I absolutely love this game. I enabled 360 controller support and I've been loving it ever since.
What is Alien Swarm?
Available 7/19 on Steam Valve time
Alien Swarm is a game and Source SDK release from a group of talented designers at Valve who were hired from the Mod community. Available free of charge, the game thrusts players into an **** bug hunt featuring a unique blend of co-op play and squad-level tactics. With your friends, form a squad of four distinct IAF Marine classes.
Available: July 19th, 2010
Plan your attack using an unlockable arsenal of weapons with countless loadout configurations against a wide variety of aliens. Blaze your way through an overrun, off-world colony, eradicating the alien infestation in environments ranging from the icy planet's surface, to a subterranean lava-flooded mining facility.
Along with the game get the complete code base for Alien Swarm that features updates to the Source engine as well as the SDK. Alien Swarm adds 3rd person camera, depth of field, improved dynamic shadows and a wide variety of gameplay additions to the Source engine.
It is a remake of the Alien Swarm mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, developed by the original team after they were hired by Valve.
Features
Tactical, 4 player co-op action game with a top-down perspective
Complete game code and mod tools
Unlock persistent items by gaining levels
Over 40 weapons and equipment with countless loadout configurations
4 unique classes and 8 unique characters
Matchmaking, Steam Cloud, Steam Stats
64 achievements
Tile-based map generation tool
Powered by Source and Steam
Some more info via Facepunch
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=128
Is this engine version closer to Portal 2's engine than it is L4D2's? Or is it more L4D2?
Much closer to Portal 2. This engine is from about a month before they started working on the E3 demos. Since then Portal 2 has added a bunch of its own new tech, but there's plenty of stuff here that's evolved beyond L4D2.
Does the game use the addon system for custom campaigns (L4D2)
Yes.
Is it improved, possibly the ability to download vpks in game?
I believe there were some improvements, but I'm not sure what they were specifically... Jonathan was handling that work.
Is TileGen realtime?
I'm not quite sure what you mean. You'll be able to host with .layout files. These are a tiny download when clients connect and then the map rebuilds on their machines in about 30 seconds (depending on complexity and CPU power of course).
Is Source SDK being updated along with the seperate SDK for Alien Swarm?
This SDK is a separate SDK.
Does Alien Swarm use the director to spice up the gameplay?
Alien Swarm has a strong tactical planning focus. It's quite a bit less randomized than L4D so that players can observe, learn, and overcome the challenges thrown at them.
Does Alien Swarm have more than just a campaign mode? Maybe a competitive mode such as Survival or Versus. (In the future).
Just Campaign... and for getting used to the controls an "Offline Practice" mode. But really, if you're a real man, you'll want to just jump in at the deep end and play.
only one thing makes me sad and that is you cant see the other players flashlights
The flashlight is equipment that you can choose for your loadout... you have to weigh it tactically against other equipment that you can take instead. In this video only one marine has a flashlight. If multiple marines have flashlights, you will see them all.
is alien swarm using dedicated servers or peer to peer?
It supports dedicated servers and listen servers in the same way as previous Source games.
SDK Info
Originally Posted by syllogism: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Alien_Swarm
In-Game Level Generator
Quote: It has an IN-GAME level editor which can also randomly generate missions.
In Steam Tools, install the Alien Swarm SDK.
Run the game as normal.
Activate the console.
Open it.
Type 'SV_Cheats 1'
Type 'ASW_tilegen'
There you go. One level editor. I just tested it. Without hyperbole, it took me three minutes to generate and compile a whole new level from scratch. And then I was playing it. And died really quickly because there were no bots to help me, but whatever, it WORKS.
I repeat: THIS GAME HAS A RANDOM MISSION GENERATOR AND IN-GAME EDITOR. The number of missions is officially infinite.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...ost37988 1527
...and getting it to work in multiplayer and some other tricks (thanks to Hazaro):
Quote: People getting stuck at the "Generating map..." progress bar in TileGen
You need to install the Alien Swarm - SDK. Go to Steam > Library > Tools and install the Alien Swarm - SDK. Your maps will generate properly now.
Firstperson: bind k "sv_cheats 1;firstperson;asw_hide_marine;asw_controls 0;asw_debug_marine_aim 1;sv_cheats 0"
Thirdperson: bind l "sv_cheats 1;thirdperson;asw_hide_marine;asw_controls 1;asw_debug_marine_aim 0;sv_cheats 0"
Got custom maps working in multiplayer with the ingame editor.
First make a map in the ingame editor, with a start and exit. Setup some objectives.
Now close the client.
Look under X:\Steam\SteamApps\common\alien swarm\swarm\maps
You'll see some files called Output with some extensions.
Feel free to rename all those to something else thats not Output so you don't overwrite your masterpiece later. (Editor only saves maps as Output)
Now start up an online game.
Then open the console and type map Whatever
Everyone must have the SDK installed. Go to Library -> Tools -> Alien Swarm SDK
About using a gamepad
Unsupported officially, but supposedly they are working on it. Reports are that it works unofficially.
Quote: Also, 360 pad works very well with this game. It works like any Source game, you need to enable it in the dev console and you can't use it in the menu. Apart from a few binding in the offline single player the 360 pad support is rather well done for an "unsupported" feature.
Quote: Example: D:\Steam\steamapps\common\alien swarm\swarm\cfg
Also,
Quote: exec 360controller_xbox
...in the console may work but I'm not sure if it needs additional tweaking with the methods above.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=603
I suggest you download it now.
