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Natural Selection Wiki

Date: August 5, 2014

Patch 267

Highlights

  • Better performance
  • More modding options
  • A new skill-tracking system
  • Better matchmaking
  • More fonts supported
  • More languages supported
Blog Post

Changelog

Fixes

  • “interp”, “mr” and other server settings are now sent to clients when they join.
  • AI units now move smoothly, uses proper world time when calculating position.
  • Whips will no longer whiff when slapping/bombarding.
  • Whips will no longer wait until the bombard ball has regenerated before slapping close in targets (able to slap about 1 second after flinging ball).
  • Made conditions to grant reload for ClipWeapon more strict to avoid potential problems. (Thanks Dragon!)
  • Smoother sustained fire animation for Shotgun.
  • Fixed bug that stopped Shotguns and Miniguns from shooting through soft targets.
  • Fixed problematic collision on the following props:
    • refinery_tram_door1.model
    • refinery_tram_door2.model
    • docking_loadingdoor_closed.model
    • docking_loadingdoor_closed_var.model
    • refinery_gantrycrane.model
    • biodome_elevator.model
    • biodome_wallmods_01_corner_in_90_01.model
    • biodome_wallmods_01_corner_in_90_02.model
    • refinery_rock_stalagtite_01.model to refinery_rock_stalagtite_09.model
    • refinery_floodlight_01.model
  • Scoreboard fixed to show the full game length if the game exceeds an hour.
  • Eliminated 2KB bandwidth spike on every spawn and death unnecessary TechTree full sends.
  • Eliminated 90 byte bandwidth spike every second for every player for unnecessary Alien techtree updates.
  • Fixed the “freezebots” command to work with all kind of bots.
  • Fixed draw game detection potentially not detecting draw games.
  • Fixed drifters being able to fake build off-infestation tunnels/hydras/cysts if the commander gave the order.
  • Marine structures on the minimap now update properly when being recycled or powersurged.
  • Fixed removing bots sometimes crashing the server.
  • Marine scan icon on map is now centered and better reflects scan range.
  • Fixed Bonewall not having pre-drop range.
  • Fixed and improved the tutorial. Fixed spawns, using new alien bots, etc.
  • Fixed constant “Initiating welder sub-routine” spam when a MAC auto-welded a structure on infestation.
  • Fixed thirdperson healspray animation not playing if continuing to heal with low energy.
  • Fixed Bilebomb buy menu hover description.
  • Fixed bug where Aliens could climb up structures they shouldn’t be able to.
  • Removed badge kill tracking.
  • Fixed Lerk bite having the same icon as Skulk bite.
  • Clogs can no longer be placed over, and/or block Infantry Portals.
  • Fixed exploit that allowed Hydras to shoot through floors.
  • Fixed Prototype Lab not showing “Under Attack” alerts.
  • Fixed hive data being sent even when cheats were enabled.
  • Clicking details button without a server selected won’t show the window anymore.
  • Fixed black death screen hiding voice chat pop-ups.
  • Failure to join a server will return you to the server browser now.
  • Fixed phase sound not playing when a player enters a phase gate and only playing at the other side.
  • Fixed ghost guide circle being visible if a structure doesn’t specify a range for the circle.
  • Fixed leap view animation not playing if you leap after jumping into the air.
  • Fixed building structures in doors.
  • Grenades mines and jetpacks are now affected by darwinmode.
  • Fixed being able to nanoshield ghost power nodes.
  • Fixed being able to power surge unbuilt structures.
  • Improved Commander panel buttons for echoing.
  • Drifters eggs are now affected by autobuild.
  • Fixed stuck issue with echoed eggs on uneven surfaces.
  • Fix Exos not taking damage when standing in death_triggers with damage over time.
  • Re-added Training link to in-game menu now that Organized Play link was removed.
  • Fixed material sounds not being correct for the material surface, thin metal textures not being thin metal effects.
  • Added custom move collision box for ARCS to prevent player from bouncing around on top of them and getting stuck/swallowed.
  • Added docking_showerwalls_str_shiny and end_shiny.
  • Fixed “Container” and “Temperature” typos on Descent crates.
  • Fixed some structures not playing the right flinch animation corresponding the the damage type.
  • Fixed Elite Assault left hand not having a TSF logo on the view model.
  • Fixed the left thumb and middle finger for Female Axe view model.
  • Removed some unused animations.
  • Added a smoother collision box for Spurs so you don’t bounce around when on top of them.
  • Fixed several problems with female viewmodel animations.
  • Improved Female black armor hands view model texture. (Thanks Zavaro!)
  • Fixed male black armor shoulder patches being reversed.
  • Fixed Contamination and Infestation icons being the same.
  • Improved quality of range textures for commanders.
  • Fixed sentry batteries playing the powered down animation even though it was powered.
  • Fixed outdated loading screens.
  • Removed Level 1 text from Arms lab holo model.
  • Fixed TSA text on Arms lab holo model, shotgun ammo drop, side of pistol, and a poster in Docking.
  • Fixed TSA on Flamethrower model and Catalyst Pack models. (Thanks Ulmont!)
  • Fixed issue where Marine bots ignored Gorges.

