4 New L4D DLC Videos Including "Survival Mode" & IGN Hands-on

[Hectic Glenn]

Below are the links to 4 new videos showcasing the new 'Survival Mode' which will be available with the free downloadable content release on PC and xbox 360. The videos show one of the survival maps from the Dead Air campaign, and the other three show action from the new lighthouse map.

Video 1[br]Video 2[br]Video 3[br]Video 4

Secondly IGN have enjoyed a hands-on play test with Valve and put down their thoughts here. Its a good read, with some great information about what to expect from Survival mode specifically. Some of the key points are as follows:

• In all of the play testing that the Valve designers have done while creating this mode, none of them have ever survived past the 10 minute mark. The best so far was about nine minutes, with a team of elite players battling like crazy to keep one another alive. IGN's experience at Valve averaged around three or four minutes a round.
• You'll get multiples boss zombies at a time; they often saw two or three hunters or smokers leaping around the battle while the mindless horde minions were everywhere. In one battle, there was a tank, a boomer, a couple of smokers, and a hunter hitting us at the same time. It's even possible to get two tanks at the same time
• 12 Survival levels available, 11 of which are taken and modified from the existing four campaigns
• There is one entirely brand-new level in the DLC called Lighthouse which the designers say may be the toughest level of them all
• You can earn bronze, silver, and gold medals if you survive long enough. Though the medal times for each map will be tailored for each map, right now the basic idea is that you need to survive for at least four minutes to get bronze, six minutes to get silver, and eight minutes to get gold.

 

[Lobster]

Awsome, as much as I want new campaigns to appear, Survival mode being based around single maps will make it alot easier to map for, both official and custom.

 

[OmegaX]

It seems to similar to the actual original game. I mean aren't you basically surviving and fighting off waves in the campaigns? Just seems the same with even more zombies/special infected. Not sure it warranted a new game mode.

 

[Locke]

Looks great! I wonder if the difficulty is constantly increased the longer the game goes on.

 

[knut]

Looks awesome, though I'm unsure about having a few Hunters or Smokers moving around at one time. Could be very, very tough. We'll see, though - very much looking forward to it all.

 

[leib10]

When will this update be released?

 

[DarkevilPT]

From what i saw it is the same crap they did in Portal.. and i don't like that, i was thinking in a mod like some user made for left 4 dead its called survivor and has less hordes and u only can kill a zombie with 1 hit in head... Hits in the body doesn't give any damage to the zombies. now i saw this survivor mode and its shit! I want to see who will play that.. who will enjoy to beat times.. i play left 4 dead for the fun and rage not by that strange mode.. I prefer the zombies from Call of Duty 5 don't ask me why i dont prefer l4d.. because the hordes have all the same height, pretty easy to kill and too numerous, gets boring everytime.. we need more maps and that mode fixed..

 

[Hectic Glenn]

When will this update be released?

'Spring', which based on recent weather in London, isn't too far off.

 

[Eejit]

'Spring', which based on recent weather in London, isn't too far off.

It snowed in Glasgow today

 

[hool10]

Looks like COD5 did this first and better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRhXMmffYKc
They could release this in the middle of March as well. But oh no when they said before April 21st, they meant Valve time which is April 20th, at 11:59PM PST. *Oh and lol at 12 NEW MAPS (but only 1 is really new and that's a tiny map). Valve figures they don't have to make a lot of content to get sales. Just as minimal effort is Valves approach to games now-a-days.

 

[Marler]

Looks good!

 

[Eejit]

Looks like COD5 did this first and better:

Oh, you've played both?

I guess the trailer is better...

 

[Tagaziel]

Looks like COD5 did this first and better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRhXMmffYKc
They could release this in the middle of March as well. But oh no when they said before April 21st, they meant Valve time which is April 20th, at 11:59PM PST. *Oh and lol at 12 NEW MAPS (but only 1 is really new and that's a tiny map). Valve figures they don't have to make a lot of content to get sales. Just as minimal effort is Valves approach to games now-a-days.

Is "stupid" your family name? Valve doesn't make you pay for anything, long as you bought the original game.

