Chapter 1: The Grand Experiment
My grand design (and potentially overly ambitious plan) includes a massive 30 mission undertaking including fully scripted "Cinematic" levels where you sit back and watch parts of the story unfold. Much like the retail version, I'm splitting it into 3 chapters, one for each race. The Cinematic maps will not count toward the total of 30 missions. My goal is for each chapter to contain 10 missions as well as 2 Cinematic maps.
This campaign will start you off as the Zerg, starring Duran, one of my favourite Starcraft characters. The main plot of this chapter is Duran carrying on his Hybrid experiments and will eventually introduce us to his sinister master, only known as the Dark Lord (yes, I have a name for him, but I won't reveal it until a later chapter).
This chapter will feature 10 fully playable maps as well as 2 Cinematic levels. While it mostly does stick to the old school SC "build a base, create an army, smash the computer's face in" formula, I've tried to create some variety to break the monotony, whether it presents you with completely different mission objectives or throws in a plot twist, hopefully it sticks to the tried-and-true SC formula yet presents enough flavour to present a worthy playthrough.
Specifications
-Players
• 1 (obviously). These are strictly single player maps.
-Map tileset
• Since it's 12 different maps for the first chapter alone, it uses multiple tilesets including Jungle, Snow, Installation, and Space Platform.
-Map size
• The smallest actual map is 128x128 and the largest is 256x256. The Cinematic maps are smaller.
Storyline
To expand upon my opening paragraphs, you will be playing as a Zerg Cerebrate created by Duran as a temporary minion and guide Duran and his forces to victory in each mission, be it fending off a massive enemy attack on your space ship, investigating the ship itself for intruders, or simply hammering an enemy starfleet into space dust.
I'm designing the difficulty of the missions to hopefully be at least on par with Brood War, so hopefully most of them won't be too much of a walk in the park. With that said, in spite of my difficulty aims, the first few missions are still pretty darn easy, but as the campaign progresses I'm confident that they surpass the majority of Brood War's levels in terms of sheer difficulty.
Features
-Player Interface
• The game will always use a standard interface. While sticking very closely to the vanilla style, there are a few very obvious signs of using something other than the stock Staredit client, such as a few illegally placed structures and different player colours. With that said, don't expect to find any crazy square terrain, out-of-whack doodads, or stacking.
-What's new in your map that others have not done before?
• Hopefully this mapset provides a decent fanmade direction to the Starcraft storyline, picking up where Brood War left off. I'm out of touch with the mapping community, so I'm not sure how many Duran-inspired storylines there are floating around, but if it hasn't been explored in-depth as of yet, there you go.
Details
-Characters
• Duran will be the main protagonist.
• There are multiple antagonists that you come across throughout the campaign. The only one I'm giving away is Xianou, a Protoss Praetor bent on thwarting Duran's schemes.
Made with Showcase Template (keep this link to help propagate this template or you get smitten!)
All 10 missions are functioning properly and are ready for beta testing. However, I still need a lot of feedback before I deem the campaign "ready". In the mean time, I will begin work on Chapter 2, the Terran campaign. I highly recommend you play the maps fully in order, otherwise the current map you're playing will probably make little sense.
As a final reminder, any and all feedback is greatly desired and appreciated as this is a Beta thread and will be until I feel all 10 missions and any extra Cinematics are working properly and are well-tuned. I originally began work on the campaign when I was 14, over 8 years ago, only to end up scrapping it on mission 30 due to the atrocious quality of the maps. Many years later, I started the project over from scratch only to have it snuffed out by the WoW bug.
I think it's high time that I at the very least get Chapter 1 out the door and finish what I start for once.
Feel free to hit me up on MSN as well (dartheldraganus@hotmail.com).
You can download the campaign here: http://www.filefront.com/15778013/SCEWZerg.zip.
The entire Terran campaign can be found here: http://www.filefront.com/15869939/SCEWTerran.zip
CHANGELOG
None since the file was last updated.
If you're having trouble defeating a particular mission, here is a "pocket strategy guide" that I've written up. Contained within are quick pointers for beating each level. These pointers were derived from what I had in mind while designing each mission or how the missions were beaten during testing.
Z1
Spoiler
- Good use of Infested Terrans goes a long way, both for scouting and blowing up small chunks of Protoss units.
- Beware of traps and sneaky Reavers. Reckless advances will be cut short by these.
- Watch out for High Templars when doors are opened. Most of the time when you open a door, one or two Templars will try to surprise Psi Storm you.
- Duran is a Ghost. Use his abilities to their fullest, be it kiting Zealots, Lockdown on Reavers/Dragoons, or Cloaking.
