Natural Selection 2 News Update - NS2 Build 169 released
Max
Technical Director, Unknown Worlds Entertainment Join Date: 2002-03-15 Member: 318Super Administrators, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts, Future Perfect Developer
Technical Director, Unknown Worlds Entertainment Join Date: 2002-03-15 Member: 318Super Administrators, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts, Future Perfect Developer
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Build 169 released.
Have heart attack.
Post reply.
Nice update though, lots of the good stuff and very fast release!
Seems like only yesterday 168 was released... oh wait, it was!
The shotgun fire and reload change sounds interesting, I'll have to test it out..
lovin it!!
only thing thats puzzling me is how these bugs are managing to slip through play testing. You'll get away with it in beta but come final release i think patches will need to be comprehensively scrutinised.
Because we don't have dedicated internal QA department like most development companies, to test the game all day, every day. We only have so much time to take out from work to organize a testing game, get enough people in it, and play for long enough to catch all the problems. So, unfortunately a lot of things don't show up during the playtest, and patches get shipped with bugs.
We could take the time to more thoroughly test every patch, and fix all the issues that crop up, but we figure its better to put out patches more frequently, then get each one perfect. I'm sure when we go from Beta to the actual release there will be much more testing done beforehand.
--Cory
Does it cost money to publish patches through steam?
We could take the time to more thoroughly test every patch, and fix all the issues that crop up, but we figure its better to put out patches more frequently, then get each one perfect. I'm sure when we go from Beta to the actual release there will be much more testing done beforehand.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
you've got a forum worth of people who would be more than happy enough to test post-release patches/updates. Setting aside a couple nights of the week for 50 or so people to test new builds on your own servers is just a matter of asking us. Granted that it's done in moderation however.
Can I get an Amen!?
^THIS. I'm in?
But I want my full release NS2 bug-free right now!!! /sarcasm
I don't expect bug-free patches but its depressing to see performance degrade significantly after a patch. B168 server performance was back to nearly unplayable levels for many of the servers I was on yesterday.
You then need someone to manage that, manage the people and sift through the data determining what is reliable, what is not reliable and then passing that on to the relevant area. Right now you've got Get Satisfaction -> Relevant area which is more direct.
That's true, but I played on servers that we're fine in the morning and then performance tanked in the evening.
We could take the time to more thoroughly test every patch, and fix all the issues that crop up, but we figure its better to put out patches more frequently, then get each one perfect. I'm sure when we go from Beta to the actual release there will be much more testing done beforehand.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Really I am available to help play-test anyday, anytime. Would be glad to help because Finding bugs can be a lot of fun!
Skulk stickiness is better.
I still would love to have it even stickier...make it so I have to jump to get off.
I didn't notice the tilt effect.
Too many skulks are still playing on the floor...I wanna see them bouncing off walls ...crawling on ceiling.
At the same time the stickiness is making running on the floor slower it seems.
General performance has improved a bit.
I finally found playing TRAM a semi enjoyable experience.
Engine still has abrupt hitches.
Still loving the alien vision.
It is cool how it cleans up the whole screen helps me navigate better as an alien.
Lovely effect and it seems to have no change of FPS for me.
Still some responsiveness problems with ordering MACs to build stuff.
I waste alot of time clicking on that resource node to the right of start in tram.
The building of turrets has gotten alot better.
It blinks out occasionally when you click initially which is disconcerting.
But the two click placement is becoming more reliable.
The MAC attack is becoming annoying.
i saw a pack of 5 or 6 MACS come into tech room
and build a turret with a portable power node.
neat concept until the MACs hid in the boxes in the wall under both.
no matter how much I shot at both the macs could keep under healing the whole time.
The sound bug has snuck into a couple builds now.
I would suggest some sort of test prior to patch release.
What is the root cause? Can you put an assert around it for a test run?
If you can unit test it even better, its got to be disheartening to you guys as well.
I am confused when burning DI. Do I just burn that one spot?
The one that lights on fire.
Overall a chunk of improvements.
I look forward to the next chunk.
Keep Cranking UW.
Server does make all the difference. I'm sure with some hefty opts near the release any decent server could run this butter smooth.
Okay after you said that, I'm compelled to link this video I was given earlier, by a games industry worker who said "yeah, that's pretty much all true",
<center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lGar7KC6Wiw"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lGar7KC6Wiw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
Its a beta...the idea of betas is to test and find bugs. The reason we get to play a beta at all is that we are used as the testers, thus reducing the workload/cost.
We got a discount on the cost of the game by being part of beta, in effect this was UWE paying you to be a tester.
I ask you...would you rather not be playing ns2 at all whilst all the beta work is done behind closed door (over a much greater period of time?)
UWE are simply following a well established business model similar to what bill gates did back in the dos days.
Now if you where talking about patches for say counterstrike, a game that is fully released, then I would understand the criticism.
Seriously the guys are doing a great job.
Great work UWE keep releasing the patches and progressing the idea of the game your still well ahead of duke nukem foreever on timelines :D
I hope there can be a comprimise of the 2.
Isnt that what we're already doing?
We're testing the game (+patches) before release? ;P
- I still get the double sound bug sometimes when fire rifle and pistol, this hasn't been fixed at all.
Does it cost money to publish patches through steam?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
We don't have to pay anything to put a new patch on Steam, however it does take about 1/2 a day to a day for us to make and test a new patch, so there is a cost.
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Build 169 released.
Have heart attack.
Post reply.
Nice update though, lots of the good stuff and very fast release!
Seems like only yesterday 168 was released... oh wait, it was!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No, it 168 was released on tuesday, its friday now (or maybe 168 was released rly late thursday?). So not yesterday.
Why didnt you make any twitters about this? I nearly missed out on the fact that you patched, as I always look at right side of news for twitter posts, and if I see new ones I glance to the left. Only reason I discovered it now was because I thought it was odd that there was no big ytube thing in center of site.
Because they aren't required to?
Yea.... I dont understand why everyone is playing on that ARMORY CHAMBER server...its crap... I even played on LISTEN-Servers that where performing better!
Indeed, there are very few servers that actually run the game well, but when they run well, it's a very enjoyable experience. But even the best servers can get bogged down by hydras and DI.
I wish more servers would run Tram now. Performance has increased enough where Tram is playable now and it's 10x more balanced than Rockdown.