NS2 Alpha Insight
Mapster
Join Date: 2007-11-01 Member: 62796Members
Join Date: 2007-11-01 Member: 62796Members
Alright well I'm gonna start off with some positive feedback so people don't get the wrong idea.
As I'm a fan of the old NS, the first thing i noticed was the environment of the game was pretty much how i imagined NS2 to be with the lighting, futuristic look and pretty much has the feeling of Doom 3 to it, although this is the first alpha i can already see this becoming a terrific game after a few more builds.
In all honesty I'm VERY surprised that unknown worlds has gotten this far as they have a very small team working on the game which includes everything like the engine, balancing, lighting, models, textures, concept art and just the general overview of the game which is why i support them enough to get the special edition and to share the pro's and con's as they did say that they want to know everything that we think of the game in it's current state.
<b>Gamesplay:</b>
Pros:
-Lighting done very well on both models and environment brushes
-The game has a very good Natural selection feeling to it
-AI navigation done very well for a start!
-Hud displays how many resource nodes the team has
-Most of the original NS has been kept in such as the source nodes
Cons:
-Lag is probably the highest issue at this current state on lan play and internet play but isn't bad as it's the first alpha so it's alright for alpha testing and having run throughs of maps.
-Lag after alt-tabbing out of windowed mode then attempting to run around
-Buildings have no idle animation
-No change team or go to ready room bindings
-Typing in text then pushing escape on the keyboard displays the text
-Too much alt-tabbing out can cause text and certain things to blur
<b>Marines:</b>
Pro's
-The pulse-rifle is much bigger and has more of a "kick" feeling to it when you fire and has a pretty satisfying feel to it after you have blown something away.
-Animation for the command chair is awesome
-Overview of the commander is very well done!
-Recycling buildings has a very cool effect
-When com chair attack, will shake
Cons
-Jumping needs a bit of tweaking as it's kind of slow
-Bullets ejected by the guns don't land on the ground had me looking for then for ages as a lol before i realized they haven't been put in yet
-No walking sound
-Commanders overview bobs over each platform when scrolling up and down can be kind of putting off
-No hotkeys for t he commander
-After recycling a building it remains selected and displays as a null structure not returning resources
-Melee attack doesn't have a binding key so when you jump is does melee at the same time
<b>Aliens</b>
Pros:
-Leap sound for the skulk is terrific but also sounds like the alien from AVP
-Wall crawling is exactly like the original NS
-Hud is VERY well done!
-Models done VERY well! ( gorge mouth grosses me out, i love it! )
-Evolution menu is done very well
-Hive done VERY well
-Hive Commander done very well
Cons:
-Skulk bite sounds too much like a dog barking
-Skulk movement feels a bit.... strong?
-Skulks bite doesn't use enough energy making it a bit easy to kill groups of marines
-Energy is a bit hard to see when in fights
-Buildings hydras is pretty hard to play them on walls and ceilings
What can i say, good job Unknown Worlds and keep at it! Your doing a fantastic job so far!
As I'm a fan of the old NS, the first thing i noticed was the environment of the game was pretty much how i imagined NS2 to be with the lighting, futuristic look and pretty much has the feeling of Doom 3 to it, although this is the first alpha i can already see this becoming a terrific game after a few more builds.
In all honesty I'm VERY surprised that unknown worlds has gotten this far as they have a very small team working on the game which includes everything like the engine, balancing, lighting, models, textures, concept art and just the general overview of the game which is why i support them enough to get the special edition and to share the pro's and con's as they did say that they want to know everything that we think of the game in it's current state.
<b>Gamesplay:</b>
Pros:
-Lighting done very well on both models and environment brushes
-The game has a very good Natural selection feeling to it
-AI navigation done very well for a start!
-Hud displays how many resource nodes the team has
-Most of the original NS has been kept in such as the source nodes
Cons:
-Lag is probably the highest issue at this current state on lan play and internet play but isn't bad as it's the first alpha so it's alright for alpha testing and having run throughs of maps.
-Lag after alt-tabbing out of windowed mode then attempting to run around
-Buildings have no idle animation
-No change team or go to ready room bindings
-Typing in text then pushing escape on the keyboard displays the text
-Too much alt-tabbing out can cause text and certain things to blur
<b>Marines:</b>
Pro's
-The pulse-rifle is much bigger and has more of a "kick" feeling to it when you fire and has a pretty satisfying feel to it after you have blown something away.
-Animation for the command chair is awesome
-Overview of the commander is very well done!
-Recycling buildings has a very cool effect
-When com chair attack, will shake
Cons
-Jumping needs a bit of tweaking as it's kind of slow
-Bullets ejected by the guns don't land on the ground had me looking for then for ages as a lol before i realized they haven't been put in yet
-No walking sound
-Commanders overview bobs over each platform when scrolling up and down can be kind of putting off
-No hotkeys for t he commander
-After recycling a building it remains selected and displays as a null structure not returning resources
-Melee attack doesn't have a binding key so when you jump is does melee at the same time
<b>Aliens</b>
Pros:
-Leap sound for the skulk is terrific but also sounds like the alien from AVP
-Wall crawling is exactly like the original NS
-Hud is VERY well done!
-Models done VERY well! ( gorge mouth grosses me out, i love it! )
-Evolution menu is done very well
-Hive done VERY well
-Hive Commander done very well
Cons:
-Skulk bite sounds too much like a dog barking
-Skulk movement feels a bit.... strong?
-Skulks bite doesn't use enough energy making it a bit easy to kill groups of marines
-Energy is a bit hard to see when in fights
-Buildings hydras is pretty hard to play them on walls and ceilings
What can i say, good job Unknown Worlds and keep at it! Your doing a fantastic job so far!
Comments
I suggest you file all of the bugs on the Get Satisfaction site.
As we go on, I hope many of these will get fixed.
I enjoyed what you posted, it was an honest post that the devs should be able to use. I don't know about you ,but I think we need to also start putting out some actual data, most of us just say things instead of posting what the specs on our PC are, our log files etc. What do you think? ( possible thread hijack? my bad )