedvase2702]

"getting sniped out of nowhere isn't much fun" JACKAL SNIPER INTENSIFIES

[@flyingplatypus7272]

Stop with the flashbacks.

[@GoodTubeProductions]

In PvP games, it seems really satisfying to play against humans. I was curious why humans are such a good enemy. This video seems to explain that well. Humans defiantly are difficult and synergistic (if they are good at the game). Often times they have personality in the unique ways they interact with the game. Additionally, in good online games like rainbow 6 and guns of Icarus, they have good specificity.

[@garrettwade1294]

It's also just because they think on a human level, being human and all, instead of a predetermined ai. They can adapt and change more than any ai. It makes it possible for a match to get increasingly difficult or force strategies to change.

[@renno2679]

Yea pvp games usually has character types

[@NoNameAtAll2]

Guns of Icarus is still alive?

[@Colopty]

Human opponents are basically balanced by default, and makes clever use of every emergent feature of the game that you can then learn from and apply on your own. They might not be that good at reinforcing any particular themes of the game though, so they're best used in games where the narrative isn't important at all.

[@vrnvorona]

More like sc2 than r6 for your example.

[@arandominternetperson437]

"The environment" *shows the elevator in no Russian* Uh oh

[@arandominternetperson437]

Also enter the gungeon has a floor literally called Bullet hell, though with how many area denial enemies there are it should be called shotgun shell

[@minimalgrammar1276]

Dude, I think Mimics are quite possibly the greatest video game enemy ever designed. Creative, quirky, and clever. Don't forget their ability to scare the ever loving shit out of you, which admittedly, doesn't happen often... But that's exactly what prevents the scares from getting stale when they *do* happen. And then you had to show a clip of Alien Isolation and make me remember that thing exists.

[@yoavzack]

Transistor's Enemies are amazing: Difficulty - you start by fighting slow and weak creeps, and as you move along the world you meet stronger versions of the same enemy, in addition to new kinds of enemies that attack you differently, like the snapshots or the jerks. Also, once getting a little bit into the game, you will have the option to activate "limiters", which let you decide what level of difficulty you want to play and have the most fun at. Specific - Each level is inhibited by different enemies that are planned to be defeated with different strategies. Personality - Each enemy type attacks completely differently, and it's look reflects it: the Men (who throw their Hair at you) look like men and have noticeable big flame hair. The Snapshots look like cameras and actually take pictures of you mid-battle. Also, the more enemies you kill, the more information you get about them and their original lore-based purpose. The snapshots are the process's cameras, the Creeps are the workers, and the YoungLadies are the baby steps of the process in its journey to understand humans. Synergy - There are a lot of interactions between the different enemies with each other (like the healer Weeds and the protective Cheerleader), as well with the player (like with the Switch() or the Help() function). All of the 4 principled implemented brilliantly in every aspect of the game, from start to finish.

[@creatorreda2379]

Can't let that great moment of editing go unappreciated 9:10

[@equinox-XVI]

I just want to go out there and say, I love the way Twilight Princess handled Darknuts. They nail all of the areas the video covered and even a little more. They have nice difficulty, are very easy to tell compared to anything else in the game, they ooze personality, and senergize very well with their environment and eachother. At first, you meet one as a miniboss. And it provides a good deal of challenge on its own. A nice change of pace compared to the monsters you're used to. But then you go to Hyrule castle and thats where they really shine. I dont know how, but they are made in such a way that taking on multiple at once doesnt feel overwhelming in any way. It's noticeably more difficult, but it still feels possible. And the mental ideas they solidify simply by existing is just amazing. The fact they're there tells you how hard the area is, but by you overcoming the challenge, it shows just how far you've come. After all of the swarms of monsters and monstrosities of bosses, fighting one of these guys feels like an honorable battle that never ceases to let you down no matter how many times you down it.

[@rajtaric00]

This channels really deserves more credit for its work.. The editing is so perfectly synced, amazing work love your channel.

