StarCraft II

StarCraft II, codenamed Medusa, is the long awaited sequel to the real-time strategy game StarCraft, announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea.

Development on the game began shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne back in 2003 and that the game development is "very far along," and already playable in multiplayer. The game was still in pre-alpha in December, 2007. Blizzard expects the game to be released faster than the usual 3-4 year period after a game is announced; Rob Pardo stated that StarCraft II will not be out by the end of 2007. PC Gamer reports that StarCraft II is expected to be released in the latter half of 2008; Mercury News corroborates the report. Outside players will playtest the beta version.

The lead designer for StarCraft II is Dustin Browder.

History
StarCraft II has been in development since Blizzard released WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne (July, 2003). As such it has been in development for roughly four years. The development was ramped up shortly after the production of World of Warcraft which was when Blizzard Entertainment hired Dustin Browder on March 14th, 2005 to the position of senior designer. He was later promoted to lead designer.

The team devoted to StarCraft II consists of only about 40 developers, including many of the same people who worked on StarCraft, StarCraft: Brood War, and Warcraft III.

Gameplay
StarCraft II retains some units from the original game, although some of these units have been given new abilities. Due to story events from the previous game, some units have been phased out or replaced. For example, the conquest of the Protoss homeworld of Aiur has prevented the creation of more Dragoons - the transplanted forms of Protoss warriors in exoskeletons - resulting in the remaining Dragoons to be redesigned with different weaponry and a shield that absorbs heavy damage and renamed to "Immortals".

The demo reveals new abilities that involve more complex interaction with the game environment than in StarCraft I. Terran units known as Reapers can swiftly leap over cliffs, and Protoss Stalkers are capable of short-range teleportation to pursue fleeing enemies. Additionally, new abilities have been extended to structures. The Protoss are able to warp prefabricated units within range of their Pylons, and also possess the Phase Prism, a unit that acts as a mobile Pylon, providing power to Protoss buildings in the absence of conventionally built Pylons.

The number of units in the game will not significantly change. For every new unit added, one "underused" unit has been removed.

Multiplayer Gaming
StarCraft II is also designed to focus more heavily on the multiplayer aspect, when compared to the original StarCraft. The changes include overall improvement in Battle.net, a new competitive "ladder" system for ranked games, and new matchmaking mechanics – designed to "match-up" players of equal skill levels. In addition, the replay function, which allows players to record and review past games, will be improved. Resource sharing between allies may also be allowed.

The game is currently set to have eight players but this may change.

Control Differences from StarCraft

 * When a Ghost paints a target area for a nuclear weapon, a large visible nuclear symbol appears to the player. The small red dot is still all that is seen by other players.
 * You can select multiple buildings and more than 150 units in the latest build.
 * You can set a rally point for a Nexus/Command Center/Hatchery to a mineral resource or Vespene Assimilator/Refinery/Extractor and probes/SCVs/drones will mine the resource automatically when built. Combat units will attack-move to the rally point.
 * Idle worker units can be quickly selected with an idle worker button.
 * You may be able to change the hotkeys around.
 * Spellcasting units will use "smart casting".
 * Control group tabs will display what units are bound to each group number.
 * Subgroups allow the player to scroll through different type of units in his current selection with the Tab key.
 * The AI has been improved. The computer AI must scout, while player units "won't line up like ants" when given a move command. Units will not bunch up unless given a manual attack command against a specific enemy unit. If so, they will spread apart when the enemy unit dies or they become idle. Units in the same selection with different speed characteristics will continue to move at different rates.
 * Holding the Alt button will show unit and building hit points overhead.
 * SCVs can autocast their Repair ability. Medics will auto-cast Heal (as in StarCraft I) and Carriers can auto-build their Interceptors. Karune later said that "at the moment, Medics are the only units that we have deemed fit to have an auto-cast ability", leaving the status of other autocasting abilities in doubt.
 * In melee games, players will be able to choose from between 12 to 18 colors.
 * Units have a hold button which stops them from moving and also from attacking.

