Left 4 Dead 2
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Steam Workshop support coming to Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 will receive Steam Workshop support starting in the middle of October, according to a recent developer blog. The system will allow players to rate and install community-created add-ons, including new maps, weapons, items and mutations thanks to an "expanded scripting tool."Steam Workshop will roll out for PC, Mac and Linux versions of Left 4 Dead 2 next month, though no specific release schedule has been announced yet by Valve.
Skin Pack 2 for Minecraft delivers 45 new looks on XBLA
The XBLA version of Minecraft received a new skin pack recently, which includes 45 different skins for the game's main character. Among the pack, the second released for the XBLA game, are themed skins from a variety of games, such as Left 4 Dead 2, Castle Crashers, and Gears of War 3. Skin Pack 2 is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 160 MS points.Click past the break to see the complete list of all 45 skins. %Gallery-163359%
The Matrix as envisioned in Source Filmmaker
Dodge this – er, sorry, we meant watch this. Because it's one of the best scenes from The Matrix, remade in Valve's Source Filmmaker.
Linux Left 4 Dead 2 outperforms Direct X Windows version
Valve recently announced that it will be bringing a few of Steam's most popular games to Linux, the first of those being Left 4 Dead 2. But besides the novelty factor of running the now classic zombie simulator on penguin-emblazoned hardware, there may be another reason to try the new platform out: It'll be faster. Even now, during development, the Valve team has L4D2 running at 315 frames per second on the Linux text platform, as compared to the standard Windows speed of 270.6 FPS.At that point, of course, the speeds are mostly arbitrary. But as Valve says, this speed shows the potential in customizing a game for the Linux operating system. This work on Linux is also benefiting the Windows teams - in working on the Linux version, Valve was able to speed up the OpenGL implementation on Windows to 303.4 FPS.
Valve says NVIDIA's the best, Steam and Left 4 Dead for Linux coming along nicely
The godfather of Linux, Linus Torvalds, may think that NVIDIA is "the worst," but Valve respectfully disagrees. The company has been working closely with the manufacturer, as well as AMD and Intel, to boost performance of its hardware under the open source OS. The developer clearly has an interest in getting the best from those companies as it works to port Left 4 Dead 2 and Steam to Linux. That close partnership is already bearing impressive fruit as Valve claims its co-op zombie shooter now performs better on Ubuntu than it does under Windows 7 using a GeForce GTX 680. The first Open GL Linux version managed a measly six frames per second, while the Direct X powered Microsoft one was topping 270. Only a few months later, and Left 4 Dead 2 is hitting 315fps on the 32-bit version of Precise Pangolin, outperforming even the Open GL Windows port which sits at 305fps. Of course, it's relatively well established that Ubuntu has lower overhead and running Direct X only compounds the issue, though, its unparalleled driver support can't be denied. While it's not completely fair to compare performance on a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit one, Valve is proving that gaming on Linux need not be some proof-of-concept exercise. Linus can flip NVIDIA the bird all he wants but, through its work with Valve, it may be doing more to bring Linux to the mainstream than anyone previously has.
Left 4 Dead 2 'Cold Stream' DLC for Xbox 360 this Friday
It's been a long time coming, but the Cold Stream DLC will arrive on Xbox 360 this Friday, August 3, according to Valve. The Cold Stream update, which is already available on PC and Mac over Steam for free, will cost 560 Microsoft Points ($7) on the console.Cold Stream includes the fan-made campaign of the same name, along with the four original Left 4 Dead maps: Crash Course, Death Toll, Dead Air and Blood Harvest. Friday night we'll see if the new pack gets people "RELOADING!" the three year old game.%Gallery-64704%
Left 4 Dead 2 Cold Stream DLC delayed on Xbox 360
Left 4 Dead 2's Cold Stream DLC is out in completion on Steam today, but the Xbox 360 version is being held up (probably at gun- or frying-pan-point). Valve is working with Microsoft on a release schedule, the Left 4 Dead development team tweeted today. They hope to have it out "soon."When Cold Stream does finally drop an anchor in Xbox 360, it will cost 560 MS Points ($7). Cold Stream is free for PC and Mac via Steam.
