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:
  
  • Chinese (by ProjectSky, 参天大薯 and AutoGavy)
    
  • Italian (by Federico)
    
  • Korean (by Nowiz, hangumi, タ一ニャ🐾(Ta-nya) and 7:76)
    
  • Russian (by matt.27 and Corlindale)
• 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.

• 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

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.

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.

• 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

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

• 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:

An update for Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Steam. The major changes include:

• Added Bonus Mission 7, which is the original undivided Area9800 Power Plant mission(thanks to jhheight )
  
• Cheat cvars and commands will no longer work in single player mode
  
• Grenade Launcher's grenade will now correctly collide with doors
  
• Player's status in Steam Friends window will now be shown correctly if player is playing on a dedicated server which has lobbies disabled
  
• Dedicated servers will not(by default) check for workshop updates on mission restart(this can be controlled by a cvar)
  
• Improved pathing in Sewer Junction. Aliens couldn't follow marines in a few places, hordes failed spawn because of this too.

• Fix nodegraph in SewerJunction. Aliens couldn't follow marines in a few places, hordes failed spawn because of this too. Used ai_show_connect_crawl to find problematic spots. First place is on stairs after turning west. Second place is the passage that is created by exploding barrels.
  
• Added Bonus Mission 7(thanks to jhheight). This is the original undivided version of Area9800 Power Plant, or, in other words, Power Plant's Cooling Pump and Generator in one mission.
  
• Fix grenades collide with doors during open or close animation
  Grenades previously were exploding on contact with air in door frames
  when the door was opening or closing. Now grenades correctly fly through
  the door frame and only collide with the door itself. This didn't happen to rifle grenades, but to grenade launcher, vindicator,
  freeze and hand grenades.
  
• Add rd_grenade_launcher_explode_on_contact cvar. If set to 0 grenade will not explode on contact with rigid world. However grenades will explode on contact with aliens
  
• Add rd_grenade_launcher_num_clusters cvar
  
• Fix leader crown is not displayed during briefing when autoready is on
  
• Remove blood effects from Grenade Launcher grenades. Previously grenade when flying in air would emit blood because it was damaged by explosions from other grenades.
  
• Fix rich presence for clients who play on dedicated servers without lobby info. Previously clients who play on dedicated server that has
  sv_allow_lobby_connect_only 0 were displaying incorrect Steam rich status.
  
• Prevent grenades to fly into the sky in place after the biomass block on TimorStation
  
• Add rd_interpenetrating_entities_warning cvar.
  
• Add several fence models to lights.rad
  
• Make ChaseNearestMarine() VScript function wake alien if it is asleep
  Previously this function did nothing if alien was far from marines and
  was sleeping.
  
• Add rd_clearhouse_on_mission_complete cvar. If 1 all NPCs will be removed from map on round end
  
• Add rd_workshop_update_every_round cvar. If 1 dedicated server will check for workshop items during each mission restart(workshop.cfg will be executed). If 0, workshop items will only update once during server startup
  
• Prevent displaying of computer interface if asw_simple_hacking 1. Computer hacks, such as the computer at the end of Landing Bay, will
  no longer show a UI for hacking if asw_simple_hacking is set to 1. By element109.
  
• Suppress weapon stats missing message. When setting "rd_weapons_show_hidden 1” messages display in
  console just changed to DevMsg. By element109.
  
• Add new VScript functions
  
• Fix horde positions are blocked by player clip brushes

An update to Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Steam. The major changes include:

• Improved game performance in many maps. Frame rate is more stable now.
  
• Added Bonus Mission 6, which is the original undivided version of High Tension mission(thanks to Eerie-Eg)
  
• Improved medic bot's healing abilities(thanks to element109)
  
• Reworked the starting area of Arctic Infiltration mission

• Fixed frame rate stutter and various little things in several maps
  
• Medic bot now heals infested marine without waiting until health reaches low limit. By element109
  
• Make medic bot immediately heal marine which is on fire. Also fix medic couldn't start healing infested marines because their health was not lower than 85% of total health.
  
• Add more fence models to lights.rad to forcetextureshadow list. These affect Deima map, near the first hack there was a big black unrealistic shadow coming from a fence. Compiling with this new lights.rad make shadow more accurate.
  
• Fix minor issues in Deima mission
  
  • Removed a light stand which was floating in-air
    
  • Fixed some spawners spamming errors in console for missing activities
    
  • Fixed players could get under map during death camera slowdown
    
  • Fixed aliens could run through air after marines passed the ship bridge and ship flew away
    
  • Added more player spawn points to fulfill 8 spawn points requirement
• Fix minor issues in Timor Station mission
  
  • Prevented Grenade Launcher's grenades to fly into the sky in place near the biomass block
    
  • Fixed aliens from hordes getting stuck in non playable map areas
    
  • Added more player spawn points to fulfill 8 spawn points requirement
• Rework the starting area in til3ArcticInfiltration
  
• Fix several minor issues in area9800LZ and til2RoadToDawn
  
• Fix pipe glitch in par5crucial_point, by Eerie-Eg
  
• Fix crashes at first holdout area in par4high_tension, by Eerie-Eg
  
• Add bonus_mission6 into Bonus Missions campaign. High Tension undivided.
  
