EPTUnderground Activities in Starcraft 2
INTRODUCTION
Nope. This thread is not about mafia running secret Starcraft 2 tournaments, match fixing for illegal betting or map hack program sold at blackmarket. Rather, this is about underground activities “in game” that we usually never get to see. Zerg units can burrow and supply depot can be lowered, but most of us don’t know how they look below ground level because the camera is fixed at around 45 degrees to the ground. Some of you might remember me from Artosis pylon Art. When I was working on better camera angles with map editor for beautiful Artosis pylon pictures, I accidentally found that camera angle could go to negative degree to show underground world. Although Blizzard knew that 99.9% of us would never even care how things look while in underground, graphic designers didn’t slack off. Welcome to underground SC2!!
Graphics are ultra&extreme for all settings. Note that every picture has different camera distance to the object.
Supply Depot
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lvEJ4.png)
Terran worked on underground construction technology after broodwar. My theory is that Mengsk ordered to develop the technology so that he could have personal nuclear shelter beneath his palace on Korhal. It sounds typical dictator move.
Zerg Units 1
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/jjFEH.png)
How come marines cannot see them without scan?
Zerg Units 2
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5EIsc.png)
Infested Terran might be the tallest unit while burrowed.
Spine/Spore crawlers
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/DYpoK.png)
Definitely rooted.
So far, so good. These were somewhat expected. Now, I tested with all buildings/units along with some neutral map features. Some of them might not be so obvious or what you expected.
Reactor
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NJoik.png)
On the other hand, tech lab doesn’t have underground part.
Bunker
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5ATzq.png)
Door is probably design, but the light part could be unintentional and only for easier programming (when a unit enters a bunker, shift the light by 5 to Z axis direction etc.) because similar things happened for Terran building sequence and spire morphing where what appears on ground in future is buried underground.
Gas
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Ey5al.png)
Refinery sends canisters underground with animation to mine vespene gas.
Dark Shrine
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SBrV4.png)
Left is powered, and right is unpowered. Some sort of crystal power(?) reaches underground.
Forge & Photon Cannon
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/xh9vR.png)
Take a close look at the thin line beneath cannon.
Beneath photon cannon (enlarged)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/imblf.png)
Looks familiar?
Looks familiar
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/E6Upj.png)
Guardian Shield
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WdGNM.png)
Can guard burrowed Zerg ally.
Mineral
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/c3uhJ.png)
Not rooted that deep. Looks easy to just pull the chunk one by one. Or, is it what MULE does?
Hatchery-Lair-Hive
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SHsIe.png)
4 spikes get taller and taller above ground.
Creep Tumor
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/uuros.png)
Morphing process from left to right. 3rd picture = rooting appears only for a fraction of a second. This makes me wonder why Blizzard added this rooting graphic as I could well be the only person in the world who noticed this as of writing.
Burrowed Movement
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/d555K.png)
Sadly, burrowed movement has no special graphics other than rubbles. I was expecting some digging with claws. No way can floating bodies like these move inside soil. I hope ultralisk’s burrowed charge in HOTS introduce decent animation underground.
Depot vs Burrowed Movement
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/OgGir.png)
How……how come raised depot is off-limits, yet lowered depot is free highway? If anything, raised depot should be easier to pass underground, or both should be off-limits. It doesn’t make much sense. Terran QQ incoming ~
Depotralisk
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/hqgQO.png)
Yeah, even ultralisk can burrow on top of lowered enemy depot.
Nydus (close)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/mxfCR.png)
Left to right. Nydus in 2nd image is doing piston movement toward ground in animation, trying to penetrate the ground.
Nydus (far)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/m55cR.png)
…these nydus ones are just SC2 structure images. Nothing is sexually inappropriate. I don’t elaborate any further.
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