StarCraft 2

[Lucern]

I like RTS games too. I played Starcraft, Warcrafts, Command and Conquer, but by Starcraft I was mostly just playing to play with friends. Dawn of War re-awokened my taste for the genre. Few games are as intense for me, and I like the 'on your feet' kind of strategizing involved.

That being said, the gameplay videos from Starcraft look like a couple of steps back from that. This could be totally wrong, but it doesn't look squad-based. I don't know if I could go back to building individual infantry...ugh. If it is squad based, several of those units were walking single file... Also, thanks to Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, I'd have a hard time coping with a game that doesn't incorporate morale, on-the-fly unit upgrades, cover, and (CoH only) an actual physics engine.

Nevertheless, I'm mostly with ya Ilander, I'd hardly play RTS games if turn-based strategies were common [img]tongue.gif[/img] , and as it is I fire up DosBox more often than any other program.

[Balintherlas]

I hope the Protoss still have the carrier and scout, I didnt see them in the gameplay video, although that mothership looked real cool, so did those zerg nydus worms.

[Hivetyrant]

Strangely, I am actually looking forward to this after watching the gameplay video...

Though if there was one thing that I wanted to see in a game like starcraft 2, it was (somewhat) realistic scaling.. As in, the terran Battlecruisers and the Protoss carriers would actually take up a large protion of the screen(I know that makes some things difficult) but its just one more thing that makes it hard to find the game believeable if you know what I mean.

[Marty4]

I'm really pumped for this to come out. Ever since WC3, I haven't really been able to get into an RTS, but this looks VERY promising. They only have 3 races listed, I wonder how they'll handle the whole Zerg/Protoss hybrid things. Perhaps an unlockable race that they just haven't released yet?

Of course, I'll never stop loving Battlezone II, but I guess it's too much to ask for another RTS with that style to be released.

[Harkoliar]

i would like them to just keep it into 3.. the storyline is the one should making it interesting plus the new units.

[Hivetyrant]

Originally posted by Marty4: I'm really pumped for this to come out. Ever since WC3, I haven't really been able to get into an RTS, but this looks VERY promising. They only have 3 races listed, I wonder how they'll handle the whole Zerg/Protoss hybrid things. Perhaps an unlockable race that they just haven't released yet? Of course, I'll never stop loving Battlezone II, but I guess it's too much to ask for another RTS with that style to be released.

The interview with the producer said that there will be no other races, and nothing more about the Zerg/Protoss hybrid

[Bozos of Bones]

Actually, he said that the Z/P will probably make an appearance, and even be of importance, but won't be an actual race. Kinda like the Nagas in W3.
Oh, and I see another Battlezone 2 fan here! W00t!

[Balintherlas]

and the burning legion, I read they woulda made the demons a race but didnt really like the idea of having little demons running around getting gold and wood. Also, did you notice how WC3 and the exspansion story line was very similar to SC and brood war. I hope SC2 will have something different, you know, where the good guys win (Terran and Protoss), and the bad guys lose (Zerg, those miserable f'n xenomorphs that remind me of the Arachnids in Starship Troopers).

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Ilander: I've tried to get into RTS's before...I remember really trying with Age of Empires I and II. Is Starcraft a substantially different experience?

The key is the races. In AoE, all the races are almost exactly the same: The differences in what technologies & upgrades you can research are all quite minor, and the much-touted "unique units" for each race are only slightly more powerful than their common equivalents, which almost all of the races could build anyway. So no matter what race you are, gameplay turns out exactly the same: Get a Castle as fast as you can to get some real defense, then advance to the Imperial Age and build a Trebuchet or two, and then proceed to lay waste to the land, protected by your massed force of archers with some heavy cavalry & Monk support. The only unique units that ever see real use are the Longbowman, Mangudai, Longship, and War Elephant--even the Cataphract is nearly eclipsed by the regular Paladin.

In StarCraft, however, the three races are completely different; the only units that are even remotely equivalent are the resource-gathering workers, and even they show remarkable divergence when it comes to their methods of erecting a building. My first time playing Terran was pretty straightforward--I was, after all, an expert at WarCraft--but when I'd beaten the Terran campaign and started playing Zerg, I literally suffered from culture shock. I was, "Wait a minute--you want me to tell my FARM to fly around to scout out the enemy?!? And now you want me to tell my guys to climb INTO my Farm, and it will carry them across the sea!?!" And yet for all the differences, the 3 races are amazingly well balanced when it comes to overall power. That's the beauty of it--different arributes of your own race come into prominence depending on what your opponents' races are, and what they're building. If you're Zerg and facing Terrans armed with Battlecruisers, any money put into making Scourges is money wasted. But when Protoss Carriers come knocking at your door, Scourges are your best friend.

Originally posted by Harkoliar: i would like them to just keep it into 3 [races].. the storyline is the one should making it interesting plus the new units.

I disagree--I would prefer something along the order of 5 completely different races, to make the game even more of a logistical mind-mash than the original. If StarCraft 1 was Rock-Paper-Scissors, then a StarCraft 2 with 5 races would be the much more complex Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock (and yes, this game actually exists). That's why I've been designing 2 all-new races to add to the SC universe--I don't expect them to bear any resemblance whatsoever to what SC2 actually turns out to be, but they were fun to write up. I managed to preserve the game balance, too, for what it's worth.

[JrKASperov]

That's pretty interesting Six, would you mind giving me (or anyone else for that matter) a sample?