NS_Nexus_V1 Released! No longer beta!

StixNStonz

Its been 3 months since the last release of Nexus (b3). It is no longer a beta; it is now considered the 'final' version (though of course there may be _v2). There have been HUGE updates, see the full changelog further down. Just check out the <a href="http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i750807_nsnextest6f0000.JPG" target="_blank"><u>labelled minimap</u></a>; the most vivid changes are the entirely new areas of Keystone Interface and Engineering (the old Engineering Halls was completely scrapped, as well as the right shaft).

*Story*

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The T.S.S. Nyx was a deep-space research and Nexus-integrated relay ship, lightly armed and considered a resort amongst the TSA ranks. But after receiving a distress call, the Nyx was re-routed to save the escape pod survivors of the Eon ship, as they had landed on an uninhabitable planet. It was a Marine Assault class ship nearby that actually boarded the Eon. But while everyone on the Nyx, including the civillian Eon survivors, were in cryosleep en route back to the Hera station, one of the engines suddenly gave out, and the Kharaa appeared, hive and all. Those who managed to abandon ship amongst the instant chaos made sure to scan their escape pods for kharaa bacteria before ejecting. They could not afford to make the same mistake as the Eon crew.

Conducting its research mostly on the new Chromium substance - possibly the best energy source in the universe, followed by h2o, for humans and aliens alike - its no wonder the Nyx suffered such a surprise infestation. Given the resources, the Kharaa can go from nano-size to functional offensive units within hours.

The poor Marines who had survived the Eon ordeal were en route. The Nyx could not be lost.

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<a href="http://www.brywright.co.uk/downloads/files/index.php?dir=natural-selection/maps/ns/&file=ns_nexus_v1%20Fixed.rar" target="_blank"><u>Download the .rar Here!</u></a>


<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b3b4af.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
<img src="http://i15.tinypic.com/6blvvc4.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />


Changelog:

**Final Release, Version 1:
-expanded map to de-clutter
-no more rooms-over-rooms
-ripped out Starboard Shaft and Engineering Halls; replaced with two entirely new sections
-fixed up, coloured and labelled the minimap; added transparencies as well
-redid a lot of the connecting halls and rooms (its basically a new map)
-door beside Marine Start leading to Nexus Mainframe went from a weldable to a button door (drastically improving flow of map)
-added a new sound that is almost perfectly in sync with Nexus Mainframe's pulse
-big elevator on Port Shaft now has a hole in the middle, and elevator itself can't be broken anymore
-reworked Vent system
-removed certain weldables and added a new one; only 5 in total now, but all are really useful
-over 9000 more visual upgrades

See the pre-release reviews and comments <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=5299368106302147584&showtopic=101703" target="_blank"><u>here</u></a>.


Lets get to playin! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />

Bacillus

I tried it out in a 1 plr lan game. Some things caught my attention, but I'm quite sure you're aware of them already and most of them aren't probably even a problem. Its kinda big for 1 player run through so I can't give much constructive feedback. Any euro servers running this map?

- It feels quite difficult to get the hang of the map routes. At least I didn't recognize any landmarks or room specific lightings yet. I don't know if its possible to make the minimap a bit more informative about the changes in altitude for example.

- The multi-storey map is always nasty for the comm since you can't use sounds in lower floors and higher floors tend to get too close. Its always good if you can squeese the rooms away from the extremes.

-The layout is interesting. Its difficult to say how it works without playing the map with enough players. Hopefully the distances don't force to go pg first.

All in all a very impressive map. Its nice how many rooms you have managed to fit in the space given without making it overwhelmingly massive or detail lacking.

Mr. Epic

COMM!!! RELOC TO PORT SHAFT GOGOGO

Haze

Dumbest relocation ever and biggest waste of time of my life was that relocation. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />

<b>MAKE THE JUMP EASIER! t-t</b>

Kassinger

You're a bit late on posting this map Stix, considering that we can find the following in the .txt.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->First off, thanks for hanging in there. Its been awhile in the making. Start date: September 16th 2005. Beta completion date (of first playable beta): October 26th 2006. Final version completion date (out of beta): <b>June 10, 2006</b>.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Hello citizen of the past! :)

StixNStonz

lol, apparently the map came out of beta before the first beta was released. Fantastic <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />

Radix

Seriously. You should be aware of these things by now.

Kassinger

I tried Nexus for a couple of games on a big server last night, and it looked great. Hard to comment on the gameplay though, as they both ended quickly as a failed relocate and a hive rush. I hope more server put this on their mapcycle.

SmoodCroozn

Eh, lose the _V1. Then it won't be beta.

StixNStonz

the _v* wont be dropped until its official. If i find any bugs or change the layout after gameplay testing etc, without the _v*, everyone would either have to manually re-download and install, otherwise they'd go on a server and it would say 'map differs from servers'.

Official maps get updated with the patches, so that never happens, hence why they dont need the ending.

I already found two bugs (both very rare, one not serious and one pretty serious) so i'll probably be releasing version 2 in a bit.

Cereal_KillR

Darn, I thought that it was about Nexus (ex-BUS) <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />

I will try the map though, if I find players.

StixNStonz

Its in the end-round voting list on Gorges. G4B2S has it but needs an admin to change to it (happens about once a night, at least), Tactical plays it pretty often, and its on a bunch of others as well.