[@nalsium2828]

One of my favorite enemy designs (though "favorite" may be the wrong word) has to be the Primal Aspids of Hollow Knight. They're pretty simple on the surface. They usually take 2-4 hits to kill (depending on how strong you are). They have a relatively slow attack speed, and they spit three projectiles in an arc. But HOLY SHIT these things are a pain. I don't know if I've ever fought one of these buggers without taking damage. Their projectiles are perfectly aligned so that whenever you dodge one, you inevitably run into a different one. You always expect it to just be your fault as a gamer. Difficulty is relative, and different people struggle on different enemies. But primal aspids are almost universally despised by everyone who's ever played Hollow Knight. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of arcane calculations or satanic rituals Team Cherry did to create these things.

[@Generic_Gaming_Channel]

They just gave the aspids crack and put them in kingdoms edge

[@Josh-Yu]

this is probably my favourite video youve put out thus far (although i have yet to watch all of them). its changed the way i think about character design and even sparked some ideas for asymmetrical pvp gameplay

[@stormmerm4776]

I was just currently working on the architecture of enemies in my game and this came at the precisely right time. Great job man, as always!

[@benedict6962]

This isn't really about the "perfect" enemy, but I want to mention the "rumored" enemy: Where an enemy is more important for the lore they represent, what you see and hear about them, and what they do before you even fight them. You find yourself building up an image more and more, until the tension peaks and you finally get to actually fight them. It's particularly noted for meme-spawning baddie squads, mystery monsters of the week, and optional unfought super bosses There's good and bad executions of that kind of enemy, and you definitely don't want too many within a single game, but it adds a different dimension on the "personality" aspect of an enemy.

[@ceresgc]

benedict co *cries in SA-X*

[@Sir_Bob_VII]

Witcher 3 does a great job at this. When you're hunting down an unknown monster in a quest, and slowly get clues as to what kind of beast it actually is. Doesn't matter if it's actually easy or hard, or if you don't even have to fight it, it just makes the world feel so much richer and immersive.

[@Ikcatcher]

Unless the enemy is bugs, then you’re just at the mercy of the code

[@deus_ex_machina_]

Just amend the title to "(Software) Engineering: The Perfect Enemy"

[@gnolfo]

Primal Aspids from Hollow Knight instill in me the feeling of wanting to commit die.

[@lazilexi]

This person speaks the truth!

[@levinseve3471]

Ninetales from Okami is one of my favorite enemies. The lead up to his fight is great; you essentially have solved all these terrible problems for the people in and around the city and assault his fortress. All the enemies within are particularly weak to Ammy's Celestial brush so you get used to using it. Then the fight begins and you open the brush menu... only for Ninetales to make his own brushstrokes. For the first time in the game you fight a character with the exact same abilities as you. I love it its amazing

[@eloujtimereaver4504]

Frankenstein enemies makes sense, because you are building them out of other parts like Frankenstein, also Frankenstein was also the monster since the monster was designed to be his son, and Frankenstein is the surname of the whole family.

[@geofff.3343]

Specificity (Speh-seh-fis-itee) is the order of the day, Adam.

[@cholesterol6703]

I don't think he said it right even once.

[@SpringyTwist]

It was really cool seeing you play Mooncrash. I managed to actually complete it and Steam said only 1% of players had that achievement which broke my heart cause it was such an amazing game mode lol

[@joemcbo6259]

My absolute favorite enemies in games are ones that essentially become my nemesis. An enemy that has absolutely destroyed me in the beginning hours so much so that I develop entire styles of play that revolve around annihilating them. Even after they’ve become trivial I get a great deal of fun out of defeating them because I hated them hours back

[@gbadspcps2]

My favourite (yes I spell that with a 'u' I'm Canadian) enemy has to be those weird orb things in the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Whenever you swing at them they get knocked back, but you also go flying away from them. Combine this with pits/spikes near them, and they make great use of their environment, making every fight with them different depending on what their angle of approach is, the layout of the screen, what items you have, how many of them there are, ect. A really simple enemy that adds a lot of variety to a game.

[@ryanw531]

Game at 2:01 is called HEARTBEAT didn't see it in the description.

[@josiahtimes4035]

Jackal Carver What's the game at 2:52?

