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Monsters
Thought I'd start a thread on this, it could have gone in Gameplay Potential, but this is more specific.

What are the favoured special abilities for monsters to have?

Shield
Homing shots
poison
wall / ceiling climbing
leaping
explosive death
ressurection
cannabalism
spawning / cloning
Teleportation
Dodging

That's off the top of my head, anyone have any other cool ideas or concepts?

And what new abilties could the old monsters have - like Scrags that change to swimming if they enter water (thanks text_fish) or an Ogre that pisses on the player after killing them (thanks Romero).
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Textured Octopus-insularis 
 
they just get cool-er don't they :) 
Collision 
Octopus-Insularis is an octopus Darwin had not found and seems to be one of earth's not yet discovered species.Insularis =>island
I gave it a better collision, so it looks more comfartable.

http://members.home.nl/gimli/crab03.gif 
 
that's a nice skin madfox. also, the movement is really quite hypnotic... -notic... -notic... 
 
That model kicks ass. Would it be possible to make its normal movement go up and down like a wave? So the end movement line would look like a sinus. That would make its appareance like an outworldly jellyfish (sounds silly, I hope you understand what I mean). 
 
sine seems like to much of a natural wave form

make it sawtooth with decay all the way down and cut off all the way up 
 
i'd do the up and down movement with qc instead of animating it. that way, it will jump less when it transitions to pain and attacking frames. 
Further 
I'd second what necros said, and also add that even the rotation portion of the animation should be taken to the qc side, for the same reasons. 
Spongebob 
I was supposing the half-quarter turn would bring it almost invisible back to its startframe, but somehow the frames keep going a turn back.

I could make it bend, and although I made it as high as the normal player, while flying it stays up in the air. Which gives a strange sight in pain frames getting up again.

That movement and animation should go into the qc seems right to me, although I can hardly position it there.

http://members.home.nl/gimli/crab04.gif 
MadFox 
It looks more like a Jellyfish rather than a crab... but I like this odd monster !! 
Thanks! 
Took some time before I understood the skinfile, it seems the arms have for and backsize.
Colours of the inside are too bright, concerning the shaded shape of the thing.

I have no idea where its aiming at.
Someone called it a good watermonster, but movements in that environnement are rather dull.

One of its attack should be a lemmon squeezer headjump.
Don't know which jelly will be the crab. 
If I May Interject 
This very new Quake fan has got some relatively (IMO) good ideas for enemies. (I like the jellyfish, by the way.)

I'd like to see an enemy that can crawl on walls and ceilings. I'm seeing a slug-like thing. In my opinion it'd have quick, quiet ranged attacks, blend in with general quake scenery, but move slowly. (Perhaps it can move faster if the player retaliates, since by then they'll have a bead on it? Maybe speed inversely proportional to health?)

A very easy-to-kill melee enemy with extreme speed, teleportation and medium damage. I'm seeing something like a hyperactive low-health slightly-lower-damage fiend that can "blink" around. Health would be about 1.5 full SSG blasts, but the speed of the enemy in question (perhaps combined with a love for circle-strafing?) would ensure this wouldn't be an easy task to lay on it.

As Necros earlier suggested, a "turret" enemy would be great. I don't honestly have any suggestions here, but I see something sort of like the Acid Spitters of Diablo 1. That would present an additional danger, because you'd have to be mindful of the residue of dodged attacks as well as new attacks coming at you.

I think there needs to be a medium-range extreme danger. Something which practically spells game over if you're in a very small, very specific range, but which is practically useless at either melee or long ranges. It'd have medium-fast speed -- not as fast as the Drole or the Fiend, but fast enough that it could get into that deadly-range if the player isn't careful. Examples that come to mind are the fetish shamans of Diablo II, whose inferno spell is a death sentence (in my experience). Possibly a "hell hound"? Suitably Quakeified, of course.

I'd make these myself, but I'm only a designer, not a modeller or an animator.

If anyone wants more suggestions... Well, I work in the game design field, so I can come up with enough ideas to fill a small automobile. Just ask.

-Caitie 
 
This is the worst spam bot yet by far!








(As I have learned from previous newcomers to the community, I will add that my comment was in jest, and welcome to our little shrine to Quake.) 
And 
Learn modelling and coding :D 
I Would, Ijed.... Buuut 
I learn best in a very specific fashion that's (to the best of my knowledge) impossible to do with models. I COULD conceivably learn maps and coding, but that'd require someone willing to get me started.

