WWI - StarCraft 2: Evolving Design
The goal of the design of StarCraft 2, explained Rob Pardo, was to reimagine StarCraft for a modern audience. They wanted to produce a game with the same pace and feel, but with a whole host of new units and, by extension, new tactical options. Follow the cut for details about how they went about this.
When introducing new units (and altering old), the objective was to ensure that the three races remained as distinct as possible, as this is one of the defining aspects of StarCraft. When it was released, it was one of the first RTS’ in which each side was truly unique, as opposed to just the same units but with different paint jobs. Whenever the developers came up with a new unit or ability for StarCraft 2, they would ensure that said ability was unique for the race it was given to. Rob gave an example in the form of transport mechanics. In StarCraft, transporting units around was pretty similar from race to race. Load them into a Dropship/Overlord/Shuttle, and then click “Unload All” somewhere on the battlefield.
Nydus Worms Deploying Troops
Consequently, in StarCraft 2, each side has a unique method of transport. The Terrans still use the standard Dropship, but the Zerg and Protoss have a more tactical method. The Protoss use Power Arrays to created localized powergrids, into which units can be warped directly in. The Zerg, on the other hand, use a modified version of the Nydus Canal from StarCraft. Instead of units going in one end and out the other, they wait inside the canal until a Nydus Worm is spawned which then quite literally spits them out. But, contrary to what was shown in early demos, the Nydus Worm can only be spawned on the Creep. However, this isn’t as much a problem as it was in StarCraft (insofar as Nydus Canals could only be used offensively against enemy Zerg players), thanks to the Overlords new ability to spawn a localized patch of Creep. As such, Overlords are still used for offensive troop deployment (their Flyer Carapace upgrade has been removed), but the Zerg player needn’t worry about losing their units should the Overlord be destroyed.
The Creep also has other tactical uses now. Rob explained that they want it to be more of a resource than a method of limiting the Zerg’s expansion. The way Creep is generated as been altered; instead of spawning Creep Colonies from Drones, it is spread using Creep Tumors. These are created by Hatcheries and Creep Tumors themselves, allowing the Creep to quickly spread across the map without having to worry about losing drones to Creep Colonies. This does of course raise the question of what the Zerg use for defence, as in the original, Creep Colonies could be upgraded into either Spore (anti-air) or Sunken (anti-ground) Colonies. In their place are new Crawler… well, buildings, I guess. A Drone can be morphed into either a Spore or Spine Crawler, which acts as a turret. To differentiate them from the defences used by the other two races, these can be uprooted and then moved to another position on the Creep before being rooted back down. It is also possible to move them from one patch of Creep to another, but their movement speed is vastly reduced when travelling over clear ground.
As such, the Zerg have an very adaptive way of defending their bases; an apparent gap in the Zerg defences can be quickly filled if an enemy tries to take advantage of it, and once a base has expanded beyond it’s initial boundaries, the crawlers can move with it. Rob also showed an example of the synergy between Overlords and Crawlers; an Overlord can be used to generate a patch of Creep at a nearby chokepoint that it outside the current Creep border, which Crawler units can then move to, setting up a very effective early game defence barrier. These buildings really embody the feeling that the Zerg structures truly are living, breathing organisms, an aspect that the developers are keen to get across (something Samwise mentioned during the panel on the Art of StarCraft 2).
Zerg Queen Assisting in Defence
(Swarm Infestation can be seen on the building in front of her)
The other key defensive Zerg unit is the new Queen. She is much-changed from the Queen that appeared in StarCraft, where she was more of an offensive support caster. Here, she acts as a primary base defence through use of a variety of special abilities, focusing on Zerg buildings. She can heal them through the Transfusion ability, instantly teleport to one using Deep Tunnel and even modify buildings in a small area to act as defensive turrets using Swarm Infestation. She is also able to mutate larvae, allowing them to instantly morph into a desired unit (rather than taking the standard time to develop). This ability takes 50 seconds to cast, but allows for rapid deployment of counter-units when an enemy does attack.
Rob also demoed a new Protoss unit, the Nullifier. He explained that while the Protoss will have less units numerically than the other races, this wont be an issue as a lot of their units are all about control, and the Nullifier is a shining example of this. It has a Force Field ability which can be used to vastly control the flow of battle. In one example, Rob used it to create an artificial chokepoint to funnel attackers through, allowing the Protoss units to easily dispatch them while taking little damage. Another example showed the Nullifier creating a wall which Stalkers could blink across, allowing them to escape from a melee fight, whilst still being able to fight back.
Protoss Nullifiers Controlling the Flow of a Battle
(Force Fields, the dome-like things, are clearly visible)
Finally, he showed off the altered Protoss Mothership. It is now less of a super weapon and acts more as a support platform. It’s devastating Black Hole has been replaced with the ability to summon in units. Also, it’s status as a unique unit has been removed (having unique units is now paticular to the Zerg), but the Time Bomb remains firmly in place. One would guess that Blizzard decided that only the Terrans should have a super-weapon (in the form of their nukes).
Of course, they are constantly balancing and changing units, and will be right up until release (and probably well after too; StarCraft patches are being released to this day), so all of the above is entirely subject to change. We’ve already seen plenty of alterations since the games initial announcement, and will no doubt see many more. But even still, the new abilities and units give a good idea of the kind of tacitcal depth they’re looking to create.
It’s amazing