Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2

Developer: Valve
Publishers: Valve (Steam), Electronic Arts (retail)
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Xbox 360, Linux
Released in JP: November 19, 2009
Released in US: November 17, 2009
Released in EU: November 20, 2009

This game has unused animations.
This game has unused areas.
This game has unused code.
This game has unused graphics.
This game has unused models.
This game has unused items.
This game has unused music.
This game has unused sounds.
This game has unused text.
This game has regional differences.

This game has a prototype article

It started when Left 4 Dead (L4D) fans complained that Valve released games slowly. Valve then created Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) to prove that they could follow a schedule and meet a deadline. However, fans were displeased that Valve announced L4D2 just a year after L4D released since Valve promised continual support for L4D. Fans then protested with a boycott. It failed when some boycotters eventually purchased L4D2 during a Steam sale.

L4D2 would ship with a myriad of problems (e.g., animation errors) that further displeased players. After this debacle ended, people agreed that “Valve Time” could be positive…

To do:
There's lots to do:

Gurgling sounds for the Common Infected.
Animations for the Chainsaw, Charger, Boomer, Smoker and the Hunter.
An unused gore effect that is a gigantic slash down a Common Infected's back.
If possible, compare Whitaker to the Fallen Survivor.
Descriptions for the unused voices w/ subtitles.
Unused lines for Whitaker in game_sounds_whitaker.txt.
Revisional differences for all major updates.
Unused Models in props_fairgrounds and more.
There are Unused Color Corrections within the files.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Unused Sounds
Grabbing a bread slicer!

Unused Items
A variety of unused weapons and items!

Unused Levels
A variety of unused levels and level features!

Whitaker Model

When you bring Whitaker his cola, he will explosively clear the way for you, but you can never actually see Whitaker without noclipping. He shares a similar appearance to the Fallen Survivor.

Whitaker.

Hidden Magnum Pistol Text

You can find the text “1337 Weapon Industries (yOgi) PWN” and “Made In Shyville” engraved on the Magnum Pistol’s barrel. The model lacks a hole for the bullets to come out of.

(Enlarge to see more clearly.)

Undocumented Launch Options

-background `ID`

ID‒Campaign Mapping
ID	Campaign
1	Dead Center
2	Dark Carnival
3	Swamp Fever
4	Hard Rain
5	The Parish

You can invoke this launch option by typing -background ID, where ID is an integer. Normally, when you launch the game, it generates a random background ID at the startup screen. This ID stays constant until you exit the game. This launch option tells the game to use ID instead of the random background ID. As of version 2.2.2.6, the responsible function resides in the game library Left 4 Dead 2/bin/engine.dll. The function will check if the launch option and ID are present. If so, it will then get the integer value of ID. If this value is less than 1, it is set to 1. Likewise, if this value is greater than 5, it is set to 5.

Each ID uniquely relates to the background movie and audio for one of five campaigns.

You can try invoking this launch option by following these instructions. For example, specifying

-background 5

will tell the game to load the main menu background movie and audio for The Parish.

-playtest

You can invoke this launch option by typing -playtest. When invoked, the launch option tells the game

to ignore your game instructor progress
to track all used sounds in a list
to use the survivors names in the place of the players usernames

in the current session. Your game instructor progress is stored in the file Left 4 Dead 2/left4dead2/save/game_instructor_counts.txt. The game will only write to this file if you invoke the launch option. As of and up to game version 2.2.2.6, you can dump the list of sounds by executing the console command snd_dump_filepaths with some caveats. ^{[note 1]}^[1]

-pressdemo

You can invoke this launch option by typing -pressdemo. When invoked, the launch option tells the game

to issue 'disconnect' to every connected players console if all non-bot survivors die

Any other behaviors are currently unknown.

This launch option tells the game to run in “Press Demo” mode, presumably for the game’s showing at the 2009 E3 conference. Valve has also excised this launch option from post-L4D branch games.^[2]

Unused VGUI Panels

zombie_intro

The panel is clearly unfinished or broken: the subtitle clips its text box and all buttons except for OVERVIEW lack body content. The warning in the footer lacks a text entry.

