Welcome Nsplayers
Flayra
Game Director, Unknown Worlds EntertainmentSan Francisco Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 3Super Administrators, NS2 Developer, Subnautica Developer
Game Director, Unknown Worlds EntertainmentSan Francisco Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 3Super Administrators, NS2 Developer, Subnautica Developer
<div class="IPBDescription">Discussion</div> This thread is the official place to discuss the first post to the Unknown Worlds <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns/view?action=mailinglists' target='_blank'>mailing list</a>.
Here is the message that was posted to the list:
--
Hello there folks!
This marks a special transition time for the NS team and I wanted to make sure you guys knew what was going on.
First of all, <b>NS v3.1</b> is progressing nicely. This release will contain some balance improvements, some usability tweaks and our long-awaited Big Unannounced System. We are on the verge of announcing the details of this "B.U.S." and expect to post details on naturalselection.com within shortly. We're really excited about this release and hope you guys will be too.
Secondly, is <b>NS for Source</b> (Half-life II). We're getting tons of e-mail about if we're planning on updating NS for this great new engine. The short answer is yes, we're planning on doing this and excited to see how we can take advantage of the improved graphics and physics. However, this is a huge amount of work, and will probably mean we have to redo all of our artwork and level textures. We are planning on doing this, but it's going to take some time and we haven't decided if we're going to save it all up for one big release or if we're going to do it a piece at a time and release it in smaller patches.
Finally, there's <b>Natural Selection II</b>. NSII will be a full AAA retail game, it won't be a mod. On one hand it's too bad it will cost money, but on the other, it means we can make a MUCH better game then Natural Selection. We're now actively looking for a private investor or two to help us build a demo we can shop around to publishers. If any of you have any rich uncles or friends that love games and want to be involved with something very cool in the San Francisco area, please point them <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/view?action=about' target='_blank'>here</a> and have them contact us for a business plan. We are looking for serious investors only ($50,000 U.S. minimum). We could really use your help here!
That's all for now. We hope you're as excited about the future of NS as we are...we're just getting started.
-Charlie "Flayra" Cleveland and the whole NS team
Here is the message that was posted to the list:
--
Hello there folks!
This marks a special transition time for the NS team and I wanted to make sure you guys knew what was going on.
First of all, <b>NS v3.1</b> is progressing nicely. This release will contain some balance improvements, some usability tweaks and our long-awaited Big Unannounced System. We are on the verge of announcing the details of this "B.U.S." and expect to post details on naturalselection.com within shortly. We're really excited about this release and hope you guys will be too.
Secondly, is <b>NS for Source</b> (Half-life II). We're getting tons of e-mail about if we're planning on updating NS for this great new engine. The short answer is yes, we're planning on doing this and excited to see how we can take advantage of the improved graphics and physics. However, this is a huge amount of work, and will probably mean we have to redo all of our artwork and level textures. We are planning on doing this, but it's going to take some time and we haven't decided if we're going to save it all up for one big release or if we're going to do it a piece at a time and release it in smaller patches.
Finally, there's <b>Natural Selection II</b>. NSII will be a full AAA retail game, it won't be a mod. On one hand it's too bad it will cost money, but on the other, it means we can make a MUCH better game then Natural Selection. We're now actively looking for a private investor or two to help us build a demo we can shop around to publishers. If any of you have any rich uncles or friends that love games and want to be involved with something very cool in the San Francisco area, please point them <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/view?action=about' target='_blank'>here</a> and have them contact us for a business plan. We are looking for serious investors only ($50,000 U.S. minimum). We could really use your help here!
That's all for now. We hope you're as excited about the future of NS as we are...we're just getting started.
-Charlie "Flayra" Cleveland and the whole NS team
Comments
I am sure NS: Source will be great.
but right now, I am more excited with the BAS (Nexus).
*cough* just port NS first so we can play it then update everything and release that as one huge patch down the line.
thanks to all on the dev team
Not really, they haven't released a release date on it. They might not, who knows. Theres been no announcement. All we know is that 3.1 will feature part or all of the Nexus system. Dont ask what the Nexus is, just do some searching.. people overdiscuss it.
*signs up*
Yea i know <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
although even if they did "port it" it would still take a while to get all the bugs and stuff worked out of moving it to a new engine... either way we probably won't be playing it till next year
Good luck on it all: Standing behind you till the end, friend.
In the NS II section, "then" should be "than".
As always, very exciting stuff. Best of luck moving forward.
Oh he's so cute! <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pudgy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I play NS right now in linux through a nice little gem called cedega but its a bit tricky. I think shipping the game with a linux installed would be one of the sexiest things I have ever seen.
