SWAT Commander News

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed an issue where suspects and civilians did not receive the correct health values when modified in Custom Game Settings.
  
• Added the ability to increase civilian and suspect health and morale up to three times higher in Custom Game Settings.
  

UI

• Improved the Custom Game Settings interface to enhance usability and player experience.
  

[p]🚨 Officers,[/p][p][/p][p]We wish to invite you to a very special operation, codenamed "Prime Nomination". [/p][p]It is our strong belief that SWAT Commander deserves a shot (pun, as always, fully intended) in the "Better With Friends" category of the 2025 Steam Awards, and so, we humbly request that you offer your nomination to our project![/p][p]Much like our game wouldn't advance without your continued support, so would a SWAT intervention not go well without the support of your trusted officers. A reason why we've always wanted co-op to be an integral part of SWAT Commander.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]On to the next part of our dispatch — another mini tutorial lands on your desks. This time the material is covering some facts about our previous update — curated intel about Customization. [/p][p]As you may recall, our previous feature update introduced the ability for our commanders to deploy on customized missions by accessing the relevantly named 'CUSTOM GAME' screen from the main menu's 'SELECT MISSION' option. There, you can modify several properties of your mission's playthrough for a more personalized experience.[/p][p]It is our hope and intention to make mission customization somewhat clearer with this short post — to answer some questions and clear certain doubts we've been encountering.[/p][p][/p][h3]Customization — Some Vital Details[/h3][p]The first piece of information we'd like to drop here is clarification. One that relates to how mission customization works fundamentally.[/p][p]In the first tab of the mission customization screen, '1—Missions', you decide which mission in which available game mode you will be modifying for your playthrough. That much is clear. But what needs to be said is that there are certain elements to the mission that will always have to remain unchanged — items or characters needed for its objectives to still work the way they do. For example, you'll always need the Hanson brothers present for the 'Silence of the Hansons' mission.[/p][p]We'll add the appropriate notices about this to the Custom Game menu's UI with an upcoming update.[/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 1 — First tab of mission customization where you can proceed after selecting the base mission and its game mode; the mission will feature certain characters and items that cannot be changed[/p][p][/p][p]As you proceed to the second tab, '2—Characters', you'll see sliders responsible for setting your chosen total count for additional characters as well as the ratio of suspects to civilians in the custom game.[/p][p]The 'Theme' section, in turn, lets you determine which mission those additional characters will be coming from, while in the 'Suspects Archetypes' section, you finally make the choice of those characters and their numbers.[/p][p]An important detail to pay attention to here is that you decide on the total character count and civilian-suspect ratio BEFORE choosing the suspect archetypes, as changes there will have to reset your opponent selections.[/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 2 — 'Characters' screen in game customization; if you change the first two settings, your suspect archetype choices will have to be reset![/p][p][/p][p]Finally, you arrive at '3—Mission Settings', arguably the most diversified settings tab:[/p]

• [p]The 'Mission Settings' section of the same name offers the same options you would find in standard missions, so it's useful to note that they are here too.[/p]
• [p]'Environment' lets you change the time of day, locked doors, and barricaded doors among a few other factors.[/p]
• [p]'Behavior' determines which of the characters' responses to various situations will be available in the mission.[/p]
• [p]'Morale', which defines the stat responsible for the characters' willingness to surrender.[/p]
• [p]'Health', which defines the stat responsible for how much damage characters can take before they're incapacitated or killed.[/p]

[p]Note the 'GO TO BRIEFING' button always present at the top, which will allow you to launch your configured custom game. You don't have to leave this screen to do that![/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 3 — A variety of options in the 'Mission Settings' tab, some of which are the same as what you can typically configure in a standard game[/p][p][/p][p]Mission Customization has opened a brand new venue for gameplay in SWAT Commander, and we hope you use it to its fullest potential! Came up with any interesting custom configurations? Share them with your fellow officers in the comments below! [/p][p][/p][h3]Upcoming Weapons Update[/h3][p]Moving on, work on SWAT Commander continues, all owing to your support for our project in Early Access. Our next update will address several core mechanics of the game's weapons and how they work exactly.[/p][p]One part of the update is going to be an adjustment to the dynamics between firing guns and how bullets leave the barrel, and that should deliver an improvement to various contexts, such as when using laser sights![/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 4 — More natural bullet-barrel dynamics and… canted sight? Might prove interesting indeed![/p][p][/p][p]As always, we'll bring you more details as soon as our update is ready to go.[/p][p][/p][p]Over and out,[/p][p]SWAT Commander Team[/p]

