Enemy design was the most enjoyable and challenging task in DOOMBLADE. This is because the interaction with the game’s enemies is fundamentally different from other games in the genre. Instead of approaching an enemy by walking into range for an attack while trying to avoid getting too close, in DOOMBLADE, the player simply clicks on the enemy to launch themselves at the enemy's face to perform an attack. This means that enemies have to be approached differently in terms of design.
For most enemies in DOOMBLADE, the design process started with the mechanical aspect. There was no visual look or lore in mind for the enemy - just boxes you would fight against. The design would begin with the enemy's purpose in mind. Is this enemy meant to help the player navigate the game world, or is it meant to be a challenge? Or rather, where does the enemy fit on this spectrum?
For example, we have Shadowfly - an enemy that hovers in the air and can't damage the player. This enemy serves purely as a navigational tool, allowing the player to reach different areas. On the other hand, we have something like Swarmstinger - an enemy that orbits the player and is only attackable when its defense is down. Swarmstingers don’t assist the player in reaching areas as they follow the player around, so they purely provide a challenge for the player to overcome.
Shadowfly
Swarmstinger
An example of an enemy that falls between the previous two is Murdersquid. Attacking the squid from the wrong direction causes the player to hit its shield, stopping the attack and causing damage. Murdersquids can be used to reach new areas, but they also present a challenge for the player. The biggest challenges in creating enemies for DOOMBLADE were in devising different ways to limit the player’s overly powerful attack mechanics from obliterating the enemies before any meaningful fighting could take place. Murdersquid exemplifies this well. It’s not a difficult enemy to defeat, but the challenge is still present.
Murdersquid
Designing the visuals of the DOOMBLADE enemy creatures was incredibly enjoyable and challenging. Due to the unique game mechanics of all the enemies, which stem from the core gameplay design, we aimed to make the enemies appear strangely chaotic while still fitting into the designed gameplay. An excellent example is the Subterranean Broodsmasher. It’s a slowly walking tank-like creature with heavy arms that it swings around when the player approaches. It also has toxic eggs growing on its back, which it hurls towards the player when the player is far enough away. In all the creature designs, gameplay took precedence, followed by the theme of the biome in which the creature was most frequently encountered in the game. With all these considerations in mind, we managed to create around 80 unique enemies for players to encounter.
Subterranean Broodsmasher
Having so many different and interesting enemies meant that we wanted to display them properly and provide a bit of lore as well. This is why we were eager to create a bestiary for the game, allowing players to delve deeper into the enemies they encounter. Although we weren't able to have it ready for the game’s initial release, we have finally completed the bestiary update!
You can read the full patch notes here.
DOOMBLADE
Iceberg Interactive
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