STARCRAFT2MODS: What would you say is the major appeal of your map?

OCDRUMMER: This map is appealing because it is a fun and familiar game type.  It follows the same basic game play rules of popular games such as “Mario Party” and “Uther Party (from WC3).”  Those being providing fun, fast paced, challenging, and competitive mini games.  I also try to implement in each game a “punishment/reward” system for the risk takers out there!

STARCRAFT2MODS: What changes would you like to see Blizzard make to the editor or the custom map interface portion of Battle.net?

OCDRUMMER: So far from what I have done and seen done in the editor, Blizzard has fixed a lot of the issues that existed in the WC3 editor, however there are still some restrictions and limits that have to be worked around (but those exist in every language!).  Overall, I am able to implement almost everything that is necessary for Partycraft.  As for the Battle.net end there are a few things I’m concerned with.  Most importantly being there is no clan support!!!   Another being the popularity system.  It favors smaller games, (1-4 players) that get continual re hosting due to how small the lobby is.  They are placed higher than they should be, leaving a lot of larger maps (maps supporting 8+ players) lingering around the 1000-100 games/hour range.  Everything else seems to be spot on!

STARCRAFT2MODS: What can users expect from upcoming releases of your map?

OCDRUMMER: I try to release at least 1-2 games every 1-3 days (depending on my schedule)

Everyone can expect the global leader board to return as soon as I am done programming some encryption and hash functions into it.  Also, more advanced physics and point systems will be implemented into each game.  I also plan to release about 40-60 mini games before calling the map “Finished,”  if you can even call a map “finished” these days…

STARCRAFT2MODS: What advice do you have for up and coming map makers?

OCDRUMMER: Work hard, and stay involved with the community.  The less time you spend tinkering around with the data/trigger editor, the quicker you can get your work done, and the community is always there to help.

Consider majoring in Computer Science!!! (I’ll be receiving my Bachelors in CS Spring 11′)

Test…Test… and test again!  The worst feeling is playing your own map knowing there are bugs in it that can compromise everyone’s enjoyment of it.

OCDRUMMER: Obviously PartyCraft is taking up most of your time at the moment. Are there any other projects you plan on pursuing in the future?

None are planned currently, I have a lot of game ideas that I end up turning into mini games.  But I’m sure after Partycraft has 40ish games in it I may pursue something else…

STARCRAFT2MODS: What other work have you done outside of Starcraft?

OCDRUMMER: I’m currently earning my Bachelors degree in CS and have done a lot of work and projects in the field such as interpreter/compiler work, work with parallel algorithms, OS design (process scheduling, kernel work, memory management etc.), security and encryption work, and made a Bit Torrent client.  I am very active in all parts of CS, and am planning on working towards a Masters Degree in CS, or getting a CS related job after school!

I would like to take this time to thank everyone again for your continual support!  Without all of you, the map would not be as fun or as successful as it is now!

A big thanks to OCDrummer for his time and we all look forward to see all the new minigames over the next few weeks.

This is the first of a new weekly feature we’re going to be having. The contest roundup will be your guide to all of the StarCraft related contests going on across the internet. Each week we will list the name of the contests along with the closing dates, the prizes and a short description of the contest. Good luck to everyone who enters!

Nvidia and SCLegacy’s Map Design Contest – September 5th

1st Place – EVGA GeForce GTX 460 (768 MB)
2nd Place – Zeratul vs. Kerrigan Poster and any StarCraft novel (excluding Heaven’s Devils)
3rd Place – Any StarCraft novel (excluding Heaven’s Devils)

Have you ever lost at the hands of a merciless Terran tank push, and thought to yourself “If only those back rocks weren’t so easily exploitable for the race I currently dislike! These map designers really need to get their act together!”, wringing your hands with contempt? Have you thought up a great new idea for a ladder map that could completely alter the way certain matchups are played? Then StarCraft: Legacy and Nvidia want to hear from you!

StarCraft II Custom Map Contest – September 11th

3x – Trip to BlizzCon 2010 (including airfare and accommodations) and $5,000

In our first-ever StarCraft II Custom Map Contest, we’re challenging you to craft the most fun, creative, and polished custom map that the galaxy’s ever seen.

