Left 4 Dead - Zombie Gabe demands headshots - IHateMountains campaign,survivor nerfs

Alegis · January 2010

What is 'Left for Dead'?

The best goddamn co-op game you'll ever find, that's what it is.
First started as a project from Turtle Rock Studios and afterward lovingly embraced by Valve's touch of brilliance, it's a shooter that pits you and 3 friends (or bots, if you hate yourself) versus lots of zombies.
What makes it awesome however is that team play is not just recFommended, it is most utterly required. That means you need the right people to enjoy this game and you've come to the right place.

This game is so awesome but how do I play with you guys so I don't end up with terrible pubs?

PC:

Steamgroup: Armadeaddon
For an invite [url=steam://friends/joinchat/103582791429532423]Join the Chat![/url] It's where lobbies get made and players celebrate.

Get a microphone and talk!

Xbox 360:

Add the following gamertag to your friendslist: A PA L4D2 Group - list maintained by Local H Jay

LEFT 4 DEAD 1
Apparently people still play this! Click spoiler to expand

Some people still seem to play this.

Sol's Guides for newcomers

Left 4 Dead Dictionary
Basic Survival Info - L4D for Dummies
Smokers guide to Smoking

Tweak stuff:

Make a new voice wheel (for example for spotting special infected threats)
Change the color of item/player silhouettes
Lower the max allowed server ping for lobby searches:

Browse to /Steam/steamapps/common/left 4 dead/left4dead/cfg and create an autoexec.cfg file if it does not exist already.
add following line:
mm_dedicated_search_maxping 100 (default 250)
This will limit the max allowed server ping in lobby searches. You can change it in-game by using the console (~, enable dev console in options)

Screenshots!

Cool movies!

Idoliside made a L4D music video and you will watch it

We will miss you, L4D1

Silly stuff

More silly stuff

More where that came from

Your L4D1 stats in a cool forum signature:

dd-gamer.com

THIS ONE COULD BE YOURS, TODAY! There's also a bunch of other sigs on Suds' site like the Steam stats one.
Please use your own one and not mine, it's not yours to keep!

Some players got the game in the xmas Steam sales, if you're looking to team up with some people to play through the campaigns in co-op give them a bell.

LEFT 4 DEAD 2

Are you as strong as Moustachio? Prove it.

Basic Game info - what is new?

Meet the new Survivors:

Meet the new Special Infected:

Meet the new Campaigns:

Dead Center

The survivors meet up in a burning building and head for the evac station in the shopping mall.
Uncommon infected: Hazmat suit zombies, immune to fire.

Dark Carnival

A rollercoaster ride of zombie shooting fun in the local carnival!
Uncommon infected: Clowns. They rile up common infected with the sound they make.

Swamp Fever

Crawl your way through the swamp to the ol' plantation house.
Uncommon infected: Mudmen. Nasty crouched creatures who fling mud at your face and move wickedly fast in the water.

Hard Rain

The Survivors need to get fuel for the boat if they are to .. survive. Takes place in an industrial area and weather may be a bit cloudy.
Uncommon infected: Construction workers, immune to sound. They won't go after pipe bombs.

The Parish

New Orleans at last! Finally safety? Takes place in broad daylight.
Uncommon infected: Armored riot police zombie.

Meet the new Modes:

Scavenge:

A short form of Versus. Each team tries to get as much fuel into the tank as possible each round, best 2 out of 3. Convenient when you only have 30 mins of time available or want to get more practice out of the special infected characters.
Fuel cannisters that are dropped by survivors on the floor (orange glow) can be destroyed by Spitter goo or bullets.
A round ends for a team when the timer hits zero and overtime ends. Overtime lasts as long as at least one survivor is holding a jerry can. You get extra time for every jerry can poured into the machine.

Realism mode:

Another mode for the true Hardcore. Realism mode removes a few crutches players rely on in campaign (and can be played on any difficulty):

No silhouette glow on survivors and items will only glow when you're very close to them.
Bullets that hit the infected bodies are less effective compared to headshots.
Witches will instantly kill survivors when they scream and hit.
No survivor rescue closets, defib. or getting to the next saferoom are the only ways of getting dead players back.
A few other specific things mentioned here.

