#114: the enemy bomber flies, and its bombs arrive

It was a siege piece that crept at 20px/s and lobbed a shell taking five
seconds to cross the gap. That read as a thing that was stuck rather than a
thing that was dangerous: by the time a shell landed the fleet had wandered
off, and the tower was still approaching.

It now moves at 150px/s, faces where it is going, and its bombs travel at
460 - fast enough to arrive while the target is roughly where it was aimed,
slow enough that the impact cross is a warning rather than a formality.

The hull is a bomber rather than a lumpy octagon: swept wings, a short
fuselage, a bay under it. The bomb has fins and a hot core down its smoke
trail, and the blast throws real debris - a BombBlastVFX built from the same
LightBurstVFX as every other explosion, plus a second ring chasing the first
outwards and a white flash that is gone almost at once.

It also bombs what the player has BUILT, through the shared targeting rather
than the fleet alone, and its blast damages structures - it had been asking
Fleet directly and hitting only player_ships, which was already out of step
with #101.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

enemies/ArtilleryEnemyDefinition.tres

@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ script = ExtResource("1")
 enemy_id = "artillery"
 display_name = "Artillery"
 max_hp = 8
-speed = 90.0
+speed = 215.0
-acceleration = 180.0
+acceleration = 390.0
-rotation_speed = 3.0
+rotation_speed = 4.2
-hull_points = PackedVector2Array(0, -30, 14, -22, 16, -6, 26, 2, 22, 18, 10, 26, -10, 26, -22, 18, -26, 2, -16, -6, -14, -22)
+hull_points = PackedVector2Array(0, -34, 7, -18, 34, -4, 40, 8, 20, 6, 12, 20, 4, 28, -4, 28, -12, 20, -20, 6, -40, 8, -34, -4, -7, -18)
 glow_color = Color(1.0, 0.5, 0.2, 1)
-detail_lines = PackedVector2Array(-14, -20, 14, -20,  -12, 6, -20, 16,  12, 6, 20, 16,  0, -22, 0, 6)
+detail_lines = PackedVector2Array(0, -30, 0, 22,  -20, 4, 20, 4,  -30, 0, -30, 6,  30, 0, 30, 6,  -9, 12, 9, 12)
-detail_rings = PackedVector2Array(0, -20, 8, 0)
+detail_rings = PackedVector2Array(0, 14, 9, 0,  0, -16, 5, 0)
 component_scenes = Array[PackedScene]([ExtResource("2")])
 contact_damage = 6

enemies/ArtilleryShell.gd

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ signal finished
 # SEE coming and the cross marking where it will land. There used to be a
 # 1.8s charge-up before anything left the barrel, which arrived long before
 # the threat was legible and mostly read as the tower being stuck.
-@export var shell_speed: float = 180.0
+@export var shell_speed: float = 460.0
 @export var aoe_radius: float = 220.0
 @export var damage: int = 3
 @export var color: Color = Color(1.0, 0.5, 0.2)
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@ const EXPLOSION_DURATION: float = 0.8
 # already says that something is coming. A full blast-radius ring here read
 # as an attack that had already happened.
 const IMPACT_CROSS_RADIUS: float = 20.0
+# #114: the blast throws real debris now. The ring alone read as a decal
+# being stamped on the map; a burst gives the moment some weight, and it is
+# the same LightBurstVFX every other explosion in the game is built from.
+const BLAST_VFX = preload("res://vfx/BombBlastVFX.gd")
+# Fins on the falling bomb, so it reads as an object with a direction rather
+# than a travelling dot.
+const FIN_LENGTH: float = 13.0
 
 var phase: int = Phase.TRAVELING
 var target: Vector2 = Vector2.ZERO
@@ -78,9 +85,16 @@ func _explode() -> void:
 	phase = Phase.EXPLODING
 	explosion_time = EXPLOSION_DURATION
 	position = target
+	BLAST_VFX.spawn(get_tree().root, target, color)
 	for ship in get_tree().get_nodes_in_group("player_ships"):
 		if is_instance_valid(ship) and ship.global_position.distance_to(target) <= aoe_radius:
 			ship.take_damage(damage)
+	# #101: a bomb does not care whether what it landed on flies. The hitbox
+	# is a child Area2D of the Building, which is a plain Node2D and would
+	# otherwise be unhittable.
+	for hitbox in get_tree().get_nodes_in_group("player_buildings"):
+		if is_instance_valid(hitbox) and hitbox.global_position.distance_to(target) <= aoe_radius:
+			hitbox.take_damage(damage)
 
