This is about the new mod I'm working on. Sorry about the topic title, I'm a bit tired and I didn't realise the way it was phrased until it was posted .
Anyway, forget all you've read about patch #1, I've decided to work from the beginning.
Right now I have this big spreadsheet with all the stats in excel which helps me look at how changes and bonuses change how units interact with each other.
So my questions I'd like to ask you guys is,
In terms of gameplay
What do like/dislike about SC2?
What parts about SC2 do you think should be changed?
What kind of changes would you like to see in SC2 prototyped and tested in the fun mod?
Forget about balances, they can be done last, the more effort put into balance in the beginning the harder it is to make changes. Right now we can experiment with anything we want, let your imagination run free.
I want it to improve on the weaker aspects of SC. So far it has only met this goal for one unit, the Ghost. My ideal SC2 is to take current SC and add on or improve it through changing or modifying unit abilities and behaviors.
So far SC2 has cut out most of the problem units entirely and replaced them with lame half-assed versions.
On May 17 2010 04:18 sluggaslamoo wrote: What do like/dislike about SC2?
I like the new mechanic ideas, there are some interesting new things. Crono boost, interchangable tech labs, creep tumors/spawn larva are cool. Visually, I like it.
What I don't like though, is a longer list.
1. I don't like how melee units are weaker. It may not be that melee units are weaker, so much as the idea that ranged units are so much stronger. Thinking back to BW, watching a battle of hydra vs speed zeals + psi storm was interesting. PvP and ZvZ were interesting to some because of the micro intensive ling vs ling and zeal vs zeal, and eventually zeal/goon vs zeal/goon micro. Even muta vs scourge could be interesting, and scourge is basically a melee air unit. The micro dynamic of melee vs ranged, ranged vs melee, and melee vs melee was interesting. Again thinking back to BW, the matchup that didn't have that melee dynamic was TvT, which was commonly agreed to be the least exciting matchup. Another important thing to note is that, in addition to this micro dynamic, melee units were useful in almost every part of every matchup. Lings and zealots were used throughout the whole game in their matchups. As it is in SC2 right now, it seems like melee units just get owned by ranged units, usually without need of micro, and the result is ranged ball vs ranged ball. Focus firing is not as impressive as melee-related micro forms IMO.
2. Currently, there's nothing that I have seen, micro or macro -wise, that I couldn't replicate in at most 15 minutes of practice. My mom could a-move a protoss ball and distribute psi storms evenly among the terran ball.
3. A sort of elaboration on point 2: Everything that made BW great has been very simplified in SC2. Automine, MBS, build-queing, smart-casting, smarter surround, infinite unit select, easy wall-ins. The wall-ins I agree with, as in BW there were tight walls that didn't look tight, loose walls that looked tight, and everything in between to the point where the only way to check was to make a UMS and try to run a ling through it. But everything else on the list makes the game so easy that I just don't see how it could be impressive to a spectator.
In SC2, anybody who can't do this is a noob. This takes about 40 APM.
4. Zerg. Ugh. I've been loyal to Zerg ever since I started playing BW, but I've been considering changing to Terran for SC2. I don't like the way Zerg is set up right now. I'm not gonna get into this too much because it's popular discussion right now anyway. Only one caster. Roach is just a cross between a ling and a hydra on steroids. Lack of harassment options.
5. Balance-wise, I'm not gonna get into this too much either, but I'd like to see some units just toned down. Less HP, less damage. I feel like the guys at Blizzard have a hard-on for big numbers.
6. High ground (lack of) advantage. I'm not gonna say this is bad just yet. It could work out fine, honestly. But to me it seems like they fixed something that wasn't broken. On a related note, I'd like to see a bit less teleporting, cliff-walking, and air-dominance. Things like this make maps less dynamic. But again, I'm not sure if this is an issue. Time will tell. I guess I'll throw moving shot in here as well. I'm not sure the game can't be good without it, but again, why remove it?
7. No LAN? I can see that they want to reduce piracy. I don't know of any better way. That doesn't mean there isn't one, but I guess I'll begrudgingly accept it. Then Facebook integration? Pretty soon they're gonna have us watching commercials in the game loading screen. This reeks of whoring, and I don't know how to describe exactly why I find this disgusting, except to say that, when SC2 affiliates itself with something of a "fad," like Facebook, it makes it look like they don't expect SC2 to be a mainstay of the gaming community. They're trying to attach themselves to something that's popular right now for immediate profit at the cost of long-term quality. I'm not saying that they shouldn't do that, and I'm not saying Facebook is gonna die out any time soon. I'm just saying it looks bad. And Facebook isn't even a great fit for SC2, unless all my Facebook friends end up playing it too. I dunno, whatever. I guess it's just a feature I'm not gonna use, which is fine, but I'm a bit apprehensive as to what happens next along that path.
What parts about SC2 do you think should be changed?
Everything that I mentioned above.
What kind of changes would you like to see in SC2 prototyped and tested in the fun mod?
EPT
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