Valve to release free shooter and source code
Alien Swarm remake to also act as Steamworks tutorial for devs
Valve Software is to release a remake of Unreal Tournament mod Alien Swarm - for free and with its source code.
The surprise announcement is as a result of the 2008 acquisition of Black Cat, the team of modders behind the original Alien Swarm.
The new version of Alien Swarm is based on Valve's Source engine, and will include support for the Seattle developer/publisher's Steamworks distribution, community and cloud syncing tool.
To be made available alongside the top-down, co-operative shooter is its "complete code base," existing as a separate entity that does not require the purchase of any Source-powered title and which contains new additions to Valve's SDK.
Valve's Jeep Barnett has referred to this version of the Source engine as "much closer to Portal 2" than to Left 4 Dead 2, Valve's last release.
The most notable new features in the Alien Swarm SDK include support for a third person camera, depth of field and improved dynamic shadows, as well as Steamworks integration.
Alien Swarm thus seems targeted to attract modders and small developers to the Source engine and especially Steamworks, which encourages publishing with Valve's Steam store.
"If you’ve ever thought about developing a mod on the Source engine with Steamworks, this release provides more insight and examples for using Steamworks in game production," reads the launch announcement.
Alien Swarm and its source code will be released around 9pm today.