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Mr. Happypants wrote:

If you count the BF2 Expansions as Map Packs, then yes "they" have. EA just released an update for BF2 bringing it to Ver 1.5 and all of those Maps are now part of the Base Install, apparently.

'Monetization' via microtransactions has become the preferred way for many to make mo' money off games. It's the biz model of choice.

Valve: Blame Microsoft for forcing us to charge for Crash Course DLC

If Valve had their way, their upcoming Crash Course DLC for Left 4 Dead would be free for PC and Xbox 360 gamers. Instead the company claims that Microsoft insists that Valve charge for it: "We own our platform, Steam. Microsoft owns their platform. They wanted to make sure there's an economy of value there," explains Valve's Chet Faliszek to Eurogamer. When asked who determined the pricing for Crash Course (560 Microsoft Points), Faliszek responded: "Well, they helped us get the first one out for free. We had the one DLC out for free. And I think... they have to look and say, wow, we're kind of being unfair to everybody else if these guys can do that."

"It's not like we're [Valve is] looking at this as, 'Oh my god, we need some money, we're going to charge,' obviously, or we'd do it on the PC. So it's just kind of the way the system works right now."

Faliszek confirmed that Valve still plans to release Crash Course later this month. The DLC will of course be free for PC gamers. (Spotted on Shacknews)

Shifting blame's just as time-dishonored, tho I expect some truth to this while noting Valve isn't giving theirs to charity (go 'head, twist our arms- oof! All right, we'll charge!.. one million, two million... whee... now blame it on MS. Chet?)

The new server chooser doesn't really let you do that. Either you land in a game ongoing or in a lobby. I've not landed in a lobby in awhile. I just take what I"m given in game.

Well Book's server is set to Survival but if you'd like COOP I can host my own some night.

As far as the DLC goes...i'm glad I got PC version now. But hey if they insisted on charging for it. I'd be watching the L4D mod sites for free d/l links popping up real soon. I know some of those guys would do it, least until the feds shut them down.

I've switched the server to co-op mode again, but you can actually control what you play on my server (even other gamemodes!). Here's what you do:

1) You need to enable the console:
Goto options -> keyboard -> advanced -> enable console

2) Now you need to tell your client to connect to alice (my server ) when starting a game
Bring up the console by hitting ~ (tilde), and type ms_force_dedicated_server 207.192.69.107:27016

Now when you start your game from the lobby, it'll be hosted on my dedicated server, but with whatever game modes or maps you want. Two things to note: you'll need to type the ms_force_dedicated_server command every time you start left4dead, and only the lobby leader needs to do this, BEFORE he starts the lobby.

Also, you can change the in-game map by starting a vote.

Last edited by Booksley (2009-09-09 6:52 am)

sturner wrote:

Campaign maps are real co-op with an ending. Survival is just more and more zombies until you are overrun.
I suck in vs.

There isn't a DM mode in L4D. you have to play as a team. And I've gotten quite a few friends who want to play with me because I play in the spirit of co-op. I'm not a point whore. I'll go back for you, cover you while you heal, etc. Even sacrificed my character to safely shepard an injured player into a safe room or to the rescue vehicle.

I'd so leave you to die

Thats pretty much the whole point of VS is doing what it takes to survive to end ahead of the other team. Most of the time, going back to save someone is a bad idea. It gives the infected a chance to get you. Unless you play with only friends, pug games would be pretty ruthless on those who go back. Heck some will kick you if you use medpacks too early. Those points do add up at the end and i've seen matches won just cause of medpacks not being used. That and games where we had early tanks on every map and it was the guy who left the team to die and either got distance score or made it alone to the safehouse, won it all.

Ya know if we get anymore pages on these L4D threads, we'll have to get our own forum

I'm seriously thinkin about calling a vote for a division but I just don't have the time to invest like I did back in UT99 days.

Ya thats the other side of it. Why i'd say, renovate an older forum like Recon and just change the name.

Ha, I finally found a title you couldn't figure out Bat .

Only hint i'll give is its from Samurai Shodown and its in Katakana

I also suggest you read the AT article, not just my short quote. E.g.,

I played Dirt 2, a DX11 title at 7680 x 3200 and saw definitely playable frame rates. I played Left 4 Dead and the experience was much better. Obviously this new GPU is powerful, although I wouldn't expect it to run everything at super high frame rates at 7680 x 3200.

