obligatory StarCraft II thread

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Eidolon

Developer
Sonic Team Junior
Kart Krew™️
Character Names

This section is reserved for character names of people on the forums.
North America Region
Furyhunter#856 (Furyhunter)
Jev#644 (Jev3)
FuriousFox#384 (FuriousFox)
PrimeVT#749 (Prime)

Europe Region
Whackjood#777 (Whackjood)

More regions if necessary, though I assume that most players here are on Europe or North America.

This game is solid, easily one of the most worthwhile investments for any PC gamer, and definitely lives up to the hype. I strongly recommend it.

Original Thread

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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the long awaited sequel to the original StarCraft and its expansion, Brood War. In development since 2004, the game is being built from the ground up on a totally new game engine (assumingly going to be shared with Diablo III). Blizzard claims it will be the number one competitive real-time strategy of all time, and if not then it will likely be second only to the original. The release date has been confirmed for July 27th, 2010.

StarCraft has a legacy in video game industry to have the highest-stake professional gaming league in the world, with some contracts being over half a million in pay in South Korea. While most professional play is in Korea, where there are hundreds of PC bangs (what some call Cyber Cafes in the west) specifically for the game and entire television broadcasts dedicated to airing games, there are leagues and tournaments all around the world, and some even air in the United States and United Kingdom on live television.

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The success can be attributed to the game's unique sense of balance; at the time of its release, most RTS's only had two playable races that were mostly identical in research and development composition. StarCraft radically changed the RTS genre by introducing three wildly different races, the human Terran, the alien Zerg, and the enigmatic Protoss, each with their own buildings, units, and styles of play. Brood War further expanded upon the concept, and since the second expansion patch or so the game has not needed a true "balance patch" for over half a decade - and yet, the strategies players have used in competitive play have changed dramatically over the years.

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StarCraft II does well not to impede on the original concept of the game and fits the role of a sequel well; some of the original mechanics have been removed due to the tightness of the new engine, however the tactical control mostly remains the same. Some much-needed changes exist, such as being able to select more than 12 units at a time, and various changes to the formula originally found in WarCraft III, but for the most part the game stays true in competitiveness to the original despite not having the same development team.

The beta has been running for a few solid months now, and they have been introducing new features and changes almost weekly; recently, the map editor was released partially and gave beta testers an insight on how the game engine works. In the new Galaxy scripting language, there are literally thousands of actions, functions and events that can be used, and more can be defined just as a regular programming language. The possibilities are endless; anything from persistent character storage for RPGs spanning multiple maps on Battle.net, to Tetris with supply depots, or entirely new RTS games. Literally every part of the game data can be changed.

The game runs on a form of Digital Rights Management akin to that of Steam or some MMORPGs (undoubtedly inspired by WoW). In order to play the game, you must register a Battle.net 2.0 account and attach your product code to it, permanently. This will allow you to log in to the game and play the single player or multi player components. Once you've logged in once, you can continue to play the single player component offline - this includes the campaign, skirmish versus A.I. and the new Challenge maps.

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Battle.net 2.0 introduces a new paradigm to the casual competitive market. When you first begin playing the multi player, you will have to complete a number of placement matches in the game mode of your choice; after completing them, you will be placed in a division of one of five different leagues: Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each division consists of 100 players (subject to change), and allows a person to remain competitive with players of their own skill level on a small-scale ladder. This has been tested and proven to work well in the beta, even without much tweaking, although Blizzard is still toying with the numbers and the ability to jump between leagues should your success or fail rate exceed a threshold.

[lawl photobucket sucks and I wish I had made a backup of this image before putting it in the thread. just imagine there was a Zealot standing in a third-person view with an action bar here.]

Battle.net in WarCraft III was extremely popular for custom maps. It was the birthplace of popular games such as Defense of the Ancients, whose developers went on to make Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, Demigod, and other games of the same genre. The new version of Battle.net makes the distribution of these custom maps much easier, allowing anyone to publish their custom maps straight to Battle.net to be listed as a playable map in the Create and Join Custom Game menus. No longer do you have to search for a party of the game you want to play; now, you simply choose the map and the game mode and Battle.net will put you in a party of players automatically. Maps will be publishable in either private or public forms, allowing you to test multiplayer ones with your friends before releasing them to the world. This also expands itself to mods.

