There should be a system like in NS1 where if enough people F4 its basically calling "GG" and the game should end.
Who the hell thought keeping people from spawning into a game thats just waiting to end is better than just getting a fresh start into a new game!? You're just pissing EVERYONE off this way!
fanaticThis post has been edited.Join Date: 2003-07-23Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
edited October 2012
There are at least two very obvious balance issues in this build. The Onos has far too much health/armor and baserushing is too good. I wrote an analysis of baserushing in NS2 in a different thread, which I shall crosspost here:
<!--quoteo(post=1985710:date=Oct 1 2012, 06:45 PM:name=fanatic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fanatic @ Oct 1 2012, 06:45 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1985710"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hopefully nobody will jump at me for this comparison, but I think this is one of those situations where comparing NS2 to NS1 is useful.
Baserushing in NS1 was potentially just as rewarding as baserushing currently is in NS2. It gave you a chance to not only recover from a bad situation, but also potentially end the game right then and there. It also gave you a way to punish marines for overextending. These are all valid gameplay mechanics that should be preserved in NS2.
The difference between NS1 and NS2 lie in the risk of baserushing. The risk can be divided into two factors: (a) The risk of the baserush failing and (b) the risk of the marines countering your failed baserush by starting a spawncamp and instantly ending the game in their favor, or killing your resnodes and thereby gaining a decisive advantage. In NS1, both of these were very real dangers. There was a high likelyhood of your baserush failing, and if you failed, there was an even higher likelyhood that you would lose the game.
Compare that to NS2, where baserushes succeed with alarming frequency and even when they fail, the negative consequences for the alien team are slight, if at all existing. It should, then, not be surprising that baserushing is an exceedingly popular tactic in competitive play.
To state the reason why baserushing is a problem in NS2 in one sentence: The risk/reward of baserushing in NS2 is highly biased in the favor of reward.
The game mechanics that cause this risk/reward imbalance can be summed up in the following factors (there may be other factors too, please contribute), some of which influence the (a) factor of the risk, while others influence the (b) factor of the risk:
(1) Alien spawn system (wave spawn, eggs): It doesn't matter if your entire team dies at the same time, you still all spawn in at the same time it takes one dead alien to spawn. Starting a spawncamp is also nigh-impossible unless you've spent a significant amount of time grinding the alien egg population down. (2) Alien comm: No longer need parts of your team to go gorge and build structures; your economy is not influenced in any way by sending five skulks to the marine base. (3) Comm-dropped mines have to be researched: Can't drop mines around important structures at the start of the round. (4) Comm-dropped welders have to be researched: Can't immediately drop a welder if, for example, your command station is severly damaged. (5) Powernodes: Highly vulnerable structure that serves no other purpose than to enable easy instant wins. (6) Command station health: Relatively weak compared to alien damage output, allows the aliens to kill it and effectively ending the game before the marines can react. (7) Instant hive drop: Since instant hive drop is the best alien strategy anyway, and requires no effort from the players to construct, sending all five skulks to the marine base doesn't delay alien tech at all. (8) Marine skill ceiling bias: Since the marines have a significant advantage in matches between high-level teams, desperation tactics like baserushes become more appealing.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1985582:date=Oct 1 2012, 08:52 AM:name=_Necro_)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (_Necro_ @ Oct 1 2012, 08:52 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1985582"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yeah, this sounds good. But I think the problem may go away as soon as the pub-people are teached, that the game isn't faster over when F4ing and even idling in the team has more of a benefit, at least for what they are trying. (= Ending the game faster.)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm... the winning team wants to finally win the round, the loosing team wants a new round to give it another try... so what's the point of your message? For me it sounds like both teams would like to end the almost decided round as soon as possible.
I don't think anyone is going to see a benefit in the current auto-balance-feature, even in long-term. I guess ppl will still continue f4ing and wait in the rr instead of getting raped by the other team in an almost endless 20-30 minute game wasting time for a round that's already decided. On the other hand, players may would love to play another fresh round of NS? Furthermore, on the winning team there are more and more ppl just spectating if players of the other team leave... sounds pretty boring for them to just sit and watch your team winning a round where you had been part of?
Honestly, I think there needs to be another solution about team-balance.
