We'll go ahead and say that this is going to be a fantastic news piece. Walking_Target, a member of the Steampowered forums and co-founder of the lovely Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group, is now accusing Valve of stealing his idea for the Spitter. Oh yes, if it's not one thing it's another.
Bits, Bytes, Pixels, and Sprites ran a quick article about how Valve allegedly stole the idea for the Spitter. Apparently, Walking_Target made a thread on the Steampowered forums back on May 31 of this year. His post contained the following with regards to a creature similar in nature to Valve's own Spitter.
Admittedly, while the author of the news piece at BBPS comes off as the biggest blowhard on the Internet, it does bring up an interesting point. Do you believe Valve either intentionally or unintentionally "ripped off" the idea for the Spitter?
Bits, Bytes, Pixels, and Sprites ran a quick article about how Valve allegedly stole the idea for the Spitter. Apparently, Walking_Target made a thread on the Steampowered forums back on May 31 of this year. His post contained the following with regards to a creature similar in nature to Valve's own Spitter.
Concept: an SI capable of lobbing a fair size glob of 'saliva' on an arcing path; at maximum (45* angle) on flat terrain, this glob of spit would travel roughly the same distance as a smoker's tongue. Obviously, if the spitter has a better vantage point they can lob their projectile a fair distance further. To make this 'fair' the spitter would have to charge the attack up (holding down mouse 1 or something similar) for a predetermined length of time, and like a boomer, even an unsuccessful attack ends up in a 20-30 second (more or less) recharge of the ability, so it cannot be spammed. Furthermore, like Survivor's weapons, movement would impair aim for the SI player. Obviously, this would have to be play tested for balance.
The Spitter would have health in the area of the hunter, but have movement speed similar or less than that of a smoker. As for helping the survivor find it, a 'slurping' noise when moving (i personally envision the sound you make when your mouth is full of freezing from the dentist...) and a very loud 'hocking a loogie' noise when the Spitter 'fires'.
Possible effects of getting "slimed" or "goober'd": The best that myself and my friend came up with was to have vision impaired in a similar fashion to a boomer attack, however getting hit would reduce movement speed for 3-8 seconds and cause low damage (3-5hp). A possible interesting mechanic would be to have a further 1-10 hp worth of damage caused by moving while under the effects of the Spitter's ability. When discussing how much a survivor would be slowed, it was decided that 'green' and 'yellow' health level survivors would be slowed to a 'red' health level run and that 'red' health level survivors would be slowed to a 'crouch' level slow walk, or roughly half the speed of a 'red' health level run.
This means that it is possible to 'blind' a survivor and impair their movement, but cause relatively low damage.
The Spitter would have health in the area of the hunter, but have movement speed similar or less than that of a smoker. As for helping the survivor find it, a 'slurping' noise when moving (i personally envision the sound you make when your mouth is full of freezing from the dentist...) and a very loud 'hocking a loogie' noise when the Spitter 'fires'.
Possible effects of getting "slimed" or "goober'd": The best that myself and my friend came up with was to have vision impaired in a similar fashion to a boomer attack, however getting hit would reduce movement speed for 3-8 seconds and cause low damage (3-5hp). A possible interesting mechanic would be to have a further 1-10 hp worth of damage caused by moving while under the effects of the Spitter's ability. When discussing how much a survivor would be slowed, it was decided that 'green' and 'yellow' health level survivors would be slowed to a 'red' health level run and that 'red' health level survivors would be slowed to a 'crouch' level slow walk, or roughly half the speed of a 'red' health level run.
This means that it is possible to 'blind' a survivor and impair their movement, but cause relatively low damage.
Admittedly, while the author of the news piece at BBPS comes off as the biggest blowhard on the Internet, it does bring up an interesting point. Do you believe Valve either intentionally or unintentionally "ripped off" the idea for the Spitter?
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