Dungeon Master Forum

Has anyone downloaded steam and tried the demo for Left4Dead out? All i can say is wow this is a really good game. Not only is the movement,keys, and gameplay still the same as the rest of their games, it is down right adrenaline pumping action almost every step of the way. The A.I in the game is incredible as well as the realism in it (as far as zombies attacking goes).

Has 4 player co-op or single player and i must say I love it, the hordes of zombies charging at you, the dark feel. If your bored i suggest you give it a try only took me about 1 hour to dl everything and install.

He he he. I'm soon to install Steam for my birthday - it comes with TeamFortress2 as a bonus. Will check it out then... Although I'm an Atlantica Online (MMORPG) addict at the moment.

I've got the game and Valve has done a great job again.

If anyone wants to play my SN is MitchB1990 of course .

Added you mitch, my name is: True_Agoraphobic
Ian let us know when you get it.

id: ian_scho

I've only just patched up TF2! It won't be in the near future I'm aftaid

I've completed the 4 campaigns on LAN with friends, and I must say this game is one of the best cooperative multiplayer experiences I've ever had, alongside with Hidden & Dangerous 1 and 2.

If you like zombie movies, this game is made for you. The atmosphere is extraordinary, with hordes of zombies running towards you and your teammates. The animations are great and fun. You will be afraid and panicking, always on the edge of death. The strong point is that you absolutely need to help your friends if you want to survive. You really cannot do this alone.

This game was designed with multiplayer cooperation in mind. Often games are designed with a solo mode, and a multiplayer mode is added later. This game is nearly multiplayer only (4 players). You can play solo, but in this case the other 3 characters are played by the computer A.I. While it is quite good in fact, it is not as much fun as playing with real people.

played this at last.. creepy. Disgusted Sandie with all the noises.. and then creeped her out even more when she heard the witch crying over my speakers.. then the hoard of zombies rushing me and a tank rushing down causing me to panic and say "oh god.... oh god.. oh god..."

crits about it though.. is the fact it uses monster spawning.. I clear a room, and then suddenly out of nowhere I've got a boomer in that room I just left.. but I know I cleared it.. This is the kind of thing I don't like.. I would rather there be a finite amount of zombies layered through out.. and then maybe a few from triggered events.. behind doors, or crawling up from the grave.. but that's it. I've never liked the "spawn enemy behind player and scare the crap out of them even though it's not really fair" technique. I stopped playing AVP for that very reason..

so, good game, with one flaw that I'm trying to ignore.. as for AVP, it had many flaws including that same one.. but whatever

cowsmanaut wrote: I've never liked the "spawn enemy behind player and scare the crap out of them even though it's not really fair" technique.

That sounds like the whole of Doom 3!

I'm getting the PC version after I buy my new PC. Right now I have it on 360 and it's okay. It comes in that $100 Valve pack though so I'll be getting it with a bunch of other good games

You're right Gambit.. I didn't play the whole of that one either

cowsmanaut wrote:I would rather there be a finite amount of zombies layered through out.. and then maybe a few from triggered events.. behind doors, or crawling up from the grave.. but that's it.

Thus totally missing the point of the "AI Director" and the atmosphere L4D is trying to create.

I will agree it is a bit irritating when there is a bit of an egregious violation of your common sense, like a zombie spawning in a closed, well-lit room that you just left, or something. However, I regard these as minor glitches in the game engine, and are in the minority. If you cleared a room a few minutes ago-- or at least think you did, because you're moving fast enough you can't check every dark corner-- who knows what could have crawled in from where?

cowsmanaut wrote:I stopped playing AVP for that very reason..

I never played the original, but I will say AVP2 was generally much better about that. Its expansion pack, Primal Hunt, however, was pretty terrible in that regard.

Still not too sure about L4D - There's just something about it that's stopping me loving it but I can't figure it out. I've got both versions and I can't get into either of them. Maybe it's because I've just not played it with the right people (although it is the first game I've played where the AI is quite good at holding their own).

Some of the more technical aspects of the game intrigued me, such as the AI Director. The commentaries on Valve's games are a really cool idea and really open up the inner workings of the machine. Recommended listening if you haven't already.

in AVP if you play as predator.. they have this one part where you walk over a small bump in the road.. and as you pass it, you walk into an invisible trigger which then spawns a large number of aliens from the opposite side of this little hill that you just crossed litterally seconds ago, with no evidence of how they got there, where they came from or even why they should be vaguely aware of your existance especially when you're currently invisible They also had triggers that buggered up, like the guy I shot sniper style down a corridor and then when I got to the end of the corridor he began talking.. but wait.. there's more.. because he was dead and talking, it prevented the door that I had to go through next from opening and I had to go back to a previous save.. yay.. bugs

Anyway, I get it L4D is intending to innumerable masses of zombies raging in.. and that's fine if he sends them in from over the fence and out of the woods like they do in the game.. but do not suddenly spawn a boomer into a room I just left which has no windows .. that takes me out of the moment and make it feel cheap..

Well I don't have X-box live yet so I've played the hell out of this game solo. I couldn't disagree more about the AI holding their own. They make dumb mistakes and don't follow simple commands like "First aid kit here", which should mean pick it up. On expert level they make even more mistakes than normal like shooting at cars with alarms, hanging off the side of buildings because of dumb movements, and ignoring simple things like a character shouting "Tank!" If I've refused an AI's first aid kit the first ten times, chances are, I don't want them running towards me with their first aid kit out, trying to heal me when a bunch of infected are running towards us. Plus they insist on coming to help me when a hunter or smoker has me with their backs to me instead of facing the infected and shooting them. Ugg. Still, I've beat one campaign on expert with them so I guess they aren't as bad as I make them sound.

Basically, I need to get X-box live and play it that way.

Christopher wrote:I couldn't disagree more about the AI holding their own. They make dumb mistakes and don't follow simple commands ... Basically, I need to get X-box live and play it that way.

It depends on who you're playing with, of course. Most games with just random strangers online tend to involve a lot of stupidity, too-- maybe even worse, because at least the AI players help each other, don't go dashing ahead ignoring the rest of the team, and are pretty good about avoiding friendly fire.

That said, I haven't had as much of a problem with the AI, but I play on the PC and the PC versions of Valve's shooters are always better-supported (TF2 being the most egregious example) so the 360 version may have some nasty unpatched problems.