Left 4 Dead toolset, user maps this week

By Oli Welsh Published 22 June, 2009

Valve opens PC version to the masses.

Valve has revealed, via its Left 4 Dead blog, that it will update the PC version of Left 4 Dead with the ability to create and view user-made campaigns and maps this week.

The Steam update will officially release the Authoring Tools - which have been in beta testing for a few weeks already - and allow everybody to play community campaigns easily. All you need to do is download a single .vpk file and drop it into a folder on your machine, and then select it from an "add-ons" menu option in-game.

Add-on support has been added to the game's matchmaking system, and if you invite friends who don't have the custom map installed, they'll be automatically offered an option to download it.

There's no exact date on the update, but Valve expects to release it this week. More at the Left 4 Dead gamepage.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (16) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • LazyDan #1 3 years ago

    This'll be excellent - shame PC modders can't (somehow) make custom content for the 360 version :(

  • kangarootoo #2 3 years ago

    So everyone can stop complaining about L4D2 now? Or am I still not "getting it"?

    @LazyDan

    Agreed. The lack of a mod scene is the only thing I miss about PC gaming (Oblivion and Morrowind in particular).

  • christourlord #3 3 years ago

    So, does anyone have any hot tips for maps or campaigns to check out when this update goes live? There is going to be a lot of crap to sift through in order to find the gems, but I'm sure they'll be in there somewhere.

  • skillian #4 3 years ago

    So everyone can stop complaining about L4D2 now? Or am I still not "getting it"?

    If you think the lack of user-made mods was the main issue people had with LFD2 then no, you're still not getting it.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #5 3 years ago

    I thought their main issue was the fact they weren't getting stuff for free.

    Now, provided some determined soul has the time and effort to knock up a few maps, they can get stuff for free.


    From now on, the Left 4 dead community will simply be whining that they don't get the particular set of levels and characters being made by Valve for free. Which makes them seem even mroe churlish.

  • skillian #6 3 years ago

    Doesn't really address the fears about the low turnaround time; the Christmas releases; the splitting of the community; the unfulfilled expectations of additional Valve content; and the general air of cynicism about a game that has moved from the Valve method of updates to the console method of updates.

    It's good news of course, but an SDK was supposed to ship with the game when it was released.

    Anyway, I'll stay out of this thread as I know I'm in the minority here and that's fair enough. Last time I got an awful lot of grief just trying to present an alternative side to the story, and the fact it's already tuned to insults and sarcasm suggests I'd be stupid to attempt it again here.

  • christourlord #7 3 years ago

    So, is it really now not possible to have any sort of discussion about L4D without it instantly being about the whiners issue?

  • giant_frying_pan #8 3 years ago

    Included in the authorising tools full release:

    "Source files for all the official campaign maps"

    Those concerned about a 'split userbase' between L4D and L4D 2 may now rest easy. Importing these into L4D 2 will be straightforward.

  • skillian #9 3 years ago

    @christourlord - the site seems to be a bit temperamental right now, but you can find some interesting stuff at <a href="http://www.l4dmods.com/ ">http://www.l4dmods.com/ </a>

    Some upcoming campaigns: Dead Before Dawn, Resident Evil 3 - Last Escape.

    http://www.l4dmaps.com/ is also a good place to start.
    Edited by 3 at 22/06/09 @ 10:33

  • Ryuken #10 3 years ago

    Still no standard server browser, oh Valve...

    Not even a mention of the promised 4vs4 matchmaking option either. :(

  • SFG_Clan #11 3 years ago

    Its a shame its only for PC but may I say, there you go L4D2 complainers, they said they would keep adding and they are so :p

  • sneetch #12 3 years ago

    Am I mad or was this originally supposed to be in the last big patch where they added the other two campaigns? Ah, a brief interweb check tells me they released the beta version last time.

    Either way this is fantastic news, the custom map community really helps keep these Valve games fresh.

  • lemonfist #13 3 years ago

    I reckon we'll be seeing about a couple of hundreds different variants of Teh Zombie Shopping Mall, mostly rubbish level design design with lots of copy-pasting, but eventually there's bound to be some good stuff.
    Edited by 1 at 22/06/09 @ 15:23

  • skillian #14 3 years ago

    @lemonfist Dead Before Dawn

    Yes, it's set in a shopping mall :D

    But it's looking really nice...

  • Spekingur #15 3 years ago

    I can't wait to see console owners bitch about buying content that PC owners get for free...

    Seriously, is no one still getting why L4D2 was made? I believe that Valve were making this large update for L4D1. It got bigger and bigger and they eventually decided to make a number 2 because then they would able to release it on the consoles as a full priced game rather than maybe as DLC and then not having to go through the patch/DLC filter of MS.

  • Nephirion #16 3 years ago

    I thought L4D was fun but overated, I think Valve often trades on its name like Blizzard etc, indeed they prob get their employees posting on forums like this hyping up there games ... any magazine which is adverstising the game they are reviewing isn't going to say what they honestly think about the product.