SWAT Aftermath is a challenging objective-based zombie survival built using the game making engine inside Warcraft III, with a focus on teamwork, an interesting implementation of item management, and a low margin for mistakes. It is developed and played by a small but loyal community. 

This will be a public post featuring a second pass analysis of SWAT's systems and gameplay as they relate to concepts covered during the course such as 'pillars' of a game. 

Table of Contents

1. Intro
2. Basic system mechanics
3. Nuanced mechanics & player roles
4. Objectives
5. Game pillars
   
   
   Depicted: minimap of a fully cleared map. Black areas are covered by Fog of War and unscouted due to being unpathable terrain. Terrain and specific objectives are fixed every game, but contents of rooms are randomly generated.

1) Intro

Built inside an RTS engine, SWAT shares some of the same basic controls: 

• an overhead/isometric camera view,
• manual camera panning with mouse/arrow keys, and
• selecting and commanding units via predominantly mouse clicks, drag selects, and numerous hotkeys.

Although generally you will only be responsible for your one character, SWAT's class complexity, need for precise and medium-high APM (actions per minute) control, and variety of lethal enemy types make its base gameplay loops comparable to competitive MOBA titles. With objective and team-based tasks to complete on top of all of these pressures taking up the player's attention and APM, despite being a PVE title, SWAT is very much not intended for the casual gamer and instead finds itself with a small but loyal fanbase; continuing to play and develop it for more than 17 years (earliest found post at 2007 after casually googling).  

2) Basic system mechanics

At its core, SWAT is built of a number of very basic systems.

Difficulties

• -> Normal, Hard, Insane introduce players to game mechanics.
• -> Nightmare introduces the majority of the game mechanics but on a lower difficulty.
• -> Extinction is the hardest difficulty and the only focal point for design balance and this post.

Map

• -> Static terrain
• -> 6 bunkers located in the same specific locations across the map
• -> Laboratory (contains shops, sells antidotes, and target location for Recall) in the middle of the map
• -> Other Room* contents are initialized randomly at the start of every game
• -> A certain number of item rooms are generated across the map
• -> 6 reactors are randomly generated across the map
• -> Other objectives

Enemy spawn

• -> Zombies periodically spawn across the map in rooms and the graveyard
• -> They do not spawn if the threshold for maximum enemies is reached.
• -> Instead, if enemies reach this threshold, a dangerous "Tyrant" enemy is spawned instead.
• -> Creates need to regularly cull zombies.
• -> Bosses periodically spawn.
• -> Usually have faster than player movement speed, forcing an inevitable encounter.
• -> Lots of HP, necessitating the use of a tank to prevent the party from getting overwhelmed by zombies while taking it down.
• -> On Nightmare and Extinction difficulties, miniboss enemy types also regularly spawn.
• -> Normal zombies will leave behind their corpse on death, becoming untargetable and respawning multiple times with less hp.
• *Creates a location-creep effect making it harder to hold positions as respawning zombies get closer and closer, soaking up auto-targeting from AoE attacks.

Enemy aggro

• -> Global aggro.
• -> Zombies periodically (guesstimating 30 second intervals) target a random player and attack-move towards that player's current location.
• *Games are often played as a group with one solo. As global aggro is random, mob across the map will statistically end up targeting the main group.
• -> Local aggro.
• -> Once enemies enter a certain range, they will prioritize local aggro and beeline towards nearby players to attack them.
• -> Special aggro rules.
• -> Some special enemies like Umbrella Soldiers will take different paths than general zombie enemies to ambush players.
• -> Some bosses will ignore normal aggro rules to target players with special abilities.

Player Attacks

• -> With the exception of some ground-targeting abilities, the majority of team damage is from autoattacks.
• -> Autoattacks must choose a target and most classes/weapons have a circular AoE that will emanate from that target.
• **The group primarily pathing in a single clockwise/counterclockwise direction around the edge of the map is a key strategy that takes advantage of global aggro rules to reduce the number of directions enemies are approaching from and consolidate the AoE of the team.

Player frailty and nanites

• -> Player HP is fixed at a very low amount (500). For reference, a normal zombie can have 400 damage by the end of a game.
• -> Player effective HP depends on "Nanites", or mana shield, which reduces and redirects the majority of damage towards their MP. Creating a layer of resource management.
• -> Even with nanites, non-tank classes are extremely frail, as it is not uncommon to have 50-100 enemies on the screen at a time.
• -> Getting hit also has a chance to give extremely debilitating debuffs (injuries)
• *Essentially, the game is to not get hit.
• **Places extra importance on pathing to consolidate mob direction, and to stay with the group to cover each other with firepower; keeping zombies at bay with sheer DPS. 

