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Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop News

Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop Update - May 23, 2020


An update for Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The major changes include:
  • Added minimap rotation by ezhik
  • Allowed workshop add-ons to update particles_manifest.txt to add new particle files. This also allows workshop add-ons to override only one particle effect, without overriding the entire file. See this guide
  • Added a ConVar that allows toggling flashlight even without having flashlight equipped by M@GISTER
  • Updated minigun sound to be similar to the original Alien Swarm sound
  • Allowed challenges to change camera angle
Changelog
  • Add asw_flashlight ConCommand by M@GISTER. If server or challenge has rd_allow_flashlight 1 set players can use asw_flashlight command to toggle flashlight even without having it equipped.
  • Add Flashlight keyboard setting
  • Add minigunstop.wav. This adds slight aftershot sound after minigun stopped firing.
    Just like flamer and extinguisher.
  • Add minimap rotation by ezhik. The mini-map HUD elements in the bottom right corner of the screen are now rotated according to the camera rotation of the player (or the spectated player in spectator mode)
  • Add rd_aim_marines ConVar
  • Add rd_force_spectate_marine cvar. rd_force_spectate_marine can be used in demo playback to change the perspective to a different marine.
  • Add sv_workshop_debug & cl_workshop_debug ConVars. If set to 1(0 by default) workshop addon loading will be printed in console.
  • Add stubs for queen and shaman sounds
  • Display general leaderboard for Easy and Normal difficulty
  • Fix devastator not shooting when holding secondary attack key
  • Fix game considers workshop overview files as separate maps for leaderboards. Scores will be uploaded to proper leaderboard even if overview file comes from workshop
  • Increase deagle sound volume for non-local marines. Other player's deagle sounds will be louder.
  • Make asw_cam_marine_dist server controlled
  • Make asw_cam_marine_pitch server controlled
  • Remove particles_manifest.txt from blacklisted files. This allows addons to add custom particles. Your particles_manifest.txt needs to include only the newly added particle files(PCF).
  • Update minigunloop.wav to sound like Alien Swarm minigun

Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop Anniversary Update - April 20, 2020

An update for Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The major changes include:
  • Fixed spelling errors, missing descriptions , separate overviews etc. By Zolerox
  • Enhanced Translations:

  • Added new ConVars to allow weapons rebalancing in mods.
  • New ConVars and misc. bug fixes.
  • From 20th to 27th April you can find a hidden anniversary cake on all the official maps. Special thanks to jhheight for the idea and help with implementation.
Changelog
  • Add rd_damage_buff_scale convar. Can be used to change Damage Amplifier's damage factor. 2.0 by default.
  • Add rd_spawning_start_at_randomized_intervals convar. If set to 1, asw_spawners that start spawning aliens have a small random delay each before starting to spawn
  • Add rd_server_shutdown_after_num_secs ConVar. If set, dedicated server will shutdown after being online for this number of seconds.
  • Add rd_leaderboard_enabled_client ConVar. If 0 player leaderboard scores will not be set or updated on mission complete. Client only.
  • Prevent bot teleport for ASBI challenge. Players abuse this feature to make game easier. rd_stuck_bot_teleport is set to 0 now for ASBI
  • Update Russian and English subtitles
  • Update subtitles with the English fixes
  • Fix spelling errors, missing descriptions, add separate overviews. By Zolerox
  • Add asw_gimme_33hp concommand
  • Fix aliens(boomers and ranges) chase wrong direction. By Orange
  • Fix potential crash on 'image pointer leaving scope'. By Orange
  • Make medrifle not refill secondary when rd_refill_secondary 1. By element109
  • Make rd_infinite_ammo 1 not affect heal beacons. By element109
  • Add rd_infinite_healgrenade convar. By element109
  • Print mortarbug health if asw_debug_alien_damage 1
  • Fix an issue with mortar bug's health. Mortar bug health was not adjusted on difficulty change. Thus loading map on Normal difficulty and changing difficulty to Brutal would lead to its health remain the same as it was on Normal.
  • Change order of official campaigns. New players tend to play campaigns in the order they are listed in UI. The new campaign order should make the learning curve smoother and more enjoyable for new players.
  • Add cvars that allow mods to change weapon balance
    rd_shotgun_dmg_base
    rd_rifle_dmg_base
    rd_prifle_dmg_base
    rd_autogun_dmg_base
    rd_vindicator_dmg_base
    rd_pistol_dmg_base
    rd_railgun_dmg_base
    rd_pdw_dmg_base
    rd_flamer_dmg_base
    rd_minigun_dmg_base
    rd_sniper_dmg_base
    rd_chainsaw_dmg_base
    rd_grenade_launcher_dmg_base
    rd_mininglaser_dmg_base
    rd_deagle_dmg_base
    rd_devastator_dmg_base
    rd_combat_rifle_dmg_base
    rd_heavy_rifle_dmg_base
    rd_medrifle_dmg_base
    rd_tesla_trap_dmg
    rd_tesla_trap_ammo
    rd_grenades_dmg_base
    rd_laser_mine_dmg
    rd_laser_mine_dmg_radius
  • Update translations
  • Add rd_explosive_* cvars
  • Fix typo in asw_gas_grenade_cloud_width
  • Make more aliens print their health if asw_debug_alien_damage 1
  • Make addonlist_workshop.txt saved in cloud
  • Fix an issue with harvester's health. Harvester health was not adjusted on difficulty change. Thus loading map on Normal difficulty and changing difficulty to Brutal would lead to its health remain the same as it was on Normal.
  • Prevent creating non-whitelisted leaderboards. We've exceeded the allowed limit by way too much.
  • Disable stats resetting for beta testers
  • Fix crashes on High Tension

