StarCraft II Official! (Pictures)

[Maglok]

Totally awesome!

[Rocco]

Those Mar Sara graphics are beautiful.

[omega20]

Awesome!

[AA7Dragoon]

Infested Aiur ruins?  Very cool.

[Meta]

Quite an interesting batch for us, future SC2 mapmakers. The more relevant answers are in blue color:

---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 42---

1. What was the main reasoning to shifting the Hydralisk backwards one technology level? How does this affect the Zerg early-game, especially since the Zerg will have absolutely no anti-air units before the Hydralisks? (gamereplays.org)

Actually, the Hydralisk has been brought back down to Tier 1.5, giving Zerg early anti-air capabilities without upgrading their Hatchery to a Lair. The test originally was to put Hydralisks at a later tech and have Corruptors be buildable earlier without a prerequisite building other than upgrading to the Lair. To make this happen, the Corruptors had to be nerfed appropriately to fit that tech, which made it very weak and much less fun. Additionally, without a prerequisite building, opposing players could not scout the Zerg player to see when they were going air, which did not fit the gameplay style we were shooting for.

2. What kinds of cheats will be included in Starcraft 2, and how will they be accessed/unlocked? (starcraft.org)

There will be cheats, but you wont know what they are from us  sorry.

3. Concerning resources there is one big issue for mapmakers: There are only two of them. For many UMS-maps you need more different resource-types than gas and minerals, thus mapmakers were forced to use even civilians as a sort of resource. So will mapmakers be able to place their one, gather-able resources on the map such as lumber or gold? (starcraft2.4players.de)

Yes, we have recently added support for one additional custom resource type. Additional custom resources types may be implemented in the future, but there are no plans at the moment.

4. With the Battlecruiser's new ability dealing splash damage to lightly armored air units, you could fear that the Thor has once more fallen into a role void. Is this the case or are the Battlecruiser ability and the Thor's anti-air capabilities tactically different enough? (Gamereplays.org)

The overlap is really no more different than a Siege Tank and the Yamato Gun ability or the Reaver and the Psi Storm from Brood War. The new ability helps the Battlecruiser against a specific group of units, which are units the Battlecruiser is already good against, rather than making it effective against all units. The last thing we wanted is for the Battlecruiser to kill groups of units that are supposedly effective at countering it, such as the Warp Ray.

5. Does the Battlecruisers new AoE affect friendly units in the area? (thewarcenter.net)

No, the Missile Barrage does not affect friendly units.

6. Will it be possible to use the full 3D cinematics mechanic from the single player campaign in the map editor? (sc2pod.com)

Yes, we are looking forward to seeing some awesome custom cut scenes from the community.

7. Most users know that even invisible units can be seen by experienced players since they cause this nice little blur effect while in Warcraft 3 invisible units are indeed invisible aside from leaving footprints on the ground. So what about transferring the 'real' invisibility into the World of Starcraft by allowing mapmakers to choose from those two different invisible modes for each unit? (starcraft2.4players.de)

Map makers will be able to remove the blur effect that is currently on StarCraft IIs invisible units.

---End of Transmission---

[tipereth]

The thing is, in Warcraft 3, an invisible unit was advantageous because the enemy wouldn't know it was there. In Starcraft, it was advantageous because the enemy couldn't attack it.

[AA7Dragoon]

6. Will it be possible to use the full 3D cinematics mechanic from the single player campaign in the map editor? (sc2pod.com)

Yes, we are looking forward to seeing some awesome custom cut scenes from the community.

This is significant and could mean a potential boon for the Campaign Creations community.  Not only are we able to create diverse custom campaigns, but it would seem we have the potential of creating elaborate stories and dramas based simply on the full 3D cutscene map editor.

[Marco]

6. Will it be possible to use the full 3D cinematics mechanic from the single player campaign in the map editor? (sc2pod.com)

Yes, we are looking forward to seeing some awesome custom cut scenes from the community.

This is significant and could mean a potential boon for the Campaign Creations community.  Not only are we able to create diverse custom campaigns, but it would seem we have the potential of creating elaborate stories and dramas based simply on the full 3D cutscene map editor.

Don't know how that is supposed to work.  Generic motion capture data for humanoid units across the board?  The more complex it gets the more I think how overly ambitious a lot of people are going to make their projects - and ultimately, never finish.  But I'll reserve judgment till I see more, it may be surprisingly simple.  I'm eager to see how cinematic the in-game units can be.  Such as units with lips actually using them to speak in-game?  Hard to say at this point.  The more I know, the more I'm eager to learn.

[Rocco]

Getting way overly excited over here, so many possibilities are gonna be ridiculous.

[WB]

Really looking forward to Rise of Krillatul, or something.

[Lavarinth]

What's interesting about this update is it provides some clues as to what a portion of the Terran campaign is going to be set in at the starting levels.  In addition, you can see some of the civilian units and colony doodads of the template.  Real cool.  I'm sure there will be plenty of doodads for creating ruined city landscapes, as Mar Sara was previously destroyed by Tassadar when the Protoss bombarded the planet in SC1.

What I found interesting was this planet detail: "Indigenous Life Forms: None/zerg infestation (minor)"
Does that leave one to think there WILL be new species to interact with?

Whew, finally something different.  I like seeing 'irrelevant' stuff like this, cause we all get to use it ourselves.  =)

This is the stuff dreams come from. I'm tired of gameplay details until I see large advancements.. I just want to see the extras most people wont care about, but that this community thrives on.

This is significant and could mean a potential boon for the Campaign Creations community.  Not only are we able to create diverse custom campaigns, but it would seem we have the potential of creating elaborate stories and dramas based simply on the full 3D cutscene map editor.

The Second Coming has been announced. Let the new awakening begin!

Don't know how that is supposed to work.  Generic motion capture data for humanoid units across the board?  The more complex it gets the more I think how overly ambitious a lot of people are going to make their projects - and ultimately, never finish.  But I'll reserve judgment till I see more, it may be surprisingly simple.  I'm eager to see how cinematic the in-game units can be.  Such as units with lips actually using them to speak in-game?  Hard to say at this point.  The more I know, the more I'm eager to learn.

Generic motion capture? Possible but unnecessary and expensive. Typically a waste of time unless it's for a full-CGI movie as well. Anything in motion capture can be done much more vividly and realistically with manual keyframing and animating. Some basic knowledge in any 3D application and anyone could do it.

Really looking forward to Rise of Krillatul, or something.

Let's hope the first pre-game-release campaign isn't made by wc3sc2campaigns.com, WB Then we're a-ok.

[chris]

SC2 is gonna be HUEG LIEK XBOX

[Rocco]

Public beta please

[Marco]

Generic motion capture? Possible but unnecessary and expensive. Typically a waste of time unless it's for a full-CGI movie as well. Anything in motion capture can be done much more vividly and realistically with manual keyframing and animating. Some basic knowledge in any 3D application and anyone could do it.

Yes, I am aware of keyframing, but what a time sink.  If you want to create a Blizzard quality campaign, you're definitely going to need more than one person if it comes down to having to do stuff like that.

[Lavarinth]

Generic motion capture? Possible but unnecessary and expensive. Typically a waste of time unless it's for a full-CGI movie as well. Anything in motion capture can be done much more vividly and realistically with manual keyframing and animating. Some basic knowledge in any 3D application and anyone could do it.

Yes, I am aware of keyframing, but what a time sink.  If you want to create a Blizzard quality campaign, you're definitely going to need more than one person if it comes down to having to do stuff like that.

We'll see about that, StarFox.