Depicted: Team camping to complete the civilians objective. Most of the team stands below the corner while mob targets the tank on the top left. 
3) Nuanced mechanics & meta roles

Pathing

• -> Due to how global aggro works, player frailty, the sheer number of enemies that constantly spawn, and the nature of potential team damage being primarily AoE, the common strategy is to path around the edges of the map. 
• -> With global aggro targeting behind the group, enemies end up trailing behind the group.
• -> Although this is a very safe strategy, to win a game of SWAT one has to not just survive but complete various objectives around the map (and really wants to clear the entire map to obtain all the spawned items and enough resources to beat the final boss fight). 
• -> Deciding on a specific path as well as pacing the speed at which the group move become important decisions to allow for faster teammates to clear rooms as well as allow the group to successfully clear objectives which require defending a spot for an extended period of time.
• -> But with every player that moves in a wrong direction, AoE is less consolidated, the group has to potentially hold and cover for the player lagging behind, wasting precious time. As a result, most groups will designate one player to be the 'leader' during a game; although this role is now mostly commandeered by the veteran players in the community.

"The Leader"

• -> Responsible for the play by play directions for the path to be taken by the team, order of objectives, current goal, etc; especially in chaotic situations.
• -> Poor coordination between tanks and DPS or failure to move in a united direction easily lead to the wipes of leaderless groups.

Depicted: An organized lab. As most items in Warcraft III appear as indistinguishable treasure chest models, organization of the "team inventory" (aka the laboratory room in the center of the map) is crucial!

Item management

• -> Character inventories in SWAT are 6 slots.
• -> With numerous necessary consumables, objective related items, and a low margin for error in EXT difficulty that assumes the prompt and effective distribution of various equipment, the effective use of those 6 slots are essential to a win.
• -> In order to buffer and store the stock of items coming in from the solo (whose role is to scout the map) as well as regular purchase of restocking consumables, the Laboratory is used as an artificial inventory.
• -> Items are placed, literally, on the floor.
• -> The community has developed a number of standards for organization, optimized around the various constraints of the "Recall".
• -> The Recall. The necessary first purchase of any game. Teleports the user and nearby teammates to the Lab temporarily.
• They are returned to their original location after 20s or upon leaving the Lab via its north ramp (the only exit).
• -> While a powerful purchase, its prohibitive cost and restock cooldown means only one is ever purchased (most of the time).

"The Quartermaster"

• -> Primary holder of the Recall.
• -> While not directly a class related role, the Quartermaster does need enough intelligence stat to be able to use the Recall.
• -> The Quartermaster should also not be a class for which the group would collapse if regularly without. 
• -> IE. primary firepower responsible for keeping zombies at bay as well as the tank.
• -> Responsible for delivering Bandages to healers, objective related items to the entire team for when the leader calls for an objective, batteries to the tank, stim packs to the DPS, and more.

Depicted: A sniper doing big critical hit damage numbers. Photo taken moments before disaster.

"Priority"

• -> The single target DPS.
• -> With the frequency of dangerous enemy types, single target DPS are almost just as important as total AoE damage of the team.
• -> Flying gargoyles frequently spawn, ignoring melee units such as the tank.
• -> Any dog, gargoyle, or normal zombie can spawn with TNTs; exploding and dealing Nanite piercing damage, easily incapacitating allies if allowed to get close.
• -> Gray zombies, indistinguishable from normal zombies, are immune to splash and auto-targeting and attack significantly faster than normal zombies; quickly shredding the tank if unnoticed. They need to be manually targeted.
• -> Umbrella Soldiers and Commandos have ranged attacks and attack from behind the mob; requiring units with very long range to dispatch.
• -> Minibosses, bosses
• -> Of course, even stray zombies are potentially dangerous as the chance for injuries is an ever-present possibility.
• -> Most team damage is predominantly AoE lacking the higher numbers of single target to immediately drop any stray zombies that manage to get close.

"Carry dps"

• -> Rocket Launcher Mavericks with specific builds, Heavy Ordnances, and mid-late game Tech Ops players.
• -> The aforementioned classes can all boast a significant enough firepower to singlehandedly hold off mob for extended periods of time.
• -> Common strategy for players to do this to allow the group completely unhindered time to clear rooms or complete objectives.
• -> Does incur the risk of the player potentially dying to unforeseen threats, or wasting resources and compromising the team's safety down the line.

4) Objectives

There are five objectives that must be completed to successfully win a game of SWAT.

