unknown-worlds-entertainment posts

Developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment has been working on its sci-fi FPS-RTS hybrid game Natural Selection 2 for some time and now the developer is finally ready to let the outside world try out an early playable version of the game. On July 26, the company will release a playable alpha version of the game for people who have pre-orders the Special Edition version of the game.

The alpha test will contain one main map plus several smaller test maps along with the Marine with several weapons, three playable aliens and more. Content will be added to the alpha test on a regular basis. Oh and if you want to get the alpha test you had better hurry. The $39.99 Special Edition won't be available for pre-orders after July 26 which means you won't be able to get access to the alpha test after that date. Also the regular $19.99 edition will go up in price after that date as well.

We are still waiting any word that Natural Selection 2 will be entering its alpha playable phase but in the meantime the official web site for the upcoming FPS-RTS game from developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment has been updated with some info on one of the game's alien structures, the Hydra.

The Hydra is dropped into the game's levels by one of the alien monsters, the Gorge, as you can see via the YouTube gameplay footage at the top of this news post. Once in place it acts like a turret that fires spikes at both marines and human structures in all directions. The Hydra can be placed on walls and ceilings as well as floors and can also sense if marines are nearby giving players on the alien side a small heads-up.

While we wait patiently for indie developer Unknown Worlds to finally delivery a playable version of their long awaited FPS-RTS hybrid game Natural Selection 2, the game's official web site is giving us some interesting info about how they are developing the game.

The latest update to the site shows us how the team created one of the game's maps, titled Tram. According to the site this map will be one of several that will be made available for the game's alpha test (available for pre-orders) and hints that such a release is coming "soon". An earlier update shows off the game's shotgun which you can see video of after the jump:

We are still awaiting for Unknown Worlds Entertainment to release an actual playable build of their upcoming first person shooter Natural Selection 2. However in their latest dev update the company has revealed a previously unannounced new features and we think it's pretty darn cool.

In one word: jetpacks.

In more than one word, the jetpacks are used by the Marines faction as a high level upgrade. The upgrade lets Marines "to fly for short distances, get into vents and stay off the ground, away from snapping jaws." The renders for the upgrade look pretty boss and we can't wait to try them out . . .if Unknown Worlds ever decides to release a playable build.

While we are still waiting for developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment to release their promised alpha version of Natural Selection 2, the development team has updated the game's early development tools for those folks who pre-ordered the upcoming first person shooter.

One of the updates is the addition of the game's cinematic tool that lets mod makers create in-game cut scenes and videos. There's also a new tool called Decoda that debugs the game's Lua scripts. Unknown Worlds actually licenses Decoda to third-party developers for Xbox 360 and PS3 code development. The development tool updates should now be available via Steam for pre-orders.

While Unknown Worlds announced they were going to move their upcoming first person shooter Natural Selection 2 over to Steam's client, this week they finally made the move to host their pre-order engine test build on Valve's PC game download service. While pre-orders for the game are still being taken on the game's official web site people who do will get an unlock key for Steam via email.

The engine test build has also been updates with features like the server browser now active along with some other minor features and bug fixes. There's no word yet on when an actual alpha build will be made available for pre-orders.

While this particular video was released on April Fools Day, it's actually not supposed to be a joke. Developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment has revealed a very interesting technique that one of the alien creatures uses to get from point A to point B in the upcoming multiplayer first person shooter.

That's not the only thing to check out in this brief trailer. At the very end of the video's also something else that is creating a shadow that's just visible. Unknown Worlds has already announced that an engine test for the game will be released next week for those folks who have pre-ordered Natural Selection 2.

Development of Natural Selection 2 from developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment seems to be going at a solid pace. This week the developer announced that they plan to release an "engine test" version of the upcoming first person shooter on April 9 for folks who have pre-ordered the game.

Before you get too excited, though, this "engine test" will likely have little if any gameplay features. Unknown Worlds states that the test is "designed to help us tune the performance, compatibility, and networking prior to the release of the Natural Selection 2 alpha." People who have downloaded the game's level editor will be able to see their creations in the game engine for the first time with this test.

Indie developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment has been handling pre-orders for its upcoming first person shooter Natural Selection 2 on its own web site. Since they started the pre-orders over 10,000 people have put down their money to get the game. Now the developer has announced that all future pre-orders will be moved to Valve's Steam platform. Previous pre-orders will also be transferred to Steam.

People who put down their money early for the game, either in the $19.99 regular edition or the $39.99 special edition, will get early access to the game's editing tools immediately as well as access to the game's alpha and beta test. There's still no word on when Natural Selection 2 will be released. In related news, the company has released a new in-game screenshot which you can see above.

[Via email press release]

The latest video from Unknown Worlds's upcoming first person shooter Natural Selection 2 spotlights an alien playable unit called the Lerk. The relatively small, flying, creature looks sort of like a vulture and sports a deadly needle attack, where projectiles rapidly shoot out from the sides of its mouth. Unknown Worlds is currently taking pre-orders for Natural Selection 2 at their web site.

Download HD Natural Selection 2 'Lerk' Reveal Trailer (279 MB)
Check out all Natural Selection 2 downloads