2006

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

2006 was an important year in shaping Terror-Strike into Left 4 Dead, transforming it from a Counter-Strike: Source mod into being its own game. While gameplay is scarce out of 2006, "Terror Update News" update logs hidden in the June 17th, 2008 prototype reveal a lot about the game's development throughout most of the year.

From the addition of the Survivors we know and love to the game and adding more campaigns than just No Mercy to removing the Screamer and balancing of other Special Infected, Left 4 Dead underwent a major metamorphosis through the year of 2006 in time for its official unveiling at the end of it all.

Updates from Terror Update News will be listed in this page as-is with extra formatting and notes as needed.

Dictionary#

• Urban - The provisional title for No Mercy.

• Rural - The provisional title for Blood Harvest.

• PZ - Player-controlled Special Infected.

• Hulk - The original name for the Tank.

January 25#

General#

• NEW: Work-in-Progress voting system in place. Use vocalization menu (default V) item #4 to access it.
• NEW: Work-in-Progress "non-riverdance" walk/run animations. The logic for using 9-walk walk/run animations has been changed to prefer motion-aligned run directions (N/S) with the other directions used only in a transitory way. NOTE: There are currently issues with player weapon aiming not always lining up - a fix is in progress.
• Players on both teams have a right click "pushaway" attack that deals no damage, but can push friends and enemies away. This melee attack STUNS Infected for one second. Very useful against Hunters.
• Limited max number of human players in a server to 8 (4 Survivors, 4 Infected), to maintain reasonable PZ spawn rates
• Moved Pain Pills and Health Kits to slot 5 (away from the grenade/molotov slot)
• Survivors can now carry a grenade OR molotov, plus a bottle of Pain Pills AND one First Aid Kit
• The radar has been removed.
• Facing away from ladders *no longer* lets go of them.

Environment#

• NEW: The Hospital Urban map has been split into four separate maps, with HL2-style map transitions. When all living Survivors enter a checkpoint and the door is closed, the next map in the sequence will load. All items, players, and infected will retain their state across map transitions. Checkpoint doors are impervious to damage until all of the Survivors leave the Checkpoint once (with a few exceptions). The "exit" door of a Checkpoint cannot be opened until after the map transition.
• NEW: Work-in-Progress art pass (HDR enabled) throughout the Hospital Urban map. Much of the environment has had an initial texture and lighting pass, and some props have been added.
• Lots of map changes and scenario pacing tweaks

Survivors#

• NEW: When a Survivor's health reaches zero, he no longer immediately dies but instead falls to the ground "incapacitated". While incapacitated, the victim cannot move, slowly "bleeds out", and can take additional damage from the Infected, friendly fire, explosions, etc. If a friend can reach the incapacitated Survivor before he bleeds to death, the rescuer can +use him to "help him to his feet", leaving the injured player with a small amount of virtual (blue) health. A First Aid Kit can also be used to revive an incapaciated player, healing him in the process. Incapacitated players can press their attack button to call for help, and can wave their flashlight around to help others find them. Note that traumatic damage (explosions, steep falls) still kill Survivors outright.
• M4A1 is now more accurate and powerful, and has a larger clip
• Baseball Bat has been removed

Infected#

• NEW: Overhauled the "player zombie" (PZ) spawn system. Infected players now (only) spawn as Boomers, Smokers, Hunters (the old PZ class), and... HULKS! Specifically, players "take over" existing AI zombies in the game environment. In addition, while playing as a "lesser" class (Smoker, for example) you may be given the option to switch to a more powerful class if a zombie of that type becomes available (the Hulk, for example).
• All PZ messages (attacks, kills, assists, etc) are only shown to the PZ team.
• All Infected make distinct "recognize" sounds now. Each class also has unique ambient sounds to help identify them.
• AI controlled Infected are slightly less attentive while they wander around now.
• Removed PZ "minion control"

Infected Horde#

• Work-in-Progress player model, textures, and animations.
• Experimental skin randomizations.
• Experimental decapitation and dismemberment.

Hunter#

• The Hunter can take much more damage now
• The Hunter regenerates health when not in combat
• The Hunter can now "wall-kick" lunge. To do this, lunge toward a surface. As you touch the surface, face away and lunge again quickly. Scale tall buildings, bound through alleys, cause chaos!

