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Blizzard GDC: The Game Design of Starcraft II - Page 6

Forum Index > SC2 General
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KT s0ng
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Korea (South)88 Posts
August 21 2011 08:42 GMT
#101
It does seem bizarre that you would bring in someone like Browder to make an eSports game. Like, if that's your sole intention, you would hire on the basis that this person knows eSports. He did pretty well though (*cough*givegoliathreaverlurker*cough*)
RvB
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Netherlands6223 Posts
August 21 2011 08:54 GMT
#102
On August 20 2011 10:07 R3demption wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2011 07:47 0neder wrote:
The point about the ladder maps is valid, but we're not talking micro here.
We're talking sending an SCV or two around the map every so often. Not that hard. Noobs can do it. Not a good reason to not have big maps.

One thing I don't think he believes is that SMALLER maps are harder for noobs. Once some average guy masters a timing, noobs are screwed no matter what. At least bigger maps feel psychologically safer since there's more space for everyone.

I completely agree with you sir. Also my thoughts have always been this: Balance the game and maps around the pro scene. The lower level casual players will not care if there are macro maps on ladder or about a 5% damage increase to X units. It doesn't matter at their level. I wish Blizzard and Browder could just see what everyone here on the this forum sees. XD. Good interview though, loved the presentation.


I don't know if lower leagues don't care but fact is that TL is one community and it's certainly not casual, we just don't know how those people ( if you can even put them in 1 group ) feel. hell some people I know even liked steppes of war or DQ, fact is that everyone likes something different and that's why they don't want as much big maps in the ladder they want to have maps for everyone not just the pro players.
wolfe
Profile Joined March 2010
United States761 Posts
August 21 2011 09:05 GMT
#103
Quite a few you guys seem rather keen on bashing Dustin simply because he's nowhere near pro level, but that's just you being an elite snob.

It's easy to point out what was done wrong, but he's done quite a lot right and if you actually listen to him you'll see he's getting better and HotS seems all the more promising. There are quite a few gems in this talk.
Swift as the wind, felt before noticed.
413X
Profile Joined April 2010
Sweden203 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-21 09:12:04
August 21 2011 09:11 GMT
#104
[image loading]

U mad bro?

User was warned for this post
The pro noob
hmmm...
Profile Joined March 2011
632 Posts
August 21 2011 09:27 GMT
#105
i really liked the things dustin browder said but i still feel he doesn't do them enough justice. (for example, when he talks about the need to differentiate skill in an esports game, i still think smart casting and the 1-A syndrome are things that should have been taken out).
Tegin
Profile Joined November 2010
United States840 Posts
August 21 2011 09:34 GMT
#106
Thanks for sharing!
Pain is weakness leaving the body.
RiT4LiN
Profile Joined April 2010
Netherlands131 Posts
August 21 2011 09:34 GMT
#107
Thanks. very good read!
A quote
Cuiu
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany410 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-21 10:34:29
August 21 2011 10:34 GMT
#108
On August 21 2011 18:27 hmmm... wrote:
i really liked the things dustin browder said but i still feel he doesn't do them enough justice. (for example, when he talks about the need to differentiate skill in an esports game, i still think smart casting and the 1-A syndrome are things that should have been taken out).


when you have a 200/200 army vs a 100/200 yeah it works
but with equal sply i dont see that the 1a player has any advantage over a the player which makes the effort in spreading out his army, to flank,focus fire,drop,kiting
so why do you think 1a is so good?
1a dont takes skill away it allows skill

"thx4link"
Sighstorm
Profile Joined December 2010
Netherlands116 Posts
August 21 2011 11:01 GMT
#109
Love it! I really enjoy game designers talk about designing strategy games (mostly non-computer games). Although sometimes it makes me a little sad I pursued a different career path (That said... I do love my job).

IMHO opinion the four values Dustin Browder describes are translated very well into the game. They are exactly the reasons I state when I explain why I love to watch SC2, and why SC2 is so much better to watch than other games. Blizzard did an excellent job.
Sure there are some things that can be improved, but the framework is really strong.
bole
Profile Joined January 2011
Serbia164 Posts
August 21 2011 11:06 GMT
#110
haha FF on ramp is skill nice didnt know that :D
XiGua
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Sweden3085 Posts
August 21 2011 11:33 GMT
#111
Very nice, I watched the whole thing.

