Post new ideas for campaigns/maps!

[Mr Hobo]

MODERATOR'S NOTE:
(Note that this thread is mainly just about ideas, if you're actually making the map/campaign or have it made already, you can post its own thread.)

Well, I was reading the thread about more DLC hopefully coming out in the future, and I thought about the SDK and such. Either post about what maps your thinking about creating, or maps that just popped right out of your head.

My Main Idea: You and your buddies went on a trip to the Amazon to view the amazing sights and the dense varity of the animals. While waking from your sleep, you hear a voice from your radio saying that a infection is spreading, and there is a local boat house picking up anyone sane. This is were you start out.

First Map: When you start off, there is a group of dead soilders with the 3 weapon, and there is a highway of dirt that guides you towards the end of the map. You hack your way through the jungle, and then you get to a clearing. This is were the cresendo event occurs. You step into a trap, and loud howls fill the clearing. You have to shoot your way through, and then you step ownwards into a chain of local villages and huts.

Second Map: As you search the deserted village for supplies and ammo, you will find hints onto were next through the huts. As you step out into the jungle, you see that there is lots of corpses lying around, and rotting. As you are traviling through the jungle, the cresendo event starts. You stumble onto a flock of birds, and cause a lot of racket. After the cresendo, you wonder up into temples.

Third Map: You swerve in and out through the caves and temples of some old civilization, and tourches emit light. As you come out of the temple, you are probally standing 50 feet above the ground. Once you take a step down, a 200 year old tree falls, and makes quite a bang. Infected hurdle across the temple, climbing up the stairs to kill you. Once you are finished, you use the tree as a bridge to cross over a deep gouge in the ground and head straight towards a deserted livestock farm.

Fourth Map: As you cross over the farm and look at the decaying corpses, you will trigger a wave a panic through the animals, and they screach at the top of their lungs. As you cross through and shooting infected, you come up the the Amazon River, and this is were the finaly is.

Fith Map: You can see in the clearing a boat rocking back in forth of the calm water. As you approach the boat, you see a man inside. He is yelling to get in and turn on the engine. As you hop on the boat, you turn on the engine. It is loud, and triggers the finaly. The boat will continue riding, and you will shoot infected coming from the trees around you and hitting the boat. Once you survive, you will make it into the Atlantic ocean. You will ride up into a safe zone just above the Amazon. This will be the end.

Sorry that my idea sucks, but it would be cool to see a jungle map. :D

[Big J 101]

Hey what about a campaign that starts off in a museum
1st level:
you are in the toilet (hiding) and there are 4 police lying dead in there with you ONLY pistols to start with (you still have medikits) and you leave the toilet then make your way through the level (all the lights are off so theres only the occasional fire light and flickering torch lying on the floor so you have to use your torchs a lot) and find a combined total of 4 uzis and shotguns throughout the level usually in a side room (so you should really explore) eventually finding the security door leading to the stairs. security door is out of power so you've gotta turn on the emergancy generator to power it up (which turns all the lights on as well) very much like NM2 then you go down the stairs and enter the basement close the door to the stairs. Lv 1 finished

lv2:
make your way through the basement (only finding one ammo pile at the mid point) and somewhere in the lv there is ONE second tier weapon. as you make your way through this lv all the lights are on (unfortunatly only spooky hanging from the roof lights that slightly swing) and you can see all the manakins (know thats spelt wrong soz) around the place and about half way through the tight passages and many turn offs (kinda like a maze) you see a radio on the bench which only has static coming out of it. theirs a big garage door near the end which must be moved the survivors must lift it up (like helping someone up only takes longer but you can shorten the time needed by getting more people to help) while the others cover them from the infected that come from the noise the rusty garage door is making when being opened (barricade on the other side so you have to open it fully to jump over it) then run through the door which leads to a bus station which there is a bus crashed into the building which you have to get on and close the bus door behind you. lv 2 done

