StarCraft 2 Q&A Batch 49 Released!

Everything they have done here is a step in the right direction....im lovin the new visuals for the zerg they seam so much more scary.....Keep up the good work Blizz

 

If they keep this up then they should be able to do some amazing things by the time the beta comes.

So, let's not rush them guys!

 

Very nice, a great q&a

I was hoping the macro mechanics to be focused on production rather than gathering though.

 

It's been a while since a Q&A with so much...fascinating, material. I love seeing drop pods in the Terran armies again... personally I would love to be able to call in a small squad of marines for an increased cost and a 15 sec or so dropping time, good way to help protect a base should it fall under attack and you need to stall to get defenders over there fast enough.

 

Wow excellent Q&A. As always well done Tychus on the quick info. My only question is when are you gonna let someone else post a news update? Glory hog lol.
That aside, this really has me pumped. I was afraid for the dark pylon and the mule stuff when it had been mentioned previously. However, the more I think about it, I don't necessarily dislike it. I think the way it is being done is going to really increase the scale of the mid game. Close the gap between what armies look like in mid game compared to late game. Which I think is a pretty positive addition honestly, as I prefer a mid game finish, but sometimes I like playing a late game where unit counts get incredibly high and versatile. So I think we will see most SC2 matches end in 30~ min with relatively high unit counts and the ability to use all of your available units (at the players discretion) in that time period. I was in opposition at first, but looking at it this way, assuming it works, I actually have to tip my hat to blizzard on a good response to what I've long considered a small flaw in the original SC. Or perhaps not a flaw, but they are at least broadening the scope of the game I think.

 

The main thrills for me in this batch, apart from everything, are the model updates. Overall, I'm glad they got rid of the dull orangey-purple base for all the Zerg models. Comparing the before and afters, they honestly do subtract a heck of a lot from the models. As I critique the models, please keep in mind that I'm a very harsh judge. In other words, I'm not having a go at Blizzard, or dissing the models, for pointing out such tiny flaws. Needless to say, and seeing as I simply could not portray how horrible some of them looked before, it's simply a massive improvement, all around.

Firstly the Drone. The new eyes work great, and seem to suit the new Zerg theme of having multiple, piercing eyes, which I love. They'll certainly come in useful for some extreme close-ups in custom made maps. The claws could do with a bit of smoothing, as they do sorta look like Lego constructs at the moment, but it's not exactly an issue, and is most likely a lot less noticeable when moving. The sideways mouth could go either way, but I reckon it works, and finally, I feel the pincers could be made to look more like pincers than sharp protuberances. Regardless, this has been improved beyond words.

Next, the Overlord. Although I was a huge fan of the original, it possibly being one of my favourite models in the game at that stage, I'm happy to see a lot of these changes. The removal of the two green sacks definitely appears to be a good one, especially seeing how they were more naturally adapted into the new design anyway, and although I didn't mind them myself, I really didn't like how much everyone else seemed to hate the Overlord because of them. It, too, has the motif of the Zerg eyes, which work extremely well for it as well. Unfortunately, the image seems to be fairly dark, so it's hard to make out a lot of the detail, especially with a lot of it being obscured anyway, but at a glance it appears to be for the best. I would love to see a perfectly side-on view of the new Overlord, just like we had of the old. Hopefully I won't have to wait until I buy it for that, haha. A couple of changes that I definitely do not agree with are the removal of the tendrils, both at the mouth and under the body, and the apparent removal of the 'thumb' of the claw, though that might just be the camera angle. Overall, not as great an improvement as the Drone, but brings it up to speed with the rest of the Zerg units, and is still a fantastic model.

The Hydralisk. This improvement is simply inexpressible. I had a massive problem with the original Hydralisk, which, if it had not been changed, would probably actually result in me no longer using them in-game, regardless of what it would end up costing. The stupidity and pointlessness of having three scythes on each arm, the fragility of the overly thin arm and humerus, the floodlights on high-beam for eyes, the excessive number of spikes covering its body and tail, and the novelty-sized railroad spikes for teeth. Remarkably, none of these problems, besides the eyes maybe, have been rectified, at all. It's still got a stupid and pointless number of scythes, it's still got overly thin arms, it's still got an excessive number of spikes covering it from head to tip, and it's still got teeth that'd make Centrepoint look like a toothpick, but somehow it works. Looking at it, I can hardly even tell what's changed. It just looks like a skin-job, with a bit more detail on the face and headpiece. This is simply spectacular. In addition, it doesn't have the new Zerg eyes, but it's iconic enough as is, perhaps to the extent that changing the eyes would devalue the model. Regardless, I suppose it would be extremely lame to have all Zerg eyes looking the same. Other than that, there isn't really much other than that. This is simply a stunning model. I'll probably end up building excessive amounts in situations where I don't need them now. Overall, outstanding. The best improvement of the lot, bar none.

