Natural Selection 2 News Update - NS2 Build 178 Released

13

Comments

  • Chris0132Chris0132 Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
    edited June 2011
    Game still lags like hell, hitches a lot when running around, infestation is still incredibly annoying to clear, res income is now stupidly low, arc pathfinding is terrible so you have to babysit them constantly, macs costing plasma from the robotics factory is insane when they're the only way to maintain a base and plasma income is so low, no extractor upgrades seems deliberately designed to make the res flow problem worse, interface remains generally unresponsive, usually have to issue orders two or three times before they go through, combat is still clunky and random due to lag/hitreg/whatever it is that makes things teleport around constantly or the view hitch or the bullets apparently not go where you shoot.

    Also marines have lots of useless buildings now, why do I need to build an arms lab? Why do I need to build a robotics factory? Just keep the upgrades on the armory and let arcs be placed and built like structures near a command station, then driven around once they're complete. It seems as though marine bases are filled with lots of structures apparently just for the sake of having lots of structures, doesn't make a lot of sense, I prefer the company of heroes approach to buildings, use as few as possible.

    On the other hand bloom looks pretty and the arc particle effects are nice.

    Not much positive to say about the patch otherwise, made the game a lot worse in some aspects and didn't improve it discernably in others.
  • RockyMarcRockyMarc Join Date: 2009-11-24 Member: 69519Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Some more stuff if this helps you techy devs -
    Script Error: Entity:SetOrigin called with bad values (-29.168312 -10040.041992 69.821098)

    SetOrigin lua/ScriptActor.lua:155

    MoveToTarget lua/LiveScriptActor_Server.lua:334

    UpdateMoveOrder lua/ARC_Server.lua:34

    UpdateOrders lua/ARC_Server.lua:71

    lua/ARC.lua:267

    Script Error: Entity:SetOrigin called with bad values (-13.332597 -10023.674805 16.652916)

    SetOrigin lua/ScriptActor.lua:155

    MoveToTarget lua/LiveScriptActor_Server.lua:334

    UpdateMoveOrder lua/ARC_Server.lua:34

    UpdateOrders lua/ARC_Server.lua:71

    lua/ARC.lua:267

    Script Error: lua/NS2Utility.lua:1185: attempt to call method 'GetEntitiesWithName' (a nil value)

    GetPlayerFromUserId lua/NS2Utility.lua:1185

    UpdateVoteToEject lua/PlayingTeam.lua:955

    Update lua/PlayingTeam.lua:678

    Update lua/MarineTeam.lua:151

    lua/NS2Gamerules.lua:719
  • Slickk-Slickk- Join Date: 2007-11-26 Member: 63019Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1850733:date=Jun 8 2011, 05:24 AM:name=RockyMarc)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RockyMarc @ Jun 8 2011, 05:24 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850733"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hmm just checked the server log files, its 80meg.
    There was a huge chunk of Script Error lines (thousands of them), sorry I can't copy and paste it here don't have access from my work pc.
    Anyone else getting these?

    Edit: Oh just got access allowed :)

    example-

    Script Error: Entity:SetOrigin called with bad values (-9510.066406 -10002.105469 -7073.810547)

    lua/ScriptActor.lua:155

    SetCoords [C]:-1

    lua/Weapons/Projectile_Server.lua:81

    Script Error: Entity:SetOrigin called with bad values (-9510.884766 -10002.964844 -7074.418945)

    lua/ScriptActor.lua:155

    SetCoords [C]:-1

    lua/Weapons/Projectile_Server.lua:81

    Script Error: Entity:SetOrigin called with bad values (-9511.703125 -10003.824219 -7075.027344)

    lua/ScriptActor.lua:155

    SetCoords [C]:-1<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Yeah i got these, plus the sound errors when coming in and ou of fade blink.
  • wackowacko Join Date: 2002-11-12 Member: 8283Members
    So those are caused by things going outside the map :(
  • VeNeMVeNeM Join Date: 2002-07-13 Member: 928Members
    my biggest gripe is that i have to reboot before i play or my fps will be 20, something in the background of the game isnt closing right.
  • TrueVeritasTrueVeritas Join Date: 2006-10-20 Member: 58082Members
    It's currently far too easy for marines to just turtle with 2384 sentries, just like 1.4 Gorges need Bile Bomb or Fades need acid rockets.

    Fade blink needs to not completely stop momentum at the end. I like how it speeds you up, but you need to keep the same speed when it ends.

    Hitreg needs to be improved! This is HUGE. Either that or when you hit with a fade you need to really feel it.

