Content Update: Week of 2/3/08

[The Oracle]

It's LIVE!!!  You can see what content there is so far for Legacy of the Confederation, Galaxy of Fire here:

http://sc2.campaigncreations.org/lotc-3/

And it is official, ALL of LotC, not just Episode 3, are being produced for StarCraft 2.

Please feel free to leave feedback as to what you like, don't like, and what you want from the campaign.  You're in a position to shape the final product so I encourage you to write candidly.

-The Oracle

[Revan]

A remake? For the first two episodes? Now that is good news. The first epic campaign for SC2, can't wait for that. Now just an Antioch and a Life of a Marine sequel should be announced

Will the remakes be updated with new features that you couldn't make with the old SC1 engine? Staredit 2 will surely have every option for that.

[Jadefang]

You probably just increased the market value of SC2 by 25%. Too bad I don't have stock at Blizzard Entertainment. 

[The Oracle]

To Revan:

Will the remakes be updated with new features that you couldn't make with the old SC1 engine? Staredit 2 will surely have every option for that?

**There's definite areas of improvement to be addressed. 

1)  Voices:  Voiceovers for Episode 1 were...sub-par at best and awful at worst.  This was somewhat due to some of the acting but mostly due to the lack of polish on the waveforms.  We intend to rerecord all dialogue for Episode 1, Episode 2, and Fallen Angel to sound better than all of those campaigns to date.

We've also moved outside the community for much of the voicing and solicited professional actors to record new characters who are being introduced this round (and some old ones too).  In addition, many community members have agreed to reprise their roles including Legion (Legion, Dragoon); Magic (Guardian Xanon, Dark Templar); Joel Steudler (Admiral Ra'Chek); Falchion (Gerard Meyers from Fallen Angel) and there's more too. Lavarinth will be voicing a new character, Marlon Tripp (Sergeant).  And I'll be voicing several characters including Vaeregoth, Zuhl, Prelate Zathren (Zealot), Ulrezaj, Stillwell, and Giovanni.

2)  Playability:  After mulling it over, Joel and I decided that LotC 1: Past Purposes will largely be integrated into the NEW LotC maps through the use of flashbacks.  This means you could conceivably play a mission featured in LotC 1 between two larger missions in the modern LotC storyline.  This has allowed overall mission size to stabilize at around 26-28 maps for the entire LotC Storyline.  The ability of SC2's ScumEdit to mix and match terrains on the same map make this approach possible.  It's our hope that integrating the LotC Maps this way will give events in the main storyline context as they're occurring.

3)  Mapping:  The ScumEdit for SC2 will allow me to do with a single trigger what I'd have to spend fifteen minutes doing in the original StarEdit using fifteen switches.  I expect that trigger time will be decreased, the array of triggers will be significantly larger, and terraining will become the largest time sink during production.

It's a very exciting prospect and we're looking forward to seeing what SC2's ScumEdit can do.

-Oracle

[Marco]

Yeah, working with StarCrafts trigger editor was very frustrating.  Even though WC3s WorldEdit was a fair bit more complex, it eventually saved time when having to do complex gameplay situations.

[Meta]

Those are some great news. I do have some questions though. The answers to some of them might be spoilers, so I apologize if I'm not meant to know about some of these things yet.

1- Regarding the actual release and making of the campaign, which do you intend to make and/or release first: the LotC 1/2/FA remake or the new GoF missions? Complete remake from scratch and then a gradual release of missions from LotC 1 onward, I'm guessing... or are you aiming for something different?

2- On the actual missions that have been released for SC:BW: do you intend to modify the scripts (gameplay, dialogue) for some of the missions? Will episode 1 suffer any "retcon" or will the story be left untouched?

3- About the music, which is one of LotC's greatest features IMHO: I believe that, during in the development of the "most recent" LotC missions such as the last 2 missions and FA, you were aiming for completely original music (produced by Joel if I'm not mistaken). That's a great effort for sure, but do you intend to replace the great LotC I and II tunes with brand new music, or leave them untouched? Or maybe mix new music with movie/game music?

The maps I'm most willing to see in this remake are: the fantastic final mission of LotC I (the desolate Snow map), the space battle and the map onboard the Battle Platform in LotC II. I trust that you're aware that this endeavour will be a huge challenge... but if it wasn't, it wouldn't be as fun, right?

Best of luck with it.

[Maglok]

I really gotta ask, those portraits on the site... they look quite real, what gives?

