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Date: January 16, 2013

Blog Post

Changelog

Api

  • Added a version of Server.SendNetworkMessage() which takes a ServerClient object instead of a Player entity.

Balance

  • Cysts now start with 50 health (down from 100)
  • Increased minimum distance that Cysts can be placed near other Cysts (now 6 meters up from 2 meters)

Change

  • Increased alert priority for structures to be higher than Marine requests.
  • Reduced atmospheric light density of flashlights.
  • Voting a Commander out of the chair now requires 50% of the team instead of 30%
  • Server admin commands (sv_status, etc) will now print to the server console and log file.
  • Defaulted the map cycle to include all the official NS2 maps.
  • Removed "Beta" from the build number text that displays at the top left of the screen.

Editor

  • Undo delete edge now restores smoothness attribute.
  • Fixed crash/bug when deleting degenerate edges.
  • Selecting many faces while using the Paint Tool should be faster now. Refactored code to lazily-cache texture sizes.
  • Snap menu now contains two snap commands. No longer need to select vertices to snap, you can just select a face or an edge and snap its vertices automatically.
  • Edit|Snap To Grid. Will snap selected vertices (nothing else) to the current grid spacing.
  • Changed objects in the skybox to always be drawn with an infinite far plane (fixes issue where the sky box was not visible in the Editor)
  • Increasing far plane limit to 1000.
  • Fixed issue where the sound browser dialog didn't unmute the sound system when previewing a sound.
  • Smooth edges draw as green (color customizable in settings)
  • Smoothed edges now working in game! Level version number bumped up again to 9 to contain smoothed normals info.
  • Added Edit -> Make Edges (Not) Smooth to control smoothed normals over edges (make sure Select Tool is active); Increased Level Version # to 8 to save smooth edges; NOTE: The game does NOT have smoothed edges yet, but the editor does.
  • Tech Points now have an "Arm extension" parameter to control how long the Hive arms extend.
  • Added viewport -> selection numbers to toggle the upper-right selection numbers in viewports.
  • Transformations now undo by restoring old vertex positions rather than by applying the inverse transform. Much more numerically robust (thus reducing numerical drift over time).
  • Disabling cinematic playback now actually hides cinematics (particles can cause performance slowdown)
  • Added Viewport|Play Cinematics menu item to toggle cinematic playback.
  • Only last gizmo mode for move/rotate tool gizmo snaps to grid; Rotate tool gizmo cycling works again; Pressing 'c' in output window clears it.
  • If grid snap is on, the move tool gizmo will always snap to grid for grid-snapped movement. No more extra move cycle mode.
  • Props with model paths that are invalid (e.g. missing files) show up as red boxes too.
  • Added prop_dynamic_animator entity used to affect animation state on dynamic props based off messages received from other entities.
  • Increased the size of the handles on the resize gizmo to make it more clear they are handles.
  • Added the ability to select between global space and local space for the move and rotate tools.
  • Vertex Welding should be much faster now. Only triangulating affected faces.
  • Added Button Emitter entity to the Editor. This can be setup to emit messages into the world to start a sound effect for example.
  • Huge re-factoring of mesh datastructures - should eliminate a lot of bugs related to crashes/freezes with deleting, welding, etc.
  • Props with no model will now show up as red boxes.
  • Fixed undo bug with extrusion. Added selection stats on top right of viewport. Added preliminary "check mesh" tool to help trouble shoot levels.
  • Fixed low speed when camera accel is on.
  • Added shift/alt modifiers for camera speed (works both in accel/normal modes); Fixed subtle undo-bug with weld/merge-face.
  • Removing the shift-hover-select thing that just spams undo items. Some other polish/fixes.
  • Fixed crash/bugs with copy/paste then undo.
  • Hardcoded hotkeys 0-9 for viewport settings (perspective, lit/unlit, etc.)
  • Made Tool Settings dialog taller to not hide stuff..heh.
  • Added an origin cycle mode to put the gizmo at the first selected object, so you can move a group of props without bad grid-snap.
  • Fixed editor bug where you could create empty props.
  • Fixed bug when undo-ing face merges.
  • Welding vertices will now auto-cleanup things like degenerate edges, duplicate edges (that were formerly different), etc.
  • Made camera acceleration an option (tools|settings|general|display settings). off by default now.
  • Fixing some issues with deleting faces, undoing, etc. Details: FaceIds are NOT reliable when faces are deleted, so each vertex now stores Face pointers rather than IDs.
  • Work in progress checkin for fixes to welding. Just adding some un-used stuff for now.
  • Fixed some bugs introduced by adjacent faces optimization.
  • Move operations, with/out texture lock, should now be a lot faster and smoother. Using a adjacent-faces-set per vertex instead of doing global face search.
  • On second thought, completely removing scale tool restrictions. Mappers use negative values.
  • Changed some scale tool parameters so it's less restrictive when sizing small-ish objects.
  • Added weld-selected-vertices command. Activate Select Tool, select a group of vertices, then Edit|Weld Selected Vertices (at the bottom of the menu)
  • New "knobs" for texture mapping (and other) spinners. purely mouse-movement-based. Up/down arrow keys still work if cursor is in text box. CTRL and ALT modifiers work on both.
  • Fixed lost-focus for hotkeys.
  • Feedback about how many faces were affected by texture replace.
  • Added ALT shortcut for texture replace; added F, C keys to move up/down when in first person camera.
  • Fixed annoying scrollbar reset with prop/texture browser windows.
  • Added Texture Replace tool (red paint bucket, all the way to the right of the toolbar)
  • Removed (-1000,1000) range limit on texture shift spinners. This fixes some of the texture lock-move blank-field issues..
  • Grid snapping for texture gizmo. There is some weirdness with snapping, but it works.
  • Ctrl + doubleclick on face now adds a whole body to selection.
  • Paint(Texture) Tool now has moving handles, in addition to rotate and scale.
  • Switching to hash_set instead for faster "used asset" lookups.
  • Texture browser now has "show used only" filter as well.
  • Props browser now has "show used props only" checkbox. Same thing for textures browser coming soon.
  • Custom colors now saved to *.level files.
  • Custom colors now saved between selections. Next todo: save per-level custom colors to disk.
  • Autobackup filenames now include level name, e.g. ns2_refinery.autobackup2.level.
  • Tooltips for tool bar buttons now display bound hot key. Bug: If you change them, the tooltips won't update until restart. Ah well.


