Natural selection 2

I bought the beta ages ago and it was a mess. I gave up after I keep getting warped across the map on a solid server with a great ping.

No idea how its come along since then though. Maybe I'll fire it up.
 
Godmachine said:
I bought the beta ages ago and it was a mess. I gave up after I keep getting warped across the map on a solid server with a great ping.

No idea how its come along since then though. Maybe I'll fire it up.
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It's better. You still get that lag every now and then where you'll be getting shot at then you turn a corner and die a second later. I guess server tickrate is still bugged and always fluctuates eventually getting worse and the only fix is a server restart. FPS is good. I guess they plan on releasing ns2 withing the next few months. Alot of people in servers complaining about how much UWE sucks and keep changing shit and not putting features in like they said they were. Infestation looks like shit. The mods\lua scripts people can make and use in game to gain a huge advantage is dumb as shit(ie they can see through lerk gas and you can't). I don't play it much but this is just the shit people are always talking about on servers. Oh and the aimbots where a guy will idle to be a lerk and fly in a circle around you gasing you and spike you to death in less than 5seconds and never miss as a marine.
 
The game has a come a very long way from when it first went Alpha last year.

Honestly, besides some balance issues it plays very good now.

I disagree about the infestation 'looking like shit'. At least with the current build of the game it looks quite awesome given the dynamic nature of it.

By the end of the summer they should have the serious balance issues ironed out, and all they are 'missing' from the game right now is the Marine exosuit. They've made vast improvements with the game in the past couple of months for certain abilities on the Alien side (The improved 'fade' of the fades for instance).

If you enjoyed NS1 you'll enjoy NS2, and there are some cool improvements besides the graphics.

Speaking of, since the last couple of builds the game looks *great* for being made by such a small developer. Performance on both the netcode and renderer is respectable now. The renderer itself could still use some performance improvements, but given how great the game looks I think it is OK.

As to the user above who got a refund for a beta game... Seriously? Who does that? When the Alpha/Beta went live LAST YEAR the game was to the truest sense of the word a *beta*. Not only that, it was known the game wasn't going to be 'out of beta' until at least summer of this year. How could you possibly judge the game at such an early state? The game is so much different now compared to what it was last year that it is hardly even the same game. Of course, it wasn't even really a game last year. It was still in Alpha/Early beta and was still being built. It just boggles my mind that you would buy something knowing full well how far off it was from being completed, and then instead of playtesting and giving bug reports you just want a refund. At the very least you could have just waited a bit until it was in a more playable form. Whatever.

The point of all this is to really just say that the game is advancing through development at a rapid pace and I can say without a doubt it is worth the money. At this point in time it is very playable. Since the last couple of builds of the game runs smooth as butter. The game engine itself still has the issue of compiling shaders when you *first see* an object though. So the first time you load up the game you'll get some weird freezing/pauses as the shaders are compiled for the new object being rendered on the screen. Once this happens though the engine will never do this again unless you delete the game off your disk, or a new build comes out. This is about the only thing that need be fixed from a performance standpoint. Somewhat of a rookie mistake - But I can overlook it given how good the game looks coming from such a small developer. The only other game out there that I can think of that looks as good from a small developer is Amnesia, and even Amnesia doesn't look nearly as good as NS2/Spark engine.

The LUA scripting mod thing is presenting some hacking issues, but given how it was just implemented they need to iron out what will be allowed to be modified by a client, and what won't be. In the end this system is brilliant as it allows users to easily create mods for the game. A group of people have just actually released a mod which puts the 'Combat' game mode into NS2. So people who were missing that from NS1 have it again. Given how easy it is to script for the Spark engine I can't wait to see future mods / game modes.
 
