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Natural selection 2 "Reinforced" expansion. Good natured idealism still exists.

S

SneakyStephan

Banned
Stomp if old.
7271d1312216943-generator-room-natural-selection-2-wallpaper-generator-room-wallpaper-generator-room.jpg
Click to expand...

A new expansion pack just released for NS2 , it is free and is called 'Reinforced'

It features a new map 'biodome' , new grenades, a dx11 update to the renderer with (supposedly) nice performance increases, Linux support, tutorials, a new gorge ability and a ton of other changes.
Here is a video detailing the new stuff :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csJmLAac5w8

From their website:
Female Marines. Cluster Grenades. Biodome. Bone shield. Webs. Dual Railguns. Linux Support. Single Player Interactive Tutorial, Commander Tutorial, Special/Deluxe/Standard first person view models – Those are just some of the pieces of content released today. Look further back, and the updates have flowed . Released incrementally to everyone that owned NS2 before the release of Reinforced, twenty-four individual updates have dramatically increased performance, improved map layouts, completely revamped NS2 balance mechanics, and more. Together, these twenty four updates make Reinforced a monstor that everyone at Unknown Worlds is immensely proud of.

We are also immensely proud that Reinforced is free. Six months of game development is not cheap, and we have often discussed how we might continue to pay for keeping the studio focused on Natural Selection 2 full time. Various options were discussed – Including making Reinforced a separate Steam DLC, or introducing in-game micro-tran$actions. But these monetisation methods do not fit with our culture. Knowing we must pay the bills to keep the lights on, we decided to introduce the Reinforcement Program
Click to expand...

The previous free expansion was called Gorgeous and also featured a load of new shit , again for free.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-gmyOvUig

These guys keep supporting their game post release with free updates , there is no dlc for the game , it has full mod support and is currently on sale on steam.
Since the thread for the game was sent to the community graveyard I figured i'd make a thread for the expansion patch so people actually know it's out!


Since they don't charge for expansions they started a kickstarter ish funding program for continued content (they did the same with natural selection 1 to keep developing the mod back in the day)
You can buy special editions (tshirts, artwork n shit) or get an extended sountrack or special ingame skulk/marine skin by supporting it.
A link to the reinforcement program:
http://www.naturalselection2.com/reinforced/

The money raised will go to keeping development of the game and updates going (and the next content updates will also remain free for everyone)

These are 10 guys who self published a one of a kind unique competitive game with a proprietary engine, full mod support, launched at 20 euros with no DLC or other nickle and diming shenanigans.
They still follow the model of 90s pc gaming (hence the thread title) and imo they deserve a lot of credit for doing this.
The game also has an excellent spectator mode designed for tournament casting/watching, as well as full admin/rcon support and obviously a server browser with dedicated servers ran by the community (the only good way to do multiplayer competitive gaming)


The game itself is frigging awesome.
Sorry if the thread is not up to the usual OT standard or anything, I'm not experienced in making these kinds of threads that look like a press kit :p

edit: could a mod update the title to reflect that it now has linux support? I forgot to mention that.
 
R

Rodaballo

Banned
Shame that Nanogrid is now far too easy on marines.

Central point is undefendable after the buffs on advance weapon research and the map edit on the vent.



I used to be a 24/7 gorge player, but the new small bugs are useless and the nades/flames everywhere fcking everything you build made me uterrly mad.

If the new ability for gorge doesn't bring some balance and fun to the gorge class, i am afraid i ll not bother reinstalling this . Or paying more money.
I loved playing this, but i got tired of some utter bs .
 
F

FACE

Banned
We are also immensely proud that Reinforced is free. Six months of game development is not cheap, and we have often discussed how we might continue to pay for keeping the studio focused on Natural Selection 2 full time. Various options were discussed – Including making Reinforced a separate Steam DLC, or introducing in-game micro-tran$actions. But these monetisation methods do not fit with our culture. Knowing we must pay the bills to keep the lights on, we decided to introduce the Reinforcement Program
Click to expand...

These guys are fucking awesome.

Edit: Oh and the game is 75% off on Steam right now, go buy it!
 
M

Miker

Member
Wow, thanks for the post. I saw it as a weekend sale on Steam, but had no idea it just got an update. I wasn't originally was hesitating on getting it since I don't have any time to play multiplayer games, but I think I will since it gets this kind of support.
 
L

LtOrange

Member
I have had this sitting in my steam inventory for forever. I don't know why but this game really intimidates me even though I really am interested in it. Is the community easy on new players?
 
