14 DAY TRIAL // Left 4 Dead was one of the biggest games launched last year and became a fan favorite for its simple gameplay and top notch multiplayer options. The systems used by Valve delivered one of the best zombie killing experiences and made the game sell a lot of copies even though many months passed since its release.
In order to satisfy the big modder community that has always tried to create more unique experiences based on Valve games, the company revealed that an update to the game would be launched this week, fully supporting community content and featuring a special Add-ons section that would make it much easier to play custom campaigns in Left 4 Dead.
“Third party campaigns are designed to be installed using a new Add-On framework,” revealed Valve's Yasser Malaika. “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.”
Updates and fixes have also been issued to the matchmaking system, which will have a fresh option called “Add-on Campaign” that will let players select from a list of servers containing specific add-ons that they already have installed. The option to download a campaign on the fly when browsing for servers is also present to make things easier.
A new “Create Lobby” option will also be revealed from the “Play Online” menu, which will allow players to find any dedicated servers according to specific options or to make a local server.
Last but not least, the authoring tools will be polished up and released via this update, and will include a minimal example campaign, called “Dead Line,” which will allow players to experiment and learn how to create their own campaigns.
Overall, this is a pretty big update that will certainly fill up a lot of time for community modders out there who want to make their own experience. Look forward to it in the following days.