Karune, Blizzard Entertainment's Community Manager, released the latest Q&A installment today. The gameplay blog focuses on a newly announced Terran unit, the Jackal, while the questions are mostly clarifications of the usage of Bunkers with unit abilities and how Null Void affects certain units: Gameplay Blog: This past week while playing a Terran versus Terran mirror game, I discovered a new unit option from the Factory. This new unit is known as the Jackal, which is a fast vehicle like the Vulture, but instead wields a rail gun, which does an area of effect damage in a straight line at ground units.
My opponent built the standard Marines & Medics (M&Ms) composition while I bunkered my choke point and teched straight to a Factory with a Reactor add on, which allows me to build two Jackals at one time from a single Factory.
After I built a group of 6 Jackals, I rolled onto the field with my Jackals broken up in two groups with 3 Jackals each. I engaged his M&Ms with my first group, having the Marines line up around my Jackals as they naturally do while firing. Quickly, I brought in my second group of Jackals along the side to flank the M&Ms and the line attack did the rest, killing up to 2-3 units with a single focus fire command. With a little micromanagement, I was able to decimate his whole group of 15 or so units, while only losing two Jackals. That battle gave me a significant military advantage, which eventual led to a relatively quick win.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying the batches, especially the new sections like the gameplay blog we've added.
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 31---
1. How will Marines mount into a pod? Is this done via the barracks, or an entirely unannounced building, or Dropship-like airship yet to be revealed? (sc2armory.com)
Terran infantry currently load into the Shadow Ops building (prerequisite for the Ghost). A Ghost can then launch drop pods, which originate from that building.
2. Can a player order a Ghost in a Bunker to call Nukes and Drop Pods? baboonsy (Battle.net)
Yes, Terran infantry currently have all abilities except the SCV repair ability available for use while inside a bunker, including the use of Nukes and Drop Pods.
3. What spells are specifically affected by the Nullifiers ability? Will physical spells like the Marines Stim Pack, the Ghosts Nuke, or Reaper Mines be disabled? Also, will spells cast before entering the area (I.E. Ghosts cloak) be disabled upon entering the area? (www.starcraft2forum.org)
Only abilities which require energy usage will need be unable to be cast while in the Null Voids area of effect. Additionally, the Null Void ability will disengage cloak by units such as the Ghost. It also currently reveals burrowed Zerg units, but this is still being debated in terms of balance.
4. Last we heard, Veterancy was active for the Terran but we havent heard anything about it since and are quite curious is it still in the game? (starcraft-source.com)
Veterancy will likely be seen in the single player campaign, but will not be in the multiplayer game.
5. In StarCraft, some units had instant attack animations (Corsiar, Mutalisk, Vulture). This allowed people with good micro to make these units move and shoot. In contrast there were units that had an attack animation which required the unit to stop and shoot. This allowed people with good micro to dance (move, shoot, move shoot, maximizing the distance travelled without the unit losing any shooting time). In Warcraft III, units tended to have attack animations which took as long as the cooldown for the attack, making micro actions such as these non-existent.
Will units in StarCraft II have attack animations that last as long as the cooldown for their attack, similar to Warcraft III? or will players be able to dance (moving in between shooting) like in StarCraft? Also, will there be any units with instant attack animations that can be micromanaged to move and shoot like in StarCraft? -Fen / GenericTerranPlayer (teamliquid.net)
Balance will be the first priority when determining the animation duration for units. With that said, there will be certain units that players will be able to dance with, and there will be other units which will force the unit to stop and fire. Some units in StarCraft II will not only need to stop and fire, but will do additional damage to a target while it focuses. All of these characteristics which determine how a unit will be used in competitive play will be chosen based on balance.
6. When a unit is cloaked or burrowed, can the sensor tower still see the unit in the fog of war? DarkAlaskan (Battle.net)
Yes, the Sensor Tower will reveal all units in the fog of war, including cloaked and burrowed units. Sensor Towers are currently a staple to any Terran defense or offensive.
---End of Transmission---
It is interesting that in-line AoE effects, akin to the Lurker attack of StarCraft, are now a recurring theme in StarCraft II (with the Colossus recently confirmed to have the same sort of attack). Hopefully the Jackal will be a worthwhile replacement for the Vulture. In response to the Ghost's ability to nuke from inside a Bunker, Karune said the following: Honestly, this is completely up to balance, and of course if it proves too difficult to prevent or avoid, I'm pretty sure it will be changed.
