New Details For StarCraft 2's Zerg 163
Blizzard had a playable demo of StarCraft 2 running at Leipzig, and Kotaku's Michael McWhertor had a chance to sit down and spend some time playing the Zerg. The Zerg weren't available in previous demos; the Protoss and Terran campaigns were showcased earlier. GameSpy took the opportunity to interview two Blizzard employees about what people can expect from the game. Gameplay footage is also available which shows a Terran vs. Zerg battle. Blizzard PR rep Bob Colayco had this to say:
"One thing that's new, as you go through the campaign... you know, normally in RTS games how they start you off with a couple of units and then it's like, 'Okay, two missions later we're going to give you tanks...' One of the things we're looking at doing with StarCraft II's campaign is putting the choice more in the players' hands. So maybe you like dealing more with infantry? You can purchase those upgrades and make your marines and other infantry stronger. Or else you'll save up the credits you get from the missions to get tanks sooner than you normally could."
Re:Linked video... (Score:4, Interesting)
IANAGP, but to my understanding, until the game engine (specifically in 3d games) is finalized and tuned and tweaked, the frames per second sucks ass, so its not a surprise the showing the game off in lower res so that it runs smoother. Judging only from WoW, they have a firm understanding on large resolutions, and wide-screen, God bless 'em.
J
If I could change the resolution (Score:5, Interesting)
If I could change the resolution on good old StarCraft, I'd be very happy.
I don't want a 3d look. It seems to make things harder to see and it's a waste of processor power. I just want to be able to see more of the map on the StarCraft I have.
Howabout making a StarCraft 1.9? Blizzard could do that for almost nothing, compared to this new release, and people like me would mail in the checks to get it.
Re:Linked video... (Score:4, Interesting)
You're missing something. Blizzard intentionally limited the original Diablo, Starcraft and Diablo II to small (even for the period) resolutions. Why? Not for optimization. To force a 'level playing field'.
I've never understood the obsession with competitive Starcraft. It was a clickfest game with very little overall strategy. Age of Empires II and Myth: the Fallen Lords were more along the lines of games that put the Strategy in RTS.
Re:I will never forgive the Zerg (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I will never forgive the Zerg (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:bullcrap (Score:3, Interesting)
Strangely every good Starcraft player I've met seems to have restricted himself (it's always a him, strange huh?) to a handful of proven tactics and apart from that spent most of his time practicing to become really really fast at clicking and ordering his units around, basically what you complained about other games encouraging.
Myself? I'm still looking for a game that's essentially Command & Conquer but that emphasizes long drawn out battles that last for hours and where you actually have to do things like fortify and hold key points in the game world (like towns and bridges that help you control resources). AFAIK 99% of RTS games, including Starcraft, focus way too much on having good hand-eye coordination and not nearly enough on thinking. And no, I don't want turn-based games as a substitute, it's a different genre (and while I find it interesting I prefer real-time combat, but it has to be the kind of real-time where ten minutes isn't enough time to build a shitload of units and rush them from one side of the "world" to the other to crush your enemy's base while hoping your enemy didn't manage to do the same in eight minutes).
/Mikael
Re:bullcrap (Score:3, Interesting)
Big shift in the gameplay dynamics away from 'simcity, rush nuke' to something a little more reliant on going out and controlling territory. And make experimentals and nukes a bit more 'usable, but not instant victory' which as someone who likes a 'proper' lategame, rather than a 'he who nukes first wins' suits me well.
Custom AI (Score:3, Interesting)
I've always wanted to be able to customize the units' AI. Imagine using an interface like Yahoo pipes or Quartz Composer for example, to make the damn ghosts cloak when attacked.
I think it could be very positive for the game, and, it could teach the youngsters a lot about logic an programming.