Announcing the Third Race to Natural Selection 2!

IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
edited April 2017 in NS2 General Discussion
Today we are proud to announce the long awaited third race to Natural Selection 2!


The Alterra Corporation saw fit to include a backup plan should their field Marines ever fail to defend their stations at home or abroad. After many years of the TSF fighting the Kharaa, resulting in equally large wins and losses of crucial space stations and infrastructure, Alterra felt it was finally time to activate Project S.T.I.N.G. (Swarming Tactical Insectoid-Nanite Guardians.)

And while the Marines were bittersweet about receiving reinforcements they felt they didn't need, something unpredictable occurred. The Nanites that made up this defense force were compromised by an unknown bacterium assumed to originate from the Kharaa. Since they relied on a collective hive communication system for targeting, (known as the Bee Unity System, or BUS for short) the infection spread faster than the MACs could repair. As a result they could no longer differentiate friend from foe, and began attacking all life on Alterra stations.

Now both Marines and Kharaa must fight a swarming nanite fueled force that rivals each of their strengths, with advanced pollen collection and ferromagnetic navigation never before seen on the battlefield!


m1AFAli.jpg





This will be available as DLC and only for a limited time. Priced at a low $29.99
We hope you're as excited as we are, and we'd love to hear some feedback from all of you!

Comments

  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Is it real? Or lies?
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    BeigeAlert wrote: »
    We forgot to mention, you have to buy each unit with real money, no more pres.

    Awesome. Does this mean UWE can hire more developers? Maybe even a dedicated graphics engineer to add vulkan support? Maybe an entire developer dedicated to rewriting large swaths of code to increase performance 9999%? Can you fund all our hopes and dreams?
  • KasharicKasharic Hull, England Join Date: 2013-03-27 Member: 184473Members, Forum Admins, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, NS2 Community Developer
    You guys are a day late... for EU at least... so this can look genuine... good job.
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2017
    Well as it was posted on the 2nd April, it must all be true...

    NS2april_zpsl7zljumm.png

    April Fools jokes have to be done before midday as well, so this is so late even on it's home continent...
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    How many bees to take down an exo??????
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    Where are the space Orks though!?
  • pSyk0mAnpSyk0mAn Nerdish by Nature Germany Join Date: 2003-08-07 Member: 19166Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Community Developer
    OMG IT'S TEH BUS !!!!1
  • BlrgBlrg Join Date: 2013-09-01 Member: 187580Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Shadow
    Yey!!!!
    I can finally pay to win!!!!!!
  • VetinariVetinari Join Date: 2013-07-23 Member: 186325Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
    This is one of those april's fools jokes where it turns out it's not a joke at all, right
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    Vetinari wrote: »
    This is one of those april's fools jokes where it turns out it's not a joke at all, right


    That would be one helluve joke
  • .trixX..trixX. Budapest Join Date: 2007-10-11 Member: 62605Members
    How unimaginative. That's like the first kind of enemy you have to jump on in Sonic.
    I'll let SEGA know, so they can sue your arses x)
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    .trixX. wrote: »
    How unimaginative. That's like the first kind of enemy you have to jump on in Sonic.
    I'll let SEGA know, so they can sue your arses x)

    If you knew Ironhorse better, you might realize how truly unimaginative this is. Don't forget when Iron talked UWE into the great lemon tree nerf. The game was never the same after that. Iron seriously messed up the balance in B244 way back when.

    #NeverForgetTheLemonTrees
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    A bitter patch indeed...
  • BeigeAlertBeigeAlert Texas Join Date: 2013-08-08 Member: 186657Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts
    Lemon trees are out. You lose! Now if you'll excuse me, all this talk as made me hungry.
    1128777.jpg
  • GrissiGrissi Join Date: 2003-08-28 Member: 20314Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Blast from the past: https://unknownworlds.com/blog/ns-to-become-fpsrtsrpg/
    In an attempt to leverage the current "RPG craze", the NS team announces today that can ignore this trend no longer. Team leader "Flayra" had this to say.

    "After ripping Devour and Stomp from Warcraft III, I realized that the more ‘RPG-goodness’ I can put into NS, the bigger it will get. Neverwinter Nights, Everquest and Warcraft III all sold better then NS did, so this decision is totally justified."