You can view this VGUI panel by executing the command showpanel zombie_intro in the developer console. You will also need to execute the command hidepanel zombie_intro to close the panel, since the panel has no close buttons. The VGUI panel “zombie_intro” is a remnant from a cut feature of Left 4 Dead ’s Versus mode. As of Left 4 Dead ’s retail release, Versus is a game mode where a team of four survivors must play through a campaign against a team of four human-controlled infected. The game uniquely and randomly assigns one of four special infected to each player on the infected team. When an infected player dies, their special infected may change. The player cannot typically control this process.^[3] However, Valve had once intended for infected players to be able to choose their special infected using this panel. Infected players could choose to play as the common infected.^[4] Valve eventually scrapped both features but left the resource file defining the panel in the game’s UI code. Valve may then have inadvertently copied the panel when reusing UI code for Left 4 Dead 2.

As of game version 2.2.2.6, you can find this resource file at the filepath Left 4 Dead 2\left4dead2\pak01_dir.vpk\resource\ui\zombieintropanel.res. Its contents are as follows:

"Resource/UI/ZombieIntroPanel.res"
{
	"zombie_intro"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Frame"
		"fieldName"		"zombie_intro"
		"xpos"			"0"
		"ypos"			"r220"
		"wide"			"f0"
		"tall"			"220"
		"autoResize"	"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"tabPosition"	"0"
	}

	"BackgroundImage"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"BackgroundImage"
		"xpos"			"0"
		"ypos"			"0"
		"wide"			"f0"
		"tall"			"220"
		"zpos"			"-1"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"0 0 0 192"
	}

	"Title"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Label"
		"fieldName"		"Title"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"10"
		"wide"		"300"
		"tall"		"24"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_pz_now_infected_title"
		"textAlignment"		"south-west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"fgcolor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"MenuTitle"
	}

	"Subtitle"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Label"
		"fieldName"		"Subtitle"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"34"
		"wide"		"300"
		"tall"		"14"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_pz_now_infected_subtitle"
		"textAlignment"		"north-west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"fgcolor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"MenuSubTitle"
	}

	"OverviewButton"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Button"
		"fieldName"		"OverviewButton"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"60"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"zpos"		"1"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_pz_spawn_btn_overview"
		"textAlignment"		"west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"0"
		"command"	""
		"defaultFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"armedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"depressedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"default"
	}
	"OverviewBackgroundActive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"OverviewBackgroundActive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"60"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"255 0 0 255"
	}
	"OverviewBackgroundInactive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"OverviewBackgroundInactive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"60"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"64 64 64 255"
	}

	"HunterButton"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Button"
		"fieldName"		"HunterButton"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"75"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"zpos"		"1"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_pz_spawn_btn_hunter"
		"textAlignment"		"west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"0"
		"command"	""
		"defaultFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"armedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"depressedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"default"
	}
	"HunterBackgroundActive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"HunterBackgroundActive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"75"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"255 0 0 255"
	}
	"HunterBackgroundInactive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"HunterBackgroundInactive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"75"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"64 64 64 255"
	}

	"SmokerButton"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Button"
		"fieldName"		"SmokerButton"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"90"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"zpos"		"1"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_pz_spawn_btn_smoker"
		"textAlignment"		"west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"0"
		"command"	""
		"defaultFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"armedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"depressedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"default"
	}
	"SmokerBackgroundActive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"SmokerBackgroundActive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"90"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"255 0 0 255"
	}
	"SmokerBackgroundInactive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"SmokerBackgroundInactive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"90"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"64 64 64 255"
	}

	"BoomerButton"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Button"
		"fieldName"		"BoomerButton"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"105"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"zpos"		"1"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_pz_spawn_btn_boomer"
		"textAlignment"		"west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"0"
		"command"	""
		"defaultFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"armedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"depressedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"default"
	}
	"BoomerBackgroundActive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"BoomerBackgroundActive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"105"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"255 0 0 255"
	}
	"BoomerBackgroundInactive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"BoomerBackgroundInactive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"105"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"64 64 64 255"
	}

	"TankButton"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Button"
		"fieldName"		"TankButton"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"120"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"zpos"		"1"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_pz_spawn_btn_tank"
		"textAlignment"		"west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"0"
		"command"	""
		"defaultFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"armedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"depressedFgColor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"default"
	}
	"TankBackgroundActive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"TankBackgroundActive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"120"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"255 0 0 255"
	}
	"TankBackgroundInactive"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"TankBackgroundInactive"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"120"
		"wide"		"100"
		"tall"		"14"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"64 64 64 255"
	}

