PC Alien Swarm: Source Discussion Thread

[Zero]

Get it Here

A successor to the UT2004 mod, Alien Swarm is a top down, team based players-verse-AI shooter. Similar to Left 4 Dead, four players make their way through campaigns (currently only one official campaign is available).

Gameplay is class based, with the Officer, Special Weapons, Tech and Medic. These specialise in abilities and weapon choice. The Tech for example, is the only class able to hack, and comes with an auto-aim weapon by default. 8 selectable characters also exist; two for each class, diversifying the experience with special attributes.

It's powered by the latest iteration of the Source engine, and features new graphical features. Performs about as well as Left 4 Dead 1/2. This was released alongside the SDK, so it's wide open for the modding community, and any mods produced using this will also be 100% free as well, not requiring the "buy a source game" requirement as other sourcemods.

It's fairly simple to pick up, and the in-game tutor helps you out a tad as well. It's got a similar matchmaking system as the Left 4 Dead series, the more reliable server browser is still present. This game has an annoying habit to defaulting to listen servers. Experience so far has been quite good. It's a minuscule 1.5 GB download, so it's worth a shot.

It also unlocks a hat in TF2. Clearly Valve's greatest form of promotion.

 

[Joey]

I kinda feel like playing

---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 AM ----------

Ok, I hate the matchmaking in this game. My only internet connection is my tethering through my phone, which works fine for most games. Unfortunately, when it comes to some servers, my ping is off the charts.

Until they allow me to see the ping of the servers I have to choose from, this game is utterly unplayable for me.

 

[MenaceInc]

I kinda feel like playing

---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 AM ----------

Ok, I hate the matchmaking in this game. My only internet connection is my tethering through my phone, which works fine for most games. Unfortunately, when it comes to some servers, my ping is off the charts.

Until they allow me to see the ping of the servers I have to choose from, this game is utterly unplayable for me.

type in

openserverbrowser

in console

 

[Joey]

type in

openserverbrowser

in console

Right on, I'll try that.

I did finally manage to get into a game with no lag. NOW I get it, it is quite awesome. It's like they know I'm poor, and also like awesome games.

 

[BlackSheep]

Right on, I'll try that.

I did finally manage to get into a game with no lag. NOW I get it, it is quite awesome. It's like they know I'm poor, and also like awesome games.

lol
Its pretty fun game but i cant run it at its fullest

 

[Adiuvo]

It is pretty resource intensive for a source game. I was surprised.

 

[MenaceInc]

It is pretty resource intensive for a source game. I was surprised.

Especially if you run it 1st person.

firstperson
asw_hidemarine 1
asw_controls 1

Try that to play as a proper FPS. It's even more resource intensive that way. :|

ps. I'm not 100% those are the right commands but they're very similiar.

 

[Joey]

Especially if you run it 1st person.

firstperson
asw_hidemarine 1
asw_controls 1

Try that to play as a proper FPS. It's even more resource intensive that way. :|

ps. I'm not 100% those are the right commands but they're very similiar.

firstperson
asw_hidemarine 1
asw_controls 0

It's that...

 

[Zero]

It is pretty resource intensive for a source game. I was surprised.

Some people suspect their overheating issues are from AS alone.

Performs just about as well as L4D2, but probably can't be scaled back as well, seeing as you can't disable things like bloom, HDR & Global Lighting.

 

[x3sphere]

It's extremely heavy on the CPU, like all Source games. If they have inadequate CPU cooling that could be why. Few games work my quad harder than AS and L4D2.

 

[Serideth]

It's extremely heavy on the CPU, like all Source games. If they have inadequate CPU cooling that could be why. Few games work my quad harder than AS and L4D2.

Wow didn't know that, I have a pretty basic CPU (nothing too pricey at all) and have had no issues with Alien Swarm and when I was playing it it was for a few hours at a time.

 

[Zero]

Probably a bunch of people overclocking without properly stress testing their CPU, or haven't cleaned out their case in awhile.