[Natural Selection 2 Beta] "Gorilla" update release! Onoses, Jetpacks, ns2_mineshaft!

Zek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjPywj1TODo

The Gorilla update has been released, featuring Onoses, Jetpacks, a new map called Mineshaft and a bunch of other stuff too! Pre-order this game and play it now! Changes:

Features

You can now evolve to Onos when your team has three hives.
The Onos can toss marines with his Gore attack, smash structures and Stomp on the ground, sending a shockwave that disables marine structures for 5 seconds. Upgrades are no longer available, sentries stop firing, Infantry Portals stop spawning, etc.
Added Prototype Lab and the ability to research and buy Jetpacks
Added new map: ns2_mineshaft
Added camera animation and display during count down phase.
Name tags now appear over the head of nearby teammates.
Added lines for rally points.
Mines detonate when hit by Stomp.
Added an option to enable mouse acceleration (off by default)
Infestation is now displayed on minimap (dying infestation is indicated red)
Added some missing Marine structure icons.

Balance

Reduced Rifle butt range from 1.5 meters to 1 meter (now same as Skulk bite)
Shotgun damage changed to Light (armor is twice as effective against it). Made it lighter to carry and increased the damage to compensate (# of shots vs. base Skulks, Lerks and Fades should unchanged, 1 extra pellet vs. Gorges). So Shotguns should become less effective against heavily armored targets. (thanks Schimmel!)
Bile bomb range and splash increased a lot, damage decreased somewhat and energy cost decreased a little (trying to make Gorge less vulnerable on front lines and also more able to do at least some damage to entrenched Marines). He is NASTY now, watch out.
Increased Hydra health from 500 to 600 and armor from 0 to 75.
Increased Lerk Spike cost from 1.5 to 2.5. Changed distribution of Command Station health and armor so it's more resistent vs. Light damage (ie, Lerk Spikes).
Disabled res for kills to simplify the game, remove confusion about what happens when you make a kill, reduce end-game stalemates with 1 tower and to increase the strategic aspects of the game.
Armory no longer required to drop med packs (unnecessarily restrictive during rushes)
Lowered bile bomb damage from 300 to 225.
Increased repair rate for Marines repairing each others' armor from 18 to 35 (to make it less annoying and to allow Marines to sustain attacks better).
Reverted Fade carapace armor buff from 50 to 30.
Removed Lerk "hide" armor.
Reduced Shotgun research time from 40 to 20 (it was 0 in NS1). Helps Marines get a foothold with early aggression.
Increased minimum egg spawn time from 8 to 10 seconds to less that early Alien assault (now it's the same as Marines)
Lowered infantry portal build time from 10 seconds to 7, and Armory from 15 to 12 (to try to lessen effectiveness of Skulk rush)

ns2_tram

Moved warehouse north.
Removed north-east Warehouse entrance.
Opened tram tunnel between Server and Warehouse.
Reworked connecting corridors into Warehouse.
Fixed drifter pathing issues between Server and Control.

ns2_summit

Reworked Flight Control and nearby vents
Reworked Sub Access
Added vent between Comp Lab, Sub Access and Maintenance Access

Fixes

Fixed bug where the Gorge Bile Bomb ability used the Spit ability icon.
Fixed bug where the Gorge Mini Cyst ability used the Hydra ability icon.
Fixed script error if a Hive was destroyed while the Gorge that built it as Commander was a rag doll.
Cleaned up some Client console spam when a Fade blinks.
Fixed script error caused by a spectating player receiving points by getting a kill with a structure placed when they were not a spectator.
Added placeholder icons for the Shell and Veil.
Fixed bug where the game would randomly lockup while placing a Cyst.
Drifter spawn sound effect will no longer play at world origin.
Fixed a bug that prevented Skulks from leaping at maximum speed.
Fixed bug where the physics representations for the Armory and Infantry Portal did not match up with the visual model.
Weapon secondary attacks can no longer occur at the same time as primary attacks while coming out of a sprint in some cases.
Armory buy menu will not instantly appear once construction is completed.
Adjusted Skulk wall walking smoothing rates so that that the 3rd person model rotates more quickly to match the 1st person model (especially while jumping)
Health and Ammo packs can now be dropped directly on top of a Marine player.
Restored reloading of script files when they change on disk.
Fixed Whip 'grenade whack'
Bombard projectiles will not collide with the Whip and nearby friendly structures anymore and is created at the correct attach point.
Alien player names for Hydra kills will no longer appear in blue text in the death message.
Fixed a bug causing Mini Cysts placed by the Gorge to be disconnected when created even in cases where the ghost model indicated the connection was valid.
Fixed bug causing dropped weapons to disappear too quickly if they were picked up and dropped again after initially being dropped.
AI units cannot attack friendly players anymore unless FF is enabled.
Fixed bug causing script error when a Cyst died due to not being connected to a Hive.
Fixed crash when too many objects are visible.
PhysX scene now supports mirrored geometry.
Initial team starting locations chosen with a more random method.
Mine will detect enemies more accurately.
Slime effect during sprinting will not show up in thirdperson anymore.
The ARC will prioritize other structures before Eggs and Cysts.
Player turn poses (arms moving with feet planted on the ground) reset once the player starts moving.
Fixed multi-threading crash when using the o_stats console command.
The "getting ready to spawn" blue spin effect now disappears immediately upon the Infantry Portal being destroyed.
Fixed bug where the Spore cloud would be created improperly when a Lerk was not moving.
Fixed bug where connecting to the localhost would cause the game to go into an infinite loop.
Fixed bug where Marines would spawn above the Infantry Portal platform.

