So, after near enough walking into a 20k job last week (it was my first interview, and they offered me the position later that day), today I found a near perfect flat; 2 bedrooms, open plan living room/kitchen, on the ground floor, lets me have a cat, the works. This was the…. 3rd property I went to visit, and it clicked the moment I saw it. As someone else had already expressed an interest in it, I decided to forgo my other viewings for the day and sign there and then. I move in some time next week.

Now, if the last few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that nothing in life is that easy, and there is no such thing as a dream come true. So, what’s going to go wrong? Answers on a postcard, please.

I realise it’s been a while since I wrote anything, but anyone who knows me probably knows why. My life these past few weeks has been in utter turmoil, and my only salvation has been countless hours of good TV (polished off Heroes in a weekend, up to season 5 of Scrubs, and still have Dexter, House and Battlestar Gallatcia to watch). As such, I haven’t really been doing anything that actually warranted writing something here. However, I’m getting better, and should be back on form in due course.

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.

With the announcement of Diablo III, the various comment pages posting stories were filled with Angry Internet Men proclaiming that it was too similar to World of Warcraft. Reading their posts, something struck me. Why are popular games (both in sales and reviews) seeing more and more bile and vitriol directed at them? We’ve seen it with The Sims (I’ll admit, I’m prone to this), Oblivion, Halo, BioShock ( which saw Kieron Gillen writing a rather long anti-anti-BioShock essay) and now World of Warcraft. One comment I saw (on Kotaku, I believe) was:

WoW is the cancer killing PC gaming.

I’m sorry, what? WoW is many things (not all of them good), but it is certainly not killing PC gaming. Nothing is killing PC gaming (which is an argument for another time).

Another comment I once saw (actually directed at me), on RPS (and I must admit, it rather offended me):

Martin Coxall says:

Real gamers /still/ play WoW? How cute.

September 10th, 2007 at 9:02 pm

It is certainly an interesting phenomenon, like some kind of inverse-fanboyism (something Chris touched on recently), mixed with a healthy bit of elitism and the ever reliable John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. Though I do wonder if there is an element of peer pressure in there. Has it truly become cool to hate?

In this developer panel, Jay Wilson went over the key design concepts of the early Diablo games, and detailed how they would be included and built upon in Diablo 3.

Principally, the developers are keen to stay true to the Diablo experience; “all about owning a big pile of monsters”, but they don’t want to simply remake Diablo 2. Instead, they’re looking to advance the IP, and expand on the role-playing aspect of the game.

While Diablo not only kick started the action role-playing genre, it was also one of the first games to use randomness to bring about massive replayability, in both it’s creature spawns, item drops and dungeon layouts. No two playthroughs of Diablo (or it’s sequel) would be the same. Diablo 3 seeks to improve on this by also introducing random scripted encounters. A patch of field may contain a series of cultists performing a dark ritual on one playthrough, while in another it may be occupied by an abandoned farmhouse with a dark history. Alternatively, it may just be a patch of field. Jay gave no indication of how often such scripted events would appear, but they should go someone to adding even more replayability. Hearing tell of a totally different encounter that you missed is more likely to have you replaying it than the prospect of a different piece of loot.

As mentioned here, they’re looking to move the main focus away from potion usage. Instead, they want the player to use a wide range of their abilities to escape from tricky situations (however, some fans may be pleased to hear that it is still possible to one-skill through the entire game, at least on normal), and the hot bar will go some way to allow for this. Whilst deciding what to do as an alternative to potion usage for health/mana regeneration, they tried a Halo-style recharging health system. However, this just led to players sitting around waiting for their health to recharge, which was counter to what the developers had intended. As such, the globe system introduced vastly reduces downtime, and allows players to stay in the thick of combat for longer, without having to look through their inventory for a potion.

The globes also add an interesting aspect to cooperative play. Using a globe will also heal nearby players, ensuring that a group sticks together, instead of someone storming off ahead. Jay also mentioned that it will be possible to jump into coop whenever you choose, through the improved Battle.net service (though he was tight lipped on how it was actually improved). Group sizes haven’t been fixed yet, but will probably be around 4/5 people, due to the nature of the camera. Also, many will be pleased to know that the same loot will drop for everyone in a party, making ninja looting a thing of the past.

