LEFT 4 DEAD UV's NEXT GAME?

[timmatahii 0]

http://www.l4d.com/ THE OFFICAL WEB SITE!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_4_Dead GOOD BIT OF INFO ALSO LINKS!

http://www.left4dead411.com/ FAN SITE WITH GOOD INFO

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[/ame] TEASER TRAILER

Gameplay appears to take place in typical multiplayer maps revolving around abandoned towns, wooded rural settings and other locations. Four players take control of the four main characters of the game, "The Survivors", who subsequently play through the levels towards an apparent goal of rescue by helicopter. Four subsequent players can join the server and take control of the larger, more powerful zombies with unique abilities amongst the other AI zombies. One player can take control of the tank zombie which is made available through an automated diceroll.

[edit] The Survivors

There are four playable human characters in the game, each with a different and unique appearance to make it easier to identify which character you are looking at when you aren't close enough to recognize the face. Each player is randomly assigned a character when they join the server and, to prevent arguments, each character has the same abilities and may use the same weapons. The four characters consist of Bill, a Vietnam veteran with combat skills that have helped keep him alive; Louis, an assistant manager at a local retail electronics chain store; Zoey, the teenage daughter of a wealthy family; and Francis, who is big, loud, and rough, but always has your back.

[edit] The Infected

The Infected are Left 4 Dead's name for what are essentially zombies. The zombies in the game are based on the zombies (who are ordinary civilians that are infected with a form of rabies, making them ravenous and psychotic) from the 2002 film 28 Days Later, which the game takes a lot from design-wise. [2] The zombies, as opposed to the slow, shuffling types associated with Night of the Living Dead or Half-Life, are fast and can pounce, creating quite a formidable foe. They will however go down with a well-placed gunshot, meaning they can be dealt with easily on their own, but in great numbers are difficult to handle.

In addition, there are five mutated Infected who have their own special abilities and are more powerful than the regular Infected:

The Boomer is a hugely obese zombie that can projectile vomit at The Survivors, blinding them and attracting swarms of nearby zombies to the location. When it dies it blows up, creating a large amount of damage and exorbitant amounts of gore and viscera.

The Hunter is an agile zombie who can climb walls and jump over rooftops, similar to Half-Life 2's Fast Zombie. It can pin a Survivor down on the floor and slash at them with long claws, rendering the victim powerless unless The Hunter is killed by a team-mate or knocked off its victim. The Hunter can also retreat.

The Smoker is a zombie with a long, whip-like tongue that can drag Survivors away from their team-mates and use its tongue as an organic noose to strangle Survivors when it is perched from a rooftop. Similar to Half-Life 2's Barnacle, or Resident Evil's Licker. When in danger, it can leave a haze of black smoke, distorting the Survivors' vision.

The Tank is a huge, muscular zombie capable of throwing large items such as cars or blocks of concrete. Its slow movement is countered by high strength and toughness. To prevent the tank from camping away from the survivors for too long a frustration timer is set when the survivors are not in sight. When the timer runs out the tank becomes uncontrollable and begins stomping and thrashing giving away its position and becoming vulnerable to the survivors.

The Witch will be the only mutant infected that will not be available to players. They are passive upon discovery by the players, but react with hostility to flashlight beams, physical contact, and gunfire in the viscinity. It will be able to fell a player in one hit, making them the most dangerous of the infected

This is simply a collection of known facts about Left 4 Dead that I’ve decided to throw together after reading a magazine with info on it. It’s simpler to have a single thread with an entirety of info rather than several different threads containing the same thing. I’ll be the first to say I haven’t read every magazine in the world containing knowledge on the game, so anyone with info is welcome to suggest it and I’ll add it to the collection below.

But now to the interesting stuff…

LEFT 4 DEAD

“Fight together…or die aloneâ€

Released Information

Gameplay:

- Left 4 Dead is a First Person Shooter co-operative multiplayer game in which you play as one of up to four people (called “Survivorsâ€), luckily immune to the virus that’s sending most of the population mad, pitched against an endless horde of infected

- There are no character classes, every player starts off on an even footing in terms of skills and weaponry, meaning success requires teamwork and quick thinking.

- There are four difficulty levels to choose from, which affect the health and hitting power of the infected.

