Greetings!

We just deployed a hotfix to the game that resolves several issues with skill values not updating in certain cases. Your game version number will increase to reflect 344 after you receive the update from Steam.

Please allow time for the server operators to update their servers to the latest version as well.
Thanks to everyone for providing the useful data that led to these fixes!

Changelog

• Fixed rounds submitted with less than 12 players preventing future rounds from submitting.
  
• Fixed several issues that could cause a user's skill value to not be updated
  
• Fixed a fade hallucination movement script error
  
• Fixed a fade hallucination targeting marine error
  
• Fixed Gorge bots infinitely building other players' clogs or hydras

Matched Play v1.0 is officially released! We have made several changes and fixes to the system over the last few months, but our official release includes improved regional servers with more dedicated power for a better performing experience. 

Our programmers have been hard at work behind the scenes working on new and improved bots. Bots have been reworked from the ground up to provide a much more intuitive and similar gameplay mechanics of a real player. All life forms and commanders have had changes and improvements added so that you can play a game by yourself or with a small group of friends and not need to wait or fill a lobby. All of the official maps have been updated in one form or another to add better bot functionality and additional player gameplay experiences.

We would also like to thank psyk for all of their hard work to bring us our newest official map AYUMI. Inspired by the NS1 map of the same name, this five techpoint map feels like a blend of Jambi and Tram and is sure to lead to some fun and exciting rounds.

Changelog

Optimizations

• 
  Significantly improved listen server (localhost) performance by making server updates asynchronous
  
• 
  Updated LuaJIT and re-enabled trace stitching to increase the amount of code JIT’ed 
  
• 
  Improved player bot performance by increasing JIT coverage of bot code and optimizing the frequency of bot updates
  

Tweaks / Improvements

• 
  Reduced default match concede timer from 7 minutes to 3 minutes
  
• 
  Reduced Alien tunnel re-drop cooldown timer from 6 seconds to 3 seconds
  
• 
  The default AFK timer implementation now correctly handles spectating / respawning / dead players, and provides a warning to players who are in danger of being AFK kicked.
  
• 
  Matched Play server performance has been greatly improved to reduce network related issues and spin up time.
  
• 
  Servers will default to ranked status if they:
  
• 
  Utilize the default consistency config file;
  
• 
  Set between a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 20 player slots;
  
• 
  Use a maximum of 5 spectator slots;
  
• 
  Use only whitelisted mods. The list can be found in our discord server, or on our wiki.[naturalselection.fandom.com] You can apply for a mod to be whitelisted in our #modding discord channel.
  

Matched Play Changes

• 
  Added several quality of life features to the Matched Play interface:
  
• 
  Players in the same group will be color-coded in the lobby menu.
  
• 
  A sound will be played to wake you up once the lobby enters the Waiting for Commanders stage. This only works if the “Mute on Minimized” game setting is disabled.
  
• 
  The map vote status of each player is displayed with a checkmark on their avatar during the Map Vote phase - now you can know for sure who’s AFK during the map vote!
  
• 
  You can see the opposing team’s roster during the Planning Phase in case you forgot who you were playing with.
  
• 
  The system displays the number of users waiting in lobbies and playing a game on the lobby search screen.
  
• 
  Added vote kicking functionality to Matched Play Lobbies. During the Waiting for Players phase, any user can initiate a vote kick against any other player in the lobby. If 60% of the lobby members vote yes, the vote passes and the kicked player is removed from the lobby and cannot rejoin.
  
• 
  Added kicking functionality to Matched Play Groups. The group owner can kick any player they elect to from their group, and the kicked player is removed from the group and cannot rejoin. If you miss-clicked and invited someone you didn’t intend to, now you can un-invite them too! This functionality is unavailable once the group has joined a Lobby.
  
• 
  The Matched Play core system now runs in a sandboxed execution environment to ensure the quality and integrity of the Matched Play system. The Matched Play user interface may still be modded though!
  
• 
  Re-enabled Matched Play Penalties. Unlike the first iteration, the Penalty system has been polished and refined to ensure that users will only receive penalties for taking direct malicious action, and will not receive penalties for failure-states in the Matched Play system itself.
  
• 
  Added a “vote to draw” feature if a Matched Play round starts with one missing player; players can elect to call the match a draw and re-queue, or keep playing with a bot instead of their missing teammate.
  
• 
  Added/improved the automatic forfeit functionality for imbalanced matches; if either team has 2+ missing players the match will be automatically forfeited after 60s. Forfeited rounds will not affect either teams’ player skill, but will grant Matched Play Rewards as normal.
  
• 
  Players may now vote to skip the Intermission phase between Matched Play rounds. This vote requires unanimous assent to be successful.
  

Matched Play Fixes

• 
  Fixed several bugs with Matched Play Rewards that could cause players to receive incorrect playtime or win rewards
  
• 
  Fixed missing localization for the build ARC tooltip in Thunderdome servers
  
• 
  Fixed lobbies that failed to spin up a server would be stuck in an indefinite “waiting” state. If no server is created after 300s, all users will be safely removed from the lobby.
  
• 
  Fixed several bugs within the Matched Play system that could cause the lobby state to become corrupted.
  
• 
  Fixed several bugs that could cause individual users to be removed from the lobby after joining a Matched Play server.
  
• 
  Fixed players with extremely high hiveskill (4500+) being unable to join a lobby with lower skilled T5 / T6 players. This does not change the skill values used by the team shuffle.
  
• 
  Fixed player name changes not being visible to other users in the lobby. Want to troll your friends and pretend to be someone else? Well now you can. Note: user avatars will not be updated.
  
• 
  Fixed that sometimes TD servers did not shut down properly after the match ended. They’re quite prompt about it now, and may slam the door on you if you’re too slow to leave!
  

Bot Improvements / Fixes

• 
  Completely refactored the Player Bot and Commander Bot internal architecture to ensure correct and consistent behavior in a wide variety of situations.
  
• 
  Added a Gorge Bot! (Finally!) This bot will help build structures for the team, and can spit at players and bile down the enemy’s structures. Unfortunately, they aren’t smart enough to use their other toys.
  
• 
  Added a large number of new capabilities to Commander Bots for both teams:
  
• 
  Alien Khamm can now place Tunnels somewhat intelligently;
  
• 
  Alien Khamm has a much better research tree and will drop new hives as needed to continue research / upgrades;
  
• 
  Alien Khamm reacts to hives / upgrades / tunnels / cysts being damaged with appropriate use of Bone Wall and Rupture;
  
• 
  Alien Khamm can use Ink to defend a hive against ARCs;
  
• 
  Alien Khamm can use Contaminate to win the game, if you let it go on long enough;
  
• 
  Marine Comm can now place Phase Gates and other structures to defend forward Tech Points;
  
• 
  Marine Comm will research the entire tech tree in a reasonably correct order;
  
• 
  Marine Comm is better about med pack / ammo pack drops and can now use catpacks and nanoshield on Marines in the field;
  
• 
  Marine Comm can use Power Surge to defend an unpowered phase gate;
  
• 
  Marine Comm will drop advanced weapons and jetpacks if it has enough surplus res.
  
• 
  Completely overhauled “teamwork” behaviors for all field player bots for both teams:
  
• 
  All bots will spread out and attempt to cover different areas on the map;
  
• 
  All bots can now react to their command structure or valuable structures being damaged (upgrades, Arms Lab, natural RTs);
  
• 
  All Alien bots will now respond to Pheromones and commander pings;
  
• 
  All Marine bots will now follow commander orders and respond to pings (when not in direct combat);
  
• 
  Lone Skulks and Marines will attempt to push forward into the enemy’s natural RT rooms to res-bite and pressure the back line;
  
• 
  Marine bots will now buy and place mines around important structures.
  
• 
  Improved individual field bot capabilities:
  
• 
  Skulk bots can leap, parasite, use xenocide, and now can actually miss their bites (sometimes…) if you dodge well enough;
  
• 
  Lerk bots can now spore hostiles and umbra friendly players much more consistently and effectively;
  
• 
  Lerk bots know to spike shotgunners at range, and can be more aggressive with non shotgunners or smaller groups of Marines.
  
• 
  Fade bots received a significant overhaul and are much better at blinking around and conserving their energy. They also know when to leave the room based on energy, HP and number of Marines in the area.
  
• 
  Onos can now consistently Boneshield and Stomp players (it’s so good even the bots are getting in on it!);
  
• 
  Marine bots are significantly better at handling short-term priorities like welding a nearby player while still carrying out a long-term task like going to build a structure in another room;
  
• 
  Marine bots buy and use advanced weapons reliably and consistently;
  
• 
  Marine bots can buy and use Railgun and Minigun Exos, and will claim unowned Exos if available;
  
• 
  Marine bots can buy and use Jetpacks now.
  
• 
  Bot Exos will retreat from combat if there are no friendly players nearby;
  
• 
  Railgun Exos use half-power shots and are much more deadly in close combat now.
  
• 
  Marine bots who are following you can assist you with boosting into a vent if you crouch and hold still for 2 seconds.
  
• 
  Marine bots will mimic your behavior when it comes to sneaky behavior.
  
• 
  Optimized the field bot architecture to reduce their runtime cost and improve compatibility with LuaJIT performance improvements.
  
• 
  Fixed many bugs that could lead to bots becoming “deadlocked” and non-responsive.
  
• 
  Fixed several behavioral issues that could arise from players joining a team and displacing a field bot.
  
• 
  Fixed a huge number of minor bugs related to bots.
  

