New Content

[Lucy St. Jude]

Courtesy of Moon:

http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/left-4-dead/preview/left-4-dead-survival-pack-hands-on/a-2009030594445612035/g-20061120155139282079

The downloadable Survival Pack will be released for download at some point before April 21, adding survival mode and the two new versus campaigns (Death Toll and Dead Air). Survival mode will be playable on 16 maps, 15 of which are culled from the existing campaigns’ crescendo moments and finales. The final survival map is the new original creation, “Lighthouse”.

[Derrick Heyoka]

Left 4 Dead Update Released
March 12, 2009, 12:43 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to Left 4 Dead have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Left 4 Dead

    * Fixed sv_search_key appearing in server browser
    * Fixed issue where changing the sv_search_key did not update the master correctly
    * Fixed master server issue with Linux fork mode that affected availablity of Valve dedicated servers
    * Tank melee attack can now hit multiple Survivors in one swing
    * Missed from the previous list changes: Fixed acheivements to match stats. Past achievements not previously awarded will be shown in the game UI

[Derrick Heyoka]

Oh also, if you hadn't looked:
[-]March 11, 2009 - Left 4 Dead Update Released

Updates to Left 4 Dead have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Versus Mode Changes


Tank melee attack can now hit multiple Survivors in one swing

Fixed Tank punch being able to hit targets behind walls

Fixes to 'Tank parking'. The Tank will now run back and attack the Survivors if he becomes AI due to two players expiring the frustration meter

Fixed a case where a Tank frustration meter could run out right as he was in his death animation and he would come back to life

Fixed a case where the Tank was moving too slowly while crouching and being shot

Tanks now have the possibility of spawning in a slightly different position for the first and second teams

The order that the teams play as Survivors is now determined by which team has the higher overall score. The winning team will play as Survivors first

The Smoker tongue can now target and grab victims through common infected

Increased the cone in which a Smoker can grab a target

The Witch no longer cuts Smoker tongues in a radius around her

Boomers that explode in mid-air will now hit Survivors directly below them with Bile

Reduced the damage that burning Hunters do to pounced victims

Adjusted the time at which players take over from bots to avoid 5 seconds of the bot standing idle while the player finishes connecting.

Fixed some cases where versus score was not being recalculated properly. It is no longer beneficial to pass pills between players at the end of the round or heal other players and then shoot them

Fixed a case where it was possible to spectate an AI infected and hit +use to take them over


Server Changes

Added convar sv_gametype that allows server operators to limit the types of games that will start on their server. Default value is 'coop,versus'. Can be changed to just 'coop' or just 'versus' to limit to those game types


General changes

Fixed a case where players would join as a dead Survivor when a living Survivor was still available

Fixed a case where restarting a level due to the team dying would give more than the max primary ammo on restart

Fixed the speaking icon showing up on the local player during level transition if voice_vox was set to 1

The scoreboard now shows the numeric value of a player's ping


GameUI

Quick match will now try to match to any campaign. Removed the preference to match to games according to the player progressing through all campaigns

Games in a finale are now joinable via the Friends and Steam Group games list

[Derrick Heyoka]

http://store.steampowered.com/news/2708/

Crash Course Campaign Due in September

August 4, 2009 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the next major downloadable content (DLC) update for its co-operative zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead (L4D), the #1 new game title on Xbox 360 and PC in 2008

Entitled "Crash Course," the latest DLC delivers new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay to both platforms. Targeted for release in September, "Crash Course" bridges the gap between the end of the "No Mercy" campaign and the beginning of "Death Toll" in the original game, expanding the game universe with new locations, new dialogue from the original cast, and an explosive finale

While containing both Survival maps and a Co-operative Campaign, the primary goal of "Crash" is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game's existing Versus campaigns. A recharge timer for infected teammates has also been added, and item spawn behavior has changed for more balanced gameplay.

"Since the release of Left 4 Dead last November, the design team has been excited about creating new experiences for this world and allowing players to do the same, by releasing much of our internal toolset, like the Survival Pack and Authoring Tools," said Gabe Newell. "We're working with the fans toward the ongoing entertainment value of the product."

Left 4 Dead is an action horror game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games. Released in November of 2008, L4D has earned over 50 industry awards from outlets around the world and sold almost 3 million copies worldwide.

Left 4 Dead: Crash Course is targeted for release in September and will be available free of charge on the PC and for 560 Gamer points on Xbox Live.

For more information, please visit www.l4d.com

[Derrick Heyoka]

Heehee new DLC poster... http://kotaku.com/5470434/new-left-4-dead-2-poster-needs-a-tagline

[Derrick Heyoka]

Tomorrow - 4/22 - l4d2 The Passing hits.  http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3178921

[Lucy St. Jude]

We should gather and play that.  Perhaps on Sunday or Weds?

[Derrick Heyoka]

The Passing promo video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSZTI4W8xts

[Lucy St. Jude]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102962-Valve-Unveils-The-Sacrifice-DLC-for-Left-4-Dead

"Valve has taken the wraps off The Sacrifice, a new DLC expansion for both Left 4 Dead and L4D2 that will "bridge the gap" between the two games and explain how one of the original survivors was lost to the zombie horde.

Adding to the coolness is the decision to bring the popular No Mercy campaign to Left 4 Dead 2."