Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop News

• Reverted SynTek Residential lighting.
  
• Reduced melee knockback.
  
• Fixed missing alt fire description for Model 35 Pump-action Shotgun.
  
• Updated German translation.
  

Today's update is a big one--by file size, at least--and includes bugfixes, some new convars, translation updates, and map changes that pave the way for future translation improvements.

Additionally, the final community medal, Reporter, has been granted to some people. If we missed you, let us know.

• Fixed a crash when a Buzzer is killed in Holdout mode.
  

• M478 Proximity Incendiary Mines: Fixed kills using this weapon not counting towards a weapon-specific achievement.
  

• Jacob's Rest: Rydberg Reactor: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Jacob's Rest: Sewer Junction B5: Fixed graphical weirdness in the "sky" in first person.
  
• Area 9800: Landing Zone: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Operation Cleansweep: U.S.C. Medusa: Cryopods at the end of the mission will now re-open if they detect that they were closed erroneously.
  
• Research 7: Transport Facility: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tears for Tarnor: Insertion Point: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tears for Tarnor: Insertion Point: Fixed some invisible collision above the entrances to the summoner encounter room.
  
• Tears for Tarnor: Abandoned Maintenance Tunnels: Fixed some drones ignoring marines completely.
  
• Tears for Tarnor: Oasis Colony Spaceport: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tears for Tarnor: Oasis Colony Spaceport: Fixed a crate with no collision.
  
• Tilarus-5: Road to Dawn: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tilarus-5: Arctic Infiltration: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tilarus-5: Area 9800: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tilarus-5: Yanaurus Mine: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tilarus-5: Forgotten Factory: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Tilarus-5: Communication Center: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Lana's Escape: Lana's Sewer: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Lana's Escape: Lana's Sewer: Added north- and bottom-faces to some brushes.
  
• Lana's Escape: Lana's Sewer: Removed a small area of water near the start that was causing rendering issues.
  
• Paranoia: Close Contact: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Nam Humanum: Logistics Area: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Nam Humanum: Platform XVII: Fixed invisible collision near some boxes at the first platform stop.
  
• Nam Humanum: Groundwork Labs: Medkits are now single-use (sorry, 60 use medkit fans)
  
• Nam Humanum: Groundwork Labs: Moved a fire out of the floor in the central room.
  
• Nam Humanum: Groundwork Labs: Fixed bot navigation not using tactical positions.
  
• Nam Humanum: Groundwork Labs: Moved some spawners out of displacements.
  
• Nam Humanum: Groundwork Labs: Fixed an invisible north wall near the medkits.
  
• BioGen Corporation: Operation x5: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Bonus Mission 2: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  
• Bonus Mission 5: Vault doors now use a more accurate hitbox.
  

• Updated French translation.
  
• Updated Italian translation.
  
• Updated Korean translation.
  
• Updated Russian translation.
  
• Credits files will load file_language.txt instead of file.txt if the former exists.
  
• Fixed typos in English closed captions.
  

• The final melee attack of the combo now has a larger radius and knocks aliens back.
  
• Visible holstered weapons have been split into rd_client_marine_backpacks (for use in autoexec.cfg) and rd_server_marine_backpacks (for use in challenges).
  
• Added asw_controls_spectator_override convar, available when spectating or playing a demo.
  
• Added convars glow_outline_color_alien, glow_outline_color_ammo, glow_outline_color_weapon, glow_outline_color_active, and glow_outline_color_inactive for use in autoexec.cfg.
  
• Fixed controller navigation for in-briefing difficulty settings.
  
• Opening chat in Steam Big Picture mode now shows a virtual keyboard.
  
• Added challenge convars asw_door_normal_health_base, asw_door_normal_health_step, asw_door_reinforced_health_base, asw_door_reinforced_health_step, asw_door_damage_base, asw_door_damage_step, asw_sentry_health_base, and asw_sentry_health_step.
  

