Left 4 Dead

L31mr0d · 17-11-2008 3:01pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Hmm perhaps, I was playing without it (and there was none coming from the other players). What's the decent mics to get these days anyway?

I literally dusted off an old mic from maybe 10 years ago for this game. You cannot play it properly without being able to communicate. I was constantly shouting "crap there's another wave behind us", or "hold up, I hear a tank breathing upstairs"...

However the mic died within 10 minutes

I think the last time I used it was for Counter Strike 1.5. I ended up buying a desktop logitech mic from Argos for €16, I went for the fancy one as the last 2 cheapo mics I've bought died fairly quickly from very light use

Wormy001 · 17-11-2008 3:43pm

the banter that comes with this game and 4 mics in unlike any game iv played. i played with 3 mates the other day and one of them killed two of us while tryin 2 kill the horde rushing at him. we were all going crazy and him and just the general amusement of the whole demo. looking forward to the full game. less then a day now

Cuddlesworth · 17-11-2008 3:44pm

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

I have indeed and it appears that other people are experiencing the same "connection failed after 10 attempts" problem. In my case (again, like others), no servers are being displayed at all via 'openserverbrowser'. (This is not a firewall or router issue.) I've also sent Steam support an email outlining my problems, but there has been no reply.

In the last week they have released 5 updates. Yes, fair play, but this has done nothing to address my issue. To me this suggests that there are some rather large problems still outstanding with the game. In fact, if there wasn't only a day till release I wouldn't be surprised if the put the release back.

Now, I don't mind waiting a week or two for them to solve any issues that prevent me and others from connecting, but only if I know that they will definitely be resolved. This seems like a more than reasonable position for me to take.

What I am going to do is send Steam an email signalling my intention of getting a refund should the game release (give or take a week) not solve my issues. Although it might seem like jumping the gun, I worried that my chances of getting a refund are decreased if I don't make some sort of noise before the release of the game. To this end, I's appreciate hearing from anyone else who has had any experience with refunds from Steam?

Vista? I had that the first day of the demo, imaged my system and now no longer have the problem.

Fanny Cradock · 17-11-2008 4:34pm

No, good old trust worthy XP. I've asked other NTL users in the same area as myself if they've had similar problems. They don't.

Steam diagnostics tool comes back saying that all UDP and TCP ports are opened correctly and I've also disabled the firewall and AV programmes when attempting to play on-line. I assume that others experiencing the same problems have tried similar things.

It's frustrating because I can get into the lobby, chat with people and then eventually get kicked. I can also start my own local server, but with only myself and the bot players.

Ah, well, maybe it will all be sorted by tomorrow.

L31mr0d · 17-11-2008 5:19pm

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

It's frustrating because I can get into the lobby, chat with people and then eventually get kicked. I can also start my own local server, but with only myself and the bot players.

I had this issue myself a while back with Steam. Turned out to be a dodgy NIC dropping packets. Does your motherboard have 2 ethernet ports? If not can you get your hands on a spare NIC? Someone you know will have one, they are a dime a dozen.

Have you tried the known fix? i.e. open up the console when the game has loaded and type "mat_queue_mode 0"

Fanny Cradock · 17-11-2008 5:27pm

Cheers for that, I do have a second ethernet port and I've switched it around - no joy. I've also tried that command and it didn't do anything. Funnily enough, when I downloaded the HL2 mod 'Zombie Panic' I had the same problems. Never got that fixed.

grizzly · 17-11-2008 5:38pm

Speaking of mics, does anyone know if I can use a 360 mic setup through the 360 controller (on my XP PC)?

Stev_o · 17-11-2008 6:06pm

Anyway else having troubles connecting to local servers set up by people based in the UK me and my mate cant connect to our other mates servers who are all English.

Stephen · 17-11-2008 6:29pm

Might be their routers dropping inbound traffic from you - they will need appropriate ports forwarded to host games. Although I'd imagine Left4Dead is clever enough to use something like UPnP to open the ports it needs for itself, but if their routers have UPnP turned off or if they don't support it it won't work.

PogMoThoin · 17-11-2008 7:20pm

This is the mic i'm using and having absolutely no problems with, available in Argos for €8.99 for anyone needing something cheap quickly

Link

Stev_o · 17-11-2008 10:15pm

Speed run. no shooting. no stopping. expert. endless fun and screaming

PogMoThoin · 17-11-2008 10:33pm

17-11-2008 11:30pm

Ha good one. Must check that webby out.
By the way, i'm curious to how the pc version works with setting up games with your freinds. like i mean is there dedicated servers going to be set up like say a normal css server r some10. i can't see how your gonna seperate from all the randomers.

pixelburp · 18-11-2008 12:01am

PogMoThoin wrote: »

This is the mic i'm using and having absolutely no problems with, available in Argos for €8.99 for anyone needing something cheap quickly

Link

Haha; ok, that's exactly the type of mic I used to have on my old machine before it (the mic) broke. Does the job I guess!

Cunny-Funt · 18-11-2008 8:27am

Which is the cheapest option for buying the game? Steam? In smyths? Or off a website such as play? Probably gonna buy 2 copies...one for the laptop and one for my main pc.