BlizzCon 2010 Movie Contest – September 27th

Grand Prize – $5,000, one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online, and an “Oswald” award statue
1st Place – $3,000, one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online, and an “Oswald” award statue
2nd Place – $2,000, one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online, and an “Oswald” award statue
3rd Place – $1,000, one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online, and an “Oswald” award statue

Over the years, we’ve come to expect fantastic flicks from World of Warcraft filmmakers, and with the recent release of the StarCraft II editor, we’re anticipating some stunning sci-fi spectaculars at this year’s show. To enter, create an original movie (up to three minutes in length) using footage from Blizzard Entertainment games, and submit it before September 27. Winners will be announced and shown live on stage at BlizzCon. The silver screen awaits!

BlizzCon 2010 Original Song Contest – September 27th

1st Place – $2,000, one signed Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment boxed set, and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket
2nd Place – $1,000, one signed Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment boxed set, and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket
3rd Place – $500, one signed Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment boxed set, and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket

The prizes this year are out of sight, with thousands of dollars in cash prizes going to the best original songs based on the Diablo, StarCraft, or Warcraft universes. Judged by our very own Blizzard Entertainment composers, the winning songs will be announced and played live on stage at BlizzCon 2010.

BlizzCon 2010 Fan Art Contest – September 27th

1st Place – Wacom Cintiq 21UX and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online
2nd Place – NVIDIA video card, one copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5, and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket
3rd Place – One copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5 and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket

Simply submit an original work of art based on the Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo universe before September 27, and you’ll be entered in a global contest for a chance to win great prizes and have your artwork showcased at BlizzCon 2010.

Evolves Classic is a take on the popular SC1 map “Evolves.” Breakspirit has given it an overhaul and continues to support the map adding new evolutions and features.

Breakspirit was kind of enough to give us some of his time and answer a few questions about Evolves Classic and what he thinks of StarCraft II, the editor, and Battle.net so far.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What would you say is the major appeal of your map?

BREAKSPIRIT: I would say that the major appeal is that the map is very simple to understand and use, but more complicated to become very successful.  The basic skills are easy to learn, but one must learn to see and take advantage of openings for attack, as well as knowing when to retreat and build a new army.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What changes would you like to see Blizzard make to the editor or the custom map interface portion of Battle.net?

BREAKSPIRIT: I would like there to be a full IDE-type interface in which a programmer could write scripts in text and the editor would be intelligent enough to see errors and auto-complete lines of code.  Simply being able to easily find functions and whatnot would make a lot of difference.  The GUI is very helpful though for new comers.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What can users expect from upcoming releases of your map?

BREAKSPIRIT: I am constantly adjusting the balance of the map from user feedback.  If you see something that doesn’t work for you, let me know and I will fix it.  I read every single email and post people make on my forums and I try to respond to them all.  Due to this feedback, I have a number of improvements in the pipeline.  One of the most requested features is an implementation of heroes or at least super-units.  I have an idea for a solid implementation of this idea and will be play testing it soon.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What advice do you have for up and coming map makers?

BREAKSPIRIT: Extensive knowledge of programming is not necessary for success, but solid programming can make the difference between a buggy, loose-playing map and a solid, enjoyable map.  Starcraft 2 uses a simple scripting system and it is extremely easy to learn for anyone with limited programming knowledge.  So, if you’ve got a good idea, just dive right in and play with all the buttons and dials and whatnot.  You’d be surprised what you can accomplish that way.

STARCRAFT2MODS: Obviously Evolves Classic is taking up most of your time at the moment. Are there any other projects you plan on pursuing?

BREAKSPIRIT: I’ve had quite a few people contact me with ideas for maps.  Some of them have been pretty decent ideas, and I may be getting serious about those soon.  Anything I work on will be posted at http://www.breakspirit.com and discussed on my forums at http://www.breakspirit.com/forum

As I said, I read everything people send me.  So, if you have any questions or comments about my maps, let me know either on my forums or send me a direct message at http://www.breakspirit.com/contact

Thanks a lot for your interest in my work!

Thanks again to breakspirit for taking the time to talk to us about Evolves Classic. Make sure to check it out on Battle.net!

While height and cliff variation introduce gameplay, the textures applied to the terrain are really what set it apart in terms of look and feel. While gameplay is essential to a good map, the texturing can often be what sells it. When you see a video of a mod or map on YouTube, often times the presentation and aesthetics are what catches the eye, not the gameplay.

