Left 4 Dead Demo Tomorrow - Details

Hectic Glenn

Hectic Glenn

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Early access to the Left 4 Dead demo begins tomorrow (Thursday 6th) on both the PC and Xbox 360. The early demo access is scheduled to begin around 2 am PST on the Xbox 360 and 7 am PST on the PC.[br]This promotion is being offered in addition to the 10% savings for those who pre-order and applies to all Steam PC pre-orders and all PC and Xbox 360 pre-orders from GameStop and EB Games in North America.[br]
On November 11th the demo will be made available to all PC and Xbox 360 gamers worldwide, with no obligation to purchase. The demo concludes on November 18th, when Left 4 Dead will be made available at retail outlets across North America and worldwide via Steam.[br]Update: The Left 4 Dead demo can now be pre-loaded if you have already pre-purchased through Steam, check your 'My Games' list.
 
Took you long enough to post this Glenn. News comes before your entertainment.
 
woot, just checked my email and i got my 360 code. \o/
 
Sweet beans!

Nice! That will give me just enough time to let the demo download while I'm at work!
 
You guys should check your Steam games list. The L4D demo is there to start preloading.
 
It's preloading dudes and also dudettes.

I'm waiting so hard! Can you hear me waiting? Over the internet?
 
Woo only 15 hours of pre-loading to go!


:(
Oh well it won't be ready for when the demo is released but at least I'll be playing it the next morning.
 
So this means 10AM east tmr! Right? woot!
 
The early demo access is scheduled to begin around 2 am PST on the Xbox 360 and 7 am PST on the PC.
Click to expand...

The irony.
 
And that translates to ~ midnight tonight for us Australians, so I'll probably end up playing it tomorrow morning.

Edit: Does anyone know of a countdown timer that's been set up?
 
Don't you guys see? They're going to get the demo out RIGHT ON TIME!

By announcing it's release at 7 AM, it will arrive PRECISELY on time at 4 PM!

Oh Valve, how wonderful you are!
 
Top Secret said:
Don't you guys see? They're going to get the demo out RIGHT ON TIME!

By announcing it's release at 7 AM, it will arrive PRECISELY on time at 4 PM!

Oh Valve, how wonderful you are!
Click to expand...

Indeed, even a seven hour delay will not effect me and my kangaroo-hugging kindred in the slightest. Suckers.
 
Avoidist said:
Edit: Does anyone know of a countdown timer that's been set up?
Click to expand...
Not that I know of, but if you've got Vista you can do this:

steamtimeog6.gif


And since we know it's being released at 7AM Steam time...

/geek
 
Operational said:
Not that I know of, but if you've got Vista you can do this:

steamtimeog6.gif


And since we know it's being released at 7AM Steam time...

/geek
Click to expand...

How do you do that! Never mind got it!

Wow thats a really cool feature.
 
Pre-load was ready after 5 min ;) Right now im just waiting.
 
Damn it, the l4d.com/demo site is still down. :frown:

edit: Alrighty, just entered the code in the Product Activation Wizard, downloading now. Yay.
 
Got it.

First impressions:
Game is buggy as hell. Crashes all the time. Can't connect to anything. Dedicated servers simply don't work.

Performance is terrible. I'm going to have to tweak it until I can get a decent framerate.

Game is WAY too fast-paced. You run at a billion miles an hour. Zombies go down in like one hit, you can be totally surrounded by hundreds of zombies and still make it out alive. At the same time, the game is extremely confusing, and there's tons of arcadey interface crap all over the place.

Voice acting is good, and context-sensitive voice is very well put together, though I would prefer it if they didn't say "RELOADING" every ****ing time they reloaded their guns. Also, the black guy says "HELL NAW" every time zombies show up, and the girl says "Stop it! That's not funny!" when you shoot her.

AI director is interesting, but unfortunately it didn't give me much time to test out the mechanics of the game. Every time I wanted to stop and check up on things in single-player, the AI director would spam us with hundreds of zombies. I think the AI director is really just designed to keep the players moving, and to keep the game extremely fast paced. This is terrible.

