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Blizzard Announces StarCraft 2
We'll be returning once again to the world of StarCraft, it appears, and not in the form of a Massively Multiplayer game. Blizzard has announced StarCraft 2 at their packed event in Seoul, South Korea. IGN is liveblogging the event, describing gameplay footage being played as well as full cinematics. From the description of ongoing events there are massive changes to the way the game plays, new units, a physics system within the game engine, and the capability to show over 100 units onscreen at a time. "Showing gameplay footage - Looks like protoss ships - floating over asteroid/ base structure - entering protoss ase - similar looking buildings - vespene gas still in the game - character pane shows up on right side - some protoss guy - shifts to terran bases floating on rockets over same type of territory - sill collecting crystals as resources - marines load out. Dustin is actually playing the game - nothing in the game is final." Additional coverage from Milky at 1up.
...welcome our new ZERGLIasddAS24Y6JNGG-G--SAD9ODASIDAS98244128990WQA
NO CARRIER
?giS
Excellent, so glad it isn't a StarCraft MMO as rumoured.
What I want to know is, will it have a Heroes model (after Warcraft III) or will it drop back to a more traditional model of RTS (just units). Or will it have an entirely new hook? I hope it follows after Warcraft III's model.
However, the reports of having hundreds of zerglings makes it seem like it might be more of a macro scale RTS.
Even SC2 beat out Duke Nukem Whenever...
I only hope that Blizzard won't try to mix&match genres in an attempt to gain wider audience. The fact that in WC3, the game degenerated into Hero rush is what kept me from playing it.
They should look at the original Ground Control for an idea of a good strategy game
A simple WOOt! is in order I believe.
They make me all jangly inside!
KEKEKEKEKE ZERG RUSH!
But Blizzard did in fact beat out Duke Nukem Forever. Now taking bets on Diablo 3.
Seriously, I'm very conflicted about this. Part of me realizes that the original developers are long gone and creating subscription games of a different franchise and genre. The other part of me knows this must have been in the works for a very, very long time, and probably went through many fine-tuning incarnations, and is really looking forward to seeings this released.
On the bright side, either way I'll have a chance this time around to learn to play well before the first wave of popularity dies off.
Evidently, the key to understanding recursion is to begin by understanding recursion. The rest is easy.
The Protoss mother ship (from IGN's Charles Onyett):
3:18 - warprey also very effective against structures - very vulnerable to small unit fire - shws warpreys getting wiped out by terran marines. Physics system lets debris from warpreys roll down a ramp. Showing one more unit - warped in in a serious of cubes - giant floating base - called a protoss mothership - can only have 1 at a time - cost big resources - special abilities include timebomb that slows all enemy missiles inside - shows terran missle launcher shooting in projectiles that stop in the field before they reach the ship - when field ends missiles drop the ground - planet cracker attack - giant lasers stream from ship to ground - ship can be moved around while planet cracker laser is active - the ship looks like a metallic, triangular sand dollar - mothership can create a black hole anywhere it wannts to - creates distortion that actually sucks ships in and destroys them - in the demo the black hole destroyed four terran battle cruisers in about ten seconds.
"Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
The american embassy in Seoul heard the annoucement of Starcraft2 at the annoucement joyed with tears that they were freed from nuking and rush of red eyed koreans into the embassy if it were not announced. At 2pm the announcement was there and embassy was covered with red dots and starcraft2 was announced so there were clicking sound nationwide cancelling the nuke. i am kidding. chill.
....Or was that "My life for Aiur!" I could never tell what those damn zealots were saying.
If Star Trek had the internet: Captain, we've received an IM from the romulans. "Surrender or be destroyed. LOL. o.O"
It will be interesting to see what the Korean telebroadcast community will be doing with this. Considering that for a portion of Korea, this is like the NFL introducing Football 2.0, and then declaring that all original versions of Football are null and void...
You'll be able to have an unlimited number of units (if you have the supplies for them) like you can in Command and Conquer?
Of course then again I love StarCraft for how FAST it plays and how quickly it loads, but I also love CnC for the epic magnitude of some of those "10 minutes no rush" games, which are much bigger in CnC than in StarCraft.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
Was never taken with Starcraft, liked TA much better. Will be worth trying at least.
In other news, the rest of the world released a huge sigh of relief as the Doomsday Clock was turned back. A spokesman for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was quoted as saying "A Starcraft MMO could have ended it all. We may never know how close we came to the complete and utter destruction of society as we know it."
StarCraft is back for more. Will my academic career survive this time?
Here
"Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
Honestly, Blizzard could learn a lot from Relic (the developer of the games you mention). Relic somewhat quietly revolutionized the RTS seven years ago with Homeworld, only to watch the market quickly return to Warcraft mechanics, with Blizzard capping the return in 2002.
If Starcraft 2's going to be a Warcraft 3 with pylons, so be it; it'll probably sell millions in South Korea, and I don't doubt it will be a fine update of the balancing act that was Starcraft. Without something really new in the way battles are fought, though, I just can't imagine myself being that excited.
Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850126/imgs_2.ht ml
IGN has posted screenshots here.
Looks incredibly cool graphically, though at the moment it looks like the gameplay is exactly the same as StarCraft. I wonder if there'll be some gameplay announcements soon.
AAhhh.... sc2- introducing a whole new generation to dropping out of college. Kekekeke
Intro video available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXoekeDIW8 Sweet!
I was amazed at this announcement but upon closer examination of the screenshots, it looks like it doesn't have anything new over its predecessor. Buildings and units have the same size relation as before, it doesn't seem like you can zoom in/out, very similar units.
It would be disappointing it it didn't have some revolutionary features and a great story.
I hope Starcraft 2 will at least stick to the general premise of the original Starcraft and Brood Wars. These were two absolutely incredible games, and I've wasted many hours beating these games.
Let's only hope.
Geeks strike again 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Release date?
I imagine by now my post might not be read, but here goes.
I have been a fan of Blizzard for years, still am really. I put faith in the quality of their product, but I am concerned with a concept they themselves essentially created.
Custom User Interfaces. With the advent of World of Warcraft, I wonder why it had not been developed before. For those who are not quite following me yet, let me indulge you.
World of Warcraft features an almost 100% customizable User Interface via the use of XML and LUA. The only real restrictions are ones which could possibly cause you to gain an unfair advantage over your opponents. Granted, the "convenience" itself can add an advantage, but Blizzard is more concerned of causing things that were not originally intended to occur, that drastically imbalances the playing field. After using their customizable UI for years, I find myself dependant on such customization.
My concern is, will they impliment a method for customizing their UI to the degree that World of Warcraft saw? I for one would be in favour of such a design. Consider that there are little shortcuts, and little nicities that Warcraft 3 had over Starcraft 1. Things such as pressing tilde to select any idle worker, or pressing the "forward" and "back" buttons on new-er mice to cycle through different types of units. I would be eager to see how much of an impact customizing the UI in a RTS of such calibre would have.
