StarCraft

StarCraft is a real-time strategy computer game by Blizzard Entertainment. Introduced in 1998, it was the best-selling computer game in that year and won the Origins Award for Best Strategy Computer Game of 1998. Blizzard estimated in 2005 that 9 million copies of StarCraft and its expansion pack, StarCraft: Brood War had been sold since its release.Blizzard. 2005. Blizzard FAQ page The game has achieved an international cult-like status in the computer gaming world, especially in its online multiplayer form.Battle.net Current tournament clendar It is a rare case of a game remaining relevant and popular in its original form many years after publication.

Except for its science fiction setting, StarCraft resembles Blizzard's popular game Warcraft II. After early criticism, Blizzard steered the game development away from a "Warcraft in Space" model, eventually rewriting the entire game engine. The main storyline follows a war among three galactic species: the strong, stable human Terrans, the hive mind-sharing arthropodic Zerg, and the psychic humanoid Protoss warriors. It was initially released for the PC platform in 1998; a Macintosh version of the game was released in 1999. Starcraft was also later ported to the Nintendo 64.

StarCraft is a best-seller all over the world, especially in South Korea, where professional players and teams participate in nationally recognized tournaments. Cable-access television often broadcasts live competitions.

Basic gameplay

Main article: Gameplay of StarCraft

Starcraft's gameplay centers on the acquisition and control of two resources, minerals and Vespene gas, which are necessary to construct combat units and buildings. Minerals, which are required for all normal units, appear as blue crystalline formations protruding from the ground. They are 'harvested' or 'mined' by worker units (SCV for Terran, Drone for Zerg, Probe for Protoss). Vespene gas, which is required for advanced units and upgrades, appears as a geyser with green clouds erupting from it. A particular structure (Refinery for Terrans, Extractor for Zerg, Assimilator for Protoss) must be constructed before worker units can harvest the Vespene gas. Players can have only a limited number of units at a time, each of which has a "supply/support" rating roughly correlated with that unit's combat strength. Players must maintain enough unit-supporters (Supply Depots for Terrans, Pylons for the Protoss, and Overlords for the Zerg) to support their forces.

A Zerg base with three Hatcheries and a Lair in its center.

Players use their resources to construct buildings. Some buildings grow, train, or "warp in" units, while others upgrade the players' forces or allow more advanced units or structures. Resource management, expansion to control resource locations, and effective offensive and defensive combat tactics are key to victory. The unit types available to each species define its racial identity. Protoss marshal powerful and expensive warriors and machinery, while Zerg rely on sheer numbers and speed to overwhelm their opponents. Terrans are the versatile and flexible alternative to both races, providing a compromise between specialization and combined arms. No species has an net advantage over the others.

Development

Warcraft II, an earlier Blizzard production, had been criticized for the similarity between its two races, which had only minor differences in spells and upgrade costs. Following a concept pioneered by the Strategic Simulations game War Wind, StarCraft implemented decisive asymmetries among its races. Warcraft III, the next Blizzard RTS, continued this policy.

Though the three races in StarCraft were slightly unequal in power when the game was first released, the expansion pack and twenty two patches,StarCraft versions are numbered 1.00 through 1.14, including 1.13b through 1.13f, 1.12b, 1.11b, 1.09b and 1.08b. Information on changes introduced with each patch can be found on the Battle.net support site. Patch Information site four of which affected the gameplay, have rectified the balance to most players' satisfaction. The Brood War expansion released by Blizzard in 1998 provided several new units and a new campaign for each race, continuing the original StarCraft storyline and dramatically changing the gameplay. Brood War allowed the production of units, such as Dark Templar, which StarCraft had only made available at the beginning of single-player missions, and created exclusive unit upgrades for all three species.

Multiplayer

Two Terran fleets in a multiplayer match.

Blizzard's Internet service Battle.net granted online multiplayer gaming at no additional charge. Many fans, especially casual players, enjoy playing in groups against computer-controlled opponents in skirmish games called "comp[uter] stomp". Since experienced players generally do not find the artificial intelligence of the game challenging, fans have also created maps that are advantageous to the computer and can be extremely hard to win.

