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Viewing Category: Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2 Announced, Coming this November
Posted @ 12:19 PM, June 1 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

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Microsoft just announced in their E3 Press Conference, Left 4 Dead 2. Coming November 17th on PC and XBox 360

L4D2 promises to set a new benchmark for co-operative action games and become one of 2009's marquee titles.

The game will introduce AI Director 2.0 taking L4D's dynamic gameplay to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance.
With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games.
The game will feature new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and melee combat with items such as a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat, and more. Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.

Left 4 Dead 2 is targeted for release on Xbox 360 and the PC on November 17, 2009. Press-release after the break. [Read More...]
Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools Now Available
Posted @ 8:03 PM, May 15 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

The beta of the Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools are now available to the public, free for all the owners of the PC version of Left 4 Dead.

l4d1 l4d2 l4d3

Here's what's included:
  • Updated version of Hammer, the source level editor
  • Updated suite of command line compiling utilities
  • Updated Particle editor
  • Updated Faceposer
  • Example maps, common infected, props, and explosives
This release also feature a pair of plug-ins for SketchUp (a 3D modeling program you may download for free). These plug-ins gives you the ability to create building blocks and props that can be imported into Hammer for use in game levels.

The matchmaking system will be updated in a few weeks to allow users to play those new maps and campaigns.
Our plan is to release a beta of the Authoring Tools now so the community can start working on maps in the full environment. In a few weeks we will then release the updated match making to allow users to play those new maps and campaigns.
Left 4 Dead Stats Live & 40% Weekend Deal
Posted @ 12:07 PM, May 1 2009, By: Hectic Glenn In Left 4 Dead

Firstly, Left 4 Dead is the subject of this weekends deal, being offered at a 40% discount, bringing it down to $24 | £16. If you want to try before you buy, don't forget Left 4 Dead is free for 24 hours today.

Yes, you heard right, the L4D stats system is back up and live (after a bit of a failure on the first launch). It seems the bugs have been ironed out, and luckily stats have been recorded since 12/12/08 with weapons stats tracking beginning 2/11/09. The stats are split into: Overview, Weapons, Versus and Survival.
You can also use your stats page to compare your statistics against other players, giving you a quick and easy way to see how your accomplishments measure up to your friends and find players at your own skill level. You can also track negative statistics (like damage dealt to other teammates, for example), giving you a good idea of which players to avoid
You can access your stats from the Community tab in Steam. See further information about the new stats system on the latest L4D blog post.

Left 4 Dead Free Friday
Posted @ 6:28 PM, April 29 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

This Friday Left 4 Dead will be available for a free 24-hour trial via Steam, this will include the recently released Survival Pack DLC.

The trial will begin on Friday at 12:01 am GMT (7:01 pm EST Thursday). So why don't you pre-load everything needed to play now and get ready for this Freaky Friday.
Left 4 Dead Update Released
Posted @ 7:13 AM, April 28 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

A new Left 4 Dead update has been released yesterday.
  • Removed a survival related command exploit
  • Achievements with multiple critera can now be expanded to show progress
  • mp_gamemode is now included with other console variables for server logging
I'm sure everyone downloaded the update by now.
Left 4 Dead Update Released
Posted @ 5:45 PM, April 23 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

A new Left 4 Dead update has been released.

Survival Mode Changes
  • Darkened the Lighthouse background movie and increased the contrast with the user interface elements
  • Chapter selection is now available when creating a Survival lobby
  • Single player coop now works correctly after playing Survival online
  • The correct game mode will be set when playing back a demo
  • Changed holdout server spew to be development only
  • Stats are no longer updated while viewing a demo
  • Correctly update the leaderboard based on the player's personal time, not the team best time
  • Show the player's best time in the scoreboard
  • Removed Survival exploits from The Terminal, Last Stand, The Crane, The Boathouse and The Warehouse
  • Fixed tanks sometimes not spawning after 15-20 minutes
Valve Pleased With Left 4 Dead DLC Reception
Posted @ 2:57 AM, April 23 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