Boomer#

• Work-in-progress player model, textures, and animations. Beware the Fat Man!
• The Boomer now has the Blood Vomit attack instead of the Hunter. Also, the Vomit now has a recharge time, allowing it to be used multiple times.

Smoker#

• Work-in-progress player model, textures, and animations.
• The Smoker can emit smoke clouds with his Wracking Cough, and can take much more damage now

Witch#

• Improved Witch behavior details. Her growl now changes pitch to let you know how pissed off she is.
• Witches hate flashlights shined in their face
• Witches are annoyed by loud noises near them
• Witches really dont like people shooting at them

Tank#

• Work-in-progress player model and animations (no texture yet). He's ... large.
• Hulks make loud thumping footstep sounds now
• Hulks always auto-attack by proximity. Just get close and aim at your target. The smash will happen on its own.

Screamer#

• Additional behavior work. The Screamer doesn't pay much attention, but if he sees a Survivor threatening him, he'll run away and scream, which summons a giant mob of Infected.
• Screamer's screams sets off Witches now. Beware!

March 8#

General#

• Voting System - Press “v” (default) to bring up a list of votes. You can currently vote to change the game difficulty, the number of Survivors, whether to allow player to play as Infected, and several others.
• Ongoing CPU and rendering optimizations. Many bad CPU spikes were eliminated, and a few horrible network spikes were cleaned up. Added a system to smooth out initial entity state transmission, avoiding large net spikes when large PVS areas come into view
• Propane tanks now explode like grenades when shot
• Red Gas Cans now explode like molotovs when shot
• Fixed players getting stuck on ladder bug
• “Finale” logic completely reworked
• Added placeholder music for finale started, scenario won, and scenario lost

Environment#

Ongoing art pass to the environment. Perhaps 50% complete.

Survivors#

• New vocalization “rosette” interface - By default, the Z, X, and C keys bring up a “rosette” of vocalization choices when held down. By moving your mouse, you can select what to say. To say it, let go of the vocalize button you are holding. If no choice is made (and the mouse is not moving) the menu vanishes after a moment. Some vocalizations are context dependent. For instance, “C” brings up the “alert” vocalizations, the center (default) selection being “Look!” If you are looking at a First Aid Kit when you do this, you will vocalize “First Aid here!” If you are instead looking at a horde of zombies running toward you, the same vocalization will emit “Here they come!” The “Z” menu contains commands, and the “X” menu is for questions and answers.
• Survivors no longer auto-say “clear” when visually clearing areas. This vocalization is now part of the radio system.
• The right-click “melee” attack is reliably effective now.
• Tuned the Survivor right-click “melee” attack to only push friend if you are pointing directly at them. This allows you to push Infected away without accidentally shoving a nearby friend as well. In addition, the melee attack now correctly stuns Infected.
• Pressing the fire button when Incapacitated now yells out for help
• Incapacitated Survivors no longer block player movement
• Each time you are revived from being Incapacitated, you are left with less “temporary” (blue) health. By the third time you are revived, you have only one point of temporary health and are limping slowly
• Survivors respawning into checkpoints start with half health
• Improved correlation of player model aiming with actual aim direction

Infected#

• Improved the PZ spawn system. A PZ will spawn once every 20 seconds or so as a Boomer, Smoker, Hunter, or Hulk (when available). A maximum of 4 PZ’s are allowed in the server. PZ’s can no longer “trade up” to other Infected types with the exception of the Hulk. The basic rule is: Whichever PZ has been dead the longest, spawns next.
• Fixed the “spawn in front of a Survivor and immediately die” problem. PZ’s always spawn out of sight, away from the Survivor team.
• Once an Infected catches on fire, he will burn until he dies
• Fire damage scales based on the Infected class’ maximum health. This means Molotov flames will kill Hulks and Witches effectively now.

Infected Horde#

• All-new Infected Horde population system - All of the manually placed generators and triggers are obsolete and have been removed. The new system is entirely algorithmic, and far more unpredictable. Not only did this improve the replay experience, but greatly simplified the ongoing editing/maintenance of the environments. In addition, it is far easier for the community to create a functional Terror map with this system. If you had played enough to know where mobs usually come from, you’re in for a surprise…
• The behavior of the Horde has changed a bit. There are now dense clumps of “wandering” Infected. These Infected are stumbling about in their own private hell, largely oblivious to what is going on around them. However, if you get too close, injure them, or if they see other Infected dying or rushing to attack, they become “alert” and may then see you and attack. Choose your shots wisely. Stir up the Horde at your peril. Random “mobs” still rush the Survivor team periodically as well.

