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Another interesting Q&A has been posted by Karune, Blizzard’s RTS community manager, in what has become a highly anticipated mini-event in the StarCraft 2 community.
As with all recent Q&As, this one also starts with a Chat with the Devs section. Today’s chat brings bad news for the Terran race:
Chat with the Devs: The Terran Starport will no longer transform into a Starbase.
During much testing, the Developers realized that the Starports ability to transform into a Starbase was not very essential in the gameplay of the Terrans and was also leaving several tech lab add ons scattered across the map. At the moment, the Starports ability to transform into a Starbase has been taken out of the game, thus to produce advanced units, the Starport will need the appropriate tech lab add-on, similar to the original StarCraft.
Who hasn’t looked forward to producing units from a forward, airborne base?
On to the Q&A:
1) Can an upgraded command center be salvaged? Does it lose its mobility when upgraded to a surveillance station?
No, the command center cannot be salvaged, nor can it lift off after it is upgraded to a Surveillance Station (allows the use of the Comsat ability).
2) In Starcraft 1, when you cancel a nuclear launch that is in progress, you lose the warhead. Will Starcraft II make any changes to this setback?
Currently, if you cancel the nuke while it is firing, you will still lose the nuke. This outcome has not yet been finalized and may be changed in the final version.
3) Can a Ghost be equipped with both a Nuke and Drop Pod simultaneously?
Yes, any Ghost can launch either a Nuke or a Drop Pod, making the Ghost highly effective at responding to multiple battle circumstances.
The Ghost is shaping up to be a critical unit to have around in every Terran engagement. Even without the Lockdown ability, the StarCraft 2 Ghost will have many ways to have an impact on any battle, and even change the course of entire matches.
4) Will “caster” units, such as the Protoss High Templar, have a regular attack, like Tassadar had in SC1, or will they only be able to attack through their spells?
Currently, there are no plans to give the High Templar a physical attack, though High Templar Story Characters will have additional abilities beyond that of the standard unit. At the moment, the High Templar is one of best support units in the game, with the ability to cast a devastating Psi Storm or choke off crucial areas of the map with the force field ability. Once youve used up its energy, no worries, convert it into an Archon with another Templar.
No change from StarCraft 1. Casters in the game tend to have a useless attack or no attack at all. These are usually fragile units that would be best kept away from the war zone, either way. Well, except for the Mothership!
5) Can Marines be Stimmed while in a bunker? What about a Ghosts snipe ability?
In the current build, abilities cannot be activated while inside a bunker, but you can activate abilities before entering a bunker. For example, if you activate Stim Pack on a few Marines, then enter a bunker, they will attack at the higher rate of fire from inside the bunker. The Stim Pack effects will still wear off as normal though.
This sounds like an artificial restriction of the UI. Players who can click faster will unload the marines, stim them up and load them back into the bunker, while slower players will lose this advantage. This effect will be magnified when dealing with main base defenses, which might have 2-3 bunkers loaded with marines. What reason is there to prevent players from selecting units inside the bunker and using their abilities?
This is another point in the argument for “skill” versus a streamlined UI and automation. So far, automation and better UI functionality have prevailed, taking the game to a new level where skill will be determined by fast decisions, reducing the emphasis on agility and the number of mouse clicks a player can manage. This is a logical progression for the RTS genre, one that Blizzard should fully embrace in StarCraft 2.
16 Comments to “Q&A 15: The Return of the Ghost”
New StarCraft 2 Terran Unit Page: The Battlecruiser »
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karune has been avoiding the hard questions about the zerg as always.. i guess he’s “theme-ing” the Q&A batches or maybe the devs are still in the process of redeveloping the zerg race for SC2… not that i’m complaining, i’ve been watching blizzard since warcraft 2 and when they take their time, it means something big.
as i posted here : http://www.gamingnewslink.com/2007/09/30/units-inside-a-terran-bunker-cannot-use-skills/
if it we’re starcraft 1, using skills inside the bunker wont be so imba (or maybe it will in some situtations). but given the changes and new skills introduced in starcraft 2, allowing units the use skills inside the bunker might have a huge effect in the game’s balance aspect.
It wouldn’t be all skills usable inside a bunker, just stuff like stimpack. (Snipe would also be usable, but stuff like nuke calldowns wouldn’t be anyway.) My main point I guess is that not all abilities are needed, but stimpack would be useful to be usable in bunkers.
