Hey everyone!

This Halloween marks the 7 years since the first public release of Natural Selection. Wow - that's longer than the average marriage. This "marriage" has a lot more biting, clawing and struggling than most (or does it?).

As most of you know, we've been planning on releasing NS2 in some playable form this Fall. Back in May, we thought that if the game wasn't done, at least it would be ready to play in an alpha or beta state at the very least. We wish we still thought that was true, but now we realize it isn't happening.

However, before we tell you what we have and haven't done, let us show you the first NS2 screenshots! Click the magnifying glass in the lower right after zooming for the high-res versions:




There is nothing touched-up in these shots. Like editing with our tools, what you see is what you get! We hope you enjoy the style and direction we're going in and these give you little flutters in your belly (excitement, that is). Now onto the more detailed description of the game's status.

What used to be our biggest problem, environment artwork, is no longer a problem. We had a lot of difficulties transitioning from the texture-based levels of NS1 to the much more detailed prop-based levels in current generation games. Matt has done a great job leading the environment art and we now think we'll have enough level textures and models for the first release of maps (based around our "refinery" art set). Our player models (including all the aliens and marines) are done. We're cranking on weapon models and structures and we're right on track with them. Animation remains a large task (we have two animators) but we're bringing on a third animator now so we hope that will reduce the workload there. Our sound effects are going much faster than expected and sound fantastic. We're just starting the score but we expect to have a full soundtrack when we ship.

Engine programming has been going really well, although there's only so much a lone programmer (albeit, a programming genius) can do. So far Max has written about 80% of an entirely new engine and tool set from scratch. That includes the renderer, level editor, cinematic editor (used to make the teaser), Lua Debugger, networking, physics integration, animation system, auto-updater, builder and a whole bunch of smaller programs that tie everything together (not to mention performance and compatibility). Almost all of this is from scratch and it's all designed to run on low end hardware and be cross-platform. It's been really incredible to watch.

The great thing about the pre-orders is that they have allowed us to hire another programmer (although it took some time to find the right person) and he will help tremendously. I imagine there will be some significant relief and stress-reduction for Max to know that not quite everything is resting on his shoulders any more. Pre-orders have also allowed us to put the Heavy/Exoskeleton into the game, which was previously cut. We were also thinking seriously of cutting Dynamic Infestation but luckily we averted that.

Most of the game design is done and all the basic game systems are implemented. We still have more work to do on our particle system, weapon effects, Commander Mode interface and lots of little things like synching animations and sounds and that elusive "feel". It's surprising how even with so many great assets and so much tech, we still have so much to do to make this a great game.

Something that may not be apparent is that while it's been 7 years since the release of NS1, it's been a much shorter time that we've been actively working on NS2. After the 20+ patches (including some doozies), there was a lot of time trying to get this company funded. Max joined at the end of 2006 and that's when things started moving. We got an office and were up to four people in April of 2007 and Cory joined us that summer. It's pretty hard to develop a game without an Art Director, so artistically we've only really been working since then (previous artwork was scrapped). Even then, we didn't have any animators, modellers or level designers. Only in the past few months have we actually had more or less a full team working on the game.

So it's been a long road and a heck of a lot of work, but we know we're on the right track. Halloween is always a special time for us, as it makes us remember back when we launched a gutsy, laggy game called Natural Selection. I know many of you who are reading this played on that night and have supported us through all our ups and downs. If you like what we're doing and still believe in what we're doing, please consider pre-ordering if you haven't yet. We want to make sure we're not saying the same thing next Halloween...

It's good to have you with us.

-The NS2 Team


Lerk:- can shoots deadly spikes as well as spore clouds that are good against groups of marines. A little touch we hope to add with the spikes is that if you kill a marine with them and he's near a flat surface, he will fly backwards and become impaled in the wall.
Standard marine Rifle - He carries a pistol and the 2.sec SwitchAx is which is a foldable axe. It's so-named because it takes less than 2 seconds to pull out and implant an enemy's hide.