lv3
making your way through the bus station ammo pile in bus/safe room then you leave and start your way through the bus station going through the garage of the station first then through the office area and management offices. two tier two weapons hidden through this level. and as you get to the stairs to go to the second level you have to push down a massive set up baracade which then it summons the horde and you've got to race to the top and jump onto a bus from a window in a second floor room or get swarmed by infected that constantly come till you get out the window (like in survival mode about 10 minutes in but only base infected and they start at the garage and start running towards your position while a few spawn in the rooms ahead of you). you then have to move across the busses (on the other side of the station now) to jump off over a fence that and into a police guard post (the ones at the entrace to important buildings that have the button activated fences) lock the door and lv 3 over

lv4
basically you start with the rest of the second tier weapons here then move out through the auto fence (by pressing button to leave the safe room) then you've gotta make your way through the streets (bit like NM1 and death toll 4) and a couple of alley ways then you see a super market which you have to enter but as soon as you start openning the front door (no power so you've gotta pull it open like garage door on lv 2 but dont have to all the way to get in) a horde comes same as crecsendo event then 10 seconds after you stop openning it it slowly closes so every one has to get in (as soon as possible so you don't get swarmed then you have a better spot to defend as they muist break through the door giving you a good spot to fend them off from (behind counters and makeshift baracades). once horde is dead you go into an office and lock the door. lv 4 finished

lv 5 (finale)

You start by having to climb out of the office window (ammo in safe room) into the storage area (out back of market where they get trucks to drop stuff off) and there is a truck (big long one that is ussually used for moving cars and heavy machinery) with someone getting ready to drive and they tell you to jump on the top (it has some boxes and stuff as defence for you nailed to the roof.
when your ready you tell him and you've got to press the butten to open the big door which alerts the horde. you hold out till the first tank in the garage area then you'll get twenty seconds to get on the back of the truck then he starts it (summons anther horde) and starts driving out you guys are now in the back compartment of the truck ladder leading to the roof and are fending off zombies which jump onto the truck from nearby roofs and eventually second tank comes jumps onto the truck which has toslow down because starts to drive out of town and along cliffs (yes very small and easy to get knocked off of the truck) kill tank then you win finale!

sorry about the lengthy post but had ideas popping out the wazoo

bit rushed only made it up in about 20 mins if anyone wants to use this idea PM me and let me know

I think this is an awesome idea a bit abstract with having to manually openning doors but I think it would add a nice unique touch to the game

[Big J 101]

oh and your idea sounds great I hope someone makes both of these ideas I think it'd be AWESOME!!!!!
sorry didn't mean to sound self absorbed though

[Hellbound107]

Not bad, first one didn't really match up well with L4D but a jungle maps not a bad idea or maybe a more heavy forest map then Blood Harvest.

My idea:
Free roam maps like the original maps were planned to be.

Outbreak
Occurs two weeks before No Mercy. There are no special infected until level 5.

Lvl1- Start off in one of three buildings with each character being randomly spawned alone in one of the set rooms. They start with only a pistol and there are no explosives beside the regular propane tanks and gasoline containers randomly spawned throughout the level. Medkits are also unavailable at first and can only be found as randomly spawned. The objective is for all four characters, if any die they have to be pulled from a closet, to make it to the first safe house randomly placed in one of the five fully fitted buildings.

Lvl2- Survivors head out on the streets and must cross a large high way filled with cars and the infected. A single pump action shotgun can be found randomly spawned on the highway along with a uzi. The highway changes into a large bridge crossing a large river and leads to a convenience store. A single random 2nd class weapon can be found inside(autoshotty, sniper, or assault rifle). Safehouse is in one of three locations:
-Back of eighteenwheeler
-back of convenience store
-2nd floor of small building

Lvl3- Survivors start in the same safehouse as they found in previous round, always looks the same on the inside. They leave to find the highway has fallen and they are forced to head to the outskirts of the city to a smalltown. Weapons and supplies hidden among many of houses. Some one story, some two, some two with a basement. Some are strongly boarded up and require explosions to get inside, obvious crescendo events waiting to happen. this is where the new ability to split up without worrying over specials comes in handy. In order to proceed passed the small town, the survivors must find fuel for a military truck parked in the middle of the street. There are six unexplodable tanks randomly spawned inside the houses that must be found. Level ends with the survivors getting inside the truck and it smashing through a blockade.