The old modes, Versus, Survival and Campaign are still in place.
Survival places your team in several crescendo events, try to survive as long as possible and beat the score of your friends on the leaderboards.
Versus matches 4 survivor players vs 4 special infected players, each team tries to get the furthest through the maps.

New Gore system:

(Australian and German copies of the game are censored because the government hates you - you should import the game, steam gift copies from foreign people should work.)

What else is new:

Sweeter looking game with awesome water and storm effects and marvelous trees.
Lots of new weapons and items to choose from. Items are scattered more randomly across the map and you may start a campaign with different weapons than otherwise.
- Boomer Bile will attract zombies when thrown. Infected that are hit by the bile will be attacked by the other infected, this includes biled tanks.
- Adrenaline gives you 25 temporary health and a speed boost to your movement speed and all your actions (including reviving players).
- Melee weapons can be found everywhere and replace your pistol slot when picked up. You can still 'block' with melee weapons, they provide great close-combat area damage but have windows of vulnerability in-between the swings
- Incendiary and explosive ammo that can be taken along (instead of a medkit) or deployed immediately.
- Laser sight upgrade will add a laser pointer to your main weapon and improve accuracy.
- Defibrillator replaces med kit, revives dead players in 3 seconds with 50 HP.
AI Director pushed up the level of the game. Special infected attacks are more coordinated.

Screenshots

Donate your own screenies by posting them in the thread!

Movies!

The awesome Intro movie

Midnight Riders kicking your ass every Christmas

Visit the Midnight Riders on Youtube and their site.

This is why you shouldn't play with bots

This is what happens when you play with 12 too many

The Passing promo vid

Unfortunately this isn't out yet

some may find this parody funny

Fire in the hole

Recorded melee-only playthroughs by Nappucino:

Nappuccino wrote: »

Ta da! http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/8/

its me, SG, Stew and a very drunk Potato King doing a melee run on the Parish with little to no regard for each other's personal safety.

Nappuccino wrote: »

Adv Realism melee only run through Dark Carnival:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/9/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/10/ (this video starts at the wrong place, just slide forward about 5 min)
http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/11/

Oh, its as bad as you think it would be.

Nappuccino wrote: »

Also, we had another melee only run right after DK that went much better.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/12/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/13/

Nappuccino wrote: »

I think what this thread needs is more hilarious Melee Runs, and this is possibly the best one we've had.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/16/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/nappuccino/videos/17/

Useful player info & tips

Quick tips for beginners:

As survivor:

Crank your game audio up. A lot of information can be gained from listening carefully: which infected spawn, where they spawned, when they strike (or failed to strike), when fellow survivors have been hit ... If you hear a lot of puke-inducing sounds in front of you, tread back and shoot through the walls in direction of the sound.
Team awareness is key. Be aware of where your teammates are at all times. Don't run off on your own, make sure they know where you are.
Priorities. A teammate struck by a hunter/charger/... takes priority over anything else. Melee infected off you, crouch, take aim - he has to be freed immediately.
When you hear a charger spawn/charge or a spitter spit - move immediately before even looking where it comes from. Chances are the charger/spitter is aiming right at you because you're all standing together in a good spot. Against chargers, strafe sideways behind an object. When you're reviving someone and you hear a spitter/charger strike - cancel the revive and move away. You can hear them because you're in an ideal spot for them to strike. Let them miss.
It's not worth the extra damage reviving/healing yourself while standing in spitter goo. The first bits of goo do no damage, move away.
Don't forget your melee (mouse2) button! Punch 'em, shoot 'em. Reload your weapon while punching. If you need to move through a horde the fastest way is usually running backwards and punching backwards.

As infected:

The smoker/spitter require opportunities to strike, the boomer and charger create opportunities. Wait before attacking for your team. Attacking solo is usually a waste of time.

