Starcraft 2 Confirmed!

[hydroseeds]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/788/788627p1.html

Hooray!

-Hydro

[Hal]

Ohhh. Thought it was still a few hours till they announced - thanks for the heads up

[WildBobAA]

Holy shit, it looks amazing. It's about damn time!

[ensign_lee]

Why are terrnas getting ganked in every screenshot. damn...

[gabe]

why is there no new race

[a500lbgorilla]

Why is it not installed on my computer!

[|~|ypermegachi]

damn it...what happened to the hybrid protoss/zerg race??? did they complete ignore the secret mission for the protoss in brood wars???

[Warpe]

geeks

[Lukie]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...87257388853221

unbelievable for us geeks

[ensign_lee]

Wow that was cool.

Stupid idiot nuking EVERYTHING...

The Terrans and zerg better get some damn cool counters or we're all fucked.

I guess this will come out in 2010, now?

[dsmrolla06]

I think they just nuked everything as an ending to the video. I guess what i dont like about the protoss from what ive seen is theres no infantry, its all vehicles. It sounds like theres no dark templars since they are now some dragoon looking thing which means no dark archons. There may still be the other templars where you can make archons still (the blue ones).

[Lukie]

i just want a damn hydralisk and if it has some kind of super ability like scaling cliffs, cybernetic shields, etc, even better

[Alibi]

I just want a pet hydralisk

[boost]

dsm there are still zealots, which are pretty bad ass infantry.

I think this game is gonna be amazing. Cant wait to see what htey do with terran.

[boost]

btw do marines have jet packs now? wtf!? that was so cool. However thier guns sounded gay. Jet packs made up for it though!

[ensign_lee]

I think they just nuked everything as an ending to the video. I guess what i dont like about the protoss from what ive seen is theres no infantry, its all vehicles. It sounds like theres no dark templars since they are now some dragoon looking thing which means no dark archons. There may still be the other templars where you can make archons still (the blue ones).

I dunno. That stalker or whatever it is (dark dragoon) looks sick. Easily could challenge hydralisk for most efficient unit in the game (this being said without seeing how much it costs).

[givememyleg]

this looks amazing

[Fnord]

For the last nearly 2 years I've been working on revising the Battle.net service for Starcraft 2 and beyond. It's really amazing being a senior member of a very small team building the online service for the world's greatest game company.

[Isop]

So Fnord, does Blizzard have any plans to do another wingcommander/privateer game? Those were about the best games ever done.

Isop

[Fnord]

So Fnord, does Blizzard have any plans to do another wingcommander/privateer game? Those were about the best games ever done.

That is a different company and there aren't thousands of people still playing those games unlike Starcraft, Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 (mostly because of DotA.)

Also, I can not comment on unannounced projects.

[swiggidy]

btw do marines have jet packs now? wtf!? that was so cool. However thier guns sounded gay. Jet packs made up for it though!

They talk about it in the article.

There are several units now capable of scaling the walls, etc. So there's a second marine unit that has double oozies or something and can fly. Standard marines still can not

[boost]

So Fnord, does Blizzard have any plans to do another wingcommander/privateer game? Those were about the best games ever done.

That is a different company and there aren't thousands of people still playing those games unlike Starcraft, Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 (mostly because of DotA.)

Also, I can not comment on unannounced projects.

ok I hate to keep pestering you about this, but is there any possibility that you could get some beta slots for us? Youve got some pretty big sc fans with open schedules on here.

and ofc thanks for your work. I still remember the first time I signed on, it was a whole new world. Cant wait to see what youve done to improve it. Im guessing a ton more functionality for clans. Any chance you can give us any more details on the overhaul (of bnet)?

[Fnord]

ok I hate to keep pestering you about this.

Not a problem I love my job, love the products and enjoy talking about it as much as I can without talking about stuff I probably shouldn't talk about.

is there any possibility that you could get some beta slots for us? Youve got some pretty big sc fans with open schedules on here.

I will see what I can do. At some point I would expect to have a bunch of keys.

Any chance you can give us any more details on the overhaul (of bnet)?

Unannouced features is another one of those things I shouldn't talk about.

