More L4D from EA in London - 5/6/08
Three more Left 4 Dead interviews are available from the recent EA Studio Showcase in London. GameSpot has posted a video interview with writer Chet Faliszek, VideoGamer.com has another interview with Chet, and CVG has an interview with Doug Lombardi. Doug elaborates on where Valve sees the multiplayer arena heading:
With L4D, we want to give you something that's not just totally mindless to play because you and your buddies have to work together. We call it co-op for lack of a better term, but I think you're going to see a lot of multiplayer games go in this direction.
We've already seen games like World of Warcraft and the MMO scene doing this - you have parties, you stick together, you work together, and obviously it's really popular, so why shouldn't action games be going in that direction as well?
Nothing new is mentioned, but it might help curb your hunger for L4D for a little while. The video interview has some very brief clips from the mysteriously removed trailer that was posted on GameTrailers.com a while back. This is the only video available from the entire event, which is disappointing since press were allowed to take all the pictures and film they wanted to. Press, you sadden us. Remember that you can check out all previously released footage in our videos section, all screenshots in the screenshots section, and high resolution wallpapers in the wallpapers section.
Community member TheDark12 has written the ninth chapter in his ongoing Left 4 Dead-inspired saga available on our fan fiction page. Click here for the newest chapter, or start from the beginning here.
IGN Interview, GR Preview - 5/1/08
IGN has posted a new interview with Valve writer Chet Faliszek from the recent EA showcase. Chet talks about developing for the 360, the troubles with cross platform gaming, and what Valve has brought to the table for L4D.
IGN: Co-op play is starting to come into its own this generation. Will it play a large part in the future of gaming?
Chet Faliszek: It's now really easy for you to go on a server and find your friends. We're doing a lot of work on Steam for Left 4 Dead, and our matchmaking there will be what you expect from a co-op game where you want to play with four friends. And that's bringing co-op to the forefront - that's where lots of people hang out with their friends these days, and you don't always have to be competing against your friends. It really is the core experience of four-player co-op - you're with your buddies trying to do these things you always see in the movies. You can see the interaction here today where everyone's screaming along and having a great time. That's the story of Left 4 Dead - you've got to play that part and then talk to your friends about it afterwards. We want to create the situation where you yell and talk about it, and it's like you're doing Mystery Science Theatre while you're playing the game. You see your friends die, you see your buddies being idiots and you talk about it. We want to have that level of interaction.
When asked about a possible demo, Chet responded, "We're definitely going to make it accessible to people so that they can make a decision based on being able to play it. I don't know yet how we're going to do it."
Also, GamesRadar has posted a preview titled Left 4 Dead's seven scariest moments where they describe the emotional ride that they experienced during their time with Left 4 Dead. Check out the interview here and the preview here.
One More Lombardi Interview - 5/1/08
Luke Guttridge at play.tm interviewed Doug Lombardi about Left 4 Dead. Lombardi says that development on Left 4 Dead started with a prototype by Mike Booth in mid-2005, which means it has been development for about three years. A number of the questions are about what zombie-genre films and games have been influential, and some of Valve's goals in design:
What's your favourite instance in the game?
A lot of stuff is being done procedurally, and there will also be a few scripted moments, so there's big crescendos, etc. For me, the best part is always when you've caught up and you think you're at the end of the level, and then something goes wrong and you're back in it again. That moment of excitement, when something swings from nowhere. That false sense of security. Just earlier there was a moment like that, and all four players went 'whoa, holy shit!'. That's the moment.
Whenever you play CoD 4, Counter-Strike or whatever, when you're playing with a good team, and its going well. When you've ground out that tough victory and everyone throws their hands up, that's the moments we're looking for. That's the big idea. When I hear that from play-testers I know we're doing something right.
More questions are asked concerning the state of PC gaming, and Lombardi says that Valve would love to utilize the micro-transaction business model that is so popular in Asia (with titles like MapleStory and KartRider being played my tens of millions of players) if they ever get a game that is a fit for it. If you didn't know, Valve is already working with Korean developer Nexon Corporation to develop a micro-transaction-based Counter-Strike game named Counter-Strike Online. It'll be interesting to see how that works out, and if its successful maybe the same thing could be done for Left 4 Dead. Also in this interview we have the most specific release date target ever, with Lombardi saying, "We're aiming for the first week of November on PC and Xbox 360." Cross your fingers.
