StarCraft (video game)

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StarCraft

Front cover of the StarCraft installation CD
Front cover of the StarCraft installation CD
Release 1998
Platforms Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X and N64
Developer Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher Blizzard Entertainment
Genre RTS
Predecessor WarCraft II
Expansion StarCraft: Brood War, Starcraft: Retribution, Starcraft: Insurrection
Influences Starship Troopers, Aliens, Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000
Gameplay Galactic war between 3 asymmetric species
Official site StarCraft@Blizzard

StarCraft (SC) is a real-time strategy computer game produced by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998. The game is similar to Blizzard's previous hit Warcraft II, but has a science fiction setting. During the development process, there were great efforts to steer the game away from being simply "Warcraft in Space", and eventually the entire game engine had to be rewritten to allow the developers to actually achieve the results they were after. The main storyline of the game revolves around a war between three galactic species: the Protoss (a race of humanoid religious warriors), the Zerg (insect-like aliens who share a hive mind) and the Terrans (human colonists from Earth). It was initially released for Windows, later for Macintosh and the N64.



Overview

StarCraft was the best selling computer game in 1998, and won the Origins Award for Best Strategy Computer Game of 1998. In that same year Blizzard released an expansion pack called StarCraft: Brood War.

StarCraft makes significant improvements over Warcraft II. WC II, while advanced for its time, featured what many gamers believed to be a weakness in that, apart from a few minor (but significant for balance, especially at higher skill levels) differences in available spells and the cost of upgrades, the game's two races were exactly the same mechanically, with only graphical differences. StarCraft improved upon this by incorporating three asymmetric three races, Protoss, Terran, and Zerg instead of two.

The expansion, Brood War, provides several new units for each race (which dramatically modified the gameplay) and a new campaign for each race, continuing the story begun in StarCraft. Most people who still play use this expansion and agree that it changed the game significantly for the better, although some still prefer the original game.

The game also includes multiplayer gaming on Blizzard's own Internet gaming service Battle.net. One can play against opponents all over the world free of any charge beyond the original purchase of the game and local Internet access fees. Many fans enjoy playing in groups against the computer in skirmish games -- the AI is considered to be weak compared to a good player, but decent early game performance can make it an enjoyable opponent for more casual players, and fans also enjoy creating unfair maps giving the computer an advantage which can be extremely hard to beat. A couple of years after the release of the game Blizzard also released several free maps on the "insane" level.

Starcraft has achieved a cult-like status in the computer gaming world. Due to the complexity and depth of the strategic possibilities, StarCraft, especially in its online multiplayer form, remains very popular, even years after its original release. Fans impatiently await the creation of StarCraft II - Blizzard has announced that they are interested in making a sequel to their popular game, and there is evidence that they may have started design for StarCraft II in late 2004 (including posts by Blizzard officials on the Battle.net forums asking for suggestions for such a game, and the lack of other projects for Blizzard after World of Warcraft's completion, as well as a leak about a 2007 release from Hanbitsoft, the Korean publisher of Starcraft), but the development of a sequel has not yet been officially announced. Blizzard has announced a third person shooter, StarCraft: Ghost that will be released sometime in 2005; the change in genre from RTS to TPS and absence of a PC version have aroused considerable protests among the StarCraft faithful.

Gameplay

Main article: StarCraft Gameplay (includes information on famous players and a more detailed description of the game)

StarCraft improved upon its predecessor Warcraft II, which featured two very similar playable factions, by incorporating three races, Protoss, Terran, and Zerg and giving each race unique units and technologies, such as to create an important asymmetry between the three. The unit types available to each race defines its racial identity. The Protoss can field powerful and expensive warriors and machinery, while the Zerg count on sheer numbers and speed to overwhelm their opponents, the Terrans being the versatile and flexible alternative to both races.

Storyline

Main article: StarCraft storyline

Template:Spoiler The plot of the original StarCraft game revolves around the arrival of the Zerg in the Koprulu Sector, and their later invasion of the Protoss homeworld Aiur. After they have destroyed the Confederate colony on Chau Sara, the Zerg are "used" by the rebel organization Sons of Korhal, which lures them to a number Confederate worlds using "psi emitters" to further their own goals. After the Confederacy's fall, the Sons of Korhal's leader, Arcturus Mengsk establishes the Terran Dominion, crowning himself emperor. The Zerg Swarm is however closely followed by a Protoss fleet which burns down all worlds the Zerg infest. The leader of the Protoss task force, High Templar Tassadar, later discovers he can disrupt the Zerg Overmind's control over the Swarm by eliminating his Cerebrate servants with the help of the Dark Templar. The involvement of the fallen Dark Templar will prove to be fateful; indeed, while slaying the Cerebrate Zasz, the Dark Templar Zeratul briefly comes in psychic contact with the Overmind, who is then informed of Aiur's location and directs his Swarm towards the Protoss world. The Protoss high authority Conclave is defeated by the Zerg Swarm, along with a large proportion of all Protoss. In a desperate attempt to put an end to the Zerg's destruction, Tassadar, Zeratul, and the remaining Protoss unite their strengths with human Jim Raynor and attack the Overmind itself. They succeed in destroying it, although only at the cost of Tassadar's life, who sacrifices himself to eliminate the creature.