Mod System Changes

• 
  Fixed the mod backup web server sometimes not creating mod zips
  
• 
  The mod backup server now logs if client requests a mod zip that does not exist and if -verbose is set it will log all requests made to the mod backup server
  
• 
  Fixed downloaded mod backup zips not being deleted by client after extracting them
  

Fixes

• 
  Fixed some issues with Hive skill being increased or decreased incorrectly under certain circumstances
  
• 
  Fixed MACs returning to previous position after a move order (thanks Katz)
  
• 
  Fixed crashing from using the exit console command in a number of scenarios, to include loading into a listen server.
  
• 
  Fixed a server crash if another script error is encountered while generating the callstack for a script error.
  
• 
  Fixed changes to the mapcycle.json file taking two map changes to take effect, its now reloaded when a map change is triggered
  
• 
  Fixed Alien tunnel build menu not correctly updating when one entrance of a tunnel is destroyed
  
• 
  Fixed the “danger music” getting stuck constantly playing in some cases
  
• 
  Fixed ambient occlusion option sometimes not staying turned off
  
• 
  Fixed several grammatical errors and incorrect localization strings
  
• 
  Fixed server error when hitting another exo as a railgun exo
  
• 
  Fixed server errors when ejecting from an egg in the ready room. Enjoy the fireworks if you can time it correctly.
  
• 
  Fixed dying as an egg could prevent you from leaving the team or respawning
  
• 
  Fixed custom Alien Vision mods sometimes being disabled when joining a server
  
• 
  Fixed maps with 6+ techpoints causing Alien UI script errors
  
• 
  Fixed main menu causing errors and becoming unresponsive when subscribed to too many mods
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where generating nav mesh could cause the server to deadlock and keep the client stuck in an authentication step.
  
• 
  Fixed Windows servers were not launching properly when using the server.exe binary from the root folder. That binary has been removed and server operators should now run the x64\server.exe binary instead
  

Maps

• 
  New Map: Ayumi (Thanks psyk)
  
• 
  Remake roughly based on NS1’s “ns_ayumi”
  
• 
  5 Tech Points, 10 Resource Points
  
• 
  Layout fusion of Jambi and Tram
  
• 
  Asset contributions by Zavaro, Kash and IronHorse
  

• 
  All Maps -
  
• 
  Pathing improvements (Thanks Kash)
  
• 
  Power/Location tweaks and improvements (Thanks TheSaltySeaCaptain)
  

• 
  Metro (Thanks Meph)
  
• 
  Holograms on the tollgates on both exits of Derelict Station are now double sided
  
• 
  Redone the minimal lights
  
• 
  Arcs can not hide inside the scaffolding in Slums anymore
  
• 
  All vent entrances have orange lights now
  
• 
  Remade the skybox almost completely to improve performance
  
• 
  Removed all blinking christmas lights (except the ones at the food stalls)
  
• 
  Added routing elements (pipes/cables leading into the vents, Orange arrows pointing towards vent entrances etc.)
  
• 
  Changed the lighting color in Club Kash
  
• 
  Removed some tarps in Atrium
  
• 
  Added vent opening in Lane - Underpass vent (on Underpass side)
  
• 
  Opened a line of sight from Atrium to Slum/Ticketbooth vent entrance
  
• 
  Added some extra scaffolding to ceiling area in Midtown (near RT, check if you can go above the pipe)
  
• 
  Station entrance gates (Derelict Station, Facade, Atrium and Ticketbooth) do not allow bullets to pass through anymore
  
• 
  Removed quite a bit of holograms that were not used for player routing (reduction of clutter)
  
• 
  Removed some floating clutter in commander view
  
• 
  Reduced fog intensity in Midtown
  

• 
  Origin (Thanks psyk)
  
• 
  Fixed exterior rock sticking into the map
  

• 
  Summit (Thanks psyk)
  
• 
  Fixed hole in the map
  

• 
  Tanith (Thanks Zavaro)
  
• 
  Redesigned area between Fusion and Access to prevent people getting stuck on things
  
• 
  Moved vent between Access and Acidic Processing to prevent marines from easily jumping in
  
• 
  Added additional route between Fusion and Sewer to help rotations for alien players
  
• 
  Added additional vent around the edges of the resource room in The WAC
  
• 
  Added some more pillars to move around with in Fusion and Reactor Room
  
• 
  Modified salt ramp in Chemical Transport to force players to commit to attacking the resource node
  
• 
  Additional ladder was added on west side of Chemical Transport
  
• 
  Redesigned Western Entrance to shorten Reactor trip and give more options to flank
  
• 
  Fixed tons of holes and several stuck spots
  

• 
  Unearthed (Thanks Kash) -
  
• 
  Moved Toxic Pool RT into Transfer
  
• 
  Moved some crates throughout the map to provide better ambush/cover spots.
  
• 
  Slightly relocated the tree in Exposure to move the protruding branch mostly out of gameplay space
  
• 
  Added line of sight blocker between Crevice and Newall to help with performance in that area
  
• 
  Removed support beam in Exposure - Crevice to prevent lifeforms getting stuck when retreating
  
• 
  Changed the grating in the Filtration - Exposure vent, no longer allows bullets through and now also has a hole in one section of grating
  
• 
  Removed ladders in Briefing
  
• 
  Added jump up in the south of Briefing to prevent the ceiling ambush spot becoming an invulnerability spot.
  
• 
  Removed ladder in Newall
  
• 
  Changed Purification to be less marine favored
  
• 
  You can no longer get under the staircase in Filtration
  
• 
  Removed Toxic Pool to Extraction vent
  
• 
  Added new Extraction to Junction Vent
  
• 
  Replaced or removed ALL “railing props” on the map to make the map feel more visually consistent
  
• 
  Have made sure that all stair props and grating props are using the same assets, rather than a mish-mash of different assets that don't quite look right together
  
• 
  Added little bits of extra cover in Exposure and Cavity
  
• 
  Added in a rock to allow marines the ability to access the upper rock arch in Crevice
  
• 
  Extension added to the vent from Cavity to Furnace, it now continues through to Newall
  
• 
  Added back an old exit to the Harvesting to Access vent, coming out underneath the platform in Passage
  
• 
  Edited the entrances to the Harvesting vents, to make them easier to access and more visible in general
  
• 
  Completely overhauled lighting from scratch
  
• 
  Fixed a few minor pathing issues
  
• 
  Map wide performance improvements
  
• 
  Altered the Toxic Pool to Exposure vent to make it less marine friendly
  
• 
  Edited the Junction to Toxic pool entrance, making it half the old width, to prevent marines sniping the Toxic Pool to Exposure vent entrance from extreme distance.
  
• 
  Added a new mini-route in Exposure to make it possible to go from Access into the middle of Exposure while avoiding line of sight to the bottom of the stairs in Filtration
  
• 
  Changed Passage platform to add extra cover and make the room generally less marine favored
  
• 
  Added a mini-route from Harvesting into Passage
  

• 
  Veil (Thanks psyk)
  
• 
  Added half open door to entrance from Sub Access to Overlook.
  
• 
  Added crates in Sub Access, Overlook and East/Topo to make Marine positioning and Phase Gate locations weaker. The crates in Sub can also be used to slightly shoot into the Sub vent when boosting a Marine.
  
• 
  Moved Pipeline Res Node so it can't be hit with ARCs or easily pushed and de-cysted.
  
• 
  Added and re-arranged obstacles in the corridor between Cargo and Dome as LOS blockers, which also provide an easier way up into the ceiling vent as Skulk.
  
• 
  Made it more difficult to shoot Cargo Harvester from outside.
  
• 
  Changed corridor between Topo and East to East power.
  
• 
  Changed the Dome doorway into a double doorway.
  
• 
  Added some crates between Pipe and Dome and cleared some ceiling stuff so Skulks have more options coming into Dome from Pipeline.
  
• 
  Removed the ARC spot in Overlook, where you could barely hit Sub Access Harvester.
  

Tools

• 
  Fixed incorrect spelling of the special CommanderInvisibleVents default group in the Map Editor
  

SDK

• 
  Removed some of the Lua debug lib APIs
  
• 
  GetEntitiesInRange\GetEntitiesWithTagInRange now ignores target entities bone offset when checking if they’re in range
  

Known Issues

• 
  Occasionally a bot may attempt to defend you too vigorously, seemingly attempting to become one with your body at the start of a round. After your death or theirs, it will self correct.
  

Changelog

Tweaks / Improvements

• 
  Added a Top Bar UI toggle to the advanced options menu.
  
• 
  The Observatory’s scanned Status Effect icon will always show for Aliens within range, regardless of HUD detail settings. (Similar to the Parasite status effect icon for Marines.)
  
• 
  Re-added the Railgun Exo’s target outline HUD effect on all Aliens and resolved the performance issues when looking at something far beyond the effect’s maximum range. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• 
  Three additional status effect icons added: Nerve Gas, Spores and Armor Healing.
  
• 
  All status effects are now clearly marked as buffs/debuffs.
  

Matched Play Changes

• 
  New Friends Group feature where you can invite up to 2 other friends before joining a public lobby, to end up on the same team! There is a maximum of two friend groups per public lobby, and one group per Team.
  
• 
  New Private Lobby feature where only those whom you invite can play in your match! Note that Matched Play rewards are disabled for this mode.
  
• 
  Penalties are temporarily removed until they can be administered in a more fair and accurate way in a future update.
  
• 
  You should now be able to reconnect to an in-progress match after crashing, unless steam has gone offline or the lobby no longer exists.
  
• 
  New and improved shuffle algorithm which ensures Friends Groups will stay together and evenly balance teams around them.
  
• 
  Lobbies now robustly handle users leaving and joining after the lobby has reached 12/12 players. Lobbies will correctly roll-back the lobby state as long as the lobby has not reached the Planning Phase.
  