[@thatsincorrect8181]

@@josiahtimes4035 thats Risk Of Rain 2

[@jlnprssnr]

Do you have a Steam curator page?

[@tobiasbehnke9895]

"Being sniped out out nowhere isnt much fun" Widowmaker: "Oh la la"

[@minimalgrammar1276]

Actually that just gave me a good idea. What if they buffed her rifle in some way, (damage, charge rate, etc.) and then gave her a laser sight? (The kind that telegraphs the shot) 'cause yeah, getting sniped out of nowhere isn't fun.

[@grabariludmila5209]

@@minimalgrammar1276 like tf2

[@vitaliitomas8121]

@@zegreatpumpkinani9161 ... and not asses

[@aArtedasEstrelas]

Thank you for introducing me to Game Score Fanfare, really loving their videos. All the best to both channels!

[@halowarrior1000]

Loved how you included SPV3. Just played through the newest update and had a blast.

[@kateyez7186]

humanity's greatest enemy... spiders even though hardly anyone actually dies from spider bites.

[@hazzard7653]

also spiders aren't all that aggressive and have a fairly low chance of biting

[@rompevuevitos222]

@@hazzard7653 In fact, you're more likely to get bitten a by a snake than a spider (and snakes value their poison a lot) They must risk angering a HUGE treath, spend venom, energy (wich on insects is critical), etc. the last thing they want is to bite

[@lightspeedlife8299]

I like spiders a lot. I think headcrabs are cute.

[@vantuz8264]

@@lightspeedlife8299 Headcrabs think you're cute too.

[@igorthelight]

@@vantuz8264 That's the scary part :-)

[@Archer-1453]

I want to put in a small tidbit, specifically with uniqueness. Whatever your opinions are on either game, Destiny 1 & 2 play very, very (VERY) similar. However, one thing that really kinda disenfranchised me to D2 was how a lot of the unique qualities between the enemy species seemed to kind get molded into each other, just with slight, flavour-based adjustments. For instance: in D1 the only race you really had to worry about in regards to snipers was the Fallen (and SIVA, blah blah, don't get me started on SIVA). Similarly, melee-oriented mobs belonged almost exclusively to the Hive. Qualities like these, which can and did roughly change a player's mode-of-play, are in every species, including Siva, if only slightly there. What The Taken King DLC did with this sort of enemy personality was what made that acclaimed add-on amazing for me. Turn to Destiny 2 and right off the bat, the Psions are no longer glass-cannon close range targets but generic ass snipers. The Fallen have pike-grunts, as opposed to the Fallen only normally having sword-wielding captains to fill in a close range niche for them. I mean, shit, they even gave the Hive, a race dedicated to animalistically ripping prey apart sniper rifles. I have a feeling that this sort of dumbing down was not something Bungie had intended but was directed by the powers-that-be to make it more flexible and layman accessible. Solid video man, subscribing from just watching this video

[@Wobbmin]

My favorite kind of Enemy/Boss are the ones that seem clever and more aware of the game mechanics and just decide not to let you have your way. Sans is a prime example, and while that battle is amazing in so many ways, I find it more charming when minor midbosses do that sort of thing. (Spoilers ahead. I'll try to be light, but you've been warned.) Take Handaconda from Paper Mario: The Origami King. It's basically a giant, black Wallmaster. This thing is just _designed_ to make you panic. First of all, before the fight even starts, it has such an amazing and SUPER creepy build-up/introduction. Then, during the fight, you can't use your powerful special attacks because it's holding your partner - who you need in order to perform the attacks - hostage. So, you line up a path to a normal attack panel right next to it and hit confirm, but then it just decides "You know what? If you're gonna attack from this panel, then I don't want it here," and simply flicks away the panel, causing you to reach a dead end and waste a turn, allowing it to use a strong attack now that you're up close. Well, that didn't work. You make sure the attack panel is further away, and this time you're able to reach it. The only attacks that can reach from this range are jumps, hurlhammers, and fire/ice flowers. You go for a jump and attack from above. Problem is, that's where its hand is: on top of it. It catches you out of the air and throws you away. It also catches your hurlhammer and tosses it, too. Fire and Ice flowers are also useless because it just swats away the fireballs/iceballs, and it even slaps the ground beforehand and does a prepared gesture like "Alright, I'm ready! Let's see what you got!" Absolutely nothing is working. The only way you can't hurt it (besides POW Blocks) is by attacking from your hammer's max range, meaning your path must be quite specific. After a few attacks, it loses its grip on your partner, and you prepare to finish it off now that you have access to your strong super attacks again. ...Except, it also realizes this, and changes the special attack panels into Rock, Paper, and Scissors panels, while also completely removing the normal attack panels. It becomes a classic game of Roshambo, and whoever wins each round gets to pulverize the loser. You can tell what it'll do by looking at its hand and line up your path accordingly, but it changes sort of periodically and it seems to have a habit of switching the gesture its making shortly before you hit confirm in an attempt to fake you out. One of my favorite fights in the game. It really trips you up if you don't know what to do.

