Kandria
Good Morning!
I spent last week worrying about AI, and came to the conclusion that it would be a better idea to switch plans instead. I encountered too many issues I was not sure how to solve yet, so it seemed like a better idea to simplify things.
Specifically I encountered issues with the planned AI of the wolf: the wolf was supposed to be a medium-range enemy that would try to move away from you if you got too close until it reached a safe distance, then launch a tackle attack against you. This seems simple in concept, but proved very troublesome to implement.
First, if the ground is not completely flat, there's problems where a tackle might be impossible due to ground problems obstructing the path. If the wolf is below the player it might also never be able to reach them, or if it is above, it might overshoot. All of this combined makes it difficult to estimate which places around the player are viable places to attack from. Not to mention that the player will be moving around all the time, making the problem even more involved.
I also realised that the current animation system is not powerful enough to do everything I need it to do. Essentially, the current system is not able to nicely transition between 'non-animated' and 'animated' states, making the animations look weirdly abrupt and canned. It's also not able to allow gravity to influence the animations, making all of them hover in the air until they end. This makes them look really weird.
So, all of this combined I decided to change the plan a bit. I'll implement much simpler enemies first, starting out with practise dummies that just stand in place. Using this I'll create a nice arena for all of the different combinations of platforms in which combat might occur. Then, using this playground I can tune the animations until it feels good to perform attacks.
Doing the latter will probably also require replacing the attack animations I have, as I've grown quite disgruntled with them. I started playing Nier Automata again recently, and the animations in that are so much fun it's astounding. I really hope I can get something done that is as much fun to look at as that, though I can't say I'm very confident I'll be able to do it.
Anyway, this week I'll work on the dummy enemies, extending the animation system, and putting together that arena. New animations are probably gonna be for next week.
Oh- do you know of any games that have really fun looking attack animations? I'd love to have more references for this stuff!