Natural Selection 2 News Update - NS2 Build 188 released (Happy Thanksgiving!)

12467

Comments

  • ogzogz Join Date: 2002-11-24 Member: 9765Members
    new pistol means aliens doesn't win by default at hive2 anymore

    and the new whip change means arc/seige play is required.. GL rush not as effective

    a lot of people complaining of long games.. but for me.. thats when you get to experience 'teir 2 combat'

    we've been living in teir1 for too long :p
  • MelancorMelancor Join Date: 2003-12-15 Member: 24415Members
    100 res ? Why not 75 for alien mother's sake. But ok
  • TigTig Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71674Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
    <!--quoteo(post=1886780:date=Nov 25 2011, 02:11 AM:name=Papayas)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Papayas @ Nov 25 2011, 02:11 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886780"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The HUD needs a flip.

    -Hp/armour bar needs to be on the bottom left corner.
    -Map needs to be on the top right corner.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    +1
  • konatakonata Join Date: 2011-08-24 Member: 118296Members
  • matsomatso Master of Patches Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7000Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, Reinforced - Shadow, NS2 Community Developer
    <!--quoteo(post=1886763:date=Nov 25 2011, 04:57 AM:name=DigitalPictures)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DigitalPictures @ Nov 25 2011, 04:57 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886763"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->BUG--- Anyone else notice turning the flashlight on and then trying to turn it off results in it switching back on automatically. After 2 or 3 times of trying to switch it off it eventually does go off. I don't know if this was a bug in the code or just a bad server with delay.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    That would be expected if you are connected to an overloaded server. If the server dips below 10 ticks/sec, all kinds of weird ###### starts to happen. From what you describe, I'd expect the server to be running in seconds per frame rather than frame per seconds mode ... (ie, < 1fps).

    While you can see server tick rate by typing net_stats in the console, I think the game needs a big, red "Server is overloaded; your gameplay will be affected warning" when it dips below 10 fps. And probably a warning when it goes below 15 (it actually should run a rock-solid 30 tps in order for the game to shine, but its playable in the 15-20 range...).
  • spotnykspotnyk Join Date: 2011-06-24 Member: 106205Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1886832:date=Nov 25 2011, 06:19 AM:name=ogz)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ogz @ Nov 25 2011, 06:19 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886832"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->a lot of people complaining of long games.. but for me.. thats when you get to experience 'teir 2 combat'

    we've been living in teir1 for too long :p<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    +1
  • spotnykspotnyk Join Date: 2011-06-24 Member: 106205Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1886858:date=Nov 25 2011, 08:37 AM:name=matso)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (matso @ Nov 25 2011, 08:37 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886858"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->While you can see server tick rate by typing net_stats in the console, I think the game needs a big, red "Server is overloaded; your gameplay will be affected warning" when it dips below 10 fps. And probably a warning when it goes below 15 (it actually should run a rock-solid 30 tps in order for the game to shine, but its playable in the 15-20 range...).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    +1

    This would be very helpful
  • spotnykspotnyk Join Date: 2011-06-24 Member: 106205Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1886819:date=Nov 25 2011, 05:13 AM:name=INKEDOUT)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (INKEDOUT @ Nov 25 2011, 05:13 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886819"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Random starts are the best thing in 188.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Completely agreed.

    However, considering other posts in this thread, it seems that a bit more proximity checking needs to occur on the random start results. Which makes more sense from a reality viewpoint; marines/aliens are not going to setup right next door to each other. That's just asking to get stomped. :)
  • spotnykspotnyk Join Date: 2011-06-24 Member: 106205Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1886731:date=Nov 24 2011, 06:19 PM:name=Zek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zek @ Nov 24 2011, 06:19 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886731"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Keep in mind guys that nothing has actually gotten worse, there are bugs because this is a major patch with a bunch of big new systems all going in at the same time. That's what it means to be a beta tester. Give them a little more time to stabilize things and iron out the kinks.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    +999

    (however, it's always a bad decision in software to launch something public right before leaving (e.g. holiday) ) :)
  • measlesmeasles Join Date: 2007-02-26 Member: 60122Members, Constellation
    look familiar? >(sounds materials metals ricochet.)<

    I think if the infestation is slows the marines considerably this random spawn thing could work
  • ale'ale' Join Date: 2011-08-06 Member: 114689Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1886865:date=Nov 25 2011, 05:05 PM:name=measles)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (measles @ Nov 25 2011, 05:05 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886865"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->look familiar? >(sounds materials metals ricochet.)<

    I think if the infestation is slows the marines considerably this random spawn thing could work<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Getting considerably slowed isn't fun for the players.
  • douchebagatrondouchebagatron Custom member title Join Date: 2003-12-20 Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    I noticed that buildings don't seem to have a death animations anymore. they just disappear when they die.

