-= Starcraft II - Q and A Archive =-

Thu 03 Jan 2008, 15:22

This link below covers all current releases of the official Q and A's from blizzard. Many Answers are given - mainly related to the current state of the gameplay.

Starcraft II Q&A Archive

If you search for a specific question, use the index below to find it (or use Ctrl+F to find your link). Thanks to Kukident at this point.

[Q&A Batch #1 to #5]

[Q&A Batch #6 to #13]

[Q&A Batch #14 to #19]

[Q&A Batch #20 to #27]

...
[Q&A Batch #30]

Mon 07 Jan 2008, 00:55

Wouldn't it be better if you copy pasted it in here?

Mon 07 Jan 2008, 16:39

i could copy the plain text but without the index. as far as i know, i would have to insert the anchor points manually again, and that would be too much work...

Fri 11 Jan 2008, 21:49

When is SC2 suposed to be released?
Btw: I know this is offtopic but does Crysis have ANY support for multiplayer?

Fri 11 Jan 2008, 21:59

I heared something about 2nd quarter of 2008 as a possible release date. But those estimations aren't that damn accurately anyway.

Fri 11 Jan 2008, 22:07

as usually, blizzard tends to give comments like: "its done when its done". Wink

but 2nd quarter could be quite possible indeed...

Fri 11 Jan 2008, 22:18

Well, they better take their time and finish the game rather than releasing it to early and patching it ten times each week. Also I want them to spare enough time on the world editor .... drunken

Fri 11 Jan 2008, 23:36

yes, but i'm very sure they realize that a good editor is a must if they want to be successfull on b.net again. i reckon they will make it at least as powerful as the wcIII editor. Wink

Sat 12 Jan 2008, 01:06

If I know blizzard right they tend to do the the editor more powerfull for each game released.

Sat 12 Jan 2008, 02:44

s3rius wrote:I heared something about 2nd quarter of 2008 as a possible release date. But those estimations aren't that damn accurately anyway.

I seriously doubt those extimations... based on Blizzard's usual release after showing the first parts of a game.. it's still easily 2 to 3 years away...

If you guys are interested, they started doing some podcasts
http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcast/archive/episode1.xml
there is some interesting stuff about the art of Starcraft 2, but nothign really new in therms of gameplay or real story...

Sat 12 Jan 2008, 19:02

nice one! im gonna read some tomorrow, im badly in a hurry today...

Wed 30 Jan 2008, 00:30

Sunny_D wrote:i could copy the plain text but without the index. as
far as i know, i would have to insert the anchor points manually again,
and that would be too much work...

nope
not at all

I
did it, i will post, wasnt much work principially, but i also deleted
everything that wasnt needed anymore and reformatted it, so here it is:

1 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 1

1.1 What is this: (image1) - (image2)? It appears to be a drop ship of some type maybe, can we comment on this unit?
1.2 What type of scripting language is being used? Aspiring map/mod makers would like to know.
1.3 Players have pointed out that the nuke laser dot graphic showing their
destination is quite a bit larger and more noticeable than the original games. Is this a finished graphic and are we intending to make incoming nukes easier to spot now?
1.4 The mothership time distortion doesn't seem to stop all incoming projectiles or fire, what exactly does it protect against?

2 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 2

2.1 Will players be able to select multiple buildings simultaneously?
2.2 Will workers auto-gather resources if the rally point is set to a mineral node or a geyser?
2.3 Will we be able to select more than 12 units at the same time?
2.4 On a given map, will there be one Mothership per map or one Mothership unit per Protoss player allowed?

3 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 3

3.1 What is the role of heroes in StarCraft II? Will they be the same as in StarCraft?
3.2 What is the max unit count population for each faction?
3.3 Will there be an in-game option to change hotkeys around?
3.4 Is Karunes Battle.net Forum Avatar a Protoss High Templar?
3.5 Will the Robotics Facility have a similar upgrade to the Warp Gate allowing it to warp units in?

4 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 4

4.1 Are the yellow minerals shown in the trailers harvestable?
4.2 Will resource sharing be allowed between allies?
4.3 Will allied chat be enabled by default for pre-set teams?
4.4 Is the Zealot charge ability an upgrade as well?
4.5 What types of future community updates will there be?

