studying left4dead 2 maps

[DJPoopPants]

I'm tring to study the way valve creates their gameplay, especially in the left4dead2 world. I'd like to see layout of the campaign maps from a top down perspective... I think this was possible with the original half life engine, but I can't seem to find a way with source. Any suggestions?

Also, any suggestions on what to think about/study on the topic of gameplay would be appreciated.

 

[EHKOS]

Just enter a game solo, use the cheats godmode and noclip.

 

[godofallu]

In the L4D2 world they just go for invisible walls 50 feet up cutting off hunters, and other over the top cresendos which remove all fun.

L4D1 now there was a game!

 

[Jennacide]

In the L4D2 world they just go for invisible walls 50 feet up cutting off hunters, and other over the top cresendos which remove all fun.

L4D1 now there was a game!

Because L4D1 NEVER did this. Oh, wait a second...

 

[godofallu]

In the L4D2 world they just go for invisible walls 50 feet up cutting off hunters, and other over the top cresendos which remove all fun.

L4D1 now there was a game!

Because L4D1 NEVER did this. Oh, wait a second...

Agreed they never did. Invisible walls were basically always way up in the air allowing rooftop access.

Plus all the cresendos in L4D1 are pretty damn easy. I suppose people could argue too easy but when you play infected right it's still possible to stop people.

On topic: OP the noclip idea is what you were looking for.

 

[Jennacide]

In the L4D2 world they just go for invisible walls 50 feet up cutting off hunters, and other over the top cresendos which remove all fun.

L4D1 now there was a game!

Because L4D1 NEVER did this. Oh, wait a second...

Agreed they never did. Invisible walls were basically always way up in the air allowing rooftop access.

Plus all the cresendos in L4D1 are pretty damn easy. I suppose people could argue too easy but when you play infected right it's still possible to stop people.

On topic: OP the noclip idea is what you were looking for.

This is you missing the joke. There were countless invisible walls in L4D. I don't understand how this is always brought up for L4D2, but the first one was just as bad. Go through No Mercy and almost every building lacked a roof to perch on. Same goes for most of the city area of Death Toll. L4D2 is so much friendlier to the infected, with the exception of the first level of Parish. Which, of course, has the most hilariously abusive opening for infected if you play your cards right.

 

[godofallu]

In the L4D2 world they just go for invisible walls 50 feet up cutting off hunters, and other over the top cresendos which remove all fun.

L4D1 now there was a game!

Because L4D1 NEVER did this. Oh, wait a second...

Agreed they never did. Invisible walls were basically always way up in the air allowing rooftop access.

Plus all the cresendos in L4D1 are pretty damn easy. I suppose people could argue too easy but when you play infected right it's still possible to stop people.

On topic: OP the noclip idea is what you were looking for.

This is you missing the joke. There were countless invisible walls in L4D. I don't understand how this is always brought up for L4D2, but the first one was just as bad. Go through No Mercy and almost every building lacked a roof to perch on. Same goes for most of the city area of Death Toll. L4D2 is so much friendlier to the infected, with the exception of the first level of Parish. Which, of course, has the most hilariously abusive opening for infected if you play your cards right.

How many thousand dollars have you made playing L4D1 professionally? Obviously I caught your sarcasm and chose to redirect it.

Ever climbed to the top of the hospital starting in NM3? You can do that without cheats. In fact almost every part of the NM campaign aside from 4 lets you get roof access.

L4D2 friendlier to infected? The hunter is heavier so that he can't pounce as far or inverted wall climb. Plus the invisible walls cutoff a ton of roof access.

The boomer can't spit as far anymore.

Add in the shitty spitter, lack of health bonus, and poor map design and you have L4D2.

Anyways this thread isn't made to debate 1 vs 2 so from here on I won't respond.

 

[LordRoyal]

I'm tring to study the way valve creates their gameplay, especially in the left4dead2 world. I'd like to see layout of the campaign maps from a top down perspective... I think this was possible with the original half life engine, but I can't seem to find a way with source. Any suggestions?

Also, any suggestions on what to think about/study on the topic of gameplay would be appreciated.

Just extract the maps from the .vpks and put them into Hammer, you can view them and even edit them that way.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

In the L4D2 world they just go for invisible walls 50 feet up cutting off hunters, and other over the top cresendos which remove all fun.

L4D1 now there was a game!

Because L4D1 NEVER did this. Oh, wait a second...

Agreed they never did. Invisible walls were basically always way up in the air allowing rooftop access.

Plus all the cresendos in L4D1 are pretty damn easy. I suppose people could argue too easy but when you play infected right it's still possible to stop people.

On topic: OP the noclip idea is what you were looking for.

This is you missing the joke. There were countless invisible walls in L4D. I don't understand how this is always brought up for L4D2, but the first one was just as bad. Go through No Mercy and almost every building lacked a roof to perch on. Same goes for most of the city area of Death Toll. L4D2 is so much friendlier to the infected, with the exception of the first level of Parish. Which, of course, has the most hilariously abusive opening for infected if you play your cards right.

