QAR BATCH 43

—StarCraft II Q&A Batch 43—

1) What happens if a Nullifier targets a Colossus with the Anti-Gravity ability? (garmgarf battle.net)

When Anti-Gravity is used upon a Colossus, the Colossus will still be immobilized and lifted up, which will still allow it to be hit by units that can attack air targets. Colossi will not be able to shoot while under the effect of Anti-Gravity.

2) How many critters will there be available and will they have attack animations? (SatanicLaser battle.net)

There will be critters, but there have not been any detailed discussions yet about their attack animations. On that note, there is a possibility that BlizzCon panels may fill the community in a bit more on what type of critters there will be.

3) Can the Infestor infest any building, or only specific ones, such as Barracks or Gateways, if the Protoss can be infested? (Son_Of_Korhal Battle.net)

This is actually a mechanic they are currently testing quite a bit. It is undecided if the Infestor will be able to infest Protoss or Zerg buildings, as there are gameplay and lore reasons which support many different options. Either way, at the end of the day, the development team will choose an option that will be balanced and fun in terms of gameplay for multiplayer.

4) What units are currently undergoing major art changes? (starcraft2forum.org)

There are several artistic revisions every week, though the two newest units to get some artistic updates are the Nomad and the Stalker. The Terran Nomad is getting a complete artistic redesign from any versions the community has seen thus far. Furthermore, the Protoss Stalker is also being updated to look more similar to the concept art piece as seen here: http://starcraft2.com/art.xml?s=6

5) How do Zerg vs Zerg games play out in SC2? Is it still mostly a battle of mutalisks and zerglings or have the new units changed things around? Ideas (teamliquid.net)

ZvZ (Zerg vesus Zerg)matchup usually opens up in 2 different ways, Zerglings or Roaches. Aggressive players can use Zerglings mobility to take control of the early game, whereas going Roaches is more of a defensive strategy. Zergling vs. Roach relationship is such that for cost, Zerglings wins out in the open, Roaches win at chokes, but in mid/late games when numbers are greater, Roaches can stand up to or even beat Zerglings for cost out in the open. Hydralisks dont have much use in ZvZ early game, as they are more of an anti air unit in StarCraft II.

The tier 2 battle continues with Banelings that can dominate Zerglings, but with micro, Zerglings can actually come out ahead in Zergling vs. Baneling battles. Similarly, Lurkers counter Roaches for cost, but Roaches have the mobility advantage. Mutaliks counter Zerglings/Roaches since these units cant hit air. Whats different in StarCraft II is that Hydralisks counter Mutalisks extremely well, meaning something like Roach/Hydralisk combo can stand up to the classic Zergling/Mutalisk combo. Also, another great way to fight vs. mass Mutalisks is to tech to infestation pit (same tech level as the Spire), and make Corruptors or Infestors. Infestors have the disease ability that is great for fighting vs. units that clump really well such as the Mutalisk, and Corruptors are Zergs anti air air unit.

Due to the fast pace of the ZvZ game, most games dont end up in tier 3, but ultralisks, with their cleave attack, or swarm guardians that use swarms to soak up a lot of ground vs. ground damage are great options if the game does happen to go into tier 3.

Overall, StarCraft II has a variety of options even in a mirror match such as Zerg vs. Zerg. Players can use different unit compositions to counter the classic Zergling/Mutalisk strategy that is a still powerful but not the only option.

—End of Transmission—

Upates and QARS

It is finally here! Upisode four has come out in Blizzcast.

The QaR credited to http://www.sc2blog.com

The rate of collection for StarCraft 2 was planned to be similar to that of StarCraft 1, with the reduction in per-trip numbers originating from the increased unit pathing efficiency. To counterbalance that somewhat, SCVs will now have to spend less time on the mineral patch to acquire a full load.

However, both David and Mike comment that mineral collection feels faster now. The maximum rate of collection is achieved when 3 SCVs are used for each mineral patch, and it’s easier to see when this limit is reached in StarCraft 2 compared to 1.

The next topic is about the improved unit pathing. As an example, David and Mike describe how Zerglings easily surround Zealots from all sides, packing closely next to each other so more Zeglings can get a piece of the action. This creates a situation where smart players will push their Zealots against the wall or put them on choke points to minimize the amount of Zeglings they have to deal with simultaneously.

