Talk:Left 4 Dead

References

There are some statements in the article that need references, and I will be adding these soon.

I have added more references. If you feel any more are needed please mention it. --Eric Clevinger 18:28, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Top photo rights

Hi, Eric, glad to see that you're jumping right into CZ!

A couple of us are wondering about the top image, however. We're very fussy about copyright permissions, so could you clear this up for us? It's not enough just to find an image on Flickr or some place that *says* it's in the public domain, or can be used with restrictions, unless you reproduce the *specific* language (or show us a link to it), OR get an email from the specific person who *created* the image giving CZ the rights. And in many cases, even the person who *created* the image, doesn't legally have the right to do so. This is a tricky issue and other people here at CZ know a lot more about it than I do.... Hayford Peirce 15:09, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Hello, Hayford. I was actually wondering about the policies here myself. For the top image, it was added to the create commons by a flickr member with a name, but, however, since it is an image he made of a copyrighted material, doesn't that technically mean they wern't supposed to add it to the commons in the first place?

I will gladly remove both images if told to do so. Thanks. --Eric Clevinger 15:29, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Hi, Eric: (All you have to do to reply is just follow the Indentation suggestions at the top of the screen in the blue box). Yes, I think that the image is almost certainly a copyrighted one that he *may* or may not, under a "fair use" doctrine, have the right to copy and distribute. Unless it's absolutely clear that he has the rights to it, however, and that he in turn can assign them over to us, then I think it had better be removed. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case with most CZ articles -- we definitely have a paucity of images.

One example of how to do it, however, is illustrated by the Waldo Peirce article. There you'll see a picture of Waldo taken by his son Michael around 1960. I have a copy of the picture and scanned it and uploaded it here. I then asked Michael, who is the author of the picture, PLUS being an heir to Waldo's estate, for permission to use it. If you click on the picture, then on the text at the bottom, you'll see a link to a "Permissions Page", where there is the text of an email from Michael to me authorizing the use of the picture. And, of course, the image itself says that it is copyrighted by Michael Peirce. This is just one way of dealing with this stuff, of course. Steve Ewen used to be the expert on this, and did a lot of work with images, but he isn't very active at the moment, I fear. All the best, Hayford Peirce 16:45, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

I have now removed both images. Thanks for helping to clear the confusion. --Eric Clevinger 18:04, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Intro

I removed the description "powerful" for the source engine because in few yrs it will become old & encyclopedia articles should leave those things out. Also, I don't think Half Life used Source engine. Isn't that right? (Chunbum Park 17:07, 5 March 2009 (UTC))

Chunbum, after looking more closely, I've discovered the following: The source engine was used by half-life 2, but not the original half life. Also, it was used by Counter strike: source. This needs to be corrected. --Eric Clevinger 17:56, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Chunbum has corrected this --Eric Clevinger 01:53, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Cover Image

Added a cover image.

Left 4 Dead 2 (and beyond)

I will be making some edits to this article, to reflect the fact that there is now a sequel (L4D2), and that Left 4 Dead can refer to the series of games (which currently stands at 2, but from sources in the gaming industry, it sounds like L4D3 may already be in the works). --Eric Clevinger 01:20, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

I should probably also further elaborate on why I am doing this. Video Game sequels often contain enough new content/features that it would seem feasible to create a separate article for the sequel. However, Left 4 Dead 2 is essentially the same as the original in so many ways, that having two articles, one for each game, would probably seem redundant. If anyone has any better ideas for article structure than what I have done, please feel free to elaborate. --Eric Clevinger 02:25, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Update: going against what was stated above, exactly a year later ironically, I have decided that a single article trying to cover both games is a bit much to try to accomplish, even if both games are very similar. I have already re-structured this article to only cover the original left 4 dead title. I will be creating an article for left 4 dead 2, which will be a more brief summary of the game than this article is, with a link to this article for more information. Also, I will add a link to the top of the sequel article to this article. Eric Clevinger 02:51, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I agree, as per the video game article conventions I wrote a while back: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Video_Games_Subgroup --Chris Key 18:11, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Italics or bold for the title

We've actually been pretty inconsistant with this so far. In some articles we use italics when the game name is mentioned, in others we do not put any special formatting. Bold is never used. For consistency with other articles outside of video games I recommend italics as Hayford has done. --Chris Key 18:27, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Suggestions for topics to be covered

• The plot, and how it is presented to the player
• Setting of the game
• Notable characters
• Aim of the game, how to complete a level, what happens when you complete a level or the game
• Any puzzle aspect?
• AI controlled players when four players not available
• More detail on gameplay: Does the player have health or other stats, what happens when the player is low on health or runs out, can the player obtain any upgrades or powerups, any difference between the guns, is there ammo
• Elaborate on AI Director - my understanding is that it is not random, but influenced by many factors. Are there any technical details we know about it?
• Any information on development?
• Downloadable content
• Any bugs or flaws?

--Chris Key 18:37, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Excellent suggestions. Eric Clevinger 22:52, 15 March 2011 (UTC)