Oops 05.11.2008
As I'm sure many of you are aware, I posted news about what I thought were 11 new screenshots, while in actuality, they were quite old. I'm sorry to have disappointed those who saw the news post.
On another note, we are aware of the current issue with email subscriptions receiving 3 copies of every email and we will have it resolved shortly. Thanks for your patience while we fix this.
Site Downtime Addressed 05.08.2008
We were experiencing some technical difficulties and things appear to be back online now. If you experience any issues please use the contact form to let us know. We've had to resort to a recent backup. So again, if you experience any issues we would appreciate it if you would report it.StarCraft II Q&A Batch 37 05.07.2008
Karune posts some refreshing news in this latest batch:
Karune @ Battle.net Forum (1)
Welcome back to another edition of our StarCraft II Q&A! The past couple of weeks have been exciting with preparations for this summers Worldwide Invitational. We just launched the sign-ups for the StarCraft II Community tournament that will be open for attendees of the event. Also we were happy to see so many great entrees for the "I <3 SC" contest come in. We had a fun time deciding on the winners that will be announced and put into the mosaic in the coming days. You can still submit your pictures for the "I <3 SC" mosaic, but the contest is now officially over. But now, enjoy this week's batch of our Q&A!
Chat with Devs:One of the latest changes the Devs are trying for the Nomad is replacing their previous stationary Mine Drone with Spider Mines. The Spider Mines behave the same as Spider Mines from the original StarCraft. It now also does 50 damage plus 50 additional damage towards armored units. Instead of only having 3 Spider Mines, the Nomad will be able to plant Spider Mines with the cost of 15 energy. These Mines will definitely prove quite formidable against mass Tier 1 units such as Zerglings and charging Zealots. As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying the batches.
1. Can the Ghost snipe casting (energy based) units in the fog of war using its passive sensing ability? (Battle.net) crazy_daveWhile the Ghost will not be able to snipe casters in the fog of war, their current range to detect casters(units with energy) is 30, giving you plenty of time to prepare for incoming threats.
2. Could you tell us more details about the Reapers' mines mechanics? Are they visible for the enemy? Can they be defused, or should simply be destroyed? Do they deal damage to friendly units and to each other? If so, does the explosion of one mine cause the detonation of its neighbors, or they just die, without dealing damage? (Battle.net) ElsoronYes, the Reapers' mines will be visible, though depending on the placement, they can be covered by enemy units moving over them. The mines have very few hit points and can be killed easily. Nonetheless, it is important to note that they are very small, making it more difficult to micromanage those attacks when there are several mines. Mines damage both enemy and friendly units/buildings, so making sure you don't blow up your own Reapers is quite important ;) Mines will not detonate other mines, have a 30 second cooldown, and they currently do 30 damage plus 30 additional damage to armored units (including buildings). Furthermore, the mine is now an upgradeable ability of the Reaper.
3. In StarCraft II there are destructible obstacles like rocks. Apart from simply killing them the Protoss Nullifier can lift them with his Anti-Gravity spell. Do the other races have any similar options to remove or pass the rocks with spells? (broodwar.de)Actually, the ability to lift destructible doodads has been classified as a bug and has been fixed in the latest builds. Nullifiers have already proved to be quite strong when used in groups, being able to lift up Siege Tanks and Ultralisks, effectively taking them out of combat until the rest of their reinforcements are dead.
4. Do Anti-Gravitated Banelings keep their suicidal abilities and act as Scourge? (sc2blog.com)Yes, when Banelings die while being lifted by Anti-Gravity, their explosion will hit air units in its area of effect. This could undoubtedly open up some unique and unexpected strategies in team games.
5. Blizzard made 2 e-sport oriented games after StarCraft: Warcraft 3 and WoW. What are the biggest lessons that you've learned from those 2 games and how will you apply them to StarCraft II? - VIB (teamliquid.net)One of the main goals for StarCraft II is to keep the game very visually intuitive and readable. As Dustin has mentioned in our recent chat, visually When a unit teleports, it teleports. When it shoots, it looks like it is shooting. It should be easy to follow on a screen and players should be able to quickly understand what is happening in the battles. Futhermore, Blizzard's games has followed the premise of easy to learn and hard to master. StarCraft II will follow this philosophy.
6. How does the Marauder's slow ability work against the Zealot's charge ability. According to present knowledge the concussion grenade shot of a Marauder forces its target to stop moving for a short time; afterwards the targeted unit can go straight forward. So does it stop a charging Zealot and does the speed bonus remain? (starcraft2.4players.de)When the Marauder's concussion grenade hits an enemy target, it will reduce that unit's speed immediately by a set percentage. The cooldown of the concussion grenade shot is subject to balance. Nonetheless, a charging Zealot slowed by a concussion grenade is still pretty fast. Before the Protoss player upgrades their Zealots with charge, a Marauder can kite a Zealot with relatively little micromanagement.
--End Of Transmission--Many interesting mechanics have been explained here. Marauders are sure to win against Zealots and Ghost, while being able to detect cloaked enemies from afar, are not able to use their snipe ability in the fog of war. An interesting modification has been made to the Nomad too, with the return of Spider mines! These will no longer be limited in numbers but will cost energy instead.
Sources
1Up covers a week of StarCraft II 05.07.2008
The staff over at 1UP will be gathering the most information they can over a week at Blizzard. They've already shared their opinion about how the game feels in multiplayer on Monday and compared Blizzard to Westwood over their years of making RTS games on Tuesday. They have also been lucky enough to interview Chris Sigaty in this video.
Be sure to check back on their updates as they add new stuff every day!
Karune talks about Anti-gravity 05.06.2008
Recently the news' stream about StarCraft II has been drying up. Fortunately, Karune is back with precious information on the Anti-Gravity ability:
Karune @ Battle.net Forum (1)
What'll happen if we use Anti-Gravity ability to a colossus? Its feet becomes an air unit and its head becomes space unit?The Colossus would become lifted into the air and become entirely an air unit for the duration of the Anti-Gravity ability. While suspended in the air, it will not be able to attack any units, and will be vulnerable to attack from any units that can hit air.
If we use Anti-Gravity ability on a sensor tower, can the sensor tower detect the cloaked unit as usual?All buildings that are affected by Anti-Gravity will be 'stunned' and lose any special building abilities. For instance, Pylons will also lose the ability to power buildings when they are lifted and buildings researching tech will also be paused when they are lifted.
You can disable their cannons by Anti-G their pylons? That's a bit IMBA.Yup, a strategy can be to use Anti-Gravity to unpower Protoss defenses, although the time a unit/building is lifted is relatively short right now. Furthermore, that number will always be subject to balance.
It's nice to see this particularly intriguing ability evolving. It opens a lot of new strategies for SCII.