Improvement

Added "warp" console command to teleport to a position in space when cheats are on, "warp 0 0 0" for example.
Improved Skulk wall walking (sticks better to surfaces, thanks matso!)
Skulks can now leap from mid-air, ala NS1.
The "locate" Client console command will constantly display the local player's location on the screen if "true" is given as a parameter.
Added Mine icon for death messages (Thanks Saba!)
Reformatted Scoreboard so more player names can fit on the screen at the same time.
Server name is now displayed at the top of the Scoreboard.
Improved ScenarioHandler (Thanks Matso!)

Sound

Removed Bile Bomb hit sound when Gorge creates a structure.

Optimizations

Optimized network fields in Structure, CloakableMixin, ScriptActor and PowerPoint (thanks Matso!)
Reserve memory for faceSets (prevents excessive allocation)
Reduced networked bandwidth for Camoflauge by eliminating an unnecessary network field (thanks Matso!)
Reduced networked bandwidth for Skulks by eliminating wall walking network variables (thanks Matso!)
Optimized Door auto-opening.
Reduced number of cells CollisionGrid queries look through.
Reduced network bandwidth required to send which fields of an Entity changed (uses indexing scheme when only a few fields changed and a bitmask when many changed)
Reduced network bandwidth usage for entities that have energy.
Reduced bandwidth for transmitting attachment points for entities by 26 bits.
Reduced bandwidth for transmitting angles.
Eliminated lastTimePlayerMoved networked field in Player.
Mines require less processing time to check for nearby enemies.
Reduced bandwidth by 20 bytes per second for each Entity sent to the client.
Changed particle effects to only update if they were visible last frame.
Slightly more aggressive compiler optimization options.

SDK

Added Vector:Add method.
Added Shared.SortEntitiesByDistance.
Removed ProximityGrid.
Added sphere query to CollisionGrid.
Added EntityQueryManager (fast queries for entities within range, uses CollisionGrid)
Exposed EntityQueryManager to Lua, started converting script to use new API.
Added support to ObjectTagQueryManager for testing whether entity has a specific tag.
Entities get tagged with their class name (and base class names). Tag is prefixed with 'class:'.
Added time network variable type.
Added "private" network fields which are only sent to the client controlling the Entity.
Added support for networking floating point values as fixed point (specified as float (<min> to <max> by <step>)
Added Client.GetServerName() function to return the name of the server the client is connected to.
Added Server.GetName() function to return the name of the server.
Added Server.GetFrameRate() function to return the current tick rate of the server.
Added Mersenne twister Randomizer class to Lua, same API as Lua random functions but better generator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxfjfBeC6tQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.naturalselection2.com%2F&feature=player_embedded

Yes, the Onos can smash doors.

What is Natural Selection?
NS1 (Natural Selection 1) is total modification for 1998 classic first-person shooter, Half-Life. At the height of its popularity, it was the second most played mod for the game only second to Counter-Strike. It considered one of the most ambitious mods ever, pushing the goldSource engine to its limits in implementing its FPS/RTS blend of gameplay. Sufficient to say, it is insanely awesome.
Two teams compete to wipe the other out, the two being the Trans-System Authority (TSA) and the Khaara (commonly known as aliens). The two sides have completely different styles of play. The one similarity between the two sides is the capturing of Resource Nodes, which with the aid of a Resource Tower will funnel resources to the team.
The TSA Marines are lead by a single person who assumed the position of Commander who controls the TSA resources. Playing the game from a bird-eye’s perspective as RTS games are wont to do, he or she govern the marine’s strategy, place down structures to be built, research upgrades and finally, hand out equipment. Yes, unless the commander hands you a shotgun – you can’t have one.
The Aliens have a much more independent playing style, where each individual got a share of the resource stream. In addition, instead of depending on equipment, players got the ability to evolve into various classes with each one having a specific role. The aliens required as much teamwork as the marines to be successful and communication was key. Gorges (builders) were responsible to expand the infrastructure, which meant the individual loses the opportunity to get access to the more expensive classes to benefit the entire team.
There is a [Game On] going on right now, you can go to that thread for more information about NS1 and an opportunity to play with some fine gentlemen.