 
 func _draw() -> void:
@@ -91,14 +105,34 @@ func _draw() -> void:
 			_draw_impact_cross(target - shell_pos)
 			for i in range(1, trail.size()):
 				var alpha: float = float(i) / trail.size()
-				draw_line(trail[i - 1] - shell_pos, trail[i] - shell_pos, Color(color, alpha * 0.6), 5.0, true)
+				draw_line(trail[i - 1] - shell_pos, trail[i] - shell_pos,
+					Color(color, alpha * 0.6), 5.0, true)
+				# A hot core down the middle of the smoke, brightest at the
+				# bomb itself.
+				draw_line(trail[i - 1] - shell_pos, trail[i] - shell_pos,
+					Color(1.0, 0.94, 0.86, alpha * 0.5), 1.6, true)
 			draw_circle(Vector2.ZERO, 14.0, Color(color, 0.35))
+			# Fins, laid across the direction of travel.
+			var heading: Vector2 = (target - shell_pos)
+			heading = heading.normalized() if heading.length() > 0.001 else Vector2.DOWN
+			var across: Vector2 = Vector2(-heading.y, heading.x) * FIN_LENGTH * 0.55
+			var tail: Vector2 = -heading * FIN_LENGTH
+			NeonDraw.draw_glowing_line(self, tail - across, tail + across, color, 0.9, 0.4)
+			NeonDraw.draw_glowing_line(self, tail, heading * 6.0, color, 0.9, 0.45)
 			NeonDraw.draw_glowing_circle(self, Vector2.ZERO, 8.0, color, 1.0)
 		Phase.EXPLODING:
 			var eprogress: float = 1.0 - explosion_time / EXPLOSION_DURATION
 			var eradius: float = lerpf(30.0, aoe_radius, minf(eprogress * 1.5, 1.0))
 			draw_circle(Vector2.ZERO, eradius, Color(color, (1.0 - eprogress) * 0.18))
 			_draw_ring(eradius, 1.0 - eprogress)
+			# A second ring chasing the first outwards, and a white flash
+			# that is gone almost at once - the two together are what make a
+			# blast read as a shock rather than a circle growing.
+			if eprogress < 0.55:
+				_draw_ring(eradius * 0.62, (0.55 - eprogress) * 1.6)
+			if eprogress < 0.18:
+				draw_circle(Vector2.ZERO, eradius * 0.7,
+					Color(1.0, 0.95, 0.88, (0.18 - eprogress) * 3.0))
 
 
 # A small cross where the shell will land, plus a dot at the exact point.

enemies/EnemyArtilleryComponent.gd

@@ -1,20 +1,32 @@
 class_name EnemyArtilleryComponent
 extends Node
 
-# Stationary siege piece: drifts slowly toward the fleet (deliberately no
+# The bomber: it moves to where its bombs will land and drops them there.
-# pursuit component - closing distance is incidental, not its purpose) and
+#
-# fires a slow, clearly visible AOE shell on a long cooldown via a
+# #114 turned it from a siege piece into an aircraft. It used to creep at
-# standalone ArtilleryShell, so an already-launched shot survives this
+# 20px/s and lob a shell that took five seconds to arrive, which read as a
-# enemy dying mid-flight, same as EnemyProjectile/Projectile already do.
+# thing that was stuck rather than a thing that was dangerous - by the time
+# a shell landed the fleet had wandered off, and the tower was still
+# approaching. It now flies at its own speed and its bombs travel at 460.
+#
+# The shell is still a standalone ArtilleryShell added to the root, so an
+# already-dropped bomb survives this enemy dying mid-flight, same as
+# EnemyProjectile/Projectile already do.
 
 var capability_id: String = "artillery"
 
