IskatuMesk SC2 Beta Coverage

[tipereth]

I've lagged out of two MP games, even with settings turned down to shit. No stuttering or FPS drop or anything, just a timeout.

[IskatuMesk]

No lag out yet for me. Just the weird 0.5-1sec wc3-style delay on every command.

Also, SC2 beta music.

http://anonym.to/?http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XIZ3LQFZ

Protoss 2 doesn't work because I didn't realize it was a 4kb file (like the vict/defeat tracks) in the mpq.

[tipereth]

Lag seemed to solve itself.
Thoughts on first real game:
More pressure to expand than I remember because I was floating a zillion minerals and 0 gas pretty constantly.
Haven't played a real game of starcraft in like 2 years so whoopee.

[IskatuMesk]

SC2 BETA UI SCREENSHOTS

In these screenshots I'll show you Battle.net and the various menus along with my opinions. Click for full size (1920x1200)

[imgwh 640x400]http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/9246 ... 431012.jpg[/imgwh]

^ After logging in. Here we are already starting to meet with sc2's outrageously huge buttons. The buttons don't need to be this big. I'm on 1920x1200. That button is like, 4-5 inches across. It looks very bad.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/14/s ... 431781.jpg[/imgwh]

Pressing okay goes here, battle.net 2.0. Battle 2.0 is the biggest disappointment in all of Starcraft 2 for me. Not only is it ugly and bulky as hell, it's also irritating to use. I still click a lot of the wrong buttons because they're not labeled like they were in wc3 even though they occupy more than enough space to contain text as well. There are NO chat rooms, NO online replay hosting. This is more like battle.net 0.5. A huge step backwards imo.

The text windows for chatting are also kind of irritating. They do that whole trillian astra thing where sequential text from a user doesn't list their name for the next lines. Some people might like that but I hate it. Also, the windows are very groggy and slow iin moving them around. It's pretty obvious they rushed the fuck out of this because it's terrible. I really hope they overhaul this entire layout and ui before release. It's ugly, it's slow, and it lacks the most basic features of the original battle.net for starcraft 1.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/4776 ... 510543.jpg[/imgwh]

Lavarinth being modest. The text in this window is how large the biggest text on this screen should be for this resolution. That way you can conserve space and it won't look so cluttered. The profile screen is really not that bad compared to the rest of the game.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/415/sc ... 553377.jpg[/imgwh]

Game creation lobby is also a bit bulky and kind of "puffy" looking. It could be much smaller and still be very easy to use. In particular the player "bars" are a little big for my tastes. Again, this is 1920x1200 on a 24" widescreen - this stuff is huge for me and it looks bad.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/906/ ... 560049.jpg[/imgwh]

The ability to "slide" players into their appropriate teams is a lot faster than the team selection dropdowns in wc3. I thought that the "Other" gametype equated to ums but all it does is enable you to move guys around. So it doesn't look like that UMS has made a comeback like I first suspected, which is very unfortunate.

More to come.

[IskatuMesk]

OPTIONS MENUS

I think "recording" is for casting? I'm not sure. It's grayed out.


[imgwh 640x400]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3037 ... 032504.jpg[/imgwh]

^ Sound options. 128 channels = FUCK YES! Hell, it's about time.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/64/s ... 032830.jpg[/imgwh]

^ Voice chat. Disabling mic actually DISABLES IT throughout your ENTIRE COMPUTER. That's what was fucking up my recordings! Even at max volume, anyone talking using VOIP is EXTREMELY quiet.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/1475 ... 033063.jpg[/imgwh]

^ Gameplay options. Woot @ being able to disable windows key.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2091 ... 033245.jpg[/imgwh]

^ Social.

[imgwh 640x400]http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7972/s ... 033668.jpg[/imgwh]

^ Graphics. Models don't have an "Ultra" setting. Very depressing. No idea what "Extreme" level shaders does. Haven't noticed a difference between that and high yet.

[Xenon]

I'd have to guess that the .m3h files are havok physics data for each model. Physics being an option under graphics is a bad sign for the possibility of using gameplay-altering physics, but we'll have to wait and see.

[UntamedLoli]

Yeah they are most likely the physics models now that you mention it.

[IskatuMesk]

Yeah I forgot about that.

And yes, I'm not sure about server-side physics. I haven't seen anything that is using that yet.

[Falchion]

I'm seeing right now the vid on SC: Legacy.  Mesk's right about too fast battles, things simply spiral out of everyone's control if you're not prepared, number-wise.  But then, it's the beta, there's still time to fix and balance back to standard pacing.

[IskatuMesk]

I have extreme doubts they're going to be turning sc2 away from the insane bursty clusterfuck it's at right now. They've spent the entire development process steering the game TOWARDS this direction, in part because of MBS and in part because of browder's lust to "outdo" sc1 in terms of "skill ceiling" and "intensity".

Also, the terrain is blurry. I said it. It absolutely needs to be higher rez.

[Falchion]

Addtional note:  BRING ME THE OLD ZEALOT VOICE BACK, THE NEW ONE SOUNDS TOO HOMO KLINGON-ISH.

[IskatuMesk]

I actually liked the new Zealot voice. At least a lot more than the other protoss voices. The mothership, Zealot, and Dark Templar are my favorites.

[RazorclawX]

I have extreme doubts they're going to be turning sc2 away from the insane bursty clusterfuck it's at right now. They've spent the entire development process steering the game TOWARDS this direction, in part because of MBS and in part because of browder's lust to "outdo" sc1 in terms of "skill ceiling" and "intensity".

I made one Infector. Its contribution to battle was a big fat zero.

[tipereth]

I've been getting geysers going really really early, like, before my spawning pool is half done, and the second geyser up not long after. Gas flow feels sooooo slow.

[IskatuMesk]

Zerg is VERY gas intensive. Some people seem to like 1 hatch Roach but I always play for mid and late game so I usually get my eco up then expand right after and go into lair for hydras. In either case, you're always stressed for gas.

RCX > Infestors can't MC robotic units anymore. Their DoT is pretty useless too. Maybe you could use it in some situational instance but otherwise the 20 damage over 8 seconds is kinda pitiful.