New Specimen - Lunatic

[praxis]

I had this idea some time ago, i have many specimen ideas. This one in particular would possibly require some AI pathing tweaking. 1st off i will give you my visual concept in text. He is a medium sized specimen, with a straight jacket, a leather mask over his face and hair similar to the siren but a bit more shaggy , slightly hunched forward to compliment his animation Which you will understand more if you read on, my vision for this specimen.

Ill explain the pathing: the lunatic is unlike other specimen that only go straight for you when you are in proximity. He can turn and run off after getting some hits in on you. He is rather sporatic so he freaks out and there is no telling what direction or who he will target next.. but seeks the lone man for the advantage & a good zerker annoyer. pulling the zerker away from the squad in a chase at times as he makes crazy sounds..hes insane..completely

the speed difference in movement aside from a charging fp or skrake is pretty much the same for most specimens.. not the lunatic. His sole purpose is to disrupt a fortified or well balanced team of players or antagonise a player that is alone & cause a general distraction amongst the chaos.

So he has the ability to rampantly charge in the general direction of squad members, he doesnt do much damage, he isnt a squad killer. he is more a specimen helper/compliment causing a disruption to allow a openeing or disruption to team tactics. I envision him between a clot and a gorefast and is not a so common zed.. id say as common as a siren maybe a bit less. it is his purpose that is threatening not necessarily his damage.

I suppose you would first encounter him on say wave four but this depends on how his damage is configured aswell as speed.

you can headshot him but its a challenge since he is quiker and wild, you can give chase but he may outrun you or lead you to a mass of specimens

he makes crazy sounds.. he is completely insane. so much so that his attacks are charges, maybe headbutts or bites.. something annoying that makes you want him dead. and if he is around.. you can hear him mumbling insanity, when you are spotted.. he freaks out and here he comes.

there are alot of different specimens that could be incorporated but it has to fit. There are limitations to the AI & its pathing , his is a bit more random seeing as he is crazy . Something like this i think may fit. though i do believe it is far to late for any specimen additions. Its mearly an idea i think would be cool..id love to kill him or chase him down.

Maybe i will be able to take some time and devote it to the lunatic for my own fun. Between projects i currently am knee deep in i am not sure i will have the time.. but i have wanted to do it.

I did see something a while back in forum about differnt color clots.. my suggestion always was not differnt color clots.. but make a few clot skins differnt. give one some scars, one something else.. just for variation.

BTW. this is my 1st forum post.. have owned kf since release on steam.. nvr played the mod.

 

[Deadbolt]

I sort of like the idea but it really makes me think of the jockey in l4d2. Every time you say he's insane and makes weird noises I think of the jockey's laugh and it makes me lol.

Spoiler!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zRQGtnfvH0

 

[HalfDemon]

He is a medium sized specimen, with a straight jacket, a leather mask over his face and hair similar to the siren but a bit more shaggy , slightly hunched forward to compliment his animation

Leather mask? Sounds nice

...but seeks the lone man for the advantage & a good zerker annoyer. pulling the zerker away from the squad in a chase at times...

No. Not happening. Zerk is weak as enough as it is.
Still, the mask is cool.

 

[EricFong]

The more i read, the more that remind me of Jockey.

 

[praxis]

lunatic

lunatic

I actually have not played the 2nd iteration of left for dead. i hear it is a decent game. I just was never really into some of the principals of gameplay of the first left for dead so i skipped on it in favor of my favorite game ofc--killing floor.

the mask i was thinking on is similar to the leather masked guy from slipknot or leatherface. as if somebody tried to silence his banter at one time.
i do beg to differ on the zerker with the commenter above..i absolutely own with it and is by far my most effective perk amongst my lvl 6's which are sharp,support,commando,zerk..ofc (working on medic..geez that requires a ton of heal points) i can go solo with the lvl 6 zerk. i dont need any help not even with crawler mobs..there is a trick

so this left for dead 2 character. what exactly is it and what does it do?
im just not in the know as far as that game goes.

the character design doesnt so much matter as his role amongst the specimen group .. it could be a little deformed ghoul for all i care. like a cross of a clot and crawler.
for some reason i feel there is an empty low health or damage specimen spot..something is missing. thanks for the input. i will consider it for my maya render (purely for artistic purposes for my portfolio)

 

[Deadbolt]

The more i read, the more that remind me of Jockey.

thats exactly what i said! lol

 

[Meltigemini]

I think of Hannibal Lecter just running around the map shouting "Claaaaaaarice...."

 

[CandleJack]

This'd be hell for sharpie, support (maybe) commando (maybe) and maybe medic too.

Demo, and more importantly firebug, wouldn't have that much of a problem.

Berserker IMO sits in the middle of this.

 

[joleBARGE]

hmmm.. i read what you wrote and then i drew this.
maybe that match your vision of the "lunatic". (he is maybe too muscle, because you talked about the siren)

if i fully understand, the lunatic attack with his voice?

i was thinking to something like damage due to a charge that push you back (like the patriarch mele atack, but with far less damage, and on a far less distance)
and can also do some headbuts, with an animation like a mad guy moving all his body up and down ^^

 

[nutterbutter]

Sounds and looks like a male siren that doesn't scream, does the same damage as a clot, and rushes like a gorefast.

Doesn't sound like a threat to any perk. The crazy muttering isn't that big of a deal. Stalkers do that now. The couple hits to a player then running off wouldn't work. Any player that isn't playing their first game would either kill him running towards the player or running away.

9mm would take care of him quickly. No need for a headshot.