FAQ
From NS2 community wiki
What is Natural Selection 2?
Natural Selection 2 (NS2) is a multiplayer computer game mixing first-person shooter and real-time strategy gameplay. It is set in a science fiction universe, and is currently under development.
When will NS2 be released?
Version 1.0 is stated for release in Summer of 2012
Is the Beta available yet?
Yes. All pre-orders can currently play the beta version of the game.
What are the system requirements?
The target specifications for Version 1.0 are 1.2 GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, a DirectX 9 level graphics card, Windows Vista/2000/XP, Steam, mouse, keyboard and of course, an internet connection. We are working hard to make sure NS2 runs well on average hardware without having to upgrade your machine! We are doing heavy optimization work now.
NS2 is currently in alpha/beta testing and we do not currently have a release date set yet. It all depends how smoothly beta testing goes...
What engine will the game run on?
A custom engine, Spark. NS2 started life on the Counter-Strike: Source/HL2 Episode 1 source branch but has since moved to a new custom engine. All the gameplay code was written in Lua so most of the game translated over smoothly. Main article: Engine.
Will NS2 be a mod like NS?
Nope, NS2 will be a complete stand-alone game on our own engine and will not require Half-Life 2. Unknown Worlds Entertainment are in no way affiliated with Valve or Half-life.
What languages will NS2 support?
English initially, with additional language support to follow.
What's the modding situation with NS2?
Without modding, there would have been no Natural Selection, so we're dedicated to providing the community with the most powerful and easy-to-use modding tools possible. We're shipping all our content tools we are using to build Natural Selection 2 along with the game. This includes our level editor, model viewer, cinematic editor. Furthermore, because we are writing 100% of our game in Lua script, you'll be able to add your own weapons, gameplay modes and entirely new games with relative ease. Everyone that buys the game will get the same tools we used to build the game. We're even shipping our commercial script debugger and our own gameplay code with the game. So we expect NS2 to be the most modded game ever!
Will there be ported versions of NS maps?
Not officially, NS2 will ship with four new maps. It will be up to the community to bring the NS1 maps over to NS2, however, there are large gameplay differences that will affect the feel of these maps.
Will NS2 include Combat mode from NS?
No, we're not planning to include a combat mode in NS2 at this time. We expect that the community will use our modding tools to recreate Combat along with many other game modes.
Will there be any Outdoor environments?
We'll probably be saving any significant outdoor environments for a future expansion or game so that we have the time and resources to do it right.
What platform(s) will it be released on?
Initially for Windows PC. Planned for later release on Mac, Xbox 360 and possibly Linux.
If I pre-order and download from UWE, can I play on Steam?
There is only one version of the game, but there may be multiple ways to purchase the game. Regardless of where you purchase the game, once you install it, it's playable only through Steam and so the experience is the same.
