This week we've got a few things to talk about.

We've published a patch to the Engine Test and tools which will be available on Steam later today. One of the more visible changes in this update is the addition of an "ambient" light type in the Editor. This light type will fill an area with even lighting and can be used to inexpensively boost the brightness of a large room. To prevent surfaces from appearing flat when using this type of light, you can alter the color that's coming from each of the 6 primary directions. This can be used to mimic the effects of global illumination where light bounces off walls, ceiling and the floor.

Here's the complete change list for this update:

Build 148

• Added support for ambient lights
• Added support for level cinematics in-game
• Added support for lag compensation when processing client commands on the server
• Changed the game to continue to render when it doesn't have focus in windowed mode
• Fixed bug where Decoda prompting for a registration key
• Fixed hitching when loading a particle effect (happened when the rifle was fired)
• Fixed occasional crash when deleting edges in the Editor
• Fixed Run Launch Pad... option in Steam

This week we also want to show you the Jetpack in NS2. The Jetpack is a late game marine upgrade that allows players to fly for short distances, get into vents and stay off the ground, away from snapping jaws. It is researched at Advanced Armory which then has a "prototype module" attached to it (tier 3). Once researched, players will be able to buy jetpacks from any armory they visit.

As you can see in the concept, the side thrusters pop out when launching, and retract back in when on the ground to give it a more compact profile. Here are some renders of the finished in-game model:

Finally, we have a Natural Selection 2 themed diorama that showed up on Brendan Mauro's desk one day. Brendan (BreadMan) is one of the mappers on the NS2 team and you might remember him as the soothing voice behind the Spark Editor video tutorials.

Brendan is also the artist behind the award-winning indie game Cogs. You can check out some of Brendan's other Lego creations here.