So I decided to try some minecraft for a while today and to be honest with you I don't really enjoy it to be honest. I've seen people praising this game to the high heavens on forums and stuff but I just don't see the appeal of it. Just played it for an hour, built a basic house, got sick of it and quit. Now admittedly I was only playing the free version but still I saw nothing that would make be want to shell out the tenner notch is asking for it. But having said that some people have made some pretty cool stuff with it like the example below
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
A basic left 4 dead map I made using valve Hammer.
Wow two blog posts in a day. Well it is Sunday so I don't have anything better to so I thought I'd write this. Yesterday I was writing about the 10 best left 4 dead 1 and 2 custom maps. Well I always wondered how difficult it was to make a custom map by yourself. So using a few guides I'd found on the net and the L4D authoring tools. I set to work and I can tell you it was not easy.
The picture above is the making process of map in valve Hammer.
The map is basically a l4d survival map where your are in a forest and there is a barn to hold out in. The radio activated the horde and the survival timer begins. The whole production process of the map took about 4 days. FOUR DAYS just to make that. This little experiment really made me appreciate how much time and effort the mod community puts into making custom content for left 4 dead. Anyway if you want to try out my very basic map it can be downloaded at the link below.
Streets of Rage Remake
So today I was playing the streets of rage remake by bomber games and it really is an awesome homage to all the streets of rage games on the sega genesis. Really well made and has just the right amount of difficulty (I was playing on normal). Anyways you guys should check it out at
http://www.bombergames.net/sorr_project/
http://www.bombergames.net/sorr_project/
Saturday, September 25, 2010
My top 10 Left 4 dead 1 and 2 maps
So I'm new to this blogging lark and just created this blog yesterday. I've been playing a lot of Left 4 dead custom maps of late and I decided that my very first post should be about my favourite user created Left 4 dead maps. These are in my opinion the best custom maps I have seen so far and I've played quite a number of them.
Some of them you will probably have played before as Left 4 dead has been around awhile now but some you may not have heard about. anyway without further ado lets give a quicke run through them.
1. Death aboard.
This is a five map campaign for l4d (its also available for l4d 2 but its set during the daytime i think it detracts for the experience somewhat.) Anyway you start off in a prison, working your way to a docks area, then a sunken ship and finally to a lighthouse. The campaign has some very clever ideas such as on the sunken ship level the whole ship is swayed to one side and there is an incident to involving alarmed car. I won't spoil it but its quite clever. Also I think the finale is brilliant and the lighthouse is excellently realised by the author Diputs. It really is a beautifully made campaign it even gives valves official campaigns a run for their money and that is really saying something. Go get it NOW.
Links
Left 4 dead version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=33
Left 4 dead 2 version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=4861
2. I hate mountains.
Another excellent custom campaign this time brought to you by the "I hate mountains team" (IHM team)
This has five maps all well done and polished to perfection I don't want to spoil it too much but the part where the chopper crashed was a bit looked a bit glitchy. One of the good things about this campaign is that some of the maps have multiple routes and this adds a bit of variation to the gameplay. Overall this campaign is well worth your download bandwidth.There is also a left 4 dead 2 version for those who don't own Left 4 dead.
I haven't played the L4D 2 version but from what I can gather from their website the L4D 2 version isn't as polished but I'd bet its still worth a look.
Links
http://www.ihatemountains.com/
3. Cape Murder.
Another really good custom campaign. Maybe not of the same quality as the two above but still a lot better than some of the stuff being produced. My only real problem with it is that the second level is very linear and samey. Play it and you'll see what I mean. Also there are some AI bot problems but that can be ironed-out by playing with friends.