Secondary zombies aren't really a big deal. Boomers are the most dangerous, since as soon as you are attacked by one, the AI director spawns massive hordes of zombies. Smokers and hunters are easy to take care of. Haven't seen the witch yet.

AI for the zombies is horrid. AI for non-player-controlled characters is even worse. I'm talking worse than vanilla half-life 2 AI for the rebels. They just stand there, expect you to lead, and don't shoot zombies until they are right on top of you. Zombies will just stand and stare at walls until you shoot them. They often spawn on top of stuff that they can't get off, or spawn in huge groups in corners facing the walls. For some reason zombies are attracted most to car-alarms.

There are some serious physics bugs. For instance, zombie ragdolls have been dumbed down tremendously. They just kind of float around and clip through things, oh and did I mention all of the zombies die in SLOW MOTION? As soon as I shoot a zombie, it will fly back like 10 feet, all the while floating as it it were in 2001 a space oddessy, then slide around on the floor, clipping through stuff.

Overall, extremely dissapointed. I can't believe I pre-ordered this garbage.
 
theotherguy said:
Got it.

First impressions:
Game is buggy as hell. Crashes all the time. Can't connect to anything. Dedicated servers simply don't work.

Performance is terrible. I'm going to have to tweak it until I can get a decent framerate.

Game is WAY too fast-paced. You run at a billion miles an hour. Zombies go down in like one hit, you can be totally surrounded by hundreds of zombies and still make it out alive. At the same time, the game is extremely confusing, and there's tons of arcadey interface crap all over the place.

Voice acting is good, and context-sensitive voice is very well put together, though I would prefer it if they didn't say "RELOADING" every ****ing time they reloaded their guns. Also, the black guy says "HELL NAW" every time zombies show up, and the girl says "Stop it! That's not funny!" when you shoot her.

AI director is interesting, but unfortunately it didn't give me much time to test out the mechanics of the game. Every time I wanted to stop and check up on things in single-player, the AI director would spam us with hundreds of zombies. I think the AI director is really just designed to keep the players moving, and to keep the game extremely fast paced. This is terrible.

Secondary zombies aren't really a big deal. Boomers are the most dangerous, since as soon as you are attacked by one, the AI director spawns massive hordes of zombies. Smokers and hunters are easy to take care of. Haven't seen the witch yet.

AI for the zombies is horrid. AI for non-player-controlled characters is even worse. I'm talking worse than vanilla half-life 2 AI for the rebels. They just stand there, expect you to lead, and don't shoot zombies until they are right on top of you. Zombies will just stand and stare at walls until you shoot them. They often spawn on top of stuff that they can't get off, or spawn in huge groups in corners facing the walls. For some reason zombies are attracted most to car-alarms.

There are some serious physics bugs. For instance, zombie ragdolls have been dumbed down tremendously. They just kind of float around and clip through things, oh and did I mention all of the zombies die in SLOW MOTION? As soon as I shoot a zombie, it will fly back like 10 feet, all the while floating as it it were in 2001 a space oddessy, then slide around on the floor, clipping through stuff.

Overall, extremely dissapointed. I can't believe I pre-ordered this garbage.
Click to expand...
It's that bad? :eek:

I was considering getting it eventually but that sounds horrible.
 
I made an account here just to say something about your comment, Theotherguy. First, I've been frequenting Halflife2.net long before HL2 came out, if that gives me any credibility. You can check out my steam profile to get an idea of what games I play, but I really play everything. And just to make sure I cover my bases, I play games intensely. I hope to set up a game reviewing site, and maybe make a game in the future. Let me go point for point with this list of issues so I can make sure to get everything.

theotherguy said:
Got it.

First impressions:
Game is buggy as hell. Crashes all the time. Can't connect to anything. Dedicated servers simply don't work.
Click to expand...

My roommate and I both pre-ordered L4D and started playing the demo today. We both connect to a LAN game I made and played through the demo twice with little issue. The only problem he had was a bit of lag on chapter transitions, which I assume would clear up. I haven't tried dedicated servers, but I wouldn't call the game a waste of money until its actually out, since Valve is pretty good about fixing things.