It always seems like Browder knows what he is talking about but then you come to wonder when you see these maps, destructible rocks and useless units in the game. But I realize that it is so hard to balance a game and Blizzard is on the right track.

HotS and LotV will probably give us a complete game.
ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) APM, Why u make me spam?
sluggaslamoo
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Australia4494 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-21 11:49:21
August 21 2011 11:44 GMT
#112
On August 21 2011 17:34 Galleon.frigate wrote:
I soooooo sad to hear that DB feels that e-sports and a mature story for the singleplayers are mutually exclusive...

I'm gald to hear the thuoghts about why the story was so hamfisted - I guess I'm hoping against hope that they re-evaluate their choice... it's a little jarring to imagine that felt that had to go action movie over the top in the plot department to make the characters stand out, and make the player feel for the characters in game...


That part didn't make sense to me.

BW had smaller units and was harder to play, the levels were always the same, yet its campaign was very very good. Browder is completely missing the point, the game art and character design was not what ruined SC2's story, it was the story that ruined SC2's story.



He [mengsk] is not a hero. He did what he felt he had to do to unify humanity against its common enemies. However to get there he was willing to kill countless millions of people. He was a fanatic. Sort of like Stalin, think the end justifies the means. However he did unify humanity so that was a good thing, but only under a dictatorship. But everything is not black and white Thats whats good about SC1 stoyline, its more mature than SC2
Come play Android Netrunner - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=409008
Sxcerino
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada58 Posts
August 21 2011 11:46 GMT
#113
OMG WE AGREEED NR20 THIS IS BULLSHIT


lololol
FreudianTrip
Profile Joined July 2011
Switzerland1983 Posts
August 21 2011 11:58 GMT
#114
On August 19 2011 15:55 surfinbird1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 19 2011 07:37 Nimic wrote:
On August 19 2011 06:25 surfinbird1 wrote:
It still baffles me that they brought him in. He apparently still thinks that Koreans are weird for liking Starcraft. First of all it's kinda racist how he talks about them and has he never heard of Counterstrike? Or Quake? Or Street Fighter? Or Warcraft 3? Esports isn't just big in Korea. We have professional players outside of Korea for more than a decade. I think this ignorance of the proscene, i.e. the dedication some people have and the effort some people are willing to put into competitive gaming is the root of some of the problems SC2 has, in my opinion. Maybe they just didn't realize/anticipate how professional players would abuse certain units/timings etc., or how well they would multitask, manage their economy and so on. And since when is micromanagement a dirty word in the RTS scene? I've never heard of that one.
Anyways, it's still very insightful even though I disagree with him on multiple issues. After all, he's the game designer and I'm just the (casual) player. Thanks for the link OP.


Leaving all your other points aside, I found this sentence in particular kinda amusing.

And since when is micromanagement a dirty word in the RTS scene? I've never heard of that one.


I assume you're aware of his background? They didn't just pull some random guy off the street. I'd take his word over yours for what is considered what in the RTS scene.


Hence, why I wrote the following paragraph. But still, I come from a WC3/BW background and in those micro is essential. Was it considered bad in Command&Conquer or Age of Empires or any other RTS game?


He's talking from a games designers perspective, not the players. RTS (ESPECIALLY C&C) went through a period of simplification because everyone was claiming no-one wanted to play RTS's because they were too hard (which was bullshit in the first place but no matter).

So yeah, he's right.
The Touch
Profile Joined September 2010
United Kingdom667 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-21 18:53:12
August 21 2011 18:42 GMT
#115
What I found significant from that speech was that Browder commented on ladder maps (~47:40 to 49:10 in the vid - in the Shameless section). The main thrust of what he's saying is that lower-level players might play higher-level maps in a gimmicky way (such as just hiding expos on 16-base maps), and that higher-level tournament maps are therefore inappropriate for lower-level players.

I do think he has a point, but I think he's missing a real trick, mostly because the map pool is the same for Bronzies as it is for Grandmasters. If what Browder says is true, and different maps are appropriate to different levels of skill, then shouldn't Blizzard have different map pools for different leagues, rather than forcing higher-level players to use low-quality maps if they want to ladder? Blizzard could easily have, say, three map pools, for Bronze/Silver, Gold/Plat, and Diamond+ (or however you think it should be divided).

Obviously you wouldn't want to just give lower-level players nothing but rush maps, and there could be substantial overlap between the different map pools, but I'm sure that there's a way of designing maps that are appropriate to player skill level.

