Update...

[Zak]

Updates to Left 4 Dead have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Left 4 Dead


Finding a dedicated server when starting the game from a lobby is now faster and more reliable

Versus mode is now locked to Normal difficulty

Difficulty on a server is now locked to the one set by the lobby reservation

Fixed lagouts/spikes after level transition

Fixed directory issue with spray logs in some cases

Fixed video settings not saving after closing video options dialog

Corrected a boomer suicide exploit

Several minor localization fixes

Fixed a error were disabling cheats would incorrectly reset data



Finally - was getting sick of versus games being set, only to arrive on an expert server.

[NovaSilisko]

-snip-

[Felios]

Versus mode is now locked to Normal difficulty
Yeah, I wished they didn't do that. If some people want to play versus on advanced or expert, they should be able to. It was fun!

[Zanarias]

I'm happy that they updated at all, but considering it apparently didn't fix any of the map exploits, and didn't put out any information at all on the SDK, it is a bit of a bad trade.

Oh well, I guess. Maybe they did fix the exploits, I haven't played it yet.

[Zak]

Yeah, I wished they didn't do that. If some people want to play versus on advanced or expert, they should be able to. It was fun!

Yeah, but only if they combined that with this fix: "Difficulty on a server is now locked to the one set by the lobby reservation", and let it be decided in lobby so everyone knows what they're getting in for.

[Elite]

I think this fixed the melee glich?
It was caused by having sv_cheats 0 on your server.cfg

[Felios]

Yeah, but only if they combined that with this fix: "Difficulty on a server is now locked to the one set by the lobby reservation", and let it be decided in lobby so everyone knows what they're getting in for.
Yes, absolutely.


Fixed a error were disabling cheats would incorrectly reset data

[Sikkyu]

Fixed a error were disabling cheats would incorrectly reset data


no more sv_cheats at anytime if you want achievements? so people actually have to work for em

[Necrocide]

Great...They had to go and ruin a key component of the boomer.
They needed to add a boomer specific explode button, not disable exploding for the boomer.

It was perfectly balanced too...

[SlyOutplayed]

Versus mode is now locked to Normal difficulty

WHY? Seriously what the fuck i was SO pissed off when i found you COULDN'T set the difficulty, changing to elation when i found they had a method through the console, to pure ectasy that they had a difficulty AFTER expert. And now they say fuck you versus should only be played on SURVIVORS MAKE IT OUT 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 mode.

Fucking bullshit, normal is FAR too easy for survivors.

What the hell were they thinking? If the community has been changing the difficulty on Versus it's because the community wants to.

[Tyr]

It wasn't a key component it was a cheap trick. If you can't play it how it was meant to be played than tough.

[SlyOutplayed]

No i can play it, but theres no challenge, and without the challenge i can't see it being fun. The point is your team is struggling forwards, knowing each hit the zombies get will severely reduce your chances of making it out, but knowing that being hit is inevitable. Each time you make it to the safehouse is a panicked "good job on holding it together against those ridiculous odds", that was great teamwork i wouldn't of made it out without you coming back for me etc.

Whilst on normal i'm going to be falling asleep, knowing i can be hit 50 times by an average zombie, can have a hunter eating me for 15 seconds or so before my team needs to start to react.

The reason people change the difficulty is because they find it more fun on harder difficulties, with how games should be reacting to the community they should of realized people mod it because they are unsatisfied with the defaults. Either way if this is true i can see me playing alot less l4d (atm i've played l4d and l4d pretty much solo since it released, it was the game i've waited years for, under the impression that Versus would be IDENTICAL to campaign except with the option to change difficulty).

The reason they have done this is because the versus servers use to bug into 4 slots when the difficulty was changed to expert on occasion, yet instead of fixing the bug they fix the cause, players who are unsatisfied with normal and want more of a challenge. Instead of allowing Versus's to be able to set a constant difficulty like Campaign has now been, they just say Versus should only be normal.

And the "cheap trick" was to make it hard for the enemy, and easy for yourself, whilst if they just make the difficulty serverside set then this wouldn't be abusable would it?

