What is Digg?341 Comments
- thenonhacker, on 06/11/2008, -5/+163SPAWN MORE OVERLORDS
- inactive, on 06/12/2008, -6/+142YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS!
- inactive, on 06/12/2008, -6/+107NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETECTED!!
- dunezone, on 06/12/2008, -3/+62The game has lasted because of fixed variables. The game is like Chess, there are defined rules to chess, no player can break them, no player can have an advantage. First off, the game is set to 640x480 and thats for two reasons. One is because the game engine was built back in 1996-97 which 640x480 was good enough for visuals and performance. Now its 2008 the game is still updated but they haven't allowed higher resolutions. This is because it would give an unfair balance to one of the players who could possibly see more on his/her screen, thus giving someone a possible advantage.
Another set variable is theres no chance in this game. Theres no 15% chance of doing 50% damage. Now if you tell me what about putting a unit on higher ground, that gives 25% more damage or something, but thats fixed variable, unlike Warcraft 3 which actually has chance built in, for example critical strike, 15% chance of doing twice the damage. Basically a roll of dice and anything is possible, Starcraft doesn't have this.
Another fixed variable is that no matter what, when a unit attacks, the other unit takes damage. Unlike Command & Conquer where it was possible to miss an enemy. In Starcraft a Siege tank will hit its target no matter what, you can miss, but also you cant force attack the ground and attempt to hit cloaked units.
Unfortunately, most people these days on Bnet play either BGH with unlimited minerals or Zero Clutter maps which is basically fast resources. Unlimited minerals and Fast Minerals makes the unbalanced, not by much, but a good player will know how to exploit those gameplay methods. The only way to play a fair game of Starcraft is on balanced map with fixed resources that can deplete.
Theres more then this. And Warcraft 3 actually works with the "dice roll" of chance but thats because I believe its programmed in that no matter what. If you have a 10% chance of doing a critical strike, no matter what, 1 out of 10 hits will be a critical strike no matter what, but now throw in some luck ;). But in the end, the game was designed like chess, you have set rules, they cant be broken, and the only way to take advantage is by strategy, just like in Chess. - Koush, on 06/12/2008, -5/+54My life for Aiur.
- inactive, on 06/11/2008, -4/+49SC/BW 4TW
it is the best game ever, it's chess on crack. I have been playing since it was released and still log in from time to time to get pwned by the Koreans...
I hope SC2 will be just as awsome d^_^b - JustinZz, on 06/12/2008, -1/+42if you asked me to name a PERFECT game
id have to say starcraft
hopefully they'll be able to get the same pace for starcraft II, and not the slowness of WC3 - Noctem, on 06/12/2008, -3/+36Bitches don't know about my additional pylons.
- DrDragun, on 06/12/2008, -0/+32BATTLECRUISER OPERATIONAL
The SOUNDS of the game were such a big part of the atmosphere. I hope they are not afraid to keep the original flavor. I mean by today's standards the sound is kind of cheesy, with the music so strong that it kind of dominates the foreground instead of gently filling the background. But that atmosphere was so perfect. Even all the beeps and chirps as you were going through the game menus. - JingleHymrShmit, on 06/12/2008, -4/+33Im not gonna lie, that "magic" reason is kind of cheesy.
- yohnstoppable, on 06/12/2008, -0/+26"Why isn't the game over... Does someone not have allied victory checked?"
"I have it checked. Wait, *insert random person here* is the person without it checked! He just asked me to backstab you guys with him! Let's attack him!"
"Alright!"
"Wait, it still hasn't ended. Are you sure it was him?"
*nuclear launch detected*
*nuclear launch detected*
"What the *****?"
*nuclear launch detected*
*nuclear launch detected*
*nuclear launch detected*
Good times... - dracflamloc, on 06/12/2008, -5/+31Two words: Total Annihilation
- GMH24, on 06/12/2008, -0/+23Starcraft is the only game my 55 year old father plays, much to the chagrin of my mother. He only plays 1 vs 8 Comps BGH, and uses the cheat codes to turtle in his base and watch the never ending onslaught of the Zerg utterly decimated by his siege tanks. All the while grinning madly.
