Build 242 Beta Open - Natural Selection 2
System
Join Date: 2013-01-29 Member: 182599Members, Super Administrators, Reinforced - Diamond
Join Date: 2013-01-29 Member: 182599Members, Super Administrators, Reinforced - Diamond
Build 242 Beta Open - Natural Selection 2
Most often, Natural Selection 2 builds are internally tested and then pushed out into your loving hands via Steam. That internal testing focuses on making the game is not broken in some major way before everyone gets it.
Comments
Thanks everyone who helps test 242! :-) The more feedback we get the better the final 242 build will be and run.
No changelog yet, but balance-wise the game is mostly the same as 241.
The biggest point is that Infestation has been removed from the minimap of both teams to help with performance. This is intended currently so please leave all feedback otherwise.
There will not be a changelog for beta 242. Rather than looking for testing of specific changes (This is what is done internally, anyway) we are seeking the 'vibe' the 'feel' and the anecdotal issues people encounter when they try out the build.
I was trying the alien comm while ritual was hitting my cysts. You essentially have to rely on the alert system to know when one is dying... which is problematic. You get a blip on the minimap but in the heat of a match you might miss it. You certainly don't NEED to see them on the map but it is definitely a QoL thing and makes it less tedious.
Sadly, I was forced to upgrade my computer.
After I install the video card tomorrow night, I'll try out 242b.
i7 @ 2.66ghz
GTX 560ti
12gb DDR3 RAM
EDIT: Did a reboot, seems to be running fine....atleast for 241. Went back to try 241 and it too was lagging but it's running fine so far since a reboot. About to try the beta build after reboot.
Feels like you gave skulks back their speed, praise the flying spaghetti monster!
Some minor bugs:
- As alien commander, there was a game where the log out button did not show the text (the background was there, and the button worked, but it didn't say "Logout" or have the arrow)
- As alien commander, I selected a spur, and the interface updated, but I couldn't use the celerity icon even though it was active and we had enough resources. Clicking celerity on the overhead view (top left of spur) worked.
- Favorite servers that are running the old version are not filtered out on the server list (not a big deal in general)
- You can place cysts on top of the structure in Energy Flow (Descent), but not structures (only tried a crag)
I think if there are several performance improvements skulks may end up being slightly overpowered again, though I wouldn't mess with the numbers for now... it could go the other way around too (since technically marines can aim better with a higher frame rate, too).
Also, I think the master server currently returns all servers regardless of the sitation, and then the client lists them. I think it would work a lot better if the client can send some filters in the request, e.g. filtering by game server build (241 vs 240), on the master server side. You could also add a region dropdown so you can filter (again, server side) by region, and only see north american servers here, etc. It would greatly reduce network usage on the master server, as well as network usage on the game client and game servers (many less servers to ping, etc.).
You would not believe just how performance hungry those things are
Less overhead from the entity count is great but are there going to be other changes paired with it to reduce the tedium of maintaining a cyst chain without minimap references? Like unconnected cysts no longer dying? (like creep tumors in SC2, though this has balance implications)
This change has major khamm gameplay side effects and kind of bothers me.
Generally, I think I'm seeing a 5-10 fps increase, usually 50-60 steady. In 241, I would usually hover in the range of 40-50 outside of ready rooms.
In addition to BigImp's comment on builds, I think I wouldn't even need a build filter, just a little column telling me 241/242/(b). Of course, this is minor and only beneficial during build updates, when servers are making the switch.
Though, I think I'll have to disagree with Imp as far as skulks becoming overpowered through performance improvements. If anything, it'd improve the marines' aim considerably (with I suppose the other edge to the sword being slightly easier parasiting).
One thing I noticed as marine was that there seemed to be an intense amount of slowdown in the proximity of several MACs building. Dunno if this is an old issue, but my frames went down from a steady 40-60 to the 10s, averaging around 14.
I'm running a 2.6ghz quad core AMD CPU, and a 2GB 7850, with 8GB DDR3.
Sounds weird... can't they just go to sleep when no marines are around, like hydras do? In fact, can't they be asleep all the time, unless being shot? They don't need to animate or update, unless a cyst *somewhere* is created/destroyed.
Though I don't know enough about how LUA handles 'sleep', so this may be completely off point.
You don't want a ns2_bt server, I don't think (that's a server on your favorites probably?)... you just want an ns2 server that filters through on your server list. Did Steam download a new version of NS2 for you? (around 90MB)