Or at least, that's what my kids (all have played Starcraft) said when I mentioned this to them, quick to point out that the Starcraft:Ghost project was delayed so many times it eventually died.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Any Korean speakers out there that can tell us what the text on the screen said, as well as what the man said at the end?
I have to admit, I'm terribly disappointed so far. From what little screenshots and descriptions there, it's basically Starcraft with new Units. The 3D seems to be strictly for graphical effects, as is the Physics engine. Quite frankly, it seems that they decided not to mess with a winning combination, and just updated the looks and units. Terrain and unit collisions seem identical (3 heights, height differences impassible for general units, units occupy their own space).
Mind you, it looks very pretty. But I'm getting the feeling that it is going to play almost exactly like Starcraft. And here I was hoping they'd go for a bit more realism - actual 3D terrain, units better proportioned, a tweak on manufacturing or the tech tree implementation.... ah hell, who am I kidding. This is the company that sold us Diablo in Warcraft World as a new game. It looks like we're getting Starcraft - in 3D! as a new game now. I suspect that Blizzard will soon find out that polish can carry a game only so far... at some point, it has to be interesting and an actual improvement over the original.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
-- http://thegirlorthecar.com funny dating game for guys
... but I just threw my fist in the air, almost dropped my laptop and grunted like a caveman -- all in an upscale hotel-lobby in Hong Kong. StarCraft 2! Fuck, YEAH! I'm almost 24 now and haven't played anything but a few hours of WoW since I got out of high-school, but this really gets me going in ways I'd rather not elaborate.
It'd be nice to see blizzard get their act together and release for linux as well, instead of depending on WINE or chite like Cedega for us to play their games. I'm not holding my breath on this one though, they've been failing us for years.
You can't take the sky from me.
Starcraft has the capability of showing 1500 units on screen at once,with some lag(anyone who played evolves maps knows).I suspect it be another Warcraft III with starcraft units.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJB-Z54R61s
We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.
I, for one, welcome our new Zerg overlords.
*whisper: dude, we don't have any overlords*
SPAWN MORE OVERLORDS!
I look at those screenshots and they look exactly like a SC1 battle with better resolution. Seriously, with one or two exceptions you can pick out every unit and its SC1 equivalent in those screenshots. The terran bunkers, the mutalisks, the zerglings, etc.
I know SC1 was an awesome game and they dont want to do anything to mess up the legacy, but come on, its like a decade later, lets do something besides new graphics. I've always been a huge fan of Blizzard, I hope there is more to the new starcraft than what I've seen so far would suggest. Right now it just looks like an expansion pack with a few new units and updated graphics.
I was just looking at the screenshots. Did anyone else think they look like sprite-based graphics rather than polygon? If those are actually polygon based graphics, then they have done some amazing work. If they are sprite-based, then I say, "Great!" It'll be nice to not be looking at something other than the same 'ole polygon graphics.
I hate it how when a new technology comes out that everyone abandons the old. 3D graphics are great, but they aren't perfect for everything. It's kind of like how I would love to see a non-CG animated movie again.
But I digress, could someone tell me what the graphic system is going to be?
The ONLY thing I truly wish they include is... Linux support. Not many games ahve that and if Starcraft 2 had support for Linux then it could be poised to be one of the top selling games of all time. Here's to Linux support and the dumping of IPX ^^
"The best way to accelerate a Macintosh is at 9.8m/sec^2" -Marcus Dolengo
I'm entering "long, pseudo-philosophical rant"-mode here, so caveat lector:
Improving StarCraft is like improving chess - arguably possible, but hardly without upsetting a lot of people. StarCraft is still being played today because as a game, it's one of the most polished and consistent experiences available. It's not truly "real-time", it has little to do with "strategy", it is certainly not trying to be realistic and the graphics suck by today's standard - but that's also true for poker and darts. I feel most of the comments calling for Blizzard to "look to Title X" for new ideas for StarCraft 2 are a little misguided. StarCraft's gameplay is in a class of it's own, people will buy it because it's StarCraft. And they will buy it because StarCraft -even in its current form- is just a damn good game in it's own right. It's just imaginable that, a hundred years from now, people will still enjoy slightly enhanced versions of exactly the same formula, just like we enjoy back gammon thousands of years after its original form was created.
That game looks totally different than the in game video release several years ago........9 6053569246
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-39801657
I fear the Y2038 bug
The last time the following phrase was muttered, the game was send back to the oven and served when done with delicious results. So let me say it loud and proud: Geeze....Warcraft III in space?
Get rid of that annoying character (though other expletives are better suited) and perhaps I'll be interested in playing. I really didn't like how Brood War ended.
A CC-licensed illustrated horror novel
It's really simple too - take a cue from Pokemon and make units persistent somehow between battles. Not just heros, either, but units should be able to gain experience, have morale, be decimated even if it doesn't technically die, etc. I don't know how exactly to make it fun, but the basic idea seems sound - ie that the army is something you have to take care of and not just send on suicide runs. I'm not talking about that "send a hero unit on a treasure hunt" crap from WC3, either, just sound battle hardened or shell shocked units.
:)
In that vein, permitting people to customize their army somewhat seems like a good idea, too. This would work best with the persistent army, but even if the army isn't persistent allowing people to customize which branches of the tech tree they have access before the game might be a good idea, too. Kind of like how you're locked in to your technological choices before a war even starts.
Having persistent territory or some kind of objective world that this operates in is more questionable.
This would all be a play balancing nightmare, but could be worth the effort if done right.
I have a hard time squaring this with the central element of SC games - resource gathering to build an army up - but whatever. That's what makes brain dumps fun.
While I see some complain that Starcraft2 is just like Starcraft, I rather think that's just one of it's strengths. I would *hate* to have seen a completely 'revised' starcraft where one could hardly see any link with the old game. Let's face it; it may be true that Blizzard is (much like EA) a rather commercial company (well, they all are, but you know what I mean) who mainly goes for established and proven concepts, and doesn't come up with something daring or original - one must acknowledge they hit the spot with Starcraft. It was one of the best games of the genre in its time. Ah, the wee hours I spend on it (including broodwars). I'm not saying it was perfect (there were some missions who were rather tedious and boring), but all in all it was a great game - and even until this day I play it now and then (I bought it again for 6 euro or so last year; a real bargain, since it STILL looks reasonable and remains as enjoyable as when it came out).
So, yes, Blizzard isn't really an innovative company and only bets on sure moneymakers, and their Starcraft2 is much like Starcraft, only with prettier graphics, a new story, new units, new AI and physics...but really, isn't that new enough for something that already was a superb game (and, as Blizzard well knows, a huge succes)? I think *many* more would complain if Blizzard had taken Starcraft into directions that completely deviated from the old game, frankly. Imagine they made a MMOG out of it...that would have been completely awful (just as when Beth would make the next TES game into a MMOG; a big mistake - though in that case, multiplayer for 4-8 friends to play in it would be cool). All in all, Blizzard did well not to tinker too much with the concept of the game itself; a huge fanbase would be more inclined to turn their backs on them if they would be *too* cavalier in changing an already established and loved game.
