How much is your knowledge of SC1 helping you in SC2? Are races changed drastically enough that people will be starting almost from scratch because their favorite race seems...different to them?

(Sorry, I haven't kept up in the SC2 forum, this question might be answered 100x +1 by now somewhere)

Zelniq

United States7166 Posts

March 13 2008 17:56 GMT

#24

What are your thoughts on MBS and other interface enhancements so far? How much easier is macro and micro as a result of it?

Do you know if Blizzard has tested out different variations of MBS? (such as.. you can still select multiple buildings but can only build one unit at a time with each keypress)

Deleted User 3420

24492 Posts

March 13 2008 18:52 GMT

#25

so MBS completely ruins the macro element of the game, right?

lol yes that's my question

hey fantastic job btw. keep it up

oh, also
are you able to hotkey groups of multiple buildings? so like, u could select all your command centers by pressing 1, or all ur barracks by pressing 2

useLess

United States4781 Posts

March 13 2008 19:44 GMT

#26

XD @ your car key.

semioldguy

United States7488 Posts

March 13 2008 19:48 GMT

#27

Next batch of questions are answered, but now I am off to class and then need to finish up my news report when I get back.

HunterGatherer

118 Posts

March 13 2008 20:03 GMT

#28

I think the foolishness of MBS will be dispersed when ZvZ mirror MU comes to light.

Mowse

South Africa56 Posts

March 13 2008 20:09 GMT

#29

Hey semi u mentioned about suggestions regarding mbs so here it goes i mentioned this in another post but most ppl didnt seem to like it but i thought id run it past u to see what u think of it...

oh before that a thing i noticed from most of the fpvods of koreans playing is it seemed most of them werent aware of mbs at all... maybe some knew ... but only one i know that did is ra and i remember he mentioned he thought it was too easy... i noticed in the savior fpvods in sc2 and of the other ones of commentators or coaches im not sure but they didnt make use of it... they seemed to hotkey each hatch or gateway like in sc1..

ok back to my suggestion basically i was thinking of a smarter mbs system in which u still hotkey gateways or barracks together but it queues units in the gateways one by one so u would essentially if u had 4 gateways hotkeyed press 4zzzt to make 3zealots and a templar if u mixing for example.. keeps a bit of the feel of sbs with mbs added.. also allows unit mixing which i like..and a bit harder than going 4z so in essence it would be like sbs but allowing u too rally mass gateways,u wouldnt have to take eyes off army but u wouldnt be able to micro as much while u making units compared to current mbs also it would fit zerg well as well since as z sometimes ud have to make drones outta 1 or 2 hatches and units outta 1 or 2 so u could go 4 sd sd sh sh so in essence doesnt favour one race over another ...

One last thing if u double tapped 4 for example with multible buildings assigned it would take u too either one of the buildings or first and if it is still selected and u double tapped again to the next building and so on and so forth.. allowing u too switch to different buildings hotkeyed within the group... works in a multitude of situations.. like if u have multiple nexuses hotkeyed and need to cycle through them, kinda like how the backspace button works in war3...

hope to hear ure thoughts on it , i have more specifics on how it would work so if u need more info hola at me

semioldguy

United States7488 Posts

March 13 2008 20:52 GMT

#30

that was brought up while we were there as an alternative, but I'm not sure if that really solves anything as it still requires minimal attention to be taken away from other happenings. it also doesn't take a whole lot more time to execute that way, especially since you don't even have to return to you base to do it, you can still monitor something while you macro up.

Blizzard was think more along the lines of something separate from MBS that could allow for players to still show off macroing abilities without it being excessively simple to do like MBS potentially could be.

Mowse

South Africa56 Posts

March 13 2008 20:53 GMT

#31

Oh okay wow thats one incredibley hard challenge of note!... so something that along with mbs will show off macro..*ponder*

<edit> but wouldnt in order to do that ....really change the gameplay alot, by alot i mean ALOT, if they come up with an answer for that ill be stunned and awed by blizzard or someone who comes up with it, if it isnt silly or gamebreaking

Mowse

South Africa56 Posts

March 13 2008 21:29 GMT

#32

Ok so it thought of a good anology of what we need, if im wrong feel free to delete this post.. so we need an idea for sc2 that would make one of OOv's games seem impressive and skilled if it was easy for all pro's to macro like him.

