[Infested]Vent crawlers

[sir_deadlock]

Something I imagine could be done, but hasn't really been explored.

 Okay, this is a really simple idea that's been done a ton of times before in other places.

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You hear something from above you in the vents. You take your rifle and prod the vent. *clang clang clang*

A loud shriek emits from the vent. Something starts to bang on it from the inside, denting the metal. As the supports give way, the vent falls apart and a decaying body covered in pustules common with the infestation hangs, snagged on the jagged sheared metal. It's dead. Been dead for a long time. As dead as the infested get, anyway. That doesn't stop it from shrieking with the fully might the gas bladder in its chest will afford. It claws down at you, hopelessly out of reach. It's shocking, but more pathetic than anything else.

 Pointing your rifle up at the creature that used to be a person, you take flawless aim at the nerve center, of which critical damage to its muscles controller should disable the body.

Just then you hear a bang from behind the wall...

Another bang from the other side...

A shriek comes from down the hall...

A vent beside you bursts open and a charger rears up, threatening to attack. You fire at it as three more pile out of the vent.

Above you a number of crawlers plop out of the broken vent with a splat as they hit the floor. The first one disables itself with a snapped spine, but its mouth moves, shrieking into your imagination. The next lands on the one before it, sustaining the fall thanks to the cushioned landing. Somewhere along the way, the hanging body began to shred. The decayed pustule ridden body, unable to hold fast under the weight, separated from itself and joined the group forming ranks on the floor. The disembodied torsos move towards you one arm's grasp at a time, spilling vile liquids from their mouths as they go. In their eyes, if they were alive, it would almost look like they were begging for help... You'll help them *bang! bang! bang!* you fire into the group on the side, downing them and creating a hole. You run to the wall and bound across it to get by. As you rush away, your empty shells hit the floor. The ammo just seems to appear in your grasp as you reload. You look back and take aim. Then you hear it. The click of nails running in the vents above. Just ahead of you the vent breaks and a deformed hand falls through; it's stuck. You swing the rifle around back to the front and fire along the vent. Something inside explodes. The vent bursts open, spilling the bloody remnants of multiple bodies onto the floor.

Keep running.

 As you reach the docking bay, your ship's crew has already opened fire. A charger rolls in front of the ramp and shrieks. You shoot it and shove it aside with a kick. The ship's ramp raises and you take off. A few bodies drip on top of the craft, but get incinerated by automated cleaner droids. Looking out the window, you see the infested reaching out to you through the vents, pouring out to see you off.

 In your head, you hear the unmistakable group mind voice of the infested "thanks for the visit. Come back soon. We miss you."

Edited September 2, 2019 by sir_deadlock
spelling and grammar

[Lukarith]

I like the idea. It seems like a mini-boss/mini-games style situation. I don't think that kind of movement is well supported by a lot of the tile set design currently, as most vents and pipes are only 20-40 meter long, usually pretty straight and for some reason are wide enough that you can bullet jump over most enemies. The derilict tiles that Empyrium is introducing would probably a good place to introduce a new tunnel type that would be more maze like. Treat it like a challenge room from elsewhere in the game. 

[sir_deadlock]

32 minutes ago, Lukarith said:

The derilict tiles that Empyrium is introducing would probably a good place to introduce a new tunnel type that would be more maze like.

Oh.... OOOOoooh boy! My friend, you said the magic word! 😄

Okay, this game actually already could have tunnel and sewer maps if only they'd implement minor cosmetic changes and bottleneck variety for RNG. Notably, the frost world connection tube tunnel tiles. Perfect sewer system. Slightly modify a few bits from the grineer ship yard tile sets and we could have long stretching RNG race tracks. I imagined this being a fun possibility for a k-drive friendly mission to just have a bunch of pipes hooked up to each other, maybe a few random speed ramps and stop gates. It'd practically be like Battletoads jet ski levels. But that's off topic...

The main inspiration for this, if I'm being honest, was the barnacles from Half-Life. Their mechanic is to lay in wait for players passing underneath. My idea for implementation was to take sections of existing cosmetic vents and ducts and import a vulnerable section with a blacked out spawn point behind it. That's really the main practical purpose of the thing, a practical somewhat hidden and jump-scarey spawn point that players aren't going to be able to get into or disrupt the believability that there could be another one coming out of there.

Did you know that one of the thoughtful mechanics DE eventually developed for Warframe was making it so that enemies would not spawn in occupied rooms? They need to find a place the players can't see; like a superman's telephone booth.