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Starcraft

#1

Nile

Nile

Only a few more months before Starcraft II comes out! Anyone else looking forward to this as much as I am?



I'm not going to bother embedding it, because you pretty much need to watch it in HD to be able to make anything out. It's looking excellent so far, though. :D


#2

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Definitely, I'll be replacing my TF2 time with SC2 time for a good while. At least until the hacks get out of hand on B.net and I go back.


#3

Nile

Nile

I know! :D Going to be excellent. Only thing I'm worried about is that the Zerg seem like they might be a little underpowered compared to the other two races. That's not a good thing, since I love playing Zerg.


#4

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Considering how many patches and changes will happen throughout the years, you can be certain that at some point, every race will get a chance to be overpowered.


#5



edzepp

http://kotaku.com/5344368/tricia-helfer-is-starcraft-iis-kerrigan

Hell, I don't think anyone mentioned it.

That's an interesting choice.


#6

@Li3n

@Li3n

And as any choice that isn't Glynnis Talken aka the original voice, it's a giant mistake... a sexy giant mistake, but still a mistake.

Also, video of the editor in action... i have to say, i agree completly with the crowds reactions:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joNPrnY4K_4"]YouTube - BlizzCon 2009 - StarCraft II Custom Map Preview[/ame]


#7



Greendog

I thought this had been put back to 2010 now, not a few months away or am I missing something?


#8

GasBandit

GasBandit

Starcraft 2. Meh.


#9

Bubble181

Bubble181

Replaying SC1 now. Halfway through the vanilla Protoss campaign. I'd forgotten how much I dislike playing Protoss...and the whole BW Protoss campaign is still ahead *sigh*.


#10

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

My area of expertise went Protoss > Terran > Zerg.
Nothing beat cloaked arbiter archon teleports.


#11

@Li3n

@Li3n

Zerg unit hi-res and environments show off: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy...-swarm-starcraft-ii-art-panel-highlights?hd=1


#12

Zappit

Zappit

I might have to get a new computer just to play it. I'll have no Protoss-bashing, either. They got me out of a few clan traps, much to the dismay of the clans setting me up to pad their records. Lesson to be learned - invest in the unit upgrades.


#13

@Li3n

@Li3n

Unless your computer still runs on steam power and cogs you'll prob be able to play it... i mean it is one of their stated goals...


#14

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Greendog said:
I thought this had been put back to 2010 now, not a few months away or am I missing something?
Click to expand...
No, that's what they said at blizzcon, but they could be shooting for Jan/Feb to take advantage of post-holiday sales and folks looking to spend their gift certificates. They definitely won't be able to hit the run up for the actual holiday season if they're still TBA on the street date at this point.


#15



Pojodan

I really gotta wonder what all they're doing right now with the game. The art's obviously completed, and has been for quite some time. Balancing is surely something they spend a lot of time on, but surely they've been playing it in test groups for many months now, what's there left to balance? Bug fixing is sure to be extremely involved, but really, what takes them so long?


#16

Covar

Covar

Bug fixing. It can be one of the most time consuming and expensive parts of software development.


#17

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Yeah, I'd rather wait 4-6 months more for a game, than have it and it be unplayable till 4-6 months of patches.


#18

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Really when the Beta is released we will probably still be another few months away, since a lot of the final balancing is done during the Beta process. I still look back to when I beta tested StarCraft 1 (Top 10 Beta Ladder, WOOT!) and how over the top unbalanced some things were.

Vultures could THROW spider-mines, and the mines did damage to buildings. You could even target the building and throw the mines and they would run over nice and happy to explode on it. Took a small group of vultures just a split second to take out a command center, nexus, or hatchery. It was not long after that they made it so the mines could only be placed a short distance and had a "warm-up" time, and couldn't damage buildings.

All the caster characters, like the High Templar, Defiler, Queen, Science Vessel, etc... all had regular attacks. The Queen actually had the attack that is right now used by the Mutalisk. Queens were horrible to fight due to that attack mixed with the power of Broodlings. They ended up making the caster style units more squishy by removing the attacks and shifting a few of them around. A few of the single player character kept them though, like Tassadar uses the old High Templar attack.

