Anyone playing "Left 4 Dead"?

This comment on one of those articles made my day and pretty much sums up my feelings on Valve:

"Valve you better come up with a new engine for the next gen. You also better be working on another iteration of Half-Life... Otherwise, really. I have no interest in your company. To continue to milk Source Engine 1 does not show your commitment to making good games, rather it shows your commitment at keeping developing costs down and revenue high. Makes sense, you are a business after all and this is what you should be doing. Just don't screw your fans, you did not become what you are by updating old tech, you did not become what you are without Half-Life. So, give us another Half-Life, and give us a new engine."

I mean, LucasArts is pretty much gone as a publisher/developer. Is Valve following suit by abandoning its fans as well? While Portal 2 WAS good, the Source engine IS starting to show its age. And in all honesty, just launching that game without even a trailer that might've hinted at...well, something new from the HL universe felt like them tossing us a meager bone while they'd rather be sitting pretty just counting the cash made by Steam. I swear, if I hear news of a Portal/L4D 3 instead of advancement on a new Half-life, then I'm done with them for good.

 

That is hilarious. Half-Life ran on a heavily souped-up, aging (if not dead) Quake2-engine, a year before Quake3 (and its engine) came out.

When they say Valve would be nothing without Half-Life, they're saying Valve only exists because they excel at updating old tech. People couldn't shoot themselves in the foot this well with a gun that's designed to aim at nothing but feet.

This whole argument is just kids saying "but we want to". Go play Half-Life 2 and then Portal 2 and then tell me the engine is aging horribly. Then go play Halo2->ODST and CoD4->MW3 and tell me of the immense impro- oh wait, you bloody couldn't.

 

The graphical difference between Halo 2 and Halo 3/ODST is quite stark, just like it is between Halo:CE and Halo 2. Frankly though, I see little difference between all COD games after COD4:MW.

The improvements in the Source engine are indisputable. And to be honest, if Half-life 3 came out on that improved Source engine, I wouldn't mind one bit. New Tech vs. Old Tech isn't my point; admittedly, maybe I should've edited that quote. My point is I. Want. Half-life 3. Now. Or at least soone than the next Ice Age!

 

I had so much more fun with L4D1. L4D2 just doesn't have the same appeal, imo. It's too...rednecky, southern for my tastes, I guess. Too sunny, too bright, too carefree.

L4D1 was definitely more thrilling.

 

It WAS thrilling and I know I shouldn't have ditched it. Must've been coz of rage at the sequel coming out so soon.

Problem is, when sequels area launched, it seems to me that the original or previous games seem to become obsolete or otherwise less popular as far as most players are concerned; thus finding game lobbies for those older games becomes much more difficult. Take for example Halo. Reach turned out to be crap, and made me miss Halo 3 dearly. Unfortunately, only the die hard fans still play Halo 3 and it is harder to get a good game going there. I fear the same might be true with LD41.

 

esp. once the dark atmospheric non-redneck campaigns are out for 2

 

I don't usually have the time for much online play these days, so I usually play L4D offline co-op with a friend. But the online play for L4D1 was definitely more fun than L4D2. I played with the same guys night after night and we kicked so much butt that people would endlessly rage-quit on us. We know all the exploits, all the Smoker's instant-kill areas, etc.

The second game's online play was not nearly as fun because they didn't leave room for any clever exploits or instant-deaths. Basically, every map was almost identical to the one before it, with an almost thorough lack of thrills and excitement.

And while the second game is indeed getting the first game's maps/campaigns piece by piece, these are spoiled by the second game's different mechanics (for example, melee weapons take some of the thrill out of the first game's campaigns), and I don't think the exploits were carried over (no Smoker instant-kills, no blocking the elevator, etc).

Yeah, some people on the receiving end of those tricks might have thought them to be cheap, but they led to some great fun--even when my group was on the receiving end.

I actually have both games now but I haven't tried to find an online lobby for either of them in a year or so, so I couldn't tell you how the online environment is anymore. But I can tell you that if you can find a friend to play with offline, the first game is a ton more fun.

 

Dead Center 1 probably has more insta-incaps&-kills than all of L4D1 combined. Boomers can be lethal there.

 

L4D2 is is £5.10 on Steam and will be at that price for 22 hours from now. Will have to get that later!

 

oooh, here's hoping they put it on sale because the big update is around the corner.

 

Ugh, now I remember why I dislike downloading games. L4D2 is frikkin' huge and I'm averaging 140kb/s here. It might be cheaper on Steam but it would have been quicker to buy it online.

 

You'll be done by... Tuesday?

I average nearly 1MB/s and it takes ages. Wow.

 

Ages? Ages? At 1MBps it shouldn't take all that long. I'm hoping it'll be done in an hour or so, and this after I started at 10pm last night.

 

Ages are also relative


I just got Alice:MR in the mail and... I hate discs. Unpacking (twice), clunky disc trays, stupid install, CD-keys (aaaah!). What, do I need the damn thing to play now, too? Bleh.

At least it was cheaper, which really is the only huge downside of Steam. Retail-games with Steamworks are the best of both worlds.

 

This is true. I've finally got it downloaded but it's dinner time here. Fancy a game at 9pm my time (BST)?

Yeah, discs can be a pain, especially if there are a few of them and they all have keys. Still, for larger games it's more convenient than downloading. Having retail games that are activated on Steam is the best way to go.

 

http://steamcommunity.com/id/queencrimson <- that's me! add me for some L4D2 funz.