That said, I would like to see Blizzard and EA try out something really innovative with a new game, though. It's a bit sad such huge companies dare less then other, often far more smaller game-developing corporations. Yeah, I know; going for the easy money is always...well, easier. But I can't imagine the game-devs themselves wouldn't like to tackle and try out something totally new too, even in those companies.
--- "To pee or not to pee, that is the question." ---
I really appreciate the fact (judging by the visuals) that they have seemingly concentrated on making things aesthetically pleasing, rather than technologically demanding, as so many new games seem to.
This means it should be fairly scalable to lower end PC's. Complete opposite to say Supreme Commander which kills even high-end computers, yet isn't exactly great looking - infact it looks worse than 10 year old TA on anything but the highest settings!.
Blizzard did the same with WC3, which ran nicely on my low end laptop back in the day and still looked nice. Kudos to them for putting gameplay, and true art ahead of 'graphics technology'.
http://www.starcraft2.com/ now up
As long as Blizzard continues to sue their fans after leading them along with a carrot, as long as my buddy is still an expert witness in a lawsuit involving them and BNetD, as long as they still continue to ignore Linux (but support Mac, on X86) they'll not get my money.
Yes I looked at the pictures. Yes it looks awesome. Yes there was a time I used to play Star Craft for hours after hours at work with my coworker. Those times are gone (BTW, as a former Novell guy, I actually liked IPX)
On another note - no more excuses. Supporting Mac OSX on X86 and not supporting Linux is nothing short of Laziness now. Back when Mac OS wasn't *Nix, back when Macs ran on Motorola processors, back when the Mac still sucked there was an excuse for compiling for one but not the other. The excuse it gone now.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
... www.starcraft2.com
OK, from the vids and screen caps it looks visually stunning. I hope my system can handle it. :-) But it looks like just an engine port of the original Starcraft. OK, more units. Yawn. The rest looks exactly the same, just with lots of polygons. It's still an effectively 2D game.
Granted SC and BW is a really hard act to follow. But I was rather hoping for SC2 to break new ground. I'd love to see something like Homeworld: Cataclysm in the SC universe, with the graphics they're showing off for SC2. That would totally rock.
I guess we'll find out when it's actually released. Of course, given Blizzard's bad citizenship in the past several years, I don't know if I'll even want to buy it. (bnetd, FreeCraft, etc.)
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
You can just download the full videos instead of watching the crappy rips that people have put up on YouTube, etc: http://www.starcraft2.com/
i'm starting grad school next semester. i hope to god that sc2 is delayed long enough for me to get my phd.
chillax137
This is simply not true. Games for Linux may be more viable than, say, 5 years ago, but it is no means a trivial endeavor to create a cross-platform game that spans Linux, Mac, and Windows. And the Linux desktop market share is still so small there is very little chance it would be profitable. I doubt the profits would even pay for writing an installer RPM, writing Linux-specific documentation, and manning the Linux support calls.
And the fact that all three OS's have x86 implementations doesn't help as you might think. Sure, you might be able to have sections written in assembly that can run in all three targets, but game developers don't need to muck nearly as much as they used to (CPU's are faster, compilers are *much* improved). On the other hand, API's and middle-ware tools are becoming more and more prominent, and depending on which ones you choose and it can have a bit impact on portability.
On the other hand, the bnetd thing *does* piss me off, and I share your frustration. At the time Bnetd was written, battle.net was a horribly broken mess. Bnetd was less of a vehicle for cheating than it was an workaround for when battle.net was down. Honestly I think that Blizzard was embarrassed at being one-upped by a group of part-time OSS hackers.
What makes StarCraft I fun has not very much to do with graphics. It's the gameplay rules and balance.
I'm actually concerned that fancy graphics might (a) distract the game designers from concentrating on game rules and balance and/or (b) clutter the screen so that it's hard to quickly asses what's going on when you look at a new region of the map.
Really, is it just me or in deed the music from the gameplay/artwork trailes is a lame variation of the star wars main theme?
it's lame.
the movie or watch it online at starcraft2.com
The official site is up now too, with screenshots and movies.
(blatant plug: mirrors of the movies available here (Australian mirror))
the thing is, it has been about 10 years of wait. A continuation of the great story of SC with some improvements here and there would have been always welcome, since the base SC is so great. But then again 10 years (plus what's left to wait)? for this?
It's also untrue that there are not revolutionary new things to be explored in real-time strategy games. One would be to have artificial-intelligence assistance for various tasks so you don't have to everything yourself (as you have to in SC). For example have generals who would execute plans on your command, respond in certain ways to emergencies/surpise attacks etc. Also, check Supreme Commander for some interesting new features.
Again, more SC is great, but what Blizzard is showing us should have arrived 5 years or so ago.
Never anticipate any dramatic changes in SC2. The reason is simple: Blizzard has little reasons to take the risk to ruin a well designed game SC1 together with its dedicated Korean players community+tournament. They would benefit more to incrementally improve on SC1 and grow the community rather than redesigning it. Besides, I think SC1's design is on the right track, so incrementally building on it wouldn't be such a bad idea.
I am still cautiously optimistic because the "wow" factor would be relatively low comparing to SC1 yet I am eager to see what changes Blizzard has/can make to the original SC1. Being one of Blizzard's most successful franchise and the 10th anniversary of SC, let's hope they deliver what SC2 deserves and not result in disgrace.
Although I have nothing to do with the torrent myself, I should note for the benefit of those who are finding starcraft2.com to be sluggishly slashdotted, all the "good stuff" from the site is available via BitTorrent.
Enjoy.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Soon as I saw the announcements I ran to starcraft2.com and read everything as much as I could about the game. You're pretty limited at what you can see, and the only race with a wee bit of info are the Protoss. As someone who got the original the day it came out (best April Fool's day, evar!) I'm been a rabid fan for years. But looking at all the preliminary info I just get this feeling that it's SC1.5 instead of 2. Yeah it made the leap to 3D graphics (whoopty-doo) but there's still only the 3 races, no new Hybrid that I and bunches of others have been expecting. I know this is still really early to make any calls on and looks like another fantastic, awesome Blizz game, just throwing my two cents in. PS. Please Blizz, keep this as a strategy game and don't try a "RPS" or whatever WCIII is.
...that Terran Marine looks even more like an Ultramarine than in SC1.
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
I was done with PC gaming. I had picked up a Wii to satisfy any semi-casual craving for gaming. My last windows PC was transformed into a sexy Ubuntu + Beryl box. I told myself that not even Spore or Team Fortress 2 could bring me back. I was out, man. No more buying more RAM, Multi-Core CPUs, or overpriced video cards on an annual basis. But then they had to do this...
