Mod Spotlight: Last Stand - 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
Mod Spotlight: Last Stand - Natural Selection 2
Last Stand is a fast-paced twitch-shooter mod for NS2. There is no commander. Only you, your skill and your friends.
Comments
by the way resolution issue: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=637260261
I hope it isn't a one and done gamemode because it can be fun despite some issues.
My criticisms below.
Aliens get lost easily.
Players need to swap teams after rounds.
Map changes too quickly.
Dead marines get bored and leave.
Everyone wants to have their last stand, but no one wants to fight against it.
First few waves aren't fun for aliens.
Not enough marine tech to go around.
Static exosuits are a terrible idea.
Dying a lot and having to re-select upgrades each time gets tedious.
Welders shouldn't be free.
In garry's mod there is a very popular zombie survival mod which I think anyone actively working on this gamemode should look at.
Apart from Rockdown, I guess. Which was designed for NS2 gameplay anyway. Now that one needs a map key
So basically all you really need to do as a server op is put the maps in the mapcycle or is there more to it?
EDIT: Nvm. Read the workshop page.
Feedback:
There should always be 1 jetpack spawn per marine
There should always be a minimum of 3 sentries
The Armoury heal cool-down should be removed entirely
Catpacks should respawn each wave, not just as a huge cluster at the game start
Weapon/Armour 1, 2 & 3 should unlock as the game progresses
The Exo should be 'better' - It should always be the dual variant of whatever it spawns as and it should always have a prime position, Skulks should not be able to solo the Marines best hope of survival in 10 seconds flat
Aliens:
Needs a better visual indicator of when you can evolve to a new lifeform/when new traits are available
Need a map/indicators of where to go on larger maps
Innate regen should be nerfed/removed
General feedback:
Players spawn within each other, which can cause them to get stuck. In the case of that one Starship Troopers map, it allows for easy GL griefing.
Some players can randomly use xenocide very early, which can be game-breaking. I'm pretty sure this can happen not just on the first wave, but other early waves as well.
Welding is painfully slow. I suggest bumping it up a bit.
Map-specific feedback:
Hangar: The most alien-sided map and the least fun imo. Gorges can safely bile from atop and from both sides. Skulks can leap-xeno from those rooms without warning. Going up there to deal with them gets you killed due to the lack of JPs and overextending. Marine start is simply too small and confined.
Pad: Quite alien-sided. Gorges can use the stairs directly in front of the exo in order to safely bile it to death. Aura gives gorges ample warning if any marine tries to go down there to kill them. Gorges can just place hydras on the lower level for protection and just spit overextending marines to death. Marines try not to go down to the lower level in the first place due to how easily aliens can kill them there. The other rooms see hardly any action since marines stay on the pad and hump the armory.
Hellevator: Quite alien-sided. This seems to be the best map for the exo since you can cover all three entrances as well as the two rear vents. Trying to cover everything at once can be exhausting, but very fun, especially with dual railgun. It's high risk, high reward for the exo since aliens can easily kill it during later waves or earlier with good skulks. An inexperienced player in the exo results in a big setback in an already hard-to-win map for marines. The hellevator itself is a death trap for marines since, even with multiple sentries, aliens can easily finish them off with xeno or onii. I assume the hellevator was intended to be a true last stand on wave 11, but I have yet to see any surprise wins from using it. I would at least put an armory at the top of the incline to make it more fun if marines decide to retreat up there.
Descent: Quite alien-sided. Gorges can safely bile the armory from silo and aliens can easily rush the exo from there. The exo is frustrating to play on this map. While it has a long LoS towards depot, there's just too much obstruction for it to cover his teammates anywhere else. Marine start is really confining and I would much rather the exo was moved to, say, the top of the platform next to the seats.
That-Starship-Troopers-Rainy-Map: The most marine-sided map. This is due to aliens spawning near marine start among sparse outcrops directly within marine LoS. All marines need are a few GLs to spawn camp them. A marine and I went like 27-0 just by doing this. Even with a more protected spawn, marines can easily snipe aliens from afar with LMGs since the map is huge and open like Frost. In the event that marines don't exploit this and aliens are close to finishing them off, JPers can run away and hide since it's such a huge map. I'm guessing the room underneath marine start was intended to be a hiding spot, but I saw marines in there during wave 11 and aliens couldn't seem to reach them.
