I Hate Mountains Forums

Khaine

Member

Registered: 2010-06-04

First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Hey guys... I just got your campaign about an hour ago! I've been watching the site eagerly awaiting release day.

From the first playthrough, I have to say I'm impressed. I like how you've used various sound-bites within the game to make the survivors "talk" to each other, comment on their surroundings, etc. It was a little bit hectic to play first time through... I've found the nice, wide open areas have forced me to very much re-think how I play the game (the official maps tend to be a bit more closed in and/or have stuff around you can hide behind easily).

It's also very dark, at least on my monitor. Again, this is something I actually like as it keeps the L4D1 "feel" in my opinion. I really liked the fact you can find other safe rooms survivors have used for more grafitti... that was a nice touch!

I'll likely be trying this out on Versus and have more feedback then. I will say I did not notice any glaringly obvious bugs, so that's a very good start!

krateos_29

Member

Registered: 2010-05-27

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Played on campaign mode. The first, second and third map in my opinion are the best maps, in a higher level tan valve's maps at some points (forest is AWESOME and the path is very integrated). The manor is just fantastic (gameplay included) the landscape in the back is 0.0. The third map maybe is the one where you get lost, but I guess that the point is to always go down, so when you realise about that, the path is very clear. Great work here boys. This three maps are 10/10 (tunnel monster included). The fourth map... brf... design>10 gameplay>10 optimitzation>7. Yes, I know. You warned us about that, but I keep thinking it needs some more tweaking with the draw distances. In my opinion, is better tho see popping up little props than have framedrops.

The finale was very surprising ,rescue vehicle included, but the gameplay here was awesome. I stayed at the dock and soon I realised I was running out of ammo, but it was too difficult to go to the house where the ammo is. In my opinion, this is awesome for campaign mode. Great finale anyways.

In the other hand... I found 3 critical bugs. The worst of them is the helicopter crash. When it crashed and you go through the path it open, we (four player survivors) couldn't move. We get freeze where we are. The second time it didn't happen. The second bug is in a rock near the first car alamar of the third map. You get stucked at the rock. The third one is at the same please. When our survivor got stucked in the rock, the others (three) decided to fall to the lake water. We where hanguing but when our live goes to 0, you just don't die.

Anywais, best custom campaign so far. Congrats for the great work. You can feel this in every corner. Idols. Ted.

Sorry for my bad english and grettings from Spain!

pd: I will do a extended review of every map later.

Spud

Member

Registered: 2010-06-01

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

This map was brilliant. The feel and gameplay (not to forget the cooperation of the teammates) is what Left 4 Dead should be all about. For me, this was a great addon to the campaing cycle I had. It definetly goes up there with Death Toll and Blood Harvest! Heck, might even be my favorite. Chapter 2 and the Final had to be my favorite part of it. Just the feel and the things you have to go through.

I didn't really find any problems, but that bug that's pretty common where you get stuck near the helicopter debris.  Other wise, this was one hell of a campaign.

HuNTi

Member

Registered: 2010-06-05

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Played "IhM" two times now. Good campaign!

First Map:
Very Short and easy map. The graphics and layout is great but it doesn't have really a point where I can say: "Hey, the map is great." For a first map only "ok", but nothing really special.
-> 5/10

Second Map:
One of the best maps on "IhM". The Manor is well designed and the "run" to the rescue helicopter was very funny. But this map also had problems.
First big problem was the optimization. When you looking to the Manor outside the fps drops are too much. Also when you inside the building and look up to the manor in the main room there are is too much fps decrease. Second problem was the bug, that on the way to the saveroom my character cant move anymore. But i saw a thread also in the Bug-reporting-forum, where people have the same problem. Overall its a good map, only these two problems are a bit annoying.
7/10

Third map:
NICEEEE. I loved this map the most. Nice layout, nice graphics, nice pathing and creepy location. No problems here!
10/10

Fourth map:
Ohhh... OPTIMIZATION!!!!! The fps in this map was horrible...
Like Krateos say: "It's better tho see popping up little props than have framedrops."
Otherwise the map was ok and the event was funny.
7/10

Last map:
Cool finale, very nice athmosphere and I loved the rescue vehicle
Only problem here was (like before) a framerate problem, when looking over the whole map from the rescue point. Not as bad as in the fourth map but still a bit annyoing. Otherwise a cool finale with great graphics.
8/10

"I hate Mountains" is a good campaign but it needs a bit polishing. The main problem is the "ugly" framerate in the mentioned places and the bug in the second map. Otherwise it plays fine and was very funny and enjoyable to play. Thanks for this!
FINAL VERDICT: 7/10

NykO18

Administrator

From: Montréal, QC

Registered: 2010-05-13

Website

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

This is something that's been on our FAQ since the very beginning. The campaign is indeed a bit greedier than Left 4 Dead campaigns, but any decent rig that can run Left 4 Dead decently can run I Hate Mountains pretty well. What's your configuration?

KamiShizuka

Member

Registered: 2010-06-05

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Best. Campaign. Ever. Really, this is beyond top quality work. I know I'm not the first to tell you guys you've done a better job than Valve!

