Hot Topics, Round #1
Comprox
*chortle*Canada Join Date: 2002-01-23 Member: 7Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts
*chortle*Canada Join Date: 2002-01-23 Member: 7Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts
<div class="IPBDescription">with less clothing</div>In order to try and answer some questions that are floating around, I will be posting answers (from UWE) to various questions. These could be hotly debated things on the forums, or more specific things seen in different threads. They are a busy bunch so I hope to get a short list of questions to them every few days. For the first time then:
<b>Topic</b>: Autobite, and more specifically, Twitter. The autobite has created a mega-thread on the topic, but I figured I would ask them about this. This answer should help for anything you do see on Twitter that may be contraversial in the future too.
<i>Answer</i>: Auto-bite has been removed already actually. Lots of ideas are tried that don't make it into the final version, and this happened with NS1 as well. For example, an overwatch feature was one of the first things to go into NS1. If a marine stood still for a few seconds, an overwatch indicator would come on. If an enemy came into your field of view, you would automatically start tracking it and firing at it. It wasn't perfect, but it would hit skulks reasonably well for you. The idea here was to bring in new players that wanted to follow orders and play as part of a team but didn't necessarily have great reflexes or shooting skills. It was tried and then removed because it didn't seem like it fit well enough or was cool enough given the extra complexity. This kind of stuff happens all the time but normally fans won't hear about because we're not going to write up a news/blog update about something we're not sure of.
<b>Topic</b>: The UWE engine. A lot of technical questions have come up surronding it. Some can answered here: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Engine" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Engine</a> . Otherwise, here is quick run down of other, unanswered ones.
<i>Answer</i>:
- Will designers be able to have moving light sources?
-- Yes, although we don't have physics in the editor yet.
- Will the engine be using some kind of skybox system, and if so, how will it work?
-- Yes we have basic skyboxes ala Source.
- Do you know of any engine limits yet? ie: Number of lights in a level or like how source has a weapons limit
-- Nope, we don't have any specific engine limits, although there will be some practical ones. No weapon limit.
- And would you mind explaining what you guys mean by using the PhysX stuff so the people on ATI can stop being scared about it? :)
-- PhysX is just free physics middleware, like Havok. It's very realistic and powerful, but it's also free and takes advantage of hardware acceleration on your video card if supported.
That be all for this time around. If you have anything specific to ask, please go ahead and post. What I ask and what gets answered is not an exact science though so I am sorry if your question gets missed. Anything else I see I will also pass on as well. Hopefully this will keep you guys a little more up to date and having to bug Charlie less!
<b>Topic</b>: Autobite, and more specifically, Twitter. The autobite has created a mega-thread on the topic, but I figured I would ask them about this. This answer should help for anything you do see on Twitter that may be contraversial in the future too.
<i>Answer</i>: Auto-bite has been removed already actually. Lots of ideas are tried that don't make it into the final version, and this happened with NS1 as well. For example, an overwatch feature was one of the first things to go into NS1. If a marine stood still for a few seconds, an overwatch indicator would come on. If an enemy came into your field of view, you would automatically start tracking it and firing at it. It wasn't perfect, but it would hit skulks reasonably well for you. The idea here was to bring in new players that wanted to follow orders and play as part of a team but didn't necessarily have great reflexes or shooting skills. It was tried and then removed because it didn't seem like it fit well enough or was cool enough given the extra complexity. This kind of stuff happens all the time but normally fans won't hear about because we're not going to write up a news/blog update about something we're not sure of.
<b>Topic</b>: The UWE engine. A lot of technical questions have come up surronding it. Some can answered here: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Engine" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Engine</a> . Otherwise, here is quick run down of other, unanswered ones.
<i>Answer</i>:
- Will designers be able to have moving light sources?
-- Yes, although we don't have physics in the editor yet.
- Will the engine be using some kind of skybox system, and if so, how will it work?
-- Yes we have basic skyboxes ala Source.
- Do you know of any engine limits yet? ie: Number of lights in a level or like how source has a weapons limit
-- Nope, we don't have any specific engine limits, although there will be some practical ones. No weapon limit.
- And would you mind explaining what you guys mean by using the PhysX stuff so the people on ATI can stop being scared about it? :)
-- PhysX is just free physics middleware, like Havok. It's very realistic and powerful, but it's also free and takes advantage of hardware acceleration on your video card if supported.
