Search forums

Forums

Export thread

L4D 2 - Nov 17

Limit: 500

Jun 1, 2009#1

elph

http://store.steampowered.com/news/2552/

Okay, this slightly annoys me, and by slightly I mean I'm near about ready to throw bricks at them.

L4D just recently came out (okay, it came out after TF2), but L4D is fairly limited. It's very repetitive. Granted, I like it in a LAN setting, but the online - sitting alone at home - does leave a bit to be desired.

This annoys me because they're practically rebuilding and adding to TF2 which you can now get for $20 on it's own, and has always been fairly inexpensive (Orange box) if you consider the larger packages. With each no class pack, we get new maps, new weapons, and now an even newer 'loot / item' system. But for L4D, we're all going to have to pony up another $50?

This is the one thing that annoys me the most about online FPS games. By the time you get a nice group of people interested in what there is, they're releasing a new flavor the next year and we start that adoption process all over again.

Jun 1, 2009#2

figmentPez

That's my feelings exactly. TF2 is like Valve's little pet project, that get's all sorts of updates. Valve hasn't even made it easy to play fan maps on L4D and it's already getting a sequel? If Valve charges full price for L4D2 I'm not paying it, that's for sure.

EDIT: From Kotaku: Left 4 Dead 2 Features Melee, Deeper Coop

"new weapons, including a chainsaw, frying pan, axe and baseball bat."

Uh, so, TF2 gets new weapons as unlockables. L4D only gets new weapons for buying a whole new game? WTF?!

Jun 1, 2009#3

ElJuski

Kinda unfortunate, but I'll pay for it. It's L4D afterall.

Jun 1, 2009#4

elph

I would hope that they release some kind of discount through Steam. If you already have L4D, you can get L4D2 at a discount. Or if they just simply lower the price of L4D. TF2 being $20 bucks (unless you bought the Orange Box) is a reasonable price. Hell, most of the new online FPS games come out no higher then $20 - $30. But to pony up another $50 straight out...

It angers me because of how my group just got into L4D. I brought a pirated copy to a LAN party, it got passed around and by the end of the night, all 12 of of us were ready to walk out and buy a copy (which we did by our next LAN party). Now, not even a year later, we get to throw another $50 (?) at the company? :devil:

A bonus of the Steam system should be that if you own a previous version of a game, you can get the next installment (through Steam only) at a discount.

Jun 1, 2009#5

Chummer

I read an article on it. New Director AI. Better graphics. More weapons. 5 campaigns instead of 4. Plus more alternate ways to play (like survivor). More boss monsters.

Every single thing is an upgrade.

While I still think this is BS, I can kind of see where they are coming from.

Plus i hear they are thinking of adding in the original L4D levels into it as well, though you'd still play as teh new characters.

Which BTW i dont think they will be as awesome as the original 4 survivors. Which Valve seems to feel the same way because they mentioned in the article that Valve says "The original 4 are like Gabe and Alyx is to Half-Life series".

Apparently the final sage has teh players escaping to a military base, perhaps to where the original 4 were going at the end of L4D? Then maybe L4D3 will feature all 8 characters? Or a mix?

Jun 1, 2009#6

So I should wait to buy this? I have not played it yet. Seriously.

Jun 1, 2009#7

Chummer

If they do include the original levels into the new game then yes I say wait and just get the sequel even though you wont get the original survivors (who are awesome).

If not, then get the original L4D which Im sure will be discounted to cheap real soon.

Jun 1, 2009#8

figmentPez

Video from IGN

Looks like L4D: Louisianna. Looks fun, but it had better be priced like an expansion pack if it's not going to be free.

EDIT: Incendiary ammunition looks like fun, though.

-- Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:21 pm --

L4D2 "The Parish"

So, instead of Francis, Zoey, Louis and Bill we get:

Miami Vice
Black Girl
Uncle Phil
and
The Scout

Jun 1, 2009#9

ElJuski

Edrondol said:
So I should buy this or wait for something better?

Jun 1, 2009#10

elph

Chummer said:
I read an article on it. New Director AI. Better graphics. More weapons. 5 campaigns instead of 4. Plus more alternate ways to play (like survivor). More boss monsters.

Every single thing is an upgrade.

While I still think this is BS, I can kind of see where they are coming from.

Plus i hear they are thinking of adding in the original L4D levels into it as well, though you'd still play as teh new characters.

Which BTW i dont think they will be as awesome as the original 4 survivors. Which Valve seems to feel the same way because they mentioned in the article that Valve says "The original 4 are like Gabe and Alyx is to Half-Life series".

Apparently the final sage has teh players escaping to a military base, perhaps to where the original 4 were going at the end of L4D? Then maybe L4D3 will feature all 8 characters? Or a mix?

Yeah, don't get me wrong. I understand that everything was an upgrade. On paper it seems it's an upgrade in every way (without playing it, I'm not about to say YAY!!! THIS IS SO FUCKING AWESOME!!!). Even that being the case, L4D was $50 for an unfinished game that wasn't even topped off a bit until 6 months later. Now, 6 months after that, we're getting a whole new game.

Let's also remember (if you go through the commentary of L4D) L4D is really just a supped up version of a mod someone was playing with on CS:S to test the AI.

I guess what I'm more irked about is the thought that I'm going to be dropping $50 so soon after dropping $30 on the first one. I'm not worried that I didn't get all the achievements, or that the SDK (beta) just came out. All that will come into place once L4D2 is actually out. I'm more looking at the aspect of 12 of us (many of us on limited gaming budgets) just went out and spent $30 on the first one. That others have spent $50 on an unfinished product.

I agree that if the changes are that much, and assuming that they continue to support it the way they do TF2, that a new purchase is necessary. However, I don't think it should be $50 necessary. Not when TF2 is getting so much for free for something that is so inexpensive to begin with.

I don't care about character models so much. I'm seeing it in first person, what do I care what my ass or tits look like? It's not like TF2 where the character you play has some in game mechanic as to how you move.

New gun models also aren't a selling point to me because you're going to have the same basic principles for guns. I do like the addition of melee weapons. That is something in L4D I was always itching to do (pick up something near by and just throw it at a zombie).

The day time zones are an interesting twist, but also something that could easily be done in what we have now. Maybe if they make it random (day/night) I'd be a little more impressed. You start the campaign and you choose (day/night/random) and the world is a little varied.

I've seen some of the images and videos. Yes it looks a little better, but at the same time I think it loses something in that. I like the gritty feel in L4D.

In the end, I'm squabbling about price (something that hasn't even been mentioned yet that I've found) and at that a difference of $20/$30. I will likely just wait until Steam does some kind of discount event which they are very likely to do anyway.

Jun 1, 2009#11

Chummer

figmentPez said:
Video from IGN

Looks like L4D: Louisianna. Looks fun, but it had better be priced like an expansion pack if it's not going to be free.

EDIT: Incendiary ammunition looks like fun, though.

-- Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:21 pm --

L4D2 "The Parish"

So, instead of Francis, Zoey, Louis and Bill we get:

Miami Vice
Black Girl
Uncle Phil
and
The Scout

I liked in the article how they are givin names or jobs except for the girl who is just called "Girl" or whatever.

Like in L4d, Soldier, Biker, Black Guy, Girl.

Now it's Rich Guy, Coach, Mechanic, Girl.

Jun 1, 2009#12

Chippy

ElJuski said:
Edrondol said:

So I should buy this or wait for something better?

Click to expand...

Hi five!

Jun 1, 2009#13

Twitch

You know what fucking pisses me off? Warcraft II, it's just fucking warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

Jun 1, 2009#14

Chummer

elph said:
I don't care about character models so much. I'm seeing it in first person, what do I care what my a** or * look like? It's not like TF2 where the character you play has some in game mechanic as to how you move.

.

I meant personality-wise. Francis is great that he hates everything. Zoey is the geek girl who comments on zombies. Bill is the old soldier with all the stories. And Loius is the average guy.

Now we have Joe Bob the Mechanic. Fat Coach. Black Girl. And Rich White Guy. IMO none of them are as appealing.

-- Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:33 pm --

Twitch said:
You know what smurfing * me off? Warcraft II, it's just smurfing warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

The problem people have is L4D JUST came out (more or less) and still doesn't feel complete. It needs 1 or 2 more campaigns. Perhaps an expansion pack or 2.

But instead we are getting a whole new $50 game w/ new characters.

Jun 1, 2009#15

Twitch

Chummer said:
elph said:

I don't care about character models so much. I'm seeing it in first person, what do I care what my a** or * look like? It's not like TF2 where the character you play has some in game mechanic as to how you move.

.

Click to expand...

I meant personality-wise. Francis is great that he hates everything. Zoey is the geek girl who comments on zombies. Bill is the old soldier with all the stories. And Loius is the average guy.

Now we have Joe Bob the Mechanic. Fat Coach. Black Girl. And Rich White Guy. IMO none of them are as appealing.

Valve has done a wonderful job of giving characters like Bill, Loius, etc, and the TF2 characters even... character. They do nothing story wise, we know next to nothing about them, but we're still interested. I trust the new people will develop the same.

Jun 1, 2009#16

elph

Twitch said:
You know what smurfing * me off? Warcraft II, it's just smurfing warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

I see your point and normally I would agree. However, Warcraft was a complete game at release (maybe a bit buggy, but it was complete). Warcraft 2 didn't come out a year later (but 3 years later).

You're also looking at fairly different distribution models that are available to them for the time. Also, Blizzard didn't make the StarCraft at a lower price at the same time to give it regular updates and changes.

The graphic differences between L4D & L4D 2 don't appear to be as vast as Warcraft 1 & Warcraft 2 either.

Jun 1, 2009#17

ElJuski

Chummer said:
elph said:

I don't care about character models so much. I'm seeing it in first person, what do I care what my a** or * look like? It's not like TF2 where the character you play has some in game mechanic as to how you move.

.

Click to expand...

I meant personality-wise. Francis is great that he hates everything. Zoey is the geek girl who comments on zombies. Bill is the old soldier with all the stories. And Loius is the average guy.

Now we have Joe Bob the Mechanic. Fat Coach. Black Girl. And Rich White Guy. IMO none of them are as appealing.

You make this judgment having seen a poster and about a minute and a half of quite unrevealing footage. Good call.

Jun 1, 2009#18

Chippy

Chummer said:
I meant personality-wise. Francis is great that he hates everything. Zoey is the geek girl who comments on zombies. Bill is the old soldier with all the stories. And Loius is the average guy.

Now we have Joe Bob the Mechanic. Fat Coach. Black Girl. And Rich White Guy. IMO none of them are as appealing.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06 ... s-preview/

Left 4 Dead 2 takes place in the South of the USA, beginning in Savannah, eventually reaching New Orleans. There’s four new characters to play, each with back-stories to be hinted at in their conversations. Coach is a high school football coach from the Savannah area, used to leading the kids, comfortable in his life, and perhaps not enamoured by the arrival of a zombie attack. There’s Rochelle, from Cleveland originally, working for a cable news network. She’s producing a segment on this strange story occurring in Savannah, and gets caught up in the events. Ellis is a Southern boy mechanic, an enthusiastic but smart guy with a “Southern flair”. Finally there’s Nick, a gambler and a conman, unsure of his company and cynical about the events.

The plan for the five new campaigns is to bring them together more coherently, so you can more obviously see how the events of one lead to the beginning of the next. Nothing that will enormously impact on jumping right in to a game in a particular stage, but giving a stronger narrative logic to the complete game. And with that, the new cast will also develop their personalities as things progress. Coach looks set to gain bravery as he gets closer to New Orleans, while Nick’s attitude to the others may soften. This will be born out in a more elaborate and involved collection of dialogue barks, once more primarily away from the player’s control. Perhaps one of the most endearing aspects of L4D was the characters’ surprisingly apt and timely remarks about the events, and occasional exchanges. This is to be expanded upon, with many more back-and-forth moments of chatter appropriate to the events happening around you.

Jun 1, 2009#19

figmentPez

Twitch said:
You know what smurfing * me off? Warcraft II, it's just smurfing warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

Valve hasn't even delivered on their promises for L4D. They didn't finish the first game, why should anyone think that the second will come through on it's promises of better everything? If Valve had followed through on their promises of what L4D would have, then I wouldn't be nearly as skeptical about L4D2.

Jun 1, 2009#20

GasBandit

Twitch said:
You know what fucking pisses me off? Warcraft II, it's just fucking warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

I think what people are more griping about is they didn't get the expansion pack for L4D1 they were all but promised. At least Warcraft 2 had an expansion pack before WC3 came out... and WC3 had an expansion pack, too.

Jun 1, 2009#21

Gadzooks

Twitch said:
You know what smurfing * me off? Warcraft II, it's just smurfing warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

L4D2 makes it seem more like a EA Sports business model, which most people will tell you nowadays isnt gonna fly for much longer. People are fed up with paying so much for games that don't change much or significantly and are released every year...

Jun 1, 2009#22

Twitch

figmentPez said:
Twitch said:

You know what smurfing * me off? Warcraft II, it's just smurfing warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

Click to expand...

Valve hasn't even delivered on their promises for L4D. They didn't finish the first game, why should anyone think that the second will come through on it's promises of better everything? If Valve had followed through on their promises of what L4D would have, then I wouldn't be nearly as skeptical about L4D2.

I don't remember any promises that weren't kept. They promised me new modes of play and I got them. I bought the game that was advertised as X, I got X and X was the greatest game I've played. It's been seven months and they've announced a sequel not released a sequel.

Jun 1, 2009#23

Chummer

Chippy said:
Chummer said:

I meant personality-wise. Francis is great that he hates everything. Zoey is the geek girl who comments on zombies. Bill is the old soldier with all the stories. And Loius is the average guy.

Now we have Joe Bob the Mechanic. Fat Coach. Black Girl. And Rich White Guy. IMO none of them are as appealing.

Click to expand...

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06 ... s-preview/

Left 4 Dead 2 takes place in the South of the USA, beginning in Savannah, eventually reaching New Orleans. There’s four new characters to play, each with back-stories to be hinted at in their conversations. Coach is a high school football coach from the Savannah area, used to leading the kids, comfortable in his life, and perhaps not enamoured by the arrival of a zombie attack. There’s Rochelle, from Cleveland originally, working for a cable news network. She’s producing a segment on this strange story occurring in Savannah, and gets caught up in the events. Ellis is a Southern boy mechanic, an enthusiastic but smart guy with a “Southern flair”. Finally there’s Nick, a gambler and a conman, unsure of his company and cynical about the events.

The plan for the five new campaigns is to bring them together more coherently, so you can more obviously see how the events of one lead to the beginning of the next. Nothing that will enormously impact on jumping right in to a game in a particular stage, but giving a stronger narrative logic to the complete game. And with that, the new cast will also develop their personalities as things progress. Coach looks set to gain bravery as he gets closer to New Orleans, while Nick’s attitude to the others may soften. This will be born out in a more elaborate and involved collection of dialogue barks, once more primarily away from the player’s control. Perhaps one of the most endearing aspects of L4D was the characters’ surprisingly apt and timely remarks about the events, and occasional exchanges. This is to be expanded upon, with many more back-and-forth moments of chatter appropriate to the events happening around you.

Click to expand...

Meh. I still stand by my statement. Old characters better. :humph:

Though the Con Man sounds cool.

Jun 1, 2009#24

Twitch

GasBandit said:
Twitch said:

You know what fucking pisses me off? Warcraft II, it's just fucking warcraft with better graphics new maps and new units. It's the old game with everything upgraded, I better get a discount.

Click to expand...

I think what people are more griping about is they didn't get the expansion pack for L4D1 they were all but promised. At least Warcraft 2 had an expansion pack before WC3 came out... and WC3 had an expansion pack, too.

Which as I recall cost the price of a full game...

Edit: btw, the one thing I really wanted for L4D was more cohesiveness and the characters tying together more, I'm glad this will bring that.

Jun 1, 2009#25

Chippy

Chummer said:
Chippy said:

Chummer said:

I meant personality-wise. Francis is great that he hates everything. Zoey is the geek girl who comments on zombies. Bill is the old soldier with all the stories. And Loius is the average guy.

Now we have Joe Bob the Mechanic. Fat Coach. Black Girl. And Rich White Guy. IMO none of them are as appealing.

Click to expand...

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06 ... s-preview/

Left 4 Dead 2 takes place in the South of the USA, beginning in Savannah, eventually reaching New Orleans. There’s four new characters to play, each with back-stories to be hinted at in their conversations. Coach is a high school football coach from the Savannah area, used to leading the kids, comfortable in his life, and perhaps not enamoured by the arrival of a zombie attack. There’s Rochelle, from Cleveland originally, working for a cable news network. She’s producing a segment on this strange story occurring in Savannah, and gets caught up in the events. Ellis is a Southern boy mechanic, an enthusiastic but smart guy with a “Southern flair”. Finally there’s Nick, a gambler and a conman, unsure of his company and cynical about the events.

The plan for the five new campaigns is to bring them together more coherently, so you can more obviously see how the events of one lead to the beginning of the next. Nothing that will enormously impact on jumping right in to a game in a particular stage, but giving a stronger narrative logic to the complete game. And with that, the new cast will also develop their personalities as things progress. Coach looks set to gain bravery as he gets closer to New Orleans, while Nick’s attitude to the others may soften. This will be born out in a more elaborate and involved collection of dialogue barks, once more primarily away from the player’s control. Perhaps one of the most endearing aspects of L4D was the characters’ surprisingly apt and timely remarks about the events, and occasional exchanges. This is to be expanded upon, with many more back-and-forth moments of chatter appropriate to the events happening around you.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Meh. I still stand by my statement. Old characters better. :humph:

Though the Con Man sounds cool.

ElJuski said:
You make this judgment having seen a poster and about a minute and a half of quite unrevealing footage. Good call.

Jun 1, 2009#26

Chummer

Chippy said:
Chummer said:

Chippy said:

Chummer said:

I meant personality-wise. Francis is great that he hates everything. Zoey is the geek girl who comments on zombies. Bill is the old soldier with all the stories. And Loius is the average guy.

Now we have Joe Bob the Mechanic. Fat Coach. Black Girl. And Rich White Guy. IMO none of them are as appealing.

Click to expand...

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06 ... s-preview/

Left 4 Dead 2 takes place in the South of the USA, beginning in Savannah, eventually reaching New Orleans. There’s four new characters to play, each with back-stories to be hinted at in their conversations. Coach is a high school football coach from the Savannah area, used to leading the kids, comfortable in his life, and perhaps not enamoured by the arrival of a zombie attack. There’s Rochelle, from Cleveland originally, working for a cable news network. She’s producing a segment on this strange story occurring in Savannah, and gets caught up in the events. Ellis is a Southern boy mechanic, an enthusiastic but smart guy with a “Southern flair”. Finally there’s Nick, a gambler and a conman, unsure of his company and cynical about the events.

The plan for the five new campaigns is to bring them together more coherently, so you can more obviously see how the events of one lead to the beginning of the next. Nothing that will enormously impact on jumping right in to a game in a particular stage, but giving a stronger narrative logic to the complete game. And with that, the new cast will also develop their personalities as things progress. Coach looks set to gain bravery as he gets closer to New Orleans, while Nick’s attitude to the others may soften. This will be born out in a more elaborate and involved collection of dialogue barks, once more primarily away from the player’s control. Perhaps one of the most endearing aspects of L4D was the characters’ surprisingly apt and timely remarks about the events, and occasional exchanges. This is to be expanded upon, with many more back-and-forth moments of chatter appropriate to the events happening around you.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Meh. I still stand by my statement. Old characters better. :humph:

Though the Con Man sounds cool.

Click to expand...

ElJuski said:

You make this judgment having seen a poster and about a minute and a half of quite unrevealing footage. Good call.

Click to expand...

:humph:

Jun 1, 2009#27

Cat

Meh, L4D would have been good in a packaged deal but as a full priced game it feels like a waste.

Jun 1, 2009#28

figmentPez

Twitch said:
I don't remember any promises that weren't kept.

From the L4D blog:
May 15, 2009 "The matchmaking system will be updated in a few weeks so everyone can play your hard work. We will be releasing additional information and tools next week to show how you can package up your maps and how they are delivered to players."

April 1, 2009 "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."

Jun 1, 2009#29

elph

See, I thought the character interaction was neat, but I'm not hung up on it.

We have a token female at our LAN party and it's funny when she's not the female in game. We joke about how she's really just one of the guys and that kind of thing. Or we'll make jokes about being the odd man, the old man, etc... Beyond that, we're too focused on staying alive to really care that Zoey, Louis & Francis may be getting it on to make Bill jealous.

Jun 1, 2009#30

Twitch

figmentPez said:
Twitch said:

I don't remember any promises that weren't kept.

Click to expand...

From the L4D blog:
May 15, 2009 "The matchmaking system will be updated in a few weeks so everyone can play your hard work. We will be releasing additional information and tools next week to show how you can package up your maps and how they are delivered to players."

April 1, 2009 "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."

Good show then, I'm willing to bet that this will still happen but I understand the concern.
Then again there is, like I mentioned, the fact that this (to me) looks better than most expansion packs and I was willing to pay full price for a number of such e.p's

Jun 1, 2009#31

figmentPez

elph said:
See, I thought the character interaction was neat, but I'm not hung up on it.

We have a token female at our LAN party and it's funny when she's not the female in game. We joke about how she's really just one of the guys and that kind of thing. Or we'll make jokes about being the odd man, the old man, etc... Beyond that, we're too focused on staying alive to really care that Zoey, Louis & Francis may be getting it on to make Bill jealous.

I'm actually in favor of a new cast. I'm not bored with the original four, but I'll gladly take some new faces. I just think it's hilarious that one looks like Uncle Phil and another looks like The Scout from TF2.

Jun 1, 2009#32

elph

figmentPez said:
elph said:

See, I thought the character interaction was neat, but I'm not hung up on it.

We have a token female at our LAN party and it's funny when she's not the female in game. We joke about how she's really just one of the guys and that kind of thing. Or we'll make jokes about being the odd man, the old man, etc... Beyond that, we're too focused on staying alive to really care that Zoey, Louis & Francis may be getting it on to make Bill jealous.

Click to expand...

I'm actually in favor of a new cast. I'm not bored with the original four, but I'll gladly take some new faces. I just think it's hilarious that one looks like Uncle Phil and another looks like The Scout from TF2.

I guess there's a part of me that is in favor of a new cast with a new game environments and I do like options to look like someone different and all. Hell, I'd even go so far as to ask for different skins. Maybe unlockables that give new outfits (like the fighting games tend to do). But it's not a major selling point for me.

Jun 1, 2009#33

Jay

Read signature about Seriousjay's reaction to this news.

No further comment is needed.

Jun 1, 2009#34

figmentPez

A poster on the Steam forums wondered if Valve isn't set to do another Orange Box type deal. If they bundle HL2: Episode 3, Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 all together, I think I'd stop complaining.

-- Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:42 pm --

figmentPez said:
Twitch said:

I don't remember any promises that weren't kept.

Click to expand...

From the L4D blog:
May 15, 2009 "The matchmaking system will be updated in a few weeks so everyone can play your hard work. We will be releasing additional information and tools next week to show how you can package up your maps and how they are delivered to players."

April 1, 2009 "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."

And, some more unkept promises:

"So each time we've released one of those for Team Fortress 2 we've seen about a 20% increase in the number of people who are playing online. And that number is really important because it determines how many community created maps there are, how many servers are running, and so on. So we'll do the same thing with Left 4 Dead where we'll have the initial release and then we'll release more movies, more characters, more weapons, unlockables, achievements, because that's the way you continue to grow a community over time."

