Starcraft 2 Beta
Apr. 23rd, 2010 12:02 amGot into the Starcraft 2 Beta last night. This is less cool than it sounds because Gamestop is giving away beta keys to anyone who preorders SC2. So of course I had to take advantage of it (got the Collectors Edition). Funny enough, I got 2 beta keys on my receipt, so I gave the other to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
symbioid since we've been playing our fair share of SC1 recently.
Now, I only played 2 matches last night. One vs the computer (on super easy mode) and one vs Dave. First of all the interface is really nice, it's typical Blizzard polish which is so nice to see. One thing I've always hated about western devs is their inability to create nice UI's and menu systems. Blizzard has (mostly) gotten this down pat very well.
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Update: there was a patch today and I'm continuing to write this after said patch. Lots changed and the UI is even better than before. They also added a map editor which I dorked around with but it's obvious it's way beyond my comprehension at the moment. That said, after seeing some of the unfinished areas in WoW, it's obvious this is part of what Blizz uses in house to create most of their 3D environments, which is pretty cool.
Played a bit more vs AI, and then I decided to take my chance at a practice match vs a human. Blizz's matchmaking system (at least on this one) was pretty good in that it put me up against someone of similar skill.
I thought at first I'd roll them as I scouted them and I was way higher on the tech tree than they were. Unfortunately as usual I was too aggressive and they took advantage and took me out. Short match but I learned a thing or two.
This is the cool thing about the replay system is every game is automatically saved on Blizz's servers, so you can rewatch every match. I realized I never made a queen until later, whereas my opponent made one right away (it was Zerg vs Zerg). Good match though, I felt comfortable and not overpowered.
Overall though when playing a longer game against Dave, it was obvious there are certain things that are much easier in SC2. Namely pathfinding is much improved making the micro game much easier and more fun. At the same time there are way more units to deal with, as well as special abilities. This makes the micro game harder so it evens it out.
It's going to take a long time to get used to the setup of things. I think this is normal with any game, but it's amazing how much it is different from the first game yet still the same. It's hard to explain without having played them. One thing I don't really like is the targeting. In SC1 if you attacked a general area your units would go for other units first. This one seems to sometimes pick buildings randomly and it's hard to get those units off the building without selecting them.
So yeah, I'm a noob at SC2 even more than I was a noob at SC1. Given that this is perhaps my most anticipated game this year, you're likely to hear a lot more about it as time goes on. I'm really interested in how this game evolves not just as a game but how the UI evolves and how the community around it (multiplayer) evolves. It's especially interesting to me given the community around SC1 for the last 12 years. This isn't just another game to these people and it shows. I'm just a noob overall so how I fit in interests me as well. Perhaps I see it as some sort of big sociological experiment but overall it somewhat fascinates me.
symbioid since we've been playing our fair share of SC1 recently.Now, I only played 2 matches last night. One vs the computer (on super easy mode) and one vs Dave. First of all the interface is really nice, it's typical Blizzard polish which is so nice to see. One thing I've always hated about western devs is their inability to create nice UI's and menu systems. Blizzard has (mostly) gotten this down pat very well.
----
Update: there was a patch today and I'm continuing to write this after said patch. Lots changed and the UI is even better than before. They also added a map editor which I dorked around with but it's obvious it's way beyond my comprehension at the moment. That said, after seeing some of the unfinished areas in WoW, it's obvious this is part of what Blizz uses in house to create most of their 3D environments, which is pretty cool.
Played a bit more vs AI, and then I decided to take my chance at a practice match vs a human. Blizz's matchmaking system (at least on this one) was pretty good in that it put me up against someone of similar skill.
I thought at first I'd roll them as I scouted them and I was way higher on the tech tree than they were. Unfortunately as usual I was too aggressive and they took advantage and took me out. Short match but I learned a thing or two.
This is the cool thing about the replay system is every game is automatically saved on Blizz's servers, so you can rewatch every match. I realized I never made a queen until later, whereas my opponent made one right away (it was Zerg vs Zerg). Good match though, I felt comfortable and not overpowered.
Overall though when playing a longer game against Dave, it was obvious there are certain things that are much easier in SC2. Namely pathfinding is much improved making the micro game much easier and more fun. At the same time there are way more units to deal with, as well as special abilities. This makes the micro game harder so it evens it out.
It's going to take a long time to get used to the setup of things. I think this is normal with any game, but it's amazing how much it is different from the first game yet still the same. It's hard to explain without having played them. One thing I don't really like is the targeting. In SC1 if you attacked a general area your units would go for other units first. This one seems to sometimes pick buildings randomly and it's hard to get those units off the building without selecting them.
So yeah, I'm a noob at SC2 even more than I was a noob at SC1. Given that this is perhaps my most anticipated game this year, you're likely to hear a lot more about it as time goes on. I'm really interested in how this game evolves not just as a game but how the UI evolves and how the community around it (multiplayer) evolves. It's especially interesting to me given the community around SC1 for the last 12 years. This isn't just another game to these people and it shows. I'm just a noob overall so how I fit in interests me as well. Perhaps I see it as some sort of big sociological experiment but overall it somewhat fascinates me.