StarCraft II

[StarBob]

I just cant comprehend the complexity of the strategy some people have, either naturally or through playing nothing else.

Watching a battle report of a Terran vs Zerg, the Zerg tried to push through the rocks in the south east, the Terran player built a depot just behind the rocks to block their advance. I would NEVER think of something like that, Id just throw a load of guys behind the rocks and wait.

And he deliberately used a single marine to block a path between his 2 barracks so that some zerglings couldnt get to his SCVs and cut off his economy a bit, whilst his 5-or-so bunch of marines took out the zerg from behind.

Its that ability to attack in 2 or 3 directions at once, I just cant do it in any singleplayer game. I know you can just attack-move and the AI does the rest, but I want that control. I want that ability to ignore everything around me and go for that one tank with every guy Ive got, rather than have all my guys shoot low damage at every target. Focused attacks.

You should see me in SP. I build a big army, and it runs around in a pod with a few guys left behind for the inevitable sneaky-sneaky-base-attack-when-you're-not-looking. I get that synchronised firing so much, I pretty much 'one' shot everything if you know what I mean. Slap 3 medics in the middle which have been upgraded and its easy.

But if my base does get attacked, I have to abandom my pack and focus on defending with a small amount of guys back at base. The big pod of guys just stands there in the middle of nowhere.

I dont know if its just my brain not being able to multitask like that. And it only seems to happen in RTS games.

FPS games Im like frigging lightning. Im always thinking 10 steps ahead.

Even when I play pro paintball. Everyone in my team is always amazed at how quick I react. Most people lean out, look, take it in, think of what to do and maybe let off about 30 rounds randomly (at 15 rounds a second). With me my feet are running with my gun up before Ive even finished leaning out and looking. I take it all in so fast. In what feels like a split second Ive already thought ''cant see anyone leaning out, cant see anyone that is waiting on my lane, dorito would be a good move and shoot in-field, slide before you reach it then shoot tape and wrap in-field'' and Im gone.

I just seem to suck at RTS games, especially on MP, and its so damn frustrating.



You'll probably find that it's Actvision that are greedy. Blizzard just say ''How high''.

I can't remember the all of the terminology, but when the brain reaches a point where it has memorized an entire scenario, it will react on instinct. If you play an FPS for enough time (mind you, this time varies between people and with experience), you will instinctively react in a way that is beneficial. This is wholly possible in RTS games, but the issue is that it is not a natural action, so your mind has a more difficult time of memorizing the scenario. In an FPS, however, your mind can better associate with what is happening and adjusts to it. Here's an example: If you were walking in a public place (eg, a mall) and every 5-30 seconds someone randomly throws a tennis ball at you. After a period of time, you would know the visual cues that someone was about to throw one at you and your body would better be able to react.

I wish I could remember the term for this... but it's what gamers experience when playing at high levels. It's tough for me to achieve. I seem to always get to a certain point of skill level, regardless of the game, fairly quickly - but plateau and then eventually slowly climb as I figure out new ways to be successful. With RTS games I tend to have a slower time getting used to it, but once you establish the order in which you build things at the start and what to go for based on the enemy and probability, then you start to get a lot better. Then it goes on to being able to react to the situation and gauge strength and weaknesses on the fly.

 

[Yuri]

I am also terrible at managing RTS's. But, whatev, it's still fun.

You'll probably find that it's Actvision that are greedy. Blizzard just say ''How high''.

I'll rephrase. Even though Activision is greedy, Blizzard still delivers.

 

[Shakermaker]

The first review from a 'big' site: 1UP 5/5

StarCraft 2 didn't change the formula because it didn't need to. This isn't just a fresh coat of paint on StarCraft, it is StarCraft, right down to its pixelated bones. It's proof that games don't have to be disposable, that some games are so creative and balanced and fun that they don't go out of style or disappear over the years. Some games, it turns out, really are timeless.

Link

 

[lame-o]

The first review from a 'big' site: 1UP 5/5



Link

Formula is the same, but it's still 1000x better.

 

[CyberPitz]

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/starcraft2?q=starcraft ii#critics

 

[taviow]

But 4 reviews is too little.

 

[lame-o]

****. BTW if you are downloading the digital copy now or soon, make sure not to leave it unattended for more than an hour. I was 1/3 of the way done downloading, left to a party hoping it would be done by the time I got back, and came back to it being 3/4 done and an error telling me to redownload the download client. I did so, and it turned out the error occurred before I even got half way. **** YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

"About 4 hours left" **** YEAH **** YOU MOTHER****ER

 

[Wanted Bob]

I've watched a ton of battle reports on SC2 over the past 2 days. I haven't taken much interest in the game up till now...my RTS history consists of C&C titles (Generals, Zero Hour & RA2 being favourites) and CoH which I loved. I gotta say this game looks fantastic and loads of fun.