Matched Play Fixes

• 
  Fixed known cases where player names and avatars would not show up in the Planning Phase screen. All players on the same team should now be visible to team-members after a short delay.
  
• 
  Fixed known cases where a lobby would fail to spin up a server due to lobby authentication issues.
  
• 
  Fixed known cases of users being assigned to Team 0 and thus kicked from the match.
  
• 
  Fixed the lobby status UI (waiting for commanders) not updating properly in some scenarios.
  
• 
  Fixed some instances where a client could get into a desynchronized state with the lobby UI.
  
• 
  Fixed users who volunteered to command not being able to see their voted maps during the map voting stage.
  
• 
  Fixed users not being able to see the Map Vote button after a lobby was rolled back to Waiting for Players.
  
• 
  Fixed the volunteer to command button showing up after a map vote.
  
• 
  Fixed a case where Waiting For Commanders timer could get stuck at 0 without progressing the lobby.
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where players who left during the Map Vote stage would still appear to be in the lobby if the Map Vote screen was open when they left.
  
• 
  Fixed several issues with player names and avatars being in an incorrect state in the Lobby screen after multiple players left/joined.
  
• 
  Fixed ability to join a match that just completed using steam friends.
  
• 
  Fixed ability to join a lobby that had progressed to or beyond the Planning Phase (the user would be kicked from the server when they joined).
  
• 
  Fixed inconsistent behaviors with in game lobby invites and steam friends invites.
  
• 
  Fixed numerous script errors and other scenarios that would break a lobby.
  
• 
  Fixed multiple issues where clicking too fast on some UI elements caused script errors.
  

Mod System Changes

• 
  Trigger reinstall of hotfix mods if they are failing consistency check.
  
• 
  When a file fails consistency check the mod it belongs to is now listed in the log when failing to connect to a server.
  
• 
  Force caching the current version of a hotfix mod if it was updated outside the game by steam to reduce chance of “mod out of date” errors connecting to a server.
  
• 
  Switch to auto updated steam runtime libraries for the dedicated server to try and fix mod download issues.
  

Fixes

• 
  Fixed that the Marine Flashlight rate was tied to moverate.
  
• 
  Fixed Marine structures taking too long to build in some cases. They were affected by server performance or even latency. The TSF has issued a mandatory firmware update to all build tools to resolve this issue.
  
• 
  Fixed Exo Crosshairs not being included in the default consistency exclusion list. 
  
• 
  Fixed Marine tutorial not progressing when asked to open Map if binding was set to toggle instead of hold.
  
• 
  Fixed base tutorials not automatically progressing to the next tutorial after completion.
  
• 
  Fixed Ambient Occlusion graphics setting being turned off on every client restart.
  
• 
  Fixed Hallucinations not using the player skins of those they were copying. Hopefully they never learn how to copy Marines.
  
• 
  Fixed player names that used certain special characters causing the Windows error sound during server joining, chatting, or death. 
  
• 
  Fixed Atmospherics graphics setting defaulting to 1.0 even though the UI reported 0.15, the intended default. 
  
• 
  Fixed seasonal throwables (snowballs and candy) causing console errors and not being rate limited. We’ll be sad to see the infinite streams of candy go.
  
• 
  Fixed Bmacs getting hit with the Axe making flesh sounds. It creeps us all out just a little bit less now. 
  
• 
  Fixed weapons dropped upon death near an Armory still having a decay timer. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• 
  Fixed the Revert button not working correctly when making changes in the Options menu.
  
• 
  Fixed old hooks\console commands of hot reloaded lua files not being cleared.
  
• 
  Fixed the menu sometimes being restarted from Lua errors.
  
• 
  Fixed hallucinated Drifters occasionally making Marine footstep sounds when they moved about. It was terrifyingly funny, but an unfortunate evolutionary dead-end.
  
• 
  Fixed that Nano Shield could not be used on unpiloted Exosuits. 
  
• 
  Fixed Power Nodes not playing their critical sound effects for players who have left relevancy range and returned. You have no excuse for not welding the Power Node now.
  
• 
  Fixed outdated Alien commander tutorial that required manually infesting tunnels.
  
• 
  Fixed outdated Marine commander tutorial that blocked progress due to Robotics Factory size change.
  

Maps

• Descent (Thanks Salty!) 
• 
  Gravity Control - Fixed death trigger.  
  
• Summit (Thanks psyk!)
• 
  Fixed death trigger issues in Crevice and Crossroad
Tools
• 
  Map editor workflow improvements (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• 
  Added reliable transform gizmo planar handle selection.
  
• 
  Added Ctrl-click and Alt-click to selection filter toggles.
  
• 
  Fixed multiple editor state corruptions that could result in an unusable editor.
  
• 
  Moved “select object layer” functionality to Alt-LMB with Select tool active.
  
• 
  Negative texture scales are properly preserved when using the paint tool.
  
• 
  Reduce unintended viewport freezes when manipulating objects.
  
• 
  Improvements to supporting light placements in a level file when flipping rooms or entire maps. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
SDK
• 
  Event.RemoveHook is now an engine function instead of Lua and the table of registered hooks can now be accessed from Event.HookTable.
  
• 
  Scripts are now passed a hot reload depth as toplevel parameter if it's being hot reloaded otherwise it’s nil.
  
Known Issues
• 
  The Matched Play “Team Imbalance auto-concede” feature that is triggered when too many players have left one team, does not work well with reconnecting players just yet.
  
• 
  Clicking the “Find Match” / “Cancel Searching” button in the Friends Group screen multiple times in quick succession can trigger script errors that require the group host to restart their client.
  
• 
  When entering the planning phase the First Team splash screen may sometimes  show up twice.
  
• 
  There is currently no visual indication of which players in a lobby, if any, are in a friends group.
  
• 
  Chat messages received while the Map Vote screen is open will not be visible after closing the Map Vote screen.
  

Update 341 is now available on steam and includes multiple updates to maps and a bunch of bug fixes and tweaks to both the game and matched play. There are also additional updates to the balance which you can find in the in-game menu.

Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

Changelog

Tweaks / Improvements

• 
  Death screen has been made smaller in overall size, hides when the map is opened, the fade to black lasts only 2 seconds, and the killfeed is no longer hidden. This should be more in line with the previous deathscreen experience over the years. Thanks everyone for your feedback on this feature!
  
• 
  Re-added text drop shadows to the in-game chat text elements.
  
• 
  Changed the text drop shadow rendering feature to fix severe FPS losses on certain graphics driver and hardware configurations. (Thanks, Axtel!)
  
• 
  Added Drop shadow text to damage numbers
  

Matchmaking Fixes and Changes

• 
  Individual players are automatically kicked from a lobby after 1 hour has elapsed without progressing the lobby state beyond Waiting for Players. This prevents long term AFK individuals propping up a potentially bugged lobby that acts as a trap for everyone else matching.
  
• 
  Fixed Steam Authentication potentially failing when waiting in a lobby for more than 30 minutes.
  
• 
  Fixed multiple players ending up being on an unassigned team and therefore being kicked from the server.
  
• 
  Fixed rare occurrence of a client not progressing through the lobby stages with everyone else.
  
• 
  Fixed a lobby failing when a server request returned error 500.
  
• 
  Fixed the Matchmaking Rewards menu’s Queue button being active all the time
  
• 
  Fixed Steam Offline status triggering too easily. It now counts down over multiple seconds before considering you having lost connection and can roll backward to a reset state over the same time frame if the offline status did not get reached. This ensures that a momentary loss of internet does not trigger kicking you from the game or lobby.
  
• 
  Fixed client script errors during certain lobby stages.
  
• 
  Fixed skill offset miscalculation between the teams [Drey]
  

Mod System Changes

• 
  Added an option to the create local server page to enable mounting UWE hotfix mods when creating a server.
  
• 
  Maps from non-active mods are now included in the Listen Server map list and are automatically mounted on the server when it is created.
  
• 
  Hotfix mods are no longer hidden in the menu mod list.
  
• 
  Duplicate Mod ID entries in a server’s map cycle are now handled properly.
  

Fixes

• 
  Fixed being able to receive Matchmaking invites while playing in a public server already.
  
• 
  Fixed Auric Clog not being able to be selected or used once unlocked.
  
• 
  Fixed Chroma Resource Tower not being able to be selected or used once unlocked.
  
• 
  Fixed when earning the Battle Gorge calling card, it's not available. And instead two items of Turbo drifter are granted.
  
• 
  Fixed a potential server crash when fetching hotfix mods fails.
  
• 
  Fix -game command line option not handling absolute paths for the Linux dedicated server.
  

Sounds

• 
  Client hitsounds files are no longer constrained by our file validation rules.
  

Maps

• 
  Biodome: (Thanks psyk!)
  
• 
  Moved Agri RT to the north of Agri (New room, thanks Kash!)
  
• 
  Increased height of small connection between Atmospherics and Scrubbers to nerf Armory blocks while arcing.
  
• 
  Disabled Bridge-Agri jump (still possible with boosting or dropped structures).
  
• 
  Reduced Cysts needed to Filtration from 5 to 4.
  
• 
  Fixed LoS issue which enabled Railguns to shoot Atmospherics Hive from CO2 Scrubbers.
  
• 
  Fixed structure placement exploits in Hydro.
  

• 
  Caged: (Thanks psyk!)
  
• 
   Added a vent below the stairs between the Purification and Ventilation connection.
  
• 
  Smoothed out movement below the walkway leading from Ventilation to Purification.
  
• 
  Closed off the door a bit more coming into Ventilation from Purification and moved Pillars/Walls at that entrance (less space at sides) to make it harder for Marines to attack Ventilation from Purification PG.
  
• 
  Added a Pipe/Crate combo so you can jump up on the higher level of Ventilation from the south side.
  