Texture Operations

When applying textures to the terrain, the texture brush is pretty much the only tool you’ll be using. The most basic operation is the add texture operation. All of the parameters work similarly to the way they do in Photoshop. The type parameter represents the specific texture that is to be applied (there can only be 8 textures per map). The increment parameter is essentially the opacity, controlling how much of the texture should be applied by using the brush. If the increment is set to 1, it is impossible to observe the texture being applied because the amount is minuscule. On the other hand, if the increment is set to 255, the texture will entirely replace whatever was there before. The size parameter controls how large the brush is while the speed parameter controls just how quickly the texture is applied (similar to the flow parameter in Photoshop) and the shape obviously controls the shape of the brush.

The style of the brush is where things gets more complicated. The four styles are airbrush, paintbrush, noise, and fractal. The paintbrush is the most simplistic style, laying down texture uniformly in the prescribed shape. The airbrush is very similar to the paintbrush only it has soft edges (the softness is controlled by the falloff which measures how quickly the brush transitions from opaque to transparent).

The noise and fractal styles add random variation to the brush when applying textures. Noise and fractals produce randomness using different formulas and have separate input parameters that contribute to the resulting brush pattern. Suffice to say, these two styles can make certain areas feel more organic and can help when trying to transition from one texture to another.

While the add texture operation adds texture to the geometry, the remove texture operation does the exact opposite. The operation has all of the same parameters as the add texture operation, only it removes the selected type from the surface. There is one small caveat though, and that is there has to be at least one texture applied to the surface (the terrain cannot be transparent). If there is a subtle texture laying on top of another and you go to remove the base texture underneath, the subtle texture will become more opaque and less transparent.

The uniform texture operations works similarly to the add texture operation, only instead of being able to continually add more texture to the surface, it keeps the level the same. This is controlled by the alpha which determines exactly how much texture to apply. The alpha ranges from  1 to 255, with 1 being almost completely transparent and 255 being entirely opaque.

One of the most powerful operations is the replace texture operation. It allows for switching from one texture to another. If there are multiple textures contributing to the appearance of the terrain, the alpha level of the texture that is being replaced is applied to the new texture that is doing the replacing.

The smudge texture operation allows the user to “drag” texture from one area and spread it around. Unlike the smudge operation in Photoshop, the textures are not smeared but maintained. This is useful for quickly spreading a texture around the surface or spreading a combination of textures

The blur textures operation is a simple but extremely powerful operation that is a must for creating transitions between areas. Essentially what happens is the operation attempts to give all of the textures in the brush area the same alpha level. The speed at which this happens is determined by the increment.It is recommended that you use the airbrush style or the noise and fractal styles as they will create a smoother transition instead of a harsh stepping created by the paintbrush.

The last operation in the list is the fill texture operation. This one is pretty straightforward in that it floods an entire cliff level with the selected texture type. In practice this is the same thing as Photoshop’s paint bucket tool.

Roads

Roads are a unique element that can be added to any map. While there is only one type of road to choose from (unless you import a custom road), you can easily vary the size by moving the road width slider. Clicking once creates the start point of a road and clicking a second time places a road between the two points. All subsequent clicks will add more road segments to the closest endpoint typically.

In terms of editing the road segments, if you bring the cursor near a road segment it will draw orange lines to a third point. When it does this, clicking will modify the road segment to move through the point. This is extremely helpful when creating bends and curves. You can also hit the spacebar to switch to selection mode. When in selection mode, green selection icons will appear on the road. You can click and drag these to move sections of the road or you can delete them to remove curves or other features. If you want to have more than one road, simply hold Ctrl when clicking and it will not attach the road segment to a preexisting one.

Swapping Textures

While maps are only limited to 8 different textures, it is possible to swap textures for different ones. For example, if you wanted to create a volcano on Agria, you would need to swap a few textures (the Agria texture set obviously doesnt have any volcanic textures like the Char and Redstone texture sets). The easiest way to do this is to first lay down a little bit of the texture you want to replace. In this example, the Agria Rock is going to be replaced by Char Dirt. In order to swap the textures go to the “Map” menu and select “Map Textures.” There should be a picture of Agria Dirt with an arrow pointing to Agria Dirt and the same for Agria Rock. This window shows all of the textures currently in use on the map.