Titusmaster6

United States5937 Posts

March 13 2008 23:04 GMT

#33

Hey your keys being stuck in the hole reminds me of the time when I stupidly locked my own keys in the gas thing, anyway....

I question is, "Did you use the corrupter? If so, how did it fare against other air superiority units such as the phoenix or viking 1v1? Because watching the zerg gameplay video, it seemed like you needed to mass corrupter before they were really effective. And also, how fast is the corrupter's movement? And lastly, does having more corrupters increase the speed of corrupting another unit?

useLess

United States4781 Posts

March 13 2008 23:31 GMT

#34

Oh! Do you know what the specs were on the computers you guys played on? Ill just assume the graphics and stuff were turned up optimally.

geno

United States1404 Posts

March 14 2008 00:13 GMT

#35

That alternative MBS system (5sdshsh instead of 5sd or sh) would still have issues with zerg. Presumably, every time you hit the 5 hotkey and start unit production, it will begin again from that first hatchery in the group, which will likely always be behind in larvae count to the others. I guess one solution is to make the first selection clicks always go hatcheries with 3 larvae first and then onward. I dunno, it would need thinking.
I like that alt MBS system for the other races though (if they do eventually end up keeping an MBS system - I hope it is this one) but its not really much of a compromise with SBS. They need something that will add an element of multitasking to macro, meaning something that forces attention away to your base, and they need to make it non-annoying while still feeling like Starcraft. Its a really hard problem, so I hope they have good brainstormers, because I've been trying to think of such a mechanic for a couple days now and have nothing lol.

On to the question!
I know that 3D proposes certain challenges for the developers, particularly with creating similar unit movements and attack methods as SC1 (mutalisk micro for instance). Were they overcoming these challenges though for other units?
I know this is a bit general so let me give 2 examples that I find most important. Did the ranged units, like the hydralisk, have to slow pivot full circle before attacking an enemy behind it, or did it feel fluid and instant like it did in SC1? Also, when moving a dozen or more units, did their movement patterns feel like SC1's magic boxes or were they more similar to WC3 in which units would align themselves into moving patterns, then revert when they reached the destination? I imagine if it were like this in SC2, it would make them easy to target with storms while at the same time hard to micro and keep a certain unit in front (like the d-matrix lurker lure of SC1).

NonY

8748 Posts

March 14 2008 00:41 GMT

#36

Since you said that they recognize that the game needs to be tested by higher skilled players, did they say when they're planning on getting that testing? It came up when you were answering about MBS/macro issues, but it seems to me that pretty much everything they're doing would significantly benefit from higher skilled players doing the testing.

In my opinion, they'd really benefit from some dedicated RTS players playing their weekly builds for 60 hours a week every week to really get at the heart of balance issues. I just can't imagine that the testing they're currently doing is truly productive. They're probably just skimming the surface and making adjustments based on that. I'd hate to see some fan-favorite units or abilities get scrapped because of limited testing indicating that they're imbalanced. If you can provide any info you might have picked up on any of this from them, I'd be glad to hear it!

geno

United States1404 Posts

March 14 2008 00:59 GMT

#37

Well from the sounds of it, the game has to be balanced at all levels (because there is no way they are making this game just for pros, even if that is certainly an aim of theirs.) They will benefit from even their low skill player testing because it will show how the game will play amongst the general populous. I think the real benefits of high skilled player testing will come when they begin to feel their current builds are looking more and more balanced amongst weak to mid level players. It makes the most sense this way because large changes are needed for balance amongst low skill players while just the smallest of changes (maybe time between attacks, unit damage, etc.) will make a world of difference on the professional level.

semioldguy

United States7488 Posts

March 14 2008 04:05 GMT

#38

updated with most recent answers.

Nitro68

France470 Posts

March 14 2008 10:56 GMT

#39

How was the map(s) ? You only speak of one map in the part2, but did you try others ?
How is the minimap ?

Did you have some pathing issues ?

Thx

SayTT

Sweden2158 Posts

March 14 2008 11:53 GMT

#40

How was the balance of early-mid-late gameplay? Where you able to rush and finish the game in 3-5 minutes as well as finish off you opponent in mid and late? Or is it like wc3 where every race has overpowered basedefence so no rush is doable at all.