June 22 Press Event Q&A

[Zero]

After a week of the StarCraft: Legacy staff preparing our articles, they've finally been posted. Rylin and I offered as much information as we could about what we learned from that amazing day over at Blizzard HQ. This thread is for our members, to answer any questions or concerns that may not have been addressed in any of the articles, and those of us that were present there will do our best to answer them.

Note: Before asking any questions, be sure to read our articles on the June 22, 2009 Press Event first.

Sources:
June 22, 2009 StarCraft II Media
June 22, 2009 StarCraft II Review
My Day at Blizzard 2

[Aldrius]

What do the robotics facility, Templar Archives and Dark Obelisk require tech-wise?

The tech-tree seems to think they all need the starport, but that sounds like a mistake to me.

[Pick]

It has been suggested that a bigger announcement was planned for the press event, but was delayed.

Can you confirm whether or not that is true?

Are you still under a NDA for specific info?

[Blazur]

- Is it possible to permanently alter your camera by zooming in/out or rotating the view, and does doing so offer any significant advantages?
- Is mic chat currently supported?
- Is there an effective way to instruct your units to hold fire, aside from the traditionally used Stop command which causes them to still fire when units enter their range?
- What can you tell us specifically about Salvage? Does it work on all Terran buildings? Does it require an SCV and take a long time to complete? What if the building is damaged?
- Do missile turrets have innate detection, or do they require an adjacent sensor tower?
- Does the sensor tower still reveal itself to your opponents, and if so in what way?
- What other in-game UI improvements can you share with us? So far we've seen no substantial improvements over the WC3 UI.

Thanks.

[Nicol Bolas]

What do the robotics facility, Templar Archives and Dark Obelisk require tech-wise?

I think that's just Blizzard's way of drawing it. Breaking it up into distinct Tiers. They'll require what they used to require.

[Aldrius]

I think that's just Blizzard's way of drawing it. Breaking it up into distinct Tiers. They'll require what they used to require.

I figured as much. Just wanted some confirmation.

[unentschieden]

How was the Planetary Fortress? Most seem to dismiss it since OC apears to be a no-brainer upgrade. Is there any merit to the PF?

[Zero]

What do the robotics facility, Templar Archives and Dark Obelisk require tech-wise?

The tech-tree seems to think they all need the starport, but that sounds like a mistake to me.

Robotics Facility, Templar Archives, and the Stargate all require the Cybernetics Core. The Obelisk is very early, and it's only warp-in requirement beyond cost is to be placed within a pylon's power field.

Starports are Terran, was this a mistake or a new question?

It has been suggested that a bigger announcement was planned for the press event, but was delayed.

Can you confirm whether or not that is true?

Are you still under a NDA for specific info?

Yes, there was supposed to be a bigger announcement. I'm not sure if we're to keep it secret because there may be future press events that key on it, so I'm staying quiet about it.

Yes, we're all under the NDA still. Most of those in the group saw something they weren't supposed to see, and as such, not allowed to talk about it. I didn't see what it was, but it's nothing really important, I assure you.

1- Is it possible to permanently alter your camera by zooming in/out or rotating the view, and does doing so offer any significant advantages?
2- Is mic chat currently supported?
3- Is there an effective way to instruct your units to hold fire, aside from the traditionally used Stop command which causes them to still fire when units enter their range?
4- What can you tell us specifically about Salvage? Does it work on all Terran buildings? Does it require an SCV and take a long time to complete? What if the building is damaged?
5- Do missile turrets have innate detection, or do they require an adjacent sensor tower?
6- Does the sensor tower still reveal itself to your opponents, and if so in what way?
7- What other in-game UI improvements can you share with us? So far we've seen no substantial improvements over the WC3 UI.

1- While playing? There's the zooming features, which levels you closer to the ground when you zoom in a lot, but nothing to say that you set it to remain that way permanently. And no, there is CW or CCW rotating of the screen, not that we've seen.
2- Don't know. If it was, it wasn't turned on for us, since there were about 20 of us in the room.
3- Some units, like the Terran Ghost, actually have a button called Hold Fire, so they don't unwisely attack an enemy when they're supposed to be stealthy.
4- Right now it is a 100% payback, but only on Supply Depots. Browder doesn't like it, but he has no evidence to back up its imbalance. It might change mid-beta if it's there from the start.
5- Missile Turrets require their Sensor Towers
6- Why would the enemy see one of my buildings without being near it? I don't understand the question.
7- Haven't played WC3, so I can't comment on comparisons, but it felt very familiar and should be able to be picked up by any SC fan, old or new.

[Zero]

How was the Planetary Fortress? Most seem to dismiss it since OC apears to be a no-brainer upgrade. Is there any merit to the PF?

Not anymore. Although the defenses of the Planetary Fortress are solid, the Orbital Command has a lot of great features: Scanner Sweep, Supply Drop (+8 supply to any Supply Depot), and the temporary MULE. All of the above requiring only 50 energy.

[Aldrius]

8 supply? 100 free minerals for 50 energy...? What...?

Robotics Facility, Templar Archives, and the Stargate all require the Cybernetics Core. The Obelisk is very early, and it's only warp-in requirement beyond cost is to be placed within a pylon's power field.

Starports are Terran, was this a mistake or a new question?

My question was actually full of mistakes.

The Dark Shrine (formerly the Dark Obelisk), The Robotics Support Bay (I'm just an idiot), and Templar Archives, what do they require.

And I meant StarGate.