Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools beta launched

Today Valve announced that the Authoring tools for Left 4 Dead are in beta and ready to download from the “Tools” tab on Steam. Using this, users can play with:

• Updated version of Hammer, the source level editor
• Updated suite of command line compiling utilities
• Updated Particle editor
• Updated Faceposer
• Example maps, common infected, props, and explosives

Valve are updating the matchmaking system to make the community maps available to all players. If you’re thinking of making something for Left 4 Dead, go here for more info. All us regular players will be able to reap the benefits of awesome community maps in “a few weeks”.