As the fourth part in our alien "reveals", we give to you, the Gorge!

Concept

The Gorge probably has the most character of any of the aliens and we knew we wanted to preserve is his slightly pitiful, hard-working and heavyset character (never say fat, it's rude).


Being the main builder/healer class and without much offensive power, we thought his pudgy visage needn't say "I want to eat you" but instead, "No one appreciates my slime-piles". Hence, the defeated look of his half-closed eyes. His semi-awkward face armor implies that he needs to stay safe more than he needs to attack fast-moving targets and the upturned armor "ears"...well, they're just cute.

His glowing spare tire ties him into the hive somewhat, in that both play a key role in the team's abilities and advancement. Here's the finished model and texture in-game:





Here's a video showing him in all his swollen glory:


Spit

As in NS1, the Gorge can spit a projectile that does damage to marines and structures. It makes a sizzling sound onenemies and glows, doing damage over time. It also obscures marine players' screens a bit and slows marine movement for a short time. It shows up as a bumpy infestation on its target. Spit alt-fire is a shorter-range, slower speed, more potent version especially suited for structures.

Health Spray

We're keeping the healing spray from NS1 as well. This creates a cloud of healing bacteria that will heal all friendly players and structures within it. Using this he'll be able to keep his team mates and precious structures alive and healthy. The area effect also means he won't have to move his corpulence unnecessarily.

Damage Soak

One new ability we're giving the Gorge is a armored protection ability (name pending). By holding crouch, he can drop his cushy paunch to the ground, extend the armor plates on his back. Doing so will mean that he takes damage off his energy instead of health, as long as he can do so! Energy is like the equivalent of alien ammo, but it never runs out and is always replenishing itself. So if he goes immobile, he can soak quite a bit of damage without getting hurt. At some point though, he'll run out of energy and he'll need to be saved by other players or will need to get up and shuffle away. You can see this ability at 0:32 in the Gorge video.

Geeky gamedom anecdote:if you played the celestial Star Control ][, you'll recognize this ability as similar to Utwig's special ability. We are toying with having the ability give you energy when it soaks damage as well, and reducing energy when using it without actually taking damage. I think it could an interesting Yomi layer.

Chambers

Chambers and how they relate to alien upgrades represent the weightiest change for the Gorge in NS2. Now there is an Alien Commander building technology structures, so Gorge-created structures won't unlock upgrades or abilities for other players. The unctuous chambers that the Gorge spits up will be purely tactical. These include the familiar Defense Chamber (automatically heals players or structures nearby) and the Offense Chamber (a kind of organic turret that shoots spikes, possibly renamed to Spike Plant). His over abundance...of abilities mean we'll probably limit his structures to these two.

One last ability we're considering is one suggested by the community - by holding shift he could Belly Slide along slick or downhill surfaces. Maybe as a quick escape down a ramp or just for fun?

We're hoping that these abilities will make the Gorge a fun class that straddles the line between attacker and defender and gives him lots to do near combat and in alien bases. He'll never be much of an attacker, but this butterball is the team medic and engineer and thus, deserves to be loved (by anything with slime on it at least).

Next up is the Lerk!

In NS2 this structure will allow the marines to purchase weapons andequipment. Like the NS1 model, we wanted to make sure that it wasapproachable from all sides, to allow as many players as possible toaccess it at the same time. It's an important structure, so we alsowanted to insure that it's easily noticeable by first time players.Hence it's increased size, and the addition of a rotating holographicgun projecting from the top.




We also went with a moreinteractive design, so, as a marine approaches the structure, the sideclosest to them unfolds and opens up, welcoming them in. The arms scanthe marine, running diagnostics, assessing and repairing armor damageand injuries, while the marine links in via their helmet HUD. When noone is near the structure, it remains nicely folded up, protecting it'sdelicate machinery and electronics, and taking up less of a footprintin the environment.

