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[Natural Selection 2] Halloween sale, 75% off! Eclipse remake teaser!

ZekZek Registered User regular
edited October 2013 in Games and Technology
Steam Group
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/pans2

ns2logo.gif

What is Natural Selection?
Natural Selection was a highly popular FPS/RTS total conversion mod for Half-Life that was released on Halloween 2002. Its distinguishing feature was the asymmetric gameplay between a marine team led by a commander in the RTS perspective, and an alien team that must evolve into increasingly more terrifying lifeforms to kill them. Both teams fought for control over resource points across the map that allowed them to fund their distinct tech trees in the fight to destroy eachother's base(s). The game went through numerous major updates and at its peak NS was second only to Counter-Strike for the highest number of active players in a Half-Life mod. The fan support for this mod eventually prompted the developers to found a new studio called Unknown Worlds and begin development on the sequel:

What is Natural Selection 2?
Natural Selection 2 is the stand-alone followup to NS1. The premise remains the same, but NS2 is a completely new game built in a custom engine called Spark, and many fundamental additions and changes have been made to the original formula. The largest gameplay changes include:
  • The addition of an alien commander, who is responsible for the structure building and tech research of the alien team
  • Marines can buy their own equipment from the armory using personal resources
  • Alien infestation that spreads dynamically across the map much like creep in SC2, and marks the boundaries of their territory
  • New marine toys like the flamethrower and the exosuit, and heavily redesigned alien abilities
  • All new structures and tech trees for both teams
  • And tons of other changes
NS2 was finally released on Halloween 2012, the 10 year anniversary of the original game. The development team continued to be very open about their process, releasing frequent patches and lots of open communication, including an ongoing series of office videos and live Q&As. The game also has a very devoted community and a great deal of modding potential, as the source code(written in Lua) is distributed openly with the game along with all the development tools for mapping, etc. Quite a few community maps/mods/fixes have been incorporated officially into the game already, and a number of UWE's employees have been pulled from the fanbase as well.

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

Zek on
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Posts

  • RT800RT800 Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Holy crap, between this and Black Mesa: Source, I'm all a awash with renewed enthusiasm for old games.

    I just regret that NS2 will probably herald the return of NS 'Combat' maps. Hated those.

    I was that obnoxious guy who spent all game making Defense Chambers inside an OC fort just so I could delay marine victory.

    RT800 on
  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Personally I'm going to wait until release day for everyone to be going "HOLY SHIT YES THIS AMAZING" before I bite, because the NS team has hurt me in the past.

    I STILL MISS NS_NANCY DAMN YOU!

    edit: And combat mode was the WORST IDEA EVER!

    Raiden333 on
    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • bamjobamjo Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Yes, combat mode was complete pants. But NS2 really does give that original NS vibe. It is really trippy playing on ns_veil with the new engine. I've been in some intense fights over the middle double res node that were straight out of NS1. I think my favorite addition is an alien tech that makes the marines see everything in psychedelic LSD swirls when they are standing on creep. It makes flamethrowers mandatory.

    The switch from heavy armor to exosuits was a good one. You still have badass heavy trains, but since exos can't weld each other they are at the same time more deadly and more brittle. If a lerk gas cloud kills all the lights welding you, its goodbye heavy train. Exos also can't build anything, or be beaconed, basically all they can do is punch aliens in the face with a power fist or shoot them with a minigun that sounds like the bwwaah sound from Inception (or alternatively the alien walkers from War of the Worlds, it's a subject of debate among the beta testers).

    Edit: If you are worried about your favorite map not making it, don't. Veil is a fanmde addition to the beta, and i've heard that eclipse and tanith are in the works. Its pretty much guaranteed that NS1 maps (yes even siege maps) will be ported by someone.

    bamjo on
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    I must say, it's pretty cool of them to, instead of doing the standard "It's $25 on steam, but you get a 10% discount if you preorder, and maybe a TF2 hat)" route, they went with giving the $15 deluxe upgrade for free to people who preorder. I'm probably going to buy the game because of that, even though I may not play it a whole lot.

    Undead Scottsman on
  • SonarSonar Registered User regular
    Ok, the exosuit triple sold me.

    I'm building a real pirate ship. Really. Wanna help? Click here!
    steam_sig.png
    caffron said: "and cat pee is not a laughing matter"
  • Roland_tHTGRoland_tHTG Registered User regular
    Natural Selection was the game that took me from the standard FPS of "two cloned teams fighting" and introduced me to the concept of team based strategy vs a totally different team based strategy in a FPS format. It also forced me to install Steam, and considering how it was 9 years ago says something.