Radiation ->

• A significant number of radiation fragments spawn throughout the map on start, and periodically afterwards.
• Radiation also has negative side effects that scale as a step-function with multiple brackets.
• Higher brackets cause more constant passive radiation damage; constantly taxing the team's energy. Very high brackets can exceed the team's energy regeneration, quickly draining the entire team of all of their energy and leaving them at 1 HP, though it does not kill directly.
• Radiation also increases the energy regeneration of enemies, giving them access to special abilities such as speed boosts, teleporting, ranged radiation blasts, and more.
• Yellow rads explode, dealing damage to nearby units on destruction.
• Red rads explode into dozens of smaller temporary rad fragments, temporarily spiking the radiation count; potentially lethally for the group if not planned.
• Special "boss" fragments also spawn: blue rad, super rad.
• Radiation must be reduced to 0 to successfully clear this objective.

Civilians ->

• Requires the use of "Antidote" consumables 'purchased' for 0 credits at Lab.
• Use of Antidotes on zombies attempts to convert them into a partially converted state.
• Partially converted zombies may need additional conversion attempts to be fully converted (as indicated by sparklies).
• Once successfully converted, will turn into a civilian after a random amount of time approximately between 40 to 90 seconds.
• Civilians must be escorted to an APC vehicle which is called (via Lab) to a random one of the 6 bunkers across the map.
• APCs can carry up to 8 civilians.
• Civilians are vulnerable to radiation damage and quickly die; preventing players from just easily escorting a squadron of civilians to be dropped in APCs at their convenience.
• Due to this, APCs must often be defended for some time until enough civilians are successfully converted.
• At least 32 civilians must be rescued to successfully clear this objective.

Depicted: Several units inside standing next to a reactor. The unit at the bottom is connected to the beam getting drained, the other two are there so that the draining will continue without halting when the first leaves.

Reactors ->

• Reactors spawn as "damaged", "badly damaged", or "severely damaged" at unknown rooms across the map.
• Each type passively leaks its own energy at a different rate, with severely damaged leaking energy the fastest.
• The reactors are filled by standing next to them: a beam will automatically connect a unit to the reactor, draining the unit's energy.
• Beams drain a specific amount of mana and automatically spawn a new beam to continue draining.
• While a reactor can only drain one unit at a time, each time a new beam spawns, the reactor will target a new unit within acquisition range (slightly smaller than max beam range) with the most energy.
• If any unit fills too many beams (the number is balanced and split amongst the number of players), the chance for the reactor to explode rapidly increases.
• > The mechanics specifically create a team-oriented task that demands coordinated swapping of reactor fillers.
• > The constant threat of zombies demands the rest of the team's firepower to be concentrated outside at a chokepoint rather than inside with limited field of vision.
• > Severely damaged reactors take the longest to complete and require defending a point for the longest period of time out of any objective, while also draining the entire team of their energy in order to complete.
• > Mistakes made during this objective can easily leave the team without enough energy to complete it, and cost enough time to lead to a significantly longer and grueling game if not an outright wipe.
• > Extended time to complete this objective and immediate global aggro also make it inevitable to encounter any bosses and heavy mob on the map.
• All 6 reactors need to be filled to clear this objective.

Hazmat ->

• Randomly spawned across the map and in the graveyard.
• All of the hazmat must be found and sold to clear this objective.

Shrooms ->

• Optional objective.
• On EXT, one room will randomly contain mushrooms at the start of the map.
• Mushrooms debuff nearby units, significantly reducing their movement speed, attack speed, defense, and damage.
• Mushrooms will grow indefinitely and cover a larger area over time.
• Can easily grow to cover a quarter if not discovered and cleared completely.
• Mushrooms can even grow inside walls, requiring the use of flare guns to gain sight of and destroy.
• Mushrooms will continue to grow even if there is only one remaining mushroom; requiring complete eradication to clear.

Defeat Nemesis ->

• The final boss!
• With a large number of mechanics, high damage, multiple phases, and tons of HP, Nemesis tests the team's skill and preparation.
• Even with a highly skilled team, reaching Nemesis without sufficient resources remaining will mean a loss!

5) "Game pillars" and target audience

My own assumptions as a casual and infrequent player of SWAT.

The "pillars" of the intent behind the game design of SWAT are 

1. teamwork and coordination, 
2. challenging control, 
3. high attention and mental load, 
4. item management merged with team logistics.

The distribution of class roles, and the balancing of objectives which are always tuned to almost require every player on the team to contribute otherwise they become magnitudes more difficult to complete. The frequent need to cover for teammates from the constant threat of enemies. Healing teammates, coordinating objectives, coordinating movement. SWAT, despite being built on an old engine and being simple in conception, manages to design a very nuanced and rewarding co-op experience.

The level of APM, focus, and attention demanded of its players also allows for a significant level of enjoyment through flow for hardcore gamers who seek challenge.

Finally, the unique team-centered item management system which almost developed independently of the game itself through player ingenuity provides something for support and logistical minded players as well.

All-in-all, SWAT is a unique and nuanced experience that I had a lot of joy in writing about the past quarter!