After a long hiatus, the Ready Room is back! Make it your daily destination. Clap MonsE on the back next time you see him...he's tying the knot very soon!

The NS team continues to make progress on v1.1. So far the team has been relatively quiet about the contents of this update, but here is some new information to prepare you (all contents subject to change). Many of these ideas came directly from the community, as the most suggested changes:

NS v1.1 changelog - More diversity of tactics, along with more play-time at the 2 and 3 hive stages - Fewer stalemates - Simpler resource model (multiple gorges will be viable) - Faster and more intense gameplay (average game time in v1.04 is 22 minutes, v1.1 target is around half that, though epic games still possible) - Commander improvements -> Hotgroups for soldiers and structures (soldiers are notified, "You are squad four"). Hotgroup icons blink when under attack. -> Warcraft III style "idle peon" messages -> Always draw player names for commander -> Much better hotkey support (fully customizable) -> Select all players button/bind

- Alien upgrade improvements (all paths viable) -> Sensory chambers are now automatically cloaked, and they cloak other alien structures in range (including hives, resource towers, offensive chambers, etc.) -> Movement chambers now give aliens energy, like defensive chambers give health. Unsure if teleport ability will stay. -> Silence upgrade now silences movement and attacks (it's incredibly eerie)

- HLTV support (including first-person view while waiting to respawn) - VALVe Anti-Cheat (VAC) and Cheating Death (CD) support - Changes to tournament mode to support CAL - Collision improvements (no "jittering" when crouching on structures, structure hitboxes much more accurate, etc.) - Skulk bite and machine gun muzzle flash obscure view less - Improved demo record/playback functionality (particles, scoreboard, etc.). Demos recorded before v1.1 will still work in v1.1. - Improved alien pop-up menu is simpler and more intuitive, context-sensitive cursor - All known exploits fixed (frame-rate advantage, etc.) - Fewer "stuck" issues with Onos and blink - New Onos abilities allow him to stomp the ground to stun nearby enemies, then devour enemies whole (they are slowly digested, during which time they can be saved by killing the creature) - Skulk model orients properly when running on wall! Possible option for transforming first-person view - Lerk physics changes to make him easier to control - Huge server performance improvements (should be around half the CPU usage) - New marine technology: electrified turret factory upgrade, does damage to enemies touching factory - New effects: sentries smoke when they fire, alien structures splatter goo when destroyed - Updated existing maps for balance, performance and flow, and new maps (at least three)

There is no release date planned for v1.1 at this time. Playtesting hasn't started on it either, though the features above are almost complete.

Thanks so much to everyone that is playing and spreading the word about NS. Thanks especially to the Constellation members who have gotten the team through a difficult financial time and back on track with NS development.