<!--quoteo(post=1803218:date=Oct 27 2010, 03:05 PM:name=Mr. Epic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mr. Epic @ Oct 27 2010, 03:05 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803218"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Is it steam and all of that stuff causing this?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> No. That's like blaming a CD for making bad music. Steam only delivers the data.
remiremedy [blu.knight]Join Date: 2003-11-18Member: 23112Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester
<!--quoteo(post=1803220:date=Oct 27 2010, 01:10 PM:name=Lemming Jesus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemming Jesus @ Oct 27 2010, 01:10 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803220"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->No. That's like blaming a CD for making bad music. Steam only delivers the data.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Though turning off the Steam overlay *might* help slightly.
Mr. EpicJoin Date: 2003-08-01Member: 18660Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1803220:date=Oct 27 2010, 05:10 PM:name=Lemming Jesus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemming Jesus @ Oct 27 2010, 05:10 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803220"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->No. That's like blaming a CD for making bad music. Steam only delivers the data.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Obviously not in that way, the point was that there may be something going on with the way they are handling the steam interfacing if the internal testing (which may or may not be using much steam stuff) indicates a build is solid yet doesn't seem to pan out by the time it goes through the process.
initial thoughts: movement is a lot better. much less rubberbanding. video memory usage down by a lot (probably 75% ish) but audio memory usage is through the roof, maybe double previous. scoreboard not updating when people leave makes it hard to tell exactly how many people are testing with you.
framerates are still terrible. i actually think i suffered a 30-40% decrease in framerate from build 151 (from 25-30 to 18-20), although you can tell it's much smoother in that there are less FPS spikes. crags are really laggy right now.
hit registration is much improved, although it feels like only 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 lmg bullets are registering on skulks in motion. you can really tell the difference when you're shooting a stationary skulk and it dies in half a second, whereas if it's moving you can empty 2 clips and not kill it.
lerk sniping is way too powerful. 2 shotting a vanilla marine is uncalled for. you can easily spawn camp the IP with a single lerk because there's a delay between the marine spawning and him being able to move/see.
also, try another server (that isnt getting hammered?) ns armory played fine for everyone, g4b2s was the one i bet most of you mass raped right off the bat.
Out of curiousity, has anybody tried shooting at the bots in their own game for comparison? I'm guessing they just randomly walk around in circles or something but it would help to show if it's a networking issue.
<!--quoteo(post=1803218:date=Oct 27 2010, 10:05 PM:name=Mr. Epic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mr. Epic @ Oct 27 2010, 10:05 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803218"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->There is a ton of cool stuff going on, the alien commander's interface is really filling out (markers to help teammates, gui visual blips for notifications on the map, upgrade menus, selection reticles, and lots of other interesting bits). So many little and large things have been added it seems way more complete in that regard, and would actually be fun to try out!
The remaining issue preventing all of that from being explored and tested is the damned network performance. Is it steam and all of that stuff causing this? Is it a latency threshold issue where it isn't apparent because of the network performance of you or your testers? It just seems really disconcerting that every time you guys manage to improve things on your end it doesn't translate elsewhere.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1. the word "broken" came up a couple of times during the in-game chat.
2. had some poor fps. Had to run at 1280x1024, which was still choppy.
3. the flamethrower is a beast. But very verrrry weak against the hive (like 1 point of damage per 1 second of constant flame). Nonetheless it owns everything else. The fire flame clips through all solid structures. You could probably shoot it through a wall. Someone didn't like the animation.
4. the rifle-grenades fly visibly slow. Someone said that they take less time to research then the flamethrower and are more powerful.
5. Laggy gameplay overall. Probably a combination of the networking or poor fps. All of my magazines + pistol couldn't kill this skulk, but i was able to kill a lork + gorge no problem with the flamethrower. The voice chat sounded clear. Someone pointed out their probably using the steam voice coms. Someone called it "still unplayable" in game. And someone else said it was much better then the last version.
6. I was shooting at the hive with the shotgun and found i couldn't hit such a big target unless i was about 10 ft from it, or else the shot pellets spread to much. But i'm not 100% sure this was happening.
7. I didn't sit in the cc, but our com indicated that a lot of the research stuff works. I know at-least shotguns + flamethrower + grenade launcher could be researched. Another player said the alien team didn't have any of this stuff? I'm not sure if that point is true though, having never played on the alien team.
8. our com said the obs is invisible in this patch. Also supposedly the scan animation is broken or something. I didn't see it personally but i heard it described as blue checkerboard?
I've added a section in the wiki about configuring the web interface. It's rather basic and you can only run commands through it. But it's a start for sure.
Woo! Just woke up in Aus and found people playing.
For all those that can't play due to FPS/At work/Can't find server, I will have NS2HD[30] up in about an hour and a half. You'll be able to catch some 152 gameplay in it!
