I could have sworn I posted this already.
I was only reminded of it because HuskyStarCraft posted the Behind the Scenes video a few days ago.
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The artist is 17? What the hell was I doing when I was 17? Picking lint from my belly button.
Matthew McKeown makes me feel like a loser. This kid is amazing.
I haven’t been playing much SC2 since Cataclysm came out, so sorry for lack of updates. Now for some StarCraft related news.
The Time Magazine named StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty as one of the top ten video games of the year. Here’s a snippet of what they had to say about WoL:
Twelve years after the original game was released, we finally got to play as Terrans (humans), Zergs (alien slugs) or Protoss (alien psionic bugs) once again. The space saga follows the Terran story line as the Terrans fight off attacks from the extraterrestrials trying to take over… More important, this game focused on the multiplayer competition, which is what players loved most about the original.
It really feels like the writer just wrote about what other people thought about the game and never really played it or the original… or most of the game on the list. Aaaaaand.. an iPhone game is number #2. Srsly?
Still, I guess it is a plus that SC2 mentioned on the mainstream news.
I’m only supposed to post the pieces that include SC fan art and honestly, this single piece doesn’t do justice to Richard Doble‘s awesome talent. Be sure to also check out his blog too.
A video that claims to be the ending of StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm was recently leaked on to YouTube.
There is a chance that this is the real deal as the video is watermarked by The Third Floor, a production company that had worked on StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty cinematics, the voice acting is very similar to what we know, and that Blizzard has been putting a whole lot of effort into getting rid of the videos on YouTube and other video sites.
When questioned, Blizzard Activision did not confirm or deny that the video was real but simply said “no comment.”
*SPOILER ALERT* (just in case)
If you want to watch it, check Kotaku.com. It is a rough storyboard type of video and I can bet you money that the sequence or the whole story itself can and probably will change, no matter if its real or not, since enough press has been given to this purported leak.
Blizzard recently announced the public test of patch 1.2. Its sort of an open beta test for patches and similar to how WoW has test servers so players can catch bugs and provide feedback before any major changes go live. Check out the PTR forums or the PTR FAQ if you have any questions.
You can test out SC2 Patch 1.2.0 on the PTR now. Here are the patch notes:
General
- Battle.net
- Battle.net Chat Channels have been added:
- Players can now join others in both public and private channels.
- Added in-game chat bar command to whisper to other players. Using the /w command will pop up an auto-complete list which includes: friends, party members, chat channels, and other players within your current game.
- Added a Battle.net option to auto-join previous private channels.
- Added a Battle.net option to prevent chat channel text from appearing in the in-game chat display.
Custom Maps
- Map makers can now use custom UI layout files to create new UI or override existing game UI.
Gameplay
- Stalemate Detection has been added:
- The game will end in a tie for all remaining players if no players have income, production, or destroyed any structures for three consecutive minutes.
- A countdown timer will now appear when the game detects this scenario.
- Several help dialogue and tech tree improvements have been made:
- In-game help is now available in Battle.net.
- The help dialog’s tech tree has been improved.
- Unit information in the help dialog now displays abilities and upgrades.
- Selecting different units in quick succession will now fade out existing replies to play the most recent reply.
- When selecting a Vespene Geyser, the number of current harvesters will be displayed in the info panel.
Graphics
- An Extreme graphics option has been added:
- Players can now configure screen space ambient occlusion.
- Unit information in the help dialog now displays abilities and upgrades.
Interface
- Customizable Hotkey Support has been added.
- Mouse buttons can now be bound to the Push-To-Talk hotkey.
- System Alert panel has been moved to the top of the screen – duration of most system alerts has been reduced.
- Added a hotkey to Pause/Resume game for both single-player and multiplayer (Pause/Break key).
- Added a toggle button to the in-game replay panel to show or hide duration information.
- Added a hotkey indicator option to show the primary hotkey on top of command buttons.
- Added an option to disable any error sounds. The Response Sounds checkbox now controls whether unit-specific audio is used for error sounds instead of a generic buzz.
Leagues and Ladders
- A new Master League has been added.
- This league now represents the highest tier of ladder players.
Replays
- Several Save/Replay File dialogue improvements have been made:
- Prints current directory name above file list.
- Added sort order icons to Name and Date columns.
- Added the ability to rename.
- Added filters for Autosave and Unsaved.
- Added an option to permanently save all replays. Checking this option will mark all unsaved replays as being saved.
- Camera following behavior for observers and replays has been improved.
Balance
- PROTOSS
- Hallucination research time decreased from 110 to 80.
- Observer
- Cost decreased from 50/100 to 25/75.
- Phoenix
- Build time decreased from 45 to 35.
- Void Ray
- Now deals 20% more damage to massive targets.
- Flux Vanes speed upgrade removed.
- TERRAN
- Bunker
- Build time decreased from 35 to 30.
- This is only a temporary change for the patch 1.2.0 PTR.