S

Sykane

Member
Such a good game, glad the developers are still supporting it. With the sale, no one has an excuse not to give it a try.
 
G

Genji

Member
LtOrange said:
I have had this sitting in my steam inventory for forever. I don't know why but this game really intimidates me even though I really am interested in it. Is the community easy on new players?
Click to expand...

The interactive tutorial they just added does a great job of explaining the basics. For the most part, the community is pretty easy on new players, don't hesitate to ask questions on the mic! Load up the game, go through the tutorial and watch a few of the vids and you'll be ready to go.
 
Facism

Facism

Member
animlboogy said:
How big is the performance increase? I have a modest CPU, which is the only reason I haven't been playing this more.
Click to expand...

No performance increase at the moment. People have lost fps (i've lost 30fps since patch 252) and the reinforced has reintroduced the microstutter/framejitter that existed before LUAjit implementation. Input lag out the arse but that can be mitigated by making sure you have Raw Input turned on in the options.

I think they're patching these things ASAP, at least i hope so, kind of at my end of caring about this anymore after nonsense like Exo's being beaconed and fade nerfs cos people have problems aiming or buying shotguns.

If you're new to the game and fancy commanding, please communicate with the team and ask for direction. You'll get a few impatient arseholes but there will always be people willing to help you not just learn, but understand the role and it's focus. Don't be intimidated and always be willing to take instruction.
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
LtOrange said:
I have had this sitting in my steam inventory for forever. I don't know why but this game really intimidates me even though I really am interested in it. Is the community easy on new players?
Click to expand...

I've not played it for 2 months until today (dota 2 addiction, time to get back into it with the new update) but I played it daily before that and it has the friendliest community I've ever seen.

Sure there's an occasional guy raging, but in 200 hours played I can literally count them on one hand.
Dedicated servers + browser means the game has a high sense of community, you end up playing with the same people on the same servers quite often.

At launch this was the most newb friendly game I ever played (commander mode + voip makes it easy to teach new players what to do and where to go) and people were more than willing to teach new players and encourage them, idk if it's still like that now but that is what green servers are for in the server browser.
You go there as new player and noone expects you to know what to do and people will generally help you if you ask.

You just have to ask.
 
T

The Crimson Kid

what are you waiting for
It's great to see them still supporting this game so hard for free.

It is truly a fascinating game that I've tried to get into several times (mostly on sale weekends), but there's just a whole lot to this game and I don't have any buddies that play this game either.

Last time I finally figured out how to play the basic alien and had a successful enough commander session, so maybe this will be the time?

LtOrange said:
I have had this sitting in my steam inventory for forever. I don't know why but this game really intimidates me even though I really am interested in it. Is the community easy on new players?
Click to expand...

It... depends. I've certainly had my fair share of bad experiences with angry players, but I wouldn't say the community is as bad as most MOBA's are. One new or crummy player is not going to screw things up too much unless you are just running straight to your death every 30 seconds.

There are noob-friendly servers easily marked in the server browser, and as long as you join one of those, you should be alright. Most of the community understands that being dicks to noobs is not the way to foster a long-term player base.

My tips: watch a couple of the shorter tutorial videos or just run around on an empty map to get the feel of moving (especially as an alien) before joining a proper match. Also, DON'T BE A COMMANDER. The whole team's success directly depends on the commander, and if you don't have intimate knowledge of how the game works, you will get a whole lot of grief.
 
M

MrNyarlathotep

Banned
I blind-bought this as a preorder literally years ago, purely based on the hundreds of hours I spent in NS1 and felt I owed them that at least.

I should really play it sometime. I have the fancy black marine skin and everything.
 
I

Iced_Eagle

Member
The UWE team is great. Tons of free DLC, big focus on the community plus they made one hell of a great game.

If someone hasn't gotten this, definitely look into it. It's 75% off on Steam too!

Tutorials will really, really help people I think.
 
J

jakeumms

Member
They sold a lot of copies during the Steam Summer sale and, at least at that time, had all of the Noob friendly servers clearly marked. It seems complicated but you can jump and start learning to play and players will be understanding as long as you're on the right server.

Also, there are a lot of helpful tutorial vids that launch from a browser in-game so you can watch those to get yourself up to speed. If all else fails, play as a Marine and shoot the scary bugs. That will work too.

I'm really excited about the Commander tutorial that was released in this update. I know what game I'm playing this weekend.
 
Facism

Facism

Member
ZombieSupaStar said:
WEBS!? WEBS!@?!?


