Starcraft II Catch-All

munshun wrote:

I know I was really looking forward to this when it was first announced, but when they said that the 3 campaigns would be sold separatly, that took some wind out of the sails for me. I enjoyed the single player campaigns of the origin game more than the multi-player. I'll still get it the first one that comes out, but I don't know about the other two.

That's actually why I'm happy they're splitting it up. We'll be getting full 30+ mission campaigns in each part that's released. That means a whole ton more single player campaign content than any game of it's kind. The campaign is also sorta choose-your-own-adventure this time with an overview map of solar systems and you choose your course as you go. I'm excited to play through these options while waiting for other Goodjers to play multiplayer with

Goo wrote:
Coldstream wrote:

Can't wait for this game. Going to create a Goodjers That Suck At Starcraft group to play multi against!

Now theres a plan!

This. Although I suck so hard at RTS games that I'll be cannon fodder even for THIS group.

The battle reports are equal part fascinating and frightening.

I burned out on RTSes over a decade ago, and Starcraft was what I considered the best of the bunch. I always felt bad about being utterly, utterly terrible at the game. I never finished the single player campaign (without cheating), and I barely even got started on the Brood War missions. If I recall correctly, I never even managed a successful comp-stomp in skirmish mode, even with a friend helping. Yet somehow, I'm really interested in SC2.

coldstream wrote:

Going to create a Goodjers That Suck At Starcraft group to play multi against!

That sounds about my speed.

PS: Blizzard, for the love of all things good and shiny, please put a difficulty slider for the computer AI in this time (and not just one that makes 'em harder!).

mrwynd wrote:
munshun wrote:

I know I was really looking forward to this when it was first announced, but when they said that the 3 campaigns would be sold separatly, that took some wind out of the sails for me. I enjoyed the single player campaigns of the origin game more than the multi-player. I'll still get it the first one that comes out, but I don't know about the other two.

That's actually why I'm happy they're splitting it up. We'll be getting full 30+ mission campaigns in each part that's released. That means a whole ton more single player campaign content than any game of it's kind. The campaign is also sorta choose-your-own-adventure this time with an overview map of solar systems and you choose your course as you go. I'm excited to play through these options while waiting for other Goodjers to play multiplayer with

I didn't know about being able to choose your course. That does sound interesting. But a long campaign with one race still doesn't appeal to me as much. I liked Starcraft and Warcraft 3, where you would switch to a different race when one was starting to feel stale.

munshun wrote:
mrwynd wrote:
munshun wrote:

I know I was really looking forward to this when it was first announced, but when they said that the 3 campaigns would be sold separatly, that took some wind out of the sails for me. I enjoyed the single player campaigns of the origin game more than the multi-player. I'll still get it the first one that comes out, but I don't know about the other two.

That's actually why I'm happy they're splitting it up. We'll be getting full 30+ mission campaigns in each part that's released. That means a whole ton more single player campaign content than any game of it's kind. The campaign is also sorta choose-your-own-adventure this time with an overview map of solar systems and you choose your course as you go. I'm excited to play through these options while waiting for other Goodjers to play multiplayer with

I didn't know about being able to choose your course. That does sound interesting. But a long campaign with one race still doesn't appeal to me as much. I liked Starcraft and Warcraft 3, where you would switch to a different race when one was starting to feel stale.

I know I'm fanboy-ing it up here, but they've also stated you'll get to play as Zerg and Protoss in the first campaign, but it won't be focused on them. I'm guessing these will be missions where you have a Terran force and a small Zerg or Protoss force with a few units, but hopefully it will have more.

consciousness wrote:

The battle reports are equal part fascinating and frightening.

I burned out on RTSes over a decade ago, and Starcraft was what I considered the best of the bunch. I always felt bad about being utterly, utterly terrible at the game. I never finished the single player campaign (without cheating), and I barely even got started on the Brood War missions. If I recall correctly, I never even managed a successful comp-stomp in skirmish mode, even with a friend helping. Yet somehow, I'm really interested in SC2.

Honestly, it sounds like you're right about the same skill level I am. I could get near the end of each of the original three campaigns without cheats, but wound up having to use cheat codes for the end of each campaign just to see the story because I suck.

And in skirmish mode, I never beat the AI solo, and I think one of my friends and I (only one of them actually played the game back in college) maybe managed to take down one AI once with both of us ganged up on it. The rest of the time, a single AI was enough to stomp us down.

We tended to play versus each other because that was the only way we could actually survive long enough to do much. We usually had very close matches. I often won, but mainly because I just tended to catch on to whatever he was trying before he could implement it, then I worked to counter that. Even with me telling him to, he just never learned to scout me out early enough or block my scouts.

The AI in Starcraft was only hard until you figured out what it was bad at, which really was anything strategic. The only things that made the AI difficult were that it cheated in every way possible and could spam spells from caster units at a crazy rate. But really, the AI was astoundingly bad in a lot of ways.