• 
  Moved the Powernode in Ventilation to be less vulnerable.
  
• 
  Created space between the scanner and container in Shipping.
  
• 
  Added a glass hole at the northern entrance of Generator for building ARCs.
  
• 
  Smoothed movement around that area below Generator.
  
• 
  Added some obstacles into Monitoring.
  
• 
  Marines can now get into the Lower Wasteflow ceiling vent using the barrels and doorframe to climb up.
  
• 
  Added a ladder into the DAT-1 vent.
  
• 
  Slightly scaled out the doorframe near the DAT-1 vent to make it easier to trick jump into the vent.
  
• 
  Marines can now trick jump into the Sewer-Puri vent from Sewer.
  
• 
  Removed collision from tons of tiny props.
  

• 
  Derelict: (Thanks psyk!)
  
• 
  Added 5th techpoint in the middle of the map in Admin.
  
• 
  Moved res node in Admin.
  
• 
  More cover, thicker trees and other improvements to Plaza (smaller room).
  
• 
  Added a few more cover spots here and there.
  
• 
  Added vent between Flooded and Botany.
  
• 
  Added additional route between Garage and Turbine.
  
• 
  Added additional route between Geothermal and Flooded.
  
• 
  Re-arranged the Truck/Container setup in the entrance of Garage / Alley. Can go through the right side of the truck, jump up the small crates; also broke the right yellow railing at the right entrance for more fluid gameplay.
  
• 
  Added kinda vent between Glass Hallway and Biome.
  
• 
  Added ladder at the pipe tower in Plaza.
  
• 
  Changes to Administration to help Aliens against ARCs coming from Overlook:
  
• 
  Another window hole to bile or attack.
  
• 
  Lowered the vent on floor level to help (retreating) Gorges.
  
• 
  Put more crates into that ARC spot hallway to the right to remove some space for ARCs and to the left to give Gorges some cover to bile from range.
  
• 
  Smoothed out movement in those offices by rearranging/scaling the desks, etc. and using collision geo.
  
• 
  Moved the entire Atmospheric Seeding location higher to reduce/remove elevation at both exits, which led to frustrating uphill combat for Aliens and made the long corridor even worse.
  
• 
  Increased the height of the floor around the broken tree container prop and the RT in Nursery to remove awkward movement and collision due to height differences.
  
• 
  Geothermal fixes:
  
• 
  Moved up the entire floor plane to reduce issues with height differences and techpoint being in a kinda pit.
  
• 
  Shrunk pipes above techpoint.
  
• 
  Blocked off the space above the ceiling pipes leading away from Geothermal and used for bile bomb abuse.
  
• 
  Removed ladders, you can use the rocks to jump up now.
  
• 
  Moved power node around the corner to be more protected from bile.
  
• 
  Shrunk Western Entrance by 33%. Less negative space, less clutter needed to fill it, more fps.
  
• 
  Changed the entrance between Western Entrance and Infested Corridor to be more interesting for gameplay and less of a long, straight line abused by well positioned Marines.
  
• 
  Widened Infested Corridor and improved movement/combat.
  
• 
  Removed vent from Western/Biome to Plaza.
  

• 
  Origin: (Thanks psyk!)
  
• 
  Moved Ore RT into Generator; easier to defend from Ventilation and a good tunnel location for Biodome start. Also denies an RT to Marines, if they hold Furnace side, similar to how Maintenance is denied, if they hold Biodome side.
  
• 
  Added more starting Cysts to Biodome Alien Start.
  
• 
  Tanith:(Thanks, Zavaro!)
  
• 
  Increased height of Acidic-Access vent to make boosting more difficult
  
• 
  Lowered floor of Fusion Core resource node to make cyst sniping harder
  
• 
  Pipes in Computer Control-SatCom hallway have been broken so that players may more easily use them as an escape
  
• 
  Chemical Transport’s south side now allows structures to be placed
  
• 
  Ladder added to south side of Chemical Transport platform
  
• 
  Western Entrance modified slightly to smooth out travel between Old Wing and Reactor Room
  
• 
  Some fixes to areas where structures should not have been able to be placed
  
• 
  Several stuck spots removed
  
• 
  Docking: (Thanks, Thesaltyseacaptain)
  
• 
  Fixed exploit where marines could escape the map
  
• 
  Fixed power issue in Locker Room
  

This set of changes is targeted at refining some aspects of game pacing, making some quality of life improvements, and adds some new Matched Play exclusive changes that will only be employed when playing the Matched Play game mode. One of the key changes that will apply to both player counts is the reduction of p-res per tick. Now that servers have been playing with 10 versus 10 for some time, and with the introduction of Matched Play 6 versus 6, we felt this was the right time to re-introduce this p-res rate which will make lifeforms and weapons alike slightly more precious.

Changelog

Gameplay

General:

• 
  Resources:
  
• 
  Player p-res income rate is now 0.1 per tick (down from 0.125)
  
• 
  Alien starting p-res is now 15 (up from 12)
  
• 
  Fade Cost reduced to 35 (down from 37)
  
• 
  Onos Cost reduced to 55 (down from 62)
  
• 
  Increase Marine starting pres to 20 from 15
  
• 
  Healing Softcap:
  
• 
  Softcap is now 12% eHP/s with an 80% penalty for excess healing (from 14% / 66%)
  

Kharaa:

• 
  Commander
  
• 
  Removed the ability to research Onos Charge as the onos now always has charge
  
• 
  Lerk:
  
• 
  Movement
  
• 
  Strafe force changed to 8.3 (from 7)
  
• 
  Lerk glide makes a sound if a Lerk is gliding above 4.5 speed
  
• 
  Added an air brake functionality to the Movement Modifier key (default is Shift key) that will slow glide speed down to 4.5 speed for silent gliding. Lerks will maintain a 4.5 speed glide while the key is pressed.  
  
• 
  Increased glide minimum speed clamp to 4.5 (up from 4)
  

• 
  Spikes
  
• 
  Reduce Spread to 3.3 (down from 3.8)
  
• 
  Projectile size reduced to 45mm (from 60mm)
  
• 
  Spores
  
• 
  Move research to Biomass 6 (up from Biomass 5)
  
• 
  Umbra
  
• 
  Increase research cost to 30 (up from 20)
  
• 
  Increase research time to 75 seconds (up from 45 seconds)
  

• 
  Fade
  
• 
  Blink energy cost changed to 12 (down from 14)
  
• 
  Metabolize 
  
• 
  Cost changed to 10 (down from 25)
  
• 
  Now restores 20 energy (down from 35)
  
• 
  Tunnels:
  
• 
  Removed "Infested Tunnel" upgrade
  
• 
  Tunnels now become Infested Tunnels automatically upon reaching full maturity
  
• 
  Mature health changed to 1400/250 (up from 1250/200)
  
• 
  Time to Mature changed to 75 seconds (down from 120)
  
• 
  Tunnel resource cost changed to 8 tres (up from 6)
  

• 
  BoneWall
  
• 
  No longer flammable
  
• 
  Shade/Shift/Crag
  
• 
  Structure movement speed increased by 15%
  
• 
  Contamination:
  
• 
  Cooldown changed to 3 seconds (down from 6)
  
• 
  Health changed to 1500 (up from 1000)
  
• 
  No longer flammable 
  
• 
  Biomass Requirement changed to 12 (up from 10)
  
• 
  Can no longer be targeted by ARCs
  
• 
  Eggs
  
• 
  Lerk Egg Drop biomass requirement changed to 4 (from 2)
  
• 
  Lerk Egg Drop cost changed to 40 (from 30)
  
• 
  Gorge Egg Drop cost changed to 20 (from 15)
  
• 
  Fade Egg Drop biomass requirement changed to 8 (from 9)
  
• 
  Fade Egg Drop cost changed to 80 (down from 100)
  
• 
  Fixed an issue where players can spawn out of a Lifeform Egg and delete it as a result
  
• 
  Clamped number of Lifeform Egg drops to 2 per Hive
  
• 
  Drifters:
  
• 
  Hover height to the ground was lowered
  
• 
  Drifters cloaked by the Shade hive upgrade will now un-cloak from further away (3m up from 1.5)
  
• 
  Turn rate is instant on the first move command, but will return to the normal turn before moving behavior on subsequent move orders (this effect has a 4 second cooldown)
  
• 
  Abilities:
  
• 
  Enzyme
  
• 
  Cooldown changed to 3 seconds (from 12 seconds)
  
• 
  Hallucinations
  
• 
  No longer affected by mucous
  
• 
  Can no longer have babblers attached
  
• 
  Hallucination Onos now has 100 HP
  
• 
  Mucous
  
• 
  Cooldown changed to 3 second (from 12 seconds)
  
• 
  Cloud radius changed to 5 (from 8)
  
• 
  Shield values now match babbler shield values (except Skulk - remains at 15 HP)
  
• 
  Gorge
  
• 
  Babblers:
  
• 
  Are now Flammable
  
• 
  Bile Bomb:
  
• 
  Biomass requirement for research changed to Biomass 2 (down from 3)
  
• 
  Web:
  
• 
  Webs become visible from slightly farther away ( +1 meter)
  
• 
  Webs have only 1 charge (down from 3) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Health
  
• 
  Gorge health changed to 190 (from 160) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Spit
  
• 
  Gorge spit projectile speed changed to 45 (from 35)
  
• 
  Skulk
  
• 
  Leap energy cost changed to 55 (up from 45)
  
• 
  Adrenaline upgrade now grants 60% increased energy regeneration (up from 50%) 
  
• 
  Cysts
  
• 
  Build time changed to 4.5 Seconds (up from 3.33) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Shade hive cyst reveal range changed to 8 (from 6)
  
