L4D update 1/14/08

January 14, 2009 - Left 4 Dead Update Released

Left 4 Dead has been updated with a host of fixes, tweaks and new features, including enhancements to Versus mode for improved competitive play. The full change list is below. For PC users the update will be applied automatically via Steam. Meanwhile, the update will be made available to Xbox 360 players in the coming weeks.

General
Fixed Survivors being able to climb surfaces marked for versus infected only
Fixed a class of SurvivorBot bugs dealing with rescuing downed players
Players can no longer grab ladders while flying through the air after a Tank punch
Shooting near a car with an alarm that has already fired the alarm will no longer make chirping noises
Improved loading time
Fixed mini-gun physics exploit
Fixed propane tanks (and other physics objects) causing players to fall through elevators
Fixed rare achievement bug issues
Fixed several map exploits
Fixed various match making issues
Fixed NAT traversal issues

Versus Changes
Added HUD elements to show status of other infected players
Changed color of infected player name in chat to red
Fixed exploit where players could spawn infected bots
Fixed instance where a Survivor changing to the infected team would be attacked by infected bots
Normalized special infected melee damage
Made the following client commands cheat protected: "Kill" and "explode"
Fixed exploit where infected players could run away and teleport back to gain health
Players can only change teams once per map
Players can't change teams while other players are still loading
Tank spawns at the same % through the map for both teams in versus mode
Made the Tank and Witch spawn directly on the escape route
Increased chance of getting the Tank or Witch
Fixed team swap issue

Hunter
Easier to pounce a Survivor who is meleeing
Increased Minimum damage a Hunter pounce does

Smoker
Fixed Smoker tongue tolerance
Smoker now has to be killed or the tongue destroyed for the tongue to break
Survivor's cannot bash someone off the tongue until the Survivor being pulled is paralyzed or hanging
Tongue attacks that fail to paralyze or hang a Survivor will use the shorter ability delay timer
Fixed cases where the ability timer was not using the correct time
Fixed case where you could point at a Survivor but not register a tongue hit
Fixed Smoker tongue not targeting and landing properly through PZ ghosts
Smoker tongue does damage every second while dragging paralyzed Survivors

Tank
Bashable objects now appear with a red glow
Tanks hitting a car with an alarm disables the alarm permanently
Tank frustration timer is only reset by hitting Survivors with rocks or fists
Reduced autoshotgun damage against Tanks

Witch
Witch spawns at the same % through the map for both teams
Avoids spawning within a certain % of the tank
Fixed an exploit where the Witch could be woken up and tricked into attacking Survivors

Quote :

Tank spawns at the same % through the map for both teams in versus mode

NICE! Seems much more fair this way.

Quote :

Made the Tank and Witch spawn directly on the escape route

While this wasn't much of an issue in Versus (since the tank is mobile from the second he spawns), it's nice to see the witch become more of an obstacle instead of a mere annoyance.

Quote :

Fixed an exploit where the Witch could be woken up and tricked into attacking Survivors

Considering the previously mentioned "fix", at least she can't be prematurely scared into attacking the survivors if they haven't prepared to take her out (since she's unavoidable now).

Overall I'm happy with the bug fixes, but I suppose until I play a full round of versus with this crew it will be hard to say if it makes things any easier or harder (going to guess it will be HARDER knowing you all)

That looks awesome! Have any of you played with the update yet? How is it??

we played with the update last night.. there are cool things aside from what is mentioned..
you can now see each of your infected teammates and what they are or will become.. and how long until they will spawn.. their names are big bold red letters and are easily seen...
the puke seems to have gotten a distance boost.. or perhaps something was done with the consistency of the outcome so that the puke lands..

regarding the other stuff mentioned in the patch notes the best deal is for the smoker.. he will become much more valuable as his damage is introduced as soon as pull starts and you can now pull people out of a melee spamming huddle of survivors..

its easier to pounce as hunter.. you no longer get meleed mid air EVERY time to the jackass swinging his wep wildly.. it now takes skill and timing to mid air melee hunter..
they lowered hunter melee damage from 10 to i dunno maybe 6.. it was tough to truly get a consistent reading as each player had different results.. especially with pounces..

for me i am not so enamored with the tank coming up in the same exact spot as it takes away the anticipation factor and alerts the team with "last licks" exactly where he will be.. "let's not get to the point until we search every room for a molotov"....

the witch while maybe supposedly on the direct path to escape was easily bypassed a number of times by both teams... they might have potentially made her a wee bit squishier as we had no trouble at all handling her.

i would say all in all the update is going to skew the game more towards the infected.. any infected team with any sense of coordination is going to obliterate the survivors.... i believe they will be forced to have a balancing patch after this one to beef up the survivors...


but the update i do like very much.. things seem a bit tighter now.. each of the infected's strengths are really amplified now..

it looks like the hunter damage is this:

land a pounce - minimum 1 maximum 25. It used to be you had to get some height/distance for pounce damage, now it's at least 1 even if you pounce from 1 foot away.

swipe after landing pounce - 5 per swipe, not changed

swipe (attack2) - 6 damage per swipe. Used to be 10.

Actually, a swipe after a pounce ( while you have them mounted ) is 10 now....

Also... the tank does not spawn in the same place, just at the same % as the other team. Because that would suck, like he said.

They didn't mess with the Witch's health/armor factor. I think last night both teams just knew how to handle her. Remember that a Witch can easily be one shot. I would hope valve wouldn't make her weaker.



EDIT: can easily be one shot with a tier 2 shotgun. I wouldn't want to try with any other weapon... maybe a Sniper rifle

I'm really glad for the Smoker tongue upgrade... it would be frustrating at times when I'd snag a survivor and start dragging and they'd break free and not have taken any damage... usually followed by me getting shot... in turn usually followed by a 30 second respawn... A lot of waiting and build up to do zero damage and barely inconvenience the victim.

I'm excited to try out the updated versus game...