You would think that since the Queen used to have the Mutalisk attack, that the Mutalisk had a pretty horrible attack, right? Not so. The Mutalisk used to have an acid spray attack (You can still see them use it in the final cinematic in which Tassadar kills the Overmind.), and it was so overpowered that a zerg player spamming nothing but Mutalisks and Queens would win the game pretty much every time. You could have dozens of Goliaths, Wraiths, Carriers, etc and it wouldn't matter, zerg would kill them all before losing anything of note. When they moved the Queen attack over to the Mutalisk, it balanced out that force a lot by making the attack a little weaker, even though the Mutalisk is still the backbone of any zerg flight force.

That is pretty much what the Beta was about, finding those units that people abuse and knocking them down a bit before retail hits the shelves. The bugs and such will also be squished, but I know Blizzard is pretty good when it comes to bugs with their QA department, so I am pretty sure bugs will be very few during the beta period. I only saw one bug during my playtime at BlizzCon, and it happened in the Cantina during the little adventure portion of the Single Player, the game itself felt flawless.


#19

@Li3n

@Li3n

Shegokigo said:
Yeah, I'd rather wait 4-6 months more for a game, than have it and it be unplayable till 4-6 months of patches.
Click to expand...
The game was probably been better then 80% of released games for a while now (watch the battle reports)... the delay was officially attributed to bnet 2.0 and they're also taking the extra time to polish the SP and stuff.


#20

@Li3n

@Li3n

Now this is awesome:

Yes, this is true. Computer AI on BlizzCon build surrenders and calls 'gg'.
Click to expand...
http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=19595432459&postId=195934302642&sid=3000#6


#21

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

That is pretty cool. They talk about how advanced the new AI is, and how it will literally react like a player, no cheating by knowing where your troops are all the time, no ability to make perfect counters. The only information it gets and reacts to, is the information is sees through scouting you.


#22

Telephius

Telephius

Yeah that is one of the things I did not like about Blizz's WC2 and SC1 AI was that it was so blatant that it had AI cheats for map knowledge(granted most game AIs do.) I think some of the earlier AoE games forced the computer scout to see what you had and where you were(though I could remember wrong) and if Blizz has a more advanced version of it I welcome it.


#23

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

If I can run it, I'll be getting this.


#24



Pojodan

I just hope you can set when/if if calls gg.

I dunno, I just don't feel I've won till I've watched every single resource gatherer die a horrible death under the weight of my massive armada.


#25

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Pojodan said:
I just hope you can set when/if if calls gg.

I dunno, I just don't feel I've won till I've watched every single resource gatherer die a horrible death under the weight of my massive armada.
Click to expand...
Further information has come to light that such a system is "optional". When the computer says "gg" it will say "Your opponent wants to surrender. Do you accept?" and if you say "No" the game will continue as normal until nothing is left of the enemy, if you say "yes" you get the win screen and the credit.


#26

@Li3n

@Li3n

Telephius said:
Yeah that is one of the things I did not like about Blizz's WC2 and SC1 AI was that it was so blatant that it had AI cheats for map knowledge(granted most game AIs do.) I think some of the earlier AoE games forced the computer scout to see what you had and where you were(though I could remember wrong) and if Blizz has a more advanced version of it I welcome it.
Click to expand...
I don't mind AI cheating as long as it's difficulty specific... Normal should have the AI fight you fair.


