Favorite SC2 Terrain?

[Gradius]

Some space platforms are sometimes built on asteroids, while others, the type we mainly saw in SC1, like the Tarsonian orbital platforms, might just be chunks of metal, though that's still up for debate IMO because all space platforms have minerals/vespene and there's usually a doodad with a rock sticking through the metal. Maybe the asteroid matter gets all used up for some purpose (perhaps creating the metal on which the platform is made out of).

I'd have to guess that space platforms have an atmosphere because:
A) The terrain feature in SC1 called "rusty pit". Rust can only happen in presence of oxygen & moisture. Practically every other feature on this tileset is rusty as well. In fact, in SC2, every single thing is so damn rusty I have to assume that there is too much oxygen/moisture.
B) The random shops & stuff on the tileset. A blizz map of the month told us that these platforms are also used for habitation, which might explain why Blizzard made those weird stalls/signs to begin with.

Maybe gravity accelerators are used to keep atmosphere by the platform?

The zealots have to have some kind of space suit considering inhalation of creep gives an very high chance of insanity and possesion by swarm, as evident by that short story about protoss studying creep (and one of them going insane)

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Star...ontline:_Creep.

That creep was modified by a virus - normal creep wouldn't do that. I think that they touched the creep; I don't know if they breathed it in.

[Pandonetho]

Fine, I concede but I have to ask then, Dsquid how do you propose the Zerg set up mining operations on an uninhabited asteroid hm?

[DemolitionSquid]

Fine, I concede but I have to ask then, Dsquid how do you propose the Zerg set up mining operations on an uninhabited asteroid hm?

Zerg don't? The platforms over Char are Terran platforms, Char was a Confederate mining planet. They infested the platforms. Zerg don't mine, they use creep to draw nutrients out of the asteroids surface. Even if the atmosphere and gravity on an infested platform failed from lack of maintenance, Zerg ground units are almost never exposed to vacuum because Zerg structures like the ones infesting the platform have atmosphere inside them.

Learn your lore, please.

[Gradius]

The correct answer is that all Zerg can survive easily in vacuum ever since the inception of the behemoths' super-dense hides into their gene pool.

[DemolitionSquid]

The correct answer is that all Zerg can survive easily in vacuum ever since the inception of the behemoths' super-dense hides into their gene pool.

This is also true. However, Zerg do breathe, and while a Zergling will not implode because of that carapace, they will eventually suffocate.

[Pandonetho]

Oh yes because that makes complete sense. I'm to expect that every single planet that the Zerg take over has atmosphere right? Yes definitely, but whoops, if there's a nutrient high planet that contains no oxygen too bad so sad, they'll just have to wait until Terrans terraform the planet.

And hatcheries have oxygen inside of them? Where the hell did you get this from? Do they just produce oxygen themselves out of thin air?

[DemolitionSquid]

Oh yes because that makes complete sense. I'm to expect that every single planet that the Zerg take over has atmosphere right? Yes definitely, but whoops, if there's a nutrient high planet that contains no oxygen too bad so sad, they'll just have to wait until Terrans terraform the planet.

And hatcheries have oxygen inside of them? Where the hell did you get this from? Do they just produce oxygen themselves out of thin air?

Do you know anything about biology?

1. Zerg are a mix of different species. Not all have to breathe oxygen, they could just as well breathe nitrogen or hydrogen. And some do not breathe, like Leviathans and Mutalisks. What we do know is that most Zerg ground units do breathe, and also eat creep. We know that Zerg structures have atmosphere inside them. The Defiler Mound is full of normally toxic fumes, but Defilers survive in it.

2. Zerg can infest a planet the same way they infest a Terran Platform. As long as there are basic minerals to pull up from the soil, creep can consume it and terraform. If the Zerg wanted, they could infest pure asteroids, and they do. They took over the Terran platforms first because it was quicker, there was already artificial gravity and atmosphere there. Zerg don't build their own platforms, but that doesn't mean they couldn't take a basic asteroid and do so if they wished.

3. Hatcheries produce creep. This creep absorbs the minerals and gases trapped in the ground the Hatchery is on. Through various chemical processes, the Hatchery turns those gases absorbed from the soil into a usable atmosphere inside it, if required (like on an asteroid). Hatchery atmosphere is basically trapped Zerg fart.

Now seriously, shut up if you have no idea what you're talking about.

[Pandonetho]

If Zerg are a mix of different species, why would only SOME strains have the "I don't need oxygen" gene? Doesn't make much sense to me. Also, the defiler obviously survives in its own mound, I doubt any other Zerg would as it's a hazard to all biological lifeforms.

And sure, they can infest a planet, how do you suppose they fight then? With only air units that don't need oxygen? Also, please enlighten me on how they "terraform" planets, because I assume when you say this you mean that they actually make the planet a livable breathable planet. Do they start spewing oxygen into the air?

[DemolitionSquid]

If Zerg are a mix of different species, why would only some strains have the "I don't need oxygen" gene? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Read that again, and then hurt yourself.

Also, the defiler obviously survives in its own mound, I doubt any other Zerg would as it's a hazard to all biological lifeforms.

Each building is specific to the Zerg breed it builds. The hatchery only needs to support Larva and Drones. In the same way a tadpole grows from breathing water to breathing air as a frag, so do Larva go from breathing hatchery atmosphere to breathing other atmospheres.

And sure, they can infest a planet, how do you suppose they fight then? With only air units that don't need oxygen?

They fight with Zerg that can breathe that specific atmosphere. Do you really think that all the Zerg breeds you see are all that exist? The Zerg have many, many forms, all designed for different tasks in different environments.

Also, please enlighten me on how they "terraform" planets, because I assume when you say this you mean that they actually make the planet a livable breathable planet. Do they start spewing oxygen into the air?

I already explained this. The hatchery, creep colonies, and creep tumors create creep. Creep absorbs gases and nutrients from the soil its infesting. Through various chemical processes it expels waste, just as we do. That waste is released into the atmosphere and, just like Carbon Dioxide is changing out planet today, it changes it into something more Zerg breeds can utilize.

[Kimera757]

Given the high temperature of the thread, I just want to ask, where does it say zerg need to breathe? (It's not realistic that they wouldn't, but then, neither are mutalisks, or even zerg regeneration.)

Demolition Squid is right that it's not relevant whether zerg can breathe or not on space platforms.

In Shadow Hunters, we're told that zerg need food and rest. (Not necessarily less rest, but they don't sleep in regular cycles the way humans do.)

Much of the orbiting platform’s infrastructure and processes (including electrical power and artificial gravity, the latter of which her kind had little use for) were still functional despite the station’s assimilation by the Zerg. Her Brood had simply taken what the humans had built and adapted it to suit their means.

Closest thing I could find about this. Alas, no mention of air.