L4D Lombardi Interview - 5/1/08
TVG sat down with Valve's marketing man Doug Lombardi to talk about Left 4 Dead. It starts off with the normal jibba jabba introducing the game, but a large portion dealt with Michael Booth and Valve's acquiring of Turtle Rock:
TVG: I understand this title was originally developed by Turtle Rock, Valve then acquired Turtle Rock, and you've been developing the title since?
Well, we were working together before that. It was always a co-production. They were working on Counter-Strike Source, and before that they did Counter-Strike for the Xbox. We wanted to hire Michael Booth back when we met him at E3 2003 I think it was, and he wouldn't leave Southern California for the rain of Seattle.
So we said, 'Okay, why don't you setup shop down there?' And he's an ex-Westwood guy so he started slowly picking off people from Blizzard South and ex-Westwood people - his old friends - to come and work with him on these projects. And, in the background of developing those Counter-Strike projects, he was sort of prototyping Left 4 Dead and coming up with really rough versions. We would playtest it, give him feedback and eventually it evolved into this. Over time we've had people that got interested up in Seattle who wanted to keep working on it and it just got to a point where we were like, 'You know, we're kind of like one company with two offices. Why don't we just go ahead and make this official?'
It's a good read, so head on over to TVG. They have also posted a 'first look preview' which states their concerns over the Xbox 360 version's retail viability (being multiplayer-focused) and a more general introduction to the game, find it here.
L4D Interview with Chet - 4/28/08
BT: And I'm guessing that the goal of each campaign is to escape and get to safety?
CF: Yeah, it's classic zombie movie stuff. The whole get to safety thing, we really wanted to play into all that. There's also a setup for people who just want to jump in and play a scenario and go through and play a quick game too.
True, there's less of a story that way, but even the story mode is made to be replayable, so we don't have any of these big scenes and we don't stop for anything. There are no pauses where we have a voice come in and say "and now what's happening is". It's far more natural and fluid than all of that. Instead, as you're running and gunning and building tension through these down periods you kind of build the story around you.
This is the first time we've heard of there being separate gameplay modes, a story mode and a regular mode. More on how the story mode might work:
BT: What puzzles me then is that you're the writer, but you said there wasn't any specific narrative or dialogue handed to the player? How've you helped to build that mood then?
CF: Oh, no, there is a narrative, but it's a running one. Lots of smaller pieces. We have a system which we use, which…it's like in Episode Two where Alyx makes some cracks about something and what she does is also remember those cracks and does stuff like commenting on your driving. You smash right into something and she's all "Hey Gordon, nice driving". Or whatever.
One thing we try to do is, when the player thinks they should be saying something then we try to have them say something.
Chet mentions that they've been experimenting with friendly fire - for example, if somebody is pinned down by zombies and you're trying to shoot the zombies off of them, you can't shoot your friend. Chet says running the four campaigns from start to finish will probably be about "six to eight hours of gameplay". He also says that they've been having outside people come in and playtest the game, including clans. We hope to hear more about the story mode and maybe how the Xbox 360 version might have played into that decision, but for now, head on over and read the interview.
L4D at EA Studio Showcase in London - 4/25/08
Left 4 Dead is being shown to the press at the EA Games Studio Showcase in London, videogaming247.com has posted an audio stream of Doug Lombardi's 3 minute introduction to the game (starts at around 2:00).
Journalists attending will be playing through a scenario and are allowed to film gameplay, so we can expect new previews and impressions in the next few days.
The biggest news so far is that Left 4 Dead is on track for a November 2008 release worldwide for both PC and Xbox 360.
CVG has posted three new screenshots which you can find here, here, and here.
Check back here for all the latest on Left 4 Dead, and if you find a new preview we haven't posted about, let us know in the forum!
Left 4 Dead heads to Russia - 4/11/08
Left 4 Dead is heading to Russia and other CIS countries, thanks to a retail publishing deal signed between Valve and Eastern European game publisher Akella. Akella is a 250+ man development and publishing house located in Moscow, Russia with a track record stretching back to 1993 of over 800 games published. Akella has partnered with over 50 other publishers in order to localize games for the Russian-speaking market.