Click on the “Modify” button to open up the data editor and scroll down the right side until you see section titled “Terrain Textures.” In the left pane search for the texture you want to overwrite the existing one and select it (Char Dirt in this case) and then select the texture it is going to replace in the right pane (Agria Rock) and click “Replace.” After this is done, close the data editor and you’ll see the map properties window with the textures currently being used. Click on the right icon for the texture to be replaced and you’ll see a list of all the available textures for the map and you’ll see that the existing texture is no longer present and that the new texture is in its place. Click on the new texture hit “ok” and then hit “ok” again in the “Map Properties” window and you’ll be presented with a warning letting you know that all undo history will be lost and that the operation cannot be undone. Click “Yes” to continue and you have successfully swapped textures.

It is also possible to swap cliff types. In the above example it would be nice to keep the Agria manmade cliffs but replace the organic cliffs with the ones from Char so the volcano can have multiple levels. To replace the cliffs, create a cliff using the cliff type to be replaced and then go to the “Map” menu and click on “Map Textures” and click on “Modify” as was done when replacing the textures. The data editor will appear and the section titled “Cliffs” will be near the top as shown in the screenshot below:

Click on the small “Add Value” icon to the right and there will be a drop down menu of all the available cliffs in the game. Select the one you want to use and hit “ok” and then close the data editor. Now click on the icon on the right for the cliffs that are going to be replaced and select the new cliffs and hit “ok” twice and you’ll be presented with the same warning message you got earlier. Click “Yes” and the cliffs will be replaced.

[View with PicLens]

Blizzard has announced that in preparation for Blizzcon, they are holding a custom map making contest. The prizes are pretty awesome in that it includes an all expense paid trip to Blizzcon where your map will be featured in a special section as well as $5000.

If you think you’ve got the skills and the imagination, fire up the StarCraft II Editor that came with your copy of the game and get started. We here at StarCraft2Mods.com certainly know how powerful the editor is and the maps that will come out of this are sure to be nothing short of amazing. Head on over to the contest page here to check out all the details.

Be sure to stay tuned to the tutorials page in the next few weeks as we have some awesome tutorials coming down the pipe that are sure to aide you in making the best map possible.

In one of the more recent patches, Blizzard added the ability to play sounds recorded by an announcer. With over 150 words, numbers, and phrases, the announcer sounds are sure to add a touch of professionalism to just about any custom map (especially PvP maps).

Adding the announcer to your maps is pretty easy and straight forward assuming you know how to use triggers. Under actions right click and select New -> New Action and the action window should appear. Choose the sound label and then the standard “Play Sound” action. After that you’ll the sound action has been added. Now you can click on Sound Link and your screen should look like the one below:

All of the sounds are listed, but the ones you’re going to be interested in are the ones that start with “ModUtilityVoice.” To the right of the sound is the speaker which is listed as “ModUtilityVoice” and to the right of that is the subtitle which displays whichever word or phrase the announcer says for that sound. A list of all the words, phrases and numbers with their corresponding number assignment is listed at the end of this tutorial.

In addition to the prerecorded phrases, it is also possible to have the announcer say any number between 0 and -999,999,999. The way to pull this off is to use the “Play Announcer Number Sound” instead of “Play Sound”. From there you can enter a number you want the announcer to say and he’ll spit it out. A sample map with the sound triggers is available for download below:

announcer_sounds.SC2map

00001 – Level
00002 – Round
00003 – Wave
00004 – Stage
00005 – Lap
00006 – Next
00007 – Previous
00008 – Final
00009 – Bonus
00010 – Ready
00011 – Go
00012 – Stop
00013 – Start
00014 – Begin
00015 – 0
00016 – 1
00017 – 2
00018 – 3
00019 – 4
00020 – 5
00021 – 6
00022 – 7
00023 – 8
00024 – 9
00025 – 10
00026 – 11
00027 – 12
00028 – 13
00029 – 14
00030 – 15
00031 – 16
00032 – 17
00033 – 18
00034 – 19
00035 – 20
00036 – 30
00037 – 40
00038 – 50
00039 – 60
00040 – 70
00041 – 80
00042 – 90
00043 – 100
00044 – 1,000
00045 – 1,000,000
00046 – A
00047 – B
00048 – C
00049 – D
00050 – E
00051 – F
00052 – G
00053 – H
00054 – I
00055 – J
00056 – K
00057 – L
00058 – M
00059 – N
00060 – O
00061 – P
00062 – Q
00063 – R
00064 – S
00065 – T
00066 – U
00067 – V
00068 – W
00069 – X
00070 – Y
00071 – Z
00072 – Success
00073 – Failure
00074 – Cleared
00075 – Finished
00076 – Reset
00077 – You
00078 – Win
00079 – Lose
00080 – Die
00081 – Victory
00082 – Defeat
00083 – Pass
00084 – Failed
00085 – Boss
00086 – Go!
00087 – Out of Bounds
00088 – Disqualified
00089 – New Record
00090 – Hero
00091 – Item
00092 – Power Up
00093 – Secret
00094 – Reward
00095 – Player
00096 – Objective
00097 – New
00098 – Received
00099 – Discovered
00100 – Found
00101 – Revived
00102 – North
00103 – South
00104 – East
00105 – West
00106 – Choose
00107 – Chosen
00108 – First Place
00109 – Second Place
00110 – Third Place
00111 – Safe
00112 – Good Job
00113 – Nice
00114 – Warning
00115 – Danger
00116 – Caution
00117 – GG
00118 – Locked
00119 – Unlocked
00120 – Activated
00121 – Deactivated
00122 – Phase
00123 – Area
00124 – Fantastic
00125 – Hardcore
00126 – Epic
00127 – Hey
00128 – Hello
00129 – Welcome
00130 – Goodbye
00131 – Red
00132 – Blue
00133 – Green
00134 – Yellow
00135 – Orange
00136 – Black
00137 – White
00138 – Gray
00139 – Brown
00140 – Teal
00141 – Pink
00142 – Light
00143 – Dark
00144 – First Blood
00145 – Double Kill
00146 – Triple Kill
00147 – Instant Kill
00148 – Headshot
00149 – Ownage
00150 – Killer
00151 – Masterful
00152 – Ganked
00153 – Humiliation
00154 – Annihilation
00155 – Fatality
00156 – Finish Him
00157 – Left
00158 – Right
00159 – Up
00160 – Down
00161 – Killed
00162 – Quit

In order to celebrate the launch of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, we will be giving away a suite of the new StarCraft II Razer Peripherals.This includes the Spectre (gaming mouse), Marauder (gaming keyboard), and the Banshee (gaming headset). For details and specs about all three, check out our preview post here.

Note: The peripherals aren’t even up for preorder yet, so if you win you won’t actually get the prize until it hits the market.

Update: In response to some concerns about picking a winner, it is done randomly using a random number generator paired with user’s unique ID’s. Also, the winner has seven days to respond via email once they have been notified of their winning. If they fail to respond, we will either reselect or extend and modify the contest, whichever seems more suitable at the time (if you signed up on the site with an email address you don’t check, you better change that).

Update 2: We’ve extended the deadline because of some complaints we’ve received about the responsiveness of our mail server. In rare instances it may take a few hours to receive the registration email. Be patient and register sooner rather than later!

Update 3: Congrats to SuperStitiouS for winning out Razer giveaway! Stay tuned later this month for an ever better giveaway

UPDATE: After finding out that our last winner’s account was tied to a nonexistent email address, we’ve decided to run the competition again with a few changes. Here are the new rules:

• Users must be registered with a valid email address.
• People wanting to participate need to post a comment in this thread (to cut down on the number of bogus entries).
• Users need to follow us on Facebook or Twitter (follow us on one or the other, we understand everyone might not have both). Follow us on Twitter here and join us on Facebook here.
• The new closing date is Sunday August 15th at 11:59 pm EST.
• There will be three winners (instead of one). The first user selected will get first choice of either the mouse, headset, or keyboard listed above. The second user selected will get the second pick, etc.

If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section. If you’ve already posted, there’s no need to do it again.

WINNERS UPDATE: Congrats to the winners and thank you to everyone who participated. Stay tuned for more contests coming in the near future as well as a lot more content.

1st Place – timewalker
2nd Place – cloudsfs
3rd Place – mrdiablo

Each week we plan to shed some light on an up and coming mod that the community has taken a liking to. This week we’ve decided to feature none other than RainGame’s Overrun!!

Overrun!! is a base defense map that pits four players against multiple waves of zerg. The goal is to protect the main communications tower at the center of the map. The game is split up into 3 tiers of increasing difficulty and complexity (only the first two tiers are playable in the current release). In addition to supporting 4 player multiplayer the mod is designed so that enemies only spawn for active players, allowing players to play by themselves if they like.

RainGame was generous enough to give us a few minutes of his time to discuss the future of Overrun!! and what he thinks of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and the editor.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What would you say is the major appeal of your map?