	"VerticalBar"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"VerticalBar"
		"xpos"		"121"
		"ypos"		"60"
		"wide"		"4"
		"tall"		"84"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"255 0 0 255"
	}
	"HorizBar"
	{
		"ControlName"	"Panel"
		"fieldName"		"HorizBar"
		"xpos"		"124"
		"ypos"		"60"
		"wide"		"300"
		"tall"		"1"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"autoResize"	"3"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"bgcolor_override"	"255 0 0 255"
	}

	"Description"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Label"
		"fieldName"		"Description"
		"xpos"		"130"
		"ypos"		"65"
		"wide"		"280"
		"tall"		"60"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		""
		"textAlignment"		"north-west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"1"
		"fgcolor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"MenuSubTitle"
	}

	"HintIcon"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Label"
		"fieldName"		"HintIcon"
		"xpos"		"20"
		"ypos"		"148"
		"wide"		"14"
		"tall"		"14"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"A"
		"textAlignment"		"center"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"0"
		"fgcolor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"L4D_Icons"
	}

	"HintText"
	{
		"ControlName"		"Label"
		"fieldName"		"HintText"
		"xpos"		"36"
		"ypos"		"150"
		"wide"		"250"
		"tall"		"30"
		"autoResize"		"0"
		"pinCorner"		"0"
		"visible"		"1"
		"enabled"		"1"
		"labelText"		"#L4D_Hint_pz_glows"
		"textAlignment"		"north-west"
		"dulltext"		"0"
		"brighttext"		"0"
		"wrap"		"1"
		"fgcolor_override"	"255 255 255 255"
		"font"		"MenuSubTitle"
	}
}

The resource file references these strings in the file Left 4 Dead 2\left4dead2\pak01_dir.vpk\resource\left4dead2_english.txt:

"L4D_pz_now_infected_title"		"YOU ARE NOW INFECTED"
"L4D_pz_now_infected_subtitle"	"You will need to wait for the Survivors to leave the starting area before you can spawn."
"L4D_pz_spawn_btn_overview"		"OVERVIEW"
"L4D_pz_spawn_overview"			"The class you spawn as may change each time you spawn, depending on the other classes currently in play.\n\nYou will start in 'Spawn Select Mode.' Move around to select an optimal location to spawn in."
"L4D_pz_spawn_btn_hunter"		"HUNTER"
"L4D_pz_spawn_hunter"			""
"L4D_pz_spawn_btn_boomer"		"BOOMER"
"L4D_pz_spawn_boomer"			""
"L4D_pz_spawn_btn_smoker"		"SMOKER"
"L4D_pz_spawn_smoker"			""
"L4D_pz_spawn_btn_tank"			"TANK"
"L4D_pz_spawn_tank"				""
"L4D_pz_spawn_btn_zombie"		"ZOMBIE"
"L4D_pz_spawn_zombie"			""

The panel appears to lack some UI elements and text strings. Valve has long since stripped any related functionality from both the resource file and the game’s binaries.^[1]

Unused Animations

Unused M60 Reload Animation

The M60 has the same reload animation as the AK-47. Since the M60 never has reserve ammo in normal gameplay, players will never see this.

Hunter Attack

The Hunter was supposed to be able to pounce in first-person view.

Fire Axe Swinging Animation

An unused animation of the fire axe swinging down. This is seen in E3 and other pre-release footage. Seemingly meant for killing a lone zombie. This animation was also meant to be paired with the unused infected slash, and can even be restored ingame by changing the script.

Fallen Survivor

Valve cut the Fallen Survivor from normal gameplay before releasing the base game. You could still spawn the Fallen Survivor, but it could sometimes crash the game or drop invisible items. When a Fallen Survivor was shot in the chest, a pool of fire would erupt around them like from a molotov or gas can. Valve determined that this made horde-clearing too easy. These items appeared to be broken copies of pickups: molotovs, medkits, and the like. Valve eventually fixed these issues and re-added the Fallen Survivor in the DLC The Passing.