Hunter#

• Hunter model added (with placeholder texture and animations)
• Hunters cant lunge while stunned from a melee hit
• Survivors who are crouched and not moving cannot be lunged by a Hunter

Boomer#

• Boomers no longer kill you outright, but rather incapacitate you so long as you have any real health at all. If you only have “blue” (temporary) health (ie: from pain pills), their blast can still kill you.
• Boomer vomit blinds victims regardless of their facing now

Smoker#

• Smoker’s clouds are a bit more effective at blocking sight now
• Clouds don’t show through walls, floors, and ceilings now

Witch#

• Witch model added (with placeholder texture and animations)
• Witches can no longer be moved by external forces.
• Witches no longer attack Incapacitated players

Tank#

• The Hulk is much noisier now (raspy deep breaths, yells, etc). It’s harder to lurk as a Hulk.
• Damage dealt to a Hulk is no longer multiplied by head/chest/arm/etc multiplier
• Hulk is slowed by gunfire only when near it
• Completed Hulk texture with bump map

March 31#

General#

• You can only vote to change difficulty before you leave the initial spawn now

Environment#

• Lots of ongoing art improvements to the environment

Survivors#

• Improved vocalization rosette interface (still placeholder, though)
• Work in progress scoring system for Survivors (very rough)
• The team HUD now prominently shows incapacitated Survivors with a red background
• Interface for using First Aid Kits on self (and others) is simplified. For self, just equip and fire with no-one in front of you. Removed "dont look around" constraint.
• Reviving an incapacitated friend is easier now

Infected#

• All PZ's now use the Hunter hands viewmodel
• The Common horde, Smoker, Boomer, and Witch have some new animations and body postures (animation work is still ongoing)
• Fixed a bug preventing PZs from spawning sometimes
• PZ's can no longer see the Survivor team's inventory

Infected Horde#

• The Common horde has another model variant (the "suit")

Smoker#

• NEW SMOKER ABILITY: Tongue Lash As a Smoker, you can now right click to spit your incredibly long tongue at a Survivor. If it hits, it attaches to them and quickly pulls them within striking distance of you. Hide in a dark room and snag them as they pass by. Especially dangerous in combination with other Infected types. NOTE: This ability is a rough prototype, and has some quirks yet. It's a work in progress.

April 7#

General#

• Molotov flames no longer injure through walls

Environment#

• Ongoing art improvements

Survivors#

• Incapacitated Survivors stop bleeding out while a friend is reviving them.

Infected#

• Mobs won't start until a Survivor leaves the start spawn/checkpoint area
• Infected are only stunned by the FIRST melee hit from a Survivor. Subsequent melee hits push, but don't stun.

Boomer#

• NEW FEATURE: When a Boomer hits a Survivor with Vomit, that Survivor becomes "IT". All Infected nearby can "smell" him and attack only him until the blood wears off (about 30 seconds).

Smoker#

• Smoker Tongue Lash is easier to target now and more reliable. Still a work in progress, though.

April 14#

General#

• There are fewer special Infected in the Finale now

Environment#

• Ongoing art improvements

Survivors#

• FIRST SURVIVOR MODEL: A work-in-progress of the "Nam Vet" Survivor model is in.
• Survivors who are hit by Vomit and become "IT" are shown as bright red, including their viewmodel.
• The sniper rifle zoom has been moved to middle mouse button - right click is melee like all other weapons

Infected#

• Added placeholder HUD elements to show recharge state of Boomer Vomit and Smoker Tongue Lash
• As a Boomer or Smoker your crosshair changes if you are in range of your special attack

Boomer#

• Boomer Vomit is now activated by right-clicking for consistency with Hunter Lunge and Smoker Tongue Lash
• Boomer explosions can only kill incapacitated Survivors. Living Survivors always become incapacitated by Boomer explosions.

Smoker#

• Smoker Tongue Lash now breaks off if line of sight is broken, if the Smoker takes 50 damage, or if the victim gets hung up on something while being pulled in. Also, the Smoker cannot launch his tongue if he is in the air.