- At the start of each campaign of choice you begin with a basic pistol, an explosive and your choice of either shotgun or SMG

- Whilst players with automatic weapons against weaponless psychopaths with no thought of tactics may seem like a one-sided fight, it won’t be. The infected have one very clear advantage…

...numbers. BIG numbers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

A player with a shotgun against a single typical Infected is indeed a very one-sided battle. The player wins, hands-down. However, you very seldom find just one. A shotgun-wielding player facing a mob of enraged Infected may be able to take out some of them before they reach him, but the ones he wasn’t able to stop will quickly pummel him into the ground. The primary challenge facing the Survivors is that the Infected are everywhere, and in vast numbers. A single survivor simply cannot survive alone. The four Survivors must watch each other’s backs and work together if any of them are going to make it out alive.

- Usually you find infected wandering around the city aimlessly, but sometimes they group up and go on stampedes through the city as a crazy mob. Which is something you’d probably want to look out for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

There are infected everywhere. Usually you find them wandering around in a daze, looking weak, ill, and generally pitiful. However, once they spot you, they abruptly change into enraged and disturbingly agile psychopaths hell-bent on beating you until you stop breathing. On top of that, the infected sometimes get particularly crazy and run through the city as a maniacal mob for no reason at all, so you always have to watch your back.

- Death is being handled differently in the game as well, but note you will not be turned into a zombie if you die.

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

We did the experiment early on but it tended to ruin the experience for the survivor team.

- Instead of immediate death, the team decided to take a different path, which focused once again on teamwork.

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

If a survivor’s health reaches zero, they don’t immediately die. Instead, they fall to the ground and become incapacitated and unable to get up or move – all they can do is weakly fire their pistol. If a friend can reach them in time, that friend can revive them (which takes several seconds). Otherwise, the incapacitated Survivor slowly ‘bleeds out’ and eventually dies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

Dead Survivors become spectators and watch the remaining Survivors continue their journey. These dead Survivors can rejoin the game if the living survivors reach ‘rescue points’ where they can find a ‘newly discovered’ Survivor who had barricaded themselves in a closet, for instance, or if the Survivor team reaches the next Checkpoint (safe rooms along the way). Of course, Survivors who die lose any weaponry or items they were carrying. The more powerful weapons tend to be deeper into the campaign and the only way to keep them is to stay alive.

- You also can only be revived three times. When you've used up all three of your revives, and then die again, you will immediately die rather than simply being knocked down.

- Another thing to note is that fallen Survivors can be further attacked by Infected to lower the "bleed out" timer and thus kill them quicker

- Each survivor will only be able to carry one medkit, which can be used to patch yourself or your mates up, it can only be replaced by finding one at the next checkpoint/rest spot.

- As Survivors, it will be easy to locate each other. You will see a greenish outline around every one of your mates which is visible through walls and other objects.

- There will be only one gameplay mode in the initial release of L4D, which is called Survive and Escape. Simply put, you must reach an escape vehicle alive which will take you to safety, keeping the core play simple and fun.

- At the end of each campaign, there will be an elaborate “last stand†in which you and your mates must hold off wave upon wave of Infected waiting for the rescue vehicle to come and uh…rescue you.

- There are four campaigns, consisting of 5 maps each (so 20 maps on release), which can be both played offline (with AI controlled friends and enemies) or online with up to 8 players (four Survivors and four Boss Infected).

- At the end of each map you'll recieve merit and demerit points depending on what you did that was meritible (kills and healing mates) or downright stupid (Team Kills, especially when detonating the Boomer). Not confirmed yet, but they are considering rewards for high merit pointers, such as weapons or boosts to certain attributes.

- If you choose to be one of the infected, you’ll assume the role of a “Boss Infectedâ€, but here’s a quote that’ll explain all:

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

Player controlled Infected assume the roles of various “Boss†Infected (Smoker, Boomer, Hunter, and Tank). Each Boss has unique abilities as well as strengths and weaknesses. If you join the Infected team, the AI director spawns you into the world as a Boss Infected, and you do your best to destroy the Survivor team. If the Survivors kill you, the AI director spawns you back in after a short wait. The Infected just keep coming. If you ever maniacally giggled to yourself as you knifed a teammate in the back in Counter-Strike, you will love playing as a Boss Infected

- Remember that the infected keep on coming, you can’t kill them all and then lounge to the end of the map. After killing one, they’ll respawn and come after you again.

- As such there is no story, it’s basically a multiplayer kill-fest. Story elements go as far as mission objectives and stop there.

- The infected are randomly spawned across the landscape at the start of a game, so gameplay will be non-linear to a point in each level. Do not expect them to come from the same angles...

