Mal ne kleine aktualisierung seit
meinem letzten posting.
Art Updates
The StarCraft art team have been making massive updates to the Zerg faction, adding various new animations and improving even further on the textures of Zerg units and buildings. A picture is a thousand words so check out the updates for yourself!
Zerg Drone (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedDrone.jpg
Zerg Overlord (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedOverlord.jpg
Zerg Hydralisk (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedHydralisk.jpg
Zerg Overseer (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedOverseer.jpg
Zerg Baneling (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedBaneling.jpg
Throughout the development process, the team is constantly reiterating and improving on the game in every way. As mentioned before, the Infestor too is getting a makeover, becoming much creepier and intimidating – you definitely don’t want to end up helpless at the will of this thing!
Zerg Infestor Concept Art
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/InfesterArt.jpg
The StarCraft 2 team has made a number of changes in each of the races as the game gets closer to Beta. These are some of the new weapons and abilities that are currently being tested on the battlefield.
Protoss Dark Pylon
Long used only by the Dark Templar of Shakuras, the Dark Pylon is now used by all as the Protoss war for survival becomes more desperate. In addition to providing supply and giving power to nearby Protoss structures, the Dark Pylon has several unique abilities that require energy to use.
Proton Charge: an area-of-effect ability that gives all targeted Probes additional charge for their Proton-Cutters. Probes that have an additional charge gather additional minerals per trip when collecting resources. The Proton Charge lasts only a short time before dissipating.
Null Shield: a single-target ability that causes a Protoss Shield to shimmer and warp, cloaking the targeted Protoss unit. The Null Shield lasts only a short time.
Argus Link: a single-target ability that transfers energy from the Dark Pylon to any energy-using Protoss unit.
Screenshot: Proton Charge in Action
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/PROTOSS_DroneTarget.jpg
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/PROTOSS_DroneHarvest.jpg
Terran Orbital Command
The Terrans rely not only on the troops they can train on the battlefield but also on troops called from deep space. The Orbital Command allows the Terrans to make use of their orbital assets to support their fight on the ground. As an upgrade to the Command Center the Orbital Command can create SCVs and serves as a drop location for collected resources. In addition it has several abilities that require energy.
Calldown Mule: sends a single automated mining robot by drop-pod that assists SCVs in collecting resources by working around current SCV mining operations. Unfortunately the Mule is still in the prototype phase and has a limited battery supply (timed life).
Calldown Extra Supplies: sends additional supplies to a targeted Supply Depot. Generally used by Terran commanders only in an emergency to allow them to support additional troops.
Scanner Sweep: using a satellite in high-orbit, the Terrans reveal a large area anywhere on the map and detect all cloaked units within the target area.
Screenshot: Mules Everywhere!
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/TERRAN_Mules.jpg
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/TERRAN_MuleVariations.jpg
Zerg Queen
The Zerg Queen has continued to evolve over the last few months. She is a fierce defender of the Zerg Hatcheries and can often be found in small groups defending the larger Zerg infestations. In addition to defending her Hatchery from ground and air threats, the Queen has several special abilities that require energy to use.
Build Creep Tumor: with a mighty push from her bowels, the Queen creates a cluster of organic tumors that generate additional creep. In recent months the Zerg have mutated to move more quickly on creep, making this an important function for the Queen.
Spawn Larva: by injecting Queen ichor into a Hatchery, Lair or Hive the Queen can cause the Zerg structure to undergo a startling metamorphosis. The Hatchery starts to throb and green sacks swell up on the structure. Eventually four additional larva burst out of the Hatchery and land next to whatever larva are already wriggling around nearby. While a Hatchery hosts more than 3 larva, the Hatchery will not spawn additional larva, until that number drops below 3.
Razor Plague: with a great breath the queen exhales a cloud of tiny Zerg creatures that create a vast swarm nearby. These creatures attack all enemy creatures within their swarm, doing additional damage to biological targets. What makes it worse is the Zerg player can control the swarm, moving it around to attack whatever enemies he wishes until the swarm becomes exhausted and dissipates.
Screenshot: Incoming Swarm!
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/ZERG_TumorLarvae.jpg
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/ZERG_MutaHatch.jpg
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/ZERG_Attack.jpg
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if your enjoying these Q&As!
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 49---
I am very curious... previously, SCVs, Drones, Probes, Vultures, Archons, and Dark Archons hovered above the ground so they were not hit by mines. My question is simple: Are there any hovering units in Starcraft 2? If there are, can they hover over shallow water?
If Spider Mines stay in the game, then there will be hovering units. Shallow waters are currently just a visual effect and will not ‘play’ differently.
How does the Mutalisk attack work in StarCraft II, what defines its bouncing pattern? Is it random or not? If not, what is the criteria that defines how it bounces?
Regardless of the position of the Mutalisk, when its attack hits a target, it will then acquire the next target based on proximity to the first target. The attack will always bounce to the next closest target.
Is it possible to toggle off Multiple Building Selection (MBS)?
No.
Balancing of 2v2 team play: Roaches + Medivac are too over powered for 2v2 team play unit combinations?
The regeneration rate of the Roaches and the healing of the Medivac will not stack upon each other.
What is a good counter for Zerg against Marines, which are upgraded from the original StarCraft?