Stability and Security Update - March 16, 2020

This update contains a number of security and stability fixes for the game server.
  • Mark some convars and commands as FCVAR_CHEAT, by AutoGavy. Some of the cvars allowed unfair advantage to clients and could allow clients to intentionally crash server.
  • Disallow asw_vote_chooser 1 on server. Could be used to crash server. Reported by AutoGavy.
  • Disallow voting for 'lobby' map. Could be abused by clients to force players disconnect from server. Reported by AutoGavy.
  • Fix VScript exploits for reading/writing files. Disallowed StringToFile() and FileToString() to access files outside save/vscripts folder. Reported by 南方.

Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop Update - October 25, 2019


An update for Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The major changes include:
  • Re-balancing of the IAF HAS42 Devastator. Less ammo consumption from the ammo drop, piercing bonus, slightly decreased bullet spread when crouching.
  • Fixed lag caused by adrenaline usage.
  • Added health bars for Shieldbugs in Lana's Sewer mission.
  • Fixed Holdout mode to complete mission when all waves are passed.
  • Fixed marines get stuck in unburrowing aliens.
  • New ConVars and misc. bug fixes.
Changelog
  • Fix second horde fails to spawn if first one failed. Previously when rd_horde_two_sided 1 the second horde would not spawn if the first horde failed to find spawn position.
  • Add rd_horde_retry_on_fail cvar. When set to 1 will retry to spawn horde from opposite direction if previous direction spawn failed. Currently it's set to 1
  • Improve wanderer spawn ability. If wanderer can't spawn from north from marines location, game will try to spawn it from south. This makes holdouts like on Rydberg Reactor near airlock more interesting, especially in ASBI challenge.
  • Add rd_grenade_launcher_arm_time cvar (0 by default). Time in seconds until grenade launcher grenade is armed and can explode. Add rd_grenade_launcher_projectile_direct_dmg cvar (256 by default). The direct damage caused by non exploded grenade from GL
  • Fix npc_antlion_worker is not properly precached. This was causing framerate drops when npc_antlion_worker was spawned from a spawner for the first time.
  • Add rd_horde_ignore_north_door cvar. If 1 hordes can spawn behind sealed and locked doors to the north from marines. Excluding indestructible doors. 0 by default
  • Fix npc_antlion emits error particle when killed in water
    The WaterSurfaceExplosion particle is disabled temporarily. Until it is ported
    from HL2 source code.
  • Fix hordes are blocked by non func_brush brushes. Hordes and wanderers appeared to be blocked by clip or npc_clip brushes which do not actually block the alien movement. Mostly noticeable on Rydberg Reactor finale, where if players are blocking the finale area, hordes and wanderers don't come from the south, but they should. This now should be fixed.
  • Fix marines get stuck in unburrowing aliens. Aliens which spawn from railings or vents could make players stuck in them. Players would take damage and teleport on top of aliens.
    This commit removes the collision between players and aliens while they unburrow.
  • Attempt to fix lag caused by slow motion and adrenaline usage
  • Improve English subtitles for Cargo Elevator mission. Commander's subtitles were missing for Cargo Elevator
  • Fix rd_ammo_counter_under_marine displaying incorrect clip count for chainsaw
  • Add override for CASW_Marine::GetInvTable()
  • Fix Faith and Wildcat models are not using their female textures
  • Fix friendly fire not counting for Gas Grenades
  • Add Dedicated Server Browser to the in-game Esc menu
  • Fix healing effect not stopping when Medical SMG runs out of ammo
  • Disable 'Could not AllocSound()' spam in console. This message was produced by missing danger sound for asw_buzzer. The full error message is: Could not AllocSound() for InsertSound() (Game DLL)
  • Disable rd_networked_mouse cvar. Many players asked to remove this cvar. Arguments for:
    • New players can't learn if they don't see how players move the mouse
    • Can't find cheating players which use high camera distance or auto-aim
    Arguments against:
    • Mouse movements jitter when watching demo file. Watching demo file issue can be worked around by using these commands: sv_cheats 1;asw_cam_marine_shift_enable 0;hidehud 256
  • Fix rockets target npc_cscanner. On mission Smart Bomb's rockets target npc_cscanner. Noticeable in mission Hostile Places
