Valve implemented Survivor upgrades!

[Darkness]

Well, people have been asking/suggesting lots of upgrades. They are soon coming because they are already kind of in the game now, also survivor skills. Although, as far as my friends' testing goes (they have done some work, i havent bothered yet), they are buggy at best. And by buggy, I mean they could not get them to activate. No one I know has tried the plugin yet though.

There are some strings also for some survivor skills. But at this point, the only thing they do is freeze you in place.

read starting on post #33.
https://forums.alliedmods.net/showth...t=81010&page=4 (https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?t=81010&page=4)

to sum up.
"Francis gets a laser sight with increased accuracy, Louis reloads faster, Zoey gets extra HP, and Bill seems to do more damage and vaporizes zombies... the upgrades seem to apply to different survivors randomly on the second level. There seem to be even more upgrades than this. One of them is increased magazine capacity, and every level there's a text dump in the chatbox that lists something about which upgrades are active ( I think)."

from fyren (SM dev)'s work, the upgrades/skills seem to be:
"


#L4D_Upgrade_kevlar_vest_description
#L4D_Upgrade_prevent_it_description
#L4D_Upgrade_ledge_save_description
#L4D_Upgrade_revive_self_description
#L4D_Upgrade_goggles_description
#L4D_Upgrade_hot_meal_description
#L4D_Upgrade_laser_sight_description
#L4D_Upgrade_combat_sling_description
#L4D_Upgrade_high_cap_mag_description
#L4D_Upgrade_hollow_ammo_description
#L4D_Upgrade_knife_description
#L4D_Upgrade_smelling_salt_description
#L4D_Upgrade_ointment_description
#L4D_Upgrade_reloader_description
#L4D_Upgrade_flashbulb_description"

The skills seem to be (shortend his code for readability here):

55. aPackrat
56. aCommando
57. aOpenfire
58. aDefender_0
59. aGuide
60. aKnuckles
61. aEngineer
62. aSprinter
63. aGroupie
64. aClimber
65. aSoldier
66. aDemolitions

http://fyren.ampaste.net/m54bdfb03

He has a plugin for linux servers that allow the doling out of these upgrades. Although, no one i know has tried it, so I dont know how well it works. Nor do I know if all of the upgrades work.

There are more strings that show details of these upgrades. I do not know if they have models yet or only effects. And I dont know if they all work or not. I do know that as of now, the survivor skills do nothing, my guess is they have no coding yet. But I thought everyone should see/know about this. Enjoy.

[DethPenguin]

Baww. I was kind of hoping L4D wouldn't take the path of TF2 in terms of "upgrades". Even if it is just per game.

[Boojangels]

God dammit...

[Dead Fish]

Wow, I'm stoked! I think this has a lot of potential. Hard to tell. I wonder when we are going to find out more. (if at all?)

[Darkness]

Wow, I'm stoked! I think this has a lot of potential. Hard to tell. I wonder when we are going to find out more. (if at all?)

Indeed. I think one of 3 things are going to happen.

1: Valve totally balks at it meaning Valve thought it was a good idea at the time and since decided they didnt want to do anything more with it and thus it will go no further

2: They are fragments for later player use/implementation

3: Valve has some sort of plan for the future.

I fear #1 the most for now because there has not been any mention of skills/upgrades in the coming future. However, it may still be #3 just many many days away.

[nerVe]

I hope L4D doesn't turn into the new TF2 with the upgrades and everything. Think about what that will do for the competitive scene...

[Darkness]

I hope L4D doesn't turn into the new TF2 with the upgrades and everything. Think about what that will do for the competitive scene...

Indeed. But since it appears that you need to turn on the ability to have upgrades, it seems to be basically a different game mode. Since survivor_upgrades 1 is just like sv_cheats 1. It doesnt do anything, but allows for things to exist.

So I think they are trying to add a less competitive "fun" mode more like tf2 but yet still competitively playable should the player desire to.

edit: And personally, I love the idea because you could make a map that has two paths. One that may be longer, but if you go through it, the next round youll start with upgrades. Thus encouraging more exploratory methods of play and not just rush to the checkpoint.

[nerVe]

Indeed. But since it appears that you need to turn on the ability to have upgrades, it seems to be basically a different game mode. Since survivor_upgrades 1 is just like sv_cheats 1. It doesnt do anything, but allows for things to exist.