Anyone know where I can get a good price on a nvidia 8800?
Blizzard has been producing "more of the same" since Warcraft 2. But the key is each time they make improvements in the interface and each game gets better (with the possible exception of WC3, when they attempted a cross genre element with heros). They don't need to move to a whole new genre to make a good game (and their attempts to do so have failed, see StarCraft Ghost). Complaining that this is yet another real time strategy game is sort of like complaining that Civ 4 is yet another turn based strategy game.
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
KEKEKEKEKE ZERG RUSH!
Before the guy right below you did it.
I have a timebomb, and I'm not afraid...or quite sure how..to use it!
Don't worry if you're a kleptomaniac, you can always take something for it.
...well, boring? Had Blizz announced World of Starcraft they would have owned 100% of the MMO space instead of just 80%.
SC2, based on what they have shown so far, where there's nothing really new cept some units and animations...welp, this will be the first Blizz game I won't be buying.
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
Parent is hardly flamebait...
This is NOT flamebait, this is the sentiment of millions of gamers. I strongly prefer the starcraft style of gameplay to the warcraft 3 style.
I too hope it does not have the heros, they're the reason I grew weary of wc3 in a week instead of the 4 years I played sc.
And calling BS on you was uncalled for by previous poster. Dude's personal opinion is not the holy writ and calling BS on somebody else's opinion is rude, crude and intellectually bankrupt. It's an opinion. For me, my opinion is that Starcraft doesn't need to be changed from what made it successful. There are plenty of other games that go off in other directions. Starcraft was and hopefully the new version is like Chess - easy to pick up and hard to master. Those characteristics made the game re playable and fun over the years and are the reasons we're talking about a new version coming out right now. Oh, and 'woo hoo' - the pictures look awesome. Now I'm just waiting for a chance to buy my copy.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
OMFG
Blizzard.com is both funny and informative, best source I've found. Check it out.
I have to think the game marketshare of Linux is running neck and neck with Apple systems. Blizzard is showing that it is worth it to port to MacOS, so why don't they also feel the same about Linux?
The Linux game market is *not* all those willing to buy a native Linux port of a game, it is *only* those who refuse to buy a Win32 version and dual boot or emulate. If a company does a native Linux port it needs *new* sales to justify it. Cannibalizing existing sales, having a person buy a Linux version instead of a Win32 version, does not bring in any new money. It loses money, they got the same sale but they spent more money getting it. The majority of Linux gamers dual boot or emulate, until that changes the Linux gaming market will not be viable - Linux gamers are already paying customers via the Win32 version.
Historically the Mac side was a very different story. Dual boot was not an option until recent times, and emulation was not practical for games - the CPU, not just the APIs, needed to be emulated. So Mac gamers had to have a native port. This made the Mac gaming market viable. If anything has changed, it is not Linux becoming more viable, it is Mac becoming less viable. If Mac gamers begin to dual boot or emulate, so that they more gaming options, then they will create an environment where developers will find it more profitable to reach Mac gamers via the Win32 version as well. One version (Win32) to rule them all (Win32, Linux, and Mac).
A secondary but non-trivial problem with targeting Linux, support. Targeting Linux is not like Mac where you have one platform, or two if you still want to target PowerPC. There are many Linux distribution, your code and/or installer may need to be aware of some of their subtleties, your support personnel surely will need to be aware. These support people may even need to be more technically inclined than Mac support people, on second thought that's a given isn't it? Your quality assurance testing matrix just ballooned from Win2K, WinXP, WinVista, MacOS X Intel, MacOS X PowerPC to the former plus Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE. Doesn't seem to bad at first glance, but keep in mind the much smaller return that the latter four provide. All this support and qa effort *must* be paid for by the Linux gamer subsegment that refuses to buy the Win32 version and dual boot or emulate.
Supporting Mac OSX on X86 and not supporting Linux is nothing short of Laziness now.
c id=19191007.
You are mistaken. The migration from PowerPC to Intel has not made a Linux port one bit easier. It has made the Mac market more important as a greater percentage of Macs are now viable gaming systems, especially on the laptop side.
Mac games are not *nix based, they still use proprietary APIs like Carbon and Cocoa to some degree. Also a company like Blizzard that has been supporting Macs for over a decade surely has some internal libraries that are pretty Windows and Mac specific as well. The source code to Mac based games is not really any more compatible with Linux than it was before Apple's Intel migration. All that has happened is that assembly language / SSE from the Windows side does not have to be rewritten in PowerPC / Altivec.
More importantly, the economics of the Linux game market has not changed. Linux gamers primarily dual boot or emulate, until recently Mac users could not do so and a native port was required. If anything has changed, it is not that Linux is becoming more viable, it is that Mac is becoming less viable. I explain this in another post: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=235329&
The Linux gaming market is not really viable yet, at least for large developers. I wish this were not true, but it is. Recent events like the Apple Intel migration have not really changed the situation. I'll address some good questions that came from a troll thread.
Supporting Mac OSX on X86 and not supporting Linux is nothing short of Laziness now.
You are mistaken. The migration from PowerPC to Intel has not made a Linux port one bit easier. It has made the Mac market more important as a greater percentage of Macs are now viable gaming systems, especially on the laptop side.
Mac games are not *nix based, they still use proprietary APIs like Carbon and Cocoa to some degree. Also a company like Blizzard that has been supporting Macs for over a decade surely has some internal libraries that are pretty Windows and Mac specific as well. The source code to Mac based games is not really any more compatible with Linux than it was before Apple's Intel migration. All that has happened is that assembly language / SSE from the Windows side does not have to be rewritten in PowerPC / Altivec.
I have to think the game marketshare of Linux is running neck and neck with Apple systems. Blizzard is showing that it is worth it to port to MacOS, so why don't they also feel the same about Linux?
The Linux game market is *not* all those willing to buy a native Linux port of a game, it is *only* those who refuse to buy a Win32 version and dual boot or emulate. If a company does a native Linux port it needs *new* sales to justify it. Cannibalizing existing sales, having a person buy a Linux version instead of a Win32 version, does not bring in any new money. It loses money, they got the same sale but they spent more money getting it. The majority of Linux gamers dual boot or emulate, until that changes the Linux gaming market will not be viable - Linux gamers are already paying customers via the Win32 version.
Historically the Mac side was a very different story. Dual boot was not an option until recent times, and emulation was not practical for games - the CPU, not just the APIs, needed to be emulated. So Mac gamers had to have a native port. This made the Mac gaming market viable. If anything has changed, it is not Linux becoming more viable, it is Mac becoming less viable. If Mac gamers begin to dual boot or emulate, so that they more gaming options, then they will create an environment where developers will find it more profitable to reach Mac gamers via the Win32 version as well. One version (Win32) to rule them all (Win32, Linux, and Mac).