In cooperative play, several people can play on the same team, controlling the same units, or on different teams that are "allied" so they do not harm each other. Up to eight spots can be filled in a game, either by players or computers. Clans gather groups of people for competitive team play. Players usually attach a "tag" to their online name to indicate their clan allegiance, so that the name [XYZ]JohnSmith shows that JohnSmith belongs to Clan XYZ. Clan involvement ranges from casual friendship to mandatory meetings and tournaments.

In multiplayer gameplay, some players use modified or "hacked" versions of the StarCraft client to gain an unfair advantage. The infamous MapHack allows the player to see the whole map, ignoring the "fog of war". Blizzard attempts to detect and ban "hackers," and several third-party "anti-hack" programs are under constant development to prevent these hacks.

Private ladders

Most competitive, high-level gaming outside of the Korean professional scene takes place on "private" ladders such as "PGTour" (Pro Gamers Tour) or "WGTour" (World Gamers Tour). These ladders use a specific set of maps (mostly taken from Korean pro leagues like MSL and OSL), hack-preventing third-party programs, a team of administrators, and sometimes even a private server (such as the PGTour's Bnet-X) to enforce fair play.

Since end July 2006, with the release of patch 1.14, Blizzard removed the Ladder option on all the gateways, safe from the European gateway, which Ladder is now held in cooperation with "WGTour".Changes in StarCraft version 1.14, European ladder now affiliated with WGTour.See StarCraft Ladder page for additional information about the new European ladder.

Single-player storyline

The plot of the original StarCraft game revolves around the Terran civilization in the Koprulu Sector, which was founded by former prisoners exiled from Earth. The most powerful Terran faction is the Terran Confederacy. It is opposed by other factions, such as the terrorist organization "Sons of Korhal". The arrival of the Zerg, led by the Overmind and its Cerebrates, greatly complicates matters for the Terrans. The Zerg Swarm is itself closely followed by a Protoss fleet, led by High Templar Executor Tassadar, which burns all worlds the Zerg infest.

The player assumes the role of a colonial magistrate of the Terran Confederacy, and soon meets Jim Raynor, a marshal of Mar Sara. After being arrested by the Confederacy for destroying Confederate property (even though it was infested by the Zerg), the player joins the Sons of Korhal, who free Raynor from prison. Raynor also joins the Sons and frequently goes on missions. After the Protoss destroy the Zerg-infested Confederate colony on Chau Sara, the leader of the Sons, Arcturus Mengsk, uses psi-emitters to lure the Zerg to Confederate installations and further his own goals. Mengsk acquires the services of General Edmund Duke, a Confederate general, and sacrifices his right-hand woman, the psychic Sarah Kerrigan, to the Zerg after she objects to his morals and tactics. Raynor flees from Mengsk with a small number of soldiers, accompanied by the player. After the Confederacy falls, Mengsk reorganizes the Terran worlds under his control into the Terran Dominion, crowning himself Emperor.

In the second episode, the player assumes the role of a Zerg Cerebrate and is entrusted to the care of the Chrysalis which contains Kerrigan, who is being infested and prepared for rebirth into the Swarm. She soon awakes, and adds great power to the Zerg, effortlessly destroying her enemies. Meanwhile, Tassadar discovers that the Zerg Cerebrates can be killed permanently (while otherwise they are near-immediately reincarnated by the Overmind) by the Dark Templar. He allies with them, and while Tassadar distracts Kerrigan, the Dark Templar Zeratul assassinates the Cerebrate Zasz, which also disrupts the Overmind's control over the Garm Brood, but unfortunately making Zeratul and the Overmind's minds as one for a brief second, allowing the Overmind to know the location of the Protoss homeworld of Aiur, which the Zerg soon invade, despite heavy Protoss resistance, and allowing the Overmind to embed itself into the crust of the planet.

The player then takes the role of the Protoss fleet Executor, who at first serves the Conclave to fight the Zerg on Aiur, but then rebels and joins Tassadar, resulting in a Protoss civil war with Tassadar, Tassadar's unlikely Templar allies, and the dark Templar, against the Conclave and the Khala. However Tassadar and the Dark Templar prove themselves to the Conclave by having Zeratul slay two Zerg Cerebrates by the Conclave's witness. The Conclave then ally with Tassadar and the Dark Templar, along with the Terrans led by Jim Raynor, who all launch an offensive against the Overmind, destroying its nearly impervious shell, before Tassadar channels many Dark Templar energies into the hull of his ship, the Gantrithor, before crashing it into the vulnerable form of the Overmind, killing it and sacrifing himself in the process.

