Tactical Squad: SWAT Stories
Playtest Launch!
Our game's free prologue, Tactical Squad: SWAT Stories - First Shot, is undergoing its announced playtest!
↓ Sign up and download it right here! ↓
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2428730/Tactical_Squad_SWAT_Stories__First_Shot/
You can participate for 2 weeks, July 17th-July 31st. We'd like to collect as much feedback about Tactical Squad as we can, so please talk to us and the other players on our official Discord server and/or use our feedback form (link in the game's menu).
Some time after finishing the playtest, we're going to release the prologue for good! Expect a relevant announcement for that, too.
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Development Briefing – 7 | Free Co-op Prologue!
Long time no report. But we have something good to report once again! We're currently planning the release of a free prologue for Tactical Squad: SWAT Stories! We're calling it 'First Shot'.
↓ Check it out right here! ↓
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2428730/Tactical_Squad_SWAT_Stories__First_Shot/
We're using Steam's public playtest feature to let you know when the prologue is available. You can sign up for it right now and later be notified. This way we'll know if there's anything urgent to tweak before we make First Shot available for good.
↓ Go to the prologue's Steam page and click the button from the image below. ↓
What will there be to do in the prologue?
- Silence of the Hansons – You can face the challenges of the game's first mission. As the SWAT team's member, you get to investigate a gloomy house that serves as a hideout for a gang of kidnapping fanatics.
- Numerous gameplay features – ...such as equipment customization, mission objectives, various tactical orders, or a scoring system to measure your performance in the mission.
- Co-op 'and' single player – Tackle the first mission in single player as you issue commands to AI-controlled SWAT operatives or join up to 4 other people in co-op mode and work together to complete your objectives.
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Development Briefing – 6 | Early Access News!
We have a really big announcement for you this time. Tactical Squad is officially coming to early access in late summer of 2023! You'll be able to play the first several missions of the game in full functionality, equipping your squad in the range of gear we've been presenting in our series, and deploying them into action to complete the objectives of every level's unique operations.
Stand by for further details, particularly on our co-op feature progress, some events that we're planning for 2023, and watch the latest episode of our devlog right here:
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Development Briefing – 5 | New Devlog Episode!
Sometimes the only way out of a situation is to get up close and personal.
5 – Shotguns
Experience tells us the purpose of the shotgun – from the earliest Doom games to modern shooters, it's the killing device that offers high damage, typically at the cost of short range and high spread (but that can also be an advantage). The hostiles you'll be facing in Tactical Squad are well aware of these weapons' qualities, so if you see someone taking a close position against your team, it's time to act fast – don't let them get too close!
Luckily, the same option for planning out your own moves is very much available to you. Aside from the breaching shotgun, a non-lethal, definitive means to opening doors that resist more subtle solutions, there is also your standard-issue shotgun. There's more versatility to it than you might expect from our intro, though – you can use the pre-mission Equipment screen to outfit your operative in the type of ammo that suits your tactical needs:
● buckshot – whose spread covers a wide area but travels at low range,
● slug – one bullet, but allows you to shoot at a higher distance,
● bean bag – used for less lethal apprehension of suspects.
And last but certainly not least – if you want more updates, here's a reminder that we've uploaded a brand new devlog video for our game. Check it out right here:
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Development Briefing – 4
One man's meat is another's poison.
4 – The House
Most people have a place in their life where they feel relaxed and secure, and most people call that place home. But if you were to have this power to look into every home, what kind of people would you bet on finding inside? Would you feel as safe and confident around them as they do, inside their home?
Here's a sneak preview of another level you'll be facing in Tactical Squad – "The House." A regular, detached, single-family residential building. While, as always, we're hesitant to reveal too much information about the map's layout for the good of your experience, there are surely a few obvious or predictable things about a place like this. The rooms, the decor, the furnishings. What's always unpredictable about a house circles back to our original point – the people inside.
Have a close look at our screenshots and try putting your imagination to work on them a bit. We're talking about a special forces unit initiating an intervention in there. What could have prompted that? What's been happening inside the House? And, most importantly, what can you do to resolve whatever situation is taking place there?
Comment down below or on our Discord server with your theories about the mission scenario for the House map. We'll feature the best comments and ideas in our next announcement!
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Ukrainian Games Festival 2022!
Today, on August 24th, Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day. Given this distinguished occasion, we'd like to announce two matters related to Tactical Squad: SWAT Stories.
Firstly,
Our game is part of the ongoing Ukrainian Games Festival on Steam! Check it out here: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38747278-Indie-Cup/sale/ukrainiangames2022
As a project based internationally in both Poland and Ukraine, we're very glad to be a part of the event!
And for our second bit of news,
We're including our most recently published playthrough of Tactical Squad to become part of the Steam broadcasting feature. As always, we're counting on having our game reach an ever broader audience, so tell your friends about it, our brodcast, and this unique event that offers numerous sales and updates on the Ukrainian gamedev scene.
Take a look if you haven't watched our latest devlog on YouTube yet!
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Red Mountain Games & Ritual Interactive
Development Briefing – 3
Getting to know your enemies is a crucial step in defeating them.
3 – Enemy Equipment
In Tactical Squad, you'll be facing people who come into conflict with the law for a variety of reasons. You'll be briefed on the currently developing situation before you engage, and it'll be up to you to determine the best way to prepare for it. For example the equipment employed is of key importance here. Are they run-of-the-mill street thugs? Or maybe an organized gang or even terrorists? Does this mean they're just going to wield some standard black-market guns or are they going to be equipped with high-quality gear that's got armor-piercing capabilities on top of some additional utilities?
Whatever happens, it'll never just be a straightforward reflection of your own arsenal.
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Devlog – Episode 3
High time for a video update, so here's the third episode of our Devlog!
This episode presents a full playthrough of the mission set on Tactical Squad's 'Villa' map. We look through our game's updated menus, equipment setup, and then we complete all of the assignment's objectives. Hope you enjoy!
Watch the episode here:
Stay tuned for future updates!
Red Mountain Games & Ritual Interactive
Development Briefing – 2
Tactics are grounded in your earlier choice of actions. Nothing is ever truly tactical without the freedom to make that choice.
2 – Weapon Variety
It'll come as little surprise that in Tactical Squad the weapons with which you choose to equip your operatives are a foundation of your tactics. Already diverse in their types, they further branch out into different properties such as weight, firing modes, ammo capacities, and ammo types. Following faithfully the arsenal at the disposal of genuine police units, the game features weapons inspired by such icons as the Beretta, Sig, Colt, as well as Heckler & Koch rifles, submachine guns, and even launchers.
If the variety of firearms itself doesn't cut it for your planning, there's the variety of accessory, like in the example of our MP5-inspired equipment.
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
Development Briefing – 1
Welcome to the Briefing, a new series of short posts that we will be running here in the Steam Community space.
In it, you will be informed, or briefed, on selected steps that the team are taking in the process of creating Tactical Squad.
It will be independent from our Devlogs, which are videos presenting major news and milestones in the game's development. Check out the starter episode here.
And with that, on to the first Briefing.
1 – Weather System
Any game that tries to introduce a little tension into its gameplay can accomplish it in a variety of ways, and one of them is the atmosphere of its setting. There's nothing like a violent thunderstorm to create that truly tense atmosphere.
Tactical Squad is going to feature a special weather system that introduces randomised atmospheric conditions in the game's missions. Of course some missions will take place during the day, while others at night, so the conditions will be appropriate to the setting. You will also be able to control this system in the game's settings. Check out the results in the gallery down below.
Join our Discord server to take part in the discussion of Tactical Squad and its features!
