Left 4 Dead 2 – Page 3 – The Daily SPUF

All aboard! …or not

May 1, 2016 aabicus 0 Comments Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Left 4 Dead 2, maps, payday

As I wrote before, Left 4 Dead 2 and Payday the Heist are very similar games in a number of ways. From the obvious ones like weapon preference, gameplay style, and even the template for the map-specific movie posters, these games are so heavily intertwined they almost feel like they could be part of the same franchise. But of all the unexpected coincidences, there’s one that stands out the most to me because it makes me doubly sad: both have a cancelled cruise ship map. In 2011, Kotaku covered a series of prototype Left 4 Dead 2 posters, made before the devs decided to… [Continue Reading]

Featured

My Favorite Nude Mods on Steam

April 23, 2016June 13, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments Left 4 Dead 2, mod, modding, nudity, Orcs Must Die! 2, Saints Row, skins, steam, tomb raider

(Heads up, lots of butts in these screenshots. There’s only so NSFW I’m comfortable going in an article). As you may have guessed from some of my older articles (and the code phrase from AWOL&H 2), I’m something of a fan of nude mods. Video games are an escapist pasttime after all, and I’m a total exhibitionist. My side job as a nude model for the local university can only do so much. I’m also an English major, and that means I’m woefully computer illiterate. I don’t want to admit how long it took for me to install a laughably-simple nude mod… [Continue Reading]

Featured

Differentiating Maps Through Gameplay

April 19, 2016 aabicus 0 Comments design, gameplay, left 4 dead, Left 4 Dead 2

Previously I used Left 4 Dead 2 to show an example of well-distinguished enemy units in a video game. I thought I could also take the chance to look at a little-known element of map design called “thematic gameplay”, and this time compare it to the original game, Left 4 Dead. While the first game’s initial four campaigns have a unifying vision of atmosphere and incredibly strong visual themes separating their design, they are almost completely lacking in gameplay alterations. They all involve forward progression through linear zombie-infested environments, eventually surviving a holdout finale and rushing the escape vehicle as soon as… [Continue Reading]

Featured

My Favorite Gun in Various Horde Games (That Nobody Uses)

January 18, 2016 aabicus 0 Comments killing floor, Left 4 Dead 2, payday

Maybe it’s just due to my desire to step outside of my comfort zone, but for some reason I often find myself gravitating toward guns that don’t fit the established meta of multiplayer games. Games like the ones on this list aren’t exactly well-known for their weapon customization and yet in each case my favorite gun turns out to be something customized in a way that makes it completely unused by the majority of players. So I thought I’d take a moment to argue a case for my favorite guns in some popular horde mode games on Steam. 1. The laser-sighted silenced… [Continue Reading]

Featured

Secrets and Hidden Content in Left 4 Dead 2

December 4, 2015 aabicus 0 Comments fun, Left 4 Dead 2, Not TF2

Left 4 Dead 2, like any game, has loads of code/assets that ultimately went completely unused. But some of them are accessible via use of console commands (often in conjunction with sv_cheats 1), letting you see and play with cool beta content! 1. Hidden reload for the Hunting rifle. At one point, the hunting rifle had a much more complicated reload before Valve changed it to something shorter and simpler. But you can still accidentally access the older reload by holding a non-inventory item (like a gas can), throwing it with m1 and immediately shoving with m2. No, I have… [Continue Reading]

Featured

On Accuracy

August 16, 2015January 15, 2017 aabicus 0 Comments accuracy, Left 4 Dead 2, On Shooters, payday, strategy

Hitscan guns in shooters often have two major qualities that people care about; how much damage they do and how accurate they are. (How quickly they fire is also relevant but in this article I’m focusing on the first two.) Which seems simple enough, because at the end of the day you want to know how fast your guns can kill things. But lots of shooters have been making the question a bit more difficult by introducing accuracy-affecting mechanics. Ways for a player to use positioning, modifications, skills, or game mechanics to manipulate the likelihood of a fired bullet hitting the… [Continue Reading]

Featured

My Left 4 Dead 3 Wishlist

July 26, 2015 aabicus 0 Comments Left 4 Dead 2, Not TF2, opinion, suggestion

There have been many rumors of a possible Left 4 Dead 3 in development, but I’m not going to link to any because I think they’re all druid pocky. I’ll believe there’s a new L4D game when Valve says so, and beyond that you’re just taking the running Half-Life 3 gag and switching franchises. But that doesn’t mean I’m not excited to think of ways I’d love to see Valve evolve the gameplay and come up with ways to improve it in a sequel. I doubt they’d go as balls-out crazy as Payday 2 did in expanding upon its prequel, but there are definitely some… [Continue Reading]

Featured

Game Design: Differentiating Your Baddies

June 4, 2015January 15, 2017 aabicus 0 Comments analysis, design, killing floor, l4d, Left 4 Dead 2, non-tf2, On Shooters

First-Person Shooters do a great job of naming all the guns. Whether borrowing real-world names like “M14” in the name of accuracy, generic names like “sawed-off-shotgun” in the name of clarity, or custom names like “Klobb” in the name of uniqueness, I can’t think of a single instance where I was disappointed in the dev’s firearm naming efforts. But this satisfaction does not always transfer to their naming of the things being shot. In a way, I think it’s almost more important that the bad guy units in a shooter be given decent names, especially if the devs are hoping a… [Continue Reading]

Featured

Beginner’s Guide to Loadouts in Left 4 Dead 2

December 20, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments advice, guide, Left 4 Dead 2, loadout, shotgun

It has come to my attention that very few people on TF2 SPUF play Left 4 Dead 2. This is a real shame because the game is very, very fun and in recent months I’ve found it consuming far more of my allotted game time than TF2 does. So I basically thought I’d just write a quick guide detailing two of my favorite loadouts in the hopes that this info might help you if you ever decide to pick the game up. Left 4 Dead 2 has a wonderful array of weaponry, and the best part is that all of it… [Continue Reading]