So, what changed Valve? "One of the things that we're doing is we seem to be in a transition between games as a package product and games more of a service." What happened to L4D as a service?

Jun 1, 2009#35

Gusto

Is there any kinda of differentiation between characters, or a class system yet?

No?

Then I'm still not interested.

Jun 1, 2009#36

Chibibar

personally, I would buy it if it was an expansion. Like Broodwar to Starcraft original series. I think that would be the better route to take. People can still play L4D classic (like StarCraft) OR expand version like Broodwar. It would be perfect.

Jun 1, 2009#37

Damnit Valve, I just want Episode 3. Is that so much to ask?

Jun 1, 2009#38

Gusto

ThatNickGuy said:
Damnit Valve, I just want Episode 3. Is that so much to ask?

/signed

PLEEEEEEEEEASE
:waah:

Jun 1, 2009#39

figmentPez

Gusto said:
Is there any kinda of differentiation between characters, or a class system yet?

Is this the game you're looking for?

Jun 1, 2009#40

CynicismKills

Gusto said:
ThatNickGuy said:

Damnit Valve, I just want Episode 3. Is that so much to ask?

Click to expand...

/signed

PLEEEEEEEEEASE
:waah:

So many times this. :angry:

Jun 2, 2009#41

B

bhamv2

figmentPez said:
Gusto said:

Is there any kinda of differentiation between characters, or a class system yet?

Click to expand...

Is this the game you're looking for?

*awesome picture snip*

Oh my god... so full of win!!!

I'd play even more heavy if he looked like that in TF2.

Also... Episode 3 now please, kthnksbi.

Jun 2, 2009#42

Jay

Obviously I'm excited to see this game, but I have 3 major concerns.

1. Nov 17 is an early timetable. How much work was put into this? Is this like... an expansion or a complete new game? I think this will be a tad rushed to make it out for the holidays... and will require a few months of tweaks and I don't think they'll deliver on 5 campaigns, at least not at first.

2. I was sorta fond of the old characters. I'm not huge on the "southern" charm so I don't know about that at this point and time but we'll see, maybe they'll grow on me. One thing is for sure, they better at least make the other characters unlockable or something like that.

3. I doubt an SDK will come out now with this game coming out.

PS: Dibs on Uncle Phil.

Jun 2, 2009#43

Chummer

I think this is what has most peopel upset:

Valve intends to support hotly anticipated zombie survival shooter Left 4 Dead post-release with new characters, new maps, new achievements and new weapons in order to grow the community, Gabe Newell has revealed.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com at Leipzig Games Convention, the Valve co-founder and managing director said the developer intended to follow a similar downloadable content policy as it has with Team Fortress 2.

Which I admit is one reason I bought the game. It felt unfinished but Valve was going to add more levels and weapons and characters etc. So eventually it would be worth the $50 price tag. And heck over the year all theyve really added is completeling the versus maps and adding one new small map for the survivor mode.

And now they are making a sequel with all this new stuff that peopel were expecting for free in L4D.

Now, they have said they are going to continue to support L4D, but haven't said by how much. I know its onlybeen one day but Valve needs to comment.

Jun 2, 2009#44

Chibibar

Chummer said:
I think this is what has most peopel upset:

Valve intends to support hotly anticipated zombie survival shooter Left 4 Dead post-release with new characters, new maps, new achievements and new weapons in order to grow the community, Gabe Newell has revealed.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com at Leipzig Games Convention, the Valve co-founder and managing director said the developer intended to follow a similar downloadable content policy as it has with Team Fortress 2.

Click to expand...

Which I admit is one reason I bought the game. It felt unfinished but Valve was going to add more levels and weapons and characters etc. So eventually it would be worth the $50 price tag. And heck over the year all theyve really added is completeling the versus maps and adding one new small map for the survivor mode.

And now they are making a sequel with all this new stuff that peopel were expecting for free in L4D.

Now, they have said they are going to continue to support L4D, but haven't said by how much. I know its onlybeen one day but Valve needs to comment.

I still think it would be awesome if it was an expansion instead of a whole new game. The reason is that if it a whole new game, the old version may not be supported much longer (or as much) why? cause the newer game has all the cool features people would want to play.

If it is an expansion, that means all the old stuff are still playable AND characters can be played in the NEW campaign (just like Broodwar in StarCraft) that would be awesome!!!!!

Jun 2, 2009#45

Hailey Knight

L4D got its $50 and more to me. I've had loads of fun on it and continue to do so whenever I get in with my buddies.

I'll likely buy L4D2 when it comes out.

Jun 4, 2009#46

figmentPez

Before its time? Valve explains Left 4 Dead sequel to Ars

"[Chet Faliszek] talked about the reaction to the Orange Box, how people were angry about "buying" Half-Life 2 again. "And looking back, was the Orange Box a ripoff?"

When I originally bought HL2 and Ep1, I got what I expected out of the games. When they were bundled with the Orange Box, it was a little frustrating, but all I had to do was decide if the remaining games were worth the price. The situation is not the same with L4D. I bought the game expecting new maps, new weapons and new special infected. There have been zero new Campaign maps, zero new weapons, and zero new special infected. I'm not mad about L4D2 containing all that L4D already has, I'm mad that L4D didn't get the updates that Valve promised.

Did I get $37.49 (sale price) worth of fun out of L4D? Probably.
Is that relevant? Absolutely not. I've gotten more than enough fun out of the Lustice League DVD box sets due to the episodes alone to justify what I paid for them. However, the boxes say they've got bonus features, and I'd be pissed if there weren't any. Even if I would have paid the same price for the episodes alone.

I'm not complaining because I didn't have fun. I'm complaining because I was promised more than I've gotten. Integrity is important to me. Keeping promises is important to me. All signs right now point to Valve not keeping their promises. I've repeatedly talked up Valve as a shining example of a company that cares about it's customers. Both to gamers and non-gamers. I've pointed out their game support as the way that things should be done, especially Team Fortress 2. It really feels like egg on my face to have said such good things about a company, only to find out they're trying to short-change customers.

Jun 4, 2009#47

Cat

The Orange Box a ripoff? :Leyla:

Jun 4, 2009#48

AshburnerX

Cat said:
The Orange Box a ripoff?

It could feel as such if you already bought Half Life 2 and Episode 1 & 2. I didn't have any of those, so it was a great deal for me.

Jun 4, 2009#49

figmentPez

Cat said:
The Orange Box a ripoff?

Well, Valve was originally going to have a Black Box and an Orange Box. The Black Box would only contain the new games (HL2:Ep2, Portal, TF2) and would cost less than the Orange Box. For the PC gamers who already owned HL2 and Ep1, it felt like they were being forced to buy those games again, just to get the new content. Gamers who only wanted Ep2 felt even more ripped-off, since only the bundle was available at launch. They just wanted Ep2 for $20 like they paid for Ep1, all the other games for $30 wasn't value, it was just a way to get fanboys to buy games they otherwise wouldn't have.

Now, I was excited about Portal, and TF2 didn't seem like an awful bonus, so I was happy with the price. But I know there are people who just don't play puzzle games or multi-player, and follow the HL series for exactly what it is, single player FPS with a story. That group was right to feel scammed by the Orange Box, especially with how hard it was to avoid spoilers about Ep2 in the time between the Orange Box coming out and Ep2 being available by itself.

Jun 4, 2009#50

Cat

They should've waited, there was no way anyone would think Valve was only going to sell the next episode in a packaged deal.

Jun 4, 2009#51

Twitch

figmentPez said:
Cat said:

The Orange Box a ripoff?

Click to expand...

Well, Valve was originally going to have a Black Box and an Orange Box. The Black Box would only contain the new games (HL2:Ep2, Portal, TF2) and would cost less than the Orange Box. For the PC gamers who already owned HL2 and Ep1, it felt like they were being forced to buy those games again, just to get the new content. Gamers who only wanted Ep2 felt even more ripped-off, since only the bundle was available at launch. They just wanted Ep2 for $20 like they paid for Ep1, all the other games for $30 wasn't value, it was just a way to get fanboys to buy games they otherwise wouldn't have.

Now, I was excited about Portal, and TF2 didn't seem like an awful bonus, so I was happy with the price. But I know there are people who just don't play puzzle games or multi-player, and follow the HL series for exactly what it is, single player FPS with a story. That group was right to feel scammed by the Orange Box, especially with how hard it was to avoid spoilers about Ep2 in the time between the Orange Box coming out and Ep2 being available by itself.

It took me over a year to play HLEP2 after purchase. I didn't encounter a single spoiler and I wasn't really trying. Was it really that bad?

Jun 4, 2009#52

figmentPez

Twitch said:
It took me over a year to play HLEP2 after purchase. I didn't encounter a single spoiler and I wasn't really trying. Was it really that bad?

Were you part of any HL community? If I'd cared about Ep2 spoilers, I would have had to avoid a significant portion of the content at Planet Half-Life for a while, and I just read their news updates. I don't participate in their forums.

Jun 4, 2009#53

elph

I've yet to play any of the Episodes. I didn't like the idea of spending $15-$20 and not getting a complete game. I wasn't sure exactly what I would be getting, maybe another zone or so? So I just skipped them.

Jun 4, 2009#54

figmentPez

elph said:
I've yet to play any of the Episodes. I didn't like the idea of spending $15-$20 and not getting a complete game. I wasn't sure exactly what I would be getting, maybe another zone or so? So I just skipped them.

You're missing out. You could have gotten the Orange Box for $10 a while back, more than worth the risk. Episode 1 kinda felt like a too-short rehash of City 17 and the Citadel, though I personally thought the interactions with Alyx were more than worth the $20 it debuted at. On the other hand Episode 2 was amazing through and through. It's easy worth more the $15 it sells for by itself on Steam. It's a good hunk of content. The forest and caves are unlike anything in HL2, and the new enemies feel very menacing. Don't miss Episode 2, seriously. It's amazing story telling.

Jun 4, 2009#55

B

bhamv2

I agree with Pez, the Episodes are well worth the price. They're sort of like... Half-Life 2, but better. Though somewhat shorter. For comparison's sake, HL2 has 13 chapters, Ep1 has 5, Ep2 has 7.

I still say the Antlion turret defense battle in Episode 2 is the greatest battle ever in Half-Life history.

Jun 4, 2009#56

figmentPez

bhamv2 said:
I still say the Antlion turret defense battle in Episode 2 is the greatest battle ever in Half-Life history.

Yes. The characters, the pacing, the objectives, the change-ups and curve-balls thrown at you. Everything about that battle is awesome. Feels hectic and frantic, like you're on the edge of survival, but without actually being a brutally difficult fight.

Jun 5, 2009#57

figmentPez

Video proof of Valve software promising new campaigns, new weapons and new infected for L4D
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWylFmqnwM:3h7aygdb][/youtube:3h7aygdb]

And, it just dawned on me that I've still got extra copies HL2 and Ep1 in my Steam account from when I bought the Orange Box. You want Episode 1 Elph?

Jun 5, 2009#58

elph

figmentPez said:
Video proof of Valve software promising new campaigns, new weapons and new infected for L4D
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWylFmqnwM:2ghf1lla][/youtube:2ghf1lla]

And, it just dawned on me that I've still got extra copies HL2 and Ep1 in my Steam account from when I bought the Orange Box. You want Episode 1 Elph?

Sure if it's just sitting around collecting virtual dust. I'll check it out. Thanks!

I was under the idea that they weren't so long, that they maybe only 1 or 2 chapters.

Jun 5, 2009#59

CynicismKills

Nah, Ep1 and 2 will still take a good chunk of time to plow through, the Antlions are fucking relentless.

Jun 5, 2009#60

Gadzooks

figmentPez said:
Video proof of Valve software promising new campaigns, new weapons and new infected for L4D
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWylFmqnwM5wtt3ly][/youtube5wtt3ly]

And, it just dawned on me that I've still got extra copies HL2 and Ep1 in my Steam account from when I bought the Orange Box. You want Episode 1 Elph?

the ending is priceless because its about all we can do

Jun 5, 2009#61

figmentPez

Gadzooks said:
the ending is priceless because its about all we can do

Anyone who posts that video on the Left 4 Dead 2 section of the Steam forums is having it deleted by the moderators.

Jun 5, 2009#62

Chibibar

figmentPez said:
Gadzooks said:

the ending is priceless because its about all we can do

Click to expand...

Anyone who posts that video on the Left 4 Dead 2 section of the Steam forums is having it deleted by the moderators.

of course

well.. I guess Valve did give the SDK recently but I personally haven't look much into it (since I suck making maps) so.... we'll see.

Jun 5, 2009#63

figmentPez

Chibibar said:
well.. I guess Valve did give the SDK recently but I personally haven't look much into it (since I suck making maps) so.... we'll see.

Beta version of the SDK, with no support, yet, for the average player to play the maps without jumping through hoops.

Jun 5, 2009#64

Chibibar

figmentPez said:
Chibibar said:

well.. I guess Valve did give the SDK recently but I personally haven't look much into it (since I suck making maps) so.... we'll see.

Click to expand...

Beta version of the SDK, with no support, yet, for the average player to play the maps without jumping through hoops.

right... so Valve might be a bit slow *wink wink nudge nudge* from their original promise but at least they are going with SOMETHING........

Of course, if L4D2 becomes a great hit, we may never see that Beta SKD becomes full blown version.

Jun 5, 2009#65

figmentPez

Chibibar said:
right... so Valve might be a bit slow *wink wink nudge nudge* from their original promise but at least they are going with SOMETHING........

Of course, if L4D2 becomes a great hit, we may never see that Beta SKD becomes full blown version.

If all they'd promised was an SDK, I'd only be a little worried that maps designed for L4D2 woudln't work on the first game. However, they promised new campaigns, new weapons and new enemies for L4D, and they haven't even breathed a word of that happening.

Jun 5, 2009#66

Chibibar

figmentPez said:
Chibibar said:

right... so Valve might be a bit slow *wink wink nudge nudge* from their original promise but at least they are going with SOMETHING........

Of course, if L4D2 becomes a great hit, we may never see that Beta SKD becomes full blown version.

Click to expand...

If all they'd promised was an SDK, I'd only be a little worried that maps designed for L4D2 woudln't work on the first game. However, they promised new campaigns, new weapons and new enemies for L4D, and they haven't even breathed a word of that happening.

heh.... probably all those cool ideas are going into L4D2

(I'm guessing here)

now of course the devs can promise a lot of things, but it is up to the big wig (main decision maker) to allow budget and such to do these things. At this point, it is all guess work on my part and hope......

Jun 5, 2009#67

figmentPez

Chibibar said:
now of course the devs can promise a lot of things, but it is up to the big wig (main decision maker) to allow budget and such to do these things.

A big-wig like Gabe Newell co-founder and managing director of Valve, who said "So each time we've released one of those for Team Fortress 2 we've seen about a 20% increase in the number of people who are playing online. And that number is really important because it determines how many community created maps there are, how many servers are running, and so on. So we'll do the same thing with Left 4 Dead where we'll have the initial release and then we'll release more movies, more characters, more weapons, unlockables, achievements, because that's the way you continue to grow a community over time."

Jun 5, 2009#68

ElJuski

Let me sum it up thusly:

I don't give a shit. I'll pay for moar when it comes out, and if it sucks, then I won't buy more.

Jun 5, 2009#69

Chippy

ElJuski said:
Let me sum it up thusly:

I don't give a shit. I'll pay for moar when it comes out, and if it sucks, then I won't buy more.

This.

Jun 5, 2009#70

figmentPez

No cares for corporate responsibility? This is why things are going to hell in a handbasket. Everyone expects everyone else to lie.

Jun 5, 2009#71

Chibibar

figmentPez said:
No cares for corporate responsibility? This is why things are going to hell in a handbasket. Everyone expects everyone else to lie.

haven't been in the corporate world much huh?

I can't say much since I got L4D on last sale (I think it was like 1.5 months ago?) so I still enjoy the game, but lately I play a lot of Killing floor more since tons of people covert over cool maps from UT:KF maps.

Jun 5, 2009#72

figmentPez

Chibibar said:
haven't been in the corporate world much huh?

Oh, I know that's the way things have increasingly become, but I'm saying that's not the way things should be. Valve has been much better about such things than other companies... up until this debacle.

Jun 5, 2009#73

Gadzooks

$50 now... $50 next year... oh hey, that strategy of releasing all the new content one year later worked... lets keep doing it.

Again, i point to how people are caring less and less about the latest Madden or whatever...

Jun 5, 2009#74

ElJuski

figmentPez said:
No cares for corporate responsibility? This is why things are going to hell in a handbasket. Everyone expects everyone else to lie.

Yeah, when it actually matters. Banks, car companies, Wal-Mart...sure. But a video game company? I really don't give a shit. Valve isn't bringing forth the fall of capitalist society with it's "irresponsibility". But we can keep on tilting at windmills with a lance of nerd rage, too.

Jun 5, 2009#75

Chippy

figmentPez said:
Chibibar said:

haven't been in the corporate world much huh?

Click to expand...

Oh, I know that's the way things have increasingly become, but I'm saying that's not the way things should be. Valve has been much better about such things than other companies... up until this debacle.

But in the end, is it that big of deal?

Jun 5, 2009#76

figmentPez

Chippy said:
But in the end, is it that big of deal?

Well, yes and no. It's not a life altering thing, but then again, it's not a life altering thing if I get bad service at a restaurant, and they never bring the side dishes I ordered with my entree. However, if a restaurant did that, I would have every right to complain, and if managment didn't make right, I'd be entirely justified in not going back and in telling others about the bad service I recieved. It doesn't have to be a life or death thing, or even a quality of life thing for it to be important. Good service should be rewarded, weather it's at a restaurant, at a bank, from a public servant, or from a video game company. Bad service, and broken promises, should be noticed, and people should be called out for not behaving as they should. Consumers shouldn't stand for bad service, regardless of what industry is serving them.

Jun 5, 2009#77

AshburnerX

Gadzooks said:
Again, i point to how people are caring less and less about the latest Madden or whatever...

But if you like football games, your going to keep fucking buying it every year because it's the only game in town. Monopolies are a bitch, aren't they?

Jun 5, 2009#78

Hailey Knight

figmentPez said:
No cares for corporate responsibility?

How many people who aren't froth-at-the-mouth Valve followers even knew about all that extra shit? So maybe they're deepest fans feel betrayed... those 7,358 people had their hearts broken because rather than getting additional free content, as with TF2, they would need to buy a new game to get new content.

Or they could just not bother.

If you enjoy Left 4 Dead, and you want more, then getting Left 4 Dead 2 is a no-brainer. If you only enjoyed L4D because there was the prospect of its expansion, then... what the hell are you playing for? That's like the people who only play Team Fortress 2 for a week or so, when new content comes up, and then they don't play again for 2 months.

L4D isn't going to go away. L4D2 becomes the new option. Don't buy it if you're disatisfied--OR, if you wonder if Valve will do all the free content, user-created content support and don't want to take the risk, wait to buy it until you see that stuff come out. Don't just buy it on a future possibility. I bought L4D to play what it is, and I have gotten what it is for many months, enjoyably. The only thing I expected for nothing more were Versus versions of Death Toll and Dead Air.

I will be happy to buy Left 4 Dead 2, because I am so damn pleased with L4D. And I continue to be.

Jun 5, 2009#79

figmentPez

escushion said:
If you enjoy Left 4 Dead, and you want more, then getting Left 4 Dead 2 is a no-brainer. If you only enjoyed L4D because there was the prospect of its expansion, then... what the * are you playing for?

It's not about enjoyment, or about worth for the money spent. If I go to the aforementioned restaurant, I don't care if I really loved my entree, if I didn't get my side dish that was promised, it's bad service. Now, some people may put up with really lousy service to get good food, but I'm not one of them. The way I'm treated by a company matters to me, and I think it should matter to everyone. I like L4D, a lot. I happily bought it for just what it was, and then probably would bought L4D2 for what it will be, except for the promises made about L4D. If Valve hadn't said a word about support for the game, I wouldn't be upset. But since they did say they were going to do something, but did not, I think it's right to be upset about that.

Valve has done a lot of good things for the game industry and for gamers. I don't think it was unreasonable to expect them to follow through on promises. I don't think it's right that companies aren't held responsible for what they say. Yes, I could wait for Valve to come through on promises before I buy a game, but I'd much rather be able to order off the menu and expect that my favorite restaurant will deliver what they said.

Jun 5, 2009#80

Hailey Knight

Well, that's not happening, so you're left either to buy or not to buy.

But in the six months you'll have before it comes out to consider it, and then perhaps whatever time after when the game really doesn't matter anyway, consider if, for all that history of player support and kept promises, a change of plan that breaks a promise most people weren't aware of makes them that deserving of your ire.

Jun 5, 2009#81

AshburnerX

I want to see some more about the weaponry before I decide to pick it up. I want to see some new long range weapon types or at least some variable models before I even consider buying LFD2.

Jun 6, 2009#82

Gryfter

Jun 6, 2009#83

JONJONAUG

I find this whole shitstorm hilarious, really.

On one hand, Valve did promise more campaigns and support for fan content along with expanding the game. They ended up adding in a new gameplay mode, really balanced out the gameplay, and added in two versus campaigns (although these may have been expected in the first place) that weren't at the time of release. I can see how people may have expected more.

On the other hand, L4D 2 is going to have more new content then the entirety of L4D 1 with all the updates it currently has. Expecting Valve not to charge full price for what is essentially a full sequel with new characters, enemies, features, five new campaigns, and a new gameplay mode is insane.

Jun 6, 2009#84

Troll

JONJONAUG said:
I find this whole shitstorm hilarious, really.

On one hand, Valve did promise more campaigns and support for fan content along with expanding the game. They ended up adding in a new gameplay mode, really balanced out the gameplay, and added in two versus campaigns (although these may have been expected in the first place) that weren't at the time of release. I can see how people may have expected more.

On the other hand, L4D 2 is going to have more new content then the entirety of L4D 1 with all the updates it currently has. Expecting Valve not to charge full price for what is essentially a full sequel with new characters, enemies, features, five new campaigns, and a new gameplay mode is insane.

Yup. I think the best idea was suggested already in this thread: give people who bought L4D a discount. If they charge $50 for L4D 2, then current owners should only pay $25 or something. The numbers aren't exact, but I think the idea is sound.

Jun 6, 2009#85

B

bhamv2

A Troll said:
JONJONAUG said:

I find this whole shitstorm hilarious, really.

On one hand, Valve did promise more campaigns and support for fan content along with expanding the game. They ended up adding in a new gameplay mode, really balanced out the gameplay, and added in two versus campaigns (although these may have been expected in the first place) that weren't at the time of release. I can see how people may have expected more.

On the other hand, L4D 2 is going to have more new content then the entirety of L4D 1 with all the updates it currently has. Expecting Valve not to charge full price for what is essentially a full sequel with new characters, enemies, features, five new campaigns, and a new gameplay mode is insane.

Click to expand...

Yup. I think the best idea was suggested already in this thread: give people who bought L4D a discount. If they charge $50 for L4D 2, then current owners should only pay $25 or something. The numbers aren't exact, but I think the idea is sound.

Plus it'll reduce the inevitable "boycott" voices.

Jun 6, 2009#86

Hailey Knight

Many of whom will buy it anyway. Talk is easy; we'll see who does and doesn't buy the game in November.

