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Left 4 Dead 360 Hacked Up

Console-style commands enabled in 360 version of game, many zombies spawned, burned, erased.

Bill!
Bill!
Here's something you don't see every day. People have figured out a way to alter the Xbox 360 version of Valve's Left 4 Dead to essentially enable cheats and play around with things much in the way you'd be able to in the PC version with cheats turned on at the server. This is leading to people randomly joining modified servers that are letting players spawn weapons, make use of infinite health, or even just make a bunch of witches appear to ruin everybody's fun.

Well, maybe not everybody's fun. That actually all sounds like a good time. But it's still not exactly the sort of thing I'd want to encounter without warning. The Ars Technica article about it makes it sound pretty awful--witches and tanks in the safe house!?!?! Is there no GOD!!?!!?

Here's a video of the various things people are able to do. Setting it up yourself involves modifying the contents of your Xbox 360's hard drive. It looks like you're effectively hex-editing some of the Left 4 Dead files to gain control. This sounds like the sort of thing that'll get patched out pretty quick-like, maybe with a round of bans to the users caught modifying their gear, if only to give Microsoft another chance to say "what part of zero tolerance don't you understand?"

If I were Valve, I'd just incorporate this stuff into a separate game mode and let people hack it up all they want on private online servers. Seriously, it looks like fun, and console players so rarely get to mess around with stuff like this.

  

Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

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jeff

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Edited By jeff
Bill!
Bill!
Here's something you don't see every day. People have figured out a way to alter the Xbox 360 version of Valve's Left 4 Dead to essentially enable cheats and play around with things much in the way you'd be able to in the PC version with cheats turned on at the server. This is leading to people randomly joining modified servers that are letting players spawn weapons, make use of infinite health, or even just make a bunch of witches appear to ruin everybody's fun.

Well, maybe not everybody's fun. That actually all sounds like a good time. But it's still not exactly the sort of thing I'd want to encounter without warning. The Ars Technica article about it makes it sound pretty awful--witches and tanks in the safe house!?!?! Is there no GOD!!?!!?

Here's a video of the various things people are able to do. Setting it up yourself involves modifying the contents of your Xbox 360's hard drive. It looks like you're effectively hex-editing some of the Left 4 Dead files to gain control. This sounds like the sort of thing that'll get patched out pretty quick-like, maybe with a round of bans to the users caught modifying their gear, if only to give Microsoft another chance to say "what part of zero tolerance don't you understand?"

If I were Valve, I'd just incorporate this stuff into a separate game mode and let people hack it up all they want on private online servers. Seriously, it looks like fun, and console players so rarely get to mess around with stuff like this.

  

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megaplushie

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Edited By megaplushie

That sounds pretty sweet. I'd still hate to spawn in that safehouse, though.

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JJOR64

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Edited By JJOR64

Nice, I hope they do add some cool add-ons to the 360 version.

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Aounslaught

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Edited By Aounslaught

Wow I played this for the first time today and I must admit the witches and the tanks were the most fun of all. And the combination of both within a safehouse would be absolute insanity! Sure hope that something like this stays for good on the 360 version of the game.

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weltal

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Edited By weltal

Well, if it's that easy to alter things, maybe we can get some damn Mods and stuff on the 360 like the PC.... Please?

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Edited By 8

I would love to keep console commands on the console versions, but I don't want to accidentally join a hacked game or have a hacker join mine. So yeah, that seperate online channel thing seems like a good idea.

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Bear

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Edited By Bear

The one thing I envy about PC gamers. Unreal Tournament 3 was a step in the right direction; too bad it couldn't have been done on a more popular game.

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Edited By AndrewB

Looks like it could be fun for a little while, like all console commands are (though they get old pretty quickly). Still, I agree that it should be kept separate of all those looking for the standard Left 4 Dead gameplay. Of course, it'll be patched out soon anyway...

And I like how the guy tried to edit out the tutorial part of the video by posting a big white commentary box over it. You can still see pretty much every step involved anyway.

Edit: Wait, I just had a thought. If hex editing of this sort is possible, and assuming that the setup of all the files is similar to the PC version of Left 4 Dead, perhaps it would even be possible to load up custom maps on the 360? Seems like a long shot, but that would be pretty cool.

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ZombiePie

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Edited By ZombiePie  Staff

Modding on a console videogame... you don't see that everyday. I wonder how Microsoft and Valve wll respond to this and whether they'll respond that same way.

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jakob187

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Edited By jakob187

Yeah, it'd be cool to have all of that stuff in the game on a separate mode...

...although it would make the achievements completely worthless.
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mthe1337one

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Edited By mthe1337one

wow 360 users are getting desperate :\

fortunately my pc experience with the game has been pretty solid.  fun times despite the amount of campaigns.

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dexterslu

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Edited By dexterslu

Yeah it'd be cool for private matchs, I'm not sure I want to play something like this in a pub match.

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FalcomAdol

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Edited By FalcomAdol

This will definitely result in straight-up bans.  Fucking with game saves is a big no-no.