Steam moves to Linux, first title will be Left 4 Dead 2
Valve has a dedicated team of developers working to bring Steam to Ubuntu 12.04, a distribution of Linux, and is beginning its endeavor with a port of Left 4 Dead 2. The team has been working on Linux distribution since 2011, based on Steam's success with Linux-based and internal Ubuntu servers, a post on Valve's new Linux blog announces. Valve is calling the project "Steam'd Penguins," apparently.Valve chose Ubuntu because it is "still experimenting" and Ubuntu is a popular distribution, but it will look to support others in the future. Right now the Valve Linux team is working on getting the Steam client on Linux with full functionality, optimizing Left 4 Dead 2 with a high frame rate and respectable graphics, and porting additional Valve titles. There will be an internal beta of Steam on Ubuntu in the "near future."The Valve Linux team will post updates on its blog, complete with penguins.Players generally have to use a compatibility layer such as Wine to play Steam games on Linux distributions, a process that can lead to some unwanted, unwarranted complications, no matter the platform.
Cold Stream DLC for L4D2 making waves on July 24
Cold Stream, the massive, much-anticipated and acceptably murderous DLC pack for Left 4 Dead 2, is set to launch on PC, Mac and Xbox 360 on July 24. Cold Stream includes a fan-made campaign, and ports of Left 4 Dead's Death Toll, Dead Air, Blood Harvest and Crash Course levels.Cold Stream first entered beta in March 2011 and is still open for PC and Mac on Steam, making this launch more of an official, polishing update for those platforms. Valve initially said Cold Stream would launch "some time after Portal 2," and really, it's not as if they were wrong about that one. Clever, Valve. Clever.
Valve Source Filmmaker makes a movie out of any Source game, now you're directing with Portals (video)
Creating machinima with a video game engine usually requires accepting one of two truths: either that it will require a lot of fudging or that it will have all the sophistication of playing with action figures. Valve Software isn't very happy with that dichotomy, which is why it's posting its very own movie-making tool, Source Filmmaker, as a public beta. Any game that runs on the Source engine, whether it's Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2 or another in the family, can have gameplay run-throughs edited and dissected right down to custom facial expressions. As Valve expounds in the video after the break, throwing a gaming-grade PC at the task gives directors the advantage of seeing exactly how any changes will look in the final scene; there's no rough wireframes or pre-rendering here. Budding Francis Ford Coppolas can sign up for an invitation to the Filmmaker beta at the project page. If you'd just like to see how far someone can go with the end results, we've also included the latest Team Fortress 2 character profile video, Meet the Pyro, after the jump.
Valve games come to Impulse
Valve, proprietor of Steam -- which is basically the Walmart of PC digital distribution -- now has its games available on Impulse. Your confusion is as great as ours, but here we are.The Impulse store, owned by GameStop, announced last week that Valve titles would become available on the service. Apparently, the shock of this caused almost everyone in the media not to report this fact for an awkward length of time.The Valve games available through Impulse right now are Portal 2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, The Orange Box, and Half-Life Complete. Best part: the games still require Steam to play.
Australian government begins the process of games reform with a Discussion Paper
The Australian Law Reform Commission has been listening, and after hours of bureaucratic thought, research, filing papers, losing papers, rewriting those papers, finding the originals and sobbing quietly at their cubicles, the Australian government has proposed a Discussion Paper to revamp media classification ratings, including those for video games. The paper addresses issues of hypocrisy in its games-rating system, citing how long it took for the R18+ rating to be implemented, and how its absence was restrictive to adults in the country: "Major inconsistencies exist in the application of classification guidelines across media platforms. The major anomaly has been in the treatment of computer games as compared to films and publications, with the absence of an R 18+ classification for computer games," the paper reads. "This decision, which has only recently been reversed, can be seen as overly restricting the rights of adults to access content on a particular media platform, and as marking a reversion to earlier censorship-based understandings of the role of government."
Left 4 Dead's Death Toll in beta, now playable in Left 4 Dead 2
Valve's unleashed the Death Toll campaign from the original Left 4 Dead on the PC-playing Left 4 Dead 2 crowd today, albeit with some minor tweaks which Valve is being mum about. They want us all to go in with "fresh eyes" they say, so we'll see how that goes. Any feedback you have, you can drop it in the Steam forums. (Or you could leave a comment in this very post!) Also, Valve's got an update on the launch window of the entire Cold Stream DLC release, of which Death Toll is a part of: It's coming around Halloween. Previously the goal was late summer, but with all of the testing and rigmarole that goes into tuning a game, Valve's gotten a little behind schedule. It's tough to complain, considering how very, very free all this stuff is.