- Beware of traps and sneaky Reavers. Reckless advances will be cut short by these.
- Watch out for High Templars when doors are opened. Most of the time when you open a door, one or two Templars will try to surprise Psi Storm you.
- Duran is a Ghost. Use his abilities to their fullest, be it kiting Zealots, Lockdown on Reavers/Dragoons, or Cloaking.
Spoiler
- Quantity > quality. You're only given Zerglings, Hydralisks, Lurkers, and Overlord transports. You need a large amount of units to puncture the Protoss base. Good use of Overlord transports is very helpful here, since the Protoss only have Scouts for air units.
- Xianou is a lot tougher than you'd expect him to be. Refrain from engaging him unless you've cleared the area first. Xianou will rain on your parade if there are still a lot of blue units alive.
- Xianou is a lot tougher than you'd expect him to be. Refrain from engaging him unless you've cleared the area first. Xianou will rain on your parade if there are still a lot of blue units alive.
Spoiler
- Use the mini expansions to the north and south of your base quickly! The enemies have a "value this area higher" script for both beacon locations, so the brunt of their assault should be directed at those areas. Don't let your guard down, though, for they will still occasionally push your main base.
- Pick a target and wipe it out quickly. I recommend orange because his bases are divided as are his forces. A strong attack against one base should eliminate it completely. Take out the other base and you'll gain access to the northwest expansion, which is lightly defended by blue.
- If you're going to attack blue, be ready to break out some strong micro against his Reavers and Templars. Take them out quickly and his base should crumble.
- Once purple is activated (his AI script will not initiate until all of the Protoss are dead or he is attacked), you have some time before purple's attacks get strong. Use any remaining expansions quickly and hit purple before he gets going.
- Pick a target and wipe it out quickly. I recommend orange because his bases are divided as are his forces. A strong attack against one base should eliminate it completely. Take out the other base and you'll gain access to the northwest expansion, which is lightly defended by blue.
- If you're going to attack blue, be ready to break out some strong micro against his Reavers and Templars. Take them out quickly and his base should crumble.
- Once purple is activated (his AI script will not initiate until all of the Protoss are dead or he is attacked), you have some time before purple's attacks get strong. Use any remaining expansions quickly and hit purple before he gets going.
Spoiler
- Make sure to get your secondary base going very fast and create a ton of Hatcheries. Massing Hydras, Medics, Marines, and Firebats is very useful here. Bunkering down and staying alive are all you need to do, not destroy a base.
- If you're feeling lucky, you might want to push one or both of the north computers. Beware, they are on "insane" AI scripts, but their bases are fairly small. A well-placed strike could eliminate them completely, but don't let your main base's defenses slip.
- If you're feeling lucky, you might want to push one or both of the north computers. Beware, they are on "insane" AI scripts, but their bases are fairly small. A well-placed strike could eliminate them completely, but don't let your main base's defenses slip.
Spoiler
- Take out blue's expansion on lower ground quickly for extra resources.
- Expand very fast in order to build a strong enough attack force to wipe out white in one fell swoop. If done correctly, you'll gain two expansions from defeating white. This should provide you with more than enough resources to punch through blue.
- With white out of the picture, blue should fall if you attack his Stargates. Blue favours air units in the mission, so hitting the Stargates hard will get your foot in the door.
- Again, do not mess with Xianou unless you're confident you can take him out. He is a lot tougher than before, so do not underestimate him.
- Duran's Lockdown is your friend. Blue loves to harass you with air units, so a couple of Lockdowns on his Carriers should allow you to fend him off every time. Keeping a decent compliment of Hydralisks at your bases should be sufficient.
- I defeated white with a lot of Hydras backed up by a decent amount of Ultralisks and possibly a few Guardians.
- Expand very fast in order to build a strong enough attack force to wipe out white in one fell swoop. If done correctly, you'll gain two expansions from defeating white. This should provide you with more than enough resources to punch through blue.
- With white out of the picture, blue should fall if you attack his Stargates. Blue favours air units in the mission, so hitting the Stargates hard will get your foot in the door.
- Again, do not mess with Xianou unless you're confident you can take him out. He is a lot tougher than before, so do not underestimate him.
- Duran's Lockdown is your friend. Blue loves to harass you with air units, so a couple of Lockdowns on his Carriers should allow you to fend him off every time. Keeping a decent compliment of Hydralisks at your bases should be sufficient.
- I defeated white with a lot of Hydras backed up by a decent amount of Ultralisks and possibly a few Guardians.