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Mchart said:
A group of people have just actually released a mod which puts the 'Combat' game mode into NS2. So people who were missing that from NS1 have it again. Given how easy it is to script for the Spark engine I can't wait to see future mods / game modes.
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Combat mode has been around but you had to download shit and only had 1 server if any so it didn't get very far because of those reasons. This new version you can just join the server and type commands to upgrade which isn't appealing yet. Mainly because aliens always seem to win(no exosuit\hmg yet to take out onos) and trying to read the commands before they disappear. Infestation doesn't look like complete shit it just seems off to me maybe the texture should be darker\different shade of green and alot more goo looking since the sound it makes when you walk on it is more of a squishy splat sound. The previous version was pretty bad compared to the version now. Clogs are meh. Would rather have web back. A dev talked about the clogs spanning a web or something across a door way kind of like a web but you have to place the clogs close together. Since the exosuit\hmg aren't even in yet i'm a little worried the marines are going to be the winning team unless they plan on balancing alot of shit when it's added. Nobody ever uses turrets anymore. Jet packer with gl can take out a hive without any backup other than ammo drops from the comm. Later on in the game when things advance and structures and buildings are all over the place most servers start to lag bad. Game is very playable on a good server. Which are the ones that are usually always full. I have had a lot of fun playing it most of the time. Maybe the will do a free weekend after they release it. Oh and another thing they need to fix is the sound.
 
I was an absolute NS junkie back in the day. I cannot wait for this game to come out.
 
S0m30n3 said:
Combat mode has been around but you had to download shit and only had 1 server if any so it didn't get very far because of those reasons. This new version you can just join the server and type commands to upgrade which isn't appealing yet. Mainly because aliens always seem to win(no exosuit\hmg yet to take out onos) and trying to read the commands before they disappear. Infestation doesn't look like complete shit it just seems off to me maybe the texture should be darker\different shade of green and alot more goo looking since the sound it makes when you walk on it is more of a squishy splat sound. The previous version was pretty bad compared to the version now. Clogs are meh. Would rather have web back. A dev talked about the clogs spanning a web or something across a door way kind of like a web but you have to place the clogs close together. Since the exosuit\hmg aren't even in yet i'm a little worried the marines are going to be the winning team unless they plan on balancing alot of shit when it's added. Nobody ever uses turrets anymore. Jet packer with gl can take out a hive without any backup other than ammo drops from the comm. Later on in the game when things advance and structures and buildings are all over the place most servers start to lag bad. Game is very playable on a good server. Which are the ones that are usually always full. I have had a lot of fun playing it most of the time. Maybe the will do a free weekend after they release it. Oh and another thing they need to fix is the sound.
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Yeah, it takes a beast of a server to run. Like you said that is why I only play on the 'good' servers though. On the typically full servers that people play on i've never experianced lag even near end-game with building clutter everywhere. The renderer of the engine itself slows down a bit with lerks flying around everywhere farting, but even in this extreme chaos it still runs fast with maxed out settings on my setup.

I like the clogs. Clogs + hydra wall will outright stop marines from advancing through a certain section of a map.

Really though I can't agree with a certain side being more overpowered then the other. Right now there are certain situations where one side has the favor, but the other side has these as well. Right now the balance is tipped generally back towards Aliens due to how overpowered fades are with feign death + being able to hit shift and get a 'free' teleport. This creates a huge mid-game favor towards the Aliens. If marines have enough map control to survive pass this they should be able to push through and win though due to the end-game being in Marine favor currently.

It's really just the nature of developing this type of game. It is incredibly hard to balance due to all the mechanics and since the game is different enough from the first one they are almost having to start from scratch when it comes to the balance.

The marine sentry turrets aren't anywhere near as powerful as they used to be. Right now they go pretty much unused. I beleive once Aliens receive their buff once exo+HMG are thrown in the mix they will need to decrease the cost for sentry turrets and make them more available mid-game / end-game.

The Ono's should be even *more* powerful then it currently is, but they have purposely kept it uber-nerfed since Marines don't have exo + HMG in the game yet.

Overall I think the game is on track to be released end of August/September given the rate of updates. It'll likely still have some balance issues here and there. That being said, the stuff that matters, like Netcode, renderer performance, maps, core game content, etc... Will be decently polished for a game being released by such a small team of people. This is quite a feat given how impressive the graphics are along with other new technologies they've developed all on their own. The sad part of it is that by the time the game goes 'live' I don't beleive they'll get many more sales. It is just as impressive and fun as NS1 was - But the 'gameplay' being so fringe along with lack of advertisement means it won't sell much. As cool as it is that they developed their own game engine they should have just released this game under the Source engine to save time and money. It wouldn't have been as technically impressive of a game, but they could have made it just as fun.
 
