Left 4 Thumbs

[Wrestlevania]

One of the few gaming instances where "epic" was an appropriate description though, for me at least.

[James]

It was a losing battle since we pretty much all ran out of ammo at that point. Couldn't do shit against the constant horde attacks and couldn't revive more than one person at a time.

Still, it was tense for us as that was pretty much exactly as far as we'd reached. If you had managed to stagger a bit further you would have received more points for the round.

Of course, it's round completions that really matter. It does kind of bother me that if you get to the finale on the last chapter but don't survive to be rescued, you get the same number of points regardless of how long you last. Generally getting there isn't such a big deal, and actually getting away in versus is quite rare (in my experience), so it makes the final round kind of academic in most cases. Not that the points really matter – it's good fun and it gives more people an opportunity to be the tank – it just seems like slightly wonky design.

[n0wak]

Yeah, the final score for that game was like 1220 to 80 or something ridiculous, which really doesn't underline just how close that entire game was, with you guys just barely making through the sewers to get the win.

[James]

Yeah, having forgotten about that round, I'd assumed my team had lost. I guess the idea behind the scoring is that non-complete rounds act as a tie-breaker.

[RobTheReverend]

Anyone up for a game?

[n0wak]

Yes! Sunday afternoon, 4pm EST.

[Wrestlevania]

...which be 9pm BST. I'll definitely be online later--let's kill dead stuff!

Edit: Actually, isn't 4pm EST more like 11pm BST? We've finished by then normally, n0wak.

Edited August 9, 2009 by Wrestlevania
Time Twunt

[Noyb]

It's only five hours difference: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=new+york%2C+london

[Scratch]

Unfortunately or rather fortunately it's raining outside, so I won't be leaving home as I had planned...

I'll be there, providing of course that something else doesn't come up by then.

[DanJW]

Hand me my shotgun.

[miffy495]

...which be 9pm BST. I'll definitely be online later--let's kill dead stuff!

Edit: Actually, isn't 4pm EST more like 11pm BST? We've finished by then normally, n0wak.

Nah, you're thinking Mountani time. Probably because you play with me a bunch, and that's what I'm on.

[Wrestlevania]

I was indeed; sorry for any confusion caused.

[castorp]

If there is room, I'd like to join. (It's 10pm in Central European Time? Time zones confuse me.)

How can I join? I am already in the Idle Thumbs group, if that helps.

[DanJW]

The easiest way to join is to befriend one or many of us on steam, and start up L4D at the designated time. Then simply click on a name on the bottom left corner of the menu screen.

Looks like we will do fine for a versus match. If we go over 8 players then we can draw lots for a co-op campaign branch-off (no domino-effect falling on your swords to make space this time!).

[RobTheReverend]

I'm online now and craving some zombie killing. If anyone logs in early I'll be sure to try join you.

[toblix]

Sorry, lady and gentlemen. This heat wave is just killing my graphics card. Well, it's not really a heat wave, it's just really hot, especially inside my computer. Maybe next time, if it's cooler.

[DanJW]

Aye, we lost Scratche too. A shame. We managed to rope a couple more folks into helping us carry on though, and it was a pretty close match I thought.

[castorp]

Great first game for me. Uhm, not that I played great, but it was fun. So, who won (before I saw the final result I was back in the lobby)?

Next time there will be at least some very stupid things I won't do (again).

[DanJW]

For what it's worth, your nonchalant stroll through the metal detector was hilarious and entertaining (ie it didn't end up killing us)

A game of L4D without any mishaps at all is a boring game of L4D.

[Scratch]

Sorry for not being there. If I recall correctly, I was still in the lobby with you guys but then went afk and never came back.

I had to attend to some unexpected "guests" who just wouldn't leave. Next Sunday for sure.

[castorp]

For what it's worth, your nonchalant stroll through the metal detector was hilarious and entertaining (ie it didn't end up killing us)

Yeah, that is one thing I won't do again. Hopefully. And I guess there are other triggers I don't know about. Oh well.

And when everybody was like 'Nice, now we've got a tank', but I was the tank and I sucked very badly, and then the team went 'Meh, the new guy did suck very badly' - man, that was unpleasant. I hate being the tank, I just can't handle him well, all I do is I run around for some time and after a while I die. So, again, what is a good tank-tactic? Should I throw stuff? Try to kill? Down as much as possible?

[DanJW]

Playing as tank against a crew of survivors that are experienced and expecting you can be tough. Focussed fire from all four can bring you down surprisingly quickly. Here's what I've learned so far (and I often forget to use in the excitement of the moment).