High Yield Resources
Gold-colored "High Yield Mineral Fields" have been added to the game. These minerals are worth more per "chunk" transported by a worker unit; 12 instead of the regular 8. Expansion sites containing gold minerals will be worth fighting over, creating a new strategy around which expansion sites to claim.

A similar mechanic for high-yield Vespene geysers may also be devised.

Other Gameplay Differences

 * Some doodads can be destroyed by effects such as explosion, possibly opening up inaccessible areas of a map. Rocks will have viewable hit points and can be destroyed by any attacking unit. Cliff-climbing units such as the Reaper and Colossus can climb or jump over the rocks.
 * Observation Posts are neutral structures or doodads which can be temporarily occupied by units. This expands that player's viewing area.

Races
StarCraft II will only feature the three original races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. It has been confirmed that there will not be a fourth race introduced. However, when asked about the possibility of Hybrid and Xel'Naga in the game, Blizzard Entertainment employee Karune replied that "we are planning to explore the mysteries surrounding the Xel'naga for the single player campaign. In the campaign you will encounter several unique units that would not otherwise be seen in multiplayer."

Returning Protoss Units

 * Probe
 * Zealot: Will have a new charge ability, allowing a Zealot to quickly close the distance between itself and an enemy unit.
 * High Templar
 * Dark Templar: Now requires the Dark Obelisk to be created.
 * Observer
 * Carrier: can now auto-build their Interceptors.

New Protoss Units

 * Colossus: A large quad-legged vehicle that fires strong dual lasers in a "wave-like" pattern well-suited to destroying swarms of weaker units; when one unit is destroyed, the laser "sweeps" towards another unit. Shown in the video destroying a large wave of Zerglings. This unit can also traverse differences in terrain height due to its long legs, and will appear to step over ledges and other obstacles due to the inverse kinematics system. The Colossus has no anti-air weapons.


 * Immortal: Walker with strong defense against powerful attacks, but vulnerable to weaker attacks.


 * Mothership: A powerful flying unit which consumes an extreme amount of resources to produce. Has the Timebomb ability, which slows all enemy missile attacks, and the Planet Cracker, a large laser that obliterates anything in its path, in the style of the original StarCraft intro. It also has a cloaking field ability similar to the Arbiter.


 * Phase Prism: A dual-purpose unit, able to transport units or act as a mobile Pylon. Apparently obsoletes and replaces the Shuttle.


 * Phoenix: This anti-air unit can overcharge its guns for a multiple projectile blast, but after the blast the ship is rendered inert for a short period. The Phoenix is very weak versus large enemy air units such as a Battlecruiser, but is powerful versus small and medium air units. It can also strafe ground targets.


 * Stalker: A Dragoon-like Dark Templar unit, able to blink (short-range teleport) and deliver ranged attacks against air and ground units.


 * Stasis Orb: A ground support unit.


 * Twilight Archon: A large ground unit, swirling with blue energy and shooting short-ranged blasts of energy, very similar to the Archon of classic StarCraft.
 * Warp Ray: Flying unit that deals damage with a blue laser that does more damage as it focuses on the same target. Good versus heavily armored targets like buildings, weak against small arms fire.

Canceled Protoss Units
During the StarCraft II development process, some units were canceled. The Soul Hunter was the first unit to fall by the wayside.


 * Reaver: The Reaver was originally supposed to make it into StarCraft II, but was cancelled before BlizzCon 2007. Its current fate is unresolved although Blizzard Entertainment is working on a replacement. It has still been seen in several images, even after it was confirmed to be removed.


 * Soul Hunter: The Soul Hunter was a Protoss infantry unit that many fans believed resembled the Vindicator from StarCraft: Ghost. The Soul Hunter's attack was effective against biological units and buildings but weak against mechanical units and robots; Soul Hunters could gain power from draining biological units as well, firing one beam (originally) going up to three beams when fully powered up.


 * Tempest: Originally set to replace the Carrier, the original was brought back, due to "emotional connections with the original unit".


 * Star Relic: Replaced by the Stasis Orb (and its Cloaking Field ability went to the Mothership).