Lvl4- One survivor drives, one takes a gun turret on the roof, the other two get to chill in the back and shoot with their own guns. The truck heads beside a river and heads through a park. Path ends at a city pool. Survivors have to get out and head around the pool and ends with a safehouse inside the small building that allows admittance to the pool.

Lvl5- Survivors head back into the city and both boomers and tanks become spawnable. The survivors have must head through a large open free running city to reach a saferoom on the otherside. The path through the city is very difficult while straight paths like roads are destroyed and survivors may have to find several alternate routes while avoiding the free roaming tanks.

[one of them]

My idea:
Free roam maps like the original maps were planned to be.


But remember that the original idea was abandoned for a reason, nobody used different paths. They found one they liked, and used it every time.
However, if you found a way to make a Free-Roam Survival Map or something... that would be cool.

[VaporTrail]

A map or series of maps that had random blocks which changed the "valid" paths through the map every time might be pretty good. Say if you had a set of streets, three north-south, three east-west. Nine intersections, with the start on one side and the safe room past the other.

Without a blocking system, the path is "hey diddle diddle, straight up the middle".

With a random blocking system you have twenty seven different possible paths. With blocking done where you cannot see it before you're close, you will have to rely on luck to get through a level quickly, and if you make a bad choice, you have to backtrack and take another way.

[Stakhanov]

I wonder if they gave up on dynamic map layout because of pathnoding issues. If you use a large dynamic prop to block a path , the infected get stuck on it. If you rebuild the node graph afterwards , then they can't use that path when that prop is removed. This certainly makes things awkward , you have to use only props that the infected can climb without extra nodes (such as fences and police barricades)

Besides , I'm not 100% sure how the checkpoint system works but having a completely dynamic map would probably mess it up as well , if you have to backtrack to previous checkpoints.

[Grubster11]

Hey what about a campaign that starts off in a museum



They already have a map in a museum. It's called "The Museum of Unnatural History"

[Big J 101]

ohhhhhh
I haven't heard anything about it yet

[Etheallmighty]

I posted a thurough campaign idea in a thread a while ago. It was before the new forums came into the picture, so I don't know if I'll be able to find it (copy paste). But I remember people complementing saying it was really well thought out (I even spent an hour on Google finding images for referencing how maps should look..

I'll try and find it though

can we go to old posts? like before we got the forum makeover?

[BlackCat]

I posted a thurough campaign idea in a thread a while ago. It was before the new forums came into the picture, so I don't know if I'll be able to find it (copy paste). But I remember people complementing saying it was really well thought out (I even spent an hour on Google finding images for referencing how maps should look..

I'll try and find it though

can we go to old posts? like before we got the forum makeover?

Yeah, if you remember the title search for it in quotes otherwise you'll get a lot of other results that don't really match what you're looking for.

[Etheallmighty]

Just found it. went back like 15 pages of posts to november/december sometime.
*EDIT* Success

someone said they were making a snowy mountains one? here's my suggestion...if you are a map maker please read this I know it's long.

You start off in a little town sort of like at the base/little ways up a mountain (a little ski town, few cabins, bar,etc...) and you travel in the woods/on trails to get to the top.