I learn best by picking apart a small number of simple (but complete) examples that cover pretty much everything I need to know, along with having someone to pester about things I don't quite get. Modelling doesn't work for this because models look like they're all one big piece -- which doesn't work with the method I use.

Hate to be picky about how I learn and all, but when that way of learning is the difference between 3 days and 3 years, it matters.

Also, thanks for the welcome. Click here for free Viagra sample clearlyfakeurl.com

--Caitie 
 
Yes, but if you just want to get a monster into the game to test it ... make a cube with a single frame of animation. Done. Now you can play with QuakeC (referencing the existing monster code) to your heart's content. Just a tip. :) 
Hmm 
zomg, a disclaimer Zwiffle? Clearly over the line ;p 
 
Goddamn it there's no viagra at that url :(

hax 
 
I'll code the Insularis with a free headjump with Necro's suggestion headcrab poison, followed with a bud-jump with free Viagra samples.

I wonder which side's the strongest? 
Monsters 
I personally like monsters that do different things. I think I have become jaded on monsters that are just hit points and ammo.

One reason I like L4D is because the special infected aren't just guys that shoot at you - they play so outside-the-norm that it's a refreshing change of pace. They actually DO something different than run and shoot, and there is some strategy in how to handle them and play as them. The Jockey/Boomer both use the hordes of zombies in slightly different and unique ways, the Charger is a different sort of fast character than the Hunter, the Smoker and Spitter are also different yet provide great ranged support.

The humans on the other hand are familiar to play with, but really are just kind of boring.

I can come up with other examples of neat enemies such as the Archvile from Doom, the Medic (Doctor?) from Quake 2 that revived dead enemies, or the Pain Elemental which spawned Lost Souls. I would be more interested in things like that which provide some elements of different ways of thinking about the combat. 
Oh Man 
That would be a cool feature to put in a certain community Quake 1 mod which is in the works ATM:

A medic-grunt who can revive downed enemies 
 
I don't think it would work in Quake. The doctor would be dead in seconds - he'd never reach a downed enemy. 
Shubling 
This idea is somewhat related to what Zwiffle said...

I once thought that the scattered gibs of Shubby could turn into smaller, bud-like forms of the Hell Mother -- but with little nubs for tentacles -- still lacking movement and having only the defensive ability to repel non-melee attacks, leaving the Quake axe or the Quoth hammer as the only effective weapons against it. In combat, it would give an added "push" to grenades / nails / rockets / monsters in its vicinity causing extra unpredictability in already tense fighting situations.

Or maybe something similar to a Shrieker in Dungeons and Dragons: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/alumni_shrieker1st.jpg 
Perhaps A Midevil Apothecary 
Something like a HellKnight or a DeathLord or something. Imagine an enemy with a crazy projectile attack, like fireballs or something, some sort cool coat and armour, and also a savage mele attack.

A room with a hoard of Knights that could be easily taken down, and then two fo these Apothecarys turn up, and whilst you battle one, the other has healing the downed knights as a higher priority than attacking you. 
I Like The Apothecary Idea 
I'd like to suggest that the apothecary get an appropriate weapon, probably a polearm as those are large enough to be memorable in close combat. Probably a scythe or lochaber axe, the lochaber axe being preferred if the apothecary is supposed to be good at combat.

The crazy projectile attack should serve the purpose of suppression. If one is trying to give the other time to revive enemies, then make that attack more of a "threat" than an actual danger. It'll be easy to avoid but only if you stay the hell away. If you start getting close and it does that attack, you can expect to be damaged severely. (Unless, of course, you can close the distance fast enough to get it into melee.)

Melee should, IMO, be a combo attack to make shambler-dancing possible but either risky or with awkward timing (depending on the risks the player is willing to take).

Lastly, I'd like to say they should be exceptionally weak to melee. That's your ticket to killing the bastards, an axe in the face. That would make them fearsome, but not a total hindrance to someone willing to take the risk of some damage.

I really do enjoy the idea of armor under a long coat, maybe with a hood too (sort of like the Necromancer of Hexen 2).

Of course, these are all just suggestions, albeit exceptionally in-depth ones, for an idea that doesn't even belong to me. Hope Ricky doesn't mind that I sprinted away with the concept so fast that we crossed the Pacific in ten minutes. (If you do, sorry.) 
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