Kudos to the ones actually realizing it's called alpha, and really means alpha. Some people just can't grasp that games go through lots of testing before release.
Did anyone of you delete NS2 and redownload everything? I wonder if that fixes any of these problems... Can't test it myself, I'm on a reeeaaly slow connection, will take another two hours to download the patch :/
Tested it a bit. First try I got the freeze issue, just stood in RR, could move for like a second every 2 minutes.
Then tried another server, and actually got to play! Even killed a skulk with the axe!
Although the animations have something funky going on (it's like they only play every 10th frame or something) and the game slows down a lot with more players (I think 4vs4 might be optimal at this point), I think the gameplay itself has definitely improved since last patch. Yes, the skulks warp around a lot (see the 10th frame thing), but if you anticipate you can actually hit them!
Edit: One another thing, the hive seemed to have 100% hp at all times? Not sure if it was a bug with the hp indicator or the hive being invulnerable (we did win, we as in the marines), but still.
<!--quoteo(post=1803252:date=Oct 27 2010, 04:26 PM:name=wolffeguard)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wolffeguard @ Oct 27 2010, 04:26 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803252"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->half of you "Waaaaah, it isn't the full version".
Kudos to the ones actually realizing it's called alpha, and really means alpha. Some people just can't grasp that games go through lots of testing before release.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You don't get it. This isn't alpha. This is prealpha. We have nothing to test. Nothing they have given us has required anyone to test. It's obvious within five minutes of play what the problems are.
<!--quoteo(post=1803258:date=Oct 27 2010, 05:36 PM:name=Lemming Jesus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemming Jesus @ Oct 27 2010, 05:36 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803258"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You don't get it. This isn't alpha. This is prealpha. We have nothing to test. Nothing they have given us has required anyone to test. It's obvious within five minutes of play what the problems are.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
^^ This
Took me several years but now I am getting worried. Oh well. I'll check in after next patch. gl hf
<!--quoteo(post=1803258:date=Oct 27 2010, 04:36 PM:name=Lemming Jesus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemming Jesus @ Oct 27 2010, 04:36 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803258"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You don't get it. This isn't alpha. This is prealpha. We have nothing to test. Nothing they have given us has required anyone to test. It's obvious within five minutes of play what the problems are.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Your advanced wisdom has enlightened my misguided ways, Jesus. :-)
<!--quoteo(post=1803258:date=Oct 27 2010, 06:36 PM:name=Lemming Jesus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemming Jesus @ Oct 27 2010, 06:36 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803258"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You don't get it. This isn't alpha. This is prealpha. We have nothing to test. Nothing they have given us has required anyone to test. It's obvious within five minutes of play what the problems are.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
couple that with people hell bent on destroying the CC or hive as soon as the game starts, and it's really hard to even "test" what little there is. the game right now is a sandbox with a shovel but no pail.
I don't mind that it isn't playable, it just wish UWE was more upfront about what to expect in this patch.
From the patch notes and progress updates it sounded like lag and fps was improved, when clearly they deteriorated.
Don't tease everyone, you'll just piss people off.
<!--quoteo(post=1803262:date=Oct 27 2010, 06:49 PM:name=Baron_Bad_Egg)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Baron_Bad_Egg @ Oct 27 2010, 06:49 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803262"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->wow... just... wow.... this is... wow.... over 2 months.... and... this... wow... i wasted 40 dollars.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Seriously dude? The game isn't even close to being finished. Saying you would have access to the alpha never meant you would get to play the full game 2 years in advance.
Really depends on the server, I joined one that in the end was actually playable (and enjoyable even). However the sad part is that the longer I played the more RAM usage, I ended up with 1½ GB of RAM and barely able to move. Also the game really seems only be able to handle 5v5 or something at best before it gets really messy. We were something like 13 TSA and 7 Kharaa, which is quite a lot unless the scoreboard lied to us. But it's getting there, I had expected more from this patch but I guess the next one won't be months away. Only thing that held me from continue playing more just for the fun of it was that deterioration over time and that the chat-interface wasn't exactly working during that time either.
Comments
No. That's like blaming a CD for making bad music. Steam only delivers the data.
Though turning off the Steam overlay *might* help slightly.
Obviously not in that way, the point was that there may be something going on with the way they are handling the steam interfacing if the internal testing (which may or may not be using much steam stuff) indicates a build is solid yet doesn't seem to pan out by the time it goes through the process.
framerates are still terrible. i actually think i suffered a 30-40% decrease in framerate from build 151 (from 25-30 to 18-20), although you can tell it's much smoother in that there are less FPS spikes. crags are really laggy right now.
hit registration is much improved, although it feels like only 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 lmg bullets are registering on skulks in motion. you can really tell the difference when you're shooting a stationary skulk and it dies in half a second, whereas if it's moving you can empty 2 clips and not kill it.
lerk sniping is way too powerful. 2 shotting a vanilla marine is uncalled for. you can easily spawn camp the IP with a single lerk because there's a delay between the marine spawning and him being able to move/see.
