[ian-reeds-games] Re: some news
- From: "Jono Heaps" <jono_heaps@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ian-reeds-games@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2014 12:58:34 +1300
That's awesome! I've attached a .txt file with a plot summary and a few
basic guidelines about the three races and how they differ from one another,
as well as a bit about resource management in Star Craft.
Good luck!
Jono
-----Original Message-----
From: ian-reeds-games-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ian-reeds-games-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Allan Thompson
Sent: Saturday, 22 February 2014 8:08 a.m.
To: ian-reeds-games@freelist
Subject: [ian-reeds-games] some news
Hey gang,
I have decided to start working on a starcraft clone map pack.
I do have sounds and music, more or less, enough to help with this process.
Any information about the alien races and their units and how they work etc
would be greatly appreciated.
I said clone because I don't can't really know how close to the actual
starcraft gameplay I might get to, and I might change minor details, like
backstory unit names etc.
I might use the warlords game mechanics, or I might not if someone knows how
to explain the starcraft game mechanics to me.
I do not know if it is possible, but I would love to find a way to make
random terrain on a map happen.
Thanks in advance,
al
"The truth will make you free"
Jesus Christ of Nazareth 33AD
Star Craft Overview
StarCraft takes place in a science fiction universe created by Blizzard
Entertainment. According to the story presented in the game's manual, the
overpopulation of Earth in the early 21st century has caused the international
government to exile members of the human race, such as criminals, the
cybernetically enhanced and genetic mutants to colonize the far reaches of the
galaxy.
An attempt to colonize a nearby solar system goes wrong, resulting in
humanity's arrival in the Koprulu Sector. In the distant Koprulu Sector of the
galaxy, the exiles form several governments, but quickly fall into conflict
with each other. One government, the Confederacy of Man, eventually emerges as
the strongest faction, but its oppressive nature and brutal methods of
suppressing dissidents stir up major rebel opposition in the form of a
terrorist group called the Sons of Korhal. Just prior to the beginning of the
game, in December 2499, an alien race possessing advanced technology and
psionic power, the Protoss, makes first contact with humanity by destroying a
Confederate colony world without any prior warning. Soon after this, the
Terrans discover that a second alien race, the insectoid Zerg, has been
stealthily infesting the surface of several of the Terran colonies, and that
the Protoss are destroying the planets to prevent the Zerg from spreading. With
the Confederacy threatened by two alien races and internal rebellion, it begins
to crumble.
Characters
The player assumes the role of three nameless characters over the course of the
game. In the first act, the player acts as the Confederate magistrate of an
outlying colony world of Mar Sara, threatened by both the Zerg and the Protoss,
and is forced through events to join the rebel Sons of Korhal under its leader
Arcturus Mengsk. Mengsk's campaign is accompanied by Jim Raynor, a morally
conscious law enforcement officer from Mar Sara, and Sarah Kerrigan, a psychic
assassin and Mengsk's second-in-command.
The second episode of the game sees the player as a cerebrate, a commander
within the Zerg Swarm. The player is ruled over by the Zerg Overmind the
manifestation of the collective consciousness of the Swarm and the game's
primary antagonist and is given advice from other cerebrates of higher rank
and status while accomplishing the objectives of the Swarm.
In the final part of StarCraft, the player is a newly appointed Executor within
the Protoss military reporting to Aldaris, a representative of the Protoss
government. Aldaris is at odds with Tassadar the former occupant of the
player's position over his association with Zeratul, a member of a heretical
group known as dark templar.
Plot
The game itself is split into three episodes, one for the player to command
each race. In the first segment of the game, the player and Jim Raynor are
attempting to control the colony of Mar Sara in the wake of the Zerg attacks on
other Terran worlds. After the Confederacy arrests Raynor for destroying
Confederate property, despite the fact that it had been infested by the Zerg,
the player joins Arcturus Mengsk and the Sons of Korhal. Raynor, who is freed
by Mengsk's troops, also joins and frequently accompanies the player on
missions. Mengsk then begins to use Confederate technology captured on Mar Sara
to lure the Zerg to Confederate installations and further his own goals.
After forcing Confederate general Edmund Duke to join him, Mengsk sacrifices
his own second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan, to ensure the destruction of the
Confederacy by luring the Zerg to the Confederate capital Tarsonis.
Raynor is outraged by Mengsk's true aims of obtaining power at any cost and
deserts, taking with him a small army of the former colonial militia of Mar
Sara. Mengsk reorganizes what remains of the Terran population into the Terran
Dominion, crowning himself as emperor.
The second campaign reveals that Kerrigan was not killed by the Zerg, but
rather is captured and infested in an effort to incorporate her psionic traits
into the Zerg gene pool. She emerges with far more psionic powers and physical
strength, her DNA completely altered. Meanwhile, the Protoss commander Tassadar
discovers that the Zerg's cerebrates cannot be killed by conventional means,
but that they can be harmed by the powers wielded by the heretical dark
templar. Tassadar allies himself with the dark templar prelate Zeratul, who
assassinates Zasz, one of the Zerg's cerebrates in their hive clusters on Char.
