Beta/Full game/Servers location? (Enquiries)

Ronteque

Hi,

I am a fan of Natural Selection 1 and I still play it today. I have been anticipating the release of Natural Selection 2 for years. I know the development of NS2 has been ongoing for a very long time.

I am quite confused about the release of this "beta" in the official NS2 website since there is not much information about the game given, aside from the updates and progress of the game. (Excluding those beta gameplay videos from Youtube)

There is a 'buy-now' and 'pre-order' option for both standard and special edition. As stated, the special edition has been unavailable since July 26th 2010. Does that mean this game has been in beta for over a year now?

Is the $34.95 I am going to pay the full game with dedicated servers thru steam? I am from Singapore, so it is going to be a problem for me if there isn't any servers located in the SEA region. (lag)

Is it better off for me to just play NS1 for now while waiting for the full official release of NS2?


Many thanks,
Ronald

elodea

Yea, ns2 has been in beta for a while but its come a long way since. By beta, i believe its meant as early access to the games development cycle and not some glorified demo. However while Ns2 currently doesn't have all planned features including t3 (onos/ha/jp), its possible to have some really nice games.
Before buying just be aware that you need a decent cpu, not so much gpu, to play the game at the moment.

Also, there are servers in australia which i know have very playable latencies to singapore (auspure). Yes their dedicated and NS2 plays through steam. Its usually the one server running ns2_summit which fills up at night.

In regard to whether to buy now or later? You can't buy the special edition anymore, so the only one is the $35 standard. As a result the way i see it - the only difference is whether you play it now or play it later. There are some bugs and performance issues as expected so if you get put off easily by unpolished games then perhaps buy later but imho ns2 even currently is one of the best thing on steam right now.

UWE also has a refund policy if i remember correctly so your safe there.

Kouji_San

<!--quoteo(post=1872924:date=Sep 3 2011, 05:38 PM:name=Ronteque)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ronteque @ Sep 3 2011, 05:38 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1872924"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->There is a 'buy-now' and 'pre-order' option for both standard and special edition. As stated, the special edition has been unavailable since July 26th 2010. Does that mean this game has been in beta for over a year now?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yep, but most games usually don't see the light of day until they are somewhat close to final release. In the case of NS2, it has been developed openly during Alpha (Special Edition access only) and Beta (anyone who preoders the game)

<!--quoteo(post=1872924:date=Sep 3 2011, 05:38 PM:name=Ronteque)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ronteque @ Sep 3 2011, 05:38 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1872924"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Is the $34.95 I am going to pay the full game with dedicated servers thru steam? I am from Singapore, so it is going to be a problem for me if there isn't any servers located in the SEA region. (lag)

Is it better off for me to just play NS1 for now while waiting for the full official release of NS2?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If you buy it now, you get access to the "closed" Beta and can play on any server. The Special Edition was only available before July 26th 2010. It was basically Alpha access and the SE people received a Special Black Armor for the marines.

And if you buy it now, you also get access to the full game (final version) and all future patches.

the game is currently still under development and as you probably already know, some people can run it, some people have trouble running it. The game has seen significant progress in terms of content ingame and stability. It's not there yet mind you, but it is certainly showing good promise. And if you're not happy with the game when you buy it now or later on, they have given refunds in these cases :)




[edit]
Here's a link with a live server list (link at the top), alongside dev comments and other NS2 related things:
<a href="http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/" target="_blank">http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/</a>