NS2 Alpha Build 152October 27, 2010The NS2 Alpha Build 152 is now live on Steam! This patch represented a large engineering effort, to make the physics, networking and hit registration work much better.Here's a summary of the changes: * Fixed hit registration problems * Fixed various "hitching" problems * New commander minimap, with "blips" * New dedicated server web interface * A dozen or so new view model animations * Added alien "Crag" structure * Added sound occlusion so sounds behind walls/objects sound muffled * New marine Commander "Replicate" ability - instantly duplicates a built marine structure * Context-sensitive mouse cursors * Commander alerts * Marine squads, order giving and waypoints * Hive sight * Much better Lerk flight * Bullet spread like NS1 * Drifter "flare" ability that blinds marines (will require research) * Soundscape filters when you are hurt, spectating, etc. * Low health screen effects * Marine power grid - Power nodes on walls power lights and marine structures. Damaging power nodes causes lights to flicker, hurting them a lot causes lights to power cycle ominously and killing them makes the lights go out for a bit, before switching to aux. power and coming back on to limited usage. Marine structures power down and stop working when power node is destroyed, and come back online when repaired. * Added marine flamethrower * Bullet tracers * Skulk bite now connects more often (capsule trace instead of line) * Reworked ns2_tram expansion, vents and lots of polishFor the exhaustive change list (there are hundreds of entries), go here. http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=111289We'll see you on the servers for a bit, then it's back to working on the next release! We have tons more in the works for you and we're planning on releasing our patches much more often from now on.
NS2 Build 154 released (Havok, new UI)November 16, 2010We just submitted the new build of the NS2 alpha to Valve so it should be auto-updating shortly!Technical# Changed collision detection to use the Havok engine# Optimized trace ray and sweep capsule tests# Fixed bug where keys could get stuck down after a frame hitch# Fixed bug where players could not be removed from the scoreboard after they left the game# Fixed bug where bots would not be properly removed from the server# Fixed crash on exit when trying to run the game without Steam running# Fixed bug where particle systems weren't properly occlusion culled# Fixed hardware cursors not being properly released on shutdown# Fixed bugs with the occlusion culling system not properly determining if something is visible# Changed the "Couldn't Connect" error message to be more descriptive# Added net_messages console command to log network messages received# Added r_gui console command to enable/disable drawing the GUI# Added the ability to include PROFILE markers in script code# Added support for Lua GUIs on models (i.e. ammo display on the Rifle)Gameplay# Completely re-did marine, alien and "shared" (waypoints, chat, death messages, etc.) interfaces in Lua (was in flash). You should see noticeable frame-rate improvements.# Added very basic bots for load testing ("dev 1" at server, "addbots #" or "removebots #"# Armory "buy" menu fully client-side now so it's much more responsive# Hydras now build smoothly# MACs and Drifters now cost energy to produce (further eliminating spam and overly simplistic defense)# Sentries turn off completely without power# Power nodes have almost-dead and dead electricity/sparking effects# Reduced number of network messages and footstep sounds dramatically# Networking optimizations# Power nodes work on level change# Structure flinch animations fixed# Changing weapons as marine is now faster and more reponsive# Added basic pathing for bots (when commanding)# Fixed MAC welding effects# Skulk leap now requires research (on the Whip, coming soon)# Fixed "doubling up" of some soundsAlso, here's the changelog from the previous version which we released previously (Build 153):Technical# Fixed the net_lag console command# Fixed the player limit on servers# Fixed bug where the server could send two updates with the same time# Fixed bug where attempting to connect to a nonexistent server would not properly fail# Fixed issue where time would not advance uniformly on the client causing motion to appear jerky# Fixed bug where disconnecting and then reconnecting to a server could put the game in an incorrect state# Fixed bug where clients sometimes couldn't move when when connected to a server# Added support for extrapolation past the last update from the server# Added a timeout for authenticating with the Steam servers# Added displaying the average server tick rate with the net_stats console commandGameplay# Fixed problem where infinite MACs and Drifters could be built and cause problems (now limited to 25 units in an area)# Fixed power node in tram marine expansion# Power nodes can be repaired properly again# Fixed extractor multiple upgrade bugs# Fixed hive sight drawing incorrectly# Fixed sentry accuracy problems# Fixed lowered server CPU performance when using sentries# Fixed problem with power nodes on map reset# Fixed missing text tooltips for commander UIs# Fixed build harvester problem from gestate menu# Fixed death message weirdness# Fixed ns2_junction minimap# Changed power nodes to pulse red when out of power (makes it more obvious)Lots more coming soon. Stay tuned!