"Akella is thrilled to be able to bring this unique game to Russian speaking territories. We are very excited by all Valve's games and pretty sure of huge success of this new cooperative shooter hit in Russia and CIS countries." said Vladimir Koudr, VP of Publishing at Akella, "Left 4 Dead is already highly expected throughout the world, and Russian FPS players are eager to play this game."
View the full press release here.
Left 4 Dead is now scheduled to release worldwide in Fall 2008, later than the previously stated "late summer".
RPS L4D Interview with Chet - 3/5/08
PC gaming website Rock, Paper, Shotgun has posted a new interview with Left 4 Dead developer Chet Faliszek covering issues as diverse as L4D, the development process, TF2, the writer's guild, and Bob Ross.
RPS: Do you think gamers really "get" Left 4 Dead? The survivor stuff is pretty straightforward, but there’s this whole asymmetric FPS thing going on… it’s different.
Faliszek: When we describe it people say "yeah, we get the zombie game idea", and then they actually play it and they say "oh, now we understand". It’s hard to translate that fact. It’s a game where you know where your team-mates are and you know what they’re doing, and you always have to be aware of them. More than any other game it has that thing where you have to work with the other players. When gamers get that they click and have the "oh wow" moment. That’s what it’s about: four guys trying to survive together. It’s not about the zombie thing, or the horror, it’s about these four characters.
RPS: It’s not like a survival horror experience, though. It’s more intense, less scary.
Faliszek: Yeah, I liken it to the final moments of Counter-Strike. It’s that bit where you’re the last one or two guys on the team and everyone is watching. If you screw up then everyone knows. In Team Fortress you can have a bad day and no one will really notice. You can be off somewhere spamming rockets and no one cares. But in Left 4 Dead you’re always on stage. You throw a grenade into the middle of everyone and they’re going to know it. That’s the intensity of thing.
Chet explains why all of the campaigns happen at night - the infected are still part human and therefore have worse vision when it's darker, so the Survivors only move at night to avoid more infected. More TF2 shorts are coming, and Chet says that "we'll do something like that for Left 4 Dead. We have a bunch of guys working on it." You heard it from Chet first. Other topics include Call of Duty 4, the writer's guild, Chet's job, moving Valve's properties to movies, Xbox 360 version developer Certain Affinity, and how much work is put into audio. Chet describing the Valve development process:
RPS: How are you guys feeling about the changes ahead for TF2?
Faliszek: Awesome! Robin Walker is a gaming God, according to PC Gamer [US] anyway. These guys play a lot and they know what they’re doing. I mean you see this stuff and react to it, but... did you ever see that painting guy, Bob Ross?
RPS: Sure.
Faliszek: Well it’s like that. He’s painting and puts this huge black splat in and you’re all, "Oh, you’ve totally ruined it now," but then suddenly it’s a painting of a duck. It’s the same with TF2. The changes end up making sense, even if you don’t get it right away. I have total faith.
Thanks to Rock, Paper, Shotgun and Chet Faliszek for providing us with such a great interview. RPS is a gaming news website dedicated to the PC, and if this interview is any indication, it's a site worth visiting. If you haven't yet, go read the interview! Also, CVG has posted a short Left 4 Dead preview from PC Gamer which talks about an aspect of L4D gameplay that we hadn't heard of before.
New L4D Trailer - 3/1/08
Check out a new trailer for Left 4 Dead, click here for the YouTube version uploaded by community member Darksora.
Awesome.
Updated: Sorry if you haven't seen the trailer yet, but it is continually taken down wherever posted.