#27

Telephius

Telephius

@Li3n;249764][quote=Telephius said:
Yeah that is one of the things I did not like about Blizz's WC2 and SC1 AI was that it was so blatant that it had AI cheats for map knowledge(granted most game AIs do.) I think some of the earlier AoE games forced the computer scout to see what you had and where you were(though I could remember wrong) and if Blizz has a more advanced version of it I welcome it.
Click to expand...
I don't mind AI cheating as long as it's difficulty specific... Normal should have the AI fight you fair.[/QUOTE]

It is not so much that I mind if an AI has to cheat on harder difficulties at least in this era of AI. However I always hated Blizz's AI cheating. In SC1 the AI just knew where things were, I would sneak a few workers out to build a HQ building at a remote resource node they would come and destroy it. So then instead of risking losing a HQ rigth away I would get teh workers to build a bunch or defenses first then a HQ. The Comp did not come to me when I just had workers there, they did not come when I just had defences, but they swarmed immediatly the second a HQ was plunked down. They did not have any scouts in the area either.

Then again I prefer if the AI has to cheat they just get more resources per pull or cheaper research costs, or potentially better unit stats. Thene again it is all just preference I just find AI that is blatant on how it gets its intel breaks a sort of immersion for me personally, and not really many RTS games have stellar AI so it is not like Blizz is behind the curve or anything and in many cases are ahead of certain companies.


#28

@Li3n

@Li3n

I think i just jizzed in my pants:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I4Hv729AQA&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

DO WANT!


#29

Jake

Jake

Eboner: rising.


#30

DustinParker

DustinParker

Sooo pumped for this game. My current laptop can't even play the old Starcraft: Broodwar because of the resolution or something. Apparently new models of this comp cant play it which was disheartening. Not often you upgrade and can't play old games lol, unless you play consoles.


#31

@Li3n

@Li3n

DustinParker said:
Sooo pumped for this game. My current laptop can't even play the old Starcraft: Broodwar because of the resolution or something. Apparently new models of this comp cant play it which was disheartening. Not often you upgrade and can't play old games lol, unless you play consoles.
Click to expand...
You running Vista? Coz i heard some people say SC didn't work for them on it... otherwise most people can run it just fine, or at least i haven't heard any complaints except that.



Also, new Battle Report, how do they leak before being uploaded anyhow, you'd think after it was done it would take them very little time to upload it...


#32

@Li3n

@Li3n

Maybe if you try this: http://www.techsupportforum.com/gam...port/196509-starcraft-resolution-problem.html


#33

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

@Li3n said:
DO WANT!
Click to expand...
The video does not do justice to how smooth the game feels once you get into it. When I played at BlizzCon, I just felt right at home again.

One of the things they did for you, was give you a decent amount of money for either of the two missions you can choose to play to try out some of the upgrades. I chose the mission to "rescue the colonists" (same mission shown in the video) and purchased the "Shock Turrent" upgrade for my bunkers. It added a massive gun to the top of the bunker that shot medium to quick blasts that obliterated much of the zerg when used in tandum with some marines. I quickly built a few at various "chokes" along the escape path and watched the zerg turn to bloody meat as the truck drove to the safety of the starport. This is a perma-upgrade, so they will appear on any bunkers you build in future missions free of charge.

You can get other perma-upgrades similar to that, like Stimpacks, shields for the marines that increase health, etc.

The one thing I didn't try, and I kind of wish I did now, was hiring the mercs. Mercs are supposed to be special units you can hire between missions and they will join you on the next mission you take. They are beefed up versions of regular units and often have unique skills, similar to heros in WC3 but without the leveling, they just start out badass I heard. (And they should, since you pay to take them for a single mission, they better well be awesome)


#34

@Li3n

@Li3n

Old news is old... :p

Also, screw you for getting to play it... i'm totally jealous.


#35



chakz

Sc2? Pah. Talk to me when Diablo 3 comes out.


Then again most of my star craft memories involve my big brother and his real time stradigy foot lodged up my posterior.


#36

@Li3n

@Li3n

chakz said:
Sc2? Pah. Talk to me when Diablo 3 comes out.
Click to expand...

*"not talking to chakz for the next 3 years" mode on...


#37



chakz

Touche mister extraterrestrial, touche.


#38

@Li3n

@Li3n

Did someone hear something?! :cool:


#39

@Li3n

@Li3n

Figures:

Question from Audience: When is StarCraft 2 coming out?
Chris Sigaty: Tomorrow (audience laughs). Of course not. Normally at Blizzard we don't speak of dates. So far we're planning on making the beta-test next year. As soon as we feel that the game is ready, we'll release it.
​
Click to expand...