    Otherwise the game is actually shaping up to be pretty great. Lerk flight feels like a lot of fun, despite the maps being a bit claustrophobic. Gorges feel... lame. They're really only good for healspray, we definitely need to give them another function.
  • Chris0132Chris0132 Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
    I think the patch would be a lot better if you didn't make the res flow so limited.

    Honestly you could probably fix it by just putting extractor upgrades back in.

    As it stands, neither team can really commit to an attack because if they do, they basically lose all their gear, so nobody wants to die.

    The game was far more fun when you had the freedom to pick a gun you liked and not have to spend five to ten minutes waiting or dying horribly just so you could re-purchase it after you died.
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    but that was also the cause of 2-3 hours long games. Now if a team manages to kill the other team, they can actually win the game. And this is good.
  • emtegemteg Join Date: 2003-03-02 Member: 14207Members
    For the first time, i was able to play ns2 and i even did kill somebody as a skulk! At times my framerate is extremly smooth - good work! Then suddenly, i fall back to a slide show. I think its worst when im in battle. But yeah, its nice that i can finally play the game i paid for. :D
  • SparkTRSparkTR Join Date: 2007-02-09 Member: 59913Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Silver
    Nice gameplay additions and smooth performance (mostly). Though the balance is still absolutely messed up, but that's what the beta is for.
  • kababkabab Join Date: 2003-12-15 Member: 24384Members, Constellation
    Infestation should not spread where this is power period...

    Its completely stupid currently and unplayable.
  • _Thresh__Thresh_ Join Date: 2008-01-11 Member: 63385Members
    edited June 2011
    Good patch. New graphics look good. Game feels smooth until hydras/turrets kill the server. Plenty of fps (i7950/2x5870)

    New fade feels good, except for the speed brakes on blink exit.

    New bite feels much more solid.

    Biggest issue I found was pretty standard, server slowed down after a while.

    Minor [old] gripe on skulk leap having to be from a walk [only playing after patches].


    But yes, starting to feel more like NS.
  • TwiggehTwiggeh Join Date: 2010-09-24 Member: 74165Members
    Bloom needs some tweaking :p
    <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/846/2011060800003.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/957/2011060800003.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>

    Also, it feels really weird when fade loses all his momentum upon exiting blink, please let him keep some momentum forward.

    And i dont like the new evolve menu, technically speaking.. It worked much better when it was single click, now you have to click and move around and stuff which takes time.
    IMHO just give info about the different species when you hover over them, and evolve when you click their respective icon.
    Tho from a design standpoint its great, it looks fantabulous!

    Tho apart from that - great patch! It feels so much more rewarding to play as skulk now when the hits do connect again!
  • maessemaesse Join Date: 2010-04-08 Member: 71213Members
    Much more playable than when I last played some month or two ago.

    FPS is higher all around and the game plays more smooth. I still get some hitching here and there but I think they're more related to server performance and maybe prediction issues. I noticed that when I run against an entity, like a resource tower, the client seemingly stops predicting or mis-predicts.

    It seems to me that player movement is smoothed out with some fancy quadratic interpolation? It looks unnatural (or at least very different to other games) to me for some reason.

    The fade is pretty neat, maybe a tad overpowered at the moment - I too would love to try it out without "speed brakes". Also, the instant shift to "fade-world" when blinking can be a bit disorienting - A fade-in/out effect could help there.

    Going to try out rhines at some point today
  • WilsonWilson Join Date: 2010-07-26 Member: 72867Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1850809:date=Jun 8 2011, 02:10 PM:name=Twiggeh)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Twiggeh @ Jun 8 2011, 02:10 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850809"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->And i dont like the new evolve menu, technically speaking.. It worked much better when it was single click, now you have to click and move around and stuff which takes time.
    IMHO just give info about the different species when you hover over them, and evolve when you click their respective icon.
    Tho from a design standpoint its great, it looks fantabulous!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Yeah, I think that'd be better.
  • Chris0132Chris0132 Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1850774:date=Jun 8 2011, 10:17 AM:name=Asraniel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Asraniel @ Jun 8 2011, 10:17 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850774"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->but that was also the cause of 2-3 hours long games. Now if a team manages to kill the other team, they can actually win the game. And this is good.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Actually I haven't noticed that at all, you can still turtle, even easier than before for marines due to arcs and sentries being cheap.

