Left 4 Dead

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Joystiq E3 Hands-On: Left 4 Dead
Shacknews: Left 4 Dead E3 Preview
Gamespot: E3 2008 Left 4 Dead Updated Hands-On
IGN: Left 4 Dead Update

Gametrailers: Left 4 Dead: E3 2008: EA Press Conference

IGN Videos
E3 08 Trailer
E3 08: New Survivors
E3 08: Two Groups

Thanks for the links Air, this game is looking so good.

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Valve has revealed the official box art for Left 4 Dead.

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Interview with Michael Booth, the designer of Left4Dead

MPC: Cool. What’s this we hear about the game having two modes?

MB: We tried for a long time to sort of have this holistic mode that did everything. You could play as a survivor or you can play as the infected and it all just worked. But we basically found that we were reaching diminishing returns and we could serve the game better by splitting it into two modes. It’s essentially PVP and PVE. There’s pure co-op mode where we could focus on the survivor’s experience against the AI controlled infected to make sure that they have the best dramatic experience that they can have. And then we have the Versus mode which is survivors versus four player-controlled zombies and you can take over the Tank, Boomer, Hunter and Smoker. So the basic thing is that when you join Versus mode you’re signing up for a tough experience.

MPC: When we join a Versus server and two of our friends sign up, are we playing as a group or does it keep shuffling people around? Is there some sort of mechanism to control how often I’m a zombie and how often I’m a survivor?

MB: Some of that is still in flux but we are spending a lot of effort on matchmaking so it’s really easy to find and connect with your friends. The way that we’ve been doing the Versus mode is that the four zombies win by eating the four survivors., who win by escaping. After each round, the teams just swap and either you play again on that campaign or you go to the next campaign. It’s a total revenge thing.

MPC: So its attack versus defend.

MB: Yeah.

MPC: In your playtests do you find that one side wins more frequently?

MB: That’s where it gets interesting. I’m confident that we’ve got the game mechanics reasonably well-balanced so it comes down to the skills of the players. Just like in Counter-Strike, if you have a clan playing on the T’s and a bunch of random people from the net playing on CT’s, they’re going to get owned.

MPC: What’s the kind of play time to get through a level. I know it varies wildly depending on skill levels but are we looking at something like 30 minutes or an hour? Is it more like a WoW raid or is it like a pickup game of TF2?

MB: I would say more a WoW raid. If the team knows what they’re doing they can get through a campaign in about 45 min but that varies wildly. I mean we’ve had like company-wide play tests where some people took 2.5 to 3 hours, because if the survivors all die they roll back in time to the safe house checkpoint and at the (health and ammo) state they were at too. Some people had to retry sections of the map, especially the finale, since it can take some folks a few times to get through.

But that said, we also have AI controlled survivor bots as well so you can play alone and the rest of your teammates will be controlled by the AI. The nice thing about that is friends can drop in or out at any time and be replaced by a bot (or replace one).

MPC: Where does the difficulty kind of cap out? If we sit down with our mom and grandmother then obviously it’s going come in pretty easy. What happens when I sit down with guys who are at the top of the world? Are we just going to get infinite spawn of zombies?

MB: The fundamental thing that’s going to drive that in the coop mode is the difficulty setting you choose. There is sort of a bottom difficulty, and the director can only compensate so much. But on the top end so we have Normal, which is basically the introductory experience. We have Hard which is just a good solid experience for seasoned players. There’s also Expert difficulty which is for pretty hardcore folks.

And then we have Impossible difficulty because it never fails. I remember Counter-Strike bots in particular. It didn’t matter how hard I made those bots I kept getting emails saying “dude they’re too easy.” So Impossible is the mode for bragging rights. And what basically changes between those modes is how much damage you take from the various attacks. So the mobs don’t necessarily get bigger.

MPC: How much more damage they deal as well?

MB: How much damage they deal to you fundamentally. Some of them do change, like the tank. The tank gets tougher. He can absorb more damage. But at the same time he can deal more damage. Like on Impossible he hits you once and you know you’re done.

MPC: And then the other big change we’ve seen today is the look. All of the characters have been redesigned and the game has new post-processing effects. Can you talk about that?

MB: As you know at the first of the year Valve acquired Turtle Rock studios so now we’re Valve South and the biggest thing that the acquisition brought is just a ton of new resources. A lot of our game design assumptions changed. Before this time there were basically 12 of us building this game and we were leveraging as much as we realistically could using props that we had built for Counter-Strike. But now we have all this additional talent with Valve as a whole. Everyone sat back and said ‘This game is really fun. People really dig this game. Lets give this game its own look.’

