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[How To] Play Left 4 Dead 2 LAN Online Using Tunngle (Garena, or Hamachi)
Easy to remember URL = http://www.tinyurl.com/l4dguide2
Garena username = versatileninja, Tunngle username = versatile
Foreword: As we all know, L4D2 right now is an awesome game. Similar to last year, I was involved with writing Hamachi and Garena guides for L4D1. It was good for awhile, but in retrospect it was a pain and almost a mistake to talk about questionable practices. The tutorials got so popular that WordPress caught on and we had a 9 day suspension which turns out because we had links to so called “cracks” and the articles were removed to keep the blog alive. If you want to continue with L4D 1, see the unofficial L4D site here.
Now that L4D 2 is here, I am going to take a different approach. WordPress staff or other questionable readers I have this statement for you. No way does this tutorial indirectly or directly facilitate illicit methods or devious acts of behavior (also known as piracy). This tutorial shows legitimate gamers how to play Left 4 Dead 2 online without having to succumb to Steam and be forced to use it for their gaming pleasure. This tutorial shows users how to host and connect to LAN games online without having to resort to Steam. If you believe this is a mistake, search google and see how many gamers are resorting to other needs to play games without Steam. Now the tutorial has become more valuable. Left 4 Dead 2 is a great game. Support Valve. Support “innovation”. – Versatile
Revisions:
11-30-09: Initial release.
12-1-09: Added information on name changing method. Added some Garena items because honestly, they need help bad.
12-2-09: Did additional testing and simplified the hosting process instructions. Determined sv_allow_lobby_connect 0 and sv_lan 1 not required.
12-3-09: Added master patch to 2003. Rewrote the whole tutorial guide to make it even easier to follow and adding personal zing.
12-4-09: Added Hamachi 1.0.3.0 instructions.
12-5-09: Added stryder 2003 patch. Added 2004 incremental patch (tried a new one). Added subtitle/ammo files and more to the troubleshooting section.
12-6-09: Made note about revloader. Please get rid of it! Made all download links dropbox.
12-7-09: New links in download section for 2004 patch. The previous 2004 patch per online scan has a virus in it, and my local AV did not detect it. 😦
12-9-09: Added 2005 patch and stryder dec 8th update.
12-11-09: The master patch 2005 wasn’t working right. Fixed the download section and changed instructions. Added new stand alone. Added Tunngle instructions.
12-12-09: Added master patch 2006. Deleted name changing tutorial as it is now obsolete thanks to new standalone or stryder patch.
12-13-09: Added more links in download section and redone the instructions. Added misc. footage section, courtesy of Tunnglers.
12-14-09: Added different fix for the rzr-init file.
12-19-09: Added 2.0.0.6 to 2.0.0.7 patch file.
12-20-09: Added master patch to 2007.
12-28-09: Added my youtube video.
12-30-09: Added new links for 2.0.0.7 and standalone.
1-7-10: Fixed link for standalone. New update for standalone.
1-14-10: Added link for 2.0.0.8.
1-16-10: New standalone version T9.
1-18-10: Fixed link for standalone version T9 rev 3.
1-20-10: Standalone was updated. Fixed link.
2-9-10: 2.0.0.9 files and standalone links updated.
2-17-10: Fixed link for standalone patch.
2-23:10: Added new links for 2.0.1.0.
2-26-10: Added new links for 2.0.1.1.
4-15-10: Fixed a command for hosting error.
4-27-10: Added 2.0.1.4 links!
5-13-10: Added 2.0.1.6 links!
5-24-10: Added 2.0.1.7 and 2.0.1.8 incremental links!
6-5-10: Redid the whole download section.
6-26-10: Added L4D2 tunngle download section.