    Also the effect when hitting anything with an axe/gun seems to be a fire effect. In some areas it looks almost like it could be alien blood (and would be awesome if it did) but in a lot of areas it doesn't.

    in short, a cinematic effect on bullet hitting different things is awesome. right now it seems broken.
  • MyOwnOwnerMyOwnOwner Join Date: 2010-01-09 Member: 70006Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1886608:date=Nov 24 2011, 06:40 PM:name=Chris0132)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chris0132 @ Nov 24 2011, 06:40 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886608"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->At the moment all I can say is that it looks pretty, but I can't aim because my view slideshows from one frame to the next, and then decides to render about twenty of them in perfect sequence before taking a break and doing the next frame in a second or two. I can't find anything to aim AT because everything teleports around constantly, and [...]<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Exactly the same here. My system is more or less up-to-date, so I wonder why i am suffering this slideshow effect. It occurs everytime when <b>I am</b> in battle. It hasnt happen so far when I was watching teammates, or when I was spectating. It happened in the previous versions, <b>and on lowest grafic settings, too</b>.

    Running the game with the following system:<!--coloro:#2E8B57--><span style="color:#2E8B57"><!--/coloro-->
    OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601 (x64)
    Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
    CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Processor, 3200 MHz
    RAM: 16,0 GB TeamGroup Elite DDR3-1333 DIMM CL9
    HD: 120 GB Kingston HyperX SSD
    Graficc.: 1024MB PowerColor Radeon HD 6870 Aktiv PCIe 2.1 x16<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
  • gerryisonfyagerryisonfya Join Date: 2007-11-04 Member: 62826Members
    Whoa awesome the effect flickering is gone!!!!! best change for me :)

    Everything is nice but there where some bugs with placing harvester/hive in Tram. Couldnt place them in the whole game.
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited November 2011
    Noticed some bugs in tram, neither team can place harvesters/extractors at the old alien start and alien expansion. Same with the old alien start hive. Can't remember the new names ^^
  • elodeaelodea Editlodea Join Date: 2009-06-20 Member: 67877Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Random starts are good, but you guys should really have held off implementing it until we had a map designed for random starts. Having AS and MS next to each other on a map like summit is just silly for a heap of reasons.
  • peregrinusperegrinus Join Date: 2010-07-16 Member: 72445Members
    Tram performance is really bad for me. Worse than it was in previous builds.

    I get a weird sound bug where its like I'm underwater, or under effect of the shade...except get that when I'm an alien! I had to restart the game and the sound went back to normal.
  • FlayraFlayra Game Director, Unknown Worlds Entertainment San Francisco Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 3Super Administrators, NS2 Developer, Subnautica Developer
    Hey guys,

    Thanks for all your feedback. It's really helpful for us, especially when it's nice/constructive. Some quick thoughts:

    - To whomever mentioned it, the Skulk did not slow down.
    - Glad you're digging random starts! Once we start seeing some of the balance stats, we might want to consider limiting start points so they are always within a certain range apart (ie, with a minimum and/or maximum distance between the two). This is the kind of thing we can't easily test ourselves, we need a lot more data (which is where you guys come in).
    - Poor Max will have to work through what seems to be about half the people saying "game is much faster" and the other half saying it's much slower. Maybe we could report average frame-rates so we can get a handle on this.
    - In Hugh's video, it looked to me like Commander build notifications and notifications of research weren't working?
    - I can't think of any weapon timing changes we intended to make in this build. If there's a new delay on a weapon, or if something fires/reloads/etc. too fast, it was most likely unintended. It's hard to describe how much was ripped out and put back together to support the new animation system, and I'm sure we missed some stuff.
    - It sounds like there aren't enough dedicated servers, which may be causing some problems. If you can't connect, try again in a half a day and maybe that will resolve. I read something about the Steam dedicated server package not being updated which would cause this.
    - Sorry about the sound errors. We had quite a few snafus sound-wise in our pre-release builds and we thought we got everything important.