Non-Returning Units

 * Arbiter: The cloaking ability of the Arbiter has been moved to the Mothership.


 * Archon: Replaced by the Twilight Archon.


 * Dragoon: Replaced by the Immortal and the Stalker. The Dragoon will be available in the map editor.


 * Scout


 * Shuttle: Replaced by the Phase Prism.


 * Corsair: Replaced by the Phoenix.


 * Dark Archon: Replaced by the Twilight Archon.

Returning/Upgraded Protoss Buildings

 * Cybernetics Core


 * Fleet Beacon


 * Forge


 * Gateway: Has the ability to be upgraded into a Warp Gate, which can "warp in" units across the map to any spot within the range of Pylons or deployed Phase Prisms. Each Warp Gate can only "warp in" one unit at a time and is subject to a cooldown period before it can use the ability again. In addition, newly warped in units will gradually materialize and be vulnerable for a period (like a newly warped in Protoss structure), and if the Pylon or Phase Prism is destroyed while the unit is being warped in, the unfinished unit will be lost.


 * Nexus


 * Pylon


 * Robotics Facility


 * Robotics Support Bay


 * Stargate


 * Templar Archives

New Protoss Buildings

 * Dark Obelisk: It allows Dark Templar to be built.


 * Null Circuit: This structure enables a Robotics Facility to produce Observers.


 * Phase Cannon: A defensive building very similar to a Photon Cannon but with the ability to be transform into an energy structure within a Pylon's psionic matrix radius and then move, albeit slowly (compared with a Stalker's blink ability or a Gateway's warp-in). The Phase Cannon replaces the Photon Cannon.


 * Twilight Council

Non Returning buildings

 * Arbiter Tribunal: Arbiters have been removed.
 * Citadel of Adun
 * Observatory: Replaced by Null Circuit.

Returning Terran Units

 * Battlecruiser: Each BC can be upgraded to have either the Yamato Cannon ability or the new Plasma Torpedo ability.
 * Dropship: Must land to release cargo.
 * Firebat: Firebats are now much larger and tougher. They are now built from the Factory.
 * Ghost: Equipped with sniping and Marine summoning abilities.
 * Marine: Will be able to upgrade hit points with a shield.
 * SCV: Repair will be "autocast".
 * Siege Tank
 * Medic: Mentioned by associate producer Tony Hsu in an interview at E3. Has a new flare ability which reveals terrain.

Non-Returning Units

 * Goliath: Replaced by the Viking.
 * Science Vessel: Replaced by the Nomad.
 * Vulture: Replaced by the Reaper (in its role as a raiding unit).
 * Wraith: Replaced by the Viking (air-to-air) and Banshee (air to ground).
 * Valkyrie

New Terran Units

 * Auto-Turret: A defensive structure created by the Nomad.


 * Banshee: A cloak-capable gunship.


 * Nomad: An aerial detecting and spellcasting unit.


 * Reaper: Uses dual pistols, can jet pack up and down ledges and lay mines.


 * Thor. This intimidating mechanical unit is named after the Norse god of thunder. Blizzard is proposing a change to the Thor; it could be immobilized in combat before being destroyed, and could be restored by an SCV.


 * Viking This Terran vehicle can transform from a spacecraft into a walking robot.

Canceled Terran Units

 * Cobra: A fast hover capable vehicle equipped with an electrical attack that slows enemies. It has since been canceled.


 * Predator: An air to air unit; it was canceled during development.

Existing/Updated Terran Buildings

 * Armory


 * Barracks


 * Bunker


 * Command Center: Has the ability to carry up to five SCVs and can upgrade to the powerfully armed Planetary Fortress.


 * Engineering Bay


 * Factory


 * Missile Turret: The Missile Turret loses its detector ability and relies on the Sensor Tower to grant it detection. It also fires two missiles at a time instead of one.


 * Planetary Fortress: This immobile upgrade of the Command Center greatly increases its power and grants it weapons to attack enemy ground units.


 * Refinery


 * Starport


 * Supply Depot: The new Supply Depot can submerge, enabling troops to walk over it. It is smaller and can be made into an important part of Terran base defenses, preventing enemy units from walking past them.


