Left 4 Dead Lighting Discussed
A rather interesting post has popped up on the official Left 4 Dead blog that sort of rekindles last year’s Diablo 3 darkness debate. The post by developer Randy Lundeen explains why Valve made the decision to lighten up the look of the cooperative multiplayer shooter.
Lundeen writes that early versions of the game used a darker version of the game’s lighting system. However, this caused a problem where players weren’t able to see “zombie silhouettes in the midground and background… they were repeatedly getting mobbed.”
“While sudden zombie attacks were inarguably scary, they were also frustrating – players weren’t being given the information they needed to react,” wrote Lundeen. “They wanted that ‘Here they come!’ moment, and we weren’t giving it to them. The solution? Light-colored fog.”
He notes that while light-colored fog was not realistic, it did help the gameplay, giving playtesters a much smoother gameplay experience.