[@845SiM]

Great video, never really thought about this before. I usually rated the enemy’s on there bang for buck, how long I have to beat the snot out of them before they pop. I now have a new appreciation of this.

[@lauge222]

Great vid! You give an excellent explanation on what some games doesright and what others does wrong and the results from that. Extremely high quality content here.

[@jonniboye6399]

I was thinking of Halo enemies from the very beginning so I'm glad it was referenced. There's nothing like hearing the shriek of an elite that you finally take down on legendary after hearing it laugh time and time again after killing you.

[@arcanewonders9641]

I love the way the mimic at 12:29 moves.

[@Dominik-K]

Nice analysis, I like it a lot. Balancing gameplay isn't easy, so those examples are very handy for what I'm planning

[@MrGameAndToy]

9:37 "Knowledge is knowing that Frankenstein wasn't the monster. Wisdom is knowing that Frankenstein WAS the monster."

[@kohlrabe1709]

As always: Thank you. Thank you very much. It may be kind of obvious, but your presentation and examples are starting some very well needed thought processes.. it's actually helping a lot :)

[@josephlipari01]

"Getting shot out of nowhere isn't fun." *Ahem* Halo 2

[@flyingplatypus7272]

LASO flashbacks

[@Jorgee-]

Incredibly well done and entertainingly put together video, awesome work!

[@TheDuckMaster12]

Need a bit more practice on “specificity” yet, Adam lol

[@ArchitectofGames]

no bully :(

[@TheDuckMaster12]

😳 I am incredibly humbled that you replied to a comment of mine, and I feel horrible it was this one!! I love your stuff!!❤️👌🏻🔥🎉 I found GMTK first, and when I found your channel, it was like getting twice as much GMTK in my life! You’re totally awesome and don’t listen to the haters, even when they’re me!😂

[@igorthelight]

@@TheDuckMaster12 Good comment :-)

[@gmalamat1393]

I love the boats on black flag. They do interact with each other and also cooperate cause you have bigger ships doing heavy damage and smaller ones chipping away at your health

[@davidclark765]

2:02 So glad you included this clip of HEARTBEAT! And the example you showed is such a perfect one for the context you're talking about. The Red-Eyed Clusters are a great way to fight familiar enemies, but ramped up to boss level difficulty. Also, for anyone who hasn't, GO PLAY HEARTBEAT! Truly a phenomenal game! And great work on this video, Adam!

[@alecchristiaen4856]