A secondary but non-trivial problem with targeting Linux, support. Targeting Linux is not like Mac where you have one platform, or two if you still want to target PowerPC. There are many Linux distribution, your code and/or installer may need to be aware of some of their subtleties, your support personnel surely will need to be aware. These support people may even need to be more technically inclined than Mac support people, on second thought that's a given isn't it? Your quality assurance testing matrix just ballooned from Win2K, WinXP, WinVista, MacOS X Intel, MacOS X PowerPC to the former plus Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE. Doesn't seem to bad at first glance, but keep in mind the much smaller return that the latter four provide. All this support and qa effort *must* be paid for by the Linux gamer subsegment that refuses to buy the Win32 version and dual boot or emulate.
I don't really care. It looks to me like they just gave StarCraft a 3d overhaul and after the Warhammer 40k RTS games I don't think I could play StarCraft again, even if it is in 3d. I loved the original StarCraft, played it for who knows how many years. Even my father loved it. But, once with got to play Dawn of War we just couldn't go back to that style of game play.
Give me my expansion for Dark Crusade, I want a new planet to conquer!
Perhaps it's just me, but judging from the videos and screenshots (and I'm aware it's nowhere near the final build), Starcraft 2 seems a little cartoony to me. The bright vibrant colors and over the top scaling seems to remind me of the cartoony Warcraft 3 images, rather than the dark severity and gritty look I would have expected. Also, while I'm sure an improved 3D Starcraft would sit well with alot of core fans, I cant help but wonder if they should do more to up the ante in the RTS genre. Other developers are really pushing into new unexplored directions, and it might hurt Starcraft 2 not to evolve a little more. Then again, that could be a good thing. I'm not saying it looks bad or anything, just that it wasn't quite what I was expecting, and from here on my expectations are somewhat altered.
It'd be nice to see blizzard get their act together and release for linux as well, instead of depending on WINE or chite like Cedega for us to play their games. I'm not holding my breath on this one though, they've been failing us for years.
c id=19191075. It is not the role of game developers to develop the Linux gaming market, they just follow the customers to whatever platform the customers choose and Linux gamers are largely choosing Win32. It is the role of Linux gamers to promote their preferred platform and to abstain from Win32 versions. Of course, there are also gamers who don't really give a rat's ass about operating systems and that is just fine. I have no gripe with "gamers" who dual boot or emulate, it is only those who identify themselves as "Linux gamers" that I would chastise and say put your time/money where your advocacy is.
No, Linux gamers have been failing themselves for years. The choice to dual boot or emulate undermines the Linux gaming market, more here: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=235329&
Don't believe it! Please! For your own good! Never forget Starcraft: Ghost! They will review their earnings on WoW and once again decide that all other things are worthless! Remember the minds that made all our beloved Blizzard classics have pretty much all bailed out!
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
Parity achieved!
diablo was a feature in itself. it opened up a WHOLE genre. dont come up saying that there was some obscure game million years ago that resembled some of its gameplay. doing it fully right and spreading the thing around counts.
starcraft was a revolution in itself. it was the FIRST game that had different races different from each other TOTALLY, while maintaining balance. all other games like age of empires and c&c had either different variants of all units for all races, or in the case of c&c, was a "build and send" game that didnt necessitate any tactics. in starcraft it was about wits, not who builds the most, fastest. you can get shafted despite having hordes if the opponent has appropriate units for fixing you up and does good micro.
im not gonna say anything about world of warcraft. 8 million people are playing it. it has become a milestone for all mmogs.
Read radical news here
With respect to your first point, what makes you think that Blizzard is precluded from developing a SC MMO? It's been fairly common knowledge that they've been hiring on for a "next-gen" MMO and it would seem to follow that a focus on the Starcraft universe at the company for the RTS would be a great segue into an MMO. Storylines, concept artists, writers, and so on could very easily serve as a further foundation for your futuristic MMO.
Perhaps, then, instead of complaining about SC2, you might consider taking heart from the fact that Blizzard has once again turned its eye towards the universe we both appreciate and that your hopes for Worlds of Starcraft have never been closer to fruition. Starcraft players the world over have many reasons to rejoice and I'd encourage you to remember that their gain is not necessarily your loss.
cheers.
P.P.S. I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
While I'm happy for all you StarCraft fans out there, I was really hoping they were going to announce Diablo 3 instead of StarCraft 2 today...
Frag 'em all...
Depending on the release date, it may be possible for one to have played StarCraft during high school, graduate from high school and college, work for a few years, go back for a master's, and have StarCraft 2 screw up one's performance in graduate school.
I'm tired of MMOs, (especially their fees). If you don't realize, people are still on dialup and isdn lines, which can't handle MMOs (MUDs are ok, though). A great RTS tops a decent MMO any day; keep in mind they probably will come out with a Starcraft MMO, or something different like that one day...and with advances in physics cards (and physics engines) you could really have a futuristic MMO. Right now is too soon for another MMO from Blizzard...
PS I don't feel like signing up/logging in, becuase I _am_ on dialup!
Seriously what ever happened to Star Craft Ghost?
I had been watching it closely though the blizzard website and the next thing I know they took it off, no explanation, nothing.
"To be is to do." --Socrates
"To do is to be." -- Aristotle
"Do-Be-Do-Be-Do..." --Sinatra
I have as much of a softspot for StarCraft as anyone, but from the screenshots SC2 looks like the same exact game with a graphics update, and the RTS genre has moved on in the last decade. It's kind of hard to get excited about playing the original StarCraft again after games like the Total War series, and heck, even EVE.
sic transit gloria mundi
Something I think a lot of people who chatter on about Linux gaming fail to remember is its history.
Remember several years ago? Remember when Apple was struggling to break even every quarter? Remember when they were "beleaguered", if you will; and they were reduced to selling computers based on fruity flavors instead of features and performance? Linux was hot shit then... the "next great new thing" that EVERYBODY wanted a piece of. Even outside of slashdot, you could hardly go ten minutes without hearing something or another about how great Linux was and how it was going to make everyone's live better.
Linux HAD all of the best of the new releases ported to it then. A company down in SoCal by the name of Loki was doing it. They were porting, supporting, and selling them like crazy... I was actually able to get the Linux version of Quake 3 Arena from them (mail order) before the PC or Mac versions showed up in stores. They even got shelf space for a while in the local CompUSA. And they eventually failed miserably and went bankrupt. Seems that the Linux community, used to getting everything for free and with the source code, turned out to be unwilling to buy commercial and closed-source games in the volume necessary to financially support even a small start-up.
Oops.
Look at the situation now. Apple is madly profitable and growing its market share again. Everyone but everyone has or wants a Mac, an iPod, or an iPhone. Apple users, by and large, have never had a problem buying their software, and supporting the companies that support their platform. And Steve Jobs can hardly take a dump without the press rushing to collect it and inspect it for the gold he must have crapped out. Linus, ESR and RMS hardly *get* press anymore. And Linux is mostly regarded as "that OS that runs on the servers", not something that's going to take over the world and cast out OS X and Vista into the forgotten dustbin of history.