GT TV and Eurogamer Preview L4D - 3/1/08
Left 4 Dead was featured on the latest episode of Gametrailers TV, and Eurogamer.net has posted a new preview, interview, and 6 screenshots. The Eurogamer article is split up into two parts, a preview of L4D and an interview with Valve's VP of marketing Doug Lombardi. The preview is a fun read, and talks about the difficulty:
Valve makes no apology for kicking us off on the easiest of the four difficulty settings, and takes an almost gleeful delight that we still suck at it. It knows only too well that we'll initially screw up, wander off, and get ambushed. Valve's ubiquitous VP of marketing Doug Lombardi and "Mr Awesome" Chet Falizsek wander past now and then, smiling ruefully to themselves as they spot our rubbish tactics a mile off. But everyone does it, so that's okay. As we progress, it's more than evident that the game revels in presenting a tough challenge - particularly for those foolish enough to reject the notion of team play. If you decide to play the renegade zombie killer who strays from the herd, expect the AI director to rain zombie death. Even a couple of hours of in, there's a real sense that this was a game where you'll enjoy the learning curve, rather than get frustrated with it.
Eurogamer is the first to mention the possible name of the hardest difficulty, with Doug Lombardi saying "on the insane level only the best people finish one out of three times." If that stays true, the difficulty modes are Normal, Hard, Expert, Insane. We hope that the 33% survival rate is brought down as soon as Valve has some time to work on the harder difficulty modes. Another piece is that "you pick which of the amusing character skins you want to occupy." This should make more than a few fans happy. Eurogamer ends their preview with the following impressions:
Given we were only able to sample a small portion of Left 4 Dead, the possibilities of what lies in store when the game arrives in September position it as one of our most wanted games of the year, just as it was last year when we thought it would be out then. The quality isn't going to fade. It's one of the few online-only games that we can foresee spending stupid amounts of time playing with our friends, and if I get to blow Tom up in an elevator it'll be sweet vengeance for all the times he kicked me off rooftops in Crackdown. I hate him.
Last night at 1AM EST Gametrailers TV debuted their latest episode dedicated to Valve. They hinted at CS2, Portal 2, and Episode 3 (despite the number, L4D is the one non-sequel in the bunch). The show featured an interview with project lead Mike Booth, quoted as saying Zoey is like "Alyx's hot little sister".
The above is a screen capture at 16:35 of the show, which is a nicely shot Tank feature with the Tank running across the streets tossing a car around. Right afterwards, at 16:53, the Witch is shown going from kneeling to standing up to running off which is some of the first clear Witch footage we've seen. Over half of the footage seems to be older Gametrailers.com features, but mixed in are newer stuff so it's definitely worth the time to head over and watch the episode.
New footage and 6 new screenshots, featuring a couple warehouse shots, a look at a new part of the Cornfield level (hilltop bridge), and a shot of Zoey fighting off the fence-jumping horde with a rifle on her back. We have added the video and screenshots to our Left 4 Dead media gallery, and on top of all that community member TheDark12 has posted the eighth chapter of his ongoing L4D story, so check it out.
IGN Previews the Infected - 2/29/08
IGN has posted a new preview of Left 4 Dead featuring the boss infected side along with 14 new screenshots. The two page preview goes through each of the five boss infected describing their abilities and what they're like to play. Our favorite screenshot is the first high resolution shot of the Hunter:
The most interesting parts of the article to those of us who already know the basics of L4D are the changes in boss zombie powers. First off, the Hunter can no longer cloak/turn invisible. It used to be that as a Hunter you would have to stand still near a wall or large object for a short time, slowly cloaking, and then after you were cloaked you would be able to pounce onto a Survivor. To make up for no cloak, the Hunter is now able to pounce after crouching/crawling around:
Hunters' main ability is a pounce, something that charges while crouched. Valve is still working on the UI, but right now the charge meter is represented at the center of the screen as a small icon that slowly fills up. When full, the pounce can be triggered. You'll need to be careful, though, as a full icon also causes the hunter to emit a low growl audible to survivors, potentially giving away your position, and almost certainly making them more wary.
The IGN article states that the Boomer now causes splash damage and at the same time causes nearby Survivors to get "puke" on them, just like the usual Boomer vomit attack. We've been told the developers have been working on this aspect, and have even fiddled with not having any splash damage at all. This is a recent change, and while we understand how beneficial it could be to alleviate headaches, we would REALLY like to see splash damage in the higher difficulties. The Tank spawning system has changed so that a player can no longer pass on the opportunity to become one. Pictured below is the first ever glimpse of the Cornfield escape vehicle, a military flatbed truck packing a minigun on the back:
The preview also sheds some light on the boss zombie spawning system. As we understand it currently, an infected player spawns as a fast-moving "zombie ghost" right where the Survivors are located, and must move a certain distance away from the Survivors in order to spawn. IGN said the time between spawns is around a minute and felt a little long to them. The Cornfield scenario "takes the survivors through a series of abandoned warehouses, fields, rural mountain paths, and ends in a farmhouse standoff."
