Community,
Just recently, a pre-build of both Left 4 Dead games were showcased on YouTube. The way these builds were discovered were through a non-updated physical copy of the Left 4 Dead 2 PC disc. By utilizing the disc version of Left 4 Dead, you can launch the game without installing Steam (the forced way to update the game). Looking at the timeline of Left 4 Dead 2's development, this build dates a couple of weeks prior to the pre-order Demo, where the menu transition no longer remained. This build currently has the following features:
E3 Menu UI (This confirms it was not changed until pre-order demo was released)
No DLC campaigns or Mutations
The Parish Alpha map not accessible (but shown in files)
Unfinished finales
No credits statistics
Addons menu in-game (with no addons folder in directory)
Bots behave exactly like Left 4 Dead 1 AI
Menu music will not loop (similar to Left 4 Dead 1 Xbox 360)
Smaller version of Left 4 Dead 2's Future Rot font
With this information stated, there is a possibility of archiving files that in which do not exist in the current game files. Much like confirming the menu UI, this can be a gateway to even more unused content that hasn't been discovered yet. You can access the video and download this build here:
https://youtu.be/As3H-OPBr0E
Also, take note that the download is not even 4 GB big, while the base game pushes 8 GB. The date of this build is NLT 21OCT09, while the demo was released on 29OCT09, and the retail being released on 17NOV09.
Left 4 Dead 2 Beta Pack Possible Required Menu
The Beta Pack may transition to Sergi's restored pre-released menu mod instead (to best accurately mimic the E3 build) and also incorporate it into the mod itself. With that being said, understand you will be forced to disable any menu mods when using the regular Left 4 Dead 2 Beta Pack. This will not be incorporated into the Online Edition. Depending on the amount of content released to the workshop at this time will determine if this menu UI will be added as a hotfix or part of a new version. Regardless, continue to stay tuned. Very respectfully, Gigan, Beta Pack Team Manager