Note: This is a warm hello to all gamers who are looking how to play L4D 2 LAN online. Props goes first of all to the Tunngle team and the community there. Garena and Hamachi get no brotherly love. Read the rant below to understand why. Nonetheless, I decided to put up a quick Garena setup guide because they need help irregardless what the VPN program is and I am a nice guy. 🙂
Read the rest of this entry
Download Dead Before Dawn – L4D Custom Campaign
I will not bore you guys with the details. If you are a L4D fan, you know exactly what this is. If you are (or aren’t) a L4D player and you don’t know what this campaign is, then let me fill you in.
Basically, this is a 5 year campaign that has finally come into reality. This is based off of the zombie movie Dawn of the Dead (2004) where a team of survivors are in a world full of zombies, and their goal is basically travel from town to town and survive.
A popular part of the movie is the “Crossroads Mall”, and man this team has nailed it right on in this campaign. Never have I seen daylight in a L4D map before, and with such great custom music, sharp textures, and randomized puzzles! There are literally tons of easter eggs in this map, and to those who have donated some money to help with the developer’s computer get fixed have their name featured in the map.
Nonetheless, lets get to the more important stuff:
DOWNLOAD DEAD BEFORE DAWN NOW!
To make it easy, we have a link to it on our L4D site at http://www.tinyurl.com/l4dguide. Always go there for the latest L4D 1 patches and news.
Here are some mirrors for the actual map:
Megaupload Part 1 ; Megaupload Part 2
See my gameplay video below:
Tunngle – The Hamachi Killer – Learn How To Play LAN Enabled PC Games Over The Internet For Free!
Revisions:
7-30-09: Initial release. Added another section for Underground Gamer requests.
7-31-09: Added World in Conflict and Warcraft 3 gamer request.
8-01-09: Added No One Lives Forever 2 gamer request, Far Cry 2, and Gears of War.
8-02-09: Changed the game request section slightly. Now it has a “Known to work Straight Up” part of it.
8-3-09: Added notes to the games section for quake 3 and call of duty 1.
8-7-09: Added Worms Armaggedon and Worms World Party to games section.
8-8-09: Added hamachi channel. I hope I am not going to regret this.
8-11-09: Added Call of Duty 2 and Gears of War to verified games list.
8-13-09: Added install Tunngle demonstration video.
10-31-09: Added a long list of games: Battlefield Vietnam, Borderlands, Demigod, Duke Nukem, GTA IV, Killing Floor, Left 4 Dead, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Shift, and Underground 2; Red Faction Guerilla, Resident Evil 5, Section 8, Serious Sam – The SEcond Encounter, Splinter Cell – Pandora Tomorrow, Starcraft, Street Fighter IV, Titan Quest, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3
2-7-10: Added Troubleshooting Tunngle Video
3-1-10: Removed old videos.
4-7-10: Yes, I am going to fix the pictures. Will do that tomorrow.
7-3-10: Added note to the game list section. There are lots of LAN games, so way in hell I will update this list for all the hundreds of LAN games I have tested.
Foreword: I am very excited. This is definitely one of my favorite posts for 2009, and as you read further, you will understand why. This guide is clearly not illegal. It is simply another method to enable users to play their LAN enabled games over the Internet with friends. No longer are you bound to be in the basement with your PCs to play LAN games! There is a reason why I spent two long nights working on this guide and the excellent video! ~ Versatile
If you follow this blog, or know anything about VPN programs, Hamachi is a great program that people can use to play LAN games with each other. In short, Hamachi was the king for implementing LAN games to play over the Internet. How it worked is people would join these networks, and Hamachi gives each user a unique IP address. When you launch a game, the game is tricked into thinking that everyone in the network is on the same LAN, and hence, you can see each other to play the game.
Of course, Hamachi has other useful purposes such as being a great secure chat medium, as well as being an alternative as a safe VPN to tunnel into your PCs and transfer files or encrypt remote transfers or remote administration.