I'll never forget the first time I walled myself in with supply depots backed by marine filled bunkers, only to watch while the AI player's zealots ran in circles in front of the depots instead of attacking them.

Almost all of us on this forums will not play like that. They are making a small amount of units and micromanaging every single unit.

Me and I'm sure the rest of you will do it old SC style. Make a sh*t ton of units and send them out to go destroy (see carrier rush).

I found this a while back, and it's absolutely fascinating.

Sirlin is a game designer that writes about game balance and design. He also put up notes for the UC Berkley Starcraft class. It's really interesting stuff:
http://www.sirlin.net/blog/category/...

Yer sh*ttin' me... A Starcraft class? For legitimate credit? My first semester of Senior Project may as well have been one, but I never thought to make one of my submissions that term about a Reaver Drop or how sweet it was to Broodling an SCV.

A Starcraft class sounds awesome. I'm going to send this link around to the kids for a refresher.

I took a History of Warfare class in college that kind of got stuck on Napoleonic miniature battles, but this is even better!

Me, I just like to build some stuff, ooh and aah at the cool weapons and vehicles I have, and go try to blow stuff up with them. If I blow up more stuff of my enemy's than they do of me, I call it a success.

Sirlin is a blowhard who thinks he's the only person on the planet who knows what competitive gaming means, and everyone else is a scrub.

However, the students' StarCraft presentations were interesting.

Rat Boy wrote:

Note to self: never play against David Kim.

No doubt, I wonder how many people will be trying to register that name on BNET.

This week's StarCraft class didn't exactly go as planned. Students were supposed to give their final presentations today, but only one student who signed up for today was there to attend (the others preferred to fail the class apparently?).

I'm speechless.

There's also video of some of the lectures (I haven't watched it myself though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7XiE...

Thirteenth wrote:
This week's StarCraft class didn't exactly go as planned. Students were supposed to give their final presentations today, but only one student who signed up for today was there to attend (the others preferred to fail the class apparently?).

I'm speechless.

I feel fairly certain that when it comes down to finals week at UC Berkely, it's all about triage. Either I spend the time preparing and presenting my Starcraft final, or I study an extra 2-3 hours for my Applied Socio-Biological Thermonuclear Acoustics final.

Yoyoson wrote:

my Applied Socio-Biological Thermonuclear Acoustics final.

That sounds like a very final final.

Or a winning Starcraft strategy.

consciousness wrote:
Yoyoson wrote:

my Applied Socio-Biological Thermonuclear Acoustics final.

That sounds like a very final final.

Or a winning Starcraft strategy.

Wait, is that an actual class? I read that as a nerdy euphemism for playing RockBand.

BadKen wrote:

Sirlin is a blowhard who thinks he's the only person on the planet who knows what competitive gaming means, and everyone else is a scrub.

However, the students' StarCraft presentations were interesting.

Definitely the feel I got. Felt like hurling halfway down the page.

Man, where were all those cool classes when I was in college. All I had was poor self-esteem stemming from writers-block and my ever looming screenplay deadlines.

Farscry wrote:
Goo wrote:
Coldstream wrote:

Can't wait for this game. Going to create a Goodjers That Suck At Starcraft group to play multi against!

Now theres a plan!

This. Although I suck so hard at RTS games that I'll be cannon fodder even for THIS group.

If you name the group "Goodjers That Suck At Any RTS Ever Made" I'm in.

dejanzie wrote:
Farscry wrote:
Goo wrote:
Coldstream wrote:

Can't wait for this game. Going to create a Goodjers That Suck At Starcraft group to play multi against!

Now theres a plan!

This. Although I suck so hard at RTS games that I'll be cannon fodder even for THIS group.

If you name the group "Goodjers That Suck At Any RTS Ever Made" I'm in.

Count me in too for that.

Rat Boy wrote:

RIP LAN?

I'd muster some outrage if I'd been to a LAN in the last 3 years.

(Unless 3 people sitting at a table all playing Left4Dead together counts as a LAN. It was a local server, though open to the internet.)

Rat Boy wrote:

RIP LAN?

You know why... Because they need to sell more copies. Me and My dad still play the first one on LAN every weekend. They probably are doing the SPORE by only allowing one account per game purchased.

No LAN support? I hate to call them out as lazy, but come the f*ck on.

Asz wrote:

No LAN support? I hate to call them out as lazy, but come the f*ck on.

Yeah! I bet they don't support null modem connections either, those slackers!

I'm not sure what to think about the potential loss of LAN play for SC2. My wife and I played SC1 via LAN all the time in coop. One of only two games that have ever really grabbed her attention.

Maybe the implication is just means we would have to log into free(?) Battle.net accounts to play together on our own LAN?

If they announce pay to play for SC2 Bnet accounts... it wlll truly be dead to me. There's no chance that will happen, right?

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Asz wrote:

No LAN support? I hate to call them out as lazy, but come the f*ck on.

Yeah! I bet they don't support null modem connections either, those slackers!

I'm pretty sure I did play it via a Serial / null modem connection once while at the beach. I won't mourn that feature's passing though.