AWWWWWWWWWWW YISSSSSSSSSSSSS!


tumblr_mmln24jsCC1s14y7xo1_500.gif
Click to expand...

ONOS STOMP WORKS LIKE NS1!!??!??!

WAIT!!!! ONOS STOMP DOES 40 DAMAGE TO EVERYTHING IT HITS!!!>>!>!>!>!>

tumblr_mmln24jsCC1s14y7xo1_500.gif


Just had a great hour long game on Descent and had 3 rookies that performed brilliantly. One of them perm gorged the whole round and followed me on base rushes, healing, everything.
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
animlboogy said:
Its such a damn rush when things come together in this. This must be how moba players feel.
Click to expand...

ns2 is a lot more magical than mobas since it's much more intense and atmospheric imo.
NS is 100 percent about map control, mobas are 60 percent about efficiency and the rest map control and not throwing.
 
S

SpankmasterC

Member
animlboogy said:
Its such a damn rush when things come together in this. This must be how moba players feel.
Click to expand...
For me the best experience is when things go sour, when your teammates are dying all around you and you're all alone trying to hold a room till your teammates can respawn and play cavalry. Knowing that by holding your turf you directly contributed to the success of your team is an amazing feeling, something only more tactical/strategic multiplayergames can bring!
 
Q

Qvoth

Member
Rodaballo said:
I used to be a 24/7 gorge player, but the new small bugs are useless
Click to expand...

i think they're supposed to be mainly for shielding onoses for extra armor, and harassing

with ffxiv out, haven't touched this in a while, hope i can have the time to try out this new update

edit: you guys play in 32 man servers? i find them more entertaining in general haha
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
I haven't played this too much, but surprisingly, every time I have played, the commander has been amazing in directing play.

I think I'm 4-0 in the game. Just follow your teammates and listen to orders, everything will come together. I may have had one loss from that bullshit zerg tactic at the beginning, people should see that coming but an inexperienced team will struggle.
 
jediyoshi

jediyoshi

Member
Might do the $75 for Shadow. Been following these guys for such a stupid long time it'd feel dumb not to throw a little extra their way.
 
C

Cystm

Member
Grenades feel so good. Multi-kill cluster nades!

Gorge webs are useful and fun. There is so many good changes in this patch.


This update is just great.
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
Cystm said:
Grenades feel so good. Multi-kill cluster nades!

Gorge webs are useful and fun. There is so many good changes in this patch.


This update is just great.
Click to expand...

It's gona take a while for me to get used to it, I'm like a dog, If you move a plant in the house I get upset
Though the super fast skulk bite ruined skulk play for me:( having to really time your bites (and getting rewarded for doing it right in spades) was so much fun, now it's just skilless hold the mouse button down all day.

Thank god for mod support:p I'm sure balance mod will keep the old value.
 
C

ChronoX

Member
The game always looked interesting to me and I was going to buy it during the last free weekend but the online ran like crap. People were warping everywhere in every match I played. I don't experience lag in any other game so I hope that has improved this time over. I'll jump in later today and see what happens :)
 
D

demolitio

Member
I was wondering what the update was. I wish I had more people on my friends list that played it so I didn't have to ask stupid questions ingame.
 
D

Dictator93

Member
demolitio said:
I was wondering what the update was. I wish I had more people on my friends list that played it so I didn't have to ask stupid questions ingame.
Click to expand...

send me your steam ID in a PM. OR better yet, look at the GAF group to see who is online playing it.

I play this game pretty regularly.

Also, anyone asking about DX11 (lighting is more precise and the Shadow filtering method is improved: pretty sure it uses the hardware filtering under DX11).

I am seriously considering grabbing the $75 tier in their reinforcement program. They deserve it in my case.
 
D

Deband

Member
Played an hour of this tonight after having it on Steam for ages. God the graphics are so nice and the game seems to have a lot of depth. I have no idea whats going on but it seems fun. Hopefully a lot of people pick it up in the sale cos the devs should be rewarded for not nickel an diming the hell out of customers. A real PC game as well, what year is this?
 
V

VariantX

Member
Maybe i should re-install this and give it another go. Never really put enough time into it to really get into the game.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
This linus video pretty much just goes over all the stuff in the OP, but dayum, seems like they added a lot of shit. Definitely gonna buy this weekend or at next paycheck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpV6WuHFEE

There's so many games comin' out, I think I'm just gonna be sticking to PC for quite a long time.
 
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