Only problem for me is that I haven't played RTS in ages. I played some RA3 today and I'm terrible. Really really awful...I lost to a medium AI for chrissake and I'm worried I won't enjoy this game because I'm an embarrassment to the genre.

For anyone else wanting to watch the battle reports from some of the better players (150 APM level), check out these two channels.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HDstarcraft
http://www.youtube.com/user/HuskyStarcraft

Heh, EXACTLY the position I'm in. Right down to watching those exact two youtube channels.

My experience with RTS games is fairly limited. I was able to handle the likes of Supreme Commander, but even that pales in comparison to the depth of strategy required to survive online with this.

In addition, I'm ashamed to admit I never finished the first Starcraft, so I would feel kind of cheap just jumping into the story with very little to no knowledge of the characters and past events.

 

[Ennui]

Watch Day9 for well-casted pro matches by a guy who knows his SC2 strategy:

http://day9tv.blip.tv

 

[taviow]

1.8 million sales on launch day.

 

[Lucid]

Wow, I was expecting much more than that.

 

[tesher06]

Well how much will it be by the end of the week thats the question ^^?

 

[morgs]

Looks like I'm gonna get this and hope to pick up the storyline or whatever. Just because it's Blizzard I'm sure the quality will be high, and of course, everyone says it is.

I really need to stop spending but this may be an exception...

 

[StarBob]

Wow, I was expecting much more than that.

If you read the article you can see that they didn't count any korean sales because they were exclusively digital and weird like numbers has describes. Apparently close to 3 or 4 million.

 

[15357]

Oh God, had the most entertaining game ever.

1 vs 1 ladder, I was Terran and the other guy was Protoss. I killed half his workforce with 2 vikings early on like 9 minutes into the game (he didn't even notice lol). But then he tried to attack me with 5 Colossus (you guys called the big heat ray protoss units that, right?) and almost beat me. But I somehow repelled the attack, and we were at a bloody standstill, until I simultaneously nuked 4 places at once - he blocked one place, one of his expansions, but one lucky nuke killed most of his forces, including like 6 Colossus, and another destroyed half his supply capacity, and the final one rendered one expansion useless. Crippled, he couldn't stand as I attacked with loads of Marines, Marauders, and Tanks.

EDIT: Ghosts are a bit too expensive.

 

[Warped]

waited all day to play but I'm gunna throw in some gametime soon

 

[Matorbogl]

How long does a typical game last in Starcraft?

 

[Wanted Bob]

Anywhere from 2 to 40 minutes, from what I've seen.

 

[morgs]

Ok I've ordered it! It should arrive tomorrow morning, I look forward to getting demolished by some of you.

 

[StarBob]

EDIT: Ghosts are a bit too expensive.

That's because nukes are practically free now.

 

[Yuri]

yeah nukes are ****ing crazy, dis shit is balla

 

[flamingdts]

Ghosts also have EMP, so they have to be expensive.

 

[Warped]

roughly how many missions are there in Single Player Mode?? and will it make a difference if I chose an alternate path for missions??

 

[taviow]

roughly how many missions are there in Single Player Mode?? and will it make a difference if I chose an alternate path for missions??

I haven't finished it but it says in the game itself there's 26 missions and apparently mission order makes no difference.

 

[flamingdts]

roughly how many missions are there in Single Player Mode?? and will it make a difference if I chose an alternate path for missions??

If I'm correct, the single player campaign is just as long as the 3 episodes of SC1 combined. And yes, it DOES make a difference which path you take for the missions, but I don't think it makes enough difference to completely alter the main storyline.

 

[StarBob]

I have a spoiler question:

Spoiler

When you do the Tosh/Nova mission choice, you can go back and play the other mission in the archive, if I do that, will it change the choice I made to the other? I don't want to have to replay that mission again if I don't have to, but I would like some free bonus credits so I can get all the upgrades I'd enjoy

Yep.

Also there are round about 29-30 missions in he single player... and I'm not sure of all he consequences of some of the choices you make, but they seem to be interesting as it stands.

 

[Warped]

awesome, so I have plenty of gameplay ahead of me. i only did 3 missions so far and they were really fun. as i see it, this could be the best RTS game I've ever played

 

[StarBob]

I haven't finished it but it says in the game itself there's 26 missions and apparently mission order makes no difference.

There are some hidden bonus missions you discover later and a I don't think the order makes much of a difference, but I try to do the oldest ones first just because I'm like that.

 

[15357]

That's because nukes are practically free now.

Lol yeah, but nukes are a bit hard to use for most people.

EDIT: Hell, who uses nukes anyway?

 

[ktimekiller]

Anyone want to form a 1v1 spectator group?

