The NS2 map editor, Spark, will be released to preorders today!

This is a pre-alpha release of the editor, which means we still have lots of features to add and bugs to fix. Releasing something that is in this stage of development is pretty daunting – especially when we know it will be compared to more mature tools that have had many man-years of development – but we expect that most of you would rather get an early build than wait for something perfect. So much for “when it’s done!”

The editor has a built-in updater which checks for patches when you start it up. Doing a pre-alpha on with this many people is a new experience for us, but our hope is to release new patches a few times a month, all the way up until we ship Natural Selection 2. In addition to bug fixes and features in the editor, patches will also include new artwork, other tools we’ve developed, and ultimately the alpha and betas for Natural Selection 2.

Download the Spark map editor here!

We’ve also thrown up a Spark forum for people to subject their creations to ridicule and ask for detailed instructions on how to read the manual.