Compiling under VS2010
Visual Studio 2010 is the best choice for Source. You can use the free C++ Express edition.
Alien Swarm
Converting the Alien Swarm server project straight from the VS2005 format to VS2010's will lead to an "invalid characters in path" error.
To fix it open swarm_sdk_server.vcproj with a text editor (like Notepad), go to line 2232 and remove ' $File at the end otherwise you can download this pre-converted project (last known update July 22 2010).
Conversion should complete successfully now.
Debugging
- Follow the instructions for fixing debug compiles in VS2008, which apply here as well.
- Right click on the client and server projects in VS and go to Properties > Configuration > General. Change Target Name to client and server respectively.
Fixing Warnings
If you want to remove the "precompiled header" warnings seen during a full compile, open these files in your client project and move #include "cbase.h" up to the first line:
- hud_locator.cpp
- hud_credits.cpp
- hud_flashlight.cpp
Compiling Under Linux
VS 2010 introduces a new project file format (.vcxproj) which is not compatible with the SDK's VprojToMake tool. A third-party update adding support is available.