RAINGAME: I think the major appeal is that the map is very straightforward at the beginning and easy to understand. The player isn’t immediately bombarded with a bunch of different buttons and tech options. It starts out very simple with just basic bunker placement, but it quickly branches out and allows for many different unit compositions and builds. The options and choices the player has are arranged very logically, and I try to keep most units and strategies somewhat balanced.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What changes would you like to see Blizzard make to the editor or the custom map interface portion of Battle.net?

RAINGAME: If you asked me what I thought of the editor during the first couple weeks after it was released, I would have said that it was extremely frustrating and tiresome. But after having about 2 months of practice with it, I can now say that I really really like it. It is an incredibly powerful editor, and actually very easy to use once you learn the basics. It is more complicated than the WC3 editor, but the added freedom it gives is well worth it.

The custom map interface on the other hand, is a different story. In its current state, I would say it is a step in the right direction over the WC3 custom interface. An organized stable list of maps and joining as a party alleviates a lot of the frustrations of the old WC3 style. In WC3, Finding maps you wanted to play, and getting your friends a spot in them was a chore. New maps could appear in the first page, but they were quickly scrambled among the rest of the DotA games, unjoinable games due to the hosts bad port settings, and advertisements. The SC2 custom map interface fixes most of the problems, and overall provides a much better experience, but lacks a few key features: (1) new maps that appear at the bottom of the popularity list need some way within the interface to get publicity more easily. (2) Maps need a way to have game specific titles or notes.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What can users expect from upcoming releases of your map?

RAINGAME:

• Tightening up the balance of units and the difficulty of the waves.
• Tier 3, which will feature the most extravagant unit abilities and enemies in the game. Tier 3 is going to be the most demanding in terms of how active the player is.
• Endless mode, which will be after tier 3 and will test the endurance of players.
• More overdrives, which will heavily focus on teamwork between players.
• Cleaning up many areas of the map that were limited by the resources available in the Beta.

STARCRAFT2MODS: What advice do you have for up and coming map makers?

RAINGAME: Take it slow at first. Don’t start off with some massive project in mind. Follow a few basic tutorials online on different aspects of the editor until you feel like you know how to make the first 5 minutes of your map. Start with the bare bones and slowly add in new features, or else you will get lost in the chaos. If you have a great idea for a map, start with the most basic concept of it at first. Overrun!! started as a very basic defense game in SC1 that I made. I started to remake it for SC2 (just to learn how to use the editor) and it eventually turned into a map with many different units, abilities, and effects.

STARCRAFT2MODS: Obviously Overrun!! is taking up most of your time at the moment. Once tier 3 is complete and polished, are there any other projects you plan on pursuing?

RAINGAME: I really like SC2 and love the editor, so I do plan on working on new maps (hopefully a with a team of people). I definitely want my next map to be some sort of PvP arena based game. Slow strategic defense games are fun, but I love the crazy hectic fun PvP ones as well. I also want to get back into making flash games, sort of an old passion of mine, though I haven’t made anything presentable in flash as of yet.

StarCraft2Mods.com: Thanks again RainGame for taking time to talk to us. And for all our readers who are interested in Overrun!!, take a look at the preview video below and check out the mod on Battle.net!

[View with PicLens]

Once you’ve got the editor up and running and you’ve created a new document, its time to start creating the general layout of the map. While its very possible to jump right in and start working on scripting ai, or customizing units (modding is by no means a linear process), we highly recommend you start by mapping out the general layout of the map.

Manipulating Height

When you first open up the editor and create a new document, the terrain layer will be active and the height brush will be selected. The height brush is responsible for raising and lowering terrain. The height of the terrain does not impact gameplay like cliffs do (all of the multiplayer maps created by Blizzard do not have any terrain manipulation in order to maintain balance better).

With the terrain brush there are several different operations that can be done to manipulate the height of the terrain. The first two operations, the raise and lower operations, are pretty straightforward in their use. In the screen shot below, the area around 1 is raised and the area around 2 is lowered. Both of these were created with a brush of size 6. The noise operation introduces random variation in the height. The area around 3 was created with a brush of size 16 using the noise operation.

As with most of the brush operations in the terrain editor, the raise and lower operations have several input parameters ranging from the size and shape of the brush to the the falloff and style of the brush. These inputs work very similarly to the way they do in Photoshop and other image editing programs. In addition to