StarCraft 2: a look at gameplay balance and story specifics

There’s so much buzz about StarCraft 2 at Blizzard‘s Worldwide Invitational that it’s easy to get lost in the onslaught of game details, screenshots, and tidbits. It’s good though that one particular panel discussion at the event decided to focus on gameplay balance. IGN reports that Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo, Senior Game Designer Dustin Browder, and Creative Director Andy Chambers were there to share what they knew.

It was revealed that StarCraft 2 will be closer to StarCraft than an evolution of the WarCraft 3 formula. This means of course that there will be lesser amounts of micromanagement, battles with hundreds of units, and faster gameplay. Gone are the instances of “creeping” in WarCraft 3 where players had to send their heroes to hack away at NPCs to increase in level. Pardo notes that a match should last 20 minutes at most.

It was noted that Unit abilities in StarCraft 2 are mostly automated, but there will still be a lot of room for players with skill to shine. Since the game is after all a sport in Korea, the emphasis on skill-based play is there.

Here’s an example of how skill comes into play. It was revealed that when a unit is at higher ground, is hidden by the fog-of-war, and is attacking a unit at a lower level, the higher unit won’t be revealed, and thus the unit at lower ground won’t be able to retaliate.

As for the StarCraft 2 beta test, it was noted that a number of professional StarCraft gamers have been invited. They also said they will eventually take in applications for testing and that they will only accept a certain percentage.

For those interested in the game’s story (no thanks to Brood Wars accursed cliffhanger), rest assured that Blizzard Entertainment is aiming to provide a great Solo Experience.

Rob Pardo says that they’re “really going to focus in on the story” and that they have a lot of new ideas for how the campaign unfolds. As for story specifics it was revealed that Mengst’s Terran Dominion would act as the main Terran force and that the game is set four years after the original.

They reassure that a lot of plot elements in Brood Wars will bloom. So expect Xel’naga, and their Protoss-Zerg hybrid race, even though the game only has three playable races. Oh, and to end this, no, they no plans for making naval units. Dustin Browder noted, “we have no plans at this time for naval combat.”

There’s so much buzz about StarCraft 2 at Blizzard‘s Worldwide Invitational that it’s easy to get lost in the onslaught of game details, screenshots, and tidbits. It’s good though that one particular panel discussion at the event decided to focus on gameplay balance. IGN reports that Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo, Senior Game Designer Dustin Browder, and Creative Director Andy Chambers were there to share what they knew.

It was revealed that StarCraft 2 will be closer to StarCraft than an evolution of the WarCraft 3 formula. This means of course that there will be lesser amounts of micromanagement, battles with hundreds of units, and faster gameplay. Gone are the instances of “creeping” in WarCraft 3 where players had to send their heroes to hack away at NPCs to increase in level. Pardo notes that a match should last 20 minutes at most.

It was noted that Unit abilities in StarCraft 2 are mostly automated, but there will still be a lot of room for players with skill to shine. Since the game is after all a sport in Korea, the emphasis on skill-based play is there.

Here’s an example of how skill comes into play. It was revealed that when a unit is at higher ground, is hidden by the fog-of-war, and is attacking a unit at a lower level, the higher unit won’t be revealed, and thus the unit at lower ground won’t be able to retaliate.

As for the StarCraft 2 beta test, it was noted that a number of professional StarCraft gamers have been invited. They also said they will eventually take in applications for testing and that they will only accept a certain percentage.

For those interested in the game’s story (no thanks to Brood Wars accursed cliffhanger), rest assured that Blizzard Entertainment is aiming to provide a great Solo Experience.

Rob Pardo says that they’re “really going to focus in on the story” and that they have a lot of new ideas for how the campaign unfolds. As for story specifics it was revealed that Mengst’s Terran Dominion would act as the main Terran force and that the game is set four years after the original.

They reassure that a lot of plot elements in Brood Wars will bloom. So expect Xel’naga, and their Protoss-Zerg hybrid race, even though the game only has three playable races. Oh, and to end this, no, they no plans for making naval units. Dustin Browder noted, “we have no plans at this time for naval combat.”