5 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 5

5.1 Will you be increasing the max players beyond 8?
5.2 If you have multiple casters selected when you cast a spell, will they all cast it or only one? (ex. will 8 ghosts all use lockdown on a unit or only one?)
5.3 Will building placement still be grid based?
5.4 What races will be playable at BlizzCon?
5.5 Why do marines have shields now?

Wed 30 Jan 2008, 00:30

6 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 6

6.1 Are Photon and Phase Cannons 2 different buildings?
6.2 Will carriers (Tempest) produce more than one drone type?
6.3
Fans noticed in your art video that thye Colossus ground unit was under
fire from missile turrets. Is this due to the Colossus's exceptionally
high attack profile (tall stature) or a ground-to-ground attack feature/option for the turrets?
6.4 Will there be critters units and can they attack?
6.5 Will holding the Alt button show unit/building hit points overhead as they did in Warcraft 3?

7 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 7

7.1 Will the look of the siege tank be changed for the final version?
7.2 Will there be a ctrl-a key stroke to select all your units on screen?
7.3
Will we get to hear the return of some of the original melodic themes
from SC1 (like the Terran themes), or will the music for StarCraft II
be completely new?
7.4 Will the High Templar still be able to create hallucinations?
7.5 When will you release a StarCraft II Fan Site kit?

8 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 8

8.1 Will there be upkeep in StarCraft II?
8.2 What will be the highest number of upgrades for the shields, armor or weapons?
8.3 Will the StarCraft II Editor be easy or hard to use?
8.4 Will the Zealot charge ability cause more damage on the initial attack than on all other attacks?
8.5
When selecting the Phase Prisms I noticed they have a 3rd, yellow meter
below their shields and health. Is this meant to represent mana or
storage capacity (warp-in capacity)?

9 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 9

9.1 In the gameplay video the UI is toggled on/off several times. Will that be an option in-game?
9.2 Will the Twilight Archon have abilities?
9.3 Can Protoss Units be attacked during the Warp-In process?
9.4 Will there be some old units from StarCraft be included in the Map Editor for StarCraft II?
9.5 Will different races have different max-squad caps?
9.6 Can the Planetary Fortress lift off?

10 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 10

10.1 What does the "Intercept Missiles" function of the Predator do exactly?
10.2 Can the Radar Tower also detect invisible units even in Fog of War?
10.3 Can the Thor defend itself against air units well?
10.4 Can the Thor be attacked by the Missile Turret like the Colossus?
10.5 Will phase cannons dissipate if they travel outside influence of pylon matrix?
10.6
When a player in a team game leaves will the computer AI take over? Or,
will the remaining players be given control of that person's team?

11 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 11

11.1 Will map sizes in StarCraft II be similar or larger than the maps in the original StarCraft?
11.2 Will StarCraft II Heroes have unique abilities?
11.3 Will the Terrans be weak to melee without the Firebat?
11.4 Will Mutalisks attack still hit multiple targets?
11.5 Will a submerged supply depot still be able to be attacked? Will it have more hit points while submerged?

12 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 12

12.1 How useful will tier 1 units be in the late game? (broodwar.de)
12.2 Can we expect units to replace the Reaver and the Soul Hunter? (starcraftzone.com)
12.3 What was the reasoning behind axing spell X (lockdown, mind control etc)? (sclegacy.com)
12.4 Will there be a black player color? (starcraft-source.com)
12.5 Will you be able to use custom army colors in the game? (teamliquid.net)

13 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 13

13.1 Are the Ultralisk making a return in SC2? (starcraft2forum.org)
13.2 Will there be in game voice chat supported in SC2? (teamliquid.net)
13.3 What are the system requirements ? (Starcraft-Source.com)
13.4 Will we be seeing any hybrid units in StarCraft II? (starcraft.org)
13.5 Does the Thor burn out like Terran buildings if it is damaged? (starcraft4players.de)

Wed 30 Jan 2008, 00:32

14 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 14

14.1 Will there be Vespean Gas deposits that yield better rates, the same as yellow crystals? (starcrafttwo.com)
14.2 What happens if you initiate the warp-in of a Protoss Stalker but the
pylon providing power is destroyed before warp-in completes?
14.3 Could the Colossus be transported by the Phase Prism, since the Prism's
crystal can turn any matter into energy? (mymym.com)
14.4 What happens if a Terran Battlecruiser targets a Protoss Stalker with
the Yamato Cannon but the Stalker blinks away before the shot is completed?
14.5 Will Dark Templars be invisible when warping in, or susceptible to attack for a few seconds before it fades out?
14.6 Do the bunkers have any visual indication as to whether or not they're occupied?