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The single player campaign of Wings of Liberty follows the story of Jim Raynor and his private military on the battlecruiser Hyperion. The Queen of Blades, or Sarah Kerrigan - Raynor's former love interest - holds the key to the survival of all three races in the Koprulu sector, despite the long-held hatred for the Zerg race as a whole. The Protoss Dark Templar Zeratul brings the tidings to him early in the game, detailing that the Xel'Naga - the race responsible for the creation of the experimental races, the Protoss and the Zerg - might return to destroy their failed creations and stop the cyclic nature of the Xel'Naga's race breeding. However, the clans of Protoss, the single-minded Zerg and the separated Terrans are still at each others' throats over the events of the Brood Wars. The campaign will consist of 29 full missions, a small unlockable Protoss campaign, and a huge array of upgrades not available in the multiplayer component - plus five difficulties, achievements, and more lore than any Blizzard game before. Easily the biggest campaign in Blizzard's history.

All in all, StarCraft II is looking to be the biggest $60 RTS package ever made. Two expansions are planned for the life span of the game, chronologically telling the stories of the Zerg and the Protoss respectively, which will also introduce new units and mechanics to the multiplayer meta game and new materials for custom maps. They will likely retail at $40 each at their launches.

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Blizzard has announced that new Battle.net 2.0 features will be introduced throughout the lifespan of StarCraft II and, in the future, Diablo III, much as they have been in the original Battle.net. The original services for StarCraft, Diablo, Diablo II, and WarCraft III will continue to be actively supported.

http://starcraft2.com/
http://battle.net/
 
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[quote='Furyhunter"] Are you kidding me guys? Nobody's bothered to spark an interest in this game?[/quote]

This isn't surprising since there are a few rather interesting games out that a topic hasn't been made of. I'm rather surprised JEV3 hasn't made this since I know he loves Starcraft :p

Anyway I saw some gameplay of this a year back from some footage in Korea; had to say I love the new units, and that Mother ship is a Protoss Version of the Nuke, but with lasers and maneuverability. I'm pretty sure I'll crawl in a fatal position If I ever saw that coming towards my base.
 
This isn't surprising since there are a few rather interesting games out that a topic hasn't been made of. I'm rather surprised JEV3 hasn't made this since I know he loves Starcraft :p

So is JEV3. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he's all-work and no-play until the semester ends.

Anyway, if I had to speculate, I think the reason why the Kerrigan is the key to protecting them from the Xel Naga is because the Zerg can assimilate so many other abilities into their own. Just as the dark templar were the only ones that still had a strong enough link to the Xel Naga to defeat the Cerebrates, perhaps Kerrigan and her Zerg may be linked in some way to the Xel Naga.
I'm really excited about the new campaign and the galaxy editor. In the past I spent some time in the stories (and did horribly, but I still enjoyed the story), but I spent most of my time trying to be creative with the map editor. The sharing of the maps and mods sounds like the map sharing system in LBP, only more fleshed out.

I remember a friend of mine made an LotR arena map where all of the Starcraft units were renamed to appropriate characters from Middle-earth and you had to battle it out deathmatch style. I never got to play it against a human though. I might try to recreate something like that once I get my hands on the galaxy editor... for the sake of nostalgia.

From what I read, the campaign has an excellent system for upgrades. You can go out of your way to collect Protoss or Zerg artifacts, and should you collect enough then you can choose one and only ever one between two options. There's nothing quite so strategic as an either-or choice that you cannot retread in one play-through. I also love the idea of being able to explore the battlecruiser to find lore beyond that which a casual player might find. The Metroid Prime series, Portal, and perhaps HL2 to a lesser extent also did this to great effect and its something I find very rewarding.

As for the multiplayer aspect, I expect to spend a lot of time spectating games. I loved the battle reports and although it IS more entertaining when you have a pair of announcers, that doesn't make the game any less exciting to follow. If my connection holds out, I might also try my hand at multiplayer although my first priorities will definitely be the campaign and the map editor.

there are leagues and tournaments all around the world, and some even air in the United States and United Kingdom on live television.

Like?

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Incidentally, if my budget allows, I am certainly getting the collector's edition. I'm even willing to give up Monster Hunter Tri and Sin and Punishment 2 if necessary. A huge art book, a flash drive preloaded with the originals, a comic book, some bragging-rights material including an alternate skin for the Thor, and a special-edition soundtrack all make it worth the hundred dollar price. The soundtrack was fantastic in the first one, and the new one promises to be even better... it definitely sealed the deal for me.
I hope they bring back some of the music from Starcraft 1. One of the songs in the Terran playlist I remember really enjoying. I thought it might have been a motiff related to Raynor's redneck origins. The first track in the Protoss playlist from SC1 was great as well. I seem to remember a march that I liked in the UED campaign. Its too bad I never liked any of the Zerg themes, but then again, I wonder if you're really SUPPOSED to like them.

