Today we are opening the beta of the Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools to the public. It is available as a free download for all owners of the PC version of Left 4 Dead, and can be found under the "Tools" tab in Steam.
Read the latest blog post to find out about the new L4D stats pages, Freaky Free Friday and the 40% off sale this weekend.
DLC Released! New L4D swag at The Valve Store.
We just released the DLC on the PC and 360. This includes the new Survival Mode, The Lighthouse Survival map, and 2 new Versus campaigns. To celebrate the release of the DLC we have cooked up a few items for the Valve Store.
First up is a poster for the new campaign included in Survival Mode - The Last Stand. Bill and the gang are in front of the lighthouse fighting until their dying breath. And no, it doesn't end well.
If you are looking for something to wear to celebrate the DLC we have two new items: The Zombie Skull Hoodie, and a new Horde Shirt featuring Zoey and Louis.
Finally, something even Francis couldn't hate: a CEDA coffee mug. Perfect for keeping your keep your caffeine warm as you fight zombies late into the night.
Surviving the L4D Survival Pack
Survival Mode pits your team against never ending waves of infected. Sounds simple. Just trap the survivors in a small part of a map, unleash the hordes, and record the longest time. Survival Mode, which will be released next week, is actually a bit more than that.
Read the full blog post
Lose the Thumb
Check out the L4D blog for the story behind creating Left 4 Dead's box art.
A Match Made In Zombie Heaven
In a recent update for L4D on the PC, we provided the option for players to choose between starting a game on an Official server or the Best Available. This is just the first step in giving players control over what servers they play on and the type of experience they have.
The Escapist's March Mayhem Developer Showdown - Vote for Valve
The Escapist is hosting their version of March Madness where 64 game developers go head-to-head until only one remains. The winner of each round is determined by a vote. Check it out here and submit your vote for Valve here.
Building a Better Apocalypse
We recently updated the PC version of Left 4 Dead with some exploit fixes and Versus balancing. We are going to be releasing another small update later today that contains some server issue fixes and one small, but very large, gameplay adjustment. We have made a change to the melee mechanic in Versus and the soon-to-be-released Survival Mode.
Read the full blog post
Blog post: The Moviemaking Process: Left 4 Dead's Intro Movie
Because Left 4 Dead is a new property for us, we wanted to provide some basic player training prior to the start of the game. Traditional in-game training mechanics didn't make sense for Left 4 Dead, because they would take away from the sense that players had been immediately dropped into a very real, very dire zombie apocalypse. We didn't want a slow ramp-up in gameplay to take away from that tension. As a result, we decided that it would make sense to begin the game experience with a non-interactive introductory movie that could get players revved up and subtly cue them to important gameplay mechanics such as "light disturbs the witch" and "car alarms attract the horde."
Left 4 Dead Is Live on Steam And Available at Retail in North America
The PC version of Left 4 Dead, Valve's zombie thriller, is now available via Steam to gamers around the globe. The title will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 at retail stores on Tuesday, November 18 in North America, and worldwide on Friday, November 21.