-@export var fire_cooldown: float = 6.0
+@export var fire_cooldown: float = 4.0
 @export var fire_range: float = 900.0
-@export var shell_speed: float = 180.0
+# #114: fast enough that the bomb arrives while the target is still roughly
+# where it was aimed, and slow enough that the impact cross is a warning
+# rather than a formality.
+@export var shell_speed: float = 460.0
 @export var aoe_radius: float = 220.0
 @export var damage: int = 3
-@export var drift_speed: float = 20.0
+# It flies now rather than creeping. Kept as its own number rather than the
+# definition's `speed` so a run-in can be deliberately slower than a chaser's
+# top speed without making the hull slow.
+@export var drift_speed: float = 150.0
 @export var color: Color = Color(1.0, 0.5, 0.2)
 
 var cooldown_left: float = 0.0
@@ -29,10 +41,12 @@ func tick(delta: float) -> void:
 	if cooldown_left > 0.0:
 		return
 
-	var fleet: Node2D = get_tree().get_first_node_in_group("player_fleet")
+	# #101/#113: it bombs what the player has BUILT as readily as what they
-	if fleet == null or fleet.ships.is_empty():
+	# are flying, and asks the shared targeting rather than the fleet alone.
+	var target: Node2D = EnemyTargets.nearest_target(self, enemy.global_position)
+	if target == null:
 		return
-	var centroid: Vector2 = fleet.get_centroid()
+	var centroid: Vector2 = target.global_position
 	if enemy.global_position.distance_to(centroid) > fire_range:
 		return
 
@@ -47,18 +61,22 @@ func tick(delta: float) -> void:
 
 
 func _drift(enemy: Node2D, delta: float) -> void:
-	# Local position throughout, same convention as EnemyPursuitComponent/
+	var target: Node2D = EnemyTargets.nearest_target(self, enemy.global_position)
-	# EnemyStandoffComponent: valid as long as the enemy's container and
+	if target == null:
-	# Fleet share a common origin, which every scene in this project does.
-	var fleet: Node2D = get_tree().get_first_node_in_group("player_fleet")
-	if fleet == null or fleet.ships.is_empty():
 		return
-	var to_fleet: Vector2 = fleet.get_centroid() - enemy.position
+	var to_target: Vector2 = target.global_position - enemy.global_position
-	# #69: gated by the same fire_range it already shells within, rather
+	var distance: float = to_target.length()
-	# than a second tunable that could drift out of sync - outside its own
+	if distance < 1.0:
-	# firing envelope it has nothing to be drifting toward yet.
-	if to_fleet.length() > fire_range:
 		return
-	if to_fleet.length() < 1.0:
+	# #69: gated by the same fire_range it already bombs within, rather than
+	# a second tunable that could drift out of sync - outside its own firing
+	# envelope it has nothing to be flying toward yet. #113: unless it came
+	# in with a wave, in which case it has somewhere to be.
+	if distance > fire_range and not EnemyTargets.ignores_range(enemy):
 		return
-	enemy.position += to_fleet.normalized() * drift_speed * delta
+	var heading: Vector2 = to_target / distance
+	enemy.global_position += heading * drift_speed * delta
+	# #114: it faces where it is going. A bomber that flew sideways was most
+	# of why the old one read as scenery being nudged along.
+	enemy.rotation = lerp_angle(enemy.rotation, heading.angle() + PI / 2.0,
+		enemy.rotation_speed * delta)

vfx/BombBlastVFX.gd

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+class_name BombBlastVFX
+extends LightBurstVFX
+
+
+func _init() -> void:
+	# #114: the bomber's blast. Between a hull going up and a structure
+	# coming down - it is the biggest thing an enemy can do to the player
+	# without destroying anything outright, and it should land like it.
+	color = Color(1.0, 0.5, 0.2)
+	particle_count = 26
+	lifetime = 0.8
+	min_speed = 140.0
+	max_speed = 520.0
+	shockwave_radius = 150.0
+	shockwave_color = Color(1.0, 0.78, 0.4)
+
+
+# Takes the colour from the shell that threw it, so a bomber recoloured in
+# its definition does not explode in the default orange.
+static func spawn(parent: Node, world_position: Vector2,
+		blast_color: Color = Color(1.0, 0.5, 0.2)) -> void:
+	var vfx: BombBlastVFX = BombBlastVFX.new()
+	vfx.position = world_position
+	vfx.color = blast_color
+	vfx.shockwave_color = blast_color.lerp(Color(1.0, 0.95, 0.8), 0.45)
+	parent.add_child(vfx)