Overseer. I'm still too opposed to this unit to pass proper judgement. Even keeping that in mind, it just looks like a congealed amalgam of frightened skinks. The head looks nice, and the body's now up to speed with the rest of the Zerg, style-wise, but it's still not a good model, nor is it a good concept at all. I'd hate to have to upgrade the awe-inspiring Overlords into these horrid things. As a point of interest, it, too, seems to be missing the thumbs of its claws, just like the Overlord. Hopefully it, too, is simply because of the camera angle, as it's a similar angle to that of the Overlord. Overall, meh. Definitely improved, but who really gives a damn?

Baneling. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't really sure which of these was the before image, and which was the after image here. It was only really due to the fact that all the previous units had been set out from left to right that I was able to pick one with any real confidence. That said, there are still some nice changes. Firstly, the legs have been drastically improved from the doorstops they were before. It's got a nice new skin-job, and the mouth and mandibles look a lot more natural, as did the rings surrounding the sacks of venom. That said, I'm not sure I prefer it, as a whole. The focus of the Baneling has always been, and will always be, on said sacks of venom, and frankly, the first Baneling's actual sacks look far better than the other. Again, just like the Drone, I'm hoping that's just because it's a still image, and it's been caught at the wrong time. Otherwise, it's simply far too plain and static for it to, as a whole, be declared the superior Baneling model.

Lastly, the Infester concept art. I can't actually say I'm all too impressed. I'll certainly have to see it in-game before I pass too harsh a judgement, but to put it bluntly I don't really see the concept art as an improvement. It still doesn't seem like a true Zerg unit. Instead, it's still just seems to be 'something else', just like the old Infester.

In other news, the Queen's abilities are looking nice now. Originally I really disliked them being put on such an iconic unit as they were simply to 'magic', and not natural enough for a Zerg caster. This has definitely been fixed, but partially because the Overseer now holds the 'magic' abilities.

Lastly, a quick question, is the Fungal Infestation or Fungal Scourge still either an area of effect or contagious ability? They seem to be talking about it as though it's simply a single target ability now, in which case it doesn't really seem as spectacular as it used to.

 

^
From what i heard, its a single target ability, and when that targeted unit dies it explodes and causes quite alot of damage to nearby units.

 

Awesome. Someone read enough to see that there was a question in there, haha.

Yeah, from what I'd heard prior to this, it was an area of effect and/or contagious ability, which was pure awesomeness. Although it's still cool, it doesn't seem that great now, as it's really not that great if they're able to evacuate it out of there, depending on what's able to be targeted, of course.

 

Nice post there ItzaHexGor I must say, though, that I think the new Infestor art is very Zerg when compared to the other Zerg concept art. It's really hard to make even the iconic Zerg units look Zerg in concept art. For example, the early artworks of the Zerglings and Hydralisks didn't seem all that Zerg to me. So, I'm grading the Infestor on a curve, so to speak, but still I think it's pretty great.

@L3ttuc3: What glory? This is an internet forum. I see no glory here ...
@Overmind: The Zerg's "gathering" improvement is very production oriented. So, there's some hope for you there

 

I agree totally. Even when the team color wasn't purple, I still mistook half the zerg in most screenshots to be on the purple team!

:laugh:, the skinks comment is a great description. I'm starting to warm up to the Overseer just a little after this model update. One of the main gripes I have about it now is the color scheme. It doesn't remind me of Zerg so much as it reminds me of the Ing from the Metroid series. A dark greyish brown color scheme would look better IMO. My other complaint is the shape. The Overlord body was round, but the Overseer's suddenly turns tirangular. They need to make it slimmer on the side-eyes just a tad, make all of the eyes just a hair bigger, and it'd be golden. The head looks like it's being smothered by the body, but I hope that's just the angle of the screenshot. If not, they need to move the head up a little so we can actually see it.