Keep up the good work guys.
as for ns:s how long ya think it will take? porting something of this caliber to the source engine would definitely take tons of time. but imagine the results <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
He's got all the required elements of suspense for a half-life mod down pat, the long term goal to drill it in the back of our minds (HLII) and the short term goal for all the myopic ADHD kids who are addicted to new content (BUS).
And I'm not pretending to be above that addiction. Looking forward to the nexus announcement, cheers for the news
i personally dont question that nsII will become good (with sucha community behind it <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->) but that will hradly be enough customers...
i guess you know how risky it is, and i wish you the best, and i wish me the game <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
You must not know how investment works. We're not talking about a constie donation here, the idea is the money that flay gets now comes back tenfold when NS2 goes tripple platnum (or however that works).
i personally dont question that nsII will become good (with sucha community behind it <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->) but that will hradly be enough customers...
i guess you know how risky it is, and i wish you the best, and i wish me the game <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--><!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There's a lot more than the financial angle to making an "AAA" title. For anyone wondering what the hell that term means, here's a pretty good description from <a href='http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2005/features/20050308/postcard-sanchez-crespo.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2005/features/...chez-crespo.htm</a> (reg required, use bugmenot.com) :
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The first part of the session tried to find a common ground description of what is an AAA title, and what goals should a developer follow to create one. All interviewees agreed that the first of these components would be mass appeal, meaning that a game wanting to become an AAA needs to belong to a broad market, and appeal to a lot of different people across age and gender groups. Some speakers mentioned just sales as the unique characteristic of these titles, but most argued that achieving high sales is contradictory with a niche market approach.
Another aspect all experts mentioned is the idea of the perfect craft: AAA titles have a level of polish and aesthetic completion that conveys a large team, working with a clear audio-visual direction. The same way movie blockbusters should have great visual and audio effects, spectacular shots and great characters, AAA games are expected to be perfect in their technical and artistic execution. As a corollary of this, AAA titles should be not only playable, but fully enjoyable within the first five minutes of play time. Mass audiences do not want to wait forever while the game builds up its entertainment value: the game must be self-explanatory, with fun value appearing real quick to avoid casual gamers from bailing out.
Another consequence of this perfect craft is that, to become an AAA game, a title must be exhaustively tested, both for bugs and usability and entertainment value. With games lasting well over fifty hours, it is mandatory for the best titles to guarantee a continuous, well balanced entertainment from beginning to end. A specific part of this testing must go to the GUI, to make sure it is aesthetically pleasant, yet functionally optimal. Many games fail to reach mainstream acceptance due to poor GUIs that make gameplay quirky and non-intuitive.
Once all these issues are sorted out, all that a game needs to become an AAA title is a decent amount of marketing and hype. All experts coincided that games, like movies, need marketing force to reach mass audiences. Yet, all stressed the fact that no marketing can save a lousy title, and so marketing can only make sure good titles reach the audience they deserve on the first place.
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And furthermore, I pray the best of luck to you on getting out an AAA-title game that is called Natural Selection 2.
I am really looking forward to NS3.1
Although I could play HL2 smoothly with full details, this doesen't work anymore, for some reason, so I am a bit scared of NS:S <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> (whoops, edited, accidently wrote NS2 instead of NS:S, sorry for that :/)
But I am really excited about the BUS. Maybe it is overhyped, but maybe we just can't wait anymore. And I am really waiting to play 3.1 , of course.
nice work btw.
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What I would LOVE to see is linux support.
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Yeah, me too. I am really tired of Windows now and I think I will use Linux in the future. My only problems are:
1.I have no idea how to set up an ATI gfx driver on Linux and
2.I don't know how to set up Steam.
Never tried Cedega or Point to Play.
And Valve would have to make a Steam version for Linux, before Flayra could a NS version for Linux :/
<b>NS2 ON 5FPS WILL OWN!!! <span style='font-size:22pt;line-height:100%'>YEAH!</b></span>
NS: SOURCE (PORT) USES THE SOURCE ENGINE AND IT'S THE CURRENT NS ON A NEW ENGINE AND NS2 IS A DIFFERENT GAME WITH A DIFFERENT ENGINE (NOT SPECIFIED)</span>
Thanks.
<!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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Most important point of the port: We've been trying to get around HL limits forever, with a new engine...
That would cost just over £26,098 where i live, shame i don't know anyone with that much. If i had it i would invest due to my interest in ns that keeps me awake for quite a lot of hours. I guess i can just make another donation to the company... Yeh actually im gonna donate again wont make a difference but atleast i know i have put more effort in to helping <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Most important point of the port: We've been trying to get around HL limits forever, with a new engine... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Just hope all of the current things would work the same way too <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->