how much like NS is NS2 expected to be?

devil-fire

title says most of it really.

im wondering if the idea is more like Natural Selection2: Source (with the addition of general source stuff) or more like Natural Selection2: War (where the art and rts+fps and alien/marine concepts are the same, but everything else make for a vary distinct game)?

are game mechanics with 3 hives for spawning and abilities, dc/mc/sc for upgrades, sgs/gl/hmg for guns, fade/lerk/onos for alien classes, ha/jp for marine armor and MT/armor/weapon upgrades on marines going to be the conclusion of NS:2 material?

on the one hand iv read that the team wants to keep it much the same, but im also reading some ideas about fairly radical changes (mind you, not from any devs)

scaryface

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>FiringSquad: How much of the gameplay from the original Half-Life mod will be retained for the full Natural Selection 2 game?</b>
<b>
Charlie Cleveland:</b>After four years of feedback and balancing NS, we are quite aware of the strengths and weaknesses of NS and don't want to just make. a graphical overhaul. At the same time, it still has to feel like NS and appeal to our audience, so we're preserving its essence. I think the established idea for making a successful sequel is this: 1/3 the same, 1/3 improved and 1/3 new. That sounds like a great rule of thumb to me. So we'll still be focused on strategy gameplay with Commander mode, tech trees and resources, and the sides are going to play very differently. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is from the <a href="http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13285" target="_blank">Firingsquad interview</a>

i seem to remember someone saying that it most likely wouldn't necessarily be focused on three hives in specific hive locations, but i may have imagined it.

Kassinger

It would be awesome if hive-placement wasn't constricted to a few pre-selected hive locations, but could be placed anywhere big enough (or maybe just lots of predetermined locations) so a lot more varying strategy could go into hive placement.

the_x5

<!--quoteo(post=1623015:date=Apr 25 2007, 10:31 AM:name=Kassinger)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kassinger @ Apr 25 2007, 10:31 AM) [snapback]1623015[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
It would be awesome if hive-placement wasn't constricted to a few pre-selected hive locations, but could be placed anywhere big enough (or maybe just lots of predetermined locations) so a lot more varying strategy could go into hive placement.
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vote <b><!--coloro:#33CC00--><span style="color:#33CC00"><!--/coloro-->yes<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>, again. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />

V_MAN

<!--quoteo(post=1623211:date=Apr 26 2007, 11:49 AM:name=the_x5)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_x5 @ Apr 26 2007, 11:49 AM) [snapback]1623211[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
vote <b><!--coloro:#33CC00--><span style="color:#33CC00"><!--/coloro-->yes<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>, again. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
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There was talk of random hive placement in the past but it got shot down in flames cos it would end up getting dumped in a corridor to block the marines like the good old WoL from the ye olde days of NS.

One thing I want to see carried over to NS2 is the large maps with huge rooms a la Basts refinery.

TOmekki

new stuff can be cool but you should keep in mind that the more new things you cram into ns2 the longer itll take to finish and the more it might alienate the old players