L4D Free Weekend & Quad Core

[Zombie Ade]

Rather than start two threads I thought I`d combine my two queries.
First up - can anyone clarify this `free weekend` thing to me. Basically, is it the chance to download a kind of demo or just one level of L4D to be able to play for a weekend only?
If so, that would be pretty cool - apart from the cold turkey withdrawel symptons after the weekend though!

Other question, does anyone know if L4D will take advantage of the Intel Quad Core CPU?
I`m contemplating getting one , it will help with Crysis and Bioshock I believe, if L4D uses it to then I`ll order one this week!

Just seen the new vids too - getting me hyped up again, the door destruction is great !
Sewers looked creepy too , I cant wait to see the cornfield campaign.

*edit
oh yeah - will there be any benefit to DX10 users too? Don`t think I`ve read anything regarding this yet.

[darksora2323]

First up - can anyone clarify this `free weekend` thing to me. Basically, is it the chance to download a kind of demo or just one level of L4D to be able to play for a weekend only?
ummm what?
where did you hear this

[lilsamuraijoe]

Well I heard Half Life 2 Ep.2 supports DX10 so i would assume L4D would too. And the free weekend thing is when you get to play the full game for that weekend. They did it a couple times for The Ship. That game was fun.

[iRelentless]

I havent heard anything about a free-weekend, but a free weekend typically consists of these three steps:

1. Anyone with steam who qualifies to participate in the free weekend (usually anyone with steam) can pre-load the game prior to, or during, the weekend. Usually a week or more pre-load time if I remember correctly.

2. At the start of the game the pre-loaded game becomes available to play. For the duration of the weekend is just like owning the full game. All content available, can join any servers there are for that game, etc.

3. After the weekend, the game returns to pre-loaded status. So you can either keep the files there for when you buy the game, delete them, or keep them there on the off-chance that you might buy the game.

[darksora2323]

And the free weekend thing is when you get to play the full game for that weekend. They did it a couple times for The Ship. That game was fun.
Where is this? link? or steam?

[Zombie Ade]

ummm what?
where did you hear this
On Eurogamer website - interview.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=80 962&page=2 (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=80962&page=2)
Its after the bold text where Eurogamer says `Well, sure..`

Chet Faliszek:
"But also Steam allows us to do a lot of cool things that other companies can't do - it allows us to do free weekends, it allows us to let people try out the full game. And so we're going to do some cool stuff with that. We're talking about it."

Not set in concrete I know, but a very big hint.


Anyway , thats answered - anyone know anything about the quad core & DX10 queries?

[Teknobry]

Quad core support will come in I'm sure. Possibly not right away though, but there is dual core support definately. It certainly won't do any harm to have a quad core cpu, and when updates arise that allow the use of all 4 cores you'll certainly notice the difference!

I'm not sure if the game is dx10 or not?

[dontleave]

It's definately not, and it might have Quad Core support from the start, they're optimizing for 'multiple-cores' I assume that means dual and quad, especially now with the delay they can get it done...

[Punisher 36O]

again, the door destruction is great !
Sewers looked creepy to

i thought i had kept up to date with the vids but that doesnt ring a bell. . .. can someone link it for me?

[Zombie Ade]

i thought i had kept up to date with the vids but that doesnt ring a bell. . .. can someone link it for me?
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Media/Media.htm?C S_pid={752C93CC-B1D5-4D48-AEA9-A9AF000B9E4A} (http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Media/Media.htm?CS_pid={752C93CC-B1D5-4D48-AEA9-A9AF000B9E4A})

last video shows sewers , door desctruction is in a couple of the others - vids 6 & 7 I think.

One thing I`ve noticed about most of the videos released is that the player you`re watching play, very rarely keeps checking behind them. They simply wander off in the direction they should be heading in and dont keep looking around themselves.
I reckon this is because most gamers are used to enemies spawning in front of them whilst on route to the end of the level. As L4D uses the AI director you need to watch your back too.
Any player fool-hardy enough not to keep looking behind them in L4D is gonna be shish-kebab in no time !

[tonjohn]

(1) DirectX10 is not supported in any current or upcoming Source based games (EP2, Portal, TF2, L4D).

(2) All games based off of the EP2 engine, including L4D, offer multi-core (not just dual-core) support. Valve have designed the engine to take advantage of as many cores you can fit into your computer. So if you had a Dual quad-core Xeon based system, a total of 8 cores - L4D, EP2, Portal, and TF2 will take advantage of all 8 cores.