Links
L4D (unfortunately there is no left 4 dead 2 version)
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=2221
4. Silent Fear.
My next choice is also a Left 4 dead only map. This quite different than the regular Left 4 dead campaign. It has you searching for 5 different glyphs hidden around the map only then will you be able to open the door to the boss finale. I won't spoil it but the boss is quite fun and innovative. Its only one map but its quite long and finding the glyphs will take a while. This map is for someone looking for something a bit different than the usual Left 4 dead formula. The author Adam sierra has done a very good job with this.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=3017
5. Helms Deep
This is a recreation of (thats right its in the title) Helms Deep from Lord of the Rings. Except instead of an army of Uruk-Hai sent by Saruman we have an army of infected sent by the AI-director. Its a survival map so the situation is complete unwinnable and the objective it to survive as long as possible. There a few bugs here and there and sometimes the map can lag a bit as the area is quite large (and my pc is no slouch) but overall I had a lot of fun with this map.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=1274
6. Cold case
Now this is really a crazy Left 4 dead mod/campaign package. This should keep you guys going for a while. This is a 36 map package broken into 6 different campaigns. Now I'll admit I haven't had the time to play all of this but what I have played is very well done and brilliantly realised. He's even include new voice acting.
Learn more of what its about here
http://cc.l4dmapdb.com/about
The download for it is available on the website above also. I must warn you its quite large (852mb)
7. Night terror
Another good campaign brought to by NIPPER and DrBoo. A 6 map campaign. The trick to this one is that the survivors are dreaming about different scenarios. This also for a lot of variation in the environments. Two that come to mind are the mines of moria level from LOTR and the haunted mansion level from Disney. I suggest you check it out at the link below (theres also a L4D 2 version yay!!)
Links
Left 4 dead version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=1693
Left 4 dead 2 version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=5845
8. Dismember the Alamo
This is a survival map based on a Drafthouse Cinema in Austin Texas. Now I've never been there but Its supposed to be a good replica of it perhaps someone from Austin whos has been to the cinema can verify this for us . All I can say is that from playing it is that it is a detailed with some very well done custom textures and overall very fun map. One of the very best custom survival maps out there.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=3008
9. Left 4 Mario
Coming near the end now and this second last map on my list is a left 4 dead 2 only one I'm afraid and is definitely one of the most colorful l4d maps I've ever seen. Fluorescent reds and yellows thrown around with abandon here much better than left 4 dead usual dank and dreary brown and green don't you think.
Anyway as you can tell from the title this campaign is based on super Mario and its really quite enjoyable especially in versus mode where knocking people off ledges to their deaths as the tank is hilariously fun.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=5255
10. Hunter Training
And finally we come to my last choice hunter training. This will help those of you who suck at pouncing the survivors as a hunter. I played it and it helping me quite a bit. It teaches advanced techniques such as jump curving and wall jumping. If you don't know what I mean by these terms you need to try hunter training. Also not sure if there is a Left 4 dead 2 version of this I looked but couldn't findd anything.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=295
And so we come to the conclusion of todays blog post as a final note I would like to thank all the authors of these maps as they have provided me with countless hours of entertainment with their creations. It also made me wonder how difficult is it to create a Left 4 dead map. Well I made an attempt at one myself and the results are not good but thats a blog post for another day I'm afraid. Until next time folks bye!!
Some of them you will probably have played before as Left 4 dead has been around awhile now but some you may not have heard about. anyway without further ado lets give a quicke run through them.
1. Death aboard.
This is a five map campaign for l4d (its also available for l4d 2 but its set during the daytime i think it detracts for the experience somewhat.) Anyway you start off in a prison, working your way to a docks area, then a sunken ship and finally to a lighthouse. The campaign has some very clever ideas such as on the sunken ship level the whole ship is swayed to one side and there is an incident to involving alarmed car. I won't spoil it but its quite clever. Also I think the finale is brilliant and the lighthouse is excellently realised by the author Diputs. It really is a beautifully made campaign it even gives valves official campaigns a run for their money and that is really saying something. Go get it NOW.
Links
Left 4 dead version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=33
Left 4 dead 2 version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=4861
2. I hate mountains.
Another excellent custom campaign this time brought to you by the "I hate mountains team" (IHM team)
This has five maps all well done and polished to perfection I don't want to spoil it too much but the part where the chopper crashed was a bit looked a bit glitchy. One of the good things about this campaign is that some of the maps have multiple routes and this adds a bit of variation to the gameplay. Overall this campaign is well worth your download bandwidth.There is also a left 4 dead 2 version for those who don't own Left 4 dead.