Zerg actually have a few options that are quite effective. Zerglings can catch Marines out in the open and surround them relatively easily. Secondly, Banelings with the burrow ability are also very effective. There is nothing more gratifying than watching a group of Marines walk over a burrowed Baneling. When it unburrows – BOOM! Another counter that can be used are Roaches with burrow. A player can burrow a Roach at low health for it to regenerate back to full health in seconds, at which point it can unburrow and begin attacking the Marines again.
In late game, Infestor’s with their fungal scourge ability, which causes a biological unit to take damage over time until the unit explodes and does an area of effect damage, decimating groups of Marines easily if the opponent is not fast to react. Additionally, Ultralisks with their new cleave attack as well as 200 more hit points from the original StarCraft also make them an excellent counter to massed Marines.
How do you keep the Baneling from exploding on targets that you don’t want them to hit?
The Baneling now has an ‘attack building’ ability now which allows players to have more control over what the Baneling attacks. Players no longer need to worry about Banelings accidentally exploding on a building when they actually wanted it to hit a unit.
---End of Transmission---
[ Post edited by Karune ]
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Das StarCraft 2 Team hat eingie Änderungen an den Rassen vorgenommen und die neuen Spielmechaniken sollen den Spielern größere strategische Möglichkeiten zur Verfügung stellen. Hier sind die neuen Spielmechaniken für das Ressourcen sammeln und das Aufstellen einer Armee. Ihr könnt euch mit den weiteren vorgenommenen Änderungen jeder Rasse im neuesten StarCraft 2 Q&A Batch 49 vertraut machen. Also, was denkt ihr über die Veränderungen der Spielmechaniken?
Why hasn't Blizzard released the Beta? or WTF have they been working on, I played it at Blizzcon last year and I thought it was done!
Solo campaign is under heavy construction as is Battlenet. When these things have enough work done that we know when our release date is going to be with strong confidence we will announce the Beta. Unless something crazy happens, the Beta is going to happen this year.
When can we have the next Battle Report?
We were waiting on getting some improved graphics in (some of the new stuff looked REALLY rough). That was finished last week and we are now playing and looking for a good game. Once we get that game the process is reasonably quick to get it out. Once we go Beta, you guys can do these and put them up. When that happens I'm sure there will be a ton of them and I'm sure the quality of the games played and the announcing will go way up.
I notice that you haven't actually given us any dates....
Yeah. Sorry. We don't want to lie about the Beta, and we don't even want to lie about the next Battle Report. When we know a date (for anything) for certain, we'll let you know.
Why don't you just give us your target dates if you don't know the final date? We promise, we won't get mad if Blizzard misses target dates.
Let's be realistic. Our target dates are not something we hit more than half the time. Putting those out there would be pretty close to lying to the fans. We are not going to do that. We want to be able to give good info, not info that we know is suspect. We'll give target dates when we think it is very likely that we will hit them.
Hang in there. We're in the final stretch.
Über die langweiligen Toss:
I agree that the Protoss mechanic is the least interesting of the 3. There is not a ton of tension right now on the abilities. Argus Link is really good, but Null Shield sees little use. Compared that to MULE vs. Comsat or the Queen's abilities and the Dark Pylon lacks choices (there is only one right choice most of the time). We will probably attack this by attacking balance and then the Dark Pylon's other abilities first and if that fails go from there with some new mechanics.
Nachdem das bettel im Forum kein Ende nimmt was zum Battlereport und zur Protoss-Flotte:
1. It's a Terran vs. Zerg game. I promise nothing on what week it will come out. You must continue to suffer and wait.
2. We have Void Ray, Phoenix, Mothership, Carrier, Warp Prism, Observer. Mothership moves slowly, can teleport to any Protoss building, can do huge damage to a single target with Vortex and cloaks everything nearby on the ground (including buildings). Mothership is build-limit-one. This is done primarily for balance reasons. You use her as a base defense that can be anywhere you want in a flash. Sometimes you push into an enemy base with her. Testing on her remains a pain because she is so high-tech we don't see her in a lot of games. Right now she is reasonably cool, but we are not in love with her yet.
Ein par gemischte blaue Antworten:
But Banelings splash damage doesn't hurt your own units right?
No, it doesn't hurt your own units.
Anti-Gravity - Does the ability ground airborne units?
No it doesn't, but another thing to note is that 'Massive' units cannot be targeted (such as Thors, Colossi). The ability is meant for harassment and strategic disabling of key units early and mid game.
Y were Drop Pods cancelled in the 1st place?
The role of the drop pod fit very closely with what Medivac Dropships already do even better. Overall, through testing, it was far better to build Medivac Dropships to drop off reinforcements or raid, especially since drop pods still needed to be loaded with infantry as well.
Has the Dark Pylon been changed at all since the Q&A?
Also does hallucination still not work on carriers, dark templar and observers? What is the lore behind this?
Does the nullifier's weapon still hit multiple units? How does it work?
Only changes are balance changes, which will still continue to change. Otherwise besides that, the abilities are still the same.
Hallucination still does not work on Carriers, Motherships, Dark Templars, an Observers. I'll have to get back to ya on the lore side maybe get them to post up a website update on that.
The Nullifier's weapon hits one target at a time, doing damage as long as the enemy is targeted.
I have been wondering, what happens when a unit gets targeted by a force field.
Do they get pushed to the side? Stuck in one place? or can they move around inside the shield?
Can they attack units outside the shield? or vice versa?
And if you have multiple shields, and they can move around inside them, can they move from shield, to shield? (the two shields touching)
They do not get pushed outside of the force field. If a unit is underneath a force field, when it exits the force field's radius, it will not be able to pass through the force field again until it dissipates. Units under the force field can fire out as well as be hit by enemy fire.