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last couple streams I caught really looks like they're shaping up for an awsome release, follow their channel on twitch if you want to check out their progress through the beta, they stream live test scrims every now and then when they do some major updates, you can watch old footage of previous streams through here as well.

http://www.twitch.tv/naturalselection2
 
How many years have they been working on NS2 now? I've forgotten it more times than I care to remember.

I used to play the crap out of NS1; that game was freaking awesome.
 
This is exactly the same as Empiresmod gameplay wise. One of the biggest problems with this genre is if you can't get a competent commander you're fucked. Looks pretty though seems like it's coming along nicely.

I think Nuclear Dawn is the same as well.
 
looks like it's running perfectly fine, NS2 beta Wasabi Cup tourney going on at twitch right now, same channel as above. they're just going into semi finals so you can still catch the last few rounds.
 
I used to have a regular server back in NS1 where we would actually strat it up with some clan, lots of awesome matches.
 
mas said:
looks like it's running perfectly fine, NS2 beta Wasabi Cup tourney going on at twitch right now, same channel as above. they're just going into semi finals so you can still catch the last few rounds.
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It's ok but still random slowdowns and people complaining in servers.
 
If there are people in the servers to complain then that is still more than they had last year.
 
I pre-ordered the special edition way back and I now have a free copy that I can gift via steam. None of my friends are interested in playing, so the first person to PM get the key.

** key gone**
 
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mas said:
looks like it's running perfectly fine, NS2 beta Wasabi Cup tourney going on at twitch right now, same channel as above. they're just going into semi finals so you can still catch the last few rounds.
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At PAX, it wasn't feeling so good. It actually looked like one of the worst games I've played in a while.
 
This looks amazing! I didn't play the mod but the stand alone looks really fun.
 
gigasmack said:
I pre-ordered the special edition way back and I now have a free copy that I can gift via steam. None of my friends are interested in playing, so the first person to PM get the key.
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I can give you dota2 for it!
 
Is there an approximate release date for this game yet? Even just a general "will release in Q# 2013" or something along those lines? Looks like an interesting game but i haven't been keeping up with it too much as release always seemed really far off.
 
Ohmna said:
Is there an approximate release date for this game yet? Even just a general "will release in Q# 2013" or something along those lines? Looks like an interesting game but i haven't been keeping up with it too much as release always seemed really far off.
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it went gold months ago, retail unlocks for steam in a week on halloween.
 
gigasmack said:
No, beta access ended when the game was made available on Steam.
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Correct. I pre-ordered when it first opened up and have been playing beta on and off since. It's shaped up nicely and once its gold and gets more players/servers it should be a blast!:D:)
 
Thinking about picking this up on Steam since it launches later today.
For those that have been playing, what are your impressions up to this date, I never played the original HL mod. Is there a steep learning curve?
and what about the community? I try to stay away from multiplayer shooters these days because of all the griefing and general crap that goes on.

I would imagine this has a more adult userbase that appreciate using team-focused gameplay
 
mtbush said:
Thinking about picking this up on Steam since it launches later today.
For those that have been playing, what are your impressions up to this date, I never played the original HL mod. Is there a steep learning curve?
and what about the community? I try to stay away from multiplayer shooters these days because of all the griefing and general crap that goes on.

I would imagine this has a more adult userbase that appreciate using team-focused gameplay
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Sometimes you get the shitty coms but usually as of right now all the coms are usually experienced people. No idea how it'll play out once NS goes public, you may run into the jerks who think they're the best commander in the world and try to fuck shit up if they aren't given the comm spot. However, once you find the right servers, you'll usually have your "regular" commanders and it should be a blast.

As of right now, at least in the "closed" beta, everyone is really friendly and nice with everyone. :)

Learning curve isn't too bad. It's only tough if you wanna play the role of comm as you gotta know all the counters, maps, etc. However, as Alien/Khahara, you'll probably want to spend some time learning the maps, learning all the little vents, etc. Else it's going to be really disorienting/frustrating trying to get around.
 
soulesschild said:
Sometimes you get the shitty coms but usually as of right now all the coms are usually experienced people. No idea how it'll play out once NS goes public, you may run into the jerks who think they're the best commander in the world and try to fuck shit up if they aren't given the comm spot. However, once you find the right servers, you'll usually have your "regular" commanders and it should be a blast.

