Ns_Nexus Beta 2 (ns_nexus_b2) By Stix&Stonz Nov. 1st, 2006 Changelog: **Beta 2: -Cleaned up the minimap, coloured the vents, and labelled the main rooms (thanks NoShadow) -removed 3 weldables: theres now only one weldable for both waters, and both weldable vents in Logistics and Nexus Mainframe were removed (vents remain) --> total number of weldables down to 8, from 11 -made the two waters in H2O tanks seethrough -lit up H2O tanks a bit more -fixed the missing glass in View Halls -made the ladder in Coordinate Mapping much easier to use -fixed the weldables throughout the map so that you dont get stuck in them after welding -removed an RR spawn left in the map from testing, lol (should fix the left-in-game-after-game-over bug) -fixed the vent in Nexus Mainframe, its no longer blocked (it is now a route into MS like it should be) -fixed the node in Nexus Mainframe from sinking a bit -fixed the missing texture in Starboard Shaft and Nexus Mainframe -created a few more func_seethrough's so the comm has easier access -fixed the overbrightness of Chromo Hive -added the changelog, map background story, and thanks to the map txt First off, thanks for hanging in there. Its been awhile in the making. Start date: September 16th 2005. Completion date (of first playable beta): October 26th 2006. This is a full-fledged NS map; it is very detailed. IT WILL TAKE AWHILE TO LEARN ALL THE ROUTES, *ESPECIALLY* the vents. I made them as intuitive as I thought possible; they're as useful as the Nancy vents but they aren't such a cryptic maze. Please, please, save harsh criticism until you at least play a few rounds on it. Every map feels like a maze until you get the feel for it. *Story* --------------- The TSS Nyx was a deep-space research and Nexus-integrated relay ship, lightly armed and considered a resort amongst the TSA ranks. But after receiving a distress call, the Nyx was re-routed to save the escape pod survivors of the Eon ship, as they had landed on an uninhabitable planet. It was a Marine Assault class ship nearby that actually boarded the Eon. But while everyone on the Nyx, including the Eon survivors, was in cryosleep en route back to the Hera station, one of the engines gave out, and the Kharaa appeared, hive and all. Those who managed to abandon ship amongst the sudden chaos made sure to scan their escape pods for kharaa bacteria before ejecting. The same mistake could not be made twice. Conducting its research mostly on the new Chromium substance - possibly the best energy source in the universe, followed by h2o, for humans and aliens alike - its no wonder the Nyx suffered such a surprise infestation. Given the resources, the Kharaa can go from nano-size to functional offensive units within hours. The poor Marines who had survived the Eon ordeal were en route. The Nyx could not be lost. --------------- Thanks go out to Prevert-Maximus for putting in a ton of time and effort helping me fix Nexus, Prevert-NoShadow for fixing up and labelling the minimap, and Stats class for giving me so much time to draw up the designs for everything :D. Please email beavatron@hotmail.com with any feedback. Lets get to playing :D -Stix&Stonz Supplemental Notes on the map: -WHAT IT IS. Ns_Nexus from the very beginning was to be a full-fledged TSA Spaceship. Many maps are set sortof on spaceships, but none have strived to give the complete ambience, layout, and detailing of the real deal. Enjoy getting lost in its multitude of rooms, and especially in the huge ventilation system behind the access panels (which happens to be rather ninja-friendly). -MINIMAP. It now shows the vent system pretty clearly. Learn it, and use it well. -RUNTIMES. The runtimes from MS to each hive is pretty much spot-on if you have all the routes open. The runtimes from each hive to the others are spot-on as well, and even as low as 13 seconds from Port Hive to Chromo Hive, if you know the vents. -WELDABLES. Yes, there are a lot, eight, but that is still the same as Ayumi, and only one more than Lost. Of the route-opening weldables, one is critical, two are very useful but not critical, one is minor, and another is to help with a secret passage. There are then two siege-opening weldables, and one vent-closer. -SECRET ROUTES. I love them. Caged is full of them, other maps have a sparse few. I DO NOT mean illusionary walls or invisible buttons; i mean actual architecture that can be jumped/maneuvred/whatever, rather perilously, to gain a very significant advantage as a marine. Nexus has two ultra-secret routes, one secret-but-obvious route, and then tons of boostable or just plain awesome ninja'ing routes. Collect'em all. It'll take awhile. -R_SPEEDS. They have been optimized greatly; they're practically within official limits. If you're running on Software mode, i.e. you dont even have a videocard, you're in for some s***. I have a fairly low-end comp (2.6, 1gig, geforce 5600) and i never get any slowdowns. Average for players is ~600, peaks at 1000 from certain angles. The comm peaks around 2000 in certain spots too, i'll probably fix these up in a future version. -ELEVATORS. They cannot be broken by marines. But they CAN be broken by the comm. It should be acceptable for the comm the 'use' the elevator as he pleases, but for the comm to 'use' it during its movement - which makes it stop/start - should be considered exploiting, just like how marines can do that to the Generator elevator in Nothing. Repeat; marines cannot do this themselves. If the elevator stops in the middle of its movement, the comm should be told to not exploit. -RES NODE LAYOUT. It is deceiving. At first glance it looks as though the majority of the nodes (7/10) are away from the bottom two hives. This is an illusion; the middle two nodes are very high up, and the far left ones are a solid walking distance from MS. Nexus Mainframe node is very close to MS (once its welded), and Railgun node is a bit farther, but the rest are fair game. This was done on purpose, mimmicking Station Access/T-Junction and Powerbanks/Flight, etc. Each team/hive can easily secure at least one extra node, then another with a bit more difficulty, then after that its pure Natural Selection. The layout is actually symmetrical a la Veil, once you know it.