I have to say, I'm thoroughly impressed by this editor. Not only is it a breeze to use, but it's runs super well. It starts up within a second, I have my map loaded in another two, and I'm good to go. Every single other editing program I have ever tried took ages to even get booted and was always slow as molasses. If anything, this puts my worries to rest about the quality of NS2.
I didn't make anything that actually looked good while rendered, but I tried to make a room with some interesting shape. I call it the turtle barn because it's only got one tiny exit, good for turtling. The editor itself is not perfect. It still has some fiddly bits to it that are slightly annoying. However, relative to every other level editor I have ever used for a 3D game, this is the greatest. Normal people can totally figure it out, and make actual maps.
All this talk of Natural Selection really, really makes me want to try it. I have Half-Life Source, and I'm too busy right now to actually see if NS will work with it, or if I need HL. Do any of you guys know if it'd work?
@Oz: You'll need for-reals Half-Life for Natural Selection to work, because it's a Half-Life mod, not a Source mod. It's $10 on Steam right now, but Steam's doing a series of one-day sales so I'd wait a few days to see if it ends up being $2.50 or something later. Also, the day after Christmas is always when Steam's super-awesome "At least 10% off on FUCK-EVERYTHING" sale starts, so wait until then to buy anything that's not already on sale.
Also, Half-Life Source is the only Valve game I don't have because of the way I was grandfathered into Steam from WON. That should also just be $1.
I've heard it's basically a port of Half-Life to the Source engine, with no improvements in graphics. Just a few minor effects and physicsly things are added. I'm still stickin' around for Black Mesa Source.
Sweet. I'll pick it up when I get home. Really, this is a very interesting business plan, I would like to see more of it.
Basically, with things like this, when you pre-order NS2, you aren't actually just buying NS2.You are joining the NS2 pre-order club. One of the benefits of membership happens to be NS2, but also other things. This is a very good model to follow to get people to pay for things in general.
Maybe GeekNights can do that also. Instead of selling merch directly, we charge to join the Geek Knights. All members get various benefits.
I'm hoping to slap together a $500-750 rig before NS2 comes out, so I'll likely preorder it.
Considering that, for about $1000, I can make a fucking crazy gaming machine, $500-$700 is going to do you just fine.
My friend is switching upgrading his PC and wanted to make the bare minimum investment for a computer that could run games. I was able to price a computer that could run TF2 on high settings for 350. (Not including screen/tower/hard drive that he already has.) For 500-700 you'll be able to make a very decent machine just shop around a little to find deals.
Comments
The editor itself is not perfect. It still has some fiddly bits to it that are slightly annoying. However, relative to every other level editor I have ever used for a 3D game, this is the greatest. Normal people can totally figure it out, and make actual maps.
Also, Half-Life Source is the only Valve game I don't have because of the way I was grandfathered into Steam from WON. That should also just be $1.
Basically, with things like this, when you pre-order NS2, you aren't actually just buying NS2.You are joining the NS2 pre-order club. One of the benefits of membership happens to be NS2, but also other things. This is a very good model to follow to get people to pay for things in general.
Maybe GeekNights can do that also. Instead of selling merch directly, we charge to join the Geek Knights. All members get various benefits.
He is also upgrading in prep of NS2.