Enemies (to the Survivors I mean):

Basic Infected – Humans that have been infected with a type of rabies, thus being turned into enraged psychopaths. They are grossly disfigured as a result of the disease, and attack uninfected persons on sight. Don't get it into your head that these guys are "undead", they still have full use of their body as it was before they were infected. These guys aren’t slow. Think of the latest Dawn of the Dead film and you’ll get an idea of how fast these “zombies†are.

Male Infected about to slap you something good

Boomers – This is another form of “Boss Infected†who contains a massive stomache full of blood. He can vomit this all over the player, thus attracting all the surrounding zombies in the vicinity to attack said player. Also, this guy will explode with tremendous force when killed, so keep your distance. It is very possible to take out the whole group by killing this bloke at the wrong time.

Boomer Concept Art

Screenshot of a Boomer

Smokers – This is one of the infected known as “Boss Infectedâ€, which are much stronger types of zombies. His basic speciality is his 50-foot tongue, which he uses to grab players from ledges and great distances (50 feet ). Note that you can effectively 'hang' people if you grab them from an above ledge and hold them there for a while. Like Boomers, this bloke explodes when killed, but instead of force this guy expells smoke when in his death throes. Very thick smoke, pretty much you can't see in this stuff. This is an especially dangerous ability since being blind with things trying to kill you everywhere isn't the best situation to be in.

Tanks – Another type of “Boss Infectedâ€, the name is self descriptory. This bloke is just unstoppable with a massive amount of strength and speed, but no stealthy options available to him at all. Think Dog off HL2. Because this bloke is so powerful, it isn't possible to choose to be him when playing as Infected. Four of these blokes would really ruin your day. Instead, a random player will be informed that he can be respawned as a Tank after certain conditions are fulfilled. As a Tank you can throw slabs of concrete and generally cause mayhem. To stop Tank players camping for surprise attacks there's a frustration meter that fills when you're out of sight of the Survivors. When this fills, you lose control of the Tank, and that's something you don't want to happen. The footsteps of this mother can be heard from miles away, so don't expect to catch anyone by surprise. Nevertheless this bloke can wipe out the Survivors if they aren't skilled and use teamplay.

Concept Art for the Big Guy

A Tank getting shot to...well, you know

Hunters – The last selectable "Boss Infected", Hunters are the assassins of the infected. They become invisible when standing still, although if a Survivor happens to look directly at them for a short while they'll growl and become visible. They are extremely quick, and have the ability to 'pounce' on a Survivor while cloaked. They can then proceed to hit the Survivor until they die or get killed. They are especially good at jumping and it is possible to wall-jump with them if you are skilled enough. Hunters aren't strong in the health department however.

Witches - These are computer controlled "Boss-Infected", and aren't available to choose for an infected player. These are the most dangerous enemies in the game, but can be avoided altogether is you are careful. They don't attack you until you shoot them, shine a flashlight on them, or fire a weapon near them. If you do annoy them, they can kill you with one hit, so take them out quick. Witches only appear on 'Normal' difficulty and above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

As such, playing as an infected tends to be more of a "hide and seek" kind of thing. You want to position yourself to attack at the worst possible time for the survivors, lurking and stalking for a bit until you make your move. That is, unless you are the tank. Then you charge right in and cause massive chaos and mayhem--tossing cars into the air, smashing through concrete walls, that sort of thing.

- Infected players can always see where the group of survivors are thus they always have the element of surprise, being able to position themselves on rooftops, behind doors or anywhere else that could give them a tactical advantage.

- Another advantage of being infected is complete immunity to fall damage, night vision, and having the ability to climb parts of walls that aren't available to Survivors.

Setting and Characters:

Quote:

Originally Posted by â€Michael Boothâ€

Left 4 Dead is set contemporary America…We wanted our environments to remind you of home--but a horribly changed and tortured version of home.

There are both rural and urban areas in the four campaigns

As for characters, there are four (perhaps obviously):

Bill – A Vietnam vet who’s combat skills have allowed him to survive thus far

Louis – An assistant manager at a local electronics store

Zoey – A daughter of a wealthy family

Francis – Crude, rude and unrefined…but a good bloke who’s always got your back

Weapons:

Generally, Turtle Rock Studios have decided to go along the realistic road in regard to weapons, generally giving you stuff you’d scavenge in such a crisis. But there are plans to add weapons to the game over time post-release. Your inventory in-game will rise over time.