Terrible decision to go beta. The game is hardly playable, and while there is a new patch for the beta, i don't believe in the miracle patch, so i can't see the game becoming playable over night. I guess this is just an attempt to try get some more cashflow for development.
NS2 Build 156 releasedNovember 22, 2010Hey everyone,Well it was a long weekend but we think we've gotten all the biggest problems in the beta fixed! There was a lot of other stuff we wanted to change on the gameplay side that we are holding off on right now just to make sure we could get this patch out as soon as possible.This build is off to Valve and so we expect it will be live shortly. Here's the list of fixes and improvements:NS2 Build 156 * Fixed server crashes * Fixed server growing memory usage * Fixed "can't connect" issues - there may still be some issues here but it should be much better * Added very basic loading progress * You can now see if a server is full in the server browser * Fixed stuck problem when evolving into a bigger lifeform (won't let you do it if not enough room) * Fixed problem with Fades occasionally getting stuck when blinking * Improved network performance, especially around hydras and projectiles * Fixed problem with MAC and Drifter sounds being heard when they shouldn't be * Updated center tech point on rockdown to fix errors * Fixed script console errors * Fixed Fade animations while stabbing and moving * Optimized Hydra target acquisition * Removed collision geometry from some maps that shouldn't be seen * Fixed missing marine flamethrower animations * Rifle melee now hits reliably (not urgent but snuck in there)We hope this solves the biggest issues you guys are having, especially around server stability and connection problems. If not, please let us know on the forums or GetSatisfaction.Now we're off for some rest and relaxation and are looking forward to coming back rejuvenated! We hope you can get some good games in over this holiday week.Thanks again for your support and patience everyone. And for those that observe it have a great Thanksgiving.
NS2 Build 157 releasedDecember 2, 2010The biggest changes you'll see in this patch are gameplay focused. In particular, we listened to what you had to say about impenetrable Crag/Whip/Hydra builds (making it hard for marines to expand early game) - the resource model has changed enough that you won't see tons of those alien structures and there was a bug where Crags were healing twice as fast as they should have been.We also addressed the "OP" grenade launcher and flamethrower turnaround later in the game - grenades can hurt the firer, they don't go through walls and they bounce if they don't hit a target. Flamethrowers have been toned down a bit and the particle effects toned down so you can still see in combat when you're on fire.Also, we've changed the MAC roles to be more support and on the repair side of things, instead of the commander's main building force. Now players are the main way marines build and so you'll be enjoying that traditional NS feel where you're both building and fighting. I think we were all noticing that the marines felt a bit disconnected from the Commander but it wasn't until we released it to you guys that we took more notice.Gameplay * Reduced flamethrower direct damage from 50 to 35 and clip size 25 to 20 * Grenades now bounce when they don't hit a target and explode after a few seconds. Grenades no longer hurt targets through walls. * Grenades can now hurt firer * Reduced grenade damage radius from 10 to 8 (mostly so you don't hurt yourself constantly) * Changed starting resources from 100 carbon (team) and 25 plasma (each player) to 50 carbon and 25 plasma * Added special first-person flamethrower effects when you're on fire (they don't obscure the screen) * Grenade now looks like it's coming out of the barrel instead of your face * Focus on back on marine building: Marine commander starts with no MACs, MACsnow build a lot slower than players and added +use effects for building marines (your view model doesn't go away at the moment, but it will soon) * Removed marine "Replicate" ability (doesn't fit the marines new focus back on player-building) * MACs cost more energy to make and take 2x as much damage to kill * Fixed bug where players that died while on fire spawned on fire * Changed Crags to not self-heal and to heal every 2 seconds instead of every 1 second (this is how DCs worked in NS1) * Rewrote marine sentries to function more like miniguns. They are nasty now, watch out! Fixed sound, animation and targeting problems with them. * Increased sentry build time from 7 to 15 because a) they are awesome and b) there's no turret factory * Sentries now cost 20 plasma (Commander) instead of 10 carbon * Changed Hydra cost from 5 plasma to 10 * Fixed bug where plasma was being checked before letting players evolve, but wasn't being deducted (!) * Fade blink ghost model no longer warps and no longer orients to face targets unless very close to them * Added smooth skulk rotation when going on and off walls. Reduced interpenetration of skulk model with the world. * Added team carbon and individual plasma display to the scoreboard * MASCs are now known as ARCs (but not in the game yet) * Revamped marine commander UI buttons to be simpler and more evenly distributed. Added uniform top bar of buttons that allows you to always easily access Build, Advanced, Assist + Squads (more like NS1) * Moved marine armor2/ammo2 to tier 2 (Command