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- "Big campground with RVs and hiking trails."
- ―Turtle Rock Studios Development Notes
Campground is the second chapter of the Dam It campaign.
The Survivors start off in a safe room on the second floor of a farmhouse.
To make it to the next safe room, the Survivors must make their way across a rickety bridge over a lake and find their way into the campground. Once there, they must traverse the thick woods and navigate past the various RVs and campsites before taking a hiking trail and heading off the beaten path.
The hiking trail takes them to a section of the woods that has been burnt and some of it is still on fire. They must move through this scorched patch of forest and proceed towards a logging camp trench. In order to clear the way, the Survivors need to split up while one group activates a generator that powers the mechanism that the second group needs to operate.
Once they've managed to activate the mechanism and lift the logs, it's time to find shelter in the safe room at the foot of the dam.
Strategy
Also see: Tactics
All campaign walkthroughs are done on Normal difficulty in single player, and are meant to give tips on what to do and generally point out things that might otherwise be missed.
There are, of course, a few key things to always remember:
- Stop, look, and listen.
- Being observant might alert you to something nasty ahead of time, like a Witch, Special Infected or Tank, and allow you to prepare yourself.
- Teamwork.
- This cannot be stressed enough. Left 4 Dead is supposed to be a cooperative game. Communicate with your teammates, if you're playing with others, or if you're by yourself with the AI, point out things they might otherwise miss. In all cases, watch out for each other and take care of each other. You are not going to survive the zombie apocalypse by yourself.
- Be ready for anything.
- Don't panic.
Making your way through the Campground won't be easy. Sight lines can be poor in the forest, the water can slow you down, and Infected can come running at you from all sides. Stick together, watch each other's backs, and you'll make it through.
Campaign
At the beginning, the Bot Survivors will grab:
- Bill will grab a Pump Shotgun.
- Francis will grab a Pump Shotgun.
- Louis will grab a Submachine Gun.
- Zoey will grab a Submachine Gun.
Versus
The Survivors
Now that humans are controlling the Special Infected, things can only get harder. However, they can't spawn until you leave the safe room. That doesn't mean that you should let them have a good chance to find just the right spot, though! Hurry up and get your supplies, and get running!
Throughout the level, remember that you are playing against human players. They will not wait for you to come to them, and if they do, it's because they have an ambush location that could be deadly to you and your team. With this in mind, you need to keep moving. However, moving blindly could be your downfall. Move quickly, but with caution. Also, under all circumstances: stick close to your team.
Remember that in Versus, your melee is limited so you cannot properly use corner melee-spamming tactics. However, having the entire team together will be helpful as you can generally see the Special Infected and you'll be able to kill most of them before they reach you.
The primary concern for Survivors on this level isn't the Crescendo Event towards the end, but rather the bridge at the beginning. There are many gaps and holes through which they can fall, or worse yet, be dragged through. Smokers are your primary concern. A Smoker can split up the team without anyone spotting him and drag Survivors off the bridge and into the water. If this happens, the team will have to leave the bridge and stick together in the water below, which will slow them down significantly.
As with all levels, when you know you're near the safe room, make sure you are with your teammates before you make a dash for it. If you make a break for it alone, it is not unlikely that a Hunter or a Smoker will be waiting for your arrival and possibly kill you before the others can reach you. No one can survive the infection alone. Teamwork is essential.
The Infected
See also: The Boomer, The Hunter, The Smoker, The Tank
They're trying to make a break for the dam! Work together to make sure they set up camp in the woods. Permanently.
Overall Tips
- Any survivors that choose to run ahead of or fall behind their teammates will be much easier to seriously damage and kill. The farther away they are from their teammates, the more likely they are to be incapacitated or die before their teammates can reach them.
- The Survivors all have outlines around them, showing their status and location. Green means they're healthy. Yellow means they're hurt. Red means they're low on health. Purple means they've been covered in Boomer bile. You can probably discern which to seek out first if possible.
- Think like a Survivor. When you play as one, when are the worst times that something could come at you? Exploit that knowledge.
- Teamwork, as aforementioned. Has a Boomer gotten their bile all over the Survivors? Jump one of them or a clean one. They can't see their teammates' aura until they're clean...and by then, it might be too late.
- As much as teamwork is a strength for you and your enemies, a lack of it will be their downfall. If you can focus all of your energy on killing one of the Survivors, the rest will be that much easier to take down. Not only will they have one less gun, but they will have three Survivors to your three incapacitating Infected.
Boomers: ?
Hunters: ?
Smokers: ?
Tanks: ?
Witches: ?
Behind the Scenes
Originally, the bridge that the Survivors cross towards the beginning of the level was designed to be much more treacherous than it is in the released version. The intention was that the bridge would be extremely fragile and would collapse if the Survivors used any explosives or killed a Boomer, leaving them vulnerable to attacks in the water below.[1]
Additionally, the burnt forest section was created with the idea that fire would spread and move across the area, giving the Survivors a unique hazard to avoid whilst crossing the terrain. This was never implemented, although fire is still present in some locations and may damage the player for a longer period of time than usual.[2]
Notes
- Based on the bird's eye view map, the road passing the front of the campground is Route 666, which refer to the real-life Pennsylvania Route 666 that cut through most of Allegheny National Forest. Despite having 666 designation, Pennsylvania Route 666 is not part of the renowned U.S. Route 666 (which renumbered 491 in 2003 due to demonic connotation and superstitions surrounding it), which serves the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and (formerly) Arizona. Due to its location and being sparsely populated, it is also the less vandalized road and experienced less sign thefts compared to other many U.S. roads which bear 666 designations.
- 666 itself is known as the Number of the beast, which is staple of various demonic, apocalyptic, and superstitious beliefs, circles, and legends. It also adapted in various pop culture with demonic and magical connotations.
- While not mentioned, based on the bird's eye view map, the chapter is designed based on the Glendale Valley Campground, one of campgrounds near to the Kinzua Dam and the only one hosted spacious RV parking sites. However, Glendale Valley Campground in real-life itself not passed by the Pennsylvania Route 666, it is Minister Creek Campground instead which fits the location in the bird's eye view map.
- This map contains the only Crescendo Event in the Left 4 Dead series that was designed to encourage the Survivors to split up to become more effective.
- Tier two weapons can be found all across the map. They are often spawned as lone weapons, such as a single Assault Rifle with nothing else present.
- As with the other levels in Dam It, multiple Tanks can spawn on this level.
References
- ↑ From the Developer Notes seen here: "The long covered bridge. You can't use explosives or shoot Boomers here because the bridge will collapse, forcing Survivors to take the long route."
- ↑ From the Developer Notes seen here: "Part of the forest has been burned. Small fires still stir-up and move randomly across the open ground."