-edit- personally i don't believe they have done this, just on a "they can't seriously be this retarded" mentality

[Zak]

Until it can be set only in the lobby, and then unchanged regardless of the server you get, I'm glad it's locked.


I'm just glad they're starting with fixes.

EDIT: he was talking about the boomer exploit, not no expert.

[SlyOutplayed]

my bad ^^ asummed it was a response to the last post above >> (the cheap trick being you vote it on impossible for them, normal for you)

and yeah boomer was a cheap trick ^^

[lawlhat]

WHY? Seriously what the fuck i was SO pissed off when i found you COULDN'T set the difficulty, changing to elation when i found they had a method through the console, to pure ectasy that they had a difficulty AFTER expert. And now they say fuck you versus should only be played on SURVIVORS MAKE IT OUT 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 mode.

I didn't like it on "Survivors die 10 feet from the saferoom" mode either.

[Zak]

the cheap trick being you vote it on impossible for them, normal for you)

Yeah, which is why I'm pleased it's locked until they respond to the community's desire for more difficulty control and impliment it properly. Until then - fuck, I was just finding it really frustrating.

[SlyOutplayed]

I didn't like it on "Survivors die 10 feet from the saferoom" mode either.

i did ._.

oh well, in retrospect (not going to delete previous posts/edit them to nothing, i think my annoyance was justified) lets just hope they fix the update with another update

[Feralig8tr]

Boomer being able to explode was a cheap trick in that you could kill yourself after someone melee'd you but before you had stumbled out of explosion radius. Not exactly a gamestopper, but still not the nicest trick.

Also I've noticed a lot of people claiming that melee decay is a bug, but why? In versus mode, melee decay keeps the boomer and the general infected a legitimate threat. I've also heard claims of weird smoker regen rates, but all I've noticed is that on some servers when I miss my shot the cooldown is shortened. Are we calling versus-specific game balances bugs or what?

[G_X]

Difficulty on a server is now locked to the one set by the lobby reservation
But, can you still vote-switch the difficulty in-game?

[Prince of Pranks]

I have the Xbox360 version and it was locked on Normal difficulty. Everytime i play on versus the infected win 90% of the time, thats not with crappy survivors either, its with good infected players who know how to coordinate a team.

[Sikboy1029]

The seemingly random crashes to the desktop still aren't fixed

[SlyOutplayed]

I have the Xbox360 version and it was locked on Normal difficulty. Everytime i play on versus the infected win 90% of the time, thats not with crappy survivors either, its with good infected players who know how to coordinate a team.

Organized human team > Organized infected team

A human team which knows how to react in the most intelligent way to 99% of situations won't be caught out unless tank and a horde spawn in same time (the 1 in 10 when survivors don't win).

[Prince of Pranks]

Organized human team > Organized infected team

A human team which knows how to react in the most intelligent way to 99% of situations won't be caught out unless tank and a horde spawn in same time (the 1 in 10 when survivors don't win).

If your an infected and know how to set things up, you can beat any survivor team.

[Feralig8tr]

If the survivors win repeatedly then it becomes a question of who had more health.

Where's the problem?

[Sikkyu]

anyone else having a problem with dedicated servers not updating?

[SlyOutplayed]

Then it's down to the randomness of the AI director more then the skill of the other team.

And on the Xbox360 that might be true but definitely not on the PC. On the PC on normal if i have to use a medkit i'm having a very very very bad game or have come across a tank which managed to catch up with me.

Hunter shouldn't pounce a good human team (should get melee'd in the air, whenever the hunter screams the humans should spin to wherever they can't see and melee as a reaction, melee when entering rooms etc.), smoker shouldn't be able to drag a human enough distance for the survivor to be stopped and take damage, boomer SHOULD be able to puke on an organized team (as there isn't anything you can do against the puke), but an organized team would then run into the best nearest position. Be it behind a door, in a chokepoint or whatever, just somewhere where the hordes numbers means nothing.

[Feralig8tr]

Hunter shouldn't pounce a good human team (should get melee'd in the air, whenever the hunter screams the humans should spin to wherever they can't see and melee as a reaction, melee when entering rooms etc.), smoker shouldn't be able to drag a human enough distance for the survivor to be stopped and take damage, boomer SHOULD be able to puke on an organized team (as there isn't anything you can do against the puke), but an organized team would then run into the best nearest position. Be it behind a door, in a chokepoint or whatever, just somewhere where the hordes numbers means nothing.

