there seems to be a HUGE difference between servers, one can be playable 12p, another unplayable 6p.. plz don't put up ded. servers unless there's a REALLY good CPU's in there!
just played a 12p game for like 45mins, started getting sluggish halfway, so there is some kind of build-up...
also, console got spammed with it not able to find a place to "spawn" shotgun shells
156 is the best build yet - not only was I able to get into two decently long games before eventually timing out, but I was able to get into the same server as my brother each time. Trying to meet anyone in any server used to be impossible.
Still need to limit the amount of hydras and turrets spawnable. There's one guy in every game who bogs it down.
Seemed that the marines had a little problem trying to push alien teams, but it might just be having to adjust to new strategies. It was also kind of difficult to consistently kill skulks with the choppiness of updates from the server.
Still need to fix upgraded buildings not counting for prereqs - I think upgraded IPs still don't count?
This build is by far the greatest improvement for me. I can now play the game in fullscreen, connect to servers in under a minute, and remain connected! Awesome job! I've been having a blast tonight.
<b>Just played 2 full games with 10 people in the server!!! My first real games - thank so much devs for your hard work.</b>
<b>The major problems I had were: - lag</b> (it was kind of hard to hit people because they were moving in a jumpy way, close combat was a nightmare - my ping was about 200+ though when other people were having constant pings of < 100)
<b>- spawning inside walls etc as an alien</b> (happened 3 or 4 times, twice next to the hive under the stairs)
<b>- inability to do much against flamethrowers and grenades </b>(please please please nerf those in some way for the next patch, besides lag and glitches this is the thing that takes the fun away)
<b>- gorges didnt feel useful</b> (I love playing gorges but I didnt have a role when I played one. Crags did the healing, and the hydras are so weak and sometimes dont aim or fire right, if you could give gorges a boost with a web ability that would be perfect)
The fade was a lot of fun. I'll wait until I can play a less laggy game before judging it though.
The flamethrower still blinds and instant kills lower lifeforms for whatever reason. Netcode is still a mess and I'm posting after what I'd assume was a server crash since the game just refused to try anymore. Didn't have any problems finding a server now that we can see player count.
So far it's a similar situation as before: Somewhere in there seems to be beauty and playability, but so far I haven't got it. Low FPS is understandable on my hardware at this point, but the some servers still keep on rubberbanding badly.
I'll try finding one decent server once I've got some more time for NS2. Server browsing seems to be far easier now.
Awesome patch, game is really playable now, have just had about 3 30 minute games in a row with 8-16 players. Only time we get heaps of lag is when someone spams hydras. As soon as we flame them all there's no lag again.
A timely update. Servers hardly crash anymore , and I think the game is loaded faster. Hard to tell how much the lag situation improved overall - good servers now work like a charm (especially with 6 or less) but bad servers have abysmal conditions. I didn't play on high ping servers before though , so can't really compare.
The pressure is off for now , until we have to get started on the recursive puzzle that is NS2's gameplay balance. Now I can finally tell some friends to fetch the game. That was unthinkable like a week ago.
<!--quoteo(post=1809028:date=Nov 23 2010, 03:03 AM:name=peregrinus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (peregrinus @ Nov 23 2010, 03:03 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1809028"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>- spawning inside walls etc as an alien</b> (happened 3 or 4 times, twice next to the hive under the stairs)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Confirmed, while playing with my brother he spawned in a wall 2-3 times in a row and had to keep using "kill" to respawn
Ok, here goes. 156 is the one I've been waiting for. The one that allows me to finally get a look at what NS2 is really like.
And boy oh boy, is it looking good.
Just finished an awesome 6v6 game with a tolerable amount of lag. Things were by no means completely smooth, but playable? Definitely. Upgrades were working, buildings were working, weapons were working.
One of my favorite aspects is the room by room clearing that the Marine team does. It really does feel like territory is being claimed, and power nodes going down is a big deal. Expanding out like this feels both realistic and dynamic. In short, it's a fantastic experience.
Give yourselves a pat on the back devs. This is one immense step forwards and I can't help but feel that from now on, it's all downhill. Congratulations.
Great work you guys honestly. This is even leaps and bounds above 155! However I'm still experiencing large amounts of lag in higher player servers. You can see the tickrate drop down below 5 and that's when the game goes to ######.
Still getting a few random crashes as well. I get some crazy texture/model glitches where it turns into solid colored (usually gray) lines indicating a crash is imminent. I also get some glitch where the fonts will become ultra-blocky and unreadable and sometimes this will correct itself but it usually goes hand in hand with my other graphics glitch/crash.