#40



TotalFusionOne

OKAY Here's what pisses me off about Bliz.

I understand the marketing thing of announcing shit way early and driving people into a frenzy, but don't pretend it's not part of your scheme. It's admirable not to release stuff until it's goddamn ready (Bliz is one of the last people that does this), but don't sit here and tell me that you're telling me about stuff 4 years out and it's not going to be ready "Because you care." You're telling me it to get me into a frothing, crazy eyed frenzy. Ready to bend over and left you insert your software into my harddrive over and over til I spill megabits all over myself crying over the beauty of it all.

Blizzard is an anal rapist who makes you orgasm and apologizes afterwards.


#41

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Personally after waiting for so long, I've put this on the "never going to come out" rack in my brain. So that when it does, I'll be plesantly surprised, and when it gets pushed back again I can just shrug my shoulders.


#42

@Li3n

@Li3n

Pretty much everyone has exhausted any rage they had about SC2 getting delayed...

i wonder how the operation cwal guys feel now... i mean they waited for just 1 year or so...


#43

@Li3n

@Li3n

Oh man, look at that, all this delaying stuff made people resurect the WC3 SC mod...

http://cinicraftmods.net/Project_Resurrection.php

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy4IX82wgZI[/ame]


#44

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

I have always wanted to play that mod. I think what surprises me the most is how well they match the original game while adding it to a 3D engine. I kind of want to zoom in so I can see it from another perspective.


#45

@Li3n

@Li3n

I tried it once, it was cool, but only the Terrans where done...


#46



Chibibar

If it comes out and installed on my PC, I'll be happy, but I won't go "raging" for not "being out on time"


#47

@Li3n

@Li3n

Screen of teh SP only Brutalisk:




#48

@Li3n

@Li3n

Cool: http://cafefiles.naver.net/20091025_101/kakasse_1256448002940PfeKh_jpg/%C3%D6%C1%BE_01_kakasse.jpg



#49

Nile

Nile

Brutal.


#50

@Li3n

@Li3n

Nice:

http://www.starcraft2.com/images/screenshots/ss126-hires.jpg

http://www.starcraft2.com/images/screenshots/ss125-hires.jpg

http://www.starcraft2.com/images/screenshots/ss124-hires.jpg


#51

Bowielee

Bowielee

Adding those to my background rotation.

I love that feature of win 7.


#52

@Li3n

@Li3n

Bowielee said:
Adding those to my background rotation.

I love that feature of win 7.
Click to expand...
Is that new?


#53

Bowielee

Bowielee

As far as I know, I've never seen the feature on Vista. There were programs you could get to do it going back to windows XP, but this is native to Win 7


#54

@Li3n

@Li3n

Oh right, i'm thinking of the screen saver (XP)... i have it set up like that at work.


#55

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Website was updated BTW

http://www.starcraft2.com/community.xml

The Changling sounds like something right out of The Thing.


#56

@Li3n

@Li3n

Probably where they got the idea.

But they really need to update the site with the actual units, at this point it's not like they'll be replacing many of them or anything.


#57



Gkbur

Hrm, that changeling vid made me a bit worried, how will they be detected? The vid showed them running right by the missile turret without setting it off. Hopefully it's just that way for the video since really, spy units are fun.


#58

Bowielee

Bowielee

Gkbur said:
Hrm, that changeling vid made me a bit worried, how will they be detected? The vid showed them running right by the missile turret without setting it off. Hopefully it's just that way for the video since really, spy units are fun.
Click to expand...
If they're a high teir unit, I'm sure a science vessel could see them. If they have science vessels, overlords, and observers, that is.

Unless their just spies only, and have no attacks.


#59

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Gkbur said:
Hrm, that changeling vid made me a bit worried, how will they be detected? The vid showed them running right by the missile turret without setting it off. Hopefully it's just that way for the video since really, spy units are fun.
Click to expand...
Missle Turrets (unless this changed and I never noticed) no longer have a free detection ability.

