Your First Left 4 Dead Map

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This article is currently a work in progress

This tutorial will cover the basics of Left 4 Dead map creation. It will explain the required entities, such as the director, weapons, and spawns. It will also answer some of the questions that Left 4 Dead mappers will have. This tutorial is not intended for new mappers: Basic level construction is already covered in other topics.

Tut title.png


Introduction sequences

  • logic_choreographed_scene
  • point_viewcontrol_survivor
  • point_viewcontrol_multiplayer
  • env_fade


Spawn area

  • info_survivor_position
  • weapon_first_aid_kit_spawn
  • weapon_ammo_spawn
  • weapon_smg_spawn
  • weapon_pumpshotgun_spawn


The Director

Creating areas for the infected to spawn.

  • info_director
Console commands
director_stop
director_start

The director will spawn zombies that are out of the line of sight. Sometimes this is outside the normal player boundary. To let the zombies into the playable area, there must be a func_simpleladder (with team set to 2) on the back side of the barrier, for them to climb over.

Item and weapon caches

Set spawn flags to randomize

  • weapon_molotov_spawn
  • weapon_pipe_bomb_spawn
  • weapon_pistol_spawn
  • weapon_pain_pills_spawn
  • weapon_ammo_spawn
  • weapon_smg_spawn
  • weapon_first_aid_kit_spawn
  • weapon_hunting_rifle_spawn
  • weapon_rifle_spawn
  • weapon_autoshotgun_spawn
  • weapon_pumpshotgun_spawn


Rescue closets

Bringing dead players back into the game.

  • info_survivor_rescue
    • rescueEyePos


Panic events

Triggering the info_director and summoning the horde.

  • info_game_event_proxy
  • ambient_generic
  • logic_timer
  • Examples
    • Car alarms
    • Metal detectors


Crescendo events

Intermediate objectives

  • func_button
  • filter_activator_team
  • info_game_event_proxy


Safe houses

  • prop_door_rotating_checkpoint


Changing levels

  • info_landmark
  • info_changelevel


Building the navigation mesh

Save building the navigation mesh until after the map's layout is complete. The build sequence below should only be used for testing. A nav mesh should be thoroughly examined and edited before releasing a map.

sv_cheats 1
nav_edit 1
nav_mark_walkable
nav_generate
nav_analyze
nav_edit 0
sv_cheats 0

For more advanced mesh creation and editing, please refer to Navigation Meshes.


Finale

Ending the campaign.


Notes

Doors

Type: prop_door_rotating
Frame Dimensions: width: 56, height: 104
World Model: models/props_doors/doormainmetal01.mdl


FAQ

  • How do I make the infected spawn?


  • Why won't the survivor bots move?


  • Why is the molotov fire / Smoker's smoke not visible in-game?
    • (not answered)


  • Why won't my rescue closets work?
    • (not answered)


Error messages and what they mean

Navigation mesh related errors

These usually result with a message of "NAV ERRORS - Map is unplayable!" displayed in game when the map is loaded.

  • Missing nav file.
  • The nav file was built for an older compile.
  • Missing Battlefield check found N areas
  • GetGoalArea: Cannot find SPAWN_RESCUE_CLOSET area in FINALE, thus cannot guarantee reachability of goal area.
  • GetGoalArea: Cannot find end area - no checkpoint or finale located.
  • ComputeFlowDistances: ERROR - Cannot compute flow.

Others

  • WARN: CL4DBasePanel::UpdateProgressBar called outside of level loading, discarded!
  • Error: Find model Null name

See also

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