And then there's the lesson to be learned from Loki.
I think, for simple and sound business reasons, it will be quite a while before anyone major takes a risk on Linux gaming again.
cya,
john
Imagine all the people...
Either he's a neurological veterinerian, a vegetable, or Special Ed.
Speaking of vegetables, it's lunch time about now.
without prejudice
I always have trouble with the MacDarts program. Throwing those pixelated darts are really tricky with a mouse...
I am on the road crew. This is my stop sign.
I don't think doing a new MMO game would be that great. I mean, WoW isn't that fun to play. Just because it has several metric fucktons of players doesn't mean it's good, just means a lot of people like mindless grinding, gameplay that rewards time over skill, and/or annoying 12-year-olds.
Completely agree that it looks just like the original Starcraft. The thing you don't realize though is that this is Starcraft 2: Korea Edition. The difference being that the KE is basically Starcraft 1.75 (assuming Broodwars counts as 1.5) and is there to keep Blizzard's largest Starcraft fanbase happy, since Blizzard would still make a killing if Starcraft 2 were ONLY released in Korea. But for the rest of us they have a special surprise in store, to be shown off later after everyone outside of Korea has gone back to other things and everyone in Korea has stopped paying attention until 2015 when they start looking for a Starcraft 3 announcement. That's when they'll announce the "real" Starcraft 2 which is a full re-envisioning of the RTS genre, exclusive to the non-Korea regions.
And you thought Blizzard was just rehashing and cashing in on their old franchises? SHAME ON YOU!
The Farewell Tour II
It's right in front of everyone. In the video Colossus Meltdown, notice how the Protoss mech infantry "Colossus" is remeniscent of the War of the Worlds' alien mech in both movement and attack. As well, in the video Born Anew, notice how the Protoss infantry "Zealot" has the aesthetically pleasing lunge right before the Psi attack, no different than the much-hooted Psi Sword from Bungie's Halo and Halo2. Also notice how the blur and fade of the Protoss infantry psi energy and aura tends to fade no different than that of a "Plasma Grenade" in Halo and Halo2. I've been wrong before, but this is Blizzard and they can do wrong on property they created.
:-) company, any dispute to copyright on a title's environment harmoney and physics would be easy to rent or defend its use. However, we know Blizzard just loves to DEATH alternatives to their Matrix2 of Battle.net protocol...bnetd, FSGS, pvpgn.
I suppose because Blizzard is a 3 *big* 3
without prejudice
without prejudice,
M. Gregory Thomas(tm), Network Redundancy Adminstrator;
Mundt Administration of Network Redundancy:
It's not scalable, but they get the software running on most computers. It'll be sad that the new requirements go beyond Windows 98 for no other reason than Security Protection, despite that Blizzard has done a horrible job on context switching on multi-user systems and demanding administrator privileges those programmers NEVER earned or used. Starcraft-2 looks like it has some pixel enhancements, which means mid-range early Year 2000's 3DLabs Permedia2 or a ATI Radeon 7k or 3Dfx voodoo5 would be left-out.
On a similar note, there have been alternatives to Starcraft-2 in the making, and they are much more true to the function of a strategy continuing the original story. Check out this, and this that has been available for YEARS, like the Warcraft 3 mods that always replaced whatever Starcraft2 tried to continue.
without prejudice
How about the excuse of "I have a life and don't want to dedicate it to a video game"? I can stop playing Final Fantasy XII, or StarCraft2, and leave it sitting for a month without losing any money, and then pick it right back up. MMO's require massive time dedication. I have better things to do with my time, thank you very little. I'm looking forward to a new RTS I can play on a LAN with my friends, rather than having a revolving cycle of questing, leveling, questing, ad infinitum.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
For those services, she always asked for an Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac. You should've seen how quick she typed when the ring I gave her turned back into a Health Potion.
The first thing I thought when I saw the screenshots of Starcraft II was: "The units look just like they did on the box for the original Starcraft."
I remember after playing Starcraft for a while looking at the box and thinking: "That's not how the game actually looks! Those units all have extra spiky parts and the buildings have more attachments and who the hell sends a command center into battle?!" I figured that the shots were from many months before release and they simplified the graphics and abilities as they polished the game.
Well, Starcraft 2 doesn't look exactly like those old screenshots. It's more like a beautiful, glowing, high definition revisit to the original concepts. I wonder how much Starcraft 2 is based on their original vision for Starcraft but with ten times as much computer power and a hundred times as much cash available.
Actually, that sounds like the Star Wars prequels -- an old idea returned to with new technology. Except I have some faith that Blizzard can remake an old idea without adding annoying characters, terrible acting, and boring storylines. Then again, they might add a fourth race....
AlpineR
To all those people who are yelling "LOL I DONT WANT WC3 GAMEPLAY" Look at the fucking videos for christ sake. It's a fast paced RTS just like SC used to be. How the fuck is that remotely close to WC3? Even WITH heroes it's nothing close. Have you guys even played WC3? Battles last a long time with your units having 600-800+ HP. SC2 does not look to have that sort of battle mechanics at all. Also to the idiot who wants a RTS/X-Wing/Bridge commander game all in one: Shut the fuck up. Such thing would offend SC Battlenet fans to such degree that they'd probably Zerg Rush Blizzards HQ and have their heads on a spike.
*plonk*
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
without prejudice,
M. Gregory Thomas(tm), Network Redundancy Administrator;
Mundt Administration of Network Redundancy:
They're trying to adjust their recent universal engine to custom content. The presentation becomes boring -- video, with subtitles, "exciting" plot rising, 3d 3rd-person POV over terrain on 3d object -- manipulate here or there -- satisfy requirements for this, to unbar that. Move here, "kill" this -- movie-quality cutscene from prior "3d" interactive mode, not done; do this. re-seed and re-peat story for entropy, upto level 32 (because we all follow almost the same number of stages as Id Software's DooM), kill final boss, lose friend, gain reputation of unknown hidden friend helping all along, etc.
Don't you notice that they are taking all their crap into 1 engine, and their style is becoming repetitive as a Soap Opera? Eventually when Diablo(r) World(r)-Craft(r) of Star(r)-War(r) is released by Blizzard, they'll just slap a sticker on it before it is put on a shipping crate, and none would know the difference if ever there was a Diablo or StarCraft or WarCraft. It's no different than how a grocery store puts fruit on the shelf with a sticker on every single one, and none know the shits difference in quality between the fetus-fertilized fruit from Mexico or the human-fertilized fruit of Nicaragua.
Blizzard is ruining the industry, by creating content that leaches every eye to their product alone. At least movies usually add character to the spectator or player -- somthing they can repeat, like a joke, but instead Blizzard is making a joke of everyone. The StarCraft-2 trailer is customized for Korean language, but they barely kept the lips in sync. Tyrone said to me, That's Racist(tm).
without prejudice
SC was never an MMO though...