I find it interesting how Payday diversifies its enemy roster. Each enemy has a distinct design and marking them will even have your character confirm what they are. -Shields are obvious, having big, rectangular shields and requiring you to stagger, pierce through, or get around the shield to take them out. -Tasers are dressed in dark blue with yellow highlights, and can stunlock players, making them reliant on each other or clumsily aim with their now auto-firing weapon at the taser -Dozers are bigger and HEAVILY armoured, having high dps and insane survivability (the only known instakills I know are the RPG, a javelin to the face, or the strongest sniper rifle headshot). Avoid or remove with care. -Cloakers are dressed in black with distinctive green goggles and a noise they make when they do the run up into their dropkick. These guys can instantly down players, but can be dodged and are rather squishy. -Medics are bright red and white, and usually need to go down first, or else the horde of normals will come down much slower. -Snipers never appear in the map itself, but spawn around it, trying to shoot down the players. Use high-accuracy weaponry (or a ton of bullets) to take them out, or stick to cover. What's interesting is how each enemy has distinct weaknesses that a single gun usually can't counter. I usually have a full-auto dragon's breath shotgun as secondary, and this can take care of normal enemies, Shields, and Tasers just fine (them being on fire stuns them), but Dragon's breath has shitty damage output and won't stun other special units. In the same kit I run a powerful sniper rifle too, which can instakill anything except dozers with head shots, penetrates shields, and can even kill several lined-up enemies, but against large numbers, I'll get overwhelmed. Using a heavy machine gun can let you mow down waves, but shields will trouble you (unless you can stagger them). Meanwhile, Assault rifles are good generalists, but tend to be less viable as the difficulty ramps up (especially those that have shitty ammo capacity/pick up); special weaponry are gimicky and usually lack in the rapid-fire department (with grenade launchers being tedious to reload). Weapons that inflict fire (flamethrowers, incindiary bombs of all kinds) may stun normals, but will barely hurt any specials, forcing you to rely on high damage weaponry for secondary. The enemies feed into your choice of loadout, and I have previously had vastly different, specific loadouts for various missions (usually also packing utility of some sort depending on the mission)

[@witchBoi_Connor]

2:36 Eeey!! This game! Deep rock galactic is very good, I highly recommend it to anyone. It’s on steam.

[@MercuryA2000]

An enemy that I couldn't help but notice how well its designed is the transient from Slay the Spire. It only shows up in the late game, and it deals big damage, but is weakened every time you hit it. Every turn it gets stronger, until it dies after 5 or 6 turns. Difficulty: Since StS is a rougelike it really depends. If you've got a good deck, it usually isn't that hard at all, but if your deck sucks, it'll overwhelm and kill you really fast. Its only one enemy, so you don't have to juggle HP amounts or AOE Debuffs. It has a big number you need to either block or nullify. Specific: There aren't any other fights like the transient. If you can live for 6 turns, it dies, no matter how much damage you've done. Every other fight is a 'kill it while losing as little HP as possible' The closest thing to the transient is the thieves, who steal your money then run after a few turns. Personality: I don't have much to say here. It looks creepy, but there isn't that much personality to it. Synergy: This is why I think its so well designed really. It shows up in the late game, and by then the deck you'e using it largely set in stone. You might remove a card or add a combo piece, but the gameplan is set. The transient is there to test you in a very simple thing: Scaling. It doesn't care which way you scale, only that you do. Turn 1, any burst damage you have will stall it, but you have to start setting up what your deck does. You have to apply a lot of poison, or buff orbs, or get your infinite rolling quickly, or it punishes you really bad. If your deck crumples, you probably weren't going to beat the boss anyway. If you scale, it lets you move on after just a few turns. If your deck is really good, you can try to kill it. There's an achievement for doing so, but not much else. Just one last challenge for good players and good runs to make it entertaining even after you get used to what is honestly not that tricky of a fight.

[@cowmeatius7151]

The best enemy is bad AI in paradox games, ie, Hoi4

[@D3fcon141]

+1 for shouting out Prey. Great game, great developer.

[@Ianoc]

Your channel is one of my favorites in the game design video essay space, keep up the good work! 👊😎

[@trevorgreenough6141]

Watching your videos about particular elements of game design has me thinking about the DnD games I'm running, and how I can improve.

[@arijralvarez341]

I don’t have any idea about coding and anything it takes to make video games, but you sure make it inspiring to learn more about it

[@lostmarble540]

I like how Adam makes jokes about how he's bad at video games. It really demonstrates his personality.

[@vizthex]

well frankenstein built a monster, and players stacking random shit on top of an enemy also creates a monster.... so i think it still works.

[@spaz_taz4910]

This is helping me make homebrew enemies for dnd so nicely.