Furthermore, the red dot that Ghosts project when launching a Nuke at the moment, is somewhat easily avoided. Karune also divulged more details about the Jackal: The Jackal does not currently hit air, but be assured that Terrans will have their counters to air. At the moment, they are still figuring out what unit best fits that role (such as the Thor).
The Jackal's attack is instant, whereas the original StarCraft Lurker had an attack that would go outwards from the location of the Lurker, which allowed a player to potentially dodge the attack even if you were originally standing in its line of attack.
They currently need to stop and fire. But if your opponent's units are in the line of attack of a Jackal when it attacks, they will surely take damage, whereas if it were a Lurker (from StarCraft), they would still have about half a second to react and possibly dodge that attack. Also, the Terrans' AoE attacks are being balanced out more: The Banshee now has a single target attack. It will still be able to cloak and is still only able to hit ground targets.
It is true that Terran does have various area of effect attacks now, though most of them all require micromanagement.
Source:
Karune's StarCraft II Q&A Batch 31
StarCraft II Q&A Batch Archive - Batch 31
 With rumors of the Zerg invading our universe once again this March, we recently received an unexpected leak - the Ultralisk. What was once vaguely designed after an elephant is
"[COLOR=""Red""][B]Update:[/B][/COLOR] [B]Karune[/B] has confirmed the Zerg Ultralisk:
[QUOTE=Karune][COLOR=""DeepSkyBlue""] Nice find ;) This IS the new Zerg Ultralisk and you will be learning more and seeing more of it relatively soon. Also, the purple coloring shown on the Ultralisk's back are team colors and will change accordingly.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
Keep in mind as well that this Ultralisk is far from final:
[QUOTE=Karune][COLOR=""DeepSkyBlue""]Also, I wanted to add that this is not the final version of the Ultralisk, as there is more visual work that has already been done on it, as well as new gameplay features we are testing on it.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]-----------
At GDC 2008, [B]Rob Pardo[/B] discussed slides which showed some [B]StarCraft II [/B]visualization examples. On one of these slides was an image of the Ultralisk. This new version is a very colossal unit with [I]four[/I] scythes. One can see its apparent size compared next to the Zergling in the shot with it. The StarCraft II development team seems to be taking the Ultralisk to a whole new massive level with the extra scythes and size!
[CENTER]
[IMG]http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i141/DarkPhantom02/ultralisk.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]
Perhaps this Ultralisk is an allusion to the updates yet to come.
This next picture shows the Zerg unit-interface with the Zergling portrait.
[CENTER]
[IMG]http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i141/DarkPhantom02/zergmenu.jpg[/IMG]
[/CENTER]
[B]Sources:[/B]
[url=http://www.starcraft-hispano.com/]Starcraft-Esp.com[/url]
[url=http://www.wowinsider.com/photos/gdc08-blizzards-approach-to-mmos/]WoW Insider Photos of GDC '08[/url]
[URL=""http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=sc2-general&t=572638&s=blizzard&tmp=1#blizzard""]Battle.net - Ultralisk Confirmed[/URL]
[URL=""http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?FN=sc2-general&T=572638&P=6""]Battle.net - Ultralisk Is a Work in Progress[/URL]"
"In conjunction with our monthly discussion topic, Karune has released another batch from the Map Maker Series. Going along with out monthly discussion topic about map making requests, we've sought to get more answers to help direct these upcoming discussions.
Chat with Devs: Brett Woods is back with us to answer our community map making questions. We cant stress enough that StarCraft II is going to have immense potential in the UMS (User Map Settings) area, where we hope to seriously empower the community with the tools you need, to create some awesome gaming additions to StarCraft II.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying these batches!
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 30: Map Maker Series 3---
1) Will it be possible to code the game so map makers can make maps where people can stop incoming spell/missile?
This should be possible through customized ability data and/or triggers.
2) Will we have selectable male/female of every unit?
No, we don't have plans to include male and female versions of each unit.
3) Will we have the option to give players the option to change weapons in-game?
While we don't have any plans for a specialized interface for this, it would be possible using the highly flexible ability system.
4) Will you guys link multiplayer maps, so mapmakers can make multiplayer campaigns?
Yes, we do plan to support multiplayer campaigns and linked maps.
5) Will all buildings stand alone and also can we have the ability to disable tech trees?