Why not just have the auto-balance switch players to the other team if one team has 2+ more players? That's how it has worked in every other game that I've played and it works well. That way no one is sitting around not able to spawn, but instead get right back into the action if on a different team.
And it's not like your w/l ratio actually matters in this game so there's no downside to being switched to a potentially "losing" side other than your epeen.
<!--quoteo(post=1985792:date=Oct 1 2012, 12:59 PM:name=Samus1111111)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Samus1111111 @ Oct 1 2012, 12:59 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1985792"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Why not just have the auto-balance switch players to the other team if one team has 2+ more players? That's how it has worked in every other game that I've played and it works well. That way no one is sitting around not able to spawn, but instead get right back into the action if on a different team.
And it's not like your w/l ratio actually matters in this game so there's no downside to being switched to a potentially "losing" side other than your epeen.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Some games did this. Why does anyone want to be raped when they are winning? It's not fun unless your a sicko who likes being raped.
With the 25% egg regen lowered it has basically become mandatory for aliens to get shift hives first so they can drop shifts to increase egg production. Now more than ever on larger servers, it’s easy to find 60+ second respawn times for aliens cause they are no eggs early in the game.
Please stop making maps marine sided, first on veil now on docking. ns_docking on the landing pad, not only did UW make the underneath of the landing pad unreachable but also the top. Now there is no where safe to egg and isn’t that the idea of aliens, to find places to egg and hide?
Please for the love of the TSA bring back the rifle butt stun!! This was essential for marines early game and required skill to use. I have always wanted a way to slow down aliens, because hitting them even with max mouse sensitivity is a nightmare in close quarters.
<!--quoteo(post=1985913:date=Oct 1 2012, 07:16 PM:name=Hiigara)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hiigara @ Oct 1 2012, 07:16 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1985913"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Please for the love of the TSA bring back the rifle butt stun!! This was essential for marines early game and required skill to use. I have always wanted a way to slow down aliens, because hitting them even with max mouse sensitivity is a nightmare in close quarters.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> That's the entire point. It is possible to kill an alien who is in melee range, but it is hard. If it was easy, then aliens would be screwed. Marines have the advantage at range, aliens have it in melee. It is not impossible for a marine to kill an alien while in melee range (like it is (for the most part) for an alien to kill a marine at range), just harder.
<!--quoteo(post=1985913:date=Oct 2 2012, 03:16 AM:name=Hiigara)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hiigara @ Oct 2 2012, 03:16 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1985913"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Please for the love of the TSA bring back the rifle butt stun!! This was essential for marines early game and required skill to use. I have always wanted a way to slow down aliens, because hitting them even with max mouse sensitivity is a nightmare in close quarters.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Max sensitivity will just make you shoot wildly all over the place, it should slow to medium and in precise short bursts, getting aliens before they can get in bite range.
[quote name='Hiigara' date='Oct 2 2012, 10:46 AM' post='1985913'] Please for the love of the TSA bring back the rifle butt stun!! This was essential for marines early game and required skill to use. Nope nope nope
Hey there I've been busy (and still am) so I couldn't check NS2's status for a long time and I see a lot happened in the meantime. Congratulations on the feature freeze and the official steam announcement, guys. I finally got a new CPU and NS2 runs great here - compared to playing with an old Athlon6000+ it's a completely different game - and a awesome one.
There's just one thing that puzzles me: if this is the almost final version with no new features to come - why is the infestation still just a ns1-texture covering the walls? I know it's not important for gameplay but I expected the final version to look at least like in the very first Ns2 video...
<!--quoteo(post=1985899:date=Oct 1 2012, 03:29 PM:name=Know pain)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Know pain @ Oct 1 2012, 03:29 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1985899"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->With the 25% egg regen lowered it has basically become mandatory for aliens to get shift hives first so they can drop shifts to increase egg production. Now more than ever on larger servers, it’s easy to find 60+ second respawn times for aliens cause they are no eggs early in the game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
easy to find 60+ second respawn times? I don't think I've seen that once...