Two Months Later – Life After The Third WordPress Suspension
In the middle of May, our blog was suspended from WordPress, and it all boiled down to the fact that we had some questionable tutorials. More specifically, I had a guide that showed users how to bypass Steam to play L4D on Garena and Hamachi. Before the suspension, we got great hits on this site, about 5k views a month easily. Now we are barely hitting 2K a month. See below chart to see our history for the past couple months:
Because of the suspension, we took a nosedive for the month of May. Two months later the stats speak for themselves. How do we feel? Well, I can’t speak for the authors, but I can at least speak for myself below.
It is sort of funny what happens when something you love was taken away from you, especially if it was nine long days. Ever since we came back, I have had new ideas forming in my head.
First of all, my L4D guides have migrated to a different site. Maybe you seen it? www.tinyurl.com/l4dguide is the shortcut to see the site. I expect in the future when L4D 2 comes, the site will be expanded to see that.
Second of all, more time was given to revamp the Sister site at www.tug.cjb.net. Here articles that are more questionable are put there. It is a friend’s server, so there is no real fear of having it violate a Terms of Service for example.
Thirdly, I’ve started to think differently in terms of how I write. I have rewritten many PS2 tutorials for example not only to make them clearer, but I have also added a disclaimer to more of my educational tutorials. We here want to help you learn, but we do not condone piracy or illegal activities. Remember that.
Oh yes, and who could forget the birth of the Underground Newsletter? Two newsletters are done, and already we have a sick idea to put into the third one! We can’t wait to reveal it!
On the side, we have also started the E-Book project. So far it looks very good, and maybe over the course of weeks a few sneak peaks will be released? We’ll see.
As you can see, life is not so bad after all. I still have a huge community on youtube. I and Voltaire have a twitter account to keep you guys posted in the case the blog goes down, and a lot of other miscellaneous projects going on.
If you want to become an author or want to submit an article, please do! We are always looking for new blood. Other than that, be on the lookout for the next bounce back tutorial since the L4D days. ;0
Left 4 Dead 2 So soon? Has Valve Sold Out?
Left 4 Dead 2: Love it or Hate it?
Shout out in the Comments people, tell us at the Underground what you think of Left 4 Dead 2 ‘s early release date. Do you Love it or Hate it?
Left 4 Dead has been positively one of my favorite PC games of the past year. So why wasn’t I so thrilled about hearing at E3 that Left 4 Dead 2 was being released this upcoming November? First and foremost L4D1 is still just an infant in my Pc gaming library, meaning that I am still playing it regularly and it feels as if Valve is just abandoning a child they just had. What happened to all the downloadable content that we were promised? Just a survival map pack with only 1 “new” level (lighthouse) and vs mode for 2 campaigns that should have been released with the game in the first place, seriously Valve!!
It feels to me as if the fan favorite Valve is just cashing in on a franchise, something they have never really done before. For example Team Fortress 2, Counterstrike 1- 2, Half-Life 1-2 all had significant times in between sequels and received tons of fan based material and new DLC. It took Valve supposedly 4-5 years to make Left 4 Dead and they pump out a sequel that’s supposed to get us excited in 1 year? I doubt it but I sure hope I’m wrong.
Certainly I’m not the only person to feel as if I’ve been abandoned for liking l4d. This announcement has caused all kinds of controversy over the net along with the fact that the sequel will have daytime environments, ugh! Right now I’m not sure what to think about all of this, perhaps this is the game Valve intended on releasing all along. I loved l4d but it always did seem short to me and without the release of the SDK until 2 months ago now the community is finally getting maps out to us but still no definitive campaigns. Honestly I’ve been waiting for at least 8 months for the release of the Dead before Dawn map and it just received a July 1st release date*crossed fingers*. Still no news from Valve for any new campaigns like we were promised. Guess we’ll just have to shell out the 50 bucks this November for them huh?
I could continue this post forever probably just stating my disgust about this upcoming November. But honesty I want to hear what you the reader has to say on this subject. Shout out in the comments below about whether you welcome the sequel so soon or if you hate it’s early release and the new daytime direction that Valve is taking this franchise.