15 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 15

15.1 Can an upgraded command center be salvaged? Does it lose its mobility when upgraded to a surveillance station?
15.2
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? (http://www.starcrafttwo.com)
15.3 Can a Ghost be equipped with both a Nuke and Drop Pod simultaneously?
15.4
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? (http://www.blizzplanet.com)
15.5 Can Marines use the Stim Pack while in a bunker? What about a Ghost's snipe ability?

16 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 16

16.1
Does the Time Bomb ability of the Mothership stop a Nuclear Missile
(just like other missiles) when used on the area where the Nuclear
Missile is about to explode? (starcraft4players.de)
16.2
In the UI there are little boxes just to the right of the minimap that
have numbers on them. How exactly do these function? Different gameplay
screenshots suggest different functionality. (www.starcraft-source.com)
16.3 Does Drop Pads make new units or use this recruited before? (www.starcraftnet.pl)
16.4 What was the design team's rationale in adding a second siege style unit (Thor) to the Terran race? (www.starcraftcom.au)
16.5
How do the Yamato and Plasma Torpedo upgrade work? Do you have to
research these things only once or will you have to pay for each battle
cruiser? (www.broodwar.de)
16.6
"With MBS (Multiple Building Selection) and automine in the game, what
macro-specific features are going to be added to make sure that the
player always has as much to do on the macro side as he does micro?
Will a player still be able to favor macro or micro according to his
own style?" - FrozenArbiter (www.teamliquid.net)

17 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 17

17.1
Will the defensive matrix of the Terran Nomad apply to enemy units
within its AoE (Area of Effect)? (www.starcraft2forum.org)
17.2
What helps to delineate the Thor and Battlecruiser as both being
high-tier support units? Lots of concern over this duality?
(www.starcraft.org)
17.3 Will there be any consideration of having an oceanic battle.net server? (www.starcraftcom.au)
17.4 Will the Protoss Colossus be able to walk over Supply Depots like over cliffs? (www.broodwar.de)
17.5
An obvious goal (among many) for Starcraft2 is to maintain the profile
of being an E-Sport. What facet do you consider more integral to the
growth of that ideal: An extremely high skill ceiling that demands
years upon years to achieve mastery, or an extraordinarily large base
of interested players to provide the attention that such a sport needs
in order to succeed and grow? Obviously both are important, but when it
comes to design ideals, what has more pull? Accessibility or Longevity?
Mora (www.teamliquid.net)
17.6 How will unit collision and stacking be handled ? Can flying units pass
on top the Colossus or is it blocking ? (www.sc2blog.com)

18 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 18: Map Maker Series 1

18.1 Will doodad placement values increase? (ie, more than 25
18.2 Will the number of available locations/triggers increase? The current limit on locations really cramps some ideas.
18.3 Will the new map editor include ALL the triggers in the program unlike Staredit?
18.4 Will max unit limits increase? The current unit limit on maps is quite
a crimper, and nobody likes CCMU (cannot create more units).
18.5
Will the new map editor include unused units such as the crashed
scouts, turrets, eggs, nukes, scarabs, crash command center, etc? Third
party programs were needed to use these.

