Build 196 released news - Natural Selection 2

Work continues on some big new features including a new main menu and a new in-game help system. Those aren't done yet, but we wanted to roll out some other balance and bug fixes for you in the mean-time.

Balance

• Marines start now with an initial Infantry Portal.
• Used results from 10,000+ games in the spawning simulator to equalize time in the field for both teams: lowered infantry portal build time from 10 seconds to 7, and Armory from 15 to 12 (to try to lessen effectiveness of Skulk rush)
• Increased phase gate armor from 150 to 450 (total damage capacity up 20%). Increased kill point value from 15 to 20.
• Increased Marine sprint time from 12 to 15 seconds to help them better defend extractors.

Change

• A Hive now produces Drifters when it is upgraded to a Crag/Shift/Shade hive instead of when someone occupies it.
• Added smoothing of player models when going up and down stairs.
• Changed the game FOV to be based around 4:3 aspect ratio.
• When the game selects the starting Resource Point, it chooses the closest one that is in the same location name as the starting Tech Point instead of purely the closest.
• Increased the range at which Weapons can be picked up from 1 meter to 1.5 meters.
• Added caching of light locations to improve client side loading times (thanks matso!)
• AI units won't stack on each other anymore during moving.

Feature

• Added 3rd person Grenade Launcher model.
• Added an option to specify if the Editor uses the system locale for displaying numbers or the default American locale.

Fix

• The Skulk extents are used when searching for possible Egg spawns from the Hive (avoids finding a location big enough for an Egg but too small for a Skulk)
• Fixed script error when a Marine with a Jetpack goes to the Ready Room when a game is finished.
• Fixed bug where particles would sometimes not have correct forces applied to them.
• The player will no longer spawn above the point they should spawn at (was causing players to get stuck in ceilings in some cases)
• Fixed bug where "use" button would be displayed if near an Armory that was just destroyed.
• Fixed Infestation-related script error.
• Fixed bug where the body rotation for Players wasn't properly reflected on the client model.
• Weapon pickup and drop events are no longer spammable.
• Player move orders will not be copied if the move order is within 15 meters of the player's position (prevents problem with move orders being copied between players continuously)
• Fixed View Model script error that occurred in some rare cases on the Server.
• Fixed bug where options in the Editor were serialized/deserialized in the current locale.
• Fixed error when a Hive finishes building while a Gorge is dying.
• Drifter trail is not visible anymore when cloaked.
• Hud will display only 2 decimals of gained resources.
• Fixed bug where Structure angles would gradually drift towards 0.
• Fixed script error when the Commanders drops a Med or Ammo pack directly on a Marine and then logs out of the Command Chair.
• Fixed bug where the MAC and Drifters were not lag compensated.
• Fixed bug where the build tooltip would appear for an unbuilt structure that had been destroyed.
• Fixed bug which caused an Alien players to spawn at a Marine Infantry Portal in some rare cases.
• Statistics not rendering properly.

Art

• Added strafing animations to sprint
• Updated main menu background (in prep for new interface)
• Command Station bug fix (when it was opened and closed rapidly)
• Onos smash hit particle effect updated
• Added Drifter tail particle effect
• New Gorge particle effects
• Flamethrower particle effect revisited
• Grenade Launcher now shows up in third person
• Updated the Onos ability icons

SDK

• PathInclude flag added to prop_dynamic types in the Editor.
• Added an error message when setting the parent of an Entity to an Entity was destroyed.
• Added GetIsDestroyed() function to Entity.
• Changed OnDestroy to be called immediately when the Entity is marked for destruction.
• Added the name of the class when printing an error message about a network field.

We hope you enjoy playing the beta! See you online.