10 years since its official release and over 117 updates later, active development of Natural Selection 2 has ended. Our team and this community have provided many years of passion and support for this game. Over the years we had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with so many of you whether at an expo, live tournament, Discord or playing on a server. We thank you for your support and commitment to NS2 and know that this game would not have been the same without you. Now its time to look to the future and continue on to other projects within the company. While we wont be actively working on NS2, we will still continue to host matched play servers so that community members will be able to play games on-demand with other players or bots. Although this isnt goodbye, we still would like to say a very heartfelt thank you to you, our community and to all of those that worked with us on Natural Selection 2 over the years. Much love and appreciation, The UWE NS2 Team

[ 2023-02-14 17:11:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings! We just deployed a hotfix to the game that resolves several issues with skill values not updating in certain cases. Your game version number will increase to reflect 344 after you receive the update from Steam. Please allow time for the server operators to update their servers to the latest version as well. Thanks to everyone for providing the useful data that led to these fixes! Changelog

• Fixed rounds submitted with less than 12 players preventing future rounds from submitting.
• Fixed several issues that could cause a user's skill value to not be updated
• Fixed a fade hallucination movement script error
• Fixed a fade hallucination targeting marine error
• Fixed Gorge bots infinitely building other players' clogs or hydras

[ 2022-12-30 23:39:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Matched Play v1.0 is officially released! We have made several changes and fixes to the system over the last few months, but our official release includes improved regional servers with more dedicated power for a better performing experience. Our programmers have been hard at work behind the scenes working on new and improved bots. Bots have been reworked from the ground up to provide a much more intuitive and similar gameplay mechanics of a real player. All life forms and commanders have had changes and improvements added so that you can play a game by yourself or with a small group of friends and not need to wait or fill a lobby. All of the official maps have been updated in one form or another to add better bot functionality and additional player gameplay experiences. We would also like to thank psyk for all of their hard work to bring us our newest official map AYUMI. Inspired by the NS1 map of the same name, this five techpoint map feels like a blend of Jambi and Tram and is sure to lead to some fun and exciting rounds. Changelog Optimizations

• Significantly improved listen server (localhost) performance by making server updates asynchronous
• Updated LuaJIT and re-enabled trace stitching to increase the amount of code JITed
• Improved player bot performance by increasing JIT coverage of bot code and optimizing the frequency of bot updates

Tweaks / Improvements

• Reduced default match concede timer from 7 minutes to 3 minutes
• Reduced Alien tunnel re-drop cooldown timer from 6 seconds to 3 seconds
• The default AFK timer implementation now correctly handles spectating / respawning / dead players, and provides a warning to players who are in danger of being AFK kicked.
• Matched Play server performance has been greatly improved to reduce network related issues and spin up time.
• Servers will default to ranked status if they:
• Utilize the default consistency config file;
• Set between a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 20 player slots;
• Use a maximum of 5 spectator slots;
• Use only whitelisted mods. The list can be found in our discord server, or on our wiki. You can apply for a mod to be whitelisted in our #modding discord channel.

Matched Play Changes

• Added several quality of life features to the Matched Play interface:
• Players in the same group will be color-coded in the lobby menu.
• A sound will be played to wake you up once the lobby enters the Waiting for Commanders stage. This only works if the Mute on Minimized game setting is disabled.
• The map vote status of each player is displayed with a checkmark on their avatar during the Map Vote phase - now you can know for sure whos AFK during the map vote!
• You can see the opposing teams roster during the Planning Phase in case you forgot who you were playing with.
• The system displays the number of users waiting in lobbies and playing a game on the lobby search screen.
• Added vote kicking functionality to Matched Play Lobbies. During the Waiting for Players phase, any user can initiate a vote kick against any other player in the lobby. If 60% of the lobby members vote yes, the vote passes and the kicked player is removed from the lobby and cannot rejoin.
• Added kicking functionality to Matched Play Groups. The group owner can kick any player they elect to from their group, and the kicked player is removed from the group and cannot rejoin. If you miss-clicked and invited someone you didnt intend to, now you can un-invite them too! This functionality is unavailable once the group has joined a Lobby.
• The Matched Play core system now runs in a sandboxed execution environment to ensure the quality and integrity of the Matched Play system. The Matched Play user interface may still be modded though!
• Re-enabled Matched Play Penalties. Unlike the first iteration, the Penalty system has been polished and refined to ensure that users will only receive penalties for taking direct malicious action, and will not receive penalties for failure-states in the Matched Play system itself.
• Added a vote to draw feature if a Matched Play round starts with one missing player; players can elect to call the match a draw and re-queue, or keep playing with a bot instead of their missing teammate.
• Added/improved the automatic forfeit functionality for imbalanced matches; if either team has 2+ missing players the match will be automatically forfeited after 60s. Forfeited rounds will not affect either teams player skill, but will grant Matched Play Rewards as normal.
• Players may now vote to skip the Intermission phase between Matched Play rounds. This vote requires unanimous assent to be successful.

Matched Play Fixes

• Fixed several bugs with Matched Play Rewards that could cause players to receive incorrect playtime or win rewards
• Fixed missing localization for the build ARC tooltip in Thunderdome servers
• Fixed lobbies that failed to spin up a server would be stuck in an indefinite waiting state. If no server is created after 300s, all users will be safely removed from the lobby.
• Fixed several bugs within the Matched Play system that could cause the lobby state to become corrupted.
• Fixed several bugs that could cause individual users to be removed from the lobby after joining a Matched Play server.
• Fixed players with extremely high hiveskill (4500+) being unable to join a lobby with lower skilled T5 / T6 players. This does not change the skill values used by the team shuffle.
• Fixed player name changes not being visible to other users in the lobby. Want to troll your friends and pretend to be someone else? Well now you can. Note: user avatars will not be updated.
• Fixed that sometimes TD servers did not shut down properly after the match ended. Theyre quite prompt about it now, and may slam the door on you if youre too slow to leave!

Bot Improvements / Fixes

• Completely refactored the Player Bot and Commander Bot internal architecture to ensure correct and consistent behavior in a wide variety of situations.
• Added a Gorge Bot! (Finally!) This bot will help build structures for the team, and can spit at players and bile down the enemys structures. Unfortunately, they arent smart enough to use their other toys.
• Added a large number of new capabilities to Commander Bots for both teams:
• Alien Khamm can now place Tunnels somewhat intelligently;
• Alien Khamm has a much better research tree and will drop new hives as needed to continue research / upgrades;
• Alien Khamm reacts to hives / upgrades / tunnels / cysts being damaged with appropriate use of Bone Wall and Rupture;
• Alien Khamm can use Ink to defend a hive against ARCs;
• Alien Khamm can use Contaminate to win the game, if you let it go on long enough;
• Marine Comm can now place Phase Gates and other structures to defend forward Tech Points;
• Marine Comm will research the entire tech tree in a reasonably correct order;
• Marine Comm is better about med pack / ammo pack drops and can now use catpacks and nanoshield on Marines in the field;
• Marine Comm can use Power Surge to defend an unpowered phase gate;
• Marine Comm will drop advanced weapons and jetpacks if it has enough surplus res.
• Completely overhauled teamwork behaviors for all field player bots for both teams:
• All bots will spread out and attempt to cover different areas on the map;
• All bots can now react to their command structure or valuable structures being damaged (upgrades, Arms Lab, natural RTs);
• All Alien bots will now respond to Pheromones and commander pings;
• All Marine bots will now follow commander orders and respond to pings (when not in direct combat);
• Lone Skulks and Marines will attempt to push forward into the enemys natural RT rooms to res-bite and pressure the back line;
• Marine bots will now buy and place mines around important structures.
• Improved individual field bot capabilities:
• Skulk bots can leap, parasite, use xenocide, and now can actually miss their bites (sometimes) if you dodge well enough;
• Lerk bots can now spore hostiles and umbra friendly players much more consistently and effectively;
• Lerk bots know to spike shotgunners at range, and can be more aggressive with non shotgunners or smaller groups of Marines.
• Fade bots received a significant overhaul and are much better at blinking around and conserving their energy. They also know when to leave the room based on energy, HP and number of Marines in the area.
• Onos can now consistently Boneshield and Stomp players (its so good even the bots are getting in on it!);
• Marine bots are significantly better at handling short-term priorities like welding a nearby player while still carrying out a long-term task like going to build a structure in another room;
• Marine bots buy and use advanced weapons reliably and consistently;
• Marine bots can buy and use Railgun and Minigun Exos, and will claim unowned Exos if available;
• Marine bots can buy and use Jetpacks now.
• Bot Exos will retreat from combat if there are no friendly players nearby;
• Railgun Exos use half-power shots and are much more deadly in close combat now.
• Marine bots who are following you can assist you with boosting into a vent if you crouch and hold still for 2 seconds.
• Marine bots will mimic your behavior when it comes to sneaky behavior.
• Optimized the field bot architecture to reduce their runtime cost and improve compatibility with LuaJIT performance improvements.
• Fixed many bugs that could lead to bots becoming deadlocked and non-responsive.
• Fixed several behavioral issues that could arise from players joining a team and displacing a field bot.
• Fixed a huge number of minor bugs related to bots.

Mod System Changes

• Fixed the mod backup web server sometimes not creating mod zips
• The mod backup server now logs if client requests a mod zip that does not exist and if -verbose is set it will log all requests made to the mod backup server
• Fixed downloaded mod backup zips not being deleted by client after extracting them

Fixes

• Fixed some issues with Hive skill being increased or decreased incorrectly under certain circumstances
• Fixed MACs returning to previous position after a move order (thanks Katz)
• Fixed crashing from using the exit console command in a number of scenarios, to include loading into a listen server.
• Fixed a server crash if another script error is encountered while generating the callstack for a script error.
• Fixed changes to the mapcycle.json file taking two map changes to take effect, its now reloaded when a map change is triggered
• Fixed Alien tunnel build menu not correctly updating when one entrance of a tunnel is destroyed
• Fixed the danger music getting stuck constantly playing in some cases
• Fixed ambient occlusion option sometimes not staying turned off
• Fixed several grammatical errors and incorrect localization strings
• Fixed server error when hitting another exo as a railgun exo
• Fixed server errors when ejecting from an egg in the ready room. Enjoy the fireworks if you can time it correctly.
• Fixed dying as an egg could prevent you from leaving the team or respawning
• Fixed custom Alien Vision mods sometimes being disabled when joining a server
• Fixed maps with 6+ techpoints causing Alien UI script errors
• Fixed main menu causing errors and becoming unresponsive when subscribed to too many mods
• Fixed an issue where generating nav mesh could cause the server to deadlock and keep the client stuck in an authentication step.
• Fixed Windows servers were not launching properly when using the server.exe binary from the root folder. That binary has been removed and server operators should now run the x64\server.exe binary instead

Maps

• New Map: Ayumi (Thanks psyk)
• Remake roughly based on NS1s ns_ayumi
• 5 Tech Points, 10 Resource Points
• Layout fusion of Jambi and Tram
• Asset contributions by Zavaro, Kash and IronHorse

• All Maps -
• Pathing improvements (Thanks Kash)
• Power/Location tweaks and improvements (Thanks TheSaltySeaCaptain)

• Metro (Thanks Meph)
• Holograms on the tollgates on both exits of Derelict Station are now double sided
• Redone the minimal lights
• Arcs can not hide inside the scaffolding in Slums anymore
• All vent entrances have orange lights now
• Remade the skybox almost completely to improve performance
• Removed all blinking christmas lights (except the ones at the food stalls)
• Added routing elements (pipes/cables leading into the vents, Orange arrows pointing towards vent entrances etc.)
• Changed the lighting color in Club Kash
• Removed some tarps in Atrium
• Added vent opening in Lane - Underpass vent (on Underpass side)
• Opened a line of sight from Atrium to Slum/Ticketbooth vent entrance
• Added some extra scaffolding to ceiling area in Midtown (near RT, check if you can go above the pipe)
• Station entrance gates (Derelict Station, Facade, Atrium and Ticketbooth) do not allow bullets to pass through anymore
• Removed quite a bit of holograms that were not used for player routing (reduction of clutter)
• Removed some floating clutter in commander view
• Reduced fog intensity in Midtown

• Origin (Thanks psyk)
• Fixed exterior rock sticking into the map

• Summit (Thanks psyk)
• Fixed hole in the map

• Tanith (Thanks Zavaro)
• Redesigned area between Fusion and Access to prevent people getting stuck on things
• Moved vent between Access and Acidic Processing to prevent marines from easily jumping in
• Added additional route between Fusion and Sewer to help rotations for alien players
• Added additional vent around the edges of the resource room in The WAC
• Added some more pillars to move around with in Fusion and Reactor Room
• Modified salt ramp in Chemical Transport to force players to commit to attacking the resource node
• Additional ladder was added on west side of Chemical Transport
• Redesigned Western Entrance to shorten Reactor trip and give more options to flank
• Fixed tons of holes and several stuck spots

• Unearthed (Thanks Kash) -
• Moved Toxic Pool RT into Transfer
• Moved some crates throughout the map to provide better ambush/cover spots.
• Slightly relocated the tree in Exposure to move the protruding branch mostly out of gameplay space
• Added line of sight blocker between Crevice and Newall to help with performance in that area
• Removed support beam in Exposure - Crevice to prevent lifeforms getting stuck when retreating
• Changed the grating in the Filtration - Exposure vent, no longer allows bullets through and now also has a hole in one section of grating
• Removed ladders in Briefing
• Added jump up in the south of Briefing to prevent the ceiling ambush spot becoming an invulnerability spot.
• Removed ladder in Newall
• Changed Purification to be less marine favored
• You can no longer get under the staircase in Filtration
• Removed Toxic Pool to Extraction vent
• Added new Extraction to Junction Vent
• Replaced or removed ALL railing props on the map to make the map feel more visually consistent
• Have made sure that all stair props and grating props are using the same assets, rather than a mish-mash of different assets that don't quite look right together
• Added little bits of extra cover in Exposure and Cavity
• Added in a rock to allow marines the ability to access the upper rock arch in Crevice
• Extension added to the vent from Cavity to Furnace, it now continues through to Newall
• Added back an old exit to the Harvesting to Access vent, coming out underneath the platform in Passage
• Edited the entrances to the Harvesting vents, to make them easier to access and more visible in general
• Completely overhauled lighting from scratch
• Fixed a few minor pathing issues
• Map wide performance improvements
• Altered the Toxic Pool to Exposure vent to make it less marine friendly
• Edited the Junction to Toxic pool entrance, making it half the old width, to prevent marines sniping the Toxic Pool to Exposure vent entrance from extreme distance.
• Added a new mini-route in Exposure to make it possible to go from Access into the middle of Exposure while avoiding line of sight to the bottom of the stairs in Filtration
• Changed Passage platform to add extra cover and make the room generally less marine favored
• Added a mini-route from Harvesting into Passage

• Veil (Thanks psyk)
• Added half open door to entrance from Sub Access to Overlook.
• Added crates in Sub Access, Overlook and East/Topo to make Marine positioning and Phase Gate locations weaker. The crates in Sub can also be used to slightly shoot into the Sub vent when boosting a Marine.
• Moved Pipeline Res Node so it can't be hit with ARCs or easily pushed and de-cysted.
• Added and re-arranged obstacles in the corridor between Cargo and Dome as LOS blockers, which also provide an easier way up into the ceiling vent as Skulk.
• Made it more difficult to shoot Cargo Harvester from outside.
• Changed corridor between Topo and East to East power.
• Changed the Dome doorway into a double doorway.
• Added some crates between Pipe and Dome and cleared some ceiling stuff so Skulks have more options coming into Dome from Pipeline.
• Removed the ARC spot in Overlook, where you could barely hit Sub Access Harvester.

Tools

• Fixed incorrect spelling of the special CommanderInvisibleVents default group in the Map Editor

SDK

• Removed some of the Lua debug lib APIs
• GetEntitiesInRange\GetEntitiesWithTagInRange now ignores target entities bone offset when checking if theyre in range

Known Issues

• Occasionally a bot may attempt to defend you too vigorously, seemingly attempting to become one with your body at the start of a round. After your death or theirs, it will self correct.

[ 2022-12-09 19:26:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changelog Tweaks / Improvements

• Added a Top Bar UI toggle to the advanced options menu.
• The Observatorys scanned Status Effect icon will always show for Aliens within range, regardless of HUD detail settings. (Similar to the Parasite status effect icon for Marines.)
• Re-added the Railgun Exos target outline HUD effect on all Aliens and resolved the performance issues when looking at something far beyond the effects maximum range. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Three additional status effect icons added: Nerve Gas, Spores and Armor Healing.
• All status effects are now clearly marked as buffs/debuffs.

Matched Play Changes

• New Friends Group feature where you can invite up to 2 other friends before joining a public lobby, to end up on the same team! There is a maximum of two friend groups per public lobby, and one group per Team.
• New Private Lobby feature where only those whom you invite can play in your match! Note that Matched Play rewards are disabled for this mode.
• Penalties are temporarily removed until they can be administered in a more fair and accurate way in a future update.
• You should now be able to reconnect to an in-progress match after crashing, unless steam has gone offline or the lobby no longer exists.
• New and improved shuffle algorithm which ensures Friends Groups will stay together and evenly balance teams around them.
• Lobbies now robustly handle users leaving and joining after the lobby has reached 12/12 players. Lobbies will correctly roll-back the lobby state as long as the lobby has not reached the Planning Phase.

Matched Play Fixes

• Fixed known cases where player names and avatars would not show up in the Planning Phase screen. All players on the same team should now be visible to team-members after a short delay.
• Fixed known cases where a lobby would fail to spin up a server due to lobby authentication issues.
• Fixed known cases of users being assigned to Team 0 and thus kicked from the match.
• Fixed the lobby status UI (waiting for commanders) not updating properly in some scenarios.
• Fixed some instances where a client could get into a desynchronized state with the lobby UI.
• Fixed users who volunteered to command not being able to see their voted maps during the map voting stage.
• Fixed users not being able to see the Map Vote button after a lobby was rolled back to Waiting for Players.
• Fixed the volunteer to command button showing up after a map vote.
• Fixed a case where Waiting For Commanders timer could get stuck at 0 without progressing the lobby.
• Fixed an issue where players who left during the Map Vote stage would still appear to be in the lobby if the Map Vote screen was open when they left.
• Fixed several issues with player names and avatars being in an incorrect state in the Lobby screen after multiple players left/joined.
• Fixed ability to join a match that just completed using steam friends.
• Fixed ability to join a lobby that had progressed to or beyond the Planning Phase (the user would be kicked from the server when they joined).
• Fixed inconsistent behaviors with in game lobby invites and steam friends invites.
• Fixed numerous script errors and other scenarios that would break a lobby.
• Fixed multiple issues where clicking too fast on some UI elements caused script errors.

Mod System Changes

• Trigger reinstall of hotfix mods if they are failing consistency check.
• When a file fails consistency check the mod it belongs to is now listed in the log when failing to connect to a server.
• Force caching the current version of a hotfix mod if it was updated outside the game by steam to reduce chance of mod out of date errors connecting to a server.
• Switch to auto updated steam runtime libraries for the dedicated server to try and fix mod download issues.

Fixes

• Fixed that the Marine Flashlight rate was tied to moverate.
• Fixed Marine structures taking too long to build in some cases. They were affected by server performance or even latency. The TSF has issued a mandatory firmware update to all build tools to resolve this issue.
• Fixed Exo Crosshairs not being included in the default consistency exclusion list.
• Fixed Marine tutorial not progressing when asked to open Map if binding was set to toggle instead of hold.
• Fixed base tutorials not automatically progressing to the next tutorial after completion.
• Fixed Ambient Occlusion graphics setting being turned off on every client restart.
• Fixed Hallucinations not using the player skins of those they were copying. Hopefully they never learn how to copy Marines.
• Fixed player names that used certain special characters causing the Windows error sound during server joining, chatting, or death.
• Fixed Atmospherics graphics setting defaulting to 1.0 even though the UI reported 0.15, the intended default.
• Fixed seasonal throwables (snowballs and candy) causing console errors and not being rate limited. Well be sad to see the infinite streams of candy go.
• Fixed Bmacs getting hit with the Axe making flesh sounds. It creeps us all out just a little bit less now.
• Fixed weapons dropped upon death near an Armory still having a decay timer. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed the Revert button not working correctly when making changes in the Options menu.
• Fixed old hooks\console commands of hot reloaded lua files not being cleared.
• Fixed the menu sometimes being restarted from Lua errors.
• Fixed hallucinated Drifters occasionally making Marine footstep sounds when they moved about. It was terrifyingly funny, but an unfortunate evolutionary dead-end.
• Fixed that Nano Shield could not be used on unpiloted Exosuits.
• Fixed Power Nodes not playing their critical sound effects for players who have left relevancy range and returned. You have no excuse for not welding the Power Node now.
• Fixed outdated Alien commander tutorial that required manually infesting tunnels.
• Fixed outdated Marine commander tutorial that blocked progress due to Robotics Factory size change.

Maps

Descent (Thanks Salty!)

• Gravity Control - Fixed death trigger.

Summit (Thanks psyk!)

• Fixed death trigger issues in Crevice and Crossroad

Tools

• Map editor workflow improvements (Thanks Axtel!)
• Added reliable transform gizmo planar handle selection.
• Added Ctrl-click and Alt-click to selection filter toggles.
• Fixed multiple editor state corruptions that could result in an unusable editor.
• Moved select object layer functionality to Alt-LMB with Select tool active.
• Negative texture scales are properly preserved when using the paint tool.
• Reduce unintended viewport freezes when manipulating objects.
• Improvements to supporting light placements in a level file when flipping rooms or entire maps. (Thanks Axtel!)

SDK

• Event.RemoveHook is now an engine function instead of Lua and the table of registered hooks can now be accessed from Event.HookTable.
• Scripts are now passed a hot reload depth as toplevel parameter if it's being hot reloaded otherwise its nil.

Known Issues

• The Matched Play Team Imbalance auto-concede feature that is triggered when too many players have left one team, does not work well with reconnecting players just yet.
• Clicking the Find Match / Cancel Searching button in the Friends Group screen multiple times in quick succession can trigger script errors that require the group host to restart their client.
• When entering the planning phase the First Team splash screen may sometimes show up twice.
• There is currently no visual indication of which players in a lobby, if any, are in a friends group.
• Chat messages received while the Map Vote screen is open will not be visible after closing the Map Vote screen.

[ 2022-06-27 13:56:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 341 is now available on steam and includes multiple updates to maps and a bunch of bug fixes and tweaks to both the game and matched play. There are also additional updates to the balance which you can find in the in-game menu. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. Changelog Tweaks / Improvements

• Death screen has been made smaller in overall size, hides when the map is opened, the fade to black lasts only 2 seconds, and the killfeed is no longer hidden. This should be more in line with the previous deathscreen experience over the years. Thanks everyone for your feedback on this feature!
• Re-added text drop shadows to the in-game chat text elements.
• Changed the text drop shadow rendering feature to fix severe FPS losses on certain graphics driver and hardware configurations. (Thanks, Axtel!)
• Added Drop shadow text to damage numbers

Matchmaking Fixes and Changes

• Individual players are automatically kicked from a lobby after 1 hour has elapsed without progressing the lobby state beyond Waiting for Players. This prevents long term AFK individuals propping up a potentially bugged lobby that acts as a trap for everyone else matching.
• Fixed Steam Authentication potentially failing when waiting in a lobby for more than 30 minutes.
• Fixed multiple players ending up being on an unassigned team and therefore being kicked from the server.
• Fixed rare occurrence of a client not progressing through the lobby stages with everyone else.
• Fixed a lobby failing when a server request returned error 500.
• Fixed the Matchmaking Rewards menus Queue button being active all the time
• Fixed Steam Offline status triggering too easily. It now counts down over multiple seconds before considering you having lost connection and can roll backward to a reset state over the same time frame if the offline status did not get reached. This ensures that a momentary loss of internet does not trigger kicking you from the game or lobby.
• Fixed client script errors during certain lobby stages.
• Fixed skill offset miscalculation between the teams [Drey]

Mod System Changes

• Added an option to the create local server page to enable mounting UWE hotfix mods when creating a server.
• Maps from non-active mods are now included in the Listen Server map list and are automatically mounted on the server when it is created.
• Hotfix mods are no longer hidden in the menu mod list.
• Duplicate Mod ID entries in a servers map cycle are now handled properly.

Fixes

• Fixed being able to receive Matchmaking invites while playing in a public server already.
• Fixed Auric Clog not being able to be selected or used once unlocked.
• Fixed Chroma Resource Tower not being able to be selected or used once unlocked.
• Fixed when earning the Battle Gorge calling card, it's not available. And instead two items of Turbo drifter are granted.
• Fixed a potential server crash when fetching hotfix mods fails.
• Fix -game command line option not handling absolute paths for the Linux dedicated server.

Sounds

• Client hitsounds files are no longer constrained by our file validation rules.

Maps

• Biodome: (Thanks psyk!)
• Moved Agri RT to the north of Agri (New room, thanks Kash!)
• Increased height of small connection between Atmospherics and Scrubbers to nerf Armory blocks while arcing.
• Disabled Bridge-Agri jump (still possible with boosting or dropped structures).
• Reduced Cysts needed to Filtration from 5 to 4.
• Fixed LoS issue which enabled Railguns to shoot Atmospherics Hive from CO2 Scrubbers.
• Fixed structure placement exploits in Hydro.

• Caged: (Thanks psyk!)
• Added a vent below the stairs between the Purification and Ventilation connection.
• Smoothed out movement below the walkway leading from Ventilation to Purification.
• Closed off the door a bit more coming into Ventilation from Purification and moved Pillars/Walls at that entrance (less space at sides) to make it harder for Marines to attack Ventilation from Purification PG.
• Added a Pipe/Crate combo so you can jump up on the higher level of Ventilation from the south side.
• Moved the Powernode in Ventilation to be less vulnerable.
• Created space between the scanner and container in Shipping.
• Added a glass hole at the northern entrance of Generator for building ARCs.
• Smoothed movement around that area below Generator.
• Added some obstacles into Monitoring.
• Marines can now get into the Lower Wasteflow ceiling vent using the barrels and doorframe to climb up.
• Added a ladder into the DAT-1 vent.
• Slightly scaled out the doorframe near the DAT-1 vent to make it easier to trick jump into the vent.
• Marines can now trick jump into the Sewer-Puri vent from Sewer.
• Removed collision from tons of tiny props.

• Derelict: (Thanks psyk!)
• Added 5th techpoint in the middle of the map in Admin.
• Moved res node in Admin.
• More cover, thicker trees and other improvements to Plaza (smaller room).
• Added a few more cover spots here and there.
• Added vent between Flooded and Botany.
• Added additional route between Garage and Turbine.
• Added additional route between Geothermal and Flooded.
• Re-arranged the Truck/Container setup in the entrance of Garage / Alley. Can go through the right side of the truck, jump up the small crates; also broke the right yellow railing at the right entrance for more fluid gameplay.
• Added kinda vent between Glass Hallway and Biome.
• Added ladder at the pipe tower in Plaza.
• Changes to Administration to help Aliens against ARCs coming from Overlook:
• Another window hole to bile or attack.
• Lowered the vent on floor level to help (retreating) Gorges.
• Put more crates into that ARC spot hallway to the right to remove some space for ARCs and to the left to give Gorges some cover to bile from range.
• Smoothed out movement in those offices by rearranging/scaling the desks, etc. and using collision geo.
• Moved the entire Atmospheric Seeding location higher to reduce/remove elevation at both exits, which led to frustrating uphill combat for Aliens and made the long corridor even worse.
• Increased the height of the floor around the broken tree container prop and the RT in Nursery to remove awkward movement and collision due to height differences.
• Geothermal fixes:
• Moved up the entire floor plane to reduce issues with height differences and techpoint being in a kinda pit.
• Shrunk pipes above techpoint.
• Blocked off the space above the ceiling pipes leading away from Geothermal and used for bile bomb abuse.
• Removed ladders, you can use the rocks to jump up now.
• Moved power node around the corner to be more protected from bile.
• Shrunk Western Entrance by 33%. Less negative space, less clutter needed to fill it, more fps.
• Changed the entrance between Western Entrance and Infested Corridor to be more interesting for gameplay and less of a long, straight line abused by well positioned Marines.
• Widened Infested Corridor and improved movement/combat.
• Removed vent from Western/Biome to Plaza.

• Origin: (Thanks psyk!)
• Moved Ore RT into Generator; easier to defend from Ventilation and a good tunnel location for Biodome start. Also denies an RT to Marines, if they hold Furnace side, similar to how Maintenance is denied, if they hold Biodome side.
• Added more starting Cysts to Biodome Alien Start.
• Tanith:(Thanks, Zavaro!)
• Increased height of Acidic-Access vent to make boosting more difficult
• Lowered floor of Fusion Core resource node to make cyst sniping harder
• Pipes in Computer Control-SatCom hallway have been broken so that players may more easily use them as an escape
• Chemical Transports south side now allows structures to be placed
• Ladder added to south side of Chemical Transport platform
• Western Entrance modified slightly to smooth out travel between Old Wing and Reactor Room
• Some fixes to areas where structures should not have been able to be placed
• Several stuck spots removed
• Docking: (Thanks, Thesaltyseacaptain)
• Fixed exploit where marines could escape the map
• Fixed power issue in Locker Room

[ 2022-02-03 15:30:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

This set of changes is targeted at refining some aspects of game pacing, making some quality of life improvements, and adds some new Matched Play exclusive changes that will only be employed when playing the Matched Play game mode. One of the key changes that will apply to both player counts is the reduction of p-res per tick. Now that servers have been playing with 10 versus 10 for some time, and with the introduction of Matched Play 6 versus 6, we felt this was the right time to re-introduce this p-res rate which will make lifeforms and weapons alike slightly more precious. Changelog Gameplay General:

• Resources:
• Player p-res income rate is now 0.1 per tick (down from 0.125)
• Alien starting p-res is now 15 (up from 12)
• Fade Cost reduced to 35 (down from 37)
• Onos Cost reduced to 55 (down from 62)
• Increase Marine starting pres to 20 from 15
• Healing Softcap:
• Softcap is now 12% eHP/s with an 80% penalty for excess healing (from 14% / 66%)

Kharaa:

• Commander
• Removed the ability to research Onos Charge as the onos now always has charge
• Lerk:
• Movement
• Strafe force changed to 8.3 (from 7)
• Lerk glide makes a sound if a Lerk is gliding above 4.5 speed
• Added an air brake functionality to the Movement Modifier key (default is Shift key) that will slow glide speed down to 4.5 speed for silent gliding. Lerks will maintain a 4.5 speed glide while the key is pressed.
• Increased glide minimum speed clamp to 4.5 (up from 4)

• Spikes
• Reduce Spread to 3.3 (down from 3.8)
• Projectile size reduced to 45mm (from 60mm)
• Spores
• Move research to Biomass 6 (up from Biomass 5)
• Umbra
• Increase research cost to 30 (up from 20)
• Increase research time to 75 seconds (up from 45 seconds)

• Fade
• Blink energy cost changed to 12 (down from 14)
• Metabolize
• Cost changed to 10 (down from 25)
• Now restores 20 energy (down from 35)
• Tunnels:
• Removed "Infested Tunnel" upgrade
• Tunnels now become Infested Tunnels automatically upon reaching full maturity
• Mature health changed to 1400/250 (up from 1250/200)
• Time to Mature changed to 75 seconds (down from 120)
• Tunnel resource cost changed to 8 tres (up from 6)

• BoneWall
• No longer flammable
• Shade/Shift/Crag
• Structure movement speed increased by 15%
• Contamination:
• Cooldown changed to 3 seconds (down from 6)
• Health changed to 1500 (up from 1000)
• No longer flammable
• Biomass Requirement changed to 12 (up from 10)
• Can no longer be targeted by ARCs
• Eggs
• Lerk Egg Drop biomass requirement changed to 4 (from 2)
• Lerk Egg Drop cost changed to 40 (from 30)
• Gorge Egg Drop cost changed to 20 (from 15)
• Fade Egg Drop biomass requirement changed to 8 (from 9)
• Fade Egg Drop cost changed to 80 (down from 100)
• Fixed an issue where players can spawn out of a Lifeform Egg and delete it as a result
• Clamped number of Lifeform Egg drops to 2 per Hive
• Drifters:
• Hover height to the ground was lowered
• Drifters cloaked by the Shade hive upgrade will now un-cloak from further away (3m up from 1.5)
• Turn rate is instant on the first move command, but will return to the normal turn before moving behavior on subsequent move orders (this effect has a 4 second cooldown)
• Abilities:
• Enzyme
• Cooldown changed to 3 seconds (from 12 seconds)
• Hallucinations
• No longer affected by mucous
• Can no longer have babblers attached
• Hallucination Onos now has 100 HP
• Mucous
• Cooldown changed to 3 second (from 12 seconds)
• Cloud radius changed to 5 (from 8)
• Shield values now match babbler shield values (except Skulk - remains at 15 HP)
• Gorge
• Babblers:
• Are now Flammable
• Bile Bomb:
• Biomass requirement for research changed to Biomass 2 (down from 3)
• Web:
• Webs become visible from slightly farther away ( +1 meter)
• Webs have only 1 charge (down from 3) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Health
• Gorge health changed to 190 (from 160) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Spit
• Gorge spit projectile speed changed to 45 (from 35)
• Skulk
• Leap energy cost changed to 55 (up from 45)
• Adrenaline upgrade now grants 60% increased energy regeneration (up from 50%)
• Cysts
• Build time changed to 4.5 Seconds (up from 3.33) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Shade hive cyst reveal range changed to 8 (from 6)
• Cyst health changed to 400 near the hive and 200 far away (up from 300 / 200)
• Health falloff range from the hive room decreased slightly
• Damage bonus from welders changed to 5x from 7x
• Shift:
• Echo upgrades cost changed to 2 (from 1)
• Echo Egg cost changed to 1 (from 2)
• Crag player healing:
• Fixed issue where Heal Wave was not correctly increasing crag healing by 30%
• Changed Crag to heal eHP instead of a flat value
• Crags now heal players with lifeform specific healing values instead of a percentage:
• Skulk: 10 (previously 7)
• Gorge: 15 (previously 11)
• Lerk: 16 (previously 10)
• Fade: 25 (previously 17)
• Onos: 80 (previously 42)
• Carapace:
• Base armor bonus reduced
• Now Grants a small armor bonus for each biomass: [Biomass Armor Bonus]:
• Skulk: 5 [1]
• Gorge: 12 [2]
• Lerk: 12 [2]
• Fade: 20 [2.5]
• Onos: 50 [20]
• Regeneration:
• Healing amount changed to 6% (from 8%)
• Aura:
• No longer reveals health (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Now has a unique UI element for the non-health revealing version (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Vampirism
• Lerk
• Vampirism percentage changed to 6% (from 8%)
• Onos
• Charge is now a baseline ability and does not require research from the commander.
• Boneshield has been reworked:
• No longer uses fuel
• BoneShield now has 1000 hitpoints and prevents all damage
• Boneshield now encompasses the entire onos (not just the front half)
• While the shield is active, energy regeneration is reduced by 50% (this includes all sources)
• BoneShield recharge occurs immediately while out of combat, or 3 seconds after BoneShield is deactivated while in combat. Recharge rate is 130 shield hitpoints per second.
• When BoneShield is broken, a unique sound will play and shield recharge penalty is increased to 6 seconds, visualized by a "broken" shield ui bar.

Marine:

• Medpacks
• Heal over time effect no longer expires when a marine hits full HP
• ARCs
• Health changed to 2000/500 (from 2600/400) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Commanders can now only create a maximum of 4 ARCs (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Add tooltip to robotics / arc factory regarding cap (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
• Pulse Grenade:
• LOS blocking removed
• Can be used to hit aliens behind RTs
• Heavy Machinegun
• Spread changed to 3.2 (from 4)
• Shotgun
• Shotgun damage per weapon upgrade changed to ~13.33 (from ~10)
• Gas Grenade
• Made much less bouncy
• Observatory:
• Build time changed to 12 seconds (down from 17)
• Prototype Lab
• Cost changed to 25 (from 35)
• Sentries
• Battery cost changed to 15 (from 10)
• Confusion from spores
• Duration changed to 8 seconds (from 4)
• Time until next attack effect changed to 4 seconds (from 2)

• Supply:
• Sentry supply cost changed to 15 (from 10)
• Sentry Battery supply cost changed to 25 (from 15)
• Robotics Factory supply cost increased to 10 (from 5)

[ 2021-12-27 00:34:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

A precious but lost TSF resource once again comes into play, returning to TANITH! We are thrilled and excited to release this updated vision of the classic map from Natural Selection. Special thanks to Zavaro and the mapping team on this awesome addition to the map pool. With the release of TANITH we are also providing the next phase of the Match Play, Beta v2, in which we have made some bug fixes and added the ability to invite steam friends to the lobby you are in. A new Matched Play progression system has been added, allowing you to unlock all sorts of assets and customization to your Marine and Alien. We are still actively working on Private Lobbies and Group Queuing, which we know are our biggest requests for Matched Play. There is also a list of quality of life changes we hope to have in our 1.0 release of Match Played (planned release in early 2022). This update includes changes to our MOD system as we move to supporting Steam UGC. Optimizations and bug fixes abound through the change log, so be sure to read all the way through. Lastly, we will be releasing a new flurry of balance changes next week separate from the patch via our extension mod. Stay tuned in our Discord server for more details! Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. From all of us at Unknown Worlds, Merry Gorgemas and Happy Holidays! Changelog Optimizations

• Improved how the server calculates physics collisions by reducing the overzealous distance it checks. This should be a general improvement to server performance. (Thanks Steelcap!)
• Improved client loading routines when connecting to servers, so it is a smoother transition and a tiny bit faster.

Tweaks / Improvements New map, Tanith! [previewyoutube=0Ue--1lPSm0;full][/previewyoutube]

• Tanith is an off-world chemical plant that has since been abandoned from the events of Natural Selection. Flora and natural shifts in fault lines have started to reclaim what remains of the facility. But an old threat still looms within these walls. Will the TSF take back what is rightfully theirs?
• Pictures: https://zavaro.artstation.com/projects/18JbQZ
• New Tanith skulk skin! Acquired by winning 30 rounds on Tanith.

Matched Play Beta v2 Update

• Added a ton of new items which can be earned from playing rounds in Matched Play. These include both Field Player and Commander rewards for both time played and wins. Commanders earn everything Field Players do, but not vice versa. You can track your progress by opening the new Matched Play Rewards menu on the right side of the screen at any time, in game or not.
• We now require completion of all 4 tutorials (Commander ones included) and the Skulk Challenge mode in order to begin unlocking any rewards, and the Matched Play Rewards menu will state as such.
• Added Calling Cards that are unlocked through Matched Play, and selected in the Player Profile / Customization menu. They allow you to show an image on screen of your choice to any player whom you kill, utilizing our revamped death screen notification. Once the feature is unlocked, players can choose any of their currently owned Shoulder Patches as a Card or earn new Calling Cards as rewards.
• You can now send invitations to your Steam Friends from within Lobbies using the new button or through Steam Friends.
• You can no longer be in a lobby while in a community server.
• Rounds now have a maximum time limit of 60 minutes. Afterwards, the round will result in a Draw game. There is a 2 minute warning in the game. This number can be adjusted if deemed necessary by the community.
• Lowered the time it takes for the match to start once all players have joined the server. (countdown begins immediately).
• Capped the time it takes for a match to start to 10 seconds, so that 11 players are not waiting on that one slow loading player.
• Matches will now automatically forfeit when the opposing team leaves the game. The remaining team will be counted as winning.
• Concede is available at a round time of 1 minute and 30 seconds to accommodate any unforeseen scenarios.
• Added support for reconnecting to an active match when recovering from a crash.
• Added support for reconnecting to an active match when kicked for being AFK only if the user has responded to the popup prompt at the main menu within 20 seconds, otherwise they will be penalized and not able to rejoin.
• Main menu is no longer non-interactable while utilizing Matched Play. However some menu items will be disabled while in a Lobby (i.e. cannot change menu background, mods, or language).
• If you are in another menu while waiting in a lobby, you may have the lobby screen forcefully show up when two different steps in the process are reached: Waiting For Commanders, and the Map Vote.
• Fixed multiple dead-lock scenarios which would prevent a Match from progressing.
• Fixed late joining players not being placed onto teams or being stuck in spectate
• Fixed several bugs for Matched Play servers which would prevent the match from completing.
• Numerous small bug fixes and features based on community feedback, in order to smooth over the entire system.
• New Steam UGC Mod system implementation. See the relevant section below for more details.
• All cosmetic options can now be set individually. Theyre no longer bound by sets. This means if you want your Babbler skin to be different from your Hydra skin, you can.
• Added new Commander related cosmetics such as Arcs, Macs, Drifters and even Cysts.
• Improved compatibility with Steams new authentication method to prevent players from occasionally being unable to join a server.
• Improved how Locations in maps respect the power state with regards to lighting. This should make it so when the power goes out, there should never be ceiling lights that remain on.
• New death screen to accommodate the new Calling Cards rewards as well as to bring up the fidelity of the mechanic to modern standards and expectations.
• Main menu Wiki button now directs to the new wiki (Thanks Kopunga!)
• Crashed players can now reconnect after 15 seconds, instead of the prior 5 minutes, due to fixing prior timeout related issues.
• Map loading screens once again show in between map changes on a server.
• Proton [Linux] players are now able to start listen servers and play the tutorials. (Thanks Axtel!)

Mod System Changes

• Switched over to the Steam UGC backend that will allow for mods larger than 100MB and enable background updating of subscribed mods by steam while the game is not running. UGC can also reduce the amount of data needed to download updates for large mods. Existing legacy mods can still be downloaded and mounted but will switch over to the UGC backend the next time they are updated by mod authors.
• Mod dependencies set on the steam workshop are now automatically downloaded on the client and server. The server will also auto mount the dependencies if they are not already specified with something like the map cycle.
• Mod authors can now add a change log when pushing an update to a mod that can be viewed on the mods steam workshop page.
• Server mods specified on the commands line now stay mounted after a map change.
• Mods in the mapcycle.json are updated and mounted on server start without having to be specified on the command line, per map mods are only mounted if the matching map is being loaded.
• Mod IDs can now be specified as decimal numbers instead of hex in the map cycle if they are *not* in quoted strings, they can also be passed as plain numbers on the command line using -mods2 option.
• The webadmin mod search page now uses Steam UGC API to search for mods instead of a custom web api that is no longer running.
• New mods can now be downloaded and installed on the server while it is running and mounted after a map change if they are added to the mapcycles mod list.
• Added a built-in mod backup web server to the dedicated server that allows connecting clients to download mods from the server if the current version of a mod on steam is newer than the servers or the client failed to download the mod from steam. This fixes the old Missing required mod error. The web server can be enabled with the -startmodserver command line option. The default port it binds to is serverport + 2 this can be changed with -modserverport. You can also optionally specify the address or ip the mod server uses with -modserveraddress otherwise its defaults to -ip option.

Fixes

• Fixed numerous Matched Play issues.
• Fixed cosmetics selection ordered inconsistently
• Fixed Customize player screen not working in resolutions outside of 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Fixed Welcome to the ready room message that appeared in tutorials
• Fixed minimap assets missing in tutorials
• Fixed Evolve Menu lifeform counters breaking when using non-English translations, potentially never showing how many lifeforms were on the team. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed Tunnels not being able to grow off receded infestation with a Drifter, like Gorges can.
• Fixed bound keys assigning a hotkey value to the first letter of the symbol name. This meant that if you bound Right Bracket to Taunt the in-game radial menu would show the hotkey for Taunt as being R erroneously.
• Fixed Status Effect Icons showing incorrectly sometimes due to damage over time map entities.
• Updated credits and bot names to include newer contributions and testers.
• Fixed many inaccurate tooltips in the game, as well as typos and grammatical errors. No excuses now, rookie.
• Fixed 5 official maps not having their tech point entities set correctly, which would cause the Matched Play map overview colors to lie about who could start where. (Thanks Salty!)
• The map command on a client will error instantly instead of trying to load a non-existent map now.
• Fix the map cycle getting stuck if a map is missing or fails to mount.
• Fixed a common case where the client was failing steam authentication when connecting to a server.
• Fix the client sometimes freezing for a few seconds when connecting to a server.
• Changed Ambient Occlusion graphics option into a checkbox instead of a pull down menu. Make sure it's actually enabled.
• Fixed Alien Commander Tutorial soft lock from occurring due to harvester placement. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed Fog from interfering with certain skybox fx. Silly fog trying to block out my shiny things I spend too much time on. Thatll teach you.
• Fixed server AFK kicking, which defaults to 30 seconds and only takes effect once the round is in progress, not warm up mode.

