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Left 4 Dead
Kibiz0r
Member #6,203
September 2005
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;D;D;D;D;D

The demo came out yesterday right before I had to go to work, but their servers were getting hammered hardcore so I couldn't play it until late last night. But it was well worth the wait.

Some highlights:

  • Teammate goes "Hey, I wanna save that little boy" and the rest of us shout "NO IT'S A WITCH" then proceed to witness his demise, followed by mine when I try to help him.

  • Me taking out a witch solo on Advanced difficulty.

  • Blowing up a huuuuuge mob of zombies with a pipe bomb. (They are attracted to the beeps.)

  • Turned the corner and walked right into a boomer, then got totally raped by a tank.

  • Being one of two surviving teammates for the first level on Expert, with 1 health left.

</li>

So, anyone have the demo for PC?
Feel free to add me! I'll be playing all night, probably.

(My Steam is Kibiz0r, of course.)

someone972
Member #7,719
August 2006
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Ah man, I don't think I'll be able to play it. My computer is well.. suboptimal. I don't meet pretty much all of the min requirements, especially the video card (min Geforce 6600, I have 4600). I need to get a new computer for gaming. Already I have tried a few deoms that haven't worked.

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Kitty Cat
Member #2,815
October 2002
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Doesn't seem there's a non-Steam version... is there?

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Kibiz0r
Member #6,203
September 2005
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Well, there's a version for the 360.

But non-Steam for PC... Not so much. Is it technical, or political differences, Kitty Cat?

Kitty Cat
Member #2,815
October 2002
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Political, mostly. I won't install Steam on my system. There's no reason a game, a game demo at that, needs to require it (bad enough it requires Windows, but I at least have Wine to try it on).

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Mokkan
Member #4,355
February 2004
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My computer sure picked an awesome time to die :(. I've been looking forward to this game since it was announced...

OICW
Member #4,069
November 2003
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Sounds cool. Unfortunatelly there's the same reason I won't play it any time soon as is for Fallout 3 - I'm missing such a powerfull machine. Plus basically what Kitty Cat said.

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Matt Smith
Member #783
November 2000

I found Steam so annoying I gave away my HL2.

I have a slightly awesome machine now (am I still the only allegator with 1GB vram?) but it doesn't run Windows :) I'm still on honeymoon with Debian

ngiacomelli
Member #5,114
October 2004

The demo runs surprisingly smoothly for me. It's a lot of fun. Played through on Expert a few times and managed to get most of my team out. Perhaps my biggest gripe is the 'server-matching' system.

A few of us wanted to play a LAN game. To do that, we first had to search for available multiplayer servers, cancel that search, and then wait for the game to try to setup a local version. Not only that, we then had a few random people join the game (regardless of whether we set the game to Friends-only or not).

The fact that VALVe have already patched the demo is a good sign though. Hopefully we'll have a smooth roll-out of the entire game.

It's annoying having to restart a level segment after a failed attempt, but I've found it encourages cooperative teamwork. After a few restarts people usually realise it's best to stick together. At present the microphone on my headset is bust - and I don't advise stopping to type out suggestions or orders ;). In fact, it seems the Director system doesn't like anyone idling. If you try to secure an area, or camp out for too long, you're just asking for trouble.

It's also genuinely terrifying to hear the scream of a handful of the undead, and then see them barrel through a doorway heading straight for you.

Quote:

I found Steam so annoying I gave away my HL2.

I've been a fan of Steam since inception. It's a wonderful way for me to purchase and maintain my games. Steam Cloud (which has been rolled out via L4D) is a welcome feature addition, also.

Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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Quote:

The fact that VALVe have already patched the demo is a good sign though.

Id actually call that a bad sign :P sure its great they are supporting the software, but it shouldn't NEED a patch so soon. Its a sign of shitty development and testing practices.

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ngiacomelli
Member #5,114
October 2004

Quote:

Id actually call that a bad sign :P sure its great they are supporting the software, but it shouldn't NEED a patch so soon. Its a sign of shitty development and testing practices.

I'd say that's rubbish. We all know that development within the gaming industry works to tight deadlines (which usually results in rushed products). To release a game to an audience of that size and then have issues with scalability is totally understandable. Now, something like Apple's MobileMe, on the other hand...

Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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I don't care about their deadlines. They will use any excuse and tactic to release as early as possible, even going so far as to effect quality and stability. Ever since they started releasing patches as often as they do, they've used it as just another way to get the game out sooner. Even if its broken, they don't care they can always just "fix it later" if they feel like it.

