Making of L4D Video Presentation - 9/18/08

Doug Lombardi has sent L4D411 an exclusive 10-minute HD video presentation by Gabe Newell on the making of Left 4 Dead along with an extended E3 trailer. This presentation was originally made at E3 2008 for members of the press and E3 awards judges, and contains portions not previously available to us common folk.

Gabe goes into detail on many aspects of the making of Left 4 Dead, including their goals in development, the what and why of the AI Director, all about the monsters including animation, physics and AI, and also all about the world including graphics and lighting technology. The video can be found below, just make sure you press the fullscreen button to get the full resolution.

Here's a list of the non-PowerPoint presentation moments:

• 2:00 - Gas station encounters showing off AI Director
• 3:20 - Never before seen video showing off monster AI (breaking down walls)
• 4:40 - Two static images showing the effects of post-processing on the game environment
• 5:35 - Character walking down hallway showing off self shadowed normal mapping (very pretty)
• 6:10 - Flashlights revealing player state, shooting some infected in slow-mo
• 7:45 - Brand new extended trailer

The last thing Gabe talks about is the convergence of single and multiplayer gaming as the "next step in social entertainment", and shows it off with a new extended L4D trailer. If you're impatient enough to watch the entire video presentation, we've included just the extended trailer below.

Just remember the release date is now November 18 and 21 despite what the video claims.

A huge thanks goes to Gabe Newell, Doug Lombardi, and all of Valve for creating this video presentation and releasing it to us online so that all Left 4 Dead fans can get a glimpse of the development process of Left 4 Dead. We're only two months away from release and more excited than ever.