An Idea For Some Kind Of Zombie Dropship Boss

[acj2001]

Although I doubt this is necessary/possible right now, I have an idea for a new boss that I've been thinking about for the past several months. I don't remember if I've mentioned anything about it to anyone else beforehand, but it's a boss that can carry ground-bound zombies to high places. You can flesh out this idea in some other way if you want, but this is my take on it in a balanced and playable state.

 

I don't have a solid, simple name for it yet, but for now we'll just call it Deaddropper.

 

Deaddropper would have lots of health, maybe in the 2000-3000 range, but some knockback vulnerability. The more zombies it carries, the slower it gets, and thus the more vulnerable it becomes to knockback. If it's not carrying any zombies, the knockback received would be about the same as Legion. It might also make a loud, looping sound which gets more silent with more zombies, but the pitch would get lower as well. Zombies playing as Deaddropper would have to be stealthy to reach their goals.

 

Deaddropper would be able to carry up to 20 zombies of any kind, from headcrabs to zombines. It would not be able to carry other bosses. Allowing or disallowing boarding would be toggled with the primary attack button. Zombies can embark with F2 or some other key, presuming zombies cannot +USE each other, and disembark at any time with said key or +USE. While embarked, they would be locked "spectating" their carrier until they disembark, reappearing at the carrier's origin and presumably dropping to the ground below. If zombies can even spawn on bosses, it would be impossible to spawn in or on Deaddropper. Any damage taken by their carrier would be completely absorbed, leaving its passengers untouched. Maybe zombies could heal while inside. If the carrier dies, it will explode and kill all zombies inside of it. Deaddropper can eject all of its inhabitants, perhaps by reloading, but this can be easily abused. Maybe trolling with it should be against the rules or something, or forced ejection gets slower as the boss becomes weaker. It's not fun to have someone inside of you against your will

 

Deaddropper could have a rallying equivalent of moaning. Perhaps it could have a situational alarm for when zombies are distracted elsewhere on a big map. Maybe some kind of point_worldhint, or maybe just an alarm sound, but it wouldn't be as necessary on smaller maps with aware zombies.

 

Deaddropper would be a very situational boss with Legion already available. While it can help with some skycades pre-revenant, Legion would surely be a better decision, right? Let's say all the humans could somehow be on top of one of the skyscrapers on gm_construct on Wave 2, zombies arguing that they're cheating (they would probably be right), and Legion cannot get a hit on any of the humans while they outrun it. Deaddropper comes to save the day! The presumed few zombies embark on Deaddropper while they're behind another building, and Deaddropper slowly makes its way to the top, avoiding sniper fire, etc. It manages to reach the top, allowing ghouls, zombies, and headcrabs to get off and surround the fleeing humans. If Legion distracts the snipers during the ascent, or if zombies somehow gain the element of surprise on gm_construct, Deaddropper might actually stand a chance. There can be many other scenarios which would make this useful, such as a heavy zombie assault on a window or a tactical headcrab insertion, or just rallying zombies, but Legion would overshadow most skycade assaults. Other adjustments might need to be made so Legion isn't left in the dark by this boss, or vice versa.

 

As for the model, I don't care. At first I just imagined a large red headcrab using a slower version of its swimming/drowning animation, but it should just look like it can carry something.

 

 

 

Deaddropper

A mutated _______ obliged to carry lots of zombies to high places. (blank space can be headcrab, for example)

 

PRIMARY: Enable/Disable Boarding

SECONDARY: Rally Call

RELOAD: Eject passengers (if necessary)

ON DEATH: Kill all passengers

 

 

 

Again, you can ignore all of this and just flesh out the "carry zombies" part, but this is my take on a balanced dropship boss. It could be hard to code. If someone does actually decides to create something like this, just remember to include support for multiple Deaddroppers. Or only allow one to be alive at any given time.

 

If you have any ideas, or if I'm missing some huge flaws, please share them.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Blixibon

[Kevinyock]

It would be sorta nice but it would also be trollable. I could see people playing this carrying a lot of zombies/bosses and just drop them into the trigger hurt. But It's an interesting concept.