Maps

• Descent (Thanks Salty!)
• Collision Pass
• Occlusion Improvements and fixes
• Railgun exploit fixes in Drafting - Fabrication and Crew Quarters - Launch Control
• Moved some props in Plaza

• Refinery (Thanks Salty!)
• Made Lava falls basemist cinematic commander invisible
• Fixed stuck spot in turbine
• Slight Collision adjustments in Heat Sink
• Adjusted minimap location names
• Improved Commander invisible layer

Tools

• Corrected size of time settings box in Cinematic Editor and implemented looping playback feature with a new button! (Thanks Steelcap!)
• Gobo light support is now in the Cinematic editor for a performant light option. (Thanks Steelcap!)
• Cinematic Editor now has robust default keyboard shortcuts and a few new features like orbiting! These greatly improve the workflow. (Thanks Axtel!)
• R - record
• Q and E - frame 0 and last frame
• Right and Left Arrows - next and previous frame
• Shift + (X or Y or Z) - orientate camera to that axis perfectly
• F - focus camera on selected object
• Shift + F - focus camera on selected objects origin point
• Shift + MMB - orbit the camera around the focus point (default or object) This one is huge for workflow!
• C - expand all curve lists of selected object
• Double clicking curve category automatically views all child curves
• O - focus view on origin (0,0,0)
• Ctrl + C or V - Copy and pasta is in!
• Del - delete the object
• Shift key makes the camera move fast
• Increased maximum distance of mapper placed Cysts from starting hive to allow for greater flexibility to the starting Harvester. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Pre-set special groups in Map Editor for new map projects. You no longer need to type in all the special group names needed for a map.

SDK

• Structure Stats were improved to include data to track lifecycle in a robust way for 3rd party visualizations, and now include structure location updates when using Shift. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Per team skill offset value as well as commander skill and skill offset are now in the server stat file (Thanks Axtel!)
• Added a shared ModServices API usable on both the server and client, that includes support for searching for files in unmounted mods, querying mod dependencies.

Known Issues

• Sometimes your teammates names may not show in the Planning Phase step of lobbies. If the chat window does not show them leaving, then they have not left, and it's just this existing UI bug at work.
• Ambient occlusion will be turned off for all existing players unfortunately, due to being changed to a checkbox option. You can safely re-enable it and apply it and it will work as expected going forward.

[ 2021-12-16 15:15:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 338 includes fixes found with the initial release of MATCHED PLAY (read more here). MATCHED PLAY lobbies are once again active and ready for use. Some additional regions have been added/removed based on performance feedback. Your continued use and feedback on the system while in BETA will help us refine features while we move towards delivering the 1.0 version soon. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. Changelog Fixes

• Wiped existing Matched Play penalties for all players
• Fixed players getting stuck in the Ready Room due to multiple causes.
• Removed the Norway server for the time being from the list of Matched Play regions due to performance issues (Well be closely watching performance for servers and can make other adjustments if need be)
• Enabled the West Germany server region for Matched Play
• Fixed an issue where a full lobby of players would have a server that would not spin up
• Fixed multiple script errors that could disrupt a Lobby from proceeding
• Shortened the waiting for connecting players Ready Room timer down to 60 seconds
• Reduced the default Concede vote time down to 90 seconds to deal with unforeseen scenarios during the Beta period.
• Changed the Penalized state to begin once waiting for commanders
• Matched play rounds will be in Warm up mode if either assigned commander is late to join or fails to join, until the round is started with two commanders.
• Fixed missing backgrounds for Concede and Eject UI buttons in voice comm menu
• Fixed issues arising from assigning late joining commanders to the role where someone was already commanding
• Fixed an exploit with ambient sound volume
• Fixed an exploit that allowed for short range wallhacks
• Added a Beta tag to the Matched Play button
• Minor optimizations to the Matched Play system
• Fixed that Grenade Launcher projectiles did not impact on Babblers
• Fixed a small issue with damage over time triggers and status effect icons
• Fixed issue that caused players to remain in lobby after server shutdown
• Added automatic Matched Play server error reporting

[ 2021-08-17 02:30:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Development team never stops and although at times some updates dont seem as full of changes, there is always behind the scenes efforts being made. One of those biggest efforts over the last year has been our new Matched Play system, code named Thunderdome. Update 337 is our big unveiling to the general public of the new Matched Play BETA and a flurry of other changes and updates throughout the game. Matched Play in its current state will allow 12 players to be matched by region and skill levels to the best of HIVEs ability. You then play two rounds on an officially hosted server. The intent of this system is to create a better experience for players looking to get in and play as soon as possible and not wait on servers in spectator mode for a slot that may or may not open. There are still more planned features for the official 1.0 release of Matched Play and you can read more about the system here. Update 337 also includes an updated version of one of our earliest maps MINESHAFT. Kash and Maptesting Group have been hard at work getting this update ready and we hope you enjoy the new gameplay brought on by the changes. Many other maps have gotten updates as well and as always a special thanks to each of the Map Leads on those respective maps as listed in the log below. A new Armory UI has been added to the game that more reflects the visuals and information we wanted to share and felt was better for players to understand equipment effectiveness and uses. An updated implementation for the graphics option Ambient Occlusion has also been added that should help with input lag and large fps drops, it also looks much better which is a major plus too! As always, there are many other tweaks and improvements listed below. We look forward to your continued feedback and support. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. Changelog Gameplay

• [Has been live since January] Cluster Grenades should no longer set enemies on fire and should no longer cancel abilities (Umbra, Crag heal etc)
• Damage is now increased to 72 in order to keep the damage intended by the prior fire values

Tweaks / Improvements

• New Matched Play option in the Play menu. It is in a BETA state until the next patch. Feel free to provide any feedback on our discord server!
• Focused version of the game for 6v6 only
• System automatically groups 12 players based on their geographic location and their Hive Skill. With the aim of normalizing latency among all clients.
• Matched Play ranks and skills will use the player's current community rank until that players first Matched Play round is finished. Afterwards, the Matched Play skill-ranks will be handled separately.
• Map Voting is a priority-choice system, which means your first choice (of max 3) gets the greatest weight.
• Each Match is two rounds, one for each faction. Teams are automatically swapped for the second round.
• Friends Invitations and Groups Queueing are not implemented for the BETA, but we are looking very closely at adding these features for the Version 1 release of Matched Play.
• Players who intentionally leave an ongoing match will be penalized from using the feature, so as to encourage players to not create a detrimental experience for their teammates whom they match with.
• 1st penalty is for 1 hour
• 2nd penalty within 7 days time is 3 hours
• 3rd penalty within 7 days time is 24 hours
• 4th penalty within 7 days time is 3 days
• 5th penalty within 7 days time is 7 days
• If any incident occurs it resets the 7 day clock! So if your 2nd penalty occurs on the 6th day, you have another 7 days you have to complete without incident again, else you get the 3rd penalty.
• Penalties are sequential in both directions, earned and lost. So without further incident within that rolling 7 day period your status will revert to the prior penalty step. Meaning if youve earned the maximum 7 day ban it would take 4 weeks to essentially reset your penalty level to 0, but you would be able to use the system again as soon as the first 7 days passed. But should you have another incident soon after that, it would go right back to a 7 day penalty
• For more details, please read the FAQ: https://steamcommunity.com/games/ns2/announcements/detail/2993187041079882627
• New Ambient Occlusion
• No more input delay or large FPS drops!
• No more moving pixelated shadows!
• Give it a try.. After a while youll wonder how you lived without it

New Armory UI

• Replete with stat bars for new players to consider and learn with
• Main menu News panel is now at the bottom of the screen and will automatically hide in subsequent game launches.
• New Mineshaft and Tram main menu background cinematics to accommodate their changes over the years
• The game will automatically select your native desktop resolution by default now. This should prevent some new installs from being unable to interact with the main menu buttons without having to alt + enter
• Sound options menu are arranged to be more consistent and intuitive (Thanks MiniMe!)

Fixes

• Fixed fourth Infantry Portal being possible on one Command Station
• Fixed the automatic spawning of an infantry portal once there are enough players on the team from occurring with the wrong amount of players
• Fixed Marines rarely spawning at random locations on the map at round start
• Fixed main menu background sounds not being controlled by the sound volume option
• Fixed respawn music not being affected by music slider volume
• Fixed say console command not working
• Fixed the Advanced option nameplates set to numbers still showing health bars
• Fixed that you could not queue a Drifter to patrol an area after a build order. The weekend seminar training for all drifters seems to have gone well as they now fully understand your priorities like creeping in hallways
• Fixed Marine HP bar on HUD showing up even when disabled, if getting healed.
• Fixed an exploit that could easily allow custom shaders on enemy players.
• Fixed Cyst ghost model placement ring being too small. Responsible for confusing commanders since 2012. If you pop em now you have only yourself to blame (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed Marine tutorial errors when extractor blueprint is destroyed (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed an inconsistent Hive Skill offset calculation
• Fixed Sound Occlusion geometry not being properly commander invisible
• Fixed damage numbers not showing sometimes despite being enabled
• Fixed a showstopping bug in Marine tutorial where the powernode could not be built. It now will automatically build after some time if the user is unable to, as a workaround. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed consuming Drifters causing server errors (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed Hive Challenge mode eating itself alive by wave 7, like a galaxys worth of stars collapsing in on themselves to form a supermassive black hole containing a billion Marine bots deep beyond the event horizon. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed Infantry Portals not showing in post round stats Tech list (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed that we never had a feature that was so beautiful that it could record structure location information in the post round stats file, allowing the community to create gorgeous heatmaps to share. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed that consumed Harvesters didnt count as lost in the RT graph in post round stats, along with some other stat reporting oddities (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed flickering lights and repetitive snow fx in Summit main menu cinematic
• Fixed Origin main menu cinematic missing all of its sound events.
• Fixed that lights don't immediately turn off when the power node is destroyed (Thanks Axtel!)
• Fixed that Marine Commanders could issue Defend and Build waypoints on enemy entities
• Fixed typo in color-blind mode option. You just didnt notice it before because you were regular blind as well. The same reason for your KD ratio.
• Fixed that the Options menu did not display the default values to the user. They now show an asterisk (*) next to the relevant options.
• Fixed the scenario where if a player bound their Map key to an existing commander grid binding, youd open the map while using commander even though it was a non commander binding.
• Fixed that as a commander when you select a player in an Exosuit the Orders menu is empty. Now you can order those murder machines around to your hearts content.
• Fixed Gorge toys (any that have ghost models to place) causing a server error if the Gorge died before actually placing them.
• Changed the name of Advanced Assistance, the command chair upgrade, to Advanced Support to distinguish between the Advanced Armory which was more commonly used when one said AA
• Fixed that Power Surge could be used on Sentry Batteries. One does not simply plug the power into another power source. Thats how new TSF safety regulations come about.

Sounds

• Fixed Metro menu background sound effects not having clients sounds setting controlling its volume.

Maps Descent (Thanks Salty!)

• Fixed Crew Quarters vent stuck spot
• Fixed the planet
• Fixed low and minimal lighting in silo and drafting
• Rebuilt Occlusion Geo for better performance
• Old occlusion is now sound occlusion
• Improved commander invisible group
• Added no evolve onos, to non onos friendly vents
• Moved around some minimap location names
• Smoothed out collision in various places
• Moved Ready Room to prevent edge cases where it could be seen from the map
• Fixed the holo sign in the Ready Room

Docking (Thanks Kash!)

• Fixed unpowered location in Terminal
• Altered collision geometry for railings in courtyard to hopefully prevent AI line of sight being blocked for no reason.
• Added 2 extra sets of lockers to Locker Room on the eastern wall to provide more cover for upgrades against marines assaulting from Courtyard.

Kodiak (Thanks pSyk!)

• Improved Occlusion Geo and Performance
• Removed OP ARC spots for Command and Hanger
• Removed some plants for clearer visuals
• Added more rocks for cover in the outdoor areas
• Added more crates for cover in Tunnel B5
• Replaced trees with Origin trees (clearer visuals and better performance)
• Fades can now blink through the gap of the crossbeams and ceiling at various places on the map
• Added half closed doors to the door frames in the long corridor between Central and Hydro
• Re-routed Hanger ceiling vent
• Moved Upper Rapids RT closer to Marine Start

Metro (Thanks Mephilles!)

• Added in Minimal Lights
• Added collision to all of the ticket booth props. (Located in derelict station, atrium, ticket booths)

Mineshaft (Thanks Kash!)

• Rethemed Cave.
• Raised Cave to be closer to the height of the Cavern RT/North Tunnels.
• Relocated vent from Cave to North Tunnels, to North Tunnels to Sorting.
• Moved Crusher RT to North Tunnels.
• Crusher to Cavern vent added under the stairs in Crusher.
• Disconnected the Crusher/Cavern and Cave connection, making Cave a 2 entrance TP like all the other TPs in Mineshaft.
• Added vent and extra detail to Cart Tunnel.
• Disconnected Brew Room from Crusher, now has its own entrance to Central Drilling on the northern wall.
• Connected Sorting to Brew Room.
• Turned Conveyors into a vent and removed from the power grid.
• Added extra vent exit in Deposit overlooking The Gap arc spot.
• Made the Gap window above Operations inaccessible to aliens (to prevent exploitation).
• Removed the Gap arc spot vs Operations hive.
• Rethemed the Gap.
• Cleaned up the clutter and cover in the south of Water Pumps to make it less abuse-able by aliens.
• Made the Water Pumps to Cart Tunnel vent marine accessible.
• Removed the vent above Central Drilling leading into Water Pumps.
• Added cover throughout the map.
• Added wetmaps and fog to appropriate places throughout the map.
• Collision Overhaul throughout the map.
• Moved Operations south and altered some cover and detail in the room.
• Updated lighting to include all quality settings.

Refinery (Thanks Zavaro!)

• Fixed stuck spot in Routing vent

Summit (Thanks pSyk!)

• Replaced snow cinematics with new ones that cost less performance.
• Removed a few snow cinematics and reflection probes to improve performance.

Veil (Thanks pSyk!)

• Fixed several pitch black areas/spots with Minimal Lights
• Fixed Fade stuck spots in the vent entrances below System
• Fixed Marine/Fade stock spot at vent exit in Dome/Neck corridor

SDK

• Made No Evolve tool much more robust and reliable. Can select specific lifeforms. (Thanks Axtel!)
• Added new Occlusion visualizer rendering mode, via r_mode occlusion (requires cheats-mode enabled)

Known Issues

• When you are penalized from using Matched Play, it will only show in complete hours sometimes, and cut off the minutes. So if you see 2 hours, it could very well be 2 hours and 50 minutes still. This will get fixed.

[ 2021-08-04 14:00:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

What is it and How does it work?

Thunderdome has been the fun codename for this project that is now being officially labeled as Matched Play in the main menu. We plan on releasing the Beta phase of this feature in the next few weeks. To put it simply it is a matchmaking system. It matches players together in a lobby of 12. When it performs a search it sorts by the smallest number of available player slots in order to fill up existing lobbies, and then that is sorted by a median skill level that is closest to the searching player, and then it finally refines that based on geodesic distance. Or said another way: The system attempts to find you a match quickly that is as fair as possible both through skill levels and latency. The system always tries to find both the closest skill value to you personally, as well as the nearest lobby to you. Failing this it gradually searches farther in both distance and skill range until it either finds something or you create your own lobby. Server selection is based on a computed average position of all the members in the lobby. This means no singular person dictates the latency for everyone, but rather the lowest latency possible is achieved for the whole group of players by creating a singular point. It uses longitude and latitude to find the nearest server location from that chosen point. You will play two rounds, one on each team. If you leave at any point before both rounds are complete, you will be penalized. The lobby system works in stages; first it waits for the lobby to fill with exactly 12 players, it will not proceed without this number being reached. Then it waits for at least two Commander volunteers, but you can volunteer at any time before this! If at least two Commanders have not volunteered, the system will not proceed. If more than two have volunteered the system will choose the two highest ranked Commanders. With 12 players and at least two Commander volunteers, all players can now participate in a Map vote where each person can choose up to 3 different maps in order of their preference. After a map is chosen everyone is shuffled to their respective teams in the most balanced configuration, each with their own Commander. At this moment a dedicated server that is not community hosted will be spun up for the games. During this time players have entered the Planning Phase while they wait for the server, where they can strategize in text while using an image of the map on screen. After you play the first round a brief intermission of 90 seconds takes place. After this completes the map will not change but the system will automatically swap you to the other team with the same players and the same Commander. Once both rounds are completed the server will automatically shut down and you will return to the main menu. Here is a list of server hosting regions that are covered:

• East Coast US
• West Coast US
• Southern UK
• Central Europe
• Eastern Norway
• Southern Brazil
• Hong Kong
• Eastern Australia

DISCLAIMER: The purpose and scope of the initial Beta phase of Matched Play/TD is to ensure the core functionality of the system works as expected and to allow us to make adjustments on the fly in the background to certain values. It also serves as an observation period for us on how balance, wait times, or social aspects may be impacted. As such many features we have completed or planned for the system are being held back during this specific phase. Once we exit this phase and release Version 1 of the system these features will be added back in. We tentatively plan on this phase being just over 6 weeks long. That all being said, try it out and provide feedback and or suggestions to us in our discord!

Time for the Frequently Asked Questions!

How many friends can you queue into matched play with? For the initial Beta test, zero. But after it is fully released we tentatively plan on allowing users to invite friends. Obviously this is a highly requested feature and we very much have it as a top priority beyond testing the initial core functionality of the system during the Beta period. But we must also consider the implications of allowing an entire team comprised of friends against 6 other random individuals when it comes to matchmaking times. Because of this we also have the functionality for Private lobbies already hooked up but not enabled and once we exit the Beta period we will be testing its viability for scenarios where you want to play 6v6 or 2v2 etc exclusively with friends. Will public servers still be ranked after the introduction of TD? Yes! However there will be two different ranking systems in place. The existing one will continue to apply to public servers only and exist as it does now, while TD will use that value as a starting place to begin recording your Matched Play Skill level. We fully recognize that our community run servers are the only reason this game has existed for this long. We appreciate them and do not wish to destroy their communities by preventing balanced matches or removing any incentive to play in the environments they have fostered for so many years. How does the penalty system work? Part of the Beta phase is to determine the efficacy and fairness of the starting values and behaviors we have in place. What we have is essentially a Work In Progress when it comes to this experimental system. As such we are not prepared to share the details of this just yet. However we can say that penalties will constitute temporary banning from Matched Play. We can also say that we do not intend for you to be punished if you are able to return to the match. Well have more on this at a later date and will publish it very clearly and publicly. Will I be allowed to play on NA servers even though Im in the EU? Yes. The current value in place (that can be changed by us on the fly if needed) is a 9500 km maximum range. This is enough for most West Coast US individuals to play with individuals from Berlin, Germany. Will there be region/ping locks? Somewhat, yes. As mentioned previously the maximum range allowed is 9500 km, if you fail to find anything closer. Although this might seem like a lot, the servers being utilized to run Matched Play provide better latencies compared to typical community servers. For an anecdotal example: as a West Coast US player I experience on average 150 ms of latency to the East Coast US in community owned servers. For comparison: Our servers are allowing me to connect to the East Coast with 70-90 ms. And I can connect to EU within 130-150 ms - which is pretty much the maximum range allowed and therefore hopefully the most amount of latency one should expect. What about stats? Will they be available to see? At the end of each round played, yes. The post game stat screen will come up as normal. Outside of that, we have no plans to officially display the data publicly elsewhere. Any websites containing such detailed stats would have to come from 3rd party developers if desired. Will we be notified if the NS2 window is minimized once the queue completes? Yes! This was considered and designed from the start. We realize queues can often be a bit boring and therefore you may want to alt-tab to open your aim trainer or listen to music and read your 9,000 unread emails in the interim. As such, there are 3 distinct phases where your minimized window will flash yellow on the windows taskbar: Waiting for commanders to volunteer (once you have 12 players), the Map vote, and joining the server successfully. Will 6v6 have balance changes or will it have the same balance changes as 10v10 ? Yes there will be balance changes to accommodate the different type of experience, but it will not be done until after it has gone through its Beta stage. This is for two reasons : the Beta period is primarily for testing the core functionality of the system and to ensure it operates as expected, and during that time any balance issues we might not have predicted will show themselves in order for us to remedy. So while we have a long list of balance changes that have been in the pipe for months, we need to wait and observe to be sure. Additionally, this does not however imply that we will be maintaining two different games, our goal is to have the same experience. However if need be, we may make selective subtle adjustments and will clearly announce when this occurs. (There may be exceptions made to any of the above) How will you manage disruptive and/or toxic players? There are a lot of players that are banned by all community servers but there's no centralized UWE ban list? Great question! This is something that even the largest gaming studios struggle with when they do not have community run servers exclusively. We plan on leaning on a decaying player reporting system that automatically triggers temporary Matched Play bans that can add up to longer ones if they occur within certain timeframes. For an example only (these are not the actual values!) : if 8 unique players - more than just your own teammates to prevent griefing - report you for toxic behavior in a 24 hour period, the system can temporarily ban you from using Matched Play for 24 hours. If you are reported to the same degree again in the next 7 days, perhaps the system bans you for a week this time. After that time passes and you are playing again, if X amount of days pass with no incident, your status is reset. Essentially a built in decay time to your karma. If we see in our system a particularly bad actor who clearly has no intention of changing, we reserve the right to permanently ban them from the feature manually. Well have more info on this as we exit the Beta period. How will you find matches for high leveled sanjis? This is a very delicate matter for us. Due to the small number of players who obtain such a skill level, we realize that it can be difficult to pair up with others of similar skill. As explained already, the system tries its best to find the closest skill level and closest distance, but barring this we have ensured that there is a value we are testing (meaning it can be changed!) of a maximum 2,000 hive skill difference allowed. This means that a 5k skill player can match with a 3k skill player. And then due to how the lobby systems work by averaging out skill values based on the players who have joined, the lobby average changes to 4k, and now a 2k player can join. Rinse and repeat. This means that while the system will find you the best match in both ping and fairness, it will still allow a wider degree of skill ranges to play together if there is no other option available at the time. Expect the possibility of these values being changed as needed during the Beta period, as it's one of the major purposes behind this period. Is Competitive mod enabled or is it standard vanilla? Configurable lobby options? The servers will be running vanilla NS2 only during the Beta phase, and will not contain any configurable options. After this phase we may consider certain configurations to be voted on while players sit in a lobby. This was a large reason for us fully integrating NS2+ into the vanilla experience of the game. Additionally, the same default server consistency configuration will be in place, so if you wish to run your own crosshair or alien vision mods, you still can. How are you planning to promote the gamemode for the current or returning playerbase? Rewards etc.? We have lots of exciting plans for this that are being held back for after the Beta phase we really want to encourage people to not just try the system but also be rewarded for putting in serious time and or effort with it. Were looking primarily at cosmetic and vanity routes for rewards, but well announce and show off more about this once we get closer to exiting the Beta phase. Will you be able to reconnect after you have lost internet or crashed? Yes, absolutely. It would be pretty hard to justify having leaver penalties if we prevented you from rejoining the match. Will I be able to select lifeforms when queuing? You will be able to select lifeforms once you have entered the Planning Phase in the lobby! Keep in mind this is only to communicate your intentions to your teammates and will not automatically save a lifeform for you or perform any other function. Your commander will have already been selected and displayed, but everyone else will be able to plan out what lifeforms they will play - even if the first round played will be Marines. This should help prevent those Why do we have 5 Gorges? scenarios. What are the expected wait times to get into a match? This is a really tough thing to predict, as it changes throughout the seasons of the year, sales, and patch updates etc. It is highly variable and ambiguous, largely depending on how many users are actively online and searching at that exact time. So we cannot give you a concrete number as a result. Our hope is that this feature might be preferred over waiting 45 minutes as a spectator in a server just to play - a regular occurrence right now. The primary goal of this system was to reduce the time between starting the game and actually getting in and playing. What about streaming and spectating? Will they be available? No, we have no plans for either of these things being available. That can still occur in community ran servers that will continue to have spectator slots. Matched Play is more about those who just want to get in and play. Can you kick people from the lobby? No, but you can mute their text or leave the lobby if you find them bothersome. Additionally you can initiate a server wide vote to kick a player once in the server, How can I ensure if I play two or three games in a row they won't be full of the same exact crew? One long term planned feature (that will not be in the Beta Phase) is to recall a lobby preference of yours. So if you exit a lobby that is not yet full because you dont want to play with those same players, there will be a pop up prompt and on it there will be a checkbox for you to click on to prevent rejoining that lobby. Then the system will ignore that lobby on your next search. Keep in mind however that if this feature makes it in, that those players are free to move around to other lobbies just like you. In short, there is no foolproof method here, even if the player base was 20 times its current size.

[ 2021-07-03 02:18:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our friends at the Natural Selection League are hosting a one-weekend, no holds barred clash of some of the best players and teams in this Open Tournament!

Saturday the 27th at 2pm EDT / 7pm CET Sunday the 28th at 1pm EDT / 6pm CET

[ 2021-03-27 17:45:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Its hard to believe that another year is coming to a close. Sneaky Saint Gorgie is up to their old tricks and while some Marines have been getting some nasty yucky and gooey clogs in their stockings, that silly Saint Gorgie also seems to be dropping off lots of goodies too! Weve expanded our available skins, and a whole new list of items have been added to your customize menu for you to further put your style on display. Some of our previous packs or individual skins have been expanded to cover more items and there are also a handful of all new individual weapons skins to check out. If you owned a now expanded DLC pack previously, then you get the added skins to that pack free of charge. This is our thank you to you for your continued support of our team and development of Natural Selection 2. If you dont already own some of those packs or individual skins, some DLC packs will be on-sale starting December 22 on our steam store. Update 336 also includes the merger of the NS2+ mod features directly into the released game, under a newly titled Advanced options menu. Many of the original maps have also gone through some changes, including some major changes to Docking and Refinery. As always, we hope that you will look through the list of other changes and bug fixes that went into this update. So many people have been involved in this project over the years, and the lasting impacts continue to show through. As we move forward to 2021, the Development Team is looking forward to the alpha release of our match-making system code named: Thunderdome. We hope that this new system will allow players all over the world to have quick and stable access to play a round of NS2 and create a way for more games to happen. We are also in the late stages of developing backend support to move our NS2 Steam Workshop to support UGC. We are as always excited to bring you new options and features to NS2, and thank you for all your support and feedback over the years. Merry Gorgemas from all of us at UWE and the Community Development Team! Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

CHANGELOG

GAMEPLAY

The following balance changes have been live in the UWE Hotfix Extension for a few weeks, so you have likely already been playing with them!

• Adrenaline: No longer increases maximum energy pool. Increased energy regeneration rate remains the same.
• Gorges now have 50 armor (down from 75) (-16% eHP)
• Gorge Webs are now always 1 hit with the axe. Additionally, the hitbox has been adjusted so that axes can now hit them more consistently.
• MAC cost is now 3 from 5
• MAC supply cost is now 15 from 5
• Robotics Factory Cost is now 5 from 10
• ARC Factory Upgrade cost is now 10 from 5
• ARC Factory Upgrade no longer requires an Armory.
• Pulse Grenade Damage and Energy Damage radius is now 4 from 3 and 10, respectively.
• Pulse Grenade no longer tapers damage based on distance.
• Cluster Grenade now only gives 20% of its damage to players, from 50%.
• New Cinematics for pulse grenade explosion added.
• Grenade launcher grenade damage decreased to 74. However, damage now scales with Marine weapon upgrades, so normal damage will be achieved with weapons 3. (this means on weapons zero the GL will do 82% of its previous damage, gaining 7% damage per weapons level)
• Flamethrower damage decreased to 10. However, damage now scales with Marine weapon upgrades, so normal damage will be achieved with weapons 3. (this means on weapons zero the FT will do 82% of its previous damage, gaining 7% damage per weapons level)
• Things on fire will take damage that is scaled with Marine weapon upgrades. 7% per upgrade.
• Fire puddles spawned from flamethrower will now also scale with Marine weapon upgrades. 7% bonus per upgrade.
• Fade Initial Blink speeds are now 15.5, and 16 for celerity (up from 15 and 15.5). Speed clamp for rapid turns has been increased to 16, up from 15.

OPTIMIZATIONS

• The bulk of all cosmetic skins now use our material hot-swapping system. This reduces the amount of data each client must cache, and prevents the server from having to swap models. This also eliminates the need for clients to precache all the various models that were previously used.

TWEAKS / IMPROVEMENTS

• The popular server mod known as NS2+ is now officially integrated into the game as the Advanced options menu.
• Scan range will be shown now before you click on the ground as a Marine commander, so you know the affected region beforehand. (Thanks Katzen!)
• All previously existing skin set DLCs for Marines and Aliens are now updated to include all missing lifeforms, weapons or equipment.
• For instance, this means if you already owned the Kodiak DLC you previously only had the Rifle as a Marine weapon skin but now you automatically will have all weapons and even a new Kodiak Command Station skin. We feel this brings more value to the existing DLC sets. However, like the rare Skull and Crossbones Rifle skin, we also included 3 new premium Rifle skins that are not in any bundle. All of the new items for the various sets will only be freely awarded if you own their associated DLC; the sets will not automatically be completed if each item in it was bought individually.
• Added a popup when you launch the game that will warn users if they are running the game on a HDD instead of an SSD or equivalent.
• Its not hardware shaming if its helpful, right?
• Added new Pulse grenade fx to match the new consistent damage and effect radius.
• Renamed Force Even Teams to Balance Teams to better communicate the change in behavior for the feature.
• The Top Bar (shows team resources, players in spawn queue, etc) will now toggle on or off automatically when showing the Scoreboard in order to better show the server name and round time.
• Improved the in game chat with a subtle drop shadow for readability.

FIXES

• Fixed that Commander skills were not being computed correctly due to an error in tracking the amount of time a player was actually a Commander. Note: All Commander skills will be reset as a result of this bug. Due to the invalid data generated by this issue, it created widely incorrect skill values. All players will have half of their average skill applied to their Commander skill upon reset, in order to increase the speed in which Commander skill is accurately determined. This does not apply to any other player-skill, only Commander.
• Fixed Refraction graphics option defaulting to High even if Low was selected and shown, causing some FPS loss in certain situations.
• Fixed the occasional issue of research notifications showing up twice on screen at the same time.
• Fixed that the research notification feature could possibly cause tech tree desync issues that may have prevented aliens from evolving during a round with certain server modifications or plugins. (Like shuffle on round start)
• Fixed that the parasite status icon did not show for Exos when using Low HUD Detail.
• Fixed a Green Checkmark indicator for tooltips auto completing on spawn for new players.
• Fixed the Gorge Belly Slide tooltip angrily spamming until it consumed the entirety of your screen. We want to teach players, not bewilder them.
• Fixed tier one BMAC skins (Friendly Yellow and Military Green) were not visible in the Customize Screen if they were not owned already.
• Fixed damaging multiple targets at the same time with the Grenade Launcher would clump together the damage numbers on screen making them unreadable.
• Fixed build rates being unintentionally nerfed for Marines. (fixed in extension mod)
• Fixed Gorge Bile Mines being unintentionally nerfed in damage. (fixed in extension mod)
• Fixed that Bot names were not updated to include new Playtester names.
• Fixed Alien Tunnel tooltip typos. Their shouldnt bee anymoire.
• Fixed Alien Tunnels Collapse binding being inconsistently on the wrong key compared to any other structure. Its now on the V key.
• Fixed Crags always playing its healing (passive or active) animation and the associated effects once built. It will now only play them when actually healing.

SOUNDS

• All map ambient sounds now have a volume slider adjustment (global setting).
• MAPS
• Merged in NS2+ lights as Minimal lights into the following maps (Thanks pSyk):
• Biodome, Descent, Eclipse, Summit, Tram and Veil
• Biodome (Thanks pSyk)
• Smoothed out collision around the vent entrance in Alley to help Aliens not getting stuck.
• Fixed Marine stuck spot in vent entrance in CO2 Scrubbers.
• Fixed structure placement exploits in the tubes in Hydroponics.
• Descent (Thanks pSyk)
• Fixed preplaced IP being out of CC range in Drone Bay and thus randomly placed.
• Fixed being able to arc Drone Bay Harvester from Hydro.
• Fixed being able to arc Launch Control Harvester from Club.
• Docking
• Commander Invisible overhauled from scratch (Thanks The Salty Sea Captain)
• Redone Pathing from scratch (Thanks Kash)
• Tweaked collision on problematic props throughout the map (Thanks Kash)
• Cafeteria (Thanks pSyk)
• Moved one of the pillars to make room for commander structures and also block a line of sight from the Bar entrance to the tech point.
• Central Access
• Broken down some of the railings to allow for more fluid movement through the room. (Thanks pSyk)
• Relocated the exit to the north of the room. (Thanks Mephilles)
• Courtyard
• Removed a trick jump that allowed marines to climb up near the Locker Room entrance much faster than intended. (The forklift trick jump is still possible)
• Ballcourt (Thanks to Mephilles, pSyk and Kash)
• Added floor panels and general clutter to the room.
• Reduced length of the room by approximately 20%
• Back Alley (Thanks Mephilles)
• The whole hallway area has had its width almost doubled and extra cover added.
• East Wing (Thanks Mephilles)
• Reduced the height variation by 48 units (around the height of a 4 step staircase).
• Stability Monitoring (Thanks Mephilles and Kash)
• Introduced a small height variation to the room and added extra cover.
• Terminal (Thanks Mephilles)
• Rerouted the exit leading to Courtyard.
• Landing Pad (Thanks Kash)
• Added blockers to prevent players getting underneath the Landing Pad.
• Metro (Thanks Mephilles)
• Winter Seasonal decorations added to the ready room.
• Origin (Thanks pSyk)
• Added Minimal Lights support.
• Replaced waterfalls in Maint, Bio and RR with new, shorter ones from Summit (Thanks IronHorse).
• Fixed unpowered spot in Power Core (Thanks Euphie and Salty).
• Refinery (Thanks Zavaro and Psyk!)

General

• Cleaned up layers in editor
• Moved map several hundred units away from the origin to prevent weird cinematic bug
• Significantly cleaned up CommanderInvisible group
• Improved the Refinery main menu
• Containment
• Added additional line of sight blocks
• Moved tech point slightly
• Removed bullet collision for ceiling geo
• Included some bits to protect aliens on ceiling geo
• Moved Chasm-Containment door up slightly for players to more easily fit through
• Moved Heatsink-Containment big crate more into Containment to removed significant line of sight problems
• Minor cosmetic changes
• Chasm
• Moved resource nozzle (Thanks, Psyk!)
• Removed some ceiling cover
• Moved Chasm-Lava Falls connector to Turbine entrance
• Added path for Marines to jump into Containment-Chasm vent
• Removed ceiling Chasm vent
• Added some cover to Turbine-Chasm hallway
• Added path for Marines to jump into Chasm-Conduit-Routing vent
• Added CollisionGeometry to Containment-Chasm corner to prevent players from getting both stuck and in places they are not supposed to be
• Added new damage trigger under the Chasms chasm pipes to prevent players from thinking going to the bottom is a good idea
• Fixed some Lava Falls-Chasm vent layer shenanigans
• Fixed getting stuck on the walls in the Lava Falls-Chasm vent
• Some minor cosmetic changes including missing grating backface
• Turbine
• Increase the size of Turbine platform
• Added Turbine-Chasm vent
• Added additional bisecting pipe for cover
• Fixed stuck spot in corner behind pipe
• Added considerable contrast to the scene
• Minor cosmetic changes including all new electric cinematics under the floor (Thanks, Ironhorse!)
• Conduit
• Added additional pipes for cover and flanking
• Updated CollisionGeo near ceiling
• Fixed floor collision
• Minor cosmetic changes
• Routing
• Added new resource nozzle (Thanks, Psyk!)
• Added small nooks in the hallway to remove narrowness
• Added significantly more cover (Thanks, Psyk!)
• Moved Smelting-Routing vent exit
• Added Chasm-Conduit-Routing vent
• Minor cosmetic changes and fog!
• Smelting
• Added big pillars to the middle of the room
• Replaced bucket cinematics with static props for cover and visuals
• Added more cover to Routing-Smelting platform
• Minor cosmetic changes
• Transit
• Replaced bucket cinematics with static props for cover and visuals
• Added pillar to Transit resource nozzle room-dark hallway
• Added more cover to resource nozzle room
• Moved Smelting-Routing-Extraction vent from Extraction to Transit
• Fixed an area with duplicate geometry
• Extraction
• Moved Smelting-Routing-Extraction vent from Extraction to Transit
• Added quick jump ramp from Extraction to Flow Control
• Moved big ceiling platform upward to prevent Exos and Onos from getting stuck
• Added yellow lines to the Flow Control window to help players to more easily visualize the area
• Flow Control
• Heavily modified Extraction-side entrance to prevent incredible long lines of sight for Grenade Launchers to siege the tech point (Still possible, may fix)
• Added yellow lines to the Flow Control window to help players to more easily visualize the area
• Removed invincibility spot in the ceiling
• Exchange
• Added yellow lines to Exchange window to help players more easily visualize the area
• Removed invulnerability spot on the ceiling
• Fixed pipe prop abruptly ending
• Empty Space
• Fixed some collision geometry by Pipeworks entrance to prevent players from getting stuck
• Onos can now fit behind the resource tower
• Non-Onos/Exo players can now move around Pipeworks-Exchange pipe in the small connector room
• Pipeworks
• Moved large pillar westward to shrink space for players attacking the tech point
• Minor visual changes
• Heatsink
• Heavily modified Pipeworks-Heatsink exit to provide a better player experience with different cover, a different style of turn and more open floorspace for better fights
• Moved Heatsink-Containment big crate more into Containment to removed significant line of sight problems
• Fixed top of Heatsink support structure piping
• Removed invincibility spot on Heatsink chasm
• Added CollisionGeometry to keep players from getting stuck behind cargo crates
• Added CollisionGeometry to east wall to prevent players from getting caught on it
• Added skirt underneath lift to keep players from thinking they can get under it
• Changed mid-room vent entrance to wall for easier access for skulks
• Added CollisionGeometry to wall to make it harder to get stuck on in combat
• Lava Falls
• Removed southern Lava Fall resource nozzle
• Replaced large multi-tiered tower with single level pillar
• Moved resource nozzle
• Added significant amount of cover around resource nozzle platform
• Added jump from southern Lava Falls to room bisecting pipe
• Repurposed ceiling platform cover as hanging cover for southern Lava Falls bisecting pipe
• Added big electric thing from southern Lava Falls to northern Lava Falls
• Added pillars near Containment-Lava Falls entrance for more cover
• Added much more cover to southern Lava Falls
• Added more pipes for cover to account for multi-tiered tower being removed for flying/blinking lifeforms
• Added pillars to eastern Lava Falls-Chasm connector
• Added pipe underneath platform to prevent players from thinking they can get underneath it
• Removed collision on lava fall prop, so you better be absolutely sure you want to jump into it
• Fixed collision with CollisionGeometry for each lava fall
• Major cosmetic changes including new Lava Falls cinematics, decals, and fog!
• Summit (Thanks pSyk)
• Fixed wall climbing issues with the pillars in Crossroads.
• Fixed stuck spot in corridor ceiling between Comp Lab and Flight.
• Reduced occluders and cinematics to improve performance.
• Shortened waterfall cinematics to improve performance (Thanks IronHorse).
• Replaced majority of water splash cinematics with another version that gets removed by ns2+ particles option.
• Moved one starting IP in Atrium more to the left outside onto the catwalk to create more space for base building.
• Veil (Thanks pSyk)
• Fixed Fade stuck spot in Topo between the pipes.
• Removed shadow casting on several lights (high & low) in C12.

TOOLS

• Added console command version to be able to determine internal incremental build ID for testing purposes.

SDK

• Added Minimal Lights group to the editor. This allows mappers to more efficiently create minimal lights (previously ns2+ high performance lights) to maps.
• Added Client.GetReadyForOverrideMaterials() to indicate a render model can have any of its materials overridden.

KNOWN ISSUES

• If you pick up a weapon skin you do not own and attempt to change *any* weapon skin even a different one than what you have equipped it will revert the unowned skin you are holding to the default normal skin. We ideally want this only to happen if you change the skin of the weapon youre holding.
• If you look very closely you might notice your military BMAC skin change to the default yellow for exactly 1 frame while weapon swapping.
• Selecting the Colorblind mode in Advanced options can be difficult due to the drop down menus positioning.

[ 2020-12-22 03:20:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

October is always an exciting time of year for our Natural Selection Development Team, and this year is no exception. 18 years ago a totally unique and amazing new mod for half-life hit the interwebs and for many us, changed our lives. Fast forward to today, and its sequel Natural Selection 2 is celebrating eight years since release. Our Team and dedicated community continue to get games active and going 24hrs a day around the world and today is our next step in supporting all of you into the future. Update 335 is the official release of Hive Skill 3.0 (see our previous blog detailing the changes), our latest update to the backend skill tracking and sorting system for NS2. Hive Skill 3.0 for the first time introduces per team skill tracking including commander roles too. Our hope is to help better sort teams for more even rounds and enjoyable gameplay, but we want to make sure you know that this wont happen instantly. The update to the backend code is being merged with current data and will take many new rounds to begin to fully flesh out its adjustments, but in general our new algorithm seems to be doing better from the start. And just to be clear, no existing skill data/rank is lost in the update. An absolutely huge thank you to CDT Member Moultano for all his math wizardry. Under the hood we have some bug fixes and enhancements to various maps and cinematics to entice you with some fun new gameplay. You can read all about those and other changes with this update in the changelog below. Happy Natural Selection Anniversary Week! Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

Changelog

Gameplay

• Maturity and Gestation (Alien egg evolving) both now have a slight softcap in regards to their rate of completion being sped up by Nutrient Mist and/or Gorge Healspray.
• Mines will now only show on the map for enemies if they have been damaged recently or are currently Parasited.
• The Fade has had some movement changes with the goal of making it more visually consistent and predictable.
  • Air friction has been increased (feels heavier) when achieving high speeds and not currently in Blink.
  • Blink now has a minimum speed of 13.5
  • Blink now has an initial speed (first Blink) of 15
  • Additional Blink speed gained from each Celerity upgrade chamber is now 0.2 from 0.5. (Total of three chambers = 0.6 from 3)
  • Auto-crouch feature was removed until a better solution can be found. We recommend holding that crouch key at all times like in the old days.

Tweaks / Improvements

• Your Hive Skill will now account for which team you play on or command.
• Added new Research Notifications for field players, to help keep track of researching tech. You might notice that Research Notifications show on the left side of the HUD for both teams and as a result your in use upgrades are shown on the right side for both teams. This feature can be disabled in the NS2+ option Research Notifications.
• Weve made multiple changes to the Marine flashlight to make it more useful in poor lighting conditions. Most notably a larger cone size, a greater range, and being brighter. It also has had its atmospherics setting brought down to almost nothing, so you wont have to worry about your teammates blinding you anymore! Lastly it has specular graphics enabled for the first time and the color profile has been tweaked subtly to be friendlier on the eyes.
• Tunnel collapse killfeed icon now has a fitting icon.
• All weapon tracers created from firing weapons (e.g. Marine Rifle, Hydras, Lerk Spikes etc) will now be visible even when their origin point is not visible. This will help telegraph where attacks are coming from, even around corners.
• New Gorge Spit effect and model, which now is highlighted in Alien Vision. This aids in the players ability to track the speed of the projectile for accuracy purposes, while also making it more visible for everyone to respond to.