[The Oracle]

@ Meta

Those are some great news. I do have some questions though. The answers to some of them might be spoilers, so I apologize if I'm not meant to know about some of these things yet.

1- Regarding the actual release and making of the campaign, which do you intend to make and/or release first: the LotC 1/2/FA remake or the new GoF missions? Complete remake from scratch and then a gradual release of missions from LotC 1 onward, I'm guessing... or are you aiming for something different?

**1,2,3, and FA are all being rolled into one single LotC series.  The maps will be released one mission at a time beginning to end

2- On the actual missions that have been released for SC:BW: do you intend to modify the scripts (gameplay, dialogue) for some of the missions? Will episode 1 suffer any "retcon" or will the story be left untouched?

**The only parts of the story which are being altered are the inconsistencies.  Some parts of Episode 1 conflict with things in Episode 2 and Fallen Angel.  That's being addressed. 

3- About the music, which is one of LotC's greatest features IMHO: I believe that, during in the development of the "most recent" LotC missions such as the last 2 missions and FA, you were aiming for completely original music (produced by Joel if I'm not mistaken). That's a great effort for sure, but do you intend to replace the great LotC I and II tunes with brand new music, or leave them untouched? Or maybe mix new music with movie/game music?

**Only music which is original or which is licensed will be used.  If I can't secure a license from the composers, it won't be going into the maps.  Trust me though, whatever music is in the maps, you will not be disappointed.

The maps I'm most willing to see in this remake are: the fantastic final mission of LotC I (the desolate Snow map), the space battle and the map onboard the Battle Platform in LotC II. I trust that you're aware that this endeavour will be a huge challenge... but if it wasn't, it wouldn't be as fun, right?

**All of the maps you mention are scripted and will be in LotC for SC2.  And it should be fun!

[The Oracle]

@ Maglok

The artist will appreciate you saying that.  I can tell you with 110% confidence that none of the pictures there are actual military personnel in today's armed forces, and any resemblence to any persons, living or dead, is purely a coincidence.

[Lavarinth]

Damn, where can I get this artist for us? Hahaha.

[Jadefang]

I have two questions regarding the characters of LotC:

1. What happened to Captain Furlong? Will he be part of the former episode II characters in the new SC2 LotC? The conversations between him and Drake in the first mission of episode II were quite priceless.
2. I noticed that some of the Characters have changed quite a bit from the previous design. Obviously the 3D art has reached an entirely new level of perfection, and everything is shown with near to photography level quality, which is simply outstanding. But aside from that, also the nature of the faces changed quite a bit. Ra'Chek looks a generation older and not really middle-eastern any longer as I imagined him. Wainwright in contrast has become quite younger in appearance (I actually like her new appearance a lot). Drake also has very much changed, he is a lot thinner and looks more like an actor rather than a “grunt”. What was the rationale for these changes?

I somehow got so much used to the old characters that I was hoping at for Ra'Chek and Drake to be as close as possible to their precursors. But maybe it is just the first impression and because of looking forward to this too much. I am sure after a while I'll get used to the new look

http://sc.campaigncreations.org/lotc-2/heroes.shtml

[The Oracle]

@ Jadefang

Thank you for the questions.  Hope this helps:


1. What happened to Captain Furlong? Will he be part of the former episode II characters in the new SC2 LotC? The conversations between him and Drake in the first mission of episode II were quite priceless.

***Removing Captain Furlong was a difficult decision.  You will be happy to know that Captain Barreto is still there, and Captain Bates.  Furlong has been replaced by Matheson.  Without spoiling the plot, I wanted a character in place in the first missions who was much more assertive and tougher than Furlong was.  I try to avoid ret-conning characters so completely so rather than revise Furlong's personality entirely, I simply wrote him out.
*************************************

2.  I noticed that some of the Characters have changed quite a bit from the previous design. Obviously the 3D art has reached an entirely new level of perfection, and everything is shown with near to photography level quality, which is simply outstanding.

***It's gone both ways on this.  Some people like it, some do not.  In the end, I've asked the artist to tone down the photo-realism a bit on the images.  I've received letters from people who insist some of those characters are real people in the military.  I don't want doubt about that to cloud the impact of the presentation.
************************************

But aside from that, also the nature of the faces changed quite a bit. Ra'Chek looks a generation older and not really middle-eastern any longer as I imagined him. Wainwright in contrast has become quite younger in appearance (I actually like her new appearance a lot). Drake also has very much changed, he is a lot thinner and looks more like an actor rather than a “grunt”. What was the rationale for these changes?