• Fixed unintended bright lighting in Rydberg Reactor, SynTek Residential, and Sewer Junction B5
  

We're working on some map changes, but while you wait, here are some fixes for aliens and updates for weapons and the UI.


The Translator medal was awarded a few days ago. Beta Tester is available from completing any mission on the beta branch, and can now be equipped. People liked the error placeholder icon, so we're keeping it for Beta Tester.

We have awarded the Programmer, Mapper, Challenger, Guide, and Artist medals. (That's every community medal except for Reporter.) If we missed you and you have opened the game within the past 30 days, let us know here.

If you haven't opened the game in the past 30 days, we can't put the medal in your inventory, but we will keep retrying nightly if you have been marked as eligible for one until we can grant it.

The map changes that are in the beta branch have been held back from this release.

• Fixed a bug where shieldbugs could be damaged from the front if a shot hit part of their middle leg during certain frames in their defend stance.
  
• Aliens can now display textures for multiple status effects at the same time (fire, shock, and ice).
  
• Piercing weapons can now penetrate recently killed frozen aliens.
  
• Fixed a cause of buzzer poison getting stuck.
  

• M73 Twin Pistols: Limited fire rate to 10 per real time second (not affected by adrenaline) in co-op, the same as deathmatch.
  
• l3a Tactical Heavy Armor: Updated the briefing description of this item.
  
• IAF Power Fist Attachment: Reduced passive melee damage bonus from 2x to 1.5x.
  
• IAF Power Fist Attachment: The final hit of a melee combo now deals 40x damage, for a total of 60x base melee damage in a single hit.
  

• Updated German translation.
  
• Updated Italian translation.
  
• Updated Korean translation.
  
• Updated Russian translation.
  

• The Tech scanner has been upgraded to differentiate between different sizes and shapes of moving objects.
  
• Fixed the arrow in the advanced settings header being too big and blocking clicks.
  
• Medals now use a smaller base texture size (32x32 rather than 512x512) for the small version in lobbies, which should make them look slightly less jagged.
  
• Out-of-mission buttons that are activated by a face button now display that face button if a controller is plugged in.
  
• Fixed ingame HoIAF leaderboard being slightly taller than its scrollable area.
  
• Tweaked the HUD layout for the bottom of the screen to support 8-marine squads better.
  
• Opening certain website links will use the system browser if the Steam Overlay is disabled.
  
• HoIAF servers now automatically install the full list of ranked maps and challenges. See the rd_workshop_official_addons convar.
  
• Updated the description of the "Perfect" achievement to state that killing 25 aliens is also a requirement.
  
• Inventory item (medal) updates such as descriptions and icons can now apply without restarting the game if the game is left open for a long time.
  
• Fixed a rare crash in debriefing.
  
• Fixed spectating a computer or hack using the spectator's mouse position for the cursor type.
  

• PDA owner names can now be translation keys.
  

• Added player.ResurrectMarine().
  
• Added entindex and marine fields to the player_deploy_ammo game event.
  
• Added tesla_trap_placed, fire_mine_placed, laser_mine_placed, laser_mine_placed, gas_grenade_placed, flare_placed, and rocket_fired game events, all with entindex and marine fields.
  
• Swapped the attacker and inflictor for damage dealt by fires such as those from mines. The marine is now correctly the attacker and the fire the inflictor.
  

Today's update includes map changes, translation updates, and some polish on the medals system.


A quick update on the changes that have happened since the release of the medals system:

The art for the Heroes of the Interstellar Armed Forces medals has been remade by Ax-now. There are now four variations of the "top 100" medal, cycling once each per year.

Players with the "top 100" medal have also been awarded the participation medal, in case they prefer how it looks.

Medal icons now load from the API rather than being packaged with the game, so in the future adding new medals will not require a game update. They're also slightly sharper than before.

We're in the process of adding community medals. They can't be equipped yet, and as of this post only Beta Tester and Translator medals have been given out. Once they have icons, they will be equippable without the need for an additional game update.