Fixes

• Fixed being able to very slightly shoot farther than what your camera was showing at the extreme angles when looking up or down.
• Fixed being unable to connect to a server while already in a listen server.
• Fixed throwing a grenade right away when a Marine player has no weapon in both primary and secondary slots while also placing a mine.
• Fixed Consume and Recycle playing the Research Complete effect when complete.
• Fixed changing some options not saving correctly to disk unless Apply was used. You shouldve been clicking Apply anyways though, because it was the right thing to do. I bet you dont even use your blinker in space.
• Fixed Mines text being plural since theres only one Mine in a pack now.
• Fixed progress bar that shows up in the bottom-center of the screen not using the correct team theme whenever you see it correctly, then get forced onto another team, for example with cheats or via some balancing mod.
• Fixed progress bar for Alien Commander UI where consuming something would incorrectly say Upgrading.
• Fixed Tunnel Collapse tip text saying TIP because.. well, it wasnt much help was it?
• Fixed repairs from MAC and Welders repairing too fast due to it ignoring the health-per-armor value.
• Fixed the occasional displaying of the old loading screen concept art.
• All child cinematics triggered by normal Cinematics playback now inherit their parents visibility. We encourage proper cinematic rearing around here, ok.
• Hydras will no longer be shown on the killfeed when digested. You can safely eat them in silence, like a fat kid raiding the pantry at 2 am.
• Fix the client crashing when failing to mount a mod when connecting to a server
• Fixed reflections sometimes using the wrong tint. Super shiny infestation in dimly lit rooms are no more.
• Fixed Bile mine not affecting structure health even when armor has been fully depleted.
• Fixed tracers not being deleted rarely, which could cause them to continue to add up in the background and dropping your framerate to extreme lows.

Maps

• Caged (Thanks pSyk)
  • Removed shadow casting pointlights to improve performance
• Metro (Thanks Shrimm, pSyk, Mephilles)
  • Added Halloween assets in Ready Room
  • Performance improvements to Underpass, Slum and low lights quality
  • Fixes to GL bounce spots in Arrivals and Midtown
  • Added a fuel car in Arrivals to reflect the big crates used in Jambi's Pipeworks
  • Opened the first door leading to Lobby coming from Lane to give Aliens more options to flank Marines in Arrivals without getting chip-damage.
  • Adjusted cover in Underpass, added pillar, rerouted road, moved lightposts and forklift around.
  • Improved lighting of several vent entrances and added details to make them easier to spot
  • Trick jump in Alley vent should be easier now.
  • Added Pre-Placed Infantry Portals for marines.
  • Improved clogability of Underpass->Midtown Connection. You can no longer sidle the walls as a marine
  • Reversed ceiling cover in Underpass->Midtown Connection. You can now use it against enemies coming from midtown.
  • Improved minimap appearance of vents, Should be easier to see some vent entrances from the minimap now.
  • Fixed issues with lobby minimap generation being too bright.
  • Minor visual fixes and QoL fixes here and there.
  • Increased ceiling space above Arrivals techpoint
  • Added minivents in arrivals from techpoint ceiling area to north side of the room
  • Changes to Atrium to help Aliens against ARCs
• Origin (Thanks pSyk)
  • Visual tweaks ( wet decals )
  • Made the connection between Monitoring and Water Treatment slightly more alien friendly
  • Added 2 more small obstacles between Generator and Ventilation to help aliens against ARCs
• Summit (Thanks pSyk)
  • Visual update (More details, better lighting, wet decals, etc.)
  • Added new cinematics (Thanks IronHorse!)
  • Moved res node in Flight Control
  • Removed open (negative) space in Flight Control by adding more rock slides
  • Added a bit of rock cover in the corridor between Flight and Comp
  • Widened the vents in that corridor, so it's easier to drop into them
  • Removed one ceiling grating part in that corridor as well
  • to give Aliens more vertical options
  • Moved the powernode in Comp Lab (can't ambush a Marine from the vent anymore)
  • Added some elevation to the vent part between Sub and Maintenance so a single Marine can't go to Comp from Ventilation (new vent exit!)
  • Added a medium container in Maintenance
  • Aliens can now use the Crossroad vent carefully to not trigger the Maintenance door
  • Added a new cover and ambush spot between Glass Hallway and Data Core
  • Made the power node chamber in the middle of Data Core more friendly for tunnel placement
  • Added 2 small obstacles near the res node area in Data Core to make it easier to engage Marines shooting res node and tunnel
  • Moved power node in Summit Reception to the pillar and made it thicker
  • Removed/Broke railings in Summit Reception and Crossroads
  • Shrunk the tree in Atrium so one Marine can catch a Skulk
  • Added floor screens/signs in Atrium as cover to make up for the smaller tree
  • You can now get out of the Crevice pit when you fall down onto the rock ledge above death trigger
  • Combined the two ceiling extrusions into one big one above the hallway between Sub and Comp
  • Reduced the length of the Glass Hallway troll vent so Skulks can only use 2 of the 3 gratings to parasite through.
  • Minor visual fixes and QoL fixes here and there.
• Docking (Thanks Runestorm!)
  • Added many wetmaps in various places. (My shower locker rooms immersion is finally complete)

Tools

• Updated Tracy profiler
• In game Profile console command will no longer crash through loading
• LaunchPad now correctly handles updating Mod descriptions and no longer adds blank lines when publishing.

SDK

• Builder options under the Build toolbar are now saved.
• Builder will now prompt a confirmation window if you attempt a Rebuild.

Known Issues

• Theres still some typos with tips and the tunnel consume grid position is not consistent with other consume positioning. This is fixed in the next patch.

[ 2020-10-28 14:44:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Eclipse Tower is stained with the blood of Kharaa and Marine soldiers. The battle was brought home in the name of scientific research, deemed necessary to protect our future. We thought the battle was over and all were safe, but we were wrong The Kharaa have escaped to the streets below Eclipse Tower and are already advancing throughout the district. Reinforcements have been called in as the streets, markets and clubs are evacuated. The war for our human existence rages on. We have to hurry to eliminate the threat; theyve reached the Metro lines and can quickly spread out across the entire city. As the fights continue into the tunnels of the Metro, shimmers of blue and white appear in the darkness. A faint shriek can be heard in the distance, it seems familiar but all the same different. What new terror Lerks in the darkness? The team is excited to bring you our most ambitious map to date, METRO. This new and unique map truly brings us to the Human world and leaves behind the remote facilities of distant meteors and other planets. We owe a huge thank you to the many map testers and a very dedicated group of Community Developers including; Kash, Mephilles, pSyK, Shrimm, Loki, Zavaro, Paul Wolfe, Runestorm, Vlaad and Master G. Theyve all worked hard over the last few months (if not more) to take the inspiration from community map Jambi and re envision a whole new look and style for the NS2 universe. Be sure to enable the reflections graphics option in game to really see the map at its best. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. [previewyoutube=xDLK-mfZfPg;full][/previewyoutube]

Changelog

Gameplay

Marines:

• Armslab t-res cost increased to 20 (up from 15)
• Armor 1 and Weapons 1 research times now take 75 seconds each (up from 60 seconds)
• Power node build time is now 12 seconds (up from 8)
• Shotgun scaling received from the Armslab weapons upgrades is now 5.9% (down from 10%) [Damage per shot is now 170/180/190/200 down from 170/187/204/221]
• The Shotgun now has falloff once again from 5-15m, 50% maximum penalty, linear
• Pistol damage is now 20 normal damage (down from 25 light)
• Decreased the maximum number of mines per marine from 2 to 1, reduced the cost from 10 to 5 p-res

Aliens:

• Skulk bitecone reduction has been reverted to 1.2x1.2 (up from 0.8x1.2)
• Skulk sneak speed is now 4.3 (up from 4.0)
• Skulks now receive 50% speed boost on the initial jump
• Advanced Metabolize now requires Biomass 5 to research. (up from 4)
• Vampirism: Each shell now adds 0.5 seconds of shield duration before the shield starts to decay. (3 shells will now give 1.5 seconds of shield duration before decay begins) [Up from a flat 0.5 second duration]

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added the new map, METRO
• Removed Exo Railgun target highlighting, as it could introduce severe frame-rate drops in some cases. We may revisit this at a later date, but for now it was worth removing.

Fixes

• Fixed that Marines could see consumed Tunnels in the kill feed.
• Fixed the Retry or Reconnect console commands not being usable when already connected to a server.
• Fixed that the client would not receive a popup warning them that mods have been disabled when updating to a newer version of the game.
• Fixed Railguns being unable to deal damage to an alien when the skybox was behind them.
• Fixed wrong damage numbers showing from corrosive damage. For example, using Bile Bomb on a 90 armor marine would show 146 damage instead of 180.
• Fixed damage numbers showing too much damage done to Exos upon death.
• Fixed the killing shot done to an empty Exosuit showing separate damage numbers.
• Fixed Main Menu background sound effects would continue playing when loading into a server or local mod.
• Fixed that Drifters could not patrol between more than two points.
• Fixed warm up mode showing the default Armory model instead of the Advanced Armory.
• Fixed the Arc Factory research progress would not actually show on the Tech Tree menu.
• Fixed the typo in the Commander Prototype menu that said Jetpack, Jetpack.
• Fixed a crash when disconnecting from a server.

Sounds

• New atmospheric cityscape sound added for Metro (Thanks MasterG!)

Maps

METRO (new map) Special thank you to the following people and all of our Map and Play Testers:

• Kash - Project lead, 2d/3d signs, some in-editor work
• Mephilles - Lots of in editor detailing and bug fixing.
• pSyk - Performance master, in editor detailing and final lighting.
• Shrimm - Lots of in editor detailing, Bug fixing and NAMT leading.
• Loki - Maps godfather and visionary.
• Zavaro - Reskinning assets and tweaking trim textures
• Samoose - Extra textures, loading screens
• Paul Wolfe - Stalls and holograms
• Runestorm - A metric ton of new textures, decals and models
• Vlaad - Many awesome 3d models (lamps, streetlights, the truck, ac units etc)
• MasterG - City Soundscape.

Unearthed (Thanks Kash!)

• Lighting Tweaks mapwide, unearthed in general should perform better, especially with shadows enabled on high quality lights.
• Altered collision issues map wide to make for a smoother experience.
• Fixed stuck spots in Transfer, a lot of stuck spots indeed.
• Holes fixed in multiple spots throughout the map.
• Occlusion alterations in Toxic Pool, Transfer, Regulation and Furnace to address performance concerns in those areas.
• Added a sheet of cover to Toxic Pool.

Tools

• Editor - Fixed that box selection could be a little bit too sensitive, resulting in the mapper sometimes unknowingly selecting a large amount of stuff behind a wall when they only wanted to select the wall.

SDK

Added "wetmaps" to the game. This allows mappers to specify regions that should appear "wet" or "damp" without having to modify materials to create wet variations of them. Similar to fog volumes, mappers can specify "wetmap volumes" -- areas bounded by an arbitrary mesh volume and give it a "wetness" value. Then, the sharp edges can be smoothed over by placing wetmap decals.

Known Issues

• Reflections do not initialize in the main menu on first launch.

[ 2020-06-26 19:35:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Check out the new map METRO, coming soon in update 333 in a casted 6v6 brawl! METRO features a never before seen new cityscape aesthetic and awesome new art! Watch the Stream VoD here on twitch!

[ 2020-06-20 19:07:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings Citizens! While its been a while since the B.M.A.C. production came online through the Trans-Gov Federation, weve been in the background quietly tinkering away on deep system improvements within the mainframe while aboard this station. We recognize the Kharaa threat is an ever present and increasing one, and because of that the Federation wants you to know that your well being is important to them. As such weve made things go faster. Weve oiled up some rusty parts. And weve reprogrammed the nanites to not be so painful upon injection. We think weve made good progress and are excited to show you some of our work by getting it into your hands for assessment double time. Just be sure you dont forget to fill out the p3.1415 forms in the Discord server to let us know how satisfactory your experience was. Contained within TSF-Software-Patch.332 is a host of improvements to both performance and stability, as well as some new customization options for the Elite B.M.A.C. package, and entirely rewritten AI behavior. Theres also balance changes and visual changes. The list is long but fear not, if you do not read the entirety of the log the fine is only 500,000 credits per section 10.2009 of the Articles of Citizenship. We still have some exciting and very large features to add in the next software update that will arrive soon, such as matchmaking and a new city to defend, Metro. But these tasks are so large that the Federation has brought another member aboard our team to help: Salads. Please welcome him with the traditional and formal greeting per regulations. Hell be in the back of the station, behind the terminals that say High Voltage. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. This is Command Station Alpha, over and out. Changelog Gameplay The long list of balance and gameplay changes can be found here in a separate blog Optimizations

• Removed one frame of mouse input delay that was always present in the game! You felt it, we felt it, it was only a matter of finding and destroying it after all these years of looking. Here is an example in 30 fps of the degree of impact this had on aiming before it was fixed, where the green ball represents the amount of the delay that was present compared to the pink crosshair.
• Optimized worker thread load to prevent blocking other threads from running (which could cause a timeout during connection and other issues)
• New and faster file hash algorithm for consistency checking. This provides faster consistency checking and therefore slightly reduced loading times.
• Reduced frame time maximums by preventing the steam friends list from updating every 15 seconds regardless of whether it was visible or not.
• Resolved performance issues and conflicts from build 331 in relation to SDL changes that affected some clients (Thanks Terence!)
• Optimized frame times by preventing weapon displays from rendering every frame, even for weapons you are not carrying.
• Drastically improved the average frame time of Spectator health bar update routine
• Greatly optimized the Mini-map update routine. The run time was rather long at 50+% of the total world update time and thrashed the Garbage Collector. It has been entirely refactored to be more efficient and JITd.
• Refactored scoreboard to use the new map container which makes things more efficient
• Optimized the Garbage Collection. Made sure the Lua GC doesnt run during world update routine, reducing frame time spikes. Adjusted the run time of the GC dynamically based on the production. Increase the GC timer resolution to overall decrease the time the main thread waits for the GC job to finish.

Tweaks / Improvements Added new Elite tier B.M.A.C. skins!

• You can now view and purchase most of the skins that are sold directly in the Customize Player menu! (We may add more over time) Requires Steam Overlay to be enabled, and the prices should automatically reflect your local currency.
• Added the fabled and long requested Fog feature to maps! Its sparingly used mostly in non playable areas of maps, and costs almost nothing in regards to performance. However it can be toggled on or off in the graphics option menu.
• Options will now save locally on your hard drive in addition to the Steam cloud save option (by default). This means that if Steam cloud fails for whatever reason, your settings will now be loaded from disk.
• New Powernode visual effect improvements to better match the balance changes (no more blueprints!) and state. For example: The color of the powernode material, the light on top, and the cinematic fx all change based on its health. The pulsating area lighting that occurs after destruction no longer occurs until the 15 second requirement has passed that allows rebuilding it - meaning there is actual uninterrupted pitch darkness right after the power is destroyed, and there is a visual cue for when the node is able to be rebuilt again.
• Disabling Voice Volume will now prevent the user from transmitting their voice data to the server as well. This means if you mute everyone by setting Voice Volume to 0, you cannot speak to them either.
• Back by popular demand: Parasited status icon for Marines show once again regardless of your HUD detail setting
• Made it easier to cancel a primed Grenade in your hands by switching weapons
• Bots have been generally improved in many many ways. From randomized individual personality traits that dictate things like how supportive or aggressive they are, to reactions being revised to feel more human-like, to movement routines such as sneaking, dodging etc. Their accuracy even scales automatically with the servers average skill level to ensure they remain challenging for players without being overpowered. There will be many more improvements to come in the future as well. Give them a shot and tell us what you think!

Fixes

• Fixed timeouts that would occur for players when attempting to connect to a server.
• Fixed structures being detected but not visible if scanned (Thanks Katzen!)
• Fixed commanders forced to repress the grid key for dual action items (Thanks Katzen!)
• Fixed that the scrollbars in the News / Changelog main menu area did not actually scroll.
• Fixed that the NS2 process would often remain running in the background after closing the client, preventing you from relaunching it as Steam would see it as still running
• All Marine models now utilize the same hitboxes. Previously only the default normal armor was using an updated and more performant version.
• TBB library binaries updated to include VC 2013 redistributables to prevent some cases where the game would not load for some users.
• Fixed double and triple buffering Vsync options not correctly applying at startup.
• Fixed that returning players who had an old and removed feature called Camera Animations left over in their options file, could cause issues such as crosshair misalignment.
• Fixed the round start countdown camera animation not smoothly transitioning to the players final view. Note that the server mod Shine may prevent this animation from occurring at all in some cases.
• Fixed Shade Hive passive upgrades overriding the Shade structure when it came to cloaking behavior. For instance, cysts should not decloak unless touched when a Shade structure is nearby, but should decloak within range when there is no structure but they are instead cloaked by the hive types passive ability.
• Fixed an issue where occasionally some players would be missing from the Vote Kick menu in game.
• Fixed Previous Weapon binding not working correctly if rebound to anything but the default mousewheel binding.
• Fixed the last Cyst in a chain often dying when placing a long chain (Thanks Katzen!)
• Fixed that a Cyst chain does not reconnect properly when replacing one Cyst in a long chain.
• Fixed that Crush upgrade did not increase damage against unpiloted Exos
• Fixed Crush not affecting Gorge Spit weapon
• Fixed spawn angle bug for the final time (we think), where the player would not be aiming at where they were previously during the respawn animation. May you slay many a Skulk who dares to bite your infantry portal.
• Fixed Tunnel Exit button being selectable for the commander for a brief time frame after collapsing a Tunnel, which would show a placement model to place a new one, but would not actually allow you to do so.
• Fixed Tunnels occasionally not connecting to one another after upgrading to Infested and then collapsing one.
• Fixed Alien heal / regen soft cap that was previously implemented but was not working correctly.
• Fixed recently killed Gorges still spawning Babblers, which could cause Gorge ragdolls to do amazingly silly things.
• Fixed the missing Join Team bindings in the menu. We dont know where they went or why. But we had a nice long talk with them and theyve agreed to stay in the menu for the time being so long as you dont spam them further.
• Fixed BMAC taunts playing default marine taunts when in an Exo
• Fixed an exploit of being able to create unlimited Babblers in the world by utilizing two coordinated and highly mischievous Gorges that were hell bent on dominating the galaxy through repopulation efforts.
• Fixed random client crashes that occurred when multiple files were missing during loading into a game.
• Fixed Voice chat HUD feature showing names of talking players, even players from the enemy team, when voice volume is set to 0.
• Fixed Voice chat playing back actual voices all at once after changing the voice volume slider from 0. Sure we all hear voices from time to time, but were never supposed to hear 10 other people barking orders at us once, thats too far, right bob? Yea see, bob agrees.
• Fixed Hallucinated Drifters having stuttering movement.
• Fixed a bug with players getting omitted from the scoreboard in some cases.
• Fixed decals projecting onto Mine placement models
• Fixed Bots being removed when a Commander Bot was replaced by a player.
• Fixed Fade old description and typos in the evolve menu
• Fixed many Steam Achievement wording issues
• Fixed client crash when exiting Skulk race challenge
• Fixed some crashes when using Profile command and using Exos
• Fixed crashing when utilizing Cr4zys alien vision
• Fixed the Crusher on Mineshaft to ensure it actually kills players once again. This seemingly innocuous fix led us down a deep dark rabbit hole that exposed some potentially fundamental issues in networking that have huge ramifications and that we may one day be able to expand on after fixing. Stay tuned Marine.
• Fixed material swapping crashes. This could occur from a player swapping BMAC skins or even seeing someone else do it. It applies to all material swapping uses however (this patch uses the system for the new powernode fx)
• Fixed that Alien bots do not return to the Hive for health
• Fixed that Marine bots would often build structures by spamming the use key, making a sound so annoying you wanted to throw them off the deepest cliff in mordor into a fiery pit of doom from which they can never be heard from again.
• Fixed that destroying a dropped Machine Gun with Bilebomb awarded no score points.
• Fixed that Marine bots did not buy Grenade Launchers or Flamethrowers
• Fixed that Marine bots ignored dropped Machine Guns
• Fixed Grenade quickthrow (aka Tertiary) animation bugs that could cause your HUD to disappear and some other wonky behavior.
• Fixed Babblers not respawning on a Gorge if they spammed the Bait Ball. This should allow new players who often fall for this trap to still get some use of it.
• Fixed Gorge Bile Mines not cloaking when near a Shade.
• Fixed that Medpacks would not drop when bound to mouse wheel during tutorials
• Fixed case where having a coded mod active on the client would prevent tutorials from loading.
• Fixed some cases of client crashing upon start up
• Fixed that the friends list would update even when the menu was closed, which could cause a hitch.
• Fixed client crash with Skulk Race challenge when viewing leaderboards
• Fixed the Credits screen background blending incorrectly in some cases
• Fixed script error when a marine died on top of an ammo pack
• Fixed script error from a race condition when a player with a Machine Gun died
• Fixed script error that could occur if an Onos died during using Stomp
• Fixed script error when dying as a Skulk when Leap is researched and you have the tooltip on screen to leap.
• Fixed potential read-access violation crash on shutdown
• Fixed many memory leaks

Sounds

• Fixed that your own sounds such as footsteps, would often be offset from the player, sounding as if you were walking or strafing ahead of yourself somehow. This was most notable on virtualized 7.1 sound setups. The paranoia from hearing footsteps outside of your own body is gone!

Maps

• Added fog to various maps. (Thanks BeigeAlert, pSyk, RuneStorm)
• Derelict (Thanks pSyk):
• -Fixed tunnel placement exploit.
• Docking (Thanks RuneStorm):
• Various bugfixes and tweaks to visuals.
• Tram (Thanks pSyk):
• Improved collision on pipes and geo near the ET-Mezz vent.
• Fixed upgrade structure placement exploit in Server.
• Added a ladder into the vent from Shipping to Logistics.
• Unearthed (Thanks pSyk):
• Fixed structure placement exploit in Marine Start.

Tools

• Integrated new slick and robust profiler named Tracy. Its a separate executable you have to run and connect to the game executable. You can find the profiler binaries and a manual pdf in the utils\Tracy folder.
• The Tracy capture tool uses a lot of memory due to capturing a lot of data points by default. So you can only have it running for a few minutes before it will start thrashing your swap file.
• If you run NS2 as administrator Tracy will capture your complete cpu context. Which means that if you decide to share such a capture with others they will be able to see all applications that did run on your system during the capture!
• Engine console commands:
• tracy_start - Starts Tracy's listening thread allowing profilers to connect.
• tracy_stop - Requests the connected Tracy profiler\capture tool to disconnect itself.
• Command line options:
• -tracywait - Will start up Tracy very early on in engine initialization and block loading until a Tracy profiler or capture tool connects. Great for finding slow loading problems
• -tracyip will set the ip address Tracy client embedded in the engine will bind to, by default its loopback\127.0.0.1. This allows you to run profiler\capture tool on another computer.
• -tracystart is like -tracywait but doesn't wait for profiler to connect
• Added latest version of the .Net Performance Analyzer. Used to open in-game profiler captures.
• The profile command tools pause feature can be rebound through the in game bindings screen now.
• Fixed TechSupport.exe not working at all and updated tech support email.

SDK

• The Steamworks library for the game is upgraded to the latest version (v1.46)
• [Map Editor] can use two new entity types: fog_mesh_volume and fog_sphere_volume.
• [Map Editor] Added a Crack-finder feature in the menu that will use an edge finding shader in the editor to highlight small cracks in the map, similar to what alien vision can provide in game.
• In game Profile console commands pause binding is no longer hardcoded to spacebar. You can rebind it in the Misc section in your bindings menu.
• Improved Crash Handler full dump generation to prevent silently exiting.
• Added a console command "lag_fix " which enables/disables the mouse input delay fix so you can compare (the fix is enabled by default).
• Fixed Launchpad being frozen after publishing a mod
• Fixed a crash in Viewer when loading between different models and viewing collision

Known Issues

• Bots still have many issues which are known and are being actively worked on, from improvements to actual bugs.
• Theres currently no form of communication to the player when their applied healing is not 100% effective due to the healing cap. We plan on changing this in the future.
• There are numerous parasite visualization bugs related to the shader, status icon, or outline. Were aware of all of them and their importance but boy oh boy are we not excited about the amount of work involved here.
• BMAC taunts in exos do not update if your skin is changed while still in an exo.
• Babblers can still attack a powernode even if completely destroyed.
• The new marine hitboxes have an issue with the shoulders where they flare outward more than they should. Well be addressing this next patch.
• From commander view while placing a structure, the floating in world powernode health that is shown may be inaccurate.

[ 2020-05-27 13:42:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

------------------------------------------------------------ Here is a snippet of what's in store for Patch 332, which is coming soon! This changelog contains the Balance Patch Notes, there is much more in the full changelog which will be released when the build goes live.

GENERAL

The health and armor status (hp bar) has been removed from enemy players in combat (We recommend enabling damage numbers) Re-drop block times for commanders placing cysts and resource towers is now 1 second (down from 5-7 seconds) Fixed cysts sometimes dying when placed (From Katzenfleisch) Fixed commanders forced to repress the grid key for dual action items (From Katzenfleisch) Fixed scan not having a visual range displayed (From Katzenfleisch) Fixed structures being detected but not visible if scanned (From Katzenfleisch)

LIFEFORMS

SKULK

Model size decreased by 10% (90% original size) Bite cone changed to 0.8 wide by 1.2 tall (from 1.21.2) Skulk sneak speed changed to 4.0 (from 4.785) Skulks now only receive a speed boost from a consecutive jump.

GORGE

Heal Spray Now also adds maturity to alien structures and speeds up player evolutions while they are embryos. Web Web placement ghosts will now stay visible and turn red if you stretch them past their limit instead of despawning Webs are now only placeable on the ground from one endpoint (to fix duct tape floor strip webs) Gorges can finish placing webs from much further away. Starting placement range is unchanged. Web Snare now reduces movement speed by 66% and tapers off gradually over 5 seconds (up from 2.5 seconds) Webs now turn invisible, only fading into view at 5 meters or closer, with a distortion effect at longer range No longer parasites marines No longer appears in the kill-feed Now have a hardening mechanic: Webs will gain charges, which will allow them to web enemies multiple times. When charges run out, the web will die. Each charge gives the web 10 hp. Webs start with 1 cahrge. Max 3 charges. Babblers No longer gains biomass HP scaling (previously 1.5 hp per biomass)

LERK

Spike Projectile size increased to 60mm (up from 45mm) Now penetrates soft targets (MACs, Drifters, Hydras) (From Twiliteblue) Now deals double damage to Mines (Damage: 5 -> 10)

FADE

Blink (From Golden) Increased friction when moving faster than base blink speed Will lose velocity more quickly when moving faster than 16.25 Rate at which you lose velocity is reduced when using celerity Metabolize Advanced Metabolize now heals effective HP (treats armor as 2 hitpoints) Stab Damage decreased to 120 (from 160) Damage type changed to structural (2x to structures) Fades can now blink, jump and move freely while performing stab.

GENERAL

UPGRADES

Vampirism Primary attacks now generate an HP shield instead of healing. The shield begins decaying after 0.5 seconds of your last hit and will taper off over the next 4.5 seconds. The maximum shield amount is 1.5 times the value of the charge of a single hit with 3 shells. The shield does stack with mucous and babblers Skulks only charge 14% health per bite (decreased from 20%) Vampirism no longer has any effect when used against Exosuits

COMMANDER

Drifter Abilities All abilities have now a cool down of 12 seconds (instead of only 1 second for mucous and hallucinations) Ink Cloud Decreased cooldown to 15 seconds (from 16)

SOFT CAPS

Maturity and Gestation

Implemented a softcap for maturity and gestation (evolving rate) Both maturity and gestation have a 1.5x threshold, and a 0.25 capped efficiency. This means that no softcap will be applied for 1.5x of the added amounts rate, but leftovers will be subjected to a -75% penalty.

Healing

The Healing softcap now correctly clamps overhealing. If an Alien structure or player is healed by more than 14%/sec of their total effective hit points any additional healing is reduced by 66% . MISC Maturity information is now visible in the nameplate for alien structures Crag, Shade, and Shift supply cost changed to 20 (down from 25) Destroying an HMG with Bile Bomb now awards score points Onos taunt now uses the charge sound (instead of the stomp sound) [quote=author] Comments: The removal of health bars is quite the boon to aliens, so to accomodate that weve made some changes to the Fade & Skulk movement to accommodate that. The skulk has also been shrunk slightly while having its bite cone narrowed. This is to help align the skill curve of the Skulk with that of the basic marine be mindful of where you are biting! Aside from these, there are some other notable items: The gorge has gotten a few new tricks as Webs have received a significant rework to orient their play style more toward their original intended purpose of trapping and significantly slowing careless marines. Vampirism has received a major rework which maintains its combat prowess but tones down the sustain it provided after combat.[/quote]

WEAPONS

Marine dropped weapon decay timer is now 16 seconds (down from 25)

SHOTGUN

Reverted to build 326-behavior 17 pellets, each deal 10 damage Divided into 4 rings of 4 pellets each, +1 pellet in the middle Pellet sizes are all 16mm No Damage Falloff

HEAVY MACHINE GUN

Reload time is now 3.5 seconds (from 5 seconds) Decreased drum ammo size to 100 (from 125) Now awards 5 score points when destroyed by bilebomb

FLAMETHROWER

Removed energy damage (1 energy per hit)

MINES

Damage changed to 130 (from 150) Mines can now be properly killed during their arming period when first deployed. In this case, they do not explode or deal damage. Marines now keep unused mines when they die and receive them back when they respawn (like hand grenades). HP changed to 30 health and 9 armor (from 40 health and 5 armor). Tip: With crush it takes only 4 parasites (instead of 5) to destroy a mine Lerk spikes now deal double damage to mines (Damage: 5 -> 10) Mines now award 5 score points when killed by an alien Mines now display on the minimap for all marines, and for aliens when damaged or parasited Weight reduced to 0 (from 0.1)

HAND GRENADES

Removed lengthy deploy animation so grenades are now thrown much faster. (quickthrow and regular throw) Pulse grenade Electrified effect now also nullifies and prevents targets from benefiting from drifter Enzyme and Mucous abilities Decreased weight to 0 (from 0.1)

EXOSUIT

GENERAL

Reduced opacity of scanlines UI texture to be less obstructive (25% of original value) Exos are now free to fire their weapons while thrusters are being used Thrusters can now be toggled on and off freely without waiting for maximum charge between use. Thruster fuel now has a 0.75 second cooldown before recharging after last use Exosuits now self-repair when out of combat at a rate of 8 armor/second Alien Vampirism no longer has any effect when used against exos

MINIGUN

Damage type is now heavy (double damage to armor) Damage changed to 6 (down from 10) Overheat animation sped up such that the time out of combat now matches up exactly with the heat meter for that weapon (before, the overheat animation would finish well-after the heat meter was empty)

POWERNODES

Powernode Blueprints have been removed All Powernodes now start socketed but unbuilt. The Powernodes in the Marine Base start built and Alien Hive start destroyed upon round start Powernodes that have no health are not highlighted for either team and cant be damaged Powernodes that havent been built yet do not affect the locations light state The construction progress of a Powernode is synchronized with their hit points. This means when an enemy damages an unbuilt Powernode by 1% hp it also looses 1% construction progress Marines no longer receive automated orders to construct a Powernode unless there is a structure or blueprint inside the given location that requires power

MISC

Fixed cluster grenade burn damage numbers being displayed to the target [quote=author] Comments: It wouldnt be a balance patch if the Shotgun didnt receive some tweaks! This time weve reverted it to its original pre-shotgun-pocalypse state. The HeavyMachineGun has also received a slight rework. Weve acknowledged mines can be a bit of an issue lately, so theyve received several adjustments to bring them back in line while still keeping them useful. Exosuits have also received a slew of new changes* and can now auto-repair themselves when out of combat (*The Railgun rework from the beta still requires more polish, and did not make it into this patch). One of the most significant changes in this patch can be seen in the powernode rework! These changes are primarily visual in nature but greatly improves the clarity of the health state, and the usability with the removal of powernode blueprints.[/quote]

[ 2020-05-08 18:18:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Everyone! There hasn't been a game update in the last months as we have been busy working on some larger features. To keep you all in the loop here is a short summary of what we are working on. And what you can expect from the next game update.

Gameplay

Since December our Balance Team has been busy cooking up the latest set of tweaks and shake ups for gameplay. We said a bittersweet goodbye to BeigeAlert during this time as he pursues an exciting new opportunity. However this caused a bit of a delay for the development of gameplay changes. Enter Katzenfleisch joining the team! He has been working together with Ghoul since February to get us back on track. Trucking along and implementing the balance changes requested by the balance team (led by Rantology). To have a look at what is cooking in the stove join a server running the UWE Balance Beta mod. Look for servers with UWE Beta Balance in the title.

Engineering

The last update decreased the connection timeout to 5 ms from 5 minutes to get rid of ghost player entities. Those blocked players from reconnecting to a server. However this resulted in some players being unable to connect to servers without timing out while loading. Looking into the issue we discovered multiple critical issues. The engine currently doesn't handle file assets as well as it should. It doesn't schedule some tasks properly onto the cpu. And it fails to manage some callbacks properly. All of that slows down loading on some systems drastically. Making the client unresponsive to incoming network messages, causing the server to assume the client timed out. But it also has some very negative effects on the stability of the frame time for all systems. So fsfod and Ghoul integrated some new debug tools to better diagnose these kind issues. And are currently resolving them one issue at a time. If you are affected by client timeout issues please join our discord server where we regularly publish new experimental builds with the latest iteration of those fixes. (Often found in pinned messages in the NS2 chat channel)

New Map: METRO

Loki, Kash, Zavaro, Runestorm, Rantology, Ironhorse, Shrimm, Psyk, Mephilles, Samoose, Vlaad, and the Map Testing team have been busy working on an epic new map called METRO for quite some time. Right now the art team is busy detailing and optimizing the final stages of the map. METRO will make its debut in the upcoming patch. For now, here is a teaser image as an appetizer for you:

Darwins Thunderdome

Does it also take you too long to find a good match? Are you tired of waiting to get a slot on a server? Or ending up with players of a totally different skill tier? Or having to play with a way too high ping because there are no servers in your region? Darwins Thunderdome aims to answer those questions. Essentially its a system that groups players based on their geographical region and hive skill. Then spins up a dedicated server as close as possible to the players. Additionally you will be able to create private lobbies. So you can play with your friends without having to worry about finding a server or setting up your own. Currently Thunderdome lobbies are limited to 12 players and only support the vanilla NS2 game mode with some essential mods. Additionally we may add support for alternate game modes, and potentially have playing while queuing on special skirmish servers. Existing community servers will still provide a different kind of social experience. Thunderdome is not meant to replace them. But as a way to play a good match of Natural Selection 2 as quickly as possible.

Bug fixes and QoL changes

As usual we and the community developers also fixed reported bugs and various QoL changes. For more details we can only recommend to have a look at our bug tracker trello board. Most of the fixes that will likely make it in are usually in the Fixed and Tested column.

Thank you

We would like to thank all Natural Selection 2 players for their ongoing support. And cant wait to hear your feedback in the comments. If you would like to directly get in touch with us just join our discord server.

[ 2020-03-17 20:20:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

This latest update brings something new and special to the game. Introducing the B.M.A.C, two exciting new robotic models joining the Marine forces. The Bipedal-Mobile-Automated-Custodian and Bipedal-Mobile-Automated-Countermeasure are here to help and serve your needs. Play as one of these new marine models with up to 10 different variants for you to choose from. The B.M.A.C. also includes two brand new voices with all new taunts and requests. Community Development Team members Vlaad and Sweets worked very hard with our team over the last couple months developing the models and sounds respectively, and a HUGE shout out to Rune for all the trailer help and going beyond the extra mile. Weve had so much fun building these into the game and hope that youll enjoy them too. [previewyoutube=9S7QdjdnxWA;full][/previewyoutube] The rest of the patch has some nice new UI updates and other tweaks. We arent stopping here and have some very exciting things to come with our December update, so stay tuned! Check out the full changelog below to see all the goodies contained within. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

Changelog

Gameplay

• Shotgun

Added back a damage falloff (0-25% damage reduction from 6m to 12m) Optimizations

• Improved application start up time and behavior.
• Resolved GUIView:Load related frame time hitch when picking up a weapon
• Drastically reduced the amount of frame time hitching caused by the help screen when dropping or picking up a weapon.
• Improved memory management of webviews

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added 10 new Marine full conversion skins called B.M.A.C - Skins come with new models, voiceovers, sounds and effects. (A very special thanks goes to Zavaro and voice actor Carl McGahan for your voices!) - They come in 3 different DLC price tiers buy yours today and support continued NS2 development!

• Added new team info HUD bar

Main Menu

• Limited frame rate to 60 frames per second in the menu to improve background art asset preloading and reduce GPU usage.
• Added Changelog and News windows
• Added menu button for our official Discord server (next to the Wiki button)
• Added Quit menu so you can choose between disconnecting, moving into the ready room or closing the game
• Customize Menu - Added Store button - You can now cycle forwards and backwards through the available skins by using Left or Right mouse buttons
• Server Browser - Made the refresh button more visible you really cant miss it now. - Added back a separate column for the map names
• Improved alt tabbing and application window resize and focus behavior. Fixed various issues related to changing resolution, window mode or switching to another application. Basically it feels snappy and responsive now. (Thanks Salads!)
• Fixed the loading backgrounds aspect ratio to fill the screen at all ratios (Thanks Salads)
• Added a detection for running in Wine
• Disabled out of process crash handler when running in Wine

Fixes

• Fixed supply costs for Armories, Observatories and Sentry Batteries
• Fixed that commanders could build additional structures even when the supply limit was reached by preselecting given structures before reaching the limit.
• Fixed a client script error that occurred when a veteran tried to join a team at a bootcamp server
• Fixed that ARCs didnt take any corrosive damage by Infestation after their first deployment
• Fixed that pregame throwables stutter when thrown
• May your target see your snowballs flying at their face smoothly now
• Fixed that Alien Tunnels collapsed even if the second entrance was rebuilt, causing entrances to not connect to each other.
• Fixed structure only damage did affect babbler shield real goodly. (Arcs cant destroy babblers on you anymore)
• Fixed that damage to the babbler shield didnt stop new babblers from hatching
• Fixed that a Gorge couldnt re-attach their own Babblers
• Keep those cuddly things warm again! Just dont forget to give them out still, you greedy Babbler incubators..
• Fixed babbler mine icon in the alien buy menu
• Fixed that the Shell Hive upgrade icons in spectator view displayed in red despite their status.
• The worst color. You know it. I know it.
• Fixed that the voice chat bar overlapped with the spectator player info elements
• Fixed a few render-related crashes.
• Fixed client crash due to using an invalid shader reference
• Fixed that GUIItems displaying text with non-zero alignments would sometimes be culled for being off-screen, even though they were still on-screen.
• Fixed that if only a few babblers were removed on your babbler shield, theyd instantly repopulate instead of waiting the normal 2.5 seconds.
• Fixed Tundra Exo minigun showing the Kodiak skin on one of its arms.
• Fixed that enabling the Entity update routine delayed caused various script errors. Various script errors could occur by mixin logic that assumed that OnUpdate was called at least once before OnInitialized.

Sounds Maps

• ns2_Caged ( Thanks pSyk ) - Removed Gorge Bile spot in Shipping by moving the crane directly below the ceiling. - Fixed wall ARCs and similar wonky ARC spots between Shipping and Ventilation.
• ns2_Derelict ( Thanks pSyk ) - Fixed hole in map, which enabled Lerks to get outside. - ns2_Origin ( Thanks pSyk ) - Reduced map size and travel times slightly by moving Biodome and Furnace ( plus adjacent areas ) closer to the center of the map. - Updated loading screen to accommodate changes (Thanks Samus) - Slightly nerfed ARC spots in Generator and Smelting room. - Nerfed the GL bounce spot outside of Ventilation. - Removed some ambush spots between Marine Start and Computer Lab. - New, cleaner connection between Ore Extraction and Generator with another little vent to help Aliens in that area. - Minor changes to Water Treatment-Maintenance connection to improve combat and reduce frustration for Skulks running up the stairs into a Marine. - Various fixes.

Tools SDK

• Added console command dump_tracer_info, which prints a description of all the bullet tracer effects to the console.

Known Issues

• After a Tunnel exit is rebuilt, tunnel flinch animations still play inside the Tunnel forever, only if a player remained inside during this process. (you have to not die before its rebuilt)

[ 2019-11-18 20:55:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thank you for all the feedback on Update 329. This hotfix should serve to improve your experience. A note to our Linux users; Although we no longer directly support a Linux client, please be aware that NS2 does run when using Proton. If you are unable to start NS2 via Proton (right click at Library entry -> Properties -> check Force the use of a specific steam play compatibility tool -> select latest version of proton) please confirm that your system is compatible to dxvk (seehttps://github.com/lutris/lutris/wiki/How-to:-DXVK ). Tweaks / Improvements

• Removed the DirectX 9 render option and defaulted all clients to DirectX 11. A lot of clients have been frequently crashing due to a bug in the DirectX 9 render pipeline
• Renamed the Atmospheric Quality options and added a warning to make users aware that the high and extreme options are only meant to be used on really powerful systems
• The Anti aliasing graphics option will default to FXAA instead of TAA. We had a lot of users reporting performance issues with TAA enabled on low to mid-tier hardware
• Make sure to cleanup unused intermediate GUIView objects when done rendering GUIStyledText. Leftover GUIViews could cause performance issues
• Added the current count of GUIViews to g_stats
• Improved the menus fonts (AgencyFB) so they are easier to read and dont look as blurry
• Improved the server console fonts scaling to be easier to read
• Disabled MouseButtonOne as possible binding to toggle the console to avoid that users become unable to interact with the menu without editing the remote option file manually

Fixes

• Fixed that the remote option (bindings) reset at every launch of the game for some users due to a faulty xml node name. And added safety guards to the engine for this to not happen again
• Fixed that users on windows 7 without update KB2670838 installed couldnt start the game due to missing support for DirectX 11.1
• Fixed TAA causing black pixel artifacts under DXVK (used by Proton)
• Fixed that some weapon tracers were never destroyed causing performance issues
• Fixed that some art assets were not properly precached for new menu
• Fixed profile pictures in the friends list did not always display correctly
• Fixed that the new server browser didnt take reserved slots into account
• Fixed that the menu text entry cursor was blurry / wasn't using distance field font correctly
• Fixed that some spectator UI elements blocked input from passing to the main menu.
• Fixed various typos in the new menu
• Fixed a script error caused by removing a badge that returns to some off-screen part of the tray (only happened with large numbers of badges).
• Fixed that the abyss gorge only unlocked after 6 instead of 5 played rounds on Origin

[ 2019-09-27 13:39:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome back to Colony Zero, the forgotten mining facility on the moon Freya IV. Greed and a continued push for dominance brought the TSF to this moon, but what they found while mining deep was something they felt was far more valuable than ore or minerals; little did they know it would start a pandemic reaching across the entire galaxy. Our newest official map, ORIGIN, a remake of the NS1 map, holds the answers to the Origins of Kharaa and is now available to play. You can earn the special Abyss Gorge skin after playing five rounds, but hurry as this skin is only available for a limited time! Thank you to pSyk for all his hard work on re-creating this classic map and to our map testing crew for all of their time reviewing and assisting on the map. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC7q_eterMY Update 329 also brings another set of balance changes aimed at creating more variation of play and strategy. A new menu system has been designed and built for a better player customizing experience and allows for easier implementation of future features to come. We have officially moved to DirectX 11 and added support for Temporal Anti-Aliasing, both of which can help produce better quality of play and visual upgrades to your game. Additional changes to other official maps have also been added to support better gameplay and help new players learn the maps. A reminder that with the release of 329 we have officially dropped support for the Linux client of NS2. We will continue to support and update the Linux Dedicated Server. For those using the Linux client, you can still play NS2 via the Steam Play compatibility tools (Proton). Proton is still in Beta and being actively developed so there may be some features or functions that do not work. We have confirmed that playing the game while connecting to a dedicated server does work and in some cases the performance is much improved from the Linux client. Check out the full changelog on the blog to see all the goodies contained within. Follow the NS2 Development Roadmap to see our plans for future updates. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

[ 2019-09-19 16:33:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our friends at the Natural Selection League are hosting a one-weekend, no holds barred clash of some of the best players and teams in this Open Tournament!

