Clanless Fun

IncGamers interviewed lead producer Chris Sigaty about Starcraft II during the announcement weekend.

IncGamers: RTS games were the games that made Blizzard into a major gaming company, but now it’s been a while. Warcraft III was 2003. What took Blizzard so long to get back?

Sigaty: [Amused] Well, there was a little something that came along called World of Warcraft. We made the decision to make Starcraft II right after the ship of the Frozen Throne. But we couldn’t start in true earnest because of the impact of World of Warcraft. It was so huge, and so foreign to us at the time. RTS and action RPG games (like Diablo) were our bread-and-butter.

We made the decision to do it, and there were always a few people working on elements of it, but we couldn’t collectively attack it, because our artists would be pulled off to help work on this or that [for World of Warcraft].

IncGamers: There was a big gaming website that stated – definitively – that this big announcement would, in fact, be a Starcraft MMO…

Sigaty: [Laughing out loud] Yeah, I read that.

IncGamers: So why, at the last minute, did you switch things up and go with Starcraft II instead?

Sigaty: [Still laughing] Well, here’s the deal. Last Monday, we decided that because they said that, we wanted to screw them over and go with Starcraft II.

Read the interview here

A Q&A article by MSNBC asking Blizzards Rob Pardo (Vice President - Game design) about topics such as development processes, team motivation, courting casual players and expectations from StarCraft 2.

Q: How’d you manage to keep it secret for so long?

A: We keep games under code names and we teach developers to refer to games by their code name. And we’re just really careful about talking about the game internally. We don’t bring external folks through unannounced product areas. But I think even I’m surprised that we were able to keep it under wraps all the way to the end.

Q: The real-time strategy field is crowded right now with quality titles like “Supreme Commander,” “Company of Heroes,” and “Dawn of War.” How will “StarCraft 2” distinguish itself?

A: We’ve definitely never been shy to go into a crowded field, especially a genre that historically we’ve been one of the kings of. “StarCraft 2” will distinguish itself really well through online play. We’re building it to be the best competitive RTS on the market. RTSs, especially the ones you mentioned, are focused on single-player only.

We really are hoping to innovate more in the single-player [game] than we have in the past — we’re just not releasing details about it yet. But our story and our world and our IP [that] we developed in “StarCraft” is superior to what we’re going to be competing against.

Read the article here

“Starcraft II continues the epic sage of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequel to the legendary original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival.

Featuring a unique single-player campaign that picks up where StarCraft: Brood War left off, StarCraft II will present a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in an edgy sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. In addition, Blizzard will again offer unparalleled online play through Battle.net, the company’s world-renowned gaming service, with several enhancements and new features to make StarCraft II the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game.”

Features:

• Fast-paced, hard-hitting, tightly balanced competitive real-time strategy gameplay that recaptures and improves on the magic of the original game
• Three completely distinct races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg
• New units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race
• Groundbreaking single-player “story-mode” campaign
• Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes
• Full multiplayer support, with new competitive features and matchmaking utilities available through Battle.net
• Full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience

One thing still troubles me a bit, the FAQ mentions the following:

Q: Will StarCraft II take advantage of DirectX 10? What other graphical goodies are included?

A: The game will be compatible with DirectX 10, and we’re still considering whether there will be exclusive DirectX 10 graphic effects, but the graphics engine will also be very scalable to ensure that a wide range of different systems will be capable of running StarCraft II. The new engine is also capable of rendering very large units, as well as large numbers of units on screen together. Havok physics have been integrated into the engine for added realism as well.

I hope scalable means use of DirectX 9.

See http://www.starcraft2.com for further info, trailers, screenies etc.

Game developer Blizzard, known from there games like the Warcraft series, Starcraft and World of Warcraft, is currenly messing with our heads.

For some time now, there is some sort of countdown on Blizzard’s website with a big question mark at the end.
At this time there is plenty of speculation going on at several gaming sites.

Personally I would love to see a new Starcraft game, this could well be my WoW killer.

/me crosses fingers