The Beta Tester medal is automatically given to anyone who completes a mission on the beta branch. Due to a bug, some of you may have gotten it earlier today just by starting the game during a certain time window. Oops! Consider yourselves honorary beta testers.

• Research 7: Illyn Forest: Fixed some drones moving at 1.5x the intended speed.
  
• Research 7: Illyn Forest: Fixed director parasites spawning underground.
  
• Research 7: Illyn Forest: Inverted colors of generator health bar to avoid confusion.
  
• Research 7: Illyn Forest: Replaced a dynamic light with static lighting to improve frame rate.
  
• Research 7: Illyn Forest: Improved end generator area visuals.
  
• Research 7: Illyn Forest: The generator being broken no longer fails the mission; it can now be repaired.
  
• Tilarus-5: Midnight Port: Fixed another case of quantum-entangled doors.
  
• Lana's Escape (all missions): Fixed mission titles missing "Lana's".
  
• Lana's Escape: Lana's Sewer: Reduced shaman healing speed on easy, normal, and hard.
  
• Paranoia: Crucial Point: Fixed aliens near the end of the mission getting stuck.
  

• Added rd_buzzer_blur convar as a method of disabling blurpoison effects for computers that don't handle it well.
  
• Experimentally changed how buzzer poison is updated (asw_motionblur_forceupdate). If you want to help squash this bug, see the thread in the community hub discussions.
  

• Temporary weapons (except for generic objects and extra weapons) can now be picked up in an empty primary or secondary slot.
  

• Updated Chinese translation.
  
• Updated German translation.
  
• Updated Italian translation.
  
• Fixed inventory item data that appears on the Steam Community always being shown in English ingame.
  

• The in-game HoIAF leaderboard can now be toggled to show Steam friends or nearby-ranked players and has a button to open the website.
  
• asw_player_avoidance is now replicated and thus available for use in challenges.
  
• Fixed a crash when a marine tried to move on an empty server.
  
• Added HUD support for asw_draw_kills 1.
  
• Added cl_auto_restart_mission, a convar that causes the lobby leader to restart missions on fail automatically.
  
• Minimum controller aim distance moved slightly further from the marine.
  
• Fixed a rare case where chat could lose keyboard input focus.
  

• Fixed SetSpeedModSpeed input not working on marines.
  

Today's update adds medals, fixes a wide range of bugs in official campaigns and the UI, and adds a few goodies for mappers.


You can equip a medal from your Steam inventory and it will appear in lobbies (not in demos or singleplayer) next to your promotion and level.

There are three medals currently available to start: a medal for participating in Heroes of the Interstellar Armed Forces (awarded at the end of a season), an upgraded version of the medal for placing in the top 100, and a medal you can earn by completing the Ready for Duty achievement in Team Fortress 2.

We've granted medals for Heroes of the Interstellar Armed Forces Season 1 to about three quarters of the participants. We can't add items to your inventory if you haven't played for over a month, but we will retry weekly for up to a year. If you're missing a medal from longer than a year ago and you've played the game recently, contact support@reactivedrop.com.

• Jacob's Rest: Landing Bay: Disallow director on spawners that spawn aliens from air or metal floor.
  
• Jacob's Rest: Landing Bay: Move some spawners so that spawned aliens aren't stuck in clips.
  
• Jacob's Rest: Landing Bay: Convert some nodes to marine hints, so that onslaught aliens aren't stuck.
  
• Jacob's Rest: Cargo Elevator: Fix visible spawn animations of drones climbing out of concrete floor.
  
• Jacob's Rest: Cargo Elevator: Fix spam in console for missing unborrow activities for parasites and harvesters.
  
• Jacob's Rest: Cargo Elevator: Prevent harvesters appearing from air near marines.
  
• Operation Cleansweep: Storage Facility: Fixed three doors existing in a quantum state where welding one could weld the others as well.
  
