Campaign Differences

This is a sub-page of Proto:Left 4 Dead 2/July 20th, 2009.

To do: Only the bare essentials here. Add everything else and finish up the one chapter that has work put into it.

Dead Center#

Decidedly the least complete campaign out of the ones available in this prototype, it is known simply as "Campaign 1".

Hotel#

• The chapter is named "First Chapter".

Jul 20	Final

• It uses the icon from Dark Carnival's highway as a placeholder.
• There are no weapon pickups around the map, so players are only given a single pistol for the entire level.
• The level's skybox and background scenery is different, depicting the level inside a much more robust city with a drab, brown sky.
• The level does not have an intro.

Jul 20	Final

• The roof is almost completely untextured and basic, with barely any props in sight. You are free to walk around the entire roof with no barricades except for the two fence props found on the side of the building.
• The staircase leads directly down to the first floor instead of taking two flights to get down. As a result, the door to it is on the other side of the building. The staircases also don't have any railing.
• White metal and wooden doors are used around the map in place of blue doors.
• The inside of the hotel is styled completely differently. Its ornamental carpet design, solid colored wallpaper, and warm lighting gives it a more upscale and high-budget feeling. Several textures like evacuation notices and can also be found around the map, taken from campaigns from the original Left 4 Dead.
  • Bodybags can be found all around the hotel, in addition to hospital beds and stretchers.
  • The carpet inside hotel rooms is red.
  • Protective anti-infection plastic cloths can be found around the hotel.
  • The balconies of hotel rooms use a different fence.
  • Props like beds and tables have incomplete textures, being purely white with nothing but baked lighting.
  • Windows all across the hotel are larger.
• The layout of the hotel is also considerably different:
  • Some areas of the hotel stretch further beyond they do in the final game, like the hallway after the elevators. This was likely changed to make the level easier to navigate for first-time players.
  • Supply closets, such as the one with the window you break on the top floor, do not exist. Instead, the structure is just generic hallways which lead to the aforementioned extended halls.
• The conference room/suite has different props which are also placed in different locations, like leather couches, computers, and several easels with maps on them. Other props, like the giant CEDA map on the table, are missing.
  • The bar is placed on the other side of the room.
• The locked door in the suite can be entered, revealing a normal hotel room and another large, empty suite.
• The elevator door on the top floor is open, allowing you to jump down onto the elevator below but risk death.
• The second staircase is untextured. However, it has a large, tall window which lets light in.
• A large, orange block takes the place of the fire in the second staircase.
• The hotel rooms on the second floor are completely dark and have no furnishing or textures besides the bathroom.
• Just before the elevator, a fire breaks out in one of the cut extended hallways.
• The elevator door is open, but the elevator is not on your floor. So, you have to make your way through a hole in the elevator's roof in order to start it. A door in one closet also leads directly here.
• The elevator is completely untextured.
• The elevator crescendo event happens as soon as it reaches the floor, not allowing you to take time before you open the doors.
• The burning floor's layout is completely different, being the exact same as the previous floors but with less windows instead of being the bottom floor. It's covered in flames and blocked off with temporary orange blocks, only allowing you to access a small portion of the floor without breaking a window.
• The burning floor doesn't give you a smoke overlay.
• Once the horde is over, the level is essentially over. There is no way to beat it because there is no safe room. However, you can get back in the elevator, close the doors, and cause the game to break by getting stuck.

Streets#

• The chapter is named "Second Chapter".

Jul 20	Final

• It uses the icon from Dark Carnival's fairgrounds as a placeholder.

Mall#

• The chapter is named "Third Chapter".

Jul 20	Final

• It uses the icon from Dark Carnival's rollercoaster as a placeholder.

Atrium#

• The chapter is named "Fourth Chapter".

Jul 20	Final

• It uses the icon from Dark Carnival's concert as a placeholder.
• The proper spawn point has not been set yet. As a result, the Survivors will spawn in a corner of the third floor of the atrium.

