StarCraft 2's Gameplay Balance

The evolution of Blizzard's RTS mechanics.

[source: ign.com]

There sure are a lot of panel discussions at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational 2007 in Seoul, South Korea, and they're all focused on StarCraft 2. In fact there's so much buzz about StarCraft 2 you may forget the traditional focus of this event, mainly the high-intensity professional StarCraft and WarCraft 3 tournaments. This time the panel's focus was specifically on gameplay elements, and featured Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo, Senior Game Designer Dustin Browder, and Creative Director Andy Chambers.

Pardo kicked things off by tracing Blizzard's RTS history. WarCraft II was the root of Blizzard's competitive RTS game experience, as it was one of the earliest to go online. When StarCraft came out, it was the first that Blizzard did to feature three truly asymmetrical factions. Then it was WarCraft III's turn, which Pardo explained as a drastic departure from the gameplay underlying StarCraft. It slowed the pace of gameplay, focused battles on smaller numbers of units, introduced more RPG elements, powerful heroes, and more micro-management of unit abilities.

With StarCraft 2, "we're really going back to our roots," says Pardo. By this he means the sequel will be more StarCraft, more focused on fast-paced gameplay and lesser amounts of micromanagement, rather than an evolution of the WarCraft 3 formula. There won't, for instance, be anything approximating WarCraft 3's "creeping," whereby players hacked away at NPCs on the map to increase hero experience levels and acquire items. Unit abilities in StarCraft 2 are largely automated, and there will still be a focus on proper resource management, at least to a greater extent than in WarCraft 3.



One of Blizzard's primary design goals with StarCraft 2 was to cater to professional gamers' demands. "A lot of the concepts we put into the unit design [in StarCraft 2] is so there's skill differentiation," says Pardo. By this he means that truly skilled players will be able to absolutely crush those of lesser ability. This differs from WarCraft 3, says Pardo, in that skill level had a lesser impact on the game's outcome, or at the very least prolonged games featuring players of widely varying skill levels.

Though few details are available at this point, Pardo says Blizzard is aiming to, "provide a great solo experience." He continued with, "We're really going to focus in on the story; we have a lot of new ideas for how the campaign unfolds." Andy Chambers filled us in a little more during the question and answer session by saying Mengst's Terran Dominion would act as the main Terran force, "Raynor's been having some adventures," and the Xel'naga will have, "a rather epic tale for StarCraft 2." He went on to say, "A lot of those plot elements [in Brood Wars] get played out to their fullest extend in SC2" says Andy Chambers. The interesting point is the implications of the final secret mission in Brood Wars and the mention of a Protoss-Zerg hybrid race. Note that there will only be three playable races in StarCraft 2, the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg, and the storyline takes place four years after the original.

Pardo highlighted a number of bullet points for design goals in the new game, mainly speed, saying the longest a StarCraft 2 match should take is around 20 minutes. Blizzard is emphasizing each races significantly different play styles, though they won't yet reveal how the Terran and Zerg can hope to counter the impressively powerful abilities of the Protoss' Mothership. Specific attention was paid to low-level tech tree abilities, as Pardo explained Blizzard has taken steps to expand the available options and make early-game mechanics more varied.



One small gameplay difference revealed during the panel was how unit positioning is affected by the fog of war. Now when one unit attacks another from higher ground, the fog of war surrounding the higher unit is no longer automatically revealed, meaning the unit at the lower position can't return fire. Obviously this makes having high ground positioning much more valuable. It affects mechanics for new units like the Protoss Stalker, who can blink forward and traverse differences in terrain height. They can't, however, hop up to a higher ledge if the fog of war at their destination has yet to be revealed. This can be rectified by flying in an air unit to push back the fog a bit, letting the units to blink up to the ledge and assault whatever lies beyond - an excellent tactic for surprise attacks. The Stalker blink ability is also useful for kiting enemies, which was demonstrated with a group of them blinking around zealots and blowing them to bits.

Dustin Browder explained a few more unit specifics. He again explained the Protoss Immortal's ability to put up near-impenetrable shields when under heavy fire, such as that from siege tanks, yet being vulnerable to weak attacks that won't activate their shields. The Immortal is designed to be a slow moving unit, so they're not skilled at escaping an attack. Though they possess heavy armor, their maneuverability is a severely limiting factor when fighting Zealots, Marines, or Zerglings.