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Green_Incarnate

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Edited By Green_Incarnate
ZombiePie said:
"Modding on a console videogame... you don't see that everyday. I wonder how Microsoft and Valve wll respond to this and whether they'll respond that same way."
I saw it almost every day playing ranked Halo 2 matches.
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Kinarion

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Edited By Kinarion

Off topic: Is there a podcast coming tonight?  I mean, I can put off studying for finals forever, just curious.

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Edited By TomA

Ya this wil get removed i bet,o well i ahve the PC version.

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Edited By CleverLoginName

I imagine since it's all source code that some of the people I've played Team Fortress 2 might be pulling the same thing, opening the console and issuing commands. The point is, when you give people that power, some are going to abuse it.

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Edited By TomServo

hah, he whited the tutorial out!!!!

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lamegame621

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Edited By lamegame621

"What part of zero tolerance don't you understand?"

How about the part where it makes things less fun...?

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Milkman

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Edited By Milkman

One major reason that I could see Microsoft getting involved here would be achievements.

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deactivated-58efb53e06a03

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Left4Dead for 360 will be left for dead by Valve soon. Just wait.

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Edited By Scooper

So.....I press the button under escape...... and like cool stuff happens.
It's pretty funny they've found out how to do that on the 360, though.

Ps. the huge zombies are just put in what's called the 'skybox' it's a little box outside the map where basicaly the map's backround enviroment is stored so when you spawn something in there it'll look massive in the actual map, obviusly you can't interact with it, but it looks cool.

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Edited By DrRandle

Eh, I think modding should be reserved for the PC and even then under specific servers. This kind of thing is seen, at least to me, as more jack-assery than anything. Leave it to Valve to give out the add-on's, for 360, hm?

Also, Jeff, "Is there no God?!" was an awesome line. Thank you.

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Conmused

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Edited By Conmused

I too am curious about the podcast.. 

Oh. the video? Yeah, that's neat, but I'd rather not get banned. But if valve put in a forge-like system, where we could just edit the crap out of levels? I'm totally up for it. especially since the AI director apparently can do most of the work. Lets see some crazy shit get put in L4D to fill that hunger for content.

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TheWorstPlayerEver

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Modding is fun sometimes but I feel that it kind of ruins the experience

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deactivated-61665c8292280

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The music used in that video rocks. 

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Edited By spiceninja

Valve should really keep this stuff and like you said Jeff just keep it all on separate servers.

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Unreal_dro

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Edited By Unreal_dro

lol. awesome video

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AspiringAndy

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Edited By AspiringAndy

Yeah, where is the podcast..
I saw my friend doing this earlier on his 360, he must have been tampering with it or something..

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Razor

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Edited By Razor

Thx Jeff

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Edited By Muffin_Hunter
@ Sir_Ragnarok
Those tunes are by Uma Floresta. The first one is "Almost Everything" followed by "Three Thousand Years" just thought you'd like to know. :)
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ep_driver

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Edited By ep_driver

If anyone knows who any of the music is by, private message me please!

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Seroth

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Edited By Seroth

Just release Garry's Mod for the 360. >=]

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Edited By TwoOneFive

sounds like this got out of hand completely, people are doing this like crazy. 

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Edited By IncredibleBulk92

Wow its good to see just how well the engine holds up under the sheer amount of moltovs and AI being spawned.  I'd hate it if somebody did this on one of my games.  Seems annoying :S

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deactivated-5e0e0ee2ea170

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Big people? Small City?  Thats just a guy standing in the skybox...... So basically they turned noclip on.

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TaintedSun

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Edited By TaintedSun

I dunno if "looks like fun" is the description I'd use, but alright.

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Edited By killerkahuna

Yeah on PC you just do no clipping and boom you're going through everything. And it's something similar with that huge character, the person who's big is just standing next to that small city version of the actual level and they get projected, as big but they aint and the clouds are like a twister around that small version of the level, those are actually just the serounding buildings of the level in the distance.

but they did a nice job

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Death_Burnout

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Edited By Death_Burnout

Aha my Left 4 Dead fever dream comes to life! I've said in the past this sort of thing should be a seperate mode, but someone in particular said that would be bad, so take that!

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ManlyBeast

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Edited By ManlyBeast

funny

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TEAMHOLT

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Edited By TEAMHOLT

Louis!

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Edited By geekpimpfx

This would be cool as long as I got full disclosure going into it.  I wouldn't want to plan on a normal game and spawn into it

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Edited By raikoh05

This is why I pretty much only play fps on pc, console kids just don't understand. also, microsoft owns you.

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Edited By Media_Master

that was something else!

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hatking

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Edited By hatking

Nice I have all the equipment for that stuff.  If I knew I wouldn't get banned I would try it.

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Bulldog19892

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Edited By Bulldog19892

Gigantic witches!? Oh shit!

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ZmillA

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Edited By ZmillA

This is why we can't have nice things!

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KingBroly

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Edited By KingBroly

I hope you guys know that this isn't the only Valve game on 360 that has been hacked to hell and back, but no one's talking about it.  And that's The Orange Box.

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RHCPfan24

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Edited By RHCPfan24

Looks like a lot of fun but nothing worth getting banned over.