Improvements

  • Added texture management choice in graphics options; allows the (stall-free) NS2 texture manager to load/unload textures rather than the (stall-full) video drivers.
  • Console command “fps” now has bad-frame tracker; type fps for more info.
  • Console command “r_stats” now tracks the texture manager workload.
  • Added option to turn on multi-threaded physics to help with fps in entity-rich environments – EXPERIMENTAL, disabled by default. Disabled for Linux (causes crashing).
  • Relevancy configuration added, avoids entities disappearing from view in corner when in overhead view (Commander/Spectator).
  • Relevancy used to smooth abrupt location transitions (PG/GorgeTunnel/Beacon). Relevancy distance will start small and expand over 0.6 seconds to avoid CreateEntity hitching.
  • MACs and Arcs will be created and roll out from inside the Robotics factory.
  • MACs will now avoid the face of a player when welding them or when following them.
  • MACs following or guarding units will do side-tasks if their main don’t need them and are close enough.
  • Added as many UTF8 characters as possible to all fonts. This makes you able to chat in cyrillic.
  • Improved look of fonts to make them easier to read ingame.
  • Added the ability to translate the entire Game UI (Main Menu, Spectator UI, Loading Screen and more).
  • Enabled weapon specific ammo models for dropped weapons.
  • Added slight impulse to dropped weapons.
  • Made location text for marines left aligned so long location names can fit in the UI.
  • Rookie names will now show green on the map for teammates
  • Scoreboard will now show the previous games length until a new game begins instead of 0:00.
  • When a structure bleeds out the kill feed will show the killer as whoever hit it last.
  • Marine Commander UI now shows the number of Marines currently respawning.
  • Integrated ‘Ready Room Special’ mod allowing skulks to leap, fades to blink, and exos and eggs to self-destruct.
  • Lerks will now see damage numbers for the poison bite’s damage over time.
  • Dropped guns’ outlines are now different colors (green for Shotgun, yellow for Flamethrower, purple for GL).
  • Catpacked marines will show with a purple outline to commanders and to spectators.
  • Mines will now show an outline to spectators (blue or yellow depending on if it has been parasited).
  • Jetpacks now show up on the scoreboard. (Thanks Wyzcrak!)
  • Passed votes now take effect immediately instead of running down the timer.
  • The kill feed now highlights your enemy player kills. It also scales with resolution now.
  • The Infantry Portal now shows the progress and name of spawning players.
  • Alien players will be able to see the progress of gestating teammates and what type of egg it is (if not a skulk egg).
  • The armory and infantry portal arms don’t block bullets anymore.
  • Added draw game splash screens and made draw games count as a score for both teams in Insight.
  • Added hit sound feedback for server-confirmed hits, volume slider is in the Sound options. It will play lower pitched sounds based on railgun charge, shotgun accuracy, damage done with a GL grenade, and number of players hit by a xenocide.
  • Players in ready room will now also see the end-game victory splash.
  • Performance at the server browser now shows the average server tick rate instead of the current.
  • Added player skill system based on moultano’s proposal
  • Added a warning in rookie mode when you try to join servers with more than 24 player slots.
  • Changed PGs and Tunnels to always show the destination name.
  • Changed PGs and Tunnels to put the location name in the hint message when looking directly at it.
  • Added a hint message for Gorge Tunnels.
  • Added display of owner’s name to gorge tunnels when looking directly at it.
  • Made Grenade Launcher use its own icon for the inventory/buy menu instead of the grenade. Kill feed still retains the grenade icon.
  • Items that disappear after some time on the ground now display an expiration bar for all Marine players (including the Marine Commander).
  • Improved Quick Join function now taking in account players skill, rookie friendly mode, favorites, performance, gamemode, player count and reserved slots.
  • Replaced “Organized Play” with “Quick Join” in the Main Menu.
  • Added bonewall icon to map.
  • Replaced the skill bar in the server browser with an icon that represents the average skill in the server compared to your own ability.
    • ^^: The server has mostly players better than you.
    • ^ : The server has some players better than you.
    • = : The server has a skill level similar to yours.
    • v : The server has some players weaker than you.
    • vv : The server has mostly players weaker than you. Joining a server like this can ruin the fun of all players currently playing there, so try not to join these.
  • Skulk bite decal now looks like a bite not a gash.
  • Power Surge selection will now act like Nanoshield for Commander, nearest entity to click will be used.
  • When using commander hotkeys, viewport will only move if do the second tap within 0.5 seconds of the first keypress.
  • Added previous location bind for commander which teleports you to your previous location before moving to an alert/hotkey.
  • Mature structures are now prioritized over built structures, and built structures are now prioritized over non-built structures when echoing.
  • A structure’s current order is now cleared after echoing.
  • Grenades mines and jetpacks are now affected by darwinmode.
  • Added a never show again checkbox for the optimize window.
  • Cheat command improvements:
    • Respawn cheat commands always spawn the player with their previous equipment/lifeform and upgrades in first person view. It’s also no longer needed to type “switch” to go between teams, you can -type “skulk” as a marine and it will switch you automatically.
    • New cheat command “respawn” that spawns you as your last class, with your last equipment, at your last position where you died. Use “respawn_clear” to clear all the remembered settings.
    • New cheat command “jetpack” that makes you respawn as a jetpack marine.
    • You can now use precise amounts for “pres” and “tres” (ie. “pres 40” will give you 40 personal res).

