---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 32: SCREENIES---
There is lots to talk about in Batch 32 and I'll be answering questions through the day about these screeenshots so fire away
I hope everyone enjoys them!
Community ScreenCraft: In addition to our Q&A Map Maker Series, Gameplay Series, Lore Series, we are going to include our Community ScreenCraft Series, featuring screenshots crafted specifically to progress the dialogues and discussions we have currently going on in the community. To start us off, I have taken four screenshots which capture our latest discussions over the past month. Feel free to comment, give feedback, or ask questions in regards to these screenshots. When doing so, it will help to identify the screenshot you are referring to as Screenshot A or Screenshot B and etc. If you have you have additional screenshots you would like to see, that would also benefit our community discussions, please request them here:
StarCraft II General Discussion - Screenshot A: Blink Assault http://www.battle.net/images/misc/08-03/A.jpg
In Blink Assault you can clearly see and feel the new sense of Terran grittiness. Team colors are a bit worn from battle and the metal texture in Terran units and building have been desaturated a bit. In this screenshot you can see Immortals take on the pounding of fortified Siege Tanks with their hardened shields, while the Stalkers blink up on the cliffs for the assault.
Screenshot B: A Lone Outpost http://www.battle.net/images/misc/08-03/B.jpg
The Terran Army struggles to defend their lone outpost in the scrap yards, fending off a Protoss onslaught just long enough until the Battlecruisers arrive. Though even with their reinforcements, the battle is far from won, as the Protoss also arrive with their fleet of Carriers to counter.
Screenshot C: The Final Push http://www.battle.net/images/misc/08-03/C.jpg
This screenshot depicts a large counter attack upon a Protoss base responsible for warping in several waves of attacks on Terran outposts. Dropped Siege Tanks bombard the area, while the Jackals torch up the surroundings with their area of effect line attack. Furthermore, the Marauders slow incoming Zealots as the Battlecruisers plasma weapons make short work of them.
Screenshot D: Anti-Gravity Back Door http://www.battle.net/images/misc/08-03/D.jpg
As requested by the community, I have taken a screenshot showing a Dark Templar squad secretly infiltrating the Terrans front lines with the help of the Nullifier and its Anti-Gravity ability (previous moved from the High Templar). The Terrans wont know what hit them until it is too late.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying the batches, especially the new sections like the ScreenCraft section we've added.
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 32: ScreenCraft Series --- 1. Will allies be able to use each others transport/teleportation methods? Marines in Overlords, Zealots in Nydus Worms, etc.. ? (sc2blog.com)
Many of these questions are still being debated within the development team and the final decisions will ultimately be determined through balance. Nonetheless, classic abilities, such as heal by the Terrans, will be usable on allies regardless of faction.
2. Does the Anti Gravity spell work for your own units? In other words, can you use it to lift up buildings to protect them from an early wave of Zergling? (TheWarCenter.com)
Yes, the Anti Gravity ability can be casted on friendly units and buildings. Also, the Anti Gravity ability has been added to the Nullifier, as the ability has proven much more effective in the earlier parts of the game. Nonetheless, this is still being tested and is subject to change.
3. What happens to units who are under a flying building when it falls down? Can you build a building under the building that are flying? and if that is the case, what happens to that building that it is landing on? Get.Yourgun (gosugamers.net)
This is actually a notable design challenge the development team is currently facing with the Anti Gravity ability. Currently, players are not allowed to build buildings under the floating object. When the object does land, it will land on top of whatever unit is under it. For example, if a Supply Depot is lifted up by Anti Gravity and it lands on a Marine when the ability duration is over, it will indeed land on the Marine (but will not cause damage). The Marine can then move out from under that building in the direction of that players choosing. The details around Anti Gravity are still very much in testing. As this is a new ability, many of the details are not finalized.
4. In StarCraft many glitches and near-bugs were discovered with the years passing. Many of them are used regularly and changed the game (Mutalisk stack, patrol-attacking, mineral hopping, Lurker hold, etc). This is and was even more true for other games (bunny hopping in quake or through-floors dmg, etc) and it became part of the identity of the game that people knew about those glitches, learned and mastered them. They became important aspects of the game.
Will any of these bugs make an appearance in StarCraft II, but as intentional features?
