If the Reinforcement Program is successful, what's next? And is that a good thing? (Discuss!)
TheRev709
Join Date: 2013-07-23 Member: 186330Members, Reinforced - Shadow
Join Date: 2013-07-23 Member: 186330Members, Reinforced - Shadow
Needless to say, I love Natural Selection. I've loved it since the very very very beginning, when the net code for the NS1 mod was so jacked everyone had 5000 ping. I've love NS since moving the comm chair as a Marine Commander into the vents in ns_nancy and go ultra turtle mode. I've loved NS since playing the alpha for NS2 on ns_rockdown.
But ... I must ask what could UW do for NS2 beyond Reinforced? From what I understand, if the Reinforcement Program does not raise enough dough, UW will move on to a new IP so they can keep the lights on. I don't presume this means no more support for the game, as I can't see any scenario baring total bankruptcy where they don't continue to patch bug fixes and make minor game play tweaks in the name of balance.
If UW is "reinforced" with more money and they continue to develop awesome free DLC and mega content updates what could they possibly add? And would it be a good thing? With reinforced we have a bunch of new stuff like grenades and webs which pretty much finish off just about everything NS1 had content wise that NS2 didn't.
But won't more guns/grenades/evolution abilities saturate the game with too much "stuff?"
A while back the devs behind Star Craft discussed RTS and the evolution of "e-sports." They recognized that most RTSs were crazy about their unit count and how man special units you could build. But it over-saturated, over-complicated, and horribly unbalanced online play. Blizzard narrowed down the selection to less units and polished game play into what is arguably the best RTS franchise online. You even see this with other games like Company of Heroes while he older RTS games that stuck their the old mantra have withered (Command and Conquer).
I'm worried that with more content NS2 would become over saturated and ultimately over complicated. To be honest there already needs to be a lot of work done on the current build to tweak the game play balance (not to mention the bugs galore).
I would love to see NS2 continue to evolve, but simultaneously I'm curious to see what Unknown Worlds can come up with next? Maybe a new IP? Maybe start work on NS3?
I want to see the Reinforcement Program be successful (I donated on day one), but I honestly want to see UW move on just a little bit more. There is no doubt they'll continue to support NS2, and we'll see new maps come from the community as well as new mods. NS2 is by far the most innovative indy shooter/RTS around, my favorite online team game, and despite what happens next none of that will change.
Here's to the future.
But ... I must ask what could UW do for NS2 beyond Reinforced? From what I understand, if the Reinforcement Program does not raise enough dough, UW will move on to a new IP so they can keep the lights on. I don't presume this means no more support for the game, as I can't see any scenario baring total bankruptcy where they don't continue to patch bug fixes and make minor game play tweaks in the name of balance.
If UW is "reinforced" with more money and they continue to develop awesome free DLC and mega content updates what could they possibly add? And would it be a good thing? With reinforced we have a bunch of new stuff like grenades and webs which pretty much finish off just about everything NS1 had content wise that NS2 didn't.
But won't more guns/grenades/evolution abilities saturate the game with too much "stuff?"
A while back the devs behind Star Craft discussed RTS and the evolution of "e-sports." They recognized that most RTSs were crazy about their unit count and how man special units you could build. But it over-saturated, over-complicated, and horribly unbalanced online play. Blizzard narrowed down the selection to less units and polished game play into what is arguably the best RTS franchise online. You even see this with other games like Company of Heroes while he older RTS games that stuck their the old mantra have withered (Command and Conquer).
I'm worried that with more content NS2 would become over saturated and ultimately over complicated. To be honest there already needs to be a lot of work done on the current build to tweak the game play balance (not to mention the bugs galore).
I would love to see NS2 continue to evolve, but simultaneously I'm curious to see what Unknown Worlds can come up with next? Maybe a new IP? Maybe start work on NS3?
I want to see the Reinforcement Program be successful (I donated on day one), but I honestly want to see UW move on just a little bit more. There is no doubt they'll continue to support NS2, and we'll see new maps come from the community as well as new mods. NS2 is by far the most innovative indy shooter/RTS around, my favorite online team game, and despite what happens next none of that will change.
Here's to the future.
Comments
Like you, I love the game, and it is the only game I play in my STEAM library now, even though I am getting ~30fps at map start.
Cheers.
Natural Selection 2 isn't just an RTS, so it's balance can't be modeled entirely after StarCraft. The vast majority of players experience the game as an FPS, so their desires need to be considered. I'd personally like to see new guns for the Marines. There are four primary weapons not counting Exos, one secondary weapon, a melee weapon and the welder. I think more variety would help. Especially since the grenade launcher and flamethrower seem like more specialized weaponry, leaving me playing with the shotgun and rifle most of the time. A big machine gun with a large clip and long reload time would be interesting, as well as a sub-machine gun with a small clip and high rate of fire. Perhaps also a revolver type weapon with a slow rate of fire and high damage output. Perhaps an alternative to the trip mines could be a mine with a remote detonator.
A while ago, the developers talked about giving every weapon an alternative fire mode. They tossed around the idea of having the shotgun shoot flechette rounds like the flak cannon in Unreal Tournament. The flamethrower was also supposed to have a mode where it spit fire at a longer distance, but in a smaller cone.
I'd also like to see infestation live up to it's original idea. Right now it feels very static, and often quite an eyesore.
I never even heard of this game until I saw it on FrankieonPC on Youtube a few weeks ago... then I saw the free weekend on Steam and out of boredom decided to give it a try.