[p]🚨 Officers,[/p][p][/p][p]We're updating SWAT Commander to version 0.7.8.1 for a few fixes to the new Customization feature.[/p][p][/p][p]Take note if you haven't yet, Officers, this new feature has made a number of settings available in SWAT Commander. These allow you to modify a range of previously pre-determined conditions in any mission you deploy on, whether that's in singleplayer or co-op. More details in our previous news post:[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]A reminder that SWAT Commander is currently undergoing a sale in a Weeklong Deal! Great way to support our ongoing Early Access efforts before we drop more updates. Also, help us drop even better updates! The sale continues until tomorrow, that's November 10th, 10 AM PT (19:00 CEST).[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]SWAT Commander EA v.0.7.8.1 — Patch Notes:[/p][p]MISSION CUSTOMIZATION[/p]

• [p]Fixed performance drops that occurred during active shootouts with many suspects, especially on large missions such as High Life, Breaking Point, and others.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where certain NPCs would fail to run when more than 60 NPCs were present in a mission.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Keep bringing in intel for Mission Customization and other features of SWAT Commander, a vast majority of our improvements comes from YOUR feedback, so, as always, thanks for being a part of the game's development efforts![/p][p][/p][p]Over and out,[/p][p]SWAT Commander Team[/p]

[p]🚨 Officers,[/p][p][/p][p]The time has come for SWAT Commander to be updated to version 0.7.8.0 with the brand new Customization Update![/p][p][/p][p]To celebrate, SWAT Commander is available at a 20% discount! This is a great opportunity to support our ongoing Early Access development if you haven't yet, and it'll be worth it, as more updates are on their way! [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h3]Remember that the new feature we're describing below is available in both singleplayer and cooperative modes![/h3][p][/p][p]What is the Customization Update exactly? Think back to all the components that make up a mission in SWAT Commander — the goals, the suspects you confront, what equipment they use, the civilians you encounter, how they all behave, the doors, the various environmental components of the deployment location, all the small and big things that determine how you proceed with your intervention.[/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 1 — The Custom Game button appearing on your Mission Selection screen, available in both singleplayer and co-op![/p][p][/p][p]Now, consider what it would be like not to just go along with the the mission by default, how it's always been and how we've come to know it — save for difficulty settings and various Game Modes — what it would be like if you could change and adjust all of these various settings to your liking![/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 2 — Preview of the Custom Game menu screen, where you can change settings for your selected mission more thoroughly.[/p][p][/p][p]Customization is a great way to grant you, our game's players, more ways to enjoy SWAT Commander's missions, by way of giving you the freedom to play them how you want! Silence of the Hansons full of RPG-wielding terrorists? Breaking Point where there's an absolutely ridiculous invasion of suspects? Both and many, many more are possible scenarios for your next playthrough challenge! And you can accomplish this in both singleplayer and cooperative gameplay![/p][p][/p][p]Patch notes for this update, featuring the Mission Customization feature along with some fixes, provided below:[/p][p][/p][p]SWAT Commander EA v.0.7.8.0 Patch Notes:[/p][p]GAMEPLAY[/p]

• [p]Added Custom Game Settings mode, allowing players to tailor gameplay settings to their preferences.[/p]

[p]EQUIPMENT[/p]

• [p]Added additional inertial weapon movement animations.[/p]

[p]UI[/p]

• [p]Added a head camera shake effect for increased immersion.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the audio disable option in the pause menu was not functioning correctly.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Custom Game Settings Overview[/p][p]Create your own gameplay experience with control over mission composition, environment, and AI behavior:[/p][p][/p][p]Character Configuration[/p]

• [p]Set the total number of NPCs[/p]
• [p]Distribute the number of suspects and civilians within that total[/p]
• [p]Choose characters from individual missions or include characters from all missions at once[/p]
• [p]Define the exact number of each archetype to be spawned[/p]

[p]Environment Settings[/p]