The Idea is that by the time you get to the end of the final leg of the movie, your so high up and it's so FRIGGEN COLD that zombies can't survive (like from World War Z).....or you just call in a helicopter from a watchtower :/

WEATHER CHANGES THROUGH EACH LEG OF THE MOVIE
map one: simply overcast
map 2: snowing lightly, kinda foggy (like in beginning of blood harvest or death toll)
Map 3: snowing, clearly snow on ground/trees,etc.
map 4: still snowing, but more snow on the ground
map 5/finale: snowing, incredible windy like a blizzard. visibility not very far (makes for a hard finale) I mean imagine your friend being yanked by a smoker off into oblivion!!!

some safe rooms could be

1-camper/RV in a camp ground
2-Abandoned children's summer camp (specifically a cabin in it somewhere). There should be many cabins here where the children would stay, and one semi-big sized building which used to be the main eating hall/gym, and other various things that would be in a summer camp.
3- double sided bathroom on the side of trail. (boys on one side and girls on another, they are connected through a wall. The way that this could be a safe room is you enter through the boys door, and maybe the center wall that's was connecting them is bashed in, so you'll end up exiting through the girls door on the opposide side. I couldn't find a good picture but here's half of what I mean http://www.family-vacation-getaways-at-los-angeles-theme-parks.com/images/BigSurKirkBathroom.gif (http://www.family-vacation-getaways-at-los-angeles-theme-parks.com/images/BigSurKirkBathroom.gif)

3-Ski lodge. Preferably a creepy one like the one from the Shining or from Condemned (also a possibility for the finale, to hold off inthe main lobby with tons of windows everywhere.2 http://www.goski.ca/images/properties/471/image001.jpg (http://www.goski.ca/images/properties/471/image001.jpg)

4-enclosed Ski Lift (see below CRESCENDO EVENTS)

5-The final safe room/ finale event would be at watchtower towards the very top of the mountain...of course you call a helicopter to come get you (I love this whole idea but can't think of anything more interesting for the end, you guys can change it if you want) http://www.lake-placid-area-guide.com/images/whitefacetower.jpg (http://www.lake-placid-area-guide.com/images/whitefacetower.jpg) that's not exactly what I'm trying to describe for the tower, but imagine it with tons of snow, and a blizzard in which you can only see about 10 feet in front of you. also there should be some cliffs nearby which would also increase the difficulty.




Other CRESCENDO EVENTS spread throughout the maps
-waiting for a ski lift to start working after pressing a button... http://www.cba.uri.edu/Faculty/jarrett/Canada/LiftatSulphurMountain2.jpg (http://www.cba.uri.edu/Faculty/jarrett/Canada/LiftatSulphurMountain2.jpg)something like that, but bigger. HEY, the lift could even be a safe room. once the next map loads then you'll be at the top of the lift.


and here are a few random things to put along the way to make the maps interesting so it's not just ALL woods (besides the safe room locations)
http://www.pkmeco.com/images/bathroom.jpg (http://www.pkmeco.com/images/bathroom.jpg)could put weapons/pills in there?
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/IFWIS/ibt/userfiles/image/photos/800/weiser-river-trail-bridge--larry-frank.jpg (http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/IFWIS/ibt/userfiles/image/photos/800/weiser-river-trail-bridge--larry-frank.jpg)I think this design would be cool to go across the one small bridge then loop back around to go across the bigger one and go onward at a higher elevation. it gives infected good opportunities to strike. It's more creative than simply one bridge.
this picture is really big (http://api.ning.com/files/llgTNPwz8KOKRL3SUi1k5fZoX18mGcCFH7xCQfN-mindDX-KPhZ6B8LGlkYb3SfLrN3pZEEnhK9WJIxnDdd7f-52zig5MAYH/forestpark.jpg) so I didn't put it in my post, but maybe this would also be a cool way of crossing a river, just over stray trees that have fallen....HECK maybe you could have a whole leg of the movie called "The River" where you follow alongside and sometimes have to cross over by trees....you don't die if you fall in the river, it just makes you REALLLY SLOW (probably will lead to death)and not able to fire your weapon (only melee) while you trudge through, while infected are still fast. that's why you try to cross over.
http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/users/trekker_john/skaf0zc3/v9w5trd.jpg (http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/users/trekker_john/skaf0zc3/v9w5trd.jpg)it's simple, but something like that could just add to the atmosphere.