    I'm pretty sure we'll put out a follow-up build of fixes next week when we're back in the office and out of our turkey-induced comas.
  • SiniStarRSiniStarR Join Date: 2010-04-13 Member: 71380Members
    Wish I wasn't home for the weekend, I would be playing this right now! The marine view shown in NS2HD's video doesn't look so bad.
  • RanemanRaneman Join Date: 2010-01-07 Member: 69962Members
    Invinciglobe seems like a very ice late-game ability for rines. I wish there was a way to apply it to an entire squad at once to really make a push, though.
  • juicejuice Join Date: 2003-01-28 Member: 12886Members, Constellation
    edited November 2011
    Random starts are cool, I think they should stay totally random, any location. Competitive games might like to narrow it down though. Really made the game exciting, super fun, intense. Old maps are new! I like new physics including running around and jumping and feel. The game is progressing well in general.

    Performance problems: rather than average fps, you should report some sort of average of the minimum fps over a certain time frame. So you find the longest-to-render frame every e.g. 5 seconds, then take the average of that.

    This is more helpful because <b>I believe there is a phenomenon that occurs at about 25 fps</b> where the game gets overwhelmed and there is major slowdown for certain frames, not reflected in the average fps. Above that threshold, the game is smoother. But it still dies under a certain performance level. So it's a weird nonlinear sort of performance problem. Occlusion culling hitching is DEFINITELY better, and it used to be the culprit to CAUSE THIS VERY PROBLEM by taking it under threshold, but the problem remains of where there is a "mouse lag" type phenomenon with certain frames that take forever when the performance is under the threshold. Just recycle a mine and quickly look away from the sparks and you see it. Or zoom out all the way and quickly move your mouse. It's definitely a big latency, much larger than average interframe time calculated from avg fps. Also, large player numbers make a HUGE performance hit, even with only a few structures, why is that?

    Some bugs: Nano-shield results in commander view thinking max health is based on shield, so 100/100 marines who have been nanoshielded look like 50% health with yellow bar. Comm chair has previous comm collision hull ghost which prevents comming. In Heli we had 100% power node but our rt was unpowered at game start? Are GLs supposed to be weak against hydras? Pistol bugged where it wouldn't fire after using pistol mouse2 ->quick change rifle -> rifle mouse2 -> quick change pistol fail to fire... or something.

    Game looks more beautiful than ever when it's not suffering low performance. Interesting white kharaa blood I'll have to get used to it. Shotgun is now fairly useless. Better to save for GL to have rifle damage. Flames effect is interesting; seen more suicides than kills with it so far though.

    Can't wait for the next build.

    Edit: Playing around with this some more, there is actually some mouse lag all the time. However, I have found that I can get it to change based on changing a bunch of graphics settings that do not affect my fps. So if I play at 1024x768 with aa and atmos off, I get about 80 fps, and if I play at 1920x1080 with aa and atmos on, I still get 80 fps. BUT there is a lot more mouse lag. Of course, the mouse lag gets much worse if I do things to intentionally lower my fps.
  • yimmasabiyimmasabi Join Date: 2006-11-03 Member: 58318Members
    Roflll ! Every patch makes graphics better but performance goes down. It is really hard to play.
    I also try to test my low polygon and light based map, but my small map also sux.

    Game start takes long, and there are long delays in some of frames in a local created map, no networks.
    I cant imagine what happens if I join to a USA server. I really wonder how do you test before a patch or what playtesters do ? !!!


    It's been long time, but still game is not playable, and beta by its medium / normal hardwares. Beta is ok but
    in this section we should have a playable engine and maps. It is time to develop and to fix maps, to arrange strategical rine and alien parameters.
    But I cant play

    I really dont understand why we dont have much more options in Game Options section about graphics.

    We need a playable version with playable map. Otherwise you game will be a render game for only watching in youtube not in a gam
  • EldonEldon Join Date: 2010-07-15 Member: 72414Members, Constellation
    Happy watching video. Sad reading thread.

    I haven't seen too many people posting that game got faster though.
  • JaweeseJaweese Join Date: 2006-11-04 Member: 58356Members
    Damage types are no longer working (except for gas and structures only).

    So that's why grenades seems really weak and pistol/spikes are crazy strong.
  • Squeal_Like_A_PigSqueal_Like_A_Pig Janitor Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 66Members, Super Administrators, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer
    <!--quoteo(post=1886941:date=Nov 25 2011, 08:34 PM:name=yimmasabi)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yimmasabi @ Nov 25 2011, 08:34 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886941"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Roflll ! Every patch makes graphics better but performance goes down.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    First, your feedback is better received when it is not put forth in a hostile and unproductive way. Saying that performance goes down with every patch is simply not true, if you calm down and look over the past history of patch releases.

