SWAT 4 on Linux with Elite Force
Hello fellow SWAT game enthusiast. This is a short guide for how to install and play SWAT 4 with the latest Elite Force mod. The base game was very hit and miss back in the day, but the Elite Force mod fixed so many things, that the game is actually enjoyable, and not a frustration anymore.
Why Elite Force mod?
Install SWAT 4 (GOG)
Currently SWAT 4 is only available on GOG, but this is an adventage as we don't have to deal with Steam, and its directory structure.
I use the adamhm script for SWAT 4. You download it, extract it with your favorite tool, and you copy the GOG files to that place. Then you need to start the installer:
+BEGINSRC ./swat4wine.sh +ENDSRC
You might need some extra things for depency. On Ubuntu based systems you can install them with the following command (or search for it in your graphical package manager):
+BEGINSRC sudo apt install icoutils +ENDSRC
After the game installer is done, you can place the SWAT4 directory whereever you want to.
Install the Elite Force mod
You can either use the script's installer or you can choose the manual way.
For the mod to install we need 2 files from moddb. We need Elite Force 6.0 and the upgrade files to Elite Force 6.4. These are zip files, that you will need to extract into the directory where the game is. For Linux that's inside the prefix directory of course, like this
+BEGINSRC this is your harddrive/SWAT 4/prefix/drivec/SWAT 4 +ENDSRC
When you extract the upgrade files, you need to overwrite the contents of the SEF directory. It's easy to check if it was succesful, since the game changes, and you will see the Elite Force mod logo, and links to the wiki and discord at the bottom right corner.
To start the game with this mod:
+BEGINSRC ./start-eliteforce.sh +ENDSRC
Enjoy the game, as we have so few single player tactical shooters, nowadays everything is multiplayer these days.