Saturday and Sunday (the 29th and 30th) at 09:00 PDT / 12:00 EDT / 16:00 GMT / 18:00 CEST

[ 2019-07-13 16:00:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our friends at the Natural Selection League are hosting a one-weekend, no holds barred clash of some of the best players and teams in this Open Tournament!
Saturday and Sunday (the 29th and 30th) at 09:00 PDT / 12:00 EDT / 16:00 GMT / 18:00 CEST

[ 2019-06-29 16:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 328 includes an upgrade to Visual Studio 2017 runtime, continued balance tweaks in response to the last update, updates to DirectX 11 (getting us closer to ditching DirectX 9 altogether) and numerous fixes and optimizations throughout the game. We are making great strides in achieving our goal on the roadmap and 329 is looking to be another great update, so stay tuned for public tests in advance of release. Lastly we want to thank all of you that have been purchasing DLC and all the newcomers that have been buying the game over the last few months. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. Check out the full changelog below to see all the goodies contained within. Note to all Windows users: You will need to ensure the 2017 Visual C++ redistributes are installed on your system! Otherwise the game wont start after the update. Steam should take care of this during the update process but is known to fail sometimes. Changelog Gameplay Merged balance changes we released live 3 weeks ago via our extensions mod

• Undeployed ARC health decreased to 3000/200 (from 3000/500)
• Babblers:
  • New maximum lifeform shield values (total):
    • Skulk: 21 (from 35)
    • Gorge & Lerk: 21 (from 42)
    • Fade: 40 (from 65)
    • Onos: 85 (from 150)
  • Increased spawn rate from 1.5 seconds to 2.5 seconds
• Grenade Launcher:
  • Change structural damage multiplier from 5x to 4x (450 -> 360 structural damage)
• Lerk:
  • Decreased Spike damage to 5 (from 6)
  • Decreased adrenaline energy refresh rate to 30% (from 60%)
• Phase Gates
  • Increased armor from 600 to 800
• Advanced Support:
  • Decreased research costs to 20 team resources (from 25)
  • Decreased research time to 60 seconds (from 90)
• Marine weapons:
  • Dropped weapons expiry now refreshes when a marine is really close/walks over them. So you no longer have to pick them up)
• Cysts:
  • Lower maximum base Cyst HP to 200. Cysts close to a hive (near the Alien naturals) can scale up to 350
  • De-cloaking camouflage Cysts (shade hive passive) should now feel a bit snappier and more reliable
• Reduced Welder cost to 2 personal resources (from 3)

Optimizations

• Improved various expensive world update routines to stabilize and decrease their run-time cost for both Client and Server.
  • Cache mixin methods for each class after first class instance initialization to speed up any further class instance creation (Thanks Las)
  • Avoid expensive closure creations in hot path calls via a loadstring trick (Thanks Las)
  • Precache beacon spawn points at map load so we dont need to calculate them during runtime (Thanks Katzenfleisch)
  • Optimized tech tree data lookup calls (Thanks Las)
  • Changed behavior of non player entities to not run their update routine every world update tick specially when there hasnt been any state change (Thanks Steelcap & Nin)
  • Limit the amount of time that the client spent on updating GUI scripts every frame (Thanks Las)
  • Added optimized implementation for set and queue data containers to reduce runtime of various hot paths calls

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added badges for the ENSL.org Newcomer and Community Challenge Tournaments
• Added new shiny material shaders for most computer monitors and displays in the game (Thanks RuneStorm!)
• Update anti-aliasing code to latest version of FXAA. Grants a minor improvement to final image sharpness and run-time speed
• Armories and Prototype Labs now has consistent Usable range for Marine and will no longer show the use-key when you are out of range
• Improved the visual quality of shadows, notably when the light source was far away from shadow casters
• Improved shadow rendering for Windows 8 and above clients using shadow comparison sampler features
  • Do note that shadows will have lower visual quality on Windows 7 clients. This is due to missing rendering features in the DirectX API, and those features are only available on Windows 8 or higher
• Added a new "Refraction Quality" option to the graphics menu. "Low" acts like it does currently, while "High" uses some extra samples while rendering the refraction pass to reduce the amount of aliasing introduced (very noticeable in the railgun exosuit's shot trails)
• Added a Lifeform popup reminder for Alien players with "High HUD Detail" enabled. This popup reminds players to evolve to a higher Lifeform once they have enough personal resources and the team could use more of that type
  • Only displays when High HUD Detail option is enabled
  • Only displays when the Evolve Menu is not open
  • Only show for lifeforms when the number of them alive & evolved on the team is less than 20% of the total number of players on a team. (So that its only one Gorge on a team of 6)
  • Only show after respawning and player is not in combat, within a 15 second window of time
  • Does not stay on screen for more than 10 seconds
  • Does not show within 30 seconds of round start. (to prevent everyone going Gorge)
• The Scoreboard Personal Resource colors are now yellow starting at 75 and orange starting at 90 because your PRes doesnt overflow at 100 PRes. (Thanks Handschuh)
• Lessened the likelihood of having duplicate bot names at the same time
• Improved the new Alien Health Bars by ensuring the Upgrade Chamber icons no longer overlap with the Health Bar icons from 720p up to 4k resolutions
• Improved the Alien Energy Bar by coloring white the section of energy that is added by the Adrenaline upgrade

Fixes

• Fixed various DirectX 11 issues:
  • Fixed shadows not being rendered properly
  • Fixed emissive decals not being rendered correctly
  • Some textures would appear corrupted at lower mip levels
  • Fixed Exo Minigun Heat bars being distorted
• Fixed weird magic hands animation bug when switching to another weapon after reloading the Machine Gun or Flamethrower
• Fixed Alien Tunnels (including Infested versions) having differing HP values
• Fixed Alien Tunnels not starting with 100% eHP
• Fixed that attached Babblers didnt cloak/decloak properly with their parent
• Fixed that dropped weapons started to expire near an Armory when a player walked over them
• Fixed that spectating players would rubber-band between players in first-person mode sometimes
• Fixed that a number of Exo HUD elements were misaligned
• Fixed a script error that stopped players from joining bootcamp servers (this was released live already weeks ago through our extensions mod)
• Removed out-dated tip clips about Gorge Tunnels and Babblers
• Fixed the mouse over tooltip in the Options Menu that said you need to restart the game if you apply new menu music
• Fixed that the Lerk crosshairs had a tiny black bar near the top of them
• Fixed that the Unearthed loading screen had an FPS counter in the top right of the last screen
• Fixed that you could not scroll down far enough in the control bindings menu to change the Help Screen binding entry

Sounds

• Fade Metabolize, Onos running rumble sound, and Lerk gliding sounds no longer play after their respective lifeforms death

Maps

• Unearthed (Thanks Kash!)
  • Move the RT node from Transfer into Toxic pool to prevent Furnace from having 3 "Natural" resource nodes (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Moved the Briefing RT node slightly further to the west and moved the fencing to the east to make defending easier for marines (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Added crates in briefing to allow access to the ceiling area more easily. (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Fixed numerous Stuck spots throughout the map (and ready room/secret room) (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Added invisible geometry to many areas of the map to smooth out the feeling of movement
  • Tweaked pathing throughout the map
  • Removed a small amount of the clutter in Purification to make play in the area more fluid
  • Increased the size of the raised platform with the RT node on it in Purification to make the area slightly more marine accessible
  • Removed the middle support pillar in Cavity and tweaked the remaining pillars to make the area slightly less alien OP
  • Moved the Cavity RT node to be more approachable for marines
  • Removed collision from railings without the panels and replaced with collision geo to make play feel better for both marines and aliens
  • Minor lighting tweaks throughout the map
  • Made the vent between Toxic pool and Exposure more obviously accessible to marines from the Toxic pool side
  • Made the vent from Toxic pool to Extraction marine accessible from both sides
  • Reduced cover in Transfer to make the room less alien overpowered.
  • Changed the bridges in both Toxic pool and Crevice to be more visually appealing
  • Removed the Passage exit from the vent that leads from Harvesting to Access
  • Closed 2 of the 4 ceiling covers in Furnace to allow for better movement through the room for Aliens
  • Removed the remaining girder arches from Junction to reduce marine frustration in the area
  • Moved the Filtration power node to a less frustrating location
  • Improved collision geo in multiple areas of the map to help bot navigation. (Thanks Nin!)

Tools

• Cinematic Editor
  • Fixed anisotropic filtering and particles sometimes not being enabled in the renderer
• Viewer
  • Add support to view and test Material Swapping via the Materials Window. This only works when opening models. Note: There will be a delay when setting an override material, as it needs to load the resource before rendering it
• Map editor
  • Added a new option for static props called allowBullets. It's intended to be used on railing props and other small items like bottles or hanging wires that you may normally have to add collision geometry around. Note that this option will stop melee attacks and projectiles, but will not stop hit scan bullets, parasite, or flamethrowers

SDK

• Added Las library for lua closures that are not as expensive to generate during run-time as normal closures. See core/lua/Closure.md for details
• Added a command line option "force_renderer" which accepts either "D3D9" or "D3D11", which forces the renderer to use DirectX 9 or 11, overriding the value in the user's settings

Known Issues

• Viewer - Opening Materials Window when the opened asset is not a model causes odd behaviors
• As a side effect from a GUIScale fix that was part of the GUIManager optimizations, the size of GUI elements may differ on some resolutions compared to build 327
• Entering the wrong password when joining a server may incur a crash using DirectX 9
• DirectX overlays (like the Steam overlay) cause performance issues under DirectX11 on some GPUs. We recommend to disable all DirectX overlays for now if you notice frequent frame time spikes (via r_stats)

[ 2019-06-20 13:41:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Itching for some NS2 this weekend?

Community Challenge

Check out the epic bash that is the Community Challenge! In this event hosted by our friends at the Natural Selection League, it's community VS community as different servers prepare for battle to compete for the crown of Community Champion! This is a two day tournament held on the 15th & 16th of June, starting at 8 PDT / 11 EDT / 15 GMT / 17 CEST You can catch streams of this event on the following Twitch Channels: NaturalSelection2 (Starting 1 hour from this post) NSLTV (The stream should be starting in a few minutes!)

Natural Selection 2 Public Playtest

This Saturday , (June 15th at 13:00 PDT / 22:00 CEST - or 5 hours from this post) We will have a public playtest of build 328!! This patch is focused primarily on client and server performance improvements, and as such we think its a good idea to ensure others do not experience anything broken, and that we can adequately stress test our server. All are invited to join us to play some rounds / break things, ensure the build is stable and provide any additional feedback! Join our General Voice Channel in this discord to coordinate with us and feel free to show up a few minutes early to ensure you get a chance to play or ask questions. We will give out the server password over voice the moment we begin. It will be on the publicly available Beta branch on our NAPT server.

[ 2019-06-15 14:25:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Unknown Worlds would like to invite you to watch or sign up to play the NEWCOMER TOURNAMENT, an event hosted by our friends at Natural Selection League.

WHEN IS THE NEWCOMER TOURNAMENT?

The tournament will be played on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2. Saturday (Group Stage): Start: 19 CEST / 17 GMT / 1 PM EDT At most 3 matches, with 4 rounds each All games, if not finished earlier, will end at 00:00 CEST / 6:00 PM EDT Sunday (Finals): Start: 19 CEST / 17 GMT / 1 PM EDT Half-Finals and Finals, played in a best of 5 format You can catch streams of the event on the Official Natural Selection 2 and Natural Selection League twitch channels! Do I need a complete team? No, you dont! Everyone can register. It doesnt matter if you register only yourself, with a few friends or a complete team. Who can register? All players who have not played in any of the NSL seasons can participate. Where do I register? Registration is run by the NSL Homepage homepage. This video explains the process. It is also the page where you can find teams, players, and your results. Also please fill out this form if you wish to participate to make it easier for captains to sort out teams! For additional details, please see the Help Document. Dont miss any news about the Newcomer Tournament by subscribing to the NSL Steam Group. For additional help (or to just hang out!), see: The Official Natural Selection 2 Discord Server The NSL Discord Server

[ 2019-05-29 17:46:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

What has build 327 Unearthed? A lot actually! This new update to NS2 includes a new map, changes to existing maps, new skins, new models, new sounds and new gameplay and balance changes. All told the changelog for build 327 came to be 10+ pages once we included everything. There is so much in this update to sink your teeth into, read ahead for all the details or just jump in game and figure out all the changes in battle. People playing on the new map Unearthed will receive a new alien commander skin and if you like that you might also check out our Catalyst DLC Pack, which has many other skins and now includes a new Sandstorm skin for the updated machine gun model. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2. Click here to see the full changelog and all the goodies contained within. Follow the NS2 Development Roadmap to see our plans for future updates.

[ 2019-04-26 17:05:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 326 includes crash fixes, changes to quickplay, spectate updates, bug fixes, and new cosmetics to the Catalyst Pack. In honor of Gorgemas, everyone who has purchased the Catalyst Pack DLC will receive new gorge toxin skins for all the gorge structures. If you dont own the Catalyst Pack, you can still purchase it and unlock all the DLC skin packs included. Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.
From all of us at Unknown Worlds, we wish you the happiest of holidays and Merry Gorgemas! Check out the full changelog below to see all the goodies contained within. Follow theNS2 development roadmapto see our plans for future updates. Changelog Tweaks / Improvements

• Added Toxin skins for all the Gorge structures.
  • Hydras
  • Babbler Eggs
  • Babblers
  • Clogs
  • Gorge Tunnels
• Disabled LuaJITs trace stitching to try and resolve in game client crashes.
• Reduced the size of the server performance fields in the move packet to lower the overall bandwidth consumption (Contributed by Steelcap)
  • This is something that will become more robust in the coming patches, further reducing server bandwidth. A requirement if we are to increase server rates.
• You can now block servers in the server browser and in the scoreboard:
  • Blocked servers are only listed at the very bottom of the server list by default. (custom sorting preferences such as sorting by ping will undo this)
  • The server entries of blocked servers are grayed out.
  • Quick play will skip blocked servers.
  • You can manage the blocked servers via the Blocked server tab in the server browser, next to the History tab.
  • Similar to adding a server to your favorites while in a server, you can utilize the scoreboard to click on the Block icon at the top of it.
• Quick Play now lists the amount of servers it skipped.
  • The reasons why a server may be skipped because they are full, passworded, rookie only, blocked or the server operator opted out the Quick Play feature.
• Quick Play will no longer connect you to a server you disconnected from in the prior 10 minutes, unless there are no other servers available.
  • Joined a server you did not like? Quickplay will try to avoid it next time.
• Improved the overhead spectator mode:
  • Added a binding legend to the bottom of the overhead spectator HUD
  • You can now focus a player by just clicking on them
  • Hovering over a player status panel at the sides of the screen will display the hitpoint values.
  • Hovering over a structure with passive abilities will display its radius if it has any.
  • Added health bars for non-standard dropped weapons displaying the time remaining until they expire
  • Added the name of the target location to the unit status of Phasegates and Gorge Tunnels for overhead spectators.
• Removed the 32 bit OS main menu warning.

Fixes

• Fixed that Gorge ghost placement models (such as a hydra or clog before it is placed) were color highlighted incorrectly by the default Alien Vision.
• Fixed that certain mods like NS2+ caused the main menu to not load after failing to connect to a server due to a consistency failure.
• Fixed reflections being too intense due to recent changes.
  • Reflection shininess is now back down to sane levels.
• Fixed that the ping server browser filter was applied even when it wasnt visible at lower resolutions.
• Fixed that the Ranked server browser filter wasnt applied to custom gamemode server. This caused some players to believe that certain custom gamemode servers are ranked while they are not.
• Fixed that the serverbrowsers attempt-to-join-full-server dialogue mentioned reserved slots even when none were available.
• Fixed that clicking on servers in the history tab that were no longer available could cause a script error.
• Fixed small visual issues in the Tram and Eclipse menu backgrounds.
• Fixed that sometimes the users server Favorites were not saved correctly.
• Fixed a rare server crash related to relevancy portals that would occur when the server was struggling.

Maps Kodiak

• Fixed stuck spot in a vent from Observation to Hangar Bay

Eclipse Menu

• Fixed flipped text

Tools

• Map Editor
  • Added selection masks for ambient_sound and reverb entities.

SDK

• Rendering Pipeline
  • Changed how the GBuffer stores normals and gloss data.
    • Shouldnt notice any visual difference!
    • Normals now stored with only 2 components (x, y).
    • Gloss is now stored in the z component of the normals buffer, instead of the alpha channel of the spec buffer. This allows gloss to be properly blended with decals (before, gloss would be discarded, as the alpha channel of the texture is used as the blending factor).

Known Issues

• There are still some FMOD related crashes that are being looked into, that represent roughly 20% of known crashes, that mostly occur upon launch or exit of the game.

[ 2018-12-21 14:40:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

This Steam Community group has been neglected. For eight years, we forgot it existed. Before this post, the last update was from Flayra in January 2010, offering Natural Selection 2 pre-orders! It's time to bring it back to life. Back in 2010, Subnautica wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye. NS2 hadn't topped Steam on Halloween. People were using iPhone 3's. Windows 7 was only a few months old. This is a vintage Steam Community, and resurrecting it is an opportunity for reflection. Since 2010, Unknown Worlds has been through a lot. We've navigated near-death financial valleys to the heady heights of #1 top-seller on Steam. Our team size has grown from around 10 to around 40. We've gotten a little older, a little wiser, and formed firm friendships as a team. Through it all, the consistent force behind our survival and success has been you. You've hurled feedback on Twitter, debated design on Discord, reviewed roadmaps on Trello, shared trailers on YouTube, endured horrific Early Access bugs, delayed updates, awful frame rates, and so much more. Your engagement with the development process is the critical secret sauce. Without all of you, our games would probably suck. To everyone that has followed us since 2010, and before, and to everyone that is with us now, and to those thinking of joining us in future, thank you. We're pumped to keep making great games with you. - Unknown Worlds

[ 2018-11-24 02:04:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 325 includes balance adjustments, map refinements, bug fixes, gameplay tweaks, and new cosmetics to the Catalyst Pack. A long time veteran of NS2 development has rejoined the team, Fsfod is back and putting all his focus on improving and stabilizing LuaJIT. Fsfod was the original developer that implemented LuaJIT support for NS2. His efforts will ultimately yield a faster and more stable game. The Machine Gun is getting some needed love this update. The Commander is no longer required to research it separately after upgrading to an Advanced Armory and we have lowered the cost of the Commander weapon drop as well. Additionally, with a lower overall weight and slight increase to the base damage, this is starting to feel like a better weapon choice to have in a group of Marines later in the round. Sound is a critical component of NS2 gameplay. Hearing the clatter of claws on metal can mean the difference between life and death. Our resident audiophileSweetshas prepared an overhaul of audio cues, from footstep distances to Gorge Tunnel sounds over the last few patches and now has taken a peck at the Lerk glide and ambient sounds for additional player tracking.
Last update we introduced theCatalyst Pack, new Sandstorm skins for all Marine equipment, and Toxin skins for all Alien lifeforms. This update we are adding to that DLC, Catalyst now gives the Command Station and Hive the cosmetic DLC love theyve always deserved. This update also includes cosmetic options for Alien Eggs and Harvesters as well as Marine Extractors.

*Proceeds from the sale of all NS2 DLC items, including this new Catalyst Pack, go towards funding the on-going and long-term development of NS2. Since this is Halloween, we have added our first ever animated shoulder badge. This spooky new babbler badge will unlock after completing just five rounds of play that are at least five minutes long.
Check out the full changelog below to see all the goodies contained within. Follow theNS2 development roadmapto see our plans for future updates. Changelog Gameplay

• Machine Gun tweaks
  • Now unlocks with the Advanced Armory
    • We felt that accessibility was an issue preventing the weapon from being seen in most games, with the research cost and research time not being justified by the stats.
  • Lowered weight to 0.18 (from 0.21).
    • Now it weighs slightly more than the Grenade Launcher. This allows you to move faster with it, to include when using a jetpack to chase down those higher lifeforms.
  • Increased base damage to 9 (from 8)
    • The weapon should feel more impactful now later in the round, creating a greater distinction from the rifle when it comes to DPS.
  • Lowered commander dropped costs to 20 team resources (from 40)
    • This should bring it into parity with other commander dropped weapon prices.
• Prototype Lab build time
  • Fixed that the build time was 8 instead of the intended 23 seconds.
• Eggs and Embryos (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
  • All eggs (spawned by hives) and embryos (player evolved or commander dropped lifeforms) now have a flat 350 hp and do not mature anymore. Additionally, we have removed Marines from seeing the nutrient mist column effects that play on evolving players. Aliens can still see the effect on their evolving teammates.
    • We did not like how frustrating it felt for a field Marine to so easily determine which were weak evolving embryos and which were strong eggs, without commander assistance.
  • Lifeforms now share their HP relative with their Embryo. For example: While evolving, if your Embryo takes 50% damage you will hatch with 50% HP. Also: If you evolve with only 50% HP, your embryo will only have 50% of its 350 HP when you begin evolving.
    • A compromise to the aforementioned increase in HP for embryos, and because it felt horrible to shoot an embryo to 5% HP and have a 100% HP Onos hatch out.
  • Both eggs and embryos can now be healed.
    • This just felt natural to finally have, and fitting with the relative HP changes. It also can make egg-locking slightly more difficult to achieve.
  • Regardless of the damage eggs take, respawning Skulks will always hatch with 100% HP.
    • This will ensure a Hive room under attack can still respond accordingly with respawning players.
• Default Alien Vision Changes
  • Players and structures on Marines and Aliens now have separate colors
    • During chaotic engagements with teammates involved, it was easy to lose your target with only a screen full of orange. Now Marine structures are dark blue but Marine players are still the same color (red-orange) and Alien structures are now tinted green and Alien players have a faint green outline. Hive Vision outlines now dim depending on if the highlighted player is through a wall or not. If it can damage you, it will be red-orange like a Marine.

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added Commander skins for owners of the catalyst pack:
• Added the animated Haunted Babbler shoulder patch:
  • Play 5 rounds during the remaining halloween season to unlock it!
• The location caches for lights, reflection probes, and emissive props will now be calculated at map load, rather than as power points first come into relevancy for a player. This prevents hitches in the early game of the first round of each map change.
• Flinch animations have been removed from all players, Alien and Marine alike.
  • The blending of these animations were causing slight Client / Server desynchronization resulting in inaccurate hit feedback occasionally, and they were barely visible during typical engagements.
• Removed the key binding to hide/show player names on the minimap (Contributed by Handschuh)
• Modified structure extent boxes used for checking placement validation to more closely match the model. This is an improvement, but does not fix all cases.

Sound Effects / General Audio (Thanks Sweets!)

• Removed all Alien idle sounds
  • Idle sound triggers were unreliable and difficult to predict. Most idle sounds were based on speed with an arbitrary cooldown time. A fast moving player would unknowingly play an idle sound at a time which would betray their position unintentionally. Additionally, leaving the sound turned on in 1st person only would be confusing, leading the player to believe they are making idle sounds that could be audible to the enemy.
• Lerk Gliding
  • To prevent Lerk gliding from being completely silent after the removal of idle sounds, the 1st person sound you typically hear while gliding as a Lerk is now audible to all players. It will increase in volume slightly based on your speed. The range is very short. It is designed to allow shotgunners to flip around and respond to the Lerk sound at the very last second rather than responding only after receiving 2 bites, if they are paying attention in a quiet environment.
• Fade Blinking
  • Sound added for all players while remaining in Ethereal form. (holding down the Blink key)
• Audio for the Refinery buckets pouring in Smelting have been turned off for the time being until a difficult bug can be resolved.

Fixes

• Fixed issues with input handling that occurred at consistent ~80 fps or lower, resulting in ignored input commands and frame hitching. This fix makes user input consistent regardless of framerates. (Thanks Matso!)
• Fixed issue with Gorge belly slide sound cutting out and playing inconsistently.
• Fixed Alien regeneration sound not consistently playing when alien lifeforms or structures are healed.
• Fixed that hydras could still shoot if they were completely inside of a clog.
  • Key word: completely. If you can see it, you can kill it.
• Improved scenarios where commanders could execute multiple actions simultaneously that were intended to be single-use only. For example, alien commanders could upgrade 2 or more hives at once to crag hives, or ink with more than one shade at a time.
  • More often than not these actions were done on accident, wasting resources and even having permanent repercussions (in the case of the hive type). There is still an edge case that allows you to upgrade two hives with the same hive type, but the primary means has been resolved.
• Fixed that the Marine commanders cursor would vanish if the player opened the main menu before the chair had fully closed around them.
• Fixed that some players still got the summer gorge patch notification while not being able to unlock it anymore.
  • That lazy gorge on the inner tube wouldnt hush up about summer never ending on their world.
• Fixed some server/client desync issues with the flinch animation which could cause hit registration false positives
• Fixed the marine builder tool animation flickering occurring while building structures from certain angles (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
  • IronHorse is forever in Katzens debt for fixing his #1 most hated bug of all time.
• Fixed that some players got beaconed when they were already in the target room (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed that updating the game to a newer version (when a patch releases) and immediately connecting to a server actively playing on a custom map could cause an invalid files error.

Maps

• Biodome (Contributed by pSyk)
  • Improved stairs in Bridge so Skulks can use the gap between them.
  • Fades can now use the gap under stairs for the lowest staircase in Bridge.
  • Improved performance of Low Lights setting
  • Improved overall performance in multiple locations by optimizing occlusion culling and lighting.
  • Map wide tweaks to Commander view to reduce visual clutter, which should make dropping structures and commander abilities easier from multiple viewing angles.
  • Fixed several misaligned textures and props
• Descent (Contributed by Zavaro)
  • Removed Launch Bay Shipping vent to prevent alien mobility and cheesing
  • Removed Monorail Water Treatment vent to prevent alien mobility and cheesing
  • Removed Shipping Hydroanalysis vent on South side of room as it was unnecessary as well as an annoying spot for Gorges to prevent Marines from ever feeling safe in Hydroanalysis
  • Added additional Shuttle Bay Gravity vent for flanking and escape
  • Added Gravity Shipping vent for lifeform escape
  • Added Water Treatment Silo vent for alternate Alien path
  • Removed Hydroanalysis broken glass tube to prevent near invincible shotgun Marine positioning, is now the unbroken asset
  • Added pipe and cables to block line of sight from northern Hydro vent entrance to
  • prevent Gorges from Bile Bombing structures from an invincible spot (Thanks, Psyk!)
  • Broke down catwalk in Shuttle Bay Gravity hallway to increase marine speed to the top
  • Increased size of Nebula sign in Receiving northward to better block LOS to Receiving-Hydro staircase
  • Broke glass and opened door of kiosk in Receiving to offer some additional way into/out of Shipping
  • Broke glass on rounded corner on upper level of Gravity to give line of sight to vent for marines to kill escaping aliens
  • Removed crates and a support beam to upper Shipping to make the area less cluttered and better for movement in combat
  • Added reflective glass reflections and geo to props that lack that shader
  • Changed the signs in Plaza and other areas to have proper aspect ratios
  • Fixed a number of areas with misaligned textures and holes
  • Removed a bunch of lights that were inside the walls in both vanilla and NSL lowlights
• Refinery
  • Fixed misaligned textures around Containment tech point
  • Fixed areas where structures could not be built
  • Fixed cyst several placement bugs in multiple location

Tools

• Fixed all NS2 tools always allocating 2GB of memory.
• Updated GUI framework used by all tools.
  • This significantly increases their stability! No longer does using the Cinematic Editor feel like youre blindly defusing a sentient bomb with every mouse click, waiting for it to crash just because it knew you forgot to save your work and wanted to watch you suffer.
• Editor
  • Fixed startup crash issue when attempting to initialize a sound device.
  • Fixed a memory leak in the prefab tool that would occur whenever a prefab was placed.
  • Fixed an issue that would cause static props that were mirrored to not properly generate pathing mesh on top of themselves.
  • Lights are now filtered for selection according to their type (spotlight, point-light, and ambient-light), rather than all lights being filtered together.
  • Added a reflection probe selection filter.
  • Added a CommanderInvisibleNonCollision group (Contributed by Nin)
• Cinematic Editor
  • Added support for the Edit and View viewport cameras to be saved in cinematic files automatically.

SDK

• Crash dumps are now compressed before being uploaded and now have an ID that can used when reporting an issue. Click the Copy GUID button on the crash dump dialog window, or see your %appdata%/Natural Selection2/dumps/dumplog.txt file
• Increase the amount of data captured in crash dumps to try and help track down the Lua stack corruption crash.
• Changed how some of the engines Lua bindings are generated, to work around the Lua crash (seems to reduce them but not entirely fix the issue)
• Fixed the steam branch name not always being written to the log correctly

Known Issues

• Tools
  • Some of the tools may crash when moving/dragging their sub-window panes outside the main program window.
• Client Crashes
  • We continue to look into our recent crashes and have made some adjustments through client only updates as well as this patch to both help us better locate the issue and resolve it. This continues to be the top priority of our team and we have contracted FSFOD to assist in resolving these crashes and enhance our crash data gathering tools.

[ 2018-10-29 13:36:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 324 is the start of something exciting! It’s the catalyst to our new development cycle! Over the last few years we have made changes and fixes to further develop NS2 with the emphasis on helping to stabilize the gameplay and create the best experience possible for every player. Today we start the sale of our limited time DLC the Catalyst Pack! This premium DLC offers the single largest skin pack we have ever released and it also includes future custom skins and items as a thank you for purchasing the DLC now. Sales of this DLC directly affect the budget for our development team and will help us to continue to bring you more exciting updates to the game. See more at naturalselection2.com/catalyst, but hurry because this DLC will only be available for a short time and then it will be locked away in the UWE vault forever! We have spent the last few months working behind the scenes to develop a Roadmap for our vision of NS2 2.0. This isn’t a new game, but what we feel is the ultimate version of NS2. Once our objectives on the roadmap have been completed, we will work with our partners to do a large marketing push and even test some free to play options to get NS2 in the hands of those who haven’t had the opportunity to play. While our focus is shifting towards new and exciting changes, we will still continue to fight for more performance both server-side and client-side. We are fortunate to have so many community contributors who are helping on both fronts. We’re excited and passionate about supporting their efforts and we can’t wait to see their work included with a future release. With our push to both increase development productivity and shorten the time we can release this roadmap to you, we have hired an additional programmer. Not a stranger to NS2, please welcome Brian “Samoose” to the team! Over the years Samoose has been a big part of work done with our old customize menu and he has done lots of tinkering around the entire game. With his addition to the team, we hope to accomplish a lot of our tasks in a shorter amount of time. We thank you for your continued support See you on the battlefield! Changelog Gameplay

• Fade
  • Decreased the size of the Fade’s hitbox slightly
    • In recent months, feedback from the community has illustrated that the Fade can feel a bit too vulnerable or “squishy”, leading to aversion from average players in choosing the crucial lifeform. In lieu of adjusting its eHP values, we decided to refine the hitbox to make it closer to the actual model, making it slightly harder to hit for inaccurate shots. We’ll be monitoring this change closely.
      
• Gorge Tunnel
  • Added a new unique building sound that can be heard beyond the Gorge Healspray distance. (Thanks Sweets!)
    • This allows attentive Marines the chance to counter and contend aggressively positioned tunnels that are placed a full room away, but it should not heavily impact defensively placed tunnels that are predictable (such as Nanogrid). This has allowed us to lower the build time.
  • Lowered build time to ~8.5 seconds (from 12, was previously 5).
    • We received a lot of unhappy feedback regarding the longer build times, which were originally intended to provide time for Marines to discover them when laning. However, utilizing sounds should allow us to lessen this build time while accomplishing similar goals.
  • Added a new unique idle sound that can only be heard just beyond melee range by both teams (Thanks Sweets!)
    • This should aid both Aliens and Marines locating the tunnel in cramped and busy structure environments, especially when shaded. Aliens can no longer utilize silence to conceal a tunnel from a nearby Marine.
  • Removed the Tunnel cysts (“muffins”) inside the tunnel
    • These obstructions were originally intended to provide brief cover for Aliens traversing inside, but after years worth of experience, it is clear that they more often obstruct Alien movement instead. Commence Gorge bellyslide halfpipe stunts!
• Webs: (Thanks Katzenfleisch!)
  • You can now place Clogs on Webs.
    • This allows for some creative Clog placement rather than simple Clog towers, and while it can better obstruct Marine movement it often provides a greater LOS for the Marine to shoot through.
    • You can place 3 Clogs on a web. Any more than this will break the web and your clogs will fall. Hydras and Babbler Eggs on the underside of these Clogs will be destroyed when a Clog falls, so be wary of their placement!
    • You can utilize this mechanic to get to previously hard to reach positions.
  • Webs are no longer destroyed on contact by Marines. Only Exosuits remove them on contact.
    • This was done to both accommodate Clogs on Webs (otherwise a single Marine can just run through your creation to destroy it) as well as provide a much needed increase in utility to the carefully placed Webs. As such..
  • Webs can be destroyed by the Axe
    • It takes 4 swings to destroy a web with no weapons upgrade, 3 swings at any other level. So better get a welder if you’re in a hurry!
• Babblers
  • They will now reattach when a player evolves, even to another lifeform. They will also reattach to a player after leaving the Hive. (Thanks, Katzenfleisch!)

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added the first batch of skins for the Catalyst DLC:
  • Toxin skins for all playable Kharra lifeforms.
  • Sandstorm skins for all Frontiersmen equipment including for the first time the Grenade Launcher and Welder.
• Optimized the Marine droppable Catalyst Pack and Onos Boneshield effect shaders (Thanks Handschuh)
• Players now lose their rookie status at Hive Level 15

Sound Effects / General Audio (Thanks Sweets!)

• Marine footstep distance for Aliens have been slightly increased to 12 (from 11)
• Increased Jetpack looping sound at mid-distance. Jetpack looping sound now louder than the burst sound.
• Gorge Tunnel ambient sounds now play everywhere inside the tunnel and are much more audible.
• Hive pain sound no longer plays for the Marine Commander at full volume across the other side of a map. Volume rolloff dependenton how close the camera is to the hive.
• Optimized sound banks including 150 sounds. Many critical sounds that are very short but needed to be played immediately were inefficiently being streamed from disk which created a small delay. Other Voice Overs and music tracks which are larger files are no longer loaded into memory. This will help players the most who are still using mechanical HDDs and it slightly lowers overall memory usage for all players.
• Axe impact sound on organic materials (Lifeforms, structures, infestation) is no longer delayed.
• FEV and FSB files are now part of the default consistency checks.

Fixes

• Fixed Commander droppables not “snapping” to the target entity (such as an empty RT node or a Marine receiving a medpack) as intended.
  • The placement model flickering on and off unreliably was also fixed
• Fixed that the lua garbage collector did not run while the renderer is finalizing the frame frame but afterwards. Additionally we made sure it doesn’t run longer than absolutely necessary every frame to decrease the time spent only collecting garbage every frame. This decreases the time spent to generate each frame for at least 0.5 ms.
• Fixed that almost all sound and visual effects were networked and thus shown to the enemy commander even if they didn’t have any line of sight (LOS) to them. All known LOS issues have now been resolved except for the following:
  • Gorge Tunnel, Phase Gate, and Beaconing may still show the enemy transition to their new location on the map momentarily if LOS is achieved first.
  • Bonewall (from spectator only)
  • Webs remain (after gaining LOS at least once)
• Fixed issue where gorge web placement model would persist after an invalid placement attempt.
• Fixed that beaconing cared more about proximity to the command chair than room location. (Thanks, Katzen!)
  • For example, on Descent, a marine in Receiving would not get beaconed to Hydroanalysis
• Fixed that you couldn’t drop a hive while hovering directly over the techpoint with your mouse.
• Fixed that you could Echo upgrade chambers on top of Hive tendrils
• Fixed that embryos appeared on the minimap using a different icon than eggs if they were your friends on steam, allowing marines to easily distinguish between eggs and evolving players.
  • NOTE: Despite the obvious balance implications of this change, this has been classified as a bug, and has been fixed.  The rationale behind it is that eggs and embryos appear identical in the world, therefore they should appear identical on the minimap.  The minimap should not be capable of providing more information to the team than they could collectively gather from in-world visuals alone.  In the future, the embryo world-model may be altered to appear different than the egg model, in which case the embryo minimap icon can be reinstated.
• Fixed that using the bait ball inside a gorge tunnel caused all babblers to be destroyed.  (Thanks, Katzen!)
• Fixed that babblers did not reattach after leaving a hive.  (Thanks, Katzen!)
• Fixed that too many babblers could stop khammanders from dropping a structure.  (Thanks, Katzen!)
• Fixed that the team’s skill tier was often off due to using incorrect player values.
• Fixed that the server’s skill tier didn’t correctly account for bots and added a tooltip for the icons in the server browser.
• Fixed that running the performance profiler crashed the application when a worker thread got interrupted by the operating system. However there are still some other less commonly known cases where using the profiler can crash the application.
• Fixed that firing a shotgun into infestation (or anything that plays the “materials/organic/ricochet” sound event) caused a massive hitch.
• Fixed that you could place Cysts on floors below gratings/stairs, despite collision geo inbetween, and floors being set to “commandernobuild.”  (Thanks, Katzen!)
• Fixed that you could not open the Server console on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 or higher.
• Fixed starting a server on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 or higher would result in an immediate crash.

Maps

• Biodome
  • Fixed an issue with visible Seasonal items in the Ready Room (Thanks, Zavaro!)
  • Fixed z-fighting textures near Join Team entities (Thanks, Zavaro!)
• Caged
  • Fixed a hole in Purification (Thanks, Zavaro!)
• Derelict
  • Fixed an issue with cysts stuck under the stairs in Western Entrance (Thanks, Kash!)
  • Fixed hole in ceiling in Lookout (Thanks, Zavaro!)
• Kodiak
  • Improved Command window visually and added additional Occlusion Geometry (Thanks, Loki!)
  • Added preplaced IPs in Marine Start (Thanks, Psyk!)
  • Fixed Marine Start hologram (Thanks, Loki!)
  • Fixed fullbright Hangar when power goes out (Thanks, Psyk!)
  • Improved Occlusion Geometry and performance (Thanks, Psyk!)
  • Improved and brightened lighting (Thanks, Psyk!)
  • Fixed an area where structures are unpowered in Command (Thanks, Zavaro!)
• Mineshaft (Thanks, Kash!)
  • Fixed map visual issue near The Gap
  • Fixed unpowered areas in North Tunnels, Crusher, Water Pumps, Snake Pass
  • Fixed location entities not covering parts of rooms
  • Fixed stuck spot in Pilot Drill
  • Made the Cart Tunnel to Water Pumps vent exit more easily used
  • Added partial cover to the ceiling of Operations so that the hive tendrils attach to something when a hive is dropped there.
  • Added lights to eliminate black spots in brew room and the water pumps vent.
  • Added collision geo to make walking in the lower section of Pilot Drill less frustrating.
  • Tweaked a few props in North Tunnels to make it less of a mess visually.
• Summit
  • Fixed some commander invisible issues with snow and waterfalls
• Veil
  • Removed collision of props above all doors
  • Fixed Onos stuck spot in Topographical
  • Fixed various holes and minor gaps throughout the map
  • Polished up some glass around the map to be shiny
  • Added crate to allow Onos to get out of small pit in Topo near the gold pipes

Tools

• Fixed that builder was attempting to use the wrong path for the nvcompress executable and couldn’t build any textures.
• Editor
  • Added new Rotation Nudging tool to assist in getting precise placement and rotation of model props. New key-binds are available for this tool, but not set by default. These binds can be found under the “Edit” menu while using the Rotation Tools. To use this new feature, hover over the axis to rotate around and press the keys that were bound

SDK

• Fixed that static prop collision visualization wasn’t properly scaled, and thus didn’t match the actual collision model.

Known Issues

• There is a micro stutter that can occur for players with less than 70 fps held consistently, while circle strafing, and using Windows 10. (strafing around an object while keeping your view centered on it.) We have a fix ready for the next patch. This stutter has been in the game for months, and was not introduced this patch.

[ 2018-09-05 13:32:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

There are pros and cons to having a longer patch cycle. In this case, our reason for delay was out of our control. However this ended up allowing for a lot more of our work to be brought into the update. Update 323, as you will see in the changelog below, is probably one of the more impactful updates that we have done in some time. Beyond adding some new cosmetics and our new Shadow Onos model, there are some big changes to gameplay that have shown to not only adjust a lot of the existing strategy, but force you to think and apply all-new ones as well. We hope that these changes will inspire new gameplay and lifeform usage in the foreseeable future. Summer is now afoot and as a special treat Rantology has added some new flair for your shoulder armor. It’s only available through July 16, 2018.  
We teased at what was moving in the shadows just a couple weeks ago and now we are ready to unveil the Shadow Onos. An entirely new model created just for this skin, this completes the entire range of the shadow aliens. Since this is the final piece of the shadow skin collection, we have decided to give away the Onos skin to anyone that was a Reinforced Shadow Tier contributor, or purchased the Shadow Pack DLC. For those of you that don't receive the Shadow Onos from a prior purchase can buy it HERE. *please note that this item is not tradable  
Our Forge skins have been very popular amongst the community, you could say they’ve been red hot. They are one of our favorite skins in the game but we felt that the pack just wasn’t complete enough. So as a gift from us to you, please enjoy the addition of Shotgun and Flamethrower Forge skins. Anyone that already owns the Forge DLC will be granted the new items for free in the customize menu. If you don't already own this awesome DLC, you can buy it HERE.  
We know everyone here likes to show off their bling, whether it be a badge, armor or some other in-game cosmetic. So we’ve added player skill tiers and fancy new icons to help differentiate between the tiers while in game. Of course, the main purpose of this feature is really more towards helping to balance teams based on skill and their relative groups.  
There is much to digest in the changelog below. We hope you have fun playing around with the changes, new skins and Shadow Onos model. As always, there is more to come in the future! Good hunting. Changelog Gameplay

• Alien Upgrades rebalance
  • Auto-spawn with upgrades
    • Reapplies last used Skulk upgrades on spawn, even if you’ve since evolved into a higher life form, it will remember.
    • If no upgrades were last used, they’re assigned randomly (save for focus)
    • Has 4 second delay for each upgrade level, totaling a max of 12 seconds for all 9 potential upgrade chambers to take effect. Manually evolving is faster. But this mechanic keeps the QoL that is spawning with upgrades, without being overpowered or preventing Marines from locking down a hive room. (Thanks for the idea Handschuh!)
  • Removed Silence
    • The current implementation of this upgrade worked against some of the fundamental requirements for the Melee vs Ranged design. We felt it was easily one of the most frustrating things in the game to encounter, for all skill ranges. A proper solution couldn’t be implemented due to technical constraints, so this is the best path forward we believe.
  • Vampirism
    • Now on the Crag hive and it no longer cloaks you, this upgrade better fits the facerolling playstyle of aggro aliens by providing as good or better eHP benefits as Carapace, provided you’ve successfully landed 3-4 hits on an enemy. You’re more vulnerable at range compared to Carapace, but if you can close that distance and land your hits, you’re better off. It now restores a fraction of your eHP (health + armor) instead of a fixed amount of health per shell:
      • Skulk Bite: 6% (4.5-6.7 eHP)
      • Gorge Spit: 3.2% (5.1-5.9 eHP)
      • Lerk Bite: 3% (4.5-5.2 eHP)
      • Fade Swipe: 3% (7.5-9.3 eHP)
      • Fade Stab: 6% (15-18.6 eHP)
      • Onos Gore: 2.5% (22.5-31.5 eHP)
  • Regeneration
    • Tweaked to compliment the 3rd form of Crag Hive playstyle, the Hit and Run type, Regeneration now heals by 3% (was 2%) of your health for each shell every 2 seconds. (but is clamped to heal at least 6 and at most 80 hp). It only activates when out of combat (taking damage) for 3 seconds.
  • Adrenaline
    • This upgrade currently doesn’t provide enough benefits to higher life forms while being too good for lower lifeforms. So we started addressing that issue. However to fully resolve the issue we will need to fully rebalance the alien energy system which we plan to do in one of the next updates.
    • Increases maximum Energy levels by 20 per Spur for a maximum of 160, old energy cap was 100.
    • Removed increased energy regeneration of 1 energy per sec for each Spur (default energy regeneration is 10 energy / sec)
    • Lowered the Gorge ability energy costs:
      • Heal spray costs 10 energy (instead 12)
      • Dropping a structure costs 15 energy (instead 20)
  • Camouflage
    • In an attempt to make camouflage viable as its own upgrade, it now applies during all typical non-ability movement for an alien.
    • Leap, Charge and Blink etc will still decloak you, but a gliding Lerk or a wall jumping Skulk will remain cloaked at full speed, albeit at a higher degree of visibility.
    • Potentially useful if used in chaotic engagements. An idle ambushing alien is still difficult to spot. Typical decloaking rules when attacked or attacking apply.
  • Focus
    • We’ve heard your resounding feedback that Focus is frustrating to play against when it can one-hit-kill an unarmored Marine. So in an effort to address this we’ve made the following changes:
      • Decreased the damage bonus from 16/33/50% to 11/22/33% - this means a Focus Fade Swipe at maximum can do 99.75 damage to a Marine!
      • Only primary attacks are affected by Focus and consume 33% more energy to account for the slower RoF.
      • Vampirism heals 33% more health if Focus is selected to account for the RoF difference.
  • Crush
    • Moved to Shift Hive to replace Silence’s position, and allow for Vampirism to be on Crag Hive.
  • Celerity, Carapace, and Aura are unchanged from previous update.

