Valve boss Gabe Newell says he's "extremely pleased" with the reception zombie shooter Left 4 Dead has received from the public and press.
Speaking in a massive self-penned article on Edge-Online, Newell says that, while he thinks Valve has progressed in the world of FPS story telling, he reckons it's still "very much at the beginning".
"We set out to create a first-person four-player game in which the action changes each time it's played. We wanted to use procedural narrative to simulate stories because, in a multiplayer environment like this, we felt a more linear, scripted approach would not deliver in the same way," he said of Left 4 Dead.
"To come up with a theory for how to do narrative in a multiplayer game we started by looking at the players' different behaviors - exactly how they're playing, what their actions are, where they move.
"We tried to note as many interesting contexts of their actions as possible," Newell added. "Are they moving together as a group or are they splitting up? Is their mouse jerking around a lot, or are they interacting smoothly? Are they agitated or are they relaxed? How much damage are they taking? How accurate is their shooting?
"Then, using all that data we tried to come up with a model to tell us how the player is faring in the game. The data can tell if a player is comfortable or if they are starting to be overwhelmed. Once you have that concept, then you can start to create pacing and events in response to the player." Impressive stuff.
Going forward, says Newell, Valve is "definitely" going to use some of the things its learned "not only in multi-player but also in our single player games in the future."
"We're very much at the beginning, not only of figuring out the shared procedural narrative, but of storytelling in games generally."
They have done a sterling job with L4D. I've only finished one of the movies so far, but thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The amount I bonded with a couple of strangers was immense.
Valve my hat goes off to you. You should be bloody impressed with the reception! This is an amazing game and one which I hope will be a step forward, no wait a leap forward in Valve's future.
Plus with the DLC Valve are promising this game could get better and better all the time
I would have bought this game today but Last Remnant is out today as well and thats' got priority for me. Will definitely be buying it next week though.
Multiplayer game of the year. It's quite simply incredible- especially when played on a Local Server LAN with 4 like-minded players.....it reminds me alot of the tension and suspense of playing Resident Evil Outbreak 2 on-line.....a game that died long before its time; It's tense, suspenseful, exciting, fun, team-building, and at times enraging.....sometimes things go simply t**s up.
Example- the tail end of No Mercy we had a LAN group on Advanced mode, we cleared the roof and answered the radio.....I manned the minigun while a partner watched left and two of us baited them downstairs and held the radio room. We beaten alot of the first wave when a horde spawned behind us- attacking the radio room. They were overwhelmed, so I pipebombed them outside while my backup went to save them. I manned the minigun again and shot the next horde and then felt the screen shake- a Tank had spawned to my left and with no warning and a job to do, I kept firing at the horde- yelled out TANK! and got off the gun just in time to be hit with an uppercut worthy of Mike Tyson- I FLEW straight off the map- to the right- taking with me a pipebomb, a health pack, a near full assault rifle and our roof defense. Bottom line- we got slaughtered because the computer tactically went for the highest killing player, and did a great job of hitting us when we were weak. THAT is Left 4 Dead's strength- the game plays differently each time, the game can be as hard or as easy as the AI wants it to be, and the human side HAVE GOT to be efficient and watch each others backs at all time. Incredible game that has finally managed to top Outbreak 2 as my favourite on-line game.....ever.
Have my copy sitting on my desk as we speak, cant wait to get home and start taking down some infected.
Out of interest for anyone thats properly played the whole game: is it ok to team up with strangers or do you need to play with peeps on your Friends list to enjoy it?
I would have bought this game today but Last Remnant is out today as well and thats' got priority for me. Will definitely be buying it next week though.
Let us know how Last Remnant plays, I've heard mixed things about it... and after the mess that was Infinite Undiscovery I'm holding back on this one.
Have my copy sitting on my desk as we speak, cant wait to get home and start taking down some infected.
Out of interest for anyone thats properly played the whole game: is it ok to team up with strangers or do you need to play with peeps on your Friends list to enjoy it?
Last night was me, 1 friend and 2 strangers, and I think everyone enjoyed it equally. Utterly brilliant. Valve deserve some serious cap doffing.
Have my copy sitting on my desk as we speak, cant wait to get home and start taking down some infected.
Out of interest for anyone thats properly played the whole game: is it ok to team up with strangers or do you need to play with peeps on your Friends list to enjoy it?
Last night was me, 1 friend and 2 strangers, and I think everyone enjoyed it equally. Utterly brilliant. Valve deserve some serious cap doffing.
Cool. Looks like ill be making some new 'friends' this weekend the majority of my real friends are away this weekend.
Yeah it's fine with strangers from what I've played so far. I usually (meaning "since Tuesday" play with 3 friends but a few times someone hasn't been available so we get a stranger in with us, but they've all been sound guys so far.
Maybe we should get a L4D thread going in the PC forum, get some Steam IDs together so we can play with people we're already somewhat familiar with from the forums. StoneCold and Wastey, you're two forumites I respect so I'd well be up for playing online with you. Add me on Steam if you like... ID is GunstarHero. (I used to be falloutwarchief btw, if you have no idea who Megadroid is. But then maybe you have no idea who falloutwarchief was either... )
I'm going to have to try the demo of this. I've seen a few vids and didn't feel over impressed, but reading these posts makes me believe that it must be a cracker.
Just shows that you should never judge a book by its cover.
Valve have a turely revolutionary idea on their hand if they incoprarate this into their single player games. I love left for dead but dont have the funds to buy it. My social life demands too much of me
I'm going to have to try the demo of this. I've seen a few vids and didn't feel over impressed, but reading these posts makes me believe that it must be a cracker.
Just shows that you should never judge a book by its cover.
Now to actually get some friends on LIVE....
Anybody?....
Hello............
Sod off Mum, you don't even like zombies!
well that made me laugh so u definitely got a decent sense of humour - yeah I'll play wit ya. add me - infam0us76 is my LIVE gamertag. only problem is i gotta kick someone off my list now (it's full) catch up on LIVE buddy
Hats off to you Valve another sterling game. What im really looking forward to is what the map community makes. If it takes on the same status as Half life and Half life 2 have for modders and mappers then I think we can expect some really amazing creations
Brilliant game, haven't trying it with strangers, but with friends its incredible. We all wonder though, why in God's name has it taken this long to bring out a decent co-op zombie shooter. There have been some, but most have fallen under the radar... This is how its done, nice one Valve
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play with 3 friends but a few times someone hasn't been available so we get a stranger in with us, but they've all been sound guys so far.