See also: StarCraft: Brood War

Influences

StarCraft owes its basic concept to its predecessor Warcraft II, but draws heavily from characters and scenarios taken from popular science fiction books and movies and the Warhammer 40,000 table-top gaming series from Games Workshop. Elements of the Terran race in StarCraft are reminiscent of James Cameron's film Aliens. Terran Marines were clearly inspired by Aliens USCM Marines; both the Terran Marine and the Terran Dropship units in StarCraft directly quote characters from the movie. Terran buildings closely resemble the installations of the Hadley's Hope colony in Aliens, which is especially obvious in StarCraft cutscenes such as The Amerigo. The Terran Marines and Firebats are nearly identical in appearance to Warhammer 40,000's Space Marines. The Gauss Rifle used by the Terran Marines has an LED digital ammo display much like the M41A pulse rifle from Aliens. The Zerg and their infestation process resemble Aliens' Xenomorphs and Warhammer 40 000's Tyranids. The Protoss technology, and story concept is very similar to those of the Eldar in Warhammer 40,000, while seeming somewhat cosmetically similar to the Tau. There are also noticeable similarities between the "brain bug" of Starship Troopers, the norn queen and hivemind of the Tyranids and the Zerg Overmind.

Main cast

* Sarah Kerrigan voiced by Glynnis Talken.
* Tassadar voiced by Michael Gough.
* Jim Raynor voiced by Robert Clotworthy.
* Aldaris voiced by Paul Eiding.
* Zeratul voiced by James Harper.

Culture

Popularity in South Korea

As of 2006, StarCraft remains one of the most popular online games in the world. The number of players online at any given time varies from 50,000 to over 100,000.

In the early 2000s, the game exploded in popularity among South Korean online gamers, establishing a successful professional scene.http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_us&refer=asia&sid=a2JvzciDnpB4 Samsung, SK Telecom, Shinhan Sponsor South Korean Alien Killers. Retrieved on July 15, 2006. Most active StarCraft players now come from South Korea, where professional gamers, including Nada, SlayerS_`BoxeR`, wG)Lefty, MrMan9879, Spenni[Life], Reach, YellOw, and Nal_rA, are celebrities. Their games are broadcast over television channels such as MBC Game and Ongamenet. A few top players have gained wealth as professional players; Lim Yo-Hwan, known in-game as SlayerS_`BoxeR`, signed a one-year contract in 2004 for approximately $200,000 US. Professional players can earn a living from television contracts, sponsorships, and tournament prizes. However, lower-echelon pro players subsist on smaller wages. Professional gamers dedicate nearly all their waking hours to playing StarCraft to prepare for the highly competitive leagues.

Operation CWAL (Can't Wait Any Longer) has earned a measure of notoriety in StarCraft culture. More than just a simple cheat to decrease unit build time, Operation CWAL formed in 1997 as a writers' group in the StarCraft Suggestions Forum to try to "liberate" an early, unauthorized final copy of StarCraft, which appeared obviously completed despite numerous delays on the part of Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard Entertainment went so far as to give special thanks to this group in the StarCraft manual and use their name as a cheat code.

The immense influence that video games including Starcraft have on Korean youths has raised concerns. Lee Seung Seop (known as b0f1000 in Starcraft), a 28-year-old from Daegu, South Korea on 10 August 2005, died from exhaustion after playing a 49-hour marathon session of StarCraft in an Internet cafe, sparking a new discussion about video game addiction.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1729573,00.html Korean drops dead after 50-hour gaming marathon, retrieved on July 15, 2006.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4137782.stm South Korean dies after games session, retrieved on July 15, 2006.http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3703646 South Korean man dies during 49-hour computer game marathon, retrieved on July 15, 2006.

