Posts with ‘UnknownWorlds’ Tag

Announced: Subnautica

By: Alehkhs

On: December 16th, 2013


 
Following their namesake, indie studio Unknown Worlds (Natural Selection 2) has decided to explore new ground with their next project and will be taking a plunge into the unexplored depths. Titled Subnautica, the game “will combine elements of role playing, sandbox, exploration and cinematic games” in an underwater setting. Players will be able to construct and customize submersibles that they will then pilot into the unknown as they explore an alien ocean. Not much is known yet beyond these outlined gameplay goals just yet, but Unknown Worlds plans to keep the public up-to-date with a widespread social presence, including an official project website, blog, Twitter, and YouTube.

Natural Selection 2

By: Alehkhs

On: October 30th, 2012

Natural Selection 2, by Unknown Worlds

After six years in development, and on the ten-year anniversary of the original Half-Life mod, Unknown World Entertainment’s Natural Selection 2 has finally been released into the wild.

Natural Selection 2 combines the multiplayer FPS and RTS genres in a showdown of the alien Kharaa vs the Frontiersman marines. Although the gameplay of the two sides differs in units, weapons, and attacks, each is commanded by a single player who views the game from a bird’s-eye perspective while their teammates duke it out on the ground in gun-and-tooth combat. Securing and holding resource nodes, researching (or evolving – in the case of the Kharaa) more powerful upgrades and units, and working as an organized team are key to winning in NS2, and it will be interesting to see what sort of strategies emerge and shift over time.

Speaking of shifting gameplay, NS2 also boasts an impressive suite of mod support, and players have already created new content ranging from new maps to entirely different gameplay modes. This active community element, in combination with steady support, feedback, and events from the development team over at Unknown Worlds, ensures that Natural Selection 2 will continue to evolve well into the future.

Natural Selection 2 can now be purchased on Steam for $24.99.

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Natural Selection 2 (Build 194) – Gorilla

By: Alehkhs

On: February 2nd, 2012

The long-in-development indie FPS/RTS title Natural Selection 2 has reached an important milestone: The gorilla-like evolution for the alien team, the Onos, and the marines’ jetpack accessory (both of which were important facets of the original Half-Life mod that NS2 is the sequel to) are now in the game. These additions, along with a brand new map, “Mineshaft,” are just some of the over 100 new features, balances, and tweaks for this build, which is now available to all pre-order customers.

Check out the fantastic new trailer that shows just how far this project has come:

Natural Selection 2 Build 177

By: Derek Yu

On: May 25th, 2011

Unknown Worlds has released a new beta build of their FPS/strategy hybrid Natural Selection 2, and I thought I’d post some of the latest videos from NS2HD that show off the game. The top video is from the spectator mode and after the jump there are three videos that take you through an entire match from alien perspective.

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Natural Selection 2 Build 170

By: Derek Yu

On: April 4th, 2011

Build 170 for Natural Selection 2 is out, but mostly I just wanted to post this video from NS2HD that shows off the updates, including some adjustments to the movement of the creepy, wall-walking Skulks.

Natural Selection 2 Build 163

By: Derek Yu

On: February 18th, 2011

Dynamic infestation was a proposed feature of Natural Selection 2 as far back as 2006 (warning: video with significantly louder audio), when the game was still running on the Half-Life 2 Source engine. It’s only now, with build 163, that it’s has been added to the game’s custom engine, along with a host of other features and bug fixes. The infestation works very similarly to the creep in Starcraft – alien structures can only be built on top of it.

Natural Selection 2 is a multiplayer FPS/strategy game where players can take on the role of either a commander, who has a top-down view of the level, or a variety of grunts that are controlled from the first-person view. If you pre-order the game you can start playing the beta immediately.

Holiday Trailers

By: Derek Yu

On: December 16th, 2010

As everyone knows, the holidays are a very sexy time of year. And in the spirit of such an occasion, I bring you five very sexy indie game videos to watch while you drink hot marshmallows and launch missile toes at your loved ones. Enjoy!

To begin: here’s some new footage of thatgamecompany’s latest project, Journey. It looks beautiful, natch. But also so very ronery…

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Mod DB’s Indie Games of 2009

By: Derek Yu

On: February 5th, 2010

Natural Selection 2 was voted Indie Game of the Year by the members of Mod DB. According to developer Unknown Worlds, the above video reveals “the first game footage of the skulk, marine, gorge, command station, the sentry and a marine base chock full of marine toys”.

The other games honored are Wolfire’s Overgrowth, 0 A.D. (an open-source ancient history RTS), FOnline: 2238 (a pretty amazing-looking free-to-play Fallout MMORPG), and Platinum Arts Sandbox, a free, open-source 3D game creation program. Really cool stuff. I need to pay closer attention to Mod DB, apparently!

By the way, for those of you who were curious about the results of the NS2/Overgrowth Preorder Promo that happened last month, Wolfire’s provided a postmortem. And for those of you who were curious about Wolfire’s John Graham, Wolfire’s John Graham’s beard, and more importantly, Wolfire’s John Graham’s beard’s color, check out this video. Warning: it’s hot!

The Organic Indie Preorder Pack

By: Derek Yu

On: January 7th, 2010

FOR ONE WEEK ONLY, pre-order Overgrowth and Natural Selection both for just $40 (normally $70). Pre-ordering will give you access to early builds and tech. You’ll also be supporting two great, fully-independent 3d game developers – all the money goes directly to them.

People who have already pre-ordered Overgrowth or NS can still participate – you get the other game for free!

By the way, John… regarding the pink beard thing… can we get a promise that the carpet will also match the drapes?

Natural Selection 2 – Spark Editor

By: Derek Yu

On: December 2nd, 2009

Natural Selection 2

Though the original intended release date (Fall 2009) has come and gone, Unknown Worlds is still hard at work on the sequel to their ground-breaking FPS Natural Selection. Last week they released a pre-alpha which contains a work-in-progress version of the Spark level editor as well as a good deal of the game’s environmental art. UW is comparing Spark Editor to Google’s SketchUp, and indeed, it looks quite intuitive, if the video tutorials are any indication.

Players who pre-order NS2 will get access to the pre-alpha as well as any other pre-release goodies. You’ll also be supporting a small team of five people in their quest to make a great game, so that’s nice!

Also: pictured above is one of the first in-game screenshots from NS2, depicting a skulk’s eye (skulk’s mouth?) view of a vent and another skulk. For those of you not familiar with Natural Selection, the game pits two very different teams, human and alien, against each other, and combines the first-person shooter and real-time strategy genres. For another screenshot and some more information about the game’s ongoing development, check out this post.