Left 4 Minecraft: Blocky Modding

All the best ideas look like this.

You may have seen some sites reporting yesterday that Michael Louisseize, operator of World Of Minecraft, is creating a Left 4 Dead mod that merges Valve’s four-player shooter with Notch’s world-taking-over craft-em-up. We have a few more details about it below.

It’s such a cute idea. Check out the trailer at the bottom to confirm this. Louisseize explains that it’s a four-level campaign, beginning in Minecraft caves, with multiple paths and maze-like confusion. (Although he’s considering using redstone torches to offer some hints about the correct way to go.) Then it’s into a small island village, which he’s considering making a “free-roam” map, complete with puzzles to solve to unlock specific areas. The four of you will next treck into a mountainside forest, and finally onto the top of the mountain, and then back down the other side into a castle. Which of course ends with jumping into a minecart to make good your escape. He promises Minecraft tools will be included as weapons, and ideally see the enemies replaced with those from Minecraft. Because what is scarier than a staring Creeper? Nothing. That’s what.

He’s even planning a Survival/Scavenge map in the village level, as a territory-holding challenge. He seems to have already arranged a first game of this, against Valve’s Chet Faliszek, Twisted Metal’s David Jaffe and Notch himself, Markus Persson. Which should be fun. For him.

So have a look at this early build trailer, which shows the first cave level in progress. Although quite how anyone’s supposed to be able to walk past those redstone ore blocks without trying to shoot the goodness out is beyond me.

You can see more trailers testing the project here. Oh, and there’s this rather splendid poster, too, by his friend Snowman:

72 Comments

  1. 06/10/2010 at 10:16 Nallen says:

    No too sure what to make of that. It certainly doesn’t excite me. I was expecting Left4Dead in the Minecraft engine, not Minecraft textures in Left4Dead.

  2. 06/10/2010 at 10:20 Okami says:

    Minecraft is officially starting to get on my nerves.

    • 06/10/2010 at 10:37 Rich says:

      I think you’ll find you’re in a minority.

    • 06/10/2010 at 10:44 Harmen says:

      The minority. is gaining souls.

    • 06/10/2010 at 10:57 Okami says:

      @Rich: Don’t get me wrong, I really like Minecraft and have sunken more hours into it then most other games this year, but the hype surrounding the game is getting on my nerves. Quinn’s Minecraft diaries were a great read but writing a two page post about some guy texturing a L4D2 level with Minecraft textures is taking things too far.

      There are many great things about Minecraft that are worth writing about it, but once everything that’s even remotely connected to it is reported about as if it’s the second coming of christ, that’s when it starts getting on my nerves.

    • 06/10/2010 at 10:59 Dominic White says:

      Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t seeking out people talking about something you’re not interested about, and telling that that you’re not interested sound a little… I dunno… crazy?

      Just a thought.

    • 06/10/2010 at 11:00 Okami says:

      @Dominic: Welcome to the internet.

    • 06/10/2010 at 11:11 BAReFOOt says:

      I second that too. It’s like those over-hyped movies, that are impossible to even remotely live up to the built-up expectations. It’s impossible no to be disappointed.
      Even when, without the hype, you would have liked it.

      It’s why I ignore most hyping for movies. One real trailer is enough. If that’s not enough, then it’s not worth watching. (Unless some friends tell me it’s really great.)

    • 06/10/2010 at 11:25 Man Raised by Puffins says:

      @ Okami

    • 06/10/2010 at 11:30 Rich says:

      Fair enough Okami. The subject of this post is pretty lame anyway.

    • 06/10/2010 at 19:40 DJ Phantoon says:

      You know there’s like ten articles. Hating the content of one because it gets done daily? Read the other nine. It’s nice to see RPS having so much to read, rather than before where everyone was VERY BUSY and we’d get only a couple articles the entire day. It’s not quantity over quality, because they still make boring stuff interesting.

      Also this article was ACTUALLY about Left4Dead.

  3. 06/10/2010 at 10:33 KasperZ says:

    I am soo going to play this. looks awesome!

    • 06/10/2010 at 10:59 Okami says:

      No it doesn’t. It’s a L4D2 level textured with Minecraft’s low rez textures. The level design is awful, there’s no player guidance, the rooms and corridors are too small. It’s as if somebody has taken everything that’s awesome and great about Minecraft and Left 4 Dead, thrown it away and mashed the sorry rest together.

    • 06/10/2010 at 13:20 Tei says:

      I agree with Okami here.
      Maybe the idea is fun, but the implementation looks very ugly. This is more a “proff of concept” than something that deserve to be player, or even look at (hurt the eye to look at).

    • 06/10/2010 at 15:03 Kryopsis says:

      Yeah, the graphics are definitely not the strongest point of Minecraft so why bother emulating them in other games?

    • 06/10/2010 at 17:26 DrGonzo says:

      The problem with the level design was that it was way too flat and narrow. Minecraft is about discovering wide open caverns and making you way deeper underground. Having made a lot of Source maps myself I can’t blame the designer though, those zombies don’t like going up and down, it looks ridiculous and they get confused by it.