Otherwise highly impressed great job guys and take a break from that marathon patch!
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM0ofULQb2c&feature=recentu" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM0ofULQb2c...feature=recentu</a> Here's a link to NS2HD's patch video.
The game performance looks vastly improved from 155 to 156 in terms of basic performance, I'm pretty amazed by how smoothly it plays. Rapidly approaching the point in time where balance can become the main concern.
We are, of course, not there yet, as there are still other more technical issues, but UWE's progress is quite clear! Well done folks, you're the best <3
Is spawning in walls / props a general bug or map specific issue ? I'd find it odd if the mappers misplaced half of the alien spawn points though. Also , I learnt that eggs can be slowly pushed aside by players !
Likewise , fades can blink into props and out of the map - possibly falling forever if they push their luck ! Ceilings make the perfect regen & ambush spot for fades , giving unobstructed sight and blink clearance to targets. You can also use windows to make funny faces at marines without getting shot.
I'm not too convinced with the system of climbing on props , skulks can get stuck into ceilings as well.
<!--quoteo(post=1809058:date=Nov 23 2010, 08:23 AM:name=Stakhanov)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Stakhanov @ Nov 23 2010, 08:23 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1809058"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Is spawning in walls / props a general bug or map specific issue ? I'd find it odd if the mappers misplaced half of the alien spawn points though.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The alien eggs are generated automatically. It just needs refining to prevent being spawned in a wall or outside the map.
The lag is terrible but I think that's mostly idiotic server operators putting the caps too high, 6 is the best you can do, stop running 12 and 24 player servers.
I played on a 12 slots server with 0 lag until mass sentrys and hydras were build... But even then it was still playable, and back to normal(smooth) after we managed to get rid of ~20+ hydras.
<!--quoteo(post=1809072:date=Nov 23 2010, 04:04 AM:name=Koruyo)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Koruyo @ Nov 23 2010, 04:04 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1809072"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Depends on the server, played on 12player with 0 lag until mass sentry and hydras showed up, and even then it was still playable fine, until we managed to get rid of 20-30 hydras.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Exactly. The counters to lag are flamethrowers and grenade launchers. I've led many pushes tonight to free the poor servers from the lag, one burning hydra at a time.
<!--quoteo(post=1809019:date=Nov 23 2010, 06:28 AM:name=Mr. Epic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mr. Epic @ Nov 23 2010, 06:28 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1809019"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The power nodes are absolutely awesome, I couldn't imagine ns2 without them.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This!
Power nodes give the teams something to focus on and target, it improves gameplay a lot. So much fun going around with other aliens and 'breaking' the map by chewing the power nodes.
If I have one complaint it's that rooms without power should be even darker. Or if not, make the lights switch off for longer than 2 seconds - the suspense is thrilling.
WAOH! I just felt my first round, which really felt like Natural Selection! I am impressed UWE team! Thank you so much for putting in this huge ammount of effort! You should take a break and recover ;)
Bit of a lurker on these boards (been following the development for years but never really got into the forums).. Would just like to say you guys have done a great job! Had a blast playing a few rounds earlier, was such a good feeling to hold off the marines with their dastardly op'd flamethrowers and grenade launchers..
Much props for getting the game as far as you have, can't wait to see everything else in action (dynamic infestation, onos etc)...
Might I recommend, when you have a bit of spare time, doing some proper user interface design? By that I mean doing surveys, collating data like how often commanders hit what buttons etc, releasing prototypes and getting feedback (more surveys), doing some A/B testing etc? The commander UI is pretty basic at the moment, and it just feels like buttons are always in the wrong spot..
However, something that confused me for a while, why is 30 tick the max capacity? That seems very few updates/s compared to other games. Am I missing something here?
Comments
plz don't put up ded. servers unless there's a REALLY good CPU's in there!
just played a 12p game for like 45mins, started getting sluggish halfway, so there is some kind of build-up...
also, console got spammed with it not able to find a place to "spawn" shotgun shells
Still need to limit the amount of hydras and turrets spawnable. There's one guy in every game who bogs it down.
Seemed that the marines had a little problem trying to push alien teams, but it might just be having to adjust to new strategies. It was also kind of difficult to consistently kill skulks with the choppiness of updates from the server.
Still need to fix upgraded buildings not counting for prereqs - I think upgraded IPs still don't count?