    The cause of long games is lack of siege units, throw bile bomb on the gorge and put the res back up, that way people wil at least be able to attack rather than just turtling.
  • OutlawDrOutlawDr Join Date: 2009-06-21 Member: 67887Members
    edited June 2011
    Overall the the game feels a bit smoother. Not overwhelmingly better, but I see progress. Bloom makes things look nicer, and haven't noticed it being too distracting. My opinion might change once the novelty wears off...we'll see.

    The most noticeable thing I noticed (besides the bloom :P) is that I can actually kill marines with skulks now. Im going toe to toe now, and actually winning most 1v1 encounters. Hitreg is MUCH better for both the skulk and the fade. Speaking of Fade, wow this guy is much improved. Completely dominating right now. The new blink is tons better than the old blink. I see a lot of people want finer aerial control and retention of momentum, and I agree these things could make blink more useful and enjoyable....and balance will completely go out the window. I predict the Fade receiving many<strike>ner</strike>, tweaks and alterations in the future.

    I only played 5 games on summit with around 8-10 players....the map feels way too big for that number of players. Most of the map was empty (though its a very nice map). I didn't get to see an ARC in either of the 5 games. 4 of the games ended shortly after aliens went Fade. The one game aliens lost was due to a newbie commander that didn't understand how infestation worked, and blew all the initial res on a billion crags and whips around the main hive.

    Something happened for marines on my end. Marines have always been hard for me to use in NS2, but now I can't seem to shoot or kill anything. Aiming seems jittery, and my gun goes all over the place I don't want it to go. Feels..off. Takes me forever to kill things. I believe its something on end, since I notice other players are able to dispatch my skulk within seconds. I've actually unloaded on stationary skulks and they don't die or take forever to die. A lot of discrepancy in what Im seeing. And before anyone says it, Im not an FPS noob. I've played in many competitive FPS leagues for years, and I know when something is not feeling right. I also had a 30 ping to the server.

    I see that marines are still able to bunny hop, but backpedal is now slower? I'd rather have slightly faster backpedal, and longer delay between jumps.
  • IeptBarakatIeptBarakat The most difficult name to speak ingame. Join Date: 2009-07-10 Member: 68107Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow
    Loving the patch, and the evolve menu is super classy.

    Sadly there was some weird text bug where all the text would stay forever and overlap.

    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/fj1bZ.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
  • QuovatisQuovatis Team Inversion Join Date: 2010-01-26 Member: 70321Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    MACs and ARCs need to be able to be repaired by other MACs. This is especially important now that they cost resources, not just energy.
  • peregrinusperegrinus Join Date: 2010-07-16 Member: 72445Members
    edited June 2011
    Love the ARC (when it does what it's told :P )

    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/2hUdx.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
  • shivshiv Join Date: 2010-04-11 Member: 71341Members, Constellation
    I really like the new evolve menu. I like being able to select my lifeform and my upgrades at the same time and only needing to evolve once. Much more convenient.
  • lunsluns Join Date: 2010-12-05 Member: 75502Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1850885:date=Jun 8 2011, 04:51 PM:name=shiv)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shiv @ Jun 8 2011, 04:51 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850885"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I really like the new evolve menu. I like being able to select my lifeform and my upgrades at the same time and only needing to evolve once. Much more convenient.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    evolving just once is a good thing, but the new alien menu is just too flashy for my taste. I really miss the old ns1 menu, it wasn't fancy but rather simple looking which can be accessed with right clicking, quick and simple. I don't need big menu to cover my whole view all around me either.

    bloom indeed looks great in some areas but in some areas such as alien environment some things are way too bright that they shouldn't be. And too much brightness can usually ruin your view (aka block/blind), and at my case also hurt my eyes.

    I just hope they add skill based movement, air control and momentum - every alien movement still feels slow/sluggish.
  • KuBaNKuBaN Join Date: 2002-11-16 Member: 8979Members, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1850690:date=Jun 7 2011, 09:57 PM:name=Zek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zek @ Jun 7 2011, 09:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850690"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I maintain that R4K is good for aliens and not so good for marines. It just doesn't fit with the team aesthetic. Nobody wants to be stuck on building duty while their buddies are racking up cash by covering. Res for points also seems too metagamey IMO, thinking about how to min/max your score shouldn't be a central part of the game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    <!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->+1<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->

    All of the changes are a leap forward!

    Kharaa:

    Despite complaints about the new Blink, it's a good thing that your movement is restricted. It allows your opponents to predict where you're blinking to (reliable information is King) and forces Fades to master quick and accurate Chain-Blinking in order to get the most out of Blink. I only played Fade on Summit, but I noticed that I frequently clipped the small changes in elevation/geometry on the floors/walls and either stopped dead or ramped off of it and went off in another direction.

