How to create enemies that change directions after bumping into a wall?

Hey everyone.

First off I'm new here, so I apologize if this is the wrong place to post.

I have been working on a little platform game for the past 4 days and I have decided I want to add enemies.

I want to add goombas and have them change directions after they bump into a wall.

I don't want to use a method of using paths and I don't want to place invisible objects in walls that will change the goomba's direction.

And this may sound silly but I'm looking for a method that is mainly based off events for the goomba.

I followed Chris Burrows's Embedded Collision Detectors tutorial and it worked smoothly, but is there another method without Embedded Collision Detectors or attaching Collision Detectors to the goombas?

Thanks

Thanks for commenting!

I tried what you suggested but the bounce option is Please login to see this link..

The goomba is just an Active object with static movement.

I currently have it so if the goomba isn't overlapping a backdrop (the floor), then it will add 1 to the y-position.

Oh I mis-read your reply.

I currently have it so the goomba's x-position is constantly subtracting 1 just for the sake of testing.

Quote from advaith

I mean when the player plays the game, how would the goomba move?

The goomba moves to the left when his direction is set to left.

Quote from N64Mario

Does this tutorial help you any?
Please login to see this link.

Thanks for the comment.

I followed that tutorial and managed to get a goomba working just like in the tutorial.

But I was wondering if there was any other methods as this one just seems too "sketchy" and I feel like there is another method most people use when making such enemies.

Ignore this comment.

Quote from Alexandress

You should look at this tutorial
Please login to see this link.

Thanks for the suggestion, although I did follow that tutorial and didn't really like having to use invisible-blocks at the end of each cliff.

I'm hoping to find another way of switching a goomba's direction

Quote from N64Mario

The only alternative besides wall detectors is to have the enemy set an alterable flag.
Flag 0 Off - Moving Left + Set Dir to <--
Flag 0 On - Moving Right + Set Dir to -->

So do something like this:
- Enemy Flag 0 Off
+ Looking in Dir <--
+ Overlapping wall -> Set Flag On

- Enemy Flag 0 On
+ Looking in Dir -->
+ Overlapping wall -> Set Flag Off

Display More

Thanks a ton for the help.

I did what you recommended and added two lines of events to the goomba to make him not get stuck when landing.

I made it so if the goomba is overlapping a backdrop (the wall/floor), then the game will subtract 1 from the goomba's Y-position.

I made it so if the goomba isn't overlapping a backdrop, then the game will add 1 to the goomba's Y-position.

This allowed the goomba to bounce of walls and walk across a floor even if the wall and floor are the same object.

This worked perfectly, until I made a test level that wasn't just a flat floor.

The goomba's will fall off backdrops (most of the time), but only if they are moving left.

If the goomba's are moving to the right and they get to the ledge of a backdrop, then they will just switch directions instead of falling.

It's hard to describe but I have the .mfa file Please login to see this link. for anyone who would like to check to see if they know a solution.

There are very few events and everything is neat-and-tidy, so don't be scared to check it out.

Quote from Sumo

Here you go I simplified your code and fixed your problem. You had to uncheck fine collision for the goombas in the properties window. I guess the foot animation was getting caught on the ledge edge and it made it switch directions. Turning off fine detection will treat the sprite hitbox like a rectangle.

Thanks so much!

I'm completely fine and happy with how the goombas work now that they move properly so again thanks for the help.

Now one last thing.

I don't want to get too greedy, as I got what I wanted but I was wondering what I would need to do to fix the goombas from moving 1 pixel up and instantly moving one pixel down after they collide with a wall on the left or right of them.

I know why this happens, but I don't know how I'd fix it without destroying the floor collision.

Again thanks for all the help