Natural Selection 2

PogoP

Hey guys!

I looked to see if there was an existing NS2 thread but couldn't find one, so thought I'd make one here now

We are releasing the final big update for the beta of NS2 today, which involves a new map, some existing map re-works, and an entire new 'class', the Exosuit. Basically you can play as a badass mech (Think Mechwarrior/Aliens). Here's the trailer for it!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re9sqgeWFDM"]http://www.youtube.com/embed/re9sqgeWFDM[/ame]

I'm sure you know about Natural Selection 2 already, but for anyone that doesn't, here's the overview from the website:

"Natural Selection 2 is an immersive, multiplayer shooter that pits aliens against humans in a strategic and action-packed struggle for survival. It seamlessly combines a shooter/FPS gameplay with a strategy (RTS) game.

The game is in active beta with 40,000 players – we’re releasing updates nearly every week with new units, abilities, maps, improvements, etc. NS2 v1.0 will launch on Steam this summer."

http://www.naturalselection2.com/

I'm an environment artist on NS2 and I hope to post up an art dump at some point after release, so keep your eyes peeled!

Anyway, if you like it, purchase it and you can join in the beta now. We will be accepting preorders on Steam in a couple of weeks time, but for now you can go through the website.

Thanks guys, hope you enjoyed the trailer

MikeF

awesome! i've been in the beta for the last year or so, stopped playing lately because each version was changing so much, gonna give it a go later tonight again!

cptSwing

Played it at Gamescom and loved it! Holds up nicely as well in the visual department (though some of the animations are a little choppy)

PogoP

Mike, I'm not sure the patch is out just yet. It should be out within 24 hours though, all things going well.

Updated the original post with screenshots!

cman2k

sooo gooood.

congrats on gig Liam - pretty fucking epic!

Alphavader

awesome - ill check it out

//bought it.. : amesome

Ged

looks really impressive, so what is the game? is it like counter strike but its army vs alien teams? or do the aliens come in waves and only some are player controlled?

wasker

NS1 is probably the game I've spent most time in. So awesome and I was server cleansingly good at it as well /brag. I'm really looking forward to the full version of NS2.

@GED: NS is a cool blend of rts and fps where one player from each team assumes the role as commander and gets a top down overview of the map. The commander can drop buldings, give orders, med / ammo packs etc to players on the field. What makes NS a great game is that you have 2 player controlled teams with unique playstyles that fight each others.

The Kharaa (or aliens if you will) will have to rely more on sneaking up on enemies and clever outflanking in the early game, while in the late game they get access to heavier units that can take on whole squads of marines on their own.

There's a number of different lifeforms (think classes) that the aliens can evolve into if they have earned sufficent resources.

Resources are gained by building resources towers or killing enemies.

On each map there's 3 possible spawn points for the aliens called Hives. Building more hives later in the game will unlock more upgrades (such as speed or cloaking etc).

The main thing for me that they've changed from Ns1 is to Ns2 is that the Aliens also have a commander. In NS1 only the marines had a commander and each individual alien had to keep a closer track of their own resources and how they spent them to best benefit the team.

yeah.. I was a meaaaan fade back in the day.


Anyway, you should check out some youtube videos or give it a try. It takes some getting used to and it isn't super balanced yet imho but still quite fun

Ged

wasker wrote: »

NS1 is probably the game I've spent most time in. So awesome and I was server cleansingly good at it as well /brag. I'm really looking forward to the full version of NS2.

@GED: NS is a cool blend of rts and fps where one player from each team assumes the role as commander and gets a top down overview of the map. The commander can drop buldings, give orders, med / ammo packs etc to players on the field. What makes NS a great game is that you have 2 player controlled teams with unique playstyles that fight each others.

The Kharaa (or aliens if you will) will have to rely more on sneaking up on enemies and clever outflanking in the early game, while in the late game they get access to heavier units that can take on whole squads of marines on their own.

There's a number of different lifeforms (think classes) that the aliens can evolve into if they have earned sufficent resources.

Resources are gained by building resources towers or killing enemies.

On each map there's 3 possible spawn points for the aliens called Hives. Building more hives later in the game will unlock more upgrades (such as speed or cloaking etc).