What happened was a re-evaluation of our development and a whole bunch of effort going into giving the game its own unique art style. We are able to do things that we couldn’t do before like changing the low-level Source Engine assets because we had our hands full in just making the game itself. But now, we’re Valve! So now we have much more interesting shadows and flash lights and we have the vignette-style post-processing and the color correction.

MPC: So what is the “look” that you’re going for?

MB: What we’re trying to do is make you feel like you’re in a horror movie. It’s a very cinematic feeling. Something that we’ve noticed just with the game in general is that people tend to like just to watch; they like to be spectators. Because it’s kind of like watching that horror movie where you want to shout ‘No, don’t, No! don’t go in there!’ We’ve really pushed for that in the vocalization – the way survivors talk to each other. We also wanted to make it look as filmic looking as possible.

It’s a challenge because there’s this single-player narrative element and structure, but it’s also a multiplayer game that is meant to be played over and over again.

[MachoMyers]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Cool box art...Too bad I'll be getting my copy off of Steam.

Thanks for the updates Flawless.

[in mid air]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Valve has revealed the official box art for Left 4 Dead.

Seems a little similar to the Dead Space box art

[in mid air]

Re: Left 4 Dead

New Screens:

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

360 version to debut at PAX

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced a series of live demonstrations of Left 4 Dead at upcoming industry events the world over.

Left 4 Dead is the new survival co-op action game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games.
The PC version of the game will be playable by the press and public at a series of upcoming events including Leipzig Games Convention, (Germany), Festival du Jeu Video (France), and PC Gamer Showdown (UK). The worldwide debut of the Xbox 360 version will be at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA. Members of the development team will be on hand at each event to provide information and give away some Left 4 Dead memorabilia.

"The shared experience of Left 4 Dead is unlike that of any other action game," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "That's what we've experienced playing the game, and from showing the game to the press and our partners. It sounds cliche, but in many ways you have to play this one to truly appreciate what we're attempting. So, to give gamers a chance to sample this new type of experience first hand, we're taking Left 4 Dead on the road."

Left 4 Dead is due for release on the PC and Xbox 360 this November, and earned numerous awards at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, CA, including 1up.com, Gamespot.com and Maximum PC's Best PC Game, as well as Best Multiplayer Game from Kotaku, IGN, G4TV, the official E3 Judges, and more.

For more information, please visit www.l4d.com

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

GameSpy: 360 version hands-on

He explained that, since Left 4 Dead's action is so heavily focused on the cooperative experience, they wanted to make it easy for friends to find each other online, both on Xbox Live and Steam. Both versions of the game will feature a built-in friends list in the main menu that will tell you what sort of matches each of your buddies is currently in. If they have a free slot open in their match, you'll be able to hop right in at any time, replacing whichever character is bot-controlled at the time. You'll also have the option of partying up with your friends and searching for maps, as well as hopping online with a friend who's playing splitscreen with you, regardless of whether or not they have an Xbox Live Gold account.

If you don't see anyone online or don't feel like joining a match that's currently in progress, you can easily and quickly create your own match, setting it up to be available to the public or making it invite-only. You'll also be able to tweak a few other options, including the difficulty level (easy, normal, hard, and impossible are your choices) and the map you'd like to play on. It was explained that, since Valve will be running the servers for both the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game, they'll be able to track a bunch of different statistics that will make it easier to match similar players together. The amount of damage you take, the number of headshots you pull off, and the time it takes you to play through the levels are just a few of the determining factors here, although they said that they'll also have the ability to tweak the matchmaking system at any given time.

The one feature that comes in most handy is the quick spin-button, which is mapped to the right bumper. Since the game is so dark and your enemies are so numerous (and fast!), there will be a lot of moments when they'll get the jump on you. As the PC version's mouse-and-keyboard control scheme makes it much easier to turn around, the developers wanted to ensure that Xbox 360 owners would have the same ability. It wasn't long before spinning around with the right bumper was second nature, especially when we couldn't see where the threat was coming from. And make no mistake, there are a lot of threats to deal with as you play through the game.

By far the coolest element of the game is the virtual director, which will ensure that the game never play out the same way twice, by changing where items can be found as well as where and when enemies will appear. For instance, the first time we played through the "Blood Harvest" level, we came to a large field that was full of head-high cornstalks and had to deal with a bunch of common zombies, then make our way into an abandoned farmhouse to grab some health packs. However, the second time we played it, we ran into a pack of zombies before getting to the field, and found that there weren't any health packs inside the house at all. This is a fairly simple example of how the director system will work, but we noticed dozens of other instances as we played through the game.