Much work has also been done to improve the role-playing side of things. The new conversation system will add more depth to characters, and while possibly not as revolutionary as some, giving the player a voice will add to the immersion, and make him feel more rooted in the world. Also, the inventory and trading system is being redone, though few details were given. However, they are moving away from a grid based approach for inventory management, which will remove the headache of carefully arranging your loot to carry that one extra item home. Finally, the world itself will be brought to life, with more story and lore; it will no longer be “just a container for monsters”. However, Jay stressed that the story would still be opt-in. If someone just wants to run around hacking things, he’s not going to stop them with 90 minute cut scenes.

Once the Diablo 3 trailer had finished, Jay Wilson (Lead Designer for Diablo 3) took the stage, asking the audience “who wants to crush some demons?” before proceeding to demonstrate about 20 minutes worth of very impressive looking gameplay, which is detailed after the cut.

The first section of the demo showed the Barbarian making his way through an underground crypt. Outside of the graphics (more on those later), the most obvious change was the interface. The iconic health and mana globes remain, but the potion belt has been removed. In it’s place is a very WoW-like hot bar, allowing you to have a number of easily accessible skills on screen, as opposed to Diablo’s unwieldy method of binding skills hidden away in menus to funciton keys. It’s also possible to quickly switch between your main skills using the mouse wheel or tab key. Jay promised that these controls are “so simple you can play it with just a mouse, but allows for easy skill combinations and deeper, more satisfying combat”. And given that Diablo’s main focus is combat, this can only be a good thing.

Watching the Barbarian in action, it’s clear that he sticks to Blizzard’s design ethos of “there’s no such thing as too much power”. And a lot of that apparent power is thanks to the engine being used. Whilst still employing an isometric viewpoint, the engine is now fully 3D. This, coupled with the sounds and ability effects allow you to feel the force behind the character, as well as how connected he actually is to the environment. While some argue that the game has lost the griminess and sense of horror of the earlier games (based on just a handful of screenshots, natch), you can’t argue that it isn’t pretty and incredibly detailed, and the outdoor environments shown were beautifully designed, looking almost like a painting.

Judging from the demo, the engine can happily have a vast number of enemies on screen at once (as should be expected in a ARPG), but also the scale of the bosses is now much more apparent. What’s more, the scenery plays a big role in events. It is destructible which not only adds to the immersion and connection with the world, will also have tactical uses. Jay showed off using a weakened wall to crush a horde of zombies. However, mechanics such as this in games often come off as forced, i.e. ever having such scenery near large groups of enemies. Let’s hope Blizzard can strike a balance between fun and overuse.

Speaking of enemies, they’ve had some changes too. Instead of merely running at you and attacking, some will employ a number of different game mechanics that will keep combat fresh and varied. Berserkers have a charge-up attack that can do massive amounts of damage if it connects, but he is stunned shortly after performing the attack, giving you time to dodge and counter-attack. Elsewhere, there are summoners that, while relatively weak themselves, can summon in powerful demons; cultists who can become possessed by a demonic entity, making them much harder to kill; and enemies that carry shields, allowing them to form defensive lines in front of frailer but more dangerous enemies. Engagements involving a mix of these (as well as whatever else the introduce) will make for much deeper, more involved combat.

As mentioned above, the potion bar has been removed. While potions will still be in the game, they will no longer be the be all and end all in a tricky situation. Instead, enemies will drop globes that, when clicked, will instantly replenish some health. Similar to the runes of healing introduced in The Frozen Throne, these globes should go some way to move the bias away from potion usage, and also reduce downtime between fights. In fact, it will actually encourage engaging enemies. Only red globes were shown in the demo, but one would assume that enemies will also drop blue ones, to replenish mana.

Jay then went on to introduce a new character class, the Witchdoctor. Judging from the abilities demonstrated, it seems that the Witchdoctor is a spiritual successor to the Necromancer. He commands hordes of minions and uses disease based spells. Interestingly, it is possible for the Witchdoctor to buff his pets using his damaging abilities, giving them attributes based on the ability used. Jay summoned some Mongrels, and cast the Locust Swarm ability on them, allowing them to deal additional poison damage. Oh, and one more thing: he has a Wall of Zombies. ’nuff said. While they haven’t finalised which classes would be coming back, it does seem that the introduction of the Witchdoctor does signal that my dear Necromancer wont be returning.

Details of the developer panel on the design philosophy of Diablo that followed this demo can be found here.

