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The Official Left 4 Dead Thread
- Thread starter saelz8
- Start date
Won said:
That, and there's a reason why Source games have entire server communities built around them instead of having everything degenerate into the jerkwad-filled wilderness of live.
Matchmaking is pretty much inferior in every way unless you seriously have social issues and can't be bothered to spend entire minutes to find a community to play with for the long term. And even if that were the case, a simple OPTION would eliminate that issue altogether.
Speculator
BioWare Austin
don't know if this is the right place or the wrong time, but sucks that amazon preorders aren't part of this...so if anyone has an extra PC key.... 
Wizman23 said:
Well you don't "die" right away.
She'll jump right at you super fast and slash at you with her claws.
When you get hit you get knocked to the ground. Here you can still take punishment and fire your gun from a limp position and survive if a teammate heals you. Or you die if you take too much punishment right away. It is a pretty cool system.
TheLegendary
Member
Davidion said:
Woa, wat. Matchmaking makes you antisocial? :lol If you want to use silly arguments like that to compare the two I'd say using matchmaking makes you even more social since you're going to meet and talk to new people every single time.
That's certainly a new one to try to discount matchmaking.
Coin Return
Loose Slot
Just got destroyed on Expert before I could even get to the second safe room. The amount of zombies they throw at you is ridiculous (in a good way).
Imagine if TF2 had matchmaking...
While it'd be cool to have a group of 16 people jumping around game to game playing on the same team...It would be nerve racking for me not being able to control my experience when I'm playing by myself. I can't count how many times I've fired up TF2, no friends on and I just want to play a couple rounds of dustbowl...So I filter for dustbowl, sort by ping, find a 24/7 server and bam I'm satisfied. If I had to jump into my own empty party and wait for dustbowl to come around in a playlist I would have dropped TF2 a week in. I hope they add server browser later as an option.
EDIT: AND WTF? HOW is this going to work with customs!?
While it'd be cool to have a group of 16 people jumping around game to game playing on the same team...It would be nerve racking for me not being able to control my experience when I'm playing by myself. I can't count how many times I've fired up TF2, no friends on and I just want to play a couple rounds of dustbowl...So I filter for dustbowl, sort by ping, find a 24/7 server and bam I'm satisfied. If I had to jump into my own empty party and wait for dustbowl to come around in a playlist I would have dropped TF2 a week in. I hope they add server browser later as an option.
EDIT: AND WTF? HOW is this going to work with customs!?
BravoSuperStar
Member
It was so easy to find some good servers, add them to your favorites then have a list of good, low ping places to play. If they want to offer matchmaking fine, but I feel they should have offered both in order to ease PC players into the new system and to also make sure there is a fallback in case the new system doesn't work as expected.
I'm not dying for a server browser, but the matchmaking needs work. Still, I'd rather play a fun game with issues than a boring game with no issues. That's probably why I'm not getting all worked up. You know, because the game is fun.
Ignoring the control differences, there will be steady updates for the PC version. I don't want to wait for the 360 version to undergo certification before I can get them. Valve is slow enough as is!TheLegendary said:
CrazedArabMan
Member
Tons of fun on the 360, at first I thought it was a little disappointing because the zombies just stood there, and then when I was making my way down the first set of stairs, I closed the door behind me, and I hear all of these screeches on to look back at the door being ripped open and ton of zombies come running down the steps. I unloaded with the uzi, man it was so action packed, I will have to pick this up.
Shake Appeal
Member
Okay, all the talk about matchmaking on PC aside, here are my impressions of the 360 version, copy-pasted from over at Eurogamer:
I was a little worried from videos that it was too fast-paced/arcadey. I am no longer worried. The pace is hectic and downright frightening at times (and having played four games of it now, I can tell you that the AI Director works, and sometimes seems downright devious, such as putting a Witch by the health packs we all needed right at the end). The 'boss' Infected can be terrifying when they catch you off guard, and the Tank and Witch take a beating before they go down.
The weapons aren't that varied, but they all feel good, especially the hunting rifle and the basic shotgun. The pipe bomb is the most fun to use, though. It beeps and flashes red and attracts a swarm of Infected to it before exploding. Controls on 360 are pretty great. Four different layouts (I picked the one that put Crouch on left stick), and an option for Southpaw if you need it. Movement (yours, and the enemies') is quick, much more in the vein of CounterStrike than Halo 3 or CoD4, which 360 players are more likely to be familiar with. The 360 version includes a 180 degree turn button, which I didn't use often but was thankful for at times. The game feels great on the whole, and looks pretty good too. More importantly, it runs very smoothly, even when there are thirty or forty Infected on screen. Not that I counted. I didn't have time.