Dunno what unit I'm most excited for, but I think there is a protoss unit that is like a mobile pylon. It was one of the first units I had seen in action and I remember liking what I saw.
 
I am most definitely getting the Collector's Edition, since apparently, it comes out sometime around my birthday and I'll definitely have enough money for it.
 
Well, being honest, this game looks alright, being that i've never played Starcraft, but i've never been into RTS games that much.
 
Fixed, Autosaver.

Blizzard announced today an integration with Battle.net 2.0 and Facebook. Not sure if I like, but I definitely saw it coming.
 
I've been running into promising videos of SC2 mods the past few days. These are a few of the more interesting ones.

Supply Depot Tetris v1.2

A more recent version of the Supply Depot tetris that has been circulating. I'm not sure how many of the bugs have been fixed but it looks awesome.

Top Down Fighters v7 (with commentary)

This version has commentary which does kinda bloat the length of it and all but its also the latest version apparently. It looks like a very solid top-down shooter which the designer plans to make multiplayer further down the line.

SC2 Touhou

Anyone who remembers last year's preview of the Galaxy Editor will probably remember the shmup previewed at the end. It still looks a little raw but the attacks look like something you'd see in Danmakafu. On top of that they even have Aya's shutter functioning.

Asteroid

Complete with the looping edges. The asteroids look quite different from the polygonal drifters I'm used to, but I can't wait to see what it looks like when later levels are implemented with the difficulty dialed up.

There's plenty of other cool stuff out there that I've seen. Including anything from Third-Person Shooter, First Person Shooter, Platforming Tech Demos, space flight sims, and more. There was even one that turned it into a turn-based strategy game though I didn't watch it. It appears someone's also planning on making a Pacman stage.

So how long has the galaxy editor been open to the beta? It can't have been long and look at all of the mods that are surfacing already!
 
So I've had the beta for about a day, and I'm quite impressed that it runs so smoothly on my computer considering how terrible my connection tends to be. The different graphics settings tells you whether it uses your CPU, vRAM, or your video card which can help you figure out where you need to lower it and where you can afford to go for more detail.

There does seem to be a bit of supremacy for a few units, but this is on the novice maps I'm playing which are more generous to your economy and in slowing rush tactics. I've only played a few games though and won't have a good strategy for a while yet. Besides which, I still haven't figured out the Protoss counters for Void Rays and Battlecruisers... although I'd guess its probably the phoenix.

My first game has been my only win so far. My team was actually at a disadvantage but my ally was able to build comfortably because of the opponents always hitting my base first, meanwhile I managed to figure out their weakness (no sensor towers) and exploit it with my dark templar.

The beta will be over at the end of May and will come back some time before release.
 
Map Publishing is now enabled for the remainder of Beta Phase 1. So far it looks promising, but the stupid censorship and size limits are hindering its potential.
 
The beta is now over until July. I just spent the last few hours of it playing some excellent matches with Prime. First off we had a 1v1 that really turned out to be a long and entertaining game as we both came to the point where we had more than we knew what to do with and we got a lot of units out.

Then we played a bunch of mods, some good, some bad, and some hilariously bugged. (A game of chess is slightly more interesting with zombie pawns that do nothing) ...ending with a game of poker defense, the boss on my end going down just seconds before bnet kicked us out.

I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll find the time to take a look at the editor.
 
The game has been released!

Everyone, use this thread to post your character name and identifier code!

Name.num (Region) [Profile Link]

e.g.:

Furyhunter.856 (North America) [Profile Link]
 
Jev.644 (North America) [Profile Link]

After reading the DT Saga, I was expecting a darker secret, but I wasn't suspecting this. Totally changes the way you look at the StarCraft universe forever. Such significant twists are all fine and dandy, but when you get a look at the objectives for the final prophecy mission.... man.

I'd played a ton of the multiplayer during the beta, so naturally, I've spent the last six hours on the campaign instead. It really is outstanding, I don't think I've run into a "just kill the enemy base" mission yet.
Also, whereas the first game limited your selection because you just "weren't ready" to use those units, this game has a far better reason... your engineer can't afford them until you take certain contracts, at which point YOU choose which order you get your new units.

There's also at least one cruel either-or choice when it comes to missions. I hope that there's more like it, but this one came from nowhere.

Fifteen missions completed, and I think with that last Protoss mission, its time for me to call it a night.

EDIT: Spoiler tag fail... Oh well, at least I was still rather ambiguous.
 
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Well, JEV's post(Along with the mods I have seen) have actually made me consider getting this game. I guess I'll wait till it drops in price.
 
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