Dec 24 2009
It seems that ever since Left 4 Dead 2 has been released, the people at Valve have been running sales, and Christmas time is no exception. For the next 22 hours and 31 minutes, Left 4 Dead 2 is on sale for 33% off the regular price.
The sale is supposed to end sometime Christmas morning, so if you have ben holding out, now might be a good time to pick up L4D2.
Post your comments in the Steam Holiday Sales thread of the forums.
Dec 15 2009
Lets think something just for a minute. Think back to when Quake was released in 1996, and the number of modifications that were released shortly after. Then lets consider what Valve software did with Left 4 Dead, and Left 4 Dead 2, and the lack of modifications.
Valve software releases l4d, almost exactly a year later, l4d2 is released. This should have been when the modifications started to come out. Lets not pick on Valve, but they might be setting a poor example for other game companies to follow.
Lets go back and take a look at Quake:
Quake was released in June 1996
Team Fortress was released in August 1996
Threewave Capture the Flag was released sometime in 1996 – 1997, can not find an exact date
Rocket Arena was released sometime in 1997
Quake II was released in December 1997
Just with Quake alone we had 3 major modifications within about a year.
Now lets look at Left 4 Dead:
Left 4 Dead was released November 17, 2008
Left 4 Dead modifications?
Left 4 Dead 2 was released November 17, 2009
Where are the modifications for left 4 dead? Sure we have maps, but “where” are the total modifications? Am I missing something here?
With the quick release of left 4 dead 2 there is little need to develop full blown modifications.
My opinion, releasing a sequel so fast is going to have long term affects on the modding community – and not for the good either. In the long run we are probably going to see less modifications made, and those that are made are probably going to be of low quality.
Just in the past 5 – 6 years I have seen a massive downturn in the amount of fan based modifications that have been released.
Please post your comments in the fan based game modifications thread of the forums.
Dec 14 2009
This sure did not take long. Left 4 Dead 2 is less then a month old, and the first add-on (or expansion as some people might call it) is already announced? Something just does not seem right. What happened to the good ole days when it took 6 months – 1 year for an expansion to be announced?
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3237/
“”The Passing” Brings L4D1 Survivors Down South
December 14, 2009 – Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first game add-on for its co-operative zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), is in development and targeted for release in early 2010.
Dubbed “The Passing,” the first game add-on for L4D2 brings the original Left 4 Dead (L4D1) Survivors down south for a meeting with the L4D2 cast, while delivering new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay for the PC and Xbox 360.
Targeted for release in early spring, “The Passing” takes place just after the Dead Center campaign of L4D2. Set in a small town in rural Georgia, players assume the role of the L4D2 Survivors as they meet with the L4D1 characters.”
I wonder if its going to be a free expansion, or if its going to cost? I’am betting its going to cost $9.99, or somewhere around there. The same price the new Borderlands expansion cost.
Is this going to be a full blown expansion like episodes 1 and 2, blue shift and opposing force. Or is it going to be a couple o maps like crash course?
If its anything like crash course, Valve can keep it.
Ok, and now get this next part,
“”The Passing will become the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story, as all the Survivors are being called together in one campaign,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “It will also be a huge offering of new gameplay content, with something new for every game mode plus a new uncommon common and weaponry.”"
The news release clearly says “all survivors” – its going to be really cool to see the first 4 survivors back in action.
Now for the big question, are there going to be 8 player teams?
Post your comments in the Left 4 Dead 2 add-on announced thread of the forums.
Dec 08 2009
In case someone forgot to tell the people that play Left 4 Dead 2 – its a team based game. Its a lot like Counter-Strike:Source, Team Fortress 2, Team Fortress Classic,,,, and all of the other team based games.
Rambo Syndrome – There no place for John Rambo on my team. Rambo usually runs off by himself, gets pounced or smoked, them cries for help.
When someone says – “hey Rambo, dont run off”. The usual reply is along the lines of “keep up then.”
Typing Kills – since the days of Quakeworld (mid-1990s for those of you that do not know your gaming history) its been a known fact that typing kills. Left 4 Dead 2 has built in voice support – so buy a mic.
Mics are cheap, sometimes they cost as little as $10 – $15 US dollars. If you do not have the money, go get a job or something. Pick up cans on the side of the road, wash a car, cut some gas – but get some money to buy a mic. Not having a mic makes you look like your poor or something. If you can afford to buy Left 4 Dead 2, you can afford to buy a mic.
Autoshotties have been nerfed – regardless of “what” you have been told, the autoshotty from the original Left 4 Dead was overpowered. In L4D2 Valve fixed that problem. They are no longer the weapon of choice. Pick up an AK-47 and learn how to actually aim the weapon.
Everyone that played the original Left 4 Dead and used the noobtube is going to have to learn how to aim a weapon. This point in the general direction of the zombie and click is not going to work.
As sad as it sounds, your going to have to learn how to aim a weapon. Yea, I know, its pretty sad. The days of just pointing in the general direction and shooting are gone for good. All of you noobs that never used anything but the noobtube ruined it for everyone.
Learn how to use melee weapons – for you script kiddies out there, the double pistol is no longer a personal machine gun. It looks like the double pistol rate has been limited. So pick up a melee weapon and whack them zombies across the head.
In other words, this aint the original Left 4 Dead, this aint a deathmatch game, this aint a race, so learn how to play. And improve the quality of public Left 4 Dead 2 games.
Dec 07 2009
2 1/2 weeks after release, the developers at Valve finally fix the crashing to desktop problem.
See this thread at the Left 4 Dead2 forums for the details. It seems that there was an issue with Left 4 Dead 2 and the FAT32 file system of windows.
Maybe someone forgot to tell the people at Valve, but end consumers are not beta testers. When a product is released to market, it should be pretty much finished.
Dec 01 2009
For those of you that do not know, Left 4 Dead 2 suffers from some serious crashing to desktop problems. There is no error, no nothing, just a crash and your back at the desktop looking at the background.
But the thing is, the demo ran fine. So wWhat” is the problem?
Here are some of the ideas that crossed my head:
The demo was fine tuned to show at exhibitions. If you go back over the past year, just about every time L4D2 was shown to the public, it was the levels from the demo. And “why” was that? Maybe the rest of the game had problems?
L4D2 was pushed out the door just in time for Christmas sales. With a nice surge in profits around November – December, the company can better afford to hand out Christmas bonuses.
What ever happened to “a game will be released “when its done”"? Was L4d2 really play tested? Did it go through all of the quality control measures like other Valve games, or was it rushed?
Regardless of “what” the problem is, the release of Left 4 Dead 2 has been ruined.
Dec 01 2009
Left 4 Dead 2 turns 2 weeks old today – and its still crashing to the desktop before the game even gets to the menu.
Happy 2 week birthday L4D2, your still the worse game I have ever installed.
Hopefully Valve can get this crashing to the desktop bug fixed and people can actually play the game.
One last thing – good job at waiting “until its finished” to release L4D2, bravo, bravo. The people at Valve released a bug filled game that is not even playable for a lot of people. Whats next, a game that will not even install? Oh wait, I think Left 4 Dead 2 is having that problem as well.