As for Karune ignoring zerg, we didn’t get terran info in discussions before those magazine article leaks came out, so it’s not surprising.
Yes, ghosts are becoming a really powerful weapon to the Terrans. It also went down a little bit in the Tier, so you can get it earlier in the game. That’s why it also became more expensive to train now. For everyone who doesn’t know yet, a Ghost will cost 100 minerals, 100 vespene and 2 supply.
For the starbase… I thought the reason they are putting it down is a bit poor.
They should instead of having the add-on problem, just let a starbase build high tech units, but slower, as long as that tech has already been researched.
I for one would love to have a starbase, maybe even upgraded enough to have a small attack ability, coupled with some BC and vikings…. It will be like Imperial Deathstar with some stardestroyers… a very cool view, and I am sure a lot of players will be impressed. I sure hope the starbase somehow makes it back…
Another thing is… size. Battlecruisers right now are only a bit bigger then the seige tank.. I sure hope that they will up the size of the machine in game, many by twice the size. (which is still a small representation of they are)
In Old SC1, this is a problem cause you cannot control your units below it, but now with the 3d engine, this is a much smaller problem. So some bigger size units will be more awe inspiring.
Battlarmd wrote:
>>>> Another thing is… size. Battlecruisers right now are only a bit bigger then the seige tank.. I sure hope that they will up the size of the machine in game, many by twice the size. (which is still a small representation of they are)
@Battlarmd - Battlecruisers are already about twice the size of seige tanks, and I think if you make them even larger they will be too large and unwieldy. True, having more size differentials would make starcraft a more visually impressive game, but it will suffer gameplay consequences as a result.
Not that you were doing it, but it always bugs me when people complain about realism in Starcraft (such as marines taking down battle cruisers, for example). If someone wants realism, they should be waiting for SupCom: FA, as Supreme Commander is the most realistic strategy game out there (and also fairly enjoyable). However, part of what makes starcraft so fun is the lack of realism. It’s enjoyable in part because low-tier units can still damage high-tier units, and the rules of reality are bent a little.
I second Aaron. The Battlecruisers are ALREADY unwieldy when you get a pack of’em together. Put a few Carriers and associated fighters, the inevitable Predator interceptors to protect your Battlecruiser investment, and a swarm of Mutalisks on the screen at the same time, and you might want to make them SMALLER.
The bunker thing is BS, in my opinion. You can unload the Marines, stim them, and put them back in, but its IMPOSSIBLE to stim them while inside? That just means the game will reward those who have insane CPM and can pop the Marines, stim them, and shoot them back in. It sounds like a completely artificial restriction that’s either entirely arbitrary or the result of sloppy UI code.
I can understand why people liek SC the way it is.
but given the current set-up, SC2 really look more like a graphical update for SC1 instead… right?
maybe not the sizes. (though I insist I feel that’s a good direction.) But rather, the game has to discover some fresh air, so far, it is REALLY NICE, but just not really cut into a game by itself like WC WC2 and WC3.
and larger air units can mean fewer air units too if you up the supply requirements.
let’s just face the fact that SC2 is somehow a different game, SO COMPARING IT WITH SC1 is like comparing potatoes with cheese=flavored french fries. Let’s just trust the Blizzboys and we’ll let them come up with the game first.
I trust the blizz boys alright.
they ALWAYS do it right.
but I second Batt above. SC2 right now.. is just SC1 with better graphics, and ‘a few’ new units. Nothing is revolutionery… at all.
A unit should be able to do whatever it could do in life in a bunker. If I were sitting in a bunker with a sniper rifle, I would use it. And so would a ghost. If I was sitting in a bunker with a nuke guiding laser, I would use it. And so would a ghost. Thus units should be able to use almost all abilities inside a bunker.
But NEVER use a fire distinguisher in a bunker, you can suffiocate yourself.
but I agree, stims should be able to activate. it feels so much like a UI problem that you can’t.. and it is lame.
Nuke though.. for balancing reasons, I say no.
Automation would be MUCH welcome for players like me, who are not hardcore games but still love Starcraft. I can’t see a good reason to give such importance to “agility-hacking”…
Great post/site! Sc2 is going to be the best game.