 * Surveillance Station: This immobile upgrade of the Command Center increases its sight range and enables scanning of troop movements through the fog of war.

New Terran Buildings

 * Deep Space Relay: This structure allows production of Battlecruisers and provides researches for them.


 * Merc Haven: This structure acts as a requirement for producing Reapers.


 * Munitions Depot: This structure allows production of Thor by SCVs and provides researches for them.


 * Sensor Tower: This structure can detect enemy units at long range, even within the fog of war.


 * Shadow Ops: This structure enables Ghosts to be produced and provides researches for them. In addition, it stores nukes and Drop Pods for launch.


 * Radar Tower: This building can sense enemy units, even if they are moving in unexplored terrain. However, it is exposed to the enemy, which can avoid its sensing area while rushing to the base.

Add-Ons
In StarCraft II, Terran add-ons work quite differently. There are only two add-ons which have been described, the Nuclear Reactor and the Tech Lab. Instead of being specific to an associated structure, each add-on can be added to any Terran unit-producing structure (Barracks, Factory or Starport), granting a specific benefit. One structure may only have one add-on attached to it, so it cannot benefit from the Reactor's bonus and the Tech Lab bonus simultaneously.
 * Nuclear Reactor: When added to a Terran structure, this doubles the number of units produced from a building. (For instance, adding one to a Factory will enable it to create two Vikings at the same time.)
 * Tech Lab: When added to a Terran structure, this enables the production of "higher tech" units. For instance, adding a Tech Lab to a Barracks will allow it to produce Medics, while adding one to a Factory will enable it to build Siege Tanks.

Canceled Terran Buildings

 * Star Base: This permanently flying structure was an upgrade of the Starport. It produced units despite flying and could "re-arm" nearby units (increasing their energy pool). It was featured at BlizzCon 2007 but has since been removed.

Non Returning Terran Buildings and add-ons

 * ComSat Station: Replaced with Surveillance Station.
 * Nuclear Silo: Replaced with Shadow Ops.
 * Academy: Replaced with Tech Lab.
 * Control Tower: Replaced with Tech Lab.
 * Covert Ops: Replaced with Shadow Ops.
 * Physics Lab: Replaced with Deep Space Relay.
 * Machine Shop: Replaced with Tech Lab.
 * Science Facility: Replaced with Tech Lab.

Returning Zerg Units

 * Mutalisk
 * Ultralisk: currently being developed.
 * Zergling: New ability to mutate into suicidal "Banelings", that can roll across the terrain.
 * Overlord

New Zerg Units

 * Baneling: This green rolling unit is mutated from the Zergling. It has a suicidal attack that does about 40 damage.


 * Nydus Worm: Can be used to transport small units such as Zerglings underground.

Campaigns
The game takes place four years after StarCraft: Brood War, approximately the same time as the storyline of StarCraft: Ghost. The storyline is being written by Chris Metzen and Andy Chambers, concurrently with The Dark Templar Saga which is written by Christie Golden.

StarCraft II will take place both in new worlds and in worlds that had appeared in the original game. Char is back as is Mar Sara. One of the new worlds is Bel'Shir, a jungle Protoss world that was a religious retreat until it was attacked by the Zerg; it now houses many ruined temples. The world shown in the cinematic is Braxis Alpha. Other new worlds include Red Stone and Jotun.

Jim Raynor is set to continue his adventures. Chris Metzen has stated that "everyone who survived will have their stories told".


 * 1) The United Earth Directorate forces were destroyed by Infested Kerrigan's Zerg armies (though a few surviving companies may still be around somewhere).
 * 2) The biggest Terran faction in StarCraft II will be the "evil empire" of the Terran Dominion. The Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan Protectorate are currently independent from the Dominion, which is trying to consolidate its power. However, Raynor's Raiders are the main playable faction, and Jim Raynor is referenced as the central character of the Terran campaign.
 * 3) The Zerg, under the command of Infested Kerrigan, have pulled back to Char and been quiet for four years. No one knows what Kerrigan is planning.