<b>The major problems I had were:
- lag</b> (it was kind of hard to hit people because they were moving in a jumpy way, close combat was a nightmare - my ping was about 200+ though when other people were having constant pings of < 100)
<b>- spawning inside walls etc as an alien</b> (happened 3 or 4 times, twice next to the hive under the stairs)
<b>- inability to do much against flamethrowers and grenades </b>(please please please nerf those in some way for the next patch, besides lag and glitches this is the thing that takes the fun away)
<b>- gorges didnt feel useful</b> (I love playing gorges but I didnt have a role when I played one. Crags did the healing, and the hydras are so weak and sometimes dont aim or fire right, if you could give gorges a boost with a web ability that would be perfect)
The fade was a lot of fun. I'll wait until I can play a less laggy game before judging it though.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/U92Tq.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Enjoy your well-deserved break!
I'll try finding one decent server once I've got some more time for NS2. Server browsing seems to be far easier now.
4 hours of gameplay before the client crashed :3
The pressure is off for now , until we have to get started on the recursive puzzle that is NS2's gameplay balance.
Now I can finally tell some friends to fetch the game. That was unthinkable like a week ago.
Confirmed, while playing with my brother he spawned in a wall 2-3 times in a row and had to keep using "kill" to respawn
And boy oh boy, is it looking good.
Just finished an awesome 6v6 game with a tolerable amount of lag. Things were by no means completely smooth, but playable? Definitely. Upgrades were working, buildings were working, weapons were working.
One of my favorite aspects is the room by room clearing that the Marine team does. It really does feel like territory is being claimed, and power nodes going down is a big deal. Expanding out like this feels both realistic and dynamic. In short, it's a fantastic experience.
Give yourselves a pat on the back devs. This is one immense step forwards and I can't help but feel that from now on, it's all downhill. Congratulations.
Still getting a few random crashes as well. I get some crazy texture/model glitches where it turns into solid colored (usually gray) lines indicating a crash is imminent. I also get some glitch where the fonts will become ultra-blocky and unreadable and sometimes this will correct itself but it usually goes hand in hand with my other graphics glitch/crash.
Otherwise highly impressed great job guys and take a break from that marathon patch!
The game performance looks vastly improved from 155 to 156 in terms of basic performance, I'm pretty amazed by how smoothly it plays. Rapidly approaching the point in time where balance can become the main concern.
We are, of course, not there yet, as there are still other more technical issues, but UWE's progress is quite clear! Well done folks, you're the best <3
Likewise , fades can blink into props and out of the map - possibly falling forever if they push their luck !
Ceilings make the perfect regen & ambush spot for fades , giving unobstructed sight and blink clearance to targets.
You can also use windows to make funny faces at marines without getting shot.
I'm not too convinced with the system of climbing on props , skulks can get stuck into ceilings as well.
The alien eggs are generated automatically. It just needs refining to prevent being spawned in a wall or outside the map.
The lag is terrible but I think that's mostly idiotic server operators putting the caps too high, 6 is the best you can do, stop running 12 and 24 player servers.
I played on a 12 slots server with 0 lag until mass sentrys and hydras were build... But even then it was still playable, and back to normal(smooth) after we managed to get rid of ~20+ hydras.
Watched NS2HD's video and it's looking very promising!
Exactly. The counters to lag are flamethrowers and grenade launchers. I've led many pushes tonight to free the poor servers from the lag, one burning hydra at a time.
(too bad they are both op right now :p)
I need to get the hell out of here. I must test the new build. Have... to... resist.
This!
Power nodes give the teams something to focus on and target, it improves gameplay a lot. So much fun going around with other aliens and 'breaking' the map by chewing the power nodes.
If I have one complaint it's that rooms without power should be even darker. Or if not, make the lights switch off for longer than 2 seconds - the suspense is thrilling.
Also can I say commanding is extremely easy? It is quite engaging but not at all difficult, I finally have something to do when I have to play aliens.
Much props for getting the game as far as you have, can't wait to see everything else in action (dynamic infestation, onos etc)...
Might I recommend, when you have a bit of spare time, doing some proper user interface design? By that I mean doing surveys, collating data like how often commanders hit what buttons etc, releasing prototypes and getting feedback (more surveys), doing some A/B testing etc? The commander UI is pretty basic at the moment, and it just feels like buttons are always in the wrong spot..
Just my two cents.. loving the game though!
However, something that confused me for a while, why is 30 tick the max capacity? That seems very few updates/s compared to other games. Am I missing something here?