Spitter:

Spitting at moving survivors is a waste of time. Wait until they are forced to stand still (pounced, boomer explosion, stuck because of common infected attacking them, narrow walkways). Remember: the first seconds of goo do hardly no damage at all. You need to have survivors stuck in them for a little longer than that to be effective.
Keeping your spit for when survivors are down/others revive them is a good tactic. Similarly, when survivors need to bring cans to a generator - wait at the generator. Have a teammate pounce the can carrier, spit on the can so it explodes.
Spit can bounce. If you spit at buildings it will bounce back down. You can use this to spit from outside through windows, keeping yourself out of line of sight.

Boomer:

You make A LOT of noise. Survivors will hear you. You are slow, you are weak. Hence: spawn as close as possible and as late as possible near the survivors.
Don't spawn behind survivors. You are slower than they can walk and they will hear you. You won't be able to catch up and you will be promptly shot down. Instead, spawn in front of them behind a tree and immediately strike.
After you puked on survivors you have the option of either keeping yourself safe for 20 seconds or move in to attack with your claws, with the aim of having yourself explode over the other survivors. Use your claw to attack survivors that don't want to shoot you down or are reviving other players.

Charger:

Charging can be very tricky, hit detection can be wonky. When in doubt, wait for the survivors to pass important spots like walkways where they're all lined up. In a lot of places like Dead Center 1 you can push survivors out of windows, instantly killing them. See the charger as a 'pusher' infected.
The charger has a strong claw (mouse2) attack. Use it to knock down low health survivors.
Don't use the charge to close long distances, it's hard to aim. Only charge when you're close and reasonably sure of a hit.
Keep looking at the path the survivors have to traverse. Is there a better ambush spot straight ahead? Use that instead, inform your teammates you will strike there, have them wait to attack right when you charge.

Hunter:

Crouch to charge up your jump attack, when the circle is full you can make a jump.
When chargers attack you need to be able to pounce right when the charger is already charging in. Jumping can take a while. This is especially true for the jockey. Don't wait with attacking until the charger is already dead.
You do extra damage (up to 25) if you pounce from a distance. Lay in wait on rooftops, jump straight ahead and hope for the best while you aim your jump. You'll get the hang of it eventually.
Wall jumping: when you jump towards a wall, turn your view 180 degrees (away from the wall) when you hit the wall and press attack (while still pressing control) again.
Hunter is best vs survivors who run off on their own. Keep looking for such opportunities.
Do not jump straight at 4 survivors covering each other while nothing else is happening. This is one of the most common newbie mistakes. You will only cause 0-5 damage before you're immediately. It's a waste.

Smoker:

Unless you're playing realism versus, it's easy for survivors to see when and where someone is smoked. Don't just smoke prepared survivors standing together. Your attack will most likely fail after less than a second. Wait for an opportunity. Smoker is most reliant on distractions. Most of the time you can't successfully start attacks, you need to wait and immediately pick off whomever remains.
Work together with the charger and hunter. Wait for them to strike, and then pick off whomever they didn't strike immediately. You will prevent them from saving their teammate.
Smoker is best at pulling people from ledges, pulling them to spots their teammates can't save them from anymore, causing fall damage or instantly incap'ing them. You will need to look at the map. Preferably choose a smoker spot where you can't as easily get hit by the others (for example, smoke people through the open spots of a truck, pulling survivors through the truck towards you).
When survivors need to drop off (for example, the sewers in the parish), stay in ghost mode behind a wall - spawn when they jump down and try to grab the last person who jumps. It's very tricky but if you pull this off you got a guaranteed kill in because their mates can't save him.
If at the start of a map you don't want to play smoker (and the survivors havent left the safe room) you can kill yourself by jumping into water, spawning as something else.

Jockey:

Not an easy to play infected. You take much longer than the hunter to close in on targets, which means you have to lurk close around your target until they're distracted (a charger for example). You can jump down ladders/high spots to immediately clutch on to survivors. Climbing up ladders also immediately clutches you onto survivors.
The jockey is most deadly near ledges. Use this to your advantage on dangerous places. Jump down after your incap and climb back up.
Watch for survivors separating themselves to perform a task like crowning a witch or hitting a button. Then jockey them into common infected for some damage.

