"Brains come out, swamp water doesn't. Don't ask me how I know."
ABOUT
LEFT 4 DEAD 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is a co-op FPS game, developed by Valve on Source engine. It's the 2nd title of the same franchise Left 4 Dead, containing both new and old campaigns.
The plot is set in an apocalyptic scenario, where Green flu virus took over the world, turning people into blood-thirsty zombies. A very few are immune to the virus
The gameplay is simple - you, the group of 4, are LEFT behind (by Military, CEDA, others) and you shoot your way through DEAD - hordes of zombies (aka Common Infected). You solve simple puzzles on the way and summon rescue in the campaign finale. You encounter some mutated monsters on the way (aka Special Infected) and you rely on your teammates to protect and save you from trouble.
There are some other game modes - Realism, Survival, Versus (PVP),... but they won't be my focus here for now ;)
Let's dive in!
Gameplay Originals (WIP)OBJECTIVE
L4D2 is an open-source game, which means - Mods! MODS EVERYWHERE! That's why I love this game, you can create, tweak and balance your own apocalypse, from adding new features & difficulties to making your characters look... silly ahh
My goal is to make this game as realistic as possible. That means importing new and improving existing features to logically make sense. For example:
- You should be able to crawl and fight back when knocked down
- You should be able to share/exchange weapons and grenades
- Some laws of physics should be more realistic, like gravity of throwables or CI behaviors (fall damage, running through water/uphill)
- Characters are built different - they should have different skill sets
The game is... well, old (2009), so there are limitations. Not everything is changable, so the focus is on workable variables.
Find the full collection of mods that I use here
Find the collection of cosmetic mods (skins, weapons, appearances, textures, SFX,...) here
Gameplay
Improvements & Balancing
A Steam Workshop Collection where I put core feature mods.
You can find it on this link.
NOTE: Mods that are described below are only those that were tested thoroughly. Mods that are part of the collection, but not mentioned here, are not entirely observed and properly tested with other players, so I'll write about them later ;)
Libraries & Base Scripts
A lot of mods depend on certain custom libraries and/or base mods. Make sure to subscribe to these first, so everything works well on your server:
- [VScripts] Library of Utils
- The Particles Manifest
- xdReanimsBase - mostly for Animations and re-models
- No Consistency check
- Manacat Common Library - a whole family of awesome mods
- [VScript] Weapon Timer Enforcer - for weapon re-models and SFX
- TUMTaRA's The Ultimate Mod Testing and Reviewing Area - Main Files - a powerful testing tool. A map with all items, weapons and infected
- TMUTaRA's collection - all testing tools from the same creator
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Test chambers
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Help is coming!
[Improvement] Survivor Crawling
GOAL: Simple - Survivors are able to move when knocked down
STATUS
-Activity: ACTIVE
-LINK (Crawling), LINK (Animation fix)
-Bugs/Exploits: Players can sometimes avoid taking damage while moving, especially from Witch
COMMENT
While you are indeed incapacitated, you should still be able to fight for your life and move to some extend - crawl around. Also, if you kill all the zombies around you, you should be able to stand up*, or at least crawl up to a teammate for help.
[Buff] High fire rate while incapacitated
GOAL: Fight back harder when knocked down
STATUS
-Activity: ACTIVE
-LINK
-Bugs/Exploits: Desert Eagle's fire rate is not adjusted, and is a little OP
COMMENT
When you are incapacitated, your only weapon of defense is a secondary weapon you are carrying at the moment - with the exception of melee weapon. If you have melee weapon (axe, basebal bat, crowbar,...) your weapon will be a single gun. Your aim is naturally nerfed, and, by default, so is the fire rate - which makes to sense to me. This mode fixes that by increasing fire rate of your gun when you are incapacitated. That way, you kill annoying kicking zombies faster.
Cool to have: Chaos indicator* that can lower the fire rate if the player is overwhelmed
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Tikiti Tikiti!
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KA-BOOM!
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KA-BOOM!
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KA-BOOM!
[Improvement] Explosive Cars
GOAL: Players can shoot the cars to make them explode
STATUS
-Activity: ACTIVE
-LINK
-Bugs/Exploits: This mode is customizalbe, so some variable set-ups can make the game buggy
COMMENT
Not exactly realistic, but it's the common FPS logic - you shoot the car, it explodes! Useful when the players are overwhelmed and the game becomes chaotic. Also, if your goal is to enjoy killing zombies (just like me fr), this is a powerful weapon ;)
BALANCE
List of all instructions and chat commands that modify the variables related to explosive cars.