I can understand that you can mix in Marines along with Marauders. But why not just mass Marauders?
Mass Marauders unfortunately would lack the dps that a combo Marauder + Marines group would have. Also Marauders don't have Stim Pack, which also makes up a great deal of extra dps. The Marauder early game could kite a few Zealots well, but their fire rate is much slower than a Marine.
Are creep tumors burrowed/invisible? How easy are they to remove? I think they should be burrowed in order to be viable for offensive use of creep speed bonus or at least maximizing creep speed bonus around key strategic points like choke points or Xel'Naga Watchtowers.
Creep Tumors are 'burrowed' and will need a detector to be able to see them. No need for additional speed bonuses, since Zerg ground units (minus the Drone) will already have speed bonuses on creep. The Creep Tumors now only cost 25 energy from the Queen to create. Using the energy for Creep Tumors though means you aren't using that energy towards spawning additional larva. Players will have to make a choice in their strategy.
Is the charge ability only limited to the distance between the zealot and its target or is it also limited to the time that is needed to reach the target?
Zealot’s Charge ability is based on the ground range, regardless of the height. So a Zealot on the cliff will not start charging a unit below the cliff, even if they look like they are visually right next to each other. The Zealot must be within a set pathing distance from the target for it to activate it’s charge ability, meaning the path in which the Zealot takes to get to the target is a set amount. Additionally, Zealots will not be able to charge through cliffs. They must go around.
I love Zerg, and I plan on playing Zerg exclusively but at the same time, this Swarm Guardian mechanic seems a bit overpowered. I think...
Banelings will all die against it in seconds by self suicide.
Tanks will blow apart their own army.
If you don't micro your army to not attack the Broodlings then it'll be a very 1 sided battle.
How strong are these Broodlings?
They do have timed life. They are not very strong. But your examples are accurate. Banelings can be wasted, Siege Tanks can splash their friends. We'll see how this all pans out in Beta. We have plenty of hooks to nerf the little buggers if they become too problematic.
Now that there is a thread asking for your 5 favorite RTSes I got interested in what people's favorite TURN BASED strategy games are.
1) Master of Magic & Master of Orion
2) Civilization Series
3) Romance of the Three Kingdoms Series
4) Star Control Series (even though its not totally a turn based, but it was too cool)
5) Advance Wars
oh and Jagged Alliance 2...classic.
If this unit attacks an armored unit with armor point 0, what damage would it give?
1. (10 x 2) + 5 = 25 ?
2. (10 + 5) x 2 = 30 ???
(2 sounds legitimate)
What if the unit being attacked had two armor points?
Is the bonus damage applied after armor deduction, or before?
1. (10 x 2) + 5 -2 = 23 ?
2. (10 + 5) x 2 - 2 = 28 ?
3. (10-2) x 2 + 5 = 21 ?
4. (10 + 5 -2) x 2 = 26 ?
Damage is added up on a per hit basis. Then armor is subtracted from each hit. It doesn't matter how many shots you fire at once, we calculate each hit seperately. We have been pretty good so far about making sure that the graphics match the number of hits. So if you see two missiles firing out of a unit, that's going to be two seperate hits.
Screw the battle Report... When is the GAME coming out?!?!?!
Sometime after the battle-report. ;D
Chat with Devs: StarCraft II from its conception has been designed to be an eSport and one of the backbone features to helping players learn more about their own gameplay as well as their opponents is through replays. In our chat with Dustin this week, he highlighted various features that will be available to players while viewing replays. These features are designed both to help players improve in StarCraft II as well as serve as a platform of statistics for eSports commentary.
• How much damage did that Reaper raid do on the enemy economy?
• Does it look like the enemy is going to be able to make a comeback?
• Is that player walking into a losing battle?
These are all questions that are raised in exciting competitive games and replays. With the new replay system, players and eSports casters will be able to follow these games in much more depth, as well as understand the repercussions of players’ major decisions on the battlefield. Players will be able to easily compare statistics of opposing players in real time as well as make their own predictions based on stats comparing army size, resource collection rate, resource allocations, and tech research in progress.
Reapers Raiding Zerg’s Economy
http://www.battle.net/Images/misc/3-17/Replay_UI _Resources_1.jpg
http://www.battle.net/Images/misc/3-17/Replay_UI _Resources_2.jpg
http://www.dudv.de/files/3dcf/sc/sc1.jpg http://www.dudv.de/files/3dcf/sc/sc2.jpg
Comparing Army Sizes
http://www.battle.net/Images/misc/3-17/Replay_UI _Units_1.jpg
http://www.dudv.de/files/3dcf/sc/sc3.jpg
** Replay UI is still very much work in progress
*** Shown are two tabs of various info tabs the player will be able to view while viewing a replay
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you're enjoying these Q&As!
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 50---
Overlord can be upgraded to carry units, and spawn creep, and Overseer can detect, spawn changeling, and has a longer line of sight. Why not just have the Overlord upgraded with these abilities, rather than have him transform?
We want each race’s detection ability to be well balanced. We don’t want to see every Overlord with detection after upgrading the ability once at Lair. Separating detection capability into two units creates important choices for Zerg players, to ensure their army has enough support of each type available.
Any support for stereoscopic play?
