I've been putting off this post for several days now as I've come to realise that what's left to say about the Strikebreaker isn't particularly interesting to anyone but me (because this blog is all about pleasing everyone else). My obsessive completionist nature however makes me want to prattle on about minor technicalities regardless of the entertainment value said technicalities would have (hint: fairly little). Plus I said I was going to do this anyway. So now that I've wasted an entire paragraph on what is essentially filler let's begin.
Last post I talked about awkwardly elaborate ranged attack on my special infected. This time I shall discuss that melee attack and the infected's aesthetics. That's right, I spent time thinking about the aesthetics of non-existent videogame enemies.
Before I had come up with a ranged attack that left me satisfied, I had the idea of having a special melee attack in addition to a ranged one, because as everyone should know: overly complex concept A + thematically similar but mechanically different, over complex concept B = elegantly simple solution.
So having clearly succeeded in both maths and logic I decided to once more think about sticking it to the corner-camping, melee-spamming survivors. The initial idea was that the melee attack would have a lunge if you were running forward that would knock any survivors it hit on their ass. This idea died the second I realised that a slightly clever player could just lunge a survivor (or group of overlapping survivors), take a few steps back, and repeat till death/rage quit.
Next came the idea that the melee attack would be a generic claw swipe unless the target was meleeing, in which case they would be knocked over (the idea being that the survivors need to brace themselves against the Strikebreaker's unbalancing attack and if they are swinging their gun they are unable to do so). This concept lasted until I became satisfied with the ranged attack at which point I realised this goofy attack was completely unnecessary.
Also, who else is sick of the word 'attack'. Even after trying to limit its usage I'm still annoyed with it frequency.
I initially started thinking of what the Strikebreaker would stylistically be like when I came up with the barb preparation, decided that the infected would make distinct gagging noises as it brought a barb up from its stomach to its throat. Since a projectile-based attacker is still rather threatening and potentially overpowered in Left 4 Dead the infected needed to make a distinctive warning noise constantly. Noises already taken: coughing, crying, feral screams, 'throaty' grunts, belching. It had to be clearly different from the other special infected and preferably unnerving. The answer: laughter, or rather insane giggling.
Leading off this feature, and the fact there's a lot more male than female characters, I figured the infected should be female. To add to its disturbing nature and be visually different pigtails and a (tasteful) dress seemed like a good idea for its appearance. To (hopefully) avoid making something that fits into people's sexual fetishes, the infected nature of the Strikebreaker would obviously have to visibly apparent: a emaciated but lanky form, spines emerging from the arms and back, black bubbling spit oozing out of the mouth etc. Sadly, this would only make it become more of a fetish for some, sigh.
Having now spent time typing up these ideas of mine I've come to realise that at the time I first came up with the Strikebreaker I had probably been playing too much of this:
Which unfortunately just reinforces my fear of creepy fetishes.
Last post I talked about awkwardly elaborate ranged attack on my special infected. This time I shall discuss that melee attack and the infected's aesthetics. That's right, I spent time thinking about the aesthetics of non-existent videogame enemies.
Before I had come up with a ranged attack that left me satisfied, I had the idea of having a special melee attack in addition to a ranged one, because as everyone should know: overly complex concept A + thematically similar but mechanically different, over complex concept B = elegantly simple solution.
So having clearly succeeded in both maths and logic I decided to once more think about sticking it to the corner-camping, melee-spamming survivors. The initial idea was that the melee attack would have a lunge if you were running forward that would knock any survivors it hit on their ass. This idea died the second I realised that a slightly clever player could just lunge a survivor (or group of overlapping survivors), take a few steps back, and repeat till death/rage quit.
Next came the idea that the melee attack would be a generic claw swipe unless the target was meleeing, in which case they would be knocked over (the idea being that the survivors need to brace themselves against the Strikebreaker's unbalancing attack and if they are swinging their gun they are unable to do so). This concept lasted until I became satisfied with the ranged attack at which point I realised this goofy attack was completely unnecessary.
Also, who else is sick of the word 'attack'. Even after trying to limit its usage I'm still annoyed with it frequency.
I initially started thinking of what the Strikebreaker would stylistically be like when I came up with the barb preparation, decided that the infected would make distinct gagging noises as it brought a barb up from its stomach to its throat. Since a projectile-based attacker is still rather threatening and potentially overpowered in Left 4 Dead the infected needed to make a distinctive warning noise constantly. Noises already taken: coughing, crying, feral screams, 'throaty' grunts, belching. It had to be clearly different from the other special infected and preferably unnerving. The answer: laughter, or rather insane giggling.
Leading off this feature, and the fact there's a lot more male than female characters, I figured the infected should be female. To add to its disturbing nature and be visually different pigtails and a (tasteful) dress seemed like a good idea for its appearance. To (hopefully) avoid making something that fits into people's sexual fetishes, the infected nature of the Strikebreaker would obviously have to visibly apparent: a emaciated but lanky form, spines emerging from the arms and back, black bubbling spit oozing out of the mouth etc. Sadly, this would only make it become more of a fetish for some, sigh.
Having now spent time typing up these ideas of mine I've come to realise that at the time I first came up with the Strikebreaker I had probably been playing too much of this:
Which unfortunately just reinforces my fear of creepy fetishes.
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