Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Shadow Archon
Using just the Lore, no game mechanics, how long does it take the Zerg to fully infest a human or creature with their Hyper-evolutionary virus?
It varies, because there's more than one way to do it. It seems like it's pretty fast. It's been seen in StarCraft: Revelations (the hero slowly goes mad mentally), (sort of) in Shadow of the Xel'Naga (that book of crap) and hinted at in Liberty's Crusade. It was really fast in Thundergod but that wasn't a normal infestation.
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Also, How long would it take a Larva to fully mature into a Zerg unit and Drones into buildings?
I think minutes in the first case and hours in the second. It seemed pretty fast in Liberty's Crusade.
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I know that Terrans can quiclky build bunkers and lay down some mines from the book Speed of Darkness. IIRC, most of their buildings are brought in with them fully built, correct?
They didn't build bunkers, they used pre-existing ones. They could repair bunkers quickly, but we never saw the SCV do things like build missile turrets. (And of course mines are fast. They'd be even faster if you didn't care about stealth. The US military fires mines out of artillery cannons, just to deny passage to the enemy or prevent them from leaving a kill zone.)
Re: Build-times lorewise.
At least with infestation, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. In Shadow of the Xel'Naga, not that many hours had passed when Rastin and his dog Old Blue encountered the Zerg and then were seen by Octavia as suicidal infested slaves to the Zerg.
As for the Zerg build-times, it's hard to determine because of the Zerg hyper evolutionary virus. If we were to compare build times with the Terran, who build an entire building within a minute or two in-game, would take hours, maybe even a day, even for the fast computer system within a single SCV. Even if you were to estimate the real-time, say, a day for an entire minute of a "Normal" speed game, that would still mean, comparatively, that a Zergling or Hydralisk would mature within hours, and larger warriors like the Lurker, Ultralisk, or Guardian (type) would perhaps take a day or two to mature/mutate.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
I guess it would be pretty fast for the morphing to a unit or a building, or the Zerg would have trouble advancing, or resupplying.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
A little insight into Toss building speed is on the StarGate page from sc2.com:
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It was a small outpost: a nexus, assimilator, and a couple of gateways. Commander didn't want to risk marines against the cannons they had dug in on the cliffs so me and the boys got brought in for a little death from above. First raid, we got a bunch of them little worker probes and lit up the pylons powering the cannon. They tore us up pretty bad, though, so we headed back for repairs.
By the time we came back, it'd all changed. Two big stargates were there, and protoss flyers were popping out of those big hoops like bees from a hive. We got hit every which way, and I only made it home on one engine and half a wing. Couple of minutes later, protoss air hit our base hard; I'm starting to think they only let me get away so they could follow me back....
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Gradius
A little insight into Toss building speed is on the StarGate page from sc2.com:
Ha! This humans never learn... :p
Re: Build-times lorewise.
Depends on the game speed.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
Two more points to consider:
In Shadow of the Xel'Naga we're told that Duke constructs a Vespene Gas Refinery and Missile Turrets on the fly, the latter of which couldn't have taken more then a few hours to get up and running. Missile Turrets are undoubtedly quite complex to construct and quite large, so it's a fairly impressive feat.
In Speed of Darkness one guy with an SCV constructs multiple bunkers in what was probably an hour or so. Bunkers aren't all that complex, but it's still far beyond what we can do today.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
l33telboi
Two more points to consider:
In Shadow of the Xel'Naga we're told that Duke constructs a Vespene Gas Refinery and Missile Turrets on the fly, the latter of which couldn't have taken more then a few hours to get up and running. Missile Turrets are undoubtedly quite complex to construct and quite large, so it's a fairly impressive feat.
In Speed of Darkness one guy with an SCV constructs multiple bunkers in what was probably an hour or so. Bunkers aren't all that complex, but it's still far beyond what we can do today.
Shadow of the Xel'Naga ought not to exist. Nothing should be taken as realistic at all in the book. It's like the author was writing about a game of Brood War he watched once, and thought up a story to go along with it.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
l33telboi
In Speed of Darkness one guy with an SCV constructs multiple bunkers in what was probably an hour or so. Bunkers aren't all that complex, but it's still far beyond what we can do today.
Those bunkers were already there; Scenic's official name was Bunker Complex 3847. He repaired it quickly though.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Kimera757
Those bunkers were already there; Scenic's official name was Bunker Complex 3847. He repaired it quickly though.