• 
  Cyst health changed to 400 near the hive and 200 far away (up from 300 / 200)
  
• 
  Health falloff range from the hive room decreased slightly
  
• 
  Damage bonus from welders changed to 5x from 7x
  
• 
  Shift:
  
• 
  Echo upgrades cost changed to 2 (from 1)
  
• 
  Echo Egg cost changed to 1 (from 2)
  
• 
  Crag player healing:
  
• 
  Fixed issue where Heal Wave was not correctly increasing crag healing by 30%
  
• 
  Changed Crag to heal eHP instead of a flat value
  
• 
  Crags now heal players with lifeform specific healing values instead of a percentage:
  
• 
  Skulk: 10 (previously 7)
  
• 
  Gorge: 15 (previously 11)
  
• 
  Lerk: 16 (previously 10)
  
• 
  Fade: 25 (previously 17)
  
• 
  Onos: 80 (previously 42)
  
• 
  Carapace:
  
• 
  Base armor bonus reduced
  
• 
  Now Grants a small armor bonus for each biomass:
  <Base Armor value> [Biomass Armor Bonus]:
  
• 
  Skulk: 5 [1]
  
• 
  Gorge: 12 [2]
  
• 
  Lerk: 12 [2]
  
• 
  Fade: 20 [2.5]
  
• 
  Onos: 50 [20]
  
• 
  Regeneration:
  
• 
  Healing amount changed to 6% (from 8%)
  
• 
  Aura:
  
• 
  No longer reveals health (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Now has a unique UI element for the non-health revealing version (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Vampirism
  
• 
  Lerk
  
• 
  Vampirism percentage changed to 6% (from 8%)
  
• 
  Onos
  
• 
  Charge is now a baseline ability and does not require research from the commander.
  
• 
  Boneshield has been reworked: 
  
• 
  No longer uses “fuel”
  
• 
  BoneShield now has 1000 hitpoints and prevents all damage
  
• 
  Boneshield now encompasses the entire onos (not just the front half)
  
• 
  While the shield is active, energy regeneration is reduced by 50% (this includes all sources)
  
• 
  BoneShield recharge occurs immediately while out of combat, or 3 seconds after BoneShield is deactivated while in combat. Recharge rate is 130 shield hitpoints per second.
  
• 
  When BoneShield is broken, a unique sound will play and shield recharge penalty is increased to 6 seconds, visualized by a "broken" shield ui bar.
  

Marine:

• 
  Medpacks
  
• 
  Heal over time effect no longer expires when a marine hits full HP
  
• 
  ARCs
  
• 
  Health changed to 2000/500 (from 2600/400) (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Commanders can now only create a maximum of 4 ARCs (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Add tooltip to robotics / arc factory regarding cap (MATCHED PLAY CHANGE ONLY)
  
• 
  Pulse Grenade:
  
• 
  LOS blocking removed
  
• 
  Can be used to hit aliens behind RTs
  
• 
  Heavy Machinegun
  
• 
  Spread changed to 3.2 (from 4)
  
• 
  Shotgun
  
• 
  Shotgun damage per weapon upgrade changed to ~13.33 (from ~10)
  
• 
  Gas Grenade
  
• 
  Made much less bouncy
  
• 
  Observatory:
  
• 
  Build time changed to 12 seconds (down from 17)
  
• 
  Prototype Lab
  
• 
  Cost changed to 25 (from 35)
  
• 
  Sentries
  
• 
  Battery cost changed to 15 (from 10)
  
• 
  Confusion from spores 
  
• 
  Duration changed to 8 seconds (from 4)
  
• 
  Time until next attack effect changed to 4 seconds (from 2)
  

• 
  Supply:
  
• 
  Sentry supply cost changed to 15 (from 10)
  
• 
  Sentry Battery supply cost changed to 25 (from 15)
  
• 
  Robotics Factory supply cost increased to 10 (from 5)
  

A precious but lost TSF resource once again comes into play, returning to TANITH! We are thrilled and excited to release this updated vision of the classic map from Natural Selection. Special thanks to Zavaro and the mapping team on this awesome addition to the map pool.

With the release of TANITH we are also providing the next phase of the Match Play, Beta v2, in which we have made some bug fixes and added the ability to invite steam friends to the lobby you are in. A new Matched Play progression system has been added, allowing you to unlock all sorts of assets and customization to your Marine and Alien. We are still actively working on Private Lobbies and Group Queuing, which we know are our biggest requests for Matched Play. There is also a list of quality of life changes we hope to have in our 1.0 release of Match Played (planned release in early 2022).

This update includes changes to our MOD system as we move to supporting Steam UGC. Optimizations and bug fixes abound through the change log, so be sure to read all the way through.

Lastly, we will be releasing a new flurry of balance changes next week separate from the patch via our extension mod. Stay tuned in our Discord server for more details!

Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

From all of us at Unknown Worlds, Merry Gorgemas and Happy Holidays!

Changelog

Optimizations

• Improved how the server calculates physics collisions by reducing the overzealous distance it checks. This should be a general improvement to server performance. (Thanks Steelcap!)
  
• Improved client loading routines when connecting to servers, so it is a smoother transition and a tiny bit faster.

Tweaks / Improvements
New map, Tanith!

• Tanith is an off-world chemical plant that has since been abandoned from the events of Natural Selection. Flora and natural shifts in fault lines have started to reclaim what remains of the facility. But an old threat still looms within these walls. Will the TSF take back what is rightfully theirs?
  
• Pictures: https://zavaro.artstation.com/projects/18JbQZ
  
• New Tanith skulk skin! Acquired by winning 30 rounds on Tanith.

Matched Play Beta v2 Update

• Added a ton of new items which can be earned from playing rounds in Matched Play. These include both Field Player and Commander rewards for both time played and wins. Commanders earn everything Field Players do, but not vice versa. You can track your progress by opening the new Matched Play Rewards menu on the right side of the screen at any time, in game or not.
  
• We now require completion of all 4 tutorials (Commander ones included) and the Skulk Challenge mode in order to begin unlocking any rewards, and the Matched Play Rewards menu will state as such.
  
• Added “Calling Cards” that are unlocked through Matched Play, and selected in the Player Profile / Customization menu. They allow you to show an image on screen of your choice to any player whom you kill, utilizing our revamped death screen notification. Once the feature is unlocked, players can choose any of their currently owned Shoulder Patches as a Card or earn new Calling Cards as rewards.
  
• You can now send invitations to your Steam Friends from within Lobbies using the new button or through Steam Friends.
  
• You can no longer be in a lobby while in a community server.
  
• Rounds now have a maximum time limit of 60 minutes. Afterwards, the round will result in a Draw game. There is a 2 minute warning in the game. This number can be adjusted if deemed necessary by the community.
  
• Lowered the time it takes for the match to start once all players have joined the server. (countdown begins immediately).
  
• Capped the time it takes for a match to start to 10 seconds, so that 11 players are not waiting on that one slow loading player.
  
• Matches will now automatically forfeit when the opposing team leaves the game. The remaining team will be counted as winning.
  
• Concede is available at a round time of 1 minute and 30 seconds to accommodate any unforeseen scenarios.
  
• Added support for reconnecting to an active match when recovering from a crash.
  
• Added support for reconnecting to an active match when kicked for being AFK only if the user has responded to the popup prompt at the main menu within 20 seconds, otherwise they will be penalized and not able to rejoin.
  
• Main menu is no longer non-interactable while utilizing Matched Play. However some menu items will be disabled while in a Lobby (i.e. cannot change menu background, mods, or language).
  
• If you are in another menu while waiting in a lobby, you may have the lobby screen forcefully show up when two different steps in the process are reached: Waiting For Commanders, and the Map Vote.
  
• Fixed multiple “dead-lock” scenarios which would prevent a Match from progressing.
  
• Fixed late joining players not being placed onto teams or being stuck in spectate
  
• Fixed several bugs for Matched Play servers which would prevent the match from completing.
  
• Numerous small bug fixes and features based on community feedback, in order to smooth over the entire system.
  
• New Steam UGC Mod system implementation. See the relevant section below for more details.
  
• All cosmetic options can now be set individually. They’re no longer bound by sets. This means if you want your Babbler skin to be different from your Hydra skin, you can.
  
• Added new Commander related cosmetics such as Arcs, Macs, Drifters and even Cysts.
  
• Improved compatibility with Steam’s new authentication method to prevent players from occasionally being unable to join a server.
  
• Improved how Locations in maps respect the power state with regards to lighting. This should make it so when the power goes out, there should never be ceiling lights that remain on.
  
• New death screen to accommodate the new Calling Cards rewards as well as to bring up the fidelity of the mechanic to modern standards and expectations.
  
• Main menu Wiki button now directs to the new wiki (Thanks Kopunga!)
  
• Crashed players can now reconnect after 15 seconds, instead of the prior 5 minutes, due to fixing prior timeout related issues.
  
• Map loading screens once again show in between map changes on a server.
  
• Proton [Linux] players are now able to start listen servers and play the tutorials. (Thanks Axtel!)

Mod System Changes

• Switched over to the Steam UGC backend that will allow for mods larger than 100MB and enable background updating of subscribed mods by steam while the game is not running. UGC can also reduce the amount of data needed to download updates for large mods. Existing legacy mods can still be downloaded and mounted but will switch over to the UGC backend the next time they are updated by mod authors.
  
• Mod dependencies set on the steam workshop are now automatically downloaded on the client and server. The server will also auto mount the dependencies if they are not already specified with something like the map cycle.
  
• Mod authors can now add a change log when pushing an update to a mod that can be viewed on the mods steam workshop page.
  
