By John Walker on November 7th, 2008 at 9:38 pm.
A couple of interesting hacks have appeared for the Left 4 Dead demo. People have found a way to get at the splitscreen mode, intended only for the 360 version, and more interestingly, how to play as the Infected.
It’s important to note that the latter isn’t a way to get Versus mode in the demo – instead it’s a very choppy console-command-led method that sort of lets you at least experience what it’s like to play as the Infected, albeit in a way that is nothing like the game proper.
You will be able to see the demo’s levels through the eyes of a Hunter, Smoker, Boomer or Tank, and get to know their abilities and attacks, even if it’s unrepresentative of how Versus really works. It works in both single and multiplayer, so you can fight against friends, but let me stress again, in a broken and unbalanced way – you can in no way get a feel for the real thing with this. Is this message clear enough? It’s nothing like proper Versus.
To get Infected, follow the instructions below, which we’ve cribbed from Steam forumite Scuzball.
You need to make sure the Developer Console Command option is enabled in the main options, and then start a game. Pull down the console, and type in the magic words
sv_cheats 1
In order to switch sides, you then need to type,
ent_fire !self setteam 3
If you’re playing against AI Survivors, they’ll stand still until you tell them to begin the level for themselves. That’s done by telling it,
director_force_versus_start 1
You can then choose to spawn by following the on-screen instructions, which will also tell you how to control each Infected Special. Once you’ve been killed, you’ll have to respawn manually, using the following console commands:
z_spawn hunter
z_spawn smoker
z_spawn boomer
z_spawn tank
So of course this means you can cheat horrifically, and for extra fun, spawn about five tanks at once and ruin the game completely. What it does is give you a feel for what’s to come, but again, for goodness sakes don’t try and judge Versus mode based on this abortive hack.
To get splitscreen is a bit more complicated, and requires you own a 360 controller for your PC. The instructions for that are also on the Steam forums, posted in enormous detail by user TheBusGuy.
07/11/2008 at 21:40 Sideath says:
Seriously, I would just rather wait.
07/11/2008 at 21:56 Chris Evans says:
I may try this in singleplayer, but not on MP!
07/11/2008 at 21:58 The Hammer says:
Oh, so Versus Mode is included in the demo? Sweet!
07/11/2008 at 22:00 Fumarole says:
Yet another reason why PC gaming simply rocks.
07/11/2008 at 22:04 Radiant says:
So this is just like Versus mode?
Awesome!
:|
Anyone, who has the demo, know how many players can play split screen?
07/11/2008 at 22:07 dartt says:
@The Hammer
I see what you did there.
07/11/2008 at 22:18 Stupoider says:
I love the Boomer. :D
07/11/2008 at 22:20 I don't understand this comment system says:
In the age of USB hubs and 360 gamepads why not include split screen as a feature in the PC version?
07/11/2008 at 22:26 Chris R says:
RARRRRRRRRRRRR Hulk smash!!!
07/11/2008 at 22:29 yns88 says:
The problem with it is that you can’t choose your spawn location, so if you go as anything other than hunter or tank you’ll just get gunned down in an instant.
It’s pretty fun, though. As a tank, you can throw the car with the alarm so that it blocks the stairway entrance to the safehouse!
07/11/2008 at 22:42 Fazer says:
@ yns88
Of course you CAN choose your spawn location. Just type
ghost
Playing as zombies is so much fun! I can’t wait for the full game to come.
07/11/2008 at 22:51 Pags says:
I always get a guilty tingle whenever I see the words sv_cheats 1 typed out. Mmmmm, ride that guilt trip.
07/11/2008 at 22:58 sockpuppetclock says:
All I wish there was is a force-zombie-intensity cvar and I’ll never stop playing L4D.
07/11/2008 at 23:04 Cx2 says:
sockpuppetclock says:
All I wish there was is a force-zombie-intensity cvar and I’ll never stop playing L4D.
You mean like Type director_force_panic
07/11/2008 at 23:05 Cx2 says:
And for endless hell Type:
director_panic_forever 1
07/11/2008 at 23:15 Nimic says:
I’ll rather just wait for the full game.
07/11/2008 at 23:32 Aftershock says:
You won’t be able to try this in online MP, as all servers will have sv_cheats put to 0 to stop people noclipping around…
08/11/2008 at 00:22 plague says:
Oh, I really hope Valve don’t “fix” the splitscreen in the full game. This is going to make LANing this so much easier!