- Chosi (Teamliquid.net)
Yes, certain unit characteristics like the firing on the move dynamic of the Mutalisk, as well as stackable flyers will be in StarCraft II. Some of these characteristics may not feel completely the same, as it is a bit tougher to get flying units to stack, it will still be possible. Although it is important to note that not all of these characteristics will be making it back to StarCraft II, there will be plenty of opportunities for players to find new ways to use the units of StarCraft II in creative ways similar to the original.
5. What are the duties of the Blizzard eSports team, and how much will they be responsible for promoting Starcraft II as and eSport?(starfeeder.com)
The eSports team is responsible for developing Blizzards presence in the increasingly popular eSports scene. Their duties include the planning and operation of Blizzard tournaments around the world in places such as Asia, Europe and the United States. They also provide third-party support for the eSports leagues that host both online and live events using Blizzard titles. Additionally, they help provide balance feedback to our development teams based on interaction with professional gamers and response from the eSports community. They will have an integral role in promoting StarCraft II as an eSports as they have done for the previous Blizzard titles.
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 33: ScreenCraft--- Over the past week since the Zerg announcement, we've had many requests for an EPIC battle screenshot, thus I'm happy to present our 'Psi Onslaught' to the community for this latest ScreenCraft batch.
Make sure to make your screenshot requests for our future ScreenCraft batches here:
Battle.net
Also, we are always in need of good questions to guide the latest in StarCraft II discussions. Add your questions to our community questions request thread:
StarCraft II General Discussion -
Chat with Devs: After the Zerg release, I have been asking Dustin what types of changes are being made to the other factions during this process, and one of the most interesting ones that have been added has to do with the Terran Ghost. In order for the Terrans to counter the various new casters that have been introduced to all sides in StarCraft II, the Ghost can now detect units with energy in a 30 yard radius. This passive ability works similarly to the Sensor Tower, revealing their location even within the fog of war. This ability could also no doubt open up some interesting assassination type single player missions as well with the Ghost.
ScreenCraft: Psi Onslaught StarCraft II
As requested by the community, the Protoss have brought their heavy hitters in this psi onslaught upon a developing Zerg base. In retaliation, the Zerg counter with a ravaging pack of Ultralisks and Zerglings upon the advancing Templar army. While the epic battle begins, the Protoss player cleverly sneaks a group of Stalkers to raid the Zergs economy as well.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying the batches, especially the new sections like the ScreenCraft section we've added.
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 33: ScreenCraft--- 1. What upgrade type (assuming these are returning) is the Viking using? Vehicle or ship? (Or perhaps infantry?) (TheWarCenter.com)
The Viking is built from the Starport again and will use ship armor rather than vehicle armor.
2. What will Zerglings be able to do against new Jackal? (StarCraft II - starcraftcz.com)
Attacking Jackals efficiently with Zerglings will take a bit of micromanagement, making sure that Zerglings are spread out or attacking from different directions. The Jackals hit points have also been reduced from 125 to 75 with a slight increase to their speed. This will make them more vulnerable to Zerglings if you can get them close to surround the Jackals.
3. If a unit is being produced at a Protoss building while it becomes unpowered, does it continue production or pause until re-powered? (Battle.net) Blazur
If a Protoss building becomes unpowered, all production including research at that building will pause until re-powered.
4. In lieu of the Nydus Worm, will the Zerg Overlord maintain its "Ventral Sacs" upgrade? Will the Ultralisk have any sort of unit carrying capacity? (starcraft.org)
Currently, the Overlord's original Ventral Sacs ability has been taken out. With the introduction of the Nydus Worm, the Zerg will have more than enough mobility to keep their enemies on their toes. On that note, the Ultralisk will not be able to carry units.
5. To what degree will StarCraft II allow for remapping - limited remapping a la Warcraft III, or complete remapping of key bindings?
- Excalibur_Z (teamliquid.net)
We are planning to support key-mapping for StarCraft II. The extent of the ability for remapping keys is still to be determined. Even in current experimentations, we have found that there are often many issues with conflicting key bindings as there are very few open unmapped keys to be swapped in and out.
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---StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 34--- So now that all three races are out of the bag, you may have thought you've seen it all- nope! The Dev Team is still working very hard to add even more innovation and clever balance affecting design changes that will indeed polish out the gameplay of StarCraft II that much more.
