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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.
Are these the designs that you're looking for?
They had a mode that was a non-linear map, but found too many people got confused. It got the axe. You sound like you really want a thinking man's FPS. I would suggest Dystopia, the Half life 2 mod, but the level design is so-so. Not from a lack of talent, but the gameplay itself lends to making maps for it so very hard. It does have a fantastic cyberdecking & hacking minigame to it and is awesomely polished. Worth checking out, it's on Steam.
I must say though, I don't need or want any weapon but the M16/automatic rifle/assault rifle in L4D. I play solely for that gun. I love hunting special infected with it and it is just so versatile and is a pleasure to use.
Sorry, wrong approach. By you or by Valve is up for discussion, but L4D is only secondary a "zombie shooter". It's primary feature is that there is a very heavy emphasis on teamwork, more so than in any other game out there. Zombies just lend themselves well to that cause.
If you play it as a zombie survival shooter, you might be disapponted since, as you point out, a few key features of the zombie genre are completely missing. Like the fact that you can't fully rely on your mates, one of them could easily suddenly turn out to be infected and just not saying anything, knowing he'll be shot if the others notice. In L4D it's the exact opposite. You cannot distrust your teammates. You have to 100% rely on them. You can actually see this in a versus game, when you have a team of mediocre players against 4 FPS cracks essentially playing on their own without good teamwork. The mediocre team will win every single time.
That's the appeal of L4D, at least for me. That you mow down zombies by the hundreds is just the icing on the cake. :)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
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...
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