I was playing with some friends tonight, rotate 1v1 players, rest spectate. Very very very fun

 

[ríomhaire]

Was in an internet cafe with a friend last night, saw that they had Starcraft II. Message popped up saying you need a Battle.net account, so we made one each. Then it told us we don't have Starcraft II registered to this account. We asked at the desk did the cafe have any accounts, they didn't. They had some free trials lying around somewhere but he couldn't find them. He offered his own account to use but we wanted to play each other. In the end we just played TF2.

 

[Dynasty]

Although the missions are relatively 'short' at about 20-30 mins each on normal difficulty, I did have one which pushed me to 54 minutes.

Then again, I had to rebuild my base..err..during the day if you know which mission Im talking about.

 

[15357]

Man, I love how the nukes are way cheap now.

Me, nuking a friend of mine's forces into oblivion.

 

[StarBob]

Although the missions are relatively 'short' at about 20-30 mins each on normal difficulty, I did have one which pushed me to 54 minutes.

Then again, I had to rebuild my base..err..during the day if you know which mission Im talking about.

Some of them are short like that, others reach a max of about 45-60 minutes if you're doing the bonus missions and get slowed down. The thing that will slow you down the most is building more forces than you need. The mission you're talking about was pretty fun and kinda tough if you didn't do it fast enough.

 

[Dynasty]

Yeah on the 4th day I cottoned on to what needed to be done, and just lined up marines and reapers with a few marauders and 2 or 3 medics with each line. Nothing got through then, and then I used my reapers to shoot out and finish the objectives as quick as I could.

The first 3 or 4 nights had me wiped out to just my CC and Barracks almost every time, they only survived because I launched them and sat above the swarm below.

 

[Shakermaker]

I used bunkers for that mission, one for every entrance. I backed each of them up with two marauders, a medic and a mcv. Didn't have any problems that way.

 

[StarBob]

Yeah on the 4th day I cottoned on to what needed to be done, and just lined up marines and reapers with a few marauders and 2 or 3 medics with each line. Nothing got through then, and then I used my reapers to shoot out and finish the objectives as quick as I could.

The first 3 or 4 nights had me wiped out to just my CC and Barracks almost every time, they only survived because I launched them and sat above the swarm below.

I used 2 bunkers on each entrance (three for the last night) and I had the bunker turret upgrade and pretty jacked up firebats with marines in them. They I only ended up losing one. I was lucky I noticed the destructable back entrance too. It's strange you used reapers... I guess they could destroy the building pretty quickly though. I just used Helions so I could zoom around quickly. I must have had 20 of them. The tore up those dudes too.

 

[taviow]

I'm feeling the game is definitely too easy and the missions are too short. I'm playing on hard and I didn't want to select brutal because I thought it would be too difficult for me. I miss those badass Starcraft missions that took me at least an hour to finish. 13 out of 26 so far. I'm hoping the last half of the campaign can deliver some truly difficult/long missions for me to do.

 

[StarBob]

I feel like I'm posting a lot.

I was just thinking last night when I played a couple of missions abou the difficulty level. I'm playing on normal because of my stated hatred of replaying a mission because of a loss (most of that stems from REUPGRADING, which is my most hated aspect of RTS gaming) being so devistating. I feel like missions vary in difficulty without real rhyme or reason. I mean if you just do the main objectives on some missions you can pretty much fly through them, but doing the bonus requires a little more finesse. However there's a mission where you first get medivacs where you can essentially cruise through the entire thing, but then on others you have to basically rule the entire map to get bonuses. I think that on hard or brutal the game will be more of a challenge for me. Will I play it through again? Probably not... I'd rather be in multiplayer.

I guess at the end of the day that's what it's all about. No one is going to find the ultimate difficulty in single player. That's how virtually every game is these days though. Single player isn't as much to challenge hardened RTS/Starcraft players, but to tell a great story through the polished gameplay and exceptional cinematics. I'll beat it and probably watch the cinematics again, but I'm not sure if I'll play through again on Brutal or something. Multiplayer keeps calling my name to beat up some people while they potentially still suck.

 

[Tagaziel]

I'm feeling the game is definitely too easy and the missions are too short. I'm playing on hard and I didn't want to select brutal because I thought it would be too difficult for me. I miss those badass Starcraft missions that took me at least an hour to finish. 13 out of 26 so far. I'm hoping the last half of the campaign can deliver some truly difficult/long missions for me to do.

Oh man, I remember that. I am an empathic person, so my general is an empathic one, which results in an almost obsessive drive to reduce casualties as much as possible. In fact, I can stall an entire attack just because one of the major units is badly damaged and may die.

As such, you can imagine how long some Starcraft missions took me, especially when playing the Protoss. I think The Big Push took me three hours to complete, just because I decided to nuke the enemy to hell and back to minimize likely casualties I'd suffer during a frontal attack.