Tank:

The tank is weaker compared to L4D1, take care. Although the tank has 6000 HP it is diminished extremely quickly when you run straight toward a prepared survivor team.
Before you engage, see if you can either throw rocks at the survivors from a safe spot. If not, hit tab and check which survivor has molotov cocktails. They will try to throw it on you. You can bait the survivor into throwing it by pretending to move in and quickly hiding.
Your frustration meter will lower if survivors are not in plain view of yourself or you haven't hit them in a while. When it hits 0 tank control will be given to another player. When he loses all his frustration A.I. takes over. This is to prevent tanks from camping. Hitting survivors (with objects, fist or rocks) will increase the meter.
Hiding. It's often important when hitting survivors to hide behind cover, while you let the other special infected take care of matters or protect yourself while you camp a spot (for example, an incapped survivor or a door opening - ready to smash survivors in the face once they come near you). As long as you're alive as tank the survivors are preoccupied. When you die they'll be moving forward, getting more points and reducing attack chances for your team. Sometimes you can't just charge in without dying and all you can do is buy time for your team.
Don't hit at your teammates. You will kill them. When hunters pounce survivors it's often a good idea to 'bodyguard' the hunter with your body while he quickly incaps the survivor.
Don't throw rocks if the survivors are hitting you with melee or are all around you shooting at you. You make an excellent target and will lose tons of damage.
You're slower than survivors with green health. Don't just chase after them.
In short, you're weaker than you look and you need to rely on your teammates to distract survivors/incap them

More:

L4D Wiki site

Endaro's experimentation with magnum penetration and realism mode

Tips on use of the new consumables by Paladin

Finale Tips:

Tips for Parish finale by Paladin
Another Parish Finale 'line cover' strat by flippyD

Tweak/Edit stuff:

Lower maximum allowed server ping in lobby searches:

In \Steam\steamapps\common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2\cfg\autoexec.cfg add the following line:

mm_dedicated_search_maxping 100 (the default value is 300)

If the file doesn't exist yet, create it.

You can lower it even more in-game with the console (~, enable dev console in settings) if everyone in the lobby is located close together. Else you might be getting a server that's awesome for you but terrible for others (if you can find one at all). note: Console doesn't work in lobby.

Official dedicated seems to give best results in my experience. After 20 seconds of searching stop and restart the search, else the game will have you act as host.

Performance tweaks

Someone made a config file you can read and edit through for some performance tweaks.
Copy the contents of this page into a new file in the /cfg/ folder (for example: performance.cfg)

In autoexec.cfg add a line

exec performance.cfg

Link to his steam thread

In case you're only interested in the network commands, they are:
cl_updaterate "30"                       // default 20;
cl_cmdrate "30"                          // default 30;
rate "30000"                              // default 10000;
cl_resend "1.5"                           // default 6;     How many seconds to wait before retrying to connect to a server
cl_interp "0.067"                          // default 0.1;   Improves hit registration
cl_lagcompensation "1"                    // default 1;     Improves hit registration
If you feel your game is stuttering a lot, try disabling multicore rendering. Often doesn't work properly.

Custom Maps

To enable custom content, install L4D2 Add-On Support in the Tools tab of Steam.

L4D in L4D2

To get these running, you need:

Infected fix (so the zombies don't turn neon)
Extra assets for missing textures
The maps, download which ones you want to play.. This is the list of the 'Modified' set, apparently the ported set doesn't work properly in the finale.

City 17

Death Aboard 2

For more check out sites like L4Dmaps.
Feel free to recommend some that are worthwhile - I never play custom maps.

Other Cool Stuff

Gabe visits LaCabra to check out his custom campaign

Penny Arcader Beavotron makes absolutely adorable L4D plushies

Pictures from Savannah on which The Passing campaign is based:

Jintor wrote: »

Taken from GAF

EmCeeGramr wrote:

Oh yeah, tanks are easy. It's the jockeys that are frustrating as hell, since they immediately take you behind one of the thousand corners. :lol

Also, I like how Rayford (especially the starting area) is the actual Savannah, GA (since the one in Dead Center looked nothing like it at all). The first parts are straight up River Street, Factor's Walk, and the squares:

Interesting reads:

Article on the new environment design and effects in L4D2
Fellow G&Ter Ampix gets me a most awesome gift for G&T Secret Santa
The Midnight Riders!