Feature

  • Enhanced decals to have normal and specular components.
  • Added a button to request menu to give up a round (becomes visible after 5 minutes)
  • Improved Favorites functionality in the server browser. Favorites are now displayed at the top of the list by default and will refresh much faster.
  • Added server browser filter option for passworded servers.
  • Added -insecure command line option for dedicated servers to disable VAC.

Fix

  • Fixed bug where tech would sometimes become unavailable after failing to research.
  • The server browser will no longer allow you to attempt to connect to a favorited server that requires a password without the option of entering a password in some cases.
  • Invalid servers are now removed from the favorites list.
  • Fixed hit registration issues with the Skulk due to discrepancies in the body yaw value on the server and client.
  • Fixed Alien spectator UI showing the wave spawn time incorrectly for players which are not allowed to spawn (too less eggs or minimum spawn time)
  • MAC jet effect will only be shown when the MAC is visible.
  • Fixed issue where damage over time or AI units cause combat state for their owner (attacking Hydras no longer uncloak the Gorge)
  • Fixed bug where the "Start Server" displayed 32 as the maximum number of players for a listen server.
  • Fixed "Couldn't load " error messages in the log (replaced with a more detailed error message)
  • Fixed issue where models in a skybox cinematic would be affected by the location of the skybox entity.
  • Fixed bug where the mouse cursor would not be properly set to the default cursor if a mod didn't assign a cursor.
  • Fixed crash when loading a script file that was completely empty.
  • Added CRC information to cached shaders to prevent issues where an outdated, cached version of a shader was used due to incorrect timestamps.
  • Alien structures will no longer glow orange when a Skulk uses Parasite on them.
  • Fixed bug where the rate-of-fire of the Rifle would be reduced with low frame rate.
  • Fixed composite alpha-blending for LOW particles (ie. Lerk spore cloud is no longer too transparent)
  • <server> Fixed exploit allowing a player to execute a server admin command through chat.
  • Fixed unit status display not getting cleaned up properly.
  • Fixed shadowing artifacts when atmospherics were disabled.
  • Infinite loop in infestation blob placement.
  • Fixed bug where L key couldn't be bound in the key bindings options.
  • The "Use" icon will now display for Alien players for neutral use entities (map buttons for example)
  • Fixed Commander ping being visible on minimap when inactive (grey dot at world origin)
  • Fixed spit projectile visuals and damage application being out of sync for the shooting Gorge.
  • Fixed bug causing the follow camera to not follow players anymore if an Infantry Portal or Egg was destroyed right before the spectating player was going to spawn.
  • Added Recycle icon for recycle kill messages.
  • Fixed bug where mods would sometimes appear with no name in the mod list.
  • Fixed "PhysX: Particle data read not allowed while simulation is running" bug when multi-core rendering was disabled.
  • Fixed bug preventing some structures from displaying the hurt effects (smoke, fire, etc)
  • Fixed bug where armor / weapon upgrade in Marine HUD is displayed red at the beginning of a round.
  • <gameplay> units behind closed doors wont get revealed on the minimap anymore.
  • Fixed cysts not getting uncloaked by observatories.
  • <gameplay> fixed umbra ability not affected by silence upgrade.
  • <gameplay> shifts show now the correct echo radius for Alien Commander.
  • <gameplay> fixed bone wall being visible to Marine Commander without LOS.
  • <gameplay> fixed UI blood effect covering health / energy display at Alien HUD.
  • <gameplay> fixed bug where Alien Commander did not properly unlock abilities for himself.
  • <gameplay> fixed bug where clogs would not fall down anymore when they previously detached from another clog.
  • <gameplay> Whip Bombard will no longer damage their owner (Alien Commander)
  • Fixed bug where blink continued and was showing the trail effect when the Fade was already dead.
  • <gameplay> fixed recycling ARC Robotics Factory giving back 0 res (uses now the amount of robotic factory + upgrade cost)