• Server mods specified on the commands line now stay mounted after a map change.
  
• Mods in the mapcycle.json are updated and mounted on server start without having to be specified on the command line, per map mods are only mounted if the matching map is being loaded.
  
• Mod IDs can now be specified as decimal numbers instead of hex in the map cycle if they are *not* in quoted strings, they can also be passed as plain numbers on the command line using -mods2 option.
  
• The webadmin mod search page now uses Steam UGC API to search for mods instead of a custom web api that is no longer running.
  
• New mods can now be downloaded and installed on the server while it is running and mounted after a map change if they are added to the mapcycle’s mod list.
  
• Added a built-in mod backup web server to the dedicated server that allows connecting clients to download mods from the server if the current version of a mod on steam is newer than the servers or the client failed to download the mod from steam. This fixes the old “Missing required mod” error. The web server can be enabled with the -startmodserver command line option. The default port it binds to is serverport + 2 this can be changed with -modserverport. You can also optionally specify the address or ip the mod server uses with -modserveraddress otherwise its defaults to -ip option.

Fixes

• Fixed numerous Matched Play issues.
  
• Fixed cosmetics selection ordered inconsistently
  
• Fixed Customize player screen not working in resolutions outside of 16:9 aspect ratio.
  
• Fixed “Welcome to the ready room” message that appeared in tutorials
  
• Fixed minimap assets missing in tutorials
  
• Fixed Evolve Menu lifeform counters breaking when using non-English translations, potentially never showing how many lifeforms were on the team. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed Tunnels not being able to grow off receded infestation with a Drifter, like Gorges can.
  
• Fixed bound keys assigning a hotkey value to the first letter of the symbol name. This meant that if you bound Right Bracket to “Taunt” the in-game radial menu would show the hotkey for Taunt as being “R” erroneously.
  
• Fixed Status Effect Icons showing incorrectly sometimes due to damage over time map entities.
  
• Updated credits and bot names to include newer contributions and testers.
  
• Fixed many inaccurate tooltips in the game, as well as typos and grammatical errors. No excuses now, rookie.
  
• Fixed 5 official maps not having their tech point entities set correctly, which would cause the Matched Play map overview colors to lie about who could start where. (Thanks Salty!)
  
• The map command on a client will error instantly instead of trying to load a non-existent map now.
  
• Fix the map cycle getting stuck if a map is missing or fails to mount.
  
• Fixed a common case where the client was failing steam authentication when connecting to a server.
  
• Fix the client sometimes freezing for a few seconds when connecting to a server.
  
• Changed Ambient Occlusion graphics option into a checkbox instead of a pull down menu. Make sure it's actually enabled.
  
• Fixed Alien Commander Tutorial soft lock from occurring due to harvester placement. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed Fog from interfering with certain skybox fx. Silly fog trying to block out my shiny things I spend too much time on. That’ll teach you.
  
• Fixed server AFK kicking, which defaults to 30 seconds and only takes effect once the round is in progress, not warm up mode.

Maps

• Descent (Thanks Salty!)
  
• Collision Pass
  
• Occlusion Improvements and fixes
  
• Railgun exploit fixes in Drafting - Fabrication and Crew Quarters - Launch Control
  
• Moved some props in Plaza

• Refinery (Thanks Salty!)
  
• Made Lava falls basemist cinematic commander invisible
  
• Fixed stuck spot in turbine
  
• Slight Collision adjustments in Heat Sink
  
• Adjusted minimap location names
  
• Improved Commander invisible layer

Tools

• Corrected size of time settings box in Cinematic Editor and implemented looping playback feature with a new button! (Thanks Steelcap!)
  
• Gobo light support is now in the Cinematic editor for a performant light option. (Thanks Steelcap!)
  
• Cinematic Editor now has robust default keyboard shortcuts and a few new features like orbiting! These greatly improve the workflow. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• R - record
  
• Q and E - frame 0 and last frame
  
• Right and Left Arrows - next and previous frame
  
• Shift + (X or Y or Z) - orientate camera to that axis perfectly
  
• F - focus camera on selected object
  
• Shift + F - focus camera on selected object’s origin point
  
• Shift + MMB - orbit the camera around the focus point (default or object) This one is huge for workflow!
  
• C - expand all curve lists of selected object
  
• Double clicking curve category automatically views all child curves
  
• O - focus view on origin (0,0,0)
  
• Ctrl + C or V - Copy and pasta is in!
  
• Del - delete the object
  
• Shift key makes the camera move fast
  
• Increased maximum distance of mapper placed Cysts from starting hive to allow for greater flexibility to the starting Harvester. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Pre-set special groups in Map Editor for new map projects. You no longer need to type in all the special group names needed for a map.

SDK

• Structure Stats were improved to include data to track lifecycle in a robust way for 3rd party visualizations, and now include structure location updates when using Shift. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Per team skill offset value as well as commander skill and skill offset are now in the server stat file (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Added a shared ModServices API usable on both the server and client, that includes support for searching for files in unmounted mods, querying mod dependencies.

Known Issues

• Sometimes your teammates’ names may not show in the Planning Phase step of lobbies. If the chat window does not show them leaving, then they have not left, and it's just this existing UI bug at work.
  
• Ambient occlusion will be turned off for all existing players unfortunately, due to being changed to a checkbox option. You can safely re-enable it and apply it and it will work as expected going forward.

Update 338 includes fixes found with the initial release of MATCHED PLAY (read more here). MATCHED PLAY lobbies are once again active and ready for use. Some additional regions have been added/removed based on performance feedback. Your continued use and feedback on the system while in BETA will help us refine features while we move towards delivering the 1.0 version soon.

Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

Changelog

Fixes

• Wiped existing Matched Play penalties for all players
  
• Fixed players getting stuck in the Ready Room due to multiple causes.
  
• Removed the Norway server for the time being from the list of Matched Play regions due to performance issues (We’ll be closely watching performance for servers and can make other adjustments if need be)
  
• Enabled the West Germany server region for Matched Play
  
• Fixed an issue where a full lobby of players would have a server that would not spin up
  
• Fixed multiple script errors that could disrupt a Lobby from proceeding
  
• Shortened the “waiting for connecting players” Ready Room timer down to 60 seconds
  
• Reduced the default Concede vote time down to 90 seconds to deal with unforeseen scenarios during the Beta period.
  
• Changed the Penalized state to begin once waiting for commanders
  
• Matched play rounds will be in “Warm up mode” if either assigned commander is late to join or fails to join, until the round is started with two commanders.
  
• Fixed missing backgrounds for Concede and Eject UI buttons in voice comm menu
  
• Fixed issues arising from assigning late joining commanders to the role where someone was already commanding
  
• Fixed an exploit with ambient sound volume
  
• Fixed an exploit that allowed for short range wallhacks
  
• Added a “Beta” tag to the Matched Play button
  
• Minor optimizations to the Matched Play system
  
• Fixed that Grenade Launcher projectiles did not impact on Babblers
  
• Fixed a small issue with damage over time triggers and status effect icons
  
• Fixed issue that caused players to remain in lobby after server shutdown
  
• Added automatic Matched Play server error reporting

The Development team never stops and although at times some updates don’t seem as full of changes, there is always behind the scenes efforts being made. One of those biggest efforts over the last year has been our new Matched Play system, code named Thunderdome. Update 337 is our big unveiling to the general public of the new Matched Play BETA and a flurry of other changes and updates throughout the game.

Matched Play in its current state will allow 12 players to be matched by region and skill levels to the best of HIVE’s ability. You then play two rounds on an officially hosted server. The intent of this system is to create a better experience for players looking to get in and play as soon as possible and not wait on servers in spectator mode for a slot that may or may not open. There are still more planned features for the official 1.0 release of Matched Play and you can read more about the system here[unknownworlds.com].

Update 337 also includes an updated version of one of our earliest maps MINESHAFT. Kash and Maptesting Group have been hard at work getting this update ready and we hope you enjoy the new gameplay brought on by the changes. Many other maps have gotten updates as well and as always a special thanks to each of the Map Leads on those respective maps as listed in the log below.

A new Armory UI has been added to the game that more reflects the visuals and information we wanted to share and felt was better for players to understand equipment effectiveness and uses. An updated implementation for the graphics option Ambient Occlusion has also been added that should help with input lag and large fps drops, it also looks much better which is a major plus too!

As always, there are many other tweaks and improvements listed below. We look forward to your continued feedback and support.

Remember all sales of NS2 and DLC directly affect our development budget and allow our team to continue work on NS2.

Changelog

Gameplay

• [Has been live since January] Cluster Grenades should no longer set enemies on fire and should no longer cancel abilities (Umbra, Crag heal etc)
  
• Damage is now increased to 72 in order to keep the damage intended by the prior fire values

Tweaks / Improvements

• New ‘Matched Play’ option in the Play menu. It is in a BETA state until the next patch. Feel free to provide any feedback on our discord server!
  
• Focused version of the game for 6v6 only
  
• System automatically groups 12 players based on their geographic location and their Hive Skill. With the aim of normalizing latency among all clients.
  
• Matched Play ranks and skills will use the player's current community rank until that player’s first Matched Play round is finished. Afterwards, the Matched Play skill-ranks will be handled separately.
  
• Map Voting is a priority-choice system, which means your first choice (of max 3) gets the greatest weight.
  
• Each Match is two rounds, one for each faction. Teams are automatically swapped for the second round.
  
• Friends Invitations and Groups Queueing are not implemented for the BETA, but we are looking very closely at adding these features for the Version 1 release of Matched Play.
  
• Players who intentionally leave an ongoing match will be penalized from using the feature, so as to encourage players to not create a detrimental experience for their teammates whom they match with.
  