Have run all the way through twice now, I think I've seen every main path; may have missed a path through Underground. Been singleplayer both times, and the bots are just fine. They hang back a little further than I'm used to out in the open areas, but otherwise they've performed admirably both times.

Level 1
I just love this one. Right from the opening with flying past the title, that easter egg in the truck, and being able to decide right away which path to take. The atmosphere is perfect, the tree density is just right; it was a little dark on my first run though, had to turn gamma up a bit (course, I was playing in broad daylight). Using the lamps on the path to guide the players was great; I never really felt like I was totally lost. Great start to a great campaign.

Level 2
Beautiful manor. I want to live there. Didn't have the framerate problem when looking from the outside, but I did get some major stuttering once I got deep inside and especially when looking out from the roof. The stuttering inside went away on my second playthrough, and the outside wasn't as bad.
I ran into that bug where you get stuck in the helicopter wreckage on the first run; ended up noclipping and warping the bots out. Second run I noticed the direction you're supposed to go (over the tail). Maybe some light there would have made it clearer; on the first run I'd assumed it was still fenced off and that the heli would break the wooden barrier. Still, fantastic map.

Level 3
I love the variation in themes here. Goes from a crypt into some caverns, a very dark (and eerily red-lit) series of corridors (the sprinklers killing the lights was a great touch), and then into a train tunnel. Crossing over the path on a new level really adds that sense of progress through the level, especially when you can't see the path so clearly from above. Kept going "hey, I was just up there!"

Level 4
Yeah you've heard the optimization problems before. The lumberyard itself doesn't give me framerate drops so much as it causes serious stuttering when I'm flinging the camera around. First run I died (bots and I didn't know the crane was going to do that, and they were all standing in its way to begin with); on restart I tried taking the coast road, but the stuttering on that side was really bad for some reason. On my second playthrough the coast wasn't nearly as stutter-y. Lumberyard is still sort of annoying, but the astonishing detail in the area and that awesome crane sequence more than makes up for it.

Level 5
No stuttering or framerate drops for me here. I think my only complaint about the finale is there's four buildings and you can only go into two of them, and even then only one has items. Wasn't expecting that rescue vehicle though... Since I was defending from the minigun on the balcony, I was fully expecting a helicopter. Even when the engine sound started up I was still looking around for a heli, when the bots just ran off towards the water, where of course the real vehicle was waiting. They gathered up at the corner though. First run only one of them made it inside with me, a tank distracted the other two (still had cheats going that run so I just warped and was done with it). Second run they still piled on the corner, but they were more willing to get in the vehicle that time.

My only regret is I have to run at low shader settings so I don't ever see rain effects. Judging by the sound building up in the last two levels, that'd be really something to see. Maybe that's where the finale stuttering happens for people; I have no trouble at all looking back at the rest of the map.
I think the best part has to be the new graffiti. Chicago Ted is always great, but I really liked the Bible quotes too; something about the extra comments that get written by other survivors always makes it funnier. But when Google goes down, that's how you know it's getting real

Overall, 15 out of 10. Thank you so much for taking all that time and putting so much effort into this.

The lake is a lie!

red_one

Member

Registered: 2010-06-05

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

!@#$ing brilliant. As good as, if not better, than Valve's campaigns.

dark_inferno

Member

Registered: 2010-06-05

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

1 map:
+more than one way to the end
+great beginning for a great campaign
+seeing the fireflys the first time is amazing
+good gameplay

8/10

2.map:
+amazing visuals
+realistic (snacks,miniguns,drinks,ammo everywhere)
+epic moment (helicopter crash)
+amazing gameplay
-helicopter parts bug

10/10 (just a small bug ^^)

3. map
+ just one word : awesome

10/10

4. map
+great beginning
+awesome sawmill
+epic moment (crashing house)
+very good gameplay

10/10

5. map
+amazing gameplay (for campers, and runners)
+realistic (everywhere luggage,guns,ships,snacks,drinks)
+storm (better than the storm in RDR XD)

10/10

overall: 10/10

i missed the new dialogs but i was to lazy to type something into the console

its better than any l4d2 campaign, l4d1 crash course

valve should make this into a official campaign and fix some bugs with the hammer tool.

crowbar87

Member

Registered: 2010-05-26

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Wow, I'm amazed at how good this custom campaign turned out to be.
Each level was very detailed and realistic and I actually felt like I was in Canada (especially in the sawmill evacuation level when walking on the road near the lake.
The custom sound and visual are great and added a lot extra value to the mod.
Basically the users how commented above me covered everything and there's no need for repeating but there's one thing I would like to note:

the campaign is very dark and at times it was hard to see and navigate through the horde since I could barely see.

Besides this small issue this mod is amazing. Better then most Valve maps (waaay better then that lousy DLC for L4D2)
I really hope valve makes this an official campagin.

Thank you for this amazing addition to the L4D world

Khaine

Member

Registered: 2010-06-04

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

I'm intending to go back and replay it today... take some different paths and see if I can spot anything new (I -love- the multiple paths to the safe room idea!).

