Developers reveal everything about Starcraft 2, personally!
This interview was conducted in the 'Press Tour' held on the 23rd at their headquarters in Irvine, California.
- As Lead Producer and Lead Designer, what are your roles, and how far is Starcraft 2 into now?
▲ Dustin: I am in charge of getting the team to work together while aiming for a certain deadline. I am also in charge of maintaining the welfare and the environment of our team, as well as the schedules, etc.
▲ Chris: I am in charge of directing where the game should be heading, as well as being in-charge of the units, builds and other in-game issues.
▲ Dustin: We have around 50 key people working on the game. Aside from these people, there are also other teams, such as the Battle.Net Development Team, Cinematic Trailers Team, Community Team, Sound Team and so on. If you add them all up, there is a lot of people working on this game. The producer's job is to coordinate everything between these teams. In Warcraft 3's case, we had around 30 key people working on the game itself.
- You were in charge of explaining Starcraft 2 often. Do you enjoy watching e-sports, and do you also watch Korean e-sports?
▲ Dustin: I always enjoy sports with passion, and I'm like that. Aside from Starcraft 2, if I watch other sports such as soccer and hockey, I feel the same emotions and human drama. That is why I enjoy sports, regardless of its form. I don't understand Korean so I don't watch (Korean e-Sports) that often.
- The fastest speed in Starcraft was 'fastest', but currently, in Starcraft 2, it's 'faster'. The speed seems the same, does this mean Starcraft 2's fastest speed will be 'faster'?
▲ Dustin: Starcraft's 'fastest' is the same speed as Starcraft 2's 'faster'. But you will feel that Starcraft 2 is slightly faster than Starcraft. In the current build, 'faster' is the fastest speed, but if people ask for an even faster game speed mode, we can always add it in.
- How much has the Starcraft 2 AI progressed?
▲ Chris: If we compare it to Starcraft or Warcraft 3, it has advanced so much. There are four AI modes - beginner, easy, medium and hard - which you can choose to play with, and for these modes, the AI has will play according to what it has scouted. But for the hardest mode (hard), it will play even without necessarily scouting at all.
▲ Dustin: In Starcraft, even if there were sieged tanks holding position, the AI would just charge ahead. Now, they will assess the situation and pull back immediately if necessary. The AI knows how much resources the player has, and if the player builds a marine, it will build necessary counters - in the case of a marine, a hydralisk. The AI plays while knowing everything that is going on on the map.
But if the player has outstanding micro, he will be able to win (T/N: against Hard AI I assume), and for progamers, it's a given. If a player can defeat 1 AI, then by playing against 2~3 AI, we believe his skills will definitely improve.
- So, what work is in progress now?
▲ Dustin: We are doing a lot of work at the moment, so we'll just put it in simple words. Currently, we're working on Battle.net, and in the design department, they're working on the single player campaign. Starcraft 2 will focus heavily on single player campaigns, so we're putting a lot of emphasis on it. Also, we're working on build order and new units' balancing, as well as work regarding beta testing and stuff.
▲ Chris: We're working on beta testing, as well as stuff related to multiplayer. The current build isn't the final, but we can continue to modify it.
- How many cinematic movies will there be in the single player campaign?
▲ Dustin: Around 20.
▲ Chris: We're including new cinematic movies, as well as the 3D cinematics we showed in events.
- What is the current PC specs requirements for Starcraft 2?
▲ Dustin: It's not final, but you need a graphic card that supports at least Pixel Shader 2.0, as well as a Dual or Quad core CPU. But the high performance single-core CPUs will be able to play the game.
- What will be newly added in Battle.net 2.0?
▲ Dustin: We look at the latest platforms and referred to them. We are working on the platform so that, like Starcraft, some time after the game is sold, only issues that are faced by hardcore gamers will remain. We are trying to create leagues and anti-rush maps for beginners to enjoy. Also, the replay system has been enhanced, which will help the beginners adjust to the game much faster.
- What is the new ladder system like?
▲ Dustin: It is difficult to reveal this now, but we are preparing a much better system as compared to Starcraft. You will now be able to play in the fastest game speed on ladder.
- In Starcraft, to enjoy the observer mode, you need to create a special observer version of the map. In Starcraft 2, has this been changed?