Stereoscopic vision can be an interesting feature, as we’ve seen with the recently added support in World of Warcraft and other games. For now however, the team is concentrating on the core aspects of StarCraft II and making sure the core features of the game that will be used by everyone are as good as can be. Later on down the road we can evaluate more features like this and see if they make sense to support in StarCraft II.
At previous events with playable StarCraft II stations we often saw players doing classic Brood War build orders and tactics. Taking all the new things into account, how far do you get with playing just like in Brood War? Is it a clear disadvantage or a good way to start?
It will depend on the player’s play type and creativity. The experience and skills from the original StarCraft will definitely help players get familiar with StarCraft II. However, there are a lot more units, abilities, and buildings in StarCraft II than the original StarCraft. Players can always start out playing in the way that they used to play in the original StarCraft. As they grow more comfortable with the game they can begin exploring the new units and abilities and discover lots of new strategies. It’s not a matter of advantage or disadvantage, it depends more on the players’ play styles and preferences.
Will it be possible to use characters to colour ingame text like in SC1?
No, currently there is no in-game colored text support. Colored text was a neat trick in the original game, but we wanted to ensure that all in-game communication is clear and easily-readable, so we’re only supporting default text style.
In the single player, you said we can choose from the missions and the way we want to go forward. Will it be like we definitely will play all the missions and we can choose the order, or does it mean that probably we will miss some missions?
In most cases, you’ll be able to go back and explore a mission branch that you skipped earlier in the campaign, so you can experience almost all of the missions in a single play-through of the campaign. There may be a couple of rare cases where a choice you make closes off a mission, however.
Will campaign decisions in the Terran portion affect campaign outcomes/branches in the Zerg and Protoss portions?
We looked into this possibility, but after some debate, we decided it was most important that each campaign delivers a self-contained, yet epic storyline. Giving each campaign a single start and ending was the best way to ensure a coherent plot.
In the original StarCraft, you could make the Lurker (through bug use), while burrowed, hold fire until told to attack, something which led to many exciting situations. Are there any plans to include a “hold fire” command for the Lurker in SC2? In addition, worker units lacked Hold and Patrol commands in SC, will this be the case in SC2 as well?
There is no hold fire command for Lurker in the current build. However we will look into every possibility that encourages more tactical, exciting gameplay and keeps the game balanced.
---End of Transmission---
---------- Beitrag hinzugefügt um 17:19 ---------- Vorheriger Beitrag war um 17:15 ----------
1) in the battle report 1 it seems unit coloring has changed from previously, we see the zealots of the red protoss player have neutral color blades, in the first game demonstration they would have the color of the player and in many other screenshots on the SC2 main site. same goes for Pylons. what happened to that? I realy liked them previously.
2) Death animations: In the gameplay demonstrations we see units and buildings have nice death or destruction animations, in the battle report 1 they had some wierd small explosion. were the animations removed or is that only for multiplayer?
3) this is more of a suggestion concerning Dark templer models, instead of having one model or the other or both alternating why not combine them into one model taking the strong points of both, i.e. why not make a third model with the body of the Lenassa templar and the weapon of the Zer'atai templar? maybe put that up for voting? i think it would get higher votes..
1) Colors and lighting is something that is still being worked on from the art perspective and will continue to be improved throughout the development process. Currently, the 'time of day' or certain maps affect how colors appear on these units/buildings, thus seen in the screenshot variations. This will most likely stick for single player, but may be tweaked for multiplayer, since readability is and always will be a high priority for competitive play.
2) There are constantly new death animations for both units and buildings being produced right now - when and where we use these awesome visuals are yet to be solidified.
3) At this time, the community vote stands, and we will have a random spawn of the two models of Dark Templar. If there are future changes, I will definitely let you guys know.
Immortal Portrait (FOURTH screenie)?
The Immortal Portrait is still work in progress, that is not the final version. The purpose of those screens is focused more on showing the replay features than the actual ui/units - which are all still being improved as we speak. Personally, I'm very excited to see what they will cook up... the Zerg before and after images is just a small taste of the improvements they are making visually.
Changeling - Are they able to burrow?
Currently, Changlings will not be able to burrow, use special abilities, or attack. They will turn into either a Zealot, Marine, or Zergling, depending on what enemy race they encounter.
Will burrowed zerg units still activate the Xel'Naga Watchtowers?
No, at the moment burrowed units do not activate Watch Towers. Neither do flying units but invisible units like the Dark Templar or a cloaked Ghost will activate them.
Can Reapers jump over building? Seeing how they can traverse through terrain, I was wondering if they were able to jump across enemy blockades. I would make sense if they can because they can jump up/down cliffs, why not have them jump over building?
Reapers and Colossi are not able to jump/walk over over buildings, destructibles, or special abilities such as the force field ability.
Teir 1 Unit in Late Game? So Zealot has the charge (which I love) and Marine has the shield (dont know enough about to love or hate), but the Zergling doesnt have any spiffy mechanic other than the Baneling evolution. But anyway, what if the 'Lings had a mechanic, researchable ability or the like that let them jump out of the ground when unburrowed? Have them leap at a target rather than pop-up, stand still a second, then run at the target. It fits the Zerg mechanic, the Zergling MO (fast attack / swarm), and we may actually see burrowing used in gameplay, surprise ambushes etc. I dunno, Its 2 am so this is the best I can come up with.
Zerglings are always useful in late game due to their speed and ability to surround enemies. Banelings too are especially useful against both Zealots and Marines, even with their upgrades, and thus will always be useful to counter them. Additionally, Banelings are always useful in raiding, which should be done throughout the entirety of a StarCraft II game.
