Today, we’re going to be talking about a couple useful (and legal) config hacks that you can use to improve both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. If you’ve never done this before, this is a great time to learn. The only tool you need for this is a text editor. Notepad will work fine, but we recommend Notepad++.
First, open up your config folder. By default, it’s C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2\cfg\ (or remove the ‘2′ for L4D1).
To get a feel for how the config files work, you may wish to find config.cfg and open it with your text editor. If it asks what program you wish to use, just choose Notepad or Notepad++ from the list. This file includes all your keybindings and user settings. Each line stores a separate console command. Essentially, the game reads these files, one line at a time, and puts them through the console (what you open up when you press ~ in-game).
Now, let’s get hacking.
The Performance Tracker
The first hack we’re going to talk about is the performance tracker. This useful tool overlays performance information over your team status UI. Take a look below.
We’re going to be editing a file called autoexec.cfg. The autoexec file is automatically executed when you start the game. If you’ve never created or downloaded an autoexec file, you can start off by downloading the one below and putting it into that cfg folder. If you already have one, tack this onto the end of the existing one.
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| bind "TAB" "+sb";
alias "+sb" "+showscores; net1; net_graph 5";
alias "-sb" "-showscores; net0; net_graph 0"; |
All this simple script does is tack on the command “sb” onto the TAB button. As long as you keep the TAB button held down, the overlay will show up, simple as that!
Fixing Thirdpersonshoulder
You may have heard of a non-cheat console command, thirdpersonshoulder, that allows you to play the game in third-person. This is great for melee weapons, especially the chainsaw, since your view will be wider and blood-free, but with the default settings, you’ll find that your gun aims way to the right. To fix this, we apply a few simple commands:
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| c_thirdpersonshoulderoffset 0;
c_thirdpersonshoulderaimdist 720;
c_thirdpersonshoulderheight 10;
cam_ideallag 0;
bind "p" thirdpersonshoulder; |
The last line is optional. It binds the P button to toggle the third person view.
To get this script to work, you can do one of two things. One, you can copy it onto the end of your autoexec.cfg file. Two, you can create a new .cfg file, which we will call thirdperson.cfg, and place it in the config folder. The game won’t know to run it automatically, though, so you can then add this line to your autoexec file:
The exec command tells the game to execute the config file whose filename follows it. Note that you could also type this into the game console (~) while playing to activate it.
More Configs
If you’re interested in more cool config tweaks, we suggest taking a look at the L4D Community Autoexec.
Elunah Hacks & Mods, Left 4 Dead 1, Left 4 Dead 2 config, console, hack, PC