Vitally, the game absolutely encourages you to be cooperative. Stragglers are often caught by Smokers or Hunters, and you are very vulnerable by yourself, as a teammate is needed to rescue you from those attacks, when you are downed, and to guard you when you are blinded by a Boomer (which is very disorienting, and terrifying because it attracts Infected to your position). All of my games were with complete strangers, and in all of them we ended up laughing together... usually in relief after a particularly fraught moment, or when someone got caught unawares. Everyone I played with was grateful for healing or advice. The one time we had a teammate without a mic who charged ahead and didn't listen it was a much more frustrating experience. But playing with friends shouldn't be an issue. There's also a pretty smart 'Vocalize' command that shouts at whoever you're aiming (or shouts out a boss Infected) but it's not as useful as just talking into the headset.
I played all my games on Advanced, which is between Normal and the top level, which I think is Expert, and it was a very satisfying challenge: out of the four games, we had to restart from a checkpoint twice, and in all four we finished with at least half the team seriously injured. I can't imagine what Expert is like. Incidentally, the animation and speech for injured teammates are very impressive and immersive. In fact, the sound design throughout is great, and you can often tell what's ahead by listening carefully.
I am not sure if the game will get tedious in the long term: there are only two levels from one campaign on offer here, and they were different enough in placement of zombies and weapons each time to not feel like I was playing through the same areas again, although there are definitive chokepoints you become familiar with (especially the awesome final fight where you will probably be pretty wounded). I really, really want to play and see more, and particularly to play Versus mode, which is not included in the demo. But from what I can tell, there are many, many hours of multiplayer fun here; I'm
not sure what it would be like to play by yourself. 360 version also includes split-screen, and you can change in the menus which way the screen is divided (interestingly, you can also set colour settings for either TV or computer screen, which was useful for me playing on my 20" widescreen monitor, and I'd like to see it included in more games).
The only remotely frustrating element is your own vulnerability from Hunter/Smoker attacks, and when surrounded (you will spend a lot of time hammering the left trigger to shove zombies away from you or others), but that's by design. Being unable to help a teammate who's being roped to their death by a Smoker because you can't get through a pack of regular Infected has a nice quality of despair to it.
Based on what I have played, it's an EG 10.
I was a little worried from videos that it was too fast-paced/arcadey. I am no longer worried. The pace is hectic and downright frightening at times (and having played four games of it now, I can tell you that the AI Director works, and sometimes seems downright devious, such as putting a Witch by the health packs we all needed right at the end). The 'boss' Infected can be terrifying when they catch you off guard, and the Tank and Witch take a beating before they go down.
The weapons aren't that varied, but they all feel good, especially the hunting rifle and the basic shotgun. The pipe bomb is the most fun to use, though. It beeps and flashes red and attracts a swarm of Infected to it before exploding. Controls on 360 are pretty great. Four different layouts (I picked the one that put Crouch on left stick), and an option for Southpaw if you need it. Movement (yours, and the enemies') is quick, much more in the vein of CounterStrike than Halo 3 or CoD4, which 360 players are more likely to be familiar with. The 360 version includes a 180 degree turn button, which I didn't use often but was thankful for at times. The game feels great on the whole, and looks pretty good too. More importantly, it runs very smoothly, even when there are thirty or forty Infected on screen. Not that I counted. I didn't have time.
Vitally, the game absolutely encourages you to be cooperative. Stragglers are often caught by Smokers or Hunters, and you are very vulnerable by yourself, as a teammate is needed to rescue you from those attacks, when you are downed, and to guard you when you are blinded by a Boomer (which is very disorienting, and terrifying because it attracts Infected to your position). All of my games were with complete strangers, and in all of them we ended up laughing together... usually in relief after a particularly fraught moment, or when someone got caught unawares. Everyone I played with was grateful for healing or advice. The one time we had a teammate without a mic who charged ahead and didn't listen it was a much more frustrating experience. But playing with friends shouldn't be an issue. There's also a pretty smart 'Vocalize' command that shouts at whoever you're aiming (or shouts out a boss Infected) but it's not as useful as just talking into the headset.
I played all my games on Advanced, which is between Normal and the top level, which I think is Expert, and it was a very satisfying challenge: out of the four games, we had to restart from a checkpoint twice, and in all four we finished with at least half the team seriously injured. I can't imagine what Expert is like. Incidentally, the animation and speech for injured teammates are very impressive and immersive. In fact, the sound design throughout is great, and you can often tell what's ahead by listening carefully.