April 28#

General#

• CHECKPOINT DOORS ARE TOTALLY INVULNERABLE NOW. Checkpoints are truly safe places for the Survivors now. Bypasses have been added to allow PZ's to get around checkpoints.
• New "Jiggle Bone" system is functional. The Boomer's belly and the NamVet's hood, belt, and holster now have physically simulated bouncing motion. This is a first implementation and will improve. Also, there is a known bug with client time not being consistent, resulting in hitching and popping.

Environment#

• Lots of ongoing environment art polish

Survivors#

• Incapacitated Survivors can fire their pistols now (albeit slower than normal).
• NamVet Survivor model complete (except for HL2 eyes and facial expressions)
• Ongoing Survivor animation polish (run, walk, crouch, fire, reloads, aim matrix, etc)
• Right click always does melee hit now, regardless of what is equipped
• Hunting Rifle (sniper) zoom is now on MOUSE3, and made the rifle deal more damage
• Removed the P90
• Gave the MP5 a larger clip

Infected#

• Added a spawn timer display to tell PZ's when they will spawn next
• PZ's that are too far away are no longer killed, but are instead repositioned (except for the Hulk)
• Fixed several bugs with PZ spawn system. PZ's spawn EVERY 30 seconds now.
• Added "zombie ladders" to the map. Look for white vertical pipes or broken sections of walls. Infected can climb these like ladders - Survivors cant. There is always a bypass around each checkpoint.

Infected Horde#

• More skin variations
• Initial version of female infected

Boomer#

• Vomit "IT" victims show up bright red
• "IT" status is displayed in team HUD
• "IT" duration is shorter now
• Vomit recharges more slowly now
• Boomers spawn with an empty gut that must recharge before the first vomit
• Boomers get assist points for vomit victims who are hit by others
• AI controlled Boomers will vomit now

Smoker#

• AI controlled Smokers will use their tongue now

Witch#

• The Witch will snap a Smoker tongue that gets too close to her (exploit fix)

Tank#

• PZ Hulks are no longer blinded by flames when on fire

Screamer#

• The Screamer has been temporarily removed from the game

May 12#

General#

• Difficulty levels are functional now - Easy should be really, really easy. Normal should be good for casual gamers. Hard is a solid challenge for seasoned gamers. Expert is for the crazies. TAB scoreboard and game hostname display the current difficulty level of the game
• Dropped Molotovs no longer go off when shot (use gas tanks for that)
• Improved the Jiggle Bone system and fixed bugs with it. The bones themselves still need some tuning.

Environment#

• Many art improvements to the environment. There are very few "gray grid" placeholder areas left.

Survivors#

• Experimental Survivor Rescue System - If a Survivor dies, he can be "rescued" at various out of the way points in the map after he has been dead for a few minutes or the Survivor team has moved a certain distance. If you hear a Survivor calling out for help, follow the sound. Once you get close enough, the dead Survivor will respawn at the point where the cries for help were being emitted. The idea here is to keep the punishment for dying reasonable for those instances where you got unlucky and died in the first rush or two out of the spawn.
• Ongoing Survivor animation work (limping animations, grenade throws, ongoing polish, etc)

Infected#

• Fixed the PZ spawn timer display to be accurate and tell you what is going on.
• Fixed bug where PZ's would lose their special abilities (tongue, vomit, etc) over map transitions
• Fixed bugs with Zombie Vision preventing seeing through certain models

Infected Horde#

• More common infected horde models (more female skins, added national guard infected)

Hunter#

• Survivors who are crouching motionless can now be pushed by a Hunter Lunge a little. Avoid crouching on ledges...