I can probably find more random stuff to add to this idea, but I just realized it's 2 AM so I HAVE to go to bed


I have no idea how to make maps or if any of this is possible, but if you can make maps and could do this take it into consideration PLZ!!!! :)
come to think of it, it'd probably take a whole experienced team some time to make this come true ...it is a lot :/

[Mattbott]

Le Mont St Michel in France or similar location would be impressive and interesting.
Until recently, a tourist attraction now the boutiques and banquet halls swarm with the undead. As you proceed you can close the doors, securing the place behind you. Fight to the top for a showdown and rescue.
It would have to be set in europe, though but that's ok, they can release l4d:euro zone too. New survivors would be Emily the ex librarian, Cazza the ex hoodie, Paddy the ex builder and Willhelm the ex conceptual artist.

I hope they do a Vegas campaign. Thety probably wont, tho they seem to like generic locations and Vegas would be too specific

[UKMD Elmo]

I think open rolling countryside might be interesting, dotted with the occasional farm or small village. A real roaming open landscape would give things an interesting twist. Possibly with the inclusion of a vehicle you can jump in and give over to an AI driver while all the survivors hang on and shoot off any chasing infected.

[Doctor Whom]

Etheallmighty, I love your idea. Just love it. Are you listening, Valve?

[one of them]

Giant Vegas Hotel/Casino Resort that is burning and close to collapsing. Throughout the level the lights would go out at completely random times for 2-6 minutes. You would make your way through rooms, holes in the floor, collapsed hallways, casinos, and stairways. The end of the map would take place across the street on the top of a small building where you manage to call an Army Chopper to pick you up.

[Nemesis_vs_Leon]

where's the cruise ship!?

[Etheallmighty]

where's the cruise ship!?

haha you can't have a thread like this without someone saying that

[Dermic]

I love your idea about a snowy mountain campaign. I will try and see if I can take your ideas and put them together to make a campaign lay out plan.

Sadly I do not know how to make L4D maps. but when L4D SDK comes out I would be happy to help you make it.

[Etheallmighty]

the few times I've posted my snowy mountain ideas, they've gotten good reactions from people,

So I wonder what Mr. Booth would say if a huge Left4dead fan sent him an email with an elaborate explanation of a campagin idea, as well as pictures.....

basically, should I send him an email of my post above ? would the pictures show up through email???

if they do, the only thing I'm lacking is the actual NAME of the campaign/slogan.....*puts thinking cap on*.....

[Etheallmighty]

OH! I have the perfect name!

frostBITE

with an emphasis on the "BITE" (ya know, for zombies, if your a bit slow ). it's so simple and easy to say/remember (like dead air, death tole,etc.) , yet so perfect and corny in every way that fits into Left4dead. when making this into a campaign poster, you'd have to make the "BITE" look all gnarly/bigger maybe green or something, or just different than the "frost" to show contrast...now, for a slogan......


I don't have anything concrete yet, but something to do with the fact that they're going up a mountain....like, "They're taking a stairway to heaven" or something like that.

"Climb a stairway to heaven, or slip into HELL"
maybe even something to do with an avalanche of RED?
IDK!

anyone's suggestions that go along something like that would be great :P

[Dermic]

"Frost BITE" Thats a cool name for a campagin.

For a slogan I am may be thinking of some thing like "It's not a winter wonder land" or something like that.

[Danny9654]

How about a campaign based on "The Blair Witch Project". You work your way through the forest fighting zombies then in the last level you find a shack and a witch is in it. (You have to fight the witch during the finale) Then a rescue car like in blood harvest comes to rescue you.

[Cyanyde]

I love the ski-lift idea.
Can I steal it? :)

[mshield]

Campaign name: KILL IT W/ FIRE

Map 1: Large room, lots of fire.

Map 2: Bigger room, more fire.

Map 3: More fire, bigger room.

Map4: Biggerer room... morerer fire.

Map 5: Team up with Duke Nukem to activate the giant Fire Maker to kill a 5000000 foot tall Witch.

At some point there are zombies.