What changed in Natural Selection 2 in 2022

Fixed an issue where Gorge bots were infinitely building other players' clogs or hydras.

Fixed several issues that could cause a user's skill value to not be updated.

Resolved an issue preventing future rounds from submitting when less than 12 players were involved.

Various updates to the Metro map including lighting and routing improvements.

A sound will be played to wake you up once the lobby enters the Waiting for Commanders stage.

Reduced default match concede timer from 7 minutes to 3 minutes.

The map vote status of each player is displayed with a checkmark on their avatar during the Map Vote phase.

Players in the same group will be color-coded in the lobby menu.

Fixed player name changes not being visible to other users in the lobby.

Pathing improvements made to all maps for better navigation.

Fixed several bugs with Matched Play Rewards that could cause players to receive incorrect playtime or win rewards.

Reduced Alien tunnel re-drop cooldown timer from 6 seconds to 3 seconds.

The system displays the number of users waiting in lobbies and playing a game on the lobby search screen.

Fixed several bugs within the Matched Play system that could cause the lobby state to become corrupted.

Significantly improved listen server performance by making server updates asynchronous.

Completely refactored the Player Bot and Commander Bot internal architecture for better behavior.

Added a large number of new capabilities to Commander Bots for both teams.

Updated LuaJIT and re-enabled trace stitching to increase the amount of code JIT’ed.

You can see the opposing team’s roster during the Planning Phase.

Added a Gorge Bot that can build structures and attack enemies.

Remake roughly based on NS1’s 'ns_ayumi' with 5 Tech Points and 10 Resource Points.

Fixed weapons dropped upon death near an Armory still having a decay timer.

Players can now reconnect to an in-progress match after crashing.

Fixed the Revert button not working correctly in the Options menu.

Fixed Marine tutorial not progressing when asked to open Map if binding was set to toggle instead of hold.

Fixed ability to join a match that just completed using steam friends.

Fixed Power Nodes not playing critical sound effects for players who have left relevancy range.

Fixed that the Marine Flashlight rate was tied to moverate.

Penalties are temporarily removed until a fairer system can be implemented.

Fixed Exo Crosshairs not being included in the default consistency exclusion list.

All status effects are now clearly marked as buffs/debuffs.

Fixed cases where a lobby would fail to spin up a server due to authentication issues.

Fixed users not being able to see the Map Vote button after a lobby rollback.

Fixed issues with player names and avatars being in an incorrect state after players left/joined.

Fixed the menu sometimes being restarted from Lua errors.

Fixed hallucinated Drifters occasionally making Marine footstep sounds.

New algorithm ensures Friends Groups stay together and teams are balanced.

Fixed Hallucinations not using the player skins of those they were copying.

Fixed death trigger in Gravity Control map.

Fixed player names with certain special characters causing Windows error sound during server joining.

Improvements to map editor workflow and functionality.

Fixed Atmospherics graphics setting defaulting to 1.0 instead of the intended default of 0.15.

Fixed seasonal throwables causing console errors and not being rate limited.

The Observatory’s scanned Status Effect icon will always show for Aliens within range, regardless of HUD detail settings.

Fixed outdated Marine commander tutorial that blocked progress due to Robotics Factory size change.

When a file fails consistency check, the mod it belongs to is now listed in the log.

Fixed base tutorials not automatically progressing to the next tutorial after completion.

Fixed cases where player names and avatars would not show in the Planning Phase screen.

Lobbies now handle users leaving and joining after reaching 12 players more robustly.

Fixed a case where the timer could get stuck at 0 without progressing the lobby.

Fixed outdated Alien commander tutorial that required manually infesting tunnels.

Fixed the lobby status UI not updating properly in some scenarios.

Fixed instances where a client could get into a desynchronized state with the lobby UI.

Fixed issues where clicking too fast on some UI elements caused script errors.

Only invited players can play in your match; Matched Play rewards are disabled.

Invite up to 2 friends before joining a public lobby to end up on the same team.

Fixed ability to join a lobby that had progressed beyond the Planning Phase.

Fixed cases of users being assigned to Team 0 and getting kicked from matches.

Fixed an issue where players leaving during the Map Vote stage would still appear in the lobby.

Fixed Ambient Occlusion graphics setting being turned off on every client restart.

Fixed inconsistent behaviors with in-game lobby invites and steam friends invites.

Added icons for Nerve Gas, Spores, and Armor Healing.

Scripts are now passed a hot reload depth as toplevel parameter if it's being hot reloaded.

Re-added the Railgun Exo’s target outline HUD effect on all Aliens and resolved performance issues.

Fixed users who volunteered to command not being able to see their voted maps.

Fixed Marine structures taking too long to build due to server performance or latency.

Fixed numerous script errors and scenarios that could break a lobby.

Fixed old hooks/console commands of hot reloaded lua files not being cleared.

Fixed that Nano Shield could not be used on unpiloted Exosuits.

Trigger reinstall of hotfix mods if they are failing consistency check.

Force caching the current version of a hotfix mod to reduce 'mod out of date' errors.

Added a Top Bar UI toggle to the advanced options menu.

Event.RemoveHook is now an engine function instead of Lua.

Switch to auto updated steam runtime libraries for the dedicated server to fix mod download issues.

Fixed the volunteer to command button showing up after a map vote.

Fixed death trigger issues in Summit map.

Fixed Bmacs getting hit with the Axe making flesh sounds.

Fixed -game command line option not handling absolute paths for the Linux dedicated server.

Duplicate Mod ID entries in a server’s map cycle are now handled properly.

Added new vent and made several movement improvements in the Caged map.

Fixed Steam Offline status triggering too easily, ensuring momentary loss of internet does not kick players.

Fixed exploit where marines could escape the map and power issue in Locker Room.

Fixed a potential server crash when fetching hotfix mods fails.

Increased height of Acidic-Access vent and made several structural changes in Tanith map.

Fixed being able to receive Matchmaking invites while playing in a public server.

Multiple adjustments made to the Biodome map including moving Agri RT and reducing Cysts needed to Filtration.

Fixed the Matchmaking Rewards menu’s Queue button being active all the time.

Fixed rare occurrence of a client not progressing through the lobby stages with everyone else.

Maps from non-active mods are now included in the Listen Server map list and automatically mounted.

Added tech points and improved cover in the Derelict map.

Fixed multiple players ending up being on an unassigned team and being kicked from the server.

Re-added text drop shadows to in-game chat text elements.

Changed the text drop shadow rendering feature to fix severe FPS losses on certain graphics driver and hardware configurations.

Fixed client script errors during certain lobby stages.

Hotfix mods are no longer hidden in the menu mod list.

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

Fixed a lobby failing when a server request returned error 500.

Fixed Chroma Resource Tower not being able to be selected or used once unlocked.

Fixed issue where earning the Battle Gorge calling card did not grant it properly.

Fixed Auric Clog not being able to be selected or used once unlocked.

Added an option to enable mounting UWE hotfix mods when creating a local server.

Fixed Steam Authentication potentially failing when waiting in a lobby for more than 30 minutes.

Players are automatically kicked from a lobby after 1 hour of inactivity.

Fixed skill offset miscalculation between the teams.

Death screen has been made smaller, hides when the map is opened, and the fade to black lasts only 2 seconds.

Moved Ore RT into Generator and added more starting Cysts to Biodome Alien Start.