Boomer#

• Boomers now spawn with a gut-full of Vomit ready to spew

Smoker#

• Survivors holding the walk key can no longer slow themselves while being pulled in by a Smoker
• Increased Smoker Tongue recharge time after a successful hit

Tank#

• The Hulk is now round-robined fairly to each PZ in turn. When it is your turn to spawn as the Hulk, a dialog informs you. If you dont accept in 30 seconds, you lose your turn.
• The Hulk is tougher now, and can slug heavy physics props towards the Survivors with ease.
• The Hulk can hit things above and below him again (bug fix)

June 2#

General#

• Honors & Faults - The Honors & Faults system tracks interesting events and statistics during gameplay, and awards Honors and Faults to Survivors. Everyone in the game can readily see who shot that Boomer, threw that grenade, revived a fallen friend, or reached a checkpoint unscathed, for example. When a checkpoint is reached or the game ends, a report screen is displayed showing the Honors and Faults the Survivor team has collected. This is an initial implementation, with much more to come.
• Players are no longer automatically swapped to the Survivor team mid-game. Players are swapped at game restart only.
• Simplified and re-organized vocalization “rosetta”
• Spectators get “zombie vision” now
• Added audio feedback to the voting system and cleaned up some wording

Environment#

• The Salvation at Mercy Hospital mission is 90% art complete. A great deal of detail has been added throughout the mission. The finale area remains unfinished pending ongoing design work.

Survivors#

• The TeenGirl Survivor is finished, including custom female animations, placeholder voice acting, and physically simulated hair
• Added several new animations (knocked down, healing self, healing other, etc)
• Players are displayed as “LOADING” in the team HUD during transitions for their teammates to see
• The Hunting Rifle (sniper) can kill Hunters and Smokers with a single headshot. It is also effective against Hulks at long range.
• The Hunting Rifle has only one level of zoom now, as a toggle
• Melee swings interrupt shotgun reloads now
• Shotguns have better penetration now
• Survivors having only “blue” health limp a little slower now

Infected#

• The Infected deal less damage to breakables, making it worthwhile to barricade with crates and palettes.

Infected Horde#

• The common infected are now under the control of our new NextBot AI technology. Their navigation is greatly improved, including jumping and climbing where the CSBot was unable to reach. Their behaviors and animations are much more detailed and interactive, including staggering around in a daze, lying on the ground, sitting down, door pounding, on-fire flailing, ladder climbing, and dramatic “throes of death” animations. As a result, the horde is more dangerous than ever before. Beware…
• Several new Infected models have been added, populated in appropriate areas of the environment
• The Infected are shoved out of the way of player-controlled Infected now

July 7#

General#

• Sync’ed to Episode 1 codebase
• Various adjustments to honor/fault system
• Many cars are now physics props (especially in the parking garage). The Hulk can toss them about by hitting them.
• Weapon quickswitch is on by default now
• Did some work on the ‘solo’ game. Still very much a work in progress.
• Partial fix for elevator/lift jitters
• Many doors have damage states now – work in progress

Environment#

• NEW MISSION! Added second mission: “Rural”, complete with a farmstead finale area. It is a work in progress, and has many grey-box placeholder areas, but is fully playable. You can change missions between “Urban” and “Rural” using the Vote system (default ‘v’).
• Ongoing art detailing of Hospital (“urban”) mission.

Survivors#

• New Survivor model: The Biker. His textures (and voice) are placeholder yet – he’s a work in progress.
• Many new animations, including a melee swing
• Survivors take falling damage if they land in shallow water
• Blood splatter from near kills leaves the center of your view mostly clear now

Infected#

• Player-controlled Infected spawn more often now, unless the Director calls for a “cooldown” period. They should also be spaced out more, instead of all spawning in the same room.
• There are “bypasses” around every checkpoint. Look for white PVC pipes – they are Infected-only ladders.
• Infected ragdolls fade out if resting on important things (like incapacitated Survivors)

Infected Horde#

• More infected! Increased maximum simultaneous Infected count from 20 to 30.
• More infected model variations
• Several new animation variations added
• Improved common Infected perception model. They act more realistic as they become aware of threats nearby. They may fail to notice you if you walk silently and have your flashlight off.

Hunter#

• Hunters can climb very steep slopes now as long as they crouchwalk

Witch#

• Added a sanity check to the Witch spawn rate to avoid back-to-back Witch spawns

August 11#

General#

• “budda” is now a cvar, and must be set to 1 or zero
• Moved default chat key to ENTER

Environment#

• The “rural” and “urban” missions have been restructured into four separate, linear, missions. This solves several issues (giant maps, long load times, survivor teams getting split up, etc) and has allowed us to customize each of the four mission environments. There have been several major layout changes as a result.
• Fog controller work in progress: In the foggy rural mission, the fog distance will pop as you move through the map. This will change to a smooth ramp transition by the next update.
• We’re experimenting with color correction in the rainy night urban mission.
• Ongoing art detailing of missions (illuminated windows, signage, awnings, elevator shaft, construction floor, rolling wheelchairs, etc)
• The barn in the rural finale(s) is an experiment. It is made of many separate, breakable, parts. A Hulk can reduce it to rubble.