What will happen if you siege a tank under CC?
If the Siege Tank is in tank mode, the Siege Tank will move out for the Command Center to land.
When the Siege Tank is in siege mode, you can't land the Command Center on it.
orbital commands produce SCVs???
No, you can't build SCVs while lifted off.
No, you can't downgrade the Command Center back.
I understand that unit pathing has been much improved upon in SC2, which hopefully will ease the frustration of unit collision in large clumps. Let's take the following scenario:
A group of immortals are leading a charge against tanks followed by a pack of zealots. When the immortals are in range they all line up and begin to fire.
What will happen when the zealots are given an attack-move command towards the tanks? Will they part the wall of immortals and walk in between them while the Immortals are attacking, or will they be forced to walk around the entire line of immortals to reach their targets in melee range?
In that scenario, Zealots will walk around line-ups of Immortals and will attack Siege Tanks.
It just came to me that it's a bit strange that mutalisk cocoons are the same as zergling and the same as ultralisk.
Shouln't they be diferent in size, color, stats and so?
Shoultn't a ultralisk egg grow over time untill it hatches? Shoul it?
Well, we do have different eggs for the Banelings. They also have different stats (baneling eggs are much easier to kill). There is no reason we couldn't do custom eggs, though I think after about 3-4 different eggs it would start to be hard to tell them apart?
Questions about Nydus mechanics:
1. so this means there is no longer an overseer spawning nydus worms, or do they coexist?
2. can you use the queen to lay creep tumors in areas without any creep, thus indirectly creating space for a nydus worm?
3. during the 10 seconds of nydus worm creation, what does the animation look like (building egg or creep shakes and worm emerges)?
4. what is the interval between units entering and exiting the worm (i.e. how many "units per second" can leave the worm)? do they exit one-by-one or in packs? how is the order chosen (i.e. if you select a large group of units to exit, will the smaller ones leave first or will the order be random)?
1. No, Overseer does not have Nydus Worm spawning ability any more.
2. You can build Creep Tumor from the Queen only on the creep to expand it.
3. It just looks like other Zerg buildings while it is being summoned and the worm bursts out of the creep when the summoning is done. Hard to describe the animation of the popping up;;
4. Yes, units are coming out of the Nydus Worm/Nydus Network one-by-one and they come out in the same order they entered in.
Happy 11-year anniversary!
Happy 11th StarCraft! We don't have a date yet, but beta is still on its way, and everyone is working hard in getting us there!
No one is being rude in the thread. They are merely emploring Blizzard to give us more information to discuss since the forum has been barren of anything usefull in months. I still think the game looks good and hope that I get a chance to play it in the beta. I think that everyone is just a little raw about the lack of attention that Blizz has given us after initially setting the bar so high for their involvement with the SC2 community. We just want them to come back that's all.
Honestly, I feel you guys - though in actuality, there is little the community doesn't already know about in terms of gameplay with StarCraft II. Battle.net and Single Player will be rolled out in their own spotlight features in the future, because there is much to talk about in those areas.
Hang in there, I think the Fan Q&As will be good, and Battle Report #2 shouldn't be too far down the road.
-Will you be able to rally units to a particular unit? Sort of like hero rallying in w3.
-Will you be able to control a teammate's units and resources if he ditches you?
-Will sharing units be allowed? For better micro in team games.
-Will you be able to see ally resources?
1) Yup, you will be able to - and you can also rally straight into transport units like dropships as well.
2) Yes- though currently all the resources your ally makes after he leaves will go directly into your pool of resources. This is by no means final or balanced yet- there will be changes still.
3) Yup, you can do it.
4) Yes.
the Terran Medivac heals marines, assists with economy raids and carries siege tanks for fast drops or dropping on other siege tanks. Will be fast teched to and used in every single game. so vs terran always get anti-air
Anti-air and AoE (area of effect) abilities are usually advised against Terrans if they do a 'biological' army composition. Anti-air is always decent too especially when Nighthawks are actually quite powerful right now with their new hunter-seeker missiles (which tracks a target for X seconds to explode for AoE damage). Though Terrans are able to also go 'Mechanized' which would require alternate strategies to deal with, so scouting will be extremely important as always.
So does this work kinda similarly to the Infestor's Fungal Infestation, except with a projectile but no DoT? Does it explode on contact?
It explodes on contact and can be avoided if you retreat that unit for the X second duration. X would be determined through balance. The hunter seeker is designed to kill slower moving units like spellcasters.
Currently the Hunter Seeker Missile tracks an enemy target for 15 seconds.
1. does the aoe nighthawk missile require minerals / gas?
2. What is the current nighthawk mechanic when it comes to the cost of the abilities? Is it still the wait-for-cooldown mechanic that requires minerals? Has it changed back to the energy mechanic? Is it a hybrid (i.e. abilities require both minerals and energy)? Or is it something else?
1) The Hunter Seeker Missile uses 75 energy, and the Auto-Turret uses 50 energy (and attack both air and ground)
2) There is currently no cooldown for any of the Nighthawk's abilities (Auto-Turret + Hunter Seeker Missile [which has to be researched at the Fusion Core building]). None of the Nighthawk abilities cost minerals. The Hunter Seeker missile also does a whooping 150 damage and has splash damage, instantly killing most casters and tier 1 units.
**All of these stats are constantly subject to balance changes.
Fusion Core building? Is that the same as the space relay / anti-matter core building that is a requirement for battle cruisers?