• Lerk
  • Increased personal resource cost to evolve into a Lerk to 21 (from 18)
    • This change was based on feedback from the community regarding a large amount of Lerk dominance early in a round often dictating the outcome. We believe the subtle lifeform timing difference coupled with the increased cost of re-Lerking will aid in marines being better prepared by the time they arrive on the field, as well as dealing with them less frequently, or giving more weight to their deaths.
• Gorge Tunnel
  • A single Gorge now needs 12.5 seconds (from 5) to build a tunnel.
    • Should increase the requirements to set up a gorge tunnel base rush in the late game and give Marines more time to notice them. Should not impact most early game tunnel placements that are well defended like Nano.
• Welder (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
  • What you aim at will determine whether you repair or attack something, reliably.
    • The Welder was welding wounded friends first and ignoring any enemies nearby, leading to some minor issues when you wanted to get rid of babblers near an RT or wanted to finish off a low skulk when a friendly was nearby. This change is replacing the old targeting priority with one taking the closest target from your crosshair, so the mechanic works as you’d expect.
• Now preventing players who joined a team in the first 60 seconds of a round from spawning instantly, because some players started exploiting it during early game base rushes. All players who join after the round has started will now be added to the re-spawn queue like normal.

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added the new shadow Onos
• Added the new summer Gorge shoulder patch every player can unlock by playing 5 rounds during this summer until July 16th 2018
• Added the Forge Shotgun and Flamethrower skins
• Added player skill tiers (Thanks to IeptBarakat for helping out with this)
  • Your skill tier only changes after playing at ranked ns2 servers. All other servers do not update your Hive stats! Ranked servers show up with a blue gamemode field in the server browser. Otherwise quickplay tries to connect you to a ranked server whenever possible.
  • Your skill tier is based on lower bound of your skill value. This is a combination of Hive’s estimate of your skill, and its confidence in that estimate. This makes the tiers more stable than a skill threshold alone would be, and causes them to tend to trend upward over time as Hive gets more confident.
  • 1 tier for all rookies below level 20 (approx. 20 hours playtime)
    • Tier 0 - Rookie - green color
  • 7 tiers for all other players to group them by their skill:
    • Tier 1 - Recruit - blue color - ~20% of the weekly players
    • Tier 2 - Frontiersman- silver color - ~25% of the weekly players
    • Tier 3 - Squad Leader - gold color - ~25% of the weekly players
    • Tier 4 - Veteran - platinum color - ~15% of the weekly players
    • Tier 5 - Commandant- diamond color - ~9% of the weekly players
    • Tier 6 - Special Ops - purple “shadow” color - ~5% of the weekly players
    • Tier 7 - Sanji Survivor - red color - ~1 % of the weekly players
  • The skill tiers should help players  to balance teams roughly on their own without having to rely on automatic shuffle algorithms.
  • Each servers mean skill tier is also displayed in the server browser sp players can avoid joining a server with the majority of players having a significant higher/lower skill tier.
  • You can check your own tier in the main menu.
• Changed “Rookie Only” servers to “Bootcamp” servers, and opened them up to every player below skill tier 2.
• Gorge Healspray will now show a healing effect on the friendly unit or structure the Gorge is targeting.(Thanks IeptBarakat for helping with this!)
• Some structures have had their poor or awkward collision for player movement improved to allow for smooth traversal. This impacts the Observatory, Extractor, Shell, and Arcs. You might notice that you can move through the Observatory dish now, or that Skulks aren’t floating in air as much on specific parts of an RT.
• Reflections no longer look "half-rez" due to incorrect texture coordinate derivatives.  As a result, some reflections appear more/less visible than before due to the now correct usage of the gloss map.
• The bulk of the art assets in the game were rebuilt using newer and better tools. This removed a lot of artifacts from them improving overall visuals of the game.
• Specular Maps now render at full resolution, was half-resolution before. This help improve lighting fidelity of most surfaces in the game.
• The refraction/distortion effects (glass, alien cloaking, etc.) now properly stack up.  Before, only one layer of refracting objects would be visible, occasionally causing some more important information to be lost (eg. cloaked Skulk hiding on refracting glass would be quite literally impossible to spot because it simply wasn't being rendered!). Also, parts of the Cloaked Alien would lose the refraction effect and become completely invisible in some spots during typical use.
• The game now has a ‘RepairGame.exe’ utility in the ’x64’ sub-folder. This can be used to fix common issues clients may encounter. It will delete your Workshop and Cache folder contents, as well as deactivate any mods in your options.xml file and then validate your files the next time the game is run.
• Changed the position of the Help Screen notification reminder to a more active screen area that will not risk obscuring your view. We found it wasn’t very noticeable in it’s previous position. A stroke was added to the text so that it is readable against all backgrounds.
• Added a favorite server “Heart” button to the in-game scoreboard next to the server’s name at the top of the screen. Make sure to hit that when you found a server you really like to find it again later on in the server browser!
• Added a numeric ping value next to the ping bars in the Server Browser because they might be needed if you live in certain regions like Australia.
• Limited the ping filter in the server browser to a minimum of 100 ms, to prevent users from accidentally setting it to 0, effectively making all servers disappear.
• Labeled the server rank column of the server browser with rank instead of # which most players didn’t understand.
• Improved the server rating formula so that not all full servers are moved to the second page of the server list. We also introduced a new policy for ranked servers to improve the experience that players have on them.
• Improved the “failed to connect” dialog to look better and offer a few more options, such as Retry or Try Another Server.
• Added 3D visual hints on the HUD indicating the position of spotted Resource Towers for players with hints enabled. Hopefully this will help new players to know where to go, and to attack resource towers instead of the Tech Points which were previously the only thing shown with hints on.
  • Requires LOS established by your team before showing.
  • Shows a maximum of 2 resource towers on screen at any time to avoid clutter.
  • Prioritizes distance and direction you are looking to determine which RTs to show
• Replaced the resource tower dots in the bottom right of the HUD with icons representing the actual resource tower structures of each team, to avoid any confusion.
• Unlocked the maxfps console command from 200, so player can set it as high as they want up to 1000 - at their own risk. Also added a maxfps field to the system_options.xml so players can use that to change their maxfps permanently.
• Damaged Exosuits that are not occupied now show damaged effects. If you hop into an Exosuit that has only 20 armor left, it was your own fault for not noticing.
• Added the ENSL Season 12 badges.
• Railgun impact decals properly reflect the size of the projectile now (Contributed by Nin)
• The Cache and Workshop folders are cleared out automatically this patch for everyone - and will be again each time we ship patches in the future. This prevents some odd and rare performance bugs that could arise after these folders reached very large sizes.
• Changed some default settings to prevent some disadvantages for newer players.
  • Field of View 10 from 0
  • Infestation Quality set to Minimal from Rich
  • Reflections set to Off from On (but do give them a try this patch)

Sound Effects / General Audio For the past several months Sweets has worked with us to overhaul the playback, quality, and balancing of all the game’s sound effects. His herculean efforts of reviewing, tweaking, and tuning just about every sound effect in the game have yielded great results! It’s now easier to identify specific sources of sounds, be aware of what is happening around you, and gauge the distance of potential threats. Additionally, there are some small performance gains from what he’s done, as the amount of active channels have been reduced by an incredible degree. The culmination of Sweets’ work is a much better and more full soundscape. The following cannot cover the entirety of his changes, as that would require its own separate 10 page changelog. Outstanding work, Sweets!

• General Sound Changes
  • Reviewed and changed over 1000+ sound events and their implementation to reduce global channel count. Optimizations to max playback behavior, steal behavior, max polyphony behavior, and several other properties for all events. Combined with a reduced global channel count, these optimizations should address sounds which stop playing or cut out which breaks immersion from the player and also prevents the player from hearing important gameplay information cues.
  • Re-balanced all footstep sounds for Marines and all Alien lifeforms for all material types in the game. Walking on a particular surface won’t suddenly seem much louder than other surfaces now.
  • Many additional minor optimizations to sound quality, volume attenuation over distance, reverb properties, and "under the hood" improvements.

• Aliens
  • Increased the volume and distance for many structures. Hydras, Whips, Shades, Shifts, and others are much more audible to allow Marines entering a room to scout idle and active sounds.
  • All lifeform footsteps balanced for volume and consistency. For example Onos footsteps now travel as far as a Skulk and Skulk footsteps aren’t at the loudest volume at maximum distance on rock materials.
  • Onos charging into a Marine and an Exosuit sounds added.
  • Impact sound for Parasite added regardless of a successful hit.
  • Optimized gorge channel count.
  • Optimized fade channel count and increased the sound of blink so fades can be scouted more easily at longer distances.
  • Improved and tuned Hive pain sounds.
  • Volume roll-off added for Hive death scream so it doesn’t cut off abruptly at range.
  • Fixed Tunnel exit/enter sounds when inside a tunnel. Escaping aliens in a Gorge Tunnel will now hear an enemy chasing after them.
  • Tunnel exiting sound now emits from the Tunnel itself instead of following the player. (Thanks Steelcap!)
  • Balanced UI voice over volumes such as team notifications or “Base Under Attack” notifications.
• Marines
  • The Marine Beacon sound should never cut out anymore during heavy combat.
  • Optimized all bullet ricochet sound rolloffs and balanced to make it easier to tell if shots are near the player and the material it impacts.
  • Rifle firing sound fidelity increased along with many channel usage optimizations.
  • Added sound for Weapon Upgrade Level 0, which was previously missing (Weapon 1 upgrade did not change the sound).
  • Pistol channel optimizations and balancing.
  • Shotgun channel optimizations. There is a new sound for shotguns at longer distances (removed click artifacts from shotgun distant sound and made it more audible).
  • Grenade Launcher fire and explode channel optimizations. Reduced the explode sound at max distance so it is not always at max volume, players can now hear how far away the explosions are.
  • Grenade bounce no longer max volume at max distance, but still audible at medium distances.
  • Grenade throw sound added.
  • Jetpacks reworked along with channel and fidelity optimizations. Jetpacks are much more audible at all distances. A Marine with a jetpack is extremely fast, threatening, and should not be quiet and stealthy.
  • Removed initial breathing Marine sound while sprinting which can be abused with strafe button animations.
  • Minigun Exosuit channel optimizations. Barrels now have a spin down sound.
  • Railgun Exosuit channel optimizations. Charged shots are now audible at max distance. You know when a Railgun is charging up near you now!
  • Changed Exosuit voiceover damage state sounds and increased the health required to initiate sound (35% and 50% for each warning). Should be a stronger indicator of low health rather than a warning that plays just a moment before death. A looping beeping sound has been added for the lowest health warning level for Exosuits.
  • Structures now attenuate volume sooner and do not travel quite as far while also being more audible at medium distance.
  • Volume balance changes to structures which are too loud or too quiet. For example a destroyed power node was too loud and the phase gate idle was too quiet.
  • Arcs firing will no longer deafen players and override every other sound nearby.
  • Arc charging sound is more audible.
  • Footsteps and Marine movement behavior should no longer cut out quite as much. A Skulk biting a structure should be able to stop biting and identify Marine positioning more clearly. Marine walking footsteps now travel as far as sprinting footsteps and no longer provide a stealth advantage.
  • Small improvement to Pistol idle flip animation sound.
  • Volume balancing and fixes to UI voice-overs so they do not interrupt each other and become silent.

Fixes

• Cached pathing map data no longer takes the build number into account (which was causing pathing meshes to be rebuilt for every new patch, even though the level probably hadn't changed).
• Fixed that some of the new player progressions menu entries did not work correctly and used outdated descriptions.
• Fixed an issue with the team bot controller that caused it to start a never ending loop of adding commander bots at rookie only servers.
• Fixed that Warmup structures, such as Armory or Prototype Lab, didn't respawn after the first Warm Up phase.
• Fixed issue where the material of the sound of footsteps was sometimes wrong (eg walking on a "metal" surface would sometimes result in "thin_metal" surface footstep sounds.
• Fixed that dropped Marine Weapons would not make any sound on most surfaces.
• Fixed that using a non 16:9 screen resolution or disabling hints in the options menu would hide the harmless loading screen tips. We are working on updated tips but those didn’t make it for this build.
• Fixed issue preventing the game from using exclusive Fullscreen mode
• Fixed an issue preventing changing from a low resolution to your monitor’s native resolution.
• Fixed that Sentry Batteries were not visible in Alien commander view or on the Alien map
• Fixed that Stomped Marines could occasionally use the Armory or other interactions, causing a race condition.
• Fixed that by default the "Texture handling" option defaults to "nil" instead of "1 GB".
• Fixed that whenever a Powernode without armor takes damage from Infestation (even 0 damage) the lights in a Location slightly flicker.
• Fixed that Babbler-mines hatched if an enemy is nearby but already dead
• Fixed that Babblers are not 'poofing' blueprints, making them an easy target when they are stuck trying to kill it, and not targeting a built one.
• Fixed an issue with Servers and Clients creating too many HTTP requests when calling external APIs. Both Servers and Clients now use managed and throttle request queue.
  • Server ops can change the default value in ServerConfig.json
• Fixed that fetching mod information, even through the server browser when looking at server details, would begin downloading the mods before you even connected to the server.
• Fixed that the spectator round time display was unable to display a round time of more than 60 minutes.
• Merged the UWE Extension fixes into the build, including Commander Bot loop fix as well as the Lerk poison bite fix.
• Fixed that DX11 renderer could not utilize CTRL+ESC shortcut to reach the desktop

Maps

• Summit (Contributed by Psyk)
  • Updated with cosmetic improvements to Atrium, Crevice, and Crossroads
  • Updated vent connecting Reactor Core and Glass Hallway. It’s now more accessible to both teams.
  • Added support for reflections to the entire level
• Veil
  • Tweaked reflection probes to work better with improved Reflection rendering

Tools

• Editor
  • Added extra placement options from the Static Prop tool into the Entity tool (Contributed by Steelcap)
  • Fixed that using select-all would select types of objects that were filtered out.
• LaunchPad
  • Increased number of "recent mods" that appear in the open box.
• RepairGame
  • Added this utility to perform reconfigure and repairs tasks that automatically fixes a number of common issues.

SDK

• HLSLParser now supports tex2DGrad() and texCUBElod().
• Added some utility scripts to the ‘utils’ folder used to help migrate physics joints data from old 3dsmax 2009 reactor physics format to new fbx-friendly format that spark uses now.
• Fixed a help-screen related script error that prevented modders from easily customizing the help screen. (Thanks Nin!)
• Removed all code related to the old sabot organized play system and heavy rifles.
• Added a new Client API call to get the address of the server the client is currently connected to.

Known Issues

• Repair tool close button will not close, but instead run the tool just the same as clicking OK would.
• There is a minor script error in the end of the Alien tutorial if you return through the gorge tunnel, inappropriately

[ 2018-06-15 14:47:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

You’re probably already thinking to yourself, “where is the update or patch number for the blog?” There isn’t one, that’s right we are not releasing an update today and we are truly bummed about that. About three weeks ago our physical server that builds and maintains all of our patches began having issues. We quickly realized that this was a hardware issue and not something we could quickly remedy, so we took the time and moved all of our needs to the elusive cloud. While this has delayed both testing and some development, we are back on track and have some great things to show you in the next patch. We expect the upcoming patch to be released in the next couple of weeks, but while you wait, we have left a teaser above for something we have long waited for and is finally ready to step out from the shadows.

[ 2018-05-29 20:37:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 322 is now live on Steam! This update is primarily a maintenance patch. Over the last few months lots of new systems and features have been introduced to the game and with those additions have come some small issues and strange new bugs. Hopefully this update will address those reported issues and get us back on solid ground. The dev team continues its work on the UGC conversion from Steam Workshop which is slated for 323. Always more to come, including something very special that could come with 323 as well, so stay tuned! Changelog Gameplay

• Improved sentries slightly (contributed by Nin)
• Prevent beeping noise while attacking and for 1.5 seconds afterwards
• Speed up barrel swivel when it has a target so you're not getting shot at by a sentry facing the other way
• Add a delay after shooting at a target before starting to swivel and scan again
• Always show tracers from sentries so that players better know where they are getting shot at from
• Sentries will prioritize players over other things, and will shoot at the closest players. Previously, they would prioritize anything that wasn't a cyst.
• Hydras do not block each other’s line of sight anymore (contributed by Katzenfleisch)

Tweaks / Improvements

• Tweaked some marine pickup icons to appear more stylistically consistent.  (Thanks Sinakuwolf!)
• Metabolize is no longer a switchable weapon.  This means you cannot accidentally switch to it any longer, and can only use it via the MovementModifier key.
• Drifter Eggs can now be issued orders that will be carried out by the drifter when it hatches.  Before, drifters could only be issued rally-points.
• AI movers such as ARCs and movable alien structures like Crags would move on top of players, sometimes trapping them.
• Tweaked the infestation shader slightly to better hide the hard edges of infestation circles.
• Don’t show team resources for the Ready Room team at the scoreboard.

Fixes

• Fixed that servers could get stuck in a infinite loop while filling teams up with bots.
• Fixed that bots were not removed properly after they got kicked.
• Fixed an issue where ARCs would sometimes leave collision ghosts behind in PredictWorld.
• Fixed that the "They Came From Behind!" achievement was granted in some incorrect circumstances.
• Fixed that dying in an Exosuit would cause players to lose their unused grenades.
• Fixed issue where some commander buttons would not work if multiple entities were selected, despite the button being visible.
• Fixed issue where sometimes the lines connecting queued orders in the commander interface would be connected in the wrong order.
• Fixed issue where a marine's welder and mines could be "stolen" from them at the map origin if that player was inside an exosuit.
• Fixed an issue where the build tool would be stuck building if the player picked up a welder while they were building a structure.
• Fixed an issue where players could be stuck attacking during a concede sequence.
• Fixed an issue where the wrong tech point would be visible during a concede sequence.
• Fixed an issue where MACs could not be told to repair destroyed power nodes.
• Fixed an issue where MACs would sometimes disregard their orders to move to some previous location.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes clicking the "refresh" button in the server browser would cause the game to crash.
• Fixed an issue where deploying an ARC would prevent all future corrosion damage to the ARC, including after un-deploying the ARC.
• Fixed a script error occuring if an Onos died while using stampede.
• Fixed that gorges couldn’t recycle the second tunnel entrance they placed (contributed to Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed a script error that occured if a marine had no active weapon (contributed to Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed various text positioning/visibility bugs of the GUIChat (contributed by Person8880)
• Fixed that the marine commander action notifications below the minimap often did not  display the correct location name.

Maps

• Fixed the reflections in ns2_veil.

SDK

• Editor
  • Exposed antialiasing and ambient occlusion settings for the map Editor.
  • Changed some popup messages to be console messages instead.
• Added debug utility methods to simplify dealing with upvalues (locals inside method/file scope) (contributed by Las)
  • Please read core/lua/DebugUtility.md for more details!

[ 2018-04-05 16:46:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy New Year! It has already been an exciting start to 2018 for UWE and we look forward to bringing you more exciting and interesting game experiences. The core of NS2’s development has always been the community. So many people from around the world dedicating time, opinions and skills to help make this game what it is today. Five years in and we are still working with dedicated members, new and old, to make the game better and more enjoyable. Today we release Update 321, bringing you some of the first new gameplay features to come in 2018. First we wanted to look at some of the alien features that haven’t felt complete. Onos Stampede is a great way to really immerse yourself into the large beast and finally feel like an alien gorilla on the warpath, using your body to buck and shove almost anything out of your way using the existing Charge ability. Special thank you to Steelcap for all the hard work and many revisions to get this into the game. Next, Babblers also see some love with the addition of the Babbler Mine. No longer sitting on the sidelines of an attack, the babblers can stay in an egg and placed like a proximity mine to hatch on unsuspecting marines and harass with more aggression than ever before. Special thank you also to Katzenfleisch for all the hard work and many revisions to get this into the game. Finally, this update includes a nod to our co-workers on the Subnautica team. With the release of Subnautica and it taking part within the same universe of NS2 we found it only fitting to throw some in-game love their way. Rantology has worked up a couple cool new shoulder patches and they are free to everyone! There is more to this update below in the changelog so take a look and then get in there to play with the new stuff. Big shoutout to our Playtesters for all the extra PT time this update, you always make the difference. Enjoy! Changelog Gameplay

• Onos Stampede (contributed by Steelcap)
  • A long desired addition to round out the Onos Charge ability; where a charging Onos will now push Marines out of the way while doing 12 damage.
    • Exosuits feel the impact too, but are heavier so they barely get pushed and stop Oni in their tracks.
    • Requires 72% of charge’s top speed to be reached in order to work
    • Onos charge ability has had it’s acceleration increased ~35%
    • Added two new sound events for when Onos impact Marines and Exos (contributed by Sweets)

This is something that just feels "right" for Onos. No longer will a 2-ton space gorilla/rhino be stopped dead in its tracks by a puny 180-pound human when barreling down a hallway. This should aid in Oni being unable to escape poorly positioned situations where they would otherwise be body blocked. Great job Steelcap! https://i.imgur.com/OecDW4N.gifv

• Babbler Mines (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
  • Babbler Eggs can be placed on walls or ceilings now to be an effective mine.
  • Babbler Eggs placed by gorges will no longer hatch immediately after being built
    • Gorges can hatch them if they choose to via the Use Key
    • If you hatch the babbler mine manually, they will automatically attach to you
  • Babbler Eggs will hatch when enemies get too close, quickly disposing of any hapless marines that weren't paying attention.
  • Babbler Eggs can be hatched at a distance by their Gorge hitting it with Spit.
  • They have a range of 200 to 300 hp based upon maturity, which takes 20 seconds.
  • They can do up to 40 initial damage when exploding on a Marine when fully matured, and proportionately less damage when not matured.
  • Babbler Mines can be scanned by observatories

We wanted to do something to help gorges in the early game and create something interesting, tactically. This feature adds a lot of depth to gorge-play, we feel. Marines will soon learn that not all gorges should be chased. Thanks to Katzenfleisch for all his hard work on this feature! https://i.imgur.com/iSloxtv.gifv

• Babbler Improvements (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
  • Now tracks targets much more effectively
  • Significantly increased aggression and rate they will attack
  • Attacks will now land more reliably but they can still be dodged (don’t stand still or backpedal Marines!)
  • Significantly increased speed of Babbler bait ball, allowing it to be used over much greater distances and with more accuracy. It now behaves more like a fast moving projectile instead of a lobbed grenade.
  • Bait ball now uses the first surface touched as the location for babblers to go to.
  • Fixed bug where Babblers would become unresponsive if their set target was too far away.
  • Fixed bug where Babblers would not consistently attack their target after moving within attack range.
  • Babblers now attack as a pack when given an attack order.
  • Unit Status now shown for Babbler Eggs to show their status and built percentage.
  • Babblers will now cling to friendlies much more consistently

• Marine weapons purchased by players or commanders and intentionally dropped within a very short range of Armories will no longer expire. (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
  • Killed Marines will always have an expiration timer for their dropped weapons, regardless of distance to armory.

We felt that it was restrictive that players with an excess amount of resources - be they field players or commanders - who purchased weapons for their teammates, had to have their teammates pick them up within a quick amount of time. Now they can be picked up at any time, provided it was an intentional drop and very close to the armory.

• Flamethrowers
  • Increased Pres cost to 20 from 15
  • Decreased direct damage to 12 from 15
  • Removed the immediate damage applied to flame puddles when they first appear. (8 dmg) This provides Aliens a chance to get out of harm’s way.
  • While on fire, Alien lifeforms now only take damage for 2.1 seconds after the direct attack has ceased - structures will still burn for up to 6 seconds depending on how long the attack is sustained.
  • Decreased Flame puddle radius to 1.8m from 3m.

Some subtle tweaks were necessary after fixing Update 320’s Flamethrower implementation, based upon resounding feedback from the community in public playtest sessions. Players felt that being on fire for 6 seconds after leaving the room felt unfair, and that the Pres cost was not remotely punitive enough when rushing the tech, nor was it reflective of the weapons new capabilities. Tweaks / Improvements

• Two new Marine Shoulder Patches added for all NS2 owners to celebrate Subnautica’s release, Leviathan and Peeper.

• Commanders can now group select multiple entities and the action buttons will be contextually appropriate for what is selected (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Cancel button for Commanders now shows  when you expect it to (when blueprints are involved) and the Recycle button when appropriate, and does so in the bottom right of the commander UI area. (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Improved Hydra placement (ghost model) allowing for more consistent behavior for all valid placements (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Improved Gorges ability to build their structures when placing in hard to reach spots (i.e. ceilings above the Gorge, or tight corners). This eliminates the need to jump and healspray in most circumstances. (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Smoothed out a lot of the performance hits caused by using phase gates and distress beacons. There will also no longer be any lag time between when a marine phases through and when they see what is in the new location. See SDK section "RelevancyPortals" below for details.
  • Gone are the days when you could phase through a phase gate and die before you even knew you were being chewed on. Now, you may still die but you won't be so confused.
• Optimized the routines that checks if a point is inside a trigger entity. This reduces occurrences of small hitches in the early game when lights are being updated per their map location.

Fixes

• Fixed bug with Babblers causing script errors when their target wasn’t considered alive. (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed issue with Flamethrower damage type being incorrectly calculated
• Fixed issue in Light Handlers that causes duplicate calls for map lights to be updated when after they were already updated for the current render frame. This significantly reduces the cost for map lighting changes (i.e. Power Node damaged / destroyed) as the game progresses.
• Fixed that sometimes the concede sequence wouldn't play.
• Fixed Healspary causing Marine structures to show their flinch/damaged animation. (contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed Marine waypoints staying applied to Alien lifeforms after line of sight was lost.
• Fixed a rare script error that would occur when a new hive was created.
• Fixed an issue where attempting to play a blank-named sound via a network message would cause a script error.
• Fixed most cases of enemy icons sticking on the minimap when they should no longer be visible.
• Added a nil check to OrdersMixin.lua to prevent a harmless edge-case script error.
• Fixed an issue that would cause the server time to drift out of sync with the client time on a listen server.  This would eventually cause permanent red-plugging on listen servers. (This may help those who experience issues with Skulk Challenge)
• Fixed a rare issue where clients would experience a massive game-freezing hitch whenever a power node's power-state changed.
• Fixed an error that would occur if a spectator was able to see a ReadyRoom player who also had a health bar (required the RR player to somehow get onto the actual map)

Maps

• Caged
  • Fixed issue introduced in Update 320 where some of the Location names did not show on map. #BlameMcGlaspie
• Mineshaft
  • Fixed stuck spot preventing Marine and Fades from being able to walk through vent entrance in north-western area of Cave.
• Summit
  • Small tweak to provide paneling model in Sub Access to block LOS better and prevent model clipping - thank you Zavaro
• Tram
  • Fixed stuck spot in Repair Room around techpoint - thank you Zavaro
• Veil
  • Minor tweaks to Low Lights in The Neck location - thank you Zavaro

SDK

• Added "RelevancyPortal" feature.
  • Creates a link between two areas on the map, so that as a player approaches the "source" point, a relevancy sphere expands around the "destination" point.
  • Smooths out spikes in performance caused by the server suddenly needing to send lots of new data to clients who teleport.
  • Removes the delay between a client's (predicted) teleportation and the relevant entity data of the new location reaching the client.
• Editor
  • Added "Un-weld-faces" feature. All selected faces are separated from each other.
  • Fixed "local space" transform, which now works with geometry, Scale Tool, and last prop selected as transform basis.
  • Added "remove collinear vertices" that removes useless vertices to optimize geometry.
  • Added "edge flow select" feature
    • This selects edges in a directional flow. Example: it will select an entire row or column in a regular grid, or the entire cap of a cylinder. Selects the adjacent edges that are closest to parallel with the starting edge.
  • Fixed RMB+drag issue that caused mouse cursor oddities
  • Reworked s_stats debugging command to display more details of playing sound events and internal resources of the sound system.

Known Issues

• There are still some edge cases where enemy units will remain visible on the minimap when they should not be visible (however nothing new introduced in this update).
• Weapons that do not expire near the armory will still contain their additional ammo pack as all dropped weapons do. This means players who may walk over those ammo packs might receive them, and thus a future Marine who picks up a weapon may only have a single magazine worth of ammunition. Not a huge issue considering you’re at melee range to an armory already anyways, but worth mentioning as we could not resolve this in time.

[ 2018-02-14 14:37:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

"Twas the night before Gorgemas when all through the base, Not a creature was stirring not even a MAC; The Hydras were placed by the Command Station with care, In hopes that Saint Gorgie, soon would be there..." Tis the season of gift giving and holiday cheer, so with that in mind we bring you Update 320. We’ve got some balance tweaks, visual improvements, and stability fixes for you this season. A huge thanks to Katzenfleisch for his many contributions this patch! We’d like the take a moment and address some of the mod/client/server issues that started this week. Earlier this week Valve pushed out an update on the way clients access and use the version of workshop NS2 utilizes. As a result NS2 clients and servers can no longer access the workshop content. Thanks to some coding magic by Ghoul and McGlaspie, we have a temporary fix that will be released with Update 320, please be aware that some users may experience slightly longer load times as a result of this workaround (the more mods the longer it will take). We want to stress that this is a temporary fix and that server operators have been encouraged to setup mod backup servers to help keep games going if we continue to run into issues. Our team is in communication with Valve and working to find a long term solution to the issue and we will be posting more in the next couple weeks as we figure out just what that permanent fix is going to be. We hope you enjoy your holidays and stay tuned for more to come. Merry Gorgemas! Changelog Gameplay

• Exosuits - Based on resounding community feedback, these are temporary interim changes to slightly nerf Exos, to allow us time to redesign them entirely through proper testing in following updates.
  • Increased purchase costs to 55 pres (from 45)
    • So marines can’t get them too early into the round and to make buying an Exo a significant investment again, as well as potentially limiting the ability to just re-purchase after a quick death.
  • Decreased the base (0% charged) damage of a railgun to 10 from 33. Each railgun shot now deals only up to 150 (instead of 173) damage fully charged without any weapon upgrade researched.
    • A lower base dmg should help encourage fuller charges and diminish the likelihood of cheap “chipping” kills from immediately tapping fire, especially as follow up shots.
  • You can no longer simultaneously charge both railguns at all. You can only charge one at a time.
    • This, along with the base dmg decrease, should prevent the "Double Tap" issue that can result in a near instant ~250 dmg output by skilled railgun shooters. Feeling like you were being killed by one shot was an incredibly frustrating experience for the community.
• Flamethrower - Based on community feedback, our previous Flamethrower buffs were not enough for the weapon to feel viable on it’s own. Please try these changes thoroughly before providing your updated feedback!
  • The flamethrower now deals light damage instead of “super light” damage
  • Increase the direct damage of the Flamethrower to 15 (from 10)
  • Increased burn damage to 8 (from 6)
  • Fixed that the flamethrower did not deal any direct AOE damage unless you hit an enemy directly.
  • The flamethrower can now set targets on fire up to 6 seconds. Each hit will add 2.1 seconds.
    • This should help with tackling the improved Whips
• Dissolving ragdolls no longer stop or absorb bullets (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
  • This affects Babbler, Resource Tower, Hive, Player and any other ragdolls from blocking any following damage or bullets. This is quite a notable change for the attentive shooter, and we think it feels much more responsive. Let us know what you think!

Tweaks / Improvements

• Optimized the update routine for unit status HUD elements:
  • Health and armor bars of targeted units now update instantly.
  • Removed the annoying pulsate effect of the repair icons.
• Improved map overviews
  • Fixed an issue where mini-maps would exhibit z-fighting, resulting in mini-maps that appeared to be missing certain details (eg crates).
  • Fixed an issue where the area the mini-map is rendered would not line up correctly with the minimap_extents object placed in the editor.
  • Added multisampling to greatly improve the quality of the generated mini-maps.
  • Fixed an issue where vent coloring would be incorrect/inconsistent.
  • Fixed an issue where some objects would incorrectly be colored vent-like (eg Repair room in Mineshaft had many yellow objects on the mini-map -- yet has no vents).
  • All vanilla maps now have higher resolution mini-maps!
    • Note to Mappers: ALL CUSTOM MAPS MUST BE UPDATED FOR THE MAP TO BE ACCURATE! Before re-rendering the mini-map for your level, open the level in the editor, and re-save it. Otherwise, the newly generated mini-map will not line up correctly with the in-game icons.
• Improved quality of cloaked aliens shader effect for Marines.
• All models and props that were not hand-made by level designers that emit a glow, will now change to match the current light color when power nodes are destroyed or repaired (code contributed by Nin). As a result unpowered locations will appear to be much more consistent now.
  • Note to Mappers: Please read the SDK section, as there is an explanation on how this change impacts your maps. By default, no changes are need and it will work correctly with all maps.
• Commander selection and entity moving improvements. (Thanks Katzenfleisch!)
  • Fixed that you are able to select both movable and non-movable entities at the same time, resulting in a "invalid" sound each time an order is given to that group (even if all the movable entities are following that order). This happens especially with cysts and crag/shift/etc.
  • Fixed not being able to cancel an action given while a group of entities was selected.
  • Fixed having all the movable selected entities going to the same exact point when asking them to move, resulting in entity stacking. They should now distance themselves automatically when arriving at their destination.
    • Note: It is still possible to *manually* stack entities if one tries hard enough, but it should no longer occur automatically when moving groups.

Fixes

• Fixed client/server crash when checking file(s) consistency from multiple threads.
• Fixed client crash with texture streaming when resetting render device or closing client.
• Fixed client crash with sound system when device is reset or client closes.
• Fixed client crash during physics update when collision objects were create or read from multiple threads.
• Fixed client crash where in some rare cases, starting a listen server with a mod enabled that had model resource content would crash when loading a map.
• Fixed that the curl multi interface doesn't exit when the easy interface times out and thus the given network connection is never closed. Based on the number of players connecting this can cause a server's network interface to overload / show redplugs.
  • This was a major issue that we discovered when Hive temporarily went down, and while Hive’s issue was permanently fixed, we wanted to doubly ensure it could not negatively affect servers going forward.
• Fixed issue with LuaJIT memory allocator not having correct memory space available.
• Fixed that spectator slot users could not join a playing team, after a player slot user joined the spectator team in a full server.
  • This also fixes spectators from joining a team while a player who was guaranteed a playerslot is connecting. As a result, this should also fix most cases where the playercount was able to eventually show negative numbers in the browser.
• Fixed that veterans couldn’t spectate in rookie only servers.
• Fixed that Auto pickup of a Welder would also auto switch to it, even in combat.
  • Weapon pickup now behaves much more like you’d expect : you still pick up weapons automatically when walking over them, but if you want to swap weapons, you can now look at specific dropped weapons to pick them up within a pile of different weapons. Additionally, standing on top of a pile of welders will no longer hijack your “drop weapon” key, preventing you from swapping out weapons within that pile for a welder you already own.
• Fixed that the quickplay_ready server flag didn’t work. Also added it as an option to the serverconfig, which defaults to enabled. Server operators do not have to rely on mods anymore to remove their server from the quick play queue.
• Fixed that entity ragdolls did not dissolve properly or on time.
• Fixed that Babblers did not detach when their parent died. (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that the Babbler’s collision boxes were not removed correctly when an attached babbler got destroyed causing aliens to become invincible around the babbler attachment points in the world. (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that certain structure’s range circles did not show up while placing them. (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that phasing through a Phase Gate could fail due to a server/client time desync (Contributed by Nin).
  • Note: This only fixes one of the possible conditions where this bug can occur. Fixed that the lights flickered when a destroyed/unsocketed/blueprint Power Node was attacked by Aliens, or when any Powernode state was attacked by Marines. (Contributed by Nin).
• Fixed that AI unit’s speed restrictions weren’t applied while turning (bye-bye Initial-D Drifters!).
• Fixed that many entities did not display damage numbers upon killing them. This list includes Hallucinations, Veils, Shells, Spurs, Babbler Eggs, Drifter Eggs, Eggs, Babblers, Jetpack on ground, Clogs, Mines, Cysts, Exosuits, and Sentry Batteries. (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that net_lag, net_loss, and net_blackout console command values were maintained after switching servers.
• Fixed that Skulk bots tried to evolve to higher life forms including all available upgrades even if they don’t have enough personal resources, causing them to stay still until they have the needed resources.
• Fixed that buildings that require orientation before placement (Phase Gates, Robotics Factory) would change their *position* (not just orientation) when the commander clicked once and moved their camera. (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed a script error occuring because the jetpack flying sound wasn’t stopped when the Jetpack was destroyed (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that the Kill-Feed did not show the healspray kill icon when they gorge had the bile bomb or the babler bait selected (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that commander couldn’t place new structures while having enemy units selected (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that some alien structures’ impact were not removed from the navigation mesh after they got repositioned (Contributed by Katzenfleisch).
• Fixed that you can damage a un-fully repaired PowerNode with every Alien damage ability except with Bilebomb

Maps All maps have been updated to better utilize the glow toggling effect (when power is destroyed). As a result, the auxiliary power will now be more visually uniform. Some additional changes were added to toggle objects like holograms on/off when the power goes out. Changes contributed by Zavaro: Tram

• Fixed stuck spots in Repair around the tech point
• Added missing occlusion to southern Repair entrance
• Fixed occlusion issue in east vent in Ore
• Added more robust collision geometry in east vent in Ore to prevent stuck spots
• Fixed lighting issues in North Tunnels

Refinery

• Removed two invulnerable Gorge locations in Conduit (NE and SE corners of the room)
• Added method for Marines to jump into Chasm-Containment vent
• Fixed stuck spot on stairs north of Flow Control
• Fixed spots around Exchange where cysts could be placed inside pipes

Docking

• Removed invulnerable Gorge location in Stability above the vent

Descent

• Fixed stuck spot in Fluid Transfer

Mineshaft

• Fixed unaligned props near Repair Room
• Fixed hole in Deposit’s moving crates that allowed players to exit the map

SDK

• Note to Mappers: ALL CUSTOM MAPS MUST BE UPDATED FOR THE MAP TO BE ACCURATE! Before re-rendering the mini-map for your level, open the level in the editor, and re-save it. Otherwise, the newly generated mini-map will not line up correctly with the in-game icons.

Graphics

• Material files used as layered effects (eg the distortion material used for cloaked aliens) can now use "%inherit" as a texture name, meaning it will use the base material's texture in its place. As a result, cloaked aliens now appear more detailed, since the normal map can now be used. Before, only the vertex normals were available for generating the distortion map.

Editor

• There is a new “Emissive matches power” drop-down option for level-props. By default this option is set to true. All level Models (props) used by the game can now potentially be affected by a Location’s power-state. The emissive channel in said model’s materials is toggled off when there is no power or the auxiliary lights are active. Mappers have control over which props are affected at run-time. In order for this to be applied to a map, it simply needs to be open and re-saved. To control the effect mappers will need to selectively choose which props are excluded from being changed by a location’s power.
• Added a new option to the texture tool that will cause it to attempt to align textures by their seams when copying the texture from one face to an adjacent on.
• Added options for prop placement, including align-to-surface, and randomize otation.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when trying to select a sound file.
• Fixed that selecting multiple layers was difficult/impossible.
• Fixed that sometimes the drawing tools would cut into invisible faces.
• Fixed that double-click-selecting a large interconnected piece of geometry would sometimes crash the editor.

Known Issues

• NS2+ percentage unit-status option updates too slowly (every 200ms)
  • While the flickering issue was resolved, fixing the update rate of this NS2+ option will require the base game to be refactored due to the way this option hooks into the game. This is a goal for our next patch.
• Tram’s Logistics Hologram will be off when the power is in an unbuilt / neutral state.
• The inability to charge your secondary railgun simultaneously is not currently communicated through the HUD.
• Not all map overviews are 100% accurate, with some connecting room areas showing as not being connected on the map. This is going to require mappers making per item changes over the next few weeks through our extensions mod. We apologize for not having this feature in perfect condition upon release, but we felt the benefits provided by it justified the temporary downsides.
• Not all room lights are updated to take advantage of the Emissive power state changes (eg: Hangar Bay on Kodiak). This is another issue that will require mappers making per item changes over the few weeks, and was a feature we felt while not perfect yet, should be included for feedback as it was improvement over the current state of things.