<!--quoteo(post=1986044:date=Oct 2 2012, 08:22 PM:name=tk-421)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tk-421 @ Oct 2 2012, 08:22 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1986044"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->easy to find 60+ second respawn times? I don't think I've seen that once...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I have multiple occasions, what server size do you play on? Anyone who plays on the monash 24 player server and will also agree (assuming they are not a strictly marine player). Its not hard to lock out an alien side that does not have a shift hive, GL's and whips (marine sits at door and uses wips to randomly throw grenades all over alien spawns), JP's and shotties, heck 1 good comm and 2-3 good players will be able to decimate most hives enough to create issues spawning (especially of issue early game when big confrontations often initially occur as sides try to "feel each other out" and set battlelines).
Even late game it can happen if a comm has not put enough shifts around or in the marine final push when you have exo's, flamers, GL's etc all steaming in...not much fun watching 1 or 2 spawn whilst rest of side is dead due to egg lock.
Shifts are not the solution to this...that simply forces the aliens to have only 1 upgrade path (shift first) and leave for no creativity/variance in game strategy.
<!--quoteo(post=1986034:date=Oct 2 2012, 08:24 AM:name=Zeno)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zeno @ Oct 2 2012, 08:24 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1986034"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hey there I've been busy (and still am) so I couldn't check NS2's status for a long time and I see a lot happened in the meantime. Congratulations on the feature freeze and the official steam announcement, guys. I finally got a new CPU and NS2 runs great here - compared to playing with an old Athlon6000+ it's a completely different game - and a awesome one.
There's just one thing that puzzles me: if this is the almost final version with no new features to come - <b>why is the infestation still just a ns1-texture covering the walls? I know it's not important for gameplay but I expected the final version to look at least like in the very first Ns2 video...</b><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That would not be the only reason to worry about at this stage if they werent going to keep adding stuff post-v1, and thats the least worrying one. The performance, babblers, onos shield, railgun exos.....
Dont know what you have changed.But my performance with this build got significant worse.Sometimes fps drops down to 12 fps again.The "x ms waiting for GPU" counter is most of the time between 5-20 ms while in b220 (in this build i had the best and most stable performance so far) it was most of the time at 0ms and sometimes jumped to 5-10 ms. On the other hand Hit Registration got better on both sides. One thing what still makes me crazy is the server browser.I know you are working on other important tasks but i would never release (yes i know theres a life after 1.0) a game with such a server browser to the public.He is slow as hell, looks very bad, you have no filter options, no auto retry and its the first thing new people will see.Very unprofessional.Hope you can improve this for 1.0....
Anyway game is getting better and better and balance will come with time.Think its no tasks you can finish from one day to the other.
I agree; the bare minimum improvement to the server browser would be: filters (no passworded, no unpopulated, no full, no mods?, "pure" (ALL consistency checks), VAC-protected?), as well as auto-retry/queue system to get in a server you'd like to. Especially the auto-retry/queue is a must and should be priority IMO. I'd also love for consistency options to be exposed in the server browser; I'm kind of a "purist" in the sense that I'd like to play the game as it was originally designed meaning no mods to textures, models, etc. etc.; seeing servers which enforce all consistency checks in the browser would be awesome for release.
Hello, I am here with some general feedback about the build.
First up, some positive. Performance intself in terms of frames per second, is... no different measurable. But feel wise it seems you guys have sorted the 50+ minimum fps issue, I was playing with 35fps and it felt really responsive, where before at 49fps I would struggle.
Negative now: The game itself needs a lot of balance work, and the games go too long to the point they are frustrating. Often a game is over in the first 10 minutes in terms of deciding who has dominated. But then they go on for another 30 minutes, which is incredibly boring. I'm now just leaving the server after I figure out who is going to win(after 10 minutes). I have no real idea how you guys are examining game balance issues, I would guess from those alien wins/marine wins pie charts I saw a while ago, that you are measuring balance by overall wins(macro scale). Where you really should be examining the micro scale based on time into round. I wouldn't mind a 50 minute round if it were exciting right up until you lose (or win). As it is, the game is boring for the first 10 minutes, then even more so for the rest of the round.
All this talk of games being decided in 10 mins is rubbish, people quit too easy.
Last night on mineshaft, people were crying as reins took down the ore hive for the second time. A few people got on voice coms and a coordianted assault held the reins back long enough to get the hive back up.
By this point the reins held the map and resources a-plenty, so began the exo and jetpack assault. Three gorges held them back spamming bilebomb.
