NS 3.2 Public beta
coris
Join Date: 2003-07-08 Member: 18034Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2003-07-08 Member: 18034Members, Constellation
Comments
I enjoy most of the changes, but I'm really looking forward to the increased ability to playtest balance with a larger audience. 2 <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/skulk.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::skulk::" border="0" alt="skulk.gif" /> s up to the dev team! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
Sadly, I'm home for thanksgiving so I can't play until next week since I forgot my mouse (and charger) <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
I'll probably go swipe someone elses usb mouse and matching charger just to play. I really want to play now.
Can anyone comment about the balance in 3.2?
Thats why its now open to all of you, so we can stop talking, and actually TEST it. So get to it! Go play for a few days, or a week, then come back and offer your opinion on balance.
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=2081645632401831680&showtopic=98808" target="_blank">How to change 3.2 crosshairs</a>
Haven't played a 6 on 6 or 8 on 8, but even on 14 on 14, it seemed pretty balanced. Marines never "dominated" the aliens, and 2 hives never "dominated" the marines. If the aliens went after out third hive lockdown and dropped it they would of won.
Both games I played, it was a stalemate at 2 hives untill marines got heavies.
Give this blink some time. I find it pretty natural, the only drawback is reduced acceleration, but this just means you'll have to pick fights more carefully.
I don't think this development is necessarily bad for NS as the game is not gathering an influx of new players, however if NS2 is built with such a bias I can't see it being very successful.
Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the cosmetic changes, the fixes and small additions that are really giving a polish to NS to a level that could be called "finished".
Maybe I just need to get used to playing NS again, but the changes seem to streamline the experience for the most skilled/experienced players resulting in a frustrating mayhem for anyone else.
I don't think this development is necessarily bad for NS as the game is not gathering an influx of new players, however if NS2 is built with such a bias I can't see it being very successful.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NS has always had a terribly steep learning curve, and given a lot of advantages to the skilled over the new players. But if anything, version 3.2 does a lot to correct that, not make it worse. Feeatures like +movement and the Fadeblink speed adjustment do a lot to make aliens more user-friendly, especially for new players. The pros could already be plenty deadly just by switching weapons rapidly, so this doesn't make them any more deadly, it just makes it a lot easier for new players to reach that same level.
I haven't decided on where to put the +movement bind yet though...perhaps I'll break down and put it on my Mouse, which hasn't had anything but attack and map for awhile now.
I have 3.1 Final and 3.2 beta installed; but they both show up as Natural Selection in the menu. I have to guess which one is which. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
I think theres some issues coming up from the fact that the same patch is being used to upgrade 3.1 --> 3.2 as to upgrade CM build 688 --> 3.2. The 3.2 patch probably accidently left out a few things set by one of the CM-only patches.
Strange, mine shows up as different.
I think theres some issues coming up from the fact that the same patch is being used to upgrade 3.1 --> 3.2 as to upgrade CM build 688 --> 3.2. The 3.2 patch probably accidently left out a few things set by one of the CM-only patches.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That could be the reason; i copied and renamed my NS folder too NSP, and used the patcher on it...
...i'll try the full installer later.
how much more harder is it to be a lerk?
i was good with lerk before hopefully the change didnt make it too weak
I love this new update though, it makes the game feel so much better
Aliens die faster now <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A lot faster. Too fast. Blinking isn't the problem - some alien classes need some more armor now.
Hum, still no impulse for "invprev" ?
And Onos charge need a longer sound...
can some1 tell me how much the lerk movement has been affected by this change
how much more harder is it to be a lerk?
i was good with lerk before hopefully the change didnt make it too weak
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Going by 2 hours of gameplay, it depends how you look at it.
The lerk's ability to be an unhittable mosquito has been toned down a lot. Going up reduces your speed noticably, this will mean the risky but effective style of pancaking with celerity is a lot less viable. The lerk base speed is now decent, not super fast, but not a bag of lead either. Celerity itself as an upgrade still helps, but it's slower than it used to be.
So, if you are one of those guys that liked to be a flying skulk and hoped you'd have enough res to go lerk again every time you died, you'll probably be disappointed.
However, in my opinion, although lerks were fun to play before this patch, they were a bit broken. The speeds were too high and hitboxes too random (due to said speeds and pancaking). It wasn't a particularly overpowered class, but it wasn't what the class was meant to be either.
Their strengths have been shifted around a bit, naturally you can't take as many risks in melee range anymore without or with a slower celerity, but in turn, due to the fact other upgrades are more viable, you could try either adren for a pre-patch lvl1 celerity lerk with twice the spores or umbra, or Silence (i'm serious guys) to enhance your melee/survivability in a different way than celerity would have.
Summary: I don't think lerks got worse in strength. It hasn't gotten harder to be a good lerk. It <b>has</b>gotten harder to kill marines with bite. It hasn't gotten harder to help get kills for your team with the help of teammates. As for fun factor, pancaking marines to death and hoping my hitbox was in the wrong place at the right time got old a while ago. The changes were needed.
On a more general note, this patch made the game a bit harder for aliens across the board, due to a variety of changes. Most noticably fade blink. I really do hope it's good "when you get used to it", otherwise we might need some more balance patches.
revert to 3.1 blink. hit-run fading against teched marines is out of the question.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree. Even if it wasn't a matter of balance, the new fade is boring.
Lets see what the numbers show over the next few weeks.
Some people are reporting that aliens win fewer games now. That may be, but even when they DO win, it takes forever to pull it off. Unless you get a surprise base rush (which is harder to do, now that every marine can see base going down, instead of just the com), you almost NEED 3 hives in order to win.
In any reasonably close game, by the time you get 3 Hives and good res flow, the marines will usually have level 3 weapons and HMGs. The danger-level of those HMGs goes through the roof once all of them are concentrated defending a single room (marine start). And the aliens have very few tools remaining to break a seige. The Onos has almost completely lost his ability to be useful in that situation.
I haven't seen anyone relocate to a Hive-room, and turtle there yet, but I dread what will happen when it does. We're going to see the kind of drawn out end-game seiges we haven't faced since version 2.01.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm terrible at the game right now, but aliens, especially skulks, are abnormally flimsy. It's great and all that they can't dodge bullets anymore, but bleh. I have yet to see hive 3 in the 9 hours I've played.