Topic: The Starcraft mega thread - Rising from the ashes.

[Shorty McNostril]

There is a WoW one too.

[Shorty McNostril]

If anyone wants an easy win, my character name is Shorty, and my code is 331.

[KnowsNothing]

I'm not usually one to beg for free stuff, but if anyone has an extra guest pass I'd greatly appreciate it.  My experience with the RTS genre has been a pretty frustrating one so far (Warcraft III's dependence on heroes makes me ragequit, and Sins of a Solar Empire is...time consuming) so I'm really hesitant to throw down $60 on a game I probably won't put more than a few hours into.  On the other hand, I've been watching a lot of replays and this game just seems really freaking cool and I really WANT to love it.  I think seven hours is enough for me to gauge whether or not this game is something into which I want to invest a good portion of my free time.

[Shorty McNostril]

I'm not usually one to beg for free stuff, but if anyone has an extra guest pass I'd greatly appreciate it.  My experience with the RTS genre has been a pretty frustrating one so far (Warcraft III's dependence on heroes makes me ragequit, and Sins of a Solar Empire is...time consuming) so I'm really hesitant to throw down $60 on a game I probably won't put more than a few hours into.  On the other hand, I've been watching a lot of replays and this game just seems really freaking cool and I really WANT to love it.  I think seven hours is enough for me to gauge whether or not this game is something into which I want to invest a good portion of my free time.

Check your PMs

[kraken613]

Well I am not an RTS fan really and never have gotten to much into them. I have played just a tad and I find it a lot of fun. Simple controls that just work. I plan to play a bit more before I decide if I buy it or not.

[Shorty McNostril]

Whew.  Just finished the single player.  Very intriguing. 

Now I probably have to wait another 3 years for part 2.

[NWR_insanolord]

I may have to go back and actually give the first one another try. I'd have to figure out where I put the discs first, though.

[Morari]

I may have to go back and actually give the first one another try. I'd have to figure out where I put the discs first, though.

I'd suggest putting it in your CD drive. That way it can spin up and be read by your computer.

[SixthAngel]

Whew.  Just finished the single player.  Very intriguing. 

Now I probably have to wait another 3 years for part 2.

Already?  Tell me about it.  Too short, just right, etc.  Bear in mind the Terrans are my least favorite race.

If this takes more than a year its ridiculous, all the units and gameplay for each race has essentially been made.

I have a question for people who have the game.  How do new players learn how to play the game and the different units?  The single player only covers one race and the first game came out 12 years ago.  If someone wants to use the zerg or protoss do they just have to get their asses kicked while they mess with the new units or is it full of tutorials?

[vudu]

I may have to go back and actually give the first one another try. I'd have to figure out where I put the discs first, though.

I'd suggest putting it in your CD drive. That way it can spin up and be read by your computer.

A setup for a snide comment about no-CD cracks and instead Morari makes a joke?  That's gotta be worth a point.

[Shorty McNostril]

Whew.  Just finished the single player.  Very intriguing. 

Now I probably have to wait another 3 years for part 2.

Already?  Tell me about it.  Too short, just right, etc.  Bear in mind the Terrans are my least favorite race.

If this takes more than a year its ridiculous, all the units and gameplay for each race has essentially been made.

I have a question for people who have the game.  How do new players learn how to play the game and the different units?  The single player only covers one race and the first game came out 12 years ago.  If someone wants to use the zerg or protoss do they just have to get their asses kicked while they mess with the new units or is it full of tutorials?

Length is very good.  Yes it only took me two days, but I conveniently had the days off.  (No I didn't ask for them off  :-P).  There is plenty to do including an arcade.  There are different difficulty settings for the campaign.  I played on normal.  For the protoss fans, there are about 4 or so protoss missions to do as well.  You don't have the access to the full protoss armada, but it keeps it fresh. 

I know the Zerg campaign shouldn't be too far away.  Like you said the engine is done, the balancing is done.  Who knows when they finished the single player.  They probably moved straight on to making the next campaign.  But this is Blizzard we are talking about. 

You can play the AI to practice. As far as I know these results are not recorded.  Again, (and unlike the original) there are about 7 or 8 difficulty settings to choose from. 

[kraken613]

I am defiantly buying this now. I was on the fence but after the guest pass this is awesome.

[Morari]

I may have to go back and actually give the first one another try. I'd have to figure out where I put the discs first, though.

I'd suggest putting it in your CD drive. That way it can spin up and be read by your computer.

A setup for a snide comment about no-CD cracks and instead Morari makes a joke?  That's gotta be worth a point.