Seriously, you're whining about the most gamer-friendly company on the ENTIRE MARKET.

 

[Born]

Looks like COD5 did this first and better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRhXMmffYKc
They could release this in the middle of March as well. But oh no when they said before April 21st, they meant Valve time which is April 20th, at 11:59PM PST. *Oh and lol at 12 NEW MAPS (but only 1 is really new and that's a tiny map). Valve figures they don't have to make a lot of content to get sales. Just as minimal effort is Valves approach to games now-a-days.

Don't cry about it.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

You honestly blow my mind sometimes hool, I'll talk to you about something and you will be normal and mature about it. Then the next minute you do this whiny bitchy thing wherever Valve have been. It's like you've got a permanent chip on your shoulder from a previous experience. Even when you are being fed free content for a game you've bought and paid for you seem inconvenienced it isn't up to your standards or that you'd rather they didn't release anything for free perhaps? Then there is also the possibility you just want the attention.

 

[Eejit]

I think hool needs a big group hug.

 

[TwwIX]

I can see this getting boring very quick. Valve is getting a bit lazy these days. They need to add new campaigns/maps instead of all of these very forgettable modes.

 

[Eejit]

"all of these". What all one new mode?

Unless you also mean TF2 Arena? Which is pretty fail yeah.

 

[hool10]

Guys you just know it's gonna fail in the end. I can already see what will happen:

1. Round starts with Survivors meleeing in a corner.
2. Tank approaches and wipes everybody out.
3. Everybody leaves.

Now that is a pub match. If you were playing with hl2.net people it would probably last longer, yet you will always corner camp.

Whenever Valve puts out a new game mode or something, nobody ever plays it. I can see somebody taking the SDK and making a COD5 clone Survival mode. *Also free doesn't mean good neither. If it's free then great but if it sucks nobody will use it so there is no point in making it. Also this stuff should have been there since day 1.

 

[Hunter-Killer]

Hurray for free content so really complaining is not an option but never the less this Survival mode seems a bit "cheap". I mean any modder could have whacked a time limit in and sealed the doors and made a level. I really did think they were going to have some sorta twist to the mode, I "suggested" that they make it so after a set amount of time more of the level opened up allow access to better weapons, health etc, but also allowing more areas for the horde to pour through. I love the idea of having multiple infected running around, and the idea of two Tanks is just wicked, if not a lil scary! The Lighthouse level also looks really good and seems like it works very well. In the end of the day, it doesn't matter what it is as it's free content and I guess by keeping it simple means even more people will be able to design levels for the different modes.

 

[swan_song1973]

There is one entirely brand-new level in the DLC called Lighthouse which the designers say may be the toughest level of them all

now thats what i wanna hear.

 

[Fiberawptic]

The only slight disappointment is that 11 of the 12 maps are recycled modified versions of previous maps. Otherwise, you can't deny this is going to be uber intense. Cant wait to see videos of amazing left4dead players on youtube posting they're video of getting a high-ass score.

Also, whats with the bitching? Why is it that when valve takes their time with a product to make it really immense when they ship it, people bitch about "oh its taking too long. oh valve is so lazy". But when valve does something like this where they provide more content quicker, even though yes the update isnt the biggest content update we've seen, people bitch about "its gonna suck, this is like hardly any fun"... stop whining...

 

[Sheepo]

Wow hool, you've gotten pretty annoying. So just the announcement of a great deal of free content and a general idea if what it entails and you know it's going to suck?

Not to mention that corner camping is a choice the players make, so if you don't like it play with different people.

...

Well I'm quite excited.

 

[mchammer75040]

Hurray for free content so really complaining is not an option but never the less this Survival mode seems a bit "cheap". I mean any modder could have whacked a time limit in and sealed the doors and made a level. I really did think they were going to have some sorta twist to the mode, I "suggested" that they make it so after a set amount of time more of the level opened up allow access to better weapons, health etc, but also allowing more areas for the horde to pour through. I love the idea of having multiple infected running around, and the idea of two Tanks is just wicked, if not a lil scary! The Lighthouse level also looks really good and seems like it works very well. In the end of the day, it doesn't matter what it is as it's free content and I guess by keeping it simple means even more people will be able to design levels for the different modes.

