NS2 Worth It?
Tonyrhodeisland
Join Date: 2011-11-30 Member: 136067Members
Join Date: 2011-11-30 Member: 136067Members
I'm thinking of buying NS2. It's from a small indie team of 6 people, and from all the NS2HD i've watched, It looks absolutely amazing. I've never played the original HL mod so some of that appeal isn't there for me. It is however, the best fps/rts execution i've seen so far.
Now the question is, Is it worth 35$?
Let me know what you guys think.
Also, I know it's in beta, So i'm hopefully not trolling
Now the question is, Is it worth 35$?
Let me know what you guys think.
Also, I know it's in beta, So i'm hopefully not trolling
Comments
Intel C2D E6420 @ 2,4Ghz 1200FSB
2Gb OCZ PC-6400 @ 900Mhz
HD4850 512Mb PCI-E
Asus P5B Motherboard
Creative Audigy 2 & Asus HD Audio
Labtec verse 514 microphone, voice recording
Logitech 980240 microphone, voice chat gaming
Windows XP Pro Sp3
*I got that on my YT channel page, copypasting (don't worry I didn't type it all out :P)
And I can run the game on a decent server in between 20 and 35FPS with some dips here and there. The game is mostly CPU bound so if you have more Ghz on your CPU, you're bound to get more FPS. But it can vary widely between PC's... It's a true Beta ;)
An important sidenote would be that the game is not only CPU bound, but also highly dependent on servers, if the server is not top of the line i5 2500k @ 4,5Ghz or 5.0Ghz, it can have some issues when the player count goes beyond 14players
Build189 has been awesome so far, and it'll only get better from here on out (content and performance)
especially with the latest patches, and especially considering what ported over crap content we get these days for $60, nearly double what you'd pay here, for many hours of entertainment.
plus, watching the progress and contributing to the future of a product you love is worth far more than that $35
player base isn't as high as a released game on steam though (sooooonn..) so know what you are expecting.
p.s. 64 bit with ~6 GB of ram accompanied by an OC of your processor <b>really </b>helps.. (cant tell if it was the move to 64 bit or the extra use of the rest of my ram that made the difference.. but there is easily 20 fps i gained in that move)
performance tweaks / optimizations released almost every build now
Be aware as a beta it is a bit rough around the edges at the moment and not every feature is in yet. Performance and some bugs can be wonky in some patches and be fixed in following patch.
Overall I enjoy the game quite a lot, and in the upcoming patches there will be some big gameplay changers (onos, jetpacks) and a new map.
Do you like Starcraft?
Do you like team-based shooters like Team Fortress, Battlefield etc?
Do you like immersiveness in games?
Do you want to be part of an ongoing beta test of a game, see it through to its release and watch the community grow along the way?
If you can answer like 2 or 3 of those with a 'yes!' then paying half the cost of a retail game is worth it, I think.
It's just so fascinating and interesting to me, also the whole aliens vs marines thing is sick.
You're going to get a completely biased answer. Congratulations.
(its funny, ppl waste lots of money in stuff like alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, softdrinks, whatever but suddently 35$ for a game is a big deal :P)
(write net_stats in console, if server tickrate is around 30, and stays usually over 20-25 its a good server to play on.)
PS: Also you will have to rebind W,A,S,D in the options menu, and maybe set you Antialiasing on application controlled or off in your graphics driver.
The great thing about this game, is how it's being developed. You really do interact with the Devs. Ideas from the forums are looked at and often integrated (if they make sense). You get to help build the game in a small way. All feedback, positive and negative is looked at. I think that's the coolest thing.
Anyway, buy it to support the devs... the way the game plays right now gameplay wise, I don't like it. I hope that it gets fixed, if not, well, I'm learning lua to mod it myself.
No it isn't.
It's got graphics comparable to most games of today. It just runs worse.
TL;DR: Ditto to Obraxis
Oh dear god SabaHell's lerking is a scary thing :|
It's just so fascinating and interesting to me, also the whole aliens vs marines thing is sick.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is the same way feel about RTS/FPS blends, I unfortunately first discovered NS1/NS2 in the spring of '10.
I started, like many other gamers out there, playing Counter-Strike for a very long time. And Q3, and other shooters.
I also played Savage 1 & 2 - both good games, the second one evolved the first one really well.
Then I discovered NS1/NS2, bought the NS2 engine test, and installed NS1 and started learning the game.
I really love the teamplay aspect of NS, it is so different from any other shooter game I've ever played.
And the fact this it also has a RTS side just makes it the best game I've ever played.
This is the best RTS/FPS blend out there, in my opinion.
But, even though you seem to have some very good specs, the current performance of NS2 is not perfect.
It's simply down to the code not being optimized yet, but they are actively improving the game, and they have made massive leaps since the release of the Alpha.
There is no official deadline for the game, but they do have an internal deadline.
The game could be done in a year, maybe more, no one knows, not even the devs.
As making a game is sometimes unpredictable with some of the problems you run into.
Never the less, I've played most of the builds of this game, and I have had alot of good hours with it already.
It's only improving as time goes.
If you can't decide about NS2, and have Half-Life on steam, I suggest you download NS1 and learn how it plays.
If you do buy NS2, then watch out what server you join.
Joining some servers that can't handle the game yet(because of unoptimized code), will give you a very bad gameplay experience.
You can check server performance by joining a server, and typing net_stats in console.
Right now, on the good servers are considered normal if the server rate drops to 20, but the optimal(maximum, atm?) server rate is 30.
r_stats displays your FPS. When the server is running bad, it also affects your FPS.
All this means NS2 is best experienced on a fresh server with some crazy hardware.
Here is my list of servers which I know to run the best depending on areas:
HBZ (Europe)
Inversion (USA)
Pure-Aus (Austrailia)
Anyway, I have played NS2 for 900+ hours now, and NS2 have been worth it for me. (Note: Didn't use the tools, gameplay time.)
Well, only 2,5 years mor and you are a professional qualified....gamer.
Hm. Our generation should be more productive. Or shouldn't it?
So, to the opener: The game is fun, one of the best. But better go out and make art or science ;)
Nanites, go!
We need that yesterday!
Playing from day-one enginetest, I cant really believe we have 500hours difference... - freak! :P
(im pretty sure maybe even around 100h or more added difference, since my ns2 is idle in background sometimes/ or remember the old bug where it didnt quit the process correctly in background - so steam counted even tho it was "closed")
Have you ever thought about taking up work with UWE*? 900h in a year on any game is... wow. I don't actually know what to say.
Have you ever thought about taking up work with UWE*? 900h in a year on any game is... wow. I don't actually know what to say.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It must be from leaving Launch Pad open. Apparently I have 1861 hours but there is no way this is accurate even game play and editor time combined. o_0
because, lets be honest, sometimes we pay $60 on said games that end up being absolute CRAP. especially on the pc, these days so much is sloppily ported over without any thought towards what a pc gamer wants... with no refunds generally and no pre release demos people are literally gambling on a guess that their purchase will be worth it. (hence the frequency of sequels and known brands.) otherwise i'd rather just spend it on alcohol like you said lol.
tldr: PC gamers get burned a lot and left behind, treated as a 2nd rate customer and its quite typical to be wary of wasting any amount of money when you can buy alcohol, softdrinks or anything else that you know you love.
but you know you will love this game, just buy it already. :)