While the reins focused on Ore we were able to chip away at their RT's and after another voice com co-ordinated attack on Refinary the push back was on.
Third hive up and the reins began to rage quit, Aliens win. A very intense game won by team work and persistance. Loved it despite the problems with this build.
I don't like the adrenaline changes. It doesn't even make sense anymore. Something with extra adrenaline should mean that it recovers faster, I would just call it stamina or something now that its just a cap increase. The adrenaline nerf and the increase of energy usage for leap that was added awhile ago pretty much turned leap and andren into travel abilities instead of helping in combat making skulk battles seem bland.
<!--quoteo(post=1987009:date=Oct 4 2012, 11:11 AM:name=peregrinus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (peregrinus @ Oct 4 2012, 11:11 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1987009"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->'community' link on the homepage is broken<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I've enjoyed this build immensely. However, I do agree with fana's Onos sentiment. If two rush a power node, it's MOST LIKELY going down.
I don't think they nee d ahuge nerf, just a very slight HP shift to make them slightly more vulnerable.
Also, I like the alien wave spawn, but can we change egg regeneration to increase with active player count? 18+ in early game makes dying as a skulk (which is rather easy) taboo, so you don't have to wait forever for respawn. It also limits strategy as you have to take into account respawn time when choosing chambers and aggression.
<!--quoteo(post=1987010:date=Oct 4 2012, 06:20 PM:name=Comprox)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Comprox @ Oct 4 2012, 06:20 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1987010"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yup, we are working on it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
i love the new layout, but can't u change it whem u press on Commuity tab u go to <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?act=idx" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?act=idx</a>
instead of <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showforum=115" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...p?showforum=115</a> ?
The skulk definitely feels a bit too easy now. I did actually prefer it before when it required aiming (sorry for jumping the gun Flayra, I guess you are seeing skulk dominance again this patch..). I think the problem is that the viewmodel gives a certain expectation of bites that should register and if you make it too narrow then situations happen where you don't understand why the bite didn't hit. I don't know the solution to this, but I do prefer a nerf that makes it more difficult to aim rather than just a straight damage or rate of fire reduction, since the former allows players to be rewarded for accuracy while the later just reduces the potential damage outright. In the previous patch I actually found myself practising skulk and enjoying trying to land 3 bites in a row with accuracy.
I think the skulk animations and collisions have a part to play as well. There was already a big thread on collisions and I agree with the general consensus that it would be better if they weren't so floaty. If they were more solid you could get a feel for when you are touching a marine and you would know that a bite would register. I think it would also be easier to orientate yourself around a marine while biting them.
The animations have a number of weird things that I have seen happen in-game which makes skulks pretty difficult to track. I have seen skulks wallwalking on invisible surfaces in mid air. I have seen them do barrel rolls after coming off the ceiling but be moving along the ground on their backs for a brief time. I have seen them be killed only to freeze in place for a second before the ragdoll animation plays (giving the appearance that they are still alive, especially if it wasn't you who dealt the killing blow).
I also think something that is interesting is that in the original NS you couldn't strafe in mid air very much at all. It's actually kind of weird when you try it after playing ns2 because in ns2 as a skulk you can press A and D and move freely all the time - in ns1 that only works when you are on the ground. I think this makes it pretty difficult to track skulks in ns2 because it's quite difficult to predict if a skulk is strafing while in the air. In ns1 the only way to move while in the air was to use mouse look and look towards the direction you wanted to move, that makes it easier for marines to predict the skulks movements since they are going to be moving in the direction they are facing.
I do think UWE should seriously look at the NS1 Movement mod, even if they wanted to disable bunny hop and implement the rest, it feels really responsive in comparison to vanilla ns2 especially the marine movement.
I also think part of the problem in balancing the game is how do you balance a skulk which has 1 armour upgrade with a marine that has 4 different levels of damage. It can't be balanced at all of them, can it?
- skulk bite is much better now, dont change a thing about it. The bite radius is good, as is bite length. Marines should have the upper hand from a distance, and skulks should have the upper hand in close combat.
- onos run noises are awesome, nothing like hearing an onos stomping around in a corridor near your tech point.