• 1st penalty is for 1 hour
  
• 2nd penalty within 7 days time is 3 hours
  
• 3rd penalty within 7 days time is 24 hours
  
• 4th penalty within 7 days time is 3 days
  
• 5th penalty within 7 days time is 7 days
  
• If any incident occurs it resets the 7 day clock! So if your 2nd penalty occurs on the 6th day, you have another 7 days you have to complete without incident again, else you get the 3rd penalty.
  
• Penalties are sequential in both directions, earned and lost. So without further incident within that rolling 7 day period your status will revert to the prior penalty step. Meaning if you’ve earned the maximum 7 day ban it would take 4 weeks to essentially “reset” your penalty level to 0, but you would be able to use the system again as soon as the first 7 days passed. But should you have another incident soon after that, it would go right back to a 7 day penalty
  
• For more details, please read the FAQ: https://steamcommunity.com/games/ns2/announcements/detail/2993187041079882627
  
• New Ambient Occlusion
  
• No more input delay or large FPS drops!
  
• No more “moving” pixelated shadows!
  
• Give it a try.. After a while you’ll wonder how you lived without it

New Armory UI

• Replete with stat bars for new players to consider and learn with
  
• Main menu News panel is now at the bottom of the screen and will automatically hide in subsequent game launches.
  
• New Mineshaft and Tram main menu background cinematics to accommodate their changes over the years
  
• The game will automatically select your native desktop resolution by default now. This should prevent some new installs from being unable to interact with the main menu buttons without having to alt + enter
  
• Sound options menu are arranged to be more consistent and intuitive (Thanks MiniMe!)

Fixes

• Fixed fourth Infantry Portal being possible on one Command Station
  
• Fixed the automatic spawning of an infantry portal once there are enough players on the team from occurring with the wrong amount of players
  
• Fixed Marines rarely spawning at random locations on the map at round start
  
• Fixed main menu background sounds not being controlled by the sound volume option
  
• Fixed respawn music not being affected by music slider volume
  
• Fixed “say” console command not working
  
• Fixed the Advanced option “nameplates” set to “numbers” still showing health bars
  
• Fixed that you could not queue a Drifter to patrol an area after a build order. The weekend seminar training for all drifters seems to have gone well as they now fully understand your priorities like creeping in hallways
  
• Fixed Marine HP bar on HUD showing up even when disabled, if getting healed.
  
• Fixed an exploit that could easily allow custom shaders on enemy players.
  
• Fixed Cyst “ghost model” placement ring being too small. Responsible for confusing commanders since 2012. If you pop ‘em now you have only yourself to blame (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed Marine tutorial errors when extractor blueprint is destroyed (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed an inconsistent Hive Skill offset calculation 
  
• Fixed Sound Occlusion geometry not being properly commander invisible
  
• Fixed damage numbers not showing sometimes despite being enabled
  
• Fixed a showstopping bug in Marine tutorial where the powernode could not be built. It now will automatically build after some time if the user is unable to, as a workaround. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed consuming Drifters causing server errors (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed Hive Challenge mode eating itself alive by wave 7, like a galaxy’s worth of stars collapsing in on themselves to form a supermassive black hole containing a billion Marine bots deep beyond the event horizon. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed Infantry Portals not showing in post round stats Tech list (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed that we never had a feature that was so beautiful that it could record structure location information in the post round stats file, allowing the community to create gorgeous heatmaps to share. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed that consumed Harvesters didn’t count as lost in the RT graph in post round stats, along with some other stat reporting oddities (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed flickering lights and repetitive snow fx in Summit main menu cinematic
  
• Fixed Origin main menu cinematic missing all of its sound events. 
  
• Fixed that lights don't immediately turn off when the power node is destroyed (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Fixed that Marine Commanders could issue Defend and Build waypoints on enemy entities
  
• Fixed typo in color-blind mode option. You just didn’t notice it before because you were regular blind as well. The same reason for your KD ratio.
  
• Fixed that the Options menu did not display the default values to the user. They now show an asterisk (*) next to the relevant options.
  
• Fixed the scenario where if a player bound their Map key to an existing commander grid binding, you’d open the map while using commander even though it was a non commander binding.
  
• Fixed that as a commander when you select a player in an Exosuit the Orders menu is empty. Now you can order those murder machines around to your heart’s content. 
  
• Fixed Gorge “toys” (any that have ghost models to place) causing a server error if the Gorge died before actually placing them.
  
• Changed the name of “Advanced Assistance”, the command chair upgrade, to “Advanced Support” to distinguish between the Advanced Armory which was more commonly used when one said “AA”
  
• Fixed that Power Surge could be used on Sentry Batteries. One does not simply plug the power into another power source. That’s how new TSF safety regulations come about.

Sounds

• Fixed Metro menu background sound effects not having client’s sounds setting controlling its volume.

Maps

Descent (Thanks Salty!)

• Fixed Crew Quarters vent stuck spot
  
• Fixed the planet
  
• Fixed low and minimal lighting in silo and drafting 
  
• Rebuilt Occlusion Geo for better performance
  
• Old occlusion is now sound occlusion
  
• Improved commander invisible group
  
• Added no evolve onos, to non onos friendly vents
  
• Moved around some minimap location names
  
• Smoothed out collision in various places
  
• Moved Ready Room to prevent edge cases where it could be seen from the map
  
• Fixed the holo sign in the Ready Room

Docking (Thanks Kash!)

• Fixed unpowered location in Terminal
  
• Altered collision geometry for railings in courtyard to hopefully prevent AI line of sight being blocked for no reason.
  
• Added 2 extra sets of lockers to Locker Room on the eastern wall to provide more cover for upgrades against marines assaulting from Courtyard.

Kodiak (Thanks pSyk!)

• Improved Occlusion Geo and Performance
  
• Removed OP ARC spots for Command and Hanger
  
• Removed some plants for clearer visuals
  
• Added more rocks for cover in the outdoor areas
  
• Added more crates for cover in Tunnel B5
  
• Replaced trees with Origin trees (clearer visuals and better performance)
  
• Fades can now blink through the gap of the crossbeams and ceiling at various places on the map
  
• Added half closed doors to the door frames in the long corridor between Central and Hydro
  
• Re-routed Hanger ceiling vent
  
• Moved Upper Rapids RT closer to Marine Start

Metro (Thanks Mephilles!)

• Added in Minimal Lights
  
• Added collision to all of the ticket booth props. (Located in derelict station, atrium, ticket booths)

Mineshaft (Thanks Kash!)

• Rethemed Cave.
  
• Raised Cave to be closer to the height of the Cavern RT/North Tunnels.
  
• Relocated vent from Cave to North Tunnels, to North Tunnels to Sorting.
  
• Moved Crusher RT to North Tunnels.
  
• Crusher to Cavern vent added under the stairs in Crusher.
  
• Disconnected the Crusher/Cavern and Cave connection, making Cave a 2 entrance TP like all the other TPs in Mineshaft.
  
• Added vent and extra detail to Cart Tunnel.
  
• Disconnected Brew Room from Crusher, now has its own entrance to Central Drilling on the northern wall.
  
• Connected Sorting to Brew Room.
  
• Turned Conveyors into a vent and removed from the power grid.
  
• Added extra vent exit in Deposit overlooking The Gap arc spot.
  
• Made the Gap window above Operations inaccessible to aliens (to prevent exploitation).
  
• Removed the Gap arc spot vs Operations hive.
  
• Rethemed the Gap.
  
• Cleaned up the clutter and cover in the south of Water Pumps to make it less abuse-able by aliens.
  
• Made the Water Pumps to Cart Tunnel vent marine accessible.
  
• Removed the vent above Central Drilling leading into Water Pumps.
  
• Added cover throughout the map.
  
• Added wetmaps and fog to appropriate places throughout the map.
  
• Collision Overhaul throughout the map.
  
• Moved Operations south and altered some cover and detail in the room.
  
• Updated lighting to include all quality settings.

Refinery (Thanks Zavaro!)

• Fixed stuck spot in Routing vent

Summit (Thanks pSyk!)

• Replaced snow cinematics with new ones that cost less performance.
  
• Removed a few snow cinematics and reflection probes to improve performance.

Veil (Thanks pSyk!)

• Fixed several pitch black areas/spots with Minimal Lights
  
• Fixed Fade stuck spots in the vent entrances below System
  
• Fixed Marine/Fade stock spot at vent exit in Dome/Neck corridor

SDK

• Made No Evolve tool much more robust and reliable. Can select specific lifeforms. (Thanks Axtel!)
  
• Added new Occlusion visualizer rendering mode, via ‘r_mode occlusion’ (requires cheats-mode enabled)

Known Issues

• When you are penalized from using Matched Play, it will only show in complete hours sometimes, and cut off the minutes. So if you see 2 hours, it could very well be 2 hours and 50 minutes still. This will get fixed.

Thunderdome has been the fun codename for this project that is now being officially labeled as Matched Play in the main menu. We plan on releasing the Beta phase of this feature in the next few weeks.

To put it simply it is a matchmaking system. It matches players together in a lobby of 12. When it performs a search it sorts by the smallest number of available player slots in order to fill up existing lobbies, and then that is sorted by a median skill level that is closest to the searching player, and then it finally refines that based on geodesic distance. Or said another way: The system attempts to find you a match quickly that is as fair as possible both through skill levels and latency. 

The system always tries to find both the closest skill value to you personally, as well as the nearest lobby to you. Failing this it gradually searches farther in both distance and skill range until it either finds something or you create your own lobby.

Server selection is based on a computed average position of all the members in the lobby. This means no singular person dictates the latency for everyone, but rather the lowest latency possible is achieved for the whole group of players by creating a singular point. It uses longitude and latitude to find the nearest server location from that chosen point.

