23 replies to this topic

[Schwa]

Peahats!



I have come to a bit of an impass. I'm scripting every enemy in my game from scratch, and... I'm not exactly sure what direction to go with the Peahat. As in, I can code things just fine, but I'm not sure what to make them do.

I have a couple of details thought up that are definitely going to be added;
* 360-degree movement instead of 8-direction movement. This is DEFINITELY a given.
* Their trademark tactic of flying out of reach, and landing to rest periodically.
* Some weapons will be able to hit them in midair, such as the Slingshot (my game's version of the Bow), though for reduced damage.

But other than that, I'm kind of lost. I want to make them quite distinct from original Peahats, as in, the player can tell right away that these things are different, but I also want to keep them a mundane and common enemy without a truckload of craziness tacked on (which only the uncommon or mid/late game enemies show up with). Some things I'm wondering:
@ How aggressive are they, or not? Do they have an A.I. of any kind?
@ Can they land anywhere? Or just certain areas? And can I pull this off without hurting the gameplay when fighting Peahats are involved?
@ Specifications for resting, taking off again, and taking damage?
@ Anything extra I should consider adding or simply accounting for?

Some things I will NOT be adding:
# Projectile or summoning attacks. Not these Peahats, at least. Later-game variations will have a few, sorta.
# Anything "ridiculous". You should probably know what I mean by this. Goombas in Super Mario Bros. never had rocket launchers.

Some outside input might help re-rail me onto a more stable track here, so bring it all here. I look forward to hearing people's thoughts. --Schwa

[Rover]

A Peahat is an enemy in The Legend of Zelda series of video games. They are plant-like in appearance and always have their signature propeller fashioned leaves or petals, allowing them to fly or attack from great heights.

[Moosh]

I just wanna say PLEASE don't make the player kill peahats in an area before he gets the slingshot. Or at least make them land more frequently than the unscripted ones do. As for special stuff, why not give peahats (maybe only level 2 and up) the ability to pick up and drop bombs kinda like my Beetle item script?

[Sheik]

You could have a special kind of peaheat that flies in circles real quick to create little tornados amining at Link. That wouldn't be their only behavior, but something they could do. Maybe when in a group (so that one peahat alone is not strong enough but a group of them can put enough pressure in the air if they work together).
I can't think of anything else, actually. I liked how they behaved in tMC, so the bomb dropping version might be a cool thing indeed actually. If you have bomb flowers they could pick those up if they find some.

[Schwa]

A Peahat is an enemy in The Legend of Zelda series of video games. They are plant-like in appearance and always have their signature propeller fashioned leaves or petals, allowing them to fly or attack from great heights.

People who don't even at the absolute very least skim my posts before replying piss me the F*** off.

I just wanna say PLEASE don't make the player kill peahats in an area before he gets the slingshot. Or at least make them land more frequently than the unscripted ones do. As for special stuff, why not give peahats (maybe only level 2 and up) the ability to pick up and drop bombs kinda like my Beetle item script?

More frequent landing, yes okay. Good point. I'll have their flight durations set at a random value between a minimum and a maximum range, instead of having a % chance every so often that might take forever to hit (like in the original).

I'd prefer no input about the "Level 2 and up" Peahats, thank you. I have ideas for them already; all I'm concerned about is their base physics to go off of.

You could have a special kind of peaheat that flies in circles real quick to create little tornados amining at Link. That wouldn't be their only behavior, but something they could do. Maybe when in a group (so that one peahat alone is not strong enough but a group of them can put enough pressure in the air if they work together).
I can't think of anything else, actually. I liked how they behaved in tMC, so the bomb dropping version might be a cool thing indeed actually. If you have bomb flowers they could pick those up if they find some.

Tornados? Bomb dropping? Geez, I knew people would immediately start suggesting this kind of thing... Please read my posts! I want something simple. Poke gave me good input by indicating that the flight duration should be shorter than in the original. I need input like that, so I can design the PHYSICS of the Peahat, not its "add-ons". The add-ons are something else completely and I am not interested in that right now.

