L4D2 mapping & add-on tools released

Additional details are available on this L4D blog post.  Here's the short version:

To play custom maps, you'll need to download the Left 4 Dead 2 Add-on Support application from your Steam client's "tools" tab.

To make custom maps, download the Left 4 Dead 2 Authoring Tools from the same location.

EDIT: Hammer still takes a long, long time to load.  So be ready for that.

Speak with your team

For the time being, IT( )E has migrated over to Teamspeak 3 (beta). Our Ventrilo server is still there, but we want to test TS3 for a bit to see which platform is better. So far, the sound quality in TS3 seems superior, but it also uses more system resources (~26,000K vs. ~9,000K).  Here's our connection info:

Server - ts35.gameservers.com
Port - 9107
Password - donkey

Yeah, we made Rogue Warrior...

...but don't hold that against us.

From Now Gamer:

When it was pointed out to [Rebellion's lead designer] Alex Moore that both Shellshock 2: Blood Trails and recent flop Rogue Warrior might influence gamers' feelings towards the upcoming Aliens vs Predator, the developer insisted that they were worlds apart.

'I thought this question would come up and I suppose it’s something you’ve got to ask,' Moore said in an interview with X360 magazine. 'I would hope that people can see that Rebellion’s roots are in AvP. We’ve put an awful lot of time and effort and investment into AvP. Just the devotion to it and the fact that… I’ve got to be so careful what I say.'

AvP had damned well better be "worlds apart" from Rogue Warrior. It's nice to see the tacit admission that the latter was crap, but the question remains: if you value your reputation - if you take any pride in your work at all - why would you even think about releasing a game like RW?

The games of 2009: a list of lists

A. Wired's top 5 multi-platform games

 1. Left 4 Dead 2
 2. Assassin's Creed 2
 3. Batman: Arkham Asylum
 4. The Beatles: Rockband
 5. Borderlands

Read More

BC2 - new game mode video

This developer walkthrough showcases an original gametype for Bad Company 2: "Squad Deathmath." The mode pits up to four teams against each other, providing fortifications for defense-minded teams to occupy, and a single armored assault vehicle at the center of the map to focus combat.

The featured map is Laugna Presa: a jungle environment with lots of elevation changes.

Watch