Ns_Nexus Final Version 1a (ns_nexus_v1a) (pre-release Tester version A) By Stix&Stonz June 7, 2006 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. Thanks to any Map Reviewers who are helping me out before I release. You'll get a thank you in the Readme :) Changelog: **Final Release, Version 1: -expanded map to de-clutter -no more rooms-over-rooms -ripped out Starboard Shaft and Engineering Halls; replaced with two entirely new sections -redid a lot of the connecting halls and rooms (its basically a new map) -door beside Marine Start leading to Nexus Mainframe went from a weldable to a button door (drastically improving flow of map) -big elevator on Port Shaft now has a hole in the middle, and elevator itself can't be broken anymore -reworked Vent system -removed certain weldables and added a new one; only 5 in total now, but all are really useful -another 9000 visual upgrades NOTES FOR TESTERS: Things i'm planning on fixing before releasing the map (which will be Saturday... Tomorrow): -ambient noise in Keystone -anomaly in the unlabelled minimap (you probably wont even notice) -i'll add in transparent minimaps -a sound when Manual Overide is finished being welded -i'll slow down the Coordinate Mapping result, not the weld time (a small step raises, but its too fast for many people to notice) *Story* --------------- The T.S.S. 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 civillian Eon survivors, were in cryosleep en route back to the Hera station, one of the engines suddenly gave out, and the Kharaa appeared, hive and all. Those who managed to abandon ship amongst the instant chaos made sure to scan their escape pods for kharaa bacteria before ejecting. They could not afford to make the same mistake as the Eon crew. 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, 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. Coloured and labelled, 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, all around 30-35 seconds (depending on the route taken, of course). The runtimes between hives are spot on as well. -WELDABLES. There are now 5, a far cry from the 11 of the first beta. There is one route-opening weldable, two siege-opening weldables, and two 'make things slightly easier' weldables. -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 almost 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 1800 in certain spots too, i'll probably fix these up in a future version. -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, 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.