Nick
The Gambler
A lifetime of drifting from city to city, finding back-alley card games and trying to stay out of jail has taught Nick two valuable lessons: Don’t trust anyone, and look out for number one.
He’d come down to Savannah looking for some gullible fish on the riverboat gambling cruise circuit. Instead he found a city about to be engulfed by infection. Now he finds himself forced together with three complete strangers in a fragile alliance that goes against every instinct he lives by. But he’s going to have to learn to trust them if he wants to survive.
While Nick's general design hasn't changed, there are still some minor changes he went through during development. Nick's earlier appearance can be seen through all eras of Left 4 Dead 2 E3.
Textures
Nick's suit used to be cleaner, showcasing a much brighter shade of white. It's assumed that Valve made the slight change they did in order for his character to properly fit into the environment of the game (swamps, sewers, etc).
Animations
Nick utilized Bill's animations during his E3 appearance, granting him a different posture while in-game.
First-person
Nick used two different versions of view models during the E3 build. The first set of Nick's arms showcased a more flare-like style. The second version looks more compact but with a less-rounded flare towards the end of the sleeve. This second set of view models went obsolete once the new retail view models were later implemented.
First Itteration Viewmodels (Valve Showcase Demo 1)
Second Itteration Viewmodels (E3 Floor Demo)
Did You Know
Nick's face actor, Taymour Ghazi, has stated in a 2024 interview that a face modeling session could take up to almost 8 hours a day. Additionally, there were also sessions where he would have to dress entirely as Nick to ensure the proper data was recorded.