    • 06/10/2010 at 20:44 medwards says:

      The level design is pretty trash and this one is already not even close to being ready.

      Sit there and think about how frustrating it would be to be a vs zombie? There are next to no good ambush points, zombie spawns are poorly located so they have to do a lot of climbing, etc.

  4. 06/10/2010 at 10:36 Dan Puzey says:

    Looks like Wolfenstein to me!

    • 06/10/2010 at 11:09 Matt says:

      Wolfenstein was spiffy teal (among other colors), not next-gen brown

  5. 06/10/2010 at 10:43 Rich says:

    Wish redstone glowed like that.

  6. 06/10/2010 at 11:00 Tei says:

    needs quantized lightmaps (maybe this is possible?), and a better map, and more torches… less coblestones for sure (cobblestone is ugly too look at). And.. of course, modded zombies to look like minecraft zombies. and modded players to look like minecraft players.

    • 06/10/2010 at 11:13 CMaster says:

      Source lightmaps are already quantizied. What they need to do is increase the size of a signle light cell, which is easily done in Hammer.

    • 06/10/2010 at 11:27 Tei says:

      ” which is easily done in Hammer.”

      So why has not ben done for this map?, It will way more like minecraft with cells the size of minecraft, that with some luck fit the textures.

    • 06/10/2010 at 14:55 Navagon says:

      You hit the nail on the head there, Tei. Naturally it would also need UI updates and more minecraft-like weapons. But that’s the direction it should be going in.

  7. 06/10/2010 at 11:22 JT says:

    Looking good, cant wait

  8. 06/10/2010 at 11:31 K says:

    That was boring.

  9. 06/10/2010 at 11:39 Navagon says:

    That had to be about the worst way they could have combined the two. The poster holds far greater promise. But yes, the glowing redstone was a nice touch.

  10. 06/10/2010 at 12:05 Wilson says:

    I didn’t realize it was a L4D mod until I read the comments. I agree with Navagon that the poster looks much better. While that TF2 minecraft map looked really good, I can’t see this working especially well. The atmosphere is wrong. It works in TF2 because that has a humorous feel to it, but L4D doesn’t.

  11. 06/10/2010 at 12:27 Miclee says:

    SMP made the poster, not Snowman! Snowman made the character skins on it. :P

    • 06/10/2010 at 12:29 Miclee says:

      Also, I’d like to point out that the video above was an earlier build of the first level. It’s been completely rebuilt since, and the caves are a lot more like Minecraft’s, now.

  12. 06/10/2010 at 12:30 Metal Chao says:

    Then maybe you should… I don’t know, not click on the articles about minecraft?
    It’s not like it’s cunningly disguised as something about another game, it clearly says minecraft in the title.
    And it isn’t as if there is a cap on the amount of articles posted per day and that posting this one means that you will miss out on vital news about whatever games you and your shrivelled, black, joyless heart are interested in.

  13. 06/10/2010 at 12:33 Jockie says:

    I kind of agree with Okami. Its like the day isn’t complete without a random minecraft story thrown about. It can only be a matter of time before rps becomes known as a ‘jaunty minecraft tribute blog’

  14. 06/10/2010 at 12:41 Malibu Stacey says:

    That looks so bad it’s got to be some sort of troll.

    Wait, is John trolling us RPS readers?

  15. 06/10/2010 at 13:41 jRides says:

    Hey! I made a randomized map for Civ V – basically I just pushed the random button on the world creator – but I called it “The World of Minecraft”. Who do I need to tell to get an absolute crap-ton of websites posting articles about it?

    • 06/10/2010 at 13:43 Tei says:

      “Who do I need to tell to get an absolute crap-ton of websites posting articles about it?”

      Simple.
      Make something that is worth read about.

  16. 06/10/2010 at 15:18 Jad says:

    Alright I’m going to go against the grain I say I like this. Maybe it’s because I still like L4D, and shooting zombies no matter what the setting interests me. Maybe it’s because I like the claustrophobia and frightened confusion that this admittedly rather dull-looking level produces. Maybe it’s because I haven’t played Minecraft yet, so instead of raising unrealistic hopes that this will be a L4D-in-Minecraft mod rather than the other way around, it instead evokes fond memories of ancient games like Wolfenstein. (and yes, I fully intend on playing Minecraft soon, it’s just that I’ve had about a total of two hours of game-playing time in the past two weeks, and everything about that game sounds like it needs a pretty significant time investment)

    Anyway, looks cool, can’t wait for the final version, etc.

    • 07/10/2010 at 00:21 Kevbo says:

      Completely agree Jad, well said!
      I’m also interested in this for similar reasons and am in a similar situation :)
      I like the sound of the level design with puzzles and areas to unlock. One of my favorite custom maps for L4D is the Zelda map which has a similar idea but with a dragon for an end boss!
      (* wonders why more custom maps don’t have different end bosses).