Survivors#

• If a Survivor falls (or is pushed/lunged) off of a high ledge, he will automatically grab and hang from the ledge instead of falling directly to his death. This works much like the “incapacitated” state, in that his health will slowly drain and he will lose his grip. If a friend doesn’t +use him in time, he will fall to his death. +using a ledge hanger will help them climb back up. Ledge hangers cannot climb back up on their own. The longer a Survivor hangs, the less health he will have when helped up. Ledge hangers cannot fire any weapons. Infected can hasten their fall by attacking them.
• We have begun viewmodel work: Survivors now have bodies. If you look down, you will see yourself. The arms and weapons are still using the CSS viewmodels for now, with the exception of the rifle. The rifle viewmodel represents the current state of our viewmodel experiment, and is a work in progress.
• The Biker model is complete
• The NamVet model looks tougher and more rugged
• Ongoing animation work. The TeenGirl has many unique female mocap animations now, grenade throws have an aim matrix, many unique weapon handling animations are in, etc.
• Survivors play a “get up” animation when they are revived now
• Pistols are less accurate now
• New versions of several of the TeenGirl’s voice scratch tracks
• Fixed some states where the pump or auto shotguns would not allow right-click melee to start
• Revived Survivors re-equip their primary weapon. This was confusing to new players who thought they has dropped it when they went down.
• The Report Screen showing awards, honors, and faults is displayed before the map transition giving players something to examine while the map loads

Infected#

• PZ spawn timer now tells you what kind of PZ you will spawn as, and beeps to warn you when you are about to spawn in
• Cooldown no longer resets the PZ’s spawn time. If the timer says N seconds to spawn, you will spawn in N seconds.
• Changed “zombie vision” to compensate for dimmer DLIGHTS in EP1 codebase. This is still a placeholder effect. If, on some maps, it is too bright to see, switch it off with ‘n’.
• Infected momentarily slow a Survivor’s movement when they land a hit.

Infected Horde#

• Fixed several issues with Infected Horde behavior and the population system.
• Wandering Infected can now hear running footsteps, and will become alerted by nearby runners, and runners who are running toward them.
• More skin and model variations have been added
• The Infected horde are much better at climbing ladders now
• Many new infected horde animations. Unique female infected runs, wanders, attacks, shoves, etc. Infected can be shoved forward, backward, left, and right now.
• Lying or sitting Infected now get up when bumped by PZs.
• Infected no longer try to break breakables they are standing on

Hunter#

• Added (placeholder) Hunter lunge HUD meter for consistency with Smoker and Boomer meters, and moved the meters to the bottom center of the PZ’s view
• AI controlled Hunters are less lunge crazy now

Boomer#

• Mobs summoned by Boomer vomit spawn near the vomit victim now
• Boomer has a vomit animation now

Smoker#

• Smoker has a cough animation now
• Smokers pull crouching victims with their tongue twice as fast now

Tank#

• Hulk can slug cars towards Survivors now (tuned masses so this should actually work)

September 18#

The final update to Terror Update News.

General#

• A rough version of the dynamic music system is in place, with some music “sketches” from Mike Morasky. To hear the music, set “music_volume” to 1. This currently works best for single player games, and even then has issues. It is a work in progress.

Environment#

• New hospital rooftop finale area
• The Urban missions make use of color correction
• Ongoing art detailing of missions

Survivors#

• The Assistant Manager Survivor character, Louis, is finished. The entire Survivor team is complete!
• When a Survivor is not firing his weapon or using his flashlight, he assumes a “calm” pose (lowered rifle)
• Survivor’s body/weapon angles are no longer rigidly linked to their eye/head angles. When a Survivor fires his weapon, it snaps to the current view angles. This results in very natural looking body motions and postures.
• The Molotov now accounts for velocity as it spreads. The end result is that you can throw a Molotov at your feet, and it will spread *away* from you. Molotov flames cast light now, as well. KNOWN BUG: Molotovs do not spread correctly when thrown against a wall.
• Each Survivor now has a unique (but still placeholder) view model, including upper and lower body.
• The pistol and M16 viewmodel weapons are in the game, but are not yet extured.
• Fixed several edge cases with ledge grabbing. It is more reliable now.
• When a Survivor equips a weapon, his model plays a deploy animation for others to see
• Survivors actually climb ladders now. While climbing a ladder, their weapons are holstered.
• Incapacitated Survivors have weapon firing animations now, with a full aim matrix.
• The Report Screen (awards/faults) now retains its information across map transitions.
• Incapacitated Survivors are now immune to Boomer explosions.