    Second, performance did significantly increase for many people with this patch, and all of our playtests showed better performance, and it is not due to UWE and our playtesters all having amazing computers. In fact, Max himself has a pretty low range work PC, and has mentioned that he gets around 25 FPS in BF3 on the lowest settings. Some of the low FPS people are experiencing is most likely a result of a lack of decent servers for people to play on at the moment, and if the server is struggling then it effects the FPS on the client side, even if you have a machine that can normally handle the game. But we are going to be trying to gather a lot more information regarding people's system specs and their framerates, so we can get more useable data to go on.

    Third, it has been mentioned multiple times by people on these forums that we are reducing the performance by making the graphics better. This is really not the case. We've done a lot of profiling, and it is actually amazing how fast the game rendering process actually is, and how much detail the engine can push. The slowdown is coming from the game code and physics side, and those areas will continue to be our main focus in optimization. The only improvements that have been made on the graphics side recently is with the addition of atmospherics and AA (which is already turned off by default) and if you really feel like they are contributing to your low framerate you can easily disable atmospherics in the console (r_atmospherics false) and you can test for yourself how much of an FPS difference they make.

    --Cory
  • TekJTekJ Join Date: 2011-08-13 Member: 116212Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1886946:date=Nov 25 2011, 11:22 PM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Nov 25 2011, 11:22 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886946"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->First, your feedback is better received when it is not put forth in a hostile and unproductive way. Saying that performance goes down with every patch is simply not true, if you calm down and look over the past history of patch releases.

    --Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    <div align='center'><img src="http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8459/knockdown.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
    <div align='center'><!--sizeo:7--><span style="font-size:36pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->KNOCK OUT §§<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></div>
  • konatakonata Join Date: 2011-08-24 Member: 118296Members
    The post wasn't hostile or unproductive. It gave the information required intended and to the posters accuracy. It was just an unwanted comment and should have been personalised to "my performance goes down", rather than general.
  • ewatkinsewatkins Join Date: 2009-08-13 Member: 68449Members
    Just a quick questions, i would love to give you guys some relevant feedback on my performance.

    Should i average my frames per second on my own created server? will this get around the server lag hitting my fps? If so, we could then compare the drops between the two?

    Not entirely sure how it works but thought it might be worth a shot :)

    Cheers
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited November 2011
    I think the main reason for people's problems, is the servers.
    Sometimes, even the best servers run into problems regarding the code, and they simply crash, or just run very badly.
    And the less better servers give a very bad experience of how well the game really runs, when there is nothing wierd going on.
    If heavy lag is occurring, it's probably due to one of these things:<ul><li>Large amount of structures around the map</li><li>Stuff going out of map</li><li>Other problems with the code</li></ul>
    Some things can be fixed with a round restart, others will need a server restart(rubberbanding), and maybe even client restart(low fps).
    Due to the current state of the game, it is best experienced with a fresh server, and try to keep the spamming down.
    Turrets and hydras is still heavily effecting the game when they are all over the map.
    Sometimes you can play a single round on a fresh server and the the server will need a restart because of lag. Mostly not.
    One thing I notice that can really lag the server, is the dropping of assist packs from the marine commander.
    It seems like it has something to do with the amount of units selected before trying to drop packs.
    If you select 2 marines, you drop 2 medpacks. If you select 10 ARCs, you drop 10 medpacks.
    I would say I have a low-mid end computer, my specs are:<ul><li>Intel Core2Duo e6850, Conroe</li><li>4GB DDR2 Kingston PC5300 667Mh</li><li>ATI 5770HD</li></ul>
    And these are my FPS ranges:<ul><li>Ready room: 70-100</li><li>Game start: 35-55</li></ul>
    This is on summit, on some of the custom maps it is alot higher than that. Game start 50-80.
    When problems are occuring with the server or client, it sometimes go to 15, and sometimes even down to 5. When these drops happen, a client restart usually help me. Other times, it's the server is causing it.
  • AlignAlign Remain Calm Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 5216Forum Moderators, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1886916:date=Nov 25 2011, 08:01 PM:name=Flayra)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Flayra @ Nov 25 2011, 08:01 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1886916"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->- Poor Max will have to work through what seems to be about half the people saying "game is much faster" and the other half saying it's much slower. Maybe we could report average frame-rates so we can get a handle on this.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Well, don't forget to allow sorting by other data, like GPU provider or CPU power
This discussion has been closed.