• Operation Cleansweep: Storage Facility: Made a decorative door near the end of the mission indestructable.
  
• Research 7: Research 7: Fixed some places where aliens could fall through the floor.
  
• Research 7: Research 7: Fixed some invisible walls when rotating the camera.
  
• Research 7: Illyn Forest: Changed how aliens attack during the generator defense event. Aliens should no longer get stuck in an unkillable attacking state. The generator can now take friendly fire damage.
• Research 7: Illyn Forest: Updated lighting and water.
  
• Research 7: Jericho Mines: Removed the mechanic of destroying the door panel which only confuses players and makes them locked with the queen and fail the mission.
  
• Research 7: Jericho Mines: Significantly reduced the chance the queen will be blocked by anything. Including barrels, sentries, aliens.
  
• Research 7: Jericho Mines: Allowed usage of sentries, but they will be destroyed by queen if players try to block her.
  
• Research 7: Jericho Mines: Added backpacks to dead on-map marines bodies.
  
• Research 7: Jericho Mines: Improved visuals for rotated camera.
  
• Research 7: Jericho Mines: Added soundscapes.
  
• Tilarus-5: Communication Center: Fixed some light props hanging in the air.
  

• Updated Chinese translation.
  
• Updated Italian translation.
  
• Fixed out-of-date compiled closed captions for some languages.
  

• Disabled the game instructor hints for "toggle equipment orders" and "hold to walk" on controller.
  
• Added some stat tracking for use in a future update.
  
• Fixed some developer messages being written to the console with developer 0.
  
• Fixed minimap rotating independent of view when spectating a bot in first person.
  
• Death cam now temporarily forces the camera to third person if enabled.
  
• Fixed a game freeze when selecting the "find more" option in the mission chooser with the Steam Overlay disabled.
  
• Fixed a crash when looking up a challenge's metadata while partially connected to a server.
  
• rd_dump_workshop_mapping_client and rd_dump_workshop_mapping_server can now be filtered by specifying a filename prefix.
  
• Kills are now tracked per player rather than per marine when updating global stats. This means that if you inhabit multiple marines in a mission, you will get credit for all of your kills on the stats website, and if you switch to a bot marine that had many kills right before the mission ends, those kills will not count towards your stats.
  
• The mission chooser will default to the campaign you selected when switching missions before creating a lobby, and to the deathmatch tab when voting on a map to play after a deathmatch map ends.
  
• Connecting to a server via a lobby now checks server_blacklist.txt.
  
• The dedicated server browser window will no longer get stuck open.
  
• Disabled asw_instant_restart on challenges that use vscript.
  
• Added asw_instant_restart_debug to log the actions taken during an instant restart.
  
• Added convar asw_marine_shadows, which can be disabled to remove shadows from marines and potentially boost frame rate.
  
• Clicking a name on the F9 player list now opens their Steam profile in the overlay.
  
• Added asw_client_chatter_rate (client) and asw_client_chatter_enabled (server) to limit the cl_chatter command. By default, it is limited to 1 voice line per second and the cl_chatter command is allowed.
  
• Added a change mission button in the campaign transition screen.
  
• Added a default player name color for players not controlling a marine, and made player names team-colored in team deathmatch.
  
• Non-campaign missions now save selected marines between retries.
  
• Fixed a bug where watching a recording of yourself accepting a promotion would accept a promotion if you were eligible to promote.
  

• Added the "silent" keyvalue to all types of grenades. Setting it to 1 prevents the grenade from producing any sound.
  
• Added the CreateEffects input to boomer and mortarbug explosives. This spawns the sounds (unless "silent" is set) and particle effects that would normally be spawned when an alien creates these explosives.
  
• Added rd_door_melee_damage, asw_welding_scale, and asw_goo_burning_damage convars for use in challenges.
  
• Added a GamePause vscript function.
  
• Challenge convars are re-checked more frequently.