Thread: Reserved Slot Request: UndyingTick

Finally beat Port.

My YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/titsonabullsteam

The Passing Finale: Port
Realism Expert Solo! The Passing: Port, No Bots Left 4 Dead 2. See More from Titsonabullsteam - YouTube

Previous maps were done one at a time, and for SOME (not all) I collected items from earlier maps with bots. But in some maps I just grabbed items in the safe room before starting the demo. Going forward, I will not do this. In Port, I start with nothing, since I had nothing coming out of Underground. In Port, I decided not to kick Zoey and company. They are part of the map, like gun turrets, and their support is nothing like a full bot, although invaluable. They are NPCs, not bots, and the map is over-compensated for them. Port is the hardest map to solo even with its NPCs which are part of the map. I say this after soloing ALL Left4Dead 2 maps in the game: Port was the worst.

Why is the playback a bit laggy? Because I played on a local Realism server and L4D2 has trouble playing that demo back smoothly. Using /realism at the console may make a demo that plays back smoother, but I heard you have to trick the playback to look like realism, so I wonder if it really is realism (tougher CI, fewer items) or just minus the outlines. Realism server demo plays back looking like realism, period.

Hope you enjoy the show!

My YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/titsonabullsteam

Originally Posted by Kagato

This map can be difficult. I will definitely be interested to see how you handled it when I get home.

That's an understatement! I found this the hardest map to solo, by far. Enjoy the run!

Originally Posted by zencats

Sweet run!
Also, damn nice can-juggling. Keep up the good work!

Thanks kindly Atrium was a warm up for this map, but Port was just vastly harder, really forced me to get natural with can juggling.

Make sure to check out my other runs in my channel or via the links in the video, I've done every L4D2 map now (not non-developer maps Cold Stream, or L4D1 maps like the Sacrifice). Enjoy the show!

Originally Posted by Kagato

:P

I can't speak for solo difficulty which is why I added the qualifier 'can'. I think you're crazy enough to solo atrium!

Assist and I gave it a run the other day and let's just say things didn't turn out too well. Probably the one map that still gives us a little trouble (besides DaC1 >_>).

LOL, this map was just so brutally hard to solo. You're probably right about the crazy part Wow I've played way too much Port, when I saw "can" in quotes, I just thought of a gas can Hope you enjoy the show!

Good job on finally beating this map. Good strategy you used, transporting cans during Tank fights and attack breaks.

I'll try to add more comments to this later.

Originally Posted by Mince

Good job on finally beating this map. Good strategy you used, transporting cans during Tank fights and attack breaks.
I'll try to add more comments to this later.

Thanks a lot! What an albatross off my back. Waiting for some new developer-made L4D2 character DLC, meanwhile, a little R&R might be in order.

Originally Posted by Kagato

Ah I got this confused with The Sacrifice. >_> It's still not a nice map either way but at least with this one, you can chill out in the safe area while the bots do most of the work.

Nothing like that in The Sacrifice. :|

Then I realize...you can't actually solo The Sacrifice which is probably the reason for the confusion. lol

Some things I noticed:

-Awesome reflexes @ 2:10 and great use of the breakable wall
-2:45 scared me
-You seem to be using the trick you learned from the atrium where you'll continue to use a gas can over and over for fire. It's quite a good trick and it pisses me off when someone will take the first gas can out of the elevator in atrium and put it in automatically.
-Great use of the tank spawn to strategically gather cans. Your method causes the AI CI to run in circles!
-I'm surprised the spitter didn't die (and actually got off a swipe) @ 6:00. Looked like you got several shots into her...might be due to the local server lag.
-Holy hell @ 7:45
-I like the choke point you continually use at the bottom. It seems to have fewer AI spawn points.
-That jockey sounds like he's stuck.
-Charge at 11:30 could have ended things..I would've been pissed.

Overall, you definitely have a better grasp over director AI control and pattern recognition in L4D than anyone I've ever come across (including myself). Aren't you pissed at all the ridiculously shitty spawn points Valve decided to add to this map? It drove me crazy the other day seeing tanks spawn right on top of me.

Good job and congratulations!

I agree the L4D1 NPCs help, but all together they are extremely weak compared to one regular bot. I don't think I could do any chilling out on this map. Those guys are weak NPCs, not bots. They do not do all the work, you need to defend vigorously or you're done even right in front of them. I've had jockeys ride me right in front of them back and forth, and they almost always ignore it on expert. Chargers hammer me into the ground, they ignore it or let off a couple feeble shots that do nothing. Hordes overwhelm me, they barely dent the horde. That is the norm on expert realism, the NPCs will almost never save you, the odd time they do is so rare I've usually stopped the demo by then. They do help pick off stray CI/SI during less intense times, for sure a help. But their fire is weak and sporadic by design.

2:45 was a cheap Valve special insta-spawn smoker. First no smoker, glance down for 100th of a second, smoker appears. At 7:45 that horde exemplifies the fact that the NPCs do not carry you, they hardly dent a horde, and usually don't kill SI in those hordes when you hunker, it was unusual they killed the charger.

I agree Valve screwed up a great engine with its insta-spawns in thin air right in my face. To beat this map I had to learn Valve's version of the laws of physics. Indeed I had to learn how to exploit the cheap AI in certain ways. The hardest map to solo by far took many aspects, really important was learning the ways of the AI.

Jockey indeed sounded stuck, that's fairly common on this map if you don't run through the building after the first tank appears, you hear that jockey in there, you stay out and let him stew. Helps to reduce SI when it happens. Choke point down below is good, but you do need to ensure the bulk of the horde spawn up top before you go down, I coaxed the AI to do that between 8:05 and 8:15, or it'd have been game over down there. If you just go down willy nilly, you can get horde spawns down there also, so be careful!

Charger at the end would have really ruined my day. I think it was being on adrenaline that closed the gap too fast for a charge, and as Nick says, "That was way - too - close!"

Thank you for all the honest and positive feedback, and thanks for subbing!!!