L4D2 Level Design/Gauntlet Finale
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Gauntlet Finales were introduced into Left 4 Dead 2 with The Parish campaign. Rather than having the player holdout at a specific location, the Gauntlet forces to player to hurry to the end of the level, where the rescue vehicle is already waiting for them. In The Parish, the players must run across a bridge to make it to the evac helicopter. This article will demonstrate how to successfully create a working Gauntlet Finale, and customize it to your liking.
The article assumes that you have a good grasp of working in Hammer and are familiar with the way Left 4 Dead entities work.
Safe Room
This is where you'll begin your gauntlet, it all begins with a simple safe room. It's highly recommended you use an adequate amount of medkits, as well as throwables and secondary medical items. In The Parish, there are 8 medkits in the saferoom, four throwables, and one melee weapon.
Map Layout
This is the most important part of the finale, the path the players take to their escape. It's important to keep in mind that the map needs many obstacles or walls for the infected to spawn behind, otherwise the finale will not function as intended. It's also important to keep in mind that players need help to know where they're going; either the map can be directionally linear such as The Parish Gauntlet, or it can be dynamic to your likings, just be sure to give the player hints where to go.
The Entities
Aside from basic Left4dead entities such as the director and weapons, we'll begin with the entity that starts the finale. The input to begin the gauntlet can be achieved in several ways,
The Rescue Vehicle