Tech support. They don't want 9,000,000 Linux newbies calling their support lines in unison with every distro under the sun demanding tech support, so rather than setting up an "unsupported" model or a secondary less involved system like Atari does they just say "Not gonna do it" all together.
The "unsupported" model is half-assed, and reflects poorly on a company's reputation. So why should they do it? Again, it is not their job to advocate Linux.
"No, this is lame. Blizzard had the chance to redefine computer gaming by coming out with a truly great, futuristic MMO, but instead decided to do another rehash of a game from nearly ten years ago that looks exactly like the old version."
Umm... so basically you're upset that they rehashed SC2 instead of WoW. I wouldn't mind, but you only used the word 'rehash' once so I got a little confused..
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Fine, then don't say it's some whiny excuse like "$15 is too much" or "I can't afford the $20 extra for broadband". There's nothing wrong with wanting a life.
Did you see the screenshots they put online? SC2 looks exactly like SC1.
Were Blizzard to make a MMO out of StarCraft, it wouldn't look anything like WoW.
Were Blizzard to make a MMO out of StarCraft, it wouldn't look anything like WoW."
Right. It'd be WoW with different skins on it. Hey I'm with you, they should rehash a more recent game.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry, no. You obviously haven't played WoW if you think they can just change the models, change the name, and launch WoS.
Neither was Warcraft before WoW.
So if you're playing Zerg, you can see only like 2% of your units at the same time?
Lame. ;)
The United States of America: We do what we must because we can.
why would they need a physics system? People are complaining that you had to micromanage the heros on WC3, what can realistic physics add, other than more little useless details (oh no! the Goliath tripped over a rock on the ground, I better go help him!)
I'm not a fanatic who thinks physics are just a gimmick to replace good gameplay (I loved hl2), but it should be interesting to see what they're doing with this. Otherwise it sounds like they're caving to "peer pressure" (all the cool game engines are doing it!)
--
Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
Just because it has several metric fucktons of players doesn't mean it's good
Metric fucktons of players is pretty much what developers are going for.
I liked Starcraft and will probably like Starcraft 2 like a lot of other people...but the hype surrounding it, dancing girls, thousands of people stuffed into a stadium to see it..seems more than a bit over the top and bizzare.
It's a game, not the answer to forgoing a life.
I, for one, will need to spawn more Overlords.
I can see the fnords!
Mis-a gonna kill some zergza!
Firstly, I believe you are referring to the energy sword in Halo. Nevertheless, I don't really think one can copyright lunging with a sword, even if it is bluish and glowy.
CATS/Diebold '08- All your vote are belong to us!
Time to grow up dude
1) in korea only old people play starcraft I
.... ZOMG zergling rush
2) in soviet russia overlord spawns you
3) your mums so fat i had to integrate her by parts
4) ?
5) profit
"You obviously haven't played WoW if you think they can just change the models, change the name, and launch WoS."
That really depends on the amount of energy they put into it. They can very easily, it's a question of if they would. That's beside the point, though. You're ignoring one game for superficial reasons and wishing they'd make a different one based on a game you like. That's totally fine. It's still a rehash, though. Your heart's in the right place, your agument isn't.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
$15 IS too much for the experience they offer, on top of charging for the game (and spare me the bullshit platitudes about buying the game to pay for development, and paying the fee to pay for the servers. I don't give a fuck.) I have plenty of CRPGs and JRPGs that I can grind in almost infinitely, for free and without some 12-year-old enfant terrible questioning my ancestry.
Some people can afford it, but decide that it's not a reasonable value. The lifeless fanboys who think a set of +5 bananas on their shoulder makes them more worthwhile as a human being can't understand that.
Finally a good reason to upgrade my computer! :)
Sorry, no. World of StarCraft would not be a rehash of either StarCraft nor WoW.
If you want to just grind infinitely for free, might I suggest ProgressQuest?
WoW is far from worth it.
let's see, you're paying for someone to waste your time with a bunch of other assholes questing, grinding, raiding to what end? some bits on a system that will become tiring (like it is now, thus this article) and eventually fade into nothingness like EQ/EQII have.
I'm glad I've stopped playing... it was people like yourself that made me realise what a waste of time, effort & money it is. $15 to get talked to like you're an idiot by a 12 year old isn't exactly wise investment.
Considering the success of WoW's formula, they'd certainly nudge it in that direction. Sorry, but it'd be "Wow.. but in SPACE!!!" Whoop-de-fuck.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
"Right, because $15 a month is soooo damn expensive. "
It's expensive if it's $15/mo. more than you want to pay. Would you pay $15 for said Big Mac? No? But $15 is so easy to come by! Etc.
"Quit being a loser, get a fucking job, do some side work or whatever, get the money, lay it down, and join the modern era."
Um.. yeah.. Sony didn't get very far with that line, either.
"Waiting for you to catch up is a shitty reason for Blizzard to hold back."
Hahaha. It's the market's fault that Blizzard isn't releasing a product. That's funny. Again, very Sony'eqsue. Bravo.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Wow, you're as illiterate as you are frothing.
I can afford it, many many times over. Unfortunately, the game sucks. It's not WORTH $15/month, or even $5/month to me. Given the obvious troll that you are, odds are you're one of the douchebags who makes it that way.
I liked the original but there were certain limitations of the 2D interface that made the game seem a bit silly. I'm not just talking about the Zerg units flapping their wings and flying on the space maps, I'm thinking about giant honkin' space cruisers getting blown out of the sky by bug spit. WTF? Yeah, I know, it's a limitation of the engine, the same reason why the capital ships weren't much bigger than the fighters in the first two sprite-based Wing Commanders. But hell, Wing Commander went 3D once the computers could support it, why is Blizzard making what appears to be exactly the same game but with 3D graphics?
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
What's the point of any game? With any game, you're wasting time with some bits on a system that will eventually fade into nothingness. That's no good reason to bash WoW, just because they're better at getting you to waste time than other games.
Fine. If you don't want to play, that's one thing. But saying that $15 is just too darn expensive is something completely different given that even if it was free, you wouldn't want to play.
And no, the douche bags are the ones who constantly whine about trivial shit, like you over $15.
Better than "Just like StarCraft 1, but with updated graphics!"
Hey guys should we start a petition to make it native for Linux too?
Cheers,
E.
You two seem a bit bitter...
1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcf
"Better than "Just like StarCraft 1, but with updated graphics!""
Not in any measureable way, no. A rehash is a rehash, despite which you'd prefer. You really should have chosen your words better originally.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
You need to play Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth 2: Soulblighter. These games were the first RTSes (AFAIK) to use physics and it added a LOT to the game play. The ballistic trajectory of projectiles used by archers/bowmen, soulless and dwarves made these units so much more fun to play than the boring statistics-based projectile units in other RTS games. Actually having to aim the projectiles and lead your target and use higher ground to gain a range advantage brings a lot of depth to an otherwise generic unit.
rehash (r-hsh')
tr.v., -hashed, -hashing, -hashes.