Jun 6, 2009#87

Chibibar

I can assure you I will probably end up buying it or my wife will buy it for me.

Jun 6, 2009#88

elph

I think it'll all depend on how things pan out. If there is no discount for previous L4D people (which I really doubt there will be), I'll just wait until it goes on sale through Steam.

I'll just hope I get the right sides with my meal this time around.

Jun 6, 2009#89

Chibibar

elph said:
I think it'll all depend on how things pan out. If there is no discount for previous L4D people (which I really doubt there will be), I'll just wait until it goes on sale through Steam.

I'll just hope I get the right sides with my meal this time around.

I might do that also... not sure

I did wait until L4D to go on sale. I figure after a couple of months if they don't get the figures they want, the item will go on sale on steam

Jun 6, 2009#90

elph

Chibibar said:
elph said:

I think it'll all depend on how things pan out. If there is no discount for previous L4D people (which I really doubt there will be), I'll just wait until it goes on sale through Steam.

I'll just hope I get the right sides with my meal this time around.

Click to expand...

I might do that also... not sure I did wait until L4D to go on sale. I figure after a couple of months if they don't get the figures they want, the item will go on sale on steam

Well, they did a sale on Feb 13th for 50% off. It was the first time it went on sale (at least that I remember) and it hadn't been out that long (3 or 4 months I think).

Besides, I'm also hoping that the other campaigns aren't during the day time, 1 or 2 is cool. At the LAN party, we were discussing how it would be neat to have a day time campaign, but I think we all feel more tension at night. It's somewhat annoying in Vs mode when the AI survivors can spot you when the players just can't.

Jun 6, 2009#91

AshburnerX

elph said:
Besides, I'm also hoping that the other campaigns aren't during the day time, 1 or 2 is cool. At the LAN party, we were discussing how it would be neat to have a day time campaign, but I think we all feel more tension at night. It's somewhat annoying in Vs mode when the AI survivors can spot you when the players just can't.

Daytime campaigns can work as long as there is some other source of suspense involved. Using the infamous shopping mall cliche for instance... you start out the mission on the roof of a nearby Gun Store and immediately you can see hundreds of infected all around the sides of the building, trying to get in. You then need to find some means to make the jump to the mall's roof, as falling from the roof would be an assured death at the Horde beneath you.

Once you make it across, you descend down the roof access stairs and have to work your way through the darkened Mall, with only brief patches of sunlight coming from open skylights and your flashlights to guide you. Expect lots of Smokers and Hunters to attack you from the Skylights, making each bright spot a potential portal of death.

Finally you make it to the underground parking lot and to an unfueled bus. Somebody needs to operate the pump while large waves of Infected come at you. Once you get the bus fueled, you jump on board and have to defend it from Tanks and Boomers as it makes it's way to the final safe location, a local military base. Failing to protect it doesn't mean you failed the mission, it just means you have to run the remainder of the way ON FOOT while the Infected grow ever near to your location.

Once you make it to the base, cue the victory music and maybe have a tank or something come out to fight off the Horde that's just arrived. It's basically a modified recreation of the newer Day of the Dead... only you go to a military base instead of a marina. More importantly, it's a daytime campaign that works.

Jun 6, 2009#92

figmentPez

JONJONAUG said:
I find this whole shitstorm hilarious, really.

On one hand, Valve did promise more campaigns and support for fan content along with expanding the game. They ended up adding in a new gameplay mode, really balanced out the gameplay, and added in two versus campaigns (although these may have been expected in the first place) that weren't at the time of release. I can see how people may have expected more.

On the other hand, L4D 2 is going to have more new content then the entirety of L4D 1 with all the updates it currently has. Expecting Valve not to charge full price for what is essentially a full sequel with new characters, enemies, features, five new campaigns, and a new gameplay mode is insane.

It doesn't have to be either L4D support or L4D2, Valve could have released the SDK on time (it was promised a few weeks after release, it's been 6 months. They, instead, started working on L4D2 right after release, while telling fans they were working on the SDK), released a mini-campaign or two (in interviews, they suggested new campaigns would be a couple of maps), plus some weapons for L4D and then put their full force behind L4D2. Not only that, but I don't think it's insane to expect much of what was in L4D2 to be released as extra content. Think of all the updates that TF2 has gotten, and it's just a a "$20" game. Valve has said repeatedly that the reason that they can provide so much new content for such a cheap game is that when they release new content, new sales are made. There is no reason to believe the exact same thing wouldn't happen with L4D. New content released, and sales go up. It may sound counter-intuitive that releasing free content could make more money than releasing a new game, but TF2 has proved that's not the case. TF2 was the #1 selling game on Steam this past week.

This is what Valve has had to say in the past about DLC:

"You buy the product, you get the content," Team Fortress 2 designer Robin Walker told us. "We make more money because more people buy it, not because we try and nickel-and-dime the same customers."

Valve's marketing director Doug Lombardi admitted the company had "pretty strong opinions" about how to handle post-release content. "Our philosophy there is, if you buy the product, we put more content out to keep the game interesting, we sell more products."

The only reason I can think that it might have been impossible to release all this new content for free would be if the Xbox 360, and Microsoft's limitations on DLC, meant it couldn't be done.

elph said:
Well, they did a sale on Feb 13th for 50% off. It was the first time it went on sale (at least that I remember) and it hadn't been out that long (3 or 4 months I think).

Valve had a post-Christmas sale (day after Christmas until the end of the year, I think) where a lot of games were reduced. L4D was 25% off, that's when I bought my copy.

Jun 6, 2009#93

Hailey Knight

figmentPez said:
elph said:

Well, they did a sale on Feb 13th for 50% off. It was the first time it went on sale (at least that I remember) and it hadn't been out that long (3 or 4 months I think).

Click to expand...

Valve had a post-Christmas sale (day after Christmas until the end of the year, I think) where a lot of games were reduced. L4D was 25% off, that's when I bought my copy.

I loved that sale. Got Bioshock for $5.

Jun 7, 2009#94

Twitch

I'm still waiting for a response from Blizzard, I refuse to pay full price for a simple expansion pack, frozen throne my ass. :humph:

Jun 7, 2009#95

AshburnerX

Twitch said:
I'm still waiting for a response from Blizzard, I refuse to pay full price for a simple expansion pack, frozen throne... my ass is frozen to it! SEND FOR HELP! :aaahhh:

I'm sorry... I couldn't help myself.

Jul 21, 2009#96

figmentPez

Gamespy has a Left 4 Dead 2 Preview

The major points:

New Special Infected:
The Spitter - lobs a glob of damaging spit at survivors, leaving a damaging puddle on the ground. Another Valve counter to shiva-stacking.

New Common Uncommon Infected (Valve needs a better name for this class):
Mud men - move around on all fours, and quickly. Making them hard to spot, especially in the water.
These new common infected will be level specific, which makes sense now that I think about it, so you won't see hazmat zombies in the swamp, or mud-men in the city.

New items:
Adrenaline (can be picked up instead of pills) - allows unlimited melee, and common infected can't slow you down
Ammo Pack (instead of a health kit) - no description in the article

The videos don't show much new, aside from the swamp and shanty town setting. You can catch a glimpse of the spitter's attack if you watch closely, but it's hard to make out.

Jul 21, 2009#97

Jay

Where do I pre-order this shit already? Gimmie a deal Valve! :thumbsup:

Jul 21, 2009#98

Hailey Knight

Sounds awesome. Looking forward to it.

Jul 21, 2009#99

Necronic

This is an expansion, not a sequel. Thats all there is to say.

Jul 21, 2009#100

Hailey Knight

And your mother never loved you, while we're stating the obvious.

Jul 21, 2009#101

Chibibar

You know something interesting? Developers always have high hope for their games they are making. They have tons of ideas of what to put into the game, but it all boils down to the upper brass (their bosses) Every company is trying to make money. That is a given. When L4D2 hits the shelves, those will get bought up by fans REGARDLESS of the promises by the devs before. The devs are trying to shell out stuff for L4D but the upper brass wants "more profit" so will sell a new game (it is an expansion since it is all new places not really a sequel) Sure some of us might complain and bitch and moan, but it will take literally millions of customer to make Valve change their mind.

Now if Valve gives a discount to previous L4D owners... great.. if not.. I personally gonna wait for a sale before getting it (still play some L4D and other games so not in a rush)

Jul 22, 2009#102

N

Nubs

The first L4D was epic in my eyes, I can't wait for the second one to come out. just hoping you're right about new weapons/ lower price

Jul 22, 2009#103

@Li3n

figmentPez said:
Gamespy has a Left 4 Dead 2 Preview

The major points:

New Special Infected:
The Spitter - lobs a glob of damaging spit at survivors, leaving a damaging puddle on the ground. Another Valve counter to shiva-stacking.

New Common Uncommon Infected (Valve needs a better name for this class):
Mud men - move around on all fours, and quickly. Making them hard to spot, especially in the water.
These new common infected will be level specific, which makes sense now that I think about it, so you won't see hazmat zombies in the swamp, or mud-men in the city.

New items:
Adrenaline (can be picked up instead of pills) - allows unlimited melee, and common infected can't slow you down
Ammo Pack (instead of a health kit) - no description in the article

The videos don't show much new, aside from the swamp and shanty town setting. You can catch a glimpse of the spitter's attack if you watch closely, but it's hard to make out.

This would need at least a new graphic engine to actually make it a sequel... there are plenty of expansions out there that had way more content and where also stand-alone.

Plus, Valve said this: http://www.edge-online.com/features/val ... -expensive

New Common Uncommon Infected (Valve needs a better name for this class):

Hmmm... i heard them refered to as Uncommon Common by some Valve guys, not the other way around.

Jul 22, 2009#104

figmentPez

@Li3n said:
This would need at least a new graphic engine to actually make it a sequel... there are plenty of expansions out there that had way more content and where also stand-alone.

Well there are improvements being made to the engine. However, all I've heard so far is about increasing the gore in the game (infected show bones and organs when they're dismembered) it's not enough to make it a PC sequel. However, the bar for a console sequel isn't as high. I suspect that the biggest reason this game is L4D2, instead of L4D: Cajun Seasoning, is the Xbox 360 and Microsoft.

Plus, Valve said this: http://www.edge-online.com/features/val ... -expensive

Valve has said a lot of things that haven't been backed by their actions thus far. I'm still hoping they'll show a commitment to their customers over conforming to bad industry practices.

[quote:1lsr2gps]New Common Uncommon Infected (Valve needs a better name for this class):

Hmmm... i heard them refered to as Uncommon Common by some Valve guys, not the other way around.[/quote:1lsr2gps]

I could have gotten it backwards. I tend to reverse things a lot (numbers, word order, etc.) All the more reason for a better name.

Jul 22, 2009#105

Covar

L4D: Cajun Seasoning

winner right there.

L4D probably gets the most play in my 360. An absolutely fantastic game. I'm still not sure how I feel about L4D2 especially since I'll most likely have to pay $60 for it. For $40 I would not bitch about the lack of extras we were promised, but full price for extremely short (but replayable) games each year is a bit much.

Jul 22, 2009#106

Necronic

The reason I feel so fucked with this is that L4D is a perfect platform for user made content. That's what people want more than anything else. AI director is good enough as is (although this is the one notable improvement). No melee weapons is fine. Different skins for existing weapons who cares. Different black guy meh. But user made content. That's all we want. If you look at all the other multiplayer games out there the big thing about them is user made content. Be it classic maps like 2fort or The Well, or (at one point) strange conceptual games like Rocket Arena or Urban Terror. Team Fortress was originally a user made mod, as was many many many of the more basic FPS multiplayer devices.

Jul 22, 2009#107

Hailey Knight

So you mean, like all the maps people have been making since the SDK was released, of varying quality?

Jul 22, 2009#108

Necronic

Hm, haven't been on in a while. I know there have been some decent homebrews that are hard to get to run online. Is that what you are talking about?

Jul 22, 2009#109

Hailey Knight

No.

Last month they released the SDK and updated Left 4 Dead. Not only is there support for people to make maps and events in the Source Development Kit, but the Lobby has been updated for making games with a custom map you have. If a game is "completed" and has this specific Source file because you did it right, then if your friends see you have made a Lobby with a map they don't have, they can click the link and begin downloading that map, much like Battle.net games.

Jul 22, 2009#110

Necronic

Well then....let me just shut my mouth a bit....

It is remarkably fast for a sequel though. I can't think of another game that has turned out a sequel this fast after a succesfull first round. It makes me wonder if

1) The sequel will not be finished before its released
2) The material put in the sequel is not significant enough to call it a sequel (minor AI tweaks, maps, & skins)
3) They started developing the sequel before they released the original.

Jul 22, 2009#111

figmentPez

Saw some Footage from Kotaku at Comicon

Couple of things I noticed:
1. The sniper rifle apparently settles it's crosshair much faster after movement (yea!)
2. A cricket bat

"Cricket? Nobody understands cricket! You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket!"

Jul 23, 2009#112

@Li3n

Necronic said:
1) The sequel will not be finished before its released

How is that different from every Valve game so far? (ok, i only played their games close to release from HL2 onwards).

Jul 23, 2009#113

Jay

L4D2 will be perfectly fine at launch. They'll just add things accordingly after the launch just like they did with L4D, no surprise there. As long as the SDK doesn't take 8 months... all will be well.

Jul 23, 2009#114

@Li3n

SeriousJay said:
L4D2 will be perfectly fine at launch. just like they did with L4D

Ha....

Jul 23, 2009#115

Chibibar

SeriousJay said:
L4D2 will be perfectly fine at launch. They'll just add things accordingly after the launch just like they did with L4D, no surprise there. As long as the SDK doesn't take 8 months... all will be well.

yea... once SDK launched for L4D, Fans start churning out a bunch of stuff. I love the new campaigns and maps out there.

Jul 23, 2009#116

Jay

At this point, all I see here are bandwagon jumpers who hate just for the sake of hating. I have no issue with the way Valve has done business and I feel they gone far and beyond what was asked of them. When a perfected L4D2 comes out, I'll have it right away when it unlocks on Steam and jump onto a server with friends and have a blast playing the game all night long. The bandwagon haters can sit idly by and throw all the cynical laughs they'd want, it won't phase me.

117 days to go!

:clap:

Jul 23, 2009#117

Chibibar

SeriousJay said:
At this point, all I see here are bandwagon jumpers who hate just for the sake of hating. I have no issue with the way Valve has done business and I feel they gone far and beyond what was asked of them. When a perfected L4D2 comes out, I'll have it right away when it unlocks on Steam and jump onto a server with friends and have a blast playing the game all night long. The bandwagon haters can sit idly by and throw all the cynical laughs they'd want, it won't phase me.

117 days to go!

:clap:

Heh.. I might wait for a sale since Steam is known for that

(or a pre-order sale either way)

Jul 23, 2009#118

@Li3n

SeriousJay said:
At this point, all I see here are bandwagon jumpers who hate just for the sake of hating. I have no issue with the way Valve has done business and I feel they gone far and beyond what was asked of them. When a perfected L4D2 comes out, I'll have it right away when it unlocks on Steam and jump onto a server with friends and have a blast playing the game all night long. The bandwagon haters can sit idly by and throw all the cynical laughs they'd want, it won't phase me.

117 days to go!

:clap:

Yeah, those assholes... it's not even necessary to provide any arguments of why their complaints are wrong.

Jul 23, 2009#119

Hailey Knight

Because people are whiners?

Jul 23, 2009#120

Chibibar

escushion said:
Because people are whiners?

because believe every single promise by the devs = delivery???

I wish that was true, but in reality, the devs have plans and sometime... those plan just don't pan out

(like Ghost........ *sniffles*)

Jul 24, 2009#121

@Li3n

Except the "it's different enough to be a sequel" all the other promises scream expansion... maybe stand alone only coz of the purported AI improvements.

Aug 4, 2009#122

figmentPez

Finally! More Left 4 Dead DLC Announced

It's called "Crash Course" and it's going to be for both PC (free) and Xbox 360 (560 points). It'll take place between "No Mercy" and "Death Toll" (There are people who care about the plot?)

Crash Course will have co-operative and survival modes, but it's main goal is versus. A short 30-minute version of versus, so it's not going to be that long of a map.

Good for you Valve. Now announce a new infected and a new weapon or two for L4D, and I'll buy L4D2. :slywink:

Aug 4, 2009#123

Twitch

I'm going to say again that expansion packs typically cost the same as the normal game and add less than this new game will add, they often are released in the same amount of time and if this had been called an expansion people would have been completely happy.
As for the people who want to play some good user mods, look up Helms Deep, it's insanely awesome.

Aug 6, 2009#124

@Li3n

So, anyone else think that the reason why it's a sequel it's coz MS won't let them sell it for less on the XBox and having it at half the cost on the PC would be even worse PR wise?!

DAMN YOU CONSOLES....

Aug 6, 2009#125

Jay

They are releasing a new free campaign for L4D1.

Aug 6, 2009#126

@Li3n

Only if you have it on PC...

Aug 6, 2009#127

Jay

Welp, don't buy PC games that have been ported to the console then! :smug:

It may be available as a chargable DLC, you never know. lulz

Aug 6, 2009#128

figmentPez

SeriousJay said:
It may be available as a chargable DLC, you never know. lulz

Did you see the post I made earlier? They've already announced the price on the Xbox 360.

figmentPez said:
Finally! More Left 4 Dead DLC Announced

It's called \"Crash Course\" and it's going to be for both PC (free) and Xbox 360 (560 points). It'll take place between \"No Mercy\" and \"Death Toll\" (There are people who care about the plot?)

Crash Course will have co-operative and survival modes, but it's main goal is versus. A short 30-minute version of versus, so it's not going to be that long of a map.

Aug 6, 2009#129

Jay

Wow, that's like 6$ for a campaign.... AND you guys aren't playing the sweet sweet custom maps that have been coming out. Poor poor console players.

Aug 6, 2009#130

Hailey Knight

Love the PC

Aug 7, 2009#131

@Li3n

SeriousJay said:
Welp, don't buy PC games that have been ported to the console then! :smug:

Destroying the consoles sounds easier 10x.

Aug 14, 2009#132

figmentPez

I'm watching Game Trailers TV right now, and they're covering L4D2. Some things they've revealed so far:

- A level set in a theme park
- Katana as a melee weapon
- grenade launcher, talked about, I didn't notice it shown.
- common infected in riot gear, presumably bullet resistant
- some sort of military artillery, just shown in a clip, I'm guessing it's a single fire to clear a barrier and draw the horde type thing.

Also, Q&A with Gabe Newell:
- HL2: Episode 3? No comment.
- Counter Strike 2? Send Gabe a ranked order of sequels you'd like to see.

Aug 14, 2009#133

@Li3n

so nothing new then...

Sep 3, 2009#134

figmentPez

The next new special infected has been revealed: The Jockey, who jumps on the backs of survivors and proceeds to steer them away from the group.

The Jockey's a right pain in the neck, appearing out of nowhere and hopping onto one of the survivors' backs. He or she then loses control of movement, allowing the Jockey to steer the pair into dangerous territory, where other infected can pile on the damage.

It's particularly frustrating for the survivors when one of their number is caught straggling, because the Jockey can ride them further and further away from the main group, potentially costing the team even more vital time, health and ammo than, say, a Hunter could by pinning a wayward player.

Also revealed in the new Dark Carnival level were a new uncommon common infected (a clown who can call infected to the area), as well as an electric guitar melee weapon.

Sep 4, 2009#135

bhamv3

Oh wow, the Jockey sucks. I've never played L4D, but I hate the stuff in TF2 that takes control of my character away from me. An enemy that could steer you ALL THE WAY to the middle of an infected horde would suck so much for me.

Sep 5, 2009#136

figmentPez

bhamv3 said:
Oh wow, the Jockey sucks. I've never played L4D, but I hate the stuff in TF2 that takes control of my character away from me. An enemy that could steer you ALL THE WAY to the middle of an infected horde would suck so much for me.

It's going to be interesting to see if Valve can balance this, or if the Jockey will end up getting nerfed into oblivion.

On another note, This is bullshit Valve: "electric guitar, machete, and the American baseball bat being offered as a pre-sell exclusive with select retailers" If those are in any way more powerful than the rest of the melee weapons, you've just added more fuel to the boycott fire that was starting to die out. Please don't move on to offering special levels only available at Gameslop.

Sep 7, 2009#137

@Li3n

From the PAX vids it seems that the Jockey doesn't completly take you over and you can fight it...

Also, there's a Katana...

But i wonder, where they actually planning all this or did they just react to the complaints? Coz if they keep adding stuff they might actually go beyond expansion to actual sequel...

Sep 7, 2009#138

AshburnerX

The katana, electric guitar, and one other weapon are Gamestop pre-order exclusives. Bullshit, if you ask me... and I'm not exactly sure how they are going to handle it in the game.

Sep 7, 2009#139

@Li3n

The previous post said machete... i was hoping they where different weapons (l4d1 has too few weapons imo).

Sep 7, 2009#140

AshburnerX

@Li3n said:
The previous post said machete... i was hoping they where different weapons (l4d1 has too few weapons imo).

I'm just glad they added a mid-range option. I was stuck using the Sniper Rifle in LFD1 when what I wanted was a semi-auto carbine. That won't be a problem this time.

Sep 7, 2009#141

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
The katana, electric guitar, and one other weapon are Gamestop pre-order exclusives. Bullshit, if you ask me... and I'm not exactly sure how they are going to handle it in the game.

Folks in the Steam forums are claiming that if one person on a server has the pre-order items, all the players will be able to use them in that game. Haven't seen anything from Valve on the subject, since I didn't see any links to the interview people were talking about.

Sep 12, 2009#142

Necronic

So on Kotaku there was a "Justify Your Game" segment on L4D2. This feature isn't specific to L4D, and has nothing to do with the complaints, its something they do for a lot of games. Basically you get 30 seconds to sum up your game. The dev was wicked excited, but honestly his description of the game just lowered my desire to spend money on this game. Here's what he covered.

1) New maps

2) New player characters

3) New common infected

4) New weapons

5) New major infected

He didn't mention the AI director and graphics update, but even with those I don't think it justifies the game.

I guess my attitude on L4D2 is that L4D1 is as close to perfect as I need. I kind of feel bad for the studio because they did such a damned good job on L4D1 that the only things they can add are generally superficial. The exception is the AI director, but have any of yall ever felt like the AI director as it is is bad?

So I won't be buying the new one. Could people that are excited about it tell me what it adds that L4D1 doesn't already have in its basically perfect form? Aside from minor tweaks? I'm honestly curious, not being sarcastic.

oh yeah, linkies

http://kotaku.com/5355046/justify-your-game-left-4-dead-2

Sep 12, 2009#143

Hailey Knight

I totally can't see how L4D2 justifies anything. Any sequel could add new things to a game. It takes guts to fix what's not broken, and it's even ballsier to change nothing. I say, they should put L4D1 in L4D2's box and sell that.

Sep 12, 2009#144

Necronic

I can't figure out what parts of your statement are sarcasm. I'm being serious with my question, what is it that you are really looking forward to with the sequel?

Sep 12, 2009#145

Hailey Knight

That's the magic of me.

At the moment, I'm not looking forward to it because my new computer sucks and runs old L4D like shit, so I won't be digging into this until my old one gets fixed.

When that magic time comes, I am looking forward to the new Valve-designed maps, the new types of infected (special and normal) which will change how the game is actually played based on what you have to do to handle them and how you have to play as them, sorta-looking forward to the new melee weapons (though not much, really), and any lobby/hub improvements that usually come with a sequel but aren't really worth mentioning. I hope they come, because even with the changes to L4D's lobby, it still feels kind of clunky. I know that Valve probably thinks it's streamlined compared to Team Fortress 2, but at least with choosing a server there, you have more freedom.