[ 2017-12-23 01:28:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy 5th Anniversary to NS2! Five years ago… Wow saying that makes me sit back in my chair a moment. It’s crazy to think that much time has passed, it seems like only yesterday we launched. So much happened to make the game become a reality even before release on Steam and even more has happened since. We wanted to do something special for the Anniversary patch beyond just celebrating and we think we have done just that for Update 319. To say this update includes a lot of under the hood work would be an understatement. In fact, Update 319 includes changes to over 80,000 lines of code. Ghoul has been working for some time on making as much of the game code able to use LuaJIT as possible. Taking advantage of this function allows for the code to run faster and create a smoother experience for the user. These changes will not necessarily add additional FPS, what it does do is help diminish the disparity between what your FPS shows and how it feels. Additionally, Update 319 includes some changes to two of our official maps. Summit has had some changes made throughout the map to give additional coverage areas and allow for more interesting engagements between Marines and Aliens. A lot of you may already be familiar with these changes, they are part of PsYk’s Summit_andabove mod. Seeing how the map was playing on public servers and testing it ourselves, we really enjoyed the changes and decided to merge them into the game. PsYk has also provided us with an update to Derelict. This update is mainly a performance pass throughout the map, fixing some long sight-line issues and changing a lot of lighting throughout the map. We hope that all of you will enjoy these changes as much as we do. As previously stated in our last blog post, Update 319 marks the “End of Support” for our 32-bit client and server. While we are sad to do this, we are also thrilled to now be on 64-bit. Upgrades like this will allow us to continue more advanced updates to the game and content within the game moving forward. In fact, some of that new content is available now on STEAM! Clutch your weapon tight for warmth, the Nocturne skins will chill your enemies to the bone! Click here to view on Steam! (Thanks to Ieptbarakat for the name, Nocturne!)
..but it doesn’t end there! Forge your destiny! Show the enemy that fire cleans filth with the Forge Skin pack. Click here to view on Steam!
Finally, we have felt for some time that the flamethrower still just didn’t feel right. An expensive upgrade weapon that just doesn’t seem to have much effect on anything, in essence it just didn’t feel like a flamethrower. The changes included in this update definitely make it a more viable weapon choice for groups on assault and we look forward to seeing how the community uses them. From everyone at Unknown Worlds, thank you for a great five years! Now, go and dominate the other team while we get back to work  ;) Update 319 Changelog Gameplay

• Flamethrower
  • The following changes aim to make the flamethrower a still unique but efficient primary weapon. To be considered worthwhile a primary weapon has to offer a decent amount of power in PvP (Player vs Player) engagements. That’s why most of the changes focus on increasing the damage in PvP engagements. The unique characteristic of the Flamethrower is kept by dealing mostly conditional damage with the focus on supporting other players and taking down alien structures:
    • The flamethrower now only hits the first target in line of fire but deals Area of Effect (AOE) damage:
      • Any enemy inside a small range (2 meters) of the target will be hit as well.
      • Every target hit receives 10 (was 8) damage and gets set on fire.  
      • A flame puddle is created below the first target.
    • The flamethrower deals now light damage to players, so armor will cover more damage.
    • The conditional damage of the flamethrower has been increased:
      • Flame puddles deal 27 (was 12.8) damage per second (dps) but each puddle only lasts 3.1 seconds (instead of 5.6)
      • Enemies take 5 dps (was 3) while being set on fire but each hit only sets targets for 3.1 seconds on fire (instead 6)
    • The flamethrower now hits targets more consistently:
      • Increased the fire cone width to 0.3 (from 0.17)
      • Flame puddles now deal damage 3 times a second to enemies in range (instead of 1.6 times)
    • Decreased the amount of energy the flamethrower removes from a target to 1 (from 3) per hit.
    • The flamethrower no longer removes applied enzyme effects from a target on hit
      • The flamethrower still can destroy enzyme clouds (including spores and umbra clouds)
    • Increased the cost of the flamethrower to 15 (from 12) personal resources
• Hive
  • Added a biomass 4 research
    • Costs 60 team resources and takes 60 seconds to research.
    • A very efficient strategy for Marines right now is to rush the from the Alien start nearest tech points and lock them down. Blocking Aliens from getting a second Hive forces them to regain control over those tech point or get out-teched pretty quickly. The Biomass 4 research offers Aliens the opportunity to compensate the lack of control over tech points through their economy. Allowing them to get access to much needed abilities to fight back Marines. Locking down tech points will still be a strong strategy for Marines as you deny Aliens a upgrade path and spawn tickets that way. However it’’s not enough to focus solely on locking down the tech points anymore.
• Contamination
  • Now Requires Biomass 10
    • Moved Contamination so it isn’t possible to unlock it immediately with the third hive utilizing the new biomass 4 tech. Marines still have time to take down the new third hive before they have to tackle contamination getting dropped in their base.
  • Can now be set on fire and doesn’t spew bile while on fire
    • This allows marines to stop contamination from destroying structures, ARCs and Exos on it’s own. The design goal for having contamination spew bile is to shorten the time it takes Aliens to destroy the last Marine base when they have map dominance. However Aliens started rushing Contamination to quickly win the game. This is especially frustrating for Marines on maps with 5 tech points where they may hold 2 tech points but the round just ends shortly after biomass 9 has been reached no matter how hard they fight back. We will monitor the effect of this change closely and are willing to revert/change it to make sure the frustrating end game siege / turtle situation does not return.
• Observatory
  • Fixed that enemies could avoid getting detected by staying out of range by just flying over the observatory in high rooms. The observatory will now detect an enemy regardless of their height. (Contributed by Nin)

Tweaks / Improvements

• Removed all x86 (32-bit) specific binaries. Support for 32-bit systems has ended.
• Optimized game code for LuaJIT
  • Optimized most world update runtimes. So the game runs slightly faster on average.
  • Decreased input delays.
  • Stabilized frame times, so the game feels smoother.
• Rewrote the cyst chain logic (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
  • Placing a cyst will now create a optimal cyst chain utilizing existing cysts instead of creating new cysts close to them (saving team ressources).
  • Optimized the cyst chain routine to run faster and not cause fps spikes.
  • Fixed that the client and server logic generate different cyst chains.
  • Fixed that you couldn’t place cysts at various map locations or that they were not connected correctly.
• Improved the shaders linear srgb transformation methods using a more precise and faster approximation (Contributed by Nin)
• Improved the memory management of the soundsystem (FMOD) by adding a static memory pool. This improves how long it takes to load a sound on average and avoids possible memory leaks.

Fixes

• Reintroduced an updated version of Intel’s TBB library for the job parallelization due to implementation issues of C++11’s atomics in vc++13 causing significant memory leaks over time. The version of TBB used still provides the core-spreading and multithreading benefits introduced with Update 318.
• Fixed issue with Engine’s memory allocators being unable to access all available system memory for clients and servers. This increases the amount of memory it can allocate but does not mean it will.
• Fixed PhysX not initialized correct which generated an errors on startup and shutdown
• Fixed issue with FMOD libraries not being linked correctly for Linux clients
• Fixed two memory leaks in physics layer of the engine.
• Fixed that the position the commander clicked didn’t match where the structure ends up being dropped (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed that spectator slot clients used player slots after a map change causing the server to end up with negative player numbers after they disconnect.
• Fixed issue where returning to ready room while waiting to respawn would sometimes cause the player to be stuck in 3rd person view.
• Fixed issue where changing skins in the customization menu wouldn't always immediately apply to the weapon you were holding.

Maps Special thank you to pSyK (the original author of Summit) for doing all the updates to these two maps Summit

• Minor visual improvements
• Fixed stuck spots
• Added more cover and los-blockers around the map,
• especially Flight Control, Sub Access, Crossroads, Crevice, Atrium
• Added half closed doors around Computer Lab area for more cover/ambush spots
• You can move faster into Ventilation coming from Data Core through that pipe-gap (Thanks Mephilles!)
• Added more starting-cysts around Harvester, so Marines need more time to harass it
• Made corridor between Crossroads and Summit Reception more alien friendly
• Turned some railings in Crevice and Ventilation into railings with cover
• Fixed hidden cysts exploit in Crevice
• Added more cover to Flight Control entrance from Computer Lab
• Gorges can now place a tunnel in the north-west corner of Flight Control
• Created more space behind resnode in Atrium, more dodging space for skulks, gorge tunnel possible
• Adjusted pipes in Reactor Core, easier navigation around them and dodging of marine bullets
• Added more cover geometry/spots to Crossroads, which can be used to dodge marine fire or approach easier.
• Added another little alcove in Atrium for upgrade structures, cover or a gorge tunnel
• Fixed Arcs being able to hit some spots in Atrium from Glass Hallway / Crossroads (Thanks ydy)

Derelict

• Improved/Fixed Occlusion Geo
• Added some rocks and more Occlusion Geo to Glass Hallway / Biome area to improve performance
• Removed many lights from the low light quality option
• Made the map slightly brighter, if you use low quality light option
• Removed "inefficient" props in the map to reduce primitives count
• Removed a lot more ceiling geo and props from commander view, especially around Administration.
• Added two more pillars and another Truck into Garage
• Added more sand rocks into Geothermal to cover the hive
• Added more view-blocking tarp in Western Entrance
• Covered one of the windows in Plaza with moss, added a 3rd row of pipes, and scaled up the crate in the middle of Plaza to block view for better ambushing and to improve performance
• Modified pathing mesh, so you can cyst across the broken bridge in Plaza
• Added more obstacles in Nursery, created space for lifeforms between the vines and carousels
• Widened vent from Garage to Alley; removed connection to Administration
• Added vent from Biome/Lookout to Plaza
• Added vent from Plaza to Administration/Overlook
• Added a second vent exit in Turbine
• Added vent from Atmospheric/Botany to Biome
• Replaced some glass pipes with solid ones in Glass Hallway, so aliens can hide on top
• Improved Infested Corridor for aliens
• Slightly moved the hanging grating tile blocking the glass hole in Geothermal, so aliens can move around on all sides
• Slightly decreased the size of the pipes above Geothermal
• Added a broken pipe section in Geothermal to make it harder for bile bombing gorges to hide
• Adjusted surrounding rocks in Geothermal so players can get up on the pipes via the rocks, too

Known Issues

• The game client still leaks memory which may cause crashes on long runs. We will be continuing our efforts on reducing memory usage and addressing leaks with future updates.
• We strongly recommend running in DX9 Fullscreen only for the time being, without any 3rd party overlays such as MSI afterburner, Razer Synapse etc.

SDK

• Fixed the build_setup.xml so that builder converts texture files again.
• Replaced nvcompress with another version so the output contains less artifacts and you can convert textures without a resolution of power 2. The engine still requires textures dimensions that are multiples of 4.

[ 2017-10-27 17:44:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Release the KRAKEN! Wait?!?! Wrong mythology reference, this is NS2, not Clash of the Titans. After months of back end work, we are pleased to be releasing the NS2 64-bit Beta to the public. Those of you already using a 64-bit Operating System will automatically start the application in 64-bit. If you are currently running a version of Windows or Linux in 32-bit, you can still launch the game but you will be notified of our impending end of support for all 32-bit users. Once support has ended for 32-bit you will no longer be able to launch NS2 unless you upgrade your Operating System to a 64-bit version. We have been working on and communicating this impending change to players over the last year, and hope that those of you that are not using a 64-bit OS recognize that as an actively developed game, we strive to keep building and improving NS2. Supporting all of this on a system that can barely manage 3.5GB of system memory sadly is just no longer feasible. A note to our non QWERTY keyboard layout users: We’ve fixed a bug regarding keyboard layouts not being detected correctly, now your keyboard will work as intended but this means you’ll need to go and fix some of your key binds in the menu. (Such as the Console key) Next up, NS2 celebrates it’s fifth anniversary! We have some cool things in the pipeline, there is still much more to come. Changelog Tweaks / Improvements

• Migrated to 64 bit architecture
  • Updated related dependent libraries
    • This fixed various dependency related issues.
  • Note: NS2 now detects your keyboard layout correctly. All non QWERTY keyboard users may need to rebind certain features (e.g. the console).
• Reworked job & thread scheduling:
  • Now able to utilize all your CPU cores
  • Slightly increased performance and increased core spread load.
  • Removed dependency on Intel’s TBB library (linux)
• New Auto Crash Collector!
  • If your client crashes, it will quickly show a dialog that automatically begins uploading your crash report and all relevant information to us. This is going to be a very helpful tool for us to diagnose issues, and it should be a simple process for you, since the only button you’ll have to press is “Restart NS2” if it occurs!
• The Server’s dns address is now propagated to the clients via a server field instead the tags string allowing operators to use a longer dns address.
• Dedicated Servers can now use the `-autorestart` argument (no parameters needed). If the server should crash, it will immediately restart with the previous start-up arguments. The crash will also be uploaded to our collector at the same time and not delay the server restarting.

Fixes

• Fixed that the Shared.SortEntitiesByDistance method returned corrupted results at Linux causing all kind of issues and crashes. This also fixes that you couldn’t play the alien commander tutorial on Linux.
• Fixed that Whips sometimes didn’t face their targets correctly (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed that Whips sometimes didn’t get removed from the nav mesh correctly after getting moved (Contributed by Katzenfleisch)
• Fixed a server script error occurring when a client with a custom badge selected connected.
• Fixed a client crash occurring due to the tutorial reminder popup which gets displayed to new player when the access the server browser
• Fixed an issue where dying in an exosuit during the warm-up period would sometimes cause the HUD to remain hidden even after respawning.
• Fixed an issue that affected some maps that would cause marine mini maps to appear blank.
• Fixed a very specific nasty crash that could occur when disconnecting from a server at a very specific point in the loading process.
• Fixed issue where opening server browser with a mod mounted would make it unresponsive.
• Fixed issue where certain maps (such as ns2_mesh) would allow for structures to sometimes, or always, be invisible on the marine minimap.

Maps Derelict

• Modified pathing mesh to ignore tech points (Contributed by Zavaro)
  • This helps ensure drifters can always build hives

Kodiak

• Modified pathing mesh to ignore tech points (Contributed by Zavaro)
  • This helps ensure drifters can always build hives

Known Issues

• If you are using a Firewall, it will prompt to Allow/Deny access for a new executable. This is normal as the 32 and 64-bit are new and separate binaries from previous builds.
• The Dedicated Server console is not accessible on Windows 10
• Linux 64bit client has issue on start-up. This can be fixed by recreating the symlinks for FMOD libraries (in the x64 sub-folder within the NS2 install directory): ln -sf libfmodex64-4.44.58.so libfmodex64.so ln -sf libfmodevent64-4.44.58.so libfmodevent64.so ln -sf libfmodeventnet64-4.44.58.so libfmodeventnet64.so
• The Cinematic Editor is temporarily broken for this build

[ 2017-10-06 17:59:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Skulks, Specs and Whips OH MY! Update 317 is now available to the public and there is plenty to sink your teeth into. First off, we’ve added a new training module called ‘Skulk Challenge’. This will help you learn to hone your skulk wall jumping abilities, while also giving you an opportunity to reach a global rank and earn badges. Another cool feature, you can download other players ghosts and race them too! You be surprised how addicting this challenge is and how much you can learn by watching others. Next, we come to an entire reworking of Spectator Slots. No more will you be confused in the server browser by how many playable slots are actually available, or see 25/24 slots in use and wonder, “what the heck?.” The other major benefit is that server operators can now run a full 24 player server and spectators will not use playable slots but up to 24 of their own! You can read more about this feature and how the rest of the system works in the changelog below. Lastly, we as developers can only do so much with the time that we have and NS2 has always prospered from the incredible contribution of the many community developers out there. This update include some awesome fixes to both Whips (thank you, Katzenfleisch) and MACs (thank you, Twiliteblue). Along with these awesome contributors are also our playtesters and other community players who have done an outstanding job. This update has been working hard to get out to the public for nearly a month and a lot of testing and time went into getting it ready, so thank you again to our playtest team and to the community players that showed up for our public playtests as well. Looking forward, 64-bit is finally going into beta and will be released shortly as a smaller update. Players and servers alike will be able to run the upgraded platform and help us make sure it is finally ready for full release in the coming months. What does this mean for players using 32-bit Operating Systems? Well, it means you won’t be able to play the game without an upgrade. Luckily of all our monthly unique players this is far less than 1% of you, but we care about all our players nonetheless. So let this serve as official warning of the end of 32-bit support. Within the next 30 days or more NS2 will move to a 64-bit only environment on both servers and clients. In general there are many benefits across the board for NS2 to go 64-bit only but as a system owner, you too can open up some serious local benefits to both your system and performance by biting the bullet and finally upgrading too! Until the next update, skulk forward and let those bullets fly. Oh and watch out for whips, no seriously, watch out! CHANGELOG GAMEPLAY

• Introducing the “Skulk Challenge!”
  • Available in the training menu.
    • Hone your Skulk wall-jumping skills as you race to earn the fastest time.
    • Study other players’ racing techniques with our replay system, or even better: race against their ghost!
    • You can view your friends’ times in the leaderboard, or view the global leaderboard by clicking on the globe icon.
    • If you’re fast enough, you’ll earn a badge to be displayed in game! Be sure to enable it in the Customize Player menu.
• Improved/Fixed Whips (contributed by Katzenfleisch et al)
  • Overall rewrote the Whips attack routine to make it more reliable and less expensive performance wise. They are quite formidable now.
  • Fixes:
    • Fixed that the Whips animation state and damage dealt was not synced between client and the server correctly
    • Fixed that Whips did often not deal any damage (especially against static targets)
    • Fixed that Whips did not slap immediately after a bombard
    • Fixed that Whips had a rather random cooldown between two attacks due to how inconsistent the animation tags are fired for the Whip animations.
    • Fixed that the Whips used a trace ray starting from its bottom instead of it’s top to validate that a target is in line of sight.
    • Fixed that Whips did not deal any damage if another target blocked the original target while the the Whip already started slapping.
    • Fixed that the Whip’s bombard bomb was sometimes not created and networked correctly.
    • Fixed that Whips were able to hit through walls.
    • Fixed that Whips did not attack unmanned exosuits.
  • Improvements
    • Whips now continue to focus the same player while slapping until they get out of range (instead of switching to whoever is closest)
    • Optimized performance by decreasing the number of traces needed to acquire a target to slap
    • If a player moves in between a whip and it’s target, it hits the blocking player (instead of missing)
    • Adding a new method Whip:OnAttackEnd() so mods can detect when a Whip attack has ended.
    • Alien structures will now try to move into random direction instead of only forward while repositioning (after getting moved etc. )
• Improved MACs (contributed by Twiliteblue)
  • MACs now follow and weld moving players, and can continue to move while turning.
  • MACs on automated build/weld orders will return to their original position after they completed the order, or if target moves too far away (distance greater than 15 units from MAC), or in case the automated target moves out of a range of 30 units from the original position.
    • This should stop MACs from moving all over the map without the commander giving them the explicit order to do so
  • Decreased the fov zone that MACs will avoid to block to 60 degree from 180 and increased the weld range slightly by 0.5.
    • This should force MACs to evade the player’s fov less often while still making sure that they don’t block line of sight.
  • MACs no longer stop moving when taking damage while following a target.
• Improved Onos Stomp (contributed by Steelcap)
  • Stomps shockwave now can move up stairs.
  • Stomp behaves much more like you’d expect it to: unable to reach high heights, but still able to reach the same lows if there’s a gradient, and will not pass through obstacles it should not etc. It will not work across deep gaps, like standing on the columns in Crevice on Summit, for instance.
  • The marine knock back behavior is more reliable now so you don’t end up getting knocked back even though you jumped up in time.
  • Slightly optimized Stomp to use less traces

TWEAKS / IMPROVEMENTS

• Added dedicated spectator slots. Reasoning: Players want to know that they can join a server that truly has player slots available and won’t just get thrown onto spectators, wasting their time. Server operators want the ability to have spectators without going over the 24 player limit. Lastly, the Quick Play feature was unable to determine if a server had actual player slots available to play without official spec slot support. So while you can run 24 players with 24+ spectators and still be a ranked server, do keep in mind that your performance will vary if those spec slots are active; Adjust accordingly.
  • Servers can now have dedicated spectator slots. Use the new -speclimit server startup parameter to set up a limit for the dedicated spectator slots (default: 0). If left to default of 0, players that join spectators will still count towards the player slot count (-limit parameter) and the server browser will always report 0/0 spectators.
  • Clients that attempt to join servers that are full but still have spectator slots available will receive a prompt asking them if they wish to cancel or spectate before joining.
  • If a client joins as a dedicated spectator they will automatically be placed on spectators and restricted to it until a player slot opens up, where they can then join the ready room and then a team. Before that point, the player cannot join the ready room. Shuffle or force even team votes will not change this, and neither will admins when attempting to manually move the player.
  • Player slots and dedicated spectator slots will remain assigned to the same players even through a map change. This means if you were a dedicated spectator before the map change, you will still be one after the map changes, if no players leave. No cutting in line allowed!
  • Clients can switch from a dedicated spectator slot to an available player slot by going into the Ready Room, if and when a player slot is available.
  • Clients using a player slot can still spectate. However, they will be giving up their player slot if another spectator joins the ready room or a team. (Unless the spec limit is reached already.*)
  • Clients will never be restricted from going into spectator mode, but if the player limit and spec limit is reached, doing so will not change the amount of players reported in the server browser until a player leaves the server.
    • Clients will only give up their player slot if there are spec slots available.* This means that if there are 16/16 players and 5/5 spectators, and a player using a player slot joins spectators, the server browser will still report 16/16 players and 5/5 spectators. This is to ensure that a new player cannot join the server, and thus permanently create an ever increasing pool of spectator slots. (See known issues below.) Refactored the reserved slot system to be handled by the engine API instead of custom server tags.
  • The server performance rating in the server browser (the smiley face) will only take the player limit into account if you have no active spectators. However, if you have active spectators they will begin to impact your performance, albeit less than actual players using player slots.
  • Known Issues with spec slot feature:
    • * When the spectator slots are full, if a player using a player slot joins spectators, then that player will retain their player slot even while spectating. This can prevent players from swapping out with spectators in a full player + full spectator server (Will be fixed via an extension).
    • Spectators can vote. (this can be disruptive for server wide votes, depending on the size of -speclimit)
    • The password prompt will show up twice for passworded servers that only have spec slots available. Once when you double click the server, then you receive the spectator popup, then the password prompt will show a second time. You’ll need to enter the correct password twice.
• Improved the server browser password prompt (contributed by Keats, Absurdon et al)
  • Updated the windows style to match the rest of the server browser
  • Obscure the password input by default so you can stream without worrying about leaking a server’s password
  • Added a button to show/obscure the password input.
  • Removed some fields from the move packet that were never used except for debug purposes. Result is slightly reduced network traffic from moves sent and move packets being slightly faster processed.
  • The menu now preloads when after loading a level. This means that a (sometimes very long) hitch caused by opening the in game menu for the first time is gone.
  • Added in-game badges for the 11th ensl.org season winner. We will hand out the badges as soon as the season has ended.
  • Removed that the client buffered up to 8 seconds of moves because the buffer wasn’t used and may caused performance issues.
  • Removed the leftover hive profile page link at the in-game scoreboard

FIXES

• Fixed that the crash dumps created by the crash reported were missing the exception information
• Fixed that curl handler were not released correctly and stayed active even after usage which caused curl to run out of available ports at some after some time and all http request to just time out.
• Fixed that the damage taken/flinch sound effects didn’t play after the first time. We are planning to redo the complete flinch sound system in one of the next builds to make the damage feeback more consistent.
• Fixed that “guard” orders were not canceled when the target left the team.
• Fixed that Focus decreased the players attack speed even after Veils were destroyed.
• Fixed that the Regeneration effects played even after Shells were destroyed.
• Fixed that Fade Metabolize switches back to the weapon you had selected before using metabolize after it finished, even if you switch the weapon while performing Metabolize. This means Blink is now disabled during Metabolize.(contributed by Twiliteblue)
• Fixed that Boneshield doesn’t reduce Grenade Launcher projectile, pulse, or cluster grenade damage. (contributed by Nin)
• Fixed an issue that would cause web pages displayed in-game (like the news feed) to disappear if the user alt+tabbed out of the game in DX9 mode.
• Fixed some script error spam caused by the help screen attempting to display keybinds for actions that were unbound.
• Fixed a bug that caused team message (eg “Warmup Mode”, or “Hive under Attack!”) to not appear until user had displayed help screen at least once before.
• Fixed a bug that caused the help screen to appear if a player happened to press the help screen keybind while typing a chat message. (contributed by Salads)
• Fixed that you could vote to reset the round without a round started yet (contributed by Keats)
• Fixed the player ping (red box w/ location name that appears when you hit middle mouse button) is already visible and animating when you first join a team – even if nobody has pinged.

MAPS

• Fixed fall seasonal stuff appearing in Caged ready room when it shouldn’t be.

SDK

• Fixed that multi line lua comments were not parsed correctly and could cause script errors if the included a end tag
• Added a few new API methods in regard to the spectator slots. Please check the api docs json for further details about each method.
• It is now possible to multiply two Vector objects together. This just performs a per-component multiplication between the two vectors.

[ 2017-08-24 13:46:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy Summer everyone! We are back with another update and this time our focus was based on the theme of Fix and Polish. There are plenty of changes throughout the log below to sink your teeth into, so I won’t go into detail and let it speak for itself. Enjoy! Update 316 Changelog Gameplay

• Onos
  • Boneshield has been redesigned and repurposed:
    • No longer regenerates armor in any circumstances
    • Now allows movement (speed of 3, which is roughly half) while active
      • Celerity bonus does not increase Boneshield movement speed, but still provides all speed bonuses otherwise.
    • All Frontal (approx. 110 degree forward-facing cone of Onos) damage from bullet-based weapons is reduced by 80%. With default FOV settings, if the attacker is on screen the damage will be reduced by Bonesield.
    • No innate health/armor regeneration while Boneshield is active. Healing from a Gorge or other source is still allowed.
    • Does not consume energy to initiate, but costs 22 energy per second while active. It also requires a minimal amount of energy to start. Use your energy wisely.
    • Minor cooldown of 0.4 seconds after being used
    • Energy does not regenerate while Boneshield is active. This includes energy recuperation bonus from Shifts.
      • These changes should provide utility to Boneshield without it being overpowered or removing the need for team composition, such as Gorges healing you. You can utilize it defensively (blocking entrance to hive room) or offensively (decoy / bait to assist teammates, or faking out an enemy in 1v1). We feel this improves the nature of Boneshield while adding more fun, variation, and tactical gameplay choices.
    • Reduced the base max speed to 6.6 (from 7.5) and the base max Charge speed to 10.5 (from 11.5).
      • This reverts back to Build 253 values to have the Onos commit more to a map position to hold it, instead of being able to easily rotate between two positions and therefore be the jack of all trades in the late game.
• Improved Gorge Bellyslide
  • Increased max belly sliding speed to 14 from 13.
  • Decreased belly slide cooldown from 1.5 to 1 second.
  • Reduced slide friction on infestation from 0.068 to 0.039.
  • Reduced slide energy cost from 25 to 20.
  • Increased belly slide control from 10 to 18.
  • Speed loss sliding uphill is reduced by 25%.
  • Decreased the air friction from 0.8 to 0.2 so the Gorge doesn't move like a brick while jumping.
    • These changes allow Gorge movement in general to be easier to control and slightly faster, to give Gorge players a powerful tool to avoid previously lethal situations, and to allow for easier use of keeping up with teammates and being a combat gorge.
• Fade Personal Res cost increased to 37 from 35
  • This change restores the Fade timings to from before the Pres rate change.
• Alien structures grow only twice as slow without a drifter or gorge now, instead of three times as slow.
  • The growth speed punishment for not using a drifter to build was mostly affecting new commanders. So we increased the build speed without drifters so teams without an experienced commander are less punished, but can still notice the difference in build times.
• Focus upgrade attack speed changed to a static 33%
  • The focus attack speed was changing from 16% to 33% to 50% with each veil level, and this created inconsistent attack timings to learn during combat. The damage bonus is unchanged, however. This nerfs focus with 1 veil, but buffs it for 3 veils.

Tweaks / Improvements

• Swapped the button positions for "Server Browser" and "Training" in the Play Menu, to make the mouse travel distance significantly less from the main menu to the play menu.
• Added Onos Boneshield ricochet FX to better communicate when the ability is active.
• Improved damage indicator feedback (Thanks to windsurfer & twiliteblue)
  • The red arrow damage indicator will now quickly animate and fade, and was made larger as well. This should make it easier to notice and react to recently received damage from multiple directions.
• Owned Babblers show up grayed out for the gorge at the Babbler Status HUD elements even when they are not actively attached to the owner. This helps to keep track how many of your babblers are still alive. (Thanks to windsurfer)
• The crash reporter now sends the crash reports with a few further details to our new crash reporter backend. Hopefully this will allow us to track down some of the more common crashes we and our playtesters are unable to reproduce. Thanks to everybody who sent us crash report via discord, the forum and emails the last month!
• Rookies (players below level 25) will now see a popup that highly recommends they play the tutorial, whenever they open the play menu. (occurs once per restart of NS2)
• Rookies are now able to join all servers without any further restriction. However Quick Play will still favor rookie only servers for them.
• Quickplay now ranks servers you’ve played in the last 10 minutes as less favorable
• Improved the art style of some menu pop up windows.
• Alien commander bots will now re-cyst if they lose part of their cyst chain that results in damaging a structure, and will nutrient mist if needed.
• Alien commander bots will no longer spam cysts like they’re fireworks on the 4th of July.
• Added a notice about the required tech to the description of each weapon or class in the marine buy menu in case they are not available yet. So players understand why they can’t already buy a certain weapon.
• Added server config options for the “add commander bots” vote (Thanks to Keats)
• Removed some outdated tip videos and updated a few in-game tooltip strings (Thanks to Kash)

Fixes

• Fixed a bug with dynamic mesh rendering using DirectX 11 that caused the clients to crash when players tried to place gorge webs or a sentry battery.
• Fixed that hallucination caused a server script error when they tried to attack a target.
• Fixed that the training link in the play menu opened the last visited main menu window
• Fixed a bug in the animation system that would, in rare cases, cause some of the "Infinite bone coords" error spam.
• Fixed that the skulk animation got disorientated after repeatedly jumping in a short time. This caused Skulk to sometimes clip through walls while wall jumping. (Thanks twiliteblue)
• Fixed that Quick Join didn’t find any servers if you have joined all available ones less than 10 minutes ago.
• Fixed that the Friends tab of the server browser didn’t show any servers. Note, you still need to be logged into Steam Friends for this to function.
• Fixed a script that occurred when babblers attached to an aliens after the babler owner had died. (Thanks twiliteblue)
• Fixed that the Death and score number display counts overlapped at the first person spectator HUD (Thanks to Keats)
• Fixed that the status of techs that dependent on tech with a higher tech Id was not updated when the status of the dependency changed. E. g. if an observatory is killed and rebuilt, you could not build or research phase gates until two observatories are built.
• Fixed an issue which caused the Marine HUD to be stuck on the screen after spectating an exo.

Maps

• Cleaned up the pathing meshes on all maps. There were issues on some maps where structures could not be placed where it looked like they should be able to.

Docking

• Gorges can now place tunnels behind the counter in Terminal.

Mineshaft

• Added an invisible block between Operations and The Gap to prevent Lerks from spiking marine extractors from a location the marines could not reach. It was very annoying.

[ 2017-06-16 14:10:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Summer is finally upon us and with that the forthcoming mighty Steam Sale. Sales usually bring in a lot of new faces to the game and over the years, we have worked hard to make changes that help those new to NS to learn and enjoy the game as all of us do. Please welcome these new players as they become familiar with the game. With Update 315 we have consolidated the PLAY menu, updated the server browser and added new help screens for players. While in game you can now bring up an overlay that explains your individual player or lifeform controls all based on your key binds. We hope that this feature will help to better explain abilities and even upgrades to new players. Alien egg spawning has been adjusted to scale with players which should lead to better spawning and encourage alien hive expansion too! Some additional improvements were made to gorge tunnels to allow for quicker and easier placement. See more about the gameplay changes in the changelog below. We are also aware of some stability issues that players were experiencing in the previous update. We have worked to resolve those with this release and hope that this provides a better experience for those of you dealing with this problem. Update 315 Changelog Gameplay

• Alien Egg Spawn
  • Every hive spawns an egg every 13 secs instead of only one hive at a time.
    • Scales down with the team’s player count:
      • 6 players: 13
      • 9 players: 8.6
      • 10 players: 9.75
      • 12 players: 7.5
  • Every hive can spawn up to 2 eggs (was 3).
  • The hive’s egg hatch tech spawns 2 eggs (didn’t scale previously).
    • ² Scales up with the team’s player count:
      • 6 players: 2
      • 9 players: 3
      • 10 players: 3
      • 12 players: 4
• MG
  • Increased base damage to 8 from 6.
  • Decreased damage bonus against players to 150% from 200%
  • Decreased costs to 20 pres.
• Gorge Tunnel
  • The gorge tunnel is now less “picky” about it’s placement so you can drop it in areas with slightly rougher terrain.
• Made wall walking less unpredictable for skulks
  • Skulks can sneak around sharp corners on the ceiling much more reliably now.

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added a new Play Menu
  • Replaced “Play Now” and “Server Browser” links on main menu with a single “Play” button.
  • Menu creates more visibility of the arcade tab by giving it a nice, big button, alongside the server browser button, training button, and play now button.
  • Can’t decide on a server to play on? Try out the big, flashy Play Now button. You can’t miss it!
• Added an in-game help screen
  • Displays useful (and silly) information about the weapons/abilities you have currently equipped.
  • Modders: see SDK section below for how to “play nicely” with the help screen. (don’t worry, it’s easy!
    
    [ 2017-05-26 14:24:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Due to recent Kharaa invasions, we are in need of reinforcements on the frontlines of testing! Enlist HERE to join the Natural Selection 2 Playtest Team to ensure smooth battlefield updates can occur for the rest of your fellow brothers and sisters. Keep in mind that we only need the most dedicated of enlistees to jump aboard this mission, with availabilities to strenuously test and provide thorough reports. If you think you can take up this honorable task, you’ll be awarded with a designated badge that demonstrates your commitment to the TSF.

[ 2017-04-11 16:59:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is an short update for last month post about the ENSL.org Season 11. The sign ups for the 11th Season of the ENSL will close today. So this is your last chance to sign up. The season will start at the 22nd of March. It will take 2 to 3 months with around 1 match per week. Matches will be schedule by the teams through the match pages. Each Team needs at least 6 players on their roster until the 17th March to participate in the 11th Season of the ENSL. Also each player has to make sure they only signed up with one team for the season. Otherwise the ensl.org admins will remove them from all teams except the highest seeded one. The final teams seeding will get published on the 17-18th March via a forum post at ensl.org .

[ 2017-03-14 11:41:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Since the holidays we’ve seen an influx of both new and old players coming back to NS2. We continue to receive lot of positive feedback to many of the changes we’ve made over the last year. With this update we’re focused on some maintenance but also continuing to improve smaller features in the game to enhance the player experience. Beyond update 314 we’re looking at ways to help players quickly find and play games. We’ve noticed more and more people at peak times around the globe are idling in the server browser, trying to join the populated servers. This long wait can cause them to quit; an improvement is clearly needed. To that end, we’ve been working on ideas on how to better seed servers with these idling players and have been making good progress on a potential match-making system. Keep your eyes peeled for more info on that soon! Lastly, I am happy to announce that we will begin public testing of our 64-bit server sometime in the next week. Our amazing community of server operators seem to be very excited to get their hands on this BETA server and we are just as thrilled. We hope that the 64-bit client beta will be coming to you all soon as well. The move to 64-bit will open up a lot more opportunities to our development team, such as better utilization of more modern hardware and adding more content to the game. Sadly, we’ve reached the limits of what 32-bit allows the game to do. Many other games are facing the same transition; you may have noticed similar announcements from other studios recently on this topic as well. We’re always looking for ways to build our community of players, modders, operators and playtesters. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. We have the excitement and desire to keep moving forward and hope that you will join us in the journey! Gameplay

• Improved Babblers (Contributed by twiliteblue!)
• They are more likely to attack nearby enemies now.
• They cloak and uncloak now properly.
• Improved attack distance calculations which makes them more effective against stationary targets
• Power surge now also surges powered structures, so you can cast it before the power goes off.

Tweaks / Improvements

• Added the “All” tab back to the Server Browser and introduced a new server ranking system for the default sorting:=
  • The rating is trying to find the best server for you by player count, skill, latency, performance. It will also prefer your favorite servers and servers with steam friends playing on them. (Thanks moultano!)
  • Also made the game mode tabs visually noticeable.
• Added a dedicated label for the number of players that are actively searching for a server to the server browser.
• Improved Play Now:
  • Uses the new server rating as well for better search results
  • Validates servers now before joining them so it doesn’t pick full servers anymore
  • It will ignore servers you have or tried to connect to in the last 10 minutes.
  • Fixed some smaller bugs with querying the server list.
• Re-wrote a large part of how clogs work, so there should no longer be any jittery movement or the dreaded "phantom" clogs.
• Gorge tunnels will now "eat" clogs to prevent entrances from being blocked.
• Local clients can now execute all admin (sv_*) commands at a listen servers without having to set up the serveradmin.json.
• Added an option to add bots (will add 12 bots incl. commanders) to the “Create Server” interface. Bots still cause serious performance issues, especially on listen servers! Use them at your own risk! We will try to optimize them with the upcoming updates.
• Improved the sleep behavior of the ns2 threads for Windows OS to resolve scheduling issues.
• Optimized the TechTree class to minimize its functions execute times.
• Added routine in Hive to retroactively update players levels to correct for XP update bugs (does not impact Skill)
• Improved how weapon pickups work. The weapon you are looking at should now be the weapon you pick up, as well as the weapon that appears in the popup.
• Added the March Mod Madness badges to the game.
• The player’s badges are now displayed below the player’s hp bar in-game in pre-game only and will not be shown while a round is played. (Thanks Brute!)
• Added tooltips with the badge names to the badge selection menu. (Contributed by Keats!)
• Removed the Play Now button at the Training menu.
• The game is no longer reset when switching between warmup and pregame state.

Fixes

• Fixed a minor rendering anomaly which caused specular-lights beneath a surface to still somehow appear to be reflected by that surface.
• Fixed that the ensl.org newcomer tournament badges did not unlock properly.
• Fixed a bug that would make the build tool flicker on and off rapidly when building a new power node in most cases.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes clogs would not be able to be destroyed by the gorge who placed them, at least not until the gorge exited and re-entered relevancy range.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes a gorge would attempt to consume a hydra, but instead the hydra would continue to live, but would no longer be consumable.
• Fixed a bug where the holographic marine being "printed" (respawned) in an infantry portal might not accurately reflect the actual spawn progress.
• Fixed that Shifts could not echo themselves (was hotfixed via extension).
• Fixed bug in Hive that prevented new players from earning new levels (no effect on Skill calculations)
• Fixed bug in Hive that prevented players above level 100 from earning experience (no effect on Skill calculations)
• Fixed bug where gorges could place gorge structures and bile bomb from inside a clog.
• Fixed the final fade-out in tutorials 1 and 2 to not flicker off before disconnecting.
• Fixed many bugs in the alien commander tutorial, including bots blocking structure placement, or the gorge getting stuck under the floor in crew quarters.
• Fixed a bug that would prevent the "Hold E to Digest" popup from appearing with clogs.
• Fixed that the level progression in the main menu didn’t update properly.
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to reach very high speed with the Exosuit via “bunny hopping”
• Fixed that the warmup structures spawned multiple times.
• Fixed that Onos hallucination interrupted a marine from firing his weapon when using Gore. (Contributed by twiliteblue!)
• Fixed a script error that occurred when dead players directly joined the spectators and a round ended afterwards (Contributed by Brute!)
• Fixed that you could load/inject code via the game’s css files without being detected by the default consistency check.
• Fixed some minor style issues of the server browser.

Maps Refinery (Contributed by Samus!).

• Fixed stuck spot in the vent of Heat Sink going into Containment
• Fixed spot in Transit where some structures could be placed inside map geometry.
• Fixed spot in Transit where geo/decal z-fighting occurred.

Tram

• Fixed some seasonal geometry not being assigned to correct seasonal group as a result showed when not in Fall season setting

SDK

• AddFieldWatcher can now be used in Predict VM. NOTE: This should be used very conservatively, and keep in mind it can fire more than once due to how prediction works. I recommend only using this for cases where a predict world network field update requires further action (e.g. an update to "modelIndex" should be accompanied by a physics update to ensure the model is actually changed). -- Beige
• Fixed a bug (clog digest bug above) that would prevent an entity from being properly picked up by the GetEntitiesInRange function, or any of its variants.
• Added a second “hidden” parameter to the map command. So “map hidden” will now start a hidden listen server that works offline. Perfect to test mods locally.
• Commander.Logout now returns the new player entity (Contributed by Las!)

[ 2017-03-08 15:14:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

After the newcomer tournament and the upcoming season of the competitive league we are happy to announce the Mod Madness tournament! This tournament is dedicated to those who are looking for a little less competitive but fun evening event. What is it and what can I win? The Mod Madness tournament is a unique event for all players to try out the amazing custom game modes that have been created for Natural Selection 2. All game modes (except NS2:Combat) can be found in the NS2 Steam Workshop or under the Arcade tab in the server browser. Every participant will get a brand new in-game badge! Furthermore the tournament winner will receive a gold version while the second and third will receive a silver one.
In addition anybody who has to play a Combat match will receive a free copy of it! http://store.steampowered.com/app/310110/ The tournament will take place at the 4 March 2017 from 19 CET / 13 EST till 23-24 CET /15-16 EST Till when can I/we sign up? Sign ups for the tournament will end on the 2 March 2017 on 22:00 CET Who can sign up? Everybody! You only need a copy of NS2 and good sense of humor. Most likely nobody has played every game mode of this tournament before! You can sign up as a team of 8 or as an individual. Where do I sign up? You can sign up at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclrRoWlI-AwjVXosSWZztrA1DKhm4f3hbq1dtZcoYEyBoPBg/viewform Feel free to introduce yourself to the other players on the forum: https://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/147888/march-mod-madness-tournament-signups Do I need a team? Nope! You will be assign to one before the tournament starts. How will the tournament be structured? First you will play a match of NS2Large (16 vs 16) where two teams group up for each side. Afterwards the winning teams will choose which tournament division (set of game modes) they want to play in. The losing teams will be randomly assigned in the remaining positions in the division.
The division matches will be run as double elimination: When a team loses a match, they switch divisions. Losing another match eliminates them from the tournament. So each team will participate at least in the 16vs16 match and 2 more matches after that. Each match will be a best of 3. Before each match a random team will select the map to play at, and the other team chooses which side they want to start with.

[ 2017-02-24 21:44:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

First of all we would like to thank everybody who took part at last week's Newcomer Tournament. We hope both participants and spectators enjoyed it as much as we did. In addition a special thanks goes out to Ixian, Luchs and Hoeloe who casted this event and every ensl.org referee and admin. Because without them this tournament would never have happened. In case you participated your badge is now available in your steam inventory. You can enable it in-game via the Customize Player menu. Should somebody miss their badge please leave a comment below. For all of those who are now fired up for some more competitive Natural Selection 2 action we have good news: You can now sign up for Season 11! To see which teams have signed up for Season 11: http://www.ensl.org/contests/357 How to create a team/join a contest: http://www.ensl.org/topics/1773 How to find a Team: http://www.ensl.org/topics/1774 Pros of signing up for Season 11:

• Play NS2 together with your friends.
• Play against similar skilled players/teams in each league's division.
• Improve your in-game teamwork and enjoy NS2 at it's finest.
• Improve your map awareness, decision making, time management and class/lifeforms play in competitive NS2.
• Get another fancy in-game badge.
• Earn your spot on the Hall of Fame of Competitive NS2: http://www.ensl.org/articles/402

So don’t be shy! Grab your team and sign up. The exact date of the seasons start will be announced at ensl.org .

[ 2017-02-11 16:39:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

What is the Newcomer Tournament 2017 and what can I/we win ? The ENSL.org Newcomer Tournament is an opportunity for all the players (rookie or veteran) to test their skill in a competitive environment balanced for 6vs6. You can find a rundown of the differences between the normal and competitive balance (Comp Mod) at http://www.ensl.org/articles/998 Every participant receives as special treat a brand new in-game badge. The teams making it first and second receive a golden and silver badge everybody else that shows up and plays a Match gets a blue one:
Newcomer tournament will happen: 4 February 2017 start 19 CET / 13 EST till 23-24 CET /15-16 EST 5 February 2017 start 19 CET / 13 EST till 23-24 CET /15-16 EST On the maps: Tram, Veil, Summit, Biodome, Descent We will use Teamspeak 3 for communication. Please show up for the tournament on 4 February at 18:30 CET/12:30PM EST. on the ENSL TS3 Server: IP: ensl.org Channel: Newcomer Tournament early 2017 ReadyRoom You can download Teamspeak 3 at https://www.teamspeak.com/teamspeak3 . Please make sure you have it set up before the tournament starts. Till when can I/we Sign up?: Sign ups for the Tournament will end on the 2 February 2017 on 22:00 CET Who can sign up?: Anybody who hasn’t participated in any season of Natural Selection 2 tournaments of the NSL or AusNSL can sign up as regular player. Everybody else is free to sign up as coach or commander. You may be able to play as regular player in case you haven’t played a full season yet. Where do I Join Up?