Novels and eBooks

StarCraft even became an inspiration for the creation of official novels and eBooks. Four novels were officially authorized by Blizzard Entertainment, and two more will follow:
* StarCraft: Uprising (2000) ISBN B00005AS12 (eBook only)
* StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade (2001) ISBN 0671041487
* StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga (2001) ISBN 0671041495
* StarCraft: Speed of Darkness (2002) ISBN 0671041509
* StarCraft: Queen of Blades ISBN 0743471334
* StarCraft Ghost: Nova (to be released December 2006) ISBN 0743471342

Blizzard Entertainment authorized two short stories in Amazing Stories magazine, entitled StarCraft: Hybrid and StarCraft: Revelations. Blizzard also licensed Wizards of the Coast to publish StarCraft Adventures, a supplement for the role-playing game Alternity set in the StarCraft universe.

Numerous fan fiction works take place in the StarCraft'' universe.

Custom scenarios

StarEdit

The game is packaged with the StarCraft Campaign Editor (also known as StarEdit). The editor's trigger system allows users to change maps radically and create custom map scenarios. Users have made thousands of custom scenarios available. The StarCraft community has constructed new editors and functionalities that grant uses even more power to modify the game.

Melee Maps

Scenarios are generally either melee or Use Map Settings (UMS) games. Melee games start all players at a random location with only their main base building (command center, hatchery, or nexus) and four mining units. This is the most popular type of game, used in tournaments and ladder games. Most melee games are played on "money" maps, maps with extremely large amounts of immediately available resources. Initial mineral and gas deposits are often set to cap of 50,000 or more units to eliminate the need for expansion sites. "Money maps" have been criticized for failing to challenge players to develop key skills such as order-building and expansion-taking, favoring weaker players. Defenders of money maps claim that the game still requires strategy and skill.

Some optimized money maps, such as "StarCraft Dream," locate bases randomly but begin with 30 to 40 minerals directly next to the base. (In the "Fastest Possible Map Ever," each base comes with 50,000 minerals.) Similarly, a row of 4-8 geysers of Vespene gas lines either side of the primary base. These modifications greatly decrease the time needed to mine resources, allowing faster progress up the technology tree and unit production. It also changes the game dynamic; if the default base is destroyed, it cannot be rebuilt in the same place.

In Zero Clutter (ZC, 0clut) maps, resources are modified as above, but players' default bases are organized into two groups of 2-4 bases in the north and south. These groups are usually separated by a barrier of either mountainous terrain or water with a land bridge in the middle for ground units to cross. Players tell each other their locations as the game starts and ally themselves to adjacent players. Players often agree not to attack before a set time limit or before "map max" (MM) (1650 units), at which the game cannot place any more units into play. There no option remains but to attack. Games without any set time to attack are known as "rush games".

Games using ladder or tournament maps are also popular. They are usually 1v1 or 2v2 games on Lost Temple (LT) or Luna.

Use Map Settings

UMS games are less structured and often incorporate liberal use of specialized triggers and setups to change gameplay. UMS scenarios have been created whose rules, objectives, and units differ entirely from those of "regular" Melee games.

Some custom scenarios are named after television shows (Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, Family Guy, The Simpsons), historical events (Napoleonic Wars, World War I, World War II, the American Civil War), current events (Bomb Iraq, World Trade Center Defense, Tsunami Run!), scenes from books and movies (Troy, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, The Thing, Dawn of the Dead, Scary Movie, Starship Troopers), or even other games (Diablo II, The Sims, Resident Evil, Warcraft, Gundam Wing Assault on Earth, The Thing, Risk, Russian Roulette.)

Scenarios based on 'genres' have surfaced, including Defense maps, StarCraft Diplomacy, RPG's, and Maddness. Each has its own unique set of characteristics, varying in popularity.

Custom maps are not only played online. Single-player "campaigns," long scenarios played out over several maps that have been edited together with StarEdit, have gained prominence. Following the lead of the revolutionary Antioch Chronicles', many campaigns include modifications that add new "heroes." Mapmakers create new art files, creating completely new units and characters, which StarEdit can't do. Popular campaigns include Campaign Creations' The Fenix, Legacy of the Confederation, Life of a Marine, and StarCraft.org's official campaigns, The Shifters and Fields of Ash.