    I bought NS2 day one and have played it off and on since and I'm really liking the direction it's taken, but I just hope it gets a decent playerbase here...

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    Duuuuuuuude, this is coming out? Oh, I'll have to get in on this.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • MrDelishMrDelish Registered User regular
    so, those of us that preordered get a free spare copy?

  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    MrDelish wrote: »
    so, those of us that preordered get a free spare copy?
    Yep.

    I don't have a ton to say about NS2. I've been a Natural Selection fan since many months before the first one came out. I figured the mod would crash and burn because half the shit they said they were doing was impossible and the other half was impossible to do well. Then NS came out and it was amazing. NS2 is more "mainstream" its sensibilities (I'd say it's more of a Battlefield 3 than a Battlefield 1942 or a Battlefield 2) and for that reason I haven't been enjoying it as much as the original, but to be fair, I can count on one hand the number of games I've enjoyed more than the original. NS2 is still a stupendous achievement and a pretty great game, although it's going to be a lot of work to get it polished and ready for release in October.

    And presumably that's going to be October 31st when it comes out, because that's the 10 year anniversary of the release of NS.

  • SaraLunaSaraLuna Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    I never got the hate for combat mode. It was a fun goof-off mode AND it kept the idiots out of the real games.

    SaraLuna on
  • ZekZek Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Yeah I liked Combat, it was good clean fun. It helped fill servers, and people playing 24/7 combat probably weren't that interested in Classic to begin with. There's already been a combat mod for NS2, though you'll have to specifically choose to show modded servers in the browser.

    Zek on
  • bamjobamjo Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    A lot of the hate springs from the HL mod scene of the time. Remember the two other really popular mods when NS came out were Day of Defeat and Counterstrike. NS was strikingly different from those, and everything else for that matter. It was one of biggest draws of NS, that is wasn't just a brainless run and gun shootfest... and then combat mode made NS a run and gun shootfest. At least in the eyes of the original players. It took away the unique features of their favorite game and made it like all the other games.

    Edit: I know the theory was that people would play combat mode until the server was populated enough then switch to ns classic, but in practice that almost never happened. People who wanted to play combat mode played on the 24/7 co servers, of which there were many. At times more than servers playing classic ns maps, which is one more reason co gets some hate.

    bamjo on
  • RT800RT800 Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    People complained about "marathon" games in NS, but to me that's what made the game freaking great.

    I loved the fact that games could go on for hours, especially when each team reached advanced upgrade and you had Fades fighting Jetpackers for control of resource nodes and Onos munching on Heavy Trains one guy at a time with skulks zipping in and out against light marines armed with shotguns.

    It was freakin' awesome and made victory all the sweeter.

    I remember one time we'd lost our entire freaking marine HQ to a rush and were down to like 3 marines, who managed to re-build the entire base elsewhere and we went on to win the freaking game.

    RT800 on
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    Pre-ordered this after watching the preview videos TotalBiscuit did (he gives an overview of Human, Alien, and Commander). Looks pretty awesome.

  • PaladinPaladin Registered User regular
    heh Zek wanna make a steamgroup

    Marty: The future, it's where you're going?
    Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
  • GeekyPanda404GeekyPanda404 The Geeky Panda ConnecticutRegistered User regular
    Waiting on my free copy to give it to one of my friends.

    mYPBAfl.jpg
  • AyeJayeAyeJaye Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    So the free copy's confirmed for pre-ordering? Is that still going on? I'm looking for something to play with my brother and this sounds fucking cool. I missed out on NS1 and always regretted it.

    edit:

    Also how does this run? I'd be playing on a laptop, 2.2GHz core i7, 6GB RAM, onboard graphics but the processor is beefy enough to handle other source things pretty well.

    I really want to buy this and climb some walls and munch some kneecaps but I need to be sure I can run the thing well and still have it look nice. Skyrim runs on medium-high settings.

    AyeJaye on
    delicious.
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    Man if I knew there was a free copy for pre-ordering on their website, I would've done that instead of pre-ordering off of Steam.

  • AyeJayeAyeJaye Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Double poast =/

    AyeJaye on
    delicious.
  • AyeJayeAyeJaye Registered User regular
    I can't find anything that mentions a free copy on their site...

    delicious.
  • AntithesisAntithesis Registered User regular
    I bought NS2 day one and have played it off and on since and I'm really liking the direction it's taken, but I just hope it gets a decent playerbase here...

