[L4D] Cold Case

Hey snarkpit!

Boy has it been a while since I've posted on this site. I am pretty sure the last thing I posted was re2, (which was never released), about 9 years ago! Anyways, I am so happy that the site is still here. I thought I would let all of you know about my new campaign!

Website: http://www.cc.l4dmapdb.com

Cold Case is a highly innovative Left 4 Dead campaign being developed by mrfranswa. It is scheduled for release on Halloween 2009.

Cold Case pits the survivors in yet another scenario. Their ride to safety has mysteriously crash landed on a remote island somewhere in the north western United States. After hours of waiting, they decide they are the only four survivors from the terrible crash, and they need to find help. However, quickly they realize there is something terribly wrong with this place. The survivors must traverse a large and expansive island. Their goal? To meet up with fellow survivors and get to the only known safe zone; a small military base located on the opposite shore of the island. Only there can they finally find the salvation they desperately are searching for…. or will they?

During their journey, the survivors solve many strange mysteries that surround them. Why did their transport suddenly crash? Why are the infected on this island so quickly mutating? Who is The Mayor, and what role does he play on this island? Who is Agent Orange? It is up to them to find the clues and escape from the infested island.
Features
Dynamically evolving zombies

The infection is unstable and reactive. The zombies progressively become faster, tougher, and more aware of their surroundings through the campaign. Boss zombies also become more frequent.
Upgrades

Expect to spend your time hunting for the upgrade tables. By doing so you can upgrade different things about yourself. Between accuracy, speed, and revival amounts you will need them to survive.
Storyline

Expect a rich and detailed storyline featuring numerous recordings by voice actors, (and myself).
MASSIVE CONTENT!

26 maps in total!

* 6 full map campaign featuring hours of gameplay
* 10 survival maps with dynamically changing atmospheres. Hold some points while wave's of infected tear it down, while others force you to run for your life to get to better positions.
* 2 separate 5 map versus campaigns. Cold Case: Covert Operations, and Cold Case: The Forsaken

Maps
The Prison

(l4d_cc1) - Basically a hyper-evolved dm_lockdownX2. This is the first map of the series, and will have the players traverse it very much like traditional L4D maps. This means basic Point A-to-B gameplay with only a few areas of item hunting and backtracking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwkDaE1f5OM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcc.l4dmapdb.com%2Fvideos&feature=player_embedded>

The Overgrown Facility

(l4d_cc2) - The Overgrown Facility is an abandoned factory somewhere in the forest separating Liberty City, and The Prison. The survivors must traverse through a dense forest to reach the only known safe zone on the island.

The Butcher's Game

(l4d_cc3) - Known only as "The Mayors Residence" in recordings, a lot of strange activities have gone on inside the house. The survivors soon realize that one of their most deadly adversaries is not the horde.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSQ-fKd6k7E&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcc.l4dmapdb.com%2Fvideos&feature=player_embedded

The Brutal Outcome

(l4d_cc4) - Things start going down hill for the survivors, and the futility of surviving the horde's onslaught becomes more apparent. Here the players will explore the shipping district of Liberty City. This section of the city is on the outskirts of the town, and is the last known quarantine zone left within the city.

The Source

(l4d_cc5) - The survivors final destination is a small military outpost. Upon venturing deeper inside, the survivors begin to realize that truth is a relative term…

[img]http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4296/l4dcc40087.jpg[/img] [img]http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/l4dcc40087.jpg/1/w1440.png[/img]
[img]http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/443/l4dcc30080.jpg[/img] [img]http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/l4dcc30080.jpg/1/w1440.png[/img]
[img]http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/98/l4dcc20058.jpg[/img] [img]http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/l4dcc20058.jpg/1/w1440.png[/img]
[img]http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/9697/l4dcc20044.jpg[/img] [img]http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/l4dcc20044.jpg/1/w1440.png[/img]
[img]http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/9159/l4dcc10009.jpg[/img] [img]http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/l4dcc10009.jpg/1/w1440.png[/img]

Looks fun but I won't be playing this because I don't own Left 4 Dead.

Best of luck with the release!

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Aaron's Stuff

• the mod looks interesting. I think it's great to see people slightly modding the gameplay, as well as making new maps. I can't really comment on this gameplay, though, until I try it. I also love the strong sense of story this mod seems to be pushing - I think it gives this alot of character; the chapter titles and expectation of 'strange mysteries ' seems really cool.

As for the screens - they look promising, but I would pay attention to a few things.

• going too dark. It's good to have some really dark areas, but I would push a little more fog so the zombies are just a tad more visible, and your environment has a little more atmosphere.

• less spotlights. It looks like you've gone a little spotlight crazy in some of those screens. Spotlights can be great tools for dramatic effect, and for leading players through the level, but you deleverage both of those things if they are overused.

Anyway - props for the work you're doing.

The campaign isn't spotlight crazy. I just like the effect of them for screenshots. Makes them more interesting

Yea, I look forward to playing this 'fo sho!'

(I think the spotlights for the headlights of the humvee might be a little much) Just regular 'ol sprites I think will do the trick and not be as distracting.

Well, and also, looking at some of those screenshots, just the amount of spotlights in this ss: is enough to kind of distract from the overall atmosphere. Think of spotlights as a gameplay element rather than just a visual element. they're very noticeable and should be 'special' for designating what areas are of special interest to the player. It's not the number of spotlights that make an area important, but how the few or one that is used that makes it stand out.

Overall, I think the scenery looks good (especially for that forest scene). Might need to fix the detail sprites though, they look all cut up and unrealistic. Again, the amount of work you're putting into this campaign won't go unnoticed. There's not many of them out there, and this will certainly get a lot of attention, so be sure to playtest as much as possible!

Good Luck!

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

Riven said:
Think of spotlights as a gameplay element rather than just a visual element. they're very noticeable and should be 'special' for designating what areas are of special interest to the player. It's not the number of spotlights that make an area important, but how the few or one that is used that makes it stand out.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Aside from that, the spotlights you have look sort of unrealistic (stylised if I wanted to use a euphemism).

But yeah, it does look nice. By any chance, is the content in this screenshot all default? That's actually a pretty decent forest environment, would defiantly be more fitting than those northern hemisphere alpine trees I'm currently using in my mod.

Just out of curiosity, I'm seeing a few similarities between this mod and Gears Of War and Blacksite. Did any of these games influence your direction in this mod?

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Aaron's Stuff

hey guys, thanx for the posts,

To be frank, a lot of those screenies are already obsolete. I'm currently on beta 3.

As for the games, no they did not influence me. The BIGGEST influence was the sdk content to be perfectly frank.

sorry I haven't been updating this every day, but it's hard when you don't get notifications. If you guys want up to date info, join the steam group!

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/coldcase/