What I will say it that in Software Development, when you're doing things the second time around you tend to do it a whole lot better. Between my co-worker's 10(?) years evolving Battle.net and my time on the orginial Xbox Live server development team, we had a lot of experience building these things. It was fun early on getting together and talking about what worked well and didn't work so well for both services. We've been super-focused on providing a great, reliable, low-cost (for Blizzard) service.

[Lukie]

man, I'm getting the jitters from just reading this thread.

[boost]

eric.. wanna own up the 2vs2 circuit? letusgogogo

[Lukie]

Only if you promise not to kill me IRL if I die to a double team early on.

[Lukie]

btw I was SICKENINGLY good at SCBW back in the day. And not like everyone else that proclaims it. Of course this is what happens when you play a game for the better part of 3 years or so.

[givememyleg]

i wanna play

[Phantaroth]

How come everyone says there good at Starcraft?

I know everyone can't be good.. so i'll say it... I GET MY ASS KICKED AT STARCRAFT.

PS Fnord, is it LOW COST because they wont be charging fees? hint hint hint hint?

[Fnord]

PS Fnord, is it LOW COST because they wont be charging fees? hint hint hint hint?

Not my department. I just do my best to keep costs down and the buisness guys figure stuff like that out.

[dsmrolla06]

Maybe we should start a FTR SC:BW league until 2 comes out

[swiggidy]

here's another good article:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6171178.html

[boost]

I wasnt amazingly good, but I was a decent player. I wasnt some bgh fish. Its kinda like my poker career, put a good couple years into it, but never reached 'that' level.

[givememyleg]

i love playing use map settings

SUNKEN DEFENSE GO GO

[Harry]

I'm more excited about all the nutty Use Map Settings that will come out than ladder actually, haha.

[boost]

there were some cool ums' MTG was pretty cool, also the classic bunker /rine wars. Smash TV was cool too. But nothing compared to a good match on lost temple or dire straights.

[dsmrolla06]

paintball was pretty cool, or the bunker wars or whatever you call it where you kept spawning endless marines at a bunker.

[swiggidy]

http://www.onemorelevel.com/games.php?game=431

[dsmrolla06]

Meh, got to level 35. I didnt realize i could get the combo towers that early and decided to upgrade others instead.

[Hal]

Fnord - just wondering if there's anyone in house that is a linux fanboy that pushes for us users who refuse to use M$ software.. I appreciate that that Bliz has been great releasing Mac versions of many games where most other comps ignore it - but not all of us can afford that hardware

(Still I'm happy just being able to run WC3/WoW on my linux box - but would love to know that someone is testing SC2 on theirs too )

[dsmrolla06]

Got to the last level and its never ending. I only got like 5k points though... Has anyone else played it?

[swiggidy]

Got to the last level and its never ending. I only got like 5k points though... Has anyone else played it?

To those thinking about trying. It's amusing, pretty easy after you figure out the basic strategy and will waste a couple hours.

I got to the end, don't remember my score

[dsmrolla06]

I pretty much just build a couple cannons and upgrade them, then build the fire towers when i can and upgrade a couple of those until i can get the rockets. Do you think it is worth while to build water towers to slow or just build as many rockets as possible?

[swiggidy]

k, just played again, 9387. Last level isn't infinite, there are just a lot of guys.

I never used the fire. I just used upgraded cannons and water. The water is still useful after you get rockets. I think I had 22 rockets and 5 water towers on the last level

{EDIT: the water may be a mistake}

[Fnord]

Fnord - just wondering if there's anyone in house that is a linux fanboy that pushes for us users who refuse to use M$ software.. I appreciate that that Bliz has been great releasing Mac versions of many games where most other comps ignore it - but not all of us can afford that hardware

I think all of our games run in Linux via Windows emulators, although that's not officially supported.

For what it's worth, I worked at Microsoft for over 6 years.... and we plan to run the entire service on Linux.

[dsmrolla06]

Just the standard upgraded ground cannons? I didnt think the water slowed down those guys on the last level though.

[dsmrolla06]

Also where are you placing everything.

[bigred]

BGH 2V2 no rushing plz

[swiggidy]

Also where are you placing everything.

