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![[image loading]](http://www.sc2mapster.com/media/images/40/947/SC_Expanded_signature.jpg)
SC Expanded adds variety to the standard melee maps. It was planned as a mod to be used with any melee map file. Players can select a few units, upgrades and abilities for each race, but the main feature is that players can affiliate to a faction (or brood, tribe), unlocking exclusive units, structures and abilities. It uses many units and abilities seen in SC2 campaign, but many more were created for this mod. Many "useless" units got a new role and are avaiable for players. Terran players select all their options at the Supply Depot, Protoss players at the Pylon and Zerg players at the Spawning Pool.
Factions/broods/tribes are based on SC2 lore (players can join Alpha Squadron, Sargas Tribe, Jormungand Brood and many others) but they are also planned with balance and strategies in mind. Selecting one of them enables new units, abilities or upgrades but it can also replace or even disable units. For example the Sargas tribe disables High Templars and replace Archons with Dark Archons.
![[image loading]](http://www.sc2mapster.com/media/images/40/854/selecting-factions.jpg)
Terrans get more variety but its only because I borrowed most campaign ideas. I think HoTS will help me with that. These are the current stats:
- 4 terran unit decisions to make
- 4 terran upgrade/ability decisions to make
- 10 Terran factions
- 2 Zerg unit decisions to make
- 2 Zerg upgrade/ability decisions
- 8 Zerg broods
- 4 protoss unit decisions to make
- 3 protoss upgrade decision to make
- 8 Protoss tribes
Unit/upgrade/ability options are always based on a standard "slot" in melee tech trees. If in a melee match Terran layers can train Marauders, in SC Expanded they will decide if they can train Marauders or Firebats. A Zerg player can select whether Zerglings can morph to Banelings or Raptors, and so on.
![[image loading]](http://www.sc2mapster.com/media/images/40/179/Raptors-leaping-over-river.jpg)
This mod has maps published on NA and EU, and the mod file is public so everyone is invited to publish their own maps and make the list more varied. I'm constantly updating it with bugs and balance fixed so I count on players to write some feedback and share their ideas. That's it! Have fun.
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Nice idea. How do you plan to balance this?
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Speedlings that can jump, that is terrifying.
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@TaShadan: Little by little, as I get players' feedback (the mod is almost 2 years old now). I have a few diamond and platinum players pointing out the main balance issues and suggesting fixes. The more people sending me feedback the more it can get balanced. Of course it will never be as balanced as ladder but players can still have fun.
@OxyGenesis: Those are HoTS Raptors, yes they are terrifying, but they are morphed from Zerglings and cost 50 gas. So they are more of a harass unit. Reapers also get the ability to jump over obstacles like that.
Here's a list of the current factions: Alpha Squadron, Colonists, Infested, Kel-Morian Combine, Mercenaries, Moebius Foundation, Nova Squadron, Raynor's Raiders, Tosh's Pirates and Umojan Protectorate.
Current broods: Baelrog, Garm, Grendel, Hybrid Slaves, Jormungand, Leviathan, Surtur and Tiamat.
Current tribes: Akilae, Auriga, Furinax, Hybrid Adepts, Lenassa, Sargas, Shelak and Tal'Darim.
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Awesome mod bro, but why Terran has 10 factions over the 8s of the other 2 races? I think you should resume and rename some of them:
Suggestions:
Alpha Squadron -> Renamed to Dominion Forces (gives more shinny to the name)
Nova Squadron -> Renamed to Special Operations (gives a more generic feeling, association to a very elite Ghosts forces)
Infested? -> don't know if fits on Terran military (multiplayer related), you probably could discart them (balance numbers)
Tosh's Pirates -> I think is best to merge them on Raynor"s Raiders, would be sweet
Mercenaries -> Renamed to Pirates or Death Port Pirates, who doesn't like play with pirates?
just suggestions for more strong sigh names :3
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Cloud kingdom at least does not go into a lobby when you try to find a match it just searches for a player and auto starts if it finds someone. Dunno if you want to fix that or not.
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Russian Federation1612 Posts
Wow, i played infested terrans. It's absolutely cool! 
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On August 09 2012 01:39 coolcor wrote:
Cloud kingdom at least does not go into a lobby when you try to find a match it just searches for a player and auto starts if it finds someone. Dunno if you want to fix that or not.
Isn't that just a "feature" of the 1.5 design, I think you can press something like "Create Private Game" to make a lobby where you can invite other players, add A.I., etc.
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@Brainiac_Br: Terran has more factions because the campaign allowed for way more additions, I will add more brood and factions and more stuff to the ones already in the list. I use names from SC2 lore, maybe the only faction that could get a better name is Tosh's Pirates, because in lore they are the Project Shadowblade.
@coolcor: I have already fixed it.
@Jenia6109: Any thoughts? Bugs?
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I tried to play this a while back, though I could only get a game against AI.
Perhaps you could do a write-up on the different options and what they entail.
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Russian Federation1612 Posts
On August 09 2012 05:49 SoulFilcher wrote:
@Jenia6109: Any thoughts? Bugs?
