Zombicidal

Here comes the best Christmas present of all! According to the Left 4 Dead official blog, the authoring tools (SDK) for Left 4 Dead 2 have been released! In addition, the developers have also released an addon support package for players who just want to use custom content.

Players who are only looking to play custom content (including custom maps for L4D1) only need to download the support package. In Steam, open your Tools tab and look for the entry called “Left 4 Dead 2 – Add-on Support”. Click it and install it. After installing it, you don’t need to run anything. Your game client will automatically be able to play custom content thereafter.

Custom content designers should download the aforementioned file and the “Left 4 Dead 2 – Authoring Tools”. This download adds applications, utilities, and example files.
The new authoring tools are similar to Left 4 Dead’s authoring tools, but there are a number of new additions:

Gamemode Logic: Designers can now make a single map that can behave differently depending on the gamemode in which it is being played. This can dramatically reduce the file size of Campaign add-ons, as the same map can be used for Co-op, Versus, Scavenge, and Survival.

Director Logic: Maps can now alter their layout and behavior depending on how “angry” the A.I. director is. The better the Survivors are doing, the angrier the AI Director seems to get. This allows you to base variable paths and other events on the player’s skill and current conditions.

Scavenge Mode Support! All the elements map authors need to support Scavenge in their maps. This includes game props as well as a full example in the form of Deadline 2, an updated tutorial campaign.

Left 4 Dead 1 map designers are encouraged to compile L4D2-specific versions of their maps in the new tool.

Elunah Developer, Left 4 Dead 2, Patch community, maps, SDK

Valve has released a new update for Left 4 Dead. The update primarily includes fixes for versus matchmaking. One notable change is that lobbies that are more full are preferred over ones that are emptier, potentially allowing lobbies to fill more efficiently.

Updates to Left 4 Dead have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Left 4 Dead

• Teams that prefer listen servers will no longer be matched with teams that prefer dedicated servers
• Official dedicated servers are now preferred when searching for team matches
• More populous lobbies are now preferred over less populous ones when searching for games
• Players who crash or have failed to load are no longer banned if they have been kicked
• Fixed exploit allowing players to end games prematurely using the ‘outtro_stats_done’ console command
• Reduced Dedicated Server max search ping to 150 ms
• Fixed a common crash

EDIT: A similar patch was applied to Left 4 Dead 2. The only noted additional patches to L4D2 were:

• Update Russian subtitles
• Fixed not being able to interlink teams in team-on-team mode
• Fixed not being able to properly migrate team lobby after team leader would leave the lobby
• Fixed not being able to invite friends if player was not team leader in a team-on-team game

Elunah Left 4 Dead 1, Left 4 Dead 2, Patch

Valve has just announced the first DLC addon for Left 4 Dead 2, “The Passing”. The new DLC, set to be released in early spring 2010 for the PC and Xbox 360, will include a “huge offering” of gameplay content, including a new cooperative campaign and narrative; new Survival, Versus, and Scavenge maps; a new Uncommon Common Infected; and a new melee weapon and firearm. Oh, and there’s one more thing…

The Left 4 Dead Survivors will be in it!

You heard us right! After months of speculation on Valve’s promised “ode” to the original Survivors, the studio has decided to call all the Survivors together in one campaign.

The story will be set just after Dead Center, in a small town in rural Georgia. Players will take the role of the L4D2 Survivors when they encounter and interact with the original ones. So, if you’ve been missing your favorite eye candy, pill-pilferer, geriatric gunman, or leather-clad misomaniac, this spring, Valve has just the right medicine for you.

The developers also mention that there will be a brand-spanking-new cooperative “challenge mode” of play. We don’t have any specifics on what this new game mode might be. It could be another difficult campaign-style mode, like Realism, or it could be a competitive game mode that pits two teams of Survivors against each other, much like some on the official forums have been suggesting for months. The latter theory seems particularly plausible, considering that both groups of Survivors will be in it.

We should also mention that this should settle the debates about whether or not the original Survivors died at Last Stand (and thus about its canonicality).

See the official Steam News bulletin, quoted below. ▼

Elunah Left 4 Dead 2, Patch DLC, melee

Left 4 Dead 2 has been patched on the PC! The patch includes a huge number of bug fixes that should hopefully make your gameplay experience smoother.

Updates to Left 4 Dead 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. These and all previous fixes will be coming to the 360 later this month. The major changes include:

Left 4 Dead 2

• Changed rules for ghost placement in Scavenge Mode
• Player controlled Special Infected are no longer forced to un-crouch and lock strafe when they crouch attack
• Spitter spit that damages players on a moving elevator will now fizzle quickly
• Allow the survivor and infected to rotate the camera yaw while being attacked by a Charger or Smoker
• Smoker that has dragged a survivor to the end now gets the same cinematic flashlight as the Hunter and Charger
• Fixed a crash in physics
• Updated the Charger’s hit boxes
• Updated the Jockey’s hit boxes
• Updated the Spitter’s hit boxes
• Fixed player health on being revived after a Charger slam over a high ledge
• Fixed versus scores not resetting after a vote to change campaigns
• Fixed being able to use defibrillator on dead players who were far above or below you
• Fixed pink glow on dead survivors
• Fixed being able to hold crouch while incapped to get better weapon accuracy
• Fixed players pushing against some props causing them to accumulate downward velocity and then take falling damage when they let go of the forward key
• Fixed a case where an incapped survivor inside a rescue vehicle would trigger both the escape sequence and a round restart
• Fixed the helping hand from getting stuck when extended