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terran/sensortower.xml

This tower is now what can see stealthed units in a certain radius, and has an even longer radius that allows you to see enemy troops coming through the fog of war. (Though you will be unable to tell what troops they are, and everyone else on the map can see the tower on the minimap once it is built.)

The tower when built near Missle Turrets will "link" with them, giving the turrets the stealth detection ability, but they have to be within a certain range of the tower. The video showing the Changling has a regular, downgraded turret and thus would have not detected them.


#60

@Li3n

@Li3n

Actually that changed ages ago... now Turrets are back to detecting and the Sensor Tower just shows units in the FoW as blips.


#61

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Anyone watch that Zerg reveal video? That is some baaad voice acting...


#62

Bowielee

Bowielee

escushion said:
Anyone watch that Zerg reveal video? That is some baaad voice acting...
Click to expand...
That video is months old. It was before they actually hired the voice actress who will be playing Kerrigan.


#63

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Bowielee;303667][quote=escushion said:
Anyone watch that Zerg reveal video? That is some baaad voice acting...
Click to expand...
That video is months old. It was before they actually hired the voice actress who will be playing Kerrigan.[/QUOTE]

Oh, it just went up on the Blizzard Youtube channel and I was thinking "I hope she's better in-game." Glad it's not the same person.


#64

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

@Li3n said:
Actually that changed ages ago... now Turrets are back to detecting and the Sensor Tower just shows units in the FoW as blips.
Click to expand...
I figured as much, they change the game so often. That is interesting then in regards to is the tower will notice the Changling, as it didn't in the video.


#65

@Li3n

@Li3n

Last i recall the changeling didn't have an attack in the game, that's probably why they're undetectable. Of course that could have just been SP and that's an upgrade.


escushion;303685][quote=Bowielee;303667][quote=escushion said:
Anyone watch that Zerg reveal video? That is some baaad voice acting...
Click to expand...
That video is months old. It was before they actually hired the voice actress who will be playing Kerrigan.[/quote]

Oh, it just went up on the Blizzard Youtube channel and I was thinking "I hope she's better in-game." Glad it's not the same person.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately they didn't bring back the original voice either... and now all i'll be hearing when playing SC2 is a voice in Baltar's head.


#66

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

I don't care who does it as long as she's good. The woman for the reveal was not.


#67

@Li3n

@Li3n

Yeah, she sounded like Teen Kerrigan... made me lol.


But still, the voice of Six is distracting:





#68

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Teen nothing, she sounded like she was grunting out each word, like she'd just gotten done with a really long jog.

That voice you posted sounds fine to me personally.


#69

R

Raemon777

Honestly, I have no problem with either of the new voices, and I actually never really liked Kerrigan's original voice.


#70

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

This is the voice I'm talking about being awful, in case any have forgotten:



Her voice is fine, but the acting part is shiiiiit.

"Worlds will TREMBLE. ONCE. AGAIN."

"Has only... JUST... BEGUN."


Unrelated note: I wonder how 4 years is calculated in space. By Terra years?


#71

@Li3n

@Li3n

escushion said:
This is the voice I'm talking about being awful, in case any have forgotten:


Her voice is fine, but the acting part is shiiiiit.

\"Worlds will TREMBLE. ONCE. AGAIN.\"

\"Has only... JUST... BEGUN.\"
Click to expand...
Man, that is old... way more then a few months, i think that was back when the Zerg first showed up (only the Terrans and 'Toss where implemented when they announced the game 2 years+ ago).



Unrelated note: I wonder how 4 years is calculated in space. By Terra years?
Click to expand...
The Terran's backstory make it likely they're using Earth years... that's what the only computers they had in the beginning where likely using.


That voice you posted sounds fine to me personally.
Click to expand...
I just keep expecting her to say "Gaius" somewhere in there.

But i'm also a little annoyed that they didn't keep the original voice... especially since they eventually brought Raynor's voice back after in the beginning they wanted/had someone else for it.

