Starcraft 2

With the finale of the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2006 (Seoul, Korea) come the interviews of the players. Blizzard have the interview out - Nal_Ra (Protoss) answers some tough questions.

Download PC version (181MB, requires Blizz downloader).

Download Mac version (181MB, requires Blizz downloader).

IGN reports that a Korean site has started a rumor that provides details on Starcraft 2 - a Starcraft 2 beta release by the end of 2007. Here’s more:

According to Fighter Forum, StarCraft 2 continues the story of the original and adds a new race based on Kerrigan, making a total of four races. While that wouldn’t be totally off the mark, we figured the new race would be more the super-race mix between Zerg and Protoss rather than Zerg and Terran or at least the mystically advanced Xel’Naga. The three older tribes will each be receiving around two additional units.

The report also claims that Blizzard plans to shut down its original StarCraft servers in order to ensure the success of the sequel.

I thought the guy who wrote in the Stacraft 2 wiki was crazy for coming up with a fouth race but it know seems more people have fallen victims to this madness!

I wonder what happens to Diablo 3 if Starcraft is to be released in 2008. Surely, it’s not Blizzard’s tradition to launch two games at once. I still hope for a beta in 2007 though.

Blizzard has been pretty active when it comes to protecting Diablo (see Diablo 3 tradermark activity). Nevertheless, they let a few domains go (e.g. Diablo3.com!).

They are not letting it happen again when it comes to Starcraft. They’ve taken the dot com domain - Starcraft2.com. Here’s WHOIS information:

Registrant:
Blizzard Entertainment
Address: P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, California 92623
United States
[…]

Created on: 24-Sep-99
[…]

Administrative Contact:
Blizzard Entertainment
Email: domainnameadmin-us@blizzard.com
Address: P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, California
ZIP: 92623
United States
Phone: 9499551382

OK, it’s been Blizzard’s for the last 8 years and they’ve done NOTHING about it so why it’s important now. No reason. Other than the fact the Blizzard’s VP stated he’d like to see Starcraft 2 before 2008.

Update: Blizzard have released a Starcraft 2 trailer and several gameplay videos - all in georgeous 3D. The new 3D engine looks similar to Warcraft III, yet the effects look amazing. Specifically check out the Protoss Mothership animations!

It’s not that I don’t like 3D graphic but I value gameplay more. Here’s a group of guys who want to make Starcraft (the original one, not Starcraft 2) into a 3D game by using the Warcraft 3 engine.

Project Revolution is a mod that will convert Warcraft III into StarCraft: Brood War. So you’ll be able to play StarCraft in 3D. Sadly their FAQ says it’s only half complete after three years of development, but they will be doing a (closed) beta before release, possibly online via Battle.net. The team of fans, who are no professional voice actors he he, put together an impressive looking trailer of the PC/Mac mod.

You can visit their site here. Just don’t expect them to finish it any time soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if Starcraft 2 comes out earlier than this mod!

Now, this could be 100% true but somehow I doubt it. The (un)reliable source of this Starcraft 2 info is Wikipedia. I should add, it was deleted for not conforming to Wikipedia’s standards.

Information from the creators
Hello. We at Blizzard Entertainment like to let the fans know what’s going on with our products. For this reason, we have decided to release some StarCraft 2 information to some of our fans’ sites. We give you permission to post this information on your site.

First, there will be 4 races: Terran, Protoss, Zerg, and the Protoss/Zerg hybrid, called Vanix. Each race will have 5 new units, 2 new buildings, and new upgrades.

For the Terrans, they will have: Rocketeer (shoots rockets, has splash damage), Heavy Cruiser (improved Battle Cruiser, used in heavy assault situations), Wraith Bomber (it’s a bomber), Wriath Kamikaze (like the Zerg’s Scourge, but has guns too), and Cannon (not like the Protoss cannon, but more of a tactical strike cannon, immobile).

The Protoss will have: Mothership (improved carrier, holds 20 interceptors, more health, more shields), Nomad (physically improved Zealot, with an energy rifle), High Archon (a Dark Templar/High Templar meld, it will be like a Dark Archon, can mind control, and attack), Walker (combination of 5 Dragoons, slow, but very powerful), and Exploder (name may change by release, it’s just like an Observer, but can be sent in to detonate inside an enemy base.)

The Zerg will have: Hyperlisk (Ult! ralisk’s evolved stage, much quicker, and much more powerful, can burrow), Acid Colony (attacks both ground and air with acid), Creeper (does not attack, only moves underground, used for spying), King (like a Queen, but can attack, and infest any building of any race that produces soldiers, thus making things like Infested Siege Tanks that roll into areas and explode), and finally Bladeling (a bigger version of a Zergling, stands upright, and wields blades for arms.)