Unused Music

Lossless Main Menu Music

As of March 2023, the game plays one of five audio files at the main menu screen corresponding to a background ID that the game determines at startup. These files have a filename in the format l4d2_c%d_pc.mp3, where %d is the background ID. The lossless copies of these audios have been in the game files since version 1.0.1.0.^[5] The game would have played these files, but Valve removed this behavior before publicly releasing the game. The lossless copies have filenames in the format l4d2_c%d%s.wav, where %d is the background ID and %s is _mono if the user has mono audio or the empty string if otherwise.

ID	Campaign	Stereo version	Mono version
1	“Dead Center”
2	“Dark Carnival”
3	“Swamp Fever”
4	“Hard Rain”
5	“The Parish”

Unused “Cold Stream” opening music

This audio would have been the opening theme for the “Cold Stream” campaign but was replaced with a L4D -style one. In the 2020 “The Last Stand” update, it would later be remixed into the opening theme for the eponymous campaign.

Unused Textures

The pump shotgun texture from L4D is unused in L4D2. It is an identical copy of the texture from L4D. However, its material description file does contain extra keyvalue to provide Half Lambert lighting.

This game start-up graphic was presumably used before variations for the five campaigns were made. The standard and widescreen variants of this graphic are identical.

An unused texture of pain pills recolored yellow. It was used as a placeholder for the adrenaline shot.

An unused texture of a Ammo pack.

An earlier texture for the Defibrillator, which is a reskinned Medkit.

A texture for an earlier version of the bat. This texture seems to be based on concept art.

Unused Achievements

Xbox 360 Avatar Awards

The PC Version of L4D2 contains strings referencing achievements for Xbox 360 Avatar Awards. These are unused since Steam does not use Xbox Avatars.

"ASSET_MED_KIT_NAME"				"MED KIT"
"ASSET_MED_KIT_DESC"				"Unlock the Med Kit by beating all five campaigns on any skill level."
"ASSET_FRYING_PAN_NAME"				"FRYING PAN"
"ASSET_FRYING_PAN_DESC"				"Unlock the Frying Pan by killing 10,000 Infected."
"ASSET_GNOME_NAME"				"GARDEN GNOME"
"ASSET_GNOME_DESC" 				"Unlock the Garden Gnome by rescuing Gnome Chompski."
"ASSET_BULL_SHIFTERS_SHIRT_NAME"		"BULL SHIFTERS SHIRT"
"ASSET_BULL_SHIFTERS_SHIRT_DESC"		"Unlock the Bull Shifters shirt by winning 10 games of Versus."
"ASSET_LEFT_4_DEAD_2_SHIRT_NAME"		"LEFT 4 DEAD 2 SHIRT"
"ASSET_LEFT_4_DEAD_2_SHIRT_DESC"		"Unlock the Left 4 Dead 2 shirt by winning 10 games of Scavenge."
"ASSET_ZOMBIE_HAND_SHIRT_NAME"			"ZOMBIE HAND SHIRT"
"ASSET_ZOMBIE_HAND_SHIRT_DESC"			"Unlock the Zombie Hand shirt by killing 10,000 Infected."
"ASSET_DEPECHE_MODE_SHIRT_NAME"			"DEPECHE MODE SHIRT"
"ASSET_DEPECHE_MODE_SHIRT_DESC"			"Unlock the Depeche Mode shirt by rescuing Gnome Chompski."

Unused Strings

L4D2 references strings from text files in the resource directory whose names follow the format cat_lang.txt, where cat is a category and lang is a Steamworks API language code. For example, the file l4d360ui_japanese.txt contains the Japanese-localized strings for the L4D 360 UI.

left4dead2_`%s`.txt

There are strings indicating that the game instructor would congratulate you for beating the world record of a survival map. As of version 2.2.2.6, the game cannot fire the necessary event to show these strings. The localized copies of these strings are still in English.

"L4D_SurvivalTimer_Description_WorldRecord"	"World Record"
"L4D_Instructor_world_record"				"You beat the world record!"

An instructor text string meant to be used for when a Survivor throws Boomer bile at an Infected player on Versus.

