Broodmother

The Broodmother enemy is very territorial and attacks the player first by sending out brood units to distract the player and disable player swarm units leaving the player vulnerable to attack from the Broodmother herself.

Original inspiration for the idea originates from the various species of Mouth Brooding Fish in the family Cichlidae .

Active
Once the player comes within a certain range of the Broodmother, she enters the idle state and then engages the player if the player moves within attack range.

Attack State

 * In this state the Broodmother behaviors includes:


 * 1) Sending out its brood, consisting of 3 - 15 units, to engage the Player.
 * 2) *The brood vascilate between attacking the player for very small amounts of damage, temporarily disabling nearby non-active swarm units and returning to the Broodmother unit itself after a certain amount of damage has been sustained. Brood units do not die unless they have been abandoned by the Broodmother enemy. They merely return to the Broodmother where they remain hidden for a short period of time.
 * 3) Circling and positioning itself for a rush melee attack on the player.
 * 4) Gathering up nearby brood units, leaving some behind as a distraction, and fleeing from the player when health is below 10%
 * 5) Gathering up brood units once the player leaves its active range and entering Idle State.

Idle State

 * In this state the Broodmother behaviors include:


 * 1) Hovering in place near plants or rock outcroppings slowly regenerating health up to 75% of maximum.
 * 2) When above 75% health the Broodmother will swim slowly around generally remaining in one area.
 * 3) The Broodmother will occasionally send out 1 - 5 brood units which swim around the Broodmother aimlessly. The brood units will periodically return to the Broodmother during their aimless swiming. All Brood units will immediately return to the Broodmother once the player enters attack range. (Broodmother won't engage player until all brood units have returned to her or after roughly 3 second.)

Inactive
Broodmother enemy has yet to be instantiated into the game and is not affecting the environment or other enemies prior to entering the Active state.

Public Variables

 * Idle/Inactive Range
 * Attack Range
 * Number of Brood Units
 * Health/Damage Threshold of Brood Units
 * Base Speed of Brood Units
 * Brood Recharge Duration (Time spent back inside Swarmer after taking Threshold Damage)
 * Attack Power / Damage Output of Brood Units
 * Health of Swarmer Enemy
 * Base Speed of Broodmother Enemy
 * Attack Speed of Broodmother Enemy
 * Frequency of Attacks in Attack State
 * Attack Power / Damage Output of Broodmother Enemy
 * Regeneration Rate during Idle Hover State
 * Range within which to gather Brood units before retreating from player
 * Speed of Broodmother during Brood gather and retreating

Approval
Design -

Engineering -

Art -

Credits
Image found on http://www.deeblestone.com/