What changed in Natural Selection 2 in 2019

New windows added to the main menu for changelog and news.

Fixed various issues in the maps ns2_Caged and ns2_Derelict including wall ARC spots and holes.

Resolved issue where commanders could build additional structures beyond the supply limit.

New console command 'dump_tracer_info' added to print bullet tracer effects descriptions.

Two new robotic models, Bipedal-Mobile-Automated-Custodian and Bipedal-Mobile-Automated-Countermeasure, added to Marine forces.

Drastically reduced frame time hitching caused by the help screen when dropping or picking up a weapon.

Limited frame rate to 60 FPS in the menu to improve background art asset preloading.

Added back a damage falloff for the shotgun, reducing damage from 6m to 12m.

Added a new team info HUD bar for better visibility.

Corrected supply costs for Armories, Observatories, and Sentry Batteries.

Fixed issues related to damage affecting babbler shields and their hatching.

Added 10 new Marine skins called B.M.A.C with new models, voiceovers, sounds, and effects.

Optimized application start up time and behavior.

Resolved a client script error when a veteran tried to join a team at a bootcamp server.

Resolved several crashes related to rendering.

Resolved black pixel artifacts caused by TAA under DXVK.

Resolved issue where the new server browser did not account for reserved slots.

Resolved script error caused by removing a badge that returns to an off-screen part of the tray.

Corrected various typographical errors in the new menu.

Updated menu fonts (AgencyFB) for better readability and clarity.

Prevented MouseButtonOne from being bound to toggle the console to avoid menu interaction issues.

Changed default anti-aliasing option to FXAA to address performance issues with TAA on lower-end hardware.

Enhanced font scaling in the server console for better readability.

Added a warning for high and extreme options, indicating they are for powerful systems only.

Resolved issue with some art assets not being properly precached for the new menu.

Resolved issue where some spectator UI elements blocked input to the main menu.

Resolved issue where remote option bindings reset at every launch due to a faulty xml node name.

Corrected issue where profile pictures in the friends list did not always display correctly.

Addressed issue preventing users on Windows 7 without update KB2670838 from starting the game.

Ensured cleanup of unused GUIView objects to prevent performance issues.

Corrected the menu text entry cursor to use distance field font correctly.

Defaulted all clients to DirectX 11 to prevent frequent crashes caused by DirectX 9 render pipeline.

Corrected issue where some weapon tracers were never destroyed, causing performance issues.

Corrected the unlock condition for Abyss Gorge to require 5 played rounds instead of 6.

A remake of the NS1 map, Origin, is now available to play.

Drifter supply reduced to 5, Whip supply increased to 30, Crag, Shift, and Shade supply increased to 25.

Damage and debuff removed, cooldown reduced to 4 seconds.

Lerk HP changed to 180/30, spike spread increased, and umbra adjustments made.

Sentry Battery supply increased to 15, observatory supply increased to 40, and several other supply adjustments.

Earn the special Abyss Gorge skin after playing five rounds on the new map.

Damage increased to 150 and HP increased to 50.

The main menu has been modernized for better usability.

Player target damage normalized to 12/13/14/15.

Removed damage falloff and changed spread pattern.

The game has officially moved to DirectX 11.

Armor bonus for Skulks decreased to 15 and for Lerks to 20.

Blink's initial cast now cancels all velocity, speed increased, and air friction adjustments made.

Base health decreased to 700, biomass health bonus increased, and Boneshield movement speed increased.

Cluster grenades now deal 5x damage to flammable structures, nerve gas cloud lifetime decreased, and pulse grenade damage reduced.

Fixed issues with cinematics updating every frame and optimized spore and umbra clouds.

Improved various expensive world update routines to stabilize and decrease their run-time cost.

Fixed Alien Tunnels having differing HP values and not starting with 100% eHP.

Removed out-dated tip clips about Gorge Tunnels and Babblers.

Dropped weapons expiry now refreshes when a marine is really close/walks over them.

Upgrade to Visual Studio 2017 runtime.

Fixed that you could not scroll down far enough in the control bindings menu.

Added a new 'Refraction Quality' option to the graphics menu.

Increased spawn rate from 1.5 seconds to 2.5 seconds

Fixed weird 'magic hands' animation bug when switching weapons.

Lower maximum base Cyst HP to 200, scaling up to 350 near a hive.

Updates to DirectX 11 getting closer to ditching DirectX 9.

Fixed that attached Babblers didn’t cloak/decloak properly with their parent.

Added a new option for static props called 'allowBullets'.

Added new shiny material shaders for most computer monitors and displays in the game.

Reduced Welder cost to 2 personal resources (from 3)

Added Las’ library for lua closures that are less expensive to generate.

Change structural damage multiplier from 5x to 4x (450 -> 360 structural damage)

Increased armor from 600 to 800

Fixed that dropped weapons started to expire near an Armory when a player walked over them.

Fixed that the Unearthed loading screen had an FPS counter in the top right.

Fixed the mouse over tooltip in the Options Menu regarding menu music.

Decreased Spike damage to 5 (from 6)

Added a command line option 'force_renderer' to force DirectX 9 or 11.

Decreased adrenaline energy refresh rate to 30% (from 60%)

New maximum lifeform shield value for Gorge & Lerk decreased to 21 (from 42)

New maximum lifeform shield value for Onos decreased to 85 (from 150)

Multiple adjustments made to the Unearthed map for better gameplay flow.

Fixed that spectating players would rubber-band between players in first-person mode.

Limit the amount of time that the client spent on updating GUI scripts every frame.

Fixed a number of Exo HUD elements that were misaligned.

Decreased research costs to 20 team resources (from 25)

New maximum lifeform shield value for Skulk decreased to 21 (from 35)

Fixed that the Lerk crosshairs had a tiny black bar near the top.

Decreased research time to 60 seconds (from 90)

Fixed various DirectX 11 issues including shadow rendering and emissive decals.

New maximum lifeform shield value for Fade decreased to 40 (from 65)

Fixed anisotropic filtering and particles sometimes not being enabled in the renderer.

Update anti-aliasing code to latest version of FXAA for minor improvement.

Improved the visual quality of shadows, especially with distant light sources.

Fixed a script error that stopped players from joining bootcamp servers.

Undeployed ARC health decreased to 3000/200 (from 3000/500)

Add support to view and test Material Swapping via the Materials Window.

New skins and models have been introduced in this update.

A new map called Unearthed has been added to the game.

The Catalyst DLC Pack now includes a new Sandstorm skin for the updated machine gun model.

New sounds have been added to enhance gameplay experience.

Various gameplay and balance changes have been implemented.

Players on the new map will receive a new alien commander skin.