• Improve bonus_mission6(High Tension undivided), by Eerie-Eg
  
  • Fixed crashes during first holdout
    
  • Ported changes from split versions of High Tension into the undivided one

An update to Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Steam. The major changes include:

• Added Vietnamese translation for game UI by Nguyễn Tuấn Long
  
• Added ability for each map to have its own background image for the loading screen.
  
• Fixed white screen crash
  
• Added new ConVars, VScript function, bug fixes

• Add rd_sentry_refilled_by_dismantling cvar. If set to 1 marine will refill sentry ammo by dismantling it.
  
• Fix bot frags are not counted for co-op missions. This caused ammo to not spawn from aliens in challenges that used the rd_spawn_ammo cvar
  
• Fix white screen crash
  
• Show yellow icon when player is speaking in Player List window. Also added rd_speaking_r, rd_speaking_g, rd_speaking_b ConVars to allow players to set their own color for speaker icon
  
• Add rd_ray_trace_distance convar. Can be modified by challenges or maps(using Convars.SetValue() vscript) to increase the distance which can be targeted using grenade launcher.
  
• Add VScript Function to spawn fire StartFire(). StartFire( Vector position, float duration, int flags ). Returns a handle to the created env_fire entity.
  
• Add ConVar rd_biomass_ignite_from_flares(thanks to element109)
  
• Add rd_auto_kick_low_level_player for challenges ASBI, TIER 1 and 2
  
• Fix difficulty in ASBI is lowered for 3 or less marines. asw_adjust_difficulty_by_number_of_marines 0 was applied after the mission start but difficulty adjustment happens before this. This cvar was moved from
  challenge_asbi.nut to asbi.txt
  
• Add rd_auto_kick_high_ping_player convar. If not zero the value will be compared to players ping and player is kicked if the ping is higher than the value.(thanks to element109)
  
• Add ability for each map to have its own background image for the loading screen. The window's background image which is shown during map load can now be customized to show a unique image per each map. Added rd_loading_image_per_map cvar which can be used to turn this feature off.
  By default it is set to 1 which means the feature is enabled. This works for all maps, including community maps. Example of files required for the custom loading image to work(for rd-til4area9800.bsp map):
  reactivedrop/materials/vgui/swarm/loading/rd-til4area9800.vmt
  reactivedrop/materials/vgui/swarm/loading/rd-til4area9800.vtf
  reactivedrop/materials/vgui/swarm/loading/rd-til4area9800_wide.vmt
  reactivedrop/materials/vgui/swarm/loading/rd-til4area9800_wide.vtf
  Files with "_wide" suffix are meant for 16x9 aspect ratio resolutions.
  Files without suffix are meant for 4x3 aspect ratio resolutions.
  If custom material is missing a default material is used.
  
• Fix uber drones are smaller when spawned from spawners. Uber drones default to 1.3 in size of regular drone. asw_spawner, alien selection and vscript code can change the size of asw_drone_uber by setting the Size Scale parameter. It is no longer required for asw_spawner to manually set uber drone's Size Scale to 1.3.
  
• Add Vietnamese translation for game UI by Nguyễn Tuấn Long
  
• Add antlion guard NPCs to the asw_clearhouse
  
• Add rd_chatwipe cvar, set it to 0 to prevent chat wiping
  
• Fix crash on connect introduced by custom loading image feature
  
• Prevent inserting blank page to chat on mission restart if rd_chatwipe set to 0
  
• Prevent camera rotation when not in game(thanks to element109)
  
• Fix tech marine requirement is not disabled after hack on ocs2landingbay7
  
• Fix skybox blinking black at start of bonus_mission2

Known issues

rd_chatwipe 0 can lead to chat being invisible after map just loaded, only happens once at first game start. This happens randomly. We are investigating this issue. If you have additional details on this issue, provide them in the feedback section of our discussions.

A default background loading image is shown when joining lobby for the first time.

An update to Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Steam. The major changes include:

• Difficulty no longer increases for 5+ marines. Thanks to everyone who left their feedback regarding this feature.
  
• Voice mute buttons. Players are now able to mute separate players using the Player List window(F9)
  
• To improve user experience when browsing for public games players with in-game level below 30 and no promotions will not see games with a challenge enabled or difficulty harder than Hard.
  