19 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 19

19.1 Will the Protoss be getting any mechanism for healing their units or repairing their buildings?
19.2 With the new physics engine, can explosions affect surroundings? (like
hurt or push units, destroy doodads, etc ) (sc2blog.com)
19.3 How long does a unit typically take to make from concept to playable unit?
19.4 Are the units on the official site finalized, or is everything still up for grabs at this point? (gamereplays.org)
19.5 What do the Protoss eat? (where do they get energy and mass?) (starcraftcz.com)

Wed 30 Jan 2008, 00:32

20 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 20

20.1
Will it be possible to give more fluid and realistic movements to small
aircraft with proper banking and turning rather than just abrupt
sprite-style direction changes?
20.2 With the Reavers no longer in the game, will the Protoss have any units
capable of performing brutal worker raids? (Starcraftlive.net)
20.3 Will there be a escort ship for Battlecrusier because Protoss have like many kinds of capital ships?
20.4 Will there be units who can trample opponents (such as an Ultralisk)? (gamereplays.org)
20.5 Will siege tanks be able to shoot at targets in the fog of war picked
up by sensor towers, but not yet confirmed by visual sighting?

21 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 21

21.1 Do you have any plan to put the auto-casting ability into StarCraft II units, just like in Warcraft III?
21.2
Would you make it possible for players on observing mode to check
various information including a mini map, upgrading status, and
resource status on a personal window? If not, would you consider
developing this function?
21.3
Will the story of StarCraft II be continued right from where the
original StarCraft story ended? Or, will it begin at the moment after
some amount of time passed since the last time of the original
StarCraft?
21.4 It is not possible to watch how a mouse was moved in a saved replay
game. Could you make this possible to see the movement of mouse?
21.5 When grouping units to a control group, how many units could be added to one group?
21.6
Players often tend to stack up workers and air units looking as one
group in original StarCraft. Will this still be possible in StarCraft
II?

22 StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 22: Map Maker Series

22.1 Will you finally be able to mix and match terrain types instead of being stuck on jungle, twilight, etc?
22.2 Will the new StarCraft II Map Editor support text coloring, unit coloring, player "12" (i.e. neutral player) units?
22.3 Will maps be larger than 256x256?
22.4 Will the new map editor support locking maps? People hate losing credit for a map.
22.5 Will the new map editor support "square" terrain building as well?

23 StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 23

23.1 Will the Campaign have as many videos as the original Starcraft? (www.starcraft2.hu)
23.2
Is the ghost unit going to be able to use the EMP Shockwave and -within
short time interval- the Nuclear Strike as well?
(starcraft2.4players.de)
23.3 Will the Ghost's EMP affect building shields and energy? (www.TheWarCenter.net)
23.4 Will there be some sort of wall structure in StarCraft, for any of the races? (www.vilegaming.com)
23.5
Will the game feature a mechanic similar to Warcraft 3 where if a
selection of units contains more than one unit type then the whole
selection will move at the speed of the slowest unit to maintain
cohesion? (www.sclegacy.com)

24 StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 24

24.1
Will there be a way for fan sites to parse replays uploaded to their
website so they can pull information such as race, player names, map,
etc.?
24.2 The Soul Hunter was considered a good counter unit against the Zerg; why did you remove the Soul Hunter from StarCraft II?
24.3 Has the Merc Haven been removed since the Reaper is built from the Barracks? If so, whats replacing it (if anything)?
24.4
Will "Unlockable Content" be included with the game, such as Art Packs,
Secret Maps and Missions, Extra Units, and Special Sounds and Movies?
24.5
Is it possible to build Phase Cannons, turn them into energy and then
move them across the map to your opponents base or an expansion,
redeploying them using a Phase Prism?
24.6 How does a Zerg Overlord fly?

25 StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 25

25.1
Does the Nomad have all the abilities an SCV has? (Of course it has its
own abilities, but it would be interesting to know if you can at least
temporarily replace lost SCVs with Nomads in a game.)
25.2 How will damage against Protoss Shields be calculated with the new damage bonus system?
25.3
Artwork and rumors about SCII have shown Terran cities like Augustgrad.
Will Starcraft 2 contain building doodads as seen in the original
artwork (ie. skysc#@!&rs, homes, etc)?
25.4 Can the shadow ops contain "one nuke and one drop pod" or "any 2 of nukes and drop pods"?
25.5 Will the native resolution of Starcraft 2 be widescreen or 4:3?

26 StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 26

26.1 Do Protoss warriors actually die? What is the blue flash when they die?
26.2 Will there be more ways to give energy(mana) to a caster?
26.3
On what kind of energy are based Protoss shields? If they are based on
PSI energy, how can be possible for a Terran EMP attack to drain their
energy?
26.4 Are you planning to make another statue, for example, statue of Kerrigan?

