[Note: This collection is not "finished." No artwork has been finalized, the collection's contents are not polished, etc, but since it's been a while since I've output anything workshop-wise, and to apologize for missing my self-imposed deadline of Halloween, I decided to just make it public anyway. When the collection becomes what I'd consider to be "finished," I will remove this message.]

In an alternate universe where Left 4 Dead 2 stuck to its predecessors horror roots and, in-fact, sought to amplify them ten-fold, we didn't get what we call "Left 4 Dead 2"; we got HORRIFY Left 4 Dead 2! And this collection is dedicated to the cause of recreating this alternate universe horror game, no matter the costs. Just in time for Halloween 2024!

HORRIFY Left 4 Dead 2, similar to HORRIFY Garry's Mod, is a collection based upon the concept of bringing Left 4 Dead 2 back to its horror roots as much as possible by creating an immersive first-person experience, changing the atmosphere to a more realistic one, and most divisively: By completely shifting the gameplay to be a more slow, methodical, grueling experience. Admittedly, the philosophy behind this collection is a lot more fast-and-loose than my previous, being much more of a drastic overhaul, but I believe that a cosmetic-only collection simply would not do the concept justice. But that doesn't mean I didn't care at all. Here are the ground-rules for the collection (In-order of importance):

• Atmosphere and immersion are priority number one. Though Left 4 Dead 1 did/does have a very strong atmosphere associated with it already, Left 4 Dead 2 threw much of that away in-favor of a more action-focused style which, whilst charming, does nothing to help sell the idea of a dangerous zombie apocalypse. Horrify Left 4 Dead seeks to fix this by bringing back the horrifying atmosphere ten fold!
  
• Adherence to Left 4 Dead's principles. A level of care has been taken to ensure that all the changes featured in Horrify Left 4 Dead generally match the same decisions that Valve would have made themselves, with my own discretion filling in the rest. For example: Some of what's featured in the collection is actually revived beta content, or elements brought back from Left 4 Dead 1, such as tanks moving faster while burning. An example of an inclusion that does not match, however, is FP Animations Recoded, which I believe increases atmosphere greatly, but at the cost of disorientation and potential motion sickness.
  
• Gameplay changes are kept to a minimum. Partly to make the collection as map compatible as possible. For example: Gunplay will feel very different, and much more challenging, however, functionally speaking it's exactly the same as vanilla Garry's Mod.
  
• Little-to-no set-up should be required This is something I've always prioritized across all of my collections. One of the biggest advantages to collections is convenience, and I certainly haven't forgotten that.

Be sure to take these priorities into account before hitting that 'Subscribe to all' button, though the terms are rather lax. The entire collection is probably only ~450 mbs anyway, and most of that comes from the sounds section.

For those who'd like to know what they're getting into, as you should, I did you the courtesy of listing everything this collection changes, and some of the add-ons you have to thank. Feel free to take a look, and decide for yourself what you like or don't like:

[NOTE: List seen below is also the order of which add-ons are sorted in the collection itself]

• Greatly enhanced first-person immersion. These are at the top for a reason. These are the most noticeable and impactful changes of the collection, and should aid in immersion greatly even alone. Your view tilts, your gun recoils, and worst of all: You're *always* in first person, and the collection is not afraid to make you feel disoriented. Not for those who get motion sick easily.
  
• New gore and screen effects.
  
• More lively survivors; More stumbling, more talking, and more animations. The survivors aren't just mindless pawns for the player to toss around, they are (meant to be) actual human beings, all of which are either amateurs or old ♥♥♥♥♥. Thusly: They should stumble, bumble, and communicate like amateurs and old ♥♥♥♥♥. This part of the collection makes the survivors feel more human by adding even more opportunities for them to talk to each-other or respond to in-game events. Speaking of stumbling and bumbling amateurs...
  
• Completely overhauled (and more realistic?) atmosphere. Left 4 Dead is a very stylized game, with each campaign having a unique color palette which distinguishes them from the other campaigns, even if they're in similar settings. This collection chooses to pursue a concept from the Left 4 Dead beta and go for a more realistic approach instead, of nights being pitch-black, as they are in the real world. This, among many other minor tweaks, make for an oppressive atmosphere where you will need to use your eyes and your ears to the fullest if you want to live.
  
• Special Infected (SI) cosmetic changes, namely more varied animations, new sounds, etc. The special infected are who you're gonna be seeing most of the time, so why not spice them up a little? This part of the collection is probably the most skippable, to be honest, but I still enjoy the changes personally. This is also the last category before the more overhaul-ish gameplay changes take effect.
  
• INTENSE gameplay overhauls! Frankly: I never liked how easy and safe Left 4 Dead 2 is the vast majority of the time. When an experienced group can just bolt through the map care-free, no amount of cosmetic horror improvements can save it. Thus, I'm going to do something unusual for my collections and *greatly* overhaul Left 4 Dead 2's gameplay, at least for singleplayer or local servers running it, to force players into situations they may not be comfortable with more often. As all good horror does. Normal Left 4 Dead 2 does everything it can to ensure the player is never helpless. Horrify Left 4 Dead doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥ either way.
  
• Scarier soundscapes, thanks to Enhanced Audio, Mob Music Horror Overhaul, etc. Sound is a HUGE part of horror, and good horror knows this. However, most of us have heard Left 4 Dead 2's sounds so many times now that they lost all impact. This section changes that with overhauled music and revamped sound-effects!

Though this collection already tries a lot to ensure the player cannot get totally comfortable repeatedly running through the same 14 campaigns, I would recommend taking a look at Ellie's RNG mod collection for more random cosmetic differences that could subconsciously disrupt familiarity.

This collection may or may not be updated if I can find more good add-ons. Also note that you're free to comment on the collection here if you would like to share your thoughts or suggestions. If you like my collection, leave a like, a comment, and share it around to help other players enjoy it this Halloween season. ~Crigence