Performance is terrible. I'm going to have to tweak it until I can get a decent framerate.
Click to expand...

Performance for myself and my roommate is fine, and the game looks incredible in my opinion. I've played everything from Crisis to Oblivion to Shadow of the Colossus, and I can never get over Valve's style. My friends computer is about 2 years old with some slight mods, to give you an idea.

Game is WAY too fast-paced. You run at a billion miles an hour. Zombies go down in like one hit, you can be totally surrounded by hundreds of zombies and still make it out alive. At the same time, the game is extremely confusing, and there's tons of arcadey interface crap all over the place.
Click to expand...

You don't run as fast as I thought everyone made it out to be. The fast pace is great, I believe, to enhance the panic atmosphere. I think you may be playing it on a pretty easy difficulty, because it doesn't take long for someone to die one step up from normal. I would say the game is actually less confusing due to the "arcadey" interface crap, which actually helps you out. My friend said he didn't know what he thought about that, but I know it would be challenging and perhaps frustrating should they not give you that help. Its a risk, which I think Valve always does and has pulled off to my liking.

Voice acting is good, and context-sensitive voice is very well put together, though I would prefer it if they didn't say "RELOADING" every ****ing time they reloaded their guns. Also, the black guy says "HELL NAW" every time zombies show up, and the girl says "Stop it! That's not funny!" when you shoot her.
Click to expand...

I love the voice acting, and in my opinion Valve's facial expressions and dialogue really make or break the game, as compared to the terrible facial movements in Hell's Highway. The reloading comments seem to appear largely when you are in a tense circumstance, and I can get over them saying it, especially when I play with someone else. Louis hasn't said "HELL NAW" yet for me. I would agree with the comment Zoey makes, but what would you have them say?

AI director is interesting, but unfortunately it didn't give me much time to test out the mechanics of the game. Every time I wanted to stop and check up on things in single-player, the AI director would spam us with hundreds of zombies. I think the AI director is really just designed to keep the players moving, and to keep the game extremely fast paced. This is terrible.
Click to expand...

I love the pacing of the game, and I feel like the director switches things up significantly and effectively. I've played the demo through about ten times, and its different every time. I can sense just enough of the director to think about it, but not enough to say I'm being fiddled with. There are times when zombies flood into a room if you stand around long enough, but we could always patch ourselves up and move on before that would usually happen. Whats more, is it definitely encourages you to keep moving, as should real zombie apocalypse survivors think :).


Secondary zombies aren't really a big deal. Boomers are the most dangerous, since as soon as you are attacked by one, the AI director spawns massive hordes of zombies. Smokers and hunters are easy to take care of. Haven't seen the witch yet.
Click to expand...

I think they all have their place, and I would say that the Smokers and Hunters are about on par with the Boomers. The witches man, crazy. I've seen about 5, randomly, and its great when you find them. And terrible, too.

AI for the zombies is horrid. AI for non-player-controlled characters is even worse. I'm talking worse than vanilla half-life 2 AI for the rebels. They just stand there, expect you to lead, and don't shoot zombies until they are right on top of you. Zombies will just stand and stare at walls until you shoot them. They often spawn on top of stuff that they can't get off, or spawn in huge groups in corners facing the walls. For some reason zombies are attracted most to car-alarms.
Click to expand...

AI for zombies seems appropriate for... zombies. Your teammates help you when you need it, though they don't start sniping zombies in the distance. This I think is a good thing, since that can trigger all kinds of wackiness. Sometimes, I've been surprised at the AI teammates aggressiveness, when they go on UZI rampages.

There are some serious physics bugs. For instance, zombie ragdolls have been dumbed down tremendously. They just kind of float around and clip through things, oh and did I mention all of the zombies die in SLOW MOTION? As soon as I shoot a zombie, it will fly back like 10 feet, all the while floating as it it were in 2001 a space oddessy, then slide around on the floor, clipping through stuff.
Click to expand...

This is what I most wanted to address. There hasn't been a single physics bug for me yet. Whats more, is the zombie deaths look incredible. The ragdoll flows from the animations, which are also stupendous, resulting in some very realistic body movements. I haven't seen any of this clipping that you mention, just tons of almost too realistic zombie deaths.