If the higher-level map pool was all tournament-standard maps, then pro-level players could use the ladder to practice for tournaments if they want to (something they often complain about not being able to do), but it wouldn't affect the lower-level players (like me) for whom simpler maps might be more appropriate.
You Got The Touch
FieryBalrog
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States1381 Posts
August 21 2011 19:18 GMT
#116
I really liked this talk. It shows the fairly mature thought process behind the scenes.

Now add LAN and better custom map support.
I will eat you alive
Zeaket
Profile Joined June 2011
United States208 Posts
August 21 2011 20:35 GMT
#117
On August 21 2011 17:11 pyaar wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2011 16:25 Jimmy Raynor wrote:
The thing about warcraft 3 didn't make much sense to me. In wc3 you want to keep every unit alive as long as possible. In sc2 replacing units I think is much easier, and even often times you would not look at the battle but macro instead. Other than that it was a great presentation.


was thinking the same thing. you don't throw away units in wc3 like you do in sc(2)


in this case they were referring to the single player, not the multiplayer.
pyaar
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States423 Posts
August 21 2011 22:39 GMT
#118
On August 22 2011 05:35 Zeaket wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 21 2011 17:11 pyaar wrote:
On August 20 2011 16:25 Jimmy Raynor wrote:
The thing about warcraft 3 didn't make much sense to me. In wc3 you want to keep every unit alive as long as possible. In sc2 replacing units I think is much easier, and even often times you would not look at the battle but macro instead. Other than that it was a great presentation.


was thinking the same thing. you don't throw away units in wc3 like you do in sc(2)


in this case they were referring to the single player, not the multiplayer.


oh you're right, forgot
Truedot
Profile Joined August 2011
444 Posts
August 21 2011 23:48 GMT
#119
On August 20 2011 07:45 azarat wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2011 07:25 robih wrote:
awesome talk

the only thing where i was like "wtf?" was when he described the way wc3 and sc2 are played respectively.

he says wc3 is more about fighting and losing stuff and rebuilding it because the smaller armies are easier to rebuild. he also states that in sc2 people don't want to take fights, and run away from fights, which they realize are not winnable.

imho he totally described wc3 how sc2 is and the other way round.

it's way easier to rebuild a 200/200 armyin sc2 except you built it up from two base turteling like a madman.

also its a lot more common to not take fights or get away from fights in wc3 since there is a townportal.

last but not least you can't afford to "throw away armies" in wc3, since units are waaaaay more valuable than in sc2


i really thought he was messing up and describing the wrong game, but he even had it on his slides so i guess he was serious about it


The point to take is that the gameplay of WC3 is designed around a specific paradigm, that of small armies with individually more valuable units, and an army management system that signals when you might want to attack. The metagame of WC3 might refine or change those basic principles because of current strategy, but its hard to argue that the game design does not include these elements.

SC2, on the other hand, relies on an economic management system that signals when to attack, with larger armies of less individually valuable units. Its no longer the size of the army which is the determining factor, its economics and its relationship with your and your opponent's army.

The difference in paradigms are illustrated in the distinct mechanics of WC3 and SC2. The individual Heroes are central to WC3 play and the way in which you engage and use your units. In SC2, its economics. Its no mistake that each race has distinct macro mechanics in SC2, because they allow for economic choices, and by extension, add variability to gameplay.


since when is the possibility of being permaforcefielded inside your own base by two sentries not an INCREDIBLY high value unit? Since when is pushing out a colossus at 7 minutes with a handful of zealots to just wtfpwn any early zerg ground army not making the colossus an INCREDIBLY powerful unit? Since when Is NPing a medivac to take heals away from the marines and their stim and giving it to your ultralisk not INCREDIBLY powerful?

power of individual unis diminish as more units get fielded, sure. That doesn't mean that at certain stages or with a certain lack of units on the field for either side, many units can be incredibly powerful.
I used to spend my time not caring about people's language in chat. Until I got hit by blizz. Now I spend my time instigating people to verbal abusive levels, so I can ban them in turn. The circle of life.
Sanguinarius
Profile Joined January 2010
United States3427 Posts
August 21 2011 23:58 GMT
#120
Thanks for posting this. Its a very interesting presentation. If I wasnt doing medicine, I might have gone into game design.... Never know, maybe in a different life.
Your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others -Heart of Darkness
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