This is kind of a shitty hijack for a good thread, but oh well.

In white (spoiler if you're going to play the game):
water on the branch that goes into the middle, one in the middle of the bottom and one in the middle away from the other 2, a cannon at both edges of the backwards C and a couple arrows in the middle.

I just tried with the fire. I got to the rockets just using 2 cannons and one fire.

Sell things when they're not useful so you can earn interest.

After level 21 all you need is one rocket tower, adding/upgrading as necessary. I used the fire this time and had 30 rockets on the last level, I fucked up the screen shot but there were 20 in the middle, 6 on the branch touching the middle and 4 in the middle of the right arm.

I'm not sure what it takes to get 200k points . That page has it's own forum

New score: 12529

[dsmrolla06]

I never realized what the interest was from. You think it is worth getting a couple levels of interest first?

[swiggidy]

I never realized what the interest was from. You think it is worth getting a couple levels of interest first?

No.

Interest is based on the amount of cash you have left when the last guy is killed.

In white:
The rocket is too strong to be better than interest.

Get to level 21, use your 3 upgrades on water, earth, fire in some order.

Build one rocket, sell everything else. Build as little as possible. Spend future upgrades on interest. It isn't necessary to build the second rocket until their hp get over 2k, then upgrade or build a third when they get over 3k (basically as necessary).

I got 800 in interest before the last level the last time I played. That's pretty sweet.

[dsmrolla06]

Ya i just got 11611. I got over 800 interest a couple time. My center was packed with like 26-27 rockets when i started 39, and then i got 3 more in on the right side as it was going. I died though, i only started lvl 39 with 6 lives.

[Lukie]

i think the rockets ruin this game by making it way too easy.

[Lukie]

[Lukie]

ok going through this again and it appears that you can actually get pretty far with only 1 cannon and one of them pea shooters

[Lukie]

the cannon has to be placed not only so that it can cover as much ground as possible, but also in such a way that you maximize splash damage, it takes some getting used to and there are a few good spots, i think the best one though is near the top hugging either wall and in such a way that half of it is to the left (or right) of the wall and the other half protrudes from it.

[givememyleg]

damn i beat it first try, but only with a score of 9.4k

[boost]

eric, srsly, lets become pro sc players. Then we can go to korea and have sex with all the hot korean chicks. We can be all like, "yo boxer we be all up in yo countries sexin yo wimmens."

[Lukie]

haha getting 10,000+ in interest alone is pretty sick

[Lukie]

god are you KIDDDDDDDDING ME

I went to post this screenshot on FTR before I finished the last 2 levels but instead of hitting the FTR tab I hit the 'Getting Started' tab on firefox right above it hyachachachach. I spent hours placing/stacking these stupid ass cannons. I would have hit 200k+ or I would have been very very close.



i quit

[Lukie]

a few quick notes to anyone interested in my strategy:

you have to do your best to build the minimum at the beginning I was meticulous with this and would restart if I messed up, but at the end I was very far from efficient in many ways.

lvl 1: 1 lvl 1 cannon

lvl 2: 1 lvl 2 cannon

lvl 3: 1 lv1 2 cannon, 1 lvl 1 pea shooter, etc. These with further upgrades will last a really long time til the air units come.

when air units come instead of slapping down an upgrade and getting a fancy tower, just get +5 interest and buy a basic anti-air tower or 2. make sure to sell these before the level ends and let your pea shooter get the last hit in. this requires timing. I think the last air fight I made like 15 or 18 of these at level 3 and it was more than enough, again gotta sell before the level is over b/c they are useless after that.

as you progress in the game, it's usually a good idea to add a pea shooter or two for boss fights and FAST fights.

other than this you basically just mass cannons, get interest upgrade always, and voila, 200k+. Don't worry too much if you lose a life or 2 especially towards the end. worst case scenario you have to buy a couple lives for 40g but you'll have 100,000g+

also you need to stack your cannons once you get a lot, especially in important spots (corners). basically a cannon is 2x2 squares or whatever but you can get them in 1 spot over but you need to be VERY precise. This can be done horizontally AND vertically at once but is pretty difficult, I going towards the bottom left to be easiest when doing this.