StarCraft culture

Popularity

Even as of 2004, StarCraft is still one of the most popular online games in the world. The game itself has its own culture, similar to Slashdot's and other Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) communities.

In the early 2000s, the game received an explosive popularity among South Korean online gamers, to the point of being (only somewhat exaggeratedly) referred to as the national sport of South Korea by some avid gamers. Most active StarCraft players now come from South Korea.

In South Korea, StarCraft professional gamers, such as SlayerS_`BoxeR`, Iloveoov, Reach [NC]...YellOw, [9]eVERLAST and Nal_rA are celebrities: their games are broadcast over several television channels such as MBC Game, Ongamenet, and iTV. While a select few have become reasonably wealthy through this (for example, one highly successful player, known in-game as SlayerS_`BoxeR`, signed a 1 year, ~$200,000 contract in 2004), and some can earn a decent to good living from TV-contracts, sponsoring and tournament prizes, the lower-echelon pro players tend to subsist on relatively small wages. However, there are many pros from the online channels like isLuforever (from channel Mix) who are progamers in their own right. These online players have the smack talk ability and the dodging skills to make them so elite. People flock from all over to play these players. Many pro gamers play StarCraft pretty much every waking hour in order to maintain preparation for the highly competitive leagues. Superior StarCraft and Warcraft III players are called gosu, a Korean word meaning "highly skilled". South Korea is an example of how e-sports can have a social status similar to physical sports.

Also of note is the semi-infamous Operation CWAL (Can't Wait Any Longer). More than just a simple cheat to decrease unit build time, Operation CWAL formed in 1997, as a writers group, in the StarCraft Suggestions Forum in an attempt to "liberate" a final copy of StarCraft, which appeared obviously completed despite numerous delays on the part of Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard Entertainment has gone as far as to give special thanks to this group in the manual for StarCraft, as well as including their name as a cheat code in the game.

While not incredibly active today, Operation CWAL remains as one of Blizzard Entertainment's older and more loyal fan groups. Many CWALers are waiting for release information regarding another RTS in the StarCraft universe.

Influence

StarCraft draws from characters and scenarios taken from the movies Aliens (Terran Buildings, Dropship, Marines, SCV & Zerg Creep, Hydralisk, Infested Terrans) and RoboCop (Terran Goliath). Several lines of dialogue are lifted directly from Aliens, most noticeably the line "in the pipe, five-by-five". The popular Warhammer series from Games Workshop also had a large influence on StarCraft's design and gameplay (Protoss, Zerg ecology, plot). The visual style borrows heavily from Warhammer 40,000. Also, the game may borrow from Arthur C. Clarke's 'Childhood's End', which makes mention of Overlords and an Overmind.

Because of its vast popularity, StarCraft has become extremely influential in the computer and video gaming fields. In the years immediately following its release, it was considered by many to be the bar against which new real-time strategy games were measured. Several terms now widely used in computer gaming in reference to other games are directly derived from StarCraft: rush (popularized by the term "Zerg rush") and zerging. The original term for rush actually comes from Warcraft II, where players would build a barracks before a townhall allowing grunts to be built immediately. This was known as a grunt rush.

Novels and eBooks

StarCraft even became an inspiration for the creation of official novels and eBooks (which were generally not especially well-received by fans), such as:

and many others written by fans (fanfictions).

Custom scenarios

The game comes with a campaign/map editor (practically a "Game Creation System" in itself) called StarEdit. StarEdit has many features, including a trigger system that allows one to make radical changes to the way that map works, readily giving gamers the ability to create custom map scenarios. Hundreds of custom scenarios are created everyday, giving the game a refreshing variety. The StarCraft map-making community has also constructed additional editors or functionalities that grant the user even more power to modify the game.

