Left 4 Dead 2 may not be out yet, but some enterprising fans have uncovered references to potential DLC packs in the demo’s code – as well as evidence that the original four L4D Survivors will be returning.
It may have taken Valve a while to actually get the L4D2 demo out the door, but out it is. Naturally, it didn’t take long at all for tech-savvy fans to start picking through the game’s code in search of potential juicy yet-to-be-announced information. Which it appears posters on the Rage3D forums may have found – two particularly intriguing bits, no less.
The first should be interesting to almost everybody with more than a passing interest in picking up L4D2: The data-diggers have uncovered references to what looks like two DLC packs named “Miracle” and “Apocalyptic,” in the form of error code that kicks you from a lobby that has the DLC enabled.
// DLC strings:
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredTitle_1” “Miracle Pack”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredKicked_1” “You were kicked from the lobby because downloadable content was selected.n”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredJoin_1” “Game requires downloadable content provided with Miracle Pack.n”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredMessage_1” “Please, download Miracle Pack content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredOffer_1” “Would you like to download Survival Pack 1 content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace now?”
//
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredTitle_2” “Apocalyptic Pack”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredKicked_2” “You were kicked from the lobby because downloadable content was selected.n”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredJoin_2” “Game requires downloadable content provided with Apocalyptic Pack.n”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredMessage_2” “Please, download Apocalyptic Pack content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.”
// “SessionError_DLC_RequiredOffer_2” “Would you like to download Apocalyptic Pack content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace now?”
// End of DLC strings
Judging by the above code, Valve intends to make these DLC packs available on Xbox Live as well as Steam, perhaps indicating that the PC game maker has reached a form of agreement with Microsoft (the sort of agreement that console TF2 fans have been waiting for for two years now). While the outcry of “they’re making DLC by holding off on stuff that should be in the original game! WTF!!!” is almost predictable at this point, I’m not entirely sure it’s warranted. Plans for DLC do not indicate complete DLC or even DLC under full-on development, and come on – a company that can’t get a demo out the door on time is unlikely to have the DLC finished in a timely fashion.
The second piece of datamined information should be more interesting to fans of the first Left 4 Dead. While I’m personally looking forward to playing with Coach, Ellis, and the rest, there are some L4D fans that just have a hard time letting go of the original game’s cast and can’t bear the thought of a game without them. Fortunately for these poor folk, it seems that the game includes lobby character selection mugshots for all eight Survivors from both games.
It’s unclear how this will be implemented, or whether there will be in-game justification for their presence in the storyline (likely not) but diehard L4D fans will probably be happy that their naked Zoey mod will still be useful.
(Via Videogamer)