Elunah Left 4 Dead 2, Patch

An update for Left 4 Dead 2 has been released, addressing a number of bugs:

Updates to Left 4 Dead 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Left 4 Dead 2

• Fixed case where game failed to launch in certain machine configurations
• Fixed bug where a burning witch could get into a state where she’s invincible
• Fixed bug where bots would not shoot at Jockeys and Chargers while approaching to save a teammate

Elunah Left 4 Dead 2, Patch Charger, Jockey, Witch

Valve has patched Left 4 Dead 2, fixing errors with the stats page (perhaps including achievement loss) and fixing the issue some users have after being struck by the Charger.

Updates to Left 4 Dead 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Left 4 Dead 2

• Updated stats collection and related steam pages
• Fixed issue where players could be stuck if caught in charger pound
• Updated CPU detection

In other news, Steam’s Black Friday sale is on! A single copy of L4D2 is $37.49, and a 4-pack is $112.49 ($28 and change if you split the cost)!

Elunah Left 4 Dead 2, Patch Black Friday, deals, PC, Steam

Left 4 Dead 2 has been patched, though some of the more pressing issues haven’t been addressed yet. See the Steam News entry.

Updates to Left 4 Dead 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Left 4 Dead 2

• Fixed performance problem when rendering lots of decals, notably when fighting tanks with shotguns
• Fixed rcon response not working on Linux dedicated servers
• Fixed matchmaking problem matching into Advanced and Expert games
• Fix bug that would cause other specials to try to pummel a player a Charger disconnects or reconnects
• Fixed versus mode results panel being cut off in transition stats screen in non-english
• Found games: fixed non-player entries drawing the wrong type of icon in the selected item name label
• Game mode selector on main menu now takes keyboard input

Elunah Left 4 Dead 2, Patch

Updates have been released for the Left 4 Dead 2 pre-release demo!
See the original Steam News brief

Updates to Left 4 Dead 2 Demo have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Left 4 Dead 2 Demo

• Fixed bug that caused dedicated servers to become unjoinable over time without a restart or heartbeat update
• Fixed exploit that allowed players to end a campaign and return to the lobby without a vote
• Public players are no longer matched to lobbies that are idle for a prolonged period of time. These lobbies become “Friends-only” lobbies
• LAN servers list will now show listen server single player games as not joinable and will show game type as “single player” too

The demo also prevents players from using cheats on local games.

Elunah Left 4 Dead 2, Patch demo, pre-order, Steam

Destructoid recently visited Valve to check out more about the upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead, Crash Course. The preview includes a large number of spoilers, so I won’t include a synopsis here, but if you want to read the juicy, hot-off-the-compiler info, you should surf on over there and have a look.

The Destructoid staff was definitely impressed with the campaign, particularly with how well-suited it was to Versus play. Hunter connoisseurs will be happy to know that there are plenty of death-defying drops and curve-worthy building facades to play around on. As mentioned previously, there will be some sort of artillery that is used to clear the way during the crescendo of the first chapter. The second chapter crescendo sounds even more exciting, but we’d like to give you a chance to experience its thrills first-hand.

Destructoid also gave us a look at the poster art. Apparently, Zoey has improved from Guy Fawkes to be a bit of a Angelina Jolie-Uma Thurman hybrid.

Thanks to GunRabbit for the link.

Elunah Left 4 Dead 1, Patch DLC, gameplay, preview

The recent GameTrailers TV episode featuring Left 4 Dead 2 includes a healthy helping of information on the upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead, named Crash Course. The eponymous campaign included in the DLC will be geared towards giving players a 30-minute Versus experience, though the campaign will be playable in the other game modes, as well.

The first of the two chapters included will begin at the site of the helicopter crash. As many observant players have noticed, the chopper pilot had been exposed to the infection immediately prior to the daring rescue atop Mercy Hospital, as evidenced by his sickly skin tone, comment about an “incident”, and his unnaturally bad taste in shirts.

In the GTTV feature, Zoey can be heard saying “He turned into a zombie, Francis. He wasn’t gonna land the thing.”

Little else is known about the layout of the campaign, except that it will take place in an urban setting, probably near large roads/highways. At one point in the feature, players appear to use a howitzer to blow up a roadblock. This is probably the beginning of a crescendo, though we would certainly like to see what a howitzer would do to the hungry hordes of doom.

Chet mentioned that there will be a few tweaks to Versus game mechanics. For instance, players will be able to see the status of Infected teammates, namely their progress in recharging skills. All items will spawn in the same places for both teams, potentially increasing balance. In addition, since the campaign is shorter, Level 2 weapons will be available much earlier.

Crash Course is expected to be released on PC and Xbox 360 in September. It will be free on the PC, but there will be a small fee for Xbox players.

Elunah Patch campaign, DLC, gameplay, maps, preview, videos, Xbox 360