The tech tree will be fully configurable through customized data and/or triggers.
6) Will research or firing a skill in a certain location be part of the tech tree enabling, for example Stim Packs could be researched to enable a Factory?
Yes, the tech tree and upgrade system will be fully configurable from the editor.
7) Will it be possible for AI to be commanded to research a skill, perform an upgrade, build a building at a location, build a unit at a location, retreat from a location?
Yes, there will be extensive AI scripting support.
8) Will mapmakers have the ability to set weather that can change the terrain and interrupt gameplay for players? Is this for anywhere or in a specific location?
Weather effect technology has not yet been finalized. However, even if weather effects do not affect gameplay normally, it would be possible to drive both the desired weather effects and associated gameplay effects through triggers.
---End of Transmission--- In the effort to satisfy the community demand, the editor is evolving from it's Wc3 form. The ability editor, for example, has already been improved upon. With the community having these powerful tools at their fingertips, user-created maps will be formidable indeed. To build on Blizzard's question, StarCraft Legacy has thought of its own:
[QUOTE=StarCraft Legacy]1. What are some ways in which the Havok physics engine could be taken advantage of in custom games, in regard to both cinematic use and gameplay (ability) implementation?
2. What are some other unit-specific weapon or armor mechanics that you would like to see that would allow for more diversity within the modding community? Existing examples include the Colossus's (past) ability to attack without stopping and hit units in the way of its attack, the Warp Ray's ability to do increased damage as it attacks the enemy for longer periods of time, and the Immortal's ability to take a maximum of 10 damage per hit after an upgrade to its shields. Be creative!
3. What are some ways in which Blizzard could improve upon Warcraft III's day and night cycle for the benefit of custom games? Think units, abilities, buildings, upgrades, and even game mechanics.
4. What are some ways in which WorldEdit (and so ScumEdit by extension) could be made more user-friendly and less cumbersome for newbies?[/QUOTE]
Feel free to post your thoughts. If you have any suggestions, please take part in the [URL=""http://blizzforums.com/showthread.php?t=15572""]February/March Discussion Topic[/URL]."
[B]Source:[/B]
[URL=""http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?FN=sc2-general&T=493471&P=1""]Karune's StarCraft II Q&A Batch 30[/URL] StarCraft II Q&A Batch Archive - Batch 30
"In light of the recent Q&A Batches (18 and 22), Karune has released information on the status of the map making features in [B]StarCraft II[/B]. For the next two months, the conversation and critique will continue.
[QUOTE][COLOR=""DeepSkyBlue""]Over the years we have enjoyed watching our community show their creativity and create amazing maps and mods to our games. With StarCraft II we would like to encourage you to keep up the awesome work, so wed like to give you a tool, you will enjoy working with. We have already answered questions in our Q&A but now it is your turn to tell us what your ideal StarCraft II Editor would look like!
If you have a StarCraft II fan site and would like to participate, please email me at [email]
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
[/email].
[B]Map Making Questions for Fans[/B]:
- What features would you like to see in the StarCraft II Editor?
- How can we support the map making community more?
- How would you like to see the custom maps and mods handled in the future?
- Additional feedback you might have
You can also check out our past Q&A: Map Makers Series to get an idea of where we want to go with the StarCraft II Editor:
StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 18: Map Maker Series
StarCraft II Q&A Batch 22: Map Maker Series
[url]http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=sc2-general-eu&t=15[/url]
Each StarCraft II fansite will be featuring different types of questions, so be sure to also visit those sites. All of this feedback will be compiled and sent to the dev team.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
This topic is sure to give out some very intriguing and interesting ideas as to what to include in the SCII Map Editor. Something else that seems to be included is the highly discussed topic of modding. Don't forget this: Blizzard is making this game for you, so let them know what you think!
As always, all answers will be reviewed by our staff and the best submitted to Blizzard.
[B]Source:[/B]
[url=http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?FN=sc2-general&T=476819&P=1]Battle.net - February/March Discussion Topic: Map Making[/url]"
"Karune hands us another gift from the top:
This batch we have more exciting changes to update you on, as well as sneaky strategies to use on unsuspecting opponents.
Gameplay Blog: This week I had to learn the hard way a change in our latest build of StarCraft II, which the Devs conveniently forgot to tell me about. As Protoss, I did my standard dual Gateway build, scouting to find that a lone SCV building a bunker outside of my base. In my mind, I thought, OK- a standard bunker rush, no problem! Build 2 Zealots and then hit the Bunker.
