Blog #2

This project could not have come during a better time. Approximately one year ago Blizzard announced their plans for the next installment in the Starcraft Franchise. I have been waiting so long for the release. At least I don’t have to wait 12 years like the last one that Blizzard released. However within these years Blizzard has done an awesome job perfecting every aspect. Even the trailers are so well done.

http://vimeo.com/59326597

If Blizzard ever decides to stop making games they can always make animated action movies. Being that the game is not going to be released until 3/12/13 I have not been able to play. However I was able to get my hands on the beta test where I could play a couple of games. The game is greatly improved and I am so glad that Blizzard is making the right steps.

In preparation for the release myself and thousands of other players have been searching the internet looking for any insider information about the gameplay. However,  It isn't hard to find it. As I have said in the previous blog Starcraft is a community of players. One of my personal favorite sites to visit is twitch.tv. On this website players can start streams and allow for others to watch live. This is particularly advantageous for professional players to stream and gain a fan base while practicing. This website is great for allowing players to share ideas within the community and even for other games too even though they aren’t as cool as Starcraft. Many of the top beta testers stream live games on twitch. I actually do not play the game that frequently. I spend most of time on sites like twitch, youtube, and various forums immersing myself in the game. Reading forums and watching videos help me gain a new understanding of the game and learn new tactics. The most prolific and popular professional Starcraft analyst is called Day9. He has been apart of the gaming community since its origin. He has over 300,000 subscribers and over 74 million views on his main channel on youtube.

My goal for this week was to establish a baseline of my skills and knowledge. When I wasn't playing lacrosse or staying up reading Les Mis I was finding time to play. During a competitive match both players start out with the same basic means to form an empire. Each player starts out with a main control center for operations and six harvesters. The harvesters must then be sent to collect resources and return them to the control station. Both players are competing for supremacy. The end goal is to eventually kill your opponent by destroying his structures with your warriors. Once you have established a steady economy, you can then start to construct structures capable of building warriors. Different warriors require different amounts and kinds of resources and can only be produced from certain structures. Each different type of warrior has a certain application and use. It is up to the player or commander to use each warrior properly and kill your opponent. Amongst the three races to choose from there are 43 different types of warriors and 48 different structures. In order to master the game of Starcraft a player must first gain the knowledge of when and how each unit works. This can only be achieved by playing the game more frequently.

Starcraft is a very complex game and in this video a commentator by the name of Husky does a nice job explaining the basics of the game through the use of a special program

.

All in all I am absolutely in love with this game. I have spent a large amount of time playing and I am so glad to see that as time progresses it is getting more and more popularity on a global scale.