[Tutorial] Left 4 Dead – Playing Online With Legit Methods (Garena)
Foreword: I have named this tutorial very strangely. The “Indirect Tutorial”? What is that supposed to mean? *smiles* Please recognize that the nature of this article is to simply open your eyes about this game, and what it can do for you, or what you can do for it.
I used to have a lot of great L4D tutorials here on WordPress.com, but I had to remove them to play by the rules. However, I am back to help fill that void of information you are seeking. Good luck, and let the Internet be kind to you. ~ Versatile
Revisions:
6-17-09: Initial release. Tutorial website link at bottom of the tutorial.
In November of 2008, Valve came out with another hit title since the Half Life 2 era. It is called “Left 4 Dead”, and because of it, now you see games like Dead Rising or Killing Floor. After playing the game hardcore for months, I have to say that it is a great game, and when Left 4 Dead 2 comes out in November of 2009, it will raise the bar another notch. Let’s spend out time with Left 4 Dead while we still have time to revel in the glory of it.
What is Left 4 Dead?
Per Wikipedia:
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve’s proprietary Source engine, and is available for Windows and the Xbox 360. Development on the game was completed on November 13, 2008 and was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States and on November 21, 2008 in Europe.
Main features include:
- Melee attacks.
- Molotovs.
- 4 player co-op.
- An assortment of guns.
- Available SDK map making kit.
- In game voice communication.
- Custom maps to download from the community. Popular site is www.l4dmaps.com
and more! See the full details at www.l4d.com.
Is there a Single Player?
Yes in a way. There are 4 campaigns, and each campaign has 5 chapters in it. Your goal is to go from point A to point B (the safehouse). At the final act of each campaign, you got to hold out until rescue comes to save you.
How about Online Multiplayer?
Yes, there is online multiplayer. You can host your own online games and have up to four people playing with you on co-op or survival mode, and up to 8 people on versus using Steam. If you have a custom map that your friend doesn’t, you will need to tell your friend to download the map offline first and then he can play with you. This right now is the only downfall of L4D, and maybe in the future they will have automap download feature?
Can Left 4 Dead be played without Steam? *wink*
Yes. It is called playing the game on a LAN network.
No, you misunderstood me. Can Left 4 Dead be played online without Steam? *double wink*
Oh, you mean can it be played online without having Steam? Yes, it can. However, you do realize that this is circumventing the Steam system. I have heard the argument from players who own the game that Steam players are bothersome, and they would like to try a different way of playing their game online. Perhaps with more mature audience. I have no argument against these cases. In fact, I want people to be aware of all opportunities to play their game online besides Steam.
Currently there are two popular ways to play your game online:
- Garena (most popular)
- Hamachi (second most popular)
Garena is starting to become the most popular online portal to help you play your games online.
Hamachi is another good way to play online. It is a virtual VPN solution that essentially emulates the LAN over the Internet so you can play with your friends by playing in what is called Hamachi networks.
How can I play Left 4 Dead Online with Garena or Hamachi? Do I need special patches?
Due to the nature of WordPress.com, I don’t think I am allowed to go into those type of details as that is frowned upon. However, I do recall in my past adventure that there are guides that explain how to play Left 4 Dead online with Garena or Hamachi. These guides come in the shape of text or video tutorials.
My recommendation is to learn how to use Garena. Hamachi is nice, but you have to mess with what is called VPN alias, and I have youtube videos on this subject if you want to learn more. The problem with Hamachi and Left 4 Dead is not the game, but finding people. Yes, there was an ogerlauncher program, but it is not updated for versions past 1.0.0.9 so it is broken. Finding people to play on hamachi is hard, and even if you do have people, they are always asking you to play at inconvenient times.
With Garena, people are playing day and night, and it is never ever hard to find a game going on, especially in the main USA room. How do I know so much about this? Because I lived through it and helped tons of people learn the method to play Left 4 Dead online legitimately. Just because you are not using Steam to play online doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong. So what if people want to play LAN games, or play LAN games over the Internet with their friends? Is that so bad? Some people think so, but I will leave the interpretations up to them.