    • 07/10/2010 at 03:02 Qtheman says:

      I agree that this looks interesting – However, I’m rather annoyed because I’ve been working on something like this for a lot longer and now if I want to get any attention on it I have to release it much later. :/

  17. 06/10/2010 at 16:10 AAAAaaaaa! says:

    Minecraft is boring. And ugly.

  19. 06/10/2010 at 16:24 Urthman says:

    A Minecraft zombie game with a flashlight? Instead of having to place torches for light? With boring L4D enemies everywhere instead of terrifying Minecraft zombies that you hear for 10 minutes before you ever see them? The trailer doesn’t end with a creeper silently slipping into the player’s field of view and then blowing up to kill him?

    Fail.

    • 06/10/2010 at 17:31 DrGonzo says:

      “terrifying Minecraft zombies” “boring L4D enemies”

      You’ve got those two the wrong way round I think. The enemies in minecraft are hilariously easy to fight and kill. Just stand at an angle near a corner and they can’t get past, then just hit em in the face till they die. Also, they aren’t scary in the slightest, it’s the Skeletons that scare the crap out of me.

    • 06/10/2010 at 17:35 Adam Novagen says:

      Well, they’re all creepy if you LET them be. You just have to be in the mood. However, the Skeletons are by far the worst; they make little or no sound, you’re just minding your own business, seeing nothing, then there’s an almighty THWANK!!! from their bow, and you get an arrow in you. I still jump occasionally when that happens. XD

  20. 06/10/2010 at 17:32 Adam Novagen says:

    On the subject of this mod:

    The concept is an interesting one, and funky, but I just can’t see it working effectively. The thing that makes Minecraft fun is EXPLORATION and IMAGINATIVE CREATION, neither of which are gameplay elements of L4D, which is about SURVIVAL and TEAMWORK. Therefore, this simply becomes a gimmicky L4D custom map using past-gen graphics totally out of keeping with the game.

    On the subject of Minecraft’s overhype:

    Yes, I agree with Okami, up to a point. I, personally, think Minecraft is the greatest and most innovative single-player adventure game since Myst, and sunk well over 16 hours into it in a single weekend. I think it’s a magnificent, immersive game with a brilliant concept AND a brilliant engine driving it. I also, however, think that people are letting themselves get carried away (way, WAY away) with it; ultimately, it IS just a game – albeit a fantastic one – not a divine revelation as some seem to think.

    But then, of course, this is the internet. Hundreds of millions of voices united in a common thought: “MY OPINION’S THE MOST IMPORTANT, EVERYONE SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME.” To be honest, why am I even surprised at any of this? XD

    • 06/10/2010 at 17:33 DrGonzo says:

      You lost me at Myst. Frankly the worst game I can ever remember playing.

    • 06/10/2010 at 17:37 Adam Novagen says:

      Myst isn’t for everyone, that’s true, but I use it as a yardstick for innovation because it was, quite frankly, pretty groundbreaking at the time. However, if I had to pick a favorite, Riven, the first sequel, still comes top of the list. ;)

  21. 06/10/2010 at 17:42 Louis says:

    I fully expected a mod of minecraft that would bring four player’s to a campaign to fight past creeper’s zombie’s and such, To the saferoom.

  22. 06/10/2010 at 20:17 kulik says:

    Hurry, can somebody build the first l4d nomercy level in minecraft?

  23. 06/10/2010 at 21:21 Qtheman says:

    Son of a BITCH, I’ve been working on a concept like this for a lot longer.

  24. 07/10/2010 at 02:08 wakka says:

    It looks like 95% of the custom maps already out there?

  25. 09/10/2010 at 06:43 Spinyofdoom says:

    I was too, but remember, which is harder? Source or a fairly rigid, uncompromising engine designed specifically for one purpose. (Granted, a very open-ended one, but still.) If anyone can mod guns into minecraft, they get a cookie. Unless it’s already been done.

  26. 22/10/2010 at 07:07 Marigold Van Buuren says:

    In my day, we didn’t just import textures into newfangled games and call them something different. Ya see, back in my day we had this thing called copyright law and all the kids respected it. not like today where you have kids with no respect. Just yesterday I was in the supermarket buying some preparation H for my hemroids (they get worse with age, you know) and this young gun comes right up to me and says “Hey lady! You smell like my grandmother!” Well, don’t you know it, but it was my very own grandson. I thought I gone done taught my baby to raise her babies better than that. Now where was I… Oh right, copyright law. Now in my day, no one would let something like this happen, it was just plain unheard of. But now you gots all these copycats and things on the internet tube and no one has made anything original.

  27. 17/11/2010 at 20:08 Lawanna Biernat says:

    Amazing! I have already been hunting search engines for hours because of this and i also lastly found it the following!

  28. 20/11/2010 at 13:03 EmoNerdGamerr says:

    Aww you can play this map in Gmod! i was hoping (like everyone else) for the L4D in minecraft!