More powerful, third-party editors, including the StarCraft X-tra Editor, StarForge, and SCMDraft, allow users to "stack" multiple mineral fields and buildings on top of each other, change player colors, use hidden AI scripts, protect maps from common theft, run size-less sounds directly from the StarCraft disc, change the color of text, and compress their map. In more advanced areas, users can place raw sprites, sprite-units and disabled units.

Some custom maps and campaigns, including StarCraft: Insurrection and StarCraft: Retribution, were released commercially via third parties. These add-ons were criticized for poor mission designs and did not sell well.

Replays, audio commentaries, and VODs

Replay-Screenshot Zerg vs. Terran StarCraft: Brood War

Beginning with version 1.08, StarCraft enables the player to record a game and save it as a replay, which can then be viewed with any other copy of StarCraft, displaying the entire course of gameplay. Websites host replays of players with different skill levels. One of the most useful features of replays is the ability for people to snoop in on tactics of good players, so pro-level replays are rarely released, to protect team secrecy and to comply with the policies of pro leagues. Fans have developed applications such as BWChart and Lasgo's Observer PackTeam Liquid. 2003. Lasgo's Observer Pack to analyze replays in detail and compute statistics such as the number of actions per minute (APM).

Some replays are accompanied by an audio commentary recorded by the player or an experienced observer. New players can learn pointers and strategies, or simply enjoy the commentary as entertainment. Commentary is made in real time during actual gameplay or a later viewing of the recorded game. During replays, the commentary must be kept in sync with the game. When the audio files are produced using third-party recording and playback tools, the viewer must manually synchronize the audio with the replay. Alternatively, auxiliary applications such as RWA can ensure synchronization. The freeware RWAtoolsBWChart.com. 2003. RWAtools create replay files that contain an Ogg audio stream.

VODs (from "Video On Demand") are videos showing a commentator or player during a pro-level game. They are available from a variety of websites, sometimes illegally, ripped from Korean television or Internet streams. They usually come in the ASF video file format for Windows Media Player or in the WMV format. Because they are compressed with an MPEG-4 codec into a small file, their video quality is poorer than replays. VODs are usually accompanied by enthusiastic announcing from the Korean commentators and the occasional crowd shot.

StarCraft 64

StarCraft 64 box.

On June 16, 1998, StarCraft 64 was released for the Nintendo 64. The game featured all of the maps from the original game and the Brood War expansion, as well as some exclusive missions, such as two different tutorials and StarCraft Resurrection IV.http://www.gamespot.com/n64/strategy/starcraft64/review.html SC64 review, retrieved on July 15, 2006.

The cursor movement was controlled by the analog stick on the center of the controller, but the game was not as popular as the PC version, perhaps because of a greater difficulty in controlling the cursor compared to the use of a mouse, and the lack of online multiplayer games. (Split-screen games were available, however.) Also, both speech during mission briefings and the map editor were absent.

Sequel

Blizzard has indicated interest in a sequel. Blizzard officials have posted on the Battle.net forums, asking for suggestions for such a game. Blizzard has no other projects following World of Warcraft's completion. An Easter egg unlocked after completing Warcraft III on the most difficult setting hints at a sequel, as does a leak about a 2007 release from HanbitSoft, the Korean publisher of StarCraft. Job advertisements on Blizzard.com looking for a "Game Balance Designer" with experience in StarCraft and Warcraft 3http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/designer-game-balance.shtml, retrieved on July 15, 2006. suggest that Blizzard is working on another RTS, most likely StarCraft II, although a fourth Warcraft game or a new franchise remain possibilities. Development of a sequel has not yet been officially announced.

Blizzard had been working on a first-person shooter/third-person shooter, StarCraft: Ghost to be released in 2006. It was originally slated for release in late 2003 on console systems only, but the company that was given the license was scrapped. Although some players welcomed the concept, the change in genre from real-time strategy to third-person shooter and the absence of a PC version aroused protests among the StarCraft faithful. In March of 2006, StarCraft: Ghost development was put on hold indefinitely,http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/starcraft-ghost/698419p1.html, Blizzard Postpones StarCraft: Ghost Indefinitely, retrieved July 15, 2006. leaving the future of the franchise unknown. Blizzard is, however, making a StarCraft board Game StarCraft the Board Game, as confirmed by Kevin Wilson on Boardgamegeek.com.http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/113938 Playtest in Minneapolis at the Source on 6/16/06, retrieved July 15, 2006.

