Oct 1, 2012

Today’s other news: Left 4 Dead 3 could happen, no one’s working on Borderlands 3

Left 4 Dead 2

On the list today is word from Valve's Chet Faliszek that he'd like to make Left 4 Dead 3, word from Gearbox's Randy Pitchford that the focus remains on Borderlands 2, and - surprise - another example of Gearbox-brand ribbin'-n'-joshin' with Borderlands 2's impotent "Extra Wubs" mode. And in the office today, T.J. was overheard muttering something about killing children in Crusader Kings 2. We're left to wonder how much we really know about our coworkers.

In a Eurogamer interview, Valve's Chet Faliszek said Left 4 Dead 3 may happen "some time down the road." Should we expect a 2013 release or a 2031 release? You're so hard to predict, Valve.
Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford told the internet to "chill out," because "No one has started working on a sequel to Borderlands 2." The focus, he says, is on Borderlands 2 DLC, aliens, and something called "etc," which I can only assume means Endozoic Tentacle Cats.
The Konami code in Borderlands 2 enables an Extra Wubs option. It doesn't do anything, which is a bunch of wubbish. If it bothers you too, try a nice wubble bath to relax. Unless you're more of a landwubber. Hey, have you seen the latest photos from the Wubble Telescope? Sorry. I'm done.
Last week, Starbreeze revealed a teaser for Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. It's coming to Steam in 2013, and looks stupid pretty.
A Valley Without Wind 2 was announced, and it'll be free for owners of the original. Still lacks breeze, gale, or waft support.
Peter Molyneux has been Molyneuxing about his studio, 22 Cans, which he says will only Molyneux one full game.
Reminder: spend some time over at Dead End Thrills, where dreams become screenshots.

Sep 26, 2012

This Left 4 Dead Fan Film Is Forty Minutes of Zombie-Shooting Fun

Left 4 Dead

Brothers Colin and Connor McGuire wanted a Left 4 Dead movie... so they made one.

The home project took them the better part of two years, including 3000 hours of editing. The final product is about the length of an "hour" long television show, clocking in around 40 minutes, and looks at least as good as several TV shows I've seen.

You can find out more about the making-of from the video listing and the McGuires' Facebook page.

Sep 24, 2012

Today’s other news: The Light, Left 4 Dead 2, The Secret World, Saints Row: The Third, and more

Left 4 Dead 2

Gorgeous Greenlight projects. A planned Left 4 Dead 2 map on meta-horror. Dildo bats, crazy cats, and space hats. What does it all mean? It probably all makes sense on a metaphysical level, but we're pretty sure they're just more news we're rounding up and sending your way like a caring grandmother. A caring zombie grandmother.

The Light brands itself as "an interactive philosophical story." Sweet, sweet urban decay.
Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard almost worked with Valve on a potential Left 4 Dead 2 map pack tie-in.
The Secret World gets a new director, former lead content designer Joel Bylos, and reveals the name of its next Issue update as "The Cat God." Let's hope Bylos didn't have to endure through an elaborate initiation ceremony involving complicated hand gestures.
The entirety of Saints Row: The Third's DLC is included in the upcoming Full Package version releasing on November 9 for $50.
Super-long Assassin's Creed 3 gameplay video reveals Connor actually talking. Oh, and chopping people's faces in.

Sep 21, 2012

We Almost Got A Left 4 Dead Expansion Based On Cabin In The Woods

Left 4 Dead

Eagle-eyed gamers watching the tricksy horror flick Cabin In The Woods might have noticed a cool shout-out to Valve's Left 4 Dead in a sequence in the third act of the movie.

Talking today in a Reddit IAmA, the film's director Drew Goddard said we almost got a lot more than that: If MGM hadn't gone bankrupt, we would've gotten a downloadable Left 4 Dead expansion pack based on the movie.

Cabin In The Woods Spoilers Follow.

Here's Goddard:

We actually were going to do a downloadable L4D2 expansion pack, where you'd fight in the Cabin world, but then MGM went bankrupt so the delay squashed it. But the people at Valve were still cool enough to let us use some of their monsters to fill the cubes in the background (I had a lot of cubes to fill.)

By the way — the game was gonna be amazing. You were gonna be able to play in both the upstairs "Cabin in the Woods" world and the downstairs "facility" world with all the monsters. Believe me, I HATE all video games based on movies, they always suck, but porting Cabin into Left For Dead felt like the right fit. It pains me that it didn't happen.