Yup, that's the one.
Also, if it doesn't reach its target, does it still explode? If the target dies does it explode en-route or at the spot where the unit died? How successful is casting it on one of your own units and then leading it into the enemy (if this has even been tried)?
If it doesn't reach the target, it runs out of fuel and crashes, and no damage is dealt to anyone. The explosion happens on the target when it hits. You cannot use the ability on your own unit - I sure wouldn't want to be the Marine baiting that missile...
Ein Klasse Q&A für die Fansite Series! Das erste Q&A geht an TL.
http://www.teamliquid.net/
http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=16409962156&sid=3000
StarCraft II Fan Site Q&A Series #1
As we approach StarCraft II beta, we will be doing several exclusive Q&As with fan sites in StarCraft II's fan site program. These Q&As have the intention of getting everyone on the same page in regards to StarCraft II's current status. I'm happy to announce that our first batch of these have finished, starting with TeamLiquid.net.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=91435
In the original StarCraft, upgrades would give different units different degrees of improvement, such as a fully upgraded zergling gaining a total 60% attack increase, compared to a dragoon that would gain 30%. In comparison, Warcraft III upgrades were designed so that the percentage improvement per upgrade was approximately the same for each unit. Will upgrades scale in this manner in StarCraft II as well?
Yes, StarCraft II will follow an upgrade system similar to that of the original StarCraft. Many of the new upgrades really help in almost creating a new type of unit out of a previous one. For example, in early game Stalkers can kite Zealots and easily handle them with micro. When Zealots gain charge, they will easily catch those Stalkers and tear them up. Similarly, when Stalkers get blink, they can continue to micro and use terrain advantages to fight those Zealots. On that same note, Zerglings with their attack speed upgrades make it a far deadlier unit, in line with the original StarCraft. As a design philosophy, we really wanted to make several upgrades allow a shift to the balance of power, creating new battle scenarios as players tech up.
The new lower tier availability of mass mobility such as phase prisms and nydus canals seems to prompt for an even greater need for timely 'snipe' abilities for players, but with removal of units like the scourge, Blizzard seems to go in opposite direction. The games of SC2 I played so far clearly presented me with the problem of being forced to deal with the consequences of certain types of harass or assault while I saw them coming a mile away, in contrast to being able to effectively prevent them. There were for example, no efficient ways of 'sniping' enemy observers and nomads to kill their stealth detection or destroying their medivac dropships before they dropped or finishing off that phase prism before it could deploy and warp-in a dozen or more units into my base. How does Blizzard view these issues and aim to prevent a purely reactionary type of gameplay?
It is true that in StarCraft II, the races have become comparatively more mobile than the original StarCraft. To deal with the new threats mentioned above, scouting and vision have become an even more crucial part in gameplay, as well as building placement to defend against such incursions. Observers are now lower on the tech tree compared to the original StarCraft. Missile turrets can be upgraded with larger range and hit harder as well. Sensor towers can provide early warning of incoming attacks. Additionally, Zerg base defense is now mobile, allowing for quicker adaptation to deal with incoming threats.
At higher levels, an RTS will always have some reactionary play, though in some cases you can react preemptively as well, which could force the opponent to react in another way. With these new methods to both scout and defend, it will help a player deal with opponent decisions on attacking more potently. It is true, with all the new mobility mechanics, it is more likely that you’ll have to pull your probes more often and dodge attacks, but at the same time, with better defenses and new abilities like the Queen’s Razor Swarm, warp-in, and many more – you’ll be able to make the enemy pay a much higher price in performing these attacks as well.
In StarCraft, there are certain upgrade thresholds where some units start to perform vastly better against certain units. For example, + 1 attack zealots kill zerglings in 2 hits instead of 3, or +1 armor marines can take 3 lurker hits instead of 2. These elements add another layer of depth to the game by making upgrades a crucial part of strategy. Do these thresholds exist in StarCraft II, and is the game being designed with them in mind?
While we don’t try to develop too many of these relationships, there are times we do try to make more rigid balance points like these when we see the need for them.
Examples:
1. Zealot –Zergling relationship is still there
2. Roach vs. Zerglings have this relationship- 3 shots to kill before, and 2 shots after (then gets countered by +1 armor by zerglings)
3. Reapers scale better than most other units in the game as they normally do 4+4dmg but get +2 per attack upgrade since they fire twice(25% per upgrade compared to the normal 10%)
4. Marine dies in 1 hit to baneling, 2 hits after combat shield upgrade
5. Marauders get just under the shield of Immortals (counters them early game), but as both sides get more upgrades, the relationship becomes muddier and goes in favor of the Immortals. (Immortals with 3 shield upgrade takes only 7 damage per hit currently)
6. The Colossus kills Marines in 1 shot until they get either armor or combat shields, after which they take 2 shots to kill.
Mehr:
http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=16409962156&sid=3000
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=91435
Fan Site Q&A #2 - Starfeeder
There has been a lot of concern, that ZvZ (Zerg vs Zerg) could become a roach micro contest as roaches do double damage to biological, are tier 1 and have high regeneration. Is this true? If not, how can one counter a roach rush in ZvZ?
Zerg versus Zerg games has been one of our most challenging matchups to balance. With regard to Roaches versus Roaches, all I can say now is that we are still balancing and several things have already changed that will affect how the Roach will do, including bringing Hydralisks back down to a Tier 1.5 unit and having a more standard ranged attacker role.
