Did Alien Swarm 'die'? - Games

I've only played online about 3 times, the same campaign just got repetitive. As for the VPK system, it could be great if it was more flexible, like packaging up a whole campaign (maps, models, particles, textures, etc.) and allowing clients to download that from the server. And allowing VPK mods to overwrite base game content.

It really was more of a showcase and something for the modding community than anything else. They had this license, so why not put it to use?

I remember running my server with godmode, 1 hit kills, super speed, etc. Boosting people was fun. Then Valve fucked me over by patching it so it required sv_cheats 1

It got too repetitive for me. It's like L4D, but at least with L4D you have DLC and player-controlled enemies to mix things up a bit. Not to mention my computer could barely run it. I have no problem running most Valve games on medium to high settings, but with Alien Swarm I'm lucky if I got 10FPS with everything on low.

[QUOTE=Sgt Shrapnel;28785791]It got too repetitive for me. It's like L4D, but at least with L4D you have DLC and player-controlled enemies to mix things up a bit. Not to mention my computer could barely run it. I have no problem running most Valve games on medium to high settings, but with Alien Swarm I'm lucky if I got 10FPS with everything on low.[/QUOTE] And how do you expect to run Portal 2 or other new Source games? That is if you plan on getting it. Just wondering as a lot of people I talk to say something similar about AS but then talk about playing Portal 2.

I think it's dead, the only significant thing I can think of is it's horrible L4D menus.

[QUOTE=superdinoman;28785907]And how do you expect to run Portal 2 or other new Source games? That is if you plan on getting it. Just wondering as a lot of people I talk to say something similar about AS but then talk about playing Portal 2.[/QUOTE] I'm planning on upgrading some stuff soon specifically for Portal 2. Alien Swarm was pretty much the main indicator that my current set-up won't do it anymore.

[QUOTE=Z Overlord;28786003]I think it's dead, the only significant thing I can think of is it's horrible L4D menus.[/QUOTE] The L4D menus were awesome. Unless of course you want to go back to the boring HL2 style menus.

Actually, it wasn't released a year ago July 19, 2010 to March 24th, 2011 thats less than one year

[QUOTE=redBadger;28786068]The L4D menus were awesome. Unless of course you want to go back to the boring HL2 style menus.[/QUOTE] The l4d menus were made for consoles, and are far less efficient. [url]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/GameUI[/url] From the wiki: "It has been redesigned for consoles' lack of a pointing device"

[QUOTE=superdinoman;28775378]Yeah because Valve fucked it up bad. Not only is it like L4D in the VPK sense, it doesnt support game based mods as in custom VPKs in online play. Thats worse than L4D2. That takes away custom models and textures, custom maps have to be downloaded from thirdparty websites so no P2P sharing there. Oh and the released code is a bitch to work with, there is no first person code or viewmodel support so you have to code all that shit back in. The amount of work required to get a proper mod isnt worth it, especially since you need alien swarm installed to play it. So yeah in a sense its a dead game.[/QUOTE] You can actually edit the code to make it so you can distribute only your mod, even without Steam. Providing you don't charge for it I don't think Valve would care.

Both Alien Swarm and L4D(1&2) died for the same reason. Replaying the same maps over and over again. TF2's lived for so long due to all the content always being added and all the new maps, combined with how easy it is to map and model for TF2. It was stupidly hard to do anything with Alien Swarm and the L4D series, mapping was always painful for them.

I stopped playing because I couldn't get past the 3rd level

[QUOTE=redBadger;28786068]The L4D menus were awesome. Unless of course you want to go back to the boring HL2 style menus.[/QUOTE] 2 clicks maximum to do basically everything in the game? Yes please take me back.

[QUOTE=Empty_Shadow;28794306]2 clicks maximum to do basically everything in the game? Yes please take me back.[/QUOTE] No, I'd rather navigate through several menus in order to change my audio settings.

Alien Swarm was a tech demo from a mod team. Most of the hype was centered around the fact that it was a Valve game, so naturally everyone was looking forward to something to play. It hasn't "died," it didn't really have a life to begin with. It was a mod project, albeit a good one, but still a mod project none the less.

[QUOTE=nicatronTg;28796436]It hasn't "died," it didn't really have a life to begin with. It was a mod project, albeit a good one, but still a mod project none the less.[/QUOTE] Alien Swarm: Infested was a mod project. (The game where all the "beta" model are from) Alien Swarm is a game in it's own right, and as such, is easily fixed. AS doesn't need the VPK system like L4D does due to the fact that much of AS is the same models reused over and over with different colours. Add a few new weapons, a few new aliens and it's all good. Perhaps even specials? Some specials would fit perfectly. Perhaps even go as far as to remove the "explode on death" (with exception to parasite kills) and allow a medic to revive them? I mean they're got space travel, surely they'd have semi-decent technology too. Basically a good modding team could easily kickstart this game.

I'll tell you what killed this game... It's the stupid free hat that came with it. It was the main reason to play for most people that I saw in this game!

As much as I like the Left 4 Dead games, I do admit that the VPK system is fucking retarded and a big step backwards. Mods are what keep most of Valve's games alive, and without them, they die faster. I don't even know what compelled Valve to make it pointlessly less convenient to do so much as downloading a bloody map for god's sake.This is probably why AS died, especially considering that it only has one short pre-installed campaign and doesn't allow for any experience to be gained on custom campaigns. Alien Swarm also just feels generally less compelling than games like Left 4 Dead. In L4D, the characters have semi-humorous lines and generally fun personalities. Along with relatable locations. Alien Swarm is basically just helmet-wearing space marines going through futuristic space locations fighting semi-generic aliens and maybe 2 lines that even remotely resemble some kind of characterization.

I would play it but in my PC sometime crashes so...

Seeing everyone's sentiments about the VPK system makes me a bit depressed considering Valve's stated a few times already that they're sticking with it for future releases (it saves space [i]and[/i] is a convenient content-packer for them). I guess the most we can hope for is that custom content is much more supported instead of limited, unlike L4D2 and AS.