MODLOCK
SwapLock

All mods

SwapLock

Two skins on one hero, switched from the ESC menu.

  • SwapLock for Windows13 MB zipDownload
    No malware detected

    Scanned 1 November 2026 with Microsoft Defender (engine 1.1.26100.4, signatures 1.463.70.0).

    Inside: SwapLock.exe and the runtime it needs. Its source code is a separate download.

    SHA-256 46eb2abe9e50938500661acf21796178d6c62d1ec00db782d6ced8227e55c2ae

    A scan catches known malware. It can’t prove a file is harmless. How downloads are checked

  • Source code108 KB zipDownload
    No malware detected

    Scanned 1 November 2026 with Microsoft Defender (engine 1.1.26100.4, signatures 1.463.70.0).

    Inside: 0 .vpk game files and 19 other files. No programs.

    SHA-256 1986aff878ee749d800b66e67e219145ef559610ce6b8393d81b279f363bda77

    A scan catches known malware. It can’t prove a file is harmless. How downloads are checked

Updated
Watch the showcase

What it changes, and credits

SwapLock puts two skins on one Deadlock hero and adds a Switch costume button to the ESC menu. Wear one look, press the button in the hideout, and you are back in the other look a few seconds later. No restart, no file juggling.
Highlights
  • Two skins, one hero: pick a skin as Costume A and another as Costume B, press Build and install.
  • Switch in game: ESC > Switch costume reloads the hideout in the other costume. Every launch starts in Costume A.
  • Works with the default look: pair a skin with the hero’s normal model to turn it on and off between matches.
  • Uses the skins you already have: finds skins in your addons folder and in Deadlock Mod Manager’s library, or add a download (.vpk, .zip, .7z, .rar).
  • Checks before it builds: tells you if two skins can’t be paired, and lists what Costume B won’t get (voice lines, sounds, icons…).
  • Nothing gets deleted: mods that change the same hero are set aside in SwapLock’s library and come back when you remove the pair.
  • Repair button: puts SwapLock’s files back if a mod manager or a Steam file check removes them.
  • Several pairs at once: one switch covers every pair.
Download and install
  1. Download the zip and unzip the whole SwapLock folder anywhere (keep the _internal folder next to SwapLock.exe).
  2. Run SwapLock.exe. Windows may say “Windows protected your PC” because the app isn’t code-signed: click More info > Run anyway.
  3. SwapLock finds Deadlock through Steam. If it doesn’t, click Game folder… and pick …\steamapps\common\Deadlock\game\citadel.
Requires Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). No Python or other installs needed.
Usage
  1. Close Deadlock.
  2. In SwapLock, pick a hero, then press Set as A on one skin and Set as B on another (or drag them onto the slots).
  3. Read the check, give the outfits names if you like, and press Build and install.
  4. Launch Deadlock from Steam. In the hideout press ESC > Switch costume.
To undo: open SwapLock > Installed > Remove (or Remove all pairs). Every mod SwapLock set aside goes back where it was.
Good to know
  • Costume B is only a new look. Its voice lines, ability sounds, animations, effects, icons and hero name come from Costume A (or the base game). SwapLock shows exactly what B leaves out before you build.
  • Both skins must be for the same hero and fit the same skeleton. SwapLock refuses pairs that would break.
  • Other players using that hero show Costume B on your screen. Mods are client-side: nobody else sees your skins.
  • Switch in the hideout, before you queue. The button only appears there, because switching reloads the map.
  • Every launch starts in Costume A.
  • Deadlock Mod Manager: installing mods with it is fine. Don’t use its vanilla Play button: it removes every mod in your addons folder (SwapLock’s included). If that happens, open SwapLock and press Repair.
  • After a Deadlock update, open SwapLock: if the in-game menu needs refreshing it will say so, and Repair fixes it.
  • SwapLock only writes mod files in game\citadel\addons (and, for Repair, the mods line in gameinfo.gi, with a backup). No DLLs, no memory editing, nothing that touches the running game.
  • SwapLock keeps its library and settings in %LOCALAPPDATA%\SwapLock.
How it works (for anyone who wants to do it by hand)
  • A hero’s model has detail levels (LODs). SwapLock keeps skin A’s model as the full-detail level (LOD0) and grafts skin B’s meshes in as the lower levels (LOD1+), matching B’s bones to A’s skeleton by name. The LOD switch distances are pulled down to almost zero.
  • Deadlock has a normal, non-cheat setting, citadel_player_model_force_highest_lod, that forces your own hero to LOD0. It is read when a map loads. When it’s on (the default), you see A; when it’s off, your hero uses the distance-based LODs, and with tiny switch distances that’s always B.
  • The Switch costume button is a small edit to the game’s own ESC-menu layout that runs toggle citadel_player_model_force_highest_lod; disconnect (the disconnect reloads the hideout so the new value is read).
  • Without the menu you can type the same thing in the console.
  • Other heroes on your screen always use distance-based LODs, which is why they show B.

AI Disclosure
I used Claude to understand how I could use the LOD settings to allow for switching skins. I knew it was possible from using ModelDoc, so I created this once I understood how to make it work.

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