With six 30" panels you're looking at several thousand dollars worth of displays. That was never the ultimate intention of Eyefinity, despite its overwhelming sweetness. Instead the idea was to provide gamers (and others in need of a single, high resolution display) the ability to piece together a display that offered more resolution and was more immersive than anything on the market today. The idea isn't to pick up six 30" displays but perhaps add a third 20" panel to your existing setup, or buy five $150 displays to build the ultimate gaming setup. Even using 1680 x 1050 displays in a 5x1 arrangement (ideal for first person shooters apparently, since you get a nice wrap around effect) still nets you a 8400 x 1050 display. If you want more vertical real estate, switch over to a 3x2 setup and then you're at 5040 x 2100. That's more resolution for less than most high end 30" panels.

Any configuration is supported, you can even group displays together. So you could turn a set of six displays into a group of 4 and a group of 2.

It all just seems to work, which is arguably the most impressive part of it all. AMD has partnered up with at least one display manufacturer to sell displays with thinner bezels and without distracting LEDs on the front:

[img]

We can expect brackets and support from more monitor makers in the future. Building a wall of displays isn't exactly easy.

That's a very playable

Left 4 Dead in a 3 monitor configuration, 7680 x 1600

Not even Books or I can do that... yet.

(Sound good, sturner? )

And the goodness continues. I must work on the box this weekend, hopefully finish if it takes a second PSU to do it.

More L4D DLC Planned [Sep 11, 2009, 08:48 am ET]

A write-up on the L4D2 Boycott Forums has the impressions from the visit to Valve by the founders of the L4D2 Boycott Group (thanks Dave). Included is an outline of future DLC plans for the original Left 4 Dead:

Now for some good news: There is more DLC for Left 4 Dead coming after Crash Course. We were given a rough idea of what it should be, however we were asked not to talk too much about it so it didn’t “influence the creative process”. I can tell you this: it’ll either be a new Special Infected, a new Campaign or new Weapon(s). It’s definitely one of the three, perhaps more. This is pretty much the only thing that we were asked not to talk about (remember, *asked* we didn’t sign anything). To that end, we’ll continue to bug Chet about this after Crash Course drops.

I can tell you guys this though; Chet and the rest of the L4D team are still excited about the original four survivors and working the stories of L4D and L4D2 together. To that end, Gabe told us that they’re working on a project that will bridge the stories of L4D and L4D2 and that it will be available through steam (I believe the word ‘free’ was tossed in there too, just don’t quote me on it). It was also hinted at that they were doing something for the Mod community; Agent of Chaos heard more about that though.

Am I good to youze guys, or what?

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board. … did=102117

Last edited by Bat (2009-09-11 10:39 pm)

Mr. Happypants wrote:

Has it been floated at all (here or on the Steam Forums) that these "Boycott" people were a viral team from the beginning? Boycotts are a great way to attract large numbers of people centralized around an existing product, extend an olive branch to said group's perceived Founders then <gasp> they amazingly find new love for the recently renounced Spawn of Satan! Maybe I'm just jaded & skeptical.

I'd go with the latter. There's been a split since the leaders went to Valve and pronounced themselves satisfied... some of the boycutters started [virtually] yelling 'sellout.' Occam's razor; it'd've been more trouble than it was worth, the whole viral thing.

The mutated rabies strain is all the virus L4D needs.

arkayn wrote:

I will be waiting for the DLC to become available

Soon.

L4D Crash Course DLC coming next week

Valve has announced that their Crash Course DLC for Left 4 Dead will be released on Sept 29th for PC and Xbox 360:

September 23, 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 that Crash Course -- the second downloadable content (DLC) update for its co-operative zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead (L4D) -- will be made available worldwide on September 29 on Xbox 360 and PC.

Crash Course delivers new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay to both platforms, and bridges the gap between the end of the "No Mercy" campaign and the beginning of "Death Toll" in the original game.

[..]

http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsart … chid=22159

The Left 4 Dead DLC 'Crash Course' has been released! Just run Steam and it'll update itself automatically.

Also, Left 4 Dead 1 is now $15 if you still don't have it.

And finally, the M|LF server is running Crash Course. Enjoy!