Door Kickers is a top-down real time strategy game where you command a SWAT team sent into various locals to neutralize bad guys and rescue hostages. I played it in early-alpha a while ago, and while I enjoyed it in its early state, it’s only gotten better and more feature-heavy since then. If you’re a fan of these types of games, it’s the perfect time to pick it up, because it’s 85% off on Steam for the next day or so (at the time of posting). That’s $2.99, from the usual price of $19.99.

store.steampowered.com/app/248610/Door_Kickers

Door Kickers, the tactical top-down SWAT game, is now available for Apple iPad. In celebration, the following changes have been made:

– New campaign, in celebration of the iPad release.
– Two new shotguns.
– Tablet mode: activate the new GUI and control scheme optimized for touchscreen displays and trackpads.
– Added import/export save-games capability, to share progress between different platforms (PC-Mac-Linux-iOS).
– Improved path-drawing smoothness on some maps.
– Increased maximum zoom-in distance.

itunes.apple.com/ro/app/door-kickers/id975683986?mt=8

After multiple Alpha iterations, DoorKickers has now reached beta status. The following changes and features have been introduced to the Beta build of DoorKickers:

Features:

– Challenges: in addition to the 3-star system, you can now complete challenges for each level. These do not count towards unlocking weapons but do gain your troopers XP.
– Plan saving: all paths up to the first “Play” command are saved and restored when restarting the map, also called the Daimaju feature (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5P849j6q5c).
– Unlockable items: items are now unlocked using the Stars currency.
– Unlockable classes: trooper classes (assaulter/breacher/etc.) are now unlocked by leveling up your squad.
– 8 new firearms.
– 3 new armor types.
– 8 new maps.
– Many improvements to enemy AI.
– Line of sight preview when drawing a path.
– Proper feedback indicators for enemies that are about to execute a hostage + added countdown timers for executioners.
– Feedback for the range of all sounds. Can be switched off in options.
– Added indicators for shield area of cover.
– Added enemy tooltips that show their equipment and intentions.
– When the line of fire is blocked by a friendly unit, a proper graphical indicator is rendered.
– The VIPs in “Protect the VIP” scenarios must be activated by proximity in order to be able to control them.
– Can customize the name/appearance of your troopers (wip, for now you can only loop through all the troopers in the database).
– Can now change resolution from the in-game video options.
– Support for more .wav formats. Previously an unknown format would crash the game.
– Added reverb sound effects (wip).
– Added new graphics/sounds effects (ejecting bullet shells, rain, fire etc.).
– Graphical updates to many maps, including the training ones.
– Improved overall graphics.
– Can now disable map zooming/panning from the options menu.
– Arrested enemies auto-move outside the line of fire between a swat and a fellow enemy.
– Selecting between paths that are over-imposed is now much easier.
– It is now possible to switch between pages in the Single Mission selection screen, via the small buttons on the bottom.
Fixes:

– Fixed the 50 mods limit downloaded from Steam.
– The “Export replay to movie” feature now works correctly on more (all?) hardware configurations (and faster).
– A crash that would sometimes happen after enabling/disabling mods and playing a game.
– Mods are no longer deleted after starting the game in offline mode.
– Deploy slots no longer look weird on very large screen resolutions.
– Flashbangs that could sometimes kill an enemy if they hit him.
– Too many trooper radio sounds in replays.
– A bug where shields would not stop bullets coming from grazing angles.
– Snipers can no longer target VIPs.
– A bug where modded weapons would show up more than one time in the equipment menu.
Modding / Structure changes:

– When updating a mod, the mod.xml “description” field is no longer updated on Steam Workshop.
– Can now use additional breaching charge types on a door.
– Maximum map size is no longer hardcoded at 4096×4096, though it’s still limited by the maximum texture size supported by the GPU. Recommended 8192×8192.
– Added more rendering layers (can now control which item renders on top of what item with more precision).
– All weapon mods that use bullet_trace.tga + bullet_trace_shotgun.tga should now use the .dds versions. Will remove the .tga ones in the next update.
– All weapon mods should update the firearms flare rendering layers to mimic the ones in the new equipment.xml version.
– All weapon mods should add bullet-shell-on-the-ground sounds like in equipment.xml. If your mod already added such sounds (e.g. SiC), make sure to take them out or add them using the new fields in equipment.xml.
– Graphics / Explosion sounds for flashbangs/breaching charges are now moddable. Mods that modify the flashbangs/breaching charges should modify them according to the new equipment.xml (added the explosion sounds and graphics).
– Crowbar/lock-picks added to the equipment items and can now be modded.

inthekillhouse.com/doorkickers

DoorKickers Alpha 9 sees the addition of body armor, more complex shield options, and less-than-lethal options, along with an ‘Arrest Warrant’ mode, where a specific NPC must be arrested to win the game.