As it was a small 2 player map, my opponent was able to bring in a single Marine and Medic very soon, especially with the SCV repairing the Bunker at a very fast rate. As he repaired, I chased the SCV around the Bunker and attacked the Bunker with my other Zealots. To my disbelief, the Medic inside the Bunker was healing the SCV outside of the Bunker. Soon enough, another SCV showed up to repair the Bunker, as well as a Marauder, slowing my Zealots before they could reach the Bunker. At this point I had lost my initial two Zealots, but I had built four more. At the same time, my opponent now had a Marauder, Medic, and Marine, with 2 SCVs guarding the Bunker. These SCVs were impossible to kill since they were both running around the Bunker, being healed at the same time, while my Zealots were slowed and shot at by the Bunker. When my Zealots attacked the Bunker, the SCVs repaired the Bunker. Needless to say, the standard Bunker rush is not so standard anymore. With Terrans Salvage ability, being able to deconstruct Terran buildings for 100% of the cost back, adds to the devastating effect of a StarCraft II Bunker push. On top of that, adding a Ghost in the Bunker, allows for Sniping within the Bunker, as well as huge range, making it an effect pushing structure before you tech to Siege Tanks. Thanks for letting me know guys :P GG.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if your enjoying these Q&As!
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 29---
1. Do the Terrans currently have a purely dedicated anti-air unit filling the role of the Wraith and Goliath? (sc2pod.com)
No, the Terran Viking is currently their primary anti-air unit, which is built from the Factory. The Viking can currently shoot both ground and air when in ground mode, and is able to transform into an air to air fighter, for better mobility and economy raids.
2. Do the Auto Turrets built by the Nomad attack randomly like the bunkers in the original StarCraft or will the player be able to choose the target similar to the Missile Tower?[/b] (broodwar.de)
Auto Turrets can be controlled by the player as if it were a stationary unit. You can both group them and focus fire with them. When they are not given an order, they will fire at the nearest enemy within range.
The Nomads second construction option, which is the Mine Drone, will not be able to be controlled by the player as easily. The Mine Drone is a stationary defense structure, which places four mines around it, and then immediately cloaks both the mines and the structure. Similar to the Spider Mines from the original StarCraft, these mines will wreck havoc on an incoming army without the ability to see cloaked units. The mines does a base damage of 50 plus an additional 50 damage to armored units. On top of that, the Mine Drone replaces the mines after they detonate, temporarily revealing the Mine Drone structure. Similar to the Auto Turret, both of these structures will cost energy to build from the Nomad, and will have a very minimum setup time.
3. With the Reaver removed, and his siege role moved to the Warp Ray, what will take his splash role? (TheWarCenter.net)
The Protoss Colossus now has a linear splash damage beam attack, which blazes enemies in a horizontal area of effect, from where the Colossus is facing. Like all area of effect attacks, the Colossuss beam is excellent at annihilating close groups of M&Ms (Marines and Medics) and mass Zealots.
4. With water featured on some of your maps, will this allow modders to try new game ideas that may make use of water? (StarCraftZone.com)
This should be possible, though much of this experimentation will have to be left up to the modders. I am sure there will be amazing mod creations the community will come up with.
5.What is the status of StarCraft IIs AI?(sclegacy.com)
StarCraft IIs AI (artificial intelligence) is definitely superior to Brood War in many ways, though most notably, the AI does a great deal more of scouting, and makes decisions according to what it has found during those scouting missions. Unsuccessful scouting missions, similar to what a player might experience would tend to lead towards a more standard type of army build or continued scouting.
---End of Transmission---
Another question from us here at StarCraft Legacy in the Q&As and Karune beaten at his own game, a worthy sight indeed. I, for one, am glad the AI is improving, being a mostly single-player. Nice to hear more about the Nomad too.
For those worried about the apparent effectiveness of the bunker rush, Karune posted a clarification as to its weaknesses:
The Bunker rush can be stopped by going dual Gateways, Zealot spamming, and effective scouting. It was the fact that I didn't expect the Medic to heal out, that ended up in my loss. Always kill the SCV first! I was thinking...why would he put his Medic in the Bunker?
So, the Terran aren't invincible against the Protoss. That's good to know.
