Newbies Guide

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Main SWAT 3/4 web resources

Now, before you start your journey through the world of SWAT you should check-in at one of the following five-star addresses:


The "Official" Sierra / Vug Forums For The Swat Series

What you can expect here:

  • Recent news and info on what is going on in the community.
  • People who are willing to help if you have problems with the game (and if they know/guess a solution). See below...
  • Learn many many things about modding the game and creating new maps in the respective subforums.
  • Clans looking for new members.

What you cannot expect:

  • Official support (that's why I used the quotes) – the only semi-official fellas who pop in from time to time are the moderators.


Hot Swat Mods (HSM) Besides the forums that offer you basically the same things like the Sierra forums, the purpose of HSM is to be one of the most important SWAT 3/4 candy stores (see the download section) where you can get all kinds of fancy stuff like mods, maps, tools, fixes, tutorials... (registration required for downloading)


10-David 10D is also one of the really old ladies in town, and although, unlike HSM, she has unfortunately not seen a facelift for a long time and the forums are nowadays pretty much like a ghost town (okay... there are some hermit crabs hanging around & pretending to be sheriffs ;) + the official TAKE-DOWN thread with 1000+ posts), but if there are new kids on the block she is still more than happy to give candy away (i.e. mods, maps, utilities, skins...). There is also a section with articles covering different topics like tactics, interviews, reviews, tutorials... Oldies but goldies!!


Not to forget, this website also hosts a couple of custom maps for SWAT 4.


Installing custom maps

Now that you have a bunch of new maps downloaded from the sites above, how do you install them? Here's how:

  1. Download the maps you like. If they have installers (that is, .exe file extension) just click them and follow the on-screen instructions. Sometimes you need to supply the Swat 4 installation directory if the installer doesn't detect it. If the files are compressed (.rar or .zip), then read below.
  2. Open the file with some file archiver. 7-Zip is free and can handle just about any archive.
  3. Extract files that have the same extension separately according the following:
    • If you know the map is for TSS ONLY, then replace "Content" with "ContentExpansion" below.
    • .s4m => SWAT 4\Content\Maps
    • .utx => SWAT 4\Content\Textures
    • .usm => SWAT 4\Content\StaticMeshes
  4. Installing all the maps under Content shouldn't prevent the game from running, but it may cause problems if you try to play TSS only maps from vanilla SWAT 4.


Playing custom maps

First thing to know is that not all custom maps support all gamemodes. The maps have a naming convention in which SP or CO-OP only maps are given 'SP-' prefix, and adversarial mode (Barricated Suspects, VIP Escort, Rapid Deployment, Smash & Grab in TSS) maps have 'MP-'. You can play maps that are for multiplayer only also in single player, but there'll be no AI teammates and also no enemies or civies. So how to play a map in single player? Unfortunately custom maps don't show up in the Career Menu and also not in the Quick Mission Maker, so you have to start them via the console:

  1. Open the console (usually the key left to "1", like "^" or "~") and type in open XYZ without the quotes, whereas XYZ is the exact filename of the map you want to play. For example, if the mapname is "sp-dark_scarlet.s4m", type in open sp-dark_scarlet. See also other console commands.
  2. Now the map will start directly, so if you want to adjust your loadout you have to restart the map. To do that DO NOT use the restart button in the debrief screen, but open the console again and enter reconnect.

Alternatively you can use Mursey's Mission Loader Tool that allows you to start Swat 4 with a selected custom map (see useful tools). And what about playing them in multiplayer? If you are hosting a server, you'll see the custom maps show up in the same menu than the official maps. But if you join a server that uses custom maps which you don't have, you'll drop from the server as soon as one of these maps is being loaded. So basically you need to know which maps are on the server. Check the server browser or the welcome messages, or if it's a clan server, go to the clan's website and have a look if they provide a map list, links to the maps, or even a map pack.


Major modifications for SWAT 4

You've played every map a 100 times, you know each like the back of your hand and you're actually able to get 100% score standing on your head, and if that wasn't enough, you're also the ultimate multiplayer über-pwner?!? And now you are bored?!? Well, then this and the following section are for you, because they list the major modifications for Swat4 and TSS that are available, offering you new gameplay experiences, weapons and kit items, maps and other enhancements. To keep things short we will only list the major modifications. And by the way, all of these mods will install themselves into seperate subfolders of the main Swat 4 directory, they don't overwrite any original files and thus you're still able to play the original, unmodified game.


CODE 11 - Authentic Swat Mod v1.12


SSF Realism Mod v2.2


11-99 Enhancement Mod v1.2


SWAT4 - The New York City Finest


Major modifications for SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate

Canadian Forces: Direct Action


H.S.M. Enhancements Mod v3.0: Reloaded


SSF Realism Mod v3.1 FOR TSS


ARPD Realism Mod v6.0


Announced but unreleased modifications

SWAT 4: Take Down

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