That be all for this time around. If you have anything specific to ask, please go ahead and post. What I ask and what gets answered is not an exact science though so I am sorry if your question gets missed. Anything else I see I will also pass on as well. Hopefully this will keep you guys a little more up to date and having to bug Charlie less!
Comments
<a href="http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/Homepage.jsp" target="_blank">I expected deals on hot clothing</a>
Thanks Comprox and UWE for taking the time. Much appreciated. It is interesting to hear about things like overwatch, and it sounds like you guys have really made a sweet engine. I can't wait to try out your hard work.
Are you interested in some questions to ask, or are you picking them out of already open topics?
What is being done to ensure that the marines will have movement skill since there's a lack of bunny hopping?
What is being done to ensure that the commander (on both teams) is making actual strategic decisions equivalent to an RTS as opposed to just baby sitting FPS player's requests?
Thanks Comprox and UWE for taking the time. Much appreciated. It is interesting to hear about things like overwatch, and it sounds like you guys have really made a sweet engine. I can't wait to try out your hard work.
Are you interested in some questions to ask, or are you picking them out of already open topics?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Both, if people post great questions I will pass them on. I will also be on the forums finding stuff too, but if you want to save me some leg work... ;)
That being, with the auto-bite tweet being posted on the 20th [of Oct] and that idea already been scrapped; how has the flamethrower held up? Has it met the sort of expectations the team envisioned yet? Tweet on the 6th [of Oct] said the shell for the flamethrower was implemented. I guess a general sum-up question instead of asking many would just be "Did the flamethrower go the path of auto-bite but we haven't heard about it, or is it still looking like a newly added item to the marines' arsenal?" The same question could probably be formatted for a number of other tweets as well...
The only other question I can imagine right now is... does the success of NS2 lead to something fabulous, like, say... gorge plushies? ;D [or must I finally break down and learn some arts-and-crafts skills?! heehee]
My main questions would be:
Do you expect the alpha to be released in the Fall 2009 timeframe?(I don't really expect this one to be answered, but it is #1 on my mind)
There have been a lot of ideas on the forums on how to ease new players into the game from tutorials, achievements, challenges, bots, ranked servers, matchmaking, ranked players, handicaps, ns2guides, wiki expansion, tooltip expansion, etc. Are you actually considering anything for a 1.0 release?
Is DI still a main facet of the game?
1) Please outline the similarities and differences between NS1 player control and NS2 player control (special abilities excluded).
2) Please explain the squad system and how members 'phase' to their squads. Are there squad leaders? Is this a fundamental game mechanic or an upgrade? What determines when a player can or cannot teleport?
I hope to see more answers soon!
What is Kurt's job? So far he has only been mentioned in the twitter.
Hearing more about the autobite would be interesting too, as I never got a good grasp on how it should have worked, why it was needed and why it didn't get added after all.
I'm not a programmer, but isn't CUDA completely useless for games/graphic-intensive applications?
How was the PostMortem going?
Will there be a unique gameplay element in every level? Like the railtrain thing?
Do you have any special plans for the Aliens besides a Commander and the Infestation? Because there will be no new lifeforms (and structures) i guess?
Are there any elements in the levels that can harm players, like automatic turrets or something?
I would also like to see and update on the dynamic infestation (or whatever it's called now).
1) Are the two starting locations random or will the aliens always spawn at point X and the marines at point Y?
2) Are there any plans to include weldable vents in official maps? If so, I was under the impression that only an Onos could break through a weld. Would there be a way for the aliens to break through a welded vent?
The tazer was never modelled afaik.
Is this an (annoying) ideal with out real game play reason behind it?
Or are there legitimate reasons why big complex and nasty maps shouldn't be and are not feasible
Are you sure ? I thought it was already done, then dropped.
Is this an (annoying) ideal with out real game play reason behind it?
Or are there legitimate reasons why big complex and nasty maps shouldn't be and are not feasible<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
When did they say maps would be less complex? A little smaller, and more emphasis on rooms than long hallways (though I'd say the focus on rooms leads to the slightly smaller map size, it comes out to the same amount of content a mapper would need to make)
Some of them were redundant (think nancy)
and some of them were good and had real gameplay meaning (think ns_lost)
In essence, aliens thrives on your uncertainty
Complex maps certanly make you think twice about were they that fade is (or even their starting hive)