Features

  • sv_spawnteams , command to force teams to certain spawns on a map.
  • Added idle animations for first person Marine weapons. Plays every 10 seconds after being idle.
  • Players can now taunt in the Ready Room.
  • Removed cheat requirement for debugspeed and made it more functionally pretty.
  • Added locateorigin command to display origin of a map.
  • Added overhead zoom. Next/Previous weapon to zoom, Drop weapon key to reset zoom. Works for Commanders and Spectators.
  • Clicking a badge on the scoreboard will now show the name of the badge.
  • Added console command chatwrapamount to change chat wrapping cutoff amount.

Translations

  • Fully done:
    • German (Ghoul)
    • Spanish (Mendasp)
    • French (Pelargir & Explosif.be)
    • Russian (Well.Ru)
  • Still work in progress:
    • Czech, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Portuguese

Want to help in translating ns2? Visit http://translate.unknownworlds.com/

Server

  • You can now enable alltalk while the game hasn’t started.
    • Server config value “pregamealltalk”. Default is false.
    • Server admin command “sv_pregamealltalk []” to change config value (if no argument is given it acts as a toggle).
  • The server config will not automatically be expanded by new config values and old ones not used anymore will be removed.
  • By default the server will use now always the latest consistency check table. If you prefer to use your own ConsistencyCheckConfig.json please change the “use_own_consistency_config” server config value (default: false) to true.

Reduced Hitching

  • The texture manager will avoid interfering with the render thread when streaming textures (slower texture load, less hitching).
  • The texture manager now ensures that memory-mapped textures are loaded into memory before handing them over the the graphics driver.
  • Fonts and materials are now fully precached.
  • Cinematics now precache all of their contents (models, textures, materials, sounds).

Sounds

  • Female taunts are now random no repeat.
  • Reinforced taunt “Kill em’ all, it’s the only way to be sure” is now much more likely to play.
  • Reduced volume of power node sounds by 2 db.
  • Fixed really quiet Onos and Fade taunts.
  • Fixed wound sounds for aliens and marines to play max of 2 sounds at once from 1, and increased priority to prevent them from sometimes not playing.
  • Fixed Fade blink and Sentry fire sound not looping.
  • Fixed Phase Gate teleport and teleport trigger sounds not playing on both entrance and exit.
  • Fixed Lerk idle sound to have a fade in time to prevent it from playing when it shouldn’t (like fast turns).
  • Overhauled material sounds. You will now hear more sounds when you attack non-players.

Maps

Summit

  • Fixed stuck issue between Pipe Junction and Data Core.
  • Commander view cleanup

Veil

  • Fixed holes in geometry around Nanogrid.
  • Added Gorge Tunnel placements (elevator in Overlook, corridor between Dome and C12).
  • Commander view cleanup.

Kodiak

  • FPS boost in Upper/Lower Rapids, All Biospheres, Hydroponics.
  • Reduced “plant” prop count by around 20%.
  • Removed Trees (1 in each area).
  • Added new rock outcropping to the non RT side of the lower rapids bridge + occlusion geo.
  • External lights brightness upped to 5 (was 2.5).
  • Additional env_lights added to N and C biosphere.
  • Added a bridge cover in C biosphere.
  • Improved minimap around C to S biodome cave connection.
  • River under U/L rapids is assigned to appear as a “vent”.
  • All plants in the biodomes are now cmdr invisible.
  • Changes to Southern Biodome / Loading to make arcing a little bit harder.
  • Fixed Hole in Upper falls near entrance to observation.
  • Fixed Occlusion issue in Observation.
  • Fixed collision on rock props / removed some props and upped the brightness slightly in water production.
  • Fixed reflections in the RR.
  • Improved Occlusion geo in Hydroponcs + Optimised the lighting further.