  • Make alien eggs smoothly animated on small interp. Add extra 0.1 interpolation to asw_egg as it is done for alien classes. Previously alien eggs had choppy animations with cl_interp 0 on client.
  • Remove NPC_CScanner.DeployMine sound precaching from npc_scanner. Previously it was giving an error in console.
  • Remove dots in Lana's Escape objective titles and rename Area 9800 objective to Secure the Hangar.
  • Fix stuck point in bonus_mission5 and par3close_contact
  • Prevent grenades to fly into the sky on TimorStation. In place where the 3rd harvester is, near destructible rocks.
  • Fix sound issues on til8ComCenter. total_channels == MAX_CHANNELS spam in console was caused by map having a lot asw_alien_goo which has a looping sounds enabled. All these looping sounds are playing at any place on map consuming sound channels. Use snd_show 1 to discover the sounds.
  • Fix sound issues on bonus_mission7. total_channels == MAX_CHANNELS spam in console was caused by map having a lot asw_alien_goo which has a looping sounds enabled. All these looping sounds are playing at any place on map consuming sound channels.
    Use snd_show 1 to discover the sounds.
  • Fix a few minor issues on til4area9800
  • Make asw_grub smoothly animated at low interp
  • Fix horde stuck in generator on ASI-Jac3-Rydberg. Sometimes horde could get stuck in generator model. Right after the first stairs.
  • Prevent awarding Hardcore achievement if player's marine didn't survive.
  • Update Polish translation, by Bounty
  • Improve onslaught aliens spawning conditions. Prevented hordes and wanderers from spawning behind closed gates like near Landing Zone start(func_movelinear) and High Tension's near first holdout area(func_door). And behind biomass which blocks aliens movement.
  • Fix Bonus Mission 2 starting area being too dark
  • Fix several spawners in area9800LZ
  • Fix objectives icons in ASI-Jac4-Residential
  • Add support for new loadout editor, by element109
  • Fix 'overlay disabled' message is not displayed when it should. Clicking on player name during briefing and choosing View Stats will now show an error message if Steam overlay is disabled. Previously nothing was happening. By element109
  • Fix minor visual artifacts on LandingBay_01
  • Improve nodegraph in par3close_contact
  • Fix several visual artifacts on ASI-Jac4-Residential
  • Replace sounds with soundscapes in bonus_mission6. This should prevent overflowing of sound channels.
  • Decrease Devastator ammo cost to 60% of ammo drop
  • Make Devastator's pellets affected by marine's piercing bonus
  • Add rd_devastator_dynamic_bullet_spread cvar. If set to 1 crouching will decrease bullet spread for Devastator
  • Restore awake aliens limits for ASBI challenge to defaults
  • Add health bars for boss shieldbugs in lan2_sewer. Also improved nodegraph
  • Add asw_health_bar to Hammer(FGD)
  • Add extra interpolation for asw_colonists. This will make them smoothly animated on clients who play with low 0 interpolation.
  • Fix typo in 1 objective image at rd-til9syntekhospital, by Zolerox
  • Fix not working hint in res4mines.
  • Fix objective images order in res4mines, by Zolerox
  • Fix aliens are not frozen on mission end. Players with music volume set to 0 were hearing aliens attacking marines during de-briefing. This should now be fixed.
  • Make Devastator's bullet spread slightly smaller when crouching.
  • Fix holdout mode to complete mission when all waves are passed. Previously holdout mode wasn't ending when all waves were spawned. So almost no holdout maps could be completed. Only a message: 'You are a winner!' was displayed.
  • Fix aliens are stuck indefinitely around dead marine. This fix makes sure that dead marine is not considered as the one who sees aliens, thus preventing them from going into sleep state. This fixes the bug: When marine dies to a horde and other marines are far enough for horde to see them, the horde gets stuck in non-sleeping state and thus not decreasing the amount of non-sleeping aliens. This leads to no hordes and wanderers being spawned at all and can be exploited on hard challenges and maps like Survival Desert.
  • Improve 'Kicked by Console' message. Instead of displaying just 'Kicked by Console' display 'Kicked by player vote' when player is vote kicked from server.
  • Add rd_sentry_block_aliens ConVar. If 0 sentries don't collide with aliens
  • Fix medkits from killed aliens fall under floor

Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop Update - July 4, 2019


An update for Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Steam. The major changes include:
  • Three new achievements
  • New enemies: Antlion, Antlion Worker, Zombie, Fast Zombie, Headcrab. These are not directly available in official maps and challenges, but modders can create new maps and challenges that use them.
  • Optional numerical health and ammo indicators for marines
  • Stats and leaderboard support for Bonus Mission 6 and 7
  • Improved modability for marine model skins. Add-ons can now have 8 different skins, each for every marine character.
  • Russian subtitles
  • Fire mines no longer cause huge decrease of frame rate which happened on some maps
  • New convars, VScript functions, bug fixes


Changelog
  • Added three new weapon Achievements

    • Chemical Warfare
      Kill 500 Swarm with Gas Grenades.

    • Heavy Assault Specialist
      Kill 500 Swarm with the Heavy Rifle.

    • Combat Medic
      Kill 500 Swarm with the Medical SMG.


  • Fix new Achievements appearing as already unlocked
    The affected Achievements will be cleared if they were unlocked prior to 2019.01.01

  • Added new Convars

    • rd_draw_marine_health_counter
      Display a numeric counter for marine health on the HUD

    • rd_health_counter_under_marine
      Draw a counter of the marine's current health under the marine?

    • rd_health_counter_under_marine_alignment
      Aligns the health counter under the marine. 0 - Left, 1 - Center, 2 - Right

    • rd_health_counter_under_marine_show_max_health
      Should the health counter under the marine also show max health?

    • rd_ammo_counter_under_marine
      Draw an ammo counter of the marine's active weapon under the marine?

    • rd_ammo_counter_under_marine_alignment
      Aligns the ammo counter under the marine. 0 - Left, 1 - Center, 2 - Right

    • rd_ammo_counter_under_marine_show_max_ammo
      Should the ammo counter under the marine also show max ammo?

    • rd_allow_afk
      If set to 0 players cannot use asw_afk command or Esc - Take a Break

    • rd_leaderboard_enabled
      If 0 player leaderboard scores will not be updated on mission complete.
      Use this for modded servers or for testing your in-development challenges or maps.


    • rd_director_max_awake_aliens_for_horde 25
      If there are more awake aliens than this number director will not spawn new hordes

    • rd_director_max_awake_aliens_for_wanderers 20
      If there are more awake aliens than this number director will not spawn new wanderers

      Director spawns hordes and wanderers depending on several conditions, where number of awake aliens is one of them. That is if there are 25+ awake aliens, no new hordes and wanderers will spawn, until those aliens are killed or they go to sleep state.