• [p]Set the time of day (Day/Night)[/p]
• [p]Adjust the percentage of doors that start locked[/p]
• [p]Toggle barricades[/p]
• [p]Toggle randomization of light sources and broken windows[/p]
• [p]Toggle SWAT vehicle spawn at mission start[/p]

[p]Behavior Settings[/p]

• [p]Toggle suspects firing through doors[/p]
• [p]Toggle grenade use by suspects[/p]
• [p]Toggle fuse box interaction for suspects[/p]
• [p]Toggle fuse box interaction for civilians[/p]
• [p]Toggle civilians fleeing the area[/p]
• [p]Toggle suspects attempting to flee[/p]
• [p]Toggle unexpected suspect surrender behavior[/p]
• [p]Toggle NPC reaction to car alarms[/p]
• [p]Adjust morale for suspects and civilians[/p]
• [p]Adjust health for suspects and civilians[/p]

[p][/p][p]You can also check customization out in action in our new trailer here! 👇[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]The Customization Update brings a perfect set of tools for a really intense playthrough challenge solo or with your friends. If you make any videos about the results of your chosen customization settings, be sure to let us know, we'd love to see them! Stand by for further updates![/p][p][/p][p]Over and out,[/p][p]SWAT Commander Team[/p]

[p]🚨 Officers,[/p][p][/p][p]In the spirit of one of our previous posts, where we presented our current roadmap and provided some intel on the ability of suspects to shoot at SWAT officers through doors, we would today like to discuss a different feature of SWAT Commander — swapping ammo types.[/p][p][/p][h3]SWAT Commander's ammo types[/h3][p]We'd like to encourage our officers to pay closer attention to a certain option native to the equipment configuration screen, where you can specify the different weapons and pieces of equipment with which your team will be deployed on a single-player mission or specify the equipment for yourself as you join a co-op session.[/p][p]You can access this screen and modify your equipment loadout either directly from the main menu or while you're configuring your selected mission.[/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 1 — SWAT Commander's equipment screen, the cursor is highlighting the weapon attachment configuration option[/p][p][/p][p]In this screen, we find all options for configuring your personnel's equipment — the main weapon, the sidearm, their attachments found under the cog icon (fig. 1), special devices (Tactical Mirror, Injector, Ballistic Shield, etc.), grenades, and armor.[/p][p]One of these configuration options tends to fly under the radar and it is the option to swap out your standard-issue full metal jacket ammunition.[/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 2 — AP and JHP ammo now selected on the Equipment screen, weapon stats affected[/p][p][/p][p]It's important to note that you can, for all your weapons, replace the JHP ammo with the amor-piercing (AP) and jacketed hollow point (JHP) rounds. Why? Because, as you can see from the stats in fig. 2, they affect your weapon's capabilities significantly.[/p][p]While offering little armor penetration, JHP ammo boasts increased damage and stopping power, best utilized against unarmored targets for extra effectiveness.[/p][p]Conversely, AP ammo boosts your weapon's armor penetration but it does not increase its ability to dish out damage.[/p][p]All right, if there are clear benefits to using the alternative ammo types, how do we know when to use which one?[/p][p][/p][p]Fig. 3 — The mission briefing screen, focused on the text 'Details' tab[/p][p][/p][p]By studying the mission's briefing of course! The briefing considers a text description of the mission on which you're about to deploy, the timeline of events, and the dossiers of suspects you will encounter in your effort to complete its objectives.[/p][p]This information will serve you well in selecting all of your officers' equipment, including the ammo type as you make your judgment, based on the type of suspects you'll encounter and the armor they'll be wearing.[/p][p][/p][h3]Upcoming Customization Update[/h3][p]With the mini-tutorial concluded, we'd now like to present you with a sneak preview of our upcoming Customization Update.[/p][p]With it, SWAT Commander will enable you to modify a wide range of properties that affect your playthrough of a mission, including the weather conditions, the type and number of suspects and civilians, their behavior, and many more elements.[/p][p]We'll have more details at your disposal when we're ready to roll out the update.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]We're eager to find out how you complete your missions once you can modify so many of their various aspects. Stand by for further updates![/p][p][/p][p]Over and out,[/p][p]SWAT Commander Team[/p]