Terran Campaign

 * Zeratul: "I bring tidings of doom. The Xel'Naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key."
 * Jim Raynor: "The key... the key to what?"
 * Zeratul: "To the end of all things."
 * ―Zeratul delivers a warning to Jim Raynorsrc

In the Terran campaign, players will be able to choose their own missions in the middle part of the campaign rather than progress through a set series. Interactions in briefings will also change, as Jim Raynor can interact with those around him (e.g. he can walk around the Hyperion, talk to characters like Tychus Findlay and his second-in-command Matt Horner and even play around with his armory's crane). Also, (access to) units and upgrades for them are purchased outside actual missions, at least in the Terran Campaign.

Heroes and NPC units
Heroes will not be buildable in melee maps. They will fill the same role they did in StarCraft I, "but they will have even more unique abilities from standard units".

Some units that were "cut" during StarCraft II's development will appear in the single-player campaign as well.

Other Races
The Xel'Naga will fit into the story "in a rather epic tale". It is important to note that the "greater whole" of the Xel'Naga race was wiped out, which means some of them may still be alive. According to Zeratul, the "cycle nears its end." This involves the finding of Xel'Naga artifacts.

The Hybrid is not available as a playable race in StarCraft II, but a strange creature which may be a Hybrid is portrayed in a StarCraft II trailer. Blizzard Entertainment promised that "the Zerg/Protoss hybrid would be dealt with."

When Blizzard Entertainment employee Karune was asked if there would be any Hybrid units in StarCraft II, he replied "we are planning to explore the mysteries surrounding the Xel'naga for the single player campaign. In the campaign you will encounter several unique units that would not otherwise be seen in multiplayer."

Movies
StarCraft II will feature fewer, more epic movies compared to the original. In addition, there will be several in-game cutscenes of higher quality than StarCraft I's pre-rendered movies.

Development and Technologies
StarCraft II will support the DirectX 9 (Pixel Shader 2.0) software and will be fully compatible with DirectX 10 as well, which will provide access to enhanced graphical effects. The Mac client will utilize OpenGL, instead. The game will also feature the Havok physics engine, allowing realistic interaction with the environment, such as "debris roll[ing] down a ramp". Game unit models will feature more polygons than World of Warcraft player models.

During game design, 3DSMax was used to create the unit models, and Photoshop was used to edit textures.

Plans to integrate voice over internet protocol into the game are underway.

Gore can be disabled, but doing so will require restarting the game.

Scumedit
The game will come with a map editor called "scumedit".

Map Creation
The editor features a proprietary scripting language based on C, but users will also have access to the more user friendly Trigger Editor which will allow beginner and intermediate map designers to make advanced maps without having to learn the scripting language.

Scumedit maps are capable of holding thousands of triggers, locations and doodads. It will make all the triggers in the program available to mapmakers.

Map "locking" will be enabled, which ensures that no one will lose credit for creating a map.

Terrain can be mixed and matched; you can define your own tileset in the editor. Maximum map size will be fixed at 256 x 256.

Text coloring, unit coloring, and neutral units will be supported in the editor.

Units
Many of the units and abilities that may not end up in the final version of the game, will still be accessible by modders.

Heroes can carry items in scumedit through the use of a toggle. Heroes and units can also gain experience, although this ability will likely not be available in the campaign or standard multiplayer games. This will enable map styles such as Defense of the Ancients to be reproduced in StarCraft II.

The footprint of structures can be adjusted to whatever the editor desires (such as "square" buildings).

Trailers, Demonstrations & Other Videos
Blizzard Entertainment made the very first publicly playable demo of StarCraft II available at BlizzCon.

StarCraft II was featured at E3 2007, July 11th 2007. Only a demo was viewable, not a playable version. StarCraft II was featured at BlizzCon 2007, August 3rd to 4th, 2007. Terrans and Protoss were playable. The same two races were playable at GenCon Indy. The game was available at the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, August 22nd to 26th 2007.

A number of videos have surfaced on the anticipated game.

Official Videos
The official videos are stored on the official website for StarCraft II, established and maintained by Blizzard Entertainment.