Explained again were the mechanics of the Protoss Pheonix, which can perform an overload attack to shoot out multiple energy blasts. After the attack the unit is rendered inert for a short while, meaning careful implementation of the overload is required. Finally he demonstrated an advanced use of the Protoss' warping ability, which can be done within phase fields surrounding Pylons or the new Phase Prisms. He warped a few Zealots to cut off an enemy's advance into his base, trapping the invaders between the units and a structure. He followed up by warping in Stalkers to pepper the enemy with laser fire from behind a barrier row of Pylons.

There was no date announced for the eventual StarCraft 2 beta, but Pardo said they'll eventually take applications for play and accept a certain percentage. A number of professional StarCraft gamers will also be specifically invited. In response to a question from the audience, Browder noted, "we have no plans at this time for naval combat." Yes, naval combat in space…

We'll have more as soon as we can.

Read full article: StarCraft 2's Gameplay Balance

StarCraft 2 Preview

[source: ActionTrip.com]

I'm sure you'd all agree that a developer like Blizzard needs no introduction. Neither does their renowned franchise StarCraft. The recent announcement finally exposed a wave of media and information on StarCraft 2, a real-time strategy that's destined to continue the classic from 1998.


What we have here is, basically, a lot of bugs that need to be squashed.


They just keep coming...

Taking Korea by storm, Blizzard's announcement soon echoed throughout the world, probably reaching the eyes and ears of every geek this side of the universe. Before long, the facts were right before us, so let us take a closer look at what the game is all about.

One of the first things Blizzard confirmed at the press conference in Korea is that StarCraft 2 has been in the works since the company released Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne in 2003. Since then, the developers were carefully tweaking and improving upon the game, waiting for the opportune moment. And, as everyone knows, they were also busy with developing and maintaining World of Warcraft (but with a separate, dedicated team).

The single-player campaign in SC 2 features a completely new chapter in the StarCraft storyline, taking place exactly four years after the events of the Starcraft expansion pack - Brood War. As the main story unfolds, you'll get to experience the game through the perspectives of three factions: Terrans (the humans), the swarming alien race called the Zerg and the mysterious Protoss. Every race is governed by a capable leader. Officer Jim Raynor is stepped out as one of the greatest Terran leaders. The Zerg, on the other hand, have their own skilled champion, named Kerrigan, who was once a Terran soldier until she got "infested" by the Zerg. And finally, the Protoss are guided by a "dark templar" called Zeratul.

This time around, you'll march through many uncharted regions and worlds, such as Bel'Shir, the new Protoss refuge, which fell into ruin following the Zerg invasion. Next off, players will be visiting the deep-space Terran base of Braxis Alpha and even recognizable locations like Char, the home planet of the Zerg.

Gradually, you are introduced to all the crucial characters and races. Apart from the Terrans, Zerg and Protoss, another important alien race was mentioned - the enigmatic Xel'Naga. Apparently, their role is essential to the plot. For one thing, the Xel'Naga helped both the Protoss and the Zerg grow into what they are. (Freaking Space Naga bastards. I knew they were building a rocket ship at the Coilfang Reservoir. - 2Lions)

Blizzard was careful not to let any details slip in relation to the single-player narrative. So, at this point, I'm afraid that's all we know about the story and characters.

The meat of the game, of course, lies in the mix of its impressively designed units. Battles are going to require quick thinking and knowing when to make the right move - which units to send against a specific type of enemy, which unit is best suited for a certain type of terrain and so on. The demonstration of the game introduced us to cool new units, such as the huge Protoss Mothership. Slowly advancing across the map, the Protoss Mothership demonstrated its capability of fighting against multiple enemy aircraft. At the same time, it was equipped with powerful rays that kept vaporizing every opposing unit on the ground. Opposing factions are strengthened by their own powerful units, which, unfortunately remain under wraps at this time.

Gifted with the ability to manipulate time and space, the Protoss continue to bewilder their enemies. They use gateways, structures that are capable of opening a spatial rift to transport armies from the base directly into the middle of a distant battlefield. This requires a considerable amount of energy and it can only work if it is powered by the so-called psionic matrix, which, in turn, must be formed by a network of pylons or phase prisms.

There also appears to be a decent unit balance at play. It's going to be up to gamers to combine the unique abilities of all the units, in order to overcome the enemy. Another important point is Blizzard's firm resolve to stick with the traditional gameplay mechanics from the original StarCraft. Factions base their strength on carefully planned out battle plans and, naturally, on sheer unit numbers. More importantly, unlike WarCraft 3, StarCraft 2 will not feature any hero units to boost unit power and help shift the course of battle in your favor. Instead, several other tactical opportunities were shown. For example, similarly to EA's C&C series, players may wipe their opponents clean off the map with the ability to execute powerful nuclear launches.

