Goodbye NS2

SamusDroidSamusDroid Colorado Join Date: 2013-05-13 Member: 185219Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
edited January 2016 in NS2 General Discussion
Hello everyone, I’m sure most of you know who I am, but in case you didn’t, my name is Samus/Orphan Black (Brian). I’m the one who has been working on NS2 behind the scenes for the last 2 years. I’m writing to you today to inform everyone that no later than 2 weeks (Jan 14) I will be leaving Natural Selection 2 for good. In the next 2 weeks I will be working on finishing up a few things, making sure the last few things I want to do get done and implemented, and any other things that need done before I leave. I am leaving on good terms, and I wish everyone the best of luck.

It saddens me to say that I must leave, but it is something I must do. I am leaving because other things really need to take priority, that really should have over the past few years, such as taking 18 credit hours. I have “quit” a time or two before, but it never really stuck, I have also come really really close to quitting out of frustration many times. After 2800 hours in NS2, nearly 1/3 of that likely being development time, I feel it is time to move on. Of course I would love to continue working on NS2, but at this point I am not getting anywhere near what I am getting out of it when I first started, it has become a somewhat useless time sink. Some wonder why I have stuck around this long, I will say it is out of love for this game. There of course is always the possibility of me returning, but it will likely be a while, if ever. I will be completely uninstalling NS2, and any related development software used exclusively for NS2 from any of my computers. Some have asked me what I plan to move onto next, the answer is I don't quite know yet. Surprisingly after going strong for 2 years I'm still not burnt out.

My opinion on the Paid Development Team and what happened: There has been a lot of talk about Mendasp and I, and the paid development team, and why we weren’t on the team. I will say that if I had been asked to be on the team, I would have declined anyways. The reason I would have declined is because I don’t think I would have been a good fit for creating new things as I am better at fixing things, and the amount of time I would spend on NS2, I should be spending on other things. I have been waiting some time to see how I really felt about the whole ordeal, I didn’t want to make any rash decisions. After working on this game for 2 years, and very closely with some individuals (some who were really awesome, and some not), and seeing what has happened, nothing really surprised me. I was not even mad, or frustrated about what had happened, but instead understanding of why they did what they did. Could things have been handled better? Sure, but that's not why I left.

I have learned a lot of things during my three years of working with NS2. I learned lua, 3DS Max, how to use Git, and more. I’ve learned how to do pretty much anything that is required by NS2 to do any sort of development anywhere in the game, Cinematic Editor, Viewer, Editor, Engine, Lua, Art, Sounds, and more. I have had many great moments, and some really horrible moments. Most people who have had the chance to work with me in the past may think I’m an asshole. I want to apologize to those who I may have frustrated, pissed off, annoyed, irritated, butted heads with, etc… my frustrations from NS2 carried over to places where they shouldn’t have.

My journey with NS2 began 2 years ago when I found out that I could apply for playtesting. This changed my life forever. I met some really awesome people during my time, that I will be friends for life with (some who I’ve personally met, some more than once (shoutout to that weird creature @Zavaro ). I slowly started to send fixes to UWE for addition to the game. It eventually evolved into me getting LUA access, which means I can directly commit to the game’s files officially. Over time I gained access to maps, then art, sounds, and after a long but worth it wait, I got engine access. I worked on some really cool things, fixed a lot of bugs, (and added and then fixed some oops). Some people refer to me as the “original CDT” because I was working officially on NS2 over a year before the CDT was founded. I worked on the game from August 2013 to Q2 of 2014 alone, and then to present time on the CDT. At the time of writing this it will be my 20th build working on NS2. I am very thankful for UWE allowing me and trusting me with such responsibilities. I want to thank everyone for their help and support over the years, it means a lot. I wish all the modders, mappers, and the new development team good luck.

There’s a lot I could say here, some things I forgot to say, but here’s some highlights of things I’ve done over the years.

Added an in-game player customization menu (open menu while in game to see)
Added a brightness slider
Added Commander Bindings
Added interface sounds
Added queueing for servers with reserved slots in server browser.
Added line wrapping for long text chat messages
Fixed over 100 art and sounds in the game
Previous location bind for commander which teleports you to your previous location before moving to an alert/hotkey
Added idle animations for first person Marine weapons
Added overhead zoom. Next/Previous weapon to zoom, Drop weapon key to reset zoom. Works for Commanders and Spectators
Added changeable menu backgrounds and music
Numerous tool fixes and quality of life improvements

Of course, if you really have a question you want to ask me, I'll be more than willing to help. I'm still always on Steam.

And of course, I'm always am up for Depth if I have time now.
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Comments

  • FlaterectomyFlaterectomy Netherlandistan Join Date: 2005-02-03 Member: 39643Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    Thank you so much for all you've done, Samus. Aside from the work you did for NS2 itself, you've also always been there to lend a helping hand to the community mappers, and I realle appreciate that. Be sure to pop into the SCC mumble every now and again!
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  • BlrgBlrg Join Date: 2013-09-01 Member: 187580Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Shadow
    Thank you for everything Samus.
    I feel like I have seen your name pop up countless times over the years, both in change Logs and helping people in the forums
    I wish you the best in your new and improved life.

    and again... Thank You
  • MajorTicoMajorTico New York Join Date: 2013-11-02 Member: 188942Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Orphan, you would do this to me.