- I prefer the old adrenaline, but at the same time I can see how it would encourage perma-blink fades
- new arms lab looks like a toilet
- lerk unnerf was long overdue, the old 25 armor was garbage. As a side effect, carapace on a lerk only adds 25 armor - worthless compared to regen.
- NEED MOAR PERFORMANCE TWEAKS!
I would also like to ask for highlighting of bile bomb when in alien vision, it's nearly invisible otherwise.
Bite range needs adjustment, they had stated it was going to be a cone in front of the skulk, and from looking at the traces (and testing it) it looks like its just reverted to the old bite. You can currently be basically standing next to a marine looking the same direction as the marine, and your bite will still hit, the marine isnt even on your screen.
<!--quoteo(post=1987064:date=Oct 5 2012, 12:23 AM:name=xDragon)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (xDragon @ Oct 5 2012, 12:23 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1987064"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Bite range needs adjustment, they had stated it was going to be a cone in front of the skulk, and from looking at the traces (and testing it) it looks like its just reverted to the old bite. You can currently be basically standing next to a marine looking the same direction as the marine, and your bite will still hit, the marine isnt even on your screen.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
+1
It was good on one build, but reverted to ridiculous again.
Comments
Who the hell thought keeping people from spawning into a game thats just waiting to end is better than just getting a fresh start into a new game!? You're just pissing EVERYONE off this way!
<!--quoteo(post=1985710:date=Oct 1 2012, 06:45 PM:name=fanatic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fanatic @ Oct 1 2012, 06:45 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1985710"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hopefully nobody will jump at me for this comparison, but I think this is one of those situations where comparing NS2 to NS1 is useful.
Baserushing in NS1 was potentially just as rewarding as baserushing currently is in NS2. It gave you a chance to not only recover from a bad situation, but also potentially end the game right then and there. It also gave you a way to punish marines for overextending. These are all valid gameplay mechanics that should be preserved in NS2.
The difference between NS1 and NS2 lie in the risk of baserushing. The risk can be divided into two factors: (a) The risk of the baserush failing and (b) the risk of the marines countering your failed baserush by starting a spawncamp and instantly ending the game in their favor, or killing your resnodes and thereby gaining a decisive advantage. In NS1, both of these were very real dangers. There was a high likelyhood of your baserush failing, and if you failed, there was an even higher likelyhood that you would lose the game.
Compare that to NS2, where baserushes succeed with alarming frequency and even when they fail, the negative consequences for the alien team are slight, if at all existing. It should, then, not be surprising that baserushing is an exceedingly popular tactic in competitive play.
To state the reason why baserushing is a problem in NS2 in one sentence: The risk/reward of baserushing in NS2 is highly biased in the favor of reward.
The game mechanics that cause this risk/reward imbalance can be summed up in the following factors (there may be other factors too, please contribute), some of which influence the (a) factor of the risk, while others influence the (b) factor of the risk:
(1) Alien spawn system (wave spawn, eggs): It doesn't matter if your entire team dies at the same time, you still all spawn in at the same time it takes one dead alien to spawn. Starting a spawncamp is also nigh-impossible unless you've spent a significant amount of time grinding the alien egg population down.
(2) Alien comm: No longer need parts of your team to go gorge and build structures; your economy is not influenced in any way by sending five skulks to the marine base.
(3) Comm-dropped mines have to be researched: Can't drop mines around important structures at the start of the round.
(4) Comm-dropped welders have to be researched: Can't immediately drop a welder if, for example, your command station is severly damaged.
(5) Powernodes: Highly vulnerable structure that serves no other purpose than to enable easy instant wins.
(6) Command station health: Relatively weak compared to alien damage output, allows the aliens to kill it and effectively ending the game before the marines can react.
(7) Instant hive drop: Since instant hive drop is the best alien strategy anyway, and requires no effort from the players to construct, sending all five skulks to the marine base doesn't delay alien tech at all.
(8) Marine skill ceiling bias: Since the marines have a significant advantage in matches between high-level teams, desperation tactics like baserushes become more appealing.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm... the winning team wants to finally win the round, the loosing team wants a new round to give it another try... so what's the point of your message? For me it sounds like both teams would like to end the almost decided round as soon as possible.
I don't think anyone is going to see a benefit in the current auto-balance-feature, even in long-term.
