This game has incredible potential.

shoro12 · March 2007

<div class="IPBDescription">Natural Selection 2 can be a superb game!</div>You have to admit that NS was the birth of something new for RTS; a blend of FPS gameplay to correlate with a RTS outlook/strategy. The most attractive aspect of NS to me was the commander position. This was just so attractiveas far as revolutionary goes, that I conjured up (mentally) a single player campaign based on this feature alone.

Most RTS games today focus more on large scale battles and mayhem. A Natural Selection game based soley around 1 player commanding a few, or even just 1, squad of marines to build outposts, secure resources, and take out alien infestations would make a unique RTS game in and of itself. I just think there's so much potential in NS and i'm dieing for it to be used. This definately could be one of the best PC games of all-time if everything goes well.

I'll post my single player campaign story/idea later tonight.

schkorpio · March 2007

to be honest a single player campaign is a good idea, but really i'd much rather be playing with real people rather than bots.

Perhaps a multiplayer campaign where everyone chooses a role ?

N_3 · March 2007

i'd like to see multiplayer be the primary aspect, thats what made it great (and so replayable), especially competitively.

Abaddon0 · March 2007

to be honest, i don't really care for single player, there is no real point. maybe some short training mode, but a full blown game, I'd hate to have the resources spent there instead of the MP game.

jimbotogo422 · March 2007

a single player game sounds very interesting i think. it seems that a single player game can be made from just the commander position alone, w/o even having a <i>map</i> to run around in!

Abaddon0 · March 2007

but that takes away time from building the MP game.

Crotalus · March 2007

I think the game should expand it's theme into new areas of gameplay. In addition to regular NS and CO made, it would be cool to have other games modes to play. For example, there might be a survival mode, in which Marines with one life, no commander, and low resources try to achieve a certain goal like escaping in a life pod or blowing a ship up while the alien team harasses them. In essence, it would play like an Alien movie, where the humans are generally helpless prey...

Ahnteis · March 2007

I don't think a single player "Natural Selection" game would work well at all. However, a S.P. game set in the Natural Selection world could work VERY well. (In other words, for single player, I think you'd need to drop either the RTS or the FPS portion of the game and focus on just one gameplay type.)

shoro12 · March 2007

To expand more on the single player campaign I was talking about, advanced AI is what would really make single player incredible for this game. Your the commander who can command (control) marines, just like what you could normally do in a RTS like C&C for example. Instead of a fixed amount of marines at your disposal based on the number of players on the marine team, the player controlled commander can use a fixed amount of resources to spawn marines from Earth into your outpost via infantry portals. I am aware of the problem this would create since you need a marine to build an infantry portal in the first place, and in every NS map you start with a command chair and a resource tower, but this could all be resolved in the first mission of a single player campaign if you think about it. The story line could be simply this:

You are a commander sent from earth to compromise an alien infestation in a space station (a very big one at that).

The rest of the story line can be expanded on from there out. The commander is sent to the space station in a relatively small spacecraft that contains enough resources to successfully build a control panel (command chair) and a resource tower on arrival. The first mission would be the only one that shows the commander (you) and the control panel. The following missions would be expansions on previous missions, which means that the resources (still increasing from resource towers in previous missions) and marines, but not structures, from a previous mission will be available for a current mission (which can also be altered by an interesting twist in the story line if necessary). To avoid large marine squads, each mission could have a limit to the number of marines you can spawn. A voice message from a general on earth could say "We're not risking any more marines commander!", or something like that.

Advanced AI is what would really make single player NS interesting. When first spawned, the marines are defaulted with an inferior AI. That is, the marines start out as just ordinary soldiers, and could easily miss targets once in a while and use voice macros more often calling for more ammo or med kits. As the game progresses from mission to mission, you gain abilities that can turn your ordinary default marines into "super soldiers". For example, you spend your resources for research in giving your troops increased aim (won't miss as often), increase weapon damage, increased armor, improved armor, increased health, and more. These upgrades would also change the appearance of the default marine into a more advanced, cooler-looking marine. In a situation fighting aliens, the marines would not just stand still, but move around to avoid incoming attacks, such as skulks using bite.

