StarCraft Then and Now

Drastic Differences in Hardware

Aside from the obvious  improvement of visual fidelity, an improvement in hardware allows a lot more to be happening at once during any given gaming moment. The most prominent example I can think of now is the inclusion of real-time calculated physics is many (more like most) games today. This addition alone allows for a unique gaming experience, because nothing ever blows up/ricochets/falls the same way twice.

In addition to mere physics calculations, though, User Interfaces (in their backend) have become more complex. The result though, is the capability of a very intuitive (and usually pretty) graphical user interface. Gone now are the basic and unattractive boxes and button layouts of yester-years’ games. Enter fluid and logical interface. In fact, the newly updated Battle.net 2.0 is all one simulated space-age computer console. Clicking the players portrait intuitively allows users to change their portrait and profile information. Like all Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, the bottom right hand corner is where you can find your friends messenger. Where the old Battle.Net looked like a page out of the Geo-Cities era, Battle.Net 2.0 is an interface representative of HTML 5 and Web 3.0, The future is wow!

Voice Chat

Once you get over the fact that nobody wants to hear you sing or call everyone an n-word, you soon realize that voice chat allows a whole new level of communication between allies and enemies. Players can strategize, coordinate, shit-talk, and, in the most creative instances, eavesdrop their way to the perfect win.

Specific to Real Time Strategy gameplay, voice chat allows players to collaborate their build orders, alert players of incoming enemies, and and communicate information that would be lost in the time it took to be typed; all without interrupting the flow of the game, where mouse clicks and shortcut keys must be perfectly timed.

As both a cooperative and adversarial experience, and with so much diversity in its strategies, it’s only right that StarCraft 2 features voice chat for teams to coordinate the perfect unit combos, choke points, and alerts.  At this point in PC gaming, it would actually be an outrage if there was no voice communication.

Blizzards Success Since SC1

The original StarCraft is still the number one tournament-level real-time strategy game across the globe. How’s that for a success story? Starcraft 1 was one of the first RTS’ to feature not only two, but three completely unique races with their own play mechanics (protoss building warping, zerg creep restrictions, and terran mobile buildings), and is probably heralded as the only RTS of its type to have such a balanced formula.
Beyond SC1, Blizzard had a slew of undeniable successes that further secure their place in the halls of gaming glory. Look at the success of Warcraft 3 and it’s amazing user mods like TowerDefense and DOTA, and you can start to see how robust SC2’s map editor is going to be. 10 million subscribers later, World of Warcraft has more or less evolved into the Blizzard Mint. I’m pretty sure the company just prints it own money now.

All these things give Blizzard an opportunity to improve on their formula. Beyond obviously having more money to throw into development teams solely dedicated to social experience and campaign and multiplayer gameplay polish, Blizzard has built a reputation that their products are worth the wait. They’ve managed to earn the respect of gamers everywhere, that StarCraft 2 will be out “when it’s done”, and no one has uttered a word of impatience, only excitement.

Broadband Internet

Of all the changes that have happened in the last 11 or so years since the first Starcraft, the widespread adoption of broadband internet is probably the most significant. Like the printing press before it, the internet changed the way ideas were transmitted, allowing us to share data faster, across vaster distances than we had ever imagined possible before.

When the original Starcraft was released, broadband internet connections were available only to those lucky few with the resources to afford it. The rest of us had to muddle along on our dial up modems waiting ages for those naked pic/#$’s uhhhh, brahh, ummm never mind that…

The internet was beginning to pick up steam, dot coms were running wild and carefree through the streets and I was letting my tamagotchis starve to death to make matching clogs, but multiplayer and network gaming was almost non-existent. Playing games with your friends was still mostly a shoulder-to-shoulder thing, then….

Broadband came along and changed the game (no pun intended) in ways that people are going to be analyzing for decades to come by allowing greater amounts of data to pass over a network, making things like voice communication, higher resolution graphics and social networking platforms like Steam and the new Battle.net possible.

CDs to DVDs to DLCs

A lot has changed in gaming in the decade or so since the first Starcraft, not the least of which is the way we get them into our homes.

We’ve already touched on the fact that games have grown exponentially more complex since the old days but that complexity would mean nothing without a way to disseminate it to the public at large.

