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 ]

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