Natural Selection
| Natural Selection (NS) | |
|---|---|
| Game / Engine : | Half-Life / GoldSrc |
| Type : | Total conversion |
| Genre : | First person shooter / real time strategy |
| Developer : | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
| Game modes: | Multiplayer |
| Current version : | 3.2 |
| First published : | October 31, 2002 |
| Project status : | Development completed |
| Size : | 156 MB |
| Language (s) : | English |
| http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns | |
Natural Selection (English for natural selection , NS or NaSe for short) is a modification of the computer game Half-Life that is independent of Valve . For the first time, the game combines game elements of a first-person shooter with those of a real-time strategy game .
In 2002, the mod won the ModDB Mod of the Year Award and the GameSpy PC Game of the Year Special Award as Modification of the Year .
Gameplay
Natural Selection is a multiplayer game in which the fundamentally different parties Frontiersmen Marines and Khaara Aliens face each other. These compete against each other in the complex Classic mode or in the simpler Combat mode.
Background story
In the future, humans will have colonized large parts of the galaxy. The "Trans-System Authority" (short: TSA) is an independent association of 37 "Trans-Gov" (governments or super-corporations that have connected solar systems to one another via a phase gate).
The Kharaa (alien) infestation began in the Ariadne Arm, a sparsely populated area of the galaxy. They attacked transport ships and killed the crew within a few hours, causing the ships to drift into gravitational sources (suns, planets) and be destroyed. In some cases, the drifting ships were also shot down by the owners afterwards, as there was always the risk that an autopilot would anchor the ship to a city dock or a planet. In that case, the kharaa would cause a great catastrophe.
The kharaa arise from a bacterium that has not yet been fully researched. Its origin and its movement in space are unknown. It spreads invisibly like a carpet on all surfaces throughout the ship in order to find suitable places for a hive (breeding ground). Once this point is located, a hive is built from biomass that can give birth to larger aliens. These then destroy the entire crew. The reasons for this approach are unknown. Communication with the primitive, but nevertheless cunning aliens is not possible.
To counter this danger, it has been proposed to quarantine the entire Ariadne arm. However, the TSA did not accept this proposal, firstly in order not to abandon the people in this sector and secondly because trillions of material value (ships, shipyards, mineral resources ...) would then have to be left behind. Rather, it raised an army - the Frontiersmen. This army is equipped to reach every sector in its arms within a few hours, to "clean up" infested ships and to research the Kharaa.
Classic mode
In Classic mode, the marines start at a fixed starting point, the aliens randomly at one of three different ones. The aim of the game for the aliens is to eliminate all marine players, that of the marines to destroy all hives. There are seven to nine points on the playing card at which resources can be extracted. Since resources are needed to get better weapons or upgrades, these are usually highly competitive.
The resources are promoted equally by both parties, but used differently. Both parties erect a so-called "resource tower" on the point, which then collects the resources. A second variant of obtaining resources is to eliminate a member of the opposing party. However, this variant does not bring as many resources as the regular mining.
Marines
With the Marines, the resources are managed centrally by the so-called Commander, a player who, protected in the Commando console, observes the game from a bird's eye view and sets building kits, distributes ammunition and healing packages and his soldiers as in a real-time strategy game gives (his fellow players) orders to points on the map, such as: B. attack, move or secure the area.
The buildings that are placed by him are only kits that are assembled and activated by the marines on site, putting down the weapon. Over time, your own base is secured by automatic turrets , weapons and associated upgrades are researched, motion scanners are set up and armor such as rocket backpacks or heavy armor are manufactured. Researched technologies make the marines more resilient and stronger. It is also possible for the commander to generate weapons in the base. The armaments of the Marines include machine guns , shotguns , grenades , mines , welding equipment, hand grenades and grenade launchers .
The Commander can also build one or more secondary bases and connect them with "Phasegates" (a kind of horizontal Stargate). This enables the marines to bridge the distance between two phase gates in no-stop time ( teleporting ) and thus to quickly reach different bases or locations. The secondary bases are mostly used to siege and destroy an alien hive (hotbed). This is made possible by so-called "Siege Cannons", which can generate a relatively strong energy explosion in a certain radius through walls. Since the secondary bases are mostly decisive for the game, they are usually heavily attacked by the aliens.