David Kim:  Yeah and the wrap around itself is a little easier to pull off I guess because the A.I. takes care of some of that for you but you do still need the micro if you want to get the maximum out of your melee units.

Another important change is to deceleration. In StarCraft 1, this was less precise, and units could sometimes slow down in a way that put them before or after the location they were ordered to go to. In StarCraft 2, this mechanism is much more precise, and units know when to start decelerating to reach the specific location.

Mike Heiberg:  Right, a lot of times you’d be floating your guardians in to take out some spore colony or something and they’d float a little too close and you’d be like “Whoa!” and you’d have to back a couple of them out. They’re a little more intelligent now about not floating directly into danger when they don’t have to.

Next, the developers discuss resource consumption and its effect on the strategies available to each race. They state that there are more options to choose from in StarCraft 2, which also makes scouting more important.

The last question deals with Infestation, Corruption, and Mind Control. Both Infestation and Corruption are time limited, and the inquiry was about a more permanent ownership changing spell, like the StarCraft 1 Dark Archon Mind Control ability.

Mike sums it up nicely:

Well when we were doing the classic Starcraft mind control we were finding that it actually resulted in some pretty big swings in balance where basically you mind control a large unit, say a Battlecruiser, and now the difference in power from the two different armies is like two Battlecruisers because he lost one and you gained one. So seeing as in Starcraft II we have a few more of those high impact units, we have Colossi, we have Motherships, and Queens, that’s a very scary type of spell to be still bringing into the game, I mean we have more opportunities for those large swings in balance.

A powerful spell like Mind Control would have to be restricted to specific units and leave some of them out, and Blizzard does not like implementing such artificial constraints.

Further, the devs discuss Infestation and its limited effect on StarCraft 1, which resulted from the difficulty in pulling it off.

Mike Heiberg:  Right, in classic Starcraft infesting someone’s command center was really more of an insult.

The StarCraft 2 infestation will be even higher on the tech tree, requiring both the tier 3 Infestor Pit and Infestation research, but will be easier to manage. Since Infestation is going to be easier and the Infested Marines free, the effect will only be temporary.

As for Corruptors, the developers mention that introducing this mechanism instead of using simple mind control creates new gameplay decisions:

Mike Heiberg: Right we want to allow those types of little micro decisions where in the middle of the battle: “Should I focus on his guys, his Corrupters? Should I focus on my own corrupted units because I’m not getting them back?  Or should I back off and make those basically invalid because there’s nobody nearby for them to be messing with?”.

 

More Manga Hints

Here is the cover of the manga of starcraft.

“Why We Fight”
Story by Josh Elder
Art by Ramanda Karmaga

“Thundergod”
Story by Richard A. Knaak
Art by Naohiro Washio

“Weapon of War”
Story by Paul Benjamin and Dave Shramek
Art by Hector Sevilla

“Heavy Armor, pt. 1″
Story by Simon Furman
Art by Jesse Elliott

MSRP: $10.99
PAGES: 192
ISBN: 1-4278-0721-3
EAN: 978-1-4278-0721-2

AVAILABLE: 08.01.2008

Tokyopop is my favorite publisher, It publishes Love Hina (omg perv!), Stg. Frog, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits (I like chobits!). Then its all that manga “crap” made by the Shonen Jump.

Okay, so this starcraft leads me to another stupid question. Will there be an anime?

Okay that answer is simple! NO! there will NEVER be a anime.

Also this is the first look of the manga.

New Pictures from Karune

Firebat Marauder.

 

Soul Hunter?

Owned.

More pictures here

Starcraft Manga

Thanks to Starcraft Unite (Atomic Ice) I was told that a starcraft manga was coming out.

Kerrigan Manga ver!

SC2POD- “Over the next 36 months, the companies intend to release twenty-two all-new never-before-told adventures set in the richly detailed Warcraft and StarCraft® universes.”

I know that a warcraft manga was out, and hopefully starcraft manga will be as good as the Warcraft one.

Top Five of my Favorite SC units.

1. nullifier: I know that my user name is siegetank T.T and that my favorite unit is supposed to be siegetank… but the nullifier is soooo cool.

Actually I really don’t care if it sucks,,, I just like the designs.

2. Siegetank: They still pwn,, but I just don’t really like the design….

*click for large (hopefully it works)* THERE TOO FAT!