This is a list of what weapons have been seen so far:

- Sub-Machine Guns

- M16's

- Pump-action Shotguns

- Automatic Shotguns

- Pistols (dual-wielding possible)

- Hunting Rifles

- Molotov Cocktails

- Pipe Bombs

Unfortunately, there will be no melee weapons apart from using the butt of your chosen projectile killing machine, which will stagger them for an easy kill with the said weapon. If you do happen to melee attack an infected that hasn't seen you, it will be instantly killed in a stealth attack. So no chainsaws, sledge-hammers, or rusty pipes on release, but you can hope for them to be added with later updates.

Graphical Enhancements

- TRS are working with Valve to implement support for multi-core processors

- Hair that will move realistically

- Physics based animation (ie to make the Boomer's belly wobble)

- Cloth Physics

- Enhanced Particle effects

Other Misc. Information

- The game is slated for a release during the second quarter of 2007. Do not pay attention to any release dates unless they are stated by the developers themselves or the publishers.

- It isn't confirmed exactly how the game will be distributed, but expect a Steam download at the very least. Retail is very possible as well.

Links:

Here you'll find links to the websites that have done previews or interviews regarding Left 4 Dead as well as fansites having information regarding Left 4 Dead in any way:

Left 4 Dead Homepage

Left 4 Dead 411 (fansite well worth your time)

Left 4 Dead Teaser

Gamespot Interview

IGN Hands On Preview

1UP Preview

Eurogamer Preview

Eurogamer Interview with Valve concerning L4D

FiringSquad Interview

Michael Booth = Man responsible for fostering the CS universe into what it’s become and founder of Turtle Rock Studios, the developer creating Left 4 Dead.

[Guest Lord Fury]

Whats all this about dude??

[Guest cc90]

No.

[Guest †Waffleâ€]

Rofl...L4D is going be gay, trust me...

[Guest Anony]

it is a sweet idea, but if handled incorrectly it could blow up in ur face

it sounds freakin sweet tho

[timmatahii 0]

God looks great thease guys didnt even take time to read...

[Guest †Waffleâ€]

Lol i already heard of it, it isn't pretty exciting unless there's more zombies to play as.

[niC- 9]

...i wanna play that right fucking now O_O

it sounds badass, fun, and scary.

[Howard Dean 2502]

Another thing that shakin bake forgot to mention is how smart the AI is on the zombies

This game is the MOST UP TO DATE ai Out of every video game you know how zombies if you put something in the way go around it??? THESE JUMP OVER IT if your in a room Theyll swarm you and break the windows as well This game is going to be so hard but fun as hell

[Guest Shephard]

Yea man i read about it and it looks absolutely intense man, can't wait to play it

[Guest GhostHaven]

omfg that sounds like the most awesome fucking game EVER...i want to play it now...baiscally it sounds like a multi player resident evil but 1st person and actual people as some of ur enemies...sounds scray as hell and like an awesome game

[timmatahii 0]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GhostHaven @ Apr 2 2007, 04:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

omfg that sounds like the most awesome fucking game EVER...i want to play it now...baiscally it sounds like a multi player resident evil but 1st person and actual people as some of ur enemies...sounds scray as hell and like an awesome game

Yeah its going to be kick ass!

[Sir. Hot Mayo 1143]

Looks crazy sick! Me want.

[Bowser K. Koopa 0]

... Woot for posting in dead topics!

I can't wait for this game. Going to be so much fun xD. And thanks to the ingame ranking, screwtards will be removed from the game and won't screw you over.

Also they are adding L4D to the SDK steam gives us! Yay for making your own maps xD And due to the AI director thing you don't have to worry about putting in the zombies since the game does it for you

[iLLeStSkiLLz 1]

Heres a video of actual game play footage. I like how u have to really on your teammates a great deal.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23269.html

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23267.html

This one is my fav vid so far =)vvvvvv

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23265.html

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23256.html

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23250.html

This game looks pretty good im gettin it =)

[Kelso 4]

I am so buying this game and I'm going to play it forever, and ever.

[small1107 0]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyE9BvSD1jk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyE9BvSD1jk[/ame]

E3 Footage. Saw it. Crapped my pants.

[Sizzler 0]

Yeash you guys are slow I knew about all that and more weeks ago(except for gameplay trailers which were recent). IMO BEST GAME EVERR

[sarge657 0]

it looks amazing