Aliens
The allocation of resources is different for the players of the Alien class. On this side there is no commander who sees the game from a bird's eye view and manages the resources. Each alien has its own resource pot that slowly fills up through the resource towers or by eliminating opponents. Due to this fact, both parties play relatively differently at Natural Selection. With the aliens everyone is responsible for their own resources and yet you have to work in a team and in a coordinated way to defeat the marines. The aliens can transform themselves into another life form using their resources or erect "buildings".
The basic form of an alien is the dog-like "Skulk". It is possible for him to run along walls and ceilings, so that he usually has the element of surprise on his side in an attack.
The "Lerk" is an airworthy alien that is similar to a pterosaur ( Dimorphodon ). It can shoot poison clouds from an ambush or fly quietly at its victims while gliding in order to attack them with a bite.
The "Fade" is a relatively humanoid alien with sickle arms and suitable for quick, strong attacks.
The "Onos" is a large, rhinoceros-like alien with thick armor, lots of life energy and high attack power. It is possible for him to take on several marines at the same time or to destroy an entire base.
The "Gorge" is the only alien that can build buildings (using resources, including the resource tower). It is poorly armored and has a low attack power. Even so, this alien is one of the most important in the game.
Since there are three different points on the map at which the first hive is placed at the beginning of the game, two more points remain free. A hive serves as a starting point for all alien players who intervene again in the game after death and a time penalty. If more hives are built by a gorge, the aliens gain another "attack variant" with each hive, until they have a total of four attack variants (weapons) per life form with their two standard attacks. For example, the Skulk can perform a powerful jump attack on two hives and destroy itself in a large explosion on three hives.
In addition to the hives, so-called chambers (buildings made of biomass) can be built, of which there are four variants.
The simplest variant is the so-called "Offence Chamber", a kind of bio self-shooting system. He independently attacks all marines within range and is not tied to a hive. The three other variants are tied to the existence of a hive, as only one variant can be built per existing hive. So if only two hives are in play, only two variants of chambers can be built. However, they can be erected at any point on the map.
These three other chambers are the Sensory, Movement and Defense chambers. Each of these chambers gives an alien the choice of three possible changes in its life form. With the Defense Chamber this is self-healing, armor reinforcement or an immediate return to the hive with low life energy. The movement chamber gives the player the choice between silent running, faster running or a higher adrenaline level. Finally, the sensory chamber lets the aliens either do more damage, become invisible when moving slowly, or see the position of marines through walls. There are also effects if you are in close proximity to one of the three chambers. The Defense Chamber heals and the Sensory Chamber makes you invisible as long as you don't attack. The movement chamber allows the aliens (similar to the phasegate) to teleport from hive to hive.
A subspecies of Classic mode is Siege mode. These are special cards that initially keep the two parties separated for minutes by a closed connecting door. Both teams have access to a large number of resource points right from the start. These enable an optimal upgrade until the connecting door opens. There is also a so-called siege room on the menu . This is also closed by a connecting door, which opens a little after the first door. In this room, which is right next to the alien hives room, the marines can build siege cannons and shoot at the hives. The aliens are forced to put pressure on the marines early on. Because once they get into the siege room , it becomes very difficult for the aliens to decide the game for themselves.
Furthermore, there is a server - plug-in that allows a game against Marines Marines. Except for a color change to differentiate the two teams, nothing is changed on the core of the game itself.
Combat mode
In Combat mode, the marines and aliens each start together with their main building in set positions. The team that first destroys the opposing main building wins. In contrast to Classic mode, there are no resources, no possibility to build buildings and no commander. The improvement of one's own character is individually regulated by an experience point system. You get experience points for eliminating enemies, damaging the enemy base or repairing your own base. These allow the player to level up over time, which gives him points. These in turn can be invested in better weapons and equipment as a marine or in improving skills and higher forms of life as an alien. If a player dies, he starts again from his main building after a short time. Purchased game items are not lost. The amount of points that can be acquired is also limited and points invested cannot be exchanged. The Combat mode is intended to make it easier for beginners in particular to get started with the relatively complicated Classic mode and, among other things, enables shorter game rounds.