    RPG genre addition notes
    – New creep-based resource model. No more boring resource towers that churn away unrealistically. Players wander around the map and battle computer-controlled colonists and insect life. The more they kill, the more cash they get.
    – Alien players no longer choose when to morph to new lifeforms. Instead, as they battle the NPCs on the ship, they gain levels! I stole that cool "levelling-up" effect from Warcraft also.
    – There is now "upkeep" when too many players join the server.
    – Players that don’t "role-play" their character (Olde English really helps) will be banned for rogue behavior.
    – To switch maps, players must now successfully complete "quests". These include: finding seven "power crystals" that have scattered about ns_hera, saving a local colony from unprecedented evil that’s attacking relentlessly from nearby mountainous structures and protecting a baby lerk until it can be used as a "familiar".
    – The Onos has been renamed "Tauren Chieftain".
    – New "Dungeon Master Mode" where players can choose to run a server with their own house rules, print messages on the screen, modify game rules, kick players at will and generally act like a "Dungeon Master" in their own domain.
    – Players now have attributes that dictate their running speed, attack damage, encumberance, hit points and charisma. These are assigned randomly when joining a server and they all affect gameplay except charisma.
    – A third playable race has been added! Orcs are a must in every RPG, and Space Orks are already familiar to players so now it’s now Marines vs. Aliens vs. Orkz! The Orkz have Gunz (33% chance of malfunction), War Wagonz (vehicles in Half-life!), Wyvern companions (lerk code reuse) and helmets with spikes (+2 charisma).

    The NS team is really really excited to change the direction of NS. We’re unsure whether 1.1 can be further bloated to incorporate these changes, but we’re going to try our best. Viva la Orkz!

    Blizzard Entertainment senior designer Rob Pardo had this to say regarding the announcement:

    "I really respect the Natural Selection team. Never under-estimate the purchasing power of the orc."

    The first time I opened the home page for NS I saw this news post. Of course I had no idea this was an April joke at the time and got really excited about the new changes, I mean SPACE ORCS!! That sounds awesome!! It wasn't until few week later I noticed it was an April Joke...

    @Flayra
    Space Orkz!! Confirmed for ns3?
    Plx I wants!
  • ZdrytchXZdrytchX Australia Join Date: 2016-02-06 Member: 212662Members
    confirmed third race: yokai
    Apparently they're sisters of the half life edition of the fade but somehow turned green
  • VetinariVetinari Join Date: 2013-07-23 Member: 186325Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
    So we're at, what, six races now?

    NS3 will need to have at least twice that if they want me to even look at that game.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2017
  • cooliticcoolitic Right behind you Join Date: 2013-04-02 Member: 184609Members
    pSyk0mAn wrote: »
    OMG IT'S TEH BUS !!!!1

    I'm missing a meme here...
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    @coolitic
    It's an oooolllddd rumor for a never explained feature or system. ;)

    There was multiple little gems/easter eggs in the OP :tongue:
  • jrgnjrgn Join Date: 2006-11-03 Member: 58289Members
  • moultanomoultano Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    @Flayra What was the BUS going to be? After a decade of waiting, we need an explanation!
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2017
    moultano wrote: »
    @Flayra What was the BUS going to be? After a decade of waiting, we need an explanation!



  • .trixX..trixX. Budapest Join Date: 2007-10-11 Member: 62605Members
    Kouji_San wrote: »
    moultano wrote: »
    @Flayra What was the BUS going to be? After a decade of waiting, we need an explanation!



    I used to chill in that room for hours
  • MaxAmusMaxAmus UK Join Date: 2003-12-26 Member: 24779Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited April 2017
    Mostly everyone would sit in that room for ages while games would play out. I miss that room.

    I hear the cat had to go and get another job...
    mpwi8f52r3z5.png
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2017
    Indeed, or in the epilepsy inducing room of doom...




  • MaxAmusMaxAmus UK Join Date: 2003-12-26 Member: 24779Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    Kouji_San wrote: »
    Indeed, or in the epilepsy inducing room of doom...




    2nd. Best. Room.

    Another one of those, spent more time in that room, than playing the map itself.
Sign In or Register to comment.