I already think that Cabin in the Woods had a lot of fun playing with video game tropes, so it hurts my heart that we almost got to take a four-player run not only through the cabin but through the monster-filled facility underneath. I wonder if there would have been a merman? Or if Sigourney Weaver would have been the final girl-boss?

I guess now we'll never know. But we can always imagine.

Drew Goddard IAmA [Reddit via Tom Francis]

Sep 21, 2012

Left 4 Dead 2 Steam Workshop support will let players trade mutations, maps and weapons

Left 4 Dead

The Steam Workshop is coming to Left 4 Dead 2. That'll make it even easier for players to sample user created campaigns, but Valve are planning to take things a bit further and release an "expanded scripting tool" that will let modders create "deeper and more varied experiences inside of Left 4 Dead 2." That includes new rule sets that can be integrated into new campaigns, or traded as custom mutations through the workshop.

"To compliment the new access to maps, weapons, and items, we are also creating an expanded scripting tool to allow deeper and more varied experiences inside of Left 4 Dead 2," say the Left 4 Dead team on the Left 4 Dead 2 blog, though no further details are provided. Perhaps this'll take the form of an auto-update with a community spotlighted mutation of the week, but who knows. It might integrate a Spitter into your lounge for all I can guess. I really hope it doesn't do that.

The news heralds a change in this week's official mutation to a fresh one called Follow the Liter, which will only let survivors salvage a single can at any one time. This ought to focus the action a bit on those scattershot Scavenge mode maps.

Update: Oh yes, these bonus features are planned "also for Linux users as well starting in the middle of next month and rolling out from there." Woot!

Sep 20, 2012

Steam Workshop is coming to Left 4 Dead 2!

Left 4 Dead

The Steam Workshop website will allow you to browse, rate, and discuss thousands of community created add-ons and even install them directly to your game with just one click of the mouse. We are also going to try an experiment with the L4D2 Workshop that will allow content to appear in the L4D2 world even more seamlessly based on the community’s response.

Sep 20, 2012

Left 4 Dead 2 Update Released

Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve

Updates to Left 4 Dead 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

- Console commands update_addon_paths and unload_all_addons can't be used while connected to a server.
- Some custom UI's give the ability to change which add-ons are active from the in-game menu. Now those changes won't be applied until the player returns to the lobby or main menu.
- Melee weapon scripts can optionally define the HUD icon data inside the script, similar to other weapons. See golfclub.txt for a format sample.
- Fixed a rare crash in the Spitter attack.
- Fixed a rare crash in bot navigation involving ladders.

Sep 20, 2012

R18+ legislation passed by NSW

Left 4 Dead 2

NSW has joined the ACT in passing the legislation necessary to implement the R18+ rating for games in Australia. Having passed at a federal level, the legislation must now be passed by every state and territory before it can be implemented. NSW passed the legislation overnight, following the ACT's move last month.

The new law will enable adults to access content deemed inappropriate for younger gamers, although when the finalised guidelines were announced last week some were left concerned that many games would still be refused classification, effectively banning them in Australia.

With NSW and the ACT passing the R18+ legislation it's left to the remaining six states and territories to complete the process. The R18+ rating is expected to be in place by January.

Sep 8, 2012

Story Time With Valve’s Erik Wolpaw, Pt 2

Left 4 Dead - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nathan Grayson)

Yesterday, you probably read the first part of my chat with Valve’s Erik Wolpaw and Double Fine’s Anna Kipnis. If not, it’s right here- but FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY. By which I mean until the Internet ceases to exist, which, you know, could happen someday. Anyway, in today’s installment, we branch out a bit from yesterday’s story-centric beat. Valve’s newfound love of wearable computing, virtual reality, heaps behind-the-scenes info on Portal, crowd-sourcing, and more are all on the docket. OK, there wasn’t actually any sort of docket involved. I’m not entirely sure why I said that.>

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Sep 7, 2012

Story Time With Valve’s Erik Wolpaw, Pt 1

Left 4 Dead - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nathan Grayson)

By Ernest Hemingway.

It all began one sunny, seemingly inauspicious afternoon in a Starbucks. It also ended there – but, you know, later. Ragged and bone-weary from three days of wading through PAX’s diseased hordes, Valve’s Erik Wolpaw, Double Fine’s Anna Kipnis, and I huddled around one last vestige of civilized humanity: a table. Then we spent nearly an hour talking about this year’s sudden upsurge in crazy-interesting videogame stories, because it seemed like the thing to do at the time. It isn’t anymore, but – if you’ll believe it – it was considered cool back then. Those were the days. Anyway, here’s part one. If you behave yourself, you might get part two tomorrow. And maybe a cookie. But probably not.>

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