Tram

  • Fixed MACs being unable to build the Power Node in South Tunnels.
  • You can now drop Gorge Tunnels in the Elevator in Elevator Transfer.
  • Adjusted initial cysting in Hive rooms.
  • Fixed power issue in Hub.
  • Fixed grenades not colliding with the train tracks.
  • Fixed gorge tunnels not being placeable behind the server racks in Server Room.
  • Smoothed out player movement in Warehouse.
  • Fixed buildings falling through the Ore Processing floor when dropping them.
  • Fixed stuck issue in the ceiling between Logistics and Repair Room.

Docking

  • Fixed reflections.
  • Fixed greybox texture in Terminal.
  • Tunnels can be now be placed on the lower level of Generator.
  • Fixed a glass prop not being hidden from commander invisible.
  • Fixed hole above door near Terminal.
  • Removed Cafeteria/Locker Rooms close spawns.
  • Fixed z-fighting textures near Bar.
  • Fixed small hole above door in Docking near Terminal.

Eclipse

  • Added tunnel_allowed geometry under the laser in Keyhole to allow for tunnel placement off navmesh

Mineshaft

  • Fixed reflections being too high causing graphical errors.
  • Added tunnel_allowed spots to mineshaft above the walkway in Gap leading to Central Drilling and the near the broken walkway in Cave.
  • Fix negative light in Pilot Drill causing visual bugs.
  • Fixed exploit that allowed you to get outside of the map in Cave as a Lerk.

Refinery

  • Added pre-defined spawn points for Marines in Smelting and Turbine.
  • Fixed a stuck spot in Transit.
  • Fixed power location entities in Flow Control and Exchange.
  • Cosmetic fixes.

Descent

  • Replaced some Docking and Refinery glass with shiny Biodome glass.
  • Made the repair drone outside Satellite Relay commander invisible.
  • Fixed pathing_settings console spam.
  • Fixed the pathing from being places it shouldn’t.
  • Removed some props from commander view.

SDK

  • Death triggers can now be team specific.
  • Add surface print for the trace command.
  • Massively cleaned up editor_setup.xml.
  • Added ability to specify if ARC factories start upgraded in the Editor.
  • Reverb billboards now have their own icon.
  • spawn_select_override entities now are a different colored cube in the Editor.
  • Added a bounding box to decal entities that is visible even when not selected to make them easier to work with.
  • Added Clog and Contamination as placeable entities.
  • Updated Editor Manual.pdf.
  • Hid fog control entities, tech_point_hole and parent entities that should not be placeable or visible from the entity list.
  • Fixed reflections sometimes including dev textures when they shouldn’t.
  • Added ‘ReflectionsInvisible’ layer exception that makes anything in this layer be ‘invisible’ when reflections are built.
  • Fixed builder_setup having a line that would make overviews not generate.
  • Fixed builder_setup not generating soundinfo files.
  • Viewer
    • AnimationGraph editor now supports deleting associations.
    • AnimationGraph editor now usable in decimal-comma locales (always uses decimal dot for display and editing).
    • Added help button to AnimationGraph editor.
  • LaunchPad
    • Added support for specifying a Build Version in the mod settings. It locks the mod to an specific NS2 Build.
    • Fixed mod template to only create files when checkbox is ticked.
    • Changed default mod visibility Public.
  • PerfAnalyser
    • Added subtraction mode to performance logs view.
  • API / Engine
    • Console now supports pasting text.
    • Enabled Network profiling support.
    • Enabled hotloading of game files. Use with caution, see ns2/lua/Hotloading.lua for details.
    • Fixed issue where the bandwidth rate limiter would unnecessarily delay packets. (Thanks Max!)
    • Fixed typo in the r_stats output. (Thanks Max!)
    • Fixed AnimationGraphState:GetCurrentAnimation not initializing the result if the layer index was invalid and no longer allocates a GC object on every call.
    • Added OnGetMapBlipInfo to the MapBlipMixin.
    • Fixed that Player:GetClient() often returned nil.
    • NS2GameRules:CheckGameEnd now only checks PlayingTeam:GetHasTeamLost. Any logic in PlayingTeam:GetHasTeamWon should be inverted and merged into the opposite team’s GetHasTeamLost.
    • Added string Shared.GetSettingsVariable( string variable ) returning the given networked settings variable ( i.e. Shared.GetSettingsVariable(“mr”) = “30.000000” )
    • Made some Utility.lua functions available for all VMs via lua/UtilityShared.lua
    • Added cache tables for important GUI assets.See lua/GUIAssets.lua for more details


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