Alegis · January 2010

(I hit max char limit for OPs, so I'm keeping the fanart pics in this post for now)

Fanart pics from an earlier OP collected by mere_immortal:

It's the season to be jolly

falalalala ~

laaaalaaa~laalaaaaaa~

Even more fanart/stuff:

More of these cute puppets

Left 4 Dead Ultra high res HD pack:

L4D1 Player List

While you can always jump in [url=steam://friends/joinchat/103582791429532423]Armadeaddon[/url] chat for chat and questions and the like, chances are likely most are only interested in playing L4D2 (including myself).

Following list is for those who bought

L4D1 through the Steam sale and are looking for some fellow buddies to plunge through new grounds:

PM or reply in thread to have you added!

Nappuccino · January 2010

Holy hell do I have a lot of photos in the OP

Keep up the good work

Alegis · January 2010

Probably needs a proper mod section still, will look for that after exams.
There better be some good scavenge maps by then.

Movitz · January 2010

How's that mod to play L4D1 maps in L4D2 coming? Last I checked it was a bit bugged out and hard to get working. Anyone tried it?

mere_immortal · January 2010

The continuing adventures of Ellis and Nick.

Alegis · January 2010

Movitz wrote: »

How's that mod to play L4D1 maps in L4D2 coming? Last I checked it was a bit bugged out and hard to get working. Anyone tried it?

Tried it a week ago

Didn't work out too well.

mere_immortal · January 2010

I tried playing through NM but when I got to the finale the game ended as if I had just finished a map immediately.

Nappuccino · January 2010

mere_immortal wrote: »

The continuing adventure of Ellis and Nick.

That is awesome.

Quaz and Wally · January 2010

Man, I really tried to give Rochelle a chance, but she is bland as all hell.

I think she's supposed to be the "normal" one.

Nappuccino · January 2010

There wasn't really a "normal" one in l4d1... Unless you count louis I guess but he atleast had a lot of personality and energy with his character.

edit: but yeah, Rochelle is the "normal one" I just don't understand why they thought there had to be one.

Quaz and Wally · January 2010

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they wanted Louis and Zoe to be more normal, and Francis and Bill were more from the Zombie Hell universe.

In this case, I think it's Nick and Ellis who are from Zombie Hell, and Coach and Rochelle are the "normal" ones. But damn, they need to give Rochelle some lines that don't just seem to lead into good bits for Ellis.

tofu · January 2010

What are some good resources for L4D mapmaking?

SanderJK · January 2010

L4D1 has had it's SDK released, but L4D2 hasn't, and I've not read any news about it either. Perhaps maps can be made in the SDK of 1, and converting in a similar manner as the maps of 1, but how succesful that'd be, I don't know.

Ayulin · January 2010

Um, I thought the L4D2 SDK was released. I see L4D2 Authoring Tools in my Steam window, as well as Add-on Support.

SanderJK · January 2010

You are right, I totally missed that. Ignore me!

Panda4You · January 2010

Godshittingdamn it the parish finale is hard.

Icemopper · January 2010

Ok so I haven't played in a while, but I thought I would come in here and mention: The Zombie Survival Guide should be required reading for anyone who really plays this game.

mts · January 2010

Hiya. I just picked up LFD1 through steam, though it is sitting uninstalled right now

my steam id is Sigmund Killingsworth III

Drake · January 2010

I got that L4D 1 crazy Steam deal too, during the holiday sale.

So, hey... put me on the list. Here's my Steam page.

Enig · January 2010

I still think "The only cure is death." would have been a better tagline for SF.

Zombie Hero · January 2010

Enig wrote: »

I still think "The only cure is death." would have been a better tagline for SF.

Cure 2: The Deathening

Ash-Housewares · January 2010

Panda4You wrote: »

Godshittingdamn it the parish finale is hard.

Try doing that for your expert realism run. Then you'll know true anguish.