• Register an account at ensl.org (This video explains the process till 2:32)
• Click here and click [Request to join]
• Introduce yourself and if you want to play with Friends in a Team mention it there. (IF YOU DON'T FIND YOURSELF IN THE LIST DON'T PANIC WE UPDATE IT DAILY)

What is ENSL.org(nsleagues.org) ? The Natural Selection League (NSL) is an organization that provides a platform for all Natural Selection 2 players for organized and competitive play. The vision of the NSL is to gather Natural Selection 2 players for international organized play. At its very core, we would simply like games to be played, in the hopes that this fosters tangible and meaningful relationships among its participants. We realize that its participants span the range of commitment, skill, and time zones and will do everything possible to cater to everyone’s needs and create the most enjoyable experience. How are the teams arranged? We will create team lists internally after these criteria:

• Nation for low ping
• Wants to play together with….
• Skill and if you will/can command
• Can he stand his teammates/coach

We will post a list of the teams here: http://ensl.org/forums/28 If people have complaints please voice them in the given forum thread and we will try to adjust the list accordingly. How should i get used to 6vs6 games ? We strongly advise all players who wish to take part to read some NS2 tutorials: You can find a few here: http://ensl.org/forums/22 It also helps to play some Gathers when you are no longer challenged at regular servers. (Warning: The average hive skill can be above 2000) : How to play Gathers:http://www.ensl.org/topics/1751 (They usually happen often from 20:00 CET to 4:00 CET) Gathers will give you a feel for fast-paced competitive 6v6 NS2 before the tournament Matches! Also we recommend to watch the Season 10 division 2 Finals and see how the more experienced Players play: S10 Div2 Finals: Isay vs Close One 101 29 January 2017 19 CET / 13 EST Casted on/by: twitch.tv/dkrecon / ReconDK S10 Div2 Finals: HBZ vs Horror Show 29 January 2017 20:30 CET / 14:30 EST Casted on/by: twitch.tv/naturalselection2 / Ixian ~ ENSL.org admins

[ 2017-01-29 16:37:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

A happy new year to all of you out there! I’ll bet some of you thought we hit the snooze button around the holidays and never woke up, but no! We’ve been tinkering in the shadows and working on some fun new stuff to show you. First off, we’re finally finishing up on our changes to NS2 training and bringing you the new Alien Commander tutorial. As per usual, BeigeAlert has put a lot of love and once again, yes, even an easter egg into this new training scenario. Special shout out to all our contributors in tutorial-committee for their input and advice. We decided to also make some slight changes to a couple gameplay features to continue and round out some of our changes made during the last year. The patch is filled with lots of little bug fixes and updated features such as; a new updated machine gun texture, a refactored badge system allowing us to have better and quicker control over distribution of badges and some improvements to cyst placement. Lastly, and to the future… I am happy to announce that while work is still being done to test stability, NS2 is now being beta tested in 64-bit! FSFOD and others on the team have been hard at work upgrading lots of code and plugins to allow this to happen and so far our testing is proving great. Why do I mention this now? Well, with the update we will be able to open up a variety of new features and abilities within the game and engine that were a bottleneck in 32-bit, memory consumption being primary concern. Also we will be working reaching out to some of our community server ops to help us run public tests on the 64-bit platform to see what gains or stability or problems arise. So look for more information about 64-bit in future updates. We at Unknown Worlds would like to thank the community for its continued passion and dedication to NS2! -Dillon “WasabiOne” Gameplay

• Lerk
• Increased base health points to 150 (from 125)
• Lowered the biomass health bonus to 2 (from 3)
• This change makes the Lerk slightly more durable in early engagements.
• Machine Gun (MG)
• Decreased weight to 0.21 (150% of the Grenade Launcher) from 0.26
• This change helps players with the MG to aim more quickly in combat and mobility.
• Mucous Cloud (Drifter Ability)
• Increased the amount of extra health point mucous grants to 20% (from 15%) of the target’s base hp.
• This change makes mucous cloud more viable compared to the hallucination cloud which generates hallucinations with 32% of the target’s base hp.

Tweaks / Improvements

• Replaced the Machine Gun texture with a higher quality version.
• Added new Alien Commander tutorial
• Learn the basics of Alien Commanding.
• Includes some hidden achievements and easter eggs.
• Added new badges (steam items) for the competitive ensl league:
• Added a badge for the winner of the 10th season
• Added badges for the world championship 2014 finalists
• Added badges for the upcoming newcomer tournament
• Refactored the badge API:
• API is now handling the badge enum correctly
• Supports multiple columns for each badge which may be user specific
• Adds support for Steam Item based badges
• Improved Cyst placement routines to ensure they are more consistently and evenly placed along paths.
• Improved Cyst placement to be accurate per mouse cursor position
• Optimized the update routine of clogs, webs and alien weapons (Thanks Katzenfleisch).

Fixes

• Fixed that Whips kept attacking invalid targets instead of searching for new targets.
• Fixed that parasite was not correctly applied onto players logging out of the command chair.
• Fixed that the ghost model for certain commander drops wasn't matched up with where it actually is when spawned (eg hives were sunk half way into the tech point instead of hovering on top of them).
• Fixed that mines had the wrong ghost model when commander was dropping them.
• Fixed that the evolution chamber wasn’t selectable sometimes due to relevancy issues.
• Fixed slerp calculations which would result in player models twitching rapidly (Thanks Nin).
• Fixed that the Exo flashlight was facing towards the floor (Thanks Nin).
• Fixed that the “purchase” sound of the marine buy menu didn’t play correctly (Thanks Brute).

Maps

• Refinery
• Fixed two stuck spots in Ready room for Winter seasonal theme.
• Fixed non-seasonal stuck spot in Lava Falls.
• Fixed reflections maps incorrectly using Biodome map.
• Mineshaft
• Fixed stuck spot in ready room for Winter seasonal theme.
• Kodiak
• Fixed several stuck spots in ready room for Winter seasonal theme.
• Caged
• Fixed Fall seasonal in-game props showing for other seasons in Shipping Tunnels.
• Tram
• Fixed Fall seasonal prop showing for other seasons.
• Summit
• Fixed missing collision on some props near Sub Access.
• Fixed flickering texture in Atrium.
• Fixed missing collision on glass pane in Flight Control.

SDK

• Fixed the perfanalyzer.py to work with the latest plog format version.
• Fixed that the Entity.AddTimedCallback early parameter had no effect on callback behavior.

[ 2017-01-27 15:32:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Halloween event and free weekend went great, but it was not without its issues. Luckily we were able to resolve the issues without needing to do a steam update by using our extension system (these are the Lambda, Delta, and Omega extensions you see when you join a server). We try to limit our use of the extension system to avoid conflicting with mods, and that is the main reason we are patching this week, and why it is a light one. With this maintenance patch we are integrating those fixes into the main game, clearing out the extensions, and attempting to deploying the badge customization UI for the second time. We also realized that not enough people knew about the new shoulder patch that was able to be earned during the Halloween weekend by playing Infested, so we’ve decided to remove the time lock on it, and allow it to be earned at any time through games of Infested. There are plenty of other exciting features coming down the pipeline, but they are not quite ready. Our NS2 Roadmap is continuing to be updated as we have been working on our long term goals. https://trello.com/b/njrpasjl/ns2-roadmap Gameplay

• Red emergency lights are no more, and have been changed to orange for all seasons
• Removed Halloween player effects (the files are still available for now, so mod away)

Tweaks / Improvements

• Moved player’s badge customization from old Hive website to be in-game via the Customize player menu
  • Menu restores hive 1 order at first use.
• Play Now changed to use a different ranking function when trying to join Infested
• Updated description of Pumpkin Patch in new item popup notification
• Updated description of Infested in play now popup
• The Pumpkin Patch is now able to be earned regardless of the season, if you are playing Infested

Fixes

• Fixed performance issue caused by new badge API due to deprecated code in the status UI
• Fixed that badges were not broadcasted correctly to all connected clients
• Fixed that the badge selection menu did not close correctly
• Fixed incomplete merge of Hive 2 extension
• Fixed issue with progress bar not showing proper values for levels 8 through 14
• Fixed that players were recording the wrong playtime at launch (this is relevant for our data analytics)

[ 2016-11-18 14:07:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Natural Selection 2 is free to play on Steam all weekend! This Halloween, NS2 celebrates its fourth birthday, and NS1 its 14th! http://store.steampowered.com/app/4920/ Come and see what this Alien vs Marine shooter / strategy hybrid is all about. We've got new-player-friendly servers springing up all over the world, so don't be shy, come and get bitten by a Skulk! NS2 has continued to receive constant updates over the past four years, with Update 311 being released earlier today. Even if you've played NS2 before, chances are there are lots of new features and improvements to explore. - Unknown Worlds ːmacː ːwelderː

[ 2016-10-27 17:15:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

It’s crazy to think it has been four years since NS2 was launched and even more so to think that many of us were playing Natural Selection 14 years ago. Things have come a long way since then and to allude to the perfect pun, they continue to evolve. We decided to run a free weekend starting today at 10 am PT to invite every player out there to celebrate this anniversarywith us! Furthermore we wanted to do something special for you ... So say hello to The Infested - an entirely new game-mode which we will be releasing on the Steam Workshop this Friday (October 28th)!
You have been dispatched to deal with a dangerous pathogen which has been detected within a remote TSF outpost. Race to repair the air filtration system before the pathogen corrodes it too severely and the air becomes overwhelmed by infectious spores. But watch out, one of your teammates has already been infected! Work is also continuing on our conversion to 64-bit, FSFOD is hard at work chipping away at the pieces of this large puzzle and we get closer everyday to unlocking more potential for the future of Natural Selection. Signs of life are appearing, so stay tuned ‘cause there is plenty more to come over the next few months! We can’t wait for you to see what’s in store for NS2. Additionally this patch includes some spooky/fun enhancements to the official maps and yes, you can throw candy in the ready room again! Happy Anniversary and Happy Halloween! Update 311 Changelog Gameplay

• Players can now see who the enemy commander is during pre-game, to help get games started faster
• Made lights more spooky

Tweaks / Improvements

• Revamped Training menu to be more orderly and useful for new players
• Added the beginnings of a new Progression System to Hive
  • Just a first step to pave the way for many future enhancements
• Moved player’s badge customization from old Hive website to be in-game via the Customize player menu
• Play now window restyled to fit new themes and look nicer
• Made some changes to prepare for Infested’s launch
• Added new Halloween effects to various parts of the game, which will automatically change per a server’s seasonal setting. (Thanks IronHorse!)
• You can now throw candy during warmup mode

Fixes

• Fixed several edge-case issues with Hive’s skill calculations
• Fixed edge-case issue that prevented Hive from updating round data when submitted
• Fixed conflicts with Hive changes within Hive Challenge and Tutorials

Maps

• All map readyrooms have been made more spooky (Thanks Zavaro, Flatrectomy, and Samus!)

SDK

• Fixed Overview.exe to not render seasonal groups
• Fixed Decoda update.dll load error
• Added more non colliding and commander invisible seasonal groups for use by mappers
• Fixed that Modloader.SetupFileHook returned an error message even on success
• Fixed that Filehook entry files could not be used as filehook
• Added “Badges+” API to manage in-game badges

[ 2016-10-27 14:09:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today we have a treat for you. New first person animations have arrived for all the core pieces of a Marine's basic kit: Rifle, Pistol, and Axe! Every single animation has been rebuilt completely from scratch and ran through a new modernized pipeline to improve the weight and feel of the weapon handling and movement in NS2. In addition, while updating the animations, we have also fixed many issues in the animation graphs that control which animations play and how they blend together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pz-u5wgXM For many, playing the game with new animations may feel like a bit of a shock considering we've all been used to the same animations for upwards of five years; but give it a chance and I think you'll come to love them. In addition to new animations, we also are switching the game over to Hive 2. This is no miracle fix for team stacking issues, but it does give us a lot more control over the system and ability to fix issues as they come up. There are many technical improvements to the new system, some of which you can read about here. Although Hive 2 is not going to fix team balancing, it does bring with it some significant improvements to the underlying skill learning algorithm. Moultano has provided a great description of how this works, and an image showing the difference between how the two algorithms might perform when trying to discover a player's underlying skill value.
Moultano's Sage Words: “Imagine a mountain covered in fog…” Notice how the Hive 2 value gets closer to the target value much faster (with many less games played) than if the same set of games is recorded by Hive 1. This week we are also working on putting together a 64 bit beta build, which you will be able to opt in to and play with on build 310 servers so that you can help test the stability and performance of the 64 bit version of NS2 in actual games. Come join us in Discord for more details. The more people that help us test it, the better we will be able to make it. Update 310 Changelog Gameplay

• Onos cost increased to 62 pres (was 55) When pres gain was increased to 1.25 per tick, Lerk cost had to be decreased to maintain the same initial timings. Because of how late into the game Onos arrive, their cost needs to be raised to account for the additional pres gain and restore the old timings. By pushing out the Oni by a minute or two, aliens have a larger need for Fades, and Marines have a little more breathing room and time to prepare.
• Increased the Shotgun spread slightly to decrease the one-shot range to approximately what it was prior to the alien hit box changes
• Lerk movement tweaks
  • Increase non-celerity flap force to match celerity to reduce Lerk’s dependence on Celerity
  • Improved crouch diving mechanics to help with ambushing and spiking
  • Increased strafe flap force to help with spiking
• Decreased Gorges off-infestation belly slide friction so that Gorges can maintain their speed a bit longer (0.2 to 0.1)

Tweaks / Improvements

• Hive 2.0
  • Algorithm Changes
    • Instead of a constant learning rate, Hive now uses both an AdaGrad-based learning rate and a constant learning rate. This makes skill values change faster initially, but change slower once they've converged. Expect large changes to your skill value for your first several games in the new system.
    • Skill values imported from the old hive system have been modified using a function of play time. (Thanks Nordic!) This fixes the issue where some new players started with a skill of 1000, and others started with a skill of 0. This has the effect of reducing all skill values, particularly those of newer players.
    • Exploits involving switching teams mid-game have been fixed. Players that switch teams will be credited with both a win and a loss, and the skill updates will be proportional to how long they played on each team, weighting the beginning of the game much more than the end.
    • Games with few human players no longer cause anomalously large skill updates. Games with fewer than 12 human players will have a very small effect on skills.
• Added graphical element for mucous shield
• Added an additional diagnostic icon which will appear when a server's performance dips to yellow or red

Fixes

• Fixed that script error icons would flash on screen after map loads
• Fixed exploit that allowed players to regain all energy by exploiting the “Evolve Last Upgrades” feature
• Fixed that you couldn't hit cysts at your feet with the Axe while standing on top of them
• Fixed a client crash caused by trying to read from a model that has not finished loading
• Fixed an scripted error occurring when bot commander got kicked
• Fixed that alien bots tried to evolve upgrades on higher lifeforms even though they couldn't afford them
• Fixed that commander bots would try to build RTs in a weird order due to it using birds-eye distance rather than path distance
• Fixed that command chairs could not be built by bots
• Fixed a bug that would cause a babbler-covered gorge to have a more difficult time heal spraying structures
• Improved how cyst chains are placed.  This should make cysts more reliably connect to the closest cyst

Maps

• Refinery : Stuck spot in Chasm <-> Lava Falls vent fixed (Thanks Zavaro!)

SDK

• In Viewer’s Animation Graph Editor, you can now press the spacebar to recenter your view on either the selected or starting node
• Fixed that LiveMixin:DeductHealth was not using the correct formulas for applying normal damage types, as it advertised

 

[ 2016-10-11 13:24:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

As we announced in last week’s Changelog, we’re releasing a patch this week! This patch contains all the tweaks and updates we held back from build 308, in favor of having more time to solely focus on the issues that came up after the LUAJit update. Included in this update is the brand new Marine Commander tutorial. This will teach potential new commanders the basics of commanding and the marine tech tree. So if you wanted to get a basic understanding of commanding without being in a live game, there is now a way to do so. But that’s not all! Thanks to the tremendous work of Trevor, with the help of a group of volunteers from the community, the new tutorial is packed with more easter eggs and secrets to discover. So even as a veteran commander it’s worth giving it a shot, if only just to unlock the new achievements! We’ve been listening a lot to the community’s feedback about the current balance situation and the performance issues that have been showing up since the last few builds. With this build we started including changes which are trying to resolve some of those issues that were brought up. More improvements will follow in the future. Meanwhile the team is still working on items from our roadmap that remi posted two weeks ago. There is much more to come for NS2 on the horizon, so stay tuned and happy hunting! Update 309 Changelog Gameplay

• Skulk HP raised to 75/10 (was 70/10) The intent of this is to make early game skulks a tiny bit less fragile and to make early game engagements more stable (the innate regen threw a RNG factor into those engagements)
• Machine Gun changes
  • MG research time halved to 30 seconds (was 60)
  • Decreased MG spread to 4 radians (from 4.5)
  • Increased magazine size to 125 (from 100)

The MG is primarily designed to give Marines a chance to hold and extend their territory in the late mid game. The MG wasn’t really able to do that in the past. Halving the research time should help get it on the field before it’s too late. Furthermore decreasing the spread and increasing the magazine should make it reward players better for good positioning.

• Railgun damage type changed to Structural (was normal, railguns now do double damage vs structures, and have no change vs players)

The Railguns can be fun to use against alien players, but at it’s current damage numbers it took 2-4 shots to pop a cyst which made it feel very underpowered. Doubling their damage output to structures will help give them more utility.

• Marines now can’t turn their upper body as far to the right, without also turning their lower body (this makes it easier for aliens to tell which direction a marine is facing)
• Marines now use a different animation while jetpacking, rather than the jumping animation

Tweaks / Improvements

• New Commander Tutorial now available in the training menu!
  • Two new achievements added related to the commander tutorial
  • Removed the “commander help” in-game tutorial
• Improved bot server performance by adding a tick rate for the bot logic routine which is set to 10 by default
  • This should lower the impact of bots onto the server performance by at least 50%
• Updated the bot name list including more recent contributors
• All serverbrowser filter act now the same way: Enabled will show given servers, disabled will hide given servers. Old filter settings are converted
• The “full server” serverbrowser filter will now also take reserved slots into account
• Added the server admin command “sv_rookieonly” to change the rookie only state of a server without requiring a map change or server restart
• Replaced the server runtime error (SRE) icon when a script error occurs on the client with something prettier
• Added another diagnostic icon which will appear when a script error occurs on the server (it’s purple!)
• List the exact number of script errors that occurred on the server in net_stats and the client log
• Windows servers now automatically save a mini memory dump into their log folder on crash (if your server crashes please send this to us so we can help diagnose it)

Fixes

• Fixed that the subscribed mods did not show up in server details window
• Fixed that the rookie only check didn’t work on most rookie-only servers (this was previously deployed via the extension system)
• Fixed that the buttons of popup that showed up when a non rookie tries to join a team at a rookie only servers did not work
• Fixed that you could get stuck in place if you attempted to evolve a trait twice before turning into an egg
• Fixed a script error in the alien commander bot routine
• Fixed a small performance issue in the scoreboard update routine
• Fixed that numbers in the options menu were too precise
• Fixed that the pistol slide was not staying open when the gun is empty
• Fixed that blink effects could cause visual artifacts when bloom was enabled
• Fixed that protolab could cause blow out while being biled if bloom was enabled
• Fixed that spectators could end up spectating non player entities in a rare case

SDK

• Added the ability to lock the view horizontally with the space bar in film mode (Thanks Samus!)
• Added ability to communicate with Webviews (Lua <-> Javascript)
  • WebView::ExecJS allows Lua code to call javascript inside the webview
  • WebView::HookJSAlert allows Lua code to respond to any Javascript alert( message )
• Added Client.GetNumServerScriptErrors() to get the number of script errors that have occurred on the server (since map change)
• The spread vectors table of the shotgun is now referenced via the class to make them easier to mod
• Improved the Lua TraceLogger error messages to include more details
• Viewer
  • Added JSON Export to Animation Graph editor
  • Improved Animation Graph editor visuals by highlighting incoming and outgoing lines from the selected node different colors.
  • It’s now possible to have one-way labels in the Animation Graph (animation state can jump out of this node to other nodes of the same label, but can only be entered by discrete connections)
• Model Compiler
  • Fixed an issue that could cause models’ scaling to be strange when playing animations.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause cameras to not load properly.
• Fixed possible crash on exit due to bad access in FMOD dll (when using Spark’s tools)

[ 2016-09-23 13:32:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

We'd like to take a moment and shine a light on our partners over at the Natural Selection League. Sign-ups are under way for season 10 of great competitive NS2 action and we couldn't be more excited! Below is all the information and links you might need to get involved with the next season, so gather your friends, create a team and get in on the action!

New to the ENSL?

Welcome to the Natural Selection League. If you’re looking for getting more out of your Natural Selection 2 experience, look no further. Power plays, crackpot strats, and the greatest competitive minds of Natural Selection 2 converge here to duke it out on the battlefield. Talk strategy, metagame, and high-level concept Natural Selection 2 on our forums, or enjoy a gather and fight to the top of the food chain. If you’re looking for more information, check the bottom of this post.Any questions can be directed to our help desk or by messaging an admin on ENSL, Steam, by email or Discord. A full list of current admins can be found here.

Deadlines

Brace yourselves, Season 10 is upon us! But.. we will be extended the deadlines for signups for two weeks. The signup deadline for Season 10 is now October 13th. We want the potential to seed a lower division as high as possible, with the intent of more and better matches. A reminder to sign-up if you haven’t already, as time is ticking!For all new players, you need a team of at least six players to compete in Season 10, please read the final section of this post on how to create or join teams.

Gathers

Gathers have picked up steam and are running again. You can join a gather by registering an account and joining up here. Joining is easy, and practice can come in handy for the upcoming Season 10. Be sure to play more rounds to familiarize (or refamiliarize yourself on Mesh (formerly Docking2), Nexus, and Mineral, as these custom maps are staples of an ENSL season, and some have changed for the new Season.

Map Tests

Some of our mappers have come forward concerning high-level gathers on ns2_ayumi, a reimagining of the Natural Selection 3.0 map of the same name. Huge changes have happened recently with the map concerning balance, and feedback is necessary. Contact Kasharic or Mephilles for more information. If you have another map you’d like to see played in gathers, contact an admin.

Joining the ENSL

If you don't have a team or have yet to join the ENSL, it's easy to create an account or team with the following steps. If you want to register a pre-existing team, skip to step 4.

• To create a team, register an account and create a new team! Creating a team is not necessary, nor is joining a team. If you’re looking to join a team, find a team and select the Request to Join button on their page. You’re free to use the ENSL website without any pressure from any teams.
• Get your players to register and tell them to Join your team in their Agenda, which you can find at the top of the page! You can meet players in-game, in ENSL gathers, or on the ENSL or Unknown Worlds forums. As per usual ENSL rules, you must have at least six players for a valid Season 10 team!
• To accept your players on the team, go to Agenda → Click your team name → Edit and scroll down → Members → Change their status from Joining to Member, Leader, or Deputy. These roles can define what a player is to your team.
• To join the tournament, go to Agenda → Click your team name → Edit (scroll down) → Contests → Join Season 10 Signups. This will reserve your space in the upcoming Season 10. Get ready to rock!
• Verify that your team name exists on the Contest page. If your team does not appear here, please follow these steps again. If all else fails, contact an admin.

[ 2016-09-19 19:59:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

A few weeks back Remi wrote up a blog called “Enter the Roadmap” and today we take the first step down that road with the release of Build 308. One of our biggest hopes is to finally take NS2 to 64bit but there are many hurdles along the way, a big one being LuaJIT. FSFOD and the other programmers have been hard at work on an upgrade to the newest version of LuaJIT and testing, testing and more testing. The upgraded JIT allows for more of the overall NS2 code to be jitted, and additional trace stitching which provides more opportunity for improving existing performance logging. This update was delayed for further testing a couple weeks ago, but thanks to a few community server ops, playtesters and public players we have spent a lot of time this week finally ironing out the last of the major issues. However, an upgrade to a core system such as this is likely to have some sneaky bugs appear and we hope that you can get in touch with us on Discord or through tech support in the forums to help solve those issues. CHANGELOG Tweaks / Improvements

• Upgraded LuaJIT to Version 2.1
  • More code is jittable now (runs slightly faster on average)
  • String operations have been improved which helps with our GUI code
  • Switched to JIT specialized table functions
• Crash dump always saved before showing report dialogue and command line switch to enable a full dump if requested
• Add icon which will flash on screen when a client encounters a script error

Fixes

• Fixed Trace object field access unintentionally always failing to JIT.
• Fixed script error when Alien Commander failed to place a Cyst
• Fixed script error when Alien Commander failed to place a Drifter
• Fixed script error when a ViewModel’s parent entity has been destroyed
• Fixed that rifles sometimes cause a script error because its cinematics have already been destroyed
• Fixed script error caused by entering hive after activating xenocide
• Fixed script error caused by code not expecting there to be nil entries in an entity list

SDK

• Added ErrorCallback Lua event that is fired every time there is an Lua error. The error message is passed as the first argument of the event
• Added `display_errors` console command which will trigger a popup if there is a script error so you don’t need to dig through logs to find the first one. You can also activate this by using the `-debug` launch option.
• Removed out of date and unusable model source assets from NS2 install. This reduces the install footprint by roughly 1.3Gb. The files can still be accessed on the “build_307” Steam branch.

[ 2016-09-16 13:14:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Progress! These last couple weeks we have been working towards some of our larger goals for the game. We have had multiple public and private test sessions with the upgraded Luajit changes and it is very close to public release. Dependency on Awesomium has been removed and should help with stability and memory leaks. HIVE 2.0 will be launching in parallel to the existing HIVE sometime over the next week using extensions. This will allow us to test our new system in the public and see how well the algorithms and data collection are working and allow us to make some final tweaks before removing the old version entirely (more detail on this in a separate blog post soon). Looking to make some changes, update 307 includes a new version of Summit with contributions from Wob and Loki. We have been playing it over the last couple weeks and are excited to see how the public adapts to the new changes. There have been continued debates in multiple Discord channels over balance and a wide range of other subjects lately. These discussions have been very helpful and have lead to some inspired changes that you will see in the log below, so keep em going. Keep an eye out for a new blog post next week showing our evolving Roadmap for the future of NS2 and some of the exciting updates that we hope to be bringing in the near future. Skulk on and be happy! Update 307 Changelog Tweaks / Improvements

• Skulk Changes
  • Reverted HP to 70/10 (was 85/10)
  • Increased base ground speed to 7.25 to match wall walking speed (was 7.0)
  • Increased non-celerity wall jump force to 6.4 to match the celerity force (was 5.2)
  • Increased sneak speed to be 66% of max speed (was 50%)
  • Made wall jump noises more responsive to your speed to provide better feedback

Although we felt that increasing the Skulk base HP was a necessary step to restore the balance, we agree with the community’s sentiment that it didn’t improve the feel for either side. Our aim going forward is to make it so Skulks feel effective, even while their small health pool can feel punishing. These new changes in conjunction with the melee box increase should make Skulks feel a little bit more maneuverable and able to get a kill, especially during the early game and when planning an ambush.

• Removed the Twitter ticker since it is not used much
• Added team say console command `tsay` (Thanks Keats!)
• Replaced HTML renderer to use Steam APIs instead of Awesomium
  • Videos will now play on Linux!

Fixes

• Welcome banner was hidden by the load screen (Thanks Brute!)
• Fixed that text input fields didn’t consume key events (Thanks Brute!)
• Fixed that enemies were still considered in LOS for health bar display when hiding behind structures and other players
• Fixed that enemies were not considered in LOS for health bar display when visible through railings
• Fixed that Skulks’ celerity bonus was not being reduced while sneaking
• Fixed a script error caused by telling a bot to attack a clog
• Fixed that higher level tech was not immediately available in Sandbox mode from the Armory/Protolab
• Fixed that missing placeholders in a localization could cause clients to crash (occurred with Serbian selected)
• Fixed a script issue occurring on ns2_caged caused by achievement handling

Map Changes

• Summit
  • Atrium – Depth of arched pillars increased, tree added and its tube, raised platform at back of summit added console for additional ground cover, fences now solid.
  • Datacore – New pillar added to give partial LOS block on TechPoint when approaching from Pipe Junction
  • Reception – Increased height of ceiling and added new pillar
  • Flight Control -Duplicated roof truss and added tv for cover
  • Computer Lab – Added small pillar increased height of ceiling, route from comp lab to sub now has 2 additional ceiling recesses for hiding skulks etc
  • Reactor Core – Slight room alteration + extended angular struts from the reactor prop
• Derelict
  • Fixed overhead bridge in Biome blocking commander view

SDK

• Model Compiler – Fixed a bug that would cause FBX models to use incorrect bones for attachment points.
• Model Compiler – Fixed a bug that would cause FBX models to have cameras incorrectly oriented.
• Model Compiler – Added a directive to the model compiler “material_path_replace”.  Takes an input string, and replaces all occurrences of it with the output string.  Useful for maintaining proper Maya workflow/naming conventions.

[ 2016-08-12 13:33:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our latest build continues on the path of refinement and stability, and although small there are some nice changes in this patch. Those of you with antivirus woes when opening NS2 should no longer have an issue as all our windows binaries are digitally signed and secure. As stated in the blog post earlier this week, we increased the size of the melee attack on both the skulk and fade and this change is no longer an extension but part of the vanilla code. We have also decided to slightly bump up skulk HP requiring an additional 2 bullets to make contact. Behind the scenes we are continuing our work on HIVE 2, which is coming along nicely and should see the public soon! Meanwhile FSFOD has not wasted any time on his upgrade of LUAJit and we will be beta testing those changes starting next week. We are very excited to get some of these new features out into the public, but for now, enjoy the update! Update 306 Details: Tweaks / Improvements

• All Windows binaries are now digitally signed, which should make AV & Security programs consider NS2 as a validated program. There are some AV programs that will not take this into consideration however (such as Avast Hardened-mode enabled).
• Warmup Mode Improvements
  • Enemies will slowly take damage while in the other team’s spawn location and will receive a notification to retreat
  • Bots will no longer buy tech or evolve, to prevent overwhelming the enemy team with Onos
• Filler bots will be disabled for listen servers
• Disabled many rookie-only checks in listen servers
• Boosted Skulk starting health by 15hp to 85/10
• Size of Skulk melee has been increased to 1.2, 1.2 (was 0.7, 1)
• Size of Fade melee has increased vertically to 0.7,1.2 (was 0.7,1)

Fixes

• Fixed that filler bots stayed longer in the teams than they should which could lead to uneven teams
• The player list now updates properly in the server details window
• Mod names now update properly in the server details window
• Fixed that the sv_forceeventeams command wasn’t working
• Fixed that the “start commanding” text showed up at unbuild hives (thanks NoM)
• Fixed that commander dropped weapons caused phantom item bubbles

SDK

• Texture lock has been further improved.
• Added a new command to the model compiler, “material_path_replace”.  See model tools manual for details.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ELyjisMUh6TCDubkp5IZTC7SsVrx41j-OdHpHPs4_uU/edit?usp=sharing

[ 2016-07-29 13:04:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

It’s been two weeks since our last update, be honest you missed us! Moving to this model has allowed for us to make some much needed changes to our way of implementing and testing changes to the game. This update may seem light, but it has some good fixes and more enhancements to our server browser including a friends filter. This filter will allow you see what servers your steam friends are playing on and get you connected to them. One of the new additions I mentioned above is “Playtest with the Dev’s,” a weekly opportunity to jump into the beta of next update and play a series of games and give your feedback on the upcoming changes. We strive to make changes that have a positive impact on the community and next to our discord or forums this is a nice direct interface for the players and devs to communicate. Our newly implemented feedback system has given us some nice results over the last couple weeks. The most selected option for lower rated rounds was “Uneven Teams” and for newer players was “Inexperienced Commander.” To attack these issues we have begun work on a set of new features, the first being a long needed update of our backend Player Skill tracking system HIVE. Hive 2.0 will go a long way towards helping us resolve some old internal bugs, and add some much needed speed to the communication between servers and the database. The second feature is our continued expansion on the tutorials available to players. A new Commander Tutorial is being drafted and developed to give players a better grasp on commanding a team for both Aliens and Marines. These two features are only the beginning of our Phase 3 plans. We will be starting a new series of QA videos on our YouTube channel to better explain and show off upcoming development on NS2. There will be another blog post next week going into more details on how you can submit questions and feedback for us to talk about in our series. See the full changelog below and happy hunting! UPDATE 305 CHANGELOG Tweaks / Improvements

• Added a Friends tab to the serverbrowser
  • Easily join your friends, wherever they are
• Bots will now fill up empty servers up to 12 slots by default
  • Makes it easier to form teams as player can directly join the team they want to play
  • Makes Warmup mode engaging even without other players
  • Makes it faster to start a game without many human players
  • Bots are ignored by the Warmup Mode check
• The cooldown of Belly Slide and Charge get now displayed by the HUD (Thanks Steelcap!)
• Increased the rate with which each Minigun heats up from 0.2 to 0.3 to compensate for them being independent now
• Autobalance doesn’t stop players from spawning anymore when teams are uneven

Fixes

• Fixed the description of the Machine Gun and Lerk Spores
• Fixed that sometimes you couldn’t evolve if you had babblers attached to you
• Fixed most issues with stuttering when running past clogs caused by desync of the clog collision in the predict world
• Fixed that the server browser was sending significant more pings than needed
• Fixed issue with NS2+ causing health bars to show up when players were spawning in

Map Fixes

• ns2_derelict (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Fixed Occlusion Geometry in Nursery
  • Geothermal No longer a marine spawn
  • Western Entrance No longer an Alien spawn

[ 2016-07-15 13:18:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

With the summer sale now in full swing, we decided to take a lighter approach to the update this week. Minor tweaks and improvements over last week’s patch should address some of the feedback we heard. Moving forward, we are adjusting our patch cycle to be bi-weekly. This allows us to start tackling some larger features and helps with our testing schedule. As many of you know and for those of you that don’t, each update to NS2 comes with not just hours of development time but lots of bug and gameplay testing. Our playtesters are community volunteers and give many hours each week so that you can enjoy the fruits of our labors. Our EU Playtest Lead Asraniel has been around since the beginning of time and given so many hours that I couldn’t even begin to list all the many influences and tasks he has helped address. Asraniel is taking a step back to focus on his next step in the world and we wish him nothing but the best in his endeavors. He has left his mark on not just this game but our community as a whole, thank you and good luck! Update Notes Tweaks / Improvements

• Exo miniguns will not overheat each other
• Feedback UI – “Out of sight, out of mind”
  • Every time you close the feedback UI will increase the time it won’t show up afterwards
  • Every time you give feedback will increase the time the feedback UI shows up
  • You can also close the feedback UI using the Escape button
  • Feedback UI doesn’t show up at listen servers anymore
  • Added a close button to the feedback UI (as requested)
• Sandbox Mode – “Back to the roots”
  • Restored the tooltip functionality of the sandbox mode (no idea how that broke)
    • Explore the map and all game elements with descriptions
  • Made sure all weapons, upgrades, classes and abilities get unlocked in the sandbox mode
  • Limited to Docking at the moment
• Many game strings still need to be updated (Weldable Doors are still not planned)
• Running an experiment to see if changing the default setting for health bars, damage numbers, and hit sounds makes a measurable difference to new player behaviors (this will have no impact to current players)
• Removed British alternate tutorial VO

Fixes

• Fixed that the feedback UI blocked various button presses
• Fixed a script error caused by the arcade achievement
• Fixed issue where forward movement was dependent on view angles.
• Fixed right click preventing sprinting
• Fixed arcade achievement not being given on ns2large servers
• Fixed phase gates not setting angles correctly for people who use inverted mouse (boo, hiss)
• Fixed guns floating in midair when dropped.
• Fixed guns held by marines sometimes not following the marine.
• Fixed exploit allowing instant switch to rifle once per life
• Fixed that the boot camp stayed invisible after closing the popup with escape

[ 2016-07-01 13:07:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy Summer Marines! We are ushering in the sunshine with update 303. This is a lighter patch focused on some bug fixes and a couple tweaks and additions to the game. With this update we are introducing a new post-round feedback system, this will help provide us with more details about your games and comparing round data to support future changes. The last six months has seen a lot of changes and experimentation to the game and we aren’t done yet. We are working on developing plans over the next week to continue to build on the new foundation that we’ve created over these last few months. Be on the lookout for some exciting new opportunities and changes to come. As always, thank you for being part of our community and your continued support of our team. UPDATE 303 DETAILS Tweaks / Improvements

• Added a round feedback UI – Help us to improve the game based on your feedback
  • Rate the last round you played
  • Select multiple reasons on feedback based on rating
• Added new Achievement “Arcade Champion”
  • Explore for at least one hour the various community made custom game mode which wait for you in the Arcade section of the server browser:
    • Faded
    • Gun Games
    • Siege
    • Last Stand
    • Defense
    • NS2 Large

• Removed all outdated tip videos in the training menu
• Updates the “VS. Bots” tab of the training menu
• Commander bots can now generally be replaced by entering the command station
• Restored the spawn animation of eggs (broke a long time ago)
• The spawn animation of alien structures is less obscuring now by lowering the size of the initial infestation blob

Fixes

• Fixed that parasite never timed out if an entity was outside the relevancy distance
• Fixed a bug that stopped the scoreboard from showing up after connecting to a server
• Fixed an script error which occurred when you used escape at the tundra unpack menu
• Fixed that the cancel button of the tundra unpack menu wasn’t functional
• Fixed Gorge structures not being destroyed in warmup mode
• Fixed various in-game tooltip descriptions (e.g. power surge, contamination and mines)
• Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause a research button for a commander to permanently disappear — forcing the commander to either let someone else start the research, or return to ready room to reset it.
• Fixed that marine upgrades stayed available after an arms lab has been power surged
• Power nodes no longer play the flinch animation and buzzing sound when they are infested but their armor is gone. However, the lighting in the room will continue to flicker to indicate the power node is infested.
• Power nodes will now be properly infested if they are rebuilt from death in an infested area.
• Cysts will no longer “flash” infestation right before it begins to spread.
• Fade stab will now work even after switching to a different weapon mid-stab.
• Marines can now immediately shoot upon spawning from infantry portal — they no longer play the rifle deploy animation. IP-biting skulks beware!
• Marines will now always look in the proper direction after using a phase gate. Before, having previously used a gorge tunnel would cause the view angles to be different.
• Command station will no longer leave behind the login screen after being killed.
• Fixed Gorge tunnels and Phase Gates are deactivated during the concede sequence.
• Fixed exiting a hive or command station, the commander will now face the direction they were facing when they entered.
• Fixed that bots were counted as human players by the concede and commander eject vote
• Fixed various script errors caused by the Marine commander bot
• Fixed that Commander bots placed structures in warmup mode

Maps

• Caged (Thanks Flat!)
  • Made ceiling geometry around the fans in Ventilation commander invisible
  • Fixed misaligned trim textures on the curved corners of the doorways in Main Hold
  • Added collision geometry behind pipe in east corridor of Central next to Access entrance so Fades cannot get behind it
  • Made various props and sections of geometry commander Invisible in Life Support and the east corridor of Central
• Tram (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Fixed the Occlusion Geometry in Shipping around the door towards South Tunnels

Editor

• Fixed a bug that would cause the displacement tool to crash the editor.

[ 2016-06-22 13:07:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

The ENSL.org Newcomers Tourney is starting right now! Join up the Teamspeak 3 server now! Teamspeak 3 Server Details: Address: ensl.org Teamspeak is avaible for free here

[ 2016-06-18 16:14:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

This week is all about fixes and fun! As you will see in the changelog below we have made many adjustments to all of the maps including our newest awesome addition Caged. After the re-introduction of projectile spores last week, we decided to continue and tweak values and it shows progress but will probably still need some adjusting. Flamethrowers also are seeing some love as before they were just heavy lighting effects, now they do some damage. New this week is the addition of a new pre-game mode called Warm-up. Our testing has shown that players generally avoid seeding servers, but with Warm-Up players can play a simple format of the game with all the tech unlocked and no resources required. As soon as there are 12 or more players, or two Commanders, the game will flip into regular NS2. This mode will no doubt go through some additional changes, however we’ve seen many positives to it even now. Additionally, we have decided to extend the ABYSS unlock achievement until 10AM PST on Monday, June 13th. For those of you of unfamiliar with this, players that complete 2hrs of gameplay on the new map Caged will unlock the ABYSS skulk skin. So get in the game and earn one today! UPDATE LOG Tweaks / Improvements

• New Pre-Game mode added: Warm-Up
  • Active until 12 or more players joined the teams or each team has a commander
  • All abilities, weapons and upgrades are available for free while Warm-Up mode is active (except for commanders)
  • Bots will work in Warm-Up Mode
• Marines
  • Flamethrower
    • Increased base damage to 9 (was 8)
    • Increased on-fire damage bonus to 2x when directly damaging structures (was 0.5x)
    • Increased damage range to 9.5 (was 9)
  • Marine maximum Sprint speed reduced by 0.25, now 6 (was 6.25 max)
• Aliens
  • Lerk Spores
    • Energy cost increased to 27 (was 15)
    • Increased range to 17 (was 12)
    • Increased Spore-Cloud radius to 4 (was 2.5)
    • Changed rate of fire to match attack animation, results in slower rate of fire for Spores.
    • Updated cinematic effects for Spores (Thanks Ironhorse!)
    • Marines see the same Spore effects as Aliens now, which obscure less.
    • Added world sound when Spores impact something
• Bots
  • Alien Bot Commander now researches Metabolize and Advanced Metabolize
  • Improved the movement routine of Fades, Lerks and Oni. They will now use Blink and Metabolize, their wings or Sprint.
  • More bots will now save up for Onus and Fades.
  • Bots are more afraid of human players and will retreat faster with higher lifeforms.

• Updated several Commander tooltips
• Updated the fastload shader achieve to make sure loading time stays short even with the recent updates

Fixes

• Fixed Lerk Spores and Umbra having inconsistent trajectories compared to where a player is aiming.
• Fixed Umbra cinematic cut-off due to length mismatch (Thanks Ironhorse!)
• Fixed GetRandomPointsWithinRadius server log spam
• Fixed Scoreboard not displaying number of connecting players when number of bots was at or above 12
• Fixed that Cysts did not update their cyst chain parent correctly sometimes leading to various script errors. (Thanks Brute)

Maps

• Refinery (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Fixed holes in ready room enabling players to escape into oblivion
• Summit (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Beautified Atrium, Flight Control, and Glass Hallway with actual glass and reflection probes instead of greasy-glass prop
• Tram (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Fixed occlusion issue in main tramway facing Platform
• Derelict (Thanks Loki!)
  • Updated occlusion-geo in Biome
  • Reduced some lights and cinematics in Biome
• Caged (Thanks Flaterectomy!)
  • Added Low-Lights support
  • Fixed z-fighting DAT-1 vent
  • Fixed greybox between Ventilation and Airshaft on ground
  • Fixed holes at top of Airshaft
  • Fixed holes under catwalk Airvent (part of the catwalk geo)
  • Made the catwalk in Airshaft be supported
  • Fixed players getting under the Airshaft stairs leading into Ventilation
  • Fixed players getting behind diagonal ceiling pipe in Ventilation
  • Fixed stuck spot on the pipes in the corner opposite the northwest exit of Ventilation
  • Fixed players jumping behind crate near vent entrance under catwalk in Ventilation
  • Fixed players getting under stairs near RT in Ventilation
  • Fixed greybox textures behind the fans in Vent (at TP and Shipping exit)
  • Fixed z-fighting on pipes prop in Access -> Shipping vent
  • Fixed occlusion issues in Vent -> Life Support vent
  • Fixed small hole ceiling above TP in Ventilation
  • Fixed small hole middle of ceiling just under the 45 degree angle near TP on other side of airshaft
  • Deleted old red mockup geo that stuck through floor of elevator platform under diagonal Airshaft pipes in Vent
  • Fixed floating pipe west of TP on south wall in Ventilation
  • Fixed holes next to wall props in Vent -> Shipping vent
  • Added missing light prop east of Central
  • Fixed greybox bottom of pillar on higher floor near Marine entrance in Ready Room

Editor

• New “Disable Hidden Lights” option in the Viewport menu allows mappers to completely hide the effects of lights that are in hidden layers.  Useful for when making low-lights.

[ 2016-06-10 17:03:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Want to get a look at the upcoming build? Or just want to kill a developer to get your QA achievement? Then switch to the beta branch and join us at "The Thirsty Onos #Playtest". Instructions how to switch to the public beta can be found here

[ 2016-06-09 18:41:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

 Calling all rookies and veterans! Further your knowledge of Natural Selection and gain a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie by joining the newcomer draft tournament! New to competitive? Play on a team, get coached, make risky plays! Veteran player? Profess your love for smashing in your opponent’s teeth by teaching players how to ‘git gud.’ The NSL is hosting a brand new Newcomer's Draft tournament! Read more about it by clicking the link. This is a great opportunity for new players and veterans alike to come together and share knowledge, come up with sneaky gorge tunnel strats, exo rush your way to victory, but most importantly have fun! The tournament begins on June 18th at 12pm EST/ 6pm CEST. Anyone of any skill level is encouraged to sign up.  --->You can sign up here!<---  The winners of the tournament will receive Gorge Plushies. If you’re itching to play immediately, feel free to sign up for a website account and join the infamous Gather system! Don’t be daunted if it appears empty, players might be watching but not committing to playing just yet. 