***If it's any consolation, Joel was hurt and cried for hours and hours about Ra'Chek's face lift.  The Ra'Chek character was never full blooded middle eastern, only half.  Although it is inconsistent with the graphic portrayal of the character in LotC 2, the new image is much more in line with how I wanted Ra'Chek to look originally.

In terms of age, many characters you will find are much older.  The main reason for them 'not' being older in previous campaigns was the lack of access to older voice actors.  Now that I have the ability to have the characters voiced at any age (and gender), the realm of possibility for all characters greatly expands.  Now in Ra'Chek's case, Joel will still be voicing him, but for other characters (such as Kun Zhou, Senator Niches, Senator June Shu-Xian (not posted yet), Rear Admiral Mace, etc., the expanded cast allows for much greater degrees of variance in age.

Drake's past was never expanded upon much.  Remember, the script for this upcoming LotC release is now standing at 575 pages.  There's a LOT of room for character development there.  I found that Drake sort of penned his own history and ended up being a cop before the Zerg War.  As such, I opted to change his appearance away from a typical grunt as it were.  Marlon Tripp on the other hand, is a grunt inside and out (Or Leatherneck as he prefers to be called).  You'll like him, trust me.
******************************

Somehow got so much used to the old characters that I was hoping at for Ra'Chek and Drake to be as close as possible to their precursors. But maybe it is just the first impression and because of looking forward to this too much. I am sure after a while I'll get used to the new look.

***Believe me when I say, I labored over the appearances of the original crew.   LotC for SC2 is more than just remaking the original, it's about, in my mind, bringing the players closer to the story.  This can only be done via the characters, and it's thus important to me the characters visually depict who they are with greater accuracy.  With all the character development that's occurred in an extremely large teleplay, those depictions have changed.

Don't worry though, Drake is still a bent for leather, wise cracking, ass kicking marine with a smart remark for any situation.  Just at the end of the War, he's going home, not re-enlisting.

[Meta]

Wow, the art looks fantastic. All characters look really good - especially Ra'Chek and Drake, IMO. Ra'Chek really looks like a seasoned, strong-minded man that'll be a hell of an opponent. He does seem to be a lot more competent than Wainwright, who in contrast seems to be more of a political/by-the-book officer, as confirmed by the characters bios.

That Lex fellow looks really bizarre - ever read the Watchmen graphic novel, Oracle? There's a character in there - Rorsasch - that looks somewhat like Lex.

Looking forward to seeing the Protoss models. This artist is fantastic, and his work definitely boosts the immersion factor immensely.

[Falchion]

Excellent art, specially Richter.  Also got some questions:

1 - In the entire LOTC (Episodes I, II and Fallen Angel), with the exception of a few skirmishes, there hasn't been any battle between Protoss and Terrans.  Will Galaxy of Fire feature any major conflict?

2 - The Spectre (ConFed Bomber in LOTC II) has unexpectedly fulfilled the Banshee's role.  Can we expect a return, eventually with the Spectre replacing the Banshee?

3 - Will the Terran SC II units, like the Thor, Viking and Reapers appear in Galaxy of Fire or will the Wraith and Goliath make a return?

[The Oracle]

@ Falchion and Meta

Meta:

No I did not read those.  Sounds interesting though; maybe I shall.  That portrait is actually not of "LEX."  The Confederation doesn't have any actual images of Lex so one of their agents drew that up as the "Invisible Man" based off the movie from the 1940s just so they had something to put on the Top 10 wanted list.


Falchion:

1 - In the entire LOTC (Episodes I, II and Fallen Angel), with the exception of a few skirmishes, there hasn't been any battle between Protoss and Terrans.  Will Galaxy of Fire feature any major conflict?

***Spoiler Alert:  Answering this either way will give away some of the plot, so I cannot answer this question.

2 - The Spectre (ConFed Bomber in LOTC II) has unexpectedly fulfilled the Banshee's role.  Can we expect a return, eventually with the Spectre replacing the Banshee?

***The Specter is not slated to return at this time.  There's a completely different unit which will be introduced for ConFed though; a ground unit.

3 - Will the Terran SC II units, like the Thor, Viking and Reapers appear in Galaxy of Fire or will the Wraith and Goliath make a return?

***We will not be modeling the older units, so if the Wraith and Goliath are not available in ScumEdit, we do not have plans to include them in the campaign.  If they are, then all of the above units will be included.