Zombicidal

This section is pretty simple! Anything that doesn’t quite fit into the overhead storage bin gets put here. Let’s get right to it!

The Achievements Guide prepares you for some of the harder challenges in the game. While we won’t cover all the achievements you can attain in Left 4 Dead, if you need help with those not covered, you, uh…might want to start with the Crash Course.

The Map Database may be coming soon!

The Console and Tweaks section helps you get the most out of Left 4 Dead by discussing console usage and manual game modifications like exec files and custom skins.

Our Hardware and Software Recommendations include suggestions for buying gaming hardware and selecting third-party software to improve gaming performance.

Troubleshooting

There’s no way that we can cover even a modicum of the problems you might have with Left 4 Dead or Steam(ing crap), but here are solutions to a few problems that we have personally resolved on occasion. First, a few suggestions:

1. Back up the game! You can do this through Steam by right-clicking the game name in the “My games” tab and pressing “Backup game files…”. Go through the options, choose any safe backup location, and back it up! We recommend using the “DVD” size, and doing this after any major patch. You can restore the backup by clicking steambackup.exe inside the folder.
2. Make backups of anything in the game directory that you modify. You don’t need to back up the default config.cfg file (since the game automatically generates this), but you should keep backups of both the original and stable modified versions of anything you mess with.
3. Update your drivers often, and make sure you’re getting them from the right place. Some video cards can use drivers from the chipset manufacturers’ sites (e.g. nVidia.com), but others require customized drivers from the card manufacturer (e.g. EVGA).

Microphone Stops Working Periodically

Some users experience an issue where their microphones work properly when first configured (either through the Steam panel or in-game), but then stop working after a few minutes. This is because every so often, Steam has a “useful feature” that switches your recording input to “Microphone”. It’s actually one of VALVe’s brilliant game-balancing tweaks, because then players have to minimize the game to change it back. (Okay, so it isn’t actually a tweak, but I wouldn’t put it past them.)

To fix this, download Muvixer. This is a lightweight freeware tool that monitors your recording settings and slaps them back into line when Steam changes them insidiously. The tool sits in the system tray and is highly configurable. I recommend running it at startup if you play often. Note that switching to a third-party VoIP program (e.g. Ventrilo) does not solve this issue.

Some Surfaces Look Checkered or Pink

Checkered surfaces are an indication that your textures are corrupted in some way. This is most often the result of custom modifications to models or textures, but it can happen occasionally if you haven’t made any modifications at all. If you are making custom modifications to the models/textures, it is very important to proceed in steps and to keep backups of both the original files and the last stable modification. This way, you can revert back and hopefully restore the stable textures.

If you haven’t modified any files or you no longer have backups of a stable state, you should reinstall the game to try to fix the problem.

Another issue you may find is that some surfaces may look pink, as though they have pink cellophane wrapped over them. This is most likely due to a texture mapping conflict between your client and the server. If you can deal with it, it often goes away after one chapter. Switching to a different server may also fix the problem.