    Despite complaints of the new Evolve menu, it is a great improvement over the old one. New players will feel much more secure knowing that they can browse the Evolve Menu freely without fear of mis-clicking. It would be really nice to have everything in the menu hot-keyed, however (Q, W, E, R, T for Lifeforms, A, S, D, F to Toggle Upgrades, or something similar), since not everyone is a Point-and-Clicker.

    The universal upgrades (Fury and Swarm) are a very cool addition, however there's never a reason to not purchase these upgrades if you can afford to, which makes them feel less tactical, and more RPGish. I would've liked to see more trade-offs for these upgrades, even if they're as simple as only being able to choose one from each Chamber, though this route makes it arguably more difficult to balance their effectiveness across all lifeforms without having individual upgrades per life-form and essentially creating Upgrade Talent Trees.

    The KharaaComm (Overmind?) pacing is still very slow. There's almost always nothing to do save for babysitting Infestation (to make sure you placed it properly) and waiting for Energy to regenerate. Since almost every Kharaa Structure uses Energy, I think implementing some skill-based method wherein a KharaaComm can restore Energy or accelerate Energy regeneration would bring a much-needed degree of control to the KharaaComm. <!--coloro:#FFFF00--><span style="color:#FFFF00"><!--/coloro-->Connecting a Destroyed Power Node to the Infestation Network could supercharge all connected Structures with Power, accelerating their Energy Regeneration by some amount for each Infested Node.<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> Alternatively, The Drifter's Flare could be changed to a P.Res cost and restore a chunk of Energy to nearby Structures upon detonation.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited June 2011
    <!--quoteo(post=1850664:date=Jun 8 2011, 12:39 AM:name=DJPenguin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DJPenguin @ Jun 8 2011, 12:39 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850664"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->you have a sexy masculine voice<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Here you go :P

    A video showing the rubber banding on a 20 player server, I still had some fun, but with a server tickrate of around 4 it is simply unplayable, I did expect it to be worse though... HELL on 177, I couldn't even walk around on a 12+ server (or was it another 17x build, I don't remember...)
    <center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZIXktrsil4w"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZIXktrsil4w" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
    <div align='center'><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/kouji82#p/a/u/0/ZIXktrsil4w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIXktrsil4w</a></div>


    Next one will be on a server which doesn't kill the tickrate... Also I am surprised when I fire the rifle, I no longer get FPS going down to 10, it stays quite stable. So there is indeed hope it is recordable on a good server...
  • duxdux Tea Lady Join Date: 2003-12-14 Member: 24371Members, NS2 Developer
    Kouji, next time, can you say smoke and a pancake?

    I'm sorry.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited June 2011
    <!--quoteo(post=1850966:date=Jun 8 2011, 10:10 PM:name=dux)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dux @ Jun 8 2011, 10:10 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850966"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Kouji, next time, can you say smoke and a pancake?

    I'm sorry.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    purrrhaps ;)


    Also wow, I haven't seen the thumbnail shown for the video yet... That area looks amazing doesn't it. Summit is awesome!
  • DJPenguinDJPenguin Useless Join Date: 2003-07-29 Member: 18538Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1850966:date=Jun 8 2011, 06:10 PM:name=dux)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dux @ Jun 8 2011, 06:10 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1850966"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Kouji, next time, can you say smoke and a pancake?

    I'm sorry.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    it's great ain't it? if everyone on my team sounded like that I'd be fearless.
  • McGlaspieMcGlaspie www.team156.com Join Date: 2010-07-26 Member: 73044Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Gold, Subnautica Playtester
    *sees a lot of Kharra* *pulls out ax*, says "I got this!" *dead*

    LOL. Love your attitude Kouji.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=1851007:date=Jun 8 2011, 11:57 PM:name=McGlaspie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (McGlaspie @ Jun 8 2011, 11:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1851007"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->*sees a lot of Kharra* *pulls out ax*, says "I got this!" *dead*

    LOL. Love your attitude Kouji.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Would have worked if we had a knoife!
  • MagnetoMagneto Join Date: 2010-12-22 Member: 75856Members
    edited June 2011
    Best update we've had, performance now seems to be mostly down to the server as it varies a lot between each, not necessarily player count either and ping isn't really an issue, i've played smooth servers with high ping and laggy ones that are local, so i hope they focus on that after the next few client optimisations.

    A few basic improvements i would like to see are a larger map and text on the score board for higher resolutions, an optional minimap like ns1 and any other useful info displaced on the hud we might be missing, apart from that it's looking good.
Sign In or Register to comment.