Is this going to be Half-Life to Half-Life 2? Of course not. But it's going to be too much to simply patch, nor should it be just a patch. That said, feeling L4D is fine as-is and not wanting to buy a sequel because you're happy with it is not the same as boycotting the sequel because you didn't feel the original lived up to expectations. I'm not begrudging your choice, but it is a step-up from the last one. If they changed a lot to make it what you seem to envision as a sequel, wouldn't that be breaking said perfection?

Sep 12, 2009#146

Enresshou

I think the main problem with many people (myself included) is that, while they're claiming it's too much to simply patch, it really doesn't feel like that. Granted, they may have re-tooled the Director AI/the underlying code, and--if so--I don't think that should be a simple patch.

I think a lot of this could've been avoided if it wasn't $50 (PC) or $60 (360) for what people have come to expect in patches and downloads. I would've had no problem paying $30 or so for this, but--considering Valve's always been "the good guys" and have had amazing support for their games in the past--coughing up full price for what feels like a standalone expansion pack just doesn't sit well with me.

Sep 13, 2009#147

Necronic

The other issue is that an expansion means that support will continue for the original product, whereas a sequel almost always means support will disappear. I know that they said it wouldn't but, its hard to accept that when all other instances are otherwise.

Sep 13, 2009#148

Enresshou

Necronic said:
The other issue is that an expansion means that support will continue for the original product, whereas a sequel almost always means support will disappear. I know that they said it wouldn't but, its hard to accept that when all other instances are otherwise.

Yeah, this. Especially given the relative lack of support for Left 4 Dead already.

Sep 13, 2009#149

AshburnerX

I wish they hadn't dropped the characters from L4D1 for L4D2. This new group doesn't seem nearly as interesting.

Sep 13, 2009#150

Hailey Knight

Support sounds like a legitimate concern to me. I think Valve's idea was to make L4D as they wanted and then let the community use the AI director and mapping to their enjoyment. Nonetheless, a game still needs company support, fixes, tweaks, etc. You can't keep the community fired on nothing. An expansion would make more sense, building off the prior code, adding new stuff to feel fresh, dodging the patching concern, and still making money.

Oct 2, 2009#151

Jay

Pre-sale for L4D2 has commenced!

Oct 2, 2009#152

Chibibar

I got mine!

Oct 3, 2009#153

Shegokigo

AshburnerX said:
I wish they hadn't dropped the characters from L4D1 for L4D2. This new group doesn't seem nearly as interesting.

Zoey..... :tear:

Oct 3, 2009#154

Jay

I call dibs on Uncle Phil.

Oct 5, 2009#155

Hailey Knight

Shegokigo;268080][quote=AshburnerX said:
I wish they hadn't dropped the characters from L4D1 for L4D2. This new group doesn't seem nearly as interesting.

Zoey..... :tear:[/QUOTE]

Her real name is "Girl."

Oct 5, 2009#156

Alucard

eh left 4 dead 2 will be okay but go for modernwarfare 2 mua ha ha ha ha

Oct 5, 2009#157

figmentPez

Best selling games last week on Steam:
#1 Left 4 Dead 2
#2 Left 4 Dead

and L4D2 looks like it will be the top selling game this week as well. I'll probably wait at least until it's under $30.

Oct 6, 2009#158

@Li3n

Holly poop, they hired IceFrog: http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/103/1031456p1.html

Anyone else expecting a Zombie Defence as DLC for L4D2 now?

Oct 8, 2009#159

figmentPez

Valve Announces Left 4 Dead 2 Scavenge Mode

Scavenge mode challenges players to compete in round-based games of up to 8 players (Survivors vs. Infected). The Survivors must battle both the Infected and the clock as they collect gas cans to refuel a generator located in each map. Every can the Survivors pour into the generator scores their team a point and adds time to the clock.

On defense, the Infected team plays as the boss Infected (including the new Spitter, Jockey, and Charger). They must keep the Survivors from fueling the generator by attacking them, destroying the gas cans, or running out the clock. During a round, each team gets an opportunity to play both sides, with the round going to whichever team successfully delivers the most cans.

Oct 9, 2009#160

AshburnerX

Nevermind... one of the new girls wears a similar red to Zoey.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/pc-human-left-4-dead/57477

Oct 9, 2009#161

Covar

I'm going to pre-order this for my 360 soon. The pre-order deals sounded good.

Oct 11, 2009#162

Chippy

BlackCat said:
eh left 4 dead 2 will be okay but go for modernwarfare 2 mua ha ha ha ha

How...devious?

Oct 11, 2009#163

Hailey Knight

Shit, I need to get my good comp fixed. I waaaant.

Oct 15, 2009#164

figmentPez

Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Details Revealed

The demo is going to be part of "The Parish" campaign, it's going to have all the new boss zombies, and all the melee weapons.

"Those who pre-order the game (at participating retailers or via Steam) will obtain early access to the demo on October 27. The demo will then be made available to Xbox LIVE Gold members and all PC gamers on November 3. Then all Xbox LIVE members will obtain access to the demo on November 10."

Oct 15, 2009#165

Jay

WOOT!!!!

Oct 15, 2009#166

Hailey Knight

I know my good computer won't be fixed by the 27th... Do I dare to pre-order and play on this piece of shit just to play it?

Oct 15, 2009#167

Shegokigo

Personally I'll wait the 2 months after release and get it on the weekend special it'll eventually release for.

Oct 15, 2009#168

Jay

Or preorder it! Only 36$!

Oct 15, 2009#169

figmentPez

escushion said:
I know my good computer won't be fixed by the 27th... Do I dare to pre-order and play on this piece of shit just to play it?

I'm gonna wait until Nov 3 when the demo comes out for everyone (well, all PC users). I'm not sure if/when I'll get the full game.

Oct 17, 2009#170

Hailey Knight

SeriousJay said:
Or preorder it! Only 36$!

Fuck, I should've done that. Now it's back to $44.

Oct 17, 2009#171

Shegokigo

See, my biggest problem with L4D is if I play through the campaign mode once (all 5 scenarios) I get bored with sub-sequent play throughs unless I take a good month or so off. I really don't get into the whole "replay" value of the game. Maybe it'd be better with a few people I know, but I find myself wanting to play TF2 with the time.

Seeing what I've seen about L4D2, I think the same is going to hold true (one playthrough per month or so).

Oct 17, 2009#172

Hailey Knight

It's not necessarily about people you already know, but once you get a cluster of regulars, the game's replay value soars, and also becomes hilarious. I had a blast playing through just the old demo with Halforums people.

Later I found a group of guys I fell in with on L4D and we played two or three times a week for a while. Honestly, Team Fortress 2 was the same way for me. On random, I'd have some fun, but not nearly as much as when I had a regular server to go to, and the same people to play with. When that server vanished, I mostly stopped playing.

Oct 17, 2009#173

Shegokigo

I can see that happening if the SourceOP.com servers ever went down, that'd probably mark the end of my TF2 reign.

Oct 17, 2009#174

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
See, my biggest problem with L4D is if I play through the campaign mode once (all 5 scenarios) I get bored with sub-sequent play throughs unless I take a good month or so off. I really don't get into the whole \"replay\" value of the game. Maybe it'd be better with a few people I know, but I find myself wanting to play TF2 with the time.

Seeing what I've seen about L4D2, I think the same is going to hold true (one playthrough per month or so).

It's all about the Versus mode for me right now. It's still hard to win as infected, but it's much easier now that I've got some practice in.

Truth be told, I haven't played some of the maps outside of Versus mode. However, there are some very nice 3rd party maps going around. I recommend Death Aboard (has an awesome slanted area that takes place on a wrecked ship) and Dead Before Dawn (the final version is coming out soon and actually has a new line of Francis saying "I Hate Malls" that the makers received from Valve!)

Oct 17, 2009#175

Shegokigo

Now that's something I might try out, some interesting "good" downloadable content.

Might check those out, thanks for the heads up Ash!

Oct 17, 2009#176

Hailey Knight

Oh yeah, I forgot about the third party maps since I've been out of the game so long--damn computers.

Oct 18, 2009#177

Jay

The custom map community is great. I've only been playing custom campaigns with a few buddies. Awesomesauce.

Oct 18, 2009#178

Jay

escushion;276652][quote=SeriousJay said:
Or preorder it! Only 36$!

Fuck, I should've done that. Now it's back to $44.[/QUOTE]

Well we bought a 4 player package... so that's why it's so low. Two of three of my friends paid me already, still waiting on the third. I'm giving him 1 more week but you could paypal me it, if you're interested... you save 10 BUCKS!

Oct 18, 2009#179

Hailey Knight

Check your PM box.

Oct 25, 2009#180

Hailey Knight

Clown zombies.

Fucking clown zombies. Are you shitting me? This game is already scary!

Also, I see that the game will actually be released Monday night rather than Tuesday afternoon, so I might actually use a half-day or something. I still have 3 and a half days of PTO I gotta use, so one for this wouldn't be the worst of ways to spend it.

Oct 25, 2009#181

AshburnerX

escushion said:
Clown zombies.

Fucking clown zombies. Are you shitting me? This game is already scary!

Also, I see that the game will actually be released Monday night rather than Tuesday afternoon, so I might actually use a half-day or something. I still have 3 and a half days of PTO I gotta use, so one for this wouldn't be the worst of ways to spend it.

You think that's bad? The Clown's squeaky shoes draw other zombies along with them when they start running. You can also tweak their noses with melee hits

Oct 27, 2009#182

Jay

For those of you who have pre-ordered the game, the game should unlock tonight.

Just got an update.

Oct 27, 2009#183

Hailey Knight

My computer fixing is delayed a week, but next week I should be on.

Oct 28, 2009#184

Jay

Three words : Throwable Boomer Bile

Oct 29, 2009#185

Shegokigo

SeriousJay said:
Three words : Throwable Boomer Bile

Oct 29, 2009#186

AshburnerX

The Boomer Bile is going to be a SERIOUS griefing tool.

Oct 29, 2009#187

Shegokigo

Preciously why I don't even bother with "VS" mode.

Oct 29, 2009#188

Jay

Overall, L4D2 is quite different to L4D1... my major concern is that it runs poorly on my system (i get 2-3 sec freezes) while L4D1 I get max FPS. I don't understand since I can run any game at max settings without seeing lag. I feel that the demo is quite unoptimized, which is disappointing.

The graphics look more.... anime. I liked the realistic feeling L4D1 had... in 2... I dunno, it looks different. I'll let time judge this game.

The demo is very immersive.... I LOVE the new specials and uncommon commons (bulletproof!). The new cresendo is refreshing and intense. New items is awesome. ... The Machete is like AWESOME... I stabbed a zombie in the gut... and entestines came out. :confused:

I'll give the game a few days for alkl the patches to come out... then the demo will be stable.

---------- Post added at 10:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------

Apparently the demo has massive issues with multi core rendering. Congrats SeriousJay, your top of the line video card can only be used like a mid to low level card due to poor implementation. This issue is all over their boards… let’s hope they fix this ASAP!

Oct 29, 2009#189

Shegokigo

You're upset that a demo is buggy?

I like ya Serious Jay, really I do, but I did a

Oct 29, 2009#190

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
Preciously why I don't even bother with "VS" mode.

Actually, I've been doing several VS matches every day and I've only been griefed once... and we just voted him out. This is compared to TF2, where I run into a griefer EVERY time I play it.

Oct 29, 2009#191

Jay

It's not a question that I was upset, more like, disappointed. I know they'll fix it but I didn't expect such major graphical issues coming from a company like Value.

You like me? WOOT

Oct 29, 2009#192

Jay

Love the new gore....

PIPE BOMB!

http://ded.zenblue.net/L4D2_Demo/pc/c5m2_park0023.jpg

Oct 29, 2009#193

Chibibar

I play the demo last night. It is pretty awesome. I love the frying pan personally (love the "gong" sound it makes when I hit someone)

Oct 29, 2009#194

Hailey Knight

I wish I could play it... Next week...

Oct 29, 2009#195

Jay

we should create a l4d2 HF group

Oct 29, 2009#196

AshburnerX

SeriousJay said:
we should create a l4d2 HF group

Hal4um, with our logo being a zombie hand will the fingers gone except the middle one.

Oct 29, 2009#197

Jay

but is that for l4d2?

no point to having a l4d1 group with people not having l4d2

Oct 29, 2009#198

Hailey Knight

Could be both.

I took work off Nov 17

. Looking forward to it.

Oct 29, 2009#199

Jay

sweet

Oct 29, 2009#200

AshburnerX

SeriousJay said:
but is that for l4d2?

no point to having a l4d1 group with people not having l4d2

No... that was my suggestion for the group name and image.

Oct 31, 2009#201

Hailey Knight

I downloaded the demo to my shitty laptop. It played okay on Normal, but the moment it went to Expert... slogging lag. Still ran better than Versus on the original, but I imagine L4D2's Versus would do the same. Good comp just got dropped off at Best Buy; crossing fingers.

The opening movie did run fine and I gotta say, I was one of the whiners as far as new characters go. I like my original tetrad. However, the opening movie really endeared the new cast to me. I like 'em now. I like 'em A LOT.

The new atmosphere is cool too. The twang on the score, the daylight really changes things... I'm happy. I hate the sound of the Crushers and Jockeys, not in a "it's bad" way, but in a "that is fucking creepy" way.

This is gonna be a long two and a half weeks waiting for the full game.

Oct 31, 2009#202

Jay

It's ok, Dragon age is coming out this week.

Oct 31, 2009#203

figmentPez

The demo is preloading now for those who didn't preorder.

Oct 31, 2009#204

AshburnerX

escushion said:
The opening movie did run fine and I gotta say, I was one of the whiners as far as new characters go. I like my original tetrad. However, the opening movie really endeared the new cast to me. I like 'em now. I like 'em A LOT.

Good news.. apparently some people data mined the game and found some sound files referencing the original four survivors. It's believed they will be part of a content pack coming down the line (There are two planned already) or possibly multiplayer options.

Nov 1, 2009#205

AshburnerX

And it's offical: Survivors from Left 4 Dead are not dead or zombies.

Kotaku said:
Valve: Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Did Not Reveal DLC Names

Speaking at an event today sponsored by Eurogamer, Valve's Chet Faliszek said the names for DLC packs found in the Left 4 Dead 2 demo were spaceholders only, put there as a test required by Microsoft.

According to audio of the event, Faliszek said:

If you're reading in the forums and you're reading about the "Miracle" DLC or whatever, that's test code. To get tested through Microsoft certification we had to do test scenarios with DLC. We haven't actually come out internally with what we're going to do yet.

The pick-apart of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo also revealed references to the original survivors. While Faliszek didn't mention that when he explained the DLC file names, earlier in the talk he did say "They're not dead, so we'll see what happens with that. They're not undead either."

Nov 1, 2009#206

Hailey Knight

My post kind of meant that, regardless of the originals, the new ones have endeared themselves and I'm happy to be playing as them. I don't really care if Francis, Louis, Zoey, and Bill come back, because I have them in the original game. I wouldn't object to their presence, but I like the new people very much.

I guess I mean, if they're just referenced, then it's not a big deal.

If we got the options to play as any 4 of 8, that would be cool, but they'd have to script new interactions or something.

Nov 2, 2009#207

Chibibar

escushion said:
My post kind of meant that, regardless of the originals, the new ones have endeared themselves and I'm happy to be playing as them. I don't really care if Francis, Louis, Zoey, and Bill come back, because I have them in the original game. I wouldn't object to their presence, but I like the new people very much.

I guess I mean, if they're just referenced, then it's not a big deal.

If we got the options to play as any 4 of 8, that would be cool, but they'd have to script new interactions or something.

Yea. I was in the camp that "why new people?" group, then I try them out and it is pretty cool. I love it.

I can't wait for the full version.

Nov 3, 2009#208

AshburnerX

... And I'm pre-ordered now. Looks like my Soldier is gonna be sportin' Bill's Beret too!

Nov 3, 2009#209

figmentPez

Played the demo tonight. Where was everyone? I got stuck in a game where the players were too stupid to kick a griefer. Why are people so reluctant to kick players who are team killing? This guy killed me because I said "stick together" and he called it whining. KICK IDIOTS OUT OF THE GAME!

That said, it was a lot of fun before that jerk joined. The sniper rifles are much improved, the melee weapons are fun (though it might be too easy to hit your teammates), boomer bile bombs are an interesting concept (I got to use on on the tank), and I like that the game has a nice fast pace. This certainly isn't L4D. If that was suspense-type horror, this is more action/horror.

So, what does the defibrillator do when you're not in realistic mode?
What is the difference between the two sniper rifles? Is there a tier 3 of weapons now?
Are there any differences between the melee weapons besides appearance? I played with guitar, frying pan and nightstick, but I didn't notice anything major.

Nov 4, 2009#210

AshburnerX

figmentPez said:
What is the difference between the two sniper rifles? Is there a tier 3 of weapons now?
Are there any differences between the melee weapons besides appearance? I played with guitar, frying pan and nightstick, but I didn't notice anything major.

There do seem to be 3-4 different types of weapons for each class. Looks like at least 3-4 autos, 3 shotguns, and 2-3 Rifles/Carbines. You also get 3 pistol types (if you count Dualies as a separate weapon).

Some melee weapons kill more than one enemy a swing, I think. The frying pan only hits a few, but the chainsaw and axe can tear through a lot of them.

Nov 4, 2009#211

Shegokigo

Sniper Rifles... good?! :drool:

Nov 4, 2009#212

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
Sniper Rifles... good?! :drool:

Nov 4, 2009#213

Chibibar

AshburnerX;289562][quote=Shegokigo said:
Sniper Rifles... good?! :drool:

Nov 4, 2009#214

Jay

The machete is sex.

Nov 4, 2009#215

Chibibar

SeriousJay said:
The machete is sex.

Yea. I was kinda amaze all the blood it splatter.... ALL OVER THE PLACE. It was awesome.

Nov 4, 2009#216

AshburnerX

Ugh... Steam corrupted some files on my PC. Now i have to manually uninstall everything in the steam folders, then re-download all my games for it. What a pain int he ass. It was fucking STALKER! Even when I'm not playing the god damn game, it fucking bugs out on me!

Nov 4, 2009#217

Jay

Stalker hates your face.

BTW, tonight, I'll be setting up a HF L4D2 group specifically for those who have gotten the game or plan to to make easy contacts with hopefully reliable people to play the game with. We all know how pugging generally sucks a dicks most of the time.

Nov 4, 2009#218

AshburnerX

You going to call it Hal 4 Um like I suggested?

Nov 4, 2009#219

Chibibar

SeriousJay said:
Stalker hates your face.

BTW, tonight, I'll be setting up a HF L4D2 group specifically for those who have gotten the game or plan to to make easy contacts with hopefully reliable people to play the game with. We all know how pugging generally sucks a dicks most of the time.

Ooo.. what time Central? I'm in!

Nov 4, 2009#220

Shegokigo

AshburnerX;289562][quote=Shegokigo said:
Sniper Rifles... good?! :drool:

Not "Good" so much as "Better". They are still most useful for taking out special infected and they are still less effective than a shotty or auto at taking out big groups. It's just that the second Rifle holds double the ammo, making shooting crowds less of a problem.[/QUOTE]

It was never "amazing" for taking on special infected. I was able to take out almost all special infected with zero problem using the Auto-Shotgun. Sniper Rifle was more "fun" than "useful" in L4D, I can't imagine it being that much better in the sequel. :eek:

rly:

The sniper rifle "no scope" used to be really damn effective in the early days of L4D for taking out rushing zombies, but it got nerfed to all hell.

Nov 4, 2009#221

AshburnerX

Finally got the demo downloaded... wow, this game REALLY chugs. Even if I drop everything to the lowest settings and turn on the multi-core support, it chugs. Left 4 Dead never gave me any of these problems, even right out of the box. Did they just fuck up the demo or something? It's only been a year and the graphics don't seem too improved... there is no reason for these kinds of problems.

Nov 4, 2009#222

Jay

I'll be honest, the game doesn't look as crisp as the first one and reeks of consolitis. It's quite enjoyable though, despite some issues.

Nov 4, 2009#223

AshburnerX

SeriousJay said:
I'll be honest, the game doesn't look as crisp as the first one and reeks of consolitis. It's quite enjoyable though, despite some issues.

Part of the crispness problem is the film filter. I had to turn it off... that helped my performance a bit.

Nov 4, 2009#224

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
they are still less effective than a shotty or auto at taking out big groups.

Unless they've changed the penetrating power from the first game, a sniper rifle is better than an automatic at taking out crowds in hallways and other choke points. A bullet from a auto can hit 2 infected, max. Bullets from shotguns and the sniper rifle have infinite penetration of zombies. If you've got them stacked multiple zombies deep (and L4D2 seems to have even larger hordes), then a sniper rifle can clear a hallway in a couple of shots (as sniper shots kill common infected in one shot, no matter where they hit). Also, infected running at you over long distances tend to end up in lines as well. I've had great results with a sniper at the finale of Dead Air.

Sniper Rifle was more "fun" than "useful" in L4D, I can't imagine it being that much better in the sequel.

The only problem with the sniper in L4D was it's inaccuracy when moving or getting bumped, and it's horribly slow recovery time from movement. Both those have been fixed. The aiming reticle never goes as large as the shotgun, like it used to. It's the same as the autos when moving now, and snaps back to small pretty quick. The sniper has always been my weapon of choice in campaign, but I could see myself using it now in versus as well, since it can now be used on the move.

Nov 4, 2009#225

Chibibar

figmentPez;290225][quote=AshburnerX said:
they are still less effective than a shotty or auto at taking out big groups.

Sniper Rifle was more "fun" than "useful" in L4D, I can't imagine it being that much better in the sequel.

Nov 4, 2009#226

figmentPez

Oh, I played a single-player game just to find out what the defib paddles do. They can bring back dead players. I'm not sure how long you have to revive them, but if they've been knocked down a third time, and probably if they've just been on the ground too long, you can get the back with the defibrillator instead of having to wait to find them in a survivor closet (in realistic mode this is the only way to get them back, no survivor closets there).

Adrenaline is interesting, I like the sound effect, where everthing gets all quiet and distant. I'm not sure if it gives any sort of health boost, but the speed boost and resistance to slowdown are impressive, could be useful for getting to someone who needs saving, but I'm not sure it lasts long enough to be used for sprinting to the alarm shut-off, especially if that seperates you from your team.

Nov 4, 2009#227

Hailey Knight

My gaming laptop is working again, for now. I am ON IT.

Nov 4, 2009#228

Jay

AshburnerX;290184][quote=SeriousJay said:
I'll be honest, the game doesn't look as crisp as the first one and reeks of consolitis. It's quite enjoyable though, despite some issues.

Part of the crispness problem is the film filter. I had to turn it off... that helped my performance a bit.[/quote]

Nah, that's not what I'm talking about.

The graphical theme isn't as interesting as the first game. The characters look less realistic. The guns are HUGE and take up too much on my screen, the HUD (life bars) look like they are for the half-blind. All in all, consolitis.

Nov 4, 2009#229

Hailey Knight

Ignore my previous post. Gaming laptop is officially thousand dollar paper weight and I have two weeks to come up with ways to improve this one, such as upgrading to Windows 7 and applying Readyboost to better my RAM. Not sure if a new graphics card would help, but I don't have the money for that.