Fnz · 18-11-2008 8:54am

Cunny-Funt wrote: »

Which is the cheapest option for buying the game? Steam? In smyths? Or off a website such as play? Probably gonna buy 2 copies...one for the laptop and one for my main pc.

Play.com was cheapest when I checked a week ago.

Mr E · 18-11-2008 8:57am

Its live on Steam now.

Stephen · 18-11-2008 9:46am

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Ha good one. Must check that webby out.
By the way, i'm curious to how the pc version works with setting up games with your freinds. like i mean is there dedicated servers going to be set up like say a normal css server r some10. i can't see how your gonna seperate from all the randomers.

It uses the Steam friends system. You can start a game that actually runs on a dedicated server and you can set it so that only your friends can join. And if you're short a person after your friends join, you can open it up to the public and have one randomer to make up the numbers

Retr0gamer · 18-11-2008 11:15am

I have to wait til 8.30 for this

hope the servers aren't being raped by then.

brianon · 18-11-2008 2:12pm

Stephen wrote: »

It uses the Steam friends system. You can start a game that actually runs on a dedicated server and you can set it so that only your friends can join. And if you're short a person after your friends join, you can open it up to the public and have one randomer to make up the numbers

How do you open it up to the public ?

I presume you make it private by putting the password on it ? and public by removing the password ?

I bought (rented) a dedicated server on teamhost. Anyone looking for a game or access to that server...just add me to your Steam friends list... "brianon".

Spunge · 18-11-2008 6:52pm

was the demo only playable if you pre-ordered?

tman · 18-11-2008 6:55pm

This really has surpassed all of my expectations so far, and I've only tried singleplayer!
I'd say this would be unbelievable for lan games, or a decent team online with voice coms.

Ishmael · 18-11-2008 6:58pm

Spunge wrote: »

was the demo only playable if you pre-ordered?

Don't think so, i have the demo and didn't pre-order it.

Spunge · 18-11-2008 7:03pm

Must be coz the game is released the demo doesnt work anymore.

Stev_o · 18-11-2008 7:13pm

Trying to find a decent server=hell

So much lag damn you Valve i knew this would happen

Jimmy.Joe · 18-11-2008 8:08pm

If anyone is looking for someone team up with I'd be interested nick on Steam is Skilless (not really skilless it's just a name)

wayne040576 · 18-11-2008 8:41pm

Valve planned to kill the demo after the release of the game.

Haven't had a chance to play the full game yet. What's it like playing as the zombies?

Stev_o · 18-11-2008 10:22pm

This game is one of the best games iv ever played, the levels are just pure genius, wait till you get to the hospital finale its mind blowing

pvt.joker · 18-11-2008 10:24pm

question. is it worth buying this for single player alone?

TomCo · 18-11-2008 10:28pm

pvt.joker wrote: »

question. is it worth buying this for single player alone?

Maybe you should ask yourself is it worth getting the interwebs for?

pvt.joker · 18-11-2008 10:31pm

TomCo wrote: »

Maybe you should ask yourself is it worth getting the interwebs for?

ah i have the interweb, but am on 02 3g and have crappy lag and pings.
so ....back to my question.....

Smellyirishman · 18-11-2008 10:37pm

Kotaku say no.

"If you aren't sucked in by the game's multiplayer aspects, you're not going to find much else worthwhile in Left 4 Dead. Playing through the single-player version of the campaign will net you about six hours of gameplay, more if you ramp up the difficulty. It's fun, but can't hold a candle to playing with a group of flesh and blood buddies."

When is this out for a reasonable-non-steam-rip-off-price in retail? This Friday?

Fnz · 18-11-2008 11:47pm

Smellyirishman wrote: »

When is this out for a reasonable-non-steam-rip-off-price in retail? This Friday?

Yeah, Gamestop register biscuit told me Friday - suggested I preorder it too (which mightn't actually be a bad idea in this instance).

Retr0gamer · 19-11-2008 12:40am

Really loving this game but it's trying it's hardest not to make me like it. Was trying all evening to get a game without any lag but almost all the servers are unplayably laggy. Finally got on one that was laggy but playable and finished the first chapter (and received no achievements either :rolleyes:) and had a great time despite the lagginess. It seems to work great with friends though. Was having a great lag free game there with Azza before the parents told me to tunr the PC off because it was too loud. They really need to get rid of the awful xbox live type interface and matchmaking. I'd much rather be able to see a list of servers that I can sort by ping and get a lag free game rather than hoping that I randomly get a non laggy game which seems to be a 1 in 20 chance at the moment.

tman · 19-11-2008 1:48am

Aye, not a fan of the lobby system at all. I've had random luck so far with laggy games, and it really does ruin the fun if you get in a bad one...
I guess hosting your own games is the only way around that

Is it just me or is the final chapter of the no mercy campaign a bit on the tricky side? (compared to the next campaign at least). Played through it in single player and kept dying before the end (damn tank keeps sending me flying), played with a random group and we kept failing badly, then played the entire campaign again with another random group and finally nailed it after 4 attempts. Would hate to see it on a harder difficulty:p

Fantastic game so far, I loved the singleplayer at first, but multiplayer is all kinds of awesome:)

Azza · 19-11-2008 2:57am

Finding that dedicated is too laggy. Only solution is for a friend to host it locally. Still I have issues with connecting to him so our best bet is too use Hamachi in the background. Seems to be by far the most stable way of playing it.