gabe_newell_pleased

It looks like the Left 4 Dead Survival Pack DLC Reception has been positive and that Valve is "Pleased" with the initial performance of the Left 4 Dead Survival Pack DLC.
… From what we’ve seen on the forums, in the press, and the gamers we met on public servers this morning, folks seem to be enjoying it so far,” he said. “Meanwhile, the concurrent player numbers are already up from their recent averages. So positive indicators thus far.
“Releasing new content free of charge has made sense to us on many occasions,” explained Lombardi. “We have, however, released commercial add on packs and new episodes in the past. We evaluate these decisions on a case-by-case basis. The Survival Pack was a case where we felt like it made a lot of sense for the product and community to make it available free of charge to both Xbox 360 and PC customers and we were able to work through that plan with Microsoft.”
Lombardi also said that Left 4 Dead won’t be turning up on PlayStation 3 any time soon.
Left 4 Dead Survival Pack Now Available on Xbox 360
Posted @ 5:37 AM, April 21 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

The Left 4 Dead Survival Pack is now available on Xbox Live for free, well not really free you need to have an active Xbox Live Gold Membership.

The download size is around 101 MB. So hurry up and download it and tell us what you think.
The Left 4 Dead Survival Pack introduces a new multiplayer game mode, entitled “Survival”, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode.
Sadly PC users have to wait "Later in the day".
Left 4 Dead DLC Release Info
Posted @ 7:56 PM, April 20 2009, By: Hectic Glenn In Left 4 Dead

Quick update from Doug Lombardi himself, noting that xbox 360 owners will have the downloadable content on xbox Live from 2am PST or 8am GMT.

PC owners will receive the free update "later in the day" of 21st April (Today in Europe!). A quick reminder the DLC will provide 2 new versus campaigns to play, as well as the new game mode, Survival.
G4 Preview Left 4 Dead Survival Mode
Posted @ 11:11 PM, April 18 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

G4 Staff had their hands on with the new Left 4 Dead DLC "Survival Pack". They offer up around 35 minute of gameplay footage.
Survival mode takes all of the areas, 15 in all, from the original Left 4 Dead maps where you call the horde, like at the elevator in No Mercy and at the crane in Dead Air. There’s also the brand new lighthouse themed, “The Last Stand” with the apt tagline “it doesn’t end well”, because, despite being the level loaded with pills, explosives, ammo and health…well, good luck lasting long enough to use any of them. There’s no rescue in sight for Survival mode, just a never-ending flow of zombies and the crushing feeling of impending doom (or a tank beating you into the pavement). Apparently, the team at Valve hasn’t surpassed the 10 minute mark, and our fairly skilled crew topped out at a little over four minutes in Death Toll’s drains, earning a bronze and falling nearly three minutes short of a silver ranking. For comparison, my first lighthouse run relying solely on AI lasted a whopping two minutes and forty-one seconds. That’s longer than some of my attempts with human players, but don’t expect to set any records with the AI in tow.
Head over there for more.
Left 4 Dead Blog: Survival Mode
Posted @ 6:03 PM, April 16 2009, By: Hectic Glenn In Left 4 Dead

Again, we have been treated to another update on the L4D blog, this time outlining the complexities of Survival Mode, the new game play mode whereby survivors must compete against endless hoards of zombies. Survival mode will be released as a part of the free downloadable content for PC and xbox 360 on Tuesday 21st April.