The main thing for me that they've changed from Ns1 is to Ns2 is that the Aliens also have a commander. In NS1 only the marines had a commander and each individual alien had to keep a closer track of their own resources and how they spent them to best benefit the team.

yeah.. I was a meaaaan fade back in the day.


Anyway, you should check out some youtube videos or give it a try. It takes some getting used to and it isn't super balanced yet imho but still quite fun

sounds very interesting indeed I might get it on steam sometime

moof

Haven't played the beta for a bit, but I think this brings me back in

warinmysky

Such pretty artwork. Keep up the great work! I love the art direction of NS2

MikeF

ah just got back from a good 2 hours session. Exo's are friggin awesome. game is really feeling ready now

PogoP

MikeF wrote: »

ah just got back from a good 2 hours session. Exo's are friggin awesome. game is really feeling ready now

Great to hear! I haven't had chance to play build 217 yet, hoping to jump in soon.

cptSwing

I want to preorder on steam

PogoP

Order it then Captain, hopefully I'll see you in a game soon!

PogoP

It's now on Steam, if any of you guys were dubious about buying before, now you can add it to your steam collection! This is preorder only but you will be able to play it soon!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/4920/

Di$array

Oooohhh now that is tempting. I whittled away many hours on the first one here at home and at my local LAN back in the day. Plus I like the fact that everyone has to pull their own weight in every game in order to win and the new additions only seem to push this even further.

Guess I've just convinced myself to put my money down for the pre-order on steam.

3DKnight

Just played at lunch! very fun, gratz guys!

PogoP

Natural Selection 2 is at Eurogamer this weekend. If any of you guys are going, be sure to drop by the booth and say hello! You can try out the game and see what you think, and chat to some of the devs and playtesters!

oXYnary

I was in my gift sections the other day and noticed I had a free gift to give of Natural Selection 2. Was this something you guys did for the early pre-pre-orderers?

Renaud Galand

oXYnary : Yep, read the news below to see how much cool stuff we (early birds) got

http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/news/2012/9/natural_selection_2_pre_orders_on_steam

Ged

Nice! The game was looking good at eurogamer!

PogoP

Glad you enjoyed it at Eurogamer! It was nice to meet some of the fans and see people enjoying it

fearian

I played this at eurogamer despite owning it, just because the alien team was missing a com and they where getting stomped! I couldn't let that happen!

also, we looked all over but couldn't find you, Liam!

timspanjer

PogoP - Great stuff! Looking forward to seeing your art dump later!

PogoP

Aww damn Fearian, would have been good to meet you dude! I was only there for a couple of days, Thursday and Sunday I think? Maybe it was Saturday, can't remember.

We just released the latest beta patch for NS2 (One week til release!), which improves FPS by 30-50%! So if it ran slowly before, check it out now. The programmers have made some very impressive changes to the architecture of the game, and it runs very smoothly now

Btw guys, if any of you are fans of tournaments/competitive gaming, you really need to check out competitive NS2. It is SO entertaining to watch, and I'm not normally a fan of competitive game streaming.

We had a couple of tournaments a few weeks back, in beta, and we're planning more on release. I think NS2 really does have the potential to be as big as Starcraft in terms of competitive watchability (Made up a word there)!

Check out our Twitch stream to see old matches (The Logitech tournament is a good watch), and also we have some developer Q&As on there.

www.twitch.tv/naturalselection2

PogoP

Ooh another update, we announced the map I've been working on with another level designer for the past few months! Check it out!

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

Ged

wow that looks pretty damn cool!

cptSwing

sexy!

Habboi

Hot!

Ark

Just started playing this despite preordering the first day it became available when they had nothing to show apart from the old engine videos.

I was a huge NS player and glad to see how this has progressed over the years.

Looking forward to it's official release and hopefully some mapping/modding.

PogoP

Glad you are enjoying it! You should definitely try out some mapping, the editor is quite powerful.

14 hours til release guys! Crazy!

Ark

I've messed a bit with the editor before, very easy to use.

Regarding the exporter, is it strictly limited to max at this point? I know it's based around collada, but when I've tried it before, with different apps I couldn't get the builder tool to work.