Your idea is awesome dude, I think that would work really well. You should grab you acouple of coders and see if you could mod this.


Anyways I'm excited for this, I dont know why some of you are bitching about the survival mode I think it fits the arcade feel of the game perfectly. sometimes you just wanna jump in and hold down a fort against ungodly amounts of zombies rather than going from point a to point b. Plus as someone mentioned this will help the mod community out quite alot. :thumbs:

 

[mchammer75040]

EPIC preview with new vids here, narrated by Chet Faliszek:
http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/l.../a-2009030594445612035/g-20070518102453814048
EDIT: for you ****in whiners:

. Like in versus maps, areas that are overly favorable to the survivors have been altered or removed, so teams won’t be able to rack up easy time by closet camping. By eliminating exploits, the team’s score becomes a measure of actual skill. In practice it gave the maps a frantic, nowhere is safe feeling and forced our team to stay on the move as the mob ebbed and flowed.

Shut up now
kthxbye

 

[DecayingMadness]

hool should switch his name to tool

 

[Sheepo]

Sweet vids McHammer, this is lookin' fantastic.

Is there a specific difficulty Survival is set to even outside of VS version?

 

[Operational]

It's like you've got a permanent chip on your shoulder from a previous experience.

He was so positive towards L4D before it came out, apparently it wasn't a disappointment but a Spawn of Satan whose mission was to destroy everything he loved.

 

[bbson john]

I wonder how can valve stop people from camping at a corner

 

[Zephos]

The way I see it, they err... removed.. corners.

Anyway, tanks would wipe them out shit easy if they camped in such a place.

 

[bbson john]

How people currently due with a horde in a defensive position is: First the whole team camp at a corner and melee. Then when a tank comes, they throw a molotov on the tank and run until it burns to death. there is no way, either hordes or tanks can finished clever survivors like these. It works in the deadliest expert campaign. I believe it will be equally effective in dealing with survival mode. I think Valve should better resolve this type of "cheating". That is they should find a way to punish spot campers heavily. Or the fun of survival mode will be killed even before it starts.

 

[Returned3]

How people currently due with a horde in a defensive position is: First the whole team camp at a corner and melee. Then when a tank comes, they throw a molotov on the tank and run until it burns to death. there is no way, either hordes or tanks can finished clever survivors like these. It works in the deadliest expert campaign. I believe it will be equally effective in dealing with survival mode. I think Valve should better resolve this type of "cheating". That is they should find a way to punish spot campers heavily. Or the fun of survival mode will be killed even before it starts.

The difference is that this time, all of them will attack at once unlike the finales where the Tank comes alone.

The Cod: WAW trailer makes the game mode look cool but in actual fact it's just boring. Valve on the other hand..

 

[bbson john]

Hope so.

 

[hool10]

Halflife2.net is still sticking with the no scans rule so, you will have to PM me for them. There were 2 scans I posted that I found on left4dead411 and even the steampowered forums. It shows the campaign poster which is weak IMO. I'm being critical of Valve lately because Valve isn't really fixing the bugs. They also do weird things like breaking things they fixed in the past or adding bad things like "The Sandman" in TF2. I think Valves approach right now is to fix a whole ton of bugs and release them all at once for both platforms. I don't think L4D is a bad game. Currently I think it's a boring game though and when you play the same level for the zillionth time, you know all the tricks.

What I think Valve will achieve in the DLC is this:

1. Remove closets from Survival and Versus mode completely.
2. A new matchmaking system which will act like Battlefield Heroes in certain ways.
3. Fix many bugs in general.

I have recently been playing the Battlefield Heroes beta and the matchmaking is great because the pings are good. I think with the matchmaking 2.0 it will take into account rage quits, and general player skill. Valve will also have to do something with the hit detection because it's actually based on the XBOX code to aid console users. Before the Smoker couldn't get a lock onto a Survivor. Ok so they fixed that but the problem is that the Smoker resembles more of Spiderman shooting out webs and never catching a Survivor. Other things too like say the Boomers vomit distance and blast radius as opposed to a sphere may be fixed.

