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July 1st, 2009, 7:46 pm by jsimmons
 The road to “StarCraft II” started with “WarCraft III.”
At least the testing did; that’s where Blizzard began tinkering with unit ideas. The graphic engine for “StarCraft II” was created from scratch for the game, said Chris Sigaty, lead producer (pictured on right), and the initial process of just what “StarCraft II” should be had started before that.
So to keep work moving forward on “StarCraft II” while its engine was being developed, the team prototyped — that is, created working units — using the “WarCraft III” engine. It seemed like a natural fit; both games are real-time strategy titles, both would use 3D engines. However, Sigaty said, the process just didn’t work – the inner workings of ”WarCraft III” was simply too different. In the end, all the time spent testing with “WarCraft” didn’t add up to anything.
Those subtle differences between “StarCraft II” and “WarCraft III” — indeed, between “StarCraft II” and the original “StarCraft” — seem to underlie Blizzard’s approach to the new game. It’s been over 10 years since the original’s release, in 1998, but it’s still one of the most-played PC games in the U.S. It has huge appeal overseas, notably in South Korea; at E3 this year, “StarCraft” was honored by Guiness World Records for being the best-selling PC strategy game of all time, with 9.5 million copies sold. That pedigree is something, Sigaty says, the team has tried to emulate — they want players who played the original to feel nostalgia. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Games • Star Craft • Chris Sigaty • SC2 sneak • StarCraft II • unique | Post a Comment »
June 30th, 2009, 5:39 am by jsimmons
After a live demonstration of the current “StarCraft II” build, we got some hands-on time with the game and its project manager, Chris Sigaty, sat down with us for a quick chat.
Today, the meat and potatoes — while Blizzard didn’t have a full (or even nearly finalized) Battle.net system to show to us (yet, anyway), we did get a taste of what’s to come. The biggest change is a welcome one — players can fast forward, rewind and replay any piece of a multiplayer game in the post-game viewer; this is, obviously, a huge upgrade from “StarCraft” and its once-through player in which games must be watched from the beginning. Up to eight players can play on a map, and observers can crowd in until there’s a total of 12 people in a game — for example, seven observers could watch a five-player game, or nine could watch a three-person game.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Games • Latest game news • Star Craft • SC2 sneak • StarCraft II | Post a Comment »
June 25th, 2009, 2:10 am by jsimmons
- “StarCraft II” Battle Report 3 is up at Blizzard’s site. These battle reports are pretty interesting to watch — a lot of little play intricacies are covered, and there’s quite a bit of sneak-peek information in them. Blizzard
- For the completionist FigurePrints connoisseur, a handful of in-game pets are being produced now. Unlike the typical FigurePrints custom “World of Warcraft” statuettes, the pets won’t be pulled from accounts; still, they’re kinda neat (if a little expensive). If you’ve got a mind to pick this series up, get on it though — they’re only being produced for a little more than a month, until July 31. FigurePrints
Posted in: Games • Star Craft • World of Warcraft • The Blizzard Report | Post a Comment »
June 19th, 2009, 1:17 am by jsimmons
Patch 3.2 is stacking up to be an interesting addition all around for “World of Warcraft.”
- Several of the largest changes are addressed in an internal Q+A with WoW’s lead designer, Cory Stockton. The list? Battlegrounds will provide experience; experience will be toggle-able, so players can choose if they want to advance in levels; and a rundown for the Isle of Conquest, the game’s next new battleground. Blizzard
- Epic-quality gems are coming down the pike, and every profession’s gotten a little boost to compensate for the fact that smithing gets an inordinate increase from the new gems thanks to its extra sockets. How much does everyone get buffed? Well, that’s the $64,000 question, but it’s good to see this is being addressed before it becomes an issue. Blizzard
And in the “yeah, I could see that, maybe” department, “EverQuest” lead designer Ryan Barker takes a guess at what the next hot new thing in MMOs will be — Facebook. In a larger interview, he said he thinks that a casual MMO integrated into existing social networks has the ability to eclipse everything that’s come before. It’s an interesting idea, and one that ultimately has some merit, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Not only could existing MMOs work backward to integrate into Facebook, Myspace or whatever, but there’s a handful of new IPs coming out, including Blizzard’s next MMO, and we really don’t know what to expect from them. Massively
Posted in: Games • Latest game news • World of Warcraft • The Blizzard Report | Post a Comment »
June 15th, 2009, 12:47 am by jsimmons
Blizzard contacted us today, Monday, June 15 – we jumped the gun on an announcement we made here. We’ll still be visiting them in the near future, but they kindly asked us not to mention when, where or what we’ll be reviewing. We normally wouldn’t change a post after the fact — short of a correction — but there was some confusion regarding Blizzard’s media policies. We’ve tried to honor the company’s intention as best as possible.
Still, keep an eye out — we’ll have something cool here pretty soon. Sorry for the confusion.
- BlizzPlanet’s interview with Christie Golden, author of the upcoming “StarCraft” novel, “The Dark Templar Saga: Twilight” went off without a hitch. Not only did they get fan-submitted questions answered, but they also got some new information on the game world. BlizzPlanet
Posted in: Games • Star Craft • The Blizzard Report | 4 Comments »
June 11th, 2009, 2:42 am by jsimmons
- BlizzPlanet keeps racking up interviews with Blizzard authors. This time, they’ve got Simon Furman, writer of issue #1 of the new “StarCraft” comic series. BlizzPlanet
- Good news for “World of Warcraft” players — the upcoming 3.2 patch (eta: the misty future) will contain cheaper mounts at all tiers and faster blue-quality flying mounts. We all know there’s more than a few bellyachers out there who’ll bemoan this change, but it’s hard to condemn a change that makes the game more accessible. WoW.com
Posted in: Latest game news • The Blizzard Report | Post a Comment »
June 9th, 2009, 2:52 am by jsimmons
- Curious about the soon-to-be-released “StarCraft: The Dark Templar” novel, “Twilight”? Head on over to BlizzPlanet and post your questions for Christie Golden, the book’s author (and author of the recent “WarCraft” novel, “Arthas: Rise of the Lich King”). They’ve got an interview lined up with her for the 13th, so get your questions in quick! BlizzPlanet
- Guinness honored a handful of people at E3 this year, including Blizzard. The award? For most-populated MMO (”World of Warcraft,” of course of course) and best-selling PC game ever (”StarCraft”) – accepted by Mike Morhaime and Paul Sams. WoW.com
Posted in: Games • Star Craft • World of Warcraft | Post a Comment »
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