If you can’t help us here, do you have a recommendation of where we can go then to learn?
Yes, I sure can. I want to reiterate that I do not support piracy, and some people may get clever and believe that Garena/Hamachi are tools to help people with their illicit needs. The tools themselves are legitimate, but what people plan to do with those tools can make their actions illegitimate. For example, bittorrent itself is not illegal, downloading/sharing copyrighted material is. The methods you encounter are to be held in the same regards. Please be smart, and don’t do something stupid. Thanks!
Here is the link: Left 4 Dead Tutorial Weebly Site
Note: This article is simply to make you aware of other online gaming alternatives. No way do we infer or advocate piracy. We are not held liable for what you may learn at other websites on the Internet. How you want to live your digital life is up to you, and the Underground Staff wishes you the best of luck on your journey.
Hamachi Networks – Left 4 Dead
Revisions: Initial Release. I expect in the future to have these networks reduced again. When L4D 2 comes out, expect the hamachi networks to get popular again.
Foreword: On June 16th, many of the hamachi networks for L4D will be taken offline for good, due to lack of activity. If you want to still play online in Hamachi through our underground network, you can still do that. Go near the bottom of the article for the network names and passwords. ~ Versatile
For the past few months, I have come to a revelation. Hamachi is a great tool when used correctly. When Left 4 Dead first came out, people were dying to figure out how to play this game online with other people. I started off in January 2009, and I had no idea about this Garena.com. From January through April, I played contently with Hamachi. Suddenly, someone asked me to make a tutorial about Garena, and although I was a bit reluctant in the beginning, I did it anyway. The rest is history.
Fast forward to present time. A lot of people have moved onto Garena to get their quick L4D fix (or whatever game). Unfortunately, that makes the remaining underground hamachi networks for L4D very empty. I understand that there are some people who cannot make Garena work (for whatever reason) and are requesting that I keep the hamachi networks online for their sake.
This is what we will do then. Discontinue the Voltaire networks (they weren’t popular anyway), and I will keep open these networks:
- L4D Underground
- L4D Underground 2
- L4D Underground 3
- L4D Troubleshooting
- The password for all these networks = l4d
My L4D Is Updated and L4D Central hardly gets any activity, and I will be discontinuing it. If you are against this plan, then voice your concern in the comments. Thanks for your cooperation.
If you can, I suggest you move to Garena as there are people playing literally day and night, in all timezones. Hamachi has a lack of people, and organizing a game is not very fun when there is hardly anyone on.
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L4D – Survival Mode – Review and Gold Medal!!!!
In short, L4D Survival Mode owns hard. It is a lot of fun, and it is hard to get to gold medal. If you think you are pro, then lets see you try to get gold on the survival maps with your team. If your team sucks, you have no chance of winning.
Ogerlauncher – Offline Modus Error? [Fix]
Update 4-21-09: Added Youtube Tutorial! Also updated instructions for Vista.
Did you try to use ogerlauncher recently, only to find that you get this “Offline Modus!” upon running it?
It turns out this is a fault of bad programming, as the program is looking at a specific mysql database on the ogerlauncher website that doesn’t exist. However, there is a fix!
If you are using XP:
Go to start -> run -> cmd.
Type “echo 84.38.66.128 datenklo.org >> %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts” (without the quotes). Press enter.
Launch ogerlauncher and it will work.
If you are using Vista/Windows 7:
Same idea as above except you need to run notepad as an administrator. Then you need to navigate to your Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file. Remember to make the drop down box select all files. Open the hosts file and add the line below:
84.38.66.128 datenklo.org
See screenshot for clarification, and watch video at end of post for more clarification.
Save the host file and run ogerlauncher. It will work!
The ogerlauncher creator guy is making a patch and will have a new ogerlauncher soon, hopefully.
You will see a message about a new update. Skip it! It is a side effect of the program.