The World Wide Invitational began at 9am on the Saturday, and I (rather naively) turned up at 8:30. The queue was rather… infinite. I must’ve walked for about 10 minutes before reaching the end. Waiting in line, I saw all sorts pass me by. People of all shapes and sizes, most wearing some piece of Blizzard clothing. Naturally, most of the conversation I could understand revolved around WoW. However, it quickly moved once the gates opened, and I was soon inside the building (after a slight delay getting my pass, due to an iffy printout of my email.). I made my way to main stage, and got a reasonable seat.

Details of the opening ceremony and the surprise announcement after the cut.

I then proceeded to wait. And then wait some more. The opening ceremony finally started at about 11:45, after over two hours of sitting about doing nowt (I kept myself entertained reading This Gaming Life). The two MCs made their way on stage, and before they’d even opened their mouths I couldn’t stand them; their false enthusiasm was just a little too grating. “Give it up for the Vice President of Global Finance”. Yeah, right. People did, of course. And the Vice Presidents of Public Relations/Human Resources too. I can understand Rob Pardo, Tom Chilton, Samwsie et al getting applause, but these suits? Not so much.

Once all the members of Blizzard present had been introduced, the various ‘pro-gamers’ were marched on stage. This really is something I don’t quite buy into. I like the idea in theory, just not so much in practice. But regardless, they too got riotous applause. By this point, however, I was starting to question my 2 or so hours spent sat around. But then, Mike Morhaime appeared on stage, and present a ‘Best Of’ clip of the WWI held in Seoul, North Korea in 2007. After the video, Mike gave a run down of the weekends events, before explaining that “there’s still one more thing that we need to do”. A man appeared on stage carrying a guitar, and began to play the haunting Tristram theme from Diablo. This didn’t come as a surprise to anyone (in fact, someone commented as such during the closing ceremony), but that didn’t make it any less impressive. The trailer that followed had everyone in awe until Diablo himself appeared, at which point the crowd went wild. The atmosphere in the room at this point was nothing short of electric, and it really was something to behold.

Details of the gameplay demo that followed this announcement can be found here.

So yes, I’m back from Paris. And I’ve lots and lots and lots to write about. However, not just yet, as I’m rather exhausted. Expect plenty of typings from me in the next few days. Just as soon as I’ve had a good nights sleep and a proper meal or two…

Tuesday saw Rachael and I take a trip to Whitby. I could go into great detail about the day, but as the old adage goes, a picture tells a thousand words. So, it’d be easier for me to link to the set on Flickr, where there are the equivalent of 39,000 words already written. In short, it was a lovely (if overcast) day, and made a nice change from Leeds. We only saw one crane!

Or not, as the case may be. Last night saw the release of the latest update for Team Fortress 2, which primarily concerned updates to the Pyro class. Now, anyone who knows me, or has even looked at the logo up there, may understands that this is my favourite class, and the one I am most adept at playing. Looked at my TF2 Stats earlier, and it seems I’ve spent a day of my life setting people on fire (and in the game). So, naturally, I was excited about this update.

Of course, this wasn’t to last. Naturally, everyone wants a slice of this new fun stuff, so all the servers are chocked full of Pyros. That would be bearable, if a) they weren’t all trying to farm the new achievements (lololol axe fight on the bridge) and b) they weren’t all bad Pyros.

As someone who enjoys playing the class, and wants to unlock the things to make it more varied (as opposed to just an e-peen thing), this makes me rather sad. First server I joined consisted of teams made up entirely of Pyros. A 12-man (woman?) team made up of Pyros is not effective. Especially when facing… a 12-man team made of Pyros. This left me feeling guilty for wanting to play my preferred class, so I resorted to playing as a Demoman instead. And then got told off for killing people. Apparently, I’d wandered onto a server that had decided it was going to farm achievements. Cheap.

I eventually got onto a server with Pentadact who, for once, actually wasn’t a spy (he was a Pyro, natch). This proved a little more fun, as playing with people you know is always more enjoyable, no matter the circumstances. The teams here were slightly more balanced, maybe only about 8 Pyros per team at any one time. However, this server also highlighted another problem with this update. The achievements, if being specifically farmed, are incredibly easy to get. We had someone running around with all three unlockable weapons what, 2 hours after the update went live. Again, cheap.

The server emptied at about half 12, so I decided to call it a night. Hopefully the game will return to some semblance of normality soon enough, and I can enjoy playing it again. In the meantime, well, I’ve got more ISK to be making on EVE. Wants me a new Battlecruiser!