    It is a shame to see you leave the game, because with you gone who will i get to yell at. All in all you did an amazing job at keeping this game in working condition. Thank you. Goodbye friend. Although this isnt really a goodbye because im sure you'll still be on mumble.

    P.S. we all know the reason why youre "leaving" is because the depth team is offering you more.
    P.P.S. Am i still the worst?
  • PelargirPelargir Join Date: 2013-07-02 Member: 185857Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Forum staff
    I don't know you that much so I'm gonna stick with the standard: thanks for all the work you did although most of the people are not aware of it and good luck for any of your next projects!

    Eclipse will remain unfinished...
  • WyzcrakWyzcrak Pot Pie Aficionado Join Date: 2002-12-04 Member: 10447Forum Moderators, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    Yay for learning, yay for contributing, and yay especially for knowing when and how to step away (two very different things). Best of luck, and many, many thanks for what remains!
  • blindblind Join Date: 2010-04-17 Member: 71437Members, Squad Five Gold
    Unfortunetaly, I never got in touch with you in my old days, but I surely did read your name ALOT in changelogs. And heard good things about you. Sometimes it's the people who work silently in the back who contribute the most. Squeezing bugs others have left is surely not as exciting as putting in new (bug-infested) features, highly underestimated base work which is hard, often unthankful and feels unrewarding. But having a company which develops software itself, I know how to put value in that. With the difference that I have to pay all my bug-squeezers, another reason UWE should be twice as thankful for the work you've done ;)

    In short, I make you personally responsible for the good times I've had with this game.

    Good luck in your future endeaveurs - whatever that might be!
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    2539902fe3090090e9acaa1d61e1da3db280daafcde3c7d5bd95c8b0c4e3ef4a.jpg

    But I'm about to, I wish ya luck with your new stuff. Beware, I'm sending the TSF after you to re-recruit you :tongue:
  • SantaClawsSantaClaws Denmark Join Date: 2012-07-31 Member: 154491Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Wow that is NOT-SFW @mendasp jeeesus..
  • SamusDroidSamusDroid Colorado Join Date: 2013-05-13 Member: 185219Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    edited December 2015
    @MajorTico you are
    @Pelargir Eclipse is one of those things I'm making sure gets done before I leave. You can see the CDT trello for the remaining things in Proposed and Accepting Merge Requests
  • blindblind Join Date: 2010-04-17 Member: 71437Members, Squad Five Gold
    Holy sh*t. Who is the artist??

    But some years too late to use as twitch wallpaper :/

    (Don't tell Amanda!)
  • Anti_BosonAnti_Boson Join Date: 2013-07-03 Member: 185878Members
    You've been a huge help to NS2, FLG, and especially myself. I think good many people don't know or appreciate just how valuable you were to NS2. Good luck in you future endeavors!
  • 2cough2cough Rocky Mountain High Join Date: 2013-03-14 Member: 183952Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Well my fellow mountain dweller, you will be missed. I know you saw that I recently got payday (1 and 2) and depth so maybe you can show me the ropes sometime, or just murder me like the rest (i watched your tip vids a while back). Best of luck to you and thank you (seriously) for all your efforts. Definitely appreciated.
  • IeptBarakatIeptBarakat The most difficult name to speak ingame. Join Date: 2009-07-10 Member: 68107Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow
    You were probably the only one from the CDT I talked to the most regarding map fixes and other stuff, so thank you for being a mediator even if the changes were never approved.

    Best of luck with your future commitments!
  • FrozenFrozen New York, NY Join Date: 2010-07-02 Member: 72228Members, Constellation
    Thanks for improving this mess of a great game. Hope you make some money with the experience :)
  • moultanomoultano Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    I'm really glad you were able to contribute for as long as you did. Lots of great stuff. It's really hard to maintain such dedication and "real life" at the same time. Hope we'll see you back in a few months at whatever level is sustainable and happy even if it's just seeing you in pubs occasionally. :-)
  • Cr4zyb4st4rdCr4zyb4st4rd United Kingdom Join Date: 2012-08-09 Member: 155200Members, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow
    Thanks for your work :)
  • FearlessJamesFearlessJames Join Date: 2015-12-09 Member: 209849Members
    Thankyou for everything you've done,Samus. Good luck! And may you succeed in life! :wink:
  • aeroripperaeroripper Join Date: 2005-02-25 Member: 42471NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    Great work over the years Samus. Your help with getting mods to work (some of mine too) was appreciated along with everything else.
  • CalegoCalego Join Date: 2013-01-24 Member: 181848Members, NS2 Map Tester
    I saw you ingame once and I realize now I didn't know exactly what you were important for, but I got excited anyway at seeing someone I knew was a rockstar developer that worked on NS2. I think I must have seen your name on the countless mods and changelogs and realized subconciously that you were awesome.

    I guess now I'll have to look for someone else's name in all the changelogs...
  • deathshrouddeathshroud Join Date: 2010-04-10 Member: 71291Members
    i will miss you samus, you are my favorite droid :(
  • RedSwordRedSword Join Date: 2006-12-07 Member: 58947Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Thanks for your numerous bug fixes and optimizations & good luck with life. I can recall the LUA VMs being spawned per weapon drop and other stuff.

    Also, pretty much everything that IronHorse said :
    IronHorse wrote: »
    Thank you so much for not only stepping up and working on this game pretty much by yourself when UWE moved on to SN.

    You were the ray of hope during the early NS2-to-SN transition, notably for optimization.
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