So far in my game I have four kinds of enemies coded and working.

The Chaser: launches itself in a straight line at the player and after a few seconds reorients and launches itself again.

The Chaser Shooter: Similar to the chaser but always moves at an angle to the player and shoots at the player as it moves.

Pulser: Sits in one spot and fires pulses of shoots in all directions.

Scatter Shoot: Spins rapidly in place and shoots mildly randomized shoots at a regular interval.

(Have I mentioned that I am bad at naming things?)

So today I looked at some other shoot’em ups and came up with some other enemy/obstacle types.

“Spin and goes” Move X distance spins for a second then goes off at a predetermined direction, Usually appear in groups of 4-10 split on either side of the screen or all on one side.

“Asteroids” Like chasers but larger, faster, and don’t change direction. Lock on and go.

“Traps” Stationary collision type enemies that fire a spread shoot targeting the player on death.

“Twitchers” move erratically then hold still and fire at the player a few times before repeating.

“Shielded Turrets” Stationary, no player collision, only vulnerable for a few seconds before and after firing. Opens shields to fire shot.

“Tendrils” Multipart enemies that come in from the side. Killing the farther in ones kills the farther out ones.

(No really I need better names……)