Overall, extremely dissapointed. I can't believe I pre-ordered this garbage.
Click to expand...

I love it, and I can't wait for the whole game to come out. I'm sure I'll play the demo tens of times more, and my friend and I can't get enough of playing together. I'm sure it would be amazing with 4 players, which I hope to recruit soon. The server issue is likely to be resolved, since Valve always seems to work on the player level rather than some massive corporation. Thus far, the game has lived up to my year or however long its been since it was announced of waiting. Its grand, you need to try it.

Oh hey, thanks for the great work here at Halflife2.net, I always come here first. :)
 
theotherguy said:
Got it.

First impressions:
Game is buggy as hell. Crashes all the time. Can't connect to anything. Dedicated servers simply don't work.

Performance is terrible. I'm going to have to tweak it until I can get a decent framerate.

Game is WAY too fast-paced. You run at a billion miles an hour. Zombies go down in like one hit, you can be totally surrounded by hundreds of zombies and still make it out alive. At the same time, the game is extremely confusing, and there's tons of arcadey interface crap all over the place.

Voice acting is good, and context-sensitive voice is very well put together, though I would prefer it if they didn't say "RELOADING" every ****ing time they reloaded their guns. Also, the black guy says "HELL NAW" every time zombies show up, and the girl says "Stop it! That's not funny!" when you shoot her.

AI director is interesting, but unfortunately it didn't give me much time to test out the mechanics of the game. Every time I wanted to stop and check up on things in single-player, the AI director would spam us with hundreds of zombies. I think the AI director is really just designed to keep the players moving, and to keep the game extremely fast paced. This is terrible.

Secondary zombies aren't really a big deal. Boomers are the most dangerous, since as soon as you are attacked by one, the AI director spawns massive hordes of zombies. Smokers and hunters are easy to take care of. Haven't seen the witch yet.

AI for the zombies is horrid. AI for non-player-controlled characters is even worse. I'm talking worse than vanilla half-life 2 AI for the rebels. They just stand there, expect you to lead, and don't shoot zombies until they are right on top of you. Zombies will just stand and stare at walls until you shoot them. They often spawn on top of stuff that they can't get off, or spawn in huge groups in corners facing the walls. For some reason zombies are attracted most to car-alarms.

There are some serious physics bugs. For instance, zombie ragdolls have been dumbed down tremendously. They just kind of float around and clip through things, oh and did I mention all of the zombies die in SLOW MOTION? As soon as I shoot a zombie, it will fly back like 10 feet, all the while floating as it it were in 2001 a space oddessy, then slide around on the floor, clipping through stuff.

Overall, extremely dissapointed. I can't believe I pre-ordered this garbage.
Click to expand...

I have had none of these issues or haven't noticed any of them.
My game hasn't crashed once and my performance is fine.

Everything downward on that list doesn't bother me in the least.

edit: Basically everything that Hammerhead said.
I love this game and will be buying it.
It gets SLIGHTLY repetitive but it's probably cause I've been playing for hours on end. D:
 
/reads nerd guys post.

Fair enough. Sounds like shit.

I'll download it anyway. The pace is a weird thing. You have to get it right or it becomes retarded unpopular quake 3 like rubbish.

Too slow and it's like red orchestra shudder.

It should be about the same pace as counter strike.

And why do zombies die in one hit? Is that as retarded as it sounds? It sounds stupid.

I have to play this and judge for myself!
 
Zombies do NOT die in one hit unless it's a shot to the head, no idea where he got that from.
 
Hammersound said:
snip
Click to expand...

Mr. Hammersound, I like you. That had to have been the best first post I have ever read. I completely agree with everything that you stated.

When CybrMan and I were playing Expert on the second chapter earlier we had to play through it, no lie, 23 times before completing it successfully. Usually when I have to do a level over and over again I get super pissed, especially in a fecking demo. But L4D is different. It's different because I would usually get angry because I knew what would be coming around a corner in a normal game, but in here it's COMPLETELY random every single time, which makes it fun.

With a fix of a few matchmaking and other annoying bugs, the full game will be awesome.
 
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