Source:
[URL=""http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?FN=sc2-general&T=428054&P=1""]Karune's StarCraft II Q&A Batch 29[/URL]" StarCraft II Q&A Batch Archive - Batch 29
Dustin Browder, aka Cavez, recently generated some interesting responses. To begin, he explains the High Templar's new Anti-Gravity ability: It works on all ground units as well as all buildings (barring "town-hall" buildings like the Command Center, Nexus, etc.).
It is obviously useful against Thors and other big-guy ground units. Not super-useful against lots of the smaller ground units since this spell is competing with Psi Storm for your energy and you would rather use Psi Storm against just about everything else (Anti-Grav is 50 energy at the moment).
It's use against buildings is what is most interesting since it is so easy to block up a choke these days with buildings (especially Terran). But we shall see. We have been so focused on the Zerg that it hasn't gotten all that much testing time yet. This levitate-esque ability has generated some mixed feedback in the community. Some players have equated this ability to the Druid of the Talon's Cyclone ability, and other players have simply dislike it. Many players have an affinity with this type of playstyle. Continuing, Browder posts about the current fate of the Zerg: We are putting a lot of effort into the Zerg right now. I played 5 fun games on friday with them (1v1s). I lost 1 and won 4 (woot) but to be fair at this point I know who I am going to lose to who and who I am going to beat before the game begins because we have played each other so often. =P Also, some of the new Zerg stuff is way over-powered IMHO.
In terms of time, the Zerg still need some work. We understand you guys are anxious to see them. Best I can still say is "soon." Sorry. =( "Soon" is becoming as equally legendary as "when it is ready" in the evolving lore of Blizzard Entertainment. In general, the community is borderline-ravenous to discover SCII's depiction of the Zerg. Will the ferocious Zerg be revealed before players such as sAviOr exit from the scene? Finally, the focus of material is shifted to team gameplay: It is currently in the game but it is pretty troubled. We have not done a ton of balance testing with resource sharing as the focus, but we did do some before Blizzcon in the design group and we were able to do some pretty unpleasant things with it.
For example it was easy for some races (at the time Protoss) to focus on minerals-only units while feeding gas to another player (at the time Terran) so they could tech up more quickly and get access to some pretty rough gas-heavy units (at the time, Banshees) before the other team had a chance to be really prepared.
We're reserving judgement on this until we get to really test it properly and see if we can come up with some solutions to make it workeable. But, if it can't be fixed then it gets cut. Reports of resource sharing during SCII testing (e.g. BlizzCon) reported imbalance, however this is using units and tactics that are a far cry from finite. If SCII is similar to StarCraft in respect to pace, then a standard 2v2 should disregard the aspect of resource sharing. The familiar StarCraft phrase "you don't gain interest on money in the bank" applies to this situation. Similarly, two players actively expending resources (outside the context of saving for an expansion) is more effective then one player channeling to another in theory. Naturally, this applies to the surge of rushes and counter-rushes in a typical 2v2 climate. Also, the issue of macro management - mainly Multiple Building Selection - may be causing tension in the current versions of the game. The comment also states the tech possibility of shared resources. The question becomes: how do you play team games?Sources: Battle.net - New Protoss Trait, New HT AbilityBattle.net - Any News on the Zerg Progress?Battle.net - No Resource Sharing!
" Karune provides our StarCraft II fix: Hope everyone had a great week! Make sure to keep that Q&A Questions thread packed, as we are making plans to tackle Q&As both in these batches, as well as the BlizzCast. Post your questions to be considered for Q&As here: [url]http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=sc2-general&t=9620&p=1&#post9620[/url]
Chat with Devs: It has been a busy week, in which I had a chance to talk to multiple Devs this and I am happy to say that we have finished recording for our second episode of BlizzCast. We have also added a mini Q&A section to the show, to get direct answers straight from the developers!
Gameplay Blog: Following up on the last game I played in Batch 27, I had mentioned the Terran Marauder being a huge factor in my defeat. This new Terran unit visually looks similar to the Firebat, but instead packs the punch of dual Concussion Grenades (also able to be Stim Packed), which slows the movement rate of biological units, and also does additional bonus damage to armored units. These units are excellent at supporting any pack of Marines & Medics, with the ability to slow charging Zealots, as well as fast moving Zerg units. Playing as Terran, there is a sense of relief, when you watch an incoming army slowed down considerably, to be mowed down by your Stim Packed Marines. In addition, because the Marauders are able to be built at a Barracks with a Tech Lab, they are considered formidable early support units, able to pick off units of a weaker early game army.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if your enjoying these Q&As!
