Exactly. I loved the old NS. People can talk about Tremulous all they want, but that’s just a twitch-shooter with small RTS elements. It doesn’t have the depth or dynamics of NS. To each his own, but for me nothing was more intense than a long push/pull battle of NS.

I was really disappointed when in the later betas, the team made adjustments to the “classic” mode that would make game rounds shorter on average. I used to LOVE these games that could take over 3 hours. For short games we already had the Combat mode, right? Whilst a stale moment in most games ends in bored players leaving, in NS it stays interesting, because there are always so many options to try and change the tide. Also, the power of teamwork can be so insanely great in NS. It makes TF2 seem like a lone-wolf game in comparison, and I love TF2! It’s just that playing TF2 always makes me think of how great NS was. In fact, I’m going to install the old NS again and have some games! There were a good few servers left. Only problem was the community which largely got kind of bittered. For 90% , the only thing you hear over voice is whining about how others can’t play the game right or just plainly suck.

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Uh, if you go to the artist’s website you’ll see that he also made models for the same game that you are throwing a fit over the developers having more of a struggle with.

On a more related note, I hope NS2 is able to keep the same competitive edge and depth while still making it newbie and casual friendly.

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Really looking forward to it, just hope it retains the scare factor of the original (it’s still the only game that can make you sh!t yourself after 6 years of playing when you’re ambushed by something like a skulk)

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At least they’re not buying other companies and cannibalizing their talent and reputation to trick people into buying crap, so they aren’t quite as bad as a commercial game publisher.

That said, I could see a lot of people doubting Unknown Worlds just because they put out one game already strictly for a profit. That profit was most likely just a realistic way to fund the development of their dream game, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Then again, ‘slippery slope’ arguments don’t prove anything.

Personally I have zero hype for Natural Selection II right now, so much so I won’t even bother making a better-informed decision. No matter what I say, the game will come out sooner or later (or not), and a more informed decision can be made then.

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Hooray, I thought I was the only one! I’ve never been able to put my finger on it, but most, if not all, Source games I’ve played feel sort of… gooey? I can’t quite explain it though, I mean surely things like acceleration are easily modifiable. Maybe it’s something more fundamental to the physics side of the engine? Or maybe Valve just like their movement style, and most modders don’t bother messing with it. I was also wondering whether it has anything to do with field of view: I find low FOV quite unsettling, and from memory HL2 and its derivatives may have had sub-90 FOV as default, while CS: Source, which felt a bit better to me, didn’t? I have no ida what I’m talking about, but I agree: Source games tend not to feel quite right.

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I spent a bunch of time playing the original NS and I had a blast.

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Until then… lets see, there is still much time to go to hell for them.

After reading the Q&A cyrenic linked to their engine seems to be a well thought-out concept. (Everything gameplay related in modifiable LUA code + easy level editing because you don’t have to worry about lightning + easy-to-use and powerful tools)

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Funny thing there. About two years ago, there was a documentary about an indie startup trying to make their own MMORPG. They also ended up creating their own engine despite being a ragtag bunch of volunteers. The head of the project was working part-time as a doorman in NY, away from his wife and child. Another member of the team went homeless for 2 weeks. Another sold his house to move closer to everyone else. The artist for the project was ready to move from Thailand to the states for the project. If there was any group of people that, under these circumstances, had a shot, it was them. If anyone sacrificed more in the process, i’ve never heard about it.

Cut to episode 8 of that documentary series:
“He doesn’t know how hard making a big game is yet”
— Charlie Cleveland, head of the NS team that was more comfortable than the person he was describing thanks to the bullshit Sudoku clone his company crapped out, and whose only real credentials otherwise are driving his own mod into the ground before it had a chance to seriously take off.

Something to keep in mind if you want to be amazed at the poor little indie NS team making their own way.

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