He built new ones too:
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Originally Posted by Speed of Darkness
Tinker had been using the SCVs to construct several new bunkers around the Command Center. This would be the defensive core inside the outer perimeter. They would start their defense on the outer ring, taking ranged shots on the approaches to the base. When the Zerg threatened to overrun the outer position, then the plan was to fall back to the inner ring of linked bunkers for the final defense. After that, they would hold on as long as they could . . . and hope that it was long enough.
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Originally Posted by Muspelli
Shadow of the Xel'Naga ought not to exist. Nothing should be taken as realistic at all in the book. It's like the author was writing about a game of Brood War he watched once, and thought up a story to go along with it.
Trust me when I say that I hate that novel just as much as you, if not more. He not only got all the characters wrong, but the plot was terrible and the combat sounded like someone commenting on a three player FFA.
But... It also seems to be canon, given that some of SC2's story has elements from it. :(
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Muspelli
Shadow of the Xel'Naga ought not to exist. Nothing should be taken as realistic at all in the book. It's like the author was writing about a game of Brood War he watched once, and thought up a story to go along with it.
Well, except because (!! SPOILERS - BOOK ENDING !!):
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Originally Posted by
l33telboi
But... It also seems to be canon, given that some of SC2's story has elements from it. :(
What elements? What happended at the end of the book didn't happend ever again, right?
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Norfindel
What elements? What happended at the end of the book didn't happend ever again, right?
Umm, the energy being, the temple it came from... those were all key points within the Dark Templar trilogy. The last we see of Zeratul in Twilight is him going through a wormhole created by a number of the energy beings, which is likely what takes him to the temple where we we've seen him in the cinematic from the 08 BlizzCon, fighting the hydralisks and facing Kerrigan.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Zero
Umm, the energy being, the temple it came from... those were all key points within the Dark Templar trilogy. The last we see of Zeratul in Twilight is him going through a wormhole created by a number of the energy beings, which is likely what takes him to the temple where we we've seen him in the cinematic from the 08 BlizzCon, fighting the hydralisks and facing Kerrigan.
But (STILL MORE SPOILERS)
Re: Build-times lorewise.
IIRC that depends in how far along in its maturation it is... or something like that.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
The one seen in Twilight was newborn too. Seems only some do that; probably it's a dropped plot point.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Seems only some do that; probably it's a dropped plot point.
Didn't Zeratul make a point about himself being so awe struck that he wouldn't care if he was suddenly absorbed by the creature?
Or am I just suffering from memory deficiency?
Re: Build-times lorewise.
That's what Zeratul said. Sometimes book writing is overblown though. It squares with what was said in Shadow of the Xel'Naga, when Amdor believed the creature (when it was still within the temple, so he didn't know anything about it) was more powerful than the entire protoss race.
Given the creatures have seemingly all vanished, it doesn't matter how powerful they are, now does it?
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Kimera757
That's what Zeratul said. Sometimes book writing is overblown though. It squares with what was said in Shadow of the Xel'Naga, when Amdor believed the creature (when it was still within the temple, so he didn't know anything about it) was more powerful than the entire protoss race.
Given the creatures have seemingly all vanished, it doesn't matter how powerful they are, now does it?
I beleive the creatures were used to absorb Zerg and Protoss DNA and specimens so the Xel'naga could use them for study. Where else did the Zerg and Protoss specimens come from in the SC:BW secret level?(Yes it is reasonable to assume Duran caught them, but still, this makes sense as well.)
Re: Build-times lorewise.
Not only did Duran catch them, you can actually rescue the captured protoss. No energy creature was present; those things emit far too much psionic energy to hide. Zeratul would have said if he noticed one there.
The creature that Zeratul saw never had any zerg to absorb, and the only nearby protoss was Zeratul (which it didn't absorb).
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Norfindel
But (
STILL MORE SPOILERS)
Dark Templar Twilight Spoiler:
Re: Build-times lorewise.
I meant the energy creature from Shadow of the Xel'naga. It could have just dropped off some of the captives and left for the temple. But thats assuming Duran has a connection to the energy creatures, which is unlikely.
Re: Build-times lorewise.
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Originally Posted by
Zero
Dark Templar Twilight Spoiler:
Interesting. Probably we're going to learn more about that in the Protoss mini-campaign (level?), then.