You will play two rounds, one on each team. If you leave at any point before both rounds are complete, you will be penalized. The lobby system works in stages; first it waits for the lobby to fill with exactly 12 players, it will not proceed without this number being reached. Then it waits for at least two Commander volunteers, but you can volunteer at any time before this! If at least two Commanders have not volunteered, the system will not proceed. If more than two have volunteered the system will choose the two highest ranked Commanders. 

With 12 players and at least two Commander volunteers, all players can now participate in a Map vote where each person can choose up to 3 different maps in order of their preference. After a map is chosen everyone is shuffled to their respective teams in the most balanced configuration, each with their own Commander. At this moment a dedicated server that is not community hosted will be spun up for the games. During this time players have entered the Planning Phase while they wait for the server, where they can strategize in text while using an image of the map on screen. 

After you play the first round a brief intermission of 90 seconds takes place. After this completes the map will not change but the system will automatically swap you to the other team with the same players and the same Commander. Once both rounds are completed the server will automatically shut down and you will return to the main menu.

Here is a list of server hosting regions that are covered:

• East Coast US
  
• West Coast US
  
• Southern UK
  
• Central Europe
  
• Eastern Norway
  
• Southern Brazil
  
• Hong Kong
  
• Eastern Australia

DISCLAIMER: The purpose and scope of the initial Beta phase of Matched Play/TD is to ensure the core functionality of the system works as expected and to allow us to make adjustments on the fly in the background to certain values. It also serves as an observation period for us on how balance, wait times, or social aspects may be impacted. As such many features we have completed or planned for the system are being held back during this specific phase. Once we exit this phase and release “Version 1” of the system these features will be added back in. We tentatively plan on this phase being just over 6 weeks long. That all being said, try it out and provide feedback and or suggestions to us in our discord!


How many friends can you queue into matched play with?
For the initial Beta test, zero. But after it is fully released we tentatively plan on allowing users to invite friends. Obviously this is a highly requested feature and we very much have it as a top priority beyond testing the initial core functionality of the system during the Beta period. But we must also consider the implications of allowing an entire team comprised of friends against 6 other random individuals when it comes to matchmaking times. Because of this we also have the functionality for “Private” lobbies already hooked up but not enabled and once we exit the Beta period we will be testing its viability for scenarios where you want to play 6v6 or 2v2 etc exclusively with friends. 

Will public servers still be ranked after the introduction of TD?
Yes! However there will be two different ranking systems in place. The existing one will continue to apply to public servers only and exist as it does now, while TD will use that value as a starting place to begin recording your “Matched Play Skill” level. We fully recognize that our community run servers are the only reason this game has existed for this long. We appreciate them and do not wish to destroy their communities by preventing balanced matches or removing any incentive to play in the environments they have fostered for so many years.

How does the penalty system work?
Part of the Beta phase is to determine the efficacy and fairness of the starting values and behaviors we have in place. What we have is essentially a Work In Progress when it comes to this experimental system. As such we are not prepared to share the details of this just yet. However we can say that penalties will constitute temporary banning from Matched Play. We can also say that we do not intend for you to be punished if you are able to return to the match. We’ll have more on this at a later date and will publish it very clearly and publicly.

Will I be allowed to play on NA servers even though I’m in the EU?
Yes. The current value in place (that can be changed by us on the fly if needed) is a 9500 km maximum range. This is enough for most West Coast US individuals to play with individuals from Berlin, Germany. 

Will there be region/ping locks?
Somewhat, yes. As mentioned previously the maximum range allowed is 9500 km, if you fail to find anything closer. Although this might seem like a lot, the servers being utilized to run Matched Play provide better latencies compared to typical community servers. For an anecdotal example: as a West Coast US player I experience on average 150 ms of latency to the East Coast US in community owned servers. For comparison: Our servers are allowing me to connect to the East Coast with 70-90 ms. And I can connect to EU within 130-150 ms - which is pretty much the maximum range allowed and therefore hopefully the most amount of latency one should expect.

What about stats? Will they be available to see?
At the end of each round played, yes. The post game stat screen will come up as normal. Outside of that, we have no plans to officially display the data publicly elsewhere. Any websites containing such detailed stats would have to come from 3rd party developers if desired.
Will we be notified if the NS2 window is minimized once the queue completes?
Yes! This was considered and designed from the start. We realize queues can often be a bit boring and therefore you may want to alt-tab to open your aim trainer or listen to music and read your 9,000 unread emails in the interim. As such, there are 3 distinct phases where your minimized window will flash yellow on the windows taskbar: Waiting for commanders to volunteer (once you have 12 players), the Map vote, and joining the server successfully. 

Will 6v6 have balance changes or will it have the same balance changes as 10v10 ?
Yes there will be balance changes to accommodate the different type of experience, but it will not be done until after it has gone through its Beta stage. This is for two reasons : the Beta period is primarily for testing the core functionality of the system and to ensure it operates as expected, and during that time any balance issues we might not have predicted will show themselves in order for us to remedy. So while we have a long list of balance changes that have been in the pipe for months, we need to wait and observe to be sure. Additionally, this does not however imply that we will be maintaining two different games, our goal is to have the same experience. However if need be, we may make selective subtle adjustments and will clearly announce when this occurs. (There may be exceptions made to any of the above)

How will you manage disruptive and/or toxic players? There are a lot of players that are banned by all community servers but there's no centralized UWE ban list?
Great question! This is something that even the largest gaming studios struggle with when they do not have community run servers exclusively. We plan on leaning on a decaying player reporting system that automatically triggers temporary Matched Play bans that can add up to longer ones if they occur within certain timeframes. For an example only (these are not the actual values!) :  if 8 unique players - more than just your own teammates to prevent griefing - report you for toxic behavior in a 24 hour period, the system can temporarily ban you from using Matched Play for 24 hours. If you are reported to the same degree again in the next 7 days, perhaps the system bans you for a week this time. After that time passes and you are playing again, if X amount of days pass with no incident, your status is reset. Essentially a built in decay time to your karma. If we see in our system a particularly bad actor who clearly has no intention of changing, we reserve the right to permanently ban them from the feature manually. We’ll have more info on this as we exit the Beta period.

How will you find matches for high leveled sanjis?
This is a very delicate matter for us. Due to the small number of players who obtain such a skill level, we realize that it can be difficult to pair up with others of similar skill. As explained already, the system tries its best to find the closest skill level and closest distance, but barring this we have ensured that there is a value we are testing (meaning it can be changed!) of a maximum 2,000 hive skill difference allowed. This means that a 5k skill player can match with a 3k skill player. And then due to how the lobby systems work by averaging out skill values based on the players who have joined, the lobby average changes to 4k, and now a 2k player can join. Rinse and repeat. This means that while the system will find you the best match in both ping and fairness, it will still allow a wider degree of skill ranges to play together if there is no other option available at the time. Expect the possibility of these values being changed as needed during the Beta period, as it's one of the major purposes behind this period.

Is Competitive mod enabled or is it standard vanilla? Configurable lobby options?
The servers will be running vanilla NS2 only during the Beta phase, and will not contain any configurable options. After this phase we may consider certain configurations to be voted on while players sit in a lobby. This was a large reason for us fully integrating NS2+ into the vanilla experience of the game. Additionally, the same default server consistency configuration will be in place, so if you wish to run your own crosshair or alien vision mods, you still can.

How are you planning to promote the gamemode for the current or returning playerbase? Rewards etc.?
We have lots of exciting plans for this that are being held back for after the Beta phase… we really want to encourage people to not just try the system but also be rewarded for putting in serious time and or effort with it. We’re looking primarily at cosmetic and vanity routes for rewards, but we’ll announce and show off more about this once we get closer to exiting the Beta phase.

Will you be able to reconnect after you have lost internet or crashed?
Yes, absolutely. It would be pretty hard to justify having “leaver penalties” if we prevented you from rejoining the match.

Will I be able to select lifeforms when queuing?
You will be able to select lifeforms once you have entered the “Planning Phase” in the lobby! Keep in mind this is only to communicate your intentions to your teammates and will not automatically save a lifeform for you or perform any other function. Your commander will have already been selected and displayed, but everyone else will be able to plan out what lifeforms they will play - even if the first round played will be Marines. This should help prevent those “Why do we have 5 Gorges?” scenarios.

What are the expected wait times to get into a match?
This is a really tough thing to predict, as it changes throughout the seasons of the year, sales, and patch updates etc. It is highly variable and ambiguous, largely depending on how many users are actively online and searching at that exact time. So we cannot give you a concrete number as a result. Our hope is that this feature might be preferred over waiting 45 minutes as a spectator in a server just to play - a regular occurrence right now. The primary goal of this system was to reduce the time between starting the game and actually getting in and playing.

What about streaming and spectating? Will they be available?
No, we have no plans for either of these things being available. That can still occur in community ran servers that will continue to have spectator slots. Matched Play is more about those who just want to get in and play.

Can you kick people from the lobby?
No, but you can mute their text or leave the lobby if you find them bothersome. Additionally you can initiate a server wide vote to kick a player once in the server,

How can I ensure if I play two or three games in a row they won't be full of the same exact crew?
One long term planned feature (that will not be in the Beta Phase) is to recall a lobby preference of yours. So if you exit a lobby that is not yet full because you don’t want to play with those same players, there will be a pop up prompt and on it there will be a checkbox for you to click on to prevent rejoining that lobby. Then the system will ignore that lobby on your next search. Keep in mind however that if this feature makes it in, that those players are free to move around to other lobbies just like you. In short, there is no foolproof method here, even if the player base was 20 times its current size.