What is Alien Swarm?
Available 7/19 on Steam Valve time
Alien Swarm is a game and Source SDK release from a group of talented designers at Valve who were hired from the Mod community. Available free of charge, the game thrusts players into an **** bug hunt featuring a unique blend of co-op play and squad-level tactics. With your friends, form a squad of four distinct IAF Marine classes.
Available: July 19th, 2010
Plan your attack using an unlockable arsenal of weapons with countless loadout configurations against a wide variety of aliens. Blaze your way through an overrun, off-world colony, eradicating the alien infestation in environments ranging from the icy planet's surface, to a subterranean lava-flooded mining facility.
Along with the game get the complete code base for Alien Swarm that features updates to the Source engine as well as the SDK. Alien Swarm adds 3rd person camera, depth of field, improved dynamic shadows and a wide variety of gameplay additions to the Source engine.
It is a remake of the Alien Swarm mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, developed by the original team after they were hired by Valve.
Features
Tactical, 4 player co-op action game with a top-down perspective
Complete game code and mod tools
Unlock persistent items by gaining levels
Over 40 weapons and equipment with countless loadout configurations
4 unique classes and 8 unique characters
Matchmaking, Steam Cloud, Steam Stats
64 achievements
Tile-based map generation tool
Powered by Source and Steam
Some more info via Facepunch
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=128
Is this engine version closer to Portal 2's engine than it is L4D2's? Or is it more L4D2?
Much closer to Portal 2. This engine is from about a month before they started working on the E3 demos. Since then Portal 2 has added a bunch of its own new tech, but there's plenty of stuff here that's evolved beyond L4D2.
Does the game use the addon system for custom campaigns (L4D2)
Yes.
Is it improved, possibly the ability to download vpks in game?
I believe there were some improvements, but I'm not sure what they were specifically... Jonathan was handling that work.
Is TileGen realtime?
I'm not quite sure what you mean. You'll be able to host with .layout files. These are a tiny download when clients connect and then the map rebuilds on their machines in about 30 seconds (depending on complexity and CPU power of course).
Is Source SDK being updated along with the seperate SDK for Alien Swarm?
This SDK is a separate SDK.
Does Alien Swarm use the director to spice up the gameplay?
Alien Swarm has a strong tactical planning focus. It's quite a bit less randomized than L4D so that players can observe, learn, and overcome the challenges thrown at them.
Does Alien Swarm have more than just a campaign mode? Maybe a competitive mode such as Survival or Versus. (In the future).
Just Campaign... and for getting used to the controls an "Offline Practice" mode. But really, if you're a real man, you'll want to just jump in at the deep end and play.
only one thing makes me sad and that is you cant see the other players flashlights
The flashlight is equipment that you can choose for your loadout... you have to weigh it tactically against other equipment that you can take instead. In this video only one marine has a flashlight. If multiple marines have flashlights, you will see them all.
is alien swarm using dedicated servers or peer to peer?
It supports dedicated servers and listen servers in the same way as previous Source games.
SDK Info
Originally Posted by syllogism: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Alien_Swarm
In-Game Level Generator
Quote: It has an IN-GAME level editor which can also randomly generate missions.
In Steam Tools, install the Alien Swarm SDK.
Run the game as normal.
Activate the console.
Open it.
Type 'SV_Cheats 1'
Type 'ASW_tilegen'
There you go. One level editor. I just tested it. Without hyperbole, it took me three minutes to generate and compile a whole new level from scratch. And then I was playing it. And died really quickly because there were no bots to help me, but whatever, it WORKS.
I repeat: THIS GAME HAS A RANDOM MISSION GENERATOR AND IN-GAME EDITOR. The number of missions is officially infinite.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...ost37988 1527
...and getting it to work in multiplayer and some other tricks (thanks to Hazaro):
Quote: People getting stuck at the "Generating map..." progress bar in TileGen
You need to install the Alien Swarm - SDK. Go to Steam > Library > Tools and install the Alien Swarm - SDK. Your maps will generate properly now.
Firstperson: bind k "sv_cheats 1;firstperson;asw_hide_marine;asw_controls 0;asw_debug_marine_aim 1;sv_cheats 0"
Thirdperson: bind l "sv_cheats 1;thirdperson;asw_hide_marine;asw_controls 1;asw_debug_marine_aim 0;sv_cheats 0"
Got custom maps working in multiplayer with the ingame editor.
First make a map in the ingame editor, with a start and exit. Setup some objectives.
Now close the client.
Look under X:\Steam\SteamApps\common\alien swarm\swarm\maps
You'll see some files called Output with some extensions.
Feel free to rename all those to something else thats not Output so you don't overwrite your masterpiece later. (Editor only saves maps as Output)
Now start up an online game.
Then open the console and type map Whatever
Everyone must have the SDK installed. Go to Library -> Tools -> Alien Swarm SDK
About using a gamepad
Unsupported officially, but supposedly they are working on it. Reports are that it works unofficially.
Quote: Also, 360 pad works very well with this game. It works like any Source game, you need to enable it in the dev console and you can't use it in the menu. Apart from a few binding in the offline single player the 360 pad support is rather well done for an "unsupported" feature.
Quote: Example: D:\Steam\steamapps\common\alien swarm\swarm\cfg
Also,
Quote: exec 360controller_xbox
...in the console may work but I'm not sure if it needs additional tweaking with the methods above.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=603
I suggest you download it now.
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