Facility) and armor3/ammo3 to tier 3 (Command Center) * Ammo packs now remove parasite * Sentries, hydras, MACs and Drifters now always hit structures, no matter what animation or state they are in * Capped structure innate regeneration at .5% of structure max health per second so eggs don't count up like crazy * Fixed alien structure innate regeneration * Alien innate regeneration now heals a minimum of 1 health (like NS1) * Added regeneration sound whenever an alien entity gets healed * Brightened "out of power" red lighting a bit * Fixed problems with rogue sounds being heard when they weren't supposed to * Lots of smaller bug fixes (death message icons, animations, etc.)Technical * Fixed bug where the game could not be run without a sound card * Fixed bug where the game would not always shutdown on exit (process would continue to run) * Fixed bug a new game couldn't be joined after leaving a game * Fixed "connection issues" when first joining a game * Fixed bug where clients could timeout during the loading process * Fixed disconnect messages on the server not indicating when a client times out * Converted the pistol ammo display to use Lua instead of Flash (optimization) * Converted the shotgun ammo display to use Lua instead of Flash (optimization) and fixed reserve ammo displayAssets * Better Fade swipe hit sounds on various materials, better marine structure generic death sound. level tweeks + fall offs on organic ricochets. louder sentry sounds. * Detail pass of Alien Expansion (ns2_tram) * Fixed visible clipping geometry outside alien start (ns2_tram) * Fixed map leak exploits (ns2_rockdown)The next patch will be focused on more optimizations as well as making it much easier for the Commander and marines to find together, work together and know about what each other is doing. We're also about to rework the alien commander UI to be much more clear and we're also heavily optimizing both UIs so we should see a dramatic boost there.Finally, if you might want to check out what more organized NS2 looks like. Here's are two parts of an organized 6v6 Australian game. Even in this early state of balance, it's really cool seeing strategies start to emerge:Part #1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQLh3Xdp9Ww&feature=player_embeddedPart #2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MphRMN425I&feature=player_embeddedIf you haven't bought the game yet and want to give it a shot, we can still buy a beta key here here.We hope you enjoy the patch and see you online!
NS2 Build 158 releasedDecember 3, 2010This change list is short but we wanted to quickly fix the bigger stuff from yesterday before the weekend.Build 158 changelog * Hydra server optimizations (this should help but probably not fix completely) * Hydras now fire at the proper point on targets (esp. for infantry portal, command station) * Changed most marine structure build times to be the same as in NS1 * Fixed problem where power nodes sometimes made lights red even when they were functioning * Fixed intermittent black screen during gameplay * Fixed possible timeout when creating a listen server * Fixed Fade "skating" animation problem * Improved death messages (showing incorrect artwork or no killer name) * First-person flamethrower effects and on-fire flamethrower effects (today, not yesterday)The build is going off to Valve now and will update automatically once they post it.We are in need of some dedicated, unpaid testers to help discover and reproduce bugs. If you can commit a good amount of time to playing our pre-release builds, are able to jump onto our server quickly for a test at a moment's notice and are willing to provide clear details (screenshots, reproduction steps) to reproduce bugs, we need you!We are looking for about 20-30 playtesters in a variety of time-zones to start. If you're interested, please write us at tester@unknownworlds.com.
Have updated to 159
NS2 Build 159 releasedDecember 10, 2010The latest patch for the Natural Selection 2 Beta is now available on Steam.We spent a good portion of this week investigating the causes of performance slowdowns on the server. We found two major problems; one of them we were able to address this week so you should see smoother games with larger numbers of players. We still have more work to do though, and the other problem we'll be working on for next week's patch. You can always keep up to date with what we're working on with our real-time progress tracker.Build 159 changelog * Fixed footstep sounds and ricochet effects not playing properly because the material was unknown * Improved client and server performance * Added hot-loading support for Lua scripts * Fixed gorge heal spray (actually effective now) * Slowed resource production a lot to come closer to NS1 (estimating that NS1 teams spent ~50% of resources on weapons and health/ammo) * Drifters now auto-heal * Crags auto-heal drifters * Hives start with 3 eggs, Masses 5 and Colonies 7 * Added hive mist effects * Spawned structures should start at 0% built and end when 100% built * Added whip attack sound * New rifle sounds * New alien commander spritesThanks to everyone that send us e-mail about being a part of our internal playtest group. We're currently in the process of selecting people and granting them access to our testing resources. More people applied than we have space for, so unfortunately we won't be able to use everyone at this time. However, we'll keep all of the names handy in-case we need more testers.