I will stress I haven't played any serious first person shooter multiplayer since Halo 1 LAN parties and Halo 2. I almost exclusively play RTS games. Or any kind of strategy game really. But this game is different then most First Person Shooters.
Short story short... I love the game and have put 28 hours in since this weekend and once I get the cash to donate more money to this wonderful game to help fund its future I will.
I am already imagining watching an Onos repeatedly smash my new elite assault dead newb corpse into the metal while I wait to respawn.
I don't think NS2 needs any major overhauls, but at the very least would be nice to see another weapon or 2 and a few more maps.
Welcome to the game! I've been following this game since 2007 back when it was just concept art and a podcast. Of course, there are the real hardcore guys who have been playing since NS1 in 2002, I think.
The main difference is that it's more three-dimensional, and it spreads in random directions, and over walls seamlessly. Currently the infestation spreads in a circle around the cysts, and hardly ever takes over walls. It's very patchy looking. I think ideally a fully infested room should have no visible walls, just green goo everywhere.
The issue with that concept, was that there was no way to push back the infestation but flamethrowers.
With cysts, a player may use any weapon to remove infestation from an area.
It while it may sound bad for marines to need advanced weaponry to push back infestaion, imagine how much slower expantion would be as aliens since you would have to wait for the natural spread to reach the nearest resource point....
theres just too many issues with the original infestaion concept, and cysts solve them
(though I would love to see it back in if possible)
What if you kept cysts, but made them able to be unconnected. So you just pop down a cysts next to a node and it infests the area around it. Meanwhile dynamic infestation naturally spreads from the hive. But this infestation stems from vines or tendrils (to be visually distinct and appear more "durable") and can only be removed with advanced weaponry. Also, the "natural" infestation is drawn toward areas with cysts. The numbers would have to be rebalanced on cysts (health, cost, growth rate, etc) but it could work.
Of course, these kind of thoughts are nothing more that pipe dreams now, but I think there are viable creative options that could have made truly dynamic infestation work. Sadly, we are far beyond that point.
CPUs would cry
And a singleplayer would also be nice
Who knows. Isn't it fun, that there are such possibilities for the future!
- Balance tweaks every 3 months.
- Community map pack every 6 months.
- Major update every 12 months.
[EDIT] As for future development. UWE is a small, well respected developer with a loyal, proactive community. Any future development should try and capitalize on this fact.
@Hugh, I would like to see fun non game breaking things. Like an Onos mount. The idea has merit, although the thread went a tad ridiculous by partially my own doing.
http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/131562/onos-mount/p1
For aliens how about a few more pres sinks
Just thought I'd throw a few ideas at ya
I have only commanded the Marines so far but adding a few more options to allow commanders to be more then just an ammo and med pack spammer late game would be nice. And I am sure the alien side could use a few tweaks as well.
Just seems like there is a lot of room to add more to the strategy side of the game.
Also more things to make a more immersive atmosphere would be neat. I like it when the power goes out and you have to run into a dark room or when the infestation is creeping up everywhere.
Also think emergency power kicks in too soon to make flashlights or AV much use and that aliens should be able to take out power in rooms marines haven't built a generator in.
You could also make emergency power dimmer Or take out it out all together, seems pointless with flashlights and AV for the most part anyways and could add a whole new layer of fun for marines fighting in the dark and aliens hiding in the dark.
I've wished for these things from beta onwards...
-Better server browser. It is pretty, but I still miss the old menumod, and the server auto-retry/join doesn't seem to work nearly as well as the join via Steam friends.
-Better bind system, multiple keys per command. For instance, have bound primary and secodary weapon keys in a different place -> now I can't use 1 or 2 for votes etc.
Other than that, maybe if there are no strong main game features left to do just now (except maybe for a map or two), how about a community focused update with strong support for mod tools AND support for the most promising mod projects? Say, a mod needs a HMG so UWE lends a hand making one that is awesome or maybe someone wants to recreate the popular NS1 sieges but the ARCs don't cut it, so UWE makes pretty siege cannons for the mod team (both just examples, I'm sure there are mods with new ideas around there)? Haven't been following the mod scene closely, so for all I know this could already be happening. Just an idea
damn right, ns1 serveradmin and hardcore addicted player @ wurstselection server back in the days.
what a game
That menumod was incredible and should of been integrated completely during the beta. Great server browser, great clean source style menus and dialogues. Numbers as well as sliders for important options like FoV and sensitivity, a chat you can scroll through and copy+paste support.
I want this mod integrated into the game: Bindable voice orders commander keys and more!
So much quality of life stuff that has been pushed back again and again.
Any continued development for NS2 I want to go into polish type stuff like above, bug fixes (barcode infestation, weapon pickup lottery, gun jam, not being able to cyst, looking at the ground on live, spawning dead on live, spawning in cc on live, stupid AI units, AI unit collision, commander box selection .. the list goes on), networking interpolation improvements, performance for server and client improvements and continued gameplay / balance adjustments to make NS2 as tactically diverse and as enjoyable from an FPS perspective as possible.
The meat of any actual new content should be maps. And a working demo system.
HMG and Siege cannons could be awesome. There was a community effort into creating something like that, both done by the same person.
HMG here.
Sentry types (rail type could be used as siege cannon) here.
i always look for changes that are highly likely to improve the game. for example the old welding doors shut idea. there's still (i think) an opportunity for a new defensive alien structure - maybe a structure that aliens can 'hide' inside away from marines to wait for their backup to arrive.
What's the second map? I know of Discovery.
*blink* menumod is amazing.
ex shade upgrades, twice as silent