  • Fixed bug where structures were allowed to perform actions which would be allowed only under specific circumstances (like building ARCs at unupgraded robotics factories)
  • Fixed Client error caused by the Flamethrower shoot sound effect.
  • Fixed bug causing loss of resources while spamming build MAC commands at the Robotics Factory.
  • Fixed exploit allowing a cloaked Alien to run at full speed if they were holding down the jump button.
  • Special characters such as new line no longer allowed in player names.
  • Fixed Builder always starting up in verbose mode.
  • Crash when playing an invalid sound effect.
  • Changed fog to default to off.
  • Fixed bug where mods could not be installed if the operating system's temporary directory contained UNICODE characters.
  • Fixed bug causing text in a message box on the main menu to overflow outside the box.
  • Fixed bug in the sv_ban command when banning a player not currently on the server.
  • Fixed bug causing the Fade to "teleport" to the ground while Blinking into walls and the ceiling.
  • Leading and trailing whitespace characters are ignored in the server list filters.
  • Filtered out duplicates when mounting mods.
  • Eliminated duplicate log messages when mounting mods for consistency checking.
  • Fixed bug where returning nil from GetAttachPointCoords would result in uninitialized data being used.
  • Fixed issue where having non-ASCII characters in the Windows user name would cause the game to not save mods, settings or cache files properly.
  • The Command Structure health will no longer be displayed for enemy structures when they spawn in a nearby room.
  • Fixed crash after alt-tabbing.
  • Removed the "Attack" button from the ARC as it is not needed and was causing some problems.
  • Fixed crash during precaching when a cinematic couldn't be loaded.
  • Signaled Steam to stop refreshing the server pings when connecting to a server to avoid cases where the routers NAT table overflowed.
  • Fixed issue where LaunchPad didn't properly specify the -game command line parameter when running NS2.
  • Crash when acquiring physics models from different threads.
  • Fixed bug where collision detection would fail on bodies which had extreme off-axis scaling applied to them (affected Harvester flinch animation)
  • Fixed bug allowing the Alien Commander to cancel research on a lifeform egg at the end of research, gaining back the resource cost but not canceling the research.
  • Fixed bug where ARCs didn't fire at targets when they had an attack order. They still need some work for actually listening to attack orders though. #3921.
  • Fixed error when starting Explore mode.
  • Fixed bug where Crags were getting too much health.
  • Fixed crash when a render_setup file could not be parsed due to improper formatting.
  • Fixed bug where text with multiple lines was not properly printed to the console.
  • Fixed bug where the spinner on the loading screen did not display if texture quality was set to medium.
  • Fixed bug where the server would leak memory under some circumstances.
  • The ghost Power Node no longer takes damage, fixes a problem where the Power Node could not be rebuilt after being destroyed in some cases.
  • Fixed rare bug where a Hive could become invulnerable if it was killed in the same frame as it finishes building.
  • Fixed sound bug causing ambient sounds in the world to not play correctly.
  • Fixed unbuilt shifts being able to generate eggs.
  • Fixed Exo and Mine tooltips.
  • Fixed regeneration effect showing up in combat.
  • Fixed the "filter modded servers" option not always working correctly in the server browser.
  • Fixed ARC targeting issues.
  • Fixed already recycled units still taking damage.
  • Added protection against speed hacking.
  • Fixed issues when downloading a mod on the server that didn't contain a valid title.
  • Fixed Flamethrower damaging the owner.
  • Fixed bug causing the pistol to sometimes lockup, preventing the player from shooting.
  • Fixed various crashes when a system runs out of video memory.
  • Fixed issue where pre-evolving eggs were not valid for respawning.
  • Fixed bug where resource would be lost if the Commander clicks on pre-evolve on an egg which had already a player assigned.
