Left 4 Dead 2: Adding in Map-Specific SI Models with V-Script

Have you ever wanted to make map-specific SI model replacements? Unsure which method to use? Well, this guide is for you! Maybe. In this guide, we’ll go over the pros and cons of the v-script method, as well as how to use it to make your own replacements. This guide assumes that you know how to make SI model replacements, but I’ll try to keep it as beginner-friendly as I can.

This is the method used in my mod, linked below.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3164287213

There are many ways to implement map-specific replacements, however none of them are perfect. They all have their own pros and cons, as well as some taking longer to make than others. This method is no different; it does have its own pros and cons. However, it’s worth noting that two big advantages with this method is that it has little to no conflicts with other mods since it doesn’t replace any vanilla models or textures, and you can make it automatically disable in multiplayer.

• Has little to no conflicts with other mods, due to it not actually replacing anything
• Can be configured to automatically disable in multiplayer (so that your friends don’t see errors)
  If you follow this guide, your script is already configured to disable in multiplayer. We’ll get to how to change this later.
• Can be configured to affect most custom campaign variants of the official campaigns
• No need to find map codes. It uses the name of the map, which is much easier to find.
• Will only appear on specified maps (or maps that might be related). It won’t unintentionally affect other, unrelated maps
• The models will always be replaced on specified maps, regardless of mods installed or load order.

• Can only be used on SI
• Has to be a model replacement in some way. Won’t work if it’s just a texture
• If configured to work in multiplayer, other players will have to install the mod in order to not see errors.
• Can’t replace the viewmodels used in Versus
• Can’t replace the exploded Boomer legs model (at least not to my knowledge)
• Can’t replace the Witch

Also, I don’t actually have a lot of knowledge on v-script. I put together this method based on what I do know. Correct me if I’m wrong on certain things.

Before compiling your model, give it a different name. This is so that it won’t replace any models used by the game. You should also make sure that any custom textures used by your model don’t replace any vanilla textures. For this guide, I’ll be using the Mud Smoker model featured in my mod linked in the first section.

You can set the name to whatever you like, but I recommend keeping it to “X_Y”, with X being the name of the special infected and Y being a related term. Example shown on the right.

Compile the model as usual.

In your mod, create a folder called “scripts”. In that folder, create another folder called “vscripts”. Then, in that folder, create a nut file called “director_base_addon”. You can create a nut file by creating a text file and replacing the file name extension from “.txt” to “.nut”.

Open the nut file with your text editor of choice (I’m using Notepad++), and copy-paste the following code.

You may have noticed the question marks found in the script. These need to be replaced.

For the first instance of question marks:

Replace the question marks with whatever message you want. This is the message that will show up in the console, when the script gets loaded.

For the second instance of question marks:

Replace the question marks with the name of the map you want the script to run on. It doesn’t have to be the full name, but I would highly recommend putting the full name for custom maps. For official maps, I like to keep it to just the first few letters and numbers of the map (before the underscore) so that it would affect most custom campaign variants of the specified map, as shown below.

If you want to add more maps, add a space and a “|| mapname.find(“????”) != null” after the “null” but before the parenthesis, shown below.

Then replace the question marks with another map. You can repeat this however many times you like, shown in the example below.

For the last instance of question marks:

Replace the question marks with a random name. It cannot contain spaces. Try to make it unique, as it will conflict if someone has theirs set to the same one. Also, remember this name, as it’ll be the name of the second script we need to make.

(Optional) If you want the mod to work in multiplayer, remove the following code:

Your script will now run in multiplayer games.

If you followed the steps, you should be finished with the first script.

In the same folder as “director_base_addon”, create another nut file. Set the name to whatever you set the last instance of question marks to.
(For example, I’ve set the last instance of question marks to “mudsmokers”, therefore I’ll name this script “mudsmokers”.)

In that script, copy-paste the following code:

This is where things may get a little complicated. There are multiple things we need to replace in this script.

For ALL instances of “XXXX” (there’s 5 of them), replace them with a related name. No spaces. They all have to be the exact same.
Example: I’ll replace all instances of “XXXX” with “MudSmokers”.

For ALL instances of “BBBB” (there’s 2 of them), replace them with whatever you want. No spaces. They both have to be the exact same. Try to keep this one unique, as it will cause conflicts if someone’s mod has the same one as yours.
Example: I’ll replace all instances of “BBBB” with “mudsmokersvscript”.

For the one instance of “ZZZZ”, replace it with the vanilla name of the SI model you’re replacing.
Example: My mod is meant to replace the Smoker, who uses the model “smoker”. I’ll replace “ZZZZ” with “smoker”.

For the one instance of “VVVV”, replace it with the name of your custom SI model.
Example: My custom SI model’s name is “smoker_mud”. I’ll replace “VVVV” with “smoker_mud”

For the one instance of “MMMM”, replace it with the number corresponding to your SI, as shown on the list.

Example: The Smoker’s number is 1. I’ll replace “MMMM” with “1”.

If you followed all the steps, your script should look something like this.

Save it. You’re done.

Compile your mod into a VPK, put it in your add-ons folder, and launch the game. Launch a singleplayer game of one of the maps that you specified in your first script, and ensure that your SI model replacement works. Start another singleplayer game of a map that you didn’t specify in your first script, and ensure that the SI model is not replaced. You should also check the console to ensure that no errors popped up. If you configured the script to work in multiplayer, make sure you test it in multiplayer as well. Otherwise, ensure that the models aren’t replaced in multiplayer. If there’s nothing wrong, then you’re done! Good job!

Feel free to publish your mod to the workshop! The only thing that I ask is that you credit me and leave a link to this guide in the description. If there’s any issues with your mod, leave it in the comments. Thanks for reading!