ok i want to see FTR dominate this list, let us gogogo

[dsmrolla06]

Level 1: 1 level 1 cannon in top right corner
Level 2: Upgrade to lvl 2
Level 3: Stack 1 lvl 1 cannon
Level 4: Upgrade to lvl 2
Level 5: Stack 1 lvl 1 cannon
Level 6: Upgrade to lvl 2
Level 7: dont change
Level 8: 3 air towers in lower left, one upgraded to lvl 2. Try to sell before level is over

[dsmrolla06]

You only need a 1/4 of a square to place a cannon. Start at one corner and bulid a row using only half a square, go back to far left side, move up one half square and the to the right using only a 1/4 of a square for each cannon. See middle and top sections of picture.

[dsmrolla06]

meh...

[boost]

fuck this stupid game, SCTWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Lukie]

played once tonight and got 238k but messed some stuff up like forgetting interest once near the end, lost a lot of lives, overbuilt sometimes, etc

[Lukie]

back on topic!

gogogo

[Lukie]

starcraft 2 for those that dont follow

[Jack Sawyer]

My protosss shalll own j00 allll
For Zeratul!

[Lukie]

My protosss shalll own j00 allll
For Zeratul!

speaking of which, I've heard people say protoss is going to be overpowered because most of the new units showed off were protoss units. There were some sick abilities in there for sure.

blizzard obviously knows this. the other races are going to have some SICK attributes to them as well. I just hope they stick with what made zerg so great in the first place, the ability to power whore, expand all over the place, put constant pressure on people, and make a sick amount of units very fast. I suspect this will be the case.

[Lukie]

also, look at original starcraft. Protoss had some sick units in there as well. +1 attack zealots ripped through lings in 2 hits, dark templar high templar, reavers, carriers, etc. In reality the game was very balanced, and if anything, toss was slightly underpowered especially on LT. A lot of the units were never even really practical in a real game. like vs zerg in mid-late game you'd normally see zeal/goon/archon/templar as the main army.

[LeFou]

Fnord - just wondering if there's anyone in house that is a linux fanboy that pushes for us users who refuse to use M$ software..

You cedega?

[Jack Sawyer]

My protosss shalll own j00 allll
For Zeratul!

speaking of which, I've heard people say protoss is going to be overpowered because most of the new units showed off were protoss units. There were some sick abilities in there for sure.

blizzard obviously knows this. the other races are going to have some SICK attributes to them as well. I just hope they stick with what made zerg so great in the first place, the ability to power whore, expand all over the place, put constant pressure on people, and make a sick amount of units very fast. I suspect this will be the case.

All your Zerg's are belong to me.
I eat Zerglings for breakfast.
Bring it on Lukie!

[Jack Sawyer]

also, look at original starcraft. Protoss had some sick units in there as well. +1 attack zealots ripped through lings in 2 hits, dark templar high templar, reavers, carriers, etc. In reality the game was very balanced, and if anything, toss was slightly underpowered especially on LT. A lot of the units were never even really practical in a real game. like vs zerg in mid-late game you'd normally see zeal/goon/archon/templar as the main army.

They are too expensive. That is their main drawback.
Lemme see if I remember: I used to attack with two reavers, two high templars with the storm thing, lots of carriers, and an arbiter. unbalanced, but very powerful.
And of course, a few dark templars to fuck up your resource gathering.
Ah, those were the good days...

[Lukie]

also, look at original starcraft. Protoss had some sick units in there as well. +1 attack zealots ripped through lings in 2 hits, dark templar high templar, reavers, carriers, etc. In reality the game was very balanced, and if anything, toss was slightly underpowered especially on LT. A lot of the units were never even really practical in a real game. like vs zerg in mid-late game you'd normally see zeal/goon/archon/templar as the main army.

They are too expensive. That is their main drawback.
Lemme see if I remember: I used to attack with two reavers, two high templars with the storm thing, lots of carriers, and an arbiter. unbalanced, but very powerful.
And of course, a few dark templars to fuck up your resource gathering.
Ah, those were the good days...

not unbalanced, because protoss never got this unit combination in a real game, esp in pvz

money maps with 30 minutes no rush or similar garbage, sure