They are taking advantage of their customers. Expecting them to deal with unstable and unfinished products just to get a jump on the release date. Its bullshit.

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X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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Speaking as someone working in the games industry... all I can say is don't blame the developers. Marketing tends to make promises that development can't deliver on, and then we're left with the choice of cutting down on quality or telling them to go screw themselves (which doesn't help anyway because you still have to do it).

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Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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Oh I blame the publishers. If that happens to be the same people as the developers, I don't care.

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gnolam
Member #2,030
March 2002
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Thomas Fjellstrom said:

even going so far as to effect quality and stability.

I'd say that's desirable! ;)

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Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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Quote:

I'd say that's desirable! ;)

You are mistaken ;) What they do is release what should be a pre-beta on release day, and fix it up later. Sure, fixing it later is good, but it shouldn't be released broken ::)

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X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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effect
     v 1: cause to happen or occur; "The scientists set up a
          shockwave" [syn: effectuate, bring about, set up]

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Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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Nice Mr. picky. Just stay ontopic ::)

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ngiacomelli
Member #5,114
October 2004

Quote:

Ever since they started releasing patches as often as they do

I think it's a double-edged sword. The Internet has allowed publishers and developers to support games long past the point of release. At the same time, bugs and glitches that would otherwise never present themselves to the casual user are now discussed and dissected by extremists and fanatics.

The fact of the matter is this: Left4Dead is a solid product. The server matching system worked out of the box, but came under a bit of stress around the point of release due to the volume of interest surrounding the demo. If I were management and saw that the game worked, and was entertaining, I'd have done the exact same thing. Now they have just under two weeks to iron out the inevitable kinks before pushing the full version of the game.

VALVe, I believe, are one of the few publisher/developer combos that still have the freedom to really say, 'it's done when it's done'. They take the time to make products that both innovate and interest them. Otherwise we'd already have a plethora of 'official' Portal level packs and expansions, given the commercial success of the first game.

Kibiz0r
Member #6,203
September 2005
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Quote:

There's no reason a game, a game demo at that, needs to require it (bad enough it requires Windows, but I at least have Wine to try it on).

I'm not going to debate the merits of Steam itself, but they put a lot of new features in the platform just for this game, it would be silly to strip them all out to deliver a likely broken and lackluster demo.

Besides, Steam is part of their business model, why wouldn't they want to use the free demo as a carrot-on-a-stick?

Matt Smith
Member #783
November 2000

There was no obvious way to turn Steam off. That was my big complaint at the time. Apart from that it's no worse than any other package manager. I have suggested writing something similar for selling Allegro games, but nobody offered to write the back end :)

Kitty Cat
Member #2,815
October 2002
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Quote:

I'm not going to debate the merits of Steam itself, but they put a lot of new features in the platform just for this game, it would be silly to strip them all out to deliver a likely broken and lackluster demo.

I have no problem with them having a version that uses Steam. I just don't see why it should have to be a requirement. I mean, if they release a non-Steam version then you get both groups.. the people that would buy it because of Steam, and the people that wouldn't buy it because of Steam. It doesn't have to be one or the other (Steam or no Steam), it can be both.

Besides which, Steam is an internet distribution platform. It does not play the game (in the sense of a VM, or even Wine). When the game is launched, Steam is (supposed to be) suspended.. so how would the game's quality be reduced if Steam isn't doing anything while it's running anyway?

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Kibiz0r
Member #6,203
September 2005
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Quote:

Besides which, Steam is an internet distribution platform. It does not play the game (in the sense of a VM, or even Wine). When the game is launched, Steam is (supposed to be) suspended.. so how would the game's quality be reduced if Steam isn't doing anything while it's running anyway?

Uh, have you ever used Steam?

MiquelFire
Member #3,110
January 2003
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EEK! GeForce 6600 is pushing on my limits! Soon my computer won't handle these games! And considering I need to basically buy a whole new system to do worth while upgrades... ($1200 min last I checked for the level of power I want out of my next machine)

And this appears to be another FPS... beh...

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Kitty Cat
Member #2,815
October 2002
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Quote:

Uh, have you ever used Steam?

This is what I'm told. One of more common complaints about Steam is it running in the background needlessly while playing (CPU/GPU intensive) games, and we're always told, "No, Steam isn't doing anything while you're playing! It just gets swapped out!" (despite swap being a finite resource..).

So, which is it? Is it doing something and taking up valuable processing time, or is it not doing anything and taking up unnecessary resources?

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"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will pee on your computer." -- Bruce Graham



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