The cerebrate's death results in its forces running amok through the Zerg
hives, but briefly links the minds of Zeratul and the Zerg Overmind, allowing
the Overmind to finally learn the location of the Protoss homeworld Aiur, which
the Overmind has been seeking for millennia. The main Zerg swarm promptly
invades Aiur while Kerrigan is dispatched to deal with Tassadar and despite
heavy Protoss resistance, the Overmind is able to embed itself into the crust
of the planet.
The final episode of the game sees Aldaris and the Protoss government branding
Tassadar a traitor and a heretic for conspiring with the dark templar. The
player initially serves Aldaris in defending Aiur from the Zerg invasion, but
while on a mission to arrest Tassadar, the player joins him instead.
A Protoss civil war erupts, pitting Tassadar, Zeratul, and their allies against
the Protoss establishment. The dark templar prove their worth when they use
their energies to slay two more of the Zerg cerebrates on Aiur, and the
Conclave reconciles with them. Aided by Raynor's forceswho sided with Tassadar
back on Charthe Protoss break through the Overmind's weakened defenses and
destroy the Overmind's outer shell, but take heavy casualties in the process.
Tassadar channels his own psionic energies in combination with those of the
dark templar through the hull of his command ship and crashes it into the
Overmind, sacrificing himself in order to destroy it.
Race Comparisons.
All units are unique to their respective races and while rough comparisons can
be drawn between certain types of units in the technology tree, every unit
performs differently and requires different tactics for a player to succeed.
The enigmatic Protoss have access to powerful units and machinery and advanced
technologies such as energy shields and localized warp capabilities, powered by
their psionic traits. However, their forces have lengthy and expensive
manufacturing processes, encouraging players to follow a strategy of the
quality of their units over the quantity.
The insectoid Zerg possess entirely organic units and structures, which can be
produced quickly and at a far cheaper cost to resources, but are accordingly
weaker, relying on sheer numbers and speed to overwhelm enemies.
The Terrans provide a middle ground between the other two races, providing
units that are versatile and flexible. They have access to a range of more
ballistic military technologies and machinery, such as tanks and nuclear
weapons.
Although each race is unique in its composition, no race has an innate
advantage over the other. Each species is balanced out so that while they have
different strengths, powers, and abilities their overall strength is the same.
Resource management
Each race relies on two resources to sustain their game economies and to build
their forces: minerals and vespene gas. Minerals are needed for all units and
structures, and are obtained by using a worker unit to harvest the resource
directly from mineral nodes scattered around the battlefield. Players require
vespene gas to construct advanced units and buildings, and acquire it by
building a refinery on top of a geyser and using worker units to extract the
gas from it.
In addition, players need to regulate the supplies for their forces to ensure
that they can construct the number of units they need. Although the nature of
the supply differs between the racesTerrans use physical supplies held in
depots, Protoss use a psionic power nexus and Zerg are regulated by the number
of controlling overlord units presentthe supply mechanic works in exactly the
same way for each race (with different side effects for each race), allowing
players to create new units when there are sufficient resources to sustain them.
Base construction
Protoss and Zerg building construction is limited to specific locations:
Protoss buildings need to be linked to a power grid while almost every Zerg
structure must be placed on a carpet of biomass, called "creep", that is
produced by certain structures. Terran buildings are far less limited, with
certain primary base structures possessing the ability to take off and fly
slowly to a new location. Terran buildings, however, require the worker unit to
continue construction on the building until it is completed. Also, once a
Terran building has taken a certain amount of damage, it will catch fire and
eventually burn to the ground without further enemy action, though this can be
prevented by repairs performed by a worker unit. The Protoss, by contrast, only
require a worker unit to begin the process of transporting a building to the
theater of operations via warp, and their buildings' shields (but not their
structure) are regenerative. The Zerg worker unit physically transforms into
the structure created, which is capable of slowly healing itself.
Novelisations
The storyline of StarCraft has been adapted into several novels. The first
novel, Uprising, which was written by Blizzard employee Micky Neilson and
published in December 2000, acts as a prequel to the events of StarCraft. Other
novelsLiberty's Crusade by Jeff Grubb and Aaron Rosenberg's Queen of
Bladesretell the story of the game from different perspectives. Later novels,
such as Gabriel Mesta's Shadow of the Xel'Naga and Christie Golden's The Dark
Templar Saga, further expand the storyline, creating the setting for StarCraft
II.
Notes
The following URL is an exhaustive Star Craft wiki that provides complete
information on all the units of the three races (their characteristics,
hitpoints, shielding and resources required), as well as specifics about the
races and their various factions and how they interact with each other.
http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Category:StarCraft_units
Hopefully this information is helpful. Since Star Craft is a realtime platform,
many of it's atributes might not be aplicable in TB. I'm sure you'll make any
alterations/aditions necessary to adapt it for TB. You always do a great job.
Best of luck and if I can help in any other ways, don't hesitate to let me know.
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