Comment and Qs about current NS2

KarpmanKarpman Join Date: 2012-11-19 Member: 172488Members
I've played NS on and off through the years since I was introduced to the HL mod NS1 at a LAN party years ago (remember those?). I've always been interested in it, but could never really get into it. The main reason is it's just too much work to get into a good game. I can't/don't want to devote the time and energy to get with a good server so I just pub it. What happens is most of my NS experiences are fun for a bit when I come back to it, but I quickly hit a point where it is no longer fun. Nearly every game becomes a one sided stomp, so I wind up with futile defeats and empty victories. Even on random team servers, it most often winds up with a small handful of vets dominating in a way that it feels like they are playing a totally different game.

I got on last night and found the Bootcamp option in Training. Those few games were by far the most fun I have had in NS2. It was fun because it felt balanced player-skill wise. It felt like I belonged there, my actions and decisions mattered. I had insights others missed, and missed things others saw. I could be way off on why it was fun, though, because it's difficult to be objective about such a subjective experience. Bootcamp may not actually be more balanced, but that's what it felt like for me. I can say with 100% confidence that one of the main reasons it was fun is because I only had to click one button to play. I really do not want to browse a server list for 5 minutes in the desperate hope that the next once won't have some strange mod or unwelcome/toxic culture or stack teams. When I want to play a videogame, I want to play a videogame, not play Goldilocks where everything is either too hot or two cold.

I played both comm tutorials and those are ACES. Comming in NS2 is so different from any other game experience that there is no frame of reference for a new/inexperienced player. It's incredibly beneficial to the overall experience of all players to have these tutorials because now more people can comm. Furthermore, these tutorials are examples of good tutorials. Bad tutorials are boring or too elementary. These balance out explaining the basics while being engaging and leaving out enough to entice the player into trying stuff out in real games.

I may have missed it but I can't find the bots in training. The bots are.... less than cooperative, but it's a handy way to try out stuff in a controlled environment. That's doesn't appear to be an option. Is there a free play mode or something similar?

The wiki looks to be out of date. Where I can find stats and info? I can't easily find basic info and that leads to needless and unfun mistakes. For instance, last night I played gorge and used babblers. I wasted res building multiple eggs before I figured out one egg now gives you max babbs.

Comments

  • TinCanTinCan Join Date: 2006-12-11 Member: 59010Members
    Karpman wrote: »
    I've played NS on and off through the years since I was introduced to the HL mod NS1 at a LAN party years ago (remember those?).
    At the risk of sounding old I remember packing up my huge box & Monitor & Keyboard & Mouse & Jolt Cola to a few LAN parties. We would spend the first part of the night unpacking and setting up our equipment and then the next part of the night arguing about what to play, then the next part of the night getting the chosen game software installed (from CD) and setup on all of the computers, then the next part of the evening was spent setting up the network so everyone was connected in game. A few hours later we would finally get to play a round or two of a game then it was time to go home. Good times.

    I may have missed it but I can't find the bots in training. The bots are.... less than cooperative, but it's a handy way to try out stuff in a controlled environment. That's doesn't appear to be an option. Is there a free play mode or something similar?

    Check this recent link:
    https://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/comment/2332742/#Comment_2332742
    BeigeAlert wrote: »
    If you just really really want to play with bots, you can use the following console commands to add them:
    map ns2_[map name]
    
    starts a local server (your machine only) on the specified map.
    cheats 1
    
    enables cheats so you can add bots
    addbot 1 1 com
    
    adds a marine commander bot
    addbot 1 2 com
    
    adds an alien commander bot
    addbots 6 1
    
    adds 6 regular bots to the marine team
    addbots 6 2
    
    adds 6 regular bots to the alien team

  • Shifter6Shifter6 Join Date: 2017-01-11 Member: 226556Members
    I personally couldn't agree more. Even with 1000+ hours I still remember struggling as a rookie (I had no tutorials of course). For me, self improvement was the driving force for playing, and really the player base is the biggest threat to ns2. I love this game to bits, but in a game where the biggest players are skilled and the rookies (like yourself in the past or present) are often not treated fairly or are discouraged by either stacking, toxic players, or frustration, the player base struggles to grow and the servers have trouble being populated by anyone but regulars. I would like to have servers where a skilled player commands each team and helps guide rookies through their experiences and hopefully gives them advanced tips in game that can move them into higher skill games without feeling severely disadvantaged, and can hopefully act as an intermediate between the in game tutorials and the "real world" of ns2.
  • KarpmanKarpman Join Date: 2012-11-19 Member: 172488Members
    Played a few games yesterday. I don't remember what servers they were, but there were two with green horn comps, and those games were fun back and forths. The players overall were friendly and good natured, even when they were grousing about the new comms. The best quality is that everybody felt more or less on equal ground, skill wise.