First up we have the hallowed Compact Disc. Revolutionary in a number of ways, CD’s did a lot of things right: they eliminated the need for moving parts in storage media and blew storage capacity and transfer speeds into the stratosphere compared to its predecessor the Floppy Disc. We went from 1.44MB’s to 640MB’s of space available to cram our games into which is a more than  a do-dillion percent increase*! So CD’s were  great but something even better was right around the corner.

Next came DVD’s. These bad boys are still pretty prevalent today because of their versatility as an information storage medium as well the thing our movies are pressed on. DVD’s upped the ante in terms of storage space and speed again, offering first 4.7 then Dual Layer 8.7GB versions. Developers were given a bigger and bigger canvas on which to create which in conjunction with hardware improvements have more or less lead to the state of affairs we have today.

The final change was doing away with conventional media altogether, using that broadband thing and bigger cheaper hard drives in people’s computers to get games from point A to point B. Downloadable content or DLC allows the user to purchase a game online and download it directly to their computers. Services such as Direct-2-Drive, Steam and Battle.net offer such products, but DLC is not just changing how much space developers have to ship a game on, its changing the industry itself. By offering cloud gaming, users can purchase a license for a game, and have access to it on any computer of their choice by simply downloading it. Expansion packs and micro-transactions are completely changing the way some developers make their games by offering smaller cheaper content after a games release rather than just waiting for a full fledged sequel. Indie developers can get their content out to a larger audience that was impossible to reach in the past, allowing a greater amount of original and creative games to get the recognition and commercial success they deserve. I think DLC is going to become more and more popular, but that’s not to say that conventional media is going the way of the Do-Do. We are going to see them coexist for at least the next 10 years or so based on my non-existent research and my non-existent experience in the field.

Competitive Gaming, Ladder Improvements, League Placement

eSports is probably not a term you are familiar with if you live in North America, but in South Korea and some parts of Europe, competitive gaming or eSports is big business. Think of it as a professional sports league for gaming and at the top of the list of popularity in the RTS genre is Starcraft, and its been that way for about a decade.

South Korea is a Starcraft mecca. If you are really good at Starcraft over there, your not just popular, you’re a celebrity, a phenomenon. Starcraft players are trained and recruited just like professional athletes in North America for six figure contracts, fame and more sexy asian shiksas than you can shake a Dark Archon at. With Starcraft 2, Blizzard has enslaved the people of that great nation into at least another ten years of dead eyed devotion to seeing who rises to the top of the leaderboards and to whom they should dedicate their fanatic love towards. The original Starcraft lasted this long and basically created an industry for itself, with the improvements to the sequel and the deep customization and tactics afforded with the new units and powers, I think its safe to say, Korea, you boned!

Leaderboards and scoring has been updated as well in Starcraft 2, giving players a more accurate system of rewards based on your skill level and the skill level of your opponent. For example, if you are facing an opponent with whom you are evenly matched, you might get the standard amount of points for the win. If you are less likely to win a match, but overcome the odds and do, you will be rewarded with bonus points for your trouble. For me however the biggest change has come in the way of the new League system.

What Blizzard has done with Starcraft 2 is made it accessible to the novice player, as well as the dedicated player that doesn’t feel like getting dominated every round by freakin X-Man-like players from Korea with robotic arms from the future. You are placed in leagues based on your skill level which ensures that you play opponents that you have a chance of beating making it less likely to get steamrolled and more likely to draw in new players to the genre. I have to tell you guys, I love Starcraft, but I’ve never really been any good at it, so having a way to make my obvious shitty gaming skills counterbalanced so that I can wallow in my own little pond away from the big sharks is a welcome addition to the game for me.

How Social Networking has Shaped Battle.net

If you’re still not sick of talking to real people, Blizzard has added the Real ID functionality to the new Battle.net. At first, I thought all Real ID offered was the ability to see your friends list showing their actual name instead of an alias, but as it turns out there’s a lot more going on than I originally knew about.

First off, you are going to be able to communicate across different games in real time, so lets say for instance that you are playing SC2 and you wanna try your hand at some of the Co-op vs AI modes and we need a buddy to come along. Lo and behold your friend Laszlo Panaflex is online in WoW, so you ask him if he wants in on your little crusade! Not too shabby.

In addition to communicating with friends across different games, you’ll be able to see not only what games they are playing but more specifically what modes they are playing in. That means you’ll know not to bother Laszlo when he’s knee deep in, uh, WoW monsters (I don’t play WoW, sorry and know not to get all up in his shit.