- SCV
- Repairing SCVs now assume the same threat priority as the unit they’re repairing.
- SCV construction movement made more consistent.
- • ZERG
- Infestor
- Fungal Growth no longer affects air units.
StarCraft II Editor
- Map locale management has been added.
- Further editor tips and hints have been added.
- Copy/Paste support has been added to the upgrade editor.
- Modified the Locales dialog (also in the Locale sub-menu) for adding or removing text locales.
- Locale sub-menu is now available in Map/Mod menu for changing the active text locale for the current document.
- The game will now properly find custom imported files within mods.
- Maps can now depend on even more mods.
- Mod Info dialog is now available from the Mod menu for more easily changing mod name and description text.
- Change Focus commands are now available in the Trigger module View menu for switching input focus directly to different areas.
- Font Style Files can now be added to Mods and Maps using the FontStyleFileArray field in GameUIData. Existing styles can have their individual attributes overridden or entirely new styles can be added.
- UI Layout files can now be added to Mods and Maps using the CustomLayoutFileArray filed in GameUIData. Most existing frames can be modified or overridden and entirely new templates can be added, which can be created from the Dialog system within the Editor.
- Dialog Items can now be hooked up from already existing frames within a created Panel.
- Attributes and values can now be hidden in the game lobby, configured through Game Variants.
- Editor Tips dialog in the Help menu (and optionally on start up) improved with tips for using the editor effectively.
- Created a new type of Dialog Item called Panel. Panels are containers for other dialog items to help with grouping and hierarchy.
- The water editor layout has been improved.
- The mouse wheel now scrolls the control under the cursor.
- Copied doodads now retain their height offset.
- Effect offsets can now optionally contain a Z component.
- Attribute and Veterancy behaviors now normalize vitals when new levels are applied.
- Mouse clicks and highlights are now allowed while in relative camera mode.
- Edit boxes are now available for trigger dialogs.
- Right clicking an item in an inventory will now have the icon appear immediately next to the cursor.
- Behaviors can now be replaced by either the shortest duration (the original method) or by farthest distance.
- Behavior abilities can now properly charge the player using the ability instead of always charging the owner.
- New trigger action have been added:
- Set Visibility Type Of Text Tag, used to control whether fog or black mask hides the tag.
- Remove Inventory Item, used to instantly remove a requested item from an inventory.
- Bank Option, used to change options for banks including adding a signature
- New unit properties have been added:
- Carried Minerals, Carried Vespene, Carried Terrazine, and Carried Custom Resource.
- Bounty (XP), used to grant experience when a unit is killed.
- New trigger function: Verify Bank, used to verify that a bank’s signature is intact.
- New trigger event: Mouse Moved, sent in response to the mouse being moved in the game world.
- New Effect Used event property: Life, Shields, and Energy changed.
- Added new UI to insert text tags for data references, unit info, and hotkeys.
- Added an effect range to the effect ability to restrict how far away the effect can be placed. This will allow effects to behave like the Stalker Blink effect.
- Added a behavior flag to suppress fidgeting.
- Added a new stalemate melee option to determine whether the stalemate detection checking is enforced.
- Added a new “Creator” player to effects. It will be set to the player issuing an order if available.
- Added a new type of item that can use an effect ability.
- Added a validator that checks to see if a unit can path to a point.
- Added a validator that checks if there is a cliff between two points.
- Added MinimapRenderPriority to CActorUnit and MinimapRenderPriorityList to CActorGlobalConfig. This allows custom map makers to define the render priorities of units on the minimap.
Bug Fixes
- General
- Harvest orders will no longer end if an order is queued while waiting to return cargo.
- Harvesting units no longer avoid enemy units.
- Fixed an issue with units trying to get out of the way so buildings can be constructed.
- Hold position units no longer automatically move out of the way when placing a building.
- Fixed an issue with harvesting units bypassing force fields.
- Fixed an issue where melee units were unable to attack a colossus when it was on a cliff.
- Fixed an issue where larva would not wander around.
- Fixed an issue where loading a saved challenge could improperly overwrite the best score.
- Fixed an issue where animation stutters when flying units are separating.
- Added “Detector” text to the info panel for units which can detect cloaked or burrowed units.
- Added combat reveal tinting to help show that combat reveal units cannot be hit. All diagonal ramps are now the same with regards to unbuildable locations at the bottom of the ramps.
- Enemy units no longer show passive buttons in the command card.
- Critter health bars are now hidden unless highlighted or selected (if status bars are set to show when units are selected).
- Orders can no longer be canceled by clicking on the info panel in challenges before the challenge begins.
- Missiles are no longer affected by Vortex.
- Autocast repair will now charge the player requesting autocast functionality.
- Autocast state for abilities is reset to the default state when unit ownership is permanently changed.
- Repair will now clear its autocast state if the owning player leaves the game.
- Actors with a large number of create events no longer crash the map.
- Text tags are now paused when the game is paused.
