Weird Enemy Designs

[Mooshry]

IDK if this is the right forum to post this, but i need weird enemy designs for one of my games.
I made a status update saying this, and people told me to post a thread about it so i could get more fleshed-out designs.
So, yeah. I'll describe some Dragon Quest enemies you can use as reference.
(BTW, mods, if this is in the wrong forum, move it to the right one, plz.)

Ghost
A weird yellow spirit with a witch hat

Spoiler: Design

Bewarewolf
Blue/Purple werewolf wearing a red tunic.

Spoiler: Design

Air Duckt
A blue platypus-duck thing with webbed wings with an eye pattern and a cool yellow hairstyle.

Spoiler: Design

Hippotamiss
A bipedal hippo holding two shields wearing gold armor and magenta pants and a yellow mask.

Spoiler: Design

Will-o'-the-whips
An odd long yellow flame whip with a blue face that looks like it could be held like a whip

Spoiler: Design

Some more references

Spoiler: Designs

Now that you have some references, here are the parts i need.
* A name
* A design drawn in MS Paint, traditionally, or on anything.
And that's all! I hope i can get some weird and wonderful designs!

 

[_Shadow_]

There are products that can partly cover you.
Tyler Warren's first three packs.
Check em if you want.

On Google > tyler warren rpg maker pack

 

[mlogan]

No. No no no. When I said to look at what artwork was already available, I did not mean to get inspiration so you could come here and beg people to draw them for you.

What I meant was, look at resources that are already created and that you are allowed to use and use those and GET CREATIVE with them. YOU think of a creative name for them, YOU think of their abilities and skills, and whatever else you may need to them to have. Stop designing games around ideas you cannot get resources for and right now, design games around existing resources so that you can get on with actually making a game.

 

[Mooshry]

Actually, it was some people called Kwerty and BlackRoseMii who told me to open the thread.

 

[mlogan]

I didn't say I told you to open a thread. I'm saying, you are taking existing resources and wanting people to come up with all the ideas for you as well as to draw them for you. And that was my point.

You post so many threads asking for obscure characters then get angry when nobody jumps right on all of your needs.

I'm saying, just once, instead of making a game around characters that you depend on other people to supply for you, spend some time looking for character drawing that already exist so that you can actually get on with making a game, rather than sit around unable to finish a game because nobody will work for free for you.

Even at that, this is too many characters to be asking for someone to make for you in this section. But please, just once consider making something out of things that already exist.

 

[OmnislashXX]

Please don't upset the Mod. We need to feed her soon and she doesn't like to play well when she's angry.

 

[Ksi]

Part of creating a game (or anything, really) is putting your ideas out there and showing what you can make. Using your imagination to ensnare others in worlds of your creation. If you take others' ideas and just put them in your game, it doesn't show us how creative you can be, it shows that you prefer not to be creative but to just do the work, so in that case join up with someone else and help them make their game instead. That way you get to work with ideas that you don't have whilst also helping someone else to show the world the things they want to see out there.

Besides, why even get into game dev if you don't want to share your creativity with the world?

 

[Mooshry]

I just have no ideas. The best i could do is a turnip-bird hybrid.

 

[Ksi]

Worst comes to worst, call it as you see it. Is it a cow type monster? Cowmon. Bam, easy.

Read some fantasy novels and myths to get some ideas. Take a look at old SNES and PSX RPGs. Do some research. Don't just ask people for their ideas.


Here's my usual process:
- Get an image of an enemy that I am using in my game. Usually they're from pre-existing sets like the RTP or resource packs.
- Think about the first dungeon and what kind of area it is. Is it dry? Rocky? A cave? A forest? A river valley? The ocean? Does it have a specific theme or element associated with it like ice or fire or void?
- Think about what kinds of monsters/animals might be found in that area. For example, a rocky cave would probably have bats or ground-based critters whilst a forest would have stuff that is more plant-like or beast-type like wolves or rabbits.
- Look through the set I've decided to use and pick out about 5-10 monsters that would be found in that dungeon area. If I've used a graphic before in another area, consider using the colour change aspect.
- If the dungeon has a specific kind of element associated with it, change the enemy colour to match that environment. For example, a white rabbit would fit into an ice area better than a green one would, or a red wolf for a lava forest fits better than a purple one.
- Then come up with a name for the animals I've picked. Depending on the tone of the game and how detailed my lore for the game is it could be anything like a joke name or a more serious name. So a red wolf for a lava forest in a joke game could be called "Wolf on Fire" but if it were a more serious game something like "Flamebringing Howler" or "Crimson Blight Wolf". Or, you can just call it what it is - Red Wolf. Simple.
- Then consider what kinds of attacks an enemy of this type could do. If it's a rabbit it won't be able to dive bomb you from the sky, so that wouldn't be an attack I'd pick for it, but they're good at making holes in the ground so maybe something like a trip hole that can stun a person for a round with a small chance to hit could work. A flaming wolf wouldn't use water attacks, but fire attacks would definitely be a thing they'd use instead, so Flame Tail Slash could be a neat little skill that does low fire damage that can cause burn status.
- As for stats, just consider the creature's strengths and weaknesses. Rabbits are fast, mobile but not very durable so they'd have high speed and evasion but low attack, defence and HP. You can make the rest of the stats more balanced, but those areas would be the stand-out ones. But if you made a turtle type creature then speed would be at the low end while defence would be quite high.


That's how I (and I'm sure many others) figure out how to make monsters. Now go, create for yourself.

 

[bgillisp]

Another thing is to not get bogged down in coming up with the ideas right away. For instance, while making my game, what I do is when I get to a new dungeon I look at the battlers I currently have and try to find a few that would work here. Once I do that, I put them in that area and call it good. Got a forest? Put some snakes down. Or how about some plants? Or how about a wild toaster that someone left laying around after casting an animation spell on it and now it wants to toast anything it sees?

But don't get bogged down in coming up with creative names or monsters right away. Make the game first. You can always use placeholder monsters while you make your story. Don't be afraid to just call the monsters ??? or placeholder name with a generic rat graphic for all of them until you get the story figured out.

In fact, when I started my game, a lot of my monsters had 1 HP and 1 stats. Why? Because I had no idea on my stat balance yet and I didn't want to get bogged down it in, so I made all monsters 1 hit KO's so I could focus on the game. Once I had some of the game, I went back and put in some real values. But I had many a boss even that had no attack pattern and did nothing at all, with 1 HP while I focused on the story, then I went back and fixed it later.

Basically, placeholder names, pictures, and stats can be very valuable. Plus, if you insist the early areas have to be perfect before moving on, odds are high you will find yourself still working on the early areas in 2025. This way you can at least move on and focus on what most play these games for, which is the story.

 

[M.I.A.]

Seconded @bgillisp 's suggestion. All my enemies are copy/pasted stats with different images, with 100HP and no attacks. As I play test and balance check, I then go in and fill in their attacks and stats. Sometimes add new monsters and/or delete existing ones.

The key is to always move forward making progress, even when something trips you up.

 

[bgillisp]

Right. That is what is important. Keep moving forward somehow. Don't be afraid to skip entire areas if you have to. I did that a lot in my game. Early on in Chapter 2 there was an entire dungeon and sequence I skipped as I had no idea how to do it, so I just texted over it for now, and made a note to improve that later. Chapter 9 had a lot of optional areas and I didn't do any of them until the main plot was done, then I added them in. Things like that.

Just find a way to move forward somehow, even if you have to skip things. Just keep good notes so you know what is a placeholder and what isn't though, else you will find yourself staring at it wondering what is going on 2 years down the line.