[acj2001]

It would be sorta nice but it would also be trollable. I could see people playing this carrying a lot of zombies/bosses and just drop them into the trigger hurt. But It's an interesting concept.

 

I've thought of a few solutions to this.

• Make trolling with Deaddropper a kickable/bannable offense. It's an obvious resort, but it should still be noted that Deaddropper might very well be used to cross things like a spike floor, so accidents can happen and misunderstandings are possible. This is not a foolproof solution, but it would probably ward off most trolls.
  
• If Deaddropper is killed by a map element like a trigger_hurt while having more than 70% health, teleport all of its passengers back to spawn without killing them. (the health limit is to prevent exploiting)
  
• Remove forced ejection altogether. (I don't recommend this, and this doesn't change the fact they could still run into dangerous objects themselves.)
  
• Only allow forced ejection while the carrier is close to solid ground. (I'm fine with this as long as ejections triggered by individual passengers still fall through regardless of height.)
  
• Don't allow forced ejection if a trigger_hurt is detected directly below at any distance. (this is one of the most practical solutions)
  

​Some of these solutions may not cover as many potential issues as others. For example, Deaddropper trolls might just run into the trigger_hurt directly without the help of forced ejection. If any of these solutions would be used, I recommend using more than one.

 

Don't forget this boss is just an idea until someone qualified deems it possible.

• 
  

Edited March 14, 2017 by Blixibon

[Kevinyock]

I've thought of a few solutions to this.

• Make trolling with Deaddropper a kickable/bannable offense. It's an obvious resort, but it should still be noted that Deaddropper might very well be used to cross things like a spike floor, so accidents can happen and misunderstandings are possible. This is not a foolproof solution, but it would probably ward off most trolls.
  
• If Deaddropper is killed by a map element like a trigger_hurt while having more than 70% health, teleport all of its passengers back to spawn without killing them. (the health limit is to prevent exploiting)
  
• Remove forced ejection altogether. (I don't recommend this, and this doesn't change the fact they could still run into dangerous objects themselves.)
  
• Only allow forced ejection while the carrier is close to solid ground. (I'm fine with this as long as ejections triggered by individual passengers still fall through regardless of height.)
  
• Don't allow forced ejection if a trigger_hurt is detected directly below at any distance. (this is one of the most practical solutions)
  

​Some of these solutions may not cover as many potential issues as others. For example, Deaddropper trolls might just run into the trigger_hurt directly without the help of forced ejection. If any of these solutions would be used, I recommend using more than one.

 

Don't forget this boss is just an idea until someone qualified deems it possible.

• 
  

 

Trolling bosses are already a kickable offense(as they fall under the same category as troll spawn or troll boss. I think it would be a better idea if the zombies are the only one that have the choice of leaving rather than forced ejection(exception is if the boss is killed). Plus people are not as likely to be afk on the dropper as they just afk when they just spawned.

[acj2001]

Trolling bosses are already a kickable offense(as they fall under the same category as troll spawn or troll boss. I think it would be a better idea if the zombies are the only one that have the choice of leaving rather than forced ejection(exception is if the boss is killed). Plus people are not as likely to be afk on the dropper as they just afk when they just spawned.

I was thinking forced ejection would be used for things like dropping a concentrated amount of zombies into one spot or getting rid of people you don't want inside of you, but seeing it from that perspective doesn't make it as important as I thought it would be.

 

I guess that means no forced ejection.

[braided_a]

I find that adding any new content that has the possibility to be used for trolling has a grey area when it come to banning, eg. some new guy gets this boss, accidentally kills everyone, get mass reported and admins have to take the time to determine if he did it on purpose or not. Banning/punishing him gets a bad first experience for newbie, he gets a bad first impression, and not banning him results in everyone complaining, people leaving.

 

If its very well thought out, not just implemented immediately, i could see this working. If not, its not that its a bad idea, I'm liking the concept, its that its a potential hassle, and would get voted off the server soon enough anyway.

Edited March 25, 2017 by braided_asshair