I haven't played the L4D 2 version but from what I can gather from their website the L4D 2 version isn't as polished but I'd bet its still worth a look.
Links
http://www.ihatemountains.com/
3. Cape Murder.
Another really good custom campaign. Maybe not of the same quality as the two above but still a lot better than some of the stuff being produced. My only real problem with it is that the second level is very linear and samey. Play it and you'll see what I mean. Also there are some AI bot problems but that can be ironed-out by playing with friends.
Links
L4D (unfortunately there is no left 4 dead 2 version)
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=2221
4. Silent Fear.
My next choice is also a Left 4 dead only map. This quite different than the regular Left 4 dead campaign. It has you searching for 5 different glyphs hidden around the map only then will you be able to open the door to the boss finale. I won't spoil it but the boss is quite fun and innovative. Its only one map but its quite long and finding the glyphs will take a while. This map is for someone looking for something a bit different than the usual Left 4 dead formula. The author Adam sierra has done a very good job with this.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=3017
5. Helms Deep
This is a recreation of (thats right its in the title) Helms Deep from Lord of the Rings. Except instead of an army of Uruk-Hai sent by Saruman we have an army of infected sent by the AI-director. Its a survival map so the situation is complete unwinnable and the objective it to survive as long as possible. There a few bugs here and there and sometimes the map can lag a bit as the area is quite large (and my pc is no slouch) but overall I had a lot of fun with this map.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=1274
6. Cold case
Now this is really a crazy Left 4 dead mod/campaign package. This should keep you guys going for a while. This is a 36 map package broken into 6 different campaigns. Now I'll admit I haven't had the time to play all of this but what I have played is very well done and brilliantly realised. He's even include new voice acting.
Learn more of what its about here
http://cc.l4dmapdb.com/about
The download for it is available on the website above also. I must warn you its quite large (852mb)
7. Night terror
Another good campaign brought to by NIPPER and DrBoo. A 6 map campaign. The trick to this one is that the survivors are dreaming about different scenarios. This also for a lot of variation in the environments. Two that come to mind are the mines of moria level from LOTR and the haunted mansion level from Disney. I suggest you check it out at the link below (theres also a L4D 2 version yay!!)
Links
Left 4 dead version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=1693
Left 4 dead 2 version
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=5845
8. Dismember the Alamo
This is a survival map based on a Drafthouse Cinema in Austin Texas. Now I've never been there but Its supposed to be a good replica of it perhaps someone from Austin whos has been to the cinema can verify this for us . All I can say is that from playing it is that it is a detailed with some very well done custom textures and overall very fun map. One of the very best custom survival maps out there.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=3008
9. Left 4 Mario
Coming near the end now and this second last map on my list is a left 4 dead 2 only one I'm afraid and is definitely one of the most colorful l4d maps I've ever seen. Fluorescent reds and yellows thrown around with abandon here much better than left 4 dead usual dank and dreary brown and green don't you think.
Anyway as you can tell from the title this campaign is based on super Mario and its really quite enjoyable especially in versus mode where knocking people off ledges to their deaths as the tank is hilariously fun.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=5255
10. Hunter Training
And finally we come to my last choice hunter training. This will help those of you who suck at pouncing the survivors as a hunter. I played it and it helping me quite a bit. It teaches advanced techniques such as jump curving and wall jumping. If you don't know what I mean by these terms you need to try hunter training. Also not sure if there is a Left 4 dead 2 version of this I looked but couldn't findd anything.
Links
http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=295
And so we come to the conclusion of todays blog post as a final note I would like to thank all the authors of these maps as they have provided me with countless hours of entertainment with their creations. It also made me wonder how difficult is it to create a Left 4 dead map. Well I made an attempt at one myself and the results are not good but thats a blog post for another day I'm afraid. Until next time folks bye!!
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