And i also like the 1st voice in the 2nd video a bit better anyhow... sounds more predatorial then sexy.


#72

ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

I agree a lot about the voices. I actually liked the new voice they had for Raynor, but I miss Kerrigan's old voice. They did a total switch on me. :confused:

Either way I am sure it will be fine. I just have to get used to the changes.


#73

@Li3n

@Li3n

ScytheRexx said:
I agree a lot about the voices. I actually liked the new voice they had for Raynor, but I miss Kerrigan's old voice. They did a total switch on me. :confused:
Click to expand...
The voice for Raynor went a bit too far with the accent, but was good, and hopefully they'll use it for someone else. It's just that i've always preferred they keep the originals. A sense of continuity is always nice. Too bad about Zeratul...


#74

@Li3n

@Li3n

This is what they're working on now:


http://www.starcraft2.com/images/news/SCIITreeScripts.jpg


Stupid bnet 2.0, delaying our beta.


#75

LordRendar

LordRendar

Urg, StarCraft. Love the game,but all my memories of it were Filipinos or Chinese kids who play that crap all day long handing me my ass on a platter.


#76

Bowielee

Bowielee

LordRendar said:
Urg, StarCraft. Love the game,but all my memories of it were Filipinos or Chinese kids who play that crap all day long handing me my ass on a platter.
Click to expand...
That's why I always played on LAN with friends. I can't wait to do that with SC2... Oh wait... I CAN'T.


#77

@Li3n

@Li3n

Actually you can, but you all need to have internet connections. No spawn install for you.


#78

Bowielee

Bowielee

@Li3n said:
Actually you can, but you all need to have internet connections. No spawn install for you.
Click to expand...
No, you can't. They completely removed LAN play. You have to actually use the Bnet servers to play any multiplayer.

Also, we never used spawns, we've always all bought our own copies of the game.


#79

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Bowielee;314248][quote=@Li3n said:
Actually you can, but you all need to have internet connections. No spawn install for you.
Click to expand...
No, you can't. They completely removed LAN play. You have to actually use the Bnet servers to play any multiplayer.

Also, we never used spawns, we've always all bought our own copies of the game.[/QUOTE]

They did this to fight piracy in Asia. Starcraft checks for authentic keys every time you log into BattleNet, but it doesn't for LAN play, so what some people did is create a program that would log you into a large network that ran under the LAN workings. This essentially gives online-multiplayer to anyone who has a copy of Starcraft, legit or not. Blizzard doesn't want this happening again so they took out the LAN option this time around.


#80

@Li3n

@Li3n

Bowielee;314248][quote=@Li3n said:
Actually you can, but you all need to have internet connections. No spawn install for you.
Click to expand...
No, you can't. They completely removed LAN play. You have to actually use the Bnet servers to play any multiplayer.

Also, we never used spawns, we've always all bought our own copies of the game.[/quote]

Someone need to get up to date with SC2 it seems...


@AshburnerX

Pls, Diablo 2 came out later and alternatives to bnet (not on lan io mean) exist.

What i heard did it was that because the service only used LAN they couldn't sue them because there was no code modification so it was legit. So if they force them to break bnet connections they can then sue blahblah


#81

Bowielee

Bowielee

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/60156

In case anyone else missed it like I apparently did.

This is literally news to me. And good news at that. I've always said that I could care less if the game has to authenticate over the internet. I just want the speed of the direct connection on my LAN and to not have to be at the whim of someone elses server. Of course if it authenticates every time you play, there may be issues with log on servers, but still, it's miles better than the absolutely no LAN support they initially announced.


#82

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

That is good news.

I have many happy memories from LAN-play of Starcraft.


#83

Nile

Nile

Yay! :D

Now my friends can taunt me in real life as they crush me. :(


#84

Timmus

Timmus

I never was into lans so I hope they can just release the beta or something already.


#85

@Li3n

@Li3n

Sorry, but no beta until bnet 2.0 is finished... so that's also the fault of "no lan except through bnet"...


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