When an item is purchased the armsessentially become 3d printers. The requested item has been scannedoffsite, and downloaded into the structure, and then it is printedinstantly into the marine's waiting hands as soon as it is purchased.

Here are some in engine renders:



Here's short video showing the armory deploying, opening up to be accessed, and then playing a scan/printing animation.

He's everyone's favorite wall-hugging murderer and he's looking morehandsome than ever. As most of you know, the Skulk is the defaultcharacter class and main element of the alien fighting force. He isfast, able to hide and ambush and has a powerful melee attack. But withno ranged attacks and without a lot of health (although he's a bittougher than in NS1), being effective as a Skulk is all about knowingwhen and how to attack and being skilled enough to get close to thetarget. Pervasive vent and ducts systems help him choose when and whereto fight and also provide a quick escape.



The Skulk's abilities are pretty similar to those in NS1. He's suchan important class that we're a little timid about giving him crazy newabilities (although new ones are always under consideration).

Wall-runningSkulks can drive their sharp leg spikes into crevices to walk on wallsor ceilings as if they were the ground. It doesn't cost energy nor doesit slow you down, so it can be used to dodge gunfire, confuse enemiesor hide. You can get a glimpse of wall-running in action with the Skulkrunning up the wall behind the Onos at 0:41 in our teaser video.

BiteWith his powerful multi-hinged jaws, he can deliver a lot of damagevery quickly. As in NS1, the Skulk player's view is from inside hismouth (is this really that controversial or weird?).

We're still not sure what his alt-fire for Biteis going to be. We've talked a lot about a grapple type of attack wherehe could clench down on a marine and do damage to him over time, butthat seemed too annoying from the marine's perspective (and how wouldhe shoot the skulk off of him?). Please give us some suggestions.

LeapThe Skulk can leap short distances quickly, landing in a pounce anddoing damage to its target. In NS1, leap appeared later in the game –now he always has it. Coupled with wall-running, leap allows goodplayers to traverse the map without ever touching the ground.

What about 'site?!You'll notice that he no longer has Parasite. The reason we currentlydon't have it as one of his abilities is because we think it's betterfor the Alien Commander to be scouting (which is the main purpose ofParasite). I really like the secondary purpose of it though, which isto do a small amount of ranged damage to kind of goad a marine into(hopefully, very stupid) action. I would love a kind of provokingability for him here and will probably put one in later if we come upwith an appropriate one.

IGN has a new interview with the NS2 team including an exclusive online video of the onos

We also have updates on the onos abilities including:

Quote

The new forum skin is now in beta testing. At the bottom of the forums is a drop down selector where you can choose NS to change to the NS skin.
This skin is as close to the official NS forum skin as I can get it with the changes to layout in IBP 3.0

Please post any bugs/comments/suggestions

If you are reading this then you have probably noticed that we have upgrade to the new version of invision power board forums 3.0.
This went extremely easy but, due to it being a major version release 2->3 a number of skin elements are no longer working e.g. forum ranks, smiles and the skin itself.

1902 http://www.brywright.co.uk/nsforum/ssi.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=1902&s=b1654109c80e607aa236fc654a61c3d8 35 http://www.brywright.co.uk/nsforum/ssi.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=&s=b1654109c80e607aa236fc654a61c3d8

I will be working hard over the next few days to get this upgraded. I will proberly even rope Perpetual in to help

If you purchased NS2 with an invalid or unusable email address it is now possible to change it.

Simply visit: http://www.unknownwo....com/ns2/change

Latest update is saying:

Ok it's looking official - aliens can't climb ladders in NS2.

Now I must admit it was kinda ridiculous to see an Onos climbing a ladder and with the probable inclusion of destructible walls/doors to allow an onos an alternative route this is somewhat offset. But, what about gorges who can not wall climb and probably can not charge down a wall (one would hope).
So, they must have an alternative in place...