Current set-up on my server:
excar_auto_explosion_time 7
excar_enable_chat 0
excar_enable_panic_event_chat 0
excar_enable_stagger 3
excar_explosion_magnitude 35
excar_explosion_radius 500
excar_outline_range 550
excar_panic_chance 70
excar_stagger_range 600
Cool to have: excar_after_fire_chance [0-100] - a command that can modify the probability of cars catching on fire after explosion. Currently, you can either have all the cars always catch on fire after explosion or not at all (!excar_enable_after_fire [0-1]). Having the cars always spread fire can sometimes lead to massive chain explosions, and they can crash the game to some players.
[Improvement] HexToMax's Customizable HP Regen Script
GOAL: Make the player's HP dynamic, insead of static
STATUS
-Activity: ACTIVE
-LINK
-Bugs/Exploits: Certain variable set-ups can make the player pretty much immune to damage; Characters play hurting voice lines even if they heal above 50HP
COMMENT
I always felt like static HP is unrealistic (like in Counter-Strike). While CoD HP is also not very realistic, it feels more natural and also practical. This mod creates a perfect balance between static and dynamic HP. In my set-up, players can heal over time, but not too fast and not to full 100HP. It makes sense to have your HP down when zombies beat you up with slaps and kicks, but as they are heavily sick from the infection, their damage cannot be that bad. Pain from punches should fade away eventually, unless you are crushed by a Tank or Charger.
BALANCE
List of all instructions and chat commands that modify the variables related to dynamic HP.
Current set-up on my server:
!hpregen_value 2
!hpregen_interval 5
!hpregen_threshold 55
!hpregen_hurttime 7
!hpregen_enable_onlystop_blackandwhite 1
NOTE: While this mod allows modifying adrenaline and pain pills values, I am currently not using them, as players don't like them that much so they leave the game. They are pretty much used to default values (insta-heal). Ideally, to make it more realistic, I'd have the pain pills slowly regenerate temporary HP like this:
!hpregen_pill_enable 1
!hpregen_pill_threshold 95
!hpregen_pill_value 10
!hpregen_pill_maxtick 9
!hpregen_pill_interval 2
This way, swallowing painkillers takes about 20s to heal and feels more natural.
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HP regeneration
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Static healing
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Dynamic healing/changing values
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Gradual healing
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Get him off!
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Dude, back off, fr!
[Improvement] STRUGGLE TO ESCAPE
GOAL: Fight back harder by shaking off Special Infected when pinned down.
STATUS
-Activity: ACTIVE
-LINK
-Bugs/Exploits: Sometimes, resisting Smoker's tounge is impossible if the player is stuck/surrounded by Common Infected - technically, the player never gets pinned down, so resisting mechanics cannot be triggered
COMMENT
One of the most useful mods, and my personal favorite. As mutated and as powerful the Special Infected are, they are still zombies (apart from Witches, Tanks and Chargers, they are monsters). It makes sense to me to be able to shake them off, especially if the player is not overwhelmed by horde of Common Infected and/or is facing the SI alone.
BALANCE
It is possible to kill the Special Infected by switching the struggle method through chat command "!struggle_method kill". On my server, you just shake them off.
Cool to have: To have this feature feel more like a struggle, resisting mechanic could be changed from holding the [Punch] button to repeatedly tapping it, filling some progress bar. The mentioned Chaos Indicator can make it harder, or even impossible to fill the progres bar, if the player is overwhelmed by horde of Common Infected while pinned down.
[Nerf] Staggering Melee Specials
GOAL: Make the fist fight against Special Infected harder
STATUS
-Activity: ACTIVE
-LINK, Bug-Fix
-Bugs/Exploits: None
COMMENT
This mod is also customizable, so players can balance which SI can stagger and how hard.
BALANCE
On my server, the probabilities to get staggered by SI are:
smoker_chance = 80
spitter_chance = 40
charger_chance = 90
hunter_chance = 80
jockey_chance = 0
boomer_chance = 30
Cool to have: Chaos indicator can increase/decrease the probability to get staggered
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B-Slap!