Merry Gorgemas!December 20, 2010In light of all the awesome sales happening for games all over the net, we thought we should spread some holiday cheer too.So we now have a buy-1-get-1-free holiday sale! If you buy the game you will get two e-mails, which you can then forward to a friend to grant them a copy of NS2 on Steam. We're not sure how long this will last!http://www.naturalselection2.com/buyDownload hi-res (1.7 MB)You'll get credit for being a warm-hearted generous person, will be able to play with your friend and you'll be supporting us at the same time. Feel free to re-tweet or Facebook this to help even more!Thanks again for all your support everyone, we really appreciate it...and Happy Holidays from Unknown Worlds!
NS2 Build 160 releasedDecember 21, 2010Build 160 of the Natural Selection 2 Beta is now available on Steam. If you've pre-ordered the game, it will automatically download on Steam. If not, now is a great time to pre-order because we're having a two-for-one holiday special!NS2 Build 160 * Fixed egg spawning so that players don't spawn in walls * Fixed HUD damage indicators so that they point in the correct direction * Fixed problem with IP not starting as built on map reset * Fixed bug where the commander UI being on the screen after logging out/game ending * Fixed players being blinded when they were hit by the flamethrower * Fixed bug where the player would fire immediately after closing the armory buy menu * Fixed bug where an armory would become unusable * Fixed bug where you didn't start with the correct weapon on spawn * Fixed problem with weapons being deleted after a time * Fixed bug where players could use structures on the other team * Fixed bug where pre-placed IPs weren't present after being destroyed and then the map reset * Fixed bugs where tooltips were played at weird times * Improved the blood and flamethrower effects * Added more variations for environment steam and water drip effects * Added afterburner jets for MAC * Improved the usability of the commander minimap * Added research complete alerts on the minimap * Added scene pre-processing to the loading process to reduce hitches when moving throughout the world * Removed the jetpack from the UI until it's released * Added pre-game where players are frozen during countdown * Added the ability to tweak the sorting of nearby emitters with a "sort order" propertyBalance Changes * Reduced Fade armor from 150 to 100 * Reduced backward speed for marines (now 40% of max movement speed, like NS1) * Reworked marine weapon firing to be much tighter and (in theory) exactly like NS1 * Made weapon switching much more responsive * Sentries now take 1/3 of the time to spin up * Players get points for building structuresWe were hoping to have the ability to update NS2 with the HLDSUpdateTool in this patch, but unfortunately the timing didn't work. Valve has generously helped us get everything set up, but by the time we had everything ready on our end, our support person at Valve was on vacation. So we'll have that for you when he's back in the office and we do our next update.Finally NaturalSelection2HD has been putting out loads of interesting NS2 videos. For those that don't know, NS2HD is a member of our community that's been making awesome videos of NS2 since our first release of the "engine test". We loved what he was doing, so we've given him "inside" access to our builds and chat room (and he was a big help in making our gameplay trailer). Here's his latest video of one of our internal playtests of Build 160.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bex6JOu-URc&feature=player_embedded
HLDSUpdateTool SupportJanuary 3, 2011The Natural Selection 2 Beta dedicated server is now available via HLDSUpdateTool. As the name suggests, the HLDSUpdateTool is the application that server operators use to download and update Valve's dedicated servers. Valve was kind enough to help us get NS2 setup to use the same system.While the NS2 dedicated server is included in the normal Steam install, the advantage of the HLDSUpdateTool is that it allows dedicated server operators to get the latest version of NS2 without requiring a Steam account. The dedicated server install is also smaller (443 MB versus 2.73 GB) than the full client install because the client specific files like texture maps have been removed.Setting up Natural Selection 2 with the HLDSUpdateTool is very simple. First you need to download the installer from Valve. If you're already using HLDSUpdateTool for other dedicated servers you don't need to install a separate copy.Once HLDSUpdateTool is installed, open a command prompt with administrator privileges. Then run the following command (assuming the default location for the HLDSUpdateTool installation):cd "c:\Program Files\Valve\HLServer"HLDSUpdateTool -command update -game naturalselection2 -dir <install dir>Substitute the directory where you would like the server files to be installed for <install dir>. Instructions for how to run a dedicated server are included in the file dedicated_server_usage.txt that will be installed along with the game files.