The unofficial server plug-in Xmenu is used on many servers . This includes further possibilities for improvement of the character and increases the limit of the achievable points. Another popular server plug-in, called the Buildmenu , allows you to build buildings. Furthermore, as in the Classic mode, it is possible to play a marines against marines game.
development
The development of Natural Selection began in 2001, led by lead programmer Charlie "Flayra" Cleveland, which later became the company Unknown Worlds Entertainment founded. The NSTR ( Natural Selection Technology Release ) was published at a very early stage of development ; it contained many textures and made it possible to create your own maps with the Worldcraft map editor even before the game was released . On September 29, 2001, a demo version of the game was presented to the public for the first time at the third Half-Life Mod Expo in San Francisco . The first playable version 1.0 was released on October 31, 2002, exactly on Halloween . Various patches followed until the mod was finally available as version 1.04 in January 2003. To finance the development, the developers set up a Constellation system, which made it possible to donate money. The next version that was worked on was called 1.1, but due to the many changes it was renamed to 2.0 and finally released in July 2003. In January 2004 the mod appeared in beta version 3.0 and brought the combat mode as a major innovation. It took until March 2005 until the final version 3.0 was completed. Version 3.1 was finally released in November 2005 and was worked on until April 2006. The final version of 3.2 was released in March 2007, after which development was discontinued.
A minority consider version 1.04 of Natural Selection to be the high point of the game and criticize the fact that all subsequent versions brought too drastic gameplay changes to the core of the game. You are of the opinion that the current versions focus too little on strategy and teamwork, but much more on the skill and skills that you need for a normal first-person shooter. Individual games in version 1.04 could take several hours to be finally decided. Some fans managed to make some of the functions of version 1.04 available as a server plug-in .
competition
Also Natural Selection is for E-Sport designed -Wettkämpfe. Usually two teams of six players each play against each other. Two rounds are played on a previously agreed map , with both teams playing once on the side of the marines and once as aliens . There is no time limit, the team that eliminates the opposing team first wins. If the score is 1: 1 after the two games played, you agree on a tie or, in the case of a play-off or tournament game , play further rounds.
Teams from North America initially competed in the Cyberathlete Amateur League , but this was closed a short time later due to lack of participation and poor leadership. The remaining syndicate founded the ANSL ( American Natural Selection League ), which until early 2008 regular game seasons organized. European teams initially played in different leagues, for example in the ClanBase or GaminGorb. They later joined forces and founded the ENSL ( European Natural Selection League ) in 2005 . This still exists today and, in addition to traditional seasons, also organizes events such as Nation Cups and Night Cups .
Natural Selection 2
Work on the full-price game Natural Selection 2 began in 2006. For this purpose, a blog was set up on the official website, which reports regularly on the development progress. Initially, the game was designed for the Source Engine developed by Valve , but later switched to a self-programmed engine called Spark. In order to be able to finance the game development, the Sudoku computer game Zen of Sudoku was specially developed. The sequel should largely keep the basic features of Natural Selection , but also contain some innovations that were only made possible by the new game engine. The integration of the Lua scripting language should make the game easier to modify. The first playable alpha version has been available to all pre-orderers of the Special Edition since July 26, 2010. On November 18, 2010, the first beta version was released for all pre-orderers. In 2012, the game magazine PC Gamer awarded the Best Indie Game award to Natural Selection 2 as part of its Best of E3 Awards .
The game has been available on Steam since October 31, 2012. At the end of February 2013, a free add-on called Gorgeous to Natural Selection 2 was released . This brought new game mechanics and a new official map to the game.
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Natural Selection 2 Wiki
Individual evidence
- ↑ ModDB: 2002 Mod of the Year Awards
- ↑ GameSpy's PC Game of the Year - Special Awards ( Memento of the original dated February 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Changelog of version 1.04
- ↑ Changelog of version 3.0
- ↑ Changelog of version 3.1
- ↑ Changelog of version 3.2
- ↑ European Natural Selection League website ( Memento from February 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Natural Selection 2 website
- ↑ Spark Engine website
- ↑ Zen of Sudoku website
- ↑ Natural Selection 2 News - NS2 Closed beta released ... and how we got here
- ↑ PC Gamer's Best of E3 Awards. June 16, 2012, accessed March 28, 2013 .
- ↑ Natural Selection 2 drops Gorgeous update with Steam sale (Photos). February 28, 2013, accessed March 28, 2013 .