[Colin]

What I think would be cool, albeit a bit mean, is have them mind their own business mostly until Link gets within a certain range of them or gets their attention be shooting them. At which point the begin to fly fast to Link and circle and strafe around him at a set distance. After a random interval of time, they strike, flying directly at Link. If you block or dodge or maybe even strike them when they rush you, they'll either fly too far and crash, or be dazed from the impact at which point it would be easier to kill them. Upon striking them when they're dazed, however, they regain their senses and fly away from Link to gain some distance and then to restart the process.

Think of it, I guess, like the behavior of a wasp. Which would make it particularly deadly to be attacked by more than one... which you could make the theme of a boss fight

...

My first thought was Toxic Peahat, but since you wanted basic mechanics, I did my best.

Hm, here's another one.

Peahats act in groups. They have a system of killing their prey.

They have one "poisoner", a smaller, red petaled peahat, whose job is to rush the target as fast as possible to "sting" them and then fly away, directly upward(leaves the screen). The poison slows down the target and weakens it. The rest of the peahats(maybe 2), large, disgusting rafflesia looking plants, come in for the kill... but that's weird, but if you like it, go for it. The idea is that they would hide under leafy overhangs, so you wouldn't see them upon first entering the screen. I don't know if your quest uses overhangs though, so maybe it wouldn't work.

Maybe you'd get something good for having quick enough reflexes to kill the poisoner, like maybe their petals can be used for something. The large peahats would be relatively easy to kill when not poisoned or they might not even show up if their poisoner is dead.

[Old-Skool]

Perhaps you could have them disguise as ordinary flowers when you first enter a screen. But get too close and the petals start spinning... then, the whole peahat bursts out of the ground!

Alternatively, Have the peahat produce smaller peahats that chase Link. I realize this sounds a little like Ocarina of Time, but I'm actually taking inspiration from the mini-goombas in Super Mario Bros. 3. If the minipeahats swarm Link, make him move slow or something.

[Schwa]

Tch. You guys are still not getting it.

Except for this:

Perhaps you could have them disguise as ordinary flowers when you first enter a screen. But get too close and the petals start spinning... then, the whole peahat bursts out of the ground!

I do like this idea, to be honest. But even so, it's not quite what I wanted. I want something closer to traditional Peahats, just a little remixed is all. Maybe I'll save this for a different enemy.

*siiigh*... Looks to me it was a mistake to make this thread. It's no use; when I bring up my quest to people, the only thing they seem to want to do is rant about how many cool things I should tack on just because I know how to script. And when I legitimately need help with a script in Scripting Discussion, 90% of the time nobody even replies; the other 10% it's almost always either Gleeok or Saffith.

I'm sorry I posted. I think I have a migraine over this.

[HollowKnight]

I'm sorry that this is frustrating you. King Aquamentus's suggestion is true to the Ocarina of Time peahats, and the originals look even more like flowers.

If you are still open to suggestions,you could do something similar to the Windwaker Peahat in which you have to immobilize/disarm them with a projectile first. Should be fairly simple behavior, but I'm sorry if its not what you are looking for.

[Saffith]

Well, perhaps they could ignore Felix until they're attacked, then either become aggressive or run away. You could also make the boomerang cut their blades off (like in WW, if I remember correctly).

I wouldn't bother with restricting their ability to land unless you've got something interesting to do with that. They could be smart enough to at least attempt to land somewhere safe, though. And then they could start moving again as soon as they're hit, possibly with reduced range based on how long they got to rest. Maybe the harder ones could even start up as soon as Felix or a weapon get too close.

[blue_knight]

I have a couple of details thought up that are definitely going to be added;
* 360-degree movement instead of 8-direction movement. This is DEFINITELY a given.
* Their trademark tactic of flying out of reach, and landing to rest periodically.
* Some weapons will be able to hit them in midair, such as the Slingshot (my game's version of the Bow), though for reduced damage.