To bring forth again in another form without significant alteration: rehashing old ideas.
From the videos provided from Blizzard, there is no alteration for StarCraft 2 from StarCraft 1, other than updated graphics. SC2 is a rehashed version of SC1.
Taking SC1 and WoW and significantly altering them by combining them together does not meet the definition of rehash.
"From the videos provided from Blizzard, there is no alteration for StarCraft 2 from StarCraft 1, other than updated graphics. SC2 is a rehashed version of SC1."
Never said it wasn't a rehash.
"Taking SC1 and WoW and significantly altering them by combining them together does not meet the definition of rehash."
WoW with new characters. Rehash.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I'd rather pay once for my game, thank you very much. Honestly, you people act like games that are not MMOs never get new content... User created content, anyone?
What part of "not worth paying for" does your frothing fanboy mind have a problem wrapping around, you ignorant twit? Are you so insecure about people criticizing your precious addiction that you have to fixate on something that wasn't even said to validate your miserable grinding MC-raiding existence? You're proof that WoW is the latest agent of natural selection. Stay at home in your dimly lit computer room and get that l33t gear, night-elf boy.
You're crazy as shit.
But to address your points..
The SC2 engine has been built from the ground up. It has NOTHING to do with Warcraft 3's engine. And hey, if you're bored with the presentation, go play Peggle or something.
The trailer isn't "customized" for the Korean language, it's english CG with dubbed korean over it. They're aliens, ffs, they don't speak English OR Korean!
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
Except that it has a physics engine. And the units are almost TOTALLY different. And the graphics are about 10 years newer. Yeah. Other than all that.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Statistically, you're likely to finish grad school when SC 3 comes out.
i rements_for_completion_3
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_school#Requ
Starcraft 2, eh? I pray that they include the Strategic Zoom from Supreme Commander. Playing any RTS without it feels incomplete to me now.
Waiting for Warhammer Online.
Starcraft was a game with macro in mind, not 12 units and a hero. SC balanced micro/macro when you got good. I'm happy to see the giant armies again ;)
Its much cheaper than a movie, or a night out on the town.
Its like any hobby just cheaper.
Bitter much?
Vermifax
Logout
A Starcraft MMO would simply cannibalize a big chunk of the WoW playerbase. Blizzard is paying for one MMO and has 8 million subscribers to show for that investment. If they added a Starcraft MMO they would double their costs, but it is highly unlikely they would double their subscriber base.
Can i buy a buriza-do-kanyon for it when DOTA comes out for SCII?
... Nerd And Good Looking: The Next Step in Evolution
This is not acceptable debate language. Please keep things civil, this is a place for intelligent conversation.
I'm in between insightful sigs right now...
I was looking forward to an MMORTS myself.
My bad. I thought this was slashdot.
There is no debate. MMOs are for losers.
M. Gregory Thomas(tm), Network Redundancy Administrator;
Mundt Administration of Network Redundancy:
It does make sense, if you interpret my words in light of a faulty NX bit. I don't have as much time to type as I would like, sow many times a parenthesis is omit. This causes the run-on sentance that you and our fellow readers see. "NX bit" is my explanation, by adaptation of microprocessor lingo that can be summarised as data or elements of knowledge that are misplaced into executive mode (declaratory sentancing). Also, it is sometimes difficult to proofread in a Lynx webbrowser. I hope am am relieved of just a little anger, and scrutinized with a pen not as haughty. The matter in Oregon was almost 7 Years ago, and the video was an opinion of a non-oathed "judge" sitting en banc in an administrative capacity (Constitution-Article 7, inferior court), where he admitted that there was no trial of the fact (pursuant to the First Judiciary Act), and all the prosecution of presumption from their corporate CHILD AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES franchise and agency was about attachment of Code to property (the children are incorporated property -- aka "chattel" trusted to those fine administrators); it was about Code, not Fact; and that is not off-topic, whereas anyone hear should find the matter revealing even in person of their job to codify their software.
Well, do you? It's a complete product when it is put on the market, with a complete disclosure of the sale without attachment of non-disclosed matters; yet they make modifications disguised as corrections that are inconsistent with the sale, and they are lying about the fitness and merchantability of the product so-far as disclosing the matter in writing under 7-point print; even US Congress decided that any contract or instrument with print under 7-point is null and void, but then there is Blizzard Entertainment Inc and certain FDIC-insured credit gaols and debt repositories/banks puting small-print on their instruments (ex. signature-line of checks and orders). Besides the common-law maxim that "fraud vitiates all contracts), Are you that much more satisified with the server layout and pricing to even know that it is a Special service of Blizzard to have two relationships with the owner of the title to the property? One to have and to hold, while the other to service the network mode which it displaces with its own monopoly. Consider the PVPGN that implemented alternative "closed realm" protocol for titles of Blizzard Entertainment; the people are satisifed in the scalability of each local server to trunk onto the network in a distributed and cost-effect fassion.
Make a claim that I can give you relief from, because it's not a matter of bitching but to acknowledge the unlawful activity to remove the matter as nothing more than a nuissance of criminal elements in Blizzard. I'm just pointing out that there is Blizzard's side of Battle.net, then there is non-Blizzard independent Battle.net. I'm not bitching; the same mode that Blizzard claims is more secure is a marketer's lie; think of the children sucked-into the hype that pre-payed and fee'd Battle.net is only available, while legitimate and lawful solutions exist without Blizzard. Those alternative solutions are litigiously sued and pursued by anti-competitive elements in Blizzard Entertainment Inc, causing
without prejudice
Firstly, I believe you are referring to the energy sword in Halo. Nevertheless, I don't really think one can copyright lunging with a sword, even if it is bluish and glowy. Ever played an earlier first POV title known as "Hexen"? Perhaps even "Quake1"? They would be vastly more entertaining if they were written to give that extra lunge. Even "Doom1" would be a lot more entertaining to be able to lunge with that chainsaw. Not only the lunging, there is an element of traversing through the fallen foe when the hitpoints are discharged, or the advent of repetitive return attacks. It just adds a desparate element of physics, as opposed to prior titles that were nothing more than the repetitive hand-to-hand skirmishes.
without prejudice
Starcraft II is announced and it stops all news from coming to games.slashdot.org for days!
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
This would explain why they put starcraft ghost on hold, they obviously wanted to pull all the resources together to revisit the SC universe. IIRC SC:G was put on hold shortly after War3:TFT was released. I wouldn't be suprised if they resume development of SC:G after SC2 hits. Blizzard sure do know how to keep a secret, its been like 3 years and ZERO leaks o_O
Many kinds of people play MMO's. Only one kind, however, makes broad generalizations and states opinion as fact.
Tsk tsk tsk.
No.
Looks like we have some dissenters in the bunch. But not I, I'm very glad to see SC2 announced. It will give rise to my SC2 League aspirations Hurra!
http://www.sc2league.com