• [Modding]VScript access to info_node positions, new cvars
  
• Miscellaneous fixes

• Added rm_prespawn_num_biomass cvar. It can be used in user challenges to randomly create biomass around a map. Requires rd_prespawn_scale to be set to 1 or higher.
  
• Updated description of rm_prespawn_num_* cvars
  
• Set rd_increase_difficulty_by_number_of_marines to be 0 by default. Game difficulty will not be increased for 5+ players
  
• Add mute button to player list window(F9). Thanks to element109 for the initial pull request.
  
• Added VScript Functions to Get info_node Data.
  
  • InfoNodes.GetNumNodes() //Returns the amount of info_nodes in the network array
    
  • InfoNodes.GetNodeOrigin( int nodeID ) //Returns the origin of the node
    
  • InfoNodes.GetNodePosition( int nodeID, int hull ) //Returns the hull specific origin of the node
    
  • InfoNodes.GetNodeType( int nodeID ) //Returns the type of node
• Add rd_drone_uber_knockdown cvar. Set to 1 to make uber drones knock down marines like shieldbugs do. Also added related cvars rd_drone_uber_knockdown_force and rd_drone_uber_knockdown_lift
  
• Make asw_trigger_fall, trigger_hurt and env_laser kill marines even if reviving is enabled
  
• Display number of incapacitations in player list window. If reviving is enabled F9 window(player list) will now display the number of times marine was incapacitated during current mission.
  
• Fix marine is deleted after asw_suicide. This bugged out challenges with reviving enabled
  
• Grey out difficulties above Hard and challenges for players below 30 level in Find Public Games window
  
• Disable blinking light on area9800PP1 map to improve frame rate
  
• Fix help hint is displayed permanently during bonus mission 1
  
• Fix aliens getting stuck in huge yellow door on lan3_maintenance
  
• Fix alien getting stuck inside wall on LandingBay_01
  
• Fix uber drones getting stuck in door frames and windows
  
• Add rd_auto_kick_low_level_player. Server auto kick players below level 30 from challenges which have this cvar set to 1. This cvar is meant for players who use dedicated server browser to join games, since Public Games window already restricts filters to max Hard difficulty and challenge being disabled

This update brings support for rich presence in both Steam and Discord.

If you participate in Steam Beta you will now see more information in your Friend List window. What map is your friend playing, difficulty, number of slots taken and number of maximum slots available on server, as well as the active Challenge name.



Discord users will see similar information.



Also in Discord players are able to post invites in chats to invite players to join their lobby. As well as using the "Ask to Join" button when clicking on player's nickname.



Feel free to join our Discord community to chat and invite people to play with you.

If you are working on a map you may want to check out the community Source Engine Discord server to gather feedback, share screenshots or invite for playtests. Feel free to share your favorite Discord servers in comments section.

Another major change is we've fixed a bug reported by NoName which was causing game difficulty to become lower after a mission restart. Now mission restart will not lower difficulty. 8-player games on Brutal will become harder. 4-player games are slightly affected too. As this issue was present since Alien Swarm's release we want to hear your feedback to decide whether we keep the change or revert it to how it was before. Please use this discussion to leave your feedback on this issue or create a new discussion if necessary.

• Added rich presence for Steam and Discord. You need to have Steam Beta installed to see the new features in your friend list window. If you have Discord desktop app installed RD will send an extended status in it. You can also invite people to your lobby using Discord.
  
• Added soundscripts required for bonus_mission2 map(thanks to Rock N Roll)
  
• Fixed medic rifle has infinite heals with rd_infinite_ammo(thanks to element109)
  
• Disabled blinking light at til1MidnightPort. Blinking light at map start was causing frame time fluctuations. Looks like lights with changed appearance are causing frame-time to increase which makes next frame time to be decreased. Such fluctuations in frame-time cause monitor to display the same frame during two monitor refreshes. This results in reduced actual framerate even if game's reported framerate is 60
  
• Added rd_suggest_difficulty cvar. If set to 0, game will not show a message suggesting player to change their difficulty(thanks to element109).
  
• Added rd_hud_minimap_drawing convar. If set to 0 the player cannot draw on the mini-map and does not receive other's drawings. This does not affect other players ability to draw and receive drawings(thanks to element109).
  
• Fixed asw_spawner Skill Level. Brutal and Insane are no longer treated as the same Skill Level.
  
• Fixed alien health is being lowered after mission restart. Difficulty modifier was not properly updating, affecting aliens' health(lowering it). Thus asw_adjust_difficulty_by_number_of_marines and rd_increase_difficulty_by_number_of_marines cvars didn't properly work.

Rich Presence is now in the beta branch of Reactive Drop. On the Steam client beta and Discord, more information about the map you are playing will be shown to your friends.