The latest patch for the Natural Selection 2 Beta is now available on Steam. If you have pre-ordered the game it should automatically update on Steam. If you would like to pre-order and get instant access to the beta, you can still do so here.

In addition to the features demonstrated in the latest video there are a large number of bug fixes and other improvements in this build. The complete change log is listed below. We'd like to extend a special thank you to all of the community members who have made contributions that are included in the patch; with such a small development team it's super helpful to have this outside help. Please keep it up!

Build 163 changelog

Major changes

• New ns2_tram ready room
• Added dynamic infestation prototype
• Added Alien dark vision mode
• Improved Grenade Launcher animations and ammo display
• New commander selection panel GUI
• Added a "give damage" indicator to the crosshair GUI so you can see when you damage something
• Fixed difficulty in moving up stairs
• Add whip walking
• New on fire particle effects
• All new Gorge particle effects
• Added sentry guides when placing them
• Fixed game alerts and countdown/victory/etc. sounds

Other changes

• Added new decal system
• Alien players now only regenerate on infestation
• Gorges can now create infestation with their spray weapon. It lasts 2 minutes and then shrinks away
• Infestation is required for all alien structures except hives
• Alien structures generate a little infestation for effect
• Marine structures cannot be built on infestation
• Alien structures that require infestation now take damage when they're not on it
• Enemies touching infestation show up on hive sight
• Slightly improved Skulk wall walking by tracing out capsules instead of rays (more improvements for next patch)
• The show map button now works when dead, spectating, sprinting and when in the embryo (thanks for the suggestion and help from iamsquidget and Camron)
• Made minimap blips not appear for players in the ready room and players in the ready room cannot see any map blips now
• Fixed problem where clicking on the GUI hotkey button would not actually select that unit on the server
• A few script garbage reductions (Thanks Asraniel)
• Fixed bug which made Armory arms open for dead marine spectators
• Made the Armory menu close if a player dies
• Changed the giant square of doom commander GUI attack animation to a pulsing circle
• Fixed problems with buy/evolve menu remaining open
• Fixed problem with the evolve menu not going away when an alien goes to the ready room
• Fixed bug where a player in an almost evolved, but recently killed embryo could still spawn before the ragdoll was destroyed which caused them to respawn instantly with full health
• Updated admin web interface
• Fixed a bug preventing players from accessing the escape menu in the ready room
• Fixed a bug causing Lerk spikes to remain in the world forever
• Fixed problems with a queued player not being requeued if the IP they were waiting to spawn at died or lost power
• Fixed problem where a player could spam weapons from the Armory
• Smoothed out the view when moving up stairs and over other obstacles
• Fixed bug where the physics representation for a dropped weapon would not properly update on the client
• Fixed bug where the collision representation of a simulated object was not synchronized with physics
• Fixed bug where location names wouldn't appear for the Commander
• Fixed level collision geometry not being cleaned up on the client when a level was exited
• Fixed bug where the Rifle could be fired while reloading (thanks Enceladus)
• Fixed bug where the commander display would incorrectly round up the available resource levels (thanks Enceladus)
• Fixed bug where MACs attempt to assist-build debris from destroyed buildings and scanner sweeps (thanks Enceladus)
• Fixed bug where the commander display would incorrectly round up the available resource levels (thanks Enceladus)
• Fixed the Editor snapping to vertices and edges that were in hidden layers
• Fixed bug where the NS2 process could remain running after exiting the game
• Fixed bug where pose parameters curves could not be set to linear interpolation in the Cinematic Editor
• Fixed bug where the Skulk's collision representation didn't align with the visual representation while wall walking
• Added additional error messages when a shader cannot be used for rendering
• Added the ability to select an object in the Cinematic Editor by double clicking on its name in the Curves window
• Changed selected items to appear as bold in the Curves window of the Cinematic Editor
• Added support for cylinder shapes in the collision/physics system
• New Marine Commander interface sounds, improved sounds for rifle fire/reload, Command Station open and close, IP spin up, player spawn, skulk bite hit marine sound
• Marine footsteps on metal,thin metal, rock, grenade launcher deploy
• Added missing rifle "end" sound
• Clear flames and other game effects when logging into the command station
• Fixed bug where it was legal to evolve to the lifeform you already were
• Increased power point blackness time from 5 to 10 seconds now that aliens have a vision mode
• Added squishy footsteps when on infestation
• Modified the NS2 scoreboard to look more like the one in NS1. It now shows the current primary weapon for marines, the current lifeform for aliens and who is dead (thanks Raza)
• Fixed bug where there was a long delay between using alien abilities
• Slowed down skulks by 10% and marine sprint by 4% to try to make game a bit more accessible
• Fixed bug where a Gorge could evolve into a Gorge
• Fixed bug where the game would hang when changing the level
• Fixed bug where grenades sometimes collide with player before launching
• Fixed player not being able to show the minimap while dead or sprinting
• Fixed bug where the skin width wasn't properly taken into account for sweeping shapes in the collision scene
• Fixed bug where heal spray would not do damage unless the enemy had less than full health
• Fixed bug where using heal spray to get an enemy down to 0 health would make them invincible
• Disabled ladders until they are improved
• New Fade Blink view model animations added

You can always keep up to date with what we're working on for the next patch with our real-time progress tracker.

We recently launched the official Steam group for Natural Selection 2. If you'd like to show your support for NS2 and join the group, you can do so at: http://steamcommunity.com/games/ns2.