  • Fixed bug causing Mines to give Marines weld orders after they had taken damage.
  • Fixed hallucinated structures appear unbuilt.
  • Fixed bug where Commander Alerts were not 100% responsive to player input.
  • Fixed issue where the main menu would be displayed for a single frame when launching the game directly into a map or a server.
  • Fixed bug causing weapons to "teleport" back to where they were last equipped when a Marine dies.
  • Fixed error in the dedicated server documentation specifying how to create .htpasswd files.
  • Added detailed error messages when a .htpasswd file is not properly constructed.
  • The game will no longer allow switching to a map that doesn't exist (causing all Clients to be disconnected)
  • Fixed bug causing the Command Station to display the "Start commanding" help text while unbuilt or while the team already has a Commander.
  • Fixed bug causing the Hive to display the "Start commanding" help text while unbuilt.
  • Changed the default Taunt key to T instead of Q to prevent a conflict with Request Health.
  • Fixed Server script error caused by a game ending while the teams were unbalanced.
  • Fixed issue where a mod could crash the game by specifying an invalid index when querying the list of servers.
  • Fixed issue where requesting the server list could overflow or crash some modems.
  • Load-time optimization: Caching some pathing data, so loads should be faster after loading a map for the first time.
  • Added a hint for the NVIDIA Optimus driver to use the high performance GPU.
  • Fixed rare problem in the Main Menu caused by the options file becoming corrupted.
  • Fixed bug where mod names would sometimes be displayed as ???
  • Fixed bug in the "Quick Join" feature.
  • Fixed bug where mods could not be installed through the web administration interface.
  • Fixed bug where regeneration effect was visible while cloaked.
  • Server Browser: "Filter Modded" checkbox now saved.
  • Fixed Hydras not interacting with nutrient mist.
  • Fixed Couldn't open "" error message.
  • Deleting Unicode characters in TextInput now works.
  • The server browser scroll bar now resets when the menu is displayed and when the "Refresh" button is pressed.
  • Fixed rare script error caused by getting a new ability in the same frame an Alien was destroyed.
  • Reduced bloom flicker, courtesy of 'slime' from the forums. Thanks!
  • Fixed "select all Marines" icon in Marine Commander HUD.
  • Fixed popping of Infestation when it becomes relevant to a client.
  • Fixed hitching when moving fast near Infestation.
  • Fixed multi-threading crash when starting a listen server.
  • Removed badges from main menu until we can hook them up properly. This fix is Brian-approved.
  • Don't interpolate vectors that are too far apart (for cleaner camera cuts / teleportation)
  • Fixed problem with MACs and Drifters being able to leave the world.
  • Update view angles before firing weapon (fixes some hitreg issues)
  • Music volumes properly set now to respect the options slider.
  • Fixed bug causing the Command Station to be closed without a Commander inside in some cases.
  • Fixed bug where the cloaking effect was not smoothly animated on the client.
  • Fixed taking damage sound not playing for a Marine in a Lerk Spore Cloud.
  • Fixed install script.
  • Un-whitelisted all mods.
  • Un-whitelisted NS2Stats. We felt we needed to do this because script errors were preventing people from playing NS2. Hopefully we'll have a better fix for this post 1.0.
  • Fixed position of message box in the "Play Now" menu.
  • Fixed bug in "Play Now" menu if there were no servers available.
  • Fixed shifts not dissolving after death.
  • Got rid of some lag.
  • Fixed problem where the Commander buttons menu would sometimes get out of sync with the server, preventing placement of structures until the tab is changed.
  • Fixed hatch ability costing no resources.
  • Fixed celerity working when sneaking / being cloaked.
  • Fixed Alien buy menu not unselecting upgrades when the upgrade structure gets destroyed.
  • Fixed missing prop in Tram causing holes in the Tram doors.
  • Fixed wrong icons in hallucination / echo menu.
  • Added missing Hydra icon.
  • Fixed nutrient mist effect showing up for enemies on cloaked structures.
  • Fixed nutrient mist showing up on unbuilt structures.