  • Increase director limits for awake aliens for ASBI challenge
    Set both rd_director_max_awake_aliens_for_horde and rd_director_max_awake_aliens_for_wanderers to 45

  • Set asw_fire_glow to 0
    Setting asw_fire_glow to 0 to prevent framerate drops from 200 to 45 fps from fire mines on maps like Deima(near the first hack), Arctic Infiltration(near the airlock), dm_desert.
    Lots of asw_dynamic_light entities cause huge framerate decrease when this light lights surfaces with normal maps, especially displacements with two normal maps.

  • Prevent clients from calling rd_enable_workshop_item on server

  • Add Bonus Mission 6 and 7 to list of official maps

  • Fix aliens with order AOT_MoveToNearestMarine get stuck in wait for PVS condition
    Aliens with AOT_MoveToNearestMarine will follow nearest marine until they rich them or until their schedule fails for whatever reason. In 2nd case they don't go to sleep state and no longer follow the nearest marine. They wait for PVS, for marine to get near them.
    Which is what sleep state does too. But since they are awake they prevent director from spawning hordes if there are more than 25 aliens awake.

    This needs to be researched more, since AOT_MoveToNearestMarine may degrade server performance, aliens constantly fail to find route to marine.
    For now we let the sleep and wait for marines to get near them.

  • Add SpawnAlienAtWithOrders() C++ function
    It will be used to spawn aliens using prespawn functions with order AOT_SpreadThenHibernate.

  • Fix ASW_ActivateExtra not triggering weapon_offhand_activate event

  • Improve npc_antlion implementation

  • Implement npc_antlion_worker

  • Add npc_antlion and npc_antlion_worker into spawn manager

  • Fix npc_antlion prints errors in console and doesn't unborrow properly

  • Implement zombie NPCs
    Current Issue: Killing an npc_poisonzombie will crash the game.

  • Update alien_selection.txt comments with new NPCs

  • Fix hordes and wanderers spawning infinite number of aliens
    In Alien Swarm both hordes and wanderers were set to spawn asw_drone.
    If there were more than 25 awake drones no new hordes would spawn.
    If there were more than 20 awake drones no new wanderers would spawn.

    In Reactive Drop both hordes and wanderers can be set to spawn non-drone aliens.
    This can lead to director infinitely spawning non-drone aliens since 20 and 25 limits only check for awake drones.

    For example setting wanderers to shieldbugs, will lead to 100 shieldbugs spawned in a few minutes.

    With this fix, the 20(25) check checks for awake aliens(not only drones).

  • Fix asw_grenade_vindicator not using m_flDamage

  • Improve modability for marine models

    • Make Sarge and Crash use femalemarine.mdl
    • Make femalemarine.mdl be the same size as marine.mdl


    Now modders can create mods with 8 different marine skins, each for one character.

  • Fix medic bot doesn't prioritize infested and burning marine over the lowest health marine
    Medic bot heal priority is to firstly heal infested marine, then burning marine, then lowest health marine.

  • Fix medic bots get stuck in fire trying to heal themselves

  • Update Russian subtitles' translation

  • Add cheat flag to several vscript related console commands

  • Add mission_failed game event

  • Added new VScript functions

    • Changed the parameters and return type of a couple functions in favor of performance.

      • ResponseCriteria

        void GetTable( handle entity, table )

      • CASW_Marine

        void GetInventoryTable( table ) //Fills the passed table with the marine's inventory

      • Added warning when GetInvTable() is used


    • Global

      void LocalTime( table ) //Fills in the passed table with the local system time

    • Add OnGameplayStart() Callback when all marines have spawned and players start to play. Simply define function OnGameplayStart() { ... }
      in your challenge and it will be executed on mission start.

    • Added timer_system.nut file
      This is a library that manages timers.


Here's an example of the new Timer System:
// Include Timer System
IncludeScript( "timer_system" );

function StopHoldout( args )
{
Director.StopHoldout();
}

function StartHoldout( args )
{
Director.StartHoldout();

// Stop holdout 30 seconds after starting
Timers.AddTimerByName( "EndHoldoutTimer", 30.0, false, g_ModeScript.StopHoldout );
}

function OnGameplayStart()
{
// Start holdout 10 seconds after spawning
Timers.AddTimerByName( "BeginHoldoutTimer", 10.0, false, g_ModeScript.StartHoldout );
}