Also, if you haven't already, be a part of StarCraft history by participating in our "I <3 SC" event! Your picture will be added to a wall of StarCraft fans! It is fast and easy to join up! Info here: Blizzard - "I <3 SC" Photo Mosaic
Chat with the Devs: As of recent, the Dev Team has added a new ability to the Protoss Carrier that will give it a little more Umph! versus Zerg Corruptor attacks or Viking raids. In the past, the Carrier simply had a large swarm of Interceptor fighters which you had to build from scratch. Carriers now come built with 4 Interceptors already loaded (which is also the max number of Interceptors currently). They also have the new ability to have Escorts built for a temporary power boost to focus fire. Strike Fighter Escorts cost resources to build and last only 45 seconds, but add a decent amount of firepower to a Carriers attack. A Carrier can have a maximum of 4 Escorts. Escorts are given attack orders to focus-fire on whatever the Carrier is attacking and they can be destroyed independently of the Carrier or each other. The cost for these Escorts will be significant enough to where players will not want to just have the max number all of the time, as that would bleed your economy needlessly. Thus, players will have to pick and choose their battles in where they want the full force of the Protoss fleet present.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying the batches.
1. An important aspect of any RTS game is for all races to have a way to siege fortified island positions, do the Protoss and Terrans [[and Zerg]] have a unit that is capable of doing so? (sclegacy.com)
All factions will have units capable of attacking from a longer range. Zerg have the Swarm Guardian, Terrans have the Battlecruisers Yamato Cannon, and the Protoss have the Carrier (which has gotten some additional abilities since we last talked about it). However we are not at all sure that these are enough to deal with fortified islands. More testing will tell us if this is sufficient or if we need more.
2. The Infestor is a very impressive unit that enchanted the community, because we all wanted to see a unit that is able to move while it is burrowed. Nevertheless there are still pending questions. Can the Infestor even infest Zerg buildings? Are infested marines produced as fast as it is shown on the gameplay trailer? Do you have to train them manually or will they pop out automatically? Do they cost minerals?(starcraft2.4players.de)
Like many Zerg units the Infestor is still under development. It cannot infest Zerg buildings though that is something we are still discussing. The speed at which Marines are generated changes frequently as we work on the ability. Sometimes its fast, sometimes not so fast. They will (probably) pop automatically. They do not have any cost associated with them.
3. The Medivac is a very interesting Unit, but there are not many information given to us so far. Can you tell us any more details about it? At which tier can it be found? How does the healing work? Can it even heal multiple units at once and how fast does it heal compared to the medic? (starcraft2.4players.de)
The Medivac is currently available from the Starport (no add-ons required). The healing works just like the medic. We will (if we keep the mechanic) be adding a graphic of the Medivac deploying medical drones to heal friendly biological units. It will only be able to heal a single unit at one time. The speed at which it heals changes frequently as we try different balance options.
4. There are many ambiguities concerning the Roach due to the much different information that has been given to us. Many users are quite unsure about its kind of attack. Is it a melee unit or is it ranged? Or is it kind of a crazy mix of both? And most important: can it hit air as well? (starcraft2.4players.de)
The Roach is ranged. He has been melee in the recent past (hence the art with the big claws) but he is currently ranged. This gives him added utility at chokes where he really shines. We have tried it as ground only and we have tried it as being able to hit ground or air. Currently it is ground only.
5. Can a Zerg Corruptor infest lifted-off Terran buildings, Colossuses, and other Zerg units such as Mutalisks or other Corruptors? Can Corruptor infest Thors, Siege Tanks or Marines if they are lifted-off by Anti-Gravity? (Battle.net) PCBANGFT
Yes, Corruptors can infest anything that flies or is forced into the air by abilities such as Anti-Gravity. In the situation of a unit being lifted by Anti-Gravity, the unit will return to the ground when the anti-gravity effect ends and sit on the ground. The corrupted unit is only allowed to attack air units and will do so if an enemy air unit flies by.
6. What is the reasoning behind changing Colossus' 'sliding' thermal lances (from 1st gameplay movie) to an array of beams (zerg trailer)? Balance? Visuals? Will it be possible to choose such sliding or array (or is it just 'horizontal' line?) fire mode from the Map Editor (available also for any other unit)? (battle.net) Dagguh
The array of beams give a more interesting AOE template for players to attempt to micro. The sliding beam looks cool, but ultimately doesnt produce any new gameplay. The current visuals on the beam are temp to see if we like the mechanic.
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