PogoP

Ark, yeah I think so. It uses a special file format based on collada, which unfortunately only works in Max 2009. Kinda annoying, but we want to fix that after release when we focus on the tools.

6 hours til release guys! Excitement is through the roof! We're at number 4 on the Steam top sellers and currently on the frontpage of r/gaming on Reddit!

http://www.naturalselection2.com/

nick2730

cant wait till xmas im sure it will go on sale then ill def buy. good luck with release

Rayph

Can't wait till this goes live fellas...I have waited so long for a game like this.

Also Nick2730- The game is 25$ I mean do you really have to wait on a sale...

nick2730

rayph - yea i do poor ex college student and i liek to wait to see how the games release goes ive purchased way too many games that have been awful at launch so i usually wait till first sale since most of bugs and game play is ironed out. Cant be too careful with games anymore unfortunitly

MikeF

seriously worth the 25$ people. This day has been a total waste cant put it down since the last few builds. I really hated the aliens until last night's patch now i'm playing them more than marines, Love setting up a good ambush left4dead style

fearian

Wait are you seriously releasing today?! God it's been so long since I put down my bucks! Congratulations! I know my evening plans now!

Also Pogo very slick looking level. Makes me want to take the assets and try a remake of ns_bast!

bounchfx

just bought it, can't wait to play. Who all got a copy? Let's jam tonight

PogoP

GAME IS OUT! We streamed the launch LIVE on twitch, you can still catch the end of it now.

http://www.twitch.tv/naturalselection2

Get in game guys and have fun! Can't wait to see you in there!

PogoP

Oooh also, here's our release trailer!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-4iaKXP68"]Natural Selection 2 Launch Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

MikeF

Congrats to everyone around here who worked on it, truly awesome work!!

DoubleLeaf

Wow that looks great!

Habboi

Well done dudes, you've done really well.

I'd love to play it but alas I suffer from freezy PC syndrome but I will look forward to the day I can play it.

So what's next for you lot? Going to take a long break? Start a new game already?

Di$array

So strapped for cash right now its a joke. Really want to revisit the world of NS but it's gotta wait till alater date. I just hope there will still be a decent sized community around at that point.

How you are you lucky ones finding it? Well balanaced, good progression, etc?

PogoP

We have stuff in the pipeline, we're going to be supporting NS2 for a looooooong time. Plenty of new maps, gameplay tweaks and additions.

I must say, I've really enjoyed playing in public games with newcomers to the game. Everybody is asking questions and eager to learn!

Ark

Congrats on the launch and everyone that worked on it.

Looking forward to playing with anyone and everyone.

Rayph

So having never had the chance to really play the original once I wrapped my head around the gameplay concepts this game has really blown me away at the depth it presents. It really provides the sort of depth and sci-fi atmosphere I craaaaaaaaave out of a multiplayer game. The infestation system is equally impressive as well from a visual standpoint and the great fun it is to be a commander and spread 'creep'.

As a concept artist I giggled with glee when I first fired up a marine mech and the hud viewport 'activated' in such an awesome fashion that made sense given the external visuals.

I also have to point out how fantastic the lighting is when the alien team knocks out a power node and the lights in that part of the level go out and the marines have to rely on flashlights, the tension this builds is wonderful.

Really really fantastic job guys this game brings back great memories of what a solid and deep multiplayer experience should be.

Michael Knubben

I've been playing this quite a bit in Beta, and love it. Voicecoms are mandatory for maximum enjoyment (and it's a shame when the commander doesn't speak), but even without it's a great game.

Anyone who's looking for people to play with, send me a pm!

fearian

I'm trying to be nice to the newbies, but this morning I had a team that wouldn't use phase gates
...Actually for the most part everyone has been really nice in game and asking the right questions, listening to people etc. Much nicer than my NS1 memories of an American teenager screaming "COOMMM! COMMM! DROP ME A FUCKING WELDER I WANT A WELDER COOOOOOOMM!"

Unfortunately I have some sort of bug that disconnects me from most games after about half an hour or so. Very likely to be my shitty ISP. Doesn't stop me from playing way too much.