    I honestly haven't seen very much toxicity in this game. The big fun killer for me is skill disparity. It's anti-fun to lose swiftly and completely without even knowing WTH happened. Note this isn't simply a "git gud" problem. At a certain point, beginners can't even begin to improve when they play against experienced players. That's a big issue for a game as complex as NS2.* This issue may not be fixable, though, as NS2 does not have a large enough population to have balanced games more than 50% of the time.

    *I am not attacking vets. They are not causing the problem, they are not acting maliciously, they just want to play the game too.
  • MephillesMephilles Germany Join Date: 2013-08-07 Member: 186634Members, NS2 Map Tester, NS2 Community Developer
    it actually sounds sad but I stopped playing pubs pretty much entirely just because I don't want to create that feeling for non vets
  • MaxAmusMaxAmus UK Join Date: 2003-12-26 Member: 24779Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    I played my 1st few games in 4 months the other night, and they where fun games, i did enjoy the rounds, Rookie commander was one problem, - said it was his 1st time in the chair never been in it before, he was ejected about 8 minutes in - after telling everyone this. Overall fun rounds.

    But the game still has the same old feeling 1-2 players decide the game most of the time. And didn't take long before someone accused me of cheating. That's me for another while i guess :)
  • KarpmanKarpman Join Date: 2012-11-19 Member: 172488Members
    New Qs!
      1. Does crag heal go through walls? I've always just assumed it does, but I don't remember if it's a fact or I just imagined it. 2. Where is the new community wiki? It's just... gone.
  • The_Welsh_WizardThe_Welsh_Wizard Join Date: 2013-09-10 Member: 188101Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Crag heals through walls, yes.
  • KarpmanKarpman Join Date: 2012-11-19 Member: 172488Members
    OH YEA ANOTHER ONE. How do you bind the "request extractor/harvester" command? I don't see it in key bindings.
  • BeigeAlertBeigeAlert Texas Join Date: 2013-08-08 Member: 186657Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts
    Karpman wrote: »
    OH YEA ANOTHER ONE. How do you bind the "request extractor/harvester" command? I don't see it in key bindings.

    You're thinking of the "Request Orders" command. There is no "request harvester/extractor" command.
  • KarpmanKarpman Join Date: 2012-11-19 Member: 172488Members
    I know I commed an alien game and I had a gorge who was requesting harvesters. Maybe that's part of a mod?
  • KarpmanKarpman Join Date: 2012-11-19 Member: 172488Members
    Any server I join has 3 "UWE" mods automatically load. What are those? I'm making my own server with cheats to test game mechanics and I want to make sure what I test is applicable to actual games.
  • KeatsKeats United States Join Date: 2014-11-04 Member: 199413Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    Karpman wrote: »
    I know I commed an alien game and I had a gorge who was requesting harvesters. Maybe that's part of a mod?

    "Request Orders" on Marines becomes "Request Harvester" on Aliens. It's the same button.
    Karpman wrote: »
    Any server I join has 3 "UWE" mods automatically load. What are those? I'm making my own server with cheats to test game mechanics and I want to make sure what I test is applicable to actual games.

    They are UWE Delta, UWE Lambda, and UWE Omega. They should be in your mod list since you've played with them before, so you can activate them from there before you start your local server. You can also subscribe to them if you want to keep them updated without having to join a server.
  • McGlaspieMcGlaspie www.team156.com Join Date: 2010-07-26 Member: 73044Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Gold, Subnautica Playtester
    Karpman wrote: »
    Any server I join has 3 "UWE" mods automatically load. What are those? I'm making my own server with cheats to test game mechanics and I want to make sure what I test is applicable to actual games.

    By design, the extensions do not get loaded when running a local listen server. They will be loaded if you run a dedicated server (locally or hosted elsewhere). Generally, we don't put much in these and they're typically used for hot-fixes only.
  • mooncatmooncat US Join Date: 2014-05-27 Member: 196260Members
    Commenting here because I can't create a new post otherwise...
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