So I think they are trying to add a less competitive "fun" mode more like tf2 but yet still competitively playable should the player desire to.

edit: And personally, I love the idea because you could make a map that has two paths. One that may be longer, but if you go through it, the next round youll start with upgrades. Thus encouraging more exploratory methods of play and not just rush to the checkpoint.

Now that you mention it as a cvar, it's definitely more tolerable.

[Darkness]

Now that you mention it as a cvar, it's definitely more tolerable.

Yeah, its certainly weird tho. There are no cvars for the individual upgrades, just for the ability to have them or not. So I am unsure of the trigger for actually gaining upgrades.

I have little knowledge of actual source/game coding, so it may be something simple. But fryens plugin allows you to give individual upgrades I believe, so obviously its commandable somehow. Havent had time to try it out yet though.

[Sifer2]

Competitive L4D? This isn't TF2. From the start I think people have taken Versus entirely too seriously since its really far too random to ever be competitive. Sure you can work on your Hunter pouncing an your coordinated attacks to get better. But its never going to be something that will have tournaments.

So if Valve implements some neat upgrades to work towards obtaining I think that will be great. Hopefully they don't make them as dumb as the TF2 one's where you need silly achievements. Rather something more like healed X amount of teammates. Survived X amount of Expert Campaigns an the like. Something to keep people playing.

That being said some of those already sound imbalanced like the larger magazine. Christ the mags are already huge.

[DethPenguin]

Rather something more like healed X amount of teammates. Survived X amount of Expert Campaigns an the like.


Those are achievements. Just because something doesn't give you gamerscore or something, and doesn't have a little icon, doesn't mean it's technically not achievement. You achieved something, so in return, you get an upgrade, instead of gamerscore/steam equivalent.

[Frito]

Sounds eh. I'll wait to see how it turns out. Hopefully they're not survivor-specific though.

If they were like Killing Floor's Perks, then bring it on.

[Dead Fish]

Sounds eh. I'll wait to see how it turns out. Hopefully they're not survivor-specific though.

If they were like Killing Floor's Perks, then bring it on.

I also thought of Killing Floor. It works really well in that game, so I could picture a fun mode with KF-like perks.

[hunterhunter]

as long as the game is stable on both sides bring it on:cool:

[Darkness]

as long as the game is stable on both sides bring it on:cool:

I agree, I think it would be alot of fun. Er... possibly alot of fun. And I am glad that the l4d and tf2 teams are different because I dont want a major screw up like tf2.

[Mattbott]

arse biscuits

i hope this shit stays pc only

[UKMD Elmo]

I hope it stays out altogether personaly. One of the main reasons I play L4D is the lack of 'classes'.

[Apex_]

1: Valve totally balks at it meaning Valve thought it was a good idea at the time and since decided they didnt want to do anything more with it and thus it will go no further


I can more or less guarantee this is the case. The survivor upgrade cvars have been in the game since the demo was released. It's nothing new, and does nothing of note without a considerable amount of Sourcemod code to get the upgrades functional.

Old code, abandoned features. There are plenty of them in L4D.

[Darkness]

I can more or less guarantee this is the case. The survivor upgrade cvars have been in the game since the demo was released. It's nothing new, and does nothing of note without a considerable amount of Sourcemod code to get the upgrades functional.

Old code, abandoned features. There are plenty of them in L4D.

Ah, really? Didnt know they were out since demo. I always thought, or well, I guess I always assumed that it was more recent since the sourcemod forums post was recent. Then, yes, it most likely is an old abandoned feature.

I hope it stays out altogether personaly. One of the main reasons I play L4D is the lack of 'classes'.

Me too. Well... if it was forced and always in game. But if there was a specific gamemode for it, it might be fun.

[Stuffinator]

That scares me, because I really love L4D how it is and I'm afraid this could destroy anything!

If its for another game mode or so, this would be ok, but I wouldn't like it for versus!

[Mattbott]

implementation will make or break it, but i can see people dropping out of lobbies cos they dont want to play Zoey (or whatever)

i suppose they're trying to keep interest in the game now its a bit on the decline with the general game playing public but i am not sure this is the way to go.

They should be opening out the game modes and releasing more maps, even if they're little one offs. A really tight versus mode map would be good, cramped space, maybe no tanks or explosives but limited respawns for special infected (or some other mechanism which allows for a winner and loser to be decided in each match).
Like a survivor/infected cage match. "Trapped" mode. That map in cod 4 with all the containers only more closed in/urban would be tasty.

there are alternatives to this gimmick of perks and buffs

[Steve Cloud]

KF-Style perks would be pretty cool.