Finally, a quick note for online matches. Valve is setting it up so if a player drops out in the middle of a campaign, they'll immediately be taken over by an AI. Should another player join up afterwards, that they'll take the AI's place, ensuring a game will continue on even if a majority of the players leave the game.
This is perfect use of the Survivor AI and should help a team from getting screwed halfway through a scenario. If you haven't yet, check out the preview and then the new screenshots. The game's visuals are improving with every set of screenshots we see, and can only get better with the added support that the acquisition brought!
Left 4 Dead Xbox 360 Revealed! - 2/17/08
The March 2008 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine features Left 4 Dead on its cover, revealing the Xbox 360 version for the first time. OXM visited Valve where they played the Hospital and Cornfield scenarios on the PC and they also had the chance to see Cornfield running on Xbox 360 development hardware. This is the first time that the press has been able to see the Xbox 360 version, which still has some ways to go to match the PC: "Valve didn't let us play the 360 edition of Left 4 Dead because it was too early and unbalanced - apparently, the zombies were so overpowered that humans stood no chance." And about the graphics, "'The 360 look is almost to where the PC is, and we'll get it up to the PC look before we ship,' promises Faliszek."
The five page article contains about 8 new screenshots along with some others we've seen before, with some nice lighting going on. The multiplayer capabilities of the Xbox 360 were discussed with Doug Lombardi:
Left 4 Dead will feature four-player co-op and eight-player, 4-on-4 Versus matches via Xbox Live or System Link. What about a split screen mode? "That's the most relevant question that we can't answer for you today," replies Valve's Doug Lombardi with a laugh. "It's a good thing to want. Being able to play two people split-screen ... four player would be even better, but I don't think four- would happen. But for us, the idea of having two people play split-screen, playing co-op on the couch and letting the NPC's fill out the rest ... it's a pretty big feature for us to chase. But right now, we're not ready to say if it's in or it's out."
The other big news from this article is that a separate game company named Certain Affinity is handling the Xbox 360 version. Certain Affinity is a small game developer founded in November 2006 based in Austin, Texas with about 16 employees. Their first product was Halo 2's Blastacular Map Pack for Bungie and Microsoft. Certain Affinity is led by Max Hoberman, a 10-year Bungie veteran who was multiplayer lead for both Halo 2 and Halo 3. OXM explained how the work is divided between the three (now two, since Turtle Rock Studios has been absorbed by Valve):
Left 4 Dead is the work of three companies - Valve Software, Turtle Rock Studios, and Certain Affinity. As the creators of The Orange Box and the Source engine, Valve is handling the games core software functionality. Certain Affinity (the Texas company created by ex-Bungie veteran Max Hoberman) was brought on to handle 360-specific elements like matchmaking, Live support, console customization, and 360 gameplay tweaks. Turtle Rock - developer of Counter-Strike for the original Xbox and the Pc's more recent Counter-Strike: Source - owns Left 4 Dead's design. Monsters, level work, weapons, and especially the game's A.I. all fall to the Turtle Rock crew.
Max Hoberman was in charge of the entire online system for Halo 2 and 3, including matchmaking and the party system. Having that experience behind the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead is very exciting - as I understand it, Halo 2 and 3 did pretty well in the online arena! Some other things of note in the OXM article: The escape vehicle on Cornfield is a "heavily armed flatbed" truck. They played with NPC teammates that "behaved impressively like human players", which is the first time we've seen Survivor AI mentioned.
OXM states the following: "EXCLUSIVE: The PC and 360 versions of Left 4 Dead will ship simultaneously, but there will be no PS3 edition." No quote is given, so until we hear it straight from the mouth of Lombardi or Booth, we're not certain. Thanks to OXM for its great coverage of Left 4 Dead, and we wish luck to Certain Affinity on its task of taming the 360 version of Left 4 Dead!