Actually, I don't think that StarCraft requires a CD to play if you're using the newest patch. Installing is obviously a different issue, but Blizzard eventually drops the CD checks on their games through later patches. I commend them for that, at least.

[Shorty McNostril]

Ok.  How do I spectate games?  I can't find an option anywhere. 

[NWR_insanolord]

I may have to go back and actually give the first one another try. I'd have to figure out where I put the discs first, though.

I'd suggest putting it in your CD drive. That way it can spin up and be read by your computer.

A setup for a snide comment about no-CD cracks and instead Morari makes a joke?  That's gotta be worth a point.

Actually, I don't think that StarCraft requires a CD to play if you're using the newest patch. Installing is obviously a different issue, but Blizzard eventually drops the CD checks on their games through later patches. I commend them for that, at least.

This is true; with the current version, if you copy the contents of the discs to the install folder, you can play the game without the disc in the drive. That doesn't help me at the moment, though, as I don't have it installed on my current computer and don't remember where I put the discs.

[Morari]

Well if nothing else, you can probably walk down to Wal-Mart and pick up the Battle Chest for $15.

[gbuell]

I've got it and I'm liking it so far. My computer BARELY runs it though, but to be honest I'm surprised it runs at all. Luckily I'm in the market for a new computer very soon. By the way, I don't give one flying **** about LAN play.

[gbuell]

My user name is Gront and my code is 620, by the way. Add me.

[NWR_insanolord]

Found my original Starcraft discs and am installing right now. Blizzard is really awesome; the game came out so long ago that it predates OS X, but, in addition to patching the game to run in OS X, they have an updated installer available on the web site so you can install it right into OS X, something that wouldn't be possible with just the discs.

[KnowsNothing]

I need some help!  But I doubt any of you will be able to

I want to learn more about this game, and while there are a lot of great SC2 guides online I am looking for something I can read when I go on an extended road trip later this summer where I won't have access to a computer.  Apparently the guide that comes with the game is NOTHING like previous Blizzard guides and contains no useful information (not even a list of hotkeys!).  The pdf is available online and it's literally 25 pages of story and EULA.

I don't really want to spend much on buying a guide, especially since the game will change so much through expansions/patches/tweaks that it will quickly become outdated.  Plus there's the simple fact that I don't want to shell out another $20 on something that should have come with the game in the first place.

Fortunately I will have my Kindle when I go on this trip, so I was wondering if there were any online guides (preferably in pdf form or something else the kindle can read) that could help me out with the basics.  I'd want stuff like race overviews, unit and building descriptions, helpful unit counters, and hotkeys.  I've been looking myself but I couldn't find anything besides the Shokz online guide which is $40...=\

[TJ Spyke]

Guides have rarely ever come with games, the only one I can think of is EarthBound on SNES. Why would you expect one with this game? A list of hotkeys should be in the instruction booklet though, it's just plain laziness if it's not.

[KnowsNothing]

Well I'm not really looking for a guide, I simply want a description of the races/buildings/units and stuff like that.  Stuff that should be (and in the past always has been) included in the manual.  The problem is the only way to get that kind of thing in hard copy is to buy a full guide...

...and no there is no list of hotkeys anywhere.  It's inexcusably lazy (or greedy...) for a developer as highly regarded as Blizzard to omit these things.  The $60 standard edition of this game comes with the disc in a cardboard sleeve, a 25 page EULA, two SC2 guest passes, and two WoW guest passes.  By weight the damn thing is 50% advertising.  How come when I bought WCIII I got a 150 page manual and a jewel case for my disc?

The more I think about this the angrier I get.  I'm already raging over SC2 and I haven't even played the multiplayer yet.

[broodwars]

Well I'm not really looking for a guide, I simply want a description of the races/buildings/units and stuff like that.  Stuff that should be (and in the past always has been) included in the manual.  The problem is the only way to get that kind of thing in hard copy is to buy a full guide...

...and no there is no list of hotkeys anywhere.  It's inexcusably lazy (or greedy...) for a developer as highly regarded as Blizzard to omit these things.  The $60 standard edition of this game comes with the disc in a cardboard sleeve, a 25 page EULA, two SC2 guest passes, and two WoW guest passes.  By weight the damn thing is 50% advertising.  How come when I bought WCIII I got a 150 page manual and a jewel case for my disc?

The more I think about this the angrier I get.  I'm already raging over SC2 and I haven't even played the multiplayer yet.

Blizzard didn't include a manual with this game, hard copy or otherwise?  That's just lazy.

[Shorty McNostril]

There is a manual.  Just not a very thorough one. 

[Morari]

Developers really should include a Unit/Build Tree for their strategy games if nothing else.