- Protoss
- Protoss structures can no longer be powered without a power source if constructed while powered by a Warp Prism under the effects of Neural Parasite.
- Mass Recall can no longer target larva or eggs.
- Fixed an issue where units that were picked up by a Graviton Beam would still block pathing on the ground.
- Fixed an issue where a Zealot could burn his Charge cooldown without actually moving.
- Terran
- Changed the position of the Select Builder button on Terran buildings, and changed the hotkey to Q.
- Fixed nuke dot not being visible all the time.
- Fixed an issue where you could see an enemy MULE drop pod in some cases where you didn’t have vision of the target location.
- Fixed an issue where a Medivac would be able to continue healing a unit that was stuck in a Graviton Beam if the Medivac had started healing the unit before it was picked up by the Graviton Beam.
- Fixed an issue where a Thor would continue to channel 250mm Strike Cannons on an uplifted terran building if it lifted off at just the right time.
- Fixed an issue where a Thor could get stuck channeling if a player queued up multiple targets for 250mm Strike Cannons.
- Zerg
- The Ultralisk’s arc-shaped damage area is now centered at the front of the Ultralisk instead of at its center.
- Fixed an issue with the Ultralisk being unable to attack a row of sensor towers.
- The Burrow and Cancel Neural Parasite buttons have been moved on the command card.
- Creep will now spread evenly in all directions.
- Fixed an issue where Larva could produce units by holding down hotkeys.
- StarCraft II Editor
- The “For Each Real” and “For Each Integer” actions will now correctly execute once when the starting and ending bounds are equal while the increment is also zero.
- Standard dependencies can no longer be modified in the Dependencies dialog (only added or removed).
- Publish dialog now updates storage information after removing a published file in the Managed Published window.
- The View Script command will now view library scripts if the library list has focus.
- Dropdowns now correctly select items as you type using partial matching.
- Fixed an issue with editing stylized text values when using system locales other than English.
- Fixed an issue when editing mover data where values were not being saved correctly.
- Fixed an issue that prevented certain changes to angle values.
- Fixed an issue where the scroll bar for tree views could disappear.
- Fixed an issue where triggers setting the mouse relative could result in the mouse being stuck in relative move mode.
- Fixed an issue where setting the color of a dialog item of type label wasn’t working.
- Fixed text truncation with Set Text actor message.
- Fixed a crash that could occur while editing upgrade values.
- Fixed display of ability command links in the Overview Manager.
- Fixed many areas where English text was displayed instead of localized text.
- Fixed an issue where selection circles would drop when a flying unit was over a cliff.
- Veterancy experience share filters have been fixed.
- Carried and equipped item behaviors and weapons are now restored properly when a unit is revived.
- Items dropped from an inventory will now use their default height when dropped.
- Fixed a crash when destroying a persistent effect.
- Camera following can no longer be disabled via hotkeys if it was requested via triggers.
For all you table top gamers out there, above is a picture of a custom game piece by IgenSTilch, aka Rob Graham.
(yes I know the post is late.. it was saved as draft.. forgot to press publish)
This hit MMOGamesite.com a few days ago where they reported an anonymous source from China sent them a time table of the Blizzard Product release. Of interest to us is the SC2 Zerg expansion due in Q4 of 2011 and the SC2 Protoss expansion in Q1 of 2013. And what the heck is SC2 Pheonix? It could be many things. Maybe a mobile game? Standalone console/PC game? No clue. The Battle.net map market is expected in Q2 of 2011, which was when I would expect it out.
Unrelated to StarCraft, but still interesting is the unknown/unnamed Blizzard project “Titan,” which I am hearing from a few sources is an FPSMMO. I’m not a big fan of FPS so if this is true, I’m a bit disappointed.
Now, I’ve never heard of MMOGamesite.com, so I don’t know the validity of their claims. They did also just report that Blizzard China’s former general manager left the company, possibly due to the leak, and that there are plans to reshuffle the staff there as well.
If this leak is real, its probably just a time table for the company goals and is likely not set in stone. I also would not put it above Blizz to change a few/many/all things on the product slate to surprise us. Its interesting regardless, but I don’t suggest you take it as proof or fact.
Blizzard recently made another round of bans to hackers and cheaters on StarCraft 2:
We recently issued a new round of account suspensions and bans to StarCraft II players who were in violation of the Battle.net Terms of Use for cheating and/or using hack programs while playing. In addition to undermining the spirit of fair competition that’s essential to play on Battle.net, cheating and hacking can lead to stability and performance issues with the service. As always, maintaining a stable, safe, and secure online-gaming experience for legitimate players is a top priority for us, and we’ll be continuing to keep watch on Battle.net and take action as needed.
Since they didn’t include a number with that ban, I’m assuming that its way less than the 5k banned in the first round. At least with less banned, there would be less false positives, and less people freaking out.
On a completely unrelated note, BlizzCast 15 is out. There’s nothing about SC2, but everything about WoW and cataclysm.
