Alien Swarm

Alien Swarm

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Developers
	Valve Corporation
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	July 19, 2010

Key points

Runs on low-end hardware

Game is completely free

Small community

General information

Unofficial Alien Swarm Wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Steam Users' Forums

Availability

All versions require Steam.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row

System	Location
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/630/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Syncs save games and settings.

Video settings

In-game video settings.

Input settings

In-game key map settings.

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

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

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.

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

Console commands

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

Instructions

You can also have the console open by default on launch by following this guide:

Instructions

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.

Instructions

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium IV 3.0 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	2.5 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6600 ATI Radeon X800 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9 compatible Shader model 2 support	Nvidia GeForce 7600 ATI Radeon X1600 Shader model 3 support