Don't chase a healthy survivor. They can outrun you. Only go for folks whose health is yellow, or preferable red. Unless you really do have one trapped in a dead end, in which case go wild on him. Then spin round and wallop his mate who just got too close (they often do when they think your attention is on someone else).

As soon as a guy is down, go looking for the others. They will kill you before you can kill him outright, and anyway your zombie team-mates will finish him off (besides, a prone survivor is excellent bait for a rescue attempt).

If they are all on green, throw rocks. Distract them long enough for your team-mates to start tying them up. Once they are busy dealing with other specials, then charge in.

If they are shooting at you, take cover. While you have the timer-thing, it does last a decent while and you can hit them with rocks to reset it, so don't be afraid to hide and wait for a little while. If they can't see you, they don't know exactly where you are and it will freak them out, and then they make mistakes. Just don't let them leave you behind completely.

Look for objects that you can bash around, like cars, tree-trunks or forklifts. These are deadly and also provide you with cover. Circle round behind one and then smash it at the survivors. Do it again. At the very least they will have to scatter, making them more prone to getting picked off by your fellow Infected

[James]

Don't chase a healthy survivor. They can outrun you. Only go for folks whose health is yellow, or preferable red. Unless you really do have one trapped in a dead end, in which case go wild on him. Then spin round and wallop his mate who just got too close (they often do when they think your attention is on someone else).

While I would agree that you should pick on the weakest targets first, I would not rule so strictly against chasing healthy survivors. It's easy for them to get caught on a piece of geometry or slightly misjudge a corner, particularly if you're running backwards and trying to shoot a tank (which is why that's not always a great idea). I would also caution against switching targets too much. If you can spring a surprise on someone, great, but constantly flitting between one survivor and the next as they each happen to be the closest at a particular moment doesn't give you time to actually trap anyone.

As I've stated before, my main piece of advice is to bash people against something solid. If you can get them against a wall, or, even better, a corner, you can keep hitting them until they're incapacitated, which should only take a couple of hits. You should be able to get at least one person down that way before they take you out. If they're out in the open, you could try to disperse everyone. That makes it very hard for you to take them all out personally, but hopefully the other special and common infected should be able to handle them before they can reunite. And, of course, if you're on a roof, knocking them off the edge is ideal.

As soon as a guy is down, go looking for the others. They will kill you before you can kill him outright, and anyway your zombie team-mates will finish him off (besides, a prone survivor is excellent bait for a rescue attempt).

Yeah, there really isn't much point going for someone who's already down. While you're doing it you're a very large sitting duck, whereas if you go for everyone else there's a chance you could incapacitate them all and end the round right there.

I'm never sure whether to bother with rocks. They can be pretty devastating if they connect, but it can be hard to avoid accidentally hitting a bit of the level, and to predict people's movements. Corridors can be quite good for them.

Look for objects that you can bash around, like cars, tree-trunks or forklifts. These are deadly and also provide you with cover. Circle round behind one and then smash it at the survivors. Do it again. At the very least they will have to scatter, making them more prone to getting picked off by your fellow Infected

Object can really turn the tides. They're easy for the survivors to forget about until it's too late, and it will instantly incapacitate them, regardless of starting health, which can be a real disaster for them. If you can take down someone with green health using an object at the beginning of you're run, they've had one of their primary weapons replaced with a very inaccurate pistol. That's a good start.

Also, remember that your fellow infected are still in play. If one survivor is running off on his own, let them handle him. The other specials are all heavily susceptible to having another survivor rescue their target (or, in the case of the boomer, fight off the horde). The tank is a lot less vulnerable to this, so is more suited to sticking with the group. Of course, if all your team mates are dead and someone is making a run for it, he's probably making a mad dash for a better score, so you might want to do something about that, depending on how long everyone else has left before spawning.

Of course, depending on the situation when you spawn as a tank, all this can go out the window pretty fast.

[toblix]

I love how you've all figured out the mechanics, basically playing a decompiled version of the game, only giving the exact input needed to adjust the game variables in your favor.

I like when I can shoot many zombies before I die.

[DanJW]

hehe like I said, despite having observed these tactics and what-not, chances are that when I spawn as tank I will revert to "Raaaaahhhrr Dan smash! Dan chase puny hoomins! Come back Hoomins! Rahhr Dan dead rahhhhhhhhhhhhh poor Dan".