[ 2016-06-07 16:18:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

After the successful construction of a new mining station on asteroid codename: Kodiak, the crew of the Industrial Construction Vessel “Caged” sent out a distress signal. ALTERRA Corp quickly dispatched a private military unit to investigate the source of the distress, what they found was an empty vessel and no signs of human life… Welcome to Caged, the newest official map in the NS2 universe. A throwback to the original NS1 Map by Nelson ‘manah’ Ferryman, Flaterectomy and other community contributors and testers have worked to honor the original but also offer a new take for the current state of play. Caged offers players a fun four techpoint map with plenty of res and unique rooms and corridors for epic combat engagements.
What would a new map be without some other goodies? As a special treat, players who play on caged for two hours or more within the first week of release will unlock a new skulk skin. This can only be earned until June 10, 2016. After this date you will only be able to trade or buy it from players that earned it in the community marketplace. Get it FREE while you can!
Travel deep into the heart of Caged and see what skulks in the cold darkness. With its piercing blue eyes and ravaging look, this Skulk is sure to make many a marine wary of the fight ahead.
Update 301 sees continued tweaks to the new features we’ve added over the last few weeks and also sees a newer variant of Alien Vision and Spores! With the help of Ironhorse we have gone over a lot of the effects and cinematics and made them friendlier to engagements and less screen clutter. See more in the update log below. These last few weeks of development have been very interesting with new features and balance tweaks and we have appreciated all the feedback. Thank you again to our Playtesters and Leads for helping us get through the faster rate of updates to the game. Also a big thanks to those of you in the public that have been coming and playing the public beta with us, it has been a huge help. We have seen a recent influx of new players to the community and we hope we can only continue to grow these numbers in the future, but this also happens with your help in supporting and helping the new players feel encouraged. Thank you to those of you taking the time to teach and show new players why we love this game so much! UPDATE LOG Tweaks / Improvements

• New Map Caged by Flaterectomy:
  • Remake of the original NS1 map ns_caged
  • 4 Tech Points and 10 Resource Points
  • Added loading screens for Caged (thanks Samus)
  • Added an achievement “Unleashed” for playing on Caged for 2 hours
  • Added the new “Abyss” skulk skin, which is rewarded free for a limited time for unlocking “Unleashed”.
  • Added a new main menu background.

• Remind the server operators to add the map to their mapcycle!

• Bot “Evolution”:
  • Alien bots evolve now into Lerks, Fades and Oni.
  • Improved the Lerks, Fade and Oni bot behavior.
  • Alien commander bots now manage better with their team ressources
  • Marine commander bots will also research The MG now.
• Aliens:
  • Alien Vision
    • Gorges and Babblers are highlighted and outlined in green
    • Friendly units are highlighted orange instead of red and are less highlighted than enemies
    • Enemy parasited outlines are now yellow to differentiate from friendlies
  • Lerk:
    • Spores:
      • Spores are now a ranged ability like Umbra
      • Spores require now biomass 4 (instead of 6)
      • Lowered damage to 15 health points (was 20)
      • Increased energy costs to 16 (was 8)
    • Umbra:
      • Umbra requires now biomass 5 (instead of 4)
  • Onos:
    • Boneshield
      • Boneshield requires now biomass 6 (instead of 5)
      • Added a new visual effects for bone shield
      • Boneshield now cost only 20 energy (instead of 40)
      • Boneshield restores now 112.5 armor per second (was 100)
      • The cooldown time of Boneshield now depends on how long it was used
      • The maximum cool down has been increased to 12.5 seconds (from 10)
      • You can now trigger Boneshield again after a misclick, and not have it instantly go on full cooldown
      • You can move now very slowly
  • Cysts:
    • The health points of a mature Cyst is now based on the length of the cyst chain to the hive. Cysts will have a minimum of 200 health points.
    • The Cysts redeploy radius has been increased to 7 (was 6)
    • The Cysts chains will now update when a hive is destroyed or completed.
    • Optimized cyst chain code to run faster
  • Hallucinations
    • The cooldown of hallucinations has been increased to 12 (was 6)
  • Silence Upgrade
    • Silence also stops attack sounds from playing
• Marines:
  • Flamethrower
    • Increased rate of fire by 50%.
    • Increased costs to 12 pres (was 10)
    • Lowered damage to 8 (was 16)
    • The Flamethrower now does more damage to structures over time (up to an additional 50% damage) when directly damaging a structure.
    • Removed Flamethrower making hit targets weigh more.
  • MG
    • Improved the sounds
• Health bars
  • Enemies are now marked (when first hit) based on server-authoritative damage, to make them more accurate
  • Updated the line of sight routine to make the hide and show correctly
• Blood splatter HUD damage effects have been improved (Thanks IronHorse!)
• Server browser
  • Ping and performance values will now be displayed via icons in the server list.
  • Choosing a server list tab will also reset the server list slide bar.

Fixes

• Fixed a critical script error when babblers tried to cling to a dead gorge causing the server to lag until the map got changed.
• Fixed that the Alien Vision outlined the skybox.
• Fixed the dropped MG outline not being red.
• Fixed that marines with a MG didn’t have a red ammo bar for Commanders
• Fixed that Umbra didn’t block any damage from the MG.
• Fixed that Lerk ragdolls did not dissolve.
• Fixed Hive-UI Icons scaling misalignment for 16:10 resolutions
• Fixed that the Alien Vision made entities blur when you blinked as Fade.
• Updated a few outdated in-game descriptions.

[ 2016-06-03 13:04:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings! Squad 5 badges are handed out by the Natural Selection 2 community and us developers to show our eternal gratitude to those who helped growing NS2 and its community. Anybody who makes a sustained, positive, and reasonable effort to support NS2 and / or the vibrancy of its community may be awarded with a blue icon. Silver and Gold are 'big deals' and are only awarded extremely sparingly for outstanding efforts. Thank you all for your contributions even if you haven’t made it into Squad 5 yet, and thank you to those who took the time to nominate them. Note that the only way a community member can be considered for Squad 5 is if YOU nominate them here! Be sure to congratulate these community members, in game or in these forums, they deserve it. Squad 5 Gold
@Person8880 - For his “Shine” modification and the outstanding support of the server operator and modding community in the last 3 years. Squad 5 Silver
@Zavaro - Being a PT Lead, MT Lead and now the ENSL Admin. All of these take a phenomenal amount of time and effort, and absolutely deserves our thanks and gratitude Squad 5 Blue
@Well - For all his work to get Natural Selection 2 speaking Russian. It's a difficult task to translate that much, but it's a worthy endeavor as it brings more players into our community. We appreciate everything you've done. @Brute - For his “Wonitor” modification. Everybody always like to have fancy graphs about the in-game stats of a server. @Scatter - For his various mods e.g. “NS2:Assault”, “NS2:Overhaul” and “Modular Exo”. Furthermore, he was always a driving force in ensuring the Australian NS2 Community stayed healthy and strong @Oozle For being another force inside the Australian NS2 Community. Without him hosting NS2 servers for years Down Under we would have never known how passionate the Australian folks can be about Natural Selection. Your badges will be ready to claim for use in game by visiting http://hive.naturalselection2.com/ and clicking redeem badges after you've logged in. Thanks everyone, and congrats!!

[ 2016-06-02 22:22:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Some of the DEV team is currently on DiamondGamers Dallas 2. Join up and hunt them down!

[ 2016-05-29 23:56:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

“THIS IS ALTERRA!” First off, how amazing is it that we are at Update 300? The blood sweat and tears that have been poured into this game by so many people over the last few years is nothing short of awesome. Now we look forward to what’s to come. This update sees us making continued improvements to the server browser and an additional notification for news or updates on first open. After playing many games, reading and discussing feedback with players we’ve made some additional tweaks to newly introduced abilities and weapons. Aliens now have a new ability in Focus, so play around and see what you think. Also on the map front Derelict has seen some performance improvements, thanks Loki!
We would like to introduce the newest skin to the marine arsenal, Skull ‘n’ Crossfire. This black beauty is almost splattered with the blood of its enemies and is enshrined with the skull of the fallen to taunt those foes that dare face it next! Check it out now in the ITEM STORE. NS2 is currently running a 50% off sale through May 30th, we hope to see some new players on the battlefield. Your help to encourage and inspire teamwork will go a long way to retaining them for the long haul. Thanks for playing NS2! Tweaks / Improvements

• Main Menu:
  • Added a new changelog pop up:
    • Will show up after the client has been updated
    • Shows latest changelog
    • Allows you to give feedback on the changes
  • Tweaked the right side of the main menu slightly
  • Replaced the reload, favorite and history icons in the Server Browser to look better.
• Marines:
  • Rifle
    • Added the new fancy Skull ‘n’ Crossfire skin. http://store.steampowered.com/itemstore/4920/detail/801/
  • HMG
    • Thanks for all your feedback on the HMG!
    • Added new sounds
    • Fixed the model textures
    • Renamed it to Machine Gun (MG) because it’s not really a HMG
    • Deals 6 damage to structures, 12 to players
    • Spread is 4.5 degrees
    • Weights twice as much as the rifle
    • Magazine size is 100
    • Has maximum 5 magazines
    • Reload takes about 4.2 seconds
  • Mines
    • Increased cost to 10 pres (was 8)
    • Lowered armor to 5 (was 10)
  • Flamethrower
    • Decreased cost to 10 pres
  • Power nodes will no longer show enemies on the map unless it is under attack
• Aliens:
  • Shade Hive - Added Focus
    • Deals 50% more damage to primary attacks
    • Increases the delay between attacks by 50% (slows rate of attacks)
  • Crag Hive - Crush
    • Increased extra damage to player to 7% for each shell (21% with 3 shells)
  • Heal/Regeneration:
    • If an alien gets healed by 20% of its total health in 2 seconds every further heal is reduced to 20%
  • Hallucination Cloud:
    • Spawns now 2 skulk hallucinations if no players were targeted.
  • Revised nutrient mist cinematic to be less obscuring
  • Revised mucous membrane cinematic to be less obscuring
  • Rupture parasite time reduced to 10 seconds ( was 44 seconds )
  • Gorge Build Menu:
    • Swapped position of Webs and Babbler Egg. Webs are now in slot 3
  • Babblers now cling to their owner when they hatch from their egg
• Other:
  • Increased the damage number animation speed
  • Increased the health bars animation speed
  • Disabled the consistency check for local servers
  • Removed heavy damage effects
  • The local player gets highlighted in the scoreboard

Fixes

• Fixed that the reserved slot count could be negative ending up with server having more slots in the server browser than they really have
• Fixed that the marine weapon icons were not displayed correctly in spectator view
• Fixed that the health bars were wrongly colored in spectator
• The give cheat command will no longer cause script errors with invalid command arguments
• Fixed that the Onos stomp sound repeated itself in spectator view
• Fixed that the Alien Commander did not re-cyst to ressource points correctly
• Fixed that in case a server reported a negative amount of reserved slots the server browser displayed more slots than available.
• Fixed that the Alien Vision wasn’t working on Linux (thanks rkfg)

Translations

• Swedish translations are at 88%, just a little more love!

SDK

• Added Shared.GetAnimationLength() callback. Accepts model name (with filepath) and animation name. Returns length of time for an animation (as a float).
• Added Client.GetClientUpdated which returns true if the client got updated before the last client start, otherwise it returns false.

Maps

• Derelict
  • Improved FPS inside Nursery (specifically when entering from flooded biosphere) and Turbines.
  • Several duplicated lights have been removed in Turbines.
  • Added additional occlusion geometry around Heat Xfer and Geothermal.

[ 2016-05-27 13:01:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

This week we have brought you a whole bunch of new alien toys including a new ability for the Shade hive which saps health, a new Crag hive ability which allows players to do extra damage to armor, and a totally revamped bone shield for the Onos! Aliens didn’t get all the love, though. Marines have also received some new toys and changes to their existing tech. A preliminary version of the Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) has been added. This is a gun that was loved in NS1 and one which many of us have always wanted to see make a return in NS2. The HMG was pioneered successfully in Comp Mod, and now it has made its way into the main game. We’ve also heard your cries and beacons, and recognize that Contamination tended to be very frustrating for Marines. We’ve made some changes to how it works to give Marine players more time to react to it. It will now do its damage over time rather than immediately when the ability is activated. All of these gameplay changes are sure to shake up the meta, but that’s not all we’ve been doing. We’ve also been making general improvements to the game, including integrating many features from NS2+ as the defaults that new players will see when they play on any server. We are excited to see how these changes are received and we want to hear from you, especially about how the new abilities and weapons impact the balance of the game and your own experiences. Please come join us at our Discord server or discuss it in our forums. Although we will be playing games as well, if you think something is completely overpowered, we want to know. Tweaks / Improvements

• Alien abilities have been shuffled around, and two new abilities have been added!
  • Crag Hive - Crush
    • Increases armor damage to structures up to 15%, when you have 3 shells
    • Increases armor-fraction used on players up to 15% (amount of armor that is used when calculating damage) on players by 15%. Does not affect early game balance
  • Shade Hive - Vampirism (replaces Phantom)
    • Provides cloaking and heals your health every time you damage players with a direct attack (no spores / bilebomb)
      • Lifeform specific values for life leech (at 3+ veils):
        • Skulk: 14hp for bite
        • Gorge: 15hp for spit
        • Lerk: 2hp for spikes, 10hp for bite
        • Fade: 20hp for swipe and stab
        • Onos: 40hp for gore
  • Shift Hive - Silence
    • This was moved from the Shade Hive to Shift, and split out from Phantom
    • Makes all movement and attacks silent
• Biomass scaling has been increased for Lerk and Onos to help their survivability in late game
  • Lerk has been increased from 2 to 3hp per biomass
  • Onos has been increased from 25 to 30hp per biomass
• Onos Bone Shield has been revamped, and now refills armor!
  • Costs 40 energy to trigger, can only be held for at most 4 seconds, and a 10 second cooldown has been added
  • Regenerates 100 armor / second while in use
  • Will now block 66% of damage from the front instead of 75%
  • No longer saps energy while in use
• Cysts no longer die when disconnected from hive
  • Cysts instead rapidly lose maturity when the chain is disconnected, making them easier to destroy. When reconnected, maturity is regained rapidly.
  • Nutrient mist can be used to prevent the maturity loss.
• Contamination Tweaks
  • Increased cooldown to 6 seconds (was 5)
  • Bile now sprays every 2 seconds, up to 3 times, and can be stopped by destroying the pustule
• HMG has been added, to help deal with those pesky lifeforms
  • Note: Sounds and art assets for HMG are temporary.
• Jetpacks now use more fuel based on a weapon’s weight
  • Shotgun and Flamethrower now use 7.6% more fuel
  • Grenade Launchers use 15% more fuel
  • HMGs uses 130% more fuel
• Mine changes
  • eHP changed to 40 (from 100)
  • Cost reduced from 15 to 8
  • You now get 2 mines instead of 3
• Medpacks can snap to players from a slightly larger radius, snapping already existed but previously was not shown to the commander
• Alien vision has been replaced with “Huze’s Minimal”
• Alien vision will default to On every time you spawn in
• Crosshairs have been updated with new art
  • If you prefer the old ones, you can still use them by activating this mod: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=686960508
• Power nodes can now be rebuilt at the same speed with a build tool as with a welder
• Wrench damage icons now show how hurt teammates are, and have an outline if you have a welder
• Dropped weapons expiration bar will now be colored based on how much time is left before it is destroyed
• Range circle indicators have been added for many alien commander abilities, as well as a secondary circle to Shifts to indicate the radius of the energy regeneration passive effect
• Mines and Welders will be highlighted and show as pickupable even if you already have one
• Dropped weapons will be picked up automatically, if you have an empty slot
• Server browser:
  • Added the ping filter
  • The server details window now has a short delay so users can doubleclick at the server entries wherever they like.
  • The server count display is not clickable anymore and has a tooltip
  • Favorites and History are now a toggle, clicking again at them while show your previous game selection
• Reduced amount Enzyme particle effects obscure view
• Death screen blood splatter effects will disappear immediately when you start respawning

Fixes

• Fixed the issue of ragdolls not getting destroyed
• Players will no longer have nutrient mist effects applied to them unless they are an embryo
• Server browser Join button should work better
• Reduce network cost of the concede cinematics slightly
• Fixed an issue where welders would build faster with E than with LMB

Fixed that medpacks got weirdly offset when hovered over marines. It will now show where the medpack will actually spawn

[ 2016-05-20 13:49:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

After the response and tracking of a lot of the changes we introduced last week we decided to continue with another update of shakeups. There are some minor adjustments to a few items from the patch after more feedback. Also new this week is a revamped server browser! We have been hard at work to create a better way to filter and sort the list and even provide more information to the user before choosing what server to connect too. Our week to week experiments and changes have been very interesting to watch and see what works and what doesn’t and we aren’t done just yet! Over the next couple weeks there are plans for some additional UI changes, maybe a new weapon? A new map? Additional weapon skins? And if we sell more shadow fades then maybe that Onos will appear (hint: go buy more shadow fades). Special shout out and thank you to xDragon for allowing us to use his code. Until next week, happy hunting! UPDATE NOTES Tweaks / Improvements

• When a team concedes, everyone is treated to a short sequence showing all the conceding team’s players and structures being destroyed.
• New Server Browser:
  • Highlighting custom gamemodes better by having only two filters, NS2 and Modded
  • Restructured all UI elements for better usability and to better feature the two main filters
  • New fancy color scheme and artistic design
  • No longer showing relative server skill, since it was not very useful
  • Search bar will search for both matching map names as well as server names
• Added an option to disable health bars for those that prefer less visual clutter
• Spectators will be able to see nameplates from further away than players
• Enemy health bar tweaks
  • Changed armor color to be more readable
  • Bile Bomb and spores now also mark enemies
  • Melee attacks now cause enemies to be marked for longer (5s instead of 2s)
  • Fixed that health bars were disappearing semi-randomly as they got close to the edges of the screen
• Added a new achievement for collecting all 15 of the random drop items
• Corrode damage type changed to be more effective vs exos and less effective vs players
  • Damage reduction to player armor changed to 12% (was 23%)
  • Damage reduction to to exo armor changed to 40% (was 30%)
• Phase gates have more of their eHP moved to armor and now has 1500 health and 800 armor (was 2000/550)
• Fade blink movement changes
  • Vertical speed can no longer be converted to horizontal
  • Celerity will have a slightly lessened effect on changing direction
  • Ability to change direction without celerity has been improved
• Marine HUD Parasite icon displays the time left on parasite effect, for Marines
• Gorge:
  • Gorge Webs
    • Now available at biomass 0 and can be placed for Free!
    • Limited to 3 Webs maximum
    • Enemies will be parasites for 10 seconds if they walk through a web
    • Web slowdown effect changed to a 25% reduction (was 85%)
    • Slowdown duration now lasts for 1.5 seconds (was 2)
  • Gorge Babblers
    • You can now only place one egg, but it will spawn 6 babblers
    • Babbler movement speed increased to 7.5 (was 7)
    • Babbler damage type changed to Structural (double vs structures)
    • Babbler damage reduced to 8 (was 10)
  • Gorge Tunnel:
    • Costs reduced to 3 (was 4)
• Increased the amount of personal resources each resource tower grants per player from 1 to 1.25 per minute (by 25%):
  • Reduced Alien starting personal resources to 12 (from 15)
  • Lowered Marine starting personal resources to 15 (from 20)
  • Reduced Lerk personal resource costs to 18 (from 20)
• Onos Gore:
  • Damage lowered to 90 (from 100)
  • Energy cost reduced to 10 (from 13)
• Nutrient mist now prevents structures off infestation from taking damage, and prevents disconnected cysts from taking damage.  Also heals cysts at half crag efficiency.  It no longer requires infestation to be placed.
• Improved damaged exosuit effects as well as minigun and ricochets, to be less vision obscuring (Thanks IronHorse!)
• Umbra changes
  • Duration of umbra cloud reduced to 4 seconds (was 5)
  • Radius of umbra cloud reduced to 4 units (was 6)
  • Flat damage reduction vs all weapons changed to 25% (was 33% vs shotguns, 30% vs Minigun, and 32% vs Railgun)
• Improved fade blink effects to be less vision obscuring (Thanks IronHorse!)
• Reduced the damage Power Surge’s overcharge deals to 25

Fixes

• Fixed that certain commanders abilities e.g. Power Surge did not cost anything.
• Health bars show when a marine is being healed over time by medpacks, again
• Insight health bars are far less colorful (will no longer show parasite and poison status)
• Fixed issue with nameplates allowing players to see where enemies were through walls, if in close proximity
• Fixed issue with fade blink sound sometimes getting stuck looping (Thanks xDragon!)
• Fixed that the crosshair will blink red when players respawn
• Fixed that the nav mesh initialized incorrectly causing issues at some maps (Thanks ZycaR!)
• Fixed that directional damage feedback was only updating at 25hz

Translations

• Completed Finnish translations (Thanks MisterOizo!)

SDK

• Improved camera movement in Cinematic Editor

Maps

• ns2_refinery
  • Changed dimensions of Ready Room join entity to prevent players from being stuck
• ns2_summit
  • Added missing lights in Ready Room
• ns2_veil
  • Fixed various floating props throughout Cargo and Dome
  • Lowered the infamous head-height trashcan. RIP.

[ 2016-05-13 13:11:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Shadow Fade is now available in the NS2 Item Store! The room was eerily silent, even the normal white noise of the industrial facility seemed to vanish. I proceeded forward as ordered but something felt uneasy and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand up. I continue to tell myself that I am a trained soldier and that I’ve encountered enough alien scum that nothing should surprise me, but still the unease raced across my body and the fear set in even more than before. Suddenly I hear an all too familiar sound, one that can only be described as vacuumous vortex that death so quickly follows. I stand at the ready, shotgun in hand as I prepare for the Fade that I know is quickly approaching. The sweat rolls over my brow and begins to drip over my eye… I blink and in that instant I feel the presence of the beast in front of me. As my eyes open what stands before me is the creature I know but something is different, this fade evolved, more sinister and more deadly. He quickly swipes at my head and sway to the left to avoid his bony blade like arms. I swing my shotgun back around and fire, but I seem to miss as the fade quickly moves and disappears into the shadows of the room. I begin to trace the room looking for the beast and fire I hope will be the fatal blow. I approach the darkness slowly in anticipation of an attack and in the black I can just make out the two blood thirsty eyes of the fade. I fire my shotgun and the blood from the beast paints the floor below me, but then it lunges forward both weapon-like arms at the ready to stab me, I try to fire again but feel the bone rip through the skin on my shoulder. My body falls to floor like a rock as the blood flows from my wound like a creek after the storm. As my vision begins to blur and I can feel the life leaving my body, I hear the fade chuckle and watch it drift back into the shadows…
Update 297 is packed full of exciting new changes to existing weapons. We have been looking and talking about ways to shake things up, and our first thoughts were adjust the items that aren’t that fun or aren’t used that much now. There is obviously more than what you see below, but with our weekly release window we can only test so much at a time. If you hadn’t got the hint from above the Shadow Fade is now available in game. If you purchased the Shadow Tier as part of the Reinforced program you will get the fade free of charge when you launch the game. For those of you that didn’t, you can purchase it in the Item Store. If the fade is successful we will quickly be working to introduce the final member of the shadow lifeforms, the Onos. Expect more changes and exciting new thoughts and ideas over the coming weeks and spread the word to your friends that now is the best time to be playing NS2 and it’s only going to get better!

UPDATE DETAILS

New Additions

• Shadow Fade model/skin has been released to all Shadow Tier players and is available in the NS2 Item Store

Tweaks / Improvements

• Exosuit changes - Dualies for All!
  • Base Exo research now unlocks dual gun exos, and does not require two Command Stations to purchase
  • Dual exo personal resources cost reduced from 60 to 45, and Claw exos have been removed (used to be 40 res)
  • Dualies now move faster (same speed as claw Exos of the same type)
  • Exos now only gain 30 extra armor per armor upgrade, instead of 45
  • Minigun ROF doubled, but damage reduced by 55% (per bullet) and changed to Normal damage type
  • Railgun damage changed to normal type
  • Ejecting from an exo when you have a jetpack will now grant you a quarter tank to fly away with
• Alien Commander ability changes
  • Contamination now spews Bile briefly when initially placed (equal to two bile bombs)
  • Rupture now Parasites anything in its effect radius
    • Reduced the view-blocking visuals by 40%
    • Rupture charge time decreased by 42% (was 3s now 1.25s)
    • Increased Team Resources cost to 3 (was 2)
    • Increased cooldown time to 4 seconds (was 2 seconds)
• Grenade Changes - Guaranteed Explosions!
  • It now costs 2 personal resources to buy 1 grenade (previously it was 3 for 2)
  • If you die after pulling the pin or while attempting to throw a grenade, it will fall at your feet and explode
  • If you die with a non-primed grenade, it will respawn with you
  • Cluster grenades’ secondary explosion is now fire type
  • Grenade deploy animation is now affected by catpacks as well as the pin pull and throw animations
• Power Surge Changes - “Overcharge“:
  • Power Surge is now researchable at the Command Station for 15 team resources and needs 45 seconds to be researched.
  • Power Surge costs 5 team resources and has a cooldown of 20 seconds
  • Does not work at Command Stations and Power Nodes
  • Applying power surge is now easier as it auto selects a building close to where you clicked (similar to Nanoshield)
• New Effects:
  • On powered structures:
    • Deals 50 healthpoint damage to nearby aliens
    • Lowers the energy regeneration rate of nearby aliens for 5 seconds
  • On un-powered structures:
    • Restores power for 20 seconds.
  • Health bars will now show for enemies you attack
    • Only visible in short range and with clear line of sight onto the target
    • Better visual damage feedback about time to kill than damage numbers
    • Engagements are less binary for new players
    • Helps to focus on a target
  • Damage numbers are now off by default for new players, since they are redundant when viewed in conjunction with health bars.
  • Slowed down the dead lifeform dissolve length from 1.5s to 2.25s so players have a little more time to enjoy their kill
  • Replaced the Gorge with a Drifter status at the Alien tech tree overview.
  • Improved hit feedback on the crosshair to appear and disappear faster and coincide more closely with the damage you are doing.
  • Reduced name flickering when aiming at an enemy
  Fixes
• Increased the player slot limit for Linux to 99
• Cluster grenades and mines will no longer shake the commander’s view
• Fixed that the bootcamp menu message was not working.
• Fixed Cluster Grenade fragment explosions not applying correct damage type. Was Normal, now Fire damage type.
• Fixed that some of the serverbrowser filter did not work
• Removed a one pixel offset in the killfeed icon texture that caused issues in the past
• Fixed issue causing crosshair hit feedback to be updating too slowly
• Fixed that completing the tutorial granted a few achievements too many
• Fixed that the average skill value of servers wasn’t being calculated correctly Translations
• Added the achievement title and descriptions to the translation system, so they can be translated via http://translate.naturalselection2.com/
• Added Czech, French and German translations for the new tutorials (Thanks navaska, Pelargir and ChrisStark!) Maps Docking (Thanks Zavaro!)
• Fixed missing Location entity for area adjacent to Locker Rooms Tram (Thanks Flaterectomy!)
• Fixed various texture misalignments and smoothing issues around the map
• Removed erroneous light props hidden behind a wall that were visible from commander view in shipping
• Removed the large door at the southern end of the room in Shipping from commander view
• Fixed a cable prop ending in mid-air in Repair
• Made it easier to move over the pipe behind the powernode in Platform
• Visual improvements below the floor and around the pillars and benches in the center of the ready room
• Put unsorted entities, props and geometry in the appropriate layers
• Fixed lights staying on in Hub when the power goes out (but made the tram's headlights stay on instead)
• Fixed lights staying on when the power goes out in Hub and Repair due to being outside of the location entities SDK
• CompileModel utility updates
• Fixed a bug that would cause bones to scaled up if the source units weren't in centimeters, resulting in invalid physics collision reps.
• Fixed bug where collision solids were improperly aligned
• Fixed an issue that meant cameras from 3dsmax would not have the correct field of view
• The FBX workflow now allows for bones to be declared as attach_points in the model_compile file
• Added a feature to help with compiling new FBX assets and using "animation_model" from old DAE assets. Users can now use the "bone_order_override" directive to specify the sorting order of bones to match up to an existing model. Note: It safety checks the indices given -- they cannot contain duplicates, they must be sequential, they must start at zero and count up, and they cannot arrange the bones such that any parent has a higher index than the children

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

[ 2016-05-04 13:12:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Wake up Marine! Time to get into action and learn your objectives. Trevor and many team and community members have been hard at work on our tutorial system and it’s time to release it into the wild. This new tutorial offers a better way of progression through the basics of NS2 for both marines and aliens and also helps new players understand the many complexities that the game offers. We couldn’t be more excited to see how this turns out and we’ve even hidden some fun Easter eggs throughout both tutorials, see if you can find them all :) There is still more to come and next week we look at our continued efforts to spice things up a bit, so stay tuned

[ 2016-04-29 13:00:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Keeping in tune with our weekly releases is key to our continued work on NS2. What’s great about this schedule is that we can make tweaks and improvements across all aspects of the game, get real world feedback on gameplay and then just a few days later release more fine tuning and even more changes. Throughout these last few months, some of our experiments and changes have worked out better than we’d ever thought…and sometimes they don’t. However, what’s true is that we continue to push forward and try new exciting things. Update 295 begins our movement towards a continued shakeup from the norm of NS2 gameplay. We are always looking for ways to simplify and also spice up gameplay throughout the game. Another great improvement comes from our good friend Matso in the way of some additional network updates that will hopefully improve the experience for those of you having redplug issues. Lastly, thank you again to our awesome community. We recently re-launched the NS2 Translation site and have already gotten a lot of great submissions from people from all over the world. You can help the cause by visiting translate.naturalselection2.com! Our community is so rich with talent and it does not go unnoticed. We have some exciting things to come over the next few weeks and can’t wait for you to get your hands onto it, plus remember you can access the beta branch any time you want to see what’s going on behind the scenes of the next update. UPDATE NOTES Tweaks / Improvements Ragdolls will dissolve faster and be colorized faster to give more feedback that they are dead already and you can stop shooting Hitsounds will be enabled by default for new players so marines get better feedback when shooting aliens New item pop-ups will no longer show for duplicates Updated the in-game fonts to better support Latin Extended A chars (Thanks navazka) NS2 now remembers the last selected server browser tab and will reselect it as soon as the server list has been fetched. Gamemode server browser tabs now display the amount of players of the given mode. Removed unique popup warning about gameplay issues on large servers Warning popup for operating outside recommended settings changed Will show if server exceeds 24 player slots as well as if network settings have been changed from default Warning message will not show for servers you have favorited “Never Show Again” option removed for rookies Your nickname in NS2 will now automatically update with changes to your Steam name (this can be disabled from the options menu, under General -> Keep Same As Steam) When failing to connect to a server due to reserved slots or because of having been banned, you will now be told so more explicitly Added disconnect reasons for wrong build numbers, to make patch day less confusing for players Default server moverate reduced from 30 to 26. This restores it to approximately what it was prior to build 279, and should help server performance Servers will report now the sum of the median and standard deviation of all player skill rating as average player skill. This should make the skill row of the server browser more reliable. Removed over 200 no longer used game strings to help our community translators. Feel free to help us localizing the game at http://translate.naturalselection2.com/ Fixes Fixed issue where moverate was being improperly calculated, potentially causing a client to send an excessive number of moves after returning from being alt+tabbed, or if their framerate stuttered (Thanks Matso!) Rookie only server alert message will now be hidden forever when you tell it to be so Fixed weird behavior with popups when trying to join servers with reserved slots where the same popup would appear more than once SDK Raised engine hard limit for max players to 99. It is still recommended to stay under 24 Servers can now supply a refuse reason in the CheckConnectionAllowed callback

[ 2016-04-19 13:18:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Natural Selection 2 has been receiving an update almost every single week. But you would not know it from looking at out Steam news, because we have been forgetting to post it (Sorry...)! Here is a summary of what's changed in the last four updates, since we last posted to Steam. Update 294 - April 12th Tweaks / Improvements

• Kick reasons are now communicated to the client via the popup in the main menu
• The “NS2” gamemode tag is now selected by default at the server browser instead of the “All” tab
• Bots now directly join their team instead of waiting the Ready Room

Medpack Gameplay

• Decreased direct heal from 50 health points to 25
• Added a regeneration effect healing 25 health points per second:
• Each medpack adds 1 sec regeneration
• Multiple medpacks stack the regeneration time wise until the maximum health is reached
• The health value regeneration will reach is shown green health bar
• Lowered the pickup cool down from 0.56 seconds to 0.45

Fixes

• Fixed that sometimes a commander bot joined a team in rookie only even though the team already has a human commander.

Server

• Server can now indicate a kick reason when calling Server.DisconnectClient

Update 293 - April 4th Tweaks / Improvements

• Exosuits have had a Quality of Life pass
  • While deploying, your view is no longer locked and you are frozen for less time to better match the animations
  • You can eject instantly, and it will throw you more in the direction you are looking. You can even use it to get to some vents!
  • Subnautica has floodlights, why not NS2? The exo’s flashlight stays on after ejecting, turning it into a very expensive floodlight
  • Parasite state of the exo is tracked separately from a marine, and fixed inconsistencies with this (Thanks Dragon!)
  • Parasite status is now shown on the exo screen next to the armor display
  • You can no longer steal someone’s Exo if they buy a Jetpack until after 30 seconds has passed
  • You can now thrust in any direction
  • If you press the thrust button before the fuel bar is full, as long as you continue to hold it it will thrust when able (similar to how jump-queueing works as a Skulk)
• Primed power nodes will now unlock if a Command Chair is in the room
• Changed a few achievements slightly:
• Lowered the required amount of the "Destroy X Resource Towers" achievements by 5 as it's too unlikely to destroy 15 of them in a single round
• Constructing 33 % of a structure will count now as having build that structure to avoid race conditions against other team members
• You also defend a Resource tower now by killing an enemy close to it instead of having to stand close to it yourself

Fixes

• Fixed Server Browser not sorting by “Favorites” by default
• Fixed references to Exosuits as Exoskeletons in some of the hint text and commander UI

Update 292 - March 29th Tweaks / Improvements

• Added a bunch of new collectible items you can earn by playing the game or by trading with others. See if you can get all 15!

Fixes

• Fixed respawning at random view angles. Your camera view after spawning will now match where you were looking while respawning
• Fixed that constructing only rewarded 1 instead of 5 score points
• Fixed that bots counted for the max player check causing players to be unable to join a server

SDK

• All C-style code comments have been refactored to Lua-style (this allows you to use any editor which supports Lua to work with the ns2 code base)
• Added ability to assign a mod type and a compatibility tag to your mods in Launchpad, while will be displayed in the Workshop and can be used to filter certain mod types.
  • Please update your old mods with tags, especially crosshairs, hitsounds, and alien vision ones!

Want even more? You can also read the Update 291 notes on the Unknown Worlds blog (Steam news won't let me post it all at once...): Update 291 - March 17th

[ 2016-04-15 12:41:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! A new Natural Selection 2 update has been released on Steam. This is a small update, and contains some tweaks to the tutorial and some great community contributed bug fixes. Before I get to the changelog, this is an opportune moment to share some other good news. For the past three months, UWE has been running an experimental project with a paid, in-house NS2 development team. Last week Amanda, Brock, Dillon, Scott, Sebastian, Skyler and Trevor gathered and presented the results of their efforts. Those results were very positive. UWE has decided to proceed with an extension of the project for another three months. Back on topic, here's what changed in Update 290:

Update 290 Changelog

Tweaks / Improvements Re-recorded all Tutorial voice-overs Added Voice-over mute option in Tutorial Fixes Fixed Onos and Skulk albino view-model showing incorrect texture (Thanks Samusdroid!) Fixed issue with Death Triggers that caused them to kill entities not in the triggers!!! SDK Fixed Overview including special groups (Seasonals) in tga file (Thanks Salads!) Added support for LaunchPad to load specific project on start: -o [path to mod.settings] (Thanks Salads!) Maps Mix-master Zavaro is at it again! Thanks Zavaro for contributing all these fixes and improvements! Biodome Fixed an issue where OcclusionGeometry clipped through world in Platform Fixed an issue where OcclusionGeometry where detail props would disappear in Bioreactors Fixed an issue where OcclusionGeometry clipped through world in Filtration Fixed an issue with Atmospheric and Condensers not extending their locations to a conjoined room Derelict Fixed hole in Atmospheric Seeding allowing players to see outside the map Fixed hole in floor of Turbine allowing players to see outside the map Fixed face jutting out of floor in TurbineFixed OcclusionGeometry in Turbine from showing on minimap Descent Duplicated and rotated proximity field textures to create cohesion in visual styles between maps Docking Updated Reflection Probes Summit Fixed CommanderBuild group in Crossroads to better accurately reflect floor and walls Fixed CommanderNoBuild in Crevice Tram Fixed CollisionGeometry on railing in Ore Processing to better accurately reflect prop locations Added CollisionGeometry to Ore Processing vent to keep players from getting stuck Fixed holes in Hub allowing players to see into North Tunnels through the walls Veil Fixed Y-Junction location name on minimap to intended Y Junction name Added OcclusionGeometry in Cargo to block Gorge Tunnels from being visible Fixed floating crates and other props in Cargo

[ 2016-03-10 14:06:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! It seems like only yesterday that we released update 288, wait a minute?!? It was :) (almost). Hot off the heels of one update comes yet another. This time there is even more under the hood adjustments and tools for us to make the deployment of new features easier. The team has been discussing and debating many suggestions by the community on ways to adjust lifeforms and new player traps. We will continue to discuss and evaluate these over the next couple weeks. For now there are some minor adjustments you will see listed in the changelog, plus a handful of fixes and map repairs. See you all on the servers! CHANGELOG Tweaks / Improvements Added the ability for UWE to apply hotfixes to the main menu without releasing a full steam patch Added the ability to spotlight mods in the main menu Removed excessive padding from the rookie-nag popup and removed the “Remind Me Later” option Discord button will now drop people in #general, to get them talking Swapped Gorge and Skulk positions in the evolve menu so new players are less likely to think the Gorge is “better” Added quick-link to Community Market in Customize screen Revamped the scoring numbers: Each entity gives now about half of its resource costs as points Primary game objectives like Command-, Resource Structure and Power Nodes give a bonus of 10 points Secondary game objectives like Gorge Tunnels, Observatories, Phase Gates, Infantry Portal and Alien Upgrade Structures give a bonus of 5 points. Player give a bonus of half the points they have collected in their current life. Fixes Play Now window now only reports having found servers that it will actually try to join Sped up initial welder animation after purchasing at an armory Welder will no longer play its initial animation if you picked it up off the ground Fixed initial welder animation playing multiple times if you switched weapons before it finished Reaper Gorge now works with the correct item (it was unlocking with the Reaper Skulk before) Maps Awesome QoL changes, brought to you by Zavaro (send him thank you cookies)! ns2_docking Retooled CollisionGeometry in Courtyard to better accurately portray props ns2_veil Corrected minimap names from appearing in less than ideal locations Changed collidable wires in Topographical to non-collidable for consistency Fixed an issue with Skylights location bleeding into Command Removed tiny duplicated orphaned Cargo forcefield face Added new shader-based proximity material to Cargo forcefield, making it more forcefield-y. Shiny ns2_descent Added new shader-based proximity material to Shuttle Bay forcefield, making it more forcefield-y. Also shiny Added prop lights to better differentiate room from external area beyond forcefield ns2_tram Fixed missing faces in Ore Processing allowing players to see through the floor ns2_derelict Fixed a few missing faces in Turbines from previous build (Whoops!)

[ 2016-03-03 14:11:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

I will let the changelog speak for itself on this gigantic patch

[ 2016-03-01 14:17:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Continuing our theme of the week, Patch 287 adds some additional support to help new players learn about the game before joining the ranks. We are now able to guide new players through an on-screen checklist, to help them learn all the basics of the game. If they complete these tasks they are rewarded a new shoulder patch (‘Eat your Greens’). The other benefit in having this system hooked up is that we now have Steam Achievements for the rest of the players out there! So prepare yourself and see how many achievements you can collect, we will continue to add more over time and are open to suggestions on fun/harder ones to achieve too. Next up we are working to implement some of the ideas and requests from the ‘Simplifying NS2 thread’ and document. Our continued efforts with the help of the community’s feedback should help both retain more players and allow current players to effect change. That’s a big positive for everyone. Check out the changelog below and stay tuned for what comes next! CHANGELOG Tweaks / Improvements Added 48 new Achievements for you to collect Added 5 tasks specially for new players and a new shoulder patch as reward for completing them (shown on the main menu) Tip videos will no longer play while connected to a dedicated server, so new players can focus on the game. They are still accessible from the Training menu Changed Trello button on main menu to link to our NS2 Discord chatroom instead (come say Hi!) Use an achievement to track if the tutorial was completed instead of a config option. Tutorial improvements are now for everyone (no more A/B comparison) Added more granular analytics to the Tutorial, to find out where people are getting stuck If you have a welder, you will build with the welder instead of the build-tool. Fixes Fixed issue with repairing destroyed power nodes where it would not bring out your build tool or welder Fixed Linux clients getting a black screen on startup due to awesomium being less than awesome Restored the old behavior of the rookie only server browser filter: It shows rookie only servers when ticked otherwise not. The annotate command has been fixed (Thanks Salads!) SDK / Editor Added a Server.IsDedicated() script function to distinguish between local hosted (listen servers) and remote hosted (dedicated servers) from lua script Fixed crash in Editor that could occur with the Trim Tool. Maps ns2_docking Fixed structures being un-powered in Terminal if placed in the upper-left corner of the room. ns2_derelict Fixed CommanderInvisible faces, cinematics, and props throughout the map Fixed some odd faces clipping through areas where they shouldn’t Fixed several holes in south-western portion of the map Fixed some excluded OcclusionGeometry faces Made vents more visible (and connected) on the map overlay by adding several missing props and faces to CommanderInvisibleVents Fixed an issue causing Seasonal (and secret room) props to be visible on map overlay Added addition line of sight block in the form of derelict_vines_2b in Turbines for balance Decreased size of central tree in Turbines for sanity and balance Pipe props moved in Alley for blocking line of sight for balance

[ 2016-02-26 14:15:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Natural Selection 2 pits alien against human in an action-packed struggle for survival. Wield devastating weaponry as a Frontiesman marine, or become the xenomorph as a deadly. Kharaa life-form.

Strategy Meets Shooter

Natural Selection 2 is a First Person Shooter and Real Time Stategy game rolled into one! Each team, alien and human, has a Commander. The Commander looks down on the battlefield and issues orders, places structures, collects resources, researches technology, and deploys abilities.



Here are some gameplay examples: A human Commander could drop health packs and ammunition to a trapped marine squad, and deploy sentry guns to help them defend their position. Or an alien Commander could grow a new Hive to spread infestation throughout newly captured territory, allowing more alien eggs to spawn...

Two Unique Sides

Aliens players choose to evolve into one of five lifeforms: The fast, fearsome Skulk can run on walls and deliver massive damage with is jaws. Lerks fly and deploy gasses to support their teammates in battle. Gorges heal other lifeforms and build tunnels, hydra turrets, walls, and other tactical structures. Fades blink in and out of battle, picking off marines with giant scythes. Finally, the giant Onos is so massive and so tough, that even entire marine squads can't take it down.



Marines wield rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers, pistols, and other weapons. Cluster grenades can clear ventilation shafts of sneaky Skulks, flamethrowers make short work of alien structures and infestation, and boosts dropped by the Commander increase combat effectiveness.

When attacking on foot doesn't cut it, marines can construct hulking Exosuits wielding miniguns and railguns, and equip jetpacks for high speed assaults on alien Hives.

Long Term Development

Natural Selection 2 receives constant updates. This year, 2016, Unknown Worlds continues to develop new features, content, and improvements.

Mod Tools Come Standard

Natural Selection 2 comes with all the tools we used to make the game. All game code is open source. That means you can create, and play, an endless variety of mods. Publish, share, and download mods from the Steam Workshop, and automatically download mods when you join modded games.

Digital Deluxe Edition

Digital Deluxe Edition includes:

• Official Soundtrack - 1 hour of tribal, industrial music composed by David John and Simon Chylinski
  
• Digital Art Book - 40+ pages of art by Cory Strader, including environments, creatures, weapons and more
  
• Exclusive in-game marine model - Exclusive in-game marine model - A new marine model with custom visor and armor plating
  
• Exclusive Wallpapers and Avatars - Unique views of the NS2 universe by Amanda Diaz