08/11/2008 at 03:09 Bema says:
Not worth doing the Infected workaround. Really disapointing.
Wait for the real thing. :)
08/11/2008 at 04:02 Serzus says:
Was on a match with people using this, was quite stupid. Tank(s) around every corner…
However, to balance it out we did have four Louii to assist.
08/11/2008 at 04:42 spd from Russia says:
why dont you just rename this site to “left4dead news” ?
seriously
08/11/2008 at 07:58 Martin says:
Because these guys would be upset?
08/11/2008 at 07:59 Martin says:
Hey! There was no boo-boo in the preview and now the link is gone!
These guys: http://left4deadnews.com/
For shame, RPS commenting system…
08/11/2008 at 08:53 thefanciestofpants says:
“why dont you just rename this site to “left4dead news” ?
seriously”
Because RPS posting about what it finds interesting cannot be allowed.
Cmon RPS, where’s the stuff you find BORING?
08/11/2008 at 10:11 Aldaris says:
I wonder if you could make a hack of the splitscreen for LAN games so the all viewpoints from all players can be profected on to a wall, that would be awesome for all kinds of stuff and great justice.
08/11/2008 at 10:19 Tei says:
Another use of splitscreen is view demos….
If Source support that, imagive view 1vs1 deathmatchs in splitscreen, with one player in one screen, the other player on the other screen. Or 4vs4 if splitscreen supports 4 screens.
Now that “Source” supports splitscreen, I see no reason to activate that feature to all Source games ( HL2, TF2, etc..)
08/11/2008 at 14:40 Tom says:
Spit screen! yeah baby!
08/11/2008 at 14:40 Tom says:
why us PC types can’t have this as an option is a mystery to me.
08/11/2008 at 16:27 theleif says:
VS mode sucks, almost as much as the matchmaking system. It’s completely unbalanced!
I want a refund on this game!
Valve is the new EA!
Steam is a virus!
09/11/2008 at 02:42 Tom says:
I’ve just found something rather nice.
Open up the classic server browser, set your filters by country and sub 100 ping, and the match maker will use those settings.
09/11/2008 at 09:59 Fazer says:
@ theleif:
Versus mode isn’t out yet. The one with the demo doesn’t doesn’t show you the way it will be played.
09/11/2008 at 17:36 theleif says:
That was just my feeble attempt at being sarcastic.
09/11/2008 at 20:04 Fazer says:
@ theleif
Well, I so some sarcasm in the further words, but so far matchmaking system isn’t perfect and VS mode in the demo has no respawn times ;-)
09/11/2008 at 22:00 theleif says:
Yes it’s far from perfect right now, but the game is still practically in beta and the matchmaking system is new, so the outrage i’ve seen seems a little out of place.
Anyway, this game is not a CS competitive game (for me at least). It’s a fun game you play with three other friends. And at that it excels. Personally i don’t see any need for clan dedicated servers. If i can just hook up with some friends and play, that’s enough for me.
10/11/2008 at 13:46 Megamaff says:
I’ve played a server with this all enabled, and was incredibly hard (yet ingeniously entertaining). Got bored of being beaten to a pulp by tanks all the time, so we ended up spawning lots of witches. Madness!
11/11/2008 at 01:48 Icki says:
Valve just patched this out. QQ. :(
11/11/2008 at 01:54 Mert says:
Icki response:
Aww man I just checked here to see if they patched it…
12/11/2008 at 17:33 Tamriilin says:
“VS mode in the demo has no respawn times ;-)”
There is no versus mode in the demo. :)
12/11/2008 at 22:55 Tom says:
z_common_limit 200; z_mega_mob_size 200; director_force_panic_event; director_panic_forever 1
thats what i use to make 200 zombies in 1 raid come continuously. around 70 – 100 will still be a lot but with less lag
14/11/2008 at 05:52 nobock says:
Already a patch.
700 mo, and demo desnt work if not update ;(
14/07/2009 at 16:03 Myhtics says:
Wow its fun i luv the hunter and tank the best
29/10/2009 at 01:33 smeghammer says:
can’t get this to work on pc, can anyone else? It worked on the first demo =/
31/10/2009 at 01:15 kraken says:
command does not sv_cheat 1, you use it and not change the cheat has been patched
08/08/2010 at 22:41 Daniel says:
tihs is my first time playng left 4 dead on the pc