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The lighter side of the Left 4 Dead zompocalypse

 

A Look at L4D’s Unused Content

April 27th, 2009 by Dracula Guy

Left 4 Dead was originally being done by Turtle Rock Studios (notable for doing several things for VALVe, such as CS:CZ, Some maps in CS:S and the Xbox port of Counter-Strike), until VALVe bought them up sometime around 2008. At this point, the game looked very different to what we have now.

Yes, this game looked very different. Surprisingly, the level design/gameplay never really seemed to change.

Now, with L4D using a different file system, you’re going to need to update GCFScape. The game taunts you by storing all the simple stuff in what is a normal source game directory, not a GCF. But, the materials and models are all stored in VPK files, notably pak01_dir.vpk. A quick disclaimer is that most of these images are fused together to make it easier on me. Again, let’s start of with something that is incredibly expected.

Found in the VPK under “materials/console”

This was so predictable it was not funny. Along with this, under “materials/gfx/vgui”, is a ridiculous amount of Counter-Strike stuff. For those who do not know, L4D results from a Counter-Strike Source mod known as “Terror-Strike”. Seems obvious this would be left in.

Found in the VPK under “materials/console”

You know how most VALVe games has the level on the startup, and it starts blurred? To achieve that effect, the blurred images are created and stored as normal images. These seem to be hints of early levels or something. But even better is…

Found in the VPK under “materials/console”

If you can’t tell what this is, you can click it. And if you can’t tell what it is then, you need glasses. These are what appear to be very early finales for “No Mercy, Dead Air, Death Toll and Blood Harvest.”

Found in the VPK under “materials/console”

You all should have seen this before. Screamer blah blah blah. Moving on.

Found in the VPK under “materials/resource”

Oh, silly VALVe face.

Found in the VPK under “materials/vgui/tools”

I think putting the Filmmaker is pretty taunting of them. That was supposed to be released with TF2. Actbusy made me laugh though.

That’s about it. I may or may not possibly do a second part when the SDK finally comes out, as viewing the models right now is not fun.

/neatstuffthatyoumighthavealreadyknown

 
12 Comments | Posted in Uncategorized, left 4 dead, valve, zombies, tagged:

12 Responses to “A Look at L4D’s Unused Content” (post new)

  1. Killa-Ewok
    April 27th, 2009 at 2:30 am
     

    Well, that was uneventful. Good day!

  2. Dracula Guy
    April 27th, 2009 at 2:41 am
     

    What, did you expect player hats and variable weapons?
    I’ve got some better stuff for part 2.

  3. letq
    April 27th, 2009 at 3:42 am
     

    As “unused content” you present us:
    A CS background picture
    2 loading screens from the original HL2
    A well-known promo picture of an early development version
    Old fan art, which as well most of us has seen already
    An ATI sponsor pic, as well from earlier published HL2 episodes
    Source icons

    Oh wait, there were 2 unfinished screens from unfinished levels, thank you, sir. Much appreciated.

  4. Dracula Guy
    April 27th, 2009 at 3:48 am
     

    “Old fan art, which as well most of us has seen already”
    Not fan art. It’s in the game files. :|
    “A well-known promo picture of an early development version”
    Promo pic is too illustrate the old stuff.
    The idea is, this content is in the L4D files.

    Do your research first before complaining.

  5. letq
    April 27th, 2009 at 3:54 am
     

    Sorry, that was a brain-fart, ment to say “concept art”.
    Well sure there is a lot of left-overs in the files but I just don’t see why most of that would be worth mentioning. On the other hand, the actual screenies were interesting though.

  6. Dracula Guy
    April 27th, 2009 at 3:58 am
     

    Eh, some of it’s filler-ish.
    More neat stuff to come.

    First two blurry ones are not from HL2 though.
    That’s the point, they are unique.

  7. Core Xii
    April 27th, 2009 at 6:47 am
     

    For the love of god stop spelling it “VALVe”! The company’s name is “Valve”. You do not decorate normal text to look like a company logo picture.
    http://valvesoftware.com/
    Read the disclaimers at the bottom. Valve, Valve, Valve. Not VALVe, Valve.

  8. Dracula Guy
    April 27th, 2009 at 6:56 am
     

    Wait wait wait.
    Seriously? That’s your only complaint?
    That I didn’t make the VALVe name in your liking?

    That’s kinda sad.

  9. Core Xii
    April 27th, 2009 at 8:59 am
     

    Yeah that’s my only complaint. Why is it sad? I happen to *like* these insights. :P

  10. LaZodiac
    April 28th, 2009 at 9:08 am
     

    What exactly is the Screamer? I didn’t have computer gameing capabilities at around the time I would of cared enough to pay attention to news of the game.

  11. HelisPoe
    April 28th, 2009 at 11:36 am
     

    @ Core Xii
    Cry some more.

  12. Felios
    April 29th, 2009 at 7:54 am
     

    Well, anybody can look in the game files to find these images. I’ve seen all this. Hell, all of the grafitti was viewable in the demo version too.

    Perhaps what would have made this post memorable is some detailed discussion about what these findings indicate. You could have talked more about the traces of Counterstrike hidden deep in Left 4 Dead’s code, such as the references to CS weapons in the game’s config files. Or, how the Tank’s punch is reported in that same file as a knife attack. Or the CS-exclusive console commands that exist in Left 4 Dead but do nothing.

    You could have also discussed differences in the finales from current versions, and why they may have been changed. What I find very interesting is that the ground directly underneath the hospital is actually detailed in the older version. Did they escape in a houseboat in early Death Tolls? Most intriguing is the lighting in Dead Air’s finale. For one, it’s obviously much darker. More importantly, it’s BLUE. Maybe none of Dead Air was on fire back then. It’s just another example of the drastic changes in art direction that occurred when Valve bought out Turtle Rock Studios.

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