Throw in the ability to “broadcast” a short message to your friends (i.e. tweet) whenever they log in and be able to connect with facebook friends as well and you’ve got yourself a pretty good social networking machine to pile on top of all the others you already use!
And there you have it, our take on the biggest changes to Starcraft and Blizzard since the release of the first over a decade ago and kudos for making it to the end of this unusually long article. If you guys have any other takes on this subject, feel free to sound off in the comments section below.

*Not an actual number. The actual percentage increase is probably really easy to calculate but I’m a busy man, and the time it has taken me to write this blurb has eliminated the possibility of me trying to figure it out.

Starcraft 2 Beta is Back On!

I’ve got some good news and some great news! The beta for Starcraft 2 is going to be resuming before the official launch of the game. Blizzard is releasing a new patch for the game and I am assuming they want to test out the changes before its released. I’ve never heard of a developer doing this so close to launch but Blizzard will be Blizzard!  As I write this I am currently patching my beta client and I will comment shortly and confirm or deny if I can play the game on Bnet.

Onward Blizzard soldiers!

p.s. Blizzard Rulezzzzz!

******************UPDATE*****************

As of 11:45pm July 7 The beta is working! Happy gaming fellows!

*****************UPDATE AGAIN July 9 2010 8:35pm**********

I took a couple screenshots of some of the new menus that have been released in the second phase of the beta, check em out below:

*****************UPDATE AGAIN July 20 2010**********

Ok folks looks like the beta has officially ended and access to the mulitplayer and coop games has ended Silver lining is that the game is now just about a week away from release!

The beta had a good run, maybe it will go full zombie Jesus on us and come back from the dead for a couple hours before the release of the game for shits and giggles, cause that would be alright by me.

Starcraft 2 is the Real Deal

I have played the beta and I can say definitively that this game is going to be good.

I can say that with confidence because though I have only played the beta version of the game, I’ve found myself going through the tell-tale signs of great gaming:

1. I go to bed way too late after playing said game and have trouble getting to sleep because I am so pumped after playtime; then when I eventually fall asleep I dream about new strategies and tactics I could be using on my opponents when I play the next day. Literally. I dream about the game. I can’t get those Colossi, SCV’s and Siege Tanks out of my head!
2. My buddies kinda like the game too, and by kinda I mean they’re absolute Starcraft junkies! The cooperative 2v2 and basic 1v1 matches in SC2 are made incredible by Battle.net’s stat tracking and social functionality. Being able to go back and look at how an opponent beat the tar out of you in a replay is in a word: awesome. No more wondering how he teched up so fast, or what his build order was. It’s all there for the seeing.
3. Can you say achievements? This console gaming innovation is spreading like wildfire. Taking a competitive game like Starcraft and throwing in achievements was a no brainer for the guys and gals at Blizzard as it was a perfect fit for their newly roided up version of Battle.net.
4. There is a promise of awesome to come in the singleplayer campaign. Wings of Liberty is the first of three chapters in the Starcraft 2 saga, and we all know that if anyone is going to put together a narrative that will give you an eye-toothache from all the eye candy you’ll be seeing, it’s Blizzard. They have proven time and again that they can not only deliver on the gameplay side but in the notoriously difficult story side of their games, whether it is the Warcraft series, Diablo or especially the original Starcraft. Remember when Zeratul flies that carrier into Zerg hive at the end of the game and you’re thinking, “Damn Zeratul, you one crazy ass Dark Templar. Psionic energy in yo eye ya damn monstas!”

There are those out there that will say that Starcraft 2 isn’t bringing anything new to the table, that is isn’t innovating and that the changes that we see in this new game are only minor tweaks to the gameplay. To these people I have only one statement:

You people have shit for brains and have let that brain-shit leak out the holes in your head so you can’t see, hear or talk properly. Stop it.

What Blizzard have done with this game is keep the essence of the original while making it so so much deeper and more complex than its predecessor. Graphically the game is stunning; with support for an astounding number of units on screen with intelligent pathfinding and intuitive interface improvements, coop missions, a unique rpg element to single player unit customization, non-linear mission selection with secondary missions thrown into the mix, and don’t even get me started on Battle.net!

The only flaw I can think of for this game so far is the fact that Activision in their infinite wisdom have decided that they can jack up the price by $10 to a ludicrous $69.99. They know that the game is going to be a hit, and that people will pay the price, but I sincerely hope Bobby Kotick and the rest of his money grubbing ass monkeys get some sense slapped into them for gouging their own user base.