I wanna play with you guys. I really do.

Nov 4, 2009#230

figmentPez

SeriousJay said:
The graphical theme isn't as interesting as the first game. The characters look less realistic. The guns are HUGE and take up too much on my screen, the HUD (life bars) look like they are for the half-blind. All in all, consolitis.

Well, I don't care about the HUD changes, but the apparent change in gun sizes is awful. The magnum pistol is just absurd. I know it's supposed to convey that it's a bigger pistol, but seems bigger than some of the tier 2 weapons.

Speaking of weapons, L4D2 Weapon Statistics. In summary:

Dual pistols do more damage than the magnum pistol
The new silenced smg is more damaging and less accurate than the old uzi
The chrome shotgun fires fewer more damaging pellets in a tighter spread.
Same for the new combat shotgun vs the old model. Roughly the same theoretical max damage, though, in both cases.
I'm still not 100% clear on the 3 different machine guns. The AK-47 is more damaging and less accurate than the M-16, but I'm not clear on the other new machine gun, which fires 3 round bursts. It's bullets do more damage, but it's got a lower DPS than the M-16.
The hunting rifle is kind of a tier 1.5 weapon now, and there is no difference between it and the military sniper besides clip size.

Melee weapons aren't as clear, as animation speeds apparently change usage beyond the stats in the config files. That and they each have at least 3 different types of strikes (two for common infected and 1 extra powerful for SI) plus the shove back.

On another note, has anyone seen the female boomers running around? Are there any other changes to the existing SI? I know the smokers look darker, but I'm not sure what else is different.

---------- Post added at 09:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------

Almost forgot, the effects of adrenaline:
1. no stamina cooldown from right clicking repeatedly
2. faster run speed
3. faster health kit use
4. can pick up incapped teammates faster
5. zombies that hit you don't slow you down
6. adds 25 temporary health that persists longer than 25 temporary health from pills/being revived

Nov 4, 2009#231

AshburnerX

The new smg is a Mac-10 that looks like it's been to a garage gunsmith. The UZI seems to fire much faster than the Mac-10 as well. The new Assault Rifle also has a bigger clip size (60).

The new Smokers have what appear to be long tongues growing out of their necks/backs. It's quite creepy and really makes them stand out. Hunters look unchanged though.

Nov 4, 2009#232

Hailey Knight

Female Boomers have confused and frightened me.

Nov 4, 2009#233

Jay

If you're going to get L4D2, join our group. I just created it :

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Hal4Um

Send me a PM or a Steam message and I'll let you join it. So that we don't get a crapload of non players in an open group

Once a member you can send invites to other HF peeps

Nov 4, 2009#234

Jay

We should have 5 in the group now. Feel free to add more HF forum members, keep the group tight with actual mems of this board. In a few days we should have a nice list of people to play with.

Nov 5, 2009#235

bhamv3

Ok, Steam is downloading the demo now. I've never played L4D1, so am I gonna be completely lost when I fire the game up?

Nov 5, 2009#236

Shegokigo

Bhamv, zombies are loose, you're getting from Point A to Point B while trying to survive. The End.

As for the demo? I can agree that the "tone" and "feel" of the game is MUCH different than the original. It's not as claustraphobic, not as scary, but JUST as fun, even MORE so thanks to the versatility in ways to kill zombies and all the new meat to blast away.

Nov 5, 2009#237

AshburnerX

I really hope that the mod community can transfer/convert some of the mod campaigns they made to L4D2. Dead Before Dawn looks great from what I've played and considering all the voice work and such that they put into it, it would be a shame if it was only released AFTER L4D2 came out and no one played it.

Nov 5, 2009#238

@Li3n

SeriousJay said:
If you're going to get L4D2, join our group. I just created it :

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Hal4Um

Send me a PM or a Steam message and I'll let you join it. So that we don't get a crapload of non players in an open group

Once a member you can send invites to other HF peeps

So, how do i join... (tag - m******n)

Nov 5, 2009#239

AshburnerX

That's not your tag or you put it in wrong. I can't find you on Steam with that.

Nov 5, 2009#240

Jay

bhamv3 said:
Ok, Steam is downloading the demo now. I've never played L4D1, so am I gonna be completely lost when I fire the game up?

Lost and most likely Zombie dinner!

AshburnerX said:
I really hope that the mod community can transfer/convert some of the mod campaigns they made to L4D2. Dead Before Dawn looks great from what I've played and considering all the voice work and such that they put into it, it would be a shame if it was only released AFTER L4D2 came out and no one played it.

I'm sure they will, they have to. Releasing it a month before L4D2 is silly though.

Nov 5, 2009#241

@Li3n

Right, it's not the same as the account name... it's m*******n

Nov 5, 2009#242

AshburnerX

Invite sent.

Nov 5, 2009#243

Jay

Best moment of last night's game with 4 HF's...

SeriousJay : "Is that the horde?"
CaptainEsc : "What? Where?"
Ash : "I....I... don't think so."
*SeriousJay runs inside a room and takes the machete*

SeriousJay : "Zoink!"

Machete is SEX

Nov 5, 2009#244

@Li3n

AshburnerX said:
Invite sent.

And accepted....

BTW, to login to steam community, do i use the tag or the account name?!

---------- Post added at 04:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:33 PM ----------

And why won't multicore rendering stay off... my PC hated it in the first game too, but at least once it was off i had no more problems...

Nov 5, 2009#245

AshburnerX

Yeah, you login with your account name.

Nov 5, 2009#246

Shegokigo

Example:

My ingame name is - The Joker [Killing Joke]

My login name, and the name people use to find me is - kroenen_elune

I really wish there was a way to change your login name :eek:

rly:

Nov 5, 2009#247

@Li3n

damn, i already tried all the passwords i normally used... oh well, at least it ligs-in automatically... i'm sure i'll remember eventually what the pass was.

---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:42 PM ----------

And the game froze on me... stupid multicore rendering...

Nov 5, 2009#248

Jay

Set "mat_queue_mode 0" in the console to turn off multi-core support in the game.

That's what I do.

Nov 5, 2009#249

@Li3n

well here goes nothing...

Nov 5, 2009#250

@Li3n

And it worked it seems...

Also, Ashburner's voice sounds too much like those of the survivors, i didn't even realise he was talking at first (of course i also had the sound way down coz my bother complained... turning it up did help a little, either that or i was getting used to it)

Nov 5, 2009#251

Jay

Buy headphones.

Ask Shego how, he rips off Walmart.

Nov 5, 2009#252

@Li3n

I have headphones... just wasn't using them... i had enough messing with the settings already.

They're on now... care to play?!

Nov 5, 2009#253

Jay

Won't be able to till tonight, prolly play tomorrow.

Tonight... it's Dragon Age!

Nov 5, 2009#254

@Li3n

Guess i'll be testing the headset settings tomorrow then...

Nov 5, 2009#255

Jay

If you're in the group, there should be other HFers to play with. Those of you who have bought the game, should post your Steam names so we can add you to the group of WINNERS.

Nov 5, 2009#256

@Li3n

none in the game atm... and i too won't be playing it long... eat and sleep time is soon...

Nov 5, 2009#257

Chibibar

Steam account: chibibar Steam name: Chibi-Dragon
I should be on tonight but Dragon Age finish installing all the extra addon that I got free with pre-order so I might tinker with that a little.

Nov 5, 2009#258

figmentPez

bhamv3 said:
Ok, Steam is downloading the demo now. I've never played L4D1, so am I gonna be completely lost when I fire the game up?

As Shego said, plotwise: ZOMBIES!

You should be able to pick up controls pretty quick as well, since you've played other FPS.

Strategy and play style... this ain't TF2 or HL. Not huge differences, but the subtleties of when to use items can take a while to pick up. Compounded by all the new items in the game as well.

Here's a quick rundown of what's different from other FPS or isn't obvious in-game:
- Generally you'll want to move around less when firing, to avoid getting hit by your teammates.
- All weapons secondary fire is a shove, in campaign mode you can shove as much as you want. If you're using a firearm and zombies get close, shove 'em back before shooting them. You can even shove while reloading.
- Wall and zombie bullet penetration is a weird thing. Trying not to go into advanced detail: Projectiles will go through one wall at most, rifles go through thicker walls. There is no friendly fire from bullets that have gone through a wall. Shotguns and hunting/sniper rifles have infinite zombie penetration (before they go through a wall), but this also means they can cause friendly fire damage through zombies. (i.e. a zombie is between you and a teammate. If you shoot the zombie with a pistol, your friend is safe. Shoot the zombie with a hunting rifle and your friend can get hit too.)
- Health-packs vs defib: Generally go with health packs, because defib only works on otherwise dead players.
- Pills vs adrenaline: Pills give +50 temporary health. Adrenaline gives speed boost and +25 health that may last longer than pill health. Toss up, IMO.
- There are lots of sound cues to pay attention to. Each special infected makes it's own sounds. The horde music plays before each zombie swarm. Plus the characters often say helpful things.
- Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork. More than any other game I've played, it's important to stick together, help each other out and generally be aware of what the other players are doing.

Nov 5, 2009#259

Chibibar

figmentPez;291557][quote=bhamv3 said:
Ok, Steam is downloading the demo now. I've never played L4D1, so am I gonna be completely lost when I fire the game up?

Nov 5, 2009#260

AshburnerX

Actually, pills vs adrenaline is simple:
- If your health is yellow or red, use the pills and pick up the adrenaline.
- If your Health is 75 or higher, use the adrenaline and pick up the pills.
- If you have full or near full health, take the adrenaline. It's more useful for emergencies.

This is assuming you don't need to worry about sharing pills/adrenaline of course.

The REAL hard decision is pistols/magnum/melee weapon. Dual pistols have the higher DPS, Magnum reloads faster and does more damage a shot, and Melee weapons are VERY useful for taking out enemies if they get too close.

Another choice is what grenade to take. Molotovs are mostly useful for stopping hordes at choke-points and for lighting up the Tank when he shows. The pipe-bomb is a life saver when you get hit with boomer bile. Boomer Bile bombs are... tricky. They call out a horde to attack whatever you throw them at and the horde will group around the location you threw it at once the target is dead. The problem is the horde will turn on YOU after a short amount of time. It's useful but handle with care.

Nov 5, 2009#261

figmentPez

Oh, I almost forgot. When someone is snared by a smoker, you can free them either by killing the smoker, shooting his tongue enough (not advised), or by meleeing the trapped survivor. That last one isn't obvious, and many don't think to do it. Same goes for hunters and jockeys as well. Don't stand there reloading while someone is trapped, charge towards them and knock off their attacker.

---------- Post added at 03:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 PM ----------

AshburnerX said:
This is assuming you don't need to worry about sharing pills/adrenaline of course.

And do share your pills/adrenaline! Alt-fire can be used to throw these a short distance to another player. You can't throw medkits, but you can use them on someone else.

The REAL hard decision is pistols/magnum/melee weapon. Dual pistols have the higher DPS, Magnum reloads faster and does more damage a shot, and Melee weapons are VERY useful for taking out enemies if they get too close.

I base my decision party on weapon choice. Melee weapons go well with sniper rifles, because they have lots of ammo and are good at long range. Pistols go well with shotguns because they're better for helping friends in trouble. Not sure when I'd got with a magnum, I'm still puzzling over that one.

Boomer Bile bombs are... tricky.

No kidding. I threw one on a witch, just to see, and one of my teammates threw a molotov at the horde it summoned. So the Witch was chasing me with very few surviving zombies harassing her. (reports vary as to if this tactic would have worked even without the fire getting in the way). I've definitely seen a tank get bogged down in a horde attacking him, though. And it's great fun to watch riot zombies fighting with other common infected.

Does anyone else think molotov fires are bigger than they were in L4D?

Nov 5, 2009#262

AshburnerX

figmentPez said:
The REAL hard decision is pistols/magnum/melee weapon. Dual pistols have the higher DPS, Magnum reloads faster and does more damage a shot, and Melee weapons are VERY useful for taking out enemies if they get too close.

Click to expand...

I base my decision party on weapon choice. Melee weapons go well with sniper rifles, because they have lots of ammo and are good at long range. Pistols go well with shotguns because they're better for helping friends in trouble. Not sure when I'd got with a magnum, I'm still puzzling over that one.

The Magnum is better if your on the ground, dying, because it fires as fast a normal pistol and reloads faster than dual pistols. This means you can drop a special infected attacking your friend in 2-3 shots as opposed to 6-8 from a pistol. I also think it's just plain easier to use... making 8 shots hit is much simpler than 15 or 30.

Nov 5, 2009#263

bhamv3

Just tried the single-player game.

Wow, you're right, this is a whole different kettle of fish from TF2 or HL2. Quite an intense adrenaline rush, though not all that scary, I find.

I dunno if I did anything wrong, but I found melee weapons to be borderline useless. If there's a zombie close by, chances are it's brought friends, and chances are they can claw me faster than I can hack them with my machete. It's much better to just take them out from a distance. The only time a melee weapon was useful to me was when I needed to pick off stragglers and wanted to conserve ammo.

I can tell the game would be much better with human team mates, that way you could coordinate tactics, movements and weapon choices.

On the whole, I'm still not sure if I'll be splashing out for the game. Maybe I'll give the demo a few more whirls before I decide.

Nov 5, 2009#264

AshburnerX

Actually, melee weapons will take out more than one zombie per a swing. They are VERY useful for holding a horde at a choke point like a doorway, or you can quickly kill Special infected with them.

Nov 5, 2009#265

bhamv3

Also, I've been playing TF2 too much, at several points in the demo I found myself thinking, "Hmm, this would be a great sentry spot."

Nov 5, 2009#266

figmentPez

bhamv3 said:
Just tried the single-player game.

Wow, you're right, this is a whole different kettle of fish from TF2 or HL2. Quite an intense adrenaline rush, though not all that scary, I find.

Yeah, the L4D2 demo took out pretty much any scary L4D had in it. The music, lighting, pacing and atmosphere in general were very different in L4D. It took me a while of playing L4D before I stopped creeping around listening intently for every sound. The game encouraged that kind of feeling with it's music. Maybe Valve realized long-time players just aren't going to be scared anymore, or maybe they're saving the scary for the nights in the swamps and circus. Either way, they're very similar games in raw gameplay, but the feeling you get playing them is still very different.

As for melee weapons, I felt that way about the frying pan at first. It just didn't seem to kill zombies fast enough, but after using some of the other melee weapons I kind of got into the groove, and it's easier to use them. I still prefer dual pistols, usually, but a melee is nice to have if you're crouched in the doorway while your cohorts stand behind you firing.

Also, Valve has put in areas in the full game where melee is going to be the way to go, like a parking lot filled with car alarms.

---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 PM ----------

bhamv3 said:
Also, I've been playing TF2 too much, at several points in the demo I found myself thinking, "Hmm, this would be a great sentry spot."

I've often wondered if it would be possible to make a crossover. A TF2 team against hordes of zombies. I'm not sure how you'd balanced it (no respawn, let smokers pull down sentries, who knows?) but it sure would be fun to see a hunter try and pounce a heavy only to find the heavy is to big to be knocked over.

Nov 5, 2009#267

AshburnerX

figmentPez said:
[/COLOR]

bhamv3 said:

Also, I've been playing TF2 too much, at several points in the demo I found myself thinking, "Hmm, this would be a great sentry spot."

Click to expand...

I've often wondered if it would be possible to make a crossover. A TF2 team against hordes of zombies. I'm not sure how you'd balanced it (no respawn, let smokers pull down sentries, who knows?) but it sure would be fun to see a hunter try and pounce a heavy only to find the heavy is to big to be knocked over.

People have converted TF2 maps for Left 4 Dead. I remember seeing a Dustbowl 2 map. There is also a Zombie mode mod for TF2, where if you die, you come back as a heavy without weapons and keep respawning as such until everyone is dead.

Nov 6, 2009#268

bhamv3

Just tried it a bit more.

I think my favorite weapon is the Hunting Rifle. It combines close-range stopping power and a long range scope. Sure I can't cut down swarms now with a wall of bullets, but that's what team mates are for.

Also, is it my imagination or are shotguns not all that useful? Reload times are too long. Seems like it'd be improved with human team mates, when you can coordinate your reloads, I suppose.

Also, in my first encounter with a Witch, I managed to kill it fairly easily. Next playthrough I encountered another Witch, decided to shoot it.

Wow that ended badly.

Nov 6, 2009#269

@Li3n

bhamv3 said:
Quite an intense adrenaline rush, though not all that scary, I find.

I always found that once you stop sucking at FPS's none can be scary anymore, as it's hard to be scared of stuff you've been killing by the truckload.

But yeah, L4D2 happening in the daylight takes away from the creepy atmosphere.

Also, is it my imagination or are shotguns not all that useful? Reload times are too long. Seems like it'd be improved with human team mates, when you can coordinate your reloads, I suppose.

It's best to lead them between shots, cuts way down on the idle time. Forgetting to do that is always an annoying moment for me...

Nov 6, 2009#270

Chibibar

figmentPez said:
[/COLOR]

bhamv3 said:

Also, I've been playing TF2 too much, at several points in the demo I found myself thinking, "Hmm, this would be a great sentry spot."

Click to expand...

I've often wondered if it would be possible to make a crossover. A TF2 team against hordes of zombies. I'm not sure how you'd balanced it (no respawn, let smokers pull down sentries, who knows?) but it sure would be fun to see a hunter try and pounce a heavy only to find the heavy is to big to be knocked over.

LOL. I have been thinking of the same thing!!! A sentry.... mmmmm

Nov 6, 2009#271

AshburnerX

Shotguns are IMMENSELY useful for killing Hordes for the same reason Sniper Rifles are: They have infinite penetration against Infected. You can literally take down an entire horde with a just a few shots. They also do great damage up close, making them great against Special Infected in Close Quarters. The ammo doesn't really become a problem unless your in a situation where everyone on your team has been boomed.

Nov 6, 2009#272

Shegokigo

Not sure what happened to my post about the Shotguns, but if you hit the reload key after every shot you stay almost at Full Clip the entire time.

Auto Shotguns are even more amazing with this tactic.

Nov 6, 2009#273

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
Not sure what happened to my post about the Shotguns, but if you hit the reload key after every shot you stay almost at Full Clip the entire time.

Auto Shotguns are even more amazing with this tactic.

Yeah, whatever you do, don't let your clip go empty with a shotgun. The extra time needed for the cocking animation for an empty shotgun can and WILL get you killed.

Nov 6, 2009#274

Chibibar

AshburnerX;292207][quote=Shegokigo said:
Not sure what happened to my post about the Shotguns, but if you hit the reload key after every shot you stay almost at Full Clip the entire time.

Auto Shotguns are even more amazing with this tactic.

Yeah, whatever you do, don't let your clip go empty with a shotgun. The extra time needed for the cocking animation for an empty shotgun can and WILL get you killed.[/QUOTE]

Yea... Thanks to shego I hardly ever run out of shells until I run OUT on shell (i.e. totally out of ammo in reserve)

Nov 6, 2009#275

Shegokigo

It really puts the shotgun into a class of it's own, not sure if it's "intended" or not, but the shot you make after hitting the reload key "clips" the reload but still gives you the bullet.

Nov 6, 2009#276

@Li3n

Chibibar;292237][quote=AshburnerX;292207][quote=Shegokigo said:
Not sure what happened to my post about the Shotguns, but if you hit the reload key after every shot you stay almost at Full Clip the entire time.

Auto Shotguns are even more amazing with this tactic.

Yeah, whatever you do, don't let your clip go empty with a shotgun. The extra time needed for the cocking animation for an empty shotgun can and WILL get you killed.[/quote]

Yea... Thanks to shego I hardly ever run out of shells until I run OUT on shell (i.e. totally out of ammo in reserve)[/QUOTE]

I feel so lonely right now...

Nov 6, 2009#277

figmentPez

One thing I don't like about L4D2 is the increased gore in the game. It's increased to the point where it makes me queasy sometimes, and it's not something I want to play when my sister coudl see the screen, since she's far more sensitive than I am.

Not finding a reduced gore setting in the options menu, I sent an email to Valve asking for one to be added. It's pretty cool that I got an email back from Chet Faliszek, but the answer left me puzzled. "You got it Bruce. Check under options." Uh, I checked under options and couldn't find it. Can anyone double-check for me and see if I'm just being blind to the obvious?

Nov 6, 2009#278

Chibibar

figmentPez said:
One thing I don't like about L4D2 is the increased gore in the game. It's increased to the point where it makes me queasy sometimes, and it's not something I want to play when my sister coudl see the screen, since she's far more sensitive than I am.

Not finding a reduced gore setting in the options menu, I sent an email to Valve asking for one to be added. It's pretty cool that I got an email back from Chet Faliszek, but the answer left me puzzled. "You got it Bruce. Check under options." Uh, I checked under options and couldn't find it. Can anyone double-check for me and see if I'm just being blind to the obvious?

you know. I don't know either. I check all the settings from video, audio, anything really and I don't see the option for gore. I presume it will be on release version.

Nov 6, 2009#279

AshburnerX

I know it's possible to do it via the console. I also know it can give you up to a 40% increase in performance, if the benchmark tests are right. I just don't know what the console command is.

Nov 6, 2009#280

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
I know it's possible to do it via the console. I also know it can give you up to a 40% increase in performance, if the benchmark tests are right. I just don't know what the console command is.

On the Steam forums, posters say putting -lv (low violence) in the launch string will reduce the gore. I haven't had a chance to test it yet.

I found out some stuff about the jukebox. It will play 5 songs, 4 regularly and one rare, hidden, song. One of the four it plays normally is Jonathan Coulton's "Your Brains", and this song will draw the horde at a lyrically appropriate moment. The hidden song....

is "Still Alive" from Portal, also by Jonathan Coulton

Nov 7, 2009#281

AshburnerX

I may end up doing it just to get the increase in performance.

Nov 7, 2009#282

bhamv3

I tried playing it online, ragequitted after 30 minutes.

I know it's a demo, I know there are probably tons of people there who've never played L4D before and maybe never even played online FPS before, but c'mon... when I can't move 10 feet before getting incapacitated, when my team mates can't understand the concept of helping me up, when my team mates don't realize friendly fire is on, and when my team mates don't respond to anything I say over the mike, much less talk back, it's just not fun.

Is this the standard of player I can expect to be playing with regularly?

Nov 7, 2009#283

AshburnerX

bhamv3 said:
I tried playing it online, ragequitted after 30 minutes.

I know it's a demo, I know there are probably tons of people there who've never played L4D before and maybe never even played online FPS before, but c'mon... when I can't move 10 feet before getting incapacitated, when my team mates can't understand the concept of helping me up, when my team mates don't realize friendly fire is on, and when my team mates don't respond to anything I say over the mike, much less talk back, it's just not fun.

Is this the standard of player I can expect to be playing with regularly?

Friendly fire generally isn't too much of an issue unless your playing on Expert or Advanced, but yeah... expect a lot of people who are playing this for the first time. It'll be better once the proper game comes out and your not playing with people who have the demo.

Nov 7, 2009#284

Shegokigo

The demo online play is NOT a general indicator of the dedication people who pay full price for the game will have.

Nov 7, 2009#285

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
The demo online play is NOT a general indicator of the dedication people who pay full price for the game will have.

Indeed... this is the first time I've paid launch price for a game in at least 3-4 years. Most people wait for the drop these days.

Nov 7, 2009#286

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
I may end up doing it just to get the increase in performance.