How many thousand dollars have you made playing L4D1 professionally? Obviously I caught your sarcasm and chose to redirect it.

Ever climbed to the top of the hospital starting in NM3? You can do that without cheats. In fact almost every part of the NM campaign aside from 4 lets you get roof access.

L4D2 friendlier to infected? The hunter is heavier so that he can't pounce as far or inverted wall climb. Plus the invisible walls cutoff a ton of roof access.

The boomer can't spit as far anymore.

Add in the shitty spitter, lack of health bonus, and poor map design and you have L4D2.

Anyways this thread isn't made to debate 1 vs 2 so from here on I won't respond.

i don't believe you, you never made a dime playing any game professionally. as for this argument, i'm a console gamer, i have a shitty graphics card, so i don't bother with much pc gaming, especially competitively, but nothing is going to convince me that you've ever played professionally, short of a picture showing you holding a giant check with PRO GAMER in the memo section.

 

[zehydra]

If you have the game on steam, I highly recommend getting the level dev kit thingy that comes free with it.

 

[DJPoopPants]

Thanks for the suggestions. noclip + godmode work well enough, though I still get snagged by the mutated sometimes. I think I have a decent feel for the layout and art, though I think I just need to get my hands dirty mapping for a while.

 

[Solo-Wing]

Turn off the AI Director. That will allow you to explore all maps fully without worry.

 

[auronvi]

In the L4D2 world they just go for invisible walls 50 feet up cutting off hunters, and other over the top cresendos which remove all fun.

L4D1 now there was a game!

Because L4D1 NEVER did this. Oh, wait a second...

Agreed they never did. Invisible walls were basically always way up in the air allowing rooftop access.

Plus all the cresendos in L4D1 are pretty damn easy. I suppose people could argue too easy but when you play infected right it's still possible to stop people.

On topic: OP the noclip idea is what you were looking for.

This is you missing the joke. There were countless invisible walls in L4D. I don't understand how this is always brought up for L4D2, but the first one was just as bad. Go through No Mercy and almost every building lacked a roof to perch on. Same goes for most of the city area of Death Toll. L4D2 is so much friendlier to the infected, with the exception of the first level of Parish. Which, of course, has the most hilariously abusive opening for infected if you play your cards right.

How many thousand dollars have you made playing L4D1 professionally? Obviously I caught your sarcasm and chose to redirect it.

Ever climbed to the top of the hospital starting in NM3? You can do that without cheats. In fact almost every part of the NM campaign aside from 4 lets you get roof access.

L4D2 friendlier to infected? The hunter is heavier so that he can't pounce as far or inverted wall climb. Plus the invisible walls cutoff a ton of roof access.

The boomer can't spit as far anymore.

Add in the shitty spitter, lack of health bonus, and poor map design and you have L4D2.

Anyways this thread isn't made to debate 1 vs 2 so from here on I won't respond.

i don't believe you, you never made a dime playing any game professionally. as for this argument, i'm a console gamer, i have a shitty graphics card, so i don't bother with much pc gaming, especially competitively, but nothing is going to convince me that you've ever played professionally, short of a picture showing you holding a giant check with PRO GAMER in the memo section.

This makes me laugh a little and I see this quite a bit on the internet. I mean, I know everyone has zero credibility online, that is what we give up when we ask to be anonymous, but that doesn't mean people have no credibility. What the hell does this guy have to win by saying he plays L4D professionally? To win an argument online? There are people that shallow but if people just assume that from the start, why even read forums at all?

So, you say you don't play on the PC and you don't play professionally. He says he does and contradicts your statement and you immediately question his credibility. Why? Cause you have nothing else to question or further evidence proving your point. I am at work right now otherwise I would install the Source SDK and look at the maps myself and tell you who's right. Based of the fact that Godofallu is a PC player and has access to looking at the maps via either no-clipping or through the SDK while you have XBOX 360 version which allows for neither.

Also based on my experience making maps for Source (go ahead and question that, idc) there are probably invisible walls EVERYWHERE! That is just a staple of level design for any engine or game.

So, OP, just dload the Source SDK and pop the maps open for you to look at. Level design is one of the most fun things I studied in school and applaud your effort. Take a crack at the source engine yourself if you get a hang of it. It's one of the simpler level making tools you can use. Cryengine 2 makes my head asplode.

EDIT: Realized that these are two different people talking, but I think most of my points are still valid. You know, about credibility and all that.

 

[Jennacide]

How many thousand dollars have you made playing L4D1 professionally?

This is about as far as I got before I spit up soda laughing. Nobody that takes a game like L4D to play "professionally" has anything insightful to say about the game that I care about. When exploiting goofy mechanics like Kai jumping is the accepted standard, you have nothing useful to bring to the conversation. L4D2 was about balancing the sides out, it did it's job well.

Much like Smash Bros, nobody should ever play L4D professionally, too much random chance is involved unless you completely water down the experience, which defeats the purpose: Fun.