"L4D_Instructor_notify_it1_jar"			"A Survivor bile bombed you"

Regional Differences

German Version

Valve made major changes to comply with German censorship laws:

The Riot Infected were initially cut for possible depictions of violence towards German authority.
- They were restored in an update without the “SECURITY” label on their armour.
Only the Tank emits fire particles when burned.
Neither melee weapons nor explosives can gib infected.
- Pipe bomb explosions don't emit a red mist when blowing up infected.
Dying infected quickly disappear.
The Cricket Bat’s texture lacks bloodstains.

You can observe these features in uncensored versions of L4D2 by invoking the launch option -lv.

Australian Version

The Australian version’s Cricket Bat.

Valve censored L4D2 less to comply with Australian censorship laws:

The Riot Infected are unchanged but don’t count towards the achievement “Crass Menagerie”.
Common Infected can be burned but emit no fire particles.
- They still react as if alight.
L4D-style pipe bomb deaths.
Weapon textures are uncensored.
- The Cricket Bat texture has a Southern Cross and the dates of when Australia won The Ashes.

Valve later released L4D2 uncensored to Australian markets with a patch to convert censored installations.

Notes

↑ When you execute snd_dump_filepaths, the game attempts to write to a logfile located a non-existent network directory path. This will always fail unless you attach a network drive called fileserver that has the directory User\Morasky\L4Dsoundlogs. You cannot change this behavior. Valve later added the ConVar snd_store_filepaths to games released after Portal 2 to control where the logfile is saved. At some point before game version 2.2.2.6, Valve added the ConVar to L4D2. However, you cannot set its value outside of normal gameplay. If you use VScript to set its value, the game will ignore it.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Left 4 Dead 2. (2.2.2.6), Valve Corporation. Accessed: Mar. 18, 2023. [Microsoft Windows]. Available: https://store.steampowered.com/app/550/Left_4_Dead_2
↑ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. (2017). Valve Corporation. Accessed: Mar. 26, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://github.com/perilouswithadollarsign/cstrike15_src
↑ Valve Corporation. “Left 4 Dead.” Left 4 Dead. https://www.l4d.com/l4d/game.htm (accessed Mar. 18, 2023).
↑ “Cut Content”. Left 4 Dead Wiki. https://left4dead.fandom.com/wiki/Cut_Content (accessed Mar. 18, 2023).
↑ “Left 4 Dead 2”. (1.0.1.0), Valve Corporation. Accessed: Mar. 17, 2023. [Online]. Available: http://archive.org/details/left4dead2retail

[note_snd_dump_filepaths-1] When you execute snd_dump_filepaths, the game attempts to write to a logfile located a non-existent network directory path. This will always fail unless you attach a network drive called fileserver that has the directory User\Morasky\L4Dsoundlogs. You cannot change this behavior. Valve later added the ConVar snd_store_filepaths to games released after Portal 2 to control where the logfile is saved. At some point before game version 2.2.2.6, Valve added the ConVar to L4D2. However, you cannot set its value outside of normal gameplay. If you use VScript to set its value, the game will ignore it.

[l4d2_game_v2226-2] 1.0 ^1.1 Left 4 Dead 2. (2.2.2.6), Valve Corporation. Accessed: Mar. 18, 2023. [Microsoft Windows]. Available: https://store.steampowered.com/app/550/Left_4_Dead_2

[csgo_v2017-3] Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. (2017). Valve Corporation. Accessed: Mar. 26, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://github.com/perilouswithadollarsign/cstrike15_src

[l4d2_gbl_l4d-game-description-4] Valve Corporation. “Left 4 Dead.” Left 4 Dead. https://www.l4d.com/l4d/game.htm (accessed Mar. 18, 2023).

[l4d2_gbl_l4d-wiki_cut-content-5] “Cut Content”. Left 4 Dead Wiki. https://left4dead.fandom.com/wiki/Cut_Content (accessed Mar. 18, 2023).

[l4d2_v1010-6] “Left 4 Dead 2”. (1.0.1.0), Valve Corporation. Accessed: Mar. 17, 2023. [Online]. Available: http://archive.org/details/left4dead2retail

[note 1]

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[5]

v · t · e The Left 4 Dead series
Windows	Left 4 Dead • Left 4 Dead 2 (Prototype)
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