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 28---
1. I noticed the Stalker ""Blink"" ability looked as though it was on a cooldown (similar to many abilities in World of Warcraft). This seems appropriate for some abilities, but is this restricted to the Stalker or will other units have abilities on cooldowns rather than energy? (Battle.net Malorn)
Currently, the Protoss Stalkers Blink ability is on a 15 second cooldown and is one of the only abilities that do not require energy. One of the reasons this was done for the Stalkers Blink, was to make sure that players wouldnt have the problem of having only part of their Stalker army blink up on a hill with some left behind. The Protoss Phoenix also carries an Overload ability, which is based on a cooldown timer rather than energy. Whether the Stalker or the Phoenix will use energy or not, will be mostly determined through much more balance testing.
2. The Thor now is anti-aircraft unit, but will it continue to have surface-to-surface attacks? ([url]www.Sc2-esp.com[/url])
In the current build, the Thors role has been changed to exclusively hit ground units, putting the transforming Viking back in the primary role as an air to air fighter. The Terran Viking is also now built from the Factory rather than the Starport.
3. In the original SC, powers like Irradiate and Psionic Storm affected cloaked units and killed them even if you couldn't see them. Will the Phoenix's Overload ability target cloaked units as well? (Battle.net DrakeClawFang)
Yes, the Phoenixs Overload ability does affect cloaked units, such as Terran Banshees. The Devs are all for these types of soft counters.
4. Does energy regenerate at about the same speed as in normal SC? Since the game goes faster, has that been speed up too? (Battle.net nerdpride)
Energy regenerates at the same speed as the original StarCraft. At the fastest game speed, both StarCraft II and the original should feel the same in terms of speed.
5. Now that the Force Field ability has been moved to the Nullifier, what other abilities does the Templar have? Does he still have Hallucination? (Battle.net Blazur)
The Hallucination ability has been cut from the High Templar. Instead, it will have an Anti-Gravity ability in addition to its classic Psi Storm ability. This ability will allow a High Templar to lift up buildings and units in the air, disabling their movement and attack, while also making them an air target. This ability can be cast on Supply Depots blocking choke points, as well as incoming Thors, or even Pylons powering a base. This has been the first ability the Devs have been comfortable with, in giving players a real choice to be made, to use Psi Storm or the Anti-Gravity ability. This ability is still being balanced, in terms of the duration units and buildings will stay in the air, energy cost, and if it will be a channeling spell (which means the High Templar will be unable to move or cast other abilities while casting the Anti-Gravity ability).
6. Will there be an icon on the left hand side of the screen to alert the player of idle workers? (Battle.net- Elminster)
Yes, we currently have the ability to select idle workers built into the UI.
---End of Transmission---
Spot the familiar name! An interesting batch indeed: New units, new abilities and new roles. Things are progressing. Dustin Browder also gave an update on the Zerg: We are putting a lot of effort into the Zerg right now. I played 5 fun games on friday with them (1v1s). I lost 1 and won 4 (woot) but to be fair at this point I know who I am going to lose to who and who I am going to beat before the game begins because we have played each other so often. =P Also, some of the new Zerg stuff is way over-powered IMHO.
In terms of time, the Zerg still need some work. We understand you guys are anxious to see them. Best I can still say is ""soon."" Sorry. =(
So not now, but still ""soon"". Perhaps if they're getting bored playing with each other, they should release an alpha? To the fansites maybe? Eh? Eh?
Oh well, keep on waiting creep-fans, your day will come!"
[B]Sources:[/B]
[URL=""http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?FN=sc2-general&T=367521&P=1""]Karune's StarCraft II Q&A Batch 28[/URL]
[URL=""http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=sc2-general&t=367507&tmp=1#post367507""]Dustin's Battle.net Post on the Zerg[/URL]
StarCraft II Q&A Batch Archive - Batch 28
Recently, Dustin Browder (lead designer for StarCraft II) posted some material on the Battle.net StarCraft forums. We are still working on the Mothership, trying to make it as cool as possible. It currently is not a super-unit by our defenition (its health and damage are balanced for cost) though you are allowed only a single Mothership.