 * First artwork trailer, showing a large number of scanned Concept Art drawings/paintings for StarCraft II and another Protoss/Terran battle on a different map than the first official gameplay demo video.


 * First cinematic trailer, introducing Tychus Findlay and showing in detail the involved, robotic process of installing a Terran Marine's armor.


 * First official gameplay demo, giving a tour by means of a video recorded from an apparently mission-like game that demonstrates and describes the Protoss Gateway ability, updated Protoss Zealot, the new Protoss Immortal, the new Terran Reaper, the new Protoss Phase Prism, the Protoss Stalker, the new or updated Zerg Nydus Worm and classic Zerglings, the ability to combine Protoss Phase Prisms and Gateway ability to create a significant force anywhere on the map, massive new Protoss Colossus units, the ability for classic Zerglings to mutate into new Banelings, the classic Zerg Mutalisks, new Protoss Phoenix, classic Terran Battlecruiser, new Protoss Warp Ray, and the "ultimate" unit of StarCraft II: the Protoss Mothership.  It finishes with a Terran/Protoss brawl which ends with three Ghosts each launching a Nuke that wipes out the entirety of the Protoss and Terran forces involved in the brawl (with the exception of the Ghosts) and Zerglings killing the Ghosts and forming up the letters 'GG' as they mutate into Banelings.

Observations
Several interesting things are seen briefly in the first officially released gameplay demo video. In the beginning of the video, what appears to be a new Terran structure can be seen mining minerals with a laser-like beam and extracting them without the involvement of SCV's or similar mining units. Also interesting is that no Command Centers are seen in the vicinity, indicating that these structures are independent and self sufficient. The structure may be a graphical doodad however, rather than representative of resource gathering (Terran SCVs mining minerals and bringing the resource to a Command Center have been observed). The use of an advanced shadowing engine is also apparent, allowing shadows to behave realistically and stretch or compress according to the curvature of the texture they are falling upon. Debris and doodads also appear to cast their own dynamic shadows. It is also interesting to note that a sign doodad seen partway through the video advertises the name Mengsk, feasibly in reference to Arcturus Mengsk whose inclusion in the plot of StarCraft II is the subject of much speculation. Other doodads feature holograms or make references to the Kel-Morian Combine.

BlizzCon Videos
Blizzard Entertainment showcased several videos at BlizzCon 2007. Three were relevant to StarCraft II; the Terran gameplay and campaign video, an art video and a lore video.

Other Blizzard Events
Blizzard Entertainment showcased StarCraft II at GenCon Indy.

PC Gamer Preview
A video surfaced on youtube and other sites showing four new units: the Soul Hunter, Phase Cannon (a Photon Cannon that can move), the Twilight Archon and the Tempest (a new version of the Carrier). Karune, an official Blizzard Entertainment staffer on battle.net forums, confirmed in a post the video is genuine.

Prose from the same issue of PC Gamer detailed what appeared to be the entirety of Protoss units. In addition to the officially confirmed units in both the first Gameplay demo video and the PC Gamer video, the Observer and Reaver were confirmed, and the "Star Relic" was listed.

SuperPlay Preview
Images from SuperPlay magazine, a video game magazine based in Sweden, appeared on Imajr showing several previously seen Protoss units, what may have been a Protoss hero, a new Terran structures (the Sensor Dome), two Terran building upgrades (Planetary Fortress and submersible Supply Depot) and several new Terran units (the Thor and the Viking). The article describes a trio of test battles; in one a Mothership undergoes some kind of repair. The article was confirmed genuine by Karune.

Media.Daum Preview
A Korean website claims to have information on Terran units and buildings. Images can be found at the graphics page, unit information can be found at the unit page and building information can be found at the building page. This information has been confirmed by Karune.

GameStar Preview
The German magazine Gamestar has a preview for an article featuring elements of StarCraft II. The article became available Wednesday July 25th.

Other Unofficial Videos
Variants of all videos can be found here, and youtube is where videos first popped up of StarCraft II, including a recording of the debut announcement in Korea.
 * YouTube