I still haven't tested it for myself, but some posters on the Steam forums are saying that the -lv tag basically sets the game to German/Australian mode, and removes Riot Cops from the game (and won't allow them to spawn in games you join online).

Nov 7, 2009#287

Hailey Knight

Well, glad I didn't try it, although a 40% increase in performance would be welcome.

Nov 8, 2009#288

Shawn

Bought my copy. No real interest in playing the demo. Just looking forward to the release.

Nov 8, 2009#289

Hailey Knight

You should mess with the demo just to get a feel for the melee weapons. You can get too cozy, feeling like they're the same as a weapon push, and then find out you've shoved a machete into your teammates.

I don't think there's anything else of essential difference that can't be learned as you go. Just if you're a L4D player, the melee friendly fire can throw you off at first.

Hey, you, me, Jay, and Gusto make a D&D L4D game. We can RP!

Nov 8, 2009#290

Jay

Remember, if you guys got the full game to message one of the guys from the Hal 4 UM group to get invited in. OR ELSE YOU MIGHT BE PUGGING IT WITH LOSERS!

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Hal4Um

Nov 8, 2009#291

bhamv3

Played a few more games online. It's getting better, but I still find the single player experience to be more fun.

Interestingly though, I seem to have settled into the "bait" role in multiplayer games. Whenever we head to a new area, I leap in first, drawing all the infected to me. My team mates spray bullets into the horde from a distance, while I defend myself with a shotgun, dual pistols, or a melee weapon. I usually get the most infected kills, but I also die lots.

Oh, and I still think this game would be much improved with TF2 weapons. Imagine if the game spawns a swarm of infected, all of them flooding through a chokepoint, only to find... an ubered heavy.

"I AM BULLETPROOOOOOOF..."

If I do get this game, I think I'll mainly be playing single player. It'll definitely be after it's been out a while, and has had its price dropped once or twice though.

Nov 8, 2009#292

Hailey Knight

I just can't see how the game would be fun on single player. I've tried L4D on single and I'm bored as all hell. I guess it's what you look for in a game, but I don't feel like I'm a team with the CPU.

As for Jay's post, YEAH! Anyone here getting it, join the Half 4 Um group. Where the cool zombie-killers are.

Nov 8, 2009#293

bhamv3

escushion said:
I just can't see how the game would be fun on single player. I've tried L4D on single and I'm bored as all hell. I guess it's what you look for in a game, but I don't feel like I'm a team with the CPU.

Mainly because my computer team mates tend to be more competent than human team mates.

For example, in one particular play-through today, we got to that place right before the bus station, where you have to run to the switch to shut off the alarm. We ran, the other three guys managed to climb the ladder, but I got jumped by a Jockey before I could get there. They shut off the alarm okay, but then they stand there and watch while the Jockey drags me into the middle of a zombie horde. I get incapacitated and I'm lying there while infected are beating the crap out of me, and I'm watching them just standing there on the tower. (Okay, to be fair, only two people were standing, the third guy was taking pot-shots at the infected surrounding me with his sniper rifle)

These guys could've easily jumped down and helped me, they had plenty of health and ammo, but they decided to just stand there instead. I have no idea why.

Nov 8, 2009#294

Troll

bhamv3 said:
Interestingly though, I seem to have settled into the "bait" role in multiplayer games. Whenever we head to a new area, I leap in first, drawing all the infected to me. My team mates spray bullets into the horde from a distance, while I defend myself with a shotgun, dual pistols, or a melee weapon. I usually get the most infected kills, but I also die lots.

bhamv3;293833][quote=escushion said:
I just can't see how the game would be fun on single player.

Mainly because my computer team mates tend to be more competent than human team mates.

[/QUOTE]

:blue:

Nov 8, 2009#295

Jay

bhamv3 said:
For example, in one particular play-through today, we got to that place right before the bus station, where you have to run to the switch to shut off the alarm. We ran, the other three guys managed to climb the ladder, but I got jumped by a Jockey before I could get there. They shut off the alarm okay, but then they stand there and watch while the Jockey drags me into the middle of a zombie horde. I get incapacitated and I'm lying there while infected are beating the crap out of me, and I'm watching them just standing there on the tower. (Okay, to be fair, only two people were standing, the third guy was taking pot-shots at the infected surrounding me with his sniper rifle)

These guys could've easily jumped down and helped me, they had plenty of health and ammo, but they decided to just stand there instead. I have no idea why.

You know in traditional horror movies where like, the black guy would fall back and eventually die due to his inability to survive? Where that black guy would die a gruesome death, his arms ripped from his torso, watching as his entestines cut open and eaten as he dies... feeling every bit of succulent pain before the murky darkness envelopes him?

You are the black guy.

What is a drop of rain, compared to the storm? What is a thought, compared to the mind? Our unity is full of wonder which your tiny individualism cannot even conceive?

The simplify what I said is... STOP RAMBOING AND BITCHING WHEN YOU GET OWNED. Stay with your group and NEVER EVER say single player is better than multiplayer or else I swear to all that is holy I will put you on my permanent auto-ignore for being such a NOOB.

GOSH.

PS : I'm not kidding.

Nov 8, 2009#296

Troll

SeriousJay;293849][quote=bhamv3 said:
For example, in one particular play-through today, we got to that place right before the bus station, where you have to run to the switch to shut off the alarm. We ran, the other three guys managed to climb the ladder, but I got jumped by a Jockey before I could get there. They shut off the alarm okay, but then they stand there and watch while the Jockey drags me into the middle of a zombie horde. I get incapacitated and I'm lying there while infected are beating the crap out of me, and I'm watching them just standing there on the tower. (Okay, to be fair, only two people were standing, the third guy was taking pot-shots at the infected surrounding me with his sniper rifle)

These guys could've easily jumped down and helped me, they had plenty of health and ammo, but they decided to just stand there instead. I have no idea why.

Nov 8, 2009#297

figmentPez

bhamv3 said:
Mainly because my computer team mates tend to be more competent than human team mates.

Except bots don't use grenades, they use health packs way too early (which makes a big difference later in campaigns) and will still leave you pounced by a hunter when they're 5 feet from you and firing in the wrong direction. Bots can be just as stupid as the stupidest human players, and are never as good as the best human players. I've seen bots with 90+ health refuse to pick up pills, and then take the pills I threw to them.

Personally, I don't really care how skilled my human teammates are, as long as they're polite and are trying. I find the game can actually be far more interesting with players who are a little bungling, but still show signs of knowing what they should be doing. It creates some nice moments of tension, having to save each-other.

That said, it's really something special when you end up playing with a highly skilled group, and I've had that happen in pick-up games. It's really something when a group is working together just like they should. I've had games go like that when not a single player had a mic, though it helps if at least one person does.

Nov 8, 2009#298

@Li3n

So, are we actually gonna get together to play as a full team or what?!

Nov 8, 2009#299

Hailey Knight

figmentPez;293890][quote=bhamv3 said:
Mainly because my computer team mates tend to be more competent than human team mates.

Nov 8, 2009#300

Troll

So many people don't understand that L4D (and the sequel) are more team based than any other FPS out there. You are not meant to run around and slaughter hordes of infected by yourself. Most of the game should be focused on getting by with as little fighting as possible, never leaving your team, and playing smart. Jumping into crowds to kill all the infected in an area is just not smart. The game isn't designed that way.

Nov 8, 2009#301

AshburnerX

In Case you haven't done it already, it's probably a good idea to pre-load Left 4 Dead 2 if you've already pre-ordered it. It's 6.37 gigs, so that's a long fucking download, and the servers are going to be getting hammered on release day.

Just a heads up.

Nov 8, 2009#302

Jay

Done and Done

Nov 8, 2009#303

Gusto

I fiddled with the single player demo a bit (never having played L4D1) and I like the frenetic pace of it a lot. But there's still a lot I don't understand about basic gameplay/enemy types/etc.

I r teh nub.

In any case, pre-purchased.

Nov 8, 2009#304

bhamv3

Oh I'm not saying I rambo through the game. Definitely not. I understand the concept of teamwork and sticking together. Usually I end up jumping into the fray first because my team mates are too stupid to advance. I'm saying through the mike, "C'mon, let's go, we need to move on." And they'll stand there shooting at some straggling infected in the distance. With a shotgun.

Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to join a team that's not full of people so incompetent they're borderline griefers. But for now, I like the computer bots more.

Nov 8, 2009#305

AshburnerX

Gusto said:
I fiddled with the single player demo a bit (never having played L4D1) and I like the frenetic pace of it a lot. But there's still a lot I don't understand about basic gameplay/enemy types/etc.

I r teh nub.

In any case, pre-purchased.

Here's a quick run down on the enemy types...

Infected/The Horde: Your basic Zombie. These guys are weak but plentiful. Head shots kill them fast, but you really don't need to worry about going for them. 2-3 body shots will take them out with a pistol/smg, with everything else usually doing it in one. Don't let them get to close an DON'T let them swarm you. Their attacks are weak (1-2 damage a hit on normal), but they will slow you down and can stop you cold if enough of them get on you. Watch out for music cues, as they can warn you of an incoming Horde.

Uncommon Infected: These guys are slightly stronger than normal infected, but do and take more damage. They also have a special trait: Riot Cops are immune to bullets if shot from the front, CEDA Suits are immune to fire, Mudmen hid in the swamp and get muck in your eyes if they hit you, and Clowns summon small Hordes with their squeaky shoes.

Hunter: Hooded guy, usually crouched. This guy is fast but weak. Melee him if he jumps at you, then ether keep it up until he's dead or shot him. If he's one someone else, melee or shoot him off (melee is better at close range). He has the most mobility of the Special Infected, meaning he can jump at you from anywhere and everywhere (and he does more damage with his pounces from greater heights). DON'T let him pounce you, as you'll helpless unless someone saves you. He tell-tale sign is a growling noise.

Boomer: Big fat guy/gal with sores. He spits bile on you that attracts zombies and blinds you. Likes to hide around corners. Don't shoot him if he's close, because he'll explode and do damage + cover you in bile. Hit him with 1-2 melee shoves (right click) to push him away, then back away and shoot him. His tell-tale sign is a kind of bubbling, burping sound.

Smoker: Tall guy with a tongue coming out of his neck, as well as a smokey aura. You usually won't see him until he's got you wrapped in his tongue, which he can fire up to 300 feet. If someone gets wrapped, they are dragged to the Smoker unless they get caught on something. Someone gets caught, you can ether melee them to free them, shoot the tongue several times (this is the worst option), or kill the Smoker. He's pretty easy to deal with, but he does explode into smoke when he dies, which blinds you briefly. His tell-tale sign is a hacking cough and his aura of smoke that follows him.

Witch: Skinny girl with claws, usually crying. During the night she sits in one spot and cries... disturb her and she will chase you down, knocking you down in one hit. During the day she wanders around and will do the same. It's possibly to "crown" the Witch (kill her in one shot) if you sneak up on her and get her with a head shot from a shotgun, but this takes some skill. Avoid her if you can, burn her if you can't. Her tell-tale sign is sobbing.

Tank: 600 pound muscle man. He's a bit slow, but he can knock you down fast and chain you if your not careful. There is really nothing you can do to avoid a Tank, so burn him with a molly/boom him with a bile bomb and then start shooting. Be careful though, as he can knock cars and such around, which will knock you to the ground in a single hit. He can also throw rocks for some moderate damage. The single biggest tell for a Tank is his music: It starts up when he shows up and doesn't stop until he's dead. He also makes a stomping noise.

Spitter: Grotesque looking woman with an elongated face. She spits acid at you, which does damage as long as it's on you or your standing in it. She's basically a Smoker, except when she dies, she spills acid on the ground. Shoot her, don't melee her. I don't think she has a tell... but she's pretty easy to deal with.

Jockey: This a hunched over freak who cackles like mad. This guy is annoying... when he latches onto a survivor, he can steer them into mobs of zombies, Witches, off a cliff... whatever. He's easy to take out and you can resist his commands somewhat, but he's still trouble. Shoot him unless he's jumping at you, in which case you melee him. He's loud though, so you'll usually hear him coming.

Charger: Kind of like a Tank, but with pants and only one big arm. He runs into survivors, grabbing the first he hits and knocking the rest away. Once he hits something, he stops and starts slamming whoever he's grabbed onto the ground, damaging them repeatedly. You see him coming, then run away from the group and start shooting him.

I think that's all of them.

Nov 8, 2009#306

Gusto

Thanks Ashburner, that's a big help. Do you have to press anything specific to help teammates, or do you just need to go over to 'em?

Also thanks to figmentPez who tried to help me out in game before my computer hated on me.

Nov 9, 2009#307

@Li3n

Well the E key is used for pulling up downed team mates, and if you have pills/adrenaline in your hands right mouse gives it to them and if it's a health pack then you patch them up instead of yourself.

The defibrillator (which is new) is used to revive team mates that have died completely, most people seem not to know that yet...

Nov 9, 2009#308

AshburnerX

@Li3n said:
Well the E key is used for pulling up downed team mates, and if you have pills/adrenaline in your hands right mouse gives it to them and if it's a health pack then you patch them up instead of yourself.

The defibrillator (which is new) is used to revive team mates that have died completely, most people seem not to know that yet...

The defib is only one use though, which I think is sorta underpowered. It takes up a healthpack slot, only brings them back with 15 health, AND goes away after one use? It seems more like an Item you might bring with you into a finale and dump somewhere, at best. It's not worth it unless your making a stand somewhere for multiple waves.

Nov 9, 2009#309

@Li3n

Yeah, but it was so annoying that the guy had one on him and they just left me there, dead...

BTW, setting a witch on fire before you get into the trailer thing and watching her burn at the door is fun...

Nov 10, 2009#310

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
The defib is only one use though, which I think is sorta underpowered. It takes up a healthpack slot, only brings them back with 15 health, AND goes away after one use? It seems more like an Item you might bring with you into a finale and dump somewhere, at best. It's not worth it unless your making a stand somewhere for multiple waves.

I think the defib is mainly there for the new realism mode. For those that haven't heard about it:

No survivor closets. If you go down it's a defib or nothing.
Items only highlight when you're really close to them.
Teammates don't get outlines when you're seperated.
Infected are more resistant to body shots, so headshots are necessary for easy kills.
More witches, a half-dozen or more on a map, and they're one-hit kills, not just one-hit knockdowns.

Other than the realism mode, a defib is definitely better than nothing.

Nov 10, 2009#311

Chibibar

I do like the defib. I ACTUALLY found one and use it near the end battle. I don't care it only give 15 health (you did just came back to "life" after all) it is an extra person shooting and with care (and pills) you can survive until you hit the safe house (unless it is defend mode then maybe until you are ganked again)

Nov 11, 2009#312

@Li3n

figmentPez said:
I think the defib is mainly there for the new realism mode. For those that haven't heard about it:

No survivor closets. If you go down it's a defib or nothing.

Items only highlight when you're really close to them.

Teammates don't get outlines when you're seperated.

Infected are more resistant to body shots, so headshots are necessary for easy kills.

More witches, a half-dozen or more on a map, and they're one-hit kills, not just one-hit knockdowns.

Man, i was hoping for a mode that's harder that way (plus limited ammo and weapons), but also has a fixed number of infected on the map, no spawning out of nothing. Instead of standing still making the AI send a horde after you it could just attract the special infected (which would be more plentiful) to your location etc.

Nov 12, 2009#313

Jay

Less than a week to go... make sure to join group HAL 4 UM or else you might find yourself pugging it with the rest of the noobs.

Nov 14, 2009#314

figmentPez

I've been thinking (shocking, I know). Last year Steam had a post Christmas sale with L4D for 25%-off, and I think that included the 4-pack. If they did that again, it'd be ~$28.13 for each copy, which is a pretty good deal, but I don't even know a single person in RL who regularly plays FPS on the PC, let alone L4D, and I don't want to deal with setting up pay-pal, or having people I know online send me checks or something.

So, let me bounce an idea off of the forums. I grab the 4-pack, and then let 2-3 forumites donate $30+ to charity (Habitat for Humanity or Child's Play, maybe) in exchange for a copy. Maybe let Dave use a copy as a prize for a monthly contest. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I just going to get taken advantage of, with no way to verify a donation? Would it be better to just skip the idea and set up a Paypal account again? Are there even enough people interested?

Nov 14, 2009#315

bhamv3

figmentPez said:
I've been thinking (shocking, I know). Last year Steam had a post Christmas sale with L4D for 25%-off, and I think that included the 4-pack. If they did that again, it'd be ~$28.13 for each copy, which is a pretty good deal, but I don't even know a single person in RL who regularly plays FPS on the PC, let alone L4D, and I don't want to deal with setting up pay-pal, or having people I know online send me checks or something.

So, let me bounce an idea off of the forums. I grab the 4-pack, and then let 2-3 forumites donate $30+ to charity (Habitat for Humanity or Child's Play, maybe) in exchange for a copy. Maybe let Dave use a copy as a prize for a monthly contest. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I just going to get taken advantage of, with no way to verify a donation? Would it be better to just skip the idea and set up a Paypal account again? Are there even enough people interested?

Well, you could give it away to people who donate to HF. Dave could verify it for you, right?

Nov 14, 2009#316

Hailey Knight

I don't believe there was a 4-pack for L4D last December.

Nov 15, 2009#317

figmentPez

bhamv3 said:
Well, you could give it away to people who donate to HF. Dave could verify it for you, right?

Yeah, that is a possibility, but Halforums isn't a charity as-such. Still, hmm...

escushion said:
I don't believe there was a 4-pack for L4D last December.

Nov 15, 2009#318

AshburnerX

figmentPez;299671][quote=bhamv3 said:
Well, you could give it away to people who donate to HF. Dave could verify it for you, right?

Yeah, that is a possibility, but Halforums isn't a charity as-such. Still, hmm...

escushion said:
I don't believe there was a 4-pack for L4D last December.

A quick google reveals there was thread on Cheap Ass Gamer talking about pooling money to buy the four-pack back in November of last year. Still, no guarantee Steam will have another amazing post-holiday sale.[/QUOTE]

Especially considering they gave everyone 10% off before the game was even released.

Nov 15, 2009#319

figmentPez

AshburnerX;299682][quote=figmentPez said:
Still, no guarantee Steam will have another amazing post-holiday sale.

Especially considering they gave everyone 10% off before the game was even released.[/QUOTE]

They did that last year, too. Valve is pretty generous with their sales, but I'll see what happens.

Nov 15, 2009#320

AshburnerX

figmentPez;299691][quote=AshburnerX;299682][quote=figmentPez said:
Still, no guarantee Steam will have another amazing post-holiday sale.

Especially considering they gave everyone 10% off before the game was even released.[/QUOTE]

They did that last year, too. Valve is pretty generous with their sales, but I'll see what happens.[/QUOTE]

I think they can afford it because they don't have to pay EA for any copies they sell via Steam.

Nov 15, 2009#321

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
I think they can afford it because they don't have to pay EA for any copies they sell via Steam.

They've also found that sales on Steam increase game sales even after the discount is over, and at retail as well as online.

Nov 17, 2009#322

AshburnerX

Wow... what a surprise. Valve botches another game launch. Now I can't fucking play ANY of my Steam Games.

Nov 17, 2009#323

@Li3n

Not even in Offline mode?!

Nov 17, 2009#324

Troll

Working fine for me... are you sure you're not having a problem with your system?

Nov 17, 2009#325

Hailey Knight

He posted that 6 hours ago when there were major problems going on with Steam. Things seem to have smoothed out. I got a little work to do, but I'll be in there soon myself.

Nov 17, 2009#326

Jay

I'll prolly start playing in 2 hours or so

Nov 17, 2009#327

AshburnerX

Just got done playing. gotta say... I'm very impressed with the variety of Finales. Not all of them involve sitting around, waiting for help... and the ones that do, tend to be AWESOME (I'm looking at you, Dark Carnival).

Nov 17, 2009#328

Hailey Knight

I've been playing for a few hours, starting with some Versus and then moving onto a couple failed attempts at Expert campaigns.

Honestly, everything about this game is an improvement over the first besides atmosphere (which is only aesthetic of scariness). I've only played Dead Center and The Parish so far, finishing neither unfortunately. The variety in crescendos and finales is fantastic. I have gotten a little lost in a couple maps; you're less herded than in the old campaigns, so it's possible to get lost like in Crash Course.

But it's cool, and while the melee weapons scare me, I'm getting used to them. Katana and chainsaw are badass.

The characters are hilarious. They argue a lot, more like people who just happened to get thrown together, but not with anger. And they don't act like they read the game instructions. "Tongue-thing!" "Charging thing!" "Pouncing thing!"

I unfortunately have to lower my graphic settings to the bottom or else the game chugs when I'm surrounded, or even in an area with a lot of zombies, but it's fun enough that it doesn't matter.

The excellence makes that old boycott look even dumber than when it started.

Nov 17, 2009#329

Gusto

I played through Dead Center on Easy, because I'm a noob. It was fun! The finale was really satisfying although the gameplay leading into it was kinda tedious to do single-player.

I played as Nick, and when I picked up the Katana he was like, "Nice, ninja sword!"

I laughed.

Nov 17, 2009#330

bhamv3

So would you guys say it's a worthwhile investment for the single player experience?

Nov 17, 2009#331

Gusto

I had a decent time! But I imagine it's real bread and butter is the co-op. I just gotta find people to play with who will tolerate my noobishness for a lil while.

Nov 17, 2009#332

Jay

bhamv3 said:
So would you guys say it's a worthwhile investment for the single player experience?

Masterbation is fun too but doesn't compare to the real thing.

Nov 17, 2009#333

Hailey Knight

SeriousJay;300911][quote=bhamv3 said:
So would you guys say it's a worthwhile investment for the single player experience?

Masterbation is fun too but doesn't compare to the real thing.[/QUOTE]

Now I know why you play the cleric in our D&D session

.

Gusto, we'll be happy to tolerate newbishness if you play with us. I think the most usual newb thing is accidentally shooting other players.

Other factors I didn't realize are such as not letting go of a bomb when trying to throw it, but I think you probably got to that playing through single player. Honestly, Easy or Normal is a good place for newbs to go, but you REALLY learn the game by playing Expert. Others from Halforums did that with me when I started Left 4 Dead. We played one round of Normal just so I could get the ropes, and then we went Expert.

We died many, many times, but I learned to play very well very quickly.

Of course, I became a complete coward in Team Fortress 2, very different from my usual kamikaze style in that game which is eerily similar to bhamv's L4D2 style of play, but Left 4 Dead is more suited to what I like in a game.

I'll be on soon myself; Julie just got home with a migraine, so I'm trying to keep my personal volume down

Nov 17, 2009#334

Chibibar

I get to play about 40 minutes..... I love it. I just need to know more about the different assault rifles (so many to choose from)

btw: here are the stats for the weapons
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1013160

Nov 17, 2009#335

@Li3n

escushion said:
I think the most usual newb thing is accidentally shooting other players.

Which is why you never take noobs along for Expert difficulty... i swear, out of 10 games one looses on Expert 9 are because of FF.

Nov 17, 2009#336

Chibibar

@Li3n;301006][quote=escushion said:
I think the most usual newb thing is accidentally shooting other players.

Which is why you never take noobs along for Expert difficulty... i swear, out of 10 games one looses on Expert 9 are because of FF.[/QUOTE]

When I play Expert, I move slowly and VERY carefully. I usually DON'T take lead cause well, other might shoot be in the back (and they have) so I'm a lot more careful.