    It will have the most decent playerbase.

    I really ought to compile every silly thing I recorded during the beta.

  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    Free copies were only for people who preordered off their website before it was available on Steam.

  • ZekZek Registered User regular
    Steam group created, join up!

    http://steamcommunity.com/groups/pans2

    It's public but I'll kick people who aren't in the PA steam group - I figure that's easier than sending invites.

  • Roland_tHTGRoland_tHTG Registered User regular

    Good deal Zek. Joined.

  • TheGerbilTheGerbil Registered User regular
    I bought NS2 back on day 1, already have an idea who I am giving the free copy too. Got their ultimate 40 dollar thing or whatever. I have been playing the game off and on, and man am I looking forward to the full launch.

  • UEAKCrashUEAKCrash heh Registered User regular
    Played this at the last PAX East and had a ton of fun as an Alien.


    I'm going to have to scrape up some funds soon...

  • Albino BunnyAlbino Bunny Jackie Registered User regular
    Just thought I'd bump this after release to say I'm looking to trade my free copy away for a copy of FTL.

    Also, fucking belly sliding alien pigs. Sold. Though I have to say alot of the servers I go on for europe seem to give me really trashy ping. Anyone know a good EU server (from UK preferably)

  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    The Wasabi Cup, a tournament, is livestreaming in a moment and will be going on a while I think.

  • Roland_tHTGRoland_tHTG Registered User regular
    Thanks for the heads up on the livestream. Don't have time to watch it all but the first round was good.

  • ZekZek Registered User regular
    The "official" competitive casts are fairly amateur but the game really does seem to have potential for spectating. It's entertaining to watch, and the spectator mode is very nice. Just has some kinks to work out, as does the game balance, but hopefully it ends up having a decent competitive scene.

  • RT800RT800 Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Natural Selection is actually the only game I've ever enjoyed spectating.

    I used to just sit around eating lunch and spectating games.

    Server admins were bitches about it though. "Join or GTFO".

    I understand, but still.

    RT800 on
  • ZekZek Registered User regular
    The gift copies should now be out in your Steam inventories for early pre-orderers! Who wants mine? Note that it is not digital deluxe, and if you accept it you are contractually obligated to post in this thread and play the game a whole lot.

  • Roland_tHTGRoland_tHTG Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Zek wrote: »
    if you accept it you are contractually obligated to post in this thread and play the game a whole lot.

    I agree. And this goes to the 4 people I gave this to at Christmas, and the people they gift their extra to.

    And especially you Crash. Most especially you.

    Roland_tHTG on
  • HuntingNoobHuntingNoob Registered User regular
    Zek wrote: »
    The gift copies should now be out in your Steam inventories for early pre-orderers! Who wants mine? Note that it is not digital deluxe, and if you accept it you are contractually obligated to post in this thread and play the game a whole lot.

    I am very interested.

  • UEAKCrashUEAKCrash heh Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Zek wrote: »
    if you accept it you are contractually obligated to post in this thread and play the game a whole lot.

    I agree. And this goes to the 4 people I gave this to at Christmas, and the people they gift their extra to.

    And especially you Crash. Most especially you.

    Roland for best Roland 2012.

    edit: I will admit I kind of wish this game was in Source again, just so I had the option of mapping for it.

    UEAKCrash on
  • UEAKCrashUEAKCrash heh Registered User regular
    When this gets a-rollin' I've got a ton* of PAX DLC Armor codes up to pass out.



    *Because I am a bad person and there was a huuuge stack.

  • NEO|PhyteNEO|Phyte They follow the stars, bound together. Strands in a braid till the end.Registered User regular
    pax DLC armor? wuzzit look like, or is it something I'll already have from doing the fancypants edition preorder way back in the day.

    It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
    Warframe/Steam: NFyt
  • UEAKCrashUEAKCrash heh Registered User regular
    I have no idea. I only know it's armor because when I plug a code in it tells me.

  • ZekZek Registered User regular
    Did they have DLC at PAX Prime? Or was this PAX East? The east codes are for a PAX icon that shows up next to your name.

  • UEAKCrashUEAKCrash heh Registered User regular
    Yeah it was East. I swear it said armor though, but it was awhile ago that I plugged it in.

    Roland, I gave you one, what did it say?

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