I guess ppl will still continue f4ing and wait in the rr instead of getting raped by the other team in an almost endless 20-30 minute game wasting time for a round that's already decided. On the other hand, players may would love to play another fresh round of NS?
Furthermore, on the winning team there are more and more ppl just spectating if players of the other team leave... sounds pretty boring for them to just sit and watch your team winning a round where you had been part of?
Honestly, I think there needs to be another solution about team-balance.
And it's not like your w/l ratio actually matters in this game so there's no downside to being switched to a potentially "losing" side other than your epeen.
And it's not like your w/l ratio actually matters in this game so there's no downside to being switched to a potentially "losing" side other than your epeen.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Some games did this.
Why does anyone want to be raped when they are winning? It's not fun unless your a sicko who likes being raped.
Please stop making maps marine sided, first on veil now on docking. ns_docking on the landing pad, not only did UW make the underneath of the landing pad unreachable but also the top. Now there is no where safe to egg and isn’t that the idea of aliens, to find places to egg and hide?
That's the entire point. It is possible to kill an alien who is in melee range, but it is hard. If it was easy, then aliens would be screwed. Marines have the advantage at range, aliens have it in melee. It is not impossible for a marine to kill an alien while in melee range (like it is (for the most part) for an alien to kill a marine at range), just harder.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->max mouse sensitivity<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well there's your problem!
Max sensitivity will just make you shoot wildly all over the place, it should slow to medium and in precise short bursts, getting aliens before they can get in bite range.
Please for the love of the TSA bring back the rifle butt stun!! This was essential for marines early game and required skill to use.
Nope nope nope
I've been busy (and still am) so I couldn't check NS2's status for a long time and I see a lot happened in the meantime.
Congratulations on the feature freeze and the official steam announcement, guys.
I finally got a new CPU and NS2 runs great here - compared to playing with an old Athlon6000+ it's a completely different game - and a awesome one.
There's just one thing that puzzles me: if this is the almost final version with no new features to come - why is the infestation still just a ns1-texture covering the walls? I know it's not important for gameplay but I expected the final version to look at least like in the very first Ns2 video...
easy to find 60+ second respawn times? I don't think I've seen that once...
I have multiple occasions, what server size do you play on?
Anyone who plays on the monash 24 player server and will also agree (assuming they are not a strictly marine player).
Its not hard to lock out an alien side that does not have a shift hive, GL's and whips (marine sits at door and uses wips to randomly throw grenades all over alien spawns), JP's and shotties, heck 1 good comm and 2-3 good players will be able to decimate most hives enough to create issues spawning (especially of issue early game when big confrontations often initially occur as sides try to "feel each other out" and set battlelines).
Even late game it can happen if a comm has not put enough shifts around or in the marine final push when you have exo's, flamers, GL's etc all steaming in...not much fun watching 1 or 2 spawn whilst rest of side is dead due to egg lock.
Shifts are not the solution to this...that simply forces the aliens to have only 1 upgrade path (shift first) and leave for no creativity/variance in game strategy.
I've been busy (and still am) so I couldn't check NS2's status for a long time and I see a lot happened in the meantime.
Congratulations on the feature freeze and the official steam announcement, guys.
I finally got a new CPU and NS2 runs great here - compared to playing with an old Athlon6000+ it's a completely different game - and a awesome one.
There's just one thing that puzzles me: if this is the almost final version with no new features to come - <b>why is the infestation still just a ns1-texture covering the walls? I know it's not important for gameplay but I expected the final version to look at least like in the very first Ns2 video...</b><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That would not be the only reason to worry about at this stage if they werent going to keep adding stuff post-v1, and thats the least worrying one. The performance, babblers, onos shield, railgun exos.....
On the other hand Hit Registration got better on both sides.
One thing what still makes me crazy is the server browser.I know you are working on other important tasks but i would never release (yes i know theres a life after 1.0) a game with such a server browser to the public.He is slow as hell, looks very bad, you have no filter options, no auto retry and its the first thing new people will see.Very unprofessional.Hope you can improve this for 1.0....
Anyway game is getting better and better and balance will come with time.Think its no tasks you can finish from one day to the other.
Praying for better performance till 1.0.
First up, some positive. Performance intself in terms of frames per second, is... no different measurable. But feel wise it seems you guys have sorted the 50+ minimum fps issue, I was playing with 35fps and it felt really responsive, where before at 49fps I would struggle.
