Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the first public release of NS! On October 31st, 2002, we released NS v1.0 publically to players around the globe. There were overflows, high server CPU usage, and rampant team-stacking. We've come a long way baby, and we're just getting started.

We were hoping to release NS v2.1 to the public tonight, to mark this special occasion, but it's not ready yet. Instead, we present to you a small tidbit of things to come. Here is a sneak preview at the Steam desktop artwork, hand-painted by .strader@verizon.net?subject=NS'>Cory "Squeal Like a Pig" Strader.

NS Steam background

If you had your heart set on playing 2.1 tonight, don't forget that all new Constellation members will be given access to the 2.1 beta. I will work extra hard to process applications so that if you submit your donation by 10pm EST tonight, I'll make sure to respond to you shortly thereafter. I'll be working on all applications throughout the weekend as well, so if you want to sign up, you can see Combat for yourself (as long as you don't mind some bugs!). If you choose to sign up, don't forget to include your WONid and SteamID with your application for fastest processing.

Many thanks to our forum moderators, IRC operators, server operators, league organizers and everyone else that helped make NS' first year a wonderful experience for everyone! As we like to say around here, you ain't seen nothin' yet...

We also have a small gift from Supernorn2000! Happy Halloween!