- st3vo, on 06/12/2008, -2/+25Korea's economy is due to be altered..
- KesshoRyu, on 06/12/2008, -4/+26Not enough vespene gas.
- yohnstoppable, on 06/12/2008, -0/+21The best part of Starcraft was having to manually ally. Some good times when you couldn't figure out who didn't check "allied victory". Was also easy to take someone out by surprise if they were still allied to you, but you weren't to them (their units wouldn't fight back). If you attacked quick enough, you could take a huge chunk out before they unchecked allied and could actually fight back.
Backstabbing noobs who padded their records with comp stomps was so much fun. - sexualwasabi, on 06/11/2008, -0/+21My life for AIUR!
I cannot wait for this game, driving me crazy... I want beta I want beta - ohheythar, on 06/12/2008, -1/+21esports... koreans have a respect for their opponents. im an american gamer and i can say that we are too hot headed. mlg being the prime example here. i guess that's why starcraft was fun for me... even when you lost you still had fun.
- ToastPop, on 04/17/2009, -2/+22I can't build there, somethin's in the way!
- twtmc, on 06/12/2008, -0/+19One thing I think should have been presented in the article is the lack of AI. With starcraft, you tell a large number of units to move long distances, they are so dumb they might get stuck on something. Contrary to ruining the game, this makes it so that in order to master the game, you have to have the superhuman ability of being everywhere at once. I hate RTS games that do everything for you, and that seems to be the trend these days. One other thing that I love is the ability to control all the units separately. Forced squads are KILLING RTS.
- Lugano, on 06/12/2008, -1/+19I never played Starcraft...I should look into it. I really liked Warcraft III.
- Omek, on 06/12/2008, -1/+19Best game I've ever played. It just has everything you could possibly want. Come on SC2!!! I can't wait.
- phorty40, on 06/12/2008, -1/+18POWER OVERWHELMING!
why is it so awesome? i dont know , because its simple and in depth at the same time and oh yeah USE MAP SETTINGS.
the game never gets old. Bounds anyone? - sexualwasabi, on 06/12/2008, -0/+17Yes you must! http://youtube.com/watch?v=C5e6eG6bXAQ
- woflox, on 06/12/2008, -0/+17WE REQUIRE MORE VESPENE GAS
- sabach, on 06/12/2008, -0/+16You want a piece of me, boy?
- suckanucka, on 06/12/2008, -1/+16Zergling rush owns all.
- str3ama, on 06/12/2008, -0/+15I hadn't heard of starcraft until a friend started praising it to the heavens (he had just bought it, something like 2-3 months after it came out), I borrowed it and started playing it for 2 minutes and wondered why he was praising it so much. It didn't seem all that great. I continued playing through the campaigns, and about 4 missions in (after you meet Raynor) I started getting in to it. It's one of the first RTS's that had a substantial plot besides take all your forces and kill that other guy. One of the things that really stays with me now about the game is the brilliance of those end cutscenes..I love the speech that Arcturus Mingsk (sp?) makes at the end. Yea it's cheesy, but the visuals went well with it.
"Fellow Terrans, I come to you in the wake of recent events to issue a call to reason.
Let no human deny the perils of our time. While we battle one another, divided be the petty strife of our common history, the tide of greater conflict is turning against us threatening to destroy all that we have accomplished.
It is time for us as nations and as individuals to set aside our long-standing feuds and unite. The tides of an unwinnable war are upon us, and we must seek refuge on higher ground, lest we be swept away by the flood.
The Confederacy is no more.
Whatever semblance of unity and protection it once provided is a phantom... a memory. With our enemies left unchecked, who will you turn to for protection?
The devastation wrought by the alien invaders is self-evident. We have seen our homes and villages destroyed by the calculated blows of the Protoss. We have seen first hand our friends and loved ones consumed by the nightmarish Zerg. Unprecedented and unimaginable though they may be, these are the signs of our time.
