Built In: Hammer Editor [Valve]

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Designer Notes: For one of my 3D design courses at DigiPen, we were allowed to mod an existing game for our final project. I decided to make a level for Left 4 Dead, but I wanted to make something with a message. This led me to create Left 4 Ever, a level that examines the repetitive nature of games like Left 4 Dead. 

Left 4 Ever is based around the idea that the ones leaving the messages in safe rooms, leading the players in the right direction, and so on are actually previous lives of the main characters. With each life, the characters learn more about the level, and are able to progress further each time. This is also why there are far fewer zombies than in a typical level of Left 4 Dead; the protagonists have already been through the area multiple times, and have cleared most of them out.

Level Flow: The level begins with the four protagonists in an underground saferoom. They climb out into what appears to be a relatively normal urban area. They progress forward, but don't travel very far before they come across what looks like the next saferoom. When they open the door, they see a mass of zombie and survivor corpses alike. Continuing onward, they reach a facility with an emergency door that warns them about the horde... yet when they open it, barely any zombies come to attack them.

They move forward into the woods, which eventually leads them to four open graves. Lying inside each of the graves are Bill, Zoey, Louis, and Francis, respectively. They descend a ladder into what appears to be an underground bunker. The bunker has several rooms, and each of them are themed around a campaign from Left 4 Dead (a hospital room, a cornfield, and so on). Finally, the survivors reach the final door, and open it, expecting the end of level safe room... only to find that they are back where they started.