Spoiler
- You face three strong Terran forces in this level. Green, tan, and white.
- Each of the bases are constructed differently. Tan has a fairly strong base and a weak expansion next to each other. Hitting their expansion early can net you some extra cash.
- Green is the most vulnerable of the three. His first base is on the right side of the map near your base and his other base is in the bottom left corner, making it very difficult for him to reinforce either base. Both bases are "medium" in terms of strength, and his factories are evenly divided between the two. Destroying either base quickly will greatly hinder green's ability to attack you as well as give you yet another resource patch.
- White should be your last target, as his base is the most well-defended.
- Each of the bases are constructed differently. Tan has a fairly strong base and a weak expansion next to each other. Hitting their expansion early can net you some extra cash.
- Green is the most vulnerable of the three. His first base is on the right side of the map near your base and his other base is in the bottom left corner, making it very difficult for him to reinforce either base. Both bases are "medium" in terms of strength, and his factories are evenly divided between the two. Destroying either base quickly will greatly hinder green's ability to attack you as well as give you yet another resource patch.
- White should be your last target, as his base is the most well-defended.
Spoiler
- This mission presents you with two options: gather 12,500 minerals or destroy all enemy Command Centers. I suggest doing a little of both.
- Green is the most vulnerable and most dangerous opponent at the same time. Green has 3 different bases, all of which surround you, but none of the three are particularly strong. A strong early push should eliminate one of the bases. Beware of green, for each of the bases has a Nuclear Silo. If left alone, green can attack you from any direction and also possesses an insane amount of Nukes. Silence green quickly and your life will be made a lot easier.
- From this point you can either attempt to keep expanding and harvesting resources or attack tan. Tan's base is large and fairly well defended, but its glaring weakness is that it has no chokes. The entire base is vulnerable to a large ground attack. Destroying tan will allow you to establish strong map control.
- From this point, you can push white (this is a difficult task as white's base is only accessible from the air and is well defended) or sit back and turtle until you've reached your quota.
- Green is the most vulnerable and most dangerous opponent at the same time. Green has 3 different bases, all of which surround you, but none of the three are particularly strong. A strong early push should eliminate one of the bases. Beware of green, for each of the bases has a Nuclear Silo. If left alone, green can attack you from any direction and also possesses an insane amount of Nukes. Silence green quickly and your life will be made a lot easier.
- From this point you can either attempt to keep expanding and harvesting resources or attack tan. Tan's base is large and fairly well defended, but its glaring weakness is that it has no chokes. The entire base is vulnerable to a large ground attack. Destroying tan will allow you to establish strong map control.
- From this point, you can push white (this is a difficult task as white's base is only accessible from the air and is well defended) or sit back and turtle until you've reached your quota.
Spoiler
- You must Infest, but not destroy, yellow's Command Center. The lay of the land is against you. The Command Center in question is very well protected by white, who has the benefits of raised ground and narrow temple walls that are lined with Bunkers and Siege Tanks, creating an extremely deadly gauntlet of choke points and firepower.
- Green is again plagued by the problem of having two decent bases, but no strong one. Taking out green is highly recommended as when you attack white, you do not want a potential counterattack from green.
- The Command Center is vulnerable to a strong air push from the south. The best way to go about this is to have some air units and a few Queens ready to go south of the Command Center (this approach will not work if green's south base has not been destroyed), while your primary attack force plunges into the gauntlet. Once you start your initial push on white, most of their units should be occupied with your main attack. At this time, you want to weaken and Infest the Command Center quickly. Beware of Turrets, Marines, and Valkyries among other units that might be sticking around.
- Green is again plagued by the problem of having two decent bases, but no strong one. Taking out green is highly recommended as when you attack white, you do not want a potential counterattack from green.
- The Command Center is vulnerable to a strong air push from the south. The best way to go about this is to have some air units and a few Queens ready to go south of the Command Center (this approach will not work if green's south base has not been destroyed), while your primary attack force plunges into the gauntlet. Once you start your initial push on white, most of their units should be occupied with your main attack. At this time, you want to weaken and Infest the Command Center quickly. Beware of Turrets, Marines, and Valkyries among other units that might be sticking around.
Spoiler
- The challenge of this mission is unique. All of your units are terribly powerful but you are unable to reinforce your army. Strong micro is key here.
- Once you acquire your Reaver, use him exclusively against the enemy Bunkers ahead. When you are given a specific unit like that, it is meant to be used to its fullest potential on the way to the next Cloning Facility.
- The Siege Tank cliff maze is the worst section of the level. Perfect use of Plague and Dark Swarm are vital for success.