Fencingsax · January 2010

Quaz and Wally wrote: »

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they wanted Louis and Zoe to be more normal, and Francis and Bill were more from the Zombie Hell universe.

In this case, I think it's Nick and Ellis who are from Zombie Hell, and Coach and Rochelle are the "normal" ones. But damn, they need to give Rochelle some lines that don't just seem to lead into good bits for Ellis.

Her dialogue can be really good, but her single lines less so.

Leitner · January 2010

Looking to get a game on dark carnival going shortly (360).

H_Jay, Tact etc. Looking at you.

Monger · January 2010

I did indeed buy L4D1 at some point in one of the sales. I can be added to the list as such if someone's looking for a game, but my gaming time's mostly going into Riddick and Bayonetta at the moment.

Grimthwacker · January 2010

If anyone wants to play some L4D 1 with me, I'm up for it. Steam ID is [URL="ttp://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197989607632"]Grimthwacker.[/URL]

Al_wat · January 2010

Leitner wrote: »

Looking to get a game on dark carnival going shortly (360).

H_Jay, Tact etc. Looking at you.

what kinda game, campaign?

If your still interested I'll play.

Although its probably been a couple hours since you posted.

Leitner · January 2010

Got a work e-mail I need to reply to. But soon as that's done, I'll be up for it. Yeah campaign, either advanced or expert.

Leitner · January 2010

Done. What's your tag? Just add me (Colonel Leitner). I'll be ready in five.

Al_wat · January 2010

Tag is AlWatts.

logging in now

Elvenshae · January 2010

So, since I can't access chat from where I be right now, any chance I can get added to the L4D2-focused group? I'm rather new at this game ...

My Profile

Al_wat · January 2010

If anyone else wants to play now is a good time. Just add me.

Jragghen · January 2010

You can add me to the 'new to L4D1' list, if you like.

I've had it for a bit longer, but getting my friends together to play has been touch and go - I've only done two of the campaigns (no other modes), each one twice.

Steam ID is Jragghen. At work right now, so I can't exactly add people or anything.

cj iwakura · January 2010

I do L4D1 sometimes; cj_iwakura's the Steam ID. I was almost hoping I'd get gifted L4D2 this year to continue the trend from last year. :P

SoulGate · January 2010

Nice to see another thread. And nice to see all the new converts to L4D. :O Now we just need all of you to get L4D2 and enjoy it with the rest of us.

Jragghen · January 2010

SoulGate wrote: »

Nice to see another thread. And nice to see all the new converts to L4D. :O Now we just need all of you to get L4D2 and enjoy it with the rest of us.

I've got that, too, but (oddly enough) have more local people to play it with :P

Panda4You · January 2010

We were doing our usual campaign play on a dedicated server; Little did we know we were in for some L8D2:

Hitting the zombies in the tighter areas was kinda hard because wherever you pointed your gun there was a pesky survivor milling about.

There's many impostors, but only one Coach...

We had a fifth random player to begin with (he went spectator early on), even though we played 'friends only', and an extra bot so our theory is we connected at the exact time as this other dude. In the subsequent maps after the first the whole "extra party" spawned as bots. We upped the diff to expert after a while but didn't really notice any added resistance. The tanks in the finale go down real quick with eight people spamming them

Another funny thing was the teasing of players that got kicked out of the various top lists by the horde of bots, between the maps.

Tommatt · January 2010

Wait so seriously. Just did dead center going for crutches. Pick ip an axe, then a katana, no other weapons. Do accidentlu pick up a bile bomb in finale, never use it. Picked up gas fans to fillthecar, none got shot. I did get downed by a witch while meleeing her, and fired one shot while downed. No crutches achievment

Alegis · January 2010

Yeah fire one shot while down = no go.

I believe picking up cans or cola isn't allowed either but I'm not sure on that.

Throwables should be fine.

Nappuccino · January 2010

I'd be really interested to hear the rational of "No Cola or gas cans!" to the melee only achievement when you can throw molotovs and actually do some dmg with them.

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

Left 4 Dead - Zombie Gabe demands headshots - IHateMountains campaign,survivor nerfs

Posts