Having Peahats only able to land on certain types of terrain makes a lot of sense. Don't land in water or on rocks. Maybe they can only land on sand and grass.

Having Peahats aggressive towards the player doesn't really seem to fit so maybe give them another motivation? As others said have them move when disturbed and then seek out a good landing place to "rest" again - which is why they would only land on specific types of terrain. So maybe they would seek spots, in general, that were farther from Link rather then closer. ?

But if Link corners them or disturbs them too much then they can become aggressive and specifically target Link (by trying to land on him or fly into him). Some physics here where they have a limited turning radius and acceleration would give a sort of "bombing" run effect.

[Schwa]

I wouldn't bother with restricting their ability to land unless you've got something interesting to do with that. They could be smart enough to at least attempt to land somewhere safe, though.

I noticed this. Tried the other day to script the beginnings of a Peahat and set it to only land on non-solid tiles... Guess what? It never landed once. It wasn't a scripting error either, it just never found a spot to land 'cause it never wanted to leave the right half of the screen where I had a bunch of mountain tiles and waterfalls. That's kinda why I was hesitant to tack on crazy stuff to them this time, I already got burned the other night by doing so.

Maybe the harder ones could even start up as soon as Felix or a weapon get too close.

I got a late-game version planned already that never lands. The only way to harm it would be to leap into the air and attack. I'll mess with that later when I'm actually ready to set them in screens, though.

[Moonbread]

Schwa, as both a friend and a mod, I'm going to ask you to chill out a bit. No reason to blow your top off, mate. I understand that mostly getting suggestions that don't appeal to you can be frustrating, but honestly? You're coming off as an elitist, very strongly too.

As for myself, I really don't know. I think my suggestion would already get shot down anyway. Only you really know what you want, sir.

[Colin]

Perhaps I should've read your whole post twice, I think the first time through, I started formulating my idea after the first paragraph and didn't really pay attention as I read the rest of the post, so I'm sorry that my ideas weren't in the ball park for what you were looking for.

There isn't much you can do to make the peahat behavior more interesting, to be honest, without it getting complicated. The regular peahat behavior is pretty much as simple as you can get, so just go with that, probably with the landing more often thing so they're less frustrating.

The only thing I can think of that keeps it relatively mundane but still new in regards to aggressive/passiveness. Have variations. Have a kind of peahat that remains stupid, passive, flies high, and stays mostly out of your way, and then have the angry territorial peahats that try to kill you, they fly lower and faster. The passive ones would land less, the aggressive ones would land more often, presumably because they get "tired" or something.

[Schwa]

Schwa, as both a friend and a mod, I'm going to ask you to chill out a bit. No reason to blow your top off, mate. I understand that mostly getting suggestions that don't appeal to you can be frustrating, but honestly? You're coming off as an elitist, very strongly too.

I had this coming. My sincere apologies. I'll watch for this a little harder from now on. (Getting reprimanded always makes me feel like crying)

The regular peahat behavior is pretty much as simple as you can get, so just go with that, probably with the landing more often thing so they're less frustrating.

I think you're right. I really can't think of anything to add that will actually help instead of harm, other than 360 degree movement, so I'll just go with something 90% vanilla, and then for the later variations I'll just enable extra behaviors using the vanilla ones as a base.

I can probably add an "aggro level" definable in Enemy Editor variables that make it more or less likely to rotate its path towards you, for easy use in later variations. Then I can give it the fancier behaviors in addition. The Level 2 (Blue) Peahat will get a ring of fireballs constantly rotating it, for example, which retracts when it lands so you can slash it, but while it's flying it's basically a buzzsaw of doom, so to make it less stressful on the player I'd probably want to make that version more randomized in its movement (since it's a hazard no matter what), even the Level 1 (vanilla) Peahats have a higher "chase" rate, and the Level 3 versions have even higher than both of them, etc.