What happens when all of these happen at once?

[AckAck]

I don't know what some of you are talking about. I've suffered from and dished out plenty of rape in VS normal.

[Poodge]

Thank God. I was getting so upset by the difficulty in vs servers. 3 of 5 games were advanced or expert, which completely made the game unbalanced in favor of the infected. Normal mode is more balanced, and allows only for the most skilled group to win instead of the director winning all the time.

[Deek]

Versus mode is now locked to Normal difficulty

That's gay. We should be able to host Adv and Expert versus matches if we choose to. I understand why it was done, but I don't agree. Why not fix the friggin matchmaker, so it can differentiate and filter the difficulty levels people aren't interested in? Hopefully, this is a temporary fix.

[Poodge]

^ I would be fine with that, but before, I had to quit 5 servers in a row before i got one that was set to normal difficulty. its not that I cant handle it, its that the oppossing team usually cant handle it, and I like not completely destroying the other team to the point that there is no competition. Normal mode is much more balanced.

[SlyOutplayed]

What happens when all of these happen at once?

they don't

boomer is heard and identified from which direction (front, back, left or right or above), one guy would watch that way constantly. Smoker would be identified and likewise assumed where he would be by where he could be most effective. Hunters would be dealt with as they pounced.

and even if it ALL goes tits up, you'd still need to co-ordinate perfectly 5-8 times before we'd be dead.

so like i said minus a tank and horde (which the ai director hates/can't do), or tank and good boomer, my team wouldn't lose on normal.

now i'm getting tired of arguing, my opinion isn't going to change. Normal is too easy for the survivors, at least for me, if you feel otherwise then continue playing happily.

[cathyy]

I'm gonna miss suiciding boomers...it was honestly the most fun thing of the game to me.

Apart from that, I don't see why Valve removed different difficulty modes in Versus mode. The only reason I can think of is due to Valve's incapability to have a proper search filter for versus game modes. I find Normal mode way too simple, and that the damage dealt by the Infected is just way too pathetic to kill a well-coordinated team.

[Deek]

Besides the forced difficulty in versus (which, again, I understand the reasoning behind, I simply wish they would fix the matchmaker instead of limiting server admin options even further), I love all of the changes.
Fixed a error were disabling cheats would incorrectly reset data

I guess this explains the sv_cheats 0 nonsense.

[morganite]

The reason people change the difficulty is because they find it more fun on harder difficulties, with how games should be reacting to the community they should of realized people mod it because they are unsatisfied with the defaults. Either way if this is true i can see me playing alot less l4d (atm i've played l4d and l4d pretty much solo since it released, it was the game i've waited years for, under the impression that Versus would be IDENTICAL to campaign except with the option to change difficulty

Get in a community and find organized teams to play against, normal wont be so easy then.

[TekkenDevil]

Yeah, I wished they didn't do that. If some people want to play versus on advanced or expert, they should be able to. It was fun!

These people should have locked their servers, so us normal people seeking normal gameplay wouldn't have to spend 10 hours on finding a suitable server.

But no, you people left them all open, caused havoc with all the customized servers, and now you pay.

Ignorance is bliss.

Difficulty on a server is now locked to the one set by the lobby reservation

Thank fucking lord, does this mean we wont get anymore servers that change back to *x* difficulty every time a new map loads?

[kennykjc]

Cool, I can actually play Versus mode again!

[SlyOutplayed]

If you didn't like the difficulty of a versus server on joining, all you had to type into console was "callvote changedifficulty normal".

[Goldkills]

the whole melee and smoker thing i think is a bug, by taking out sv_cheats 0 in the server config fixes it

[KingRaptor]

I didn't like it on "Survivors die 10 feet from the saferoom" mode either.



But that is the spirit of the game... try it and try it and try again, until to make it and then you can enjoy your win because it was hard work. If you win 9 of 10 games, winning gets just boring and is nothing special any more.

