ZERO
10-30-2012, 01:49 PM
Natural Selection 2 is a bit different from ns1 and very different from many other games out there. NS2 relies on a team of players engaging FPS style while one player on each team is responsible for strategy and essentially players an RTS.
The commanders of each respective team need to manage team resources in an effective manor. Resources are at the center of Natural Selection in much the same way they are in games like Starcraft. Unlike NS1 the only way to get resources is from structures built on res nodes. The team and individual players will accumulate res at a set rate times the number of nodes they have. In ns1 you could also get res for killing enemies but this is not the case in ns2 and dramatically changes the economics of the game. In ns1 there was economic cost to getting killed as it helped the other team get resources either individually or for their team. In ns2 there is no economic cost to death and thus "feeding" the other team is a valid strategy as long as you are maintaining a strategically valuable position as a result.
The scoring system in NS2 is point based and indicates basically nothing. There is still major work that needs to be done. Natural Selection is more about team wins than anything else, I suppose you can think how ZM in CSS is supposed to be except that in Natural Selection people actually work together.
Much like Starcraft each team on a particular map will likely be following a preset "build" as determined by their commander. The strategy will then be developed from there to respond to what the other team is doing and how well outcomes of engagements go.
Tech is very important mid and late game for both teams. Marines get upgrades for armor and weapons while alines get new abilities as their commander researches them. In the case of aliens they can only select 1 of the available abilities per hive (up to 3) and each hive can only have 1 type of tech (so 3 tech trees for alines total). Marines can get everything from one base except proto-lab tech witch is jet-packs and exos.
Common Marine Strategy
Think more realistic military strats here. The plan for marines that are the most effective when executed properly are containing, building up and moving in. The goal is to limit the ability for the alines to secure other hive locations and resources. Marines can get teleportation technology (phase tech) very quickly and this can be used to secure far locations on the map fast. Ideally marines want to cut the map in half and limit the alines to only 1 or 2 have locations depending on map layout. It is essential that marines establish control early becuase the infestation will prevent marines from placing structures until it is cleared out. If the marines can cut the map in half they can then essentially create solid defensive line which they can then tech up and advance the line toward enemy hives and resource towers. While this seams easy this only really occurs with a good team and com.
Common Alien Strategy
Aliens normally start off dropping a second hive and trying to hold it while they then spread infestation and take other nodes. After second hive is usually when they get tech. Unlike ns1 all tech is determined by the alien commander which did not exist in ns1. Also the upgrade chambers do not do anything other than provide the upgrade. Another chamber with is associated with each tech path providers passive abilities such as healing, cloaking or spawning/resorting energy of near by units and structures. Aliens usually select shade (cloaking) or shift (energy) as their first hive tech. Shade allows for cloak and or silence so aliens can sneak around and kill marines while shift grants speed and the ability to drop shifts which can spawn eggs at locations outside normal spawn locations. Opposite of ns1 in ns2 only aliens can have spawn locations that are not predefined areas.
The commanders of each respective team need to manage team resources in an effective manor. Resources are at the center of Natural Selection in much the same way they are in games like Starcraft. Unlike NS1 the only way to get resources is from structures built on res nodes. The team and individual players will accumulate res at a set rate times the number of nodes they have. In ns1 you could also get res for killing enemies but this is not the case in ns2 and dramatically changes the economics of the game. In ns1 there was economic cost to getting killed as it helped the other team get resources either individually or for their team. In ns2 there is no economic cost to death and thus "feeding" the other team is a valid strategy as long as you are maintaining a strategically valuable position as a result.
The scoring system in NS2 is point based and indicates basically nothing. There is still major work that needs to be done. Natural Selection is more about team wins than anything else, I suppose you can think how ZM in CSS is supposed to be except that in Natural Selection people actually work together.
Much like Starcraft each team on a particular map will likely be following a preset "build" as determined by their commander. The strategy will then be developed from there to respond to what the other team is doing and how well outcomes of engagements go.
Tech is very important mid and late game for both teams. Marines get upgrades for armor and weapons while alines get new abilities as their commander researches them. In the case of aliens they can only select 1 of the available abilities per hive (up to 3) and each hive can only have 1 type of tech (so 3 tech trees for alines total). Marines can get everything from one base except proto-lab tech witch is jet-packs and exos.
Common Marine Strategy
Think more realistic military strats here. The plan for marines that are the most effective when executed properly are containing, building up and moving in. The goal is to limit the ability for the alines to secure other hive locations and resources. Marines can get teleportation technology (phase tech) very quickly and this can be used to secure far locations on the map fast. Ideally marines want to cut the map in half and limit the alines to only 1 or 2 have locations depending on map layout. It is essential that marines establish control early becuase the infestation will prevent marines from placing structures until it is cleared out. If the marines can cut the map in half they can then essentially create solid defensive line which they can then tech up and advance the line toward enemy hives and resource towers. While this seams easy this only really occurs with a good team and com.
Common Alien Strategy
Aliens normally start off dropping a second hive and trying to hold it while they then spread infestation and take other nodes. After second hive is usually when they get tech. Unlike ns1 all tech is determined by the alien commander which did not exist in ns1. Also the upgrade chambers do not do anything other than provide the upgrade. Another chamber with is associated with each tech path providers passive abilities such as healing, cloaking or spawning/resorting energy of near by units and structures. Aliens usually select shade (cloaking) or shift (energy) as their first hive tech. Shade allows for cloak and or silence so aliens can sneak around and kill marines while shift grants speed and the ability to drop shifts which can spawn eggs at locations outside normal spawn locations. Opposite of ns1 in ns2 only aliens can have spawn locations that are not predefined areas.