To the naysayers out there I have only one suggestion: Play the game before you pass judgment. If after you’ve tried it you still don’t think it’s a worthy successor, then that is your opinion and you are entitled to it.

For the rest of us though, July 27th can’t come fast enough.

p.s. Are any of my fellow beta players out there? I’d love to get your feedback so far. What do you think of Starcraft 2? Is it worthy of carrying the Blizzard badge of excellence? Leave your comments below to let us know!

Starcraft 2 News and Interviews

The occurence of Starcraft 2 news is like a beautiful rainbow that only appears when the right conditions come together. Ok maybe not, but it is still pretty hard to come by, so when we do get a glimpse of new footage or a line on some new info about the latest build of the game it is pretty exciting, and this is one of those times.

There have been a couple new multiplayer gameplay movies and developer interviews that have hit the web lately as well as some hands on journalist accounts of the multiplayer as it stands right now and I wanted to bring all the new info I could find into one convenient source for all the Starcraft fans out there so here we go.

Battle.net

Starcraft 2 is going to be a huge game, and as such there will be a wide variety of players that are going to be playing it, whether they be casual players picking it up for the first time, fans of the series that have been waiting patiently, and the die hard and eSports fans out there that are going to putting their life blood into this game when it finally ships, and the developers are going to have the unenviable task of trying to cater to everyone.

One of the ways that they will be doing this is by introducing a matchmaking system that will match players based on skill level, similar to XBOX Live. You will no longer have to worry about getting matched with some guy (or girl) from Korea that literally has the game plugged into their brain with a 1000 APM’s leading you to getting your ass handed to you, or be matched with grandma who decided to put her WoW account on hold for ten minutes so she could try out the game. If they can get this system up and running the way that it should be, it will be a huge step forward for making the SC2 experience a much easier transition for those who suck, but still like the game (i.e. Me).

In the same vein as the aforementioned news, there is also talk of creating leagues based around casual, hardcore and eSport players for the purposes of multiplayer gaming. These leagues will not only separate play styles and preferences but will also have different attributes in game. The casual league for example will use simpler maps that will be designed against anti-rush tactics and slower game speeds in order to get people used to the game.

But they aren’t through yet, Blizzard will also be incorporating new stat tracking and spectator modes that will allow players to analyze how they play, see the mistakes they make and improve their performance. Spectators will be able to see a match from players perspectives, which will be interesting but maybe a little disorienting when you switch to a pro gamer perspective while they move around the map at lightning speed. You will be able to track how efficient they are in combat, how many resources they’ve mined, used, and how many went unused on the map. There will be a ton of overlays you can place on the screen to monitor each players performance. These features are a no brainer considering the popularity of eSports overseas, and the posibility of it taking off in North America.

All the news is not happy however. Starcraft 2 will not support LAN play. You will need to be connected to Battle.net if you want your RTS fix. Apparently this is a measure that is being implemented to curb piracy, along the same lines as Valve’s Steam service. This type of announcement would seem counter-intuitive to the legacy of the Starcraft name, as its popularity sprung out of the multiplayer greatness and the ability to get together with friends and play the game while yo mamma jokes, pizza and beer flew through the air without a care…mon frere…But hopefully there will be some kind of workaround for this in the future.

One final note about the online is that the game will support up to 8 players per game and 4 players spectating for a total of 12 “players”.

Gameplay

These features will directly affect the way that you play the game and have been taken from various sources including gametrailers.com, ign.com and 1up.com so I assume they are legit for now. Who knows what will change and what will stay the same, but as the final release gets closer, I’d think that the number of changes will continue to fall until we get a finalized feature set.

One of the best pieces of news I gathered from the video interview with Chris Sigaty was that there will be unlimited unit selection in the new game as well as multi building selection. I always thought this was a no brainer for the game and I’m glad to actually see it make it into the final build.

Each race is going to have powerups that will either boost their economy or army in some way and a few of those have been outlined more specifically. The Terrans for example will have the trusty Radar Sweep, but in addition they may instead call in a Mule which will increase the rate at which they gather minerals. The zerg Queen can either repair buildings or boost larvae production to increase your population and the Protoss Obelisk can use the Proton Charge ability to increase the rate that probes collect resources.

