Natural Selection 2 Spark Editor Released

[Blink]

Today Unknownworlds have released their development tools to people who have pre-ordered the game. As you will probably know, they decided to scrap Source and build their engine and level editor from scratch so this should be interesting for NS fans who dabble in level design:

If you've pre-ordered NS2, you can now download the NS2 pre-alpha! This is not a playable version of the game but is our custom level editor and a fair amount of NS2 environment art. This is an early release of our technology that we wanted to get in your hands so mappers can start playing around with it. For the installer, editor screenshots and some short videos, go here:

http://www.naturalselection2.com/download

You'll need your NS2 pre-order game key to use the editor. If you haven't pre-ordered it and would like to, you can still do so here:

http://www.naturalselection2.com/buy

If you've pre-ordered let us know how the editor compare to Hammer in the comments.

[Phott]

Oh snap, looks like I'll be getting rid of more money now.

[Habboi]

From what I've seen from the videos it seems simple to jump into and they say they are still working on it etc. I guess it's nice to have a tidy UI as I'm used to Unity's crazy project folder set-up @_@

[Knights]

Well I got to get preordering now.. Huge fan of the hl1 version...

[Shirik]

when the whole game is coming out?

[vcool]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31245

[Corigami]

OK, here goes: We have no exact date for the alpha or beta. We're not sure if you will be able to run servers for the alpha or beta. You'll always be able to re-download the game even if not through Steam. NS2 will probably use Steamworks for your friends list, even if you're not playing it through Steam. It will auto-update whether standalone or through Steam.

So I guess they don't know when they're releasing, but they are letting you preorder. I hope you guys still like computer games when you're fifty.

[ixin]

So I made a small test room checking out how the tool works and such and I must say once you get used to it it's breath easy and doesn't require massive reworks at all!

http://nl.tinypic.com/useralbum.php?...BnZlyAcw%3D%3D

Also you can scale the Models! Which is awesome!

Here' are some more pics!

http://nl.tinypic.com/useralbum.php?ua= ... UHIA%3D%3D

[YokaI]

made this yesterday, posted it in map pimpage / NS2 forums.

This editor is the best thing ever. Fuck half life 2.

Here's a basic writeup:

The editor isn't much like Hammer at all, and is it's own system. You can make brushes or subtract blocks from the initial world geometry by using the "extrude" tool on whatever single polygon you built. Basically, you split polygon faces, extrude, and draw polygons, which is much different than valve hammer. However, it's control is very slick, and you can pretty much work entirely on the 3d view, which is pretty awesome. The texture editor is about the same, and placing entities and props is probably the easiest thing in the world. I'll post a video of me actually using the tool soon. I need to come up with an NS2 map layout first...

[cheesemoo0]

This looks like hot shit. Hammer is not aging well.

[Chopium]

Need. To. Get. NOW!

[Surfa]

Just looking at the content and this is what ensued.

[vcool]

I wonder how well outdoor environments handle.

[YokaI]

I think it has about the same as old Unreal Engines when it comes to outdoor environments, but I haven't really messed around with it enough to ensure that's the case.

[The Doctor]

Just had a look at the tutorials. It looks very easy to use, but at the same time has many advanced features that even Source lacks.

Is NS2 an MP only game though. I saw some videos on it years ago, but beyond that I never bothered to look into it. I think it was back when it was still using Source.