Left 4 Dead has been updated with a host of fixes, tweaks and new features, including enhancements to Versus mode for improved competitive play. The full change list is below. For PC users the update will be applied automatically via Steam. Meanwhile, the update will be made available to Xbox 360 players in the coming weeks.

General


Fixed Survivors being able to climb surfaces marked for versus infected only

Fixed a class of SurvivorBot bugs dealing with rescuing downed players

Players can no longer grab ladders while flying through the air after a Tank punch

Shooting near a car with an alarm that has already fired the alarm will no longer make chirping noises

Improved loading time

Fixed mini-gun physics exploit

Fixed propane tanks (and other physics objects) causing players to fall through elevators

Fixed rare achievement bug issues

Fixed several map exploits

Fixed various match making issues

Fixed NAT traversal issues


Versus Changes

Added HUD elements to show status of other infected players

Changed color of infected player name in chat to red

Fixed exploit where players could spawn infected bots

Fixed instance where a Survivor changing to the infected team would be attacked by infected bots

Normalized special infected melee damage

Made the following client commands cheat protected: "Kill" and "explode"

Fixed exploit where infected players could run away and teleport back to gain health

Players can only change teams once per map

Players can't change teams while other players are still loading

Tank spawns at the same % through the map for both teams in versus mode

Made the Tank and Witch spawn directly on the escape route

Increased chance of getting the Tank or Witch

Fixed team swap issue


Hunter

Easier to pounce a Survivor who is meleeing

Increased Minimum damage a Hunter pounce does


Smoker

Fixed Smoker tongue tolerance

Smoker now has to be killed or the tongue destroyed for the tongue to break

Survivor's cannot bash someone off the tongue until the Survivor being pulled is paralyzed or hanging

Tongue attacks that fail to paralyze or hang a Survivor will use the shorter ability delay timer

Fixed cases where the ability timer was not using the correct time

Fixed case where you could point at a Survivor but not register a tongue hit

Fixed Smoker tongue not targeting and landing properly through PZ ghosts

Smoker tongue does damage every second while dragging paralyzed Survivors


Tank

Bashable objects now appear with a red glow

Tanks hitting a car with an alarm disables the alarm permanently

Tank frustration timer is only reset by hitting Survivors with rocks or fists

Reduced autoshotgun damage against Tanks


Witch

Witch spawns at the same % through the map for both teams

Avoids spawning within a certain % of the tank

Fixed an exploit where the Witch could be woken up and tricked into attacking Survivors

YEAH

Where da maps at?

AWESOME changes.

They're all good though.

Pretty awesome

That tank spawn should make a huge difference...so excited

After playing last night these changes are definitely all good. The smoker is a lot more powerful, and the witches and tanks spawning in the same place is a great change. But there is still one thing missing they will need to fix for balanced versus: Item's placements must be the same for both teams.

There's a down side to this, the team that goes second will know what areas to check and what they can safely pass up, but there needs to be some way to even it out. Maybe no item spawns at all and give out 2 pipebombs and molotovs at the start of each map?

Me and Nelly were playing last night, and on stage two of no mercy, right after you go up the lift past the gas station and drop down into that building, the medicine cabinet contained a healthpack for us. When the next team was up, the same cabinet gave their team THREE healthpacks. Anyone else who plays this game knows the difference in having two healthpacks is HUGE. On the same note, it can be just as huge to have a molotov spawn before the tank for one team and not the other. Something needs to be done to balance this, imo, even if it is trickier to fix.

The tank and witch spawn is the one change I kind of hate. For the same exact reason as you're saying the items spawning in the same place is unfair. If the tank and witch spawn in the same place both times... why would anyone EVER want to start off as the survivors?

They're going to run up a ladder to see a tank standing at the top and panic and get knocked around and owned. Then when the infected play as the survivors right after them, they'll spend extra time looking for moltovs or gas tanks and prepare themselves better for the tank. Same thing with the witch. If she's in a tight spot JUST around the corner and the survivors run into her... they get owned, then the next team gets a chance to prepare for it.

At least random spawns surprised both teams. Now I feel like it's an uneven playing field.

The only effective way to fix this, I think, is to have the survivors/infected alternate who starts each round. Like: A/B, B/A, A/B, B/A, and then maybe flip a coin for the 5th level or just give the losing team the chance to play second. THEN if you added tanks, witches, and items in the same place I feel like it would be much more balanced.

I don't know...I do think there are still advantages to it. When you do start first as survivors, you don't know where the tank and witch will be (if there is one) but neither do the infected. Meaning while the team to go first as infected have the element of surprise, the team that goes second has the advantage of preparedness. They can try to all be alive for the encounters, and pick good spots, which can be huge.

Also, I'm not positive on this as I've only played ome match since the patch, but the patch notes say the same % through the map...not exactly the exact same location, maybe in the case where the direction to the safe room is not necessarily linear the position of the witch could change? The tank doesn't matter much, as you can move around as soon as you spawn.

I still think it's better than pre-patch. Were you ever in a game where one team gets a tank close to the beginning of the map when you have no molotovs or new weapons, and the other team doesn't get a tank until the very end? It's really not fair.

Yeah, a bunch of times. It sucks, but (and I've only done one versus since the patch) I would assume now that knowing where the tank will spawn has a much bigger advantage to the survivors knowing in advance than the infected. I still think if they mixed up who begins each round it would be the most fair.

I believe things like medpacks and pills should be equal in number but random in placement.

I read a neat suggestion on the CAL forums to address the unevenness with things, particularly the tank.

Have each team choose 1 of 3 placements where they'd like the the tank to spawn when it's their turn as infected. This is determined before the round starts.

This ads a degree of randomness, while also adding strategy.

It makes it random enough, while the infected won't be able to complain about getting an uneven tank.

That said though, remember the game is driven by the director AI, which from what I understand makes an effort to even things out (giving you molotovs when you're getting a tank), something like that.