Natural Selection 2 News Update - NS2 Build 157 released

Flayra

Please post comments on the topic Natural Selection 2 News Update - NS2 Build 157 released here

Pekerman

FPS are my biggest problem now but its always good to see new updates

PD : is ns2hd part of the staff? i mean you can use him to make the official gameplay videos he has experience

whoppaXXL

Alright Commander, standing by!

Mr. Epic

It will be interesting to see how NS2 feels with the marines being the primary builders again.

vaesh

Awesome, looking forward to the new patch. Although, I'm a disappointed to see you guys cave to a handful of whiners, who are afraid of a little change. You guys were on the right direction with using MACs as the primary building force in NS2. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you phase out the Alien Comm as well which will be another disappointment. It's your game guys....you should follow your vision.

deathshroud

seems like alot of nerfs for the marines which is needed, but theres nothing for the aliens to stop them dominating the game in the first 10 minutes of play.

Runteh

"The next patch will be focused on more optimizations as well as making it much easier for the Commander and marines to find together, work together and know about what each other is doing."

Spot on! Something this RTSFPS mix really needs and will be a lot better for the game. Looking forward to playing this new release, and the next!

You guys are doing a great job.

Solitario

I'm so excited! :D

Plasma

Nice work guys!

Mr. Epic

<!--quoteo(post=1812653:date=Dec 2 2010, 09:09 PM:name=vaesh)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (vaesh @ Dec 2 2010, 09:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812653"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Awesome, looking forward to the new patch. Although, I'm a disappointed to see you guys cave to a handful of whiners, who are afraid of a little change. You guys were on the right direction with using MACs as the primary building force in NS2. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you phase out the Alien Comm as well which will be another disappointment. It's your game guys....you should follow your vision.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The MAC role isn't completely gone, it should still be required to place the building therefore the marines must still protect it. Lets see it in game after many iterations, just like everything else.

TheGivingTree

"Also, we've changed the MAC roles to be more support and on the repair side of things, instead of the commander's main building force. Now players are the main way marines build and so you'll be enjoying that traditional NS feel where you're both building and fighting. I think we were all noticing that the marines felt a bit disconnected from the Commander but it wasn't until we released it to you guys that we took more notice."

Thank you, this will make a giant difference. As for the GL since it has different ammo types, could one of those options be explosive rounds that blow up on contact like it was before this patch?

aeroripper

Good to see marines get a bigger part of helping the comm build. The MAC should be mostly a helpful support unit, not the primary focus. Now that it builds much slower (and is a lot tougher), marines should have more incentive to escort it around and help it build.

ZestSoap

YAY! build 157!!! :)

Wheeee

<!--quoteo(post=1812653:date=Dec 2 2010, 10:09 PM:name=vaesh)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (vaesh @ Dec 2 2010, 10:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812653"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Awesome, looking forward to the new patch. Although, I'm a disappointed to see you guys cave to a handful of whiners, who are afraid of a little change. You guys were on the right direction with using MACs as the primary building force in NS2. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you phase out the Alien Comm as well which will be another disappointment. It's your game guys....you should follow your vision.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

so whine back, it works ;) the devs don't know that people have an opinion unless they voice it.

urinalcake

<!--quoteo(post=1791701:date=Aug 4 2010, 01:15 PM:name=urinalcake)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (urinalcake @ Aug 4 2010, 01:15 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1791701"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I feel that MACs should build very slowly, Marines should build much quicker, which makes the marines building a much more powerful supplement.

This ensures that the building gets built EVENTUALLY, but marines have incentive to build, in order to get it done quicker. MACS would just have to build at a creeping pace.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

###### called it.. sort of.

Runteh

Marine building was a goal for players in NS1 - short term goals.

Go here, build this - win game.

Bringing it back in, rather the complicating this in another way is probably a better option.

If that is the reason for re-introduction I approve - also it was quite fun, and you had to have someone defend you whilst you build. Team work.

nirvanaXO

Hooray for marine's self-build. This change will bring back those old feelings of NS1.

TheGivingTree

<!--quoteo(post=1812666:date=Dec 2 2010, 09:21 PM:name=nirvanaXO)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nirvanaXO @ Dec 2 2010, 09:21 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812666"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hooray for marine's self-build. This change will bring back those old feelings of NS1.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

As good as those old feelings are, that isn't really the point though, this is a better game play decision regardless. Even if NS1 didn't have marines building, this is the better option period. As stated before it brings more communication and team work which is the main focal point of the marines, if something diverts from that focal point then it really doesn't belong on the marine side.