Summarising the blog update, Kerry and Scott talk about making Survival Mode more than just a continuous crescendo event and making it feel like a distinctive separate game mode. Rounds will increase in difficulty over time, but just increasing zombie numbers doesn't reflect this. Pitching various events at times where they cross over controls the pacing, such as:
  • Mob spawn frequency
  • Special infected spawn frequency
  • Number of each type of special infected
  • Total number of special infected
  • Tank spawn frequency
  • Total number of tanks
Survival mode will also have 'lull' moments for teams to reload, relocate for ammo, heal or seek out new items. We won't be able to camp in these rooms as...
As ammo piles provide a unique infinite resupply for players, they tend to be in relatively less defensible positions in the Survival arenas. This means making an all important ammo run is rarely a safe proposition and requires good teamwork and planning.
Sounds like a good idea to make survival mode a real challenge. Check out the full post on the Left 4 Dead blog, including a graph showing increasing spawn frequency.
Left 4 Dead Blog Update: Creating Box Art
Posted @ 12:21 PM, April 9 2009, By: Hectic Glenn In Left 4 Dead

There is an interesting update on the Left 4 Dead blog, discussing how Valve came to the distinct green box art for L4D that we all recognise.

Jeremy Bennett, an artist working for Valve takes us through 5 previous revisions of the box art explaining why they did not work based on colour schemes, being too cluttered and characters being too dominant. Although not obvious initially, quite a bit of thought went into the finished product. Blog post link.



The penultimate box art was a right hand, which was eventually changed to a left hand to visually represent the full title, as said in the blog. When we posted the right handed box art in July 2008, Escape was ahead of us all!
Left 4 Dead Team-based Versus Matchmaking Coming Soon
Posted @ 3:15 AM, April 2 2009, By: DigiQ8 In Left 4 Dead

In a recent post in the Left 4 Dead official blog, Valve revealed that Team-based Versus Matching is coming soon as a new feature for the matchmaking system.

Support for third-party campaigns is also coming along with the SDK.
To support the SDK, we are extending the matchmaking system to allow for third party campaigns. We will be adding extra features so players will be able to find dedicated servers running the campaigns they have installed. They will also be able to see friends playing third party campaigns, and be directed to download them as necessary. Another major feature we are planning to add to the matchmaking system at a future date is team-based Versus matching. This will allow two teams of four to locate each other and compete in a Versus match. We are also revamping our player matching based on skill level. Currently the system tries to match people with the same skill level and best pings together. We will be revisiting this system to tweak it based on data we have collected.
Left 4 Dead Blog Update & Versus Gameplay Update
Posted @ 5:11 PM, March 25 2009, By: Hectic Glenn In Left 4 Dead

The blog update outlines a few changes being made to Left 4 Dead, and that xbox 360 owners will fortunately be getting all updates to the game alongside the DLC which will be available on April 21st. Matching making will be seeing updates soon too:
With the upcoming release of the SDK, and the community servers already available on the PC, matchmaking is one place where the two platforms will diverge. A future blog post will detail our roadmap for PC matchmaking.
The full blog post can be found here. Also highlighted in the blog is the mention of "the update will contain a...very large, gameplay adjustment....changing to the melee mechanic in Versus", which has now been released tonight. A big change!
  • Introduced fatigue to the melee attack in versus mode. You will see a HUD display when your melee swing is cooling down
  • Boomer vomit will now pass through common infected
  • Addressed some surround sound detection issues
  • Fixed a rare crash when exiting Left4Dead on Windows Vista
  • Fixed a case where the complete all expert campaigns achievement was not being rewarded
We shall see how this changes Versus mode, since the smoker tongue improvement and the tank multiple target punch addition. I spoke to Chet tonight about these incremental changes to a large gameplay problem...
This isn't the last update, but we want to change things in a way that people can evaluate the change, if we change 50 things at once, we will get zero worthwhile feedback. This is also how we test internally, small changes at a time and then group them so we can understand their impact
Let us know what you think of the changes. Left 4 Dead update news.
Survival Pack – April 21?
Posted @ 9:12 AM, March 23 2009, By: Evo In Left 4 Dead, News

CVG is reporting that the first piece of Left 4 Dead DLC, the Survival Pack may be coming out on April 21st for the PC. CVG reveals that Microsoft has confirmed the pack for a April 21st release on the 360. Valve have previously said that the DLC will be released on the 360 and PC at the same time, so April 21st seems a safe bet.
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