I released a new version of the Last Resort mod yesterday.   Even though the mod is dated November 7th I just got around to packaging and testing it (sorry!).

version 0.8.6 - Nov 07, 2024:
- Launcher no longer auto shuts down if Swat 3 detected running
- Moved LastResort.ini back into Swat 3 folder from AppData
- Fixed bottom of the steps Mission G so player/AI don't get stuck
- Added new high resolution textures for mission G
- Fixed description of Mission G location to "Playa Del Rey"
- Fixed reversed dumpster textures in mission G
- Fixed reversed bulldozer textures in mission G
- Fixed reversed electrical panel textures in mission G
- Fixed broken decal placement in mission G
- Fixed missing fence shadows mission A
- Fixed window box texture on side of house mission A
- Added new high resolution textures for mission M
- Added new mission M Phoenix Club skybox
- Changed Last Resort Launcher icon

I focused mainly on Mission G (the construction yard) and got it to an almost 100% state in terms of texture upgrading.   In the future I think it is best that I focus on upgrading a single map per release instead of jumping around from map to map.

Also included in this release are two fixes to map bugs that have been in the game since release.   The biggest one being the stairs in Mission G that would trap the player or the AI if you went down them.   Much thanks to my kid Noisy who worked hard to modify the SCN Editor to allow these fixes.

This website is changing domain names in about 10-12 days to swat3lastresort.org from the current swat3lastresort.info

The domain renewal is up soon and they wanted an insane $36 CAD to renew for one more year.    Since I pay out of my own pocket for this and don't look for donations I decided to take the cheapest route and move to a different domain name instead.

For $28 CAD I got the .org domain for 2 years.

Expect some potential down time and for a period after security certificate warnings.  There will probably also be some dead links until I can chase them all down and fix them.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

UPDATE: Due to this domain change I will be delaying the release of the next version of the mod.   The Last Resort launcher contains links to help pages on this website so I need the domain update to happen first.

It has been a while since I released a new version of the mod and I am finally close to doing that.  Real life work for the next 2 weeks will probably slow me down though until then.

Mission G (the construction yard) is now about 95% done and Mission M (the Phoenix Club) is about 75% done in terms of replacing the old textures with higher resolution versions.   Even though I am using AI software to upgrade the textures most of the original textures are too low of resolution to get a good result.  A lot of times I am manually generating a whole new texture in photoshop using Bing and Google Images as a reference source.

Below is the changelog but I suspect I forgot to write down some items.  May update as I remember them while packaging up the mod.

version 0.8.6:
- Moved LastResort.ini back into Swat 3 folder from AppData
- Fixed bottom of the steps so player and AI doesn't get stuck
- Added many new high resolution textures for mission G
- Fixed description of Mission G setting in "Playa Del Rey"
- Fixed reversed dumpster textures in mission G
- Fixed reversed bulldozer textures in mission G
- Fixed reversed electrical panel textures in mission G
- Fixed broken decal placement in mission G
- Fixed missing fence shadows mission A
- Fixed window box texture on side of house mission A
- Added new high resolution textures for mission M
- Added new mission M Phoenix Club skybox

I am currently working on new high resolution textures for Mission G (the construction yard).   The texture I have been specifically working on the last few days is a decal of the construction blueprint that is sitting on a table in one of the buildings.   The original texture is so low resolution that it is a blurry mess and you can't even read the text on it.   Very hard to re-create the texture when you can't even see it well.

I started to do research into blueprints and such so that what I add to the new texture is midly realistic.

While reading the game's mission description and listening to the load screen dialog I noticed that the developers made a mistake with the location of the construction yard.  They mention in the text Corona Del Mar as the location but that is far on the east side and is completely off the Swat 3 map of LA.   They also mention the "hyperion water treatment plant" and when you Google that the neighbourhood most famous for that is Playa Del Ray.    This location actually matches with where they placed the mission dot on the LA map.

Sure this is a very minor thing that doesn't affect much.   I will simply correct this in the mission description.  I find this sort of mistake interesting...almost like Swat 3 trivia.

Nvidia Driver Bug:

I just installed the latest Nvidia driver and it causes issues with the Last Resort launcher.  The latest driver (version 560.70) seems to not report to Windows all the resolutions that are available.  640x480, 800x600, and 1366x768 are not being listed as available even though they are.   I am hoping this is a temporary bug that will be fixed in the next driver release.

The Last Resort launcher at startup will cross references with Windows what resolutions the system can do.    Originally back in the CRT days you could actually damage your monitor if you forced it into a resolution it couldn't handle.  I started this mod so long ago that CRT monitors were still around so I wanted to be extra careful.

For now I recommend not upgrading to the latest Nvidia Driver if you want to use the Last Resort mod.   This bug doesn't really affect you if you play Swat 3 in 1920x1080 in both 3D and 2D.

Revert back to the previous driver (v556.12) if you are having problems (using clean install option).

Mission G "Construction Yard" fix:

While I have been working on upgrading textures for Mission G (the construction yard) I was painfully reminded of the mistake the Sierra developers made in one of the buildings.   While playing you or the officer AI would get stuck at the bottom of the stairs and couldn't get back up it.   This stair bug could potentially prevent you from completing the mission if you got stuck.

Well, it looks like we finally have the perfect fix for this.    My kid who goes by the gamer name "Noisy" has looked into modifying the brilliant SCNedit app that was originally made by AlienAbducter long ago.  This tool allows us to modify already compiled maps.   Noisy figured out how to modify the vertices, surfaces, and bounding boxes of the maps and has updated the SCNedit tool (will be released with this feature in the future).

In the screenshot below you can see how the SCNedit app was used to stretch the "invisible ramp" to make it easier for the AI and the player to climb the stairs.   If this ramp is too steep the game characters can't climb it.

Much thanks to Noisy for spending several days on this fix and of course AlienAbducter for his original work and source code.