In terms of units, there are a couple notable additions to the Terran arsenal which include a new fast moving buggy unit with an attached flamethrower called the Hellion. It’s essentially a Vulture and Firebat mashed together. There is also a Medivac Dropship which will heal infantry units while it transports them, Medic + Dropship = Medivac Dropship.

The Banelings, or suicidal little zergling mutations are now less effective against buildings as well, which in my opinion is a great move because in most of  the footage I’ve seen of them, they basically rape whatever they target in large numbers. The Hellion also seems to be an effective counter against the Banelings in the new footage, so keep note of that.

Each unit type now has a unique death animation based on the weapon used on it, which isn’t really a big addition, but its the little things, the small details like this that help separate the just ok games from the AAA titles.

The Protoss Mothership seems to have a couple new abilities as well. From the footage shown, it looks as if the Mothership can teleport to any pylon location on the map which I’m sure is at the will of a timer of some kind, but its still pretty sweet for planning a surprise attack behind enemy lines. It also remains to be seen if the Mothership can warp in on the Phase Prism location (which is the mobile pylon unit) which may be a balance issue, we’ll have to wait and see I suppose. The Motherships black hole ability has also seen a bit of a tweak. Whereas it was an uber powerful super weapon that was totally unbalanced when we first saw it, now instead of totally destroying whatever it sucks in, it merely holds it in limbo for a short time. The units in the black hole dont seem to take any damage however, and the weapon can affect friendly as well as enemy units, so beware.

And lastly from the Gameplay standpoint, there will not be any upgrading or leveling up mechanic for units in multiplayer. Dustin Browder stated that such an element in their game would be, “totally against everything that we are doing” and that the game will reward your skill in being able to command your units effectively and intelligently and not just how long you’ve been playing it. This also means that there will be no hero elements in the game, vis a vis Warcraft 3. The ability to purchase upgrades for your units will of course be a core gameplay mecahnic, but each player will start out at the same level at the beginning of every match.

Pricing

While there are still no official press releases for the price of the game, Chris Sigaty has gone on record saying that they view Starcraft 2 in much the same way as Warcraft 3, where they will be releasing the full game initially as Wings of Liberty, and having the other two races be more like expansion packs. What this leads me to believe is that all three games will not come out at the same price, but will have more of a full game/expansion price structure. Although no specifics were given, this gives us an idea as to what we can expect, maybe $59.99 for the first game and $39.99 for the expansions? He also noted that they are not sure what additional multiplayer content they will be packaging with the expansions.

If they were to add two new units per expansion, that would mean four new units total for both. What this creates is a possible fracturing of the community between those that may have the expansion and those that dont. The expansion group may end up with an unfair advantage over the rest which would cause major balance issues in a game that prides itself on providing a level playing field for everyone, but only time will tell how this particular issue will be resolved.

And there you have it! All the news that’s fit to print about Starcraft 2. I hope you found it interesting and I’m looking forward to any new developments in the near future (please God I hope I get into the Beta!!)

The end.

Arkham Asylum Hands On Impressions

I haphazardly wandered into my local Gamestop the other day, looking for the infamously cheap inFamous (they were on sale for $30!!!). Needless to say, I was disappointed, but to my pleasant surprise, I noticed Batman Arkham Asylum sitting all by its lonesome in the corner of the store on the PS3. So I gave it a whirl. And whirl I did.

Not since the likes of Shenmue or Urban Reign have I played a beat-em-up this enjoyable. Nor have I played a Batman game this good since the days of 16-bit yore. Combat is fluid and satisfying, and most of all, fun; and while I didn’t get a chance to play with the bat-gadgets, I did manage to pull of some bat-kicks and bat-flips, not to mention bat-combos and bat-counters.

Sniper is a Spy!

So the TF2 Sniper Patch was allllll a big prank. Ha ha. Very funny Valve………… *I love you.*

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StarCraft 2 Battle Report 2

I just realized we never posted the second of the Starcraft 2 Battle Reports, but better late than never! This one’s Terran VS. Zerg.

StarCraft 2 'Battle Report 2' clip

You can watch the first Terran VS. Protoss Battle Report here.

Duke Nukem Forever Footage

A good homey of mine forwarded this footage to me. There are some untextured renders/animations, as well as their in-game counterparts. As far as we know, 3D Realms is sticking to their “when-it’s-finished” development schedule. Let’s just hope the hardware doesn’t pass them by, because so far, this game is bringing back some “all out of gum” memories, and setting some very high expectations.