StarCraft II Announced

[Warlock]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/788/788627p1.html
http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850126/imgs_1.html

http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/790/790131/starcraft-2-20070519000515560.jpg

[MottZilla]

Bout damn time.

[Darth Marsden]

I knew it was coming, but OMFG ORGASMIC SCREENIE!

...ahem. Sorry, don't know where that came from. Anyway, looking forward to seeing what happens with Kerrigan, or whatever she's called these days. I just wish I could actually complete the original! It was that little too hard for me, and I really didn't wanna cheat. Maybe I'll give it another go once I finsih Half-Life.

[Nicholas Steel]

I knew it was coming, but OMFG ORGASMIC SCREENIE!

...ahem. Sorry, don't know where that came from. Anyway, looking forward to seeing what happens with Kerrigan, or whatever she's called these days. I just wish I could actually complete the original! It was that little too hard for me, and I really didn't wanna cheat. Maybe I'll give it another go once I finsih Half-Life.


/me fully agrees... that screenie is just :googly: :D :scared:

[bigjoe]

Holy Shiznite!!!! Its about time. Hell Yes.

[mikeron]

I, too, would like to convey my ecstatic disbelief.

[Nicholas Steel]

since they added physics and all this other stuff, the level editor must be such a pain to use to make a simple level...

[mrz84]

And so the second coming is at hand. :kitty:

[Warlock]

http://www.starcraft2.com/ is active now

[Beldaran]

there go my grades. :(

[MottZilla]

since they added physics and all this other stuff, the level editor must be such a pain to use to make a simple level...

The editor no doubt is very similar to WarCraft 3's WorldEdit and it won't be hard to use. If it was that wold defeat the point of having it. I hope we find out soon when it is coming out and what kind of hardware would be best. And god it better not be Vista only. Also a 360 port would be nice. ;)

[The_Amaster]

:kawaii: Me likey, me likey. I haven't even played the first, and just from that shot, I know that I'm gonna love it.

[biggiy05]

:kawaii: Me likey, me likey. I haven't even played the first, and just from that shot, I know that I'm gonna love it.


I highly suggest you play through Starcraft and the Brood Wars expansion before this game comes out. You'll like it.

[Warlock]

The editor no doubt is very similar to WarCraft 3's WorldEdit and it won't be hard to use. If it was that wold defeat the point of having it. I hope we find out soon when it is coming out and what kind of hardware would be best. And god it better not be Vista only. Also a 360 port would be nice. ;)

http://pc.ign.com/articles/790/790158p1.html


As of right now, Blizzard has no plans to bring StarCraft 2 to consoles. They feel the fees console manufacturers' charges are still too high, and think their games are more suited for the PC platform anyway. Though the game, currently pre-alpha, does not support DX10 right now, it hopefully will in the future. The game will be playable on both Windows XP and Vista operating systems. StarCraft 2 will release when it's ready, says Blizzard.

[Darth Marsden]

There is a God!

[mikeron]

There is a God!And let us thank Him for not making this a "World of StarCraft" announcement.

[ONeilcool]

:clap:

Yayyyy

[Nicholas Steel]

The editor no doubt is very similar to WarCraft 3's WorldEdit and it won't be hard to use. If it was that wold defeat the point of having it. I hope we find out soon when it is coming out and what kind of hardware would be best. And god it better not be Vista only. Also a 360 port would be nice. ;)

warcraft III is simple to design levels for ;P but considering that in this starcraft 2 the level of detail and how realistic they want the fights to be (ie: with new physics and different speeds of transport on various terrain etc.) it would be considerably harder to make a balanced map in it then it would be to make one in warcraft III

[mikeron]

If anyone's having trouble watching the demo, it's also on YouTube:

Gameplay Demo 1/3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1KnmnFxHoE)
Gameplay Demo 2/3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1RxXko-AnM)
Gameplay Demo 3/3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=050akGtHDM4)

Also, the Protoss dialogue sounds cool in Korean.

[Nicholas Steel]

Will there be a console version of StarCraft II?

StarCraft II is being developed for the PC. We have no current plans to bring the game to any console platform.

What are the system requirements for StarCraft II?

We'll have more details on specific system requirements closer to the release date.

Will the game run natively on Windows Vista?

StarCraft II will be fully compatible with Windows Vista, as well as XP. We'll have more details on system requirements closer to release.

Will StarCraft II be available on Mac simultaneously with PC?

As with all of Blizzard's recent releases, StarCraft II will ship on both PC and Mac simultaneously.

Will StarCraft II take advantage of DirectX 10? What other graphical goodies are included?