Above all, the development team has done an excellent job of creating a foreboding atmosphere, and it always feels like danger is just around the corner. Since there aren't any scripted events and the director has control over what appears and when, you'll never know when you'll turn a corner and run into a pack of the flesh-eating undead. The battle in the cornfield was one of the most intensely terrifying experiences I've ever encountered in my years of gaming, especially the time when we heard a witch (the most powerful of the zombies, she won't attack unless provoked) crying somewhere in the dead stalks. Knowing that a single stray bullet could bring her wrath down upon us was particularly harrowing, and we tried our best to sneak through the field undetected. There are also what the team is terming "Crescendo Moments," during which you'll be able to prepare for the coming attack before doing something (such as answering a rescue call on a radio) that will trigger it.

Amazingly, the three-plus hours we spent with Left 4 Dead went by far too quickly, and I found that my hands were trembling when I put the controller down. We even had a chance to talk about the competitive multiplayer, which will feature four-on-four action, with one team being comprised of survivors and the other of special zombies (as well as the rest of the horde). As the zombies, you'll be able to work together to separate the survivors in an attempt to keep them from getting to the next safehouse. For instance, one player might grab another with the Smoker's tongue while another blinds a second player by vomiting on him or her with the Boomer. Once the survivors are confused and separated, it's much easier for the horde to take them out. We can't wait to check out this mode, which sounds like extra frosting on an already-delicious cake. Left 4 Dead is proof that when it comes to gaming, zombies are still at the top of the food chain.

First 360 footage:

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[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead for Xbox 360 Using Dedicated Servers on Live

After spending a day at Valve's offices playing Left 4 Dead for the premier episode of the next season of the 1UP Show, the 1UP crew came away with a truckload of new info on the Xbox 360 version of the game. Without a doubt the biggest news is that Valve will be running dedicated servers on Microsoft's Live online service. And while they didn't indicate how many exactly they'd have going, they did imply that they'd have everyone covered, as in when you played online, you'd be on a dedicated server, period. That alone should go a long way toward making the game a great online experience, but they haven't stopped there. Splitscreen play will also allow you and a friend to play together on Live from one 360, and you'll be able to slice the screen whichever way you like -- horizontally or vertically.

Keeping on the online bonanza, writer Chet Faliszek said that Valve plans to get the DLC rolling much more quickly with Left 4 Dead than it has been able to for Team Fortress 2. Plans already in the works call for new campaigns, weapons, and boss infected (the game's zombie enemies). In addition, there were strong hints at a flamethrower coming not long after launch.

The team has also been conscientious about tuning the game to match the playing environment of the 360. Yes, a subtle amount of aim assist has been added, but it's unobtrusive. You also get a quick turn to flip around at a tap of the right bumper. Even with this, though, they've modified the A.I. some such that zombies are a little less likely to attack you from behind in the 360 version than in the PC version. And on the subject of the zombies, you'll see them doing a number of different actions as their A.I. responds to the world. They'll be attracted to loud noises for instance, including scrambling towards pipe bombs which emit loud beeping noises, or car alarms the player might accidentally set off. If completely enraged they may even start to attack one another.

Here are some of the other details we picked up:

• There are four campaigns, with five chapters each
• The hospital level seen in demos is based on Philadelphia
• Another level is based on Pittsburg (evidently Valve has some Steelers fans)
• Other levels cover a small town and an airport
• Achievements are based on social engineering ideas and we got a couple of them:
  1. "Bite your tongue" - Kill Smoker (Enemy with prehensile tongue) before he can pull you in
  2. "Sharp Shooter" - Complete Co-op chapter without any friendly fire

[allBthere]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Man this game looks so good. My only problem is that I don't have many friends as 'dedicated' to gamming as me, so I'll have to play w/ people I don't know. It would be so much fun though to play with really good buddies.

Is this game multiplayer only? Or does it have offline w/ cooperative AI? - I would think they'd go w/ that so that people w/o live gold would still be interested.

First dibbs on the dude with the dirty beard and sleeve tatts.

[Eton Rifles]

Re: Left 4 Dead

ALLB, I am hoping the word of mouth on this game will spread and you will get more friends with this game then. The only problem is it comes out in mid-November. Too many other good games out that this may get swept under the rug.

[ChaseB]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Hopefully with the console crowd now used to Valve via Orange Box, this won't be an issue to get a strong console following, like it was with TF2 -- though that was MS/Valve's fault because of the server issues and so forth as well.

I still want to play this on PC more though.

[Smiley79]

Re: Left 4 Dead

I love the "get up and make a sandwich" option that they give people, essentially allowing a person to take a break and be replaced by a bot momentarily. As long as the bots can hold their own, it'll be greatly used by me (being I always seem to get interrupted when I'm playing a game, for some reason).

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

The 360 version was at PAX and everybody who went said the lines were by far the largest to play anything there. Nothing was getting more interest than it at the show. They had to close lines over an hour before the show ended.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Killing Zombies using the Counter Strike engine... Who couldn't love that?!