- You will need great micro in order to survive the Vulture's mine field. Your units are powerful enough to take out the Spider Mines if you advance slowly enough and properly micro your Zerglings and Zealots.
- The final Cloning Facility is mainly a test to see how many of your units are still alive. If you have a decent force to accompany your final set of reinforcements, you should be able to take it out.
- Don't rely on Stukov's Cloaking very much. The enemy possesses a Comsat Station at the end of the level and will use it throughout the mission when necessary.
- Once you acquire your Reaver, use him exclusively against the enemy Bunkers ahead. When you are given a specific unit like that, it is meant to be used to its fullest potential on the way to the next Cloning Facility.
- The Siege Tank cliff maze is the worst section of the level. Perfect use of Plague and Dark Swarm are vital for success.
- You will need great micro in order to survive the Vulture's mine field. Your units are powerful enough to take out the Spider Mines if you advance slowly enough and properly micro your Zerglings and Zealots.
- The final Cloning Facility is mainly a test to see how many of your units are still alive. If you have a decent force to accompany your final set of reinforcements, you should be able to take it out.
- Don't rely on Stukov's Cloaking very much. The enemy possesses a Comsat Station at the end of the level and will use it throughout the mission when necessary.
Spoiler
- This is by far the most challenging mission of all. Not only do you have to fend off three tough computers, but you have only 75 minutes to win.
- Tan's base is probably the most vulnerable considering that it's on lower ground.
- Remember that destroying the Cannon is all you need to do in order to win. You do not have do destroy green and tan's bases before pushing white.
- Expand quickly and aggressively. You need to establish an incredible economy in order to sustain the strength to keep pushing the computers. There are more than enough expansions available on the map. Having a few Hydralisks and Lurkers as well as Overlords to repel Nukes is vital for success.
- Once you establish your economy sufficiently, create enough Hatcheries to rebuild lost units immediately. A sustained push is required to properly defeat any of the computers.
- A direct attack against white is possible, but risky. Doing this leaves both green and tan at full strength. All 3 computers have a "value this area higher" script on the Battle Moon Cannon's platform. Using the path that leads up the middle of the map that doesn't pass through green or tan's base is the safest route to white and could potentially be the quickest way to win. However, beware of a strong reprisal from green and tan should you attempt this method.
- This map has been beaten. It was done by directly attacking white using the middle route, ignoring tan and green. You need to pull all the stops here and hit white with everything. If done correctly, the Battle Moon Cannon should fall with time to spare.
- Tan's base is probably the most vulnerable considering that it's on lower ground.
- Remember that destroying the Cannon is all you need to do in order to win. You do not have do destroy green and tan's bases before pushing white.
- Expand quickly and aggressively. You need to establish an incredible economy in order to sustain the strength to keep pushing the computers. There are more than enough expansions available on the map. Having a few Hydralisks and Lurkers as well as Overlords to repel Nukes is vital for success.
- Once you establish your economy sufficiently, create enough Hatcheries to rebuild lost units immediately. A sustained push is required to properly defeat any of the computers.
- A direct attack against white is possible, but risky. Doing this leaves both green and tan at full strength. All 3 computers have a "value this area higher" script on the Battle Moon Cannon's platform. Using the path that leads up the middle of the map that doesn't pass through green or tan's base is the safest route to white and could potentially be the quickest way to win. However, beware of a strong reprisal from green and tan should you attempt this method.
- This map has been beaten. It was done by directly attacking white using the middle route, ignoring tan and green. You need to pull all the stops here and hit white with everything. If done correctly, the Battle Moon Cannon should fall with time to spare.
The briefing from Z4.
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Part of the conclusion of Z7.
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Elite Terran Commandos prepare to launch a nuclear strike upon unsuspecting Dominion forces.
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Jack Dark readies the men of Sigma Squadron.
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Raynor's first encounter with the hybrids.
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Hybrid units are far stronger than you'd expect.
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A shot of the primary structure that produces the hybrids: the Hybrid Hatchery amongst the joint Zerg/Protoss base.
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Raynor discovers Zeratul deep within a hybrid installation.
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Raynor meets another of the installation's prisoners.
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The hybrids waste no time in dealing with the human intruders.
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Raynor stumbles upon one of Duran's twisted experiments.
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Duran never misses an opportunity to taunt our hero.
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Zeratul has discovered a suitable staging area for his advancement in the mountains, or has he?
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Nukes are never a good sign...
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Boom! Gotta love scripted Nuke events!
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It seems the hybrids have gotten smarter...
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Indeed, in later missions, the hybrids will throw everything at you but the kitchen sink.
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