I am not sure if the game will get tedious in the long term: there are only two levels from one campaign on offer here, and they were different enough in placement of zombies and weapons each time to not feel like I was playing through the same areas again, although there are definitive chokepoints you become familiar with (especially the awesome final fight where you will probably be pretty wounded). I really, really want to play and see more, and particularly to play Versus mode, which is not included in the demo. But from what I can tell, there are many, many hours of multiplayer fun here; I'm
not sure what it would be like to play by yourself. 360 version also includes split-screen, and you can change in the menus which way the screen is divided (interestingly, you can also set colour settings for either TV or computer screen, which was useful for me playing on my 20" widescreen monitor, and I'd like to see it included in more games).
The only remotely frustrating element is your own vulnerability from Hunter/Smoker attacks, and when surrounded (you will spend a lot of time hammering the left trigger to shove zombies away from you or others), but that's by design. Being unable to help a teammate who's being roped to their death by a Smoker because you can't get through a pack of regular Infected has a nice quality of despair to it.
Based on what I have played, it's an EG 10.
Scotch said:
if they haven't got it down for the public demo/at very latest the release date, this potential goty will be remembered as one of the great historic valve cluster fucks.
and i'm sure the reviews and it's oh so precious meta-critic score will reflect this.
SlasherJPC
Banned
anyone has a 360 code??? I'm dying over here! PM me... I'll return the favor somehow! My zombie loving persona is dying here!:lol Fuck gamestop for not getting me the code. I reserved months ago!
Joining an established server for awhile is like walking into a bar like Cheers. Everyone knows your name and you know a lot of the people you're playing with.poweld said:
Matchmaking puts you with 3 other people and 4 faceless people the other end...at the end of the match the other 4 people are gone. There's no consistency. You can't join "F7Lans 24/7 hospital L4D" and run into your buddies with matchmaking.
poweld said:
It has nothing to do with being "antisocial". The "complications" of finding servers and communities to play on is a complaint that was levied by the console crowd against the traditional server browser method. The "social" comment was a stab at that; he's just interpreting it to be something more.
indigo-cyclops
Member
I'm hesitant to pre-order it ~ I only have a limited amount of cashflow and a pre-determined budget has this game placed below a few others releasing in the next two months. Unless I REALLY love it and enjoy it, I would regret pre-ordering it when the universal demo comes out in 5 days...
But I've been reading some good impressions and that keeps my interest. However, the matchmaking issue - eh eh, No way. Server list is a must for PC version at the very least. I won't have it any other way, Valve! I just LOVE that about HL2/CS Source
But I've been reading some good impressions and that keeps my interest. However, the matchmaking issue - eh eh, No way. Server list is a must for PC version at the very least. I won't have it any other way, Valve! I just LOVE that about HL2/CS Source
Iced_Eagle
Member
Hunter D said:
Yes, runs like butter at 1440x900
God damn this. I kind of regret buying the game now on PC if this is the way it is going to be. If I have to deal with matchmaking, I would rather be on the 360. Demo is still downloading so I will have to wait a bit to test it out but given what I have read in this thread, I am kind of worried.
Iced_Eagle
Member
EvaPlusMinus said:
Tell all of your friends to restart Steam. Maybe they didn't get an update?
Really? I have the same card and was running 800x600 mid-low settings and it was only 20fps. Although when I closed it there was a "do you want windows to keep blocking L4D?" popup there, dunno how that would affect it, also lately my games like TF2 and CSS have been running slower than usual as well...Iced_Eagle said:Yes, runs like butter at 1440x900
Fallout-NL
Member
Well fuck.
I simply will not be able to play this game. My only choice of internet is what the student housing here provides. I don't have access to a router and whatever way it's set now, it does not like this matchmaking bullshit.
TF2 works, CS works, WoW works, Left 4 Dead however, does not.
I simply will not be able to play this game. My only choice of internet is what the student housing here provides. I don't have access to a router and whatever way it's set now, it does not like this matchmaking bullshit.
TF2 works, CS works, WoW works, Left 4 Dead however, does not.
indigo-cyclops
Member
Davidion said:
I totally agree, and I think that's what I plan on doing. I'll give the demo a shot because why buy the game if I don't like it - unlikely, but there's always a chance. I always catch myself searching for the best way to get something early and it's those impulses that always come back to bite you in the ass. There's just so many games coming out, and such a limited amount of money, that you HAVE TO be informed and convinced.
So yes, I am going to wait until the full release to make a proper diagnosis.
Shake Appeal
Member
That's a real shame. If you can find out anything about how its set up, or even what router it is, then maybe let Valve know?Fallout-NL said:
when first trying the demo single player I jumped in from the roof at the first screen and after cleaning the first wave of zombies there was one left that just did not die. I emptied the entire shotgun clip and continuously shot at it and it was still going. Thought it was some special zombie and tried to escape into a different room but none of the other AI teammates would follow because this one zombie kept killing someone and the other two would keep going to revive the dead player.
Then I exited to the main menu.
Then I exited to the main menu.