NS2 Build 161 ReleasedJanuary 11, 2011Build 161 of the Natural Selection 2 Beta is now available on Steam. There are a lot of changes in this patch, so it took some extra time to work through bugs; we should be back to releasing more frequent updates now.Build 161 Change Log * Rewrote marine Commander UI (now all Lua, not Flash) for massively improved frame rate for the Marine Commander! * Changed Marines to put away their weapon when building * Added data-driven effect system for artists * (EffectManager.lua and *Effects.lua) New marine expansion room on ns2_tram * Fixed timeout when creating a local server * Fixed crash when Lua code performed an invalid operation * Fixed the alien tech tree so the Whips have the proper prerequisites melee 1 > melee 2 > melee 3 (thanks Enceladus) * Fixed observatory buttons to not be active until the observatory is built (thanks Enceladus) * Fixed Crag upgrade menu not having a back button (thanks Enceladus) * Fixed Skulk leap prediction issues * Flamethrower look-up/look-down 3rd person animations fixed * Fixed texture lock in the Editor * Fixed bug where a WebRequest response was limited to 8192 characters * Fixed exploit where an embryo would slide if the alien was moving prior to gestating * Fixed bug where looking straight up and moving forwards would cause the player to move backwards * Fixed bug where looking straight down and firing the pistol would cause the view to flip * Fixed Alien "structure under attack" alerts not properly displaying * Fixed bug where Aliens could use the Armory * Fixed bug where Special Edition black armor didn't show up in the ready room * Fixed Distress Beacon not working * Fixed prediction issues with weapon unholstering * Fixed bug where a Marine could obtain all of the weapons simultaneously * Fixed commander tool tips not displaying the proper resource requirements (carbon, plasma, etc.) * Fixed armor bug which was causing marines to be killed in 2 bites instead of 3 (thanks Harimaru) * Fixed bug where the bots wouldn't use the current target's location to move/aim * Fixed bug where bots would stop acting after they had killed their target * Fixed bug where "create" command created 2 entities instead of 1 * Fixed bug where aliens could escape the map or get stuck in walls while evolving * Fixed bug where clicking with Commander ghost selected the unit underneath (meaning you can support with med/ammo much easier now) * Fixed Sentries not being able to see targets very close to it (now "sees" out of the camera on the model) * Fixed bug where infantry portal wouldn't wait full spawn time before spawning players * Added drawing commander buttons in red when they are available but you don't have enough resources * Added the ability to drop weapons as a Marine (weapon pickup will be in a future patch) * Added culling of lights when they have zero intensity (optimizes bullet impact effects) * Added flashlight key binding (thanks Enceladus) * Added support for joining a friend's game through the Steam UI * Added the ability to get a player's Steam ID in script * Added a parasite indicator on the Marine HUD * Increased the brightness of the flashlight * Changed marine and alien spawn timing (marines take 10 seconds to spawn at IP, eggs take 9 seconds) * Changed the master server query port to be port+1 instead of being hard-coded to 27016 * Changed the names of parasited team-mates to be drawn in yellow in the HUD * Tightened rifle cone of fire from 4 degrees to 3 degrees to make it feel more like NS1 * Added new alien and marine blood effects
NS2 Build 162 releasedJanuary 25, 2011Build 162 of the Natural Selection 2 Beta is now available on Steam!Developer commentaryUsually we post a simple text change log describing the changes but we're trying something new this week: here's a short video that has the NS2 developers talking about and SHOWING what they worked on in this update:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxR0Rtnwzx0&feature=player_embeddedMax and the rest of the team aren't in here and we didn't cover every change (we ran out of time) but the important thing is to get SOMETHING out there to you quickly.Build 162 Change Log * Optimized physics/collision detection * Fixed server memory leak when the server was restarted while clients were connected (thanks endar) * Fixed bug where clients wouldn't receive a message when the server shutdown * Added auto-save support to the Cinematic Editor * Fixed Lua errors not properly printing out the call stack information in the log * Fixed bug where the Observatory could scan before it was built (thanks Enceladus) * Fixed bug where the healing radius for the Crag wasn't displayed (thanks Enceladus) * Fixed bug when a structure gets recycled or destroyed that a running upgrade is lost (thanks Enceladus) * Fixed bug where the Umbra button was not usable with a Mature Crag (thanks Enceladus) * Fixed bug where a Mature Whip was not recognized as valid for researching melee upgrades (thanks Enceladus) * Added Shared.GetDataFromUrl function to retrieve data from an Internet URL * Added a section overview to the in-game profile displayThis build also includes several weeks of work rewriting the physics and collision systems to yield better performance and support for multi-threading. Our new physics/collision system is also designed to give us better control over the shapes the game uses to detect bullet hits, melee attacks and movement. This is something we're hoping to take advantage of in the next patch.We're very interested to hear what you think about this format. Do you want to see more videos like this? More talking heads or less? Do you prefer us to focus on the game, technology or the personalities behind them?
