Left 4 Dead Update Details

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Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby ad_hominem on Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:54 am

The Official Left 4 Dead Blog has detailed exactly what we can expect to find in the update that will be hitting Left 4 Dead next week. According to Valve, this update will allow the use of custom campaigns:

Third party campaigns are designed to be installed using a new Add-On framework. Content authors will be able to package up their new maps, along with new posters, models, and textures, into a single .VPK file. 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.


Valve are also apparently releasing the full L4D Authoring Tools, which will include the source files for all official Left 4 Dead Maps. You can read the whole thing on the Official Blog.
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby whiffen on Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:33 am

Hmm, interesting.

Hopefully you will be able to browse for content in L4D. I don't want to download VPK files, install them, start a lobby and hope to god someone somewhere will want to play the same map.

EDIT: I probably should have finished reading it all first XD Yay!
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby Megadude on Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:44 am

Mention campaigns, but it doesn't mention Versus or Survival. Hmmmm.
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby Trilton on Sat Jun 20, 2009 12:49 pm

Source files for all the official campaign maps


Excellent news!
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby no00dylan on Sat Jun 20, 2009 1:26 pm

Megadude wrote:Mention campaigns, but it doesn't mention Versus or Survival. Hmmmm.


Meh, im sure they'll include them aswell

GREAT NEWS!
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby Blade Nd64 on Sat Jun 20, 2009 1:29 pm

HALLELUJAH!

I've been waiting months for this. Now it's the time to release custom campaigns. :D
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby Mess on Sat Jun 20, 2009 1:37 pm

on hearing this news i've bitten the bullet and begun my own campaign :D
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby Psy on Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:16 pm

"A new command line utility for creating and extracting from .VPK files"

They never learn.
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby joe_rogers_11155 on Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:29 pm

Psy wrote:"A new command line utility for creating and extracting from .VPK files"

They never learn.


Psy, can you elaborate (for a noob like me) on what that means?

I hope they include these Add-On options for the survival maps and versus...
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby vcool on Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:08 pm

Command line utility is something like height2ssbump or vtex. You make a batch file or drag'n'drop the files on the util shortcut with all the neccessary parameters.

In essence, it means that it'll take a while before everyone figures out how to use it. I mean, how many people are still using stdmdl to compile QC files instead of GUIStudioMDL?
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby Psy on Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:28 pm

In this day and age how hard can it be to create a simple Windows-based GUI for a command-line program? This is the same sort of shit that used to put me off texture and model compiling and I'm sure it does for a lot of people.

Thank God for GUIStudioMdl and the Photoshop VTF-Plugin.
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby joe_rogers_11155 on Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:36 am

i see. so is valve just leaving it to the modding community to ccreate a GUI program for their new .VPK extension, thinking the mod community can make it what they want to make it? Because Valve knows all the source code like the back of their hands (except when it comes to updating hammer (yes I'm still pissed about the model viewer FAIL-ROLL)), so they don't feel the need to make one...? (I'm trying to be optimistic...)
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby vcool on Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:45 am

I'm pretty sure they're just lazy. Command line programs are perhaps the easiest programs you can make. I mean, all it does, take an input -> output.

Whether the community will make GUIs really depends on what you can do with the VPK program. If there are a lot of options, and you can preview stuff - yes, someone wil make at least a shell (GUIStudioMDL still uses stdmdl to compile) or maybe write a completely new program (like VTFEdit, because it doesn't use vtex).

If there aren't much parameters, or none at all, I doubt someone will make a GUI for it, since it can't get simpler than take a file - drag and drop.
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby Sebhael on Sun Jun 21, 2009 4:32 am

This update is also known as "The Last Update You'll See for L4D1, for future support please purchase L4D2!"

Sounds almost like it at least, almost everything the L4D community wanted is being plopped into their laps all in a single update.

I am looking forward to dissecting the original maps though, I still have a map that I never finished cause I'm all confused and stuff about how setting the map up for correct l4d gameplay works :/
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Re: Left 4 Dead Update Details

Postby vcool on Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:58 am

This just occured to me, does that mean we can use custom models without pakratting them? If each campaign is in its own VPK?...

You can pretty much make an entire conversion like this. Not gameplay wise or HUDwise or anything to do with code, but you could make all the zombies teletubbies, for ex., and replace all sound files. So keep the base, but entirely change it cosmetically.
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