Evading
The projectiles thrown by Sam travel at a slow speed, and as a result some of the
smarter enemies will be able to dodge out of the way of incoming attacks. Of course, the
AI agents will not be so good at dodging that the player never has a chance of hitting
them, but just enough to provide an interesting challenge for the player.
Special Actions
To keep the challenges fresh and interesting to the player, there will be a variety of spe-
cial behaviors that only the more advanced robots and human adversaries use. These
will appear later in the game, and will force the player to adapt to them in order to
succeed.
Taking Hostages
The battles the player fights with his enemies will often take place in inhabited commu-
nities, with non-hostile characters walking around to provide color. Some of the
smarter AI agents will know to grab some of these NPCs and hold them as hostages.
Sam will now need to avoid hitting these hostages with his projectiles. If the player flies
Sam up close to these hostages and presses the Action key, he will be able to snatch
them away and fly them to safety.
Internal Repair Arms
As some of the robots take damage from Sam’s projectile attacks, the more sophisti-
cated robots will be able to repair themselves. A common way for this to work is that a
special “repair arm” can spring from a compartment on the robot. This arm can then
bend around the robot’s body to weld broken parts back together. The effect is more
cartoonish than realistic, but conveys the sense that the robot is repairing itself. Some
robots may first retreat to a relatively safe location, such as around a corner or far from
Sam. Other robots will be able to multi-task by having the repair arm work on them
while continuing to fight Sam.
Collaboration
Some of the enemies, in particular the Merciless Mercenaries, will know how to work
together. Many of the robots will be singular in their purpose (attack Sam) and will
know nothing of the other robots that may simultaneously attack Sam. But the signifi-
cantly more intelligent Mercenaries will know that working collaboratively will be
much more effective in defeating Sam. For instance, while one Mercenary keeps Sam
busy with attacks from the front, others may swing around to the flank and attack Sam
from there. Of course, having the enemies work together will allow the enemies to pro-
vide a much greater challenge for the player.
Trash Talking
While Sam fights these adversaries, he will hear them making derogatory comments
about him, suggesting he can never win against their superior numbers: “Admit defeat,
human!”, “Your success is statistically unlikely,” and “Steel is stronger than flesh!
Relent!” Not all of the robots are able to speak English, and some may utter beeps and
558 Appendix A: Sample Design Document:Atomic Sam