Poll: Left 4 Dead (2) Level Design

[(whitty name here)]

Yeah, some sort of Arctic enviroment. Are you doing an entire "movie" or just a single map?

You would be my best friend if you made a Winter campaign.
Can you animate new infected? To make like, frozen zombies that take more damage or something?

 

[MercenaryCanary]

I really would like a level with some fucking snow.

I second this, though I think this would fit in more with the first L4D.

\^-T/

Terminator cat approves.

 

[Soulgaunt]

I really would like a level with some fucking snow.

I second this, though I think this would fit in more with the first L4D.

\^-T/

Terminator cat approves.

I demand it so!
Also, if you want ideas, then think up a "random" word, and see where it takes you. It's worked for me many times before.

 

[Yonnick19]

Yeah, some sort of Arctic enviroment. Are you doing an entire "movie" or just a single map?

You would be my best friend if you made a Winter campaign.
Can you animate new infected? To make like, frozen zombies that take more damage or something?

I am currently making an entire movie, and I like the idea of snow maps, but there are no snow textures, for the exceptence for the snow that falls out the sky, so I would have a map with falling snow, but no snow on the ground.
Imagine The Parish only with falling snow, it just feels out of place to me.

 

[CoffeeOfDoom]

Yeah, some sort of Arctic enviroment. Are you doing an entire "movie" or just a single map?

You would be my best friend if you made a Winter campaign.
Can you animate new infected? To make like, frozen zombies that take more damage or something?

I am currently making an entire movie, and I like the idea of snow maps, but there are no snow textures, for the exceptence for the snow that falls out the sky, so I would have a map with falling snow, but no snow on the ground.
Imagine The Parish only with falling snow, it just feels out of place to me.

Isn't there any way to import snow textures?

 

[ShotgunShaman]

How about a SPASESHIP LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Or an office building.

Or City 17.

 

[Yonnick19]

How about a SPASESHIP LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Or an office building.

Or City 17.

Both have already been done before.

I am currently making an entire movie, and I like the idea of snow maps, but there are no snow textures, for the exceptence for the snow that falls out the sky, so I would have a map with falling snow, but no snow on the ground.
Imagine The Parish only with falling snow, it just feels out of place to me.

Isn't there any way to import snow textures?

I honestly can't find any that match the Source engine style

 

[CoffeeOfDoom]

I honestly can't find any that match the Source engine style

I suppose you could use ones that don't match, or are close enough, unless you're a perfectionist!
Or, like real life, when the ground is wet snow doesn't settle, so in that context you could have faling snow, but on wet ground, so you have an excuse for it not settling (if that makes any sense).

 

[(whitty name here)]

Well, you can look textures up, maybe import them from the UDK engine. Thats all I got. But a snow movie might be really fun.

 

[bassdrum]

I like how Valve gently pushes players in the right direction without seeming like the overbearing Hand of God like so many other linear games can feel like. Try to use map layout to make the path forward seem to be the most obvious way for the player to go... unless, of course, you want to emulate something like the sewers in the 'No Mercy' campaign. I ALWAYS get lost in there... Interesting environments help too. If I'm going to spend about half an hour in a world, it should hold my interest for at least that long. Then again, the Crash Course campaign kind of skipped that step, and it was still a lot of fun.

Also, scare moments are always good, but they need to be dynamic if you want replay value. I'd recommend letting the Director handle those as much as possible to avoid repetition.

Well, now that I've listed just about everything you mentioned as important, I should choose a favorite... I'll go with a clear goal (but try to make it seem organic if you can, as though the player came up with it). And definitely a nighttime map.

When it's done, I'd love to see what you came up with, be sure to post a link to it/send it to me.

 

[Rararaz]

Night is good. i also like the way that levels go from constricting to wider spaces and you don't know where an attack is coming from back to corridor-esqe areas where the zombies are either going to come en-mass from in front or behind.

In my opinion the best levels were ones that moved quickly. Even in longer levels it was good to feel like progress was being made and the best way to do this is to have regular changes in scenery etc while still keeping to a general theme. offset this with an interesting area for a "set piece" and then back on the move again. That's one of the things I liked anyway.

 

[The Singularity]

Sorry but I say no to the snow. L4D2 is in the south and I really don't see much snow there...
To me the most important thing is what it should be to all of you! The crescendo events of course! Who would take looks over game play I mean really, its a GAME.

 

[Yonnick19]

Please keep commenting, I really apreciate the input and use it all.

 

[AlternatePFG]

There should be some interesting crescendo events.

An arctic environment sounds like a good idea, but there's already a few campaigns made by others with the same motifs.

 

[House_Vet]

What about a mine, a cave or a forest? Also the best (ie most nerve wracking) levels I've found in L4D2 have been massively enclosed - just before the finale in Dark Carnival for example when running into the stadium. These have probably all been done before, but the mine could be looking for more survivors or explosives. Also, a farmstead could be great due to high crops, open fields, exposure etc.

 

[xxnightlawxx]

I liked the survival game.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

The location does it for me..i want to remember the place where i escaped from the zombie horde because i either would want to go back or be so fearful of it that whenever i enter the mere vicinity my mind starts to fire of memories and make shit my pants in fear

 

[TheDoctor455]

For a multiplayer game like Left 4 Dead, you need a clear goal that keeps pushing you forward or drawing you closer in. Otherwise the map gets very confusing very fast.

 

[hobo_welf]

Props for making a kickass poll that was actually difficult to choose a response to. I chose crescendo events because I am having the most fun in L4D when shit goes sideways and you're shooting bullets and then changing guns instead of reloading, backpedaling, and then sacrificing your hard won safety to go save your bro. When shit goes crazy, that's when I have the most fun.

I also agree that the night-time urban enviroments in the original game were the most fun, namely the subway, but I also have to attribute a lot of my loss of love for L4D to the fact that after the first game, the scariness goes away, and it never comes back. It becomes where's the best vantage point, where's the best place to shoot the zombies, how can we bring down the tank fast enough, not HOLY CRAP THE ZOMBIES ARE EVERYWHERE. Twitching because you heard something behind you, screwing up in the game because you damn near pissed yourself.

And that will never come back. But, if it's any help, night time urban enviroments with kickass, insane (but still beatable) crescendo events are what made the first game so much fun.

 

[House_Vet]

Actually, in reference to my earlier post, I'd say the location and goal must be intrinsically linked in some way - for example, my farm idea could be Ellis trying to get home. Story, goal and tricky environs all in one.