3. Nomad. I like their abilities, the laying spider mines is sure handy and it golden…….. SHINY!

4. TIED. Warp Ray and Colossus. I just can’t see which one is better. Well let them fight for it.

Of course, Warp Ray would be pwned.

5. Dragoon: Its so fun to use them, so easy to micro and so cool looking.

“Drop your weapon. You have 15 seconds to comply”  -Dragoon.

The new generation of Starcraft Unite.

Ryan has contacted me and he has a new website that he will post up soon. (hopefully)

http://www.unknownworld.wordpress.com/  http://www.unknownplanet.wordpress.com

 He hasn’t posted anything yet, but hopefully he will.   This blog will be about Starcraft, Diablo, Warcraft, TV, programs, online videos, movies and what ever he feels like

BEWARE MARINES ULTRALISK TUSKS AHEAD!!!!

This month’s problems

At the Worldwide Invitational in Paris, we had the opportunity to show you a new StarCraft II client. With this client we introduced a new idea on how our Gas Mechanics work. This would give the player more options and more economy choices. In the following days, Dustin Browder went more into detail on how these new mechanics can affect the game-play and we were able to get even more questions answered in the following Batch of the StarCraft II Q&A. Now we would like you to give us your feedback on the way Gas collection works now.

I would like to talk about the gas workings and its problemos.

I really hate this new gas thing. I HATE IT. ITS SOO BAD! i really don’t have anything else to say.

Blizzcon Cominggg

get ready to rock!

QaR bAtCh

—StarCraft II Q&A Batch 42—

1. What was the main reasoning to shifting the Hydralisk backwards one technology level? How does this affect the Zerg early-game, especially since the Zerg will have absolutely no anti-air units before the Hydralisks? (gamereplays.org)

Actually, the Hydralisk has been brought back down to Tier 1.5, giving Zerg early anti-air capabilities without upgrading their Hatchery to a Lair. The test originally was to put Hydralisks at a later tech and have Corruptors be buildable earlier without a prerequisite building other than upgrading to the Lair. To make this happen, the Corruptors had to be nerfed appropriately to fit that tech, which made it very weak and much less fun. Additionally, without a prerequisite building, opposing players could not scout the Zerg player to see when they were going air, which did not fit the gameplay style we were shooting for.

2. What kinds of cheats will be included in Starcraft 2, and how will they be accessed/unlocked? (starcraft.org)

There will be cheats, but you wont know what they are from us sorry.

3. Concerning resources there is one big issue for mapmakers: There are only two of them. For many UMS-maps you need more different resource-types than gas and minerals, thus mapmakers were forced to use even civilians as a sort of resource. So will mapmakers be able to place their one, gather-able resources on the map such as lumber or gold? (starcraft2.4players.de)

Yes, we have recently added support for one additional custom resource type. Additional custom resources types may be implemented in the future, but there are no plans at the moment.

4. With the Battlecruiser’s new ability dealing splash damage to lightly armored air units, you could fear that the Thor has once more fallen into a role void. Is this the case or are the Battlecruiser ability and the Thor’s anti-air capabilities tactically different enough? (Gamereplays.org)

The overlap is really no more different than a Siege Tank and the Yamato Gun ability or the Reaver and the Psi Storm from Brood War. The new ability helps the Battlecruiser against a specific group of units, which are units the Battlecruiser is already good against, rather than making it effective against all units. The last thing we wanted is for the Battlecruiser to kill groups of units that are supposedly effective at countering it, such as the Warp Ray.

5. Does the Battlecruisers new AoE affect friendly units in the area? (thewarcenter.net)

No, the Missile Barrage does not affect friendly units.

6. Will it be possible to use the full 3D cinematics mechanic from the single player campaign in the map editor? (sc2pod.com)

Yes, we are looking forward to seeing some awesome custom cut scenes from the community.

7. Most users know that even invisible units can be seen by experienced players since they cause this nice little blur effect while in Warcraft 3 invisible units are indeed invisible aside from leaving footprints on the ground. So what about transferring the ‘real’ invisibility into the World of Starcraft by allowing mapmakers to choose from those two different invisible modes for each unit? (starcraft2.4players.de)

Map makers will be able to remove the blur effect that is currently on StarCraft IIs invisible units.

—End of Transmission—