[SteadyEddy]

I suspect these were probably an idea that was scrapped, I mean Valve themselves claimed that were not going to add such a thing, because they did not like the idea of one survivor having statistical advantages over another.

[theliberator1]

i dont like the sound of "Self Revive" or "Goggles"

some of these would break the game mechanics. like boomer "Zee goggles they do nothing!! or wait... the goggles work!"

[Darkness]

I suspect these were probably an idea that was scrapped, I mean Valve themselves claimed that were not going to add such a thing, because they did not like the idea of one survivor having statistical advantages over another.

Meh, if you want to "factor in" skill into some mathematics. You could have someone with a very clear statistical advantage over another. Pro owns noob close to 100% of the time. So better nerf survivors so when pro's play, they have no statistical advantage...

And if the upgrades were balanced it wouldnt matter as there would be no statistical change. Also, if it was a different game mode based more on fun and less on hard-core play like the others, then statistical advantages wouldnt matter. Also, if it was a campaign like mode where your not playing against other humans, then the statistical advantage is negligent.

As far as "Well Valve said..." Valve also said they would never ever release a stun item or an item that would remove a players control for a certain time period to TF2. And look what we have now, a lovely stun bat.

But I agree, odds are they are relics of ideas past.

[XxNikkiSe7enxX]

ok im lost, sorry if this makes me sound noobish but i have never played TF1 or 2 so.. what is so bad about it? that people are hoping it doesnt turn into it, i hope l4d stays the way it is, i enjoy the game now, i wouldnt want this to fucking turn into anything else.

[Darkness]

ok im lost, sorry if this makes me sound noobish but i have never played TF1 or 2 so.. what is so bad about it? that people are hoping it doesnt turn into it, i hope l4d stays the way it is, i enjoy the game now, i wouldnt want this to fucking turn into anything else.

Meh, it all depends if it is/would have been forced upgrades. Because tf1/tf2 is unrealistic and is made more for player enjoyment in a group. Where as L4D is team based and skill based. It is very very intensive as far as the game goes. TF2 you can basically randomly run at the other team and achieve victory (varying on situation), but we all know how well that works in L4D.

L4D and TF2 are very different games in almost every way, and people like it that way and dont want them to mix at all.

Edit: Its not that TF2 is bad (er, well, it wasnt until the newest patch *twitch twitch*). Its just not L4D.

[XxNikkiSe7enxX]

Oh, so if they get this "TF2" upgrade, it would be less of a team work to survive type deal...well fuck that, i actuly enjoy having to do team work to survive.

[Darkness]

Oh, so if they get this "TF2" upgrade, it would be less of a team work to survive type deal...well fuck that, i actuly enjoy having to do team work to survive.

It could have been that way, it may not have been. It all depends on what their plan was at the time they put that in. Its just that it wouldnt be realistic. And thats what people like.

[XxNikkiSe7enxX]

Yeah i just now watched a video of some TF2 Gameplay, doesnt look like a game i would play much, looks to cartoonish and and this one guy just went around killing everything with a flame thrower and a shotgun, Lame.

[Darkness]

Yeah i just now watched a video of some TF2 Gameplay, doesnt look like a game i would play much, looks to cartoonish and and this one guy just went around killing everything with a flame thrower and a shotgun, Lame.

Well, pyro is quite l33t in that game if you can play him (her in all actuality) right. Like me, pyro is my best/favorite class. But yeah, the feel of the game is supposed to be more cartoony. Its a game based more on fun, less stress, less worry. More fun and laughs. Thats why its my #1 game over l4d. But yeah, you can kill anyone with anything if you are good enough and they are bad enough.

[XxNikkiSe7enxX]

But yeah, you can kill anyone with anything if you are good enough and they are bad enough.


dont it mostly work that way, lol. ill stick with left 4 dead and call of duty <3

[Apex_]

Its just that it wouldnt be realistic. And thats what people like.

Yeah, because 50-round Uzi magazines, being able to carry almost 500 rounds of ammo for your M16, infinite ammo akimbo double-stack 1911s and popping pills a bottle at a time to temporarily heal yourself from any and all wounds are all realistic. ;)

Don't get me wrong, I like realism as much as anyone and would love a hardcore realistic zombie survival "simulator" someday, but I don't think people on the whole care much about realism.