April 22nd Update

April 22, 2011 - L4D Team

Versus Survival, When to Tier?, Portal 2?
Versus Survival
Can you survive against your friends?

The first Survivor team sets the time. The second team tries to beat it. Then the first team tries to beat the second team's time. Then the second team tries to beat the first team's time. And then the... you get the idea. Rounds keep switching until someone fails to beat the previous time.

This is a great way to try Versus. Rounds are only as long as you can keep beating each other’s times. There are no rushing Survivors. Infected spawns get quicker as the time increases. It is mayhem filled with all the weapon perks and items. What’s not to like? Give it a try.

When to Tier?
The last poll asked when to place tier 2 weapons?

The winner was to place Tier 2 weapons unpredictably in Map 2 followed by unpredictably placed in Map 1. After those two the rest are all distant runners muddled together.

So this makes it clear you want unpredictable tier 2 weapons when they are first available. We will try them on map 2 first and go from there. Remember, polls aren’t the final word. You never really know how something is going to work until you test it. We use this as a place to start testing and then react from further testing.

Portal 2?
With Portal 2’s release this week we were wondering, do you plan on playing the Co-op section of Portal 2?

April 8th Update

April 7, 2011 - L4D Team

Last Man on Earth, To Tier One Or Not To Tier One, Tier 2


Last Man on Earth
You will become legend to the infected as the last human left.

You are the only Survivor left in the world. No split screen help. No Survivor bots. But don't worry you aren't entirely alone. While there are no common Infected, Special Infected will hunt you down and become close, close friends with you.

This Mutation is available in Single Player Mode.

To Tier One Or Not To Tier One
Last poll we asked, what do you prefer: just pistols and melee to start or do you like to have a full complement of weapons at the start? With your answer we will keep the tier one weapons in as we continue to test. Here is how the results broke down: Tier 1 39%, Melee and Pistols, 30%, Just Melee 22% and 9% had no opinion.

Tier 2?
Now that we know to keep the tier 1 weapons, what about tier 2 weapons? In a 4 map campaign, do you like to see tier 2 weapons hidden around the map? A good example of this is in the first map of The Passing. You can either go straight through the park or back track to the left to check for tier 2 weapons. For the poll, unpredictably means the weapons may or may not be there. Consistently means the weapons can always be found in a spot. For both answers this spot would be off the main path.

March 24th Update

March 24, 2011 - L4D Team

Last Gnome On Earth, Scavenge?, To Tier One Or Not To Tier One


Last Gnome On Earth

Protect the gnome at all cost.

Do you crave attention? Want all the infected to swarm you and the gnome you are carrying? Then we have the campaign game mode for you. The team needs to carry the garden gnome from start to finish in any campaign. The common infected hate the gnome and will swarm whoever is carrying him. Watch out putting him on the ground, a boomer explosion will send him flying!

Scavenge?
For last poll we asked, are you going to play at least one round of Scavenge in the original Left 4 Dead campaigns once they are ported to Left 4 Dead 2? 60% of you are going to give it a go, a whopping 23% answered huh,what?, and 17% of you hate fun.

To Tier One Or Not To Tier One
We just released the Cold Stream Beta on Steam this past week. This campaign is a work in progress and will eventually make its way onto the Xbox 360, check the blog for more information. The intro map originally had no tier 1 weapons and players were left to fend for themselves with just melee weapons and pistols. Because of the length of the map, an SMG spawn was added just before release. What do you prefer: just pistols and melee to start or do you like to have a full complement of weapons at the start?

Cold Stream Beta Release

March 22, 2011 - L4D Team

Today we are releasing the beta version of Cold Stream. Since we announced it, Matthew has been hard at work on the map and the initial release looks a little more polished than you may have expected.

The reason for that is the difference between how we work on a campaign compared to modders. When we work on a campaign, we normally work in a rougher state without textures for a long period. Level design artists come in later and give the game its finished look with textures.

Modders often texture early as they have to create the structures based on the available artwork. They don’t have a team of artists coming in after them. So don’t let the level of texturing fool you. The campaign is still in flux.

We have activated the in-game bug reporter for L4D2. You can currently submit bugs on Valve maps including Cold Stream. This system will eventually be extended to work with community campaigns.

So how can you help and give feedback on Cold Stream?

If you see a bug report it. There are sure to be nav-mesh bugs, navigational issues, hit box problems, missing zombie ladders, art problems, etc. Remember it's a beta.

For suggestions and feedback, first play the campaign and then post in the Cold Stream forum. The finale is one place in particular that we think is going to change pretty massively but please post all your feedback.

If you want to follow the development on Cold Stream, make sure to subscribe to our Twitter account.

Reminders:

The beta is for PC/Mac only. The 360 version will be included in the full DLC.

Cold Stream is part of an upcoming DLC for L4D2. No release date or pricing has been announced.

Cold Stream does not replace featured campaigns, they will resume next month.

Campaign Release Notes:
If you have a problem with a spawn room, vote to restart that chapter.
Everyone needs to be by the radio headset to start the finale map.
There are bugs, this is a work in progress.

Have fun.

March 11th Update

March 10, 2011 - L4D Team

Follow the Liter, L4D1 Campaigns, Scavenge?

Follow the Liter.
Scavenge one can at a time.
No more fighting over what cans to grab first. This Mutation spawns only one group of cans at a time, so survivors know exactly where to go. There is only one problem: the Infected know exactly where they are going. We dare you to give it a try.

Most anticipated L4D1 Map?
Dead Air and its hunter perches leap to the top with 40%, Blood Harvest’s corn fields plow into second place with 22%, Death Toll Church Guy rings in at 19%, Crash Course drove its van into last with 11% and 8% of you have no opinion on how much fun the rest of us are going to be having.

Scavenge?
Since this week's mutation is a play on Scavenge, we are curious. Are you going to play at least one round of Scavenge in the original Left 4 Dead campaigns once they are ported to Left 4 Dead 2?