How has island map matches been like so far in StarCraft II internal testing? Could you describe basic sample builds and/or tactics in island games?
StarCraft II races have arguably become more mobile than the original StarCraft with the introduction of the Viking and Medivacs, as well as having a more easily usable Nydus Worm, and Warp-In. With these new mechanics, there will be several new ways to invade an island position, keeping the game fast paced and exciting. ‘Turtling,’ will be a bit harder to do in StarCraft II because of these mechanics as well.
Are any new units yet to be revealed? ie: Zerg heavy air unit?
Zerg has a new flying heavy assault unit known as the Brood Lord. This one is buff! Much more intimidating than the Guardian and will still be morphed from the Mutalisk. This unit will be replacing the previously seen Swarm Guardian and will have new art as well. This unit currently has 350 hit points and a large range of 9, doing 25 damage and spawning a Broodling upon each attack, which will live for a few short seconds, doing minor melee damage.
Mehr hier
http://starfeeder.gameriot.com/blogs/The-Starfeed/The-Official-STARFEEDER-Starcraft-2-QA
Fan Site Q&A #3 - SC2Pod
When cloaked units move you see a graphics effect hinting their presence. Can you see some trace of the Infestor when it is moving underground?
The Infestor while burrowed will be like any other burrowed unit, and will not be seen unless there is a detector nearby. On the other hand when the Infestor moves above ground, there is a (visual) slime trail the unit leaves in its wake, which disappears over time. We are also discussing the possibility of having some type of visual that may imply an Infestor is moving while burrowed nearby, similar to how cloaked/stealth units currently move above ground.
The Colossus' attack mechanic has changed a number of times, how does it currently work?
While this is still going through balance, the Colossus currently does 23 damage but attacks twice and has 6 range, which players have the option to upgrade later to 9. When the Colossus attacks a target, it does a horizontal spread of damage in relation to where the Colossus is facing. This type of area of effect attack is extremely effective at eliminating massed lower hit point units.
How are the new macro mechanics (Mule, Spawn Larva, and Dark Pylon) working out so far? Are they often used during gameplay testing? How much more per trip than an SCV does a Mule mine? And is it Mule, MULE or MUL-E?
The new macro mechanics works great in the internal testing but we are really looking forward to how players will use it in the beta. Currently the MULE mines three times the minerals of a normal SCV per round.
What is the status of the Radar Tower? It overlaps heavily with the Missile Turret in terms of function. Does the "view" into the fog warrant the creation of a new building with an additional cost of 25/100, the additional health notwithstanding?
The Sensor Tower is no longer a detector since the Missile Turret already serves that purpose. However, with the Sensor Tower you can see enemy units in the fog of war and you can 'salvage' your Sensor Tower when it is no longer needed anymore.
Mehr hier
http://sc2pod.com/news/Fan_Site_QA_3__SC2Pod/
Fan Site Q&A #4 - SC: Legacy
In the original StarCraft and Brood War, Carriers have been very rarely used for competitive matches due to their ineffectiveness in small numbers because of their critical mass effect. Up until now, what changes or ideas have played with to increase their effectiveness in small numbers with or without other ships for support, and what is the current status on the Carrier? Also, what about the Battlecruiser?
In general, it's still better if you have as many carriers or battlecruisers as possible in the battle. However, small numbers of carriers or battlecruisers will be still very useful for supporting both ground and air units.
We were told recently that workers can't patrol. This makes SCV auto-repair a lot less useful. (In Warcraft III, you could set a worker to patrol, and it would auto-repair any damaged buildings or mechanical units nearby. Great for keeping towers (and bunkers!) alive.)
SCVs can patrol, so if you activate auto-casting of the SCV's repair ability, that SCV will repair damaged buildings or units it encounters while on patrol. The SCV will repair nearby units and buildings and continue its designated patrol pattern again after the repairs are complete.
How has more efficient AI and pathfinding affected the game? Does it make the game easier?
AI in StarCraft II is much more developed from the original StarCraft. For example, the computer is required to scout to find you now in every difficulty mode. In higher difficulty modes, the AI will adapt to what it sees you are building to counter your selected strategy with key units of their own. This means that the computer no longer cheats as far as "knowing" where you are and what you're doing. It can only react to what it sees when their scouts find your units and bases.
The pathfinding is also much improved in StarCraft II, which will reduce some frustration when directing your units to move long distances around varying terrain. Certain melee units are also smarter about attempting to surround enemies, but we don't believe this makes the game "easier." Players who choose to micro their armies will still have an advantage.
Mehr hier
http://sclegacy.com/interviews/10-blizzard/375-starcraft-legacy-exclusive-fansite-qaa
Fan Site Q&A #5 - SC2 Armory
With missile barrage and Yamato cannon, Battlecruisers' can deal with most threats. My question is, how effectively can a Battlecruiser be countered? How well do Hydralisks, Void Rays, and Vikings work vs Missile barrage?
Hydralisks are easily the Zerg's most important ground unit against air, including Battlecruisers. Void rays can be a good Protoss counter for battlecruiser, with focused fire and increasing damage over time on its attack. In fighter mode, the Terran viking does +10 damage against massive units like the battlecruiser.
Brood War Mutalisk micromanagement is an important aspect of the Terran vs. Zerg match up. Blizzard has been reported to be trying to implement some form of the Mutalisk stacking bug. My question is, how well do Terrans deal with stacked Mutalisks now that Irradiate is no longer in the game, Medics are higher tier, and a single control group can consist of much more then the eleven Mutalisks currently in StarCraft: Brood War?