[NdRw]

ugh.... i was hoping they wouldnt change vs to normal... they could have at least put it on advanced.....normal is just too damn easy. i relaly hope they dont change this game any more. every change seems to me like its a bad one, and makes the game even more n00b friendly than before.... by changing it to normal, i GARAUNTEE you that 9/10 games will be ''HURRY RUN TO THE END AS FAST AS YOU CAN RUN AND GUN HALOMGZ!!!!!'' instead of ''ok lets stick together and work as a team the way the game is MEANT to be played''

[aaron123]

I call BS. On the expert vs. servers that was the main strategy the majority of the time I played: people would just run like hell to the end so you could get like 10 more points than the other team from distance--because there's no way in hell either one of you were making it to the safe room.

And KingRaptor, you can't "try it and try it" again and again, because it's on VS. mode. You're down once, you're out, and you might as well call the match as a loss--there aren't any retries on the same map, and it's not as though your team will do any better on the next map with the same teams.

[Darkelf]

Does the update apply to the 360?

[morganite]

See, my problem with people arguing over the difficulty boils down to a few points...

1) I have no problem with giving people options, but they need to go both ways, options to turn the server to a higher difficulty, and options for clients as to what difficulty setting they browse through servers for.

2) fair and easy/hard: Fair and balanced to me means you should get from 9-11 survivors to the safehouse over the course of a campaign. If 2 organized teams are playing against each other and both teams get 15 survivors to the safehouse in the 20 opportunities over the course of a campaign, it's defintely "to easy". If they are only getting 5 survivors to the safehouse out of the 20 opportunities in a campaign, the difficulty setting is to hard. The game by defintion is "fair and balanced" because scores are only attained by playing as survivors so both sides face the same difficulty or easiness to completing their objectives.

3) Anecdotal evidence being considered fact: The infamous quote "we always get all the survivors to the safehouse on normal mode so we need to play advanced" without quantifing if they were playing against 4 random pubs? another organized team? is this person talking about over the entirity of a campaign or just a map or two? Were the teams 4v4 the entire time?

[KingRaptor]

And KingRaptor, you can't "try it and try it" again and again, because it's on VS. mode. You're down once, you're out, and you might as well call the match as a loss--there aren't any retries on the same map, and it's not as though your team will do any better on the next map with the same teams.

I know... I just wanted to say, that success after hard work is a much better feeling than more regular success. In VS your only chance on higher difficulties is to have a good team and a lot of training (and some luck). I'm not against the Normal mode, but the people should have the opportunity to chose!

[morganite]

Does the update apply to the 360?

No, because these things weren't issues on the 360 version for the most part. (I dont know if you can have custom sprays on the 360 version or not)

[Grieverlionhart]

Slower respawn by about a few more seconds and Advanced/Expert probably would have evened it out more at least but ok let's go with typical can't die fps "normal" mode

[Deek]

1) I have no problem with giving people options, but they need to go both ways, options to turn the server to a higher difficulty, and options for clients as to what difficulty setting they browse through servers for.
I don't think anyone is arguing this. I mean, we realize WHY the change was made, but it also could have been fixed by adding a filter mechanic to the matchmaker. This would have solved the problem, and not hobbled admins.

Fact is, admins can STILL alter cvars via Sourcemod, so really ... nothing has been fixed. Servers will still be modded to Adv/Expert levels via cvars. All Valve has done is made the process more involved, which will discourage some admins from switching default versus difficulty.

Only a matchmaker filter mechanic will truly put an end to the madness.

[KingRaptor]

I've just played another "random" VS match, because none of my friends was online... it was just rediculous easy as survivor and frustrating as infected. On random matches this is nowhere near something called "balanced". So I have to wait until my team is online to have some fun...

[binge]

Left 4 Dead


Fixed Infected Players melee pushing large objects to block the survivors path

Fixed +lobby exploit

Fixed exploit of "hugging" the Witch from behind where she can't hit you

Fixed players not being kicked from a vote by changing their name before it succeeds

Disabled difficulty change votes from the console in versus mode

New update (i think)

NOOOO , now we really have to get passed the witch instead of just raping her in the back