IncGamers Interview Browder - Part 2

[sandwich_bird]

Terrain affecting gameplay? Browder says no in multiplay. Snow slowing people down or night time changing vision will complicate the need to balance the game (You'd need to balance it for 3 ways then). Singleplayer is a go. Items on the map that "eats" units are complicated. How to handle pathing... do you go around it? Why have it then... Just walk over it? Then the map decides the outcome of the game, not the players. Wants to ensure "win" and "lose" is in the hands of the player.

That sucks. Of course I don't want those things when I play in ladder but for random fun game, that would be cool and it would add new depth to the game. It should be an option when you create a game.

[Blazur]

That sucks. Of course I don't want those things when I play in ladder but for random fun game, that would be cool and it would add new depth to the game. It should be an option when you create a game.

Disagree here. Being slowed down or having visibility reduced is the pits and would cause me to specifically avoid these tilesets. It might be cute for singleplayer, but I'm happy environmental effects don't impact multiplayer gameplay.

However, I'd love it if weather conditions were permitted for multiplayer provided it doesn't impact gameplay.

[sandwich_bird]

Disagree here. Being slowed down or having visibility reduced is the pits and would cause me to specifically avoid these tilesets. It might be cute for singleplayer, but I'm happy environmental effects don't impact multiplayer gameplay.

However, I'd love it if weather conditions were permitted for multiplayer provided it doesn't impact gameplay.

Actually I agree that I wouldn't want those specific effects but I'd also love weather condition.

[Gifted]

Worst case scenario, they can put the Single Player and Multiplayer access on one disk, and the editor by itself on a second.

I bet you don't really consider this a big deal, but consider this.

If they sell 1 million copies, that's an excess cost that will take an eventual large chunk out of their profits. Another note, they definately don't have enough to fill 2 dvds, so I suspect what Blazur said was more accurate.

[Crazy_Jonny]

If money is a concern, there are 2 cheaper alternatives.

1) Maybe they can manage to get the editor on a CD ROM instead. It would be a little awkward, but it would be cheaper than 2 dvds.

2) Use both sides of the DVD. DVD movies have done this, so I dont see why SC2 cant. The only problem is it would look cheap, and Blizzard isnt exactly the cheap type of company. This also seems like an unessesary amount of space (18 gb).

Still, from what I heard, it doesnt sound like itll be a big deal.

[Nicol Bolas]

1) Maybe they can manage to get the editor on a CD ROM instead. It would be a little awkward, but it would be cheaper than 2 dvds.

Not by any measurable quantity. CDs and DVDs are pretty much made out of the same stuff and manufactured by the same process (stamping a metal disc).

[MaybeNextTime]

Browder just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand that such terrain features are balance TOOLS - not something you need to balance...

Give us the tools (different types of terrain, destroyable bridges and so on), and we'll make maps that work with these features. Don't f'ing basysit us... If Blizzard are not competent enough to make playable maps with them, at least let the community try. T_____T

[Aldrius]

Browder just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand that such terrain features are balance TOOLS - not something you need to balance...

Give us the tools (different types of terrain, destroyable bridges and so on), and we'll make maps that work with these features. Don't f'ing basysit us... If Blizzard are not competent enough to make playable maps with them, at least let the community try. T_____T

Those things are possible in the editor. Nobody is stopping anyone from using those in maps, just in Blizzard-approved melee maps.

If they're successfully used in custom games, I imagine that Browder and co. will consider creating blue-stamped doodads of that sort in maps and the editor.

[unentschieden]

Blizzard isn´t afraid to use concepts used / provided by the Mapmakers. (Example: Destroyable Blockades) But if they make features like that "official" they´d have to balance the game for them.

A good example would be neutral Command Centers in SC:BW(Example: Holy Land). They only serve to provide Zerg Players with Infested Terrans which is REALLY interesting in ZvP. It´s basically unbalanced since Protoss have no real answer to ITs - and why would they?

It´s a map maker issue though, They can´t demand IT nerfs because of that. It would be different if Infested Terrans could occur "naturally" against Protoss.

[MaybeNextTime]

Blizzard should include those features so that any map maker can use them WITHOUT having to resort to using STUPID GIMMICKS (like the Assims on Troy and such)...

They are balance tools, not something Blizzard has to balance. How hard is that to understand? When I place slowing terrain on such and such map in such and such place it's precisely because I want Zerg to be disadvantaged in that area.

It DOES NOT cause balance problems. Otherwise you'd have to argue that cliffs in BW naturally favour Terran (which they do) therefore they need to be rebalanced. How f'ing stupid is that?

/rant