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Blizzard GDC: The Game Design of Starcraft II

Forum Index > SC2 General
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typedef struct
Profile Joined January 2011
United States84 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-19 13:39:21
August 18 2011 13:15 GMT
#1
Dustin Browder's presentation from the 2011 Game Developer's Conference is available for free now at GDCVault.

The Game Design of STARCRAFT II: Designing an E-Sport.

If you're interested in game design, you might find it interesting. There's a lot of familiar voices in the Q&A.
aksfjh
Profile Joined November 2010
United States4853 Posts
August 18 2011 13:18 GMT
#2
Awesome!
InvictusTT
Profile Joined August 2010
United States47 Posts
August 18 2011 13:55 GMT
#3
Very very insightful.

Anyone interested in game development or wanting to understand esports should watch this
TehForce
Profile Joined July 2010
1072 Posts
August 18 2011 15:08 GMT
#4
very good presentation
NesTea <3
Lom
Profile Joined February 2011
54 Posts
August 18 2011 15:13 GMT
#5
wow, thanks so much for the link, thats pure gold for my current thesis
Eluadyl
Profile Joined May 2010
Turkey364 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-18 15:17:01
August 18 2011 15:16 GMT
#6
On August 19 2011 00:13 Lom wrote:
wow, thanks so much for the link, thats pure gold for my current thesis


I admire you mate,

my thesis was about the effect of Cr ion bombardment on the properties of WC-Co based hardmetals, namely cemented carbides.
Not enough energy
Figgy
Profile Joined February 2011
Canada1788 Posts
August 18 2011 15:25 GMT
#7
Amazing presentation. I'm glad we have such an amazing design team at Blizzard.
Bug Fixes Fixed an issue where, when facing a SlayerS terran, completing a hatchery would cause a medivac and 8 marines to randomly spawn nearby and attack it.
Demonace34
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2493 Posts
August 18 2011 15:38 GMT
#8
The only problem I have with his thought on Skill is about Micromanagement. The spells that freeze and stop micro management make the game less enjoyable to watch. Fungal forcefield and concussive all make micro for the other person almost non-existent. Thanks for posting this though, lots of good stuff about game design in here.
NaNiwa|IdrA|HuK|iNcontroL|Jinro|NonY|Day[9]|PuMa|HerO|MMA|NesTea|NaDa|Boxer|Ryung|
Chaosvuistje
Profile Joined April 2010
Netherlands2581 Posts
August 18 2011 17:21 GMT
#9
Thanks for posting this, very insightful and you can clearly see the change of mind Browder went through.
aksfjh
Profile Joined November 2010
United States4853 Posts
August 18 2011 17:30 GMT
#10
On August 19 2011 00:38 Demonace34 wrote:
The only problem I have with his thought on Skill is about Micromanagement. The spells that freeze and stop micro management make the game less enjoyable to watch. Fungal forcefield and concussive all make micro for the other person almost non-existent. Thanks for posting this though, lots of good stuff about game design in here.


You kidding me? Those forcefields, fungals, and getting caught in concussive shells is what can make the early game exciting. Those things make every second of the game important. Get out of position slightly? BAM! That's the end of that force and possibly the game changing event.
DrPhilOfdOOm
Profile Joined July 2011
Sweden353 Posts
August 18 2011 17:42 GMT
#11
This is awesome ty for link!
NASAmoose
Profile Joined May 2011
United States231 Posts
August 18 2011 17:53 GMT
#12
Awesome. Love this guy. I know we may not always agree with his decisions, but you absolutely can't argue that he doesn't care enough or that he's not smart enough.
jinorazi
Profile Joined October 2004
Korea (South)4948 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-18 18:04:11
August 18 2011 18:02 GMT
#13
On August 19 2011 02:30 aksfjh wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 19 2011 00:38 Demonace34 wrote:
The only problem I have with his thought on Skill is about Micromanagement. The spells that freeze and stop micro management make the game less enjoyable to watch. Fungal forcefield and concussive all make micro for the other person almost non-existent. Thanks for posting this though, lots of good stuff about game design in here.


You kidding me? Those forcefields, fungals, and getting caught in concussive shells is what can make the early game exciting. Those things make every second of the game important. Get out of position slightly? BAM! That's the end of that force and possibly the game changing event.


different people want different things i guess. i for one is against early game spells but you know, "get used to it" mentality is what keeps me sane. spells, strong spells especially should be reserved for late game(emp, feedback, maelstrom, dark swarm to name a few). its what made bw epic. micro wars throughout early game and using spells later in the game with a possibility of tech rushing like nal_ra's arbitor rush.
age: 84 | location: california | sex: 잘함
Nagano
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States1157 Posts
August 18 2011 18:23 GMT
#14
Watched the whole thing. What was surprising was how Blizzard brought in a guy (Browder) who actually knew nothing of BW's esport history to lead the design of its successor.
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Merany
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
France890 Posts
August 18 2011 18:57 GMT
#15
Done watching. Although the basic ideas of the presentation are not new (if I remember correctly, there was an article on Gamasutra about it), the full presentation with details was absolutely fascinating. This guy (and the whole team) deserves a ton of respect. Thanks for posting it.
Kalent
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada253 Posts
August 18 2011 19:08 GMT
#16
On August 19 2011 02:30 aksfjh wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 19 2011 00:38 Demonace34 wrote:
The only problem I have with his thought on Skill is about Micromanagement. The spells that freeze and stop micro management make the game less enjoyable to watch. Fungal forcefield and concussive all make micro for the other person almost non-existent. Thanks for posting this though, lots of good stuff about game design in here.


You kidding me? Those forcefields, fungals, and getting caught in concussive shells is what can make the early game exciting. Those things make every second of the game important. Get out of position slightly? BAM! That's the end of that force and possibly the game changing event.


I have to disagree. IMO, spells make the early game less exciting, esp. the micro battles. In bw, early game without spells made it extremely exciting to watch as the way the players used individual units was amazing. Early game micro was so precise and intense, whereas in SC2, the spells reduced that effect a bit. Esp. concussive shells as they just infinitely kite everything without much effort.
Korean-Canadian who spends way too much time on Afreeca
kineSiS-
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Korea (South)1068 Posts
August 18 2011 19:24 GMT
#17
On August 19 2011 03:23 Nagano wrote:
Watched the whole thing. What was surprising was how Blizzard brought in a guy (Browder) who actually knew nothing of BW's esport history to lead the design of its successor.


Probably due to Activision *spite*
[F_]aths
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Germany3947 Posts
August 18 2011 19:29 GMT
#18
I watched the video and respect Dustin Browder even more now. He is aware of a lot of details, and he cares.
You don't choose to play zerg. The zerg choose you.
Treadmill
Profile Joined July 2010
Canada2833 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-18 19:36:52
August 18 2011 19:36 GMT
#19
Oh man. There's a bit where he talks about the goliath and more or less says that he thinks they maybe should've left in the goliath and not the Thor. Goliath as a multiplayer unit in HotS would make me soooo happy.

Really interesting video too, thanks for the link!
unit
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States2621 Posts
August 18 2011 19:40 GMT
#20
On August 19 2011 04:36 Treadmill wrote:
Oh man. There's a bit where he talks about the goliath and more or less says that he thinks they maybe should've left in the goliath and not the Thor. Goliath as a multiplayer unit in HotS would make me soooo happy.

Really interesting video too, thanks for the link!

idealy it wouldnt have the same ai :3
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