▲ Chris: All maps support the observer mode. Currently, the greatest number of players who can play in a single game is 8, for which there can be a maximum of 4 observers. So, if only 2 players are playing, there can be a maximum of 10 observers.
- In the old Battle.net, it was P2P (Peer-2-peer). Is this different in Battle.net 2.0? (T/N: Old Battle.net forced users to connect to each other once in a game, that's why you can get disconnected from Battle.net but still be able to play)
▲ Dustin: It will be similar to Warcraft 3's router format. Gamers will be using Battle.net to play, so we will be able to check what the gamers are doing (i.e: keep track of who's abusing stats, hacking, etc).
- How does the Terran storyline unfold?
▲ Dustin: Starcraft 2's Terran storyline takes place 4 years after the end of the Brood War. The story will continue to flow. You will be able to meet Jim Raynor, as well as a few other familiar characters. Characters that only existed in the stories will now appear in Starcraft 2 to continue the story.
- Will all removed units be present in the map editor?
▲ Chris: All units can be used. Vultures, medics, firebats and other single-player-only units will be usable.
- Your thoughts on comments that Starcraft 2 isn't a new game, and is in fact just an upgraded Starcraft 2, or that it is very similar to Warcraft 3?
▲ Chris: We are working on it such that Warcraft and Starcraft will be totally different. We started on Starcraft 2 with this in mind. Starcraft and Warcraft 3 is renowned worldwide, but Warcraft 3 is very hero-orientated, while Starcraft revolves around units and macro, losing units and rebuilding them. We are also working on many aspects that will be beneficial for e-sports.
- If you were to give any explanations on what you are doing that will enhance the e-sports experience...
▲ Dustin: I can give two details. First, we are designing units and their abilities so that they will look exciting, in the eyes of fans, which we believe will help increase the e-sports experience. Second, we're adding stuff such as replay and observer views, as well as many other features that will be present in the new Battle.net 2.0.
- If you think about the problems that previous Starcraft players face...
▲ Chris: We have thought hard about it as we worked on the game. We took into consideration that there will be difference in micro between average players and progamers. We made it so that casual players can play it, while progamers can bring the game to even greater heights with their micro.
- It seems that out of the three races, Terran and Protoss has been buffed while Zerg has gotten weaker.
▲ Dustin: It seems that way because they were played to their fullest capabilities (laugh). It's true that I think Zerg is slightly weak. We intend to continue balancing the game as we receive feedback and watch users play during beta testing.
▲ Chris: All three races have a strong unit. We believe that there will be lots of new strategies and tactics that will emerge as it undergoes beta testing. This will especially shine in the hands of Korean gamers, so we are looking forward to it.
- Which is your favourite unit among the new ones?
▲ Dustin: That is a tough question. They all feel like my children, but if I really had to choose one, I'll say the Roach.
▲ Chris: I can't play the game that well (laugh). I've recently started to enjoy playing as Terran in Starcraft 2. I liked the marine in the past, but now, I like the Marauder and the Banshee.
- Mining gas has become harder, and the higher tech units seem to require much more gas.
▲ Dustin: We received a lot of feedback regarding that issue, and we discuss heavily over it as well. We changed the gas mining system such that the player can mine gas according to his own playing style. Instead of the normal 5000-gas geyser, we added two 2500-gas geysers, which can be mined according to the players' early strategy. Of course, we are also going to adjust this if necessary, as we continue to receive feedback from beta testing.
- Because this is a 3D game, it seems that whenever there is a large scale battle, your eyes get tired easily.
▲ Dustin: We are also receiving a lot of feedback regarding this, and we are going to start working on this issue.
- If you could receive feedback and advice from a progamer, whose opinion would you want to listen to?
▲ Chris: I can't remember Korean names well, but there's a e-sports team within our company that works to receive feedback and advice from many players. We know Warcraft 3 players more than Starcraft players, but we believe that receiving feedback from as many players as possible will be of great help to us. Once beta testing starts, we would like to open as many slots as possible in Korea, and if possible, get opinions from BoxeR, NaDa, YellOw, Moon (T/N: The Warcraft 3 Night Elf player, formerly in MYM, now in WeMade) and other progamers.
Source: Fomos.kr
Enjoy! Feedback and corrections welcome!