This all seems a bit farfetched I know, but I can only hope.

Warrior · March 2007

I would rather see a dynamic online campaign. Basically the outcome of a game will determine the next map. Each map will continue the story, and the fight will go until all maps in the series are played or something triggers a ending.

the_x5 · March 2007

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Warrior @ Mar 7 2007, 01:24 AM) [snapback]1612052[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'>
I would rather see a dynamic online campaign. Basically the outcome of a game will determine the next map. Each map will continue the story, and the fight will go until all maps in the series are played or something triggers a ending.
</div>

What your are basically proposing is a single player sequence in a multiplayer setting, yes? That is a great idea! However I would like it to be a mode a server could be in which could be toggled on or off.

In reply to this topic/thread overall: NS2 does have huge potential and I would like to see it continue to have a stong bias towards teamplay and an even mix of RTS and FPS gameplay. Perhaps new ideas as well. It's that 1/3 new that Charlie talks about that I'm both afraid of and exited about.

Abaddon0 · March 2007

maybe have a series of maps, the more the marines win, the more the level is balanced for the aliens... and have static teams, once you join the aliens, you are an alien until you leave the server.

Moving_Target0 · March 2007

That's an awesome idea - having variable outcomes depending on wins / losses of a side, and the online multiplayer "campaign" mode. Sounds like it could be really fun with a lot of people.

Warrior · March 2007

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_x5 @ Mar 6 2007, 11:21 PM) [snapback]1612071[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'>
What your are basically proposing is a single player sequence in a multiplayer setting, yes? That is a great idea! However I would like it to be a mode a server could be in which could be toggled on or off.
In reply to this topic/thread overall: NS2 does have huge potential and I would like to see it continue to have a stong bias towards teamplay and an even mix of RTS and FPS gameplay. Perhaps new ideas as well. It's that 1/3 new that Charlie talks about that I'm both afraid of and exited about.
</div>

I was thinking more along the lines where certain maps would be created for this game mode. remakes like tanith for example would be normal. A map with a suffix of nsc, short for natural selection campaign would have a story and who ever wins would determine the next map. It could span several maps, a few maps or what ever. It would be up to the mapper. This is something I wish is done in more games. Sven coop I think had this(could be wrong).

Edit:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Abaddon0 @ Mar 7 2007, 07:59 AM) [snapback]1612186[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'>
maybe have a series of maps, the more the marines win, the more the level is balanced for the aliens... and have static teams, once you join the aliens, you are an alien until you leave the server.
</div>

That would be interesting, but I would rather have this be a option. Either server or mapper specified.

Abaddon0 · March 2007

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Warrior @ Mar 7 2007, 11:18 PM) [snapback]1612435[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'>
That would be interesting, but I would rather have this be a option. Either server or mapper specified.
</div>
certainly optional

Moving_Target0 · March 2007

Sven co-op had maps kinda like this, but you just beat them and then moved to the next in the series. There wasn't any kind of variable outcome unless everyone quit...

Pikminwars · March 2007

That could work, you could have a set of maps, and the win/loss decided which one came next and how the story progressed. Sort of like that mode in Meteos with the huge tree of levels, and depending on the outcome you would get a different ending.

<img src="http://case.oncle-tom.net/images/Jeux-video/Ds-meteos/Meteos%20-%20ingame%203.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />

So, assume all those spheres were different maps with the lines being different plot developments, and you've got yourself a nice multiplayer campaign.

Also, there isn't really any point saying the developers aren't going to work any type of single player or campaign, because that's just stating the obvious. This does, however, seem like a neat thing for someone else to do using the magic of LUA.

This game has incredible potential.

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