Surprisingly, I didn't get an FPS hit on map 4. Smooth all the way through!

Khaine

Member

Registered: 2010-06-04

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Heh, well I put this on my g/f's machine as she likes to play Left 4 Dead.

Apparently the bots wern't shooting common infected on Map 2. She said they shot the SI with no problems at all, but would ignore CI to the point of letting themselves be beaten to death!

Cameron:D

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2010-05-23

Website

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Well I learnt the bots don't care about me.
I have played the campaign 3 times and never once finished it.
He bots always crowded onto the rescue vehicle and I was dragged away by a smoker. Only when I was incapped did they look at me, and a second before I died they started walking >_>

NykO18

Administrator

From: Montréal, QC

Registered: 2010-05-13

Website

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Well guys, thanks for the feedback.
Unfortunately, bots are not something we can do a lot about, all we can do is provide them with areas where they can walk and that's all. Their behavior is entirely hard-coded in the engine.

HuNTi

Member

Registered: 2010-06-05

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

This is something that's been on our FAQ since the very beginning. The campaign is indeed a bit greedier than Left 4 Dead campaigns, but any decent rig that can run Left 4 Dead decently can run I Hate Mountains pretty well. What's your configuration?

Yes i know, but maybe you can try that you optimize this places a little bit better in the next release? Would be great

My system:
AMD Athlon X2 6000+
4 Gig RAM
ATI HD 4570 (512 mb) + ATI HD 3200 (256 mb)
Win7 x64
All other L4D campaigns runs great maxed out

Overall i would like to say thank you for your work. You've done great with this campaign!

NykO18

Administrator

From: Montréal, QC

Registered: 2010-05-13

Website

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

This rig should be able to run I Hate Mountains pretty well.
Maybe you got a bit crazy with the graphic settings of the game? Well I don't know for sure, but it should work well because I have approximately the same and I don't suffer from FPS drop bad enough to prevent me from playing well.

moroes

Administrator

From: Vincennes (France)

Registered: 2010-05-13

Website

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Thanks @ all for your feedback and support! It's a pleasure to read you, really!

Khaine

Member

Registered: 2010-06-04

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

Well guys, thanks for the feedback.
Unfortunately, bots are not something we can do a lot about, all we can do is provide them with areas where they can walk and that's all. Their behavior is entirely hard-coded in the engine.

That is pretty much what I expected... bot stupidity rather than a map error. The other half just asked me to mention it on the off chance it was a map issue.

I shall be taking the advice in the bugs section and shooting them in the face for being so stupid. I re-ran this today on Advanced... and on my rig, the LOWEST FPS I get on map 4 is around 100.

In comparison to L4D2 (which sometimes hits around 70 with lots of fire effects and a horde incoming), that's not too bad at all.

EDIT: For comparison sake and so you know how the campaign runs on various configs, this is my rig:

Intel Core i7 920 CPU (Overclocked to 4Ghz).
6GB DDR3-1600 RAM.
60GB SSD (Windows Drive).
1TB 7200RPM SATA2 Drive (Games).
ATI Radeon 5870 GFX Card.
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi.
Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

Game Specs.

All details on high.
1920z1080 resolution.
No multi-core rendering or vsync.
AA x8
AF x16

FPS varies from 100 to 250 depending on area and how much is going on. Usually sits around 150.

Last edited by Khaine (2010-06-06 00:56:13)

NykO18

Administrator

From: Montréal, QC

Registered: 2010-05-13

Website

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

That's a hell of a powerful rig you got there.
No wonder how you get this awesome framerate

BABY BOD

Member

Registered: 2010-06-06

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

WOw WOw WOW. Absolutely awesome, talk about breathing life into an old title.  Graphically it is amazing, the detail even makes L4D2 look its age.  A job well done and well worth the wait.  The level design has a nice mix of both open and constricted gameplay.  It is also perfect in length and makes me want to go back and investigate other areas.

There were a couple of times survivors got stuck in the scenery and I will report these in the appropriate section.

Just joined this forum to say thanks to the creators for such a sterling job, c'est magnific.  Keep up the good work and bring us some L4D2 mods pretty please.

Now lets see if versus mode is as good as I think its gonna be

Khaine

Member

Registered: 2010-06-04

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

That's a hell of a powerful rig you got there.
No wonder how you get this awesome framerate

My g/f's rig is basically exactly the same, except her i7 is running at a stock 2.66Ghz rather than 4Ghz and she doesn't have an SSD. Map 4 is fine for her as well.

flying-emu

Member

Registered: 2010-06-06

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

I experienced no framerate drops, and I'm running a 2-year old rig.

---

The preceding is the author's attempt to
BLOW
YOUR
MIND

NykO18

Administrator

From: Montréal, QC

Registered: 2010-05-13

Website

Re: First Playthrough Feedback (Campaign Mode)

I experienced no framerate drops, and I'm running a 2-year old rig.

Well, that's good to know.
I know for sure that the engine does strange things at time where it seems stuck calculating something and that eats a lot of frames per second but we were unable to understand why.