Like I said earlier, it's a step in the right direction. I can see from the concept art that they're trying to squeeze a little Defiler creepiness in there, because now it looks a little more slithery and worm-like, although still fat. I can't say I like the tentacles or the smokestacks though - they just seem out of place.

 

^ I disagree with you about the infestor model, the tentacles are more likely to be part of its mouth and the smoke sacs does not seem out of place IMO and i think we missing a makeover of a Zerg unit, yes the Lurker, we need a makeover update of the Lurker and the Zerg will go on its right direction.

 

I assumed the tentacles were part of the Infestor's mouth, but I'd rather see something like those circles of teeth on the Nydus Network.

Anyways, we really do need a Lurker update. These updates are nice, but we weren't craving for them as much as a new, not-ugly Lurker.

 

I hope Blizz releases the next battle report soon, I've gotten bored watching the other one

All I want is a 20+ minute game showing most of the zerg units in action. Is that too hard to ask?

Also, one thing that still seems unfair to me is that both protoss and zerg got an official demo video when they were released, talking about the different units in detail at the time, yet, the zerg didn't get this. All they got was a short vid showing them kill stuff and a slide presentation talking about a few of the units.

 

I, too, was a bit disappointed about that It kind of made sense at the time but they should've had one out by now. Oh well, we're so close to beta that I don't really care about demonstration videos. I'd rather have real games like in the Battle Reports.

 

same here, but my desire to see zerg in battle/heavily discussed has never been fully satisfied. I'm going to be sad if the next Battle Report doesn't have zerg, we've already seen tons of terran/protoss footage, but alot less zerg footage.

 

I know It's terrible. At least we got the broadcasted matches

 

Wow, I do agree, this batch is the best one we've gotten in ages. All the other recent ones barely had any good content in them.

I'm glad Blizzard finally updated the Zerg graphics. They just didn't look too... Zerg-like enough. I mean, they were all bright in colors. They looked like teletubbies with spines coming out of them. Okay, that was exaggerating a bit, but still, they didn't look vicious enough. The only update I do not like much is the Hydralisk update. It's carapace looks too smooth now and I preferred it better with the large scales that overlapped each other. Also, I think the Overlord should have retained its glowing green eyes because its sacs are full of vespene gas, which is green.

As for the Dark Pylon, I like it's abilities but I don't like the idea of a building casting them. If it was maybe the High Templar or even the Mothership casting them, it would make more sense. I like the Null Shield ability because it gives a wide range of uses for it. Like maybe in single player, you can cloak the Dark Archon and mind control some of the more powerful units in the enemy's base. The Argus Link replaces the Battery Shield's job a bit so I like this. The extra resource mining for probes... it's okay. I just prefer to have abilities that don't enhance or interfere with resource mining.

Now, the Queen, the Queen is amazing now. At first I didn't like it because of it's abilities and it's super-unit likeness. I like the Creep Tumor because it gives the Zerg the ability to expand creep rapidly and not be limited by the amount of Creep Colonies you build. Spawn Larva... personally, I think the spawn larva ability is a little bit rigged. You could bypass the need for additional Hatcheries and simply use the Queen's ability to spawn more larva. The Razor Plague is just a rip off a Locust Swarm in Warcraft III. It's almost the exact same thing except you can control the swarm and move it around.

The Terran's Mules are an interesting new unit we can play around with. It can scout, it can repair, it can mine. It's a great asset to the Terran army and I like it's overall function. I'm glad they kept Scanner Sweep because it just owns. As for the supply ability... what kind of an ability is that? Calling down supplies to boost a supply depot? While it may be realistic, it doesn't really go well with balancing. How exactly will the Protoss keep up in supply?

I'm getting scared that Starcraft II will be an ability based game like Warcraft III is, and we all know how bad that turned out. Although Starcraft II is looking good so far, Blizzard should be careful and think thoroughly before adding any more possibly game-deciding abilities like they did with the Mothership's black hole in the first gameplay video.

 

go ultralisk! 200+ hp thing was a tank to begin with befor.

 

Darktemplar_L: the supply boost ability is temporary. You'll eventually need to build more Supply Depots if you want to build more units, if you've already built units with boosted supply.

 

I can see why they added this now it seems the economy will get sped up with all of these abilities.

Zerg can create drones quicker too now and not only that but units in general think of 2 queens working together I can really see why they went in this direction.

I just want to see a video like you guys of the zerg in action.