Second, here are some of the upgrades (some, not all, there are many more than this). The Terrans will have: The ability to make any building fly (including supply depots), Omega Ray (like the Battle Cruiser’s Yamato gun, the Heavy Cruiser’s Omega Ray will do much more damage), and (one of our favorites), the ability to eject from a vehicle. Let’s say a Siege Tank is about to be destroyed, you can eject the person inside, and you’ll be able to run away, thus saving a person for later use. The people inside the vehicles will be statistically better than Marines, they’ll have more health, do more damage, and have better range. Some Protoss upgrades include: Pylon mobility (yes, now you will be able to move your Pylons. It will be wheel based, so it can’t travel over water.), Dragoon Cloak (you’ll be able to cloak your Dragoons with this, we’re not sure if we will have this for Walkers though), and Fortify (a High Archon ability, it channels the shields of the High Archon into e! ither a building or another unit.

Zerg upgrades will include: Overlord bombing (you’ll be able to pick up bombs with overlords, and instead of just spying with them, drop bombs on your enemies) Zergling Acidic Sac (will allow Zerglings to spit acid), and Hyperlisk Trample (if a Hyperlisk encounters a small unit like a Marine, it can simply walk all over him and kill him) There will be some added graphic effects too, if you destroy a Battle Cruiser, it may either explode in the air (depending on the force of the blow) or it may fall to the ground, causing damage. Another cool effect we have planned, sometime when you destroy a Siege Tank, you’ll see the driver fly into the air, then plummet to the ground. We also plan the following: If a machine based unit is destroyed, it does damage to the units around it.

We do not have much information on the Vanix race, we have just started working on them. We may even throw in a hidden mission or two, or even a hidden race. The cheat codes will be changed, and they will still be disabled on Battle.net. Speaking of Battle.net, it will be possible for 14 players to compete in a match, and it will be possible to change settings (day/night, fog thickness, etc.) Alliances will be chosen before the match starts, and cannot be broken. You will be able to ally with the computer as well.

Note: A StarCraft 2 wiki and a Diablo 3 wiki have been setup already.

I have a suspicion that when Blizzard decides to warm up the fans for a game, it publishes a new trilogy. Most recently, it was Knaak who confirmed Diablo 3 is not a dead world, it’s a world of dead.

Amazon has info on the new Starcraft trilogy which starts with Firstborn, the first book in the Dark Templar saga. Here’s a summary:

Jake Ramsey — an unassuming, yet talented archaeologist — has been given the chance of a lifetime. Hired to investigate a recently unearthed Xel’Naga temple, he knows this latest assignment will open up whole new possibilities for his career. Yet, when Jake discovers the remains of a long-dead protoss mystic, his hopes and dreams are irrevocably drowned in a flood of alien memories. Bonded to the spirit of the dead protoss, Jake has become the sole inheritor of the protoss’s total history — every event, every thought — every feeling.

So does this new release hint at Starcraft 2 coming soon? I sure hope so!

Starcraft may be in the making but Blizzard are notorious about keeping their cards closer to their chests. I haven’t seen any leaked screenshots or videos.

Check this out!

Before you get overly excited though, it seems this isn’t a Starcraft 2 trailer. Most people seem to agree it’s from a C&C MOD that came years ago! Just look at the graphics.

The recent comments from Blizzard’s VP ( and earlier ones by Paul Sams) point towards a sequel to Starcraft.

There’s one tricky question, though: Is Starcraft 2 going to be an RTS like Starcraft or it will be a World of Starcraft?

Below is a mock screenshot of this brave, new World of Starcraft.

Blizzard’s VP has come out with a statement (a public one to boot). Look at the quote below (IGN)

On stage in London for the game launch, Bassat stated, “I’m a StarCraft player myself and I hope it’s not a decade, and we launched StarCraft in 1998, before I’m standing here again, celebrating the next game in the series.”

During another previous interview, Paul Sams (Blizzard’s COO) said that in 2007 they’ll have 3 (three) product announcements. If we consider that the Burning Crusade has been one, we’re left with two.

Could it be that our wildest dreams will become true? Both Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 will be announced soon?

I’m not sure that Blizzard will pay any attention to it but I can’t see how it can hurt either. I’ve signed it and I suggest you do the same. Here’s an abstract:

This petition is being started in the hopes that we, the people that have played Blizzard entertainment’s Starcraft PC game and its expansion pack, can spur the before mentioned company to make what we have been wanting them to make for a long time! And that being, either another expansion pack for Starcraft, or another separate and complete Starcraft game (i.e. Starcraft 2). The Starcraft game has no doubtingly made a lot of money for Blizzard entertainment! It has been sold world wide in great quantities! And so I’m extremely confident that another Starcraft game, or an expansion to its predecessor, will do just as well and make even more money for them! And it’s no doubt that us, the fans/customers of Blizzard entertainment, have told them what we’ve wanted by now too!

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