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Left 4 Dead SDK Beta Released
Valve has released a beta version of their authoring tools for Left 4 Dead. The tools will allow you to "create your own campaign maps, character skins, 3D models, sound effects, and music and load them into the game." The kit includes a level editor and command-line compiling utilities, as well as example maps, props, infected, and explosives. It also brings plugins for a 3D modeling program called SketchUp. Valve has updated their development wiki to go along with the release.
I knew I fucked up buying this game for the 360.
...you can be the first to pre-order the long-awaited mod "Left 4 Dead: The Operating System Wars"!
Now with new, long-awaited Tux avatar.
The only mod you need is replacing the tank music with Ride of the Valkyries!
Nuclear engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
It also brings plugins for a 3D modeling program called SketchUp.
You mean Google SketchUp? That's that super easy 3D scene modeller, right? Not like the other "easy" 3D modelling software - it's literally drag'n'drop the objects around?
Well... that seems like a plus.
I don't know why I don't see Valve being supported more on Slashdot. They really have a great model: you can have complete access to everything from hammer editor to the map compiling toolchain to the command line tools, you can have access to and edit any texture or model anywhere in the game... if you just buy the cheap game. You could pirate it all but good luck finding someone who's packaged it because it's just better from Steam.
And not only do they have a good model, they aren't evil. xbox.. the games are expensive and on top of that xboxlive got away with charging monthly fees for matchmaking (one p2 box in the closet) but valve sells their games cheap, and that's it for paying, it does free services for life.. matchmaking, downloading 100GB of games onto your new drive over the weekend, AUTO UPDATES
Maybe its just me, but I didn't find L4D's game mechanics compelling enough. A SDK won't fix that for me.
I mean, it's a zombie game, and it doesn't even have a chainsaw or flamethrower. You just run around and kill zombies. Sometimes you die. A zombie scenario appeals to me in several ways.
1) Finding safe places. (L4D is getting from point A to B)
2) Compelling resource management (I can either go to the grocery store or the hospital.)
3) Creative weaponry
4) Scare factor
5) The human factor (finding survivors, people turning unexpectedly)
L4D did an OK job, but... well I guess it's a beef I have with many recent games. "It looks pretty, but is it FUN? How about after 10 hours?"
It's good to see that some have time for such pursuits.
Now we need a game in which we take the role of homeless families seeking food and shelter. Programmers could add options to sleep in abandoned cars and avoid drug dealing thugs and compete with illegal aliens for low level jobs.
What great suspense as we wipe the grime off our faces and prepare for the job interview at the fast food joint. What jolly moments we'll have as we sing cheerful songs with the children and open the goodies we found in the dumpster!
Yes, I know this game is just around the corner -- are you the courageous programmer that will bring it to us?
...omphaloskepsis often...
That is not what they made. Might as well complain that in Quake there was no interaction with the aliens, no factions, no character building.
This is not the game genre you are looking for.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Namely, a "human director". I.e. the ability to play the "director" that dictates when and where zombies appear. Sure, you can play versus, but then you need four "adversaries". Who in turn intend to win the game. What I'd envision is a campaign mode with a player sending the zombie waves and positions the special zombies as well as goodies for the players.
Yes, that can easily be abused by a director that wants to "win". What I have in mind is something like a good ol' RPG GM.
Won't work for PUGs, since a lot of people would try to "win" as the director, but it could mean lovely games with a group of 4 and a GM.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I've been thinking about this for ages, and it strikes me that a great mod for L4D would make it possible to choose characters from Tem Fortress 2 to run it instead of the four you have.
Perhaps have a limited selection, so the Heavy, the Soldier, the Engineer and something short range like the Pyro. I'm not entirely certain how the weapon damages line up, but it would certainly be fun to watch a heavy go to work on a swarm of infected...