Negative now: The game itself needs a lot of balance work, and the games go too long to the point they are frustrating. Often a game is over in the first 10 minutes in terms of deciding who has dominated. But then they go on for another 30 minutes, which is incredibly boring. I'm now just leaving the server after I figure out who is going to win(after 10 minutes).
I have no real idea how you guys are examining game balance issues, I would guess from those alien wins/marine wins pie charts I saw a while ago, that you are measuring balance by overall wins(macro scale). Where you really should be examining the micro scale based on time into round. I wouldn't mind a 50 minute round if it were exciting right up until you lose (or win). As it is, the game is boring for the first 10 minutes, then even more so for the rest of the round.
Last night on mineshaft, people were crying as reins took down the ore hive for the second time. A few people got on voice coms and a coordianted assault held the reins back long enough to get the hive back up.
By this point the reins held the map and resources a-plenty, so began the exo and jetpack assault. Three gorges held them back spamming bilebomb.
While the reins focused on Ore we were able to chip away at their RT's and after another voice com co-ordinated attack on Refinary the push back was on.
Third hive up and the reins began to rage quit, Aliens win. A very intense game won by team work and persistance. Loved it despite the problems with this build.
*ducks for the bite back :) xx
Yup, we are working on it.
I don't think they nee d ahuge nerf, just a very slight HP shift to make them slightly more vulnerable.
Also, I like the alien wave spawn, but can we change egg regeneration to increase with active player count? 18+ in early game makes dying as a skulk (which is rather easy) taboo, so you don't have to wait forever for respawn. It also limits strategy as you have to take into account respawn time when choosing chambers and aggression.
i love the new layout, but can't u change it whem u press on Commuity tab u go to <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?act=idx" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?act=idx</a>
instead of <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showforum=115" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...p?showforum=115</a> ?
Makes more sence.
I think the skulk animations and collisions have a part to play as well. There was already a big thread on collisions and I agree with the general consensus that it would be better if they weren't so floaty. If they were more solid you could get a feel for when you are touching a marine and you would know that a bite would register. I think it would also be easier to orientate yourself around a marine while biting them.
The animations have a number of weird things that I have seen happen in-game which makes skulks pretty difficult to track. I have seen skulks wallwalking on invisible surfaces in mid air. I have seen them do barrel rolls after coming off the ceiling but be moving along the ground on their backs for a brief time. I have seen them be killed only to freeze in place for a second before the ragdoll animation plays (giving the appearance that they are still alive, especially if it wasn't you who dealt the killing blow).
I also think something that is interesting is that in the original NS you couldn't strafe in mid air very much at all. It's actually kind of weird when you try it after playing ns2 because in ns2 as a skulk you can press A and D and move freely all the time - in ns1 that only works when you are on the ground. I think this makes it pretty difficult to track skulks in ns2 because it's quite difficult to predict if a skulk is strafing while in the air. In ns1 the only way to move while in the air was to use mouse look and look towards the direction you wanted to move, that makes it easier for marines to predict the skulks movements since they are going to be moving in the direction they are facing.
I do think UWE should seriously look at the NS1 Movement mod, even if they wanted to disable bunny hop and implement the rest, it feels really responsive in comparison to vanilla ns2 especially the marine movement.
I also think part of the problem in balancing the game is how do you balance a skulk which has 1 armour upgrade with a marine that has 4 different levels of damage. It can't be balanced at all of them, can it?
- skulk bite is much better now, dont change a thing about it. The bite radius is good, as is bite length. Marines should have the upper hand from a distance, and skulks should have the upper hand in close combat.
- onos run noises are awesome, nothing like hearing an onos stomping around in a corridor near your tech point.
- I prefer the old adrenaline, but at the same time I can see how it would encourage perma-blink fades
- new arms lab looks like a toilet
- lerk unnerf was long overdue, the old 25 armor was garbage. As a side effect, carapace on a lerk only adds 25 armor - worthless compared to regen.
- NEED MOAR PERFORMANCE TWEAKS!
I would also like to ask for highlighting of bile bomb when in alien vision, it's nearly invisible otherwise.
+1
It was good on one build, but reverted to ridiculous again.