Its powers are pretty epic and are currently way too powerful. Nerfs are in-coming but we are focused on the Zerg so we havent put a ton of work into her for several weeks. When there is something worth updating on this unit, we will update. Most importantly, he said that "the unit has some promise," and that "she has a long way to go to be worthy of StarCraft 2." The dynamic design process for StarCraft II - where ideas and unit concepts are constantly competing to make it into the final product - has been highlighted once again. Of course, one downside to the approach is when the fans start to worry about indecisiveness. Browder also elaborated on the recipe for the Protoss warp mechanic: - You build Gateways.
- You purchase the Warp-In upgrade on the Cybernetics Core.
- You select your Gateways and transform them into Warpgates. This is extremely fast.
- You may select your Warpgates and transform them back into Gateways (also fast) any time you want. You would mostly do this if you wanted to reduce your Macro and rely on queues. Skilled players never go back to Gateways once they have Warpgates.
Now that you have Warp Gates:
- Select a Warpgate.
- Select a unit to build.
- Target anywhere within a power radius.
- Unit begins to warp-in where you selected.
- Warp-In is very fast.
- Unit is vulnerable during the warp-in process and can be killed before the warp-in is complete.
- Warpgate must now "cooldown" with a time equal to the build time of the unit created before it can warp-in again.
That's how it works right now. In games it is extremely effective with Immortals and Dark Templars though I have seen it used with everything at one time or another. This detailed insight into the basic flow of production is great to see. The most useful and interesting Blizzard comments are always those which let us understand some of the context and reasoning surrounding elements of the game. Next up, the topic of what is seen, heard and sometimes said on the Battle.Net forums: I don't know what this forum is "officially" for but I know what I use it for. I come in to this forum to see what you guys think about the game, to listen to you guys talk about the original StarCraft and to read some ideas/suggestions. I know a lot of other developers on the team do the same thing. SCII's development has been highly dynamic and open to public opinion so far. Time will tell how "lucky [SCII is] to have you guys watching over it." Finally, a unit update from Karune: Neither the Immortals nor the Reapers can attack air units. Immortals are currently awesome counters to any high damage unit, and are able to be countered well by any type of rapid attacking unit, such as Zerglings or M&Ms with Stim. The Immortals' bonus damage against armored add to their ferocity against many Terran units going into Tier 2 and beyond. Nonetheless, bringing in Terran Banshees will ruin any players' day who masses Immortals. Sources: Battle.net - Karune, current mothership status?Battle.net - How Will Warping Work?Battle.net - My obsessive view on things hereBattle.net - Can Immortals Attack Air?
![]() Perhaps the most famous hero in the StarCraft Universe, [B]Jim Raynor's[/B], official biography and profile has been introduced on [url=http://starcraft2.com]StarCraft2.com[/url]. You may remember that at Blizzcon, Raynor and his crew were the stars of the single-player campaign demo. Evidently, since the end of the Brood War, Raynor has fallen on hard times. Sadly, the official biography confirms this as truth, and the once proud freedom fighters, Raynor's Raiders, have been reduced to little more than mercenaries. Here's what the site has to say on everyone's favorite backwater marshal and his crew. [quote]Raynor escaped the massacre and vowed to have vengeance at some day in the future. Even so, against the full strength of the zerg Swarm and the vast psionic powers of the Queen of Blades, his chances seemed slender at best. Eventually, exhausted and disillusioned, Raynor returned to terran space to lead a resistance movement against the spreading power of Arcturus Mengsk's Terran Dominion. Over the years this fight hasn't gone well. Arcturus Mengsk has used his greatest weapons – oratory, the media, and propaganda – to marginalize Raynor's efforts. Raynor's Raiders remain public enemy number one to the powerful Terran Dominion. Mengsk sees Raynor's continuing existence as a challenge to his authority. However, Mengsk is also wary of creating a martyr by having Raynor assassinated, and so he has taken steps to keep Raynor and his followers constantly hunted and harried and deny them any chance to gain a respite and build their strength. [/quote] Retelling the classic StarCraft tale known to the fandom from a single heroic perspective and expanding on Raynor's actions since then, the site gives us more information on the Terran hero as well as the tantalizing knowledge that Raynor's biography is first in a series. [B]Source:[/B] [url=http://www.starcraft2.com/features/heroes/raynor.xml]StarCraft2.com - Hero Biographies - Jim Raynor[/url]"
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