Metroidvania Tutorial Series - Enemy AI | Ep. 02 | Next Steps

In this second episode of our Enemy AI mini‑series, we build directly on the modular foundation created in Part 1 and start bringing our enemies to life with real gameplay behaviour and animation. This chapter focuses on expanding the state machine with new states, new transitions, and fully integrated animations — all while keeping the system clean, reusable, and data‑driven. In this video, we: - Add four core animation states — Attack, Idle, Walk, and Run - Introduce two brand‑new behaviour states — Chase and Idle/Guard - Hook animations into the state machine so each state cleanly drives its own visuals - Refine our modular architecture, making each new state easier and faster to implement - Strengthen the EnemyConfig workflow, ensuring behaviour and animation remain fully data‑driven - Prepare the groundwork for advanced melee logic, detection, and combat interactions By the end of this episode, our enemy can idle/guard, walk on patrol, and run to chase the player — all using the same reusable state machine we built in Part 1. Every new behaviour plugs into the system without rewriting or duplicating code, keeping the architecture scalable for future enemies. This modular approach ensures that as the series continues, adding new states becomes smoother, cleaner, and more intuitive — whether we’re building melee brutes, or ranged flying imps. 👀 Coming Up: ⚔️ Melee enemy AI — detection, chase logic, and attack patterns 🔥 Ranged enemies — hovering movement and projectile behaviour ⚙️ Expanding the state machine with advanced transitions and reactions 🎟️ Early Access: Early access episodes are available for YouTube Members and Patreon supporters. 👉 patreon.com/NightRunStudio 🔗 Assets Used In THIS Video(Free for Commercial Use!) → Mattz Art’s Kobold Warrior Pack https://xzany.itch.io/kobold-warrior-2d-pixel-art 🔗 Assets Used in PROJECT (Free for Commercial Use!) → Minimal Fantasy GUI by Eta https://etahoshi.itch.io/minimal-fantasy-gui-by-eta → Unique Free Spell Icons by Marvyra https://marvyra.itch.io/unique-free-spell-icons/devlog/859741/my-free-8-bit-spells-is-now-available → Frostwindz Priest Animations https://frostwindz.itch.io/pixel-art-vfx-priest → Frostwindz Lightning Animations https://frostwindz.itch.io/pixel-art-skill-animations-lightning → Otsoga’s Training Dummy https://otsoga.itch.io/training-dummy → Brullov’s Generic Character v.0.2 https://brullov.itch.io/generic-char-asset → Brullov’s Castle of Despair https://brullov.itch.io/2d-platformer-asset-pack-castle-of-despair → Szadi’s Pixel Fantasy Caves https://szadiart.itch.io/pixel-fantasy-caves