Jul 20	Final

• The atrium itself is significantly different. Besides the placeholder textures and models as far as the eye can see, the layout has also changed quite a bit:
  • All glass fences are wooden.
  • There is a large platform in the center of the atrium with stairs leading to it which can be reached from the second floor.
  • The staircases are projected at an angle instead of being straight forward. Only the first two floors are accessible.

Jul 20	Final

• Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s trademark car is not in place yet. Instead, there is a generic and slightly damaged yellow car.
• The scavenge finale is absent - in its place is an completely different version of the finale. Functioning very similarly to the first game's Crash Course campaign, you will need to power up a "charger" modeled with provisional black and grey disks to charge the car up and escape. Every so often, the charger will shut off due to a power surge and a Survivor will need to re-activate it. It's a long and grueling process, with the charger slowly crawling up to full power - notated by grey disks turning green - and shutting off multiple times throughout.
• The map is not set up to properly end the level once the car is fully charged and everyone is on board. As a result, it is impossible to actually use it to escape. A fitting end for the campaign.

Dark Carnival#

• Significantly more complete than Dead Center, Dark Carnival is still extremely unfinished.
• There are only four chapters, as Barns did not exist at all at this point.

Highway#

Jul 20	Final

Fairground#

• The level is called "Fair Grounds".

Jul 20	Final

Attempting to play this level will result in the game crashing, making an "out of memory" error appear. However, it is possible to view the level in a level editor.

• Unfinished ticket booth
• All interactive carnival games are missing. For example, the place where the shooting game is located is only a closed garage door here.
• Some makeshift carnival game props can be found in place of real ones, like buckets with toilet seats.
• Instead of making your way directly through the warehouse, you also make a detour through a break room with billiard tables before continuing on your path.
• Several models in Kiddieland do not have any proper textures, only having baked lighting.
• Door before thing?
• Unfinished slide model
• Different carousel horse models
• Floor has a different texture after the carousel
• Tunnel of Love entrance incomplete, waiting line is inside which is a completely useless besides visuals

Coaster#

Jul 20	Final

Concert#

• Internally referred to as map c2m4 instead of c2m5 as Barns was not present at all in this prototype.

Jul 20	Final

Shout into the mic to begin the concert

Begin the rock concert to signal the chopper

Swamp Fever#

Swamp Fever is already very similar to the retail game. It's identical to the early version of the mission which appears in press videos of the game.

Plank Country#

Jul 20	Final

Swamp#

Jul 20	Final

Shanty Town#

Jul 20	Final

Plantation#

Jul 20	Final

Hard Rain#

Milltown#

Jul 20	Final

Sugar Mill#

Jul 20	Final

• The level is called "Sugarmill".

Mill Escape#

Jul 20	Final

Town Escape#

Jul 20	Final

• The level is called "Town Finale".

Signal the boatman with the Burger Tank sign.

Signal the boat with the Burger Tank sign

• The game will crash at the end of the level when the rescue music begins playing.

The Parish#

At this point, The Parish is already very similar to the final version. However, it is much closer to the version of the mission which appears in the E3 demo.

July 20	Final

• The graphic used for the loading screen is different, only being the poster with no background similar to the loading screens from the original Left 4 Dead. Rochelle has her original hairstyle instead of her bun hairstyle and her tee is missing the Depeche Mode graphic. In addition, the poster uses Ellis and Coach's early designs from the teaser trailer and E3 demo.

Waterfront#

Jul 20	Final

• The intro is completely different, being a provisional version using generic dialogue which would play throughout the campaign instead of its own unique dialogue. The Survivors also don't have any animations for the intro.
• The level starts with three first aid kits and one defibrillator.
• Different signs

Park#

Jul 20	Final

• Ammo packs instead of health
• The instructions have some different grammar, having punctuation removed in the final game
• Tower glows before you breach the perimeter

Cemetery#

Jul 20	Final

• Glitchy glowy plant at the start
• Dead body in the bathroom

Quarter#

Jul 20	Final

Bridge#

Jul 20	Final

• No health kits upstairs
• Different grammar in instructions