StarCraft II Official! (Pictures)

[Taeradun]

Can't say I'm impressed by the Ultralisk

WHAT A SURPRISE

[RazorclawX]

I used to think the same about the Ultra - a badly balanced cannon-fodder unit - until I saw some progamer matches involving them. Those psychotic Zerg players with 6+ expansions easily make the Ultralisk one of the most feared units in the game. An army of 3/5 Ultralisks escorted by Adrenal Zerglings and Defilers is a force to be reckoned with.

Seriously, it constantly baffles me to this day why people didn't do this more often when I was still playing. I've never had this tactic fail me (then again I think mass Mutalisks was all the rage at the time).

[wibod]

Can't say I'm impressed by the Ultralisk

WHAT A SURPRISE

The Ultralisk really looks funny, particularly the back of it.

[chris]

I, for one, like the new ultralisk. It looks a lot cooler than the old gigantic cockroach model the old one had

[Meta]

Argh, let's shake off some of this angst from the forums... here's a cool interview with Metzen about SC2, and how, in his opinion, the SC2 plot is much more grounded and plausible than the SC1 plot. Cool artwork and, for those who like it, WoW info available as well. 

http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcast/archive/episode2.xml

[Magic]

Plausible? 

At the end of the day, Warcraft alone is such a huge setting and such a big universe that there's no way any one person could manage all those characters and places and things.

Except someone liek JRR Tokien. 

That's a really good interview, awesome views in there and I think it shows how much credit Metzen deserves for his work.

There's all sorts of little nooks and crannies like that, that Northrend really brings full circle, that the Wrath of the Lich King expansion really brings full circle. So, it's been really fun for me to be able to help steer the setting.

I'm quite worried about this. I really hope WOTLK isn't some final cash in while WOW is experiencing it's high level of popularity. When I heard WOTLK was the expansion, I really wondered where the series could go after that since most of the very established lore (in a continental way of Azeroth) will then have been explored.

[Meta]

Well, not plausible, but as he says, characters behave more accordingly and everything makes more sense. "Consistent" should've been the word.

[Marine]

StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 31

Gameplay blog:
This past week while playing a Terran versus Terran mirror game, I discovered a new unit option from the Factory. This new unit is known as the Jackal, which is a fast vehicle like the Vulture, but instead wields a rail gun, which does an area of effect damage in a straight line at ground units.

My opponent built the standard Marines & Medics (M&Ms) composition while I bunkered my choke point and teched straight to a Factory with a Reactor add on, which allows me to build two Jackals at one time from a single Factory.

After I built a group of 6 Jackals, I rolled onto the field with my Jackals broken up in two groups with 3 Jackals each. I engaged his M&Ms with my first group, having the Marines line up around my Jackals as they naturally do while firing. Quickly, I brought in my second group of Jackals along the side to flank the M&Ms and the line attack did the rest, killing up to 2-3 units with a single focus fire command. With a little micromanagement, I was able to decimate his whole group of 15 or so units, while only losing two Jackals. That battle gave me a significant military advantage, which eventual led to a relatively quick win.

StarCraft II Q&A Batch 31

How will Marines mount into a pod? Is this done via the barracks, or an entirely unannounced building, or Dropship-like airship yet to be revealed?

Terran infantry currently load into the Shadow Ops building (prerequisite for the Ghost). A Ghost can then launch drop pods, which originate from that building.

Can a player order a Ghost in a Bunker to call Nukes and Drop Pods?

Yes, Terran infantry currently have all abilities except the SCV repair ability available for use while inside a bunker, including the use of Nukes and Drop Pods.

What spells are specifically affected by the Nullifiers ability? Will physical spells like the Marines Stim Pack, the Ghosts Nuke, or Reaper Mines be disabled? Also, will spells cast before entering the area (I.E. Ghosts cloak) be disabled upon entering the area?

Only abilities which require energy usage will need be unable to be cast while in the Null Voids area of effect. Additionally, the Null Void ability will disengage cloak by units such as the Ghost. It also currently reveals burrowed Zerg units, but this is still being debated in terms of balance.

Last we heard, Veterancy was active for the Terran but we havent heard anything about it since and are quite curious is it still in the game?

Veterancy will likely be seen in the single player campaign, but will not be in the multiplayer game.

In StarCraft, some units had instant attack animations (Corsiar, Mutalisk, Vulture). This allowed people with good micro to make these units move and shoot. In contrast there were units that had an attack animation which required the unit to stop and shoot. This allowed people with good micro to dance (move, shoot, move shoot, maximizing the distance travelled without the unit losing any shooting time). In Warcraft III, units tended to have attack animations which took as long as the cooldown for the attack, making micro actions such as these non-existent.

Will units in StarCraft II have attack animations that last as long as the cooldown for their attack, similar to Warcraft III? or will players be able to dance (moving in between shooting) like in StarCraft? Also, will there be any units with instant attack animations that can be micromanaged to move and shoot like in StarCraft?

Balance will be the first priority when determining the animation duration for units. With that said, there will be certain units that players will be able to dance with, and there will be other units which will force the unit to stop and fire. Some units in StarCraft II will not only need to stop and fire, but will do additional damage to a target while it focuses. All of these characteristics which determine how a unit will be used in competitive play will be chosen based on balance.

When a unit is cloaked or burrowed, can the sensor tower still see the unit in the fog of war?

Yes, the Sensor Tower will reveal all units in the fog of war, including cloaked and burrowed units. Sensor Towers are currently a staple to any Terran defense or offensive.

[Meta]

Here's the screenies for the lazy fellas.

IMO the game looks better with less saturation and it's way easier to distinguish units now. GJ Blizz.

However, as Mesk said, Terran infantry units look somewhat the same.



[imgwh 640x480]http://www.battle.net/images/misc/08-03/B.jpg[/imgwh]

[imgwh 640x480]http://www.battle.net/images/misc/08-03/C.jpg[/imgwh]

[imgwh 640x480]http://www.battle.net/images/misc/08-03/D.jpg[/imgwh]

---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.

---End of Transmission---

[AA7Dragoon]

A definite improvement, graphic wise, although SC1 still seems somewhat more realistic to me in terms of graphics.  Haven't they been able to evolve from there instead of the WCIII cartoon?

What is that new Protoss unit that looks like a mini-Arbiter but is shooting a skinny blue laser at those bunkers?

[WB]

Those look delicious

[Kaoru]

A definite improvement, graphic wise, although SC1 still seems somewhat more realistic to me in terms of graphics.  Haven't they been able to evolve from there instead of the WCIII cartoon?

What is that new Protoss unit that looks like a mini-Arbiter but is shooting a skinny blue laser at those bunkers?

That's the Nullifier. Or the current model of it, anyhow. Reminds me of RCX's scorpion-tanks from Vision 4.

[Thalraxal]

A definite improvement, graphic wise, although SC1 still seems somewhat more realistic to me in terms of graphics.  Haven't they been able to evolve from there instead of the WCIII cartoon?

What is that new Protoss unit that looks like a mini-Arbiter but is shooting a skinny blue laser at those bunkers?

That's the Nullifier. Or the current model of it, anyhow. Reminds me of RCX's scorpion-tanks from Vision 4.

Really?  I thought they were still using the old Star Relic/Stasis Orb model for it.  Cool!  Looks like a cute little robotic unit.  I like it!

[Lavarinth]

Those new units that replace the Firebat are freakin' huge.

[IskatuMesk]

Those new units that replace the Firebat are freakin' huge.

Getting to be too much like wc3