The game will be compatible with DirectX 10, and we're still considering whether there will be exclusive DirectX 10 graphic effects, but the graphics engine will also be very scalable to ensure that a wide range of different systems will be capable of running StarCraft II. The new engine is also capable of rendering very large units, as well as large numbers of units on screen together. Havok physics have been integrated into the engine for added realism as well.

looks like only for the PC, which IMHO is best, because it means more money to maintain the game, this is one of few games i am willing to pay for, simply because if you look at blizzard's past you would see some rather exceptional quality, and they released yet another patch for starcraft 1 this month ! like compare there support for games to that of EA.

you can still play starcraft 1 online AFTER the release of starcraft 2.

edit: i just learnt you can press the control key and B (for instance) to add the bold tags to highlighted text in the quick reply chat box.

[Darth Marsden]

Yeah, I know - Ctrl-I italics stuff. How'd you think I kept my sanity during my South Park stories?

Even if it is PC only, I've no doubt that they'll port it to consoles at some point, much like they did with the original Starcraft and the N64. I'm thinking the Wii might be a good choice, but that's just me. They've announced nothing regarding this though, it's all speculation.

[Dechipher]

The wii would be better for a port of the original starcraft. This one looks a little too good, I doubt the Wii could handle all the stuff. Not that I know much about hardware and all that.

[Brasel]

Awesome. I still haven't finished Broodwars though. I loaned it to a friend and never got it back. I'm looking forward to this.

So whatever happened to Starcraft: Ghost?

[biggiy05]

So whatever happened to Starcraft: Ghost?

It was scrapped a while back. Year or two? Maybe more, I can't remember.

[MottZilla]

warcraft III is simple to design levels for ;P but considering that in this starcraft 2 the level of detail and how realistic they want the fights to be (ie: with new physics and different speeds of transport on various terrain etc.) it would be considerably harder to make a balanced map in it then it would be to make one in warcraft III

Designing levels will be just as easy. New fields to edit is no big deal. The level of detail shouldn't matter much at all. It's not like you'll be doing 3D modeling or something. Even if you were it's not that hard. They wouldn't want the editor to be hard to use.

[ShadowTiger]

If anyone's having trouble watching the demo, it's also on YouTube:

Gameplay Demo 1/3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1KnmnFxHoE)
Gameplay Demo 2/3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1RxXko-AnM)
Gameplay Demo 3/3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=050akGtHDM4)That ... ... was fucking AMAZING. The last five minutes of it just blew me away. That Planet Cracker sounds so cool. Going to have a lot of fun with that time shield too. The explosions at the end just cemented the whole ordeal with their surprise factor. I mean, holy hell, ...


I hope they have installation missions again. I'd miss them. Remember in Warcraft 1, how they had similar "Interior" Missions, but lacked them in Warcraft 2? I hope they don't do that with Starcraft. I LOOOOOVED those Interior Missions. You use your head instead of your money for those. So excellent.

[mrz84]

That ... ... was fucking AMAZING. The last five minutes of it just blew me away. That Planet Cracker sounds so cool. Going to have a lot of fun with that time shield too. The explosions at the end just cemented the whole ordeal with their surprise factor. I mean, holy hell, ...


I hope they have installation missions again. I'd miss them. Remember in Warcraft 1, how they had similar "Interior" Missions, but lacked them in Warcraft 2? I hope they don't do that with Starcraft. I LOOOOOVED those Interior Missions. You use your head instead of your money for those. So excellent.


I agree. I loved the inside missions of teh first Starcraft. The only one I hated was the one where you go after that one guy with Durran and end up having to race through a billion zerg to stop a self-destruct sequence. I can't rmember how many times I died on that map alone.

[Nicholas Steel]

anyone here download the starcraft II cinematic trailer? where you seriously disappointed at its lameness for 60mb? c'mon man, 60mb for a very dull and boring 4minute video ';..;' what where they thinking?

[mrz84]

One thing that might be interesting to see is a new race, like some lost remanant of the Xel' Naga (or however you spell the name of the race that spawned both the Zerg and the protoss)or those protoss/zerg hybrids you see in that find about in that one secret mission. :kitty:

[bigjoe]

anyone here download the starcraft II cinematic trailer? where you seriously disappointed at its lameness for 60mb? c'mon man, 60mb for a very dull and boring 4minute video ';..;' what where they thinking?

bah, I found it to be adequate. We finally get to see how a marine is "made" :)

[Grasshopper]

I never played SC. What was so cool about it?

[DarkDragoonX]

I never played SC. What was so cool about it?

It's widely considered to be the most fine-tuned, well-balanced RTS ever made. Although I find this claim somewhat dubious myself, the fact remains that even after around ten years since it's release, it is the most widely played RTS worldwide. Granted, it's not as big in the US as it used to be, but in Korea, there is at least one television channel devoted to Starcraft... heck, I think it's actually their national sport.

Now, personally, I've never been a huge fan of Starcraft (more of a Warcraft 2 guy), but it's effect on the RTS genre and it's continued popularity cannot be ignored.

[Darth Marsden]

Indeed. I doubt there's any non-MMORPG that's as strongly supported by their maker as this one. I believe they recently released another patch for it - if that's not customer service, I don't know what is.