27 Starcraft II Q & A Batch 27

27.1
How
will the map pool for the ladder be handled? Only maps made by Blizzard
or will there be opportunities for mapmakers to contribute?
27.2
Will each of the 9 different matchups play in a unique fashion with
less viable strategies overall, or is the game looking to ensure that
every unit has a useful role against every race?
27.3 How much effort are you putting into making lower tech units viable higher up in the tech tree?
27.4 Are there any plans to allow special terrain that acts as spells?

Wed 30 Jan 2008, 01:42

cnp works, sure, but i wanted it not redirecting to an external site. Wink

but thx for formatting the list, its better that way!

EDIT: updated OT with links to your posts...

Wed 30 Jan 2008, 21:30

Sunny_D wrote:cnp works, sure, but i wanted it not redirecting to an external site.

but thx for formatting the list, its better that way!

EDIT: updated OT with links to your posts...

its impossible not to direct to an external site without getting all the information from that site and inserting it here..
and then, I would have needed 20 posts at least,..

Sun 24 Feb 2008, 06:22

btw, there was an interesting new batch released a week ago or something and it provides us with some nice information about mapping. In case you haven't read it yet, here you go:

StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 30: Map Maker Series

"Chat with Devs: Brett Woods is back with us to answer our community map making questions. We cant stress enough that StarCraft II is going to have immense potential in the UMS (User Map Settings) area, where we hope to seriously empower the community with the tools you need, to create some awesome gaming additions to StarCraft II."

[Q] Will it be possible to code the game so map makers can make maps where people can stop incoming spell/missile?

- This should be possible through customized ability data and/or triggers.

[Q] Will we have selectable male/female of every unit?

- No, we don't have plans to include male and female versions of each unit.

[Q] Will we have the option to give players the option to change weapons in-game?

- While we don't have any plans for a specialized interface for this, it would be possible using the highly flexible ability system.

[Q] Will you guys link multiplayer maps? So mapmakers can make multiplayer campaigns?

- Yes, we do plan to support multiplayer campaigns and linked maps.

[Q] Will all buildings stand alone and also can we have the ability to disable tech trees?

- The tech tree will be fully configurable through customized data and/or triggers.

[Q] Will research or firing a skill in a certain location be part of the tech tree enabling, for example Stim Packs could be researched to enable a Factory?

- Yes, the tech tree and upgrade system will be fully configurable from the editor.

[Q] Will it be possible for AI to be commanded to research a skill, perform an upgrade, build a building at a location, build a unit at a location, retreat from a location?

- Yes, there will be extensive AI scripting support.

[Q]Will mapmakers have the ability to set weather that can change the terrain and interrupt gameplay for players? Is this for anywhere or in a specific location?

- Weather effect technology has not yet been finalized. However, even if weather effects do not affect gameplay normally, it would be possible to drive both the desired weather effects and associated gameplay effects through triggers.

Sun 24 Feb 2008, 09:02

Yes, this kind of Q&A is most interesting. Especially the multiplayer campaigns could turn out beatuifilly useful!
Flexible ability system, fully configurable, customization, extensive AI scipt.... cheers

Blizz is freakin' godlike when they keep what they promise!

Sun 24 Feb 2008, 13:14

Bah too bad the people over at Blizzard is assholes then.

Sun 24 Feb 2008, 14:23

Imo the Blizzard people need quite some time to get finished, but always when they're release a new game it's gonna be t3h hit. Cant think of any Blizz games since '94 that weren't great. And I guess I've played most of them. (Lost Vikings ftw Sunny(_D)

)

Wed 11 Jun 2008, 14:11

http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=sc2-general-eu&t=15&p=1&#post15
Up to Q&A batch 34. And new always get added. I'm really looking forward to that editor *drool*

Fri 20 Jun 2008, 13:56

I duno if you already know them but here are some more screens: http://eu.starcraft2.com/screenshots.xml

Fri 20 Jun 2008, 17:16

Nice info and screenies! One interesting fact for our DotD:STARS is an ability that makes it possible for units to move underground! Mr. Green

Fri 20 Jun 2008, 19:48

And the fact that upgrades can be downgrades :=)

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