What is Natural Selection 2?
NS2 is the stand-alone sequel to the popular modification which garnered more than 2 million downloads. However, unlike its predecessor it won’t be free. Unknown worlds a company made up of 5 developers and with a recent addition of a dozen or so interns are the minds behind this project. NS2 is designed to be a lot more accessible and modern, which is a welcome relief because the original had intricacy of a maze filled with rubrics cubes. They also said they are going to put depth before accessibility… but it’s hard to tell anything right now because know very, very little.
What we know can be summarized as not much. We know it is based off NS1 and over the couple of years; there is a gaunt list of information pruned from the developers. There is also a minute long teaser that was release recently. That isn’t much, but the pedigree of NS1 is extraordinary. Unknown Worlds is taking pre-orders for two versions of the game, the Standard Edition for 19.95 (game + beta access) and the Special Edition (game + beta and alpha access + special cosmetic black armor) for 39.95. So once the game comes out, the special edition amounts to paying twice as much for the game for the equivalent of horse armor. And you know what? 98% (as of May 30th, 2009) of all pre-orders were for the Special Edition.

Okay, my interest is piqued. What else do I need to know?
Most people should be able to play NS2. The requirements are not very steep: 1.2 GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, a DirectX 9 level graphics card, Windows Vista/2000/XP, mouse, keyboard and an internet connection. If you don’t have a Windows computer, the developers want to (funds permitting) to release Mac and Linux versions of the game. You can use one CD Key for any versions, but you may be logged on at only one particular computer at a single time.
The preordering the game gives you a stand-alone executable version of the game that will probably (highly unlikely it wouldn’t be) will be steam compatible. You can buy the game from steam at a later time when the game is closer to completion. So what are you waiting for? Buy now!

Additional Resources:
http://www.naturalselection2.com (Offical Site)
http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/ (Developer Blog, has juicy information)
http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/ (Development update tracker)

Klyka

I am actually thinking about buying this.
I loved the first Natural Selection and this looks great. I am however hesitant because I have no friends who own it and playing with US PAers is high ping central for me.

TychoCelchuuu

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig update! I hope they meet their Fall '09 release date target!

I'm being snarky but Natural Selection is in my top 5 games of all time. NS2 could be a piece of shit and I would still love it, and from what I've seen and played so far it's not going to be a piece of shit. It's taking them forever to make the thing, but I'm not complaining. It still looks as good as any other modern game, and even if it looked like crap, NS is all about the amazing strategy, teamworks, tactics, etc. And aliens. Walking on the walls.

Basically I love Natural Selection.

Zxerol

Damn, I had forgotten that this game exists and, in fact, still hasn't been released yet.

Klyka

To be fair, this is made by 6 guys, right?

Gandalf_the_Crazed

Is this going to have a LAN option?

TheGerbil

Yeah unknown worlds is tiny. Like 6-7 people tops I believe.

Klyka

Picked this up today, played 2 rounds, feels like NS1 and is awesome.

Cantido

TychoCelchuuu wrote:

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig update! I hope they meet their Fall '09 release date target!

I liked the original and currently play Nuclear Dawn, and forgot all about this.

RandomEngy

So is it stable and relatively complete now?

TheGerbil

Klyka wrote:

Picked this up today, played 2 rounds, feels like NS1 and is awesome.

Klyka if you're around later do you want to play some rounds of NS2?

hatedinamerica

Damnit, stop making me want this game. Saw the article on RPS about it this morning and was highly intrigued.

Perfect timing because I just got a new router that actually works...but horrible timing because I'm broke. Bah.

Klyka

TheGerbil wrote:

Klyka wrote:

Picked this up today, played 2 rounds, feels like NS1 and is awesome.

Klyka if you're around later do you want to play some rounds of NS2?

Sure, when is later? Just message me on Steam when you see me.

Doomninja

holy shit.... I pre ordered - but I almost just want to wait for release at this point OMG. So cool looking... /fanboy.

stimtokolos

Thinking I will grab this tonight, people are actually playing on the Aussie servers.

hatedinamerica

Zek wrote:

Additional Resources:[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
www.naturalselection2.com (Offical Site)
www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/ (Developer Blog, has juicy information)
http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/ (Development update tracker)

@Zek fyi these first two links don't work. I assume it's because they're missing "http://&quot; but I'm no computer whiz.