Frost: Quite marine-sided. The open nature of this map allows for a JP-LMG to decimate anything from afar. I suggest putting a bend in the ice cavern just before the exit instead of allowing marine LoS all the way back to the teleport exit.
Although it's a bit rough around the edges, it's a very fun mod and I can't wait for more updates. The community needs this mod due to the deaths of Combat and, presumably, Siege. If only all three were available...
Edit: Fun dual railgun game play on Hellevator.
As for frost it was quickly thrown together so it could be played. Both of the afformention maps need total overhauls tomake them better since they were made 2014
Again if people are playing the maps and there is a demand I will certainly make some more maps. I am sure others will follow suit!
Please make absolutely sure that whatever mod you are promoting is reasonably balanced before you do this. I played two rounds of LS yesterday and it wasn't even remotely balanced - you don't want the average player to get that first impression.
About the balance of Last Stand i want to note that the goal overall never was to have a perfect 50/50 alien/marine win/loose rate but to make it hard but not impossible for marines to win.
It should be both challenging and satisfying to survive for marines and not something that happens every second round.
I just released an update for Last Stand with these changes
Most of those try to address issues people brought up in the last two days.
Furthermore there are still some issues I have to investigate into:
I can speak mostly for Hellevator, the map was purely designed to make it easier on marines early game and ramp up the imminent death towards the end game. With Oni bearing down on the marine team, while they try to make their escape. Kinda like how L4D does that with throwing in tanks at the last moment when you GET TO DA CHOPPA
Due to lack of time and resources and actual options in the Spark Engine, the end cinematic idea was to be map specific. For instance a dropshop could come in and the marines have to board it in the Left4Dead style. For Hellevator I was hoping for the elevator to reset and be usable, so they could escape that way.
Those things are way beyond what was planned and what Spark is capable off right now. We did have some brainstorms about this for an easier to implement escape mechanism for the marines in style with the TSF. The beacon idea seems easy to implement and should suffice IMHO, just that tiny bit of extra polish.
- The traditional Beacon to teleport the marines out of there when the timer runs out.
- A Phasegate behind a damaged door, which has to be reset (timer). After the timer runs out to around 10-20 seconds left, the door would open and the marines could use the PG to escape
Those are still on the wishlist mostly
Another silly brainstorm to ease the marine team death time, not even sure if this would be possible. Would require first person view models as well:
Giving the dead marine players options to play as
- A "Super Babbler" or Drifter with unlimited lives, on the alien team
- A MAC with unlimited lives on the marine team (maximum of 3 slots?)
- Going full on Zombie Panic style, dead marines transfer to the alien team (server setting/nightmare mode)
The guys from the faded mod already figured out how to let players play as babblers, and afaik they're even planning an upgrade system for it. You might want to get in touch.
"Last Stand is a fast-paced twitch-shooter mod for NS2. There is no commander. Only you, your skill and your friends. Play as either Alien or Marine in a final showdown on over 10 maps."
So there is no commander, twicth shooter, aliens and marine, friends, skill.
I still have no clue... Very informative blog post. *facepalm*
He forgot to add "you shoot gun" and "you bite kneecaps"
I do miss the bit about it being a last ditch survival for marines though, final showdown, ah well seems legit!
Just change words... You can shoot. Bite kneecaps. Twitch aim.
Marines should have a limited time to buy their preferred stuff at the beginning of the game out of a small allotment of p.res. (Things like weapons, welders, mines, jetpacks, sentries, and additional ammo)
The game should start with a 70% marine-30% alien player ratio and have fallen marines be switched over to the alien side.
Aliens should use a loadout system to get them out of spawn quicker.
Have weapons level progress with the game, start at level 0 and gain a level every 3 waves.
Games should be longer.
I think it could be fun with these additions.
- For Marines: Wave X/Y in Z amount of seconds
- For Aliens: You are now joining Wave X spawn timer
Minor thing: I noticed that you can't see connecting players when LS is running.
@kouji_San its certainly possible to time a cinematic so a drop ship does fly in towards round end time atleast on storm !