PC version of Left 4 Dead getting custom level support next week
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Jun 20th 2009 at 1:30PM } 
The level hunting process sounds simple enough -- amateur level designers bundle all their maps, posters, models, and textures into a single .VPK file, which players must download and drop into the game's "addons" folder. Voila! Now you have access to even more
Update: It's here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alphathon @ Jun 20th 2009 1:42PM
Awesomesauce! That is all.
ryanpaulmcgowan @ Jun 20th 2009 1:44PM
That's very fine and well, but the system they've set up for it is bogus.
"To install and activate this content in-game, players need simply download the .VPK and double click on it. Alternatively, they will be able to drop it into a new "addons" folder. The list of installed add-ons will be viewable from a new item on the 'Extras' main menu flyout."
That's fine. Can I do this without having to go out and find the campaign before loading up L4D? As in, can I just have a server browser and download the campaign from the server? You know, like with every other Valve product?
Ben King @ Jun 20th 2009 1:54PM
Yes.
Skeith @ Jun 20th 2009 2:04PM
Next paragraph, if you don't have the campaign you'll get an option to download it ingame.
ryanpaulmcgowan @ Jun 20th 2009 2:49PM
"You can invite your friends, too. If they do not have the campaign installed, they will automatically be offered and an option to download it."
No, it doesn't say that. It says that if I join a game my friend is in I'll have the option to download it.
It doesn't say that I'll be able to join a random game with a campaign I don't own and download it there.
I.E.
Like every other Valve game.
Einhanderkiller @ Jun 20th 2009 3:15PM
Friend, stranger, same thing.
Mitch @ Jun 20th 2009 3:24PM
Umm...thats the same thing
The download will be from the server its hosted on regardless of where it is. Same as most multiplayer games, from cs to COD.
If your caught up on the wording of "friend"...you could always add a person from the server to your friends and connect....it doesn't make a difference.
Valve knows what they are doing, they have done it very successfully with all of their games.
Of course given how the game is set up, the server one would have to either have the map or be on a server with the map to allow for selection/download and join for others. Perhaps they will work out the kinks to the current server browser.
However with the release of the full sdk there will be a greater boom in custom servers popping up. Perhaps they will give the option of hosting a game on your own server from the lobby. ie, get a game full then bring up a server browser to select one to host from. Giving you the ability to select your own server that you know the map is on / the mods you and the lobby are wanting to play. We'll only know in time. But I'm not worried, the modding community and custom content are what push most of Valve's games over the top. They will find ways to support it faithfully for us. Look at CS, maybe 1 out of every 10 servers are reg maps, unless your looking at the 50+ 24/7 Dust2, etc.
ohyeahcola @ Jun 20th 2009 1:56PM
I'm gettin' L4D tomorrow
Neebs @ Jun 20th 2009 2:13PM
I'm getting it next sale on Steam
Ignatius @ Jun 20th 2009 2:28PM
It'll probably be on sale a week or two before L4D 2 comes out to spur the masses.
MowDownJoe @ Jun 20th 2009 2:20PM
*shoots a witch and lures it to Griffin*
Cosmo (formerly Chin-Poh) @ Jun 20th 2009 2:21PM
Excellent, I am not a multiplayer person at all and L4D is designed for multiplayer, the single-player campaign is way too short. This should help out in the single-player department a lot!
Jrinswand @ Jun 20th 2009 2:27PM
If you don't like multiplayer, then why in the Nine Hells did you buy Left 4 Dead?
sicsided @ Jun 20th 2009 2:30PM
Find that funny, since most of L4D maps are created in a single player like way. Although it would be boring just single player, the maps are created that way.
Cosmo (formerly Chin-Poh) @ Jun 20th 2009 2:55PM
My brother bought it and I borrowed it from him just to play the single player levels. If I bought it, it'd have to be at $15 or below. I'm just not a multiplayer person, eh.
adium @ Jun 20th 2009 5:35PM
the single player campaign is the multiplayer
Brian @ Jun 20th 2009 2:27PM
Just in time for my new pc which can run l4d.
Awesomeness.
Vidikron @ Jun 20th 2009 4:21PM
LOL... I love how they're actually putting in all the features they promised when L4D was released AFTER they announced L4D2 and got hit with a shit storm. Damage Control 101.
Regault @ Jun 20th 2009 4:54PM
So, they're finally adding the basic level of support every other multiplayer game has eight months after the game comes out?
Hopefully they'll have all this straightened by the time Left 4 Dead:Metallica hits stores.
Nadril @ Jun 20th 2009 6:47PM
LOL. You are a witty witty man. I enjoyed the way you compared Left 4 Dead to the Guitar Hero franchise by saying "Left 4 Dead: Metallica", and the fact that you are implying they are milking their series.
Funny, funny shit.
Nadril @ Jun 20th 2009 6:48PM
Hopefully this means that when L4D2 comes out they'll have development tools right out the box. Should be that way, at least.
Neuromancer @ Jun 20th 2009 7:36PM
It'd be cool if Valve somehow brought the most popular/professional levels to the 360 as a map pack. But, we all know that's never going to happen.
Olicon @ Jun 20th 2009 8:14PM
Is this extra feature a result of all the people going all crazy about Valve no longer supporting L4D because they're releasing L4D2, I wonder?
Or maybe Valve did plan to keep up its promises to support its community to begin with?
I say the latter.
Ihavepants @ Jun 20th 2009 9:42PM
...The Beta has always been available to everyone who owns L4D. Am I missing something else here?
Einhanderkiller @ Jun 21st 2009 3:27AM
Yes. The authoring tools were released, but there was no means of easily playing custom maps. This fixes that.
Ihavepants @ Jun 21st 2009 5:51AM
Ah ok, thanks.
shanedugg @ Jun 21st 2009 2:50AM
the more L4D the merrier - something soozing and relaxing about a zombie headshot - george a. romero's dawn of the dead is a videogame adaptation i'd love to see with this engine