StarCraft & Atmosphere

[Mislagnissa]

The starcraft feats thread on spacebattles makes starcraft sound like a typical warzone in warhammer 40k.

To whit, the Zerg have undergone trillions of years worth of evolution, their acid corrodes whatever exotic matter shields and archons are made of, and their neural parasites are able to hijack robots and archons.

I'm really surprised that transhumanism isn't commonplace considering the ridiculously advanced Terrans are descended from cybernetically enhanced mutant criminals who use mass cloning to increase their population.

[Visions of Khas]

Oh, no doubt. Starcraft has the potential for a serious, grimdark tone, but Blizzard's too intent on turning it into a cartoon. And I would love to see a grimdark Statecraft. The Imperium of Man is too vast to fall (recent Robot Girlyman- related developments included). But the terran presence in the Koprulu Sector was originally set up to be significantly smaller, their state more precarious, all founded on the wastelands of the galaxy. Between the political struggles, and being caught between the protoss and zerg, I felt things were more tense and desperate for terrans. Then, enter SCII, and they've got lush, human- friendly worlds surrounding fucking Coruscant!!

Terran military assets aren't as potent as the religio-mechanical technology of the Imperium.

[ragnarok]

Its like they want to play with the same scale of destruction as WarHammer 40K, but the lighter tone doesn't mesh well with that kind of grim dark.

What's the scale on WH40K like?

[Turalyon]

Then, enter SCII, and they've got lush, human- friendly worlds surrounding fucking Coruscant!!

Now that you mention it, the progress of Starcrafts "atmosphere" is a lot like how Star Wars progressed. Sc1 is like the original SW trilogy in all its grit and charm and Sc2 is like the prequel SW trilogy with all its empty flashiness.

[Visions of Khas]

What's the scale on WH40K like?

Galactic.

The original StarCraft and its manual painted the picture of a relatively small, sparsely populated territory on the galaxy's fringe, encompassing dead and hostile worlds. This is what helped start my passion for StarCraft: the feeling of a relatively more intimate setting.

By contrast, the WH40K setting encompasses the entire Milky Way; whole worlds live and die. While there are hundreds of worlds in the 40K universe, many have a lot of history and lore behind them, meaning that at least someone is going to care if, say, Cadia is destroyed by the Eye of Terror. Speaking of which, Games Workshop has been willing to drastically alter the geography of the galaxy, essentially cutting it in two after the Eye of Terror's growth spurt. Yeah, a lot of worlds were reinforced afterwards, but the setting's tone helps push a sense of urgency.

Back in StarCraft, Mar Sara, Chau Sara, and Braxis are all back up and running with nary a change or complaint by the citizens. Yeah, "8 billion" died at the start of Wings of Liberty, but I was simply left with the thought, "Who now?" That number had NO BEARING on events that followed. They don't even have the excuse of Hive cities churning out people in their millions to compensate for that loss. It's a figure that comes and goes in the same breath, and is used as a hammer to drive home the point to the audience, "Hey, shit's getting real"; but due to the ephemeral, impermanent nature of the setting, it really means nothing.

Now that you mention it, the progress of Starcrafts "atmosphere" is a lot like how Star Wars progressed. Sc1 is like the original SW trilogy in all its grit and charm and Sc2 is like the prequel SW trilogy with all its empty flashiness.

Oh. Oh Christ. Does that make the Void StarCraft's midichlorians? Does that make Kerrigan Jar-Jar?

[Mislagnissa]

On the low end of the spectrum, the Dominion should be defenseless against any future invasions unless they have enslaved a lot of Zerg broods to protect them.

On the high end of the spectrum, the Dominion should be churning out armies of clones.

[ragnarok]

On the low end of the spectrum, the Dominion should be defenseless against any future invasions unless they have enslaved a lot of Zerg broods to protect them.

On the high end of the spectrum, the Dominion should be churning out armies of clones.

The cloning part is something I had hoped for because I was hoping this could have been part of the deal Duran offered Mengsk

[Nolanstar]

The cloning I can easily see as just coming with the freaking colony ships, or being simple enough given terran medical tech (combat drugs as extensive as reaper ones and medical nanobots, not to mention being able to do surgical procedures via low-flying craft...)

[Turalyon]

Oh. Oh Christ. Does that make the Void StarCraft's midichlorians? Does that make Kerrigan Jar-Jar?

"No! This vision! I cannot bear it, stop!"

[ragnarok]

The cloning I can easily see as just coming with the freaking colony ships, or being simple enough given terran medical tech (combat drugs as extensive as reaper ones and medical nanobots, not to mention being able to do surgical procedures via low-flying craft...)

If only they had tried to explain this in better detail in the game and everything.