Description This is version 2.0 of Natural Selection - a modification for Half Life that adds many new features to the game.
To install, run the ns_install_v20.exe executable. If you have a previous version of NS installed, the 2.0 installer will offer to make a backup copy for you. If you decline to backup your previous version, this installer will delete the previous NS version before installing NS 2.0. This is by design.
NS 2.0 requires Half-Life Retail 1.1.1.0, CounterStrike Retail 1.5, or Day of Defeat Retail 1.0.
NS 2.0 requires an OpenGL or DirectX-compliant video card, and does not support software rendering.
Suggested Minimum System Specs: Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP. 350Mhz CPU (Pentium-equivalent) 16MB 3D video adapter 32MB RAM 200MB free hard drive space 28.8 modem
Any issues with this installer or the 2.0 client can be reported on the NS Forums at http://www.natural-selection.org/forums . Note that there is definitely a small patch coming in the very near future, if only to support VAC as previously planned.
Game summary:
Multiplayer-only Half-life mod where one team plays marines and the other plays aliens. The humans must keep their cool and work together to assault an alien-infested spacecraft or colony. Marines vs. marines and aliens vs. aliens scenarios will also be supported in the near future.
"First-person strategy" with a real resource model and consequences for actions. Both sides are genuinely different and together they accommodate different play styles:
Marines::Fighting skill is less important, strategy and communication take its place. Playing as a marine will be a tense experience with methodical planning and strategy, interrupted with action.
Aliens::Playing as an alien will be an intense action experience, rewarding reflexes and alien heroics. Communication and coordination don't require typing.
Accessible, fast, mouse-driven interface: no keys beyond those used in Half-life needed.
Simple to learn and play, it is hard-core action/strategy for a mainstream audience.
Innovative social dynamics lead to memorable games.
Atmospheric indoor sci-fi environments full of steam, smoke and ambient soundscapes