I've had SWAT 3 on CD for a while now and decided to crack it out. But the darn thing won't load at all...well it does but not properly. It loads at 640X480 and nothing else, no matter what I do. I can't even window the thing. My monitor goes up to 1920X1080p but it doesn't go to any key resolutions *(even for Last Resort) like 1024X768, 1280X1024, etc etc. It can go to 1280X720 but that's about it! (I also have an nVidia 315 card). Will getting it on GoG at all help? Or will it be the exact same? And if so any help on how I can resolve this WITHOUT getting a new monitor?

Did you go past the main menu? The widescreen only shows when you're actually in game.

Have a read on that link:
[url=]http://www.wsgf.org/dr/swat-3-close-quarters-battle[/url]
Sidenote:
Before you make the changes, make sure you set your keymapping and other Settings the way you like, then make in the ini File the Resolution changes and maek sure you save it again as a ini File and not just a txt copy.
Open the File Properties and checkmark the "Read Only" Box.
The reason for that is because swat overrides sometimes the ini File und reverts your Resolution changes.
btw, in the Game menu you have always only a low Resolution.

Adding to what has already been said...

Swat 3 has 2D menus that only run in low resolution (800x600). These are pre-rendered bitmap graphics.

Once the game loads the map and the actual mission begins you are in 3D and this is where you can play at any resolution that your video card/monitor supports. You have to manually edit the Swat.cfg file or use a mod like the Last Resort mod.

I recommend using dgVoodoo, it fixes performance problems for the most part and allows you to run the game at any resolution, including the 2D menus so it doesn't mess up and re-arrange your desktop icons/windows when it briefly runs at super low resolution for those parts.

http://dege.freeweb.hu/

I'm surprised there are no threads dedicated to this thing as it's mod-independent and doesn't alter the original files in any way so it shouldn't have any issues with any kind of customisation of the game and its settings either. And it works flawlessly for tons of old games.

To try it you'll need to copy paste 3 of the included files in the main SWAT 3 directory, dgVoodooSetup.exe, D3Dlmm.dll and DDraw.dll then run dgVoodooSetup.exe, choose the desired settings (general and D3D tab in this case) and run the game as usual. The in-game resolution settings will no longer affect anything.