The only game I have on my computer is StarCraft Shareware; I think the game is a lot of fun because there's a program called UltimatePatch that lets you play different maps.

The people on Shareware only play Byway, the default 2 player map included with the demo, or Badlands Big Game Hunters, which is basically BGH converted to the Badlands terrain.

The patch also lets you play as Zerg, but it's a bit unbalanced in ZvT because by default the spawning pool only costs 150. There is a mod in UltimatePatch that modifies the races a little bit to make things more balanced.

Here are some differences between Shareware and normal SC:

1. Goliaths do 8 damage against ground units.
2. Science vessel costs 25m 300g vs. 100m 225g.
3. A scan costs 75 energy.
4. Wraiths do only 15 air damage.
5. Dropships are really slow.
6. Starport costs 200m 100g.

I enjoy playing Shareware because it's simple. There are only two maps, and everyone pretty much knows each other. Because I don't have Brood Wars, I only really know how to play TvT, so that is my favorite and (in my opinion) most exciting matchup to watch between progamers.

Here's a screenshot of Ultimate Patch for those who are curious, and another screenshot of the Shareware Lobby. There are only one or two games that are available for joining at any time. Sometimes it's completely empty. There's a guy on Shareware named lcpjk-julyeta who has over 8000 wins--all from the default Shareware map. Don't ask me why, because I don't know; I can't read his Korean chat. I'm almost 100% positive he's legit too. He's always playing. You guys should come on Shareware and see if you can beat him. He's really good!

This is Ultimate Patch:

This is lcpjk-julyeta's stats, and yes they're all from the default Byway map:

This is an example of what you will see when you try to join a game:

For those of you who may be curious, this is what the default Byway map looks like for TvT:

CapO

United States1615 Posts

March 10 2009 05:35 GMT

#25

naive ppl are mannered.

download sc mini. play on iccup. meet both gm and bm users. learn to deal with them. gl hf gg

this is like kids being home schooled lol

those kids are nice for sureee

IntoTheWow

is awesome32278 Posts

March 10 2009 05:43 GMT

#26

Aw cute

Spartan

United States2030 Posts

March 10 2009 06:52 GMT

#27

Haha, there has to be something wrong with them if they would rather play shareware all these years. Money obviously isn't an issue. I'm sure anyone can afford the $10 price tag.

freelander

Hungary4707 Posts

March 10 2009 06:58 GMT

#28

you can download starcraft from the iccup's site for free

Mikilatov

United States3897 Posts

March 10 2009 07:20 GMT

#29

Wow, this is really interesting to me, actually. Thanks for the rundown, Shengster. Seems like a really neat little community, even if it doesn't really make much sense, haha. Someone needs to go interview the 8000+ win guy, hahahhaha.

GTR

51606 Posts

March 10 2009 07:34 GMT

#30

what was the difference between shareware and the demo? could you actually 'buy' the game online since it was 'shareware'?

Shengster

United States167 Posts

March 10 2009 07:36 GMT

#31

On March 10 2009 16:34 GTR wrote:
what was the difference between shareware and the demo? could you actually 'buy' the game online since it was 'shareware'?

It's basically the same thing.

Bosu

United States3247 Posts

March 10 2009 08:20 GMT

#32

What the fuck? This is one of the strangest communities I have ever heard of. This is stranger than the sneeze fetish forums. It doesn't make any sense at all.

Urth

United States1256 Posts

March 10 2009 09:15 GMT

#33

On March 10 2009 17:20 Bosu wrote:
What the fuck? This is one of the strangest communities I have ever heard of. This is stranger than the sneeze fetish forums. It doesn't make any sense at all.

qft

chobopeon

United States7342 Posts

March 10 2009 09:20 GMT

#34

On March 10 2009 11:49 Artosis wrote:
it feels like one of those bad movies where you find a caveman still alive in modern day, and hes scared by things like the tv and lawnmower.

no way no waaaaaay

i remember shareware. shit, i remember getting retail and being extremely psyched. i remember BW being a real shock to me because of all the new terrain types. god damn, this game is old. i'm old.

i'm the caveman

NotJumperer

United States1371 Posts

March 10 2009 09:43 GMT

#35

--- Nuked ---

Mickey

United States2606 Posts

March 11 2009 00:59 GMT

#36

On March 10 2009 14:24 Physician wrote:
living anthropology, awesome dig mickey

Thanks, I find it really interesting as well. So someone mentioned you can play Zerg, but it's not really Zerg? Can anyone elaborate on that?

Shengster

United States167 Posts

March 11 2009 02:13 GMT

#37

On March 11 2009 09:59 Mickey wrote:

Show nested quote +

Thanks, I find it really interesting as well. So someone mentioned you can play Zerg, but it's not really Zerg? Can anyone elaborate on that?

There are various mods that you can choose. The most popular one is $4n, or "Money 4 Nothing" where all buildings/units are free, and you try to kill your opponent as soon as possible.

There's a Wack Patch (pretty terrible in my opinion) that changes the weapons of units, i.e. Siege Tank attacks with the Sunken Colony Spine. Maybe that's what you're referring to.

You can play Zerg, but you have to turn Unit Acknowledgement/Building Acknowledgement Sounds off because there aren't any sound files in Shareware for them, otherwise your game crashes.

Shengster

United States167 Posts

March 11 2009 02:16 GMT

#38

On March 10 2009 17:20 Bosu wrote:
What the fuck? This is one of the strangest communities I have ever heard of. This is stranger than the sneeze fetish forums. It doesn't make any sense at all.

Shareware is actually quite fun. It's basically TvT on two different maps. Occasionally on weekends we'll have enough people for 3v3 or 4v4 BGH which can be pretty exciting. Games on BGH usually turn into massive wraith battles, since dropships are slow, there isn't goliath range, and scanner costs 75 energy.

R3condite

Korea (South)1541 Posts

March 28 2009 22:02 GMT

#39

On March 10 2009 12:54 LuckyFool wrote:
I love that WCG special. I have the whole thing in a .wmv somewhere on my comp.

upload plzz

Tom Phoenix

1114 Posts

March 30 2009 01:59 GMT

#40

So why exactly would it be impossible to use the same mods in regular StarCraft?

Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with people still playing demos. You can still find multiplayer games with the WC3 and World in Conflict demos. However, whatever the shareware version is capable of, I fail to see why the regular version would not be capable of it and better. Plus, you can get it for as low as 4,5 Euros (6 Dollars) nowadays.