While they are meticulously designing every aspect of gameplay, the developers are also striving to convey an epic atmosphere, allowing for huge battles and large skirmishes with as many as 300 units onscreen at once.


Behold, the Phase Prism!


This is our rock, so be gone!

As for the graphics, it's obvious, judging from the footage and screenshots, that the designers, animators and programmers, once again, did what they do best. Character artwork as well as the creature designs are excellent and boast the traditional Blizzard coolness. Though it's definitely too early to say for sure, but from what we could tell StarCraft 2 sports a sound frame rate even at this stage, with solid number of highly detailed units on the screen and an equally impressive backdrop. As usual, the splendid graphics are accompanied by first-rate sound effects and a catchy soundtrack that fits perfectly into the in-game ambiance.

Gamers packing next-gen PC graphic cards will be disappointed to learn that Starcraft 2, in its present state, does not support DX10 graphics. However, it does carry all the benefits of DirectX 9.0, such as the Pixel Shader 2.0, HDR lighting, etc.

Blizzard is planning to include a map editor to ensure a growing SC community. Not much is known about multiplayer features, other than the fact that the game will allow online matches via Battle.net.

Presently, the renowned developer has around 40 people working intently on StarCraft 2 and from what was revealed thus far, the game seems to be coming along just fine. They also didn't want to point to any specific release dates. Instead, they prefer to leave things open, saying the game will be out "when it's done."

It's comforting to know that they are taking their time and that the core team isn't pressed with any strict deadlines. What's more, they are concentrating on PC version exclusively, with no plans to bring the game to consoles at this point.

While the dust still needs to settle from the recently held press event Korea, we are eager to bring you our E3 coverage in July, at which time we expect to have a closer look at StarCraft 2.

Read full article: StarCraft 2 Preview

PC Gamer is up to date

[source: digg.com]

PC Gamer already picked up the story. The new issue is coming out soon.

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StarCraft II Official Press Release - StarCraft II Unveiled

[source: The official SC2 press release]

Blizzard Entertainment® announces highly anticipated sequel at 2007 Worldwide Invitational event in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea – May 19, 2007 – Blizzard Entertainment® today unveiled StarCraft® II, the sequel to its award-winning real-time strategy game StarCraft, at the 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, South Korea. The announcement took place inside the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, in front of thousands of attendees, who received a presentation that included a StarCraft II cinematic trailer and a gameplay demonstration by the development team.

Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II will feature the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard's signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished from the others, with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making a reappearance in the game. StarCraft II will also feature a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

"With StarCraft II, we'll be able to do everything we wanted to do with the original StarCraft and more," stated Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We recognize that expectations are high following the long-running popularity of the original game, but we plan to meet those expectations and deliver an engaging, action-packed, competitive experience that StarCraft players and strategy gamers worldwide will enjoy."

StarCraft II will include a unique single-player campaign, as well as fast-paced online play through an upgraded version of Blizzard's renowned online gaming service, Battle.net®. In addition, the game will come with a powerful, full-featured map editor that will put the same tools used by Blizzard's designers into the hands of players.

Blizzard is developing StarCraft II for simultaneous release on the Windows® and Macintosh® PC platforms. Further information about the game, including details on the single-player, multiplayer, and map-editor features, as well as system requirements, pricing, and availability, will be announced in the months ahead. To learn more about StarCraft II, please visit the official website at www.starcraft2.com.

About the StarCraft Series
Since its debut in 1998, the original StarCraft has won unprecedented critical acclaim and has remained a staple of tournament gaming worldwide. The game's expansion set, StarCraft: Brood War, also released in 1998, is still considered by many to be one of the best add-on products ever created. To date, the series has sold more than 9.5 million copies worldwide. StarCraft's gritty sci-fi universe has also spawned numerous complementary products, including several novels and action figures, as well as a pen-and-paper role-playing game.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Vivendi Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard's track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users. In South Korea, Blizzard is regarded as having played a major role in bringing about the birth of professional gamers and game broadcasting. Furthermore, its games are acknowledged as one of the key drivers behind the popularization of South Korea's PC game room business.

Read full article: StarCraft II Official Press Release - StarCraft II Unveiled