Ifdef

  • _SHIP_RELEASE to choose.

Improvement

  • The Gorge and Welder now award points for healing.
  • Added "reconnect" command which is the same as "retry" (reconnects to the last server you were on)
  • <server> Added sv_cheats admin command to turn cheats on and off.
  • 'Sound volume' now only controls the volume of sound effects allowing music and voice volume to be set independently.
  • Added time out to Stomp per Marine, to prevent animations going crazy and Onos being able to disable a Marine permanently when next to a shift.
  • Easier application of Fade vortex.
  • The "Update" button in the server browser now changes text when finished updating servers.
  • Steam overlay based web views moved over to in-game web view.
  • Added more loading screen tooltips.
  • Added a display to the server browser to show the number of servers in the list.
  • Fixed Flamethrowers not creating flame residues.
  • The "connection problems" icon is displayed in yellow or red depending on the "severity" of the problem.
  • Replaced script error with a warning message when a server config file is ill-formed.
  • Added server list filter option to display favorites only.
  • Added option to disable camera animations.
  • The key bindings menu now displays key conflicts in red.
  • The key bindings menu saves key changes as you make them.
  • Added main menu option to select armor type.
  • Replaced outdated Skulk tutorial videos (Thanks Skie!)
  • Improved health/armor prediction.
  • Custom color for evolved upgrade icons in Alien buy menu.

Optimization

  • <mainmenu> improved refreshing of the server list (about 10 times faster)
  • Optimized batching of decals with the same material.
  • New graphics option for particle quality - if you experience low frame rate during combat-heavy scenarios, keep this at LOW (the default).
  • Changed .polygons files for particle materials to only be loaded once.
  • Improved the performance of lighting calculations.
  • Changed fullscreen passes to be rendered using a single triangle rather than a two triangle quad to eliminate overshading pixels along the diagonal.
  • Improved bloom performance (thanks Alexander Szpakowski!)
  • Fixed bug where all models in a level were loaded twice during the loading process.
  • Sped up Infestation rendering.
  • Streamlined access of the material polygons for particle systems.
  • Setup special edition and normal Marine models to share animations (reduces client and server memory usage by ~400MB)

