How To: Left 4 Dead Split-Screen on PC

This guide, written by TheBusGuy on the SteamPowered forums, will teach you how to enable split-screen multiplayer on the PC version of Left 4 Dead.

[I Call 9MM]

Seriously, you shouldn't have to go through the hurdles to enable something like that, but the fact that it is possible is great. Hopefully, Valve just enables this off the get go in the retail release. I've really been looking forward to the time when us PC users can get these things that are taken for granted in the console world. So many cross platform games come out onto the PC but lack this splitscreen mode. And with more and more media center PCs and the like being pushed onto the market and into living rooms, why is it? If you code it into the PS3 or 360 (or both I suppose) versions, why not the PC version too.

Hopefully some developers pick up on this. I know people who would use this are in the minority, but still.

[thor]

If PCs had split-screen in most games and had standardised wireless controllers, consoles will lose their last advantage.

In the past, consoles had the advantage that you could just pop a disk in and play - no fuss, no hassle. You could take that same disk, with your memory card, round to your friend's house and play on his console.

You didn't worry about settings and options and installs and patches and expansions and updates.

You didn't have to be concerned that your console might freeze up or that it might not be able to play games as smoothly as they should.

You didn't have lots of different hardware configurations, some of which can actually run games better than others (thinking about NXE here and hard drives).

These are all PC concerns. Now that consoles have these problems too, the PC is looking more inviting. If it had controllers and split-screen play, it should be over for the consoles. The only thing giving the consoles an advantage is exclusive games forcing you to buy their system (when a PC could easily run the same game just as well/better).

[omni_atlas]

Somehow I see splitscreen and co-op being worked into HL2 Episode 3.

[cruckel]

I not only see that, but more games going split screen for PC.

Lucky for me, I got plenty wireless 360 controllers, the PC Xbox Wireless Controller Adaptor, the Widescreen Moniter, and the video card used in the article.

Boy won't my friends be happy.

[I Call 9MM]

It would be nice to see if the next console and the next generation PCs could integrate more then they do now. Having Microsoft (or Sony for that matter) set an open standard for what their games would require at the hardware and software level so developers could do more cross platform and splitscreen gaming between systems would be great. I'm not saying get rid of the set top console box per say, but making sure that a wealth of the games also came to PC at the same time. Hook up some LAN and have four people playing splitscreen on the PC, versus four people playing splitscreen on the console. I bet you would have more people buying two copies, and if a proper, none invasive DRM system comes out to stop piracy (I'm not talking DRM in the general sense of it like Starforce or Securom, something else), developers and publishers may once again really embrace the PC.

[thor]

The trouble is, and the main problem I have, is that I am perfectly fine playing games on my PC. If my PC is good enough to run all these games, why can't it? They are completely ripping us all off with consoles which have now become proprietry PCs with exclusive games. What would happen if you made a game exclusively for a certain make of graphics card? A lot of high profile PC games have also been made for mac, even. Yet we are all being shoehorned into a security protected console environment.

Maybe if there were some sort of PC gaming standard - i.e. "This PC will run all Graphics Level-3 games at their recommended settings" - and devs adhered to this rather than going out and making something with insane graphics that most people's PCs can't showcase, and there was a lot more support for PC, it would be more popular than the consoles. (I think this is similar to what you said 9MM).

Cross-platform play would be awesome if we could get split-screen on PC games - PCs can easily hook up to most TVs now so screen size isn't an issue.

[I Call 9MM]

Actually, Microsoft has been trying to implement some sort of PC score into their operating system that scores your computer based on what it has in it (based on the weakest component) and you can use that score to check if a game will run well on your PC or not. Really takes the hassle out for people who don't know that a 3.0 Ghz Pentium D is weaker then a 3.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo and all that stuff. I think the score goes from like 1.0 to 5.9 right now, and it will go up as more robust games come out (all I needed was a 4870 graphics card to hit 5.9, and there are better cards then that out there). So people will probably be able to hit higher scores with their current hardware, it's just no game needs it now. Really quite clever, the problem is only games for windows titles (mostly, there are exceptions), so not every game out there uses it. Games like Dead Space, Stalker, Quake IV, a quite a few others don't use it, but all the Command and Conquer games seem to, and they aren't Games For Windows titles. So does Far Cry 2.

It would be nice if more developers and publishers used at least this feature, since it is free to implement. I also find it funny that publishers like EA brand some games (e.g Crysis) games for windows but not others (like Dead Space). Weird.

[sleepbox]

I will be trying this the moment I get home.

[Gitaroo]

that makes the PC version the best version since they took it out for the 360 version also