PsiWarp

Awesome, but if Marines start with no MACs, do Commanders still need MACs to place "ghost" buildings?

Still wondering what ARC stands for...

Max

<!--quoteo(post=1812653:date=Dec 2 2010, 07:09 PM:name=vaesh)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (vaesh @ Dec 2 2010, 07:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812653"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Awesome, looking forward to the new patch. Although, I'm a disappointed to see you guys cave to a handful of whiners, who are afraid of a little change. You guys were on the right direction with using MACs as the primary building force in NS2. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you phase out the Alien Comm as well which will be another disappointment. It's your game guys....you should follow your vision.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This change wasn't motived by outside feedback, it was based on our own experience playtesting. We felt that without the marines building, there was a disconnect between the game the marines on the ground were playing and the game the commander was playing. It just didn't "feel" like NS.

nirvanaXO

<!--quoteo(post=1812667:date=Dec 2 2010, 10:24 PM:name=TheGivingTree)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TheGivingTree @ Dec 2 2010, 10:24 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812667"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->As good as those old feelings are, that isn't really the point though, this is a better game play decision regardless. Even if NS1 didn't have marines building, this is the better option period. As stated before it brings more communication and team work which is the main focal point of the marines, if something diverts from that focal point then it really doesn't belong on the marine side.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You couldn't have said it any better, I absolutely agree with you.

Runteh

I doubt the devs have time to wade through a lot of the constructive crap that is the forums.

Which is why they probably appreciate threads such as the:

Name 3. Positive points / 3. Negative points post.

Short concise and to the point.

Sydero

Do waypoints work yet?

weezl

GO TEAM UWE!

great job guys, can't wait to test - damn Valve/Steam time!

throttle

<!--quoteo(post=1812666:date=Dec 2 2010, 06:21 PM:name=nirvanaXO)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nirvanaXO @ Dec 2 2010, 06:21 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812666"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hooray for marine's self-build. This change will bring back those old feelings of NS1.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I heartily approve any return of com-rage to the gameplay.

urinalcake

<!--quoteo(post=1812669:date=Dec 2 2010, 09:29 PM:name=Max)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Max @ Dec 2 2010, 09:29 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812669"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This change wasn't motived by outside feedback, it was based on our own experience playtesting. We felt that without the marines building, there was a disconnect between the game the marines on the ground were playing and the game the commander was playing. It just didn't "feel" like NS.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I definitely agree to there being a disconnect, and of course you guys wouldn't want to kill off the work you did on pathfinding for MACs as well as that added gameplay bonus a MAC can give if players refuse to build, so having both build is the logical step.

Deadzone

<!--quoteo(post=1812669:date=Dec 2 2010, 09:29 PM:name=Max)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Max @ Dec 2 2010, 09:29 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1812669"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This change wasn't motived by outside feedback, it was based on our own experience playtesting. We felt that without the marines building, there was a disconnect between the game the marines on the ground were playing and the game the commander was playing. It just didn't "feel" like NS.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

"It just didn't 'feel' like NS."
Totally agree with that. There's still room for lots of tweaking till it gets just right, so I'm a fan of bringing back building.

I'm interested to see how the balance changes with this patch. Cheers, guys.

Cerebral

Love the decisions based on reading the changelog. I can't wait to hop in and give it a shot when I get home!

McGlaspie

Interesting. While I understand the Marine building / comm disconnect argument. I don't understand how holding down the E key and staring at a percentage is fun. That's one thing that always bugged me about NS1, which is probably why I preferred playing aliens.

I was hoping to see "Ridiculously absurd performance increase for Hydras and Sentries in the server code", but oh well. It will happen eventually.

As always, 10,000 thanks UWE. Keep it coming! ;)

googleeyes

Love the new patch notes. Can't wait to try it.

I completely agree with making the marines the main builders rather than macs. This will stop marines from going rambo and just running around the map instead of working as a team.

Now we just need the gorge to play a more important role. Hydra's are important for long range defense and making pushes whether people think they are very important or not. But having a little more function would be nice :)

Wheeee

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