Alternate (historical) versions of the Technospider (and some other findings)

[MrFlibble]

So @Walter confetti reminded me that there's a section for graphics WADs in idgames database, so I took a plunge and found some very interesting content!

 

Among other things, I found a lot of content created by @LilWhiteMouse, who I remembered contributed a few things to the Freed∞m project. And indeed, one of the monsters by this creator is the Head Hunter, which is basically the alternate version of the Technospider. Here's the comparison:

From left to right, Head Hunter, Technospider (original version) and Technospider (current touched-up version).

 

I decided to look up more contributions by @LilWhiteMouse, and found a larger sprite made from the same model, included in one version of Hellspawn:

I have to note that @LilWhiteMouse has created a lot of very good-looking pre-rendered monsters, all of which seem to be completely original, such as the Hammer Hound, with a larger version found in A New Hellspawn:

There are also other characters, some coming in both small and large varieties (and all fully animated):

I can only wonder why none of these ever ended up being used in either Freed∞m or Blasphemer (or even Zauberer, for that matter). All these have this early 2000s pre-rendered charm too.

Edited June 4, 2024 by MrFlibble