Why I Love Left 4 Dead – A Rant
Note: This is a series of various stories as told by Versatile. If you want to search for future experiences shared by Versatile, please search for tag “Stories”.
Let’s face it. Valve hit Left 4 Dead right on the spot. Playing this game really makes co-op an awesome gaming experience. Talking about it in words gives you no justice, you simply have to play the game to be immersed in this incredible gaming atmosphere.
This is the way I see it and feel it when I play this game. During online campaign mode, there are only 4 players maximum. This is brilliant, as I feel that 4 people makes it just right. If you have it too many, then the game is too easy. Make it any less and the gameplay could be harder. The best part of it all is this “No Person Left Behind” philosophy. You have to work as a team in order to win each level, which is getting from point A to point B.
If your teammate falls down, it is your responsibility to help them get back onto your feet. You never know, their presence could save your butt in a zombie fest. There is nothing more satisfying to be struck down by a zombie, within seconds of your death only to be saved by your team. It really is an exhilarating experience.
Now go online for versus, and it brings out the evil in people. *smirks* Playing as infected zombies to take out the Survivor team is just awesome. There is nothing more satisfying then being a boomer vomiting on people to get them blind, and then have a smoker rope a survivor through the trees on top of a building, while the last 2 hunters pounce on the remaining Survivor team members. Something about being a zombie and dominating the human team is just satisfying. Oh, but it gets better. You take turns each round playing as the humans and the zombies. This is your time to show your “what you got”. Depending on how far you can make it in the level, you get the respective points for your time.
All in all, Left 4 Dead is just awesome for co-op play. I don’t think any FPS shooter for the PC has captured the intensity and teamwork like Left 4 Dead has in such a small scale setting. Already there are copy cats on the horizon, as “The Killing Field” is another zombie game which turns out to be a UT3 mod which allows up to 6 co-op players. Pretty soon the DLC content will be available making L4D even more fun with new gameplay mode and new maps.
Add in the SDK for user community maps and you got a fantastic game.
I started off this post with an ingame screenshot of a hamachi game that I played last night. Full house, 8 players, versus. It was a boatload of fun. If you are looking for some of the action, but don’t really want to play with strangers from other hamachi networks, then I encourage you to join my L4D networks. If they are full, then send me an email and I can give you a temporary network so I can get you in. I have 6 networks, and I am cleaning them out as necessary so people will always be online at night and that people will have a chance to play.
Surprisingly, ever since I started this underground L4D hamachi networks, I have met some fantastic game players. We play almost all the time, and you sort of grow a bond with these other guys, and I only know them through hamachi and nowhere else. It is sort of funny. I have the ability to play on dedicated servers using Ogerlauncher, but its a bunch of russian people and europe players but it just doesn’t feel the same. Perhaps because I don’t know these guys, and they just felt like strangers.
However, in my hamachi networks, I am highly recognized for my efforts and holistic approach. I have lost track of how many people I have helped to fix their various L4D problems, let alone create special networks to help them learn how to host and connect. I think this is what makes me and my blog stand out. The other blogs out there don’t have very good guides, and if they do, they are just junk. Did I mention I spent 4 days in a role trying to get to the bottom of the Class C error? Well, I frickin’ did it and it felt great to find the solution and write a guide and VIDEO too about it. The most popular L4D guide I have is [Cracked] Learn How To Update Left 4 Dead Without Steam – Hamachi, and that is a damn fine guide. With the help of the community, I am able to update the page with the latest patch links, and I think hamachi players find it pretty cool to find a blog author playing games with them. I take their feedback, and write it on the blog as necessary so I definitely value other people’s input. ;0
Which reminds me – I am looking for similar hamachi hosters. If you own a hamachi network, and you play L4D, or perhaps other games, let me know. I want to get to know people who are similar to my gaming ethics and perhaps together we can create a badass community. Thanks!
[Personal shoutout to hamachi players include: Hail2King, Ray-Z, Anklebiter, EazyPickins, Platypus, Shizhawt]
Welcome to the Underground. 