SDK

  • Fixed hot-loading of material files in the Viewer.
  • Added support for floating point parameters in material files.
  • Added a menu option for showing/hiding the Properties window in the Cinematic Editor.
  • Added additional Fade and Gorge animation MAX files for reference.
  • Added "copy" generator to the render pipeline configuration file, which copies one texture into another.
  • Fixed potential crash when the render pipeline requested a parameter which wasn't defined in the shader template (now reports an error)
  • Added Server.GetNumPlayers() and Server.GetMaxPlayers() functions.
  • Removed SoundEventInstance:SetPropertyInt and SoundEventInstance:SetPropertyFloat functions (have more specific replacements and are emulated in the compatibility layer)
  • Changed ambient sounds in the game to sound the same as ambient sounds in the Editor.
  • Fixed compatibility with models exported from OpenCOLLADA.
  • Removed the Script documentation link from the Launch Pad because it doesn't exist.
  • Added a link to open the example assets directory in the Launch Pad.
  • Added the ability to specify which object "zones" are rendered in a particular stage of the pipeline with the zones_mask parameter.
  • Added Shared.ReportStatistics function.
  • Added compatibility mechanism for handling changes to the SDK.
  • Added the ability to specify default values for settings in a render_setup file.
  • Added Clear Level menu option in the Cinematic Editor to clear out the currently set level file.
  • Fixed issues with COLLADA files that contained instance_material nodes.
  • Fixed issue where COLLADA files that referenced textures with spaces in the file name would not be properly loaded if the file name used a relative path.
  • Fixed loading of COLLADA models in the Viewer.
  • Enhanced the sound picker with a hierarchical folder display.
  • Added support for hearing sounds effects placed in the level in the Editor.
  • Added support for displaying cinematics in the Editor.
  • Added support for displaying web pages in game.
  • Added a second parameter to the callback called from Shared.SendHTTPRequest in the case of an error, which specifies the error message.
  • Changed models to use a default material if one wasn't specified in the imported file.
  • Added the ability to specify "passes" for build rules in the Builder to setup simple dependency relationships.
  • Added SoundEffectInstance:SetCoords() function.
  • Fixed crash and added an error message when the bones for a model don't match the model that is being referenced for animations.
  • Fixed crash when loading a COLLADA file exported by OpenCollada.
  • Added Client.GetServerIsSecure function to determine if a server has VAC enabled.
  • Added an optional callback function to Client.RefreshServer.
  • Fixed issue where passing invalid value to some script functions would report a script error, but continue execution.
  • Added Client.GetServerIsModded and Client.GetServerTickRate functions.
  • Added Client.RequestServerDetails function which must be called before a server's key/values can be queries.
  • Added Client.GetIsDlcAuthorized function.

Server

  • Added auto-kick AFK players feature. Add auto_kick_afk_time (seconds until an AFK player is kicked) and auto_kick_afk_capacity (from 0 to 1, how full the server is to enabled auto-kicking) to your ServerConfig.json file to use.
  • Added admin command: "sv_auto_kick_afk 120 0.6". This will enable auto-kicking AFK players after 2 minutes when the server is at least 60% full. Use "sv_auto_kick_afk 0 0" to disable auto-kicking.

Maps/Ns2_docking

  • Added vent from Lockers to Maintenance
  • Redesigned East Wing
  • Tweaked commanders view around Terminal and Landing Pad
  • Adjusted the lower windows in Terminal
  • Changed the lighting in the lower half of Maintenance
  • Removed the broken railing in Courtyard to Lockers
  • Fixed occlusion gap in Stability
  • Fixed Drifter spawn issue in Generator
  • Added in moving train to Departures
  • Moved Departures Power Node
  • Added some extra cover in Maintenance
  • Moved Terminals tech point and starting ip slightly to help with pathing
  • Deleted Courtyard Resource Point
  • Moved Cafeteria Techpoint closer to the window
  • Fixed cyst placement issue in Courtyard
  • Deleted one of the lockers in Locker Rooms to fix a pathing bug
  • Changed how Courtyard vent leads to Departures
  • Fixed cyst placement issue in Generator

Maps/Ns2_tram

  • Floating faces in Shipping removed from commander view.
  • Fixed greybox textures visible through Shipping windows.
  • Removed door prop at Shipping's west entrance from commander view.
  • Pipes in Warehouse and Elevator Transfer with no collisions fixed.
  • Added collision smoothing to pipe in Mezzanine.
  • Cleaned up Commander View in Observation->Elevator Transfer area.

Maps/Ns2_summit

  • Fixed invisible hitbox between the pipes in front of the Sub Access vent
  • Fixed stuck point in the chairs in Computer Lab
  • Rotated crate in Sub Access corridor towards Computer Lab to provide some cover
  • Cleaned up Commander View


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