RoseColor red={0, 0xffff, 0x0000, 0x0000};VioletColour blue={0, 0x0000, 0x0000, 0xffff};find / -name *mybase*|chown you
Just in time for the Left 4 Dead SDK beta release, a new L4D community site has been launched: http://www.l4dfiles.com/. All members receive 500MB of free storage space and unlimited bandwidth to share their custom Left 4 Dead maps, mods, skins, campaigns, etc. with the gaming community. This is an exciting time for Left 4 Dead, and I think we will see a tidal wave of interesting and creative user-generated content to enhance and expand the playability and appeal of L4D. yay!
I only read the first article, but the big deal with L4D's AI was that there was this "Director" dealing out zombies depending on the situation, etc. Do we get any control over it with this?
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
Steam invades privacy and prevents you from exercising the First Sale rights that you have over a physical good by simply not providing one. The game I play the most is Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. I have a disc which was designed to be installed on Windows 95. I also just recently replaced the original Diablo (under Wine on Ubuntu Jaunty) which I installed from my old-ass disc that I think I bought in Texas (I live in California) and that disc actually says Windows 95 on it. Will I still be playing Half-Life 2 that long from now? If I am, it will still be invading my privacy. When installing from the disc, I will still have to install and update Steam just to play it, which renders it useless to me if I don't have a working internet connection. How foolish of me to assume that buying a physical disc meant that I bought an installable, playable game.
When Valve kicks me out a new Half-Life 2 DVD that doesn't require that I phone home and download updates to play the game I bought in the store, then I'll start thinking about not bad-mouthing them every time the subject comes up. The mod community that Half-Life had never appeared for Half-Life 2; as I definitely should have predicted, the best mods cost money and even some of the ones you have to pay for are garbage. Massive fail.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I expect from high profile game companies (like Valve) to give map making tools of the box for FPS games
:-)
Also automatic downloading of a map in case you don't have it should be a must have
P.S. I am an Unreal Tournament player (UT99 and Ut2004). I am used to NOT having to download anything when connecting to a server that has the craziest mutator on the strangest map ever
As a long time valve player that keeps up with mods, and even make maps everyone once in a while, I have been chomping at the bit for this. Having used the tutorials included to get familar with the required L4D entities, I would say this is the biggest step forward for valve, but mostly for hammer that I have seen. The reason is simple, hammer is not easy (easy compared to maya and softimage) but not easy to design a level within, by allowing me to do most of the design in sketchup I can reduce the time spent just doing basic design (walls, floors ect) by more than half. That being said...the requirement to have these objects grouped before being able to export to vmf, and then to hammer for fine tuning, is quite an annoyance. I did an entire scientific lab layout last night in about 1 hour and tried to export it but once the vmf got into hammer literally none of my brushes imported because a couple of them hadnt been grouped properly. (which is also part of the not allowing convex surfaces in hammer thing). Anyway, overall great step, and it is still just in beta......
"It's ok, I'm completely secure as long as my iron is off"
When L4D was getting hyped pre-release, the Director was supposed to be the end all for gaming: Levels changing on the fly based on what's happening, and insane replay value from the Director making each playthrough unique.
What we really saw were 4 static levels, with about 4 enemy placement variations a piece. A week after release, many players online could tell you which variation of the map had loaded, and where everything except vanilla zombies would show up.
I'll be the first to admit that this is completely anecdotal, but most of the people I know who bought L4D for co-op never touched it again after a week or two of play, whereas the people I know who bought it for versus are still happily playing to this day.
The SDK had an opportunity to take co-op play to the next level by enabling easy modification of the Director, and perhaps creating the potential for a Human Director (which I feel, if done correctly, could be an industry-changing feature).
But then again, I'm just butthurt that I bought L4D on Steam and thusly cannot resell a game that disappointed me.
I have it, I love it, now I want to Mod it!!! I love Left 4 Dead, it's fun. My main gripe was the number of Maps. Perhaps some editing will bring even more hours of fun to this already great game!
Somewhere in a dark place you will find:
www.m1