I tried 5 Terran factions and got bored. Will continue exploring other fractions later.
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@Kmatt: Here's the list of unit and technology options for each race, I'll list the changes for factions/broods/tribes later.
TERRAN UNIT OPTIONS
-Marauders or Firebats. Also enables Concussive Shells for Marauders or Incinerator Gauntlets for Firebats (area radius increased)
-Hellions or Vultures. Also enables Infernal Pre-Igniter for Hellions or Spider Mines for Vultures.
-Goliaths or Thors. Also enables Charon Boosters for Goliaths or 250mm Strike Cannons for Thors.
-Ravens or Science Vessels. Also enables all the Raven's upgrades or the Science Vessel's upgrades.
TERRAN TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
-Combat Shields or Gauss Rifle. Extra life upgrade or weapon range upgrade.
-Neosteel Frame or Shrike Turret: More cargo space or turret for bunkers.
-Cloaking Field or Shockwave Battery. Cloak or small area damage for Banshees.
-Hurricane Missiles or Yamato cannon for Battlecruisers.
ZERG UNIT OPTIONS
-Baneling or Raptor from Zerglings. Raptors are zerglings capable of jumping cliffs and other obstacles.
-Infestor or Choker. 2 different spellcasters, but this option may be changed in the near future.
ZERG TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
-Bile Ducts or Glial Reconstitution for Roaches. The new upgrade adds +2 damage vs armored (may be changed)
-Anabolic Synthesis or Chitinous Plating for Ultralisks. But with the new Burrow Charge ability this option may be removed.
PROTOSS UNIT OPTIONS
-Sentries or Nullifiers. Nullifiers can cast Hallucination, Kinetic Impulse (+2 ranged damage to allies in the field) and Phase Shift (affected units can move through other units and Force Fields).
-Dragoons or Stalkers. This option may be removed and Dragoons given automatically to Khalai tribes.
-Immortals or Reavers.
-Phoenixes or Scouts. This option may be removed or changed in the near future.
PROTOSS TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
-Charge or Cooking Rage for Zealots. Cooking Rage adds +2 damage vs biological units for 4 seconds (10sec cooldown).
-Gravitic Booster or Sensor Array for Observers. The old SC1 sight upgrade is back as an option to the speed upgrade.
-Gravitic Drive or Instant Warping for Phase Prisms. Instant Warping makes Phase Prisms "unload" units very fast.
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And some changes have been made to the basic tech tree.
TERRAN
-Reapers get their new Combat Drugs research from HoTS.
-Reapers can be ordered to jump over any obstacle, their speed upgrade also increases the range of this ability.
-Battlecruisers get their new Redline Reactor ability from HoTS.
ZERG
-Hydralisk Dens can mutate into Lurker Dens to enable Lurkers.
-Burrow Charge ability from HoTS added to Ultralisks.
-Frenzy behavior removed from Ultralisks (It's now an Overseer ability unlocked by a Brood).
PROTOSS
-Chrono Boost can make Photon Cannons attack faster.
-Mothership Core unit from HoTS added.
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Interesting map, thanks for making!
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Russian Federation1612 Posts
How to make overlords playing Zerg?
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Interesting concept A 2-gas 4-gate with 22 probes and a couple of Nullifiers would probably be really scary in PvP
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Just went on to play, found a number of Zerg bugs (pun intended).
-Raptors have the same movement speed as Zerglings, even after Metabolic boost is researched
-Many of the titles/dialogue boxes refer to Raptors as "Glidelings"
-When a Raptor jumps up a cliff, the white "trail" animation will stay on the raptor, and the movement animation becomes a sort of hover. This can only be reversed by lumping down a ledge, jumping up twice will not work
-Hydralisk's Muscular Augmentation upgrade does not change the Hydralisk's movement speed.
-Enabling Choker/Infestor and then Defiler will remove your ability to build the former (not sure if intentional)
-More of an opinion, but the Queen's Egg Pop ability seems rather useless. Just saiyan.
-Brutalisks and Defilers have the same model, and no burrow animation (I think the game client has BW models in it, ask the guy who did SC2BW about getting a Defiler model)
-You cannot morph Overlords from Larvae. I had to test this mod by making tons of Hatcheries, which only provide +2 supply, +3 if you count the drone.
Not sure if you were the uploader, but on the map I played, "Metropolis", the game actually loaded Metalopolis. Minor spelling error, but it makes a difference since there's no map overview before you get to the loading screen.
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@Jenia 6109: If 1.5 didn't break it somehow, just like in ladder.
@Kmatt: Thanks for the head's up, I'm still fixing a lot of bugs due to 1.5 conversion and some other due to recent dependency changes. And I'm not the Metropolis uploader so that map may use an outdated version o the mod. Please test it in my own maps (right now the ones with map icons).
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@thezanursic: As they cost 50 gas to be morphed from Zerglings and are melee, some players say they are less useful than Reapers. If you try them out please tell me what you think. As I said I'm willing to change things and make the mod more balanced.