CSN L4D Preview Part 2 - 2/7/08
CS-Nation has released the second part of their Left 4 Dead preview, featuring Zips' impressions from his Hospital experience.
They're pounding the door down!? The Infected were actually pounding so hard on that door that it was bending and bowing outwards, ready to give at any moment. Talk about a situation where the tension was palpable! We didn't have to wait long before they burst through, our guns instantly blazing. One after another, they fell at our feet, sometimes two or three at a time from the wide blast radius of the shotgun, not a single one having even a chance to attack. There wasn't a moment of peace after our success as it was time to move on to the next area and meet up with our teammates.
Zips mentions a couple technical issues, including long load times and clipping issues, but was assured they would be fixed before release. If you haven't read part 1, click here to check it out. Thanks to CS-Nation for a great overall preview of the game.
Boss Infected in PC Gamer - 2/5/08
The cover story on the new March issue of PC Gamer highlights upcoming zombie games of 2008, featuring an article on the Left 4 Dead boss infected side. This is the first time since our preview almost a year ago that somebody outside of Valve has been able to both play and write about the experience, and could be taken as a positive indicator of development progress.
The article gives a general overview of the game, then dives into the individual bosses and describes either a story or some strategy of each. Something that has remained a mystery due to heavy development has been the boss infected respawn system, and PC Gamer has given us a glimpse of the current state of things:
Before I spawned, I could wander the map as an invisible entity, getting up close to Surivivors to observe the action and study their tactics in order to identify the weakest player. Then I climbed exclusive "zombie ladders" that gave me access to rooftops and railings where I could spawn out of sight.
..I could also see a bright glowing line that indicated a dynamic checkpoint; I could only spawn after a Survivor crossed that scrimmage line.
..while this mechanic will probably change in the final version, the idea is that the AI Director paces the game to give Survivors time to build up their suspense after large hordes attacks, and gives the boss infected adequate time to prepare their scares.
It's very unclear exactly how the system works, hopefully as they iron things out we'll get a better idea. So what did PC Gamer think of the boss infected side?
Making the survivors' lives hell has great sadistic appeal. Valve's ambition to institutionalize game griefing could really revolutionize online gaming.
The article concludes with the following:
What'll be interesting is how well this "house of horrors" mechanic holds up in the long run, when Survivors begin to learn all of each map's nooks and crannies. The game's designers told me that they're actually targeting the competitive Counter Strike crowd with Left 4 Dead, a group of gamers notorious for scrutinizing every multiplayer map detail for balance. Thats part of the reason Left 4 Dead is now scheduled for a fall 2008 release; Valve knows it has something special, and the team plans to keep play-testing, polishing, and iterating the game until it's perfect
We look forward to more boss infected information in the future, for now you should go pick up PC Gamer! If you haven't checked it out yet, CS-Nation has posted the first part of their Left 4 Dead preview along with the first ever Witch screenshot, which we have now added to our wallpaper gallery.
Finally, TheDark12 has added the latest chapter to his ongoing Left 4 Dead fan fiction story The Forgotten Survivors, which you can find here.
CS-Nation Left 4 Dead Preview - 2/5/08
CS-Nation has just posted the first part of their Left 4 Dead preview, covering the basics of the game including graphics, gameplay, and other areas. Zips, the author, had a very positive experience with the game:
Frankly, I'm going to cut to the chase immediately and tell you exactly what you want to know. Yes, the game is amazing. No, the game wasn't near completed when I played it. Yes, you will need teamwork constantly here. There will be no John Rambos in Left 4 Dead. If you fly solo, you're dead, and that's not an exaggeration.
There's dismemberment, gore, human emotion, fear, and vomit. Yes, vomit. In short, this game has it all, makes no apologies, and is everything you could have possibly hoped for.
The first part of this article is really for people that haven't been introduced to Left 4 Dead yet, and Zips did an excellent job organizing it. Something brand new has come out, the first ever screenshot of the Witch! Check out the high resolution version here. We look forward to the second part where Zips will describe every detail he can about the time he had with the game.