Also, as do many RTS games do these days, it had an extremely well crafted story which was told during the missions themselves as well as in between levels. I'm not sure if previous Strategy games had cut-scenes or not, but if they did, they almost certainly weren't anywhere near the level they were in Starcraft. As a plus, the CGI cut-scenes between levels were amazing.

Another key factor was that you got to play as each race. Again, not new, but much more interesting, as they weren't simple carbon copies of each other - there were distinct differences between each one, changing how they played and the tactics you needed to use for each.

Finally, it was a pretty dark game. People did die, there was no happy ending (I think, I never actually finished it :eek: ) and it constantly left you wondering 'WFT just happened?'. If you've played Warcraft 3, you'll know what I mean by this.

If you can, I highly recommend you give it a try (http://www.blizzard.com/starcraft/scdemo.shtml).

[Nicholas Steel]

i forgot about that demo, =) if its the one i played then YES! thats a pretty awesome demo ;P

yes they released a new patch this month, v1.15 (this is like the 30th or 40th patch now)

it IS the most fine tuned hack free game (hack free in online play)

[mrz84]

Indeed. I doubt there's any non-MMORPG that's as strongly supported by their maker as this one. I believe they recently released another patch for it - if that's not customer service, I don't know what is.

Also, as do many RTS games do these days, it had an extremely well crafted story which was told during the missions themselves as well as in between levels. I'm not sure if previous Strategy games had cut-scenes or not, but if they did, they almost certainly weren't anywhere near the level they were in Starcraft. As a plus, the CGI cut-scenes between levels were amazing.

Another key factor was that you got to play as each race. Again, not new, but much more interesting, as they weren't simple carbon copies of each other - there were distinct differences between each one, changing how they played and the tactics you needed to use for each.

Finally, it was a pretty dark game. People did die, there was no happy ending (I think, I never actually finished it :eek: ) and it constantly left you wondering 'WFT just happened?'. If you've played Warcraft 3, you'll know what I mean by this.

If you can, I highly recommend you give it a try (http://www.blizzard.com/starcraft/scdemo.shtml).
*Warning, spoilers ahead. If you haven't finished the Brood War expansion to Starcraft, don't read this post until you do. You have been warned.*
I have to agree, the first one is perhaps the greatest RTS ever to be created by humans. It was dark what with almost half the hero characters of all 3 races dying by the end of Brood War. I think the only ones still alive were Kerrigan (obviously since she conquered the combined might of the UED, the Protoss and Mengsk[or however you spell his name] in the last mission of Brood War.), Raynor (who she let live), Zeratul (my fav Protoss hero), Mengsk (also let him live after telling him she could kill him at her leisure), Durran (who reveals his true identity in the secret mission where you discover his experiments on Protoss/Zerg hybrids) and maybe that one Protoss pilot guy (Artanis I think). Whilst everyone else was either killed by Kerrigan, or Durran. Except for the UED admiral guy. In the ending he kills himself after leaving a message for his wife that he killed his best pal (who was my 2nd fav terran after Raynor[in his battleship]) and then shots himself in the head(with a old looking pistol no less) whilst the zerg trail his fleeing armada all the way back to earth. Yes, pretty dark stuff. :kitty:

[MottZilla]

anyone here download the starcraft II cinematic trailer? where you seriously disappointed at its lameness for 60mb? c'mon man, 60mb for a very dull and boring 4minute video ';..;' what where they thinking?

After eight years of nothing they finally announce the sequel, people were excited over that alone. I agree the trailer was not that interesting but it was enough and looked very sharp.

About StarCraft in general, probably the biggest reason for its success was the fact that it was the first good RTS game that was available and ready for the internet with a central free online gaming service (Battle.net). Had it not been for the rise of the consumer internet and Battle.net being a free service, StarCraft wouldn't be anywhere near as popular as it is.

[Riku]

Im glad SC 2 was released, but and I the only one that was praying to God that it would be Diablo 3 that was to be announced?...I guess ill have to wait another 3.. or 4. or 5 years...:*(

[Grasshopper]

Darth...your description of SC sounds like a description of C&C. :D

Riku, you could always play Hellgate: London.

[SpacemanDan]

The announcement of SC2 makes me think of Edmund Duke saying "Bout time."
I've always wanted to see what happened after brood war. Hopefully, we'll see the result of what was in the stasis chamber at the end of the secret level.
And those screenies blew me away! That's some pretty promising stuff.
Certainly can't wait for this one. (Thinks of going to EB to preorder it as soon as I can.) :D

[AlexMax]

Granted, it's not as big in the US as it used to be, but in Korea, there is at least one television channel devoted to Starcraft...

Two. There is OGN and MBC, both of which have streams that work outside of Korea that I can't be arsed to find right now. Or, if you don't feel like staying up past midnight to watch starcraft, you can get VOD's and match reports here (http://teamliquid.net/).

Also, if you want to play the maps that the pros play, you can download the official WGT mapset here (http://wgtour.com/map.php?datab=broodwar). Longinus and Tau Cross seem to be the most popular maps right now.