Correction: Pacific and East just got slammed and brought down the server. Memory leak issue. They are all back up now.
The remaining issue preventing all of that from being explored and tested is the damned network performance. Is it steam and all of that stuff causing this? Is it a latency threshold issue where it isn't apparent because of the network performance of you or your testers? It just seems really disconcerting that every time you guys manage to improve things on your end it doesn't translate elsewhere.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I AGREE
Weren't we supposed to be updating physx or something for this release ?
1. the word "broken" came up a couple of times during the in-game chat.
2. had some poor fps. Had to run at 1280x1024, which was still choppy.
3. the flamethrower is a beast. But very verrrry weak against the hive (like 1 point of damage per 1 second of constant flame). Nonetheless it owns everything else. The fire flame clips through all solid structures. You could probably shoot it through a wall. Someone didn't like the animation.
4. the rifle-grenades fly visibly slow. Someone said that they take less time to research then the flamethrower and are more powerful.
5. Laggy gameplay overall. Probably a combination of the networking or poor fps. All of my magazines + pistol couldn't kill this skulk, but i was able to kill a lork + gorge no problem with the flamethrower. The voice chat sounded clear. Someone pointed out their probably using the steam voice coms. Someone called it "still unplayable" in game. And someone else said it was much better then the last version.
6. I was shooting at the hive with the shotgun and found i couldn't hit such a big target unless i was about 10 ft from it, or else the shot pellets spread to much. But i'm not 100% sure this was happening.
7. I didn't sit in the cc, but our com indicated that a lot of the research stuff works. I know at-least shotguns + flamethrower + grenade launcher could be researched. Another player said the alien team didn't have any of this stuff? I'm not sure if that point is true though, having never played on the alien team.
8. our com said the obs is invisible in this patch. Also supposedly the scan animation is broken or something. I didn't see it personally but i heard it described as blue checkerboard?
Cya in the next patch! :P
For all those that can't play due to FPS/At work/Can't find server, I will have NS2HD[30] up in about an hour and a half. You'll be able to catch some 152 gameplay in it!
<!--coloro:#ffff00--><span style="color:#ffff00"><!--/coloro-->I'm not impressed....<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
While the comm-menues and certain artistic things look still good, the whole patch feels like a retrograde step
- frame rates in single player lower than before
- unable to join a team on multiplayer-games (it's so friggin slow, you feel like someone has casted "time stop" ;-)
almost felt like the 152 version was the forerunner of 151 :->
ok, before i get fanboy flame, for not being apologetic enough to UWE I will, keep radio silence ;-)
Kudos to the ones actually realizing it's called alpha, and really means alpha. Some people just can't grasp that games go through lots of testing before release.
Then tried another server, and actually got to play! Even killed a skulk with the axe!
Although the animations have something funky going on (it's like they only play every 10th frame or something) and the game slows down a lot with more players (I think 4vs4 might be optimal at this point), I think the gameplay itself has definitely improved since last patch. Yes, the skulks warp around a lot (see the 10th frame thing), but if you anticipate you can actually hit them!
Edit: One another thing, the hive seemed to have 100% hp at all times? Not sure if it was a bug with the hp indicator or the hive being invulnerable (we did win, we as in the marines), but still.
Kudos to the ones actually realizing it's called alpha, and really means alpha. Some people just can't grasp that games go through lots of testing before release.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You don't get it. This isn't alpha. This is prealpha. We have nothing to test. Nothing they have given us has required anyone to test. It's obvious within five minutes of play what the problems are.
^^ This
Took me several years but now I am getting worried. Oh well. I'll check in after next patch. gl hf
Your advanced wisdom has enlightened my misguided ways, Jesus. :-)
couple that with people hell bent on destroying the CC or hive as soon as the game starts, and it's really hard to even "test" what little there is. the game right now is a sandbox with a shovel but no pail.
From the patch notes and progress updates it sounded like lag and fps was improved, when clearly they deteriorated.
Don't tease everyone, you'll just piss people off.
<!--quoteo(post=1803262:date=Oct 27 2010, 06:49 PM:name=Baron_Bad_Egg)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Baron_Bad_Egg @ Oct 27 2010, 06:49 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1803262"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->wow... just... wow.... this is... wow.... over 2 months.... and... this... wow... i wasted 40 dollars.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Seriously dude? The game isn't even close to being finished. Saying you would have access to the alpha never meant you would get to play the full game 2 years in advance.
But it's getting there, I had expected more from this patch but I guess the next one won't be months away. Only thing that held me from continue playing more just for the fun of it was that deterioration over time and that the chat-interface wasn't exactly working during that time either.