Newest NS2 patch feedback

Mkk_Bitestuff

<div class="IPBDescription">feedback from old NS1 player</div>Some comments/feedback on newest NS2 patch:

Would be nice to have toggle options for shadows and bloom effects, also fog, atmospherics and anti-alaising.

<b>Really would be nice to have last inventory bind.</b>

Feedback on a successful console command/non-existant command.

I still think that there is issues with skulk model rotation, which is making skulks that just spam jump off props harder than they should be to kill.

Would really love to see the fade blink mod get implemented in the game, as the current fade is really quite boring to play, and unkillable if the person is prudent with their play.

I think the marines should start with more team resources, or perhaps some of their costs should be scaled down initially. Currently it seems like you can pick a specific upgrade path, but you cannot actually get that upgrade until about 2min.

Sprinting should be removed for marines, and they should be given a little more backwards movement speed or abilities. The old double jump proved very useful for getting some extra distance for a kill, and NS2 could really benfit from something similar. Also, rifle butt should be removed honestly, as the marines have the axe and the rifle butt becomes spammy and rewards playing poorly.

With the starting resource increases phase gates could be used earlier to makeup for sprinting loss.

There are more things that I would need to play a little more to fully comment on, and all FPS improvements are always going to help greatly.

Omegalisk

<!--quoteo(post=1900199:date=Feb 6 2012, 08:02 AM:name=Mkk_Bitestuff)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mkk_Bitestuff @ Feb 6 2012, 08:02 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1900199"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Would be nice to have toggle options for shadows and bloom effects, also fog, atmospherics and anti-alaising.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I know you can toggle atmospherics and anti-aliasing with the 'options.xml' file in the 'Natural Selection 2' folder of '%APPDATA%'. All you have to do is, under <graphics> and <display>, put <atmospherics>false</atmospherics> and <antialiasing>false</antialiasing>.

I don't know about shadows, bloom, and fog though. I would think that shadows are part of dynamic lighting, and so can't be turned off for only models (just like you couldn't light up a darkened room by turning them off). Bloom, it would seem possible. Fog may just be part of the gameplay though.

Kouji_San

AA and atmospherics have close to no impact on performance unless you're running the game on a potato :P

the others can be toggled in the console (but need to be toggled every time you launch the game for now)

<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Console_Commands#Render_Options" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/inde...#Render_Options</a>

Mkk_Bitestuff

r_fog 0 turns off fog, r_shadows 0 turns off shadows, and r_bloom 0 turns off bloom. The options in the XML file are nice but obviously menu options for those would be nice, or maybe at least being able to set the three previously listed options in that XML file so that I dont need to type them in every map, since they make about a 10fps difference for me.

Turning off atmospherics makes a big diff for me in certain rooms, probably close to 20fps, and I have an i5 870 at 4ghz with a GTX 460.

Flayra

Thanks.

We are working on a new main menu, which will allow us to add/edit options. Our current menu is flash and we can't edit it so this is a big priority for us.

Jibrail

I hope u guys use the steam server browser I really like it, it works perfectly and it has all the options one needs playercount/mod running/map/ping/locked or not and the filters one can use.
I really like the way it works in NS1 where I can view the information of a server to see if people I know are in there so I join them and put x in the autojoin option whenever a playerslot is available.
Same goes for the chat I like the way its done with valve games where a window would open and u can see chat history incase u missed something, better than the current way where I have to open console and look there.
like this one here from the experimental non flash menu
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/l6z8l.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Racer1

I'm a bit curious how much resource (memory/cpu/load time) will be saved once Flash is completely removed from the NS2 client.

Mkk_Bitestuff

sounds good. Another thing i noticed was that observatories did not seem to detect nearby aliens, should they be? Are there plans for a motion tracking type upgrade? It makes it hard to monitor the alien movements as a commander and re-act preemptively, allowing you to save nodes easier.