Alien Swarm

Alien Swarm

Developers
	Valve Corporation
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	July 19, 2010
Reception
Metacritic	77
IGDB	60
Taxonomy
Monetization	Freeware
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter
Art styles	Stylized
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	Alien Swarm

Alien Swarm
Alien Swarm	2010
Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop	2017

Key points

Small community

General information

Unofficial Alien Swarm Wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Steam		Free download.

All versions require Steam DRM.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\swarm\cfg\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/630/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Syncs save games and settings.

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			21:9 resolutions are selectable under the 16:9 resolution options. Position of HUD elements is incorrect.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		300 FPS cap by default. With console, can change "fps_max" up to 1000; use 0 for uncapped framerate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		XInput only; open the console and enter exec 360controller_pc.
Full controller support		Menus require mouse input.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity		The 360controller_pc.cfg file under <path-to-game>\swarm\cfg\ needs to be modified.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		Open the console and enter exec 360controller_pc.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Russian				Fan translation by «Steam Translation – Russian»
Spanish				Fan translation

Network

For more information, see the "Source Dedicated Server" section of our Source engine article.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		4	Co-op
Online play		4	Co-op

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP		Open the console (~) and enter connect followed by the IP and port.

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	27014-27050
UDP	1200, 27000-27015

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

Devices	State	Notes
Novint Falcon

Issues fixed

Purple and black broken textures

A generic fix for this issue can be found on our Source engine page.

Crashes and overheating

• CPU Overheating Issues: This threads walks you through running a simple stress test on your CPU to help you identify whether your cooling equipment is doing its job.
• Fix for temp problems/crashing: This threads dictates how Vsync and multi-core rendering can be adjusted to eliminate problems relating to overheating and crasing. This tip can also increase performance.
• Swarm.exe has stopped working: If you're having problems with Swarm.exe crashing, this Steam Support thread may help you if the problem's related to Shaderapidx9.dll. You can check if Shaderapidx9.dll is the cause of the problem by following the instructions on this thread.

Ping & Latency

• Windows 7 Ping Spikes (Fix): This thread explains how to disable a network-throttling feature shipped with Windows 7. It's more likely to fix ping-related problems, but has been reported to improve frame rates.

• WLAN Optimizer: If you play over a wireless connection, you may occasionally experience 'lag spikes' due to Windows checking periodically for new wireless networks. Using this program, you can disable the 'background scan' and improve your gaming wireless experience.

• Hosting? Do everyone you meet a BIG favor. PLEASE!: When people connect to your listen server, their client has a "rate" setting. By default it is set at 20,000 (bytes/second). If you're home internet cannot upload 60,000bytes/second (3 people connected) then you're going to have to set a sv_maxrate, to limit each player's rate so that everybody gets their own dedicated chunk of bandwidth, instead of their computers fighting for a piece.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	2, 3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Steamworks

Console commands

Games running on the Source engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.

Enabling the console in Source games[citation needed]

Launch the game From the main menu select Options Select the Keyboard tab Click the Advanced button Check the box next to Enable developer console (~) Click Apply Notes Press ~ to open the console. Some commands may first require you enabling sv_cheats. You can do so with sv_cheats 1. Many servers will not allow you to play with cheats enabled, or will disable them upon entering the server. Users without a US keyboard could experience some problems.

Launch options

View this Steam Support Article regarding launch options as well as the relevant Valve Developer wiki page for further information and a list of useful Source engine launch options.

Enabling a launch parameter[citation needed]
Find the game in your Steam Library Right-click the game name Select Properties Select Set Launch Options... Input your selected launch options and separate each command with a space Press OK Launch the game

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB (XP) 2 GB (Vista)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	2.5 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6600 ATI Radeon X800 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0 compatible Shader model 2.0 support	Nvidia GeForce 7600 ATI Radeon X1600 Shader model 3.0 support