[@stevenneiman9789]

One enemy I find really interesting is the Goblin Nob from Slay the Spire because it requires you to adjust not only your play but also your deckbuilding. Everything else encourages you to build a deck to turtle up with defensive skills that give you Block (because hp is precious and usually has an opportunity cost to refill), but that strategy is unsustainable against the Gremlin Nob because it gets stronger every time you play a skill until any amount of block per turn would get overwhelmed. As a result you're encourage to grit your teeth and accept a bit of damage as you frantically try to kill it before it kills you, only playing defensive skills near the end of the fight or if you have one which gets you a lot of effect for the cost.

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

Free piece of advice, to make specificity easier to say, start by saying "specific city" ten times slowly, then another ten times but leave out the hard C sound, then another ten times but stitch the two words together. Repeat this process once or twice a day until it becomes natural, it should only take a couple of days to solve, maybe a week at the outside. Source: I used to have this problem myself and this is how I solved it.

[@sayethwe8683]

I had an idea a while back that I still throw around on occasion to have a Machine Learning Algorithm (MLA) that's constantly watching haw you play, trying to learn to mimic you, and another MLA that plays against your clone as an adversary, trying to pull it to a perfect draw. Then, for the final boss of the game, play that second AI. Minibosses could be it trying its luck against you, or you playing against your mirror.

[@tempsinger7418]

One of my favorite game design is the Psycho in Borderlands. 1, he is the face of borderlands with that iconic mask always on his face. 2, he had a simple design of bright orange pants, the Psycho mask, and a buz axe. 3, he is insane and if you don't get spotted or you do you will hear some ramblings from him. 4, he has multiple versions of himself, a badass version that is VERY big and deal a lot of damage but he cannot throw his ace, he had a midget version that has less health and does less damage but he has a smaller hit box (Side note, if you kill a nomad that has midget psycho on it and not damage the midget he *MIGHT* fight with you).

[@roax206]

I'm not sure if you can even pick up mimics in Prey but I feel like one time I scrapped a mug or something in my inventory and got a load of alien material and then stood there for a while in shock thinking that I had been carrying around a mimic.

[@jamesgiles3447]

Your videos are amazing and I really hope your channel blows up 💙 Keep up the great work!

[@gorim5926]

In Dark Souls 2 DLCs there is a certain invader that fits to most of this categories, especially synergy with environment and creating a special slightly negativly marked bond with a player. Our dear Maldron

[@guinaepig1554]

Ravenholm is definitely my favorite chapter of Half Life 2. I have learned how to easily do the chapter without firing a single bullet or smacking someone with a crowbar. Fast zombies are incredibly hard in the one elevator bit in Ravenholm. To put it more bluntly, as someone who has played Ravenholm a billion times, I noticed the technique and strategy used by the person currently playing was a novice way of going about the area.

[@michaelheckman4468]

(Enemy with snipers that have tracker) PTSD flashback to Halo Jackal Snipers

[@maddyhatter5807]

You've played DRG! I'm so happy to see someone I like knows about this game. ROCK AND STONE!

[@streamusdarkwater5016]

i love how in both gungeon clips he gets hit which basically sums up the entire game

[@darthplagueis13]

I like Borderlands 2 when it comes to enemy design, there's just a lot to go into. Almost every enemy ticks at least a few important boxes. Surveillors, for instance: Annoying little drones hovering above the battlefield. Depending on the type they can either repair damaged loader bots or grant them additional shields. If no other robots are deployed or in need of repairs they will harass the player by circelling around them and attacking with quick blasts of shock which make the Surveillors actually rather dangerous because shock damage will deplete the players shield quickly, leaving them open to harder hitting attacks. Whilst playing the game you learn sooner or later to immediately recognize the surveillors by sound and how to take them out by either predicting their flight or by damaging an enemy loader and waiting for the Surveillor to come and repair which will temporarily render them defenseless and immobile. Or take Goliaths: Hulking Bandit Behemoths who wear metal helmets and dual wield assault rifles. Knocking off the helmet with a well-aimed shot will reveal their crit spot but also send them into a state of frenzy during which they indiscriminately murder anything in their path in melee. What's more is that they will actually level up when killing enemies, regaining their health and becoming more dangerous. Players faced with a Goliath will have to make a decision as to whether they want to take him out quickly or if they want to enrage him to serve as a tool for distraction and killing enemies at the risk of making him much more dangerous and hard to deal with.