Valve games show up on Origin [update]
Update: The Valve titles offered by Origin are, in fact, boxed retail copies, rather than downloadable versions as indicated. Seeing as EA has published Valve titles at retail for years, this is less world-shattering than originally thought. As sentient, probably-intelligent creatures, we as humans like to think that we have a pretty good understanding of the world around us. Our belief systems, while dynamic and varied across creed and culture, all provide for an interpretation of the world around us. We build order out of chaos, but despite how solid we think our understanding of the universe is, the impossible can still sometimes be possible. EA's PC gaming distribution service Origin is running a buy-two-get-one-free deal, which defies all logic and human reasoning by including Left 4 Dead GOTY Edition, Left 4 Dead 2, and Counter-Strike: Source among its offerings. This echoes statements made to Eurogamer by EA honcho Jens Uwe earlier this week, who said that EA is in talks with other publishers to release content on Origin. We never doubted that non-EA titles would eventually make their way onto the platform, but we didn't really expect Valve to be first in line, considering that the two companies have a bit of a history. Perhaps Valve is extending an olive branch of sorts? [Thanks, Stefano!] [Image credit: TexHex]
L4D2 to get Blood Harvest if 60,000 players unlock Achievement
The slow and steady march (undead, you might say) to release all of Left 4 Dead 1's maps into Left 4 Dead 2 continues, with Valve offering fans a chance to unlock the beta version of Blood Harvest early. So, how does it work? Simple: To unlock Blood Harvest, PC players simply have to help test a new version of Dead Air. Specifically, players will be awarded an Achievement for completing an entire Versus game in Dead Air. Once sixty-thousand (60,000) players unlock the Achievement, Valve will unlock Blood Harvest on the following weekday. Be warned though, it must be a complete game, as Valve notes "you can't rage quit and you need to work together." Remember that the next time you willingly allow a Jockey to ride off on your friend.
Dead Air beta available in Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam today
As Valve promised, those who partake in zombie slaughter wholesale on Steam in Left 4 Dead 2 may now access an updated version of the original Left 4 Dead campaign, Dead Air. Beta access to Dead Air was promised as an incentive to the community for playing through the Cold Stream campaign (also in beta) and unlocking the subsequent completion achievement, Stream Crosser. In a post on the Left 4 Dead blog, Valve reveals that the fourth and fifth maps in the Dead Air campaign have been changed a bit and that the developer "tried something new" when it came to the Scavenge map. The full Cold Stream DLC is currently slated to launch this summer on both Xbox 360 and PC.
Dark Horse compiles Valve comics
Dark Horse Comics has revealed Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories. According to the listing on Comic Book Resources, the 304-page book contains Left 4 Dead's The Sacrifice comic, along with stories from the worlds of Team Fortress 2 and Portal. The comic book compilation will launch on November 16 for $29.99. Although there are no further details regarding the Portal and TF2 comics, we'd guess they are Valve's online comics in physical form.
Left 4 Dead 2's 'Dead Air' DLC coming on or before July 22
You did it! You achieved the goal of playing a ton of Left 4 Dead 2, in sufficient numbers to unlock more Left 4 Dead 2. Valve challenged the community to get the "Stream Crosser" achievement 20,000 times by completing the Cold Stream campaign, and after 24 hours that achievement had been achieved 60,774 times. As a result, Valve is releasing the L4D2 version of the L4D "Dead Air" DLC early, as promised. The initial announcement said July 22 -- now Valve is saying July 22 at the latest and intends to release the content as soon as it's finished.
Valve will release Dead Air early ... if 20K people unlock this Left 4 Dead 2 achievement
Valve's revealed an incentive for Left 4 Dead 2 players: if 20,000 of you unlock the Stream Crosser achievement on Steam (finish the Cold Stream campaign on any difficulty level) this weekend, it will release the Dead Air campaign from the first Left 4 Dead early, on July 22. Sorry, no word on remaining L4D campaigns Death Toll and Blood Harvest -- they're still slated to be included in the final release of Cold Stream, which is currently in beta. Of course, because Valve is a company full of diabolical geniuses, guess what's on sale right now? Left 4 Dead 2 is 75% off today only, bringing it down to $4.99.
Half-Life 2's Gnome Chompski gets his own (fake) game
Little did you know that the diminuitive, statuesque grandpa you were tasked with lugging around in Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Left 4 Dead 2 was actually a stationary action hero. Check out FineLeatherJackets' trailer for Gnome Chompski's (totally not real) video game posted after the break.