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Some info on the Terran factions:
ALPHA SQUADRON
-Enables Dominion Holoboards: Holoboards can resocialize terran infantry, converting them permanently to the player.
-Enables Immortality Protocol: This research allows Thors to be rebuild on the battlefield. It costs as much as a new Thor but is faster.
-Enables ARES: This Warbot can morph into 3 different attack modes, but the anti-air mode must be researched.
-Enables Valkyries: The anti-air ships from BW.
-Enables Warfield (Hero): Warfield is a buffed Battlecruiser. Heroes can only be trained once.
COLONISTS
-Colonists change the tech tree a lot, they are not recommended for new players. This is a work in progress as this faction is the weakest right now.
INFESTED
-All structures become infested. All Barracks units can burrow (needs research).
-Infested Marines replace marines.
-Aberrations replace Marauders. Aberrations can be upgraded to use Deep Tunnel, which works like a Blink ability.
-Enables Predators at the Factory.
-Replaces Banshees with Infested Banshees, this unit attacks by launching Broodlings just like Broodlords.
-Disables Ghosts and Academies.
-Disables Orbital Commands.
-Replaces Battlecruisers with Hercules. This mass transport unit can be upgraded to use Low-Orbit Flight.
KEL-MORIAN COMBINE
-Enables Laserdrill Tanks at the Factory. This unit deals bonus damage vs massive units.
-Enables the Command Reactor research, allowing 2 SCVs to be trained simultaneously.
-Enables Micro-Filtering research (1 more vespene per trip).
MERCENARIES
-Enables Perdition Turrets.
-Replaces Ghosts with Medics.
-Enables Merc Compounds with several merc types.
MOEBIUS FOUNDATION
-Enables Psi-Disrupters.
-Enables Diamondbacks.
-Replaces Ghosts with Scientists and Academies with Science Facilities. (Work in progress, Scientists only have 1 ability)
NOVA SQUADRON
-Enables Dominion Holoboards.
-Ocular Implants research (increases Ghost's range and sight).
-Replaces Medivacs with Special Ops Dropships (can't heal but can cloak).
-Enables Nova (Hero).
RAYNOR RAIDERS
-Supply Depots come from the Hyperion (SCV doesn't need to build it).
-Enables Medics.
-Enables Flamming Betty (built by Ravens).
-Replaces Ghosts with Raiders. Raiders can use stimpack, penetrator rounds, and calldown Hyperion Strikes.
TOSH's PIRATES
-Replaces Ghosts with Spectres.
-Replaces Vikings with Wraiths.
-Replaces Medivacs with Special Ops Dropships.
-Enables Tosh (Hero).
UMOJAN PROTECTORATE
-Scanner Sweeps last longer.
-Planetary Fortresses can lift off (can't attack while flying).
-Enables Titanium Housing research (extra life for Missile Turrets).
-Weapon upgrades also boost weapon cooldown.
-Armor upgrades also boost life.
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You're right, they can never be worth it. They'll always be underpowered imo because of the lack of professional testing- right now, from the games I played with a friend, they're not worth getting because they kind of suck.
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@Monitor: So it would be nice to give some feedback. If Raptors can't be tweaked to be worth it, they need to be removed. The leaping ability could be chamged and enabled by some other way, not as an option to Banelings.
But I'd like to give Zerg at least one unit that can jump cliffs. If not Raptors maybe Hunterlings.
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List of Zerg broods (Zerg doesn't have as much additions as Terran because there are no campaign contributions yet). I also need to plan these Broods better, and disable more units for some of them.
BAELROG
-Enables Egg Pop ability from Queens
-Enables Frenzy ability from Onerseers
-Guardians from Mutalisks
-Replaces Corruptors with Scourges
-Replaces Chokers / Infestors with Defilers
-Disables Brood Lords
GARM
-Enables Rapid Genesis research at the Spawning Pool
-Faster Queen movement
-Peristalsis research at the Infestation Pit
GRENDEL
-Enables Feederlings from Larvae
-Enables Ensnare ability from Queens
-Enables Post-Humous Mitosis research at the Hatchery
HYBRID SLAVES
-Enables Infested Zealot research at the Infestation Pit
-Enables the Hybrid at the Hive
JORMUNGAND
-Enables Virophages from Drones
-Enables Zerg Structure Carapace upgrade at the Evolution Chamber
LEVIATHAN
-Enables the Leviathan at the Hive
-Replaces Adrenal Glands with Lesser Adrenal Glands
SURTUR
-Enables Kaboomers from Banelings (Merge)
-Enables Brutalisks from Larvae
-Enables Embryonic Splits research at the Spawning Pool
-Enables Headbutt research at the Ultralisk Cavern (may be removed, Burrow Charge is better)
TIAMAT
-Enables Antennae research at the Lair
-Enables the Breeding Mound structure from Drones (spawns "mercenary" versions of the units)
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The maps were updated on NA. Additional tech options for Zerg and Protoss. Some balance changes and bug fixes.
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Another update to NA maps. Some balance changes and bug fixes. Defilers replaced Chokers as the option to Infestors.
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EPT