[@deus_ex_machina_]

4:19 "A lack of specicivity, God I hate saying that word" Good, because it isn't even a word. Specificity is the word you're looking for.

[@mexikanecfilda]

I’m an Indie game developer and this helped me very much! Thanks :)

[@igorpuschner786]

That Futurama quote you sneaked in there made me lol. Great video as always :)

[@cortster12]

4:16 Looking at you, BotW. Despite how much I love that Zelda game, it really does just use a small number of enemies and then up their health and damage levels.

[@rex3782]

Some of my favorite enemies (in no particular order): Mantises from Hollow Knight Ghost Leviathans from Subnautica Spiny from Super Mario Bros. Ok that’s all I can think of I’ve played like 10 games ever lol

[@0Winkleson0]

Wasn't expecting Into the Breach to be dropped in here. Awesome game!

[@casparash5370]

Its the weekend ive got a 2 litre bottle of chester and my all rush mix tape.....LETS ROCK!

[@shaib5023]

I honestly think that Dead Space 3 has one of the BEST enemy Variant. They all got their weaknessess and traits, fight style and their own map that is specially made for them to be in. Its so cool because sometimes the combination of these enemies are so hard that you actually have to think hard, and others are just simple brain exercise to find out how to defeat them. And yea, i got a crush on Dead space 3

[@DollWaifu]

I thought the title said "Engineer The Perfect Enemy" and i thought yes he makes those damn sentries and teleporters and dispenser. Great video bro

[@limeoguy6982]

Great video! Though, another good example of a cowardly enemy with a good reward is Dying Light's Bolter. If you manage to kill one, you get Bolter Tissue, which is used to make several weapon mods, and can be sold for a relatively nice price

[@Yental]

My personal favorite enemie (concept) are the goliaths from borderlands, shooting them in the head is a bad idea other than the normal enemies you met and then they start attacking other enemies and then start leveling up

[@hyperx72]

4:27: Also mid-sized half-mech robots, drones, and other mechs are now why I've gotta replay Titanfall 2 again

[@tranquilclaws8470]

In the game Caves, my first truly special experience fighting a boss happened directly after killing a very powerful knight-based enemy with a sci-fi sword which caused him to phase in and out of range to attack me in an increasingly annoying pattern. I picked up this amazing sword, and not one turn later, I was attacked by a similar knight using an identical-looking sword. I exchanged one blow before staring wide-eyed at the screen as the knight and I had both teleported to a random place on the map. What followed was an epic battle of vengeance with what I could only assume was the knight's brother. My newly acquired phasing sword left a series of mirages in my wake while his sword would teleport us to a random location with every strike. I felt like a true badass teleporting across the realm while unleashing devastating strikes against my foe.

[@ThrowingAxes]

This is great, extremely useful for DnD and other tabletops

[@marinusjohn7690]

Subnauticas leviathans are a great example as well. they are these huge beasts with massive hp that serve the role of making areas less accessible and the void a place you don´t want to go. near the aurora they direct you to enter the ship so you don´t risk getting eaten, in the lava zones, they make you stay low and discover the entrance to the deepest zone, in the lost river they make sure you have mastered either maneuverability or stealth with your prawn, all while ensuring you encounter the zone´s regular enemies. they embody the element of choice in a survival game. face the challenge of killing them for no item reward but don´t have to fear them after or keep avoiding them? stay low and loose a little health or go into the higher areas and loose either nothing or everything? farm in the dunes where reapers and resources are common or go somewhere safer? it´s all up to you.

[@i_fish6657]

This guy is just a more underrated game makers tool kit

[@anthoniemccay]

You brought up snipers and how they're telegraphed and fair yet no mention of halo 2 jackals

[@mage3690]

7:28 THAT WAS MY CHILDHOOD. First game I'd ever completed, and it kind of left me a little empty for about a week.

[@denizorsel1029]

I , as a solo indie dev , am thankful for the content.