Scenarios are created with entirely different sets of rules, objectives, and units. More popular user created scenarios include StarCraft Diplomacy, Turret Defense, Sunken Defense, Nightmare RPG, and the ubiquitous Tower Defense. Scenarios with infinite minerals are also very popular, examples including "Fastest Map Ever" and "0Clutter." Many real-world events, including the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, World War II and the American Civil War, have also been used as a base for StarCraft maps. There have been recent StarCraft maps depicting single or multiple scenes from books and movies, such as Troy and` The Lord of the Rings. These maps include The Battle for Pelennor Fields and The Battle for Helm's Deep.

It is estimated that the popularity of special scenario Starcraft maps (or "custom" maps) among the general worldwide populace often exceeds that of the regular game, especially during peak traffic hours. The popularity of custom maps is not limited, however, to only online gaming. Because StarEdit allows the map maker to "link together" several maps, single player "campaigns" (which are long scenarios played out over several maps, hence the name "campaign") have become prominent in the community. Popularized by the revolutionary Antioch Chronicles, many campaigns even come with "MODs" that feature new "heroes" (ie. the map makers create new art files to be imported in to StarCraft, thus creating completely new units and characters - something StarEdit alone could never do). Popular player-made campaigns include Campaign Creation's Legacy of the Confederation, Life of a Marine, The Antioch Chronicles, and StarCraft.org's official campaigns: The Shifters and Fields of Ash.

In addition, some other map editors exist. These include the "Starcraft X-tra Map Editor," and have other features not in StarEdit. One of the possibilities included in some editors include "stacking" buildings and minerals, placing many one on top of the other. The ability to change player colors has been left to some of the more advanced editors, including "Scm Draft" and "StarForge," which were introduced after editors such as "GU Edit" and SCM Toolkit" were losing their popularity. Most serious 'mappers' now prefer "StarCraft X-tra Map Editor," "Scm Draft," "StarForge," and "ProEdit," because they give the user indepth capabilities, such as the ability to place different terrain types, hidden 'triggers' and 'AI scripts,' 'protecting' maps, running sounds from the StarCraft disc, changing the color of text, etcetera. Most of these editors (excluding "StarCraft X-tra Map Editor") are designed from scratch, eliminating most of the limits of the original StarEdit, the "StarCraft Campaign Editor." Many of these 3rd party programs have revolutionized StarCraft map making and new discoveries as to what different 'sprites' or 'unit numbers' do to the game, or as the most effective way to 'cloak' certain units are discovered virtually every day. Many websites including 'Starcraft.org,' 'staredit.net,' and 'scindex' have been built around the capabilities of these impressive StarEdits.

Replays, RWAs, VODs and Battle Reports

StarCraft enables the player to record a game and save it as a replay, which can then be viewed with any other copy of StarCraft, displaying the entire course of the game. As of 2004, there are many websites that host replays of players with different skill levels, though pro-level replays are relatively rarely released, for reasons of team secrecy and pro-league policy.

The RWAtools are a set of freeware tools that create valid replay files, additionally containing an Ogg audio stream. They allow gamers to comment their own games while they play them and comment replays of other players. During replay the commentary is kept in sync with the game. This can be particularly interesting for people new to the game, who can learn from more experienced players pointing out things about a replay they would not have seen on their own. Also, those replays can be quite fun to watch, if the commentator did a good job.

Lasgo's Observer Pack contains, beside other things, a tool that allows you to see the results of the recorded player's actions as if you played yourself (except the mouse pointer and the selection boxes).

The most notorious and respected RWAer is considered to be Manifesto7, an administrator on Team-Liquid.net. Though he has since stopped production of them, at least temporarily, his informative and entertaining RWA's can be found at Manifesto7.com.

VODs (from "Video On Demand") are videos that show the screen of a commentator (or sometimes player) during a (usually) pro-level game. They are (legally or not) available from a variety of websites, and are ripped from Korean television or internet streams. They usually come in the ASF video file format for Windows Media Player, which plays them with seeking disabled, or in the WMV format. Because they are compressed with an MPEG-4 codec and the file size needs to be small, there is a significant quality loss in comparison to watching a replay. VODs are usually accompanied by enthusiastic announcing from the Korean commentators, and the occasional crowd shot.

Battle Reports emerged as a a "review" of a game. Written replays of a past game, a Battle Report goes into length on the tactics used in the game and the different battles. Battle Reports were popularized for StarCraft by a player known as Breeze, whose impressive visuals and writing brought some of the most popular StarCraft players and games to fame. While the quality of Battle Reports vary, a good Report will not only show tactics and battles, but discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the different players, and comment on the general strategies used.

Wikiquote has quotations related to StarCraft (video game).

Official sites

General

Competitive Ladders

Strategies

Battlereports

Customs/Campaigns

News

Patch 1.12 Was released on February 16, 2005. The patch is online or on Blizzards website.

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