Paladin

It's pretty stable; nobody complains about lag or stuttering anymore, and it finally has smoothness in the range of modern released shooters

Zek

These days the only performance problems I have are server-side, sometimes it deteriorates over the course of the game. If you notice a lot of stuttering as you move around that's what it is - some servers are better about it than others

If you type "net_stats" into the console you can see server stats - when "Server Rate" is low(below 20ish), the server you're on is having problems which will impact gameplay.

Domhnall

It is ridiculous how bad I am at this game. I went about 7-15.....

NEO|Phyte

Man, I preordered this back in the day to get me some delicious preorder armor skin, but never got around to actually playing it, mostly because it never seemed to be finished, plus other things showed up along the way.

Gonna have to fix that.

TolerantZero

Not sure if I like the idea of having a "commander". Is the game designed where you can get by if he's screwing around or if he's doing absolutely nothing? Otherwise this game looks really good.

TychoCelchuuu

TolerantZero wrote:

Not sure if I like the idea of having a "commander". Is the game designed where you can get by if he's screwing around or if he's doing absolutely nothing? Otherwise this game looks really good.

No, you can't win if your commander is dicking around, any more than you can win in Starcraft if your teammate is dicking around. One of the key innovations of Natural Selection is fusing the RTS and FPS genres. If you made the game winnable without the RTS part, then it wouldn't really be much of a fusion, would it?

Ultimanecat

I remember years ago, when I was following Flayra and his team as they produced this, one of the arguments about creating their own engine instead of working with existing ones is that they really, really wanted to implement volumetric flame with the flamethrowers (ie, you could spray into the entrance of a vent and the fire would spread up and around corners and stuff to fill in the space and kill lots of stuff inside). Did they do that? The flamethrower I am seeing here doesn't look much different than what you'd see in any game.

Still looks neat though. Brings back fond memories of the original.

Domhnall

I think I understand the game now. Only as aliens though as thats all I've got to really play. I havent seen too many people using flamethrowers and I've never seen anyone shoot some flames into a vent. This si from only 2 hours of playtime though. I wish I had a decent PC when NS1 was around. This is fun and its great when you have a real commander.

Badwrong

I have this beta... seems fun. No idea whats going on though, but if anyone wants to play my steam username http://steamcommunity.com/id/bucwild

Domhnall

So as a alien you actively evolve. As a marine do you just get passive upgrades your commander decides to give you?

Klyka

Domhnall wrote:

So as a alien you actively evolve. As a marine do you just get passive upgrades your commander decides to give you?

You get the passive upgrades, yes and you can buy new weapons/jetpack etc...
No heavy armor yet, I think?

TolerantZero

TychoCelchuuu wrote:

TolerantZero wrote:

Not sure if I like the idea of having a "commander". Is the game designed where you can get by if he's screwing around or if he's doing absolutely nothing? Otherwise this game looks really good.

No, you can't win if your commander is dicking around, any more than you can win in Starcraft if your teammate is dicking around. One of the key innovations of Natural Selection is fusing the RTS and FPS genres. If you made the game winnable without the RTS part, then it wouldn't really be much of a fusion, would it?

Okay, so the question is then "Does it happen often?" or "How does somebody become a commander"? Random selection?

I like the idea of fusing an FPS with an RTS, I do, which is why I might end up getting the game anyway once it's closer to release. I just need to know if this is something that happens often or very rarely. I'd find it hard to believe that something/somebody like this never shows up, intentional or otherwise.

Klyka

Commander is the guy who gets into the command console first.
I think you can vote him out of it though. At least you could in NS1 I think.

Honk

Awesome!

I haven't played since they first opened the alpha to pre-orderers. Will download again.

Paladin

they just recently made it so you can vote the comm out, and no, flamethrowers don't have that functionality (yet). Dynamic infestation looks a bit better though.


Trying to bait an onos into mines is still absolutely terrifying though

TolerantZero

Alright, voting sounds good. I'll keep an eye out for this when I get the money for it.

Domhnall

I am definately the worst person at this game. Doesn't help that people don't take my onos charge as the cue to get the fuck in there and rip some stuff up. So often have an entire alien force held at bay by a bunch of mariens stuck in one area with a bunch of sentry guns.

NEO|Phyte

Domhnall wrote:

So often have an entire alien force held at bay by a bunch of mariens stuck in one area with a bunch of sentry guns.

So they've captured the feel of the original perfectly?

Paladin

Domhnall wrote:

I am definately the worst person at this game. Doesn't help that people don't take my onos charge as the cue to get the fuck in there and rip some stuff up. So often have an entire alien force held at bay by a bunch of mariens stuck in one area with a bunch of sentry guns.

go bile bombs; they've gotten better than they were a few updates ago

let the dumber people take onos and be a damage sponge while you practice taking full advantage of not being shot at in a marine base.

CanadianWolverine

So, this has a release day now:

http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/news/2012/10/natural_selection_2_release_date

October 31 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksgu56YjIUM