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Left 4 Dead SDK Beta Released

Posted by Soulskill on from the building-for-braaaains dept.

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.

18 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Bah! by NuclearError · · Score: 4, Funny

    The only mod you need is replacing the tank music with Ride of the Valkyries!

    --
    Nuclear engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
    1. Re:Bah! by BikeHelmet · · Score: 2, Funny

      What tank music? It never plays for me! :(

      I think I disagree with you. The Survivor_SpecialInfected mod is pretty funny, as are the Boomer thongs.

  2. Google SketchUp? by BikeHelmet · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:Google SketchUp? by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The simple tools are deceptive. You can make a mansion out of little triangles, but it's a lot of work. That's where the dragging and dropping comes in.

  3. Vavle's credit? by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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

    1. Re:Vavle's credit? by bazald · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Wishlist:

      1. Installers that don't need Steam.
      2. Games that don't need Steam for single player.
      3. Pro-rated bundles that don't make me feel like I'm wasting my money because a better bundle is coming if I wait a few months.

      Honestly, because of points 1 and 2, I've convinced myself that I'm paying for the privilege of playing on their servers, rather than actually buying games. Point 3 just means I only buy the games I really want to play, which ultimately makes them less money (from me).

      --
      Insert self-referential sig here.
    2. Re:Vavle's credit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      some of us like to retain control/access to the products we buy.

  4. Maybe it's just me... by DreamsAreOkToo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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?"

    1. Re:Maybe it's just me... by Martin+Blank · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Part of what draws me in is L4D's simplicity. Some of the fun wore off about a month and a half after release, and I stopped playing it for a while, but since Survivor mode was included, it's opened up a whole new realm of strategies. What works to get a group to four minutes won't necessarily work to get them to seven or ten minutes. Even in those cases where we have gotten gold (I have three maps where I've exceeded 13 minutes, and some of my friends have exceeded 20 minutes on a couple of maps), it was fun throughout, because the pacing worked well.

      It's not a game for everyone. It's very much a pick-up game, and that needs simplicity. Depth in games is good -- it's what has me playing through the entire Half-Life series about twice a year -- but it's not always necessary. Within the couple of bones that make up the minimal skeleton of a storyline in L4D, the reason that there's little scare is that the survivors are expected to be fairly used to the situation, and even a little jaded, as shown in the opening cinematic. This just isn't enough for some people, and there's nothing wrong with that.

      To address your other issues, the current SDK doesn't seem to allow for new weapons yet, though I never was even casually into altering games myself so even though I've tried some of the programs, I may have missed something. I do appreciate the tutorial that they wrote for it, and it's kind of fun and interesting getting into the basics of design and understanding how some of the mechanics work. I think I know where there are some clipping issues, for example, because of explanations of what one should *not* do in level design, but which can creep in anyway.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    2. Re:Maybe it's just me... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.
  5. You want L4D the RPG by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  6. Re:time time time by Xiroth · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Are these the designs that you're looking for?

  7. Finally. But how about something else? by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.
  8. Re:How depressing by caramelcarrot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Given that amount of post-release content that Valve releases, and that since Microsoft charges significant amounts to the developer for anything beyond a free initial patch they don't patch as often on PC - it's not that wise to get any Valve game that you could get for PC.

  9. I am Heavy Weapons Guy by Scrab · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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
  10. Re:How depressing by pelrun · · Score: 2

    I can't even begin to enumerate everything wrong with that statement.

  11. Re:How depressing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Please come back when you don't accidentally your sentences.

    I believe you meant to say:
    Given the amount of post-release content that Valve releases, and that Microsoft charges significant amounts to the developer for anything beyond a free initial patch to the 360 versions, they don't patch as often as on the PC - it's not that wise to get any Valve game on the 360 that you could get for PC.

  12. Re:How depressing by gammaraybuster · · Score: 2, Informative
    I don't know why this is modded flamebait - it's constructive criticism and trying to make sense of an incoherent assertion. Does the original poster think it's "not wise to get any Valve game" for the PC?

    On the other hand I sympathize with the parent. It's hard to write anything comprehensible in under a minute!