Fans await the creation of StarCraft II. Over 13,000 players have signed an online petition, created by Kenny Marshall and hosted at www.petitiononline.com.http://www.petitiononline.com/strcrft2/petition.html, retrieved on July 30, 2006. A group of dedicated fans, operating under the name Snowflake Entertainment,http://www.wc3campaigns.net/revolution/ retrieved on July 15, 2006. are creating a mod to make StarCraft using the WarCraft 3 game engine, titled Project Revolution. Although not a sequel, Project Revolution will transfer the game from two to three dimensions. Snowflake Entertainment's project is not associated with Blizzard.http://www.blizzplanet.com/content/560/ Project Revolution Q&A session, retrieved on July 15, 2006.

Awards

The PC version of the game was released with three different boxes. The Protoss box was common, with a T rating. The Zerg and Terran boxes were rare and both stamped with M ratings.

* Walk of Game inductee. StarCraft received a star on the floor of the Metreon in San Francisco in early 2006.
* #7, Top 100 Games of All Time: 2005 Edition - IGN.IGN. 2005. IGNs top 100 Games of All Time This list included console games as well as PC games, and StarCraft placed #2 among PC games, behind Sid Meier's Civilization II.
* #7, Top 100 Games of All Time: 2003 Edition - IGN.IGN. 2003. IGNs top 100 Games of All Time
* "The Standard by Which All Real-Time Strategy Games Are Judged", GameSpot Presents: The Greatest Games of All Time
* #9, Top 100 Games of All Time - Entertainment Weekly/G4.tv
* Using information gathered from their "own users.ign.com collection tracker," IGN compiled a list of the Top 10 Most Popular Games. StarCraft and Brood War earned enough votes independently of one another to place first and sixth, respectively. The list is current as of January 17, and is based on a "combination of total occurrences and rating value of games" on their user's collection lists.
* #18, The Ten Best Games Ever as voted by GameFAQs readers.GameFAQs.10-Year Anniversary Contest - The 10 Best Games Ever It was the highest rated PC game on the list.
* Number-one selling PC Game of 1998 - PC Data
* Other awards, including numerous Game of the Year awards, are listed on Blizzard Entertainment's official Awards Page.Blizzard. 2005. Blizzard Awards Page

Notes

References

* Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.
*Metzen, Chris and Samuel Moore. "StarCraft: Revelations." Amazing Stories no. 596 (Spring 1999): 20â€"27.
*Neilson, Micky. "StarCraft: Hybrid." Amazing Stories no. 601 (Spring 2000): 70â€"75.

External links

* StarCraft wiki

Official sites
* StarCraft homepage at Blizzard Entertainment
* Battle.net StarCraft Compendium
* List of StarCraft Awards (not full)

Game novel site
* StarCraft novels

Game archive and review sites
* Adrenaline Vault review, 9^th April 1998
* GameSpot's review, 15^th April 1998

General
* StarCraft.org (Authorized Map Database, News, Fan-Fiction, Fan-Art, Strategies, Customs, Downloads)
* StarCraft Legacy (Authorized Blizzard Fan Site Database, News, Content, Popular Forum)
* Staredit Network, Map Creation/Modding website
* Campaign Creations, Campaign/Map/Mod creation site.

Community sites
* GosuGamers is one of the most famous news portal about StarCraft.
* TeamLiquid forums are well-known for their quality.
* Blizzplanet Starcraft pocketbook interviews.

Third-party applications
* StealthBot is a application designed to chat in private channels on Battle.net.
* BWChart is an application displaying many statistics about replays.
* ReXplorer is a shell extension for Windows' Explorer to enhance maps and replays browsing.
* BWLauncher enhances StarCraft in-game experience.

Starcraft Chronicles CGI Animated Film - fan-made project
* Starcraft Chronicles Homepage
* Starcraft Chronicles team artwork