Hello everyone! Welcome back to Blueprints, where I explain some of the design decisions of Aerostrike. In this issue, I will explain how the enemy roster was expanded upon.

The first ship designs were now created. We had a starting population for this sci-fi universe. However, they only covered the most basic roles, both in lore and gameplay. So where did the rest of the ships come from? They were thought up from a combination of a search to fill gaps in existing roles, and recommendations by various people. With this, I was looking to create a varied list of opponents that would all feel at home in the universe of the game. It was time to turn the family tree into a forest.

So to start with, let's look at gaps in roles. We  had a ship that would fight up-close, but who would fight from far away? We had single-target assassins, but who could tackle several opponents at once? We had a common fighting ship, but who would replace it later on? From these kinds of questions came a set of ships. The Javelin, a long-range sharpshooter. The Knight and the Paladin, with weapons designed to fight multiple enemies. The Wrestler and the Hunter, improvements on the Brawler, each meant to pose as a more dangerous threat than the one before. The Carrier, a ship that would swarm opponents with interceptors. The Turrets, defensive emplacements that guard rooms.

That was good, but there was a need for a little more variety. That is when I began asking people I knew for suggestions. Listening to someone from outside the development cycle could give fresh and unique ideas that could be molded into a fitting shape. From there came the idea of a large ship that would fire missiles, the Destroyer. An enemy that could hide from the player, the Stealth. One that would fire tons of projectiles in a distinguishable pattern, the Spinner. Various other ideas came from this exchange, like giving the Javelin a bouncing attack that could quickly fill an area with projectiles. With this, the enemy list was now sufficiently filled.

With that set, it is time to breathe life into these ships. So how to turn this roster into a gameplay experience?  How does one make these ships think artificially? Join me next issue to find out. Stay safe, pilots!