Infected#

• Reworked the Infected population algorithm to improve placement of Infected and increase overall drama.
• Player controlled Infected spawn much more reliably during finales now
• Improved “Infected Vision” should be effective in all environments. Requires DX9.

Infected Horde#

• Wandering Infected may brawl with each other
• Striking a wandering Infected in the back with a melee shove kills it outright, silently. This does NOT alert the other wandering Infected nearby.
• Fixed bug where an Infected could get an instant hit on a Survivor even though they didn’t appear to swing
• Throttled how often a Survivor can take damage from the Infected. This keeps Survivors alive longer when pummeled by a large mob.
• Burning Infected take a fixed length of time to die, regardless of actual health.
• Mob size (random or IT) uses "diminishing returns" model now. When a mob spawns, the mob size drops to a minimum value which then slowly climbs back up. Multiple mobs in a row result in small mobs
• Common Infected now have basic facial expressions: Sad and lost while wandering, and rage when attacking
• Improved Infected navigation and group navigation. No more clogs at doorways or ladders.

Hunter#

• Hunters move in complete silence now, except when they lunge or are hurt
• Hunters who are against a wall and stay motionless now fade out and become invisible. This “camouflage” is lost if a Survivor aims a flashlight at the hidden Hunter, or if the Hunter moves, attacks, or is damaged. The player’s viewmodel hands reflect how camouflaged he is.
• NEW ATTACK: The “Hunter Kiss”. If a Survivor touches a motionless, camouflaged, Hunter, the Hunter corrupts that Survivors health, turning it all blue. If that Survivor had only blue health, all health is stripped, leaving the Survivor to limp very slowly.

Smoker#

• Successful Smoker Tongue pulls take twice as long to recharge now
• Smoker Tongue grabs now zero their victim’s momentum. This makes it easier to snag Survivors as they run past doorways, etc.

Boomer#

• Shoving a Boomer will interrupt his vomit attack now.
• Boomers give off a loud intestinal gurgle constantly now, helping the Survivors to locate them.

Witch#

• The Witch is very nearly art complete, and is now under NextBot control. Her body posture makes it clear how angry she is with you, and she covers her ears and/or eyes to show you what she doesn’t like. She is harder to escape than the old CSBot Witch, so be careful.

Tank#

• The Hulk now has a “dying” animation instead of just ragdolling.
• Player-controlled Hulks now have a “frustration” timer. When a player Hulk spawns, he must get within line of sight of any Survivor within a short amount of time. As long as line of sight is maintained, the Hulk can fight as long as he wants. However, if he spends too much time hiding, the player will lose control of his Hulk to the AI. Hulks are giant balls of muscle and rage. They do not camp. They break stuff. Hulks do not get frustrated while the Survivors are in a Checkpoint. On a related note, the Hulk “cull” distance has been entirely removed.
• Player controlled Hulks now have direct control of their punch attack. Just press the fire button. The Hulk auto-swing is gone.
• Removed the player controlled Hulk strafe constraint which prevented strafing just after an attack.
• Hulks on Easy and Normal difficulty settings don’t die as quickly as they used to
• The Hulk now has a special ability – the Throw. Pressing your ability button (default is right click) causes the Hulk to grab a large chunk of the ground and throw it, grenade-style, along his view direction. This “hulk missile” arcs through the air like a grenade, and deals the same damage as a Hulk Punch to whoever it hits. A Hulk Missile will smash through Infected, breakables, and certain walls without losing momentum.
• If a Hulk is actually taking damage, lots of blood flies from him, and he raises one arm to shield himself from the pain.

December#

Left 4 Dead is announced to the public and the www.l4d.com website is opened.

Screenshots#