The following features and fixes have been implemented into the newest build:

Features:
– New scenario type: Arrest Warrant.
– Body Armor added to the game. Select it from the inventory menu.
– Stinger Less-Lethal grenades added
– Tazer Less Lethal gun
– New shield models + improved shield mechanics
– 1/2 playback speed option for viewing replays
– New trooper skins + better animations
– Graphics improvements
– Improvements to enemy/swat AI

Fixes:
– Troopers now properly remember the weapon they had in hand before breaching a door.
– Fixed some issues with snipers
– Fixed unable to breach with shotgun as secondary weapon when activating potential waypoint
– Trooper stats are no longer updated and XP is no longer reset when viewing replays
– Fixed invisible walls on very large screen resolutions
– Fixed immortal troopers
– Sniper bullets ignore cover now

As always, you can buy access to the latest Alpha build which includes the full version upon release at the official website – inthekillhouse.com/

New classes, experience gain, and bug fixes galore. DoorKickers has added plenty of brand new features in the latest Alpha 8 build.

The following features and fixes have been implemented into the newest build:

Features:
– Shield trooper class
– Snipers (off map asset available in select missions)
– Windows
– Troopers gain XP and advance in rank (though nothing to do with that, yet!)
– Better enemy AI + pathfinding
– Added “open replays folder” option + replays file name
– Improvements on trooper control

Fixes:
– Trooper statistics are no longer updated after watching a replay
– Less sounds overlapping in replays
– Stealth Class no longer kicks doors
– Silenced weapons are no longer heard through walls
– Flashbang target no longer resets to default when setting a gocode
– Fixed a bug where a dead trooper would not be replaced
– Fixed a bug where completing HostageRescue on a mission with more than 1 rescue zone would not end mission
– Fixed playing “Aborting” sound after shotgun-breaching a locked door
– Fixed a couple of crashes, tweaked some stuff and in general improved the game in too many ways to mention here.

As always, you can buy access to the latest Alpha build which includes the full version upon release at the official website – inthekillhouse.com/

The newest Alpha build for DoorKickers, Alpha 6, has a host of new features and updates, primarily of which is the addition of two new classes, Breacher and Stealth Trooper, and a revised map editor. The full changes are as follows:

Features:
– Breacher class and Shotguns added
– Shotgun breaching now possible – replaces Mechanical breaching where appropriate
– Stealth class and Suppressed firearms added
– Lockpicking. Beware – can be heard by enemies at short range.
– Something approaching a real Mission Editor
– 3 new pistols
– 7 new Semi-Auto/Auto weapons
– 3 shotguns
– 4 new single mission maps
– 2 new random maps
– Improvements to old maps
– Improved the random mission generator
– Improved enemy AI
– New enemy AI: Sawn Off shotgunner. Yeah, watch out for him.
– Troopers now holster the current weapon while operating devices (defusing bombs, lockpicking etc.)
– Smoother path drawing around corners
– Enemy Stun/reload icons are no longer visible in fog of war
– Tooltips are now flipped when cut-off by the edge of the map
– Improved visual effects (debris, burn marks, muzzle flash lights etc.)

Modding / Structure changes:
– Simplified new map creation; Background Entity no longer needed, texture directly referenced in mission file
– Changed location of single mission and RMG repositories
– Differentiated Speed Reload vs Tactical Reload times for weapons

Fixes:
– Fixed flashbang trajectory showing different path that the actual one
– Can no longer operate devices from behind walls/doors, you cheaters.
– You must now have LOS with an object in order to be able to interact with it
– Fixed sometimes losing rclick orientation tracking
– Fixed a bug where the path would not be highlighter while dragging it

inthekillhouse.com/

Real-time tactical game DoorKickers just saw its newest update to Alpha 5. Some of the new features in Alpha 5 include:

A full list of changes can be found at inthekillhouse.com/.

DoorKickers, the real time strategy game where you play a SWAT team, is now available through the digital distribution service Steam. Additionally, the following features were added during the most recent update:

– Added realistic shooting methods.
– SWAT now wait for flashbangs to explode before proceeding on their path.
– SWAT now wait on doors if there is a flashbang being thrown through that door.
– SWAT better stacking at doors.
– Added an in-game “News” panel where you will be notified of new updates and/or community news.
– Greatly improved FPS on older video cards (and newer ones as well).
– Distance is now shown when rclick-dragging.
– Game loads fasters now.
– Added new ambiental music.

store.steampowered.com/app/248610

inthekillhouse.com/doorkickers/

The third alpha build for DoorKickers has been released. The following features have been added to the current alpha:

– MacOSX and Linux support
– Mission results (Stars) are now stored and displayed for each level
– Briefing screen now contains some intel; map notes still to come
– Detailed statistics after each mission
– You can now delete portions of the path by right-clicking anywhere on it and selecting “Delete”; Shortcut to be added in next version.
– Added in-game epic music
– Added options menu (only Sound/Gore are configurable for now. Caution on the gore!)
– Multiple improvements for Menus/Hud
– Better looking graphics for some maps
– Fixed some crashes that were very common in the previous version (thanks for the crash reports!)
– Fixed a bug where troopers would not respond to commands
– Added shortcut for FPS display – F8

Additionally, if you haven’t paid your way into the alpha yet, there’s a demo with limited features available for the latest build. You can get the demo here: http://inthekillhouse.com/buy/