The ghost's snipe shot, which deals 60 damage (and ignores armor) to biological units like the mutalisk, can be a good defensive ability. The Thor's anti-air attack also has +2 damage against Mutalisk's Light armor. Additionally, the nighthawk's hunter seeker missile gives splash damage, making it a great counter against mutalisk stacking, considering it does 150 damage. One missile can effectively 1-shot a whole stack of mutalisks if the zerg player does not try to dodge the missile. Even though players can group up many more than 12 mutalisks in a stack now, with abilities like the Hunter Seeker missile on the field, they may still want to think twice about it.
Goliath could benefit from the Charon Boosters in SC:BW, However the Goliath is now replaced by the Viking (air mode) as AtA unit. Is there still any range increase going to happen for the Viking, to extend it's missile range like the Goliath, or is it presumed unnecessary because Vikings can truly fly (and thus not limited in mobility)?
There is currently no range upgrade for the viking. However, vikings can still move in and out combat by shifting modes. In regards to the unit's mobility, vikings will be much better than the original StarCraft's goliath due to its new transformation abilities.
Mehr hier
http://www.sc2armory.com/forums/topic/6974
Q&A Batch 51
Add an option in the menu to disable the windows key, and same thing goes for ALT-TAB?
And add an EASY way to squelch your opponent. When their name “IllIIlIIlIIlIIlllI” (L & i), it's a little difficult.
While we are not considering disabling the windows key and Alt+Tab, we are looking into the naming policy to prevent problems like the one you described.
StarCraft 2's terrain properties such as Xel'Naga towers, destroyable barriers and Brush have a significant effect on gameplay and appear to create specific points of interest/advantage on the map. Are there plans to introduce additional terrain buffs/effect to the battlefield?
The current terrain features are not finalized. We still have these three map features in the game and we plan to keep them during the beta, but it is always possible to add more features if we find something that’s balanced and encourages exciting game play.
Since there are/were plans to integrate voice communications into multiplayer, will StarCraft 2 replays be able to include Audio, as well as chat?
Replay files do not include audio. However you will be able to see all text chats while you are watching replay.
You have talked a bit about replay functions lately and since patches will come up definitely former replays won’t work if the system sticks with SC1 or W3. Do you plan on making changes here so that players can view older replays ever after patches occur?
Yes, even as the game gets patched, you will be able to watch replays of matches played on older versions.
The interface we see in Battle Reports – is this interface available for Observers during a live game (in real time), or only while viewing replays, or both?
The interface you’ve seen in Battle Reports will be available in observer mode as well as in replays during beta.
StarCraft II is a package consisting of single player/campaign, multiplayer (+replay viewer), map editor and Battle.net. All four are complex and without a doubt require testing and patching. Has it been decided which of the above components are planned to be included in public beta testing?
You can have multiplayer game access through Battle.net during the beta and you can watch the replays as well. There will also be access to the Map Editor during the beta process but not necessarily from the start. Single player campaign will not be included in the beta.
Q&A Batch 52: Map Maker Series
Does it still use the JASS language, or perhaps an upgraded version of JASS?
StarCraft II uses an entirely new scripting language, which we’ve called Galaxy. This language is very similar to C, and anyone familiar with programming in C will have no trouble picking it up.
Is the language event-driven or object-oriented?
The language itself is not object-oriented, although most of the native functionality is based around operating on game objects.
In comparison to the Warcraft III Editor, how much more, if any, can the GUI of the game be edited (it was extremely limited in Warcraft III)?
The in-game UI layout is externalized in data files to a large extent, however there is no editor support for working with these files. So it will be possible to customize the game UI, it just won't be a user-friendly process.
Are there new noteworthy functionalities in the Starcraft II Editor, or will the new editor just have general improvements?
I can’t think of a single editor feature from WarCraft III, large or small, which has not been improved in at least some way for StarCraft II.
5. Will the ability to communicate among triggers, for instance via actions or conditions, be improved in the new language?
One significant new feature of the Trigger Editor is support for custom function definitions, including actions and conditions. This means you can create your own actions that are built up from other actions (or custom script code), then use those in triggers just as you would any other action.
How does "Hero" support differ from the Warcraft III Editor? Or is it practically identical?
We’ve been working hard to create a hero system that is even more flexible than WarCraft III’s. For example, map makers will have the ability to define any number of custom attributes that modify a hero based on its level.
Will there be a public API for the programming language?
As with WarCraft III, there is a large set of “native” functions representing game functionality that can be accessed through scripts. If this is what you mean by “public API”, then yes.
Will there be improvements on the "Garbage Collector" for the new language? For example, in JASS all local variables need to be set to null at the end of their use, and certain data-types need to be removed from the game (such as Locations) at the end of their use to avoid memory leaks.
Galaxy features a robust garbage collection system for all native types, which is a huge improvement over WarCraft III (which technically did not have a garbage collection system at all). The script memory leak issues from WarCraft III will be a thing of the past.
Hier ein download für den
BATTLE REPORT 3
http://ingame.ingame.de/filebase/index.php?action=file&cid=979&fid=5436
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AO6kJRqCbo&feature=channel_page
Und es kommt wahrscheinlich nicht 2009 (wurde auch nicht vermutet), wurde auch nirgendwo bestätigt.
We're targeting an end of year release --this year-- for StarCraft II. But as always, we won't release it until it meets our standards and the expectations of our players.