As of right now, at least in the "closed" beta, everyone is really friendly and nice with everyone. :)

Learning curve isn't too bad. It's only tough if you wanna play the role of comm as you gotta know all the counters, maps, etc. However, as Alien/Khahara, you'll probably want to spend some time learning the maps, learning all the little vents, etc. Else it's going to be really disorienting/frustrating trying to get around.
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I was in a game this morning, and overall it was fun. All the marines booked it out of the start and I was the last one there so I jumped into the command station. It was my first time commanding ever and needless to say I had very little idea as to what I was doing. I know what structures do what, I just didn't know the specifics of what was needed to be placed in order to unlock the other structures. The marines I was commanding were genuinely understanding with me and helped me where they could. Granted we lost the match due to my commanding, but I learned a lot and wasn't scared away from it by my team.

As for the asshats, they are out there. I occasionally mute douches as I can't stand their constant "Was that so hard..." and the "You guys are fucking terrible" bullshit. Overall the community understands that newbies are still around in the beta and come tonight, it will probably be more pronounced. It's in their best interest to play nice if they want the community to expand.
 
gigasmack said:
As for the asshats, they are out there. I occasionally mute douches as I can't stand their constant "Was that so hard..." and the "You guys are fucking terrible" bullshit. Overall the community understands that newbies are still around in the beta and come tonight, it will probably be more pronounced. It's in their best interest to play nice if they want the community to expand.
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Yes, players will need to hop around and find servers that they like, with people that they enjoy playing with/against. I'm hoping the community I'm part of gets a few servers, as we usually do...it's just been so long since we've had a game that wasn't completely fubar'd by greedy corporate practices or horrible publisher/distributor mismanagement (looking at you, GFWL). As I found with TF2 (way before F2P), finding a good community can significantly boost the amount of enjoyment you get from a team-based game, due both to the like-minded people you find and because the servers are likely to be well-maintained and admin'd.

TF2 is such a good model (even pre-F2P) and yet we've still had to wait until now to get another community-friendly game that is allowing/encouraging modding. It's also worth noting that server operators won't be forced to go through authorized dealers and pay for extra slots and all that EA/Activision-inspired bullshit. These guys aren't in a position to just release the game and then give all their customers the finger, and - sadly - that's pretty damned refreshing!

They're even still adding upgrades and fixes and balances to the game 2 days prior to launch:
http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/

We are very close to hitting v1.0! Here is a near-final update with some small but nice fixes.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for us.

Features

  • Brand new infestation. It's interesting that it was the first thing we ever worked on for NS2 and now the last thing as well. It's come full circle! We will probably crank up the amount infestation soon, but this is a great start.

New_NS2_Infestation_800x500.jpg
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Can't wait to play tonight. Haven't played in several months. It will be interesting to see how far they have come.
 
Laffles said:
To those in the Beta:

What is performance like?
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i5 OCed to 4.5Ghz
ATI 6950
30" monitor
full settings

always 60+ FPS for the most part.

It's source based I believe so it shouldn't be that heavy on any modern system.
 
soulesschild said:
i5 OCed to 4.5Ghz
It's source based I believe so it shouldn't be that heavy on any modern system.
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Nope, it is an inhouse engine mostly coded by one man. Impressive :O

It had it's problems with optimization and too much slow, singlethreaded .lua code in the past, but it runs smoother now. Not exactly 60fps on my stock 2500k and 5850 but very nice
 
Thanks for the feedback everbody, I went ahead and picked it up after watching gameplay videos for about 2 hours...
It's amazing how quickly the game has risen through the Steam sales charts today, I think it went from 11-12 to the top spot over the course of the afternoon...

Launch day live stream up @ Twitch ---> http://www.twitch.tv/naturalselection2

2ksOXl.png
 
are people playing this and enjoying it? I am very curious to see what people think
 
dremic said:
are people playing this and enjoying it? I am very curious to see what people think
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I've really been enjoying the beta! Official release is tonight, I'm sure I'll play a few games as soon as Steam updates my client.
 
Downloading. :) Hopefully there is a tutorial stage. I must practice before hunting down gigasmack.
 
dj_2004 said:
Downloading. :) Hopefully there is a tutorial stage. I must practice before hunting down gigasmack.
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just jumped in very quickly and there is plenty of stuff to get you up to speed, i.e...explore mode and tons of tutorial videos...you can tell a lot of forethought went into the development and launch of NS2
 
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