Pretty good so far. Mostly going through in 3 player on expert and boy the final stage of each chapters are tough. Real tough. Have yet to complete one of them yet.

All in all is great fun.

0ubliette · 19-11-2008 8:42am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Really loving this game but it's trying it's hardest not to make me like it. Was trying all evening to get a game without any lag but almost all the servers are unplayably laggy. Finally got on one that was laggy but playable and finished the first chapter (and received no achievements either :rolleyes:) and had a great time despite the lagginess. It seems to work great with friends though. Was having a great lag free game there with Azza before the parents told me to tunr the PC off because it was too loud. They really need to get rid of the awful xbox live type interface and matchmaking. I'd much rather be able to see a list of servers that I can sort by ping and get a lag free game rather than hoping that I randomly get a non laggy game which seems to be a 1 in 20 chance at the moment.

Bring up console - type OpenServerBrowser
Hey presto, traditional steam server browser.

Ive had no problems with matchmaking or lag tho. Barely any lag aside from one game yesterday, and the matchmaking threw me in with some great random players

L31mr0d · 19-11-2008 10:23am

0ubliette wrote: »

Bring up console - type OpenServerBrowser
Hey presto, traditional steam server browser.

There's no way to set up a server that way though. The lobby system doesn't allow you to pick a server when you are creating a game. Even hosted locally we where having serious lag issues. Hamachi might be the way to go until they sort out the overloaded dedicated servers, or at least wait to assign you to a low ping server that has a slot free.

tman · 19-11-2008 12:12pm

Eurogamer review is up now
The score seems pretty spot on for once

Doodee · 19-11-2008 12:15pm

Tmoney, you coming along to the LAN this weekend?

Jumpy · 19-11-2008 12:48pm

I absolutely love Versus mode. I was the tank last night in a Scenario 4 map, caught everyone completely with their pants down. Awesome carnage.

tman · 19-11-2008 1:34pm

Doodee wrote: »

Tmoney, you coming along to the LAN this weekend?

Ah crap, going to be over in London until Saturday evening, then have a leaving session to attend to...
Damn shame, was just testing it out on my lappy and it runs like a dream:(

Mitch Connor · 19-11-2008 1:38pm

can anyone confirm if this will have split screen co-op on the 360? Looking online indicates it does (2 player) but i'd like to be sure.

Fnz · 19-11-2008 1:48pm

Mitch Connor wrote: »

can anyone confirm if this will have split screen co-op on the 360? Looking online indicates it does (2 player) but i'd like to be sure.

The demo had 2 player split screen co-op at least.

Mitch Connor · 19-11-2008 1:55pm

excellent (didn't play the demo)

Will pick this up on friday so.

Retr0gamer · 19-11-2008 2:38pm

0ubliette wrote: »

Bring up console - type OpenServerBrowser
Hey presto, traditional steam server browser.

Thanks for that hope it sorts out my problems. I'll have to give Hamachi a go as well and try and figure it out.

vex · 19-11-2008 3:21pm

Thinking of pick up a copy from gamestop, could any one tell me how big is the download from steam to acctivate the game?

brianon · 19-11-2008 3:43pm

I've got two servers ... one private and one public.

Private : and looking for more players - (pm for password bit don;t share it...its "just for me and my dog")
http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/217.163.27.189:27015/

Public
http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/85.234.155.43:27088/

These are in the UK so should be fast enough.

We have a fewe guys already starting to play on the private server so add me to your Steam friends list and pm me for the password

Steam : "brianon" (alias - send more cops).

L31mr0d · 19-11-2008 3:56pm

brianon wrote: »

I've got two servers ... one private and one public.

Private : and looking for more players - (pm for password bit don;t share it...its "just for me and my dog")
http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/217.163.27.189:27015/

Public
http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/85.234.155.43:27088/

These are in the UK so should be fast enough.

We have a fewe guys already starting to play on the private server so add me to your Steam friends list and pm me for the password

Steam : "brianon" (alias - send more cops).

Sounds good. However, If I'm setting up a game, how can I specify it to use your server?

brianon · 19-11-2008 4:19pm

L31mr0d wrote: »

Sounds good. However, If I'm setting up a game, how can I specify it to use your server?

Apparently that stuff doesn;t actually work yet.

I think the theory is that you specify in your server.cfg (my cfg) a sv_serch_key of say "brians server".
Then when someone is lloking to start a game on that server you type the same search key into your console.
Then when you start a game from the lobby you can invite friends and they can join you in lobby. When you START the game the sv_search_key I setup in the server.cfg kicks in and it starts on that server.

Thats the theory I read but apparently it doesn't work.

So where does that leave us

? I don't know.

I guess to organise a game you gather like minded people to the private server and can then vote to change the map etc...

Left 4 Dead

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