I think though the biggest flaw to removing closets isn't that though because that isn't the problem. It was then but people have evolved and realized you don't need a closet. All you need is any corner that is indestructible, it doesn't matter if walls break down neither. My suggestion to Valve would be:

1. Remove what people are nicknaming "shiva stacking" or clipping into Survivors.

Shiva stacking combines the melee power of 4 players into 1 player and takes up the space of 1 player. Source is based on a 2004 engine and still has that weakness of things clipping and physics system. Like sometimes I see Boomers bellies clipping through walls. They need to work out something to rid of that. In doing so they would rid "shiva stacking".

• Add a melee cooldown effect.

While the days of ultra fast melee is gone, there is still an issue of melee. In L4D, melee is extremely important. Many people when they spot a Hunter instantly start what I like to call "rowing the boat". They save ammo and kill the Infected. A melee should bash the zombie down so you can put lead into it rather than beating zombies up.

1. The Tank and his punches.

I will not go into great detail on this tactic but I only just read up on this last night. Essentially the Tank has arms like a tree but swings and misses a lot. You can almost make fun of him by saying "swing batter, batter!". Well they should fix it but not make him too strong. The AI also goes after the character which is the weakest, closest, or does the most damage. Now there is a weakness in that system that I won't divulge how to but it may be cheap to use in the hl2.net L4D competition but others may just catch on.

I think the mode will be fun and I think mod makers will fully use the mode. I can imagine a Survival map looking like a scene from 28 Days Later. It's the scene in which they make it to a mine field with the British Military that made a safe zone. Or it would look like something from this ARMA video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22SYbw9ECoc
I can just image Tanks running down a field, etc. *Oh and please no FF in Survival! I'll be shooting everywhere so I don't want FF on, lol.

 

[Hunter-Killer]

To stop corner whores they could always make it so the wall behind is breakable for the horde but the survivors still can't go through even if the wall is broken down e.g. they could do it for when you have to wait for the lift in No Mercy, everyone whores that closet and all they have to do is add a breakable wall at the back of the closest so the horde can pour through, but make it so it doesn't allow the survivors through.

 

[DarkevilPT]

Is "stupid" your family name? Valve doesn't make you pay for anything, long as you bought the original game.

Seriously, you're whining about the most gamer-friendly company on the ENTIRE MARKET.

And Call of Duty is making you pay for it? Hum.. i think that comment is absurd..

 

[the cow says moo]

Wow, hool is starting to sound pretty ridiculous. It sounds to me like you really hate Valve, why do you even come to these forums? To insult their games?

 

[DarkevilPT]

Wow, hool is starting to sound pretty ridiculous. It sounds to me like you really hate Valve, why do you even come to these forums? To insult their games?

I don't think it is an insult, i believe he likes valve totally and that's why he tell's their errors.. in the hope they fix them xD They have Potential but still make this strange updates that could be better.. i don't believe this survival mode will increase something in the game..
We all agree the game is fine and playable but still, less weapons than the others.. a crappy matchmaking system that impossibility u to d/l new maps.. and just 2 playable maps in the totalgame (+2 but only for the campaign) its a little hybrid.. and the survival mode.. isn't going to increase anything in the game.. I was hoping in some different strategy inside the game with the DLC like the COD5 for example where u can kill faster a zombie with only a headshot and u have less quantity increasing and going from slower to fast.. that would be the best.. i agree with hool10

 

[Jintor]

Why you guys hating on Hool? That last comment was hella insighful. :arms:

Goddamn Shiva Stacking.

 

[Tagaziel]

And Call of Duty is making you pay for it? Hum.. i think that comment is absurd..

The comment was aimed at the whiners "BAWWWWW VALVE GAVE ME A PRESENT I WANTED A PONY". Valve is under no obligation to provide further content to people who purchased their games.

HOWEVER.

They do it, because they like their gamers. They are not getting any revenue from additional content they release, effectively generating loss, since they invest hours and effort for no substantial profit.

They are unlike Bethesda, which not only releases poorly coded and designed games for full price, but also releases poorly designed and badly executed additional content you have to pay for.