Easy mode and normal? I usually take more "aggressive" approach.

I'm going to try to log in tonight and play some.

Nov 17, 2009#337

AshburnerX

escushion said:
Honestly, everything about this game is an improvement over the first besides atmosphere (which is only aesthetic of scariness). I've only played Dead Center and The Parish so far, finishing neither unfortunately. The variety in crescendos and finales is fantastic. I have gotten a little lost in a couple maps; you're less herded than in the old campaigns, so it's possible to get lost like in Crash Course.

Play Hard Rain. As that rain water starts inching higher and higher, shit gets intense.

Nov 17, 2009#338

Chibibar

AshburnerX;301062][quote=escushion said:
Honestly, everything about this game is an improvement over the first besides atmosphere (which is only aesthetic of scariness). I've only played Dead Center and The Parish so far, finishing neither unfortunately. The variety in crescendos and finales is fantastic. I have gotten a little lost in a couple maps; you're less herded than in the old campaigns, so it's possible to get lost like in Crash Course.

Play Hard Rain. As that rain water starts inching higher and higher, shit gets intense.[/QUOTE]

I play 3 chapter of dead center but had to quit (was doing solo) I hope to hook up with y'all tonight.

Nov 18, 2009#339

Shawn

Wow. I can't seem to get any of the updates in order to play. What the fuck?

Nov 18, 2009#340

AshburnerX

Shawnacy said:
Wow. I can't seem to get any of the updates in order to play. What the fuck?

If Steam is saying it's looking for updates, let it work. It may not seem like it, but it IS downloading the stuff to play. Just let it run for 10-15 minutes.

Nov 18, 2009#341

Jay

It's been a long day today at work... need... to...play...

God damn I love this game.

I'll be on 7PM Eastern, let's get a game going!

Nov 18, 2009#342

Chibibar

Well.. I sucks balls...... I don't think I can do well in advance.

sorry guys. I try so hard but it is WAY different than L4D2

I need more practice.

Nov 18, 2009#343

figmentPez

Left 4 Dead: 8-bit version

Nov 18, 2009#344

Jay

Chibibar said:
Well.. I sucks balls...... I don't think I can do well in advance. sorry guys. I try so hard but it is WAY different than L4D2 I need more practice.

We all sucked! We'll get better with play. It'll take some time to get used to old tactics not working at all in L4D2.

Nov 19, 2009#345

Hailey Knight

Yeah, now that Spitters screw with cornering, everyone tends to scramble for cover without a clue, and death follows.

Nov 19, 2009#346

Chibibar

escushion said:
Yeah, now that Spitters screw with cornering, everyone tends to scramble for cover without a clue, and death follows.

Yea. Remember when we are on the platform? the spitters spit up there and ruin the whole tactic thing.

Of course spitters does make the game interesting (good and bad) and those chargers.... yikes!!

Nov 19, 2009#347

Hailey Knight

I wasn't with you guys last night--I've been playing Bioshock for Julie's entertainment. But I plan to play Friday and Saturday after work, and probably Sunday too.

Nov 20, 2009#348

@Li3n

Chibibar said:
Of course spitters does make the game interesting (good and bad) and those chargers.... yikes!!

Once, in the demo, a charger killed the whole team by throwing 3 of us from the platform with the alarm off switch, and pummelling the 4th guy to death... seeing how the guy who got pummelled was the only one with enough life not to get downed by being thrown off, i've been wondering it that was just bad luck or an actual AI thing...

And the spitter should be treated just like the tank when you're all in a corner... you only split when it shows up...

Nov 21, 2009#349

Bowielee

So, anyone still playing the original? I've been having the urge to play this again, and don't want to deal with PUGs off of steam.

Nov 21, 2009#350

figmentPez

Bowielee said:
So, anyone still playing the original? I've been having the urge to play this again, and don't want to deal with PUGs off of steam.

I don't very often, because I'm busy with other games, but I still love playing. Feel free to send an invite.

Nov 21, 2009#351

Chibibar

figmentPez;303648][quote=Bowielee said:
So, anyone still playing the original? I've been having the urge to play this again, and don't want to deal with PUGs off of steam.

I don't very often, because I'm busy with other games, but I still love playing. Feel free to send an invite.[/QUOTE]

I get tired with PUGs lately. Some are well.... pretty bad.

Nov 21, 2009#352

AshburnerX

New Update fucked up my game. Reinstalling it.

Nov 22, 2009#353

bhamv3

Man, I am a useless infected in versus mode. I think I need to learn the maps better, I can't seem to find good ambush spots.

There was one nice moment though, I spawned as a Spitter during the Crescendo Event in the swamps, the one where the survivors have to lower a bridge and fight off the horde of zombies. They were arranged in formation inside one of the huts, to kill the zombies, which were all coming from the same direction. They forgot there's a back door to the hut.

Snuck in, one spit, four coated survivors, Great Expectorations achievement.

Nov 22, 2009#354

Troll

Chibibar;303653][quote=figmentPez;303648][quote=Bowielee said:
So, anyone still playing the original? I've been having the urge to play this again, and don't want to deal with PUGs off of steam.

I don't very often, because I'm busy with other games, but I still love playing. Feel free to send an invite.[/QUOTE]

I get tired with PUGs lately. Some are well.... pretty bad.[/QUOTE]

I got into one earlier. While we were playing infected on a versus map, one guy starts telling the rest of us that we suck, we need to learn how to play, etc. Of course he's not doing shit while he's yelling at us. Meanwhile I singlehandedly kill two people on the other team (thanks to some strategic use of windows), but he misses it. About one minute later I was playing hunter and missed a jump, so he tries to start a votekick. And what do I hear over the mic?

"You need to leave, you fucking suck. Hey, how did two of their team die? I must have done that when I wasn't even paying attention."

So yes, PUGs are pretty bad.

Nov 22, 2009#355

Hailey Knight

AshburnerX said:
New Update fucked up my game. Reinstalling it.

It screwed me up once and then it was fine.

Steam seems to be giving you a lot of trouble, Ash.

Nov 22, 2009#356

AshburnerX

escushion;303729][quote=AshburnerX said:
New Update fucked up my game. Reinstalling it.

It screwed me up once and then it was fine.

Steam seems to be giving you a lot of trouble, Ash.[/QUOTE]

No, it was a problem with the new update. Lots of people had it... the only fix is to uninstall the local content, delete the L4D2 folder and it's contents, then re-install. Works perfectly fine now... except most of my achievements got borked. But then again, that happened to near everyone.

I've been playing mostly on Normal (with Realism on)... beaten all the movies. I may be ready for Advanced/Expert now. Any takers?

Nov 23, 2009#357

figmentPez

Woo, just bought L4D2 for $30 from Dell (check out details in the Games on SALE! thread). I should be playing with you guys by next week.

Nov 23, 2009#358

Chibibar

woo hoo!! I might log in and do a normal game (not advance) I'm trying to do different achievements during different stages so feel free to join in (friends only)

Nov 23, 2009#359

figmentPez

From Kotaku: Sixteen-Player Co-Op L4D2

From the amount of friendly fire it looks like a PUG.

This was done with L4D1 as well, I ended up on a server like this randomly once. It was bizarre.

Nov 24, 2009#360

bhamv3

So I just played through a few co-op campaigns online. Just on normal though, not ready to play advanced yet, and definitely not expert.

I'd like to humbly express my willingness to eat my words. Multiplayer really is much more fun than single player, when you've got a good team and work together.

Nov 24, 2009#361

Gusto

I still haven't played multi!

I'm missing out.

Nov 24, 2009#362

Hailey Knight

Why haven't you, Gusto? Are you TERRIFIED?

Nov 24, 2009#363

Gusto

Sorta!

Nov 24, 2009#364

Shegokigo

I really REALLY want to pick this up, but with my new system being kaput and my $20 spending limit on games, I think it's going to be a while....

Nov 24, 2009#365

Gusto

Man Shego my common sense is fighting my Christmas spirit so hard right now.

Nov 24, 2009#366

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
I really REALLY want to pick this up, but with my new system being kaput and my $20 spending limit on games, I think it's going to be a while....

Nov 24, 2009#367

Null

I just think it's hilarious that they made a porn of the first L4D game.

Nov 24, 2009#368

Shegokigo

AshburnerX;304934][quote=Shegokigo said:
I really REALLY want to pick this up, but with my new system being kaput and my $20 spending limit on games, I think it's going to be a while....

It'll probably drop as low as $30 during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. It took Left 4 Dead 1 almost a year to drop to $20, so that's probably the closest your going to get for a long time.

Edit: Why don't you just trade in some old stuff for the extra ten bucks? You probably got an old stinker or two lying around.[/QUOTE]

Funny enough, I am REALLY picky when it comes to my console games

Example of stuff on my shelf:

Suikoden 1-5, Final Fantasy 7-12, MGS 1-3, GTA: VC-IV (None of the "stories" games), Silent Hill 2, Viewtiful Joe, MvC2 (PS2), and the only thing I own on Xbox360 and Wii are Saints Row 2 and Zelda.

Lying Bastard said:
I just think it's hilarious that they made a porn of the first L4D game.

http://rule34.paheal.net/post/list/left_4_dead/1

Nov 24, 2009#369

Null

Yes, Rule 34 and all, I just find it funny. The fact that there is such a thing as video game porn should be a bit comical.

On the other hand, there are a lot of cases where it would also be EXTREMELY creepy.

Nov 24, 2009#370

AshburnerX

Got any old books you can sell? They still have used book stores.

Nov 24, 2009#371

Chibibar

hehe.. I love it when my team rage quit but I was able to wipe out the other team (4 players) by myself.

Nov 25, 2009#372

Nile

Steam name is ProjectNile.

Hit me up!

Always up for some L4D2 or TF2.

Nov 25, 2009#373

AshburnerX

Nile said:
Steam name is ProjectNile.

Hit me up! Always up for some L4D2 or TF2.

We need your steam login name, not the name that shows up. Otherwise we can't add you to the group or try to add you to our friends list.

Lying Bastard said:
Yes, Rule 34 and all, I just find it funny. The fact that there is such a thing as video game porn should be a bit comical.

On the other hand, there are a lot of cases where it would also be EXTREMELY creepy.

The fact there is game porn isn't anything strange, as there has been comic porn since comics were only found in the Newspaper. What IS odd is that a live action porno was made for the game.

Nov 25, 2009#374

Gusto

I know we have a thread for it and everything, but my Steam login is kmiller52 if anyone wants to add me.

Nov 25, 2009#375

AshburnerX

Gusto said:
I know we have a thread for it and everything, but my Steam login is kmiller52 if anyone wants to add me.

Added, and I sent you a Hal 4 Um group invite.

Nov 25, 2009#376

figmentPez

*Grrr* Dell says my L4D2 order is delayed. Guess I won't be playing with y'all for another couple weeks.

At least I've got other games to keep me busy.

Nov 25, 2009#377

Shawn

Be sure to add me to your friends lists.

Shawnacy

I loves zombie killin.

Nov 25, 2009#378

AshburnerX

We had a good run tonight. Nobody died and we beat it on Advanced. A couple of close calls though... we should try this on Advanced a few more times before we try Expert.

Nov 25, 2009#379

Shegokigo

I'm really starting to feel the "itch"... itchy... tasty....

Nov 25, 2009#380

Shawn

AshburnerX said:
We had a good run tonight. Nobody died and we beat it on Advanced. A couple of close calls though... we should try this on Advanced a few more times before we try Expert.

Yeah. Good run. Makes me think that expert might actually be playable.

Nov 25, 2009#381

Hailey Knight

Oh, it's playable.

Finale winnable... um... I myself need more practice.

Nov 26, 2009#382

Nile

I need to work on a certain issue before I even think of going to Expert.

Those who played tonight know what I'm speaking of. Sorry about that, not exactly sure what happened there.

Nov 26, 2009#383

Troll

Can anyone here help me out with a problem? The loading time for levels takes FOREVER. Then, when I join games online my ping spikes ridiculously high (Usually 350+ when everyone else is below 50). I thought that my system would be able to handle L4D2 with no problem... so I can't figure out exactly what the issue is.

Should I turn down the graphics? I'm using recommended settings.

Nov 26, 2009#384

AshburnerX

If you ALWAYS seem to have bad lag, it's probably a connection problem. What's your connection? DSL? Cable? Maybe your ports aren't forwarding correctly?

Nov 26, 2009#385

Gusto

I'll be around this afternoon and probably this evening to play! SHOUT ME A HOLLER DOGGS

Nov 26, 2009#386

Chibibar

got a party to host thus lots of cleaning and cooking. I might show up tomorrow evening (maybe)

Nov 26, 2009#387

bhamv3

I just found my way onto a modded Versus server. Low gravity, huge selection of weapons in every safehouse, and the admin could change what Infected players would spawn as.

I'm telling you, you haven't seen lulz until you witness the sight of four survivors literally soaring out of the safehouse door, carpet bombing the area with grenades as they go. Eventually we caught on to that tactic though, and the admin spawned all four of us as tanks. We estimated where they would land, and then smacked all four of them clear across the map.

Nov 26, 2009#388

Gusto

Hahahaha!

Nov 26, 2009#389

Troll

AshburnerX said:
If you ALWAYS seem to have bad lag, it's probably a connection problem. What's your connection? DSL? Cable? Maybe your ports aren't forwarding correctly?

AT&T Broadband, connected with a hardline (no WiFi). I must confess I'm not as computer saavy as I should be, so I'm not exactly sure what your talking about when you mention ports.

Nov 26, 2009#390

AshburnerX

I'm not exactly sure how it works ether, but I know that if you don't have certain ones open (or forwarded properly) it can lead to connection problems with games and download clients.

Nov 27, 2009#391

Hailey Knight

Either Shego caved or someone got it for her, cause I saw her log onto it (non-demo) a couple minutes ago

Nov 27, 2009#392

Gusto

Nice!

Nov 27, 2009#393

Jay

She caved like the French did in WW2.

Nov 27, 2009#394

Shegokigo

Totally got a copy for $30 at Gamestop.

Wanted to take a picture and post it in the thread, but the GF has the bloody camera in her purse.

Head up, I'm obviously gonna be a melee (katana) player from the looks of it, I had the most Special infected (everything but tanks) kills, the most regular infected and the least damage taken and I only busted out shotty for long range Special Infected kills and tanks.

I loved the first Campaign map (normal), gonna be working on the next few before getting in with a few of you on Advanced games. I swear if you idiots shoot me as much as that PUG did while I was trying to clear stairways with my katana, your heads will be rolling right along with the zombies. :devil:

Nov 27, 2009#395

Jay

I tend to have the lowest FF... Ashburner however.... RIP.
You'll love the Dark Carnival... I'm a huge fan of that one.

Welcome to the team Missy.

Nov 27, 2009#396

Shegokigo

I know we're on friendslist already SeriousJay, I forget, is there a "group"?

Nov 27, 2009#397

Jay

We're the best of friends, are we not? :falldown:

The group is called : Hal 4 Um

I'm sure someone can shoot you an invite. If not, I'll send you one tonight, when I get home. This goes for anyone else on these forums who secured the game.

Nov 27, 2009#398

Hailey Knight

Sent one off; don't know when I'll next be in the game though. Tomorrow would make me happy... so probably not...

Nov 27, 2009#399

Jay

escushion said:
Sent one off; don't know when I'll next be in the game though. Tomorrow would make me happy... so probably not...

Nov 27, 2009#400

Shegokigo

Just curious, why don't we have a gamer group with a tag that brings people here?

Like plain ole: Halforums.com Group or something?

Nov 27, 2009#401

Hailey Knight

SeriousJay;305798][quote=escushion said:
Sent one off; don't know when I'll next be in the game though. Tomorrow would make me happy... so probably not...

[/QUOTE]

Yeah, pretty much :/.

Shego: I guess Jay's idea was that it'd be keeping people of the forum, but I think what you're saying makes sense.

Nov 27, 2009#402

Gusto

I friendly fire a bit.

But I love pullin' out my bat for when the horde comes.

Nov 27, 2009#403

Hailey Knight

Keep in mind, the FF tally at the end counts your melee, which hurts a lot less than guns.

I think melee should try to stay down in front when they can, while gunners should avoid aiming at the melee's clusters unless they're clearly overwhelmed or there's a special.

Nov 27, 2009#404

Shegokigo

Is it wrong that 99% of my kills so far have been pure katana?

I can't help but think to myself "the blade would have dulled by now" but then I just say "Ah, but this is Hatori Hanzo steel!" and go about my merry, murderous way.

Sadly I can't participate in voice chat as I'm still having the USB headset issue with this old computer, though I'm happy to say the game runs well 90% of the time on quite decent settings. I'm shocked, though I've only played the first campaign so far.

Nov 27, 2009#405

Jay

I'm a huge fan of the machete myself..... GUTS COME OUT WHEN YOU STAB THEM!

AGLGLGLGLGLGLGLGLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAREGHGHGHH!!!!!

Nov 27, 2009#406

Shegokigo

I've passed on nearly every melee weapon as I can't get over the awesomeness of the Katana.

Nov 27, 2009#407

AshburnerX

The Machete really does seem like the best melee weapon hands down, but I'm partial to the Crowbar myself. This is, of course, assuming I don't have a Magnum.

I've actually gotten a lot better about friendly fire by playing Advanced/Expert matches. When you can drop somebody in like 5 hits, you learn fire control real fucking fast.

EDIT: What a fucking surprise... they update the game and fucking break it for me again. Gonna have to delete and re-install AGAIN. Good fucking damn it Valve... stop fucking up my game!

Nov 27, 2009#408

Shegokigo

So I'm playing through Campaign one to try and get a real strong feel for the game before moving on.

5 Full Campaign runs. 1 Successful on final area.

*sigh*

Nov 27, 2009#409

bhamv3

Are you playing online with real people, or with bots? And what difficulty level are you playing on?

I started out playing single player with bots, on Easy, just to learn the maps first. And I still got my ass kicked repeatedly.

Nov 28, 2009#410

Shegokigo

Normal Mode. Online.

Just did a single player Normal mode. Lo and behold, I completed the campaign. :blue:

Nov 28, 2009#411

Hailey Knight

I find the lower difficulty you go, the more people you find just screwing around silly.

I think only in Expert have I found good PUGs. Versus I only play with my Steam buddies unless I'm just screwing around.

Had a lot of fun tonight. I feel bad when Gusto ended up on a different Versus team than me and Shawnacy; though he killed both of us as one hunter at one point. Finally beating Hard Rain felt like an accomplishment. I can't believe how much more difficult this game is than the first one.

Nov 28, 2009#412

Nile

Indeed. The finales are a lot more brutal this time around. Also, I've noticed the new Director is even more angry and hate-filled than the first Director.

Spawning a Smoker on top of the bridge during the Parish finale... uncool.

Especially when a Charger knocks half your team off with one charge.

Nov 28, 2009#413

AshburnerX

Yeah... it seems like the ONLY way to do the Parish finale on Advanced/Expert is to do the rush strategy (as if your going for the 3min achievement). Bring a Melee weapon with you and grab adrenaline if you can. When you start crossing the bridge and hear the first Horde spawn, turn around and kill the two SI behind you (usually some combo of Spitter, Hunter, and Charger). Then proceed along the bridge, killing anything in your way but not stopping (Use your adrenaline if you get bogged down.) Always take the high road when presented with one (tops of tankers, part of the bridge is collapses, etc) and always grab adrenaline when you see some (use yours if you find another and you haven't used yours). Throw Pipes ahead of you if you hear another Horde spawn, but make sure you save at least one for after the Tank.

When you hear the Tank spawn, keep going, but make sure he drops down from the slanted bit of the bridge before you try to go up. Your going to run past him, so don't worry about killing him, but do put a few shots into him if you can because your friends might try to fight him. Once you hear the chopper and the final Horde spawns, throw your pipe to distract them as you make your way to the chopper. When you get to the chopper, DON'T GO INSIDE (unless the rest of your team is incaped/dead) because Special Infected may spawn nearby and they WILL waste you inside of the chopper.

Using the above Strategy, I've managed to get tot he chopper in under 3 mins on Advanced and Expert (but died on Expert before it could take off). It's actually pretty damn easy, especially if your teammates can keep up.

Nov 28, 2009#414

bhamv3

Nile said:
Also, I've noticed the new Director is even more angry and hate-filled than the first Director.

While playing a campaign online, on Normal, we made it to the Barns crescendo event in Dark Carnival. The one where you have to turn on a switch to open the gates, and you run through a gauntlet of endless infected and SI. We finally make it to the safe room at the end, pretty much all of us surviving on pain pills and with only a sliver of health left, when we find waiting for us in the safe room is...

A Witch.

And then we were so busy swearing at the Director we all got incapped.

Nov 28, 2009#415

Hailey Knight

The Director seems to go in bursts with that. Sometimes the safe room door is closed and there's nothing inside. Other times it's hanging open and you'll have two or three special infected coming at you.

Even had a friggin' Tank and Boomer spawn together in there.

Nov 28, 2009#416

AshburnerX

Alright... just got done playing two camps with Shego. She's good, but has the tendency to go Rambo and run ahead of everyone else, which explains why she is always getting bullets in the ass. She just LOVES to kill things with her Weeaboo Bitch Stick just alittle bit too much!

However, something... odd happened during the Dark Carnival finale. We were all on the chopper, except for one guy who was down to like 2-4 health. He was slowing us down and was about to drop, but we had SI coming right for us... so Shego aims her Combat Rifle at the guy. I literally saw her put the red dot on his head, as she had a Laser Sight at the time. She then BLOWS HIS HEAD OFF. He drops to the ground and the rest of us take off.

Ladies and Gentlemen... our first confirmed murder by Shego.

Nov 28, 2009#417

Gusto

So awesome. :rofl:

---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:53 PM ----------

escushion said:
Had a lot of fun tonight. I feel bad when Gusto ended up on a different Versus team than me and Shawnacy; though he killed both of us as one hunter at one point. Finally beating Hard Rain felt like an accomplishment. I can't believe how much more difficult this game is than the first one.

Haha, that was fun. In that whole versus game I only had like 2 or three good moments, and that was one of 'em.

Versus is HILARIOUS, even if you aren't doing well. Getting roped by a smoker and then tackled by a charger, while a spitter covers your corpse, all within like 7 seconds, is fucking crazy.

Nov 28, 2009#418

elph

I finally got it (early christmas gift from my brother in law - we're having a LAN party Dec 12th).

Nov 28, 2009#419

bhamv3

Bwahahahaha, Shego is awesome.

I think I would've done the same in that situation. Actually, scratch that, in that situation I would've been the guy with his brains blown out.

Nov 29, 2009#420

Occasional Poster

AshburnerX said:
However, something... odd happened during the Dark Carnival finale. We were all on the chopper, except for one guy who was down to like 2-4 health. He was slowing us down and was about to drop, but we had SI coming right for us... so Shego aims her Combat Rifle at the guy. I literally saw her put the red dot on his head, as she had a Laser Sight at the time. She then BLOWS HIS HEAD OFF. He drops to the ground and the rest of us take off.

Ladies and Gentlemen... our first confirmed murder by Shego.

That sounds really awesome! I would never have thought of that solution to the situation and would've surely been defeated by the Special Infected.

I look forward to playing this game once I'm able to replace my broken tv.

Nov 29, 2009#421

Shawn

AshburnerX said:
However, something... odd happened during the Dark Carnival finale. We were all on the chopper, except for one guy who was down to like 2-4 health. He was slowing us down and was about to drop, but we had SI coming right for us... so Shego aims her Combat Rifle at the guy. I literally saw her put the red dot on his head, as she had a Laser Sight at the time. She then BLOWS HIS HEAD OFF. He drops to the ground and the rest of us take off.

Ladies and Gentlemen... our first confirmed murder by Shego.

I have this sudden urge to play with Shego now.

Haven't had a chance to play in a couple of days. Work, sleeping and D&D sort of taking up my time.

Nov 30, 2009#422

Gusto

I wanna get a 4v4 versus game going with just Halforums people.

Let's make this dream happen.

Nov 30, 2009#423

Hailey Knight

How many we got?

You, me, Jay, Shawn, Ash, Shego, Chibi... one more?

Nov 30, 2009#424

Gusto

BHAMV!

Nov 30, 2009#425

figmentPez

*sigh* If my copy ever arrives from Dell, I'd love to get in on a Halforums match.

This is why I prefer downloads to a hard copy. Oh well, at least I got a good price.

Dec 1, 2009#426

bhamv3

Gusto said:
BHAMV!

Other side of the world here, so it'd be difficult for me to get into a game with you guys, in terms of time difference and ping.

Dec 1, 2009#427

RealBigNuke

I'd be up for it. I love internet team based games but hate pugs.

Dec 1, 2009#428

Chibibar

I can try to make it

usually evening is pretty good for me. I will be log on during the day time ONLY to catch special sales that is going on right now

Dec 2, 2009#429

AshburnerX

Looks like I missed out on your Halforums game tonight. Shego manage OK with her old card? Or did she have the new one?

Dec 2, 2009#430

Shegokigo

I played maybe 4 campaigns throughout the day with the old card, needless to say I can't snipe l worth a damn with it. I've had to resort to assault rifles and that annoys me to no end.

On the bright side, I went witch-hunting tonight with Shawnacy and Chibi. :twisted:

Dec 2, 2009#431

Chibibar

Shego + grenade launcher + a lot of witch = scary. somehow shego practically made it without getting hurt much and killed like 6-8 witches.

Dec 2, 2009#432

Shegokigo

Hey, I would have had that last witch if the charger + boomer hadn't popped behind me! :devil:

Dec 3, 2009#433

Shawn

Shegokigo said:
I played maybe 4 campaigns throughout the day with the old card, needless to say I can't snipe l worth a damn with it. I've had to resort to assault rifles and that annoys me to no end.

On the bright side, I went witch-hunting tonight with Shawnacy and Chibi.

Well I can't wait to see how you play with a decent card. I'm sure there will be plenty more "mercy kills" etched into your computer desk.

Shegokigo said:
Hey, I would have had that last witch if the charger + boomer hadn't popped behind me!

Excuses.

Witches on normal aren't too bad. Even with an assault shotgun from behind they can be taken down with few problems. On expert we really try to avoid them at all cost as one swipe will kill you instantly. Though I'd like to experiment in the future to see if say 4 people with auto shotguns running up and blasting her would take her down before she has a chance to even stand up.

AshburnerX said:
Looks like I missed out on your Halforums game tonight. Shego manage OK with her old card? Or did she have the new one?

The other guy dropped out at the final, but you were offline at the time. We all managed to get on the boat though.

Dec 3, 2009#434

figmentPez

Do all the halforumites currently playing L4D2 have microphones? I'm planning to get one soon (maybe this one), but I'm wondering if I'm going to feel totally left out if I wait until I decide what to pad my order with to get free shipping.

Dec 3, 2009#435

AshburnerX

figmentPez said:
Do all the halforumites currently playing L4D2 have microphones? I'm planning to get one soon (maybe this one), but I'm wondering if I'm going to feel totally left out if I wait until I decide what to pad my order with to get free shipping.

I think something is up with Shego's USB port or something. Then again, she might just being her secretive self once again.

Dec 3, 2009#436

Shegokigo

No, my temporary system is the one having the USB trouble, which I haven't been able to find a fix for yet, and I'm stuck with the temp. system until my main system comes back in about 2 weeks.

Dec 3, 2009#437

Gusto

I gotta mike but I don't talk a lot unless a Charger is pummeling me into the ground or something. I also laugh a lot while playing Versus.

Dec 4, 2009#438

AshburnerX

Well, she's got me doing it too... had to execute a guy who wouldn't get on the god damn boat. Still, minus the 5 shots it took to kill that idiot, I actually shot people fewer times than Shego that game

Dec 4, 2009#439

Shegokigo

All in due time dear Ash.... all in due.... time..... :vader:

Dec 7, 2009#440

figmentPez

YES! My copy finally arrived today. How is it that I often get products in the mail before I get the email telling me they shipped? Dell, your website says my package went out on the 3rd, yet I still haven't gotten an email about it being shipped! This is one of the many reasons I don't buy computers from Dell anymore.

Anyway, I did a quick run-through of Dead Center on Easy with bots. Holy crap that's an awesome campaign. Normally I try and avoid the mall during the holiday season, but I'm looking forward to playing with halforumites even more than before.

Dec 7, 2009#441

Shegokigo

We should already be friendlisted Fig, if you see a game of mine go up on Advanced, more than likely it's a "Friends Only" lobby so feel free to join.

Dec 7, 2009#442

Chibibar

I STILL suck as a charger and jockey

bleh (both requires a good team to really be effective)

Dec 7, 2009#443

AshburnerX

Chibibar said:
I STILL suck as a charger and jockey bleh (both requires a good team to really be effective)

Dec 7, 2009#444

Shegokigo

Heads up, I'm picking up a Radeon 4890 or GTX275 today! Most likely the Radeon.

Dec 7, 2009#445

Chibibar

AshburnerX;310909][quote=Chibibar said:
I STILL suck as a charger and jockey bleh (both requires a good team to really be effective)

It's actually more like they need the OTHER team to NOT be good. If you can jockey somebody who's lagged behind, while the rest of them are tied up with something else, it's an easy way to get them to fall WAY behind everyone else or somewhere they can't get to in time. Making them fall off a ledge is inefficient... it takes a LONG TIME for someone to fall to their deaths.

Chargers can get one hit kills and kill enemies really fast though. Get someone isolated or take them off a ledge and you have great way to take someone out. You can even hurl other people off ledges via your dash by grabbing someone else before them.[/QUOTE]

true, but if you are against a good team, it is hard to find someone lagging behind. Charger is good on some stages but it stops on ANYTHING that remotely will stop you. I got stop charging DOWN a stair because of a small crack... SMALL CRACK!!

so I charge about 2 feet and stop dead before hitting anyone

I even line up the the stair prior to spawn.

jockey is good with a spitter or combo with smoker. While the other party member is getting out of the way, I can ride them INTO fire/spitter or jump on someone while someone try to rescue the smoke person

Dec 7, 2009#446

AshburnerX

They REALLY need to make it so you can't hunter jump, Jockey, or Charge someone who's already Smoked. It takes a while for your tongue to recharge once it's been broken, which makes you effectively useless as your friends get gunned down.

Dec 7, 2009#447

Hailey Knight

AshburnerX said:
They REALLY need to make it so you can't hunter jump, Jockey, or Charge someone who's already Smoked. It takes a while for your tongue to recharge once it's been broken, which makes you effectively useless as your friends get gunned down.

In the original it was, if your tongue is broken by Survivor, it takes a while to recharge, but if Infected break it, it's a short recharge.

Dec 7, 2009#448

bhamv3

Jockey definitely relies on team work, it can't do anything solo. The most effective combinations I see tend to be:

Boomer vomit/explode
Spitter spit/Charger charge, to split up the survivors
Hunter/Smoker/Jockey mop up

Dec 7, 2009#449

Hailey Knight

Jockey can yank people over a ledge all by himself.

And when they come to save each other, it only gets sweeter

Dec 8, 2009#450

Chibibar

escushion said:
Jockey can yank people over a ledge all by himself.

And when they come to save each other, it only gets sweeter .

True, but you need to time it really well and have good coordination on the keyboard. I haven't manage to get anyone "drop off the ledge" yet, but at least I did double ride, run across acid or some other achievement

Dec 8, 2009#451

AshburnerX

I've gotten people to drop of a ledge... it's not very useful, unless your under fire. It's usually better to just pull them back into the map as far as you can and hope you ether get them far enough away that they leave them to die or that they are stupid enough to try and come back for them.

Dec 8, 2009#452

RealBigNuke

AshburnerX said:
I've gotten people to drop of a ledge... it's not very useful, unless your under fire. It's usually better to just pull them back into the map as far as you can and hope you ether get them far enough away that they leave them to die or that they are stupid enough to try and come back for them.

Well, there is something to be said on behalf of basically stunning two people for 5 or seconds each, especially on a map like the bridge. Also, it's straight up evil to do that and then have the charger get them while they're helping them up

Dec 8, 2009#453

figmentPez

So far I've played Dead Center, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever and part of Hard Rain on easy with bots just to get the feel for the missions. Some things I've noticed:
- using the chainsaw on tanks is fun, although very dangerous
- using the chainsaw on witches is effective on easy, does it work on other difficulties?
- the bots are still morons
- fire ammo isn't as fun as I thought it would be
- the swamps are my least favorite level so far. Versus must be brutal in there

My play of Hard Rain got interrupted by a game with Swanacy and Shego. I think our fourth was a random player. He wasn't horrible, but I thought he used health packs oddly (not nearly as wasteful as bots, though). We played Dark Carnival on advanced, and I was the only one who didn't make it out in the finale. I might have survived too if I hadn't jumped off a ledge trying to get away from a tank. (Yea for defib paddles bringing me back so I could make that stupid jump, though.)

- Good health kit management is even more important than it was in L4D.
- Always remember to take your adrenaline (if you need it) before helping someone up.
- Fireworks boxes are hard to set off with an AK-47.

Dec 8, 2009#454

Shegokigo

It's official. Dark Carnival: Barns is harder than the finale.

That is all.

Dec 8, 2009#455

Chibibar

Shegokigo said:
It's official. Dark Carnival: Barns is harder than the finale.

That is all.

Agree. Finale is easy compare to the Barn

Dec 8, 2009#456

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
It's official. Dark Carnival: Barns is harder than the finale.

That is all.

Actually, the Barns rolling Crescendo is pretty easy if you have rifles. Since the Horde is only coming from one way (and that way is a narrow alley) you can literally kill 10-15 infected with a single shot... and if your good with Mollys like I am, you can just throw one to the end of the alley and kill everything before it gets anywhere NEAR you. Two Mollys throw well (one at the end of alley, one near the saferoom) can basically turn that crescendo into a cake walk.

Dec 8, 2009#457

Shegokigo

Only from one way?

Not on advanced.....

Dec 8, 2009#458

Gusto

Yeah if they only came from one way I wouldn't have to worry about a Charger ruining my shit while I watch the horde in front of me run willingly into a mollyfire.

Dec 8, 2009#459

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
Only from one way?

Not on advanced.....

It's still pretty easy, especially compared to the rolling crescendo in the Swamp's 3rd map. That's hard on EASY.

Dec 8, 2009#460

Shegokigo

Funny, I find Swamp 3 actually pretty easy by roof jumping + adrenaline.

Dec 8, 2009#461

Hailey Knight

I gotta agree with Shego; when we did the Swamp with you Ash, you had us prepared for this hella badass event, after we were brutalized for the first two levels, and then that was the easiest of them.

Dec 8, 2009#462

AshburnerX

escushion said:
I gotta agree with Shego; when we did the Swamp with you Ash, you had us prepared for this hella badass event, after we were brutalized for the first two levels, and then that was the easiest of them.

Yeah, but the FIRST time I ran it with Shego, she was in agreement over the stupidness. In any case, I guess we're just good at different events. DC: Barns is no problem for me.

Dec 9, 2009#463

Jay

Time for expert, imo.

Dec 10, 2009#464

AshburnerX

Because it had to be done... Coach is going to be so happy!

Looks like they are selling it as a t-shirt too!

Dec 10, 2009#465

figmentPez

While I was playing a couple days ago I got some weird graphical glitches. I'd joined a versus game with AshburnerX and RealBigNuke but the Coach-bot I replaced had already been killed off. Kind of a good thing, too, since none of the common infected were showing up, and most of the special infected were invisible as well. I didn't catch on that I wasn't seeing zombies until I saw Nick get taken down by a Witch that wasn't there. It all cleared up when the teams switched sides, but I got some screenshots:

Ellis, throwing a molotov outside of... outside?

Wait... I thought the mist was supposed to be outside the store.

Nick is posessed

Yup, he needs an excorcist, just look at all glowing vomit. I'm surprised is head isn't spinning.

Dec 10, 2009#466

Chibibar

lol. I join another friend's game to do the gnome (they just ran into the tunnel of love) I was playing coach. I was alive when they JUST finish and when it starts the next stage, I died right there. It was weird. The admin had to kill all of us and restart that stage.

Dec 10, 2009#467

Hailey Knight

Me thinks the new patch broke something.

Dec 10, 2009#468

AshburnerX

They always break something with each patch. I've had to re-install every patch.

Dec 10, 2009#469

Shawn

Good times.

Dec 11, 2009#470

@Li3n

It's Valve... give them a year, i'm sure everything will be ok when l4d3 comes out...

Dec 11, 2009#471

Shegokigo

And yet I sit with no problems with the game. I'm sure the game company is to blame when one type of computer configuration has problems with it and thousands of others don't. :rolleyes:

Dec 11, 2009#472

AshburnerX

Actually, I played earlier... this one didn't break it for me, oddly enough.

Dec 11, 2009#473

Chibibar

I notice that some server might have tweak some settings cause last night the tank takes a lot of damage when hit by fire (unusually more damage) cause we drop the tank without firing too many shots in 7 seconds flat.

also I notice that some people can break out of smoker SOLO somehow (without any help or getting shot at)

Dec 11, 2009#474

AshburnerX

You can shot the Smoker for about 1-2 seconds once he's got you wrapped, before you become helpless. This was actually an achievement in the last game.

Dec 11, 2009#475

Chibibar

AshburnerX said:
You can shot the Smoker for about 1-2 seconds once he's got you wrapped, before you become helpless. This was actually an achievement in the last game.

no I mean I smoke him... HAVE the guy for a good 6 seconds (he is helpless) and then broke out ALL by himself cause I saw everyone else either disable or too far to do anything.

Dec 11, 2009#476

AshburnerX

Were you on fire?

Dec 11, 2009#477

Chibibar

AshburnerX said:
Were you on fire?

nope. I thought I pretty much had the guy, but he just broke out on his own (which surprise me) then again the server we were on last night surprise me a lot too.

Our tank swung at "Coach" at least 5-6 times but miss every single on even if the tank was pretty much on top of him (ping was like 100ms)

I was playing the Charger and decides to take on Nick (NPC survivor at the time) I was right behind him about 2 steps and MISS the charge totally...... my ping at the time was like 126ms

Dec 11, 2009#478

@Li3n

Shegokigo said:
And yet I sit with no problems with the game. I'm sure the game company is to blame when one type of computer configuration has problems with it and thousands of others don't.

Switch that around and you'd be right!

I mean the l4d2 demo had a problem with 8800's and multithreading they fixed in l4d1 with patch 1.4, which means they pretty much weren't paying attention.

But they do fix them, so they're fine imo.

Dec 13, 2009#479

figmentPez

I played some versus yesterday, and it is so much fun to charge players off into oblivion. Beginning of Hard Rain, survivors are just getting started and my teammate spits on them. As they scatter I climb over a nearby fence and charge one of them out into the water. Dead before he could even get past the Burger Tank.

It wasn't as fun after that, because my team started leaving, and theirs stuck together, and pretty soon it was a very uneven match.

Dec 14, 2009#480

Jay

Last night, on Versus, I incapped all 4 survivors with 1 charge on the first stage of dead center. Charged one to oblivion and knocked the other three over the ledge.

It was epic.

Dec 14, 2009#481

figmentPez

Left 4 Dead 2 Game Add-on #1 Announced

"'The Passing,' the first game add-on for L4D2 brings the original Left 4 Dead (L4D1) Survivors down south for a meeting with the L4D2 cast"
...
"Targeted for release in early spring, 'The Passing' takes place just after the Dead Center campaign of L4D2. Set in a small town in rural Georgia, players assume the role of the L4D2 Survivors as they meet with the L4D1 characters."
...
"The Passing will also include a new 'uncommon common' zombie class, melee weapon, and firearm."

Dec 14, 2009#482

Shegokigo

Any update on the mods bringing the L4D2 cast into the L4D1 campaigns?

Dec 14, 2009#483

figmentPez

I love Joystiq's comment, "We can't wait to meet up with last year's survivors again ... oh, assuming they really are still survivors."

Dec 14, 2009#484

Shegokigo

Then I can re-enact all my Zoey/Rochelle slashfics!

Dec 14, 2009#485

figmentPez

I love it when Ellis tells stories about Keith.

Dec 14, 2009#486

Shegokigo

Why is there a beard on Rochelle? I mean I know the L4D community is massively racist, but a beard?

Dec 14, 2009#487

AshburnerX

I have a bad feeling... like this DLC is going to be the one where they decide to start charging PC users for their updates.

Dec 14, 2009#488

Shegokigo

Vs the console players that don't get them at all?

They've yet to charge for all the maps/weapons/items they've done in TF2. I'm not worried.

Dec 14, 2009#489

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
Vs the console players that don't get them at all? They've yet to charge for all the maps/weapons/items they've done in TF2.

Actually, the console players got Crash Course for L4D and they charged for that. The only reason the console TF2 players haven't gotten the updates is because Microsoft wanted to charge for each individual update. Valve is holding off until all the classes have been updated before releasing that stuff on the console so people don't feel cheated for the price.

Dec 14, 2009#490

Shegokigo

Again, they're being charged because of X-box live. Not an issue with PC Steam.

Dec 14, 2009#491

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
Again, they're being charged because of X-box live. Not an issue with PC Steam.

Perhaps, but this is looking to be a rather sizeable update. We're getting...

For Sure:
- New Campaign (2-4 maps)
- Two New Weapons (New Melee and New Ranged. Hopefully something special, like a Flamethrower or Crossbow/Bow/Speargun.)
- 1 New Game Mode (I'm guessing some sort of 4 vs 4, Survivor only version of Scavenge)
- 1 New Uncommon Infected (Infected Survivor Uncommon? They were working on one.)

Probable Additions:
- The ability to use the Original Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2's other modes.

That's much more than we ever got for Crash Course. It's probably just nothing... but I have a bad feeling Valve is gonna start selling out soon.

Dec 14, 2009#492

Shawn

Well from the sounds of it the game is getting a whole new feel. If they are somehow linking the four original survivors with the new ones for L4D2 the big question is how. The game has always been 4 player co-op. Will they be increasing it to 8 player for that particular campaign? Or will we just have our pick of the 8 survivors and it will remain a 4 player game? Or will there be a trade-off mid level where, much like a RE game, you play another person for a few pivotal points in the game?

And if it is an 8 player co-op, does that mean that the VS element will be 16 players?

And how do the stories interact if the next campaign happens right after Dead Center? The survivors have a stock car and a full tank of gas at that point. Wouldn't it have made better sense to pick up the story after The Parish campaign?

I'm still interested in knowing if the Military has plans on killing the L4D2 survivors much like they were killing off other "carriers".

Dec 14, 2009#493

figmentPez

Shegokigo said:
Why is there a beard on Rochelle? I mean I know the L4D community is massively racist, but a beard?

Probably the same reason Rochelle has a pair of pants on her head in the VG Cats comic.

Dec 14, 2009#494

AshburnerX

Shawnacy said:
And how do the stories interact if the next campaign happens right after Dead Center? The survivors have a stock car and a full tank of gas at that point. Wouldn't it have made better sense to pick up the story after The Parish campaign?

It's probably something like Hard Rain: The car needs more gas (as stock cars burn through it rather fast) or part of it breaks and they need to fix it. Alternatively, they come across a roadblock and need to clear it. This leads them to an area where the original four are stranded (Airplane from Dead Air couldn't make it all the way to a port so they could get to the cruise ships or something) and both teams need to work together to get out of town alive.

The good news is that since they are somehow including the original survivors, that means they may have the ability to include new characters in future DLC. I would fucking love to play as the Midnight Riders, as they try to escape from wherever their helicopter lands.

Dec 14, 2009#495

Shawn

AshburnerX said:
. I would fucking love to play as the Midnight Riders, as they try to escape from wherever their helicopter lands.

I call the drummer.

Dec 14, 2009#496

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
It's probably just nothing... but I have a bad feeling Valve is gonna start selling out soon.

Yeah, I've got that same worry. It's pretty clear L4D2 was a full game, and not an expansion or gradual release of DLC, because of the Xbox 360. It will be interesting to see if concessions to get their games on consoles will turn into adopting console pricing structures.

The only reason the console TF2 players haven't gotten the updates is because Microsoft wanted to charge for each individual update. Valve is holding off until all the classes have been updated before releasing that stuff on the console so people don't feel cheated for the price.

They've also had some issues with memory and having to work to free up RAM to add in the additional models but, yeah, 360 gamers have had to wait mostly because MS wants to charge for everything it can. Hopefully Valve is puzzled by MS's behavior (and all the lost Orange Box sales, and lost XBLive subscriptions they've missed out on) and not inspired by it.

Dec 14, 2009#497

bhamv3

I also suspect they'll charge for the PC version. It says at the bottom of the update, "Pricing will be announced closer to launch." That suggests to me they're not planning on making the PC or 360 versions free.

Dec 15, 2009#498

@Li3n

AshburnerX said:
Probable Additions:
- The ability to use the Original Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2's other modes.

Looks like it's only a cameo: http://www.gametrailers.com/news/first-left-4-dead-2-dlc-announced/1662

.

Now I know what you’re all thinking. Why would this crazy writer put up a picture of the original Left 4 Dead cast when CLEARLY this new DLC is for Left 4 Dead 2. Well my friends, if you bare with me, there is a reason for my insanity.

Valve has dropped the details on The Passing, the first DLC for its Game Of The Year nominee Left 4 Dead 2 and the new content will feature the return of Bill, Zoey, Lois and Francis! Now, before we all get excited and start fighting about who gets to be Bill, I should inform you that players will still be playing with Coach, Ellis, Rochelle and Nick, but will be crossing paths with the old crew at some point in the new campaign. The nature of the crossing is currently unknown but honestly does it really matter? Seeing the old crew in any way, shape, or form will be epic and bring back nostalgic memories of Bill and Francis bickering at each other while holding back a Tank and a legion of the undead.

Anyway, I digress; the DLC will bring more to the table then just a new mission, which for the record takes place between Dead Center and Dark Carnival. The pack will also include a new Uncommon Infected, new Survival, Scavenge and Versus maps, a new co-op mode (currently a complete mystery), a new firearm AND a new melee weapon to play with. All this will be coming in Spring 2010 to Xbox 360 and Steam.

Now, after reading this, can fans find a reason not to drool a bit? I certainly can’t and with Valve being the Santa Claus of video game developers the odds are PC gamers will get this free and Xbox 360 owns will probably have to pay a small fee. We’ll of course keep you posted as more details emerge.

.

Oh, and it's Uncommon Common Infected...

Dec 15, 2009#499

AshburnerX

That only applies to the campaign. It doesn't say anything about the other modes, or if they will or won't be including the old characters as a future option. Considering how many people have been asking them to do it, I think Valve would be stupid not to at least consider it.

Dec 15, 2009#500

@Li3n

Well good luck then.

Forums