The time has come my fellow Terrans to rally to a new banner. In unity lies strength; already many of the dissident factions have joined us. Out of the many we shall forge an indivisible whole capitulating only to a single throne. And from that throne I shall watch over you.
From this day forward let no human make war upon any other human, let no Terran agency conspire against this new beginning, and let no man consort with alien powers... and to all the enemies of humanity seek not to bar our way, for we shall win through, no matter the cost."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w8mmX9IjkhI - gs68, on 06/12/2008, -0/+14***** off, Aldaris. I have enough pylons.
- Holle, on 06/12/2008, -0/+14Who only sends just 1 nuke at a time?
- stix213, on 06/12/2008, -1/+15Obviously the game won't be perfectly balanced when it comes out. This is due to the fact that Blizzard's internal QA guys can't anticipate every strategy that players will use for every race.
Here's a little game QA story as an example from my own experience:
I worked QA on a few games back in the day, including the original Warlords Battlecry, which was a RTS game as well. The game had been in testing for some time before I started, but I noticed that although the Undead race was tested well for functionality, no one really liked to play as it during multiplayer testing. Turns out all the testers that were already there had the opinion the Undead race was pretty weak and that it probably needed to be made stronger to compete with the other races....
I (being an avid RTS fan already, and am pretty good at Star Craft and AOE) decided to only play the Undead race using different strategies than the other testers had been using and taking advantage of as many unique characteristics as possible of the Undead race (for example: the Undead had the unique ability to upgrade weaker units to stronger ones, which heals them as well, so I would start a battle with a swarm of weaker units and when my units all became injured I would upgrade them and easily crush my opponent right when he thought he had the upper hand).
As a result of just adding me to the team, the Undead race actually was rebalanced being made much much WEAKER, just because of the ass kicking I was giving the other testers for a few weeks straight.
FYI, both the computer AI and the printed strategy guide for the game are partially based on my game strategies, which always pisses me off when the computer pulls something I would do :) - AnotherThought, on 06/12/2008, -0/+14SC is great b/c there is almost no direct counter-parts from one race to another there's however a 'food chain' effect that made it interesting and they enhanced that in this upcoming new one, it's gonna be great!
- thisperishedmin, on 06/12/2008, -0/+13creativity my watson....nukes were terrifying if used by a creative player. terran were always the hardest to nuke what with the comsat station and tanks...
but valkryies to chase off the detection of protoss or zerg and youre cherry. that or an attack on another front to trick them into looking elsewhere...it was all in the tactics.
I did find it a bit underpowered, but you could still open up a choke quickly to pour in with a tank siege or goliaths or medi marines or whatever protocol demanded for the given match...
oh I cant wait to get home and play now. - omgsideburns, on 06/12/2008, -0/+13this always made my heart sink.. :(
- Lax32, on 06/12/2008, -1/+13It was amazing because it was perfectly balanced. All the different races and classes were even. With so many games you find that one dominant thing and only use it, or at the very least there are a couple completely useless things that nobody ever touches.
- Rockmaninoff, on 06/12/2008, -0/+12How'd you make that inverted d?
- o0joshua0o, on 06/12/2008, -0/+11I think you've hit on something important. Starcraft allowed you to micromanage down to the smallest possible level, if you wanted to.
- Stupidumb, on 06/12/2008, -0/+10So, like 3 people don't think it's the best. So what?
- honesttussey, on 06/12/2008, -0/+10Actually it's "You must construct additional pylons" You both fail. Hand in your nerd cards and follow the signs to the exit.
- Icecream, on 06/12/2008, -6/+16This article says that Starcraft is perfectly balanced, and it is. now. It wasn't when it first came out, Ill put my money on Starcraft 2 not being balanced when it is released as well. I'm sure Blizzard will tune it until it is tho. Even if it takes ten years.
- RSS14, on 06/12/2008, -0/+9For me, it was because all 3 races were balanced perfectly. They all had their ups and down in certain area.
- malechite, on 06/12/2008, -1/+10Starcraft 2 cant come soon enough
- sexualwasabi, on 06/12/2008, -0/+9Exactly that is why SC is the ultimate RTS game
"Starcraft is simple where it needs to be simple, complex where it needs to be complex" - unorginalityftw, on 06/12/2008, -0/+9I did that to a friend once, middle of his base, with so many nukes the game froze for about 30 seconds. If I may recreate his facial expressions...
=D
=|
=O
>=3
=,( - Procure, on 06/12/2008, -1/+10nr 15mins
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go - insertAliasHere, on 06/12/2008, -0/+8http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff89/afterthot/ ...
- psg188, on 06/12/2008, -3/+10It's certainly good, but the best ever? No place I've ever seen has rated it such.
I'm not a fan of Starcraft, but I see the appeal and certainly understand why so many people are devoted to it.
Though there are a couple things about this article I didn't like, number one being the claim that it was the first game with three unique teams. Dune II did this first in 1993, which was also the first strategy game with AI and many other features we take for granted today.
Without Dune II, followed by Command & Conquer in 1995, I don't think Starcraft would be the game you know and love. For that matter, I don't think Total Annihilation would exist as we know it either, which would make me very sad indeed. - mcrumiller, on 06/12/2008, -0/+7I could go on about Starcraft forever. People love to debate that their RTS is better...Warcraft III, C&C, AoE. In reality, nothing compares. Starcraft is the most elegant, perfect game ever created.
I find it a bit amusing that the single player campaigns are even mentioned. Single player is not at all the reason why Starcraft is so popular. It's popular for its multiplayer player vs player matches. People liken the game to chess often, because there are undoubtedly many, many similarities:
1. One side has no obvious advantage over the other (even less so than chess, where white moves first).
2. The amount of knowledge to master the game is gargantuan. Which units are good to counter others, "endgame" knowledge (like chess) of how to micro and defeat and opponent, basic strategic knowledge of when to attack, when to invest more in economy, when to research, when to move your army, etc.
3. Micromanagement is meaningful. If I throw my army at an opponent and I have superior micromanagement, I can DECIMATE his army. It's not at all about just building huge armies and throwing them mindlessly at your opponent. You have to control every aspect of the game, including what individual units are doing during battles.
4. Macromanagement is meaningful. You need to keep a good eye on your economy and learn about gaining territory, protecting expansions, and keeping a good eye on your whole base to watch out for dirty sneak attacks.
5. The game is perfectly balanced. There are three races and they all complement each other perfectly, and the units that are appropriate to counter others aren't even specifically designed to do so--in other words, there's complexity that has arisen out of simplicity.
6. The uniqueness of the units. The different units each player has fullfill such a unique role. Lurkers can only attack when burrowed, which gives them a short moment of vulnerability while burrowing. Zerlings are puny with no armor, but when microed well in a swarming can do enormous damage. Archons destroy clumped units with small HP, but are toast when fighting a good spread. Defilers cast swarm, a single spell that turns zerg from mincemeat to meatgrinder.
7. That "magic" that the article attempts to describe--it's difficult to describe, but I'll do my best: in Starcraft, you can have an infinite number of situations that are best described as "puzzles." You can pull off an original strategy that can completely flip the odds. Thinking "out of the box" is a key asset for a good player, and his opponent better be able to counter it on the fly. You can pull a dazzling micro trick that makes everyone's jaw drop (Boxer's blind spot anyone?) with the skill, finesse, and ingenuity that would not even be possible in any other game.
8. The relative simplicity of the interface. The graphics are decent--sure, they're from 1998--but the point is that the graphics aren't the point. Some games rely too much of graphics and not enough on gameplay. Starcraft rocks because it's 99% gameplay, 1% graphics. It would still be fun with triangles and squares instead of zerglings and marines.
I could keep going with reasons. But in a nutshell, it has more strategy than any other game created, is perfectly balanced, and requires great skill to play well. - cJw314, on 06/12/2008, -2/+9newb.
- omgsideburns, on 06/12/2008, -0/+7i've owned legit copies of sc and bw since i was like 13.. now im 23. god that game rules.
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