Development
A game engine originally dubbed "Evolution" was developed specifically for the game. It has since been renamed "Spark". The game engine utilizes the Lua scripting language for game logic, allowing for easy expansion of the game's mechanics. Physics support is provided by several third-party libraries.
The game was officially announced in October 2006. It was to be developed by the Natural Selection creator's newly-founded company, Unknown Worlds. Charlie ‘Flayra’ Cleveland will continue his work on the game and Cory Strader (concept artist from Natural Selection) will also be contributing concept artwork.
On December 1, 2006 the first major announcement of a possible feature was announced, named 'Dynamic Infestation'. A video containing an example of Dynamic Infestation was posted on the Unknown Worlds development blog.
On August 31, 2007, podcasts by Max McGuire and Charlie Cleveland were released. These audio updates have since been released at irregular intervals. They discuss the development process, funding and focus, and serve as a basis for interviews with other names in the industry.
On April 6, 2008, Unknown Worlds established an office
On July 10, 2008, Unknown Worlds announced their move from the Source Engine to an in-house developed engine dubbed "Spark". Concept artwork was often shown on the Unknown Worlds development blog.
In October 2009, Unknown Worlds confirmed plans to support Mac OS X, Linux platforms and perhaps console. However, in February 2010, Max McGuire announced that OS X, Linux, and Xbox support would not be available at the game's initial launch. It was also revealed that Natural Selection amassed over $200,000 in pre-orders and $500,000 through angel investors.
On April 9, 2010 a standalone Engine Build became available which included an external map creation utility. On May 7, the Engine Build started using Steam as its primary distribution and update source.
On 13 July 2010, Unknown Worlds Entertainment announced that a private alpha was to be released through Steam for all Special Edition pre-order customers on 26 July 2010. It will be updated throughout the game development and eventually become the beta release. The full release version of the game will subsequently follow.
On November 18, 2010, Unknown Worlds Entertainment updated the status from private alpha to closed beta, allowing anyone who had previously pre-ordered either edition of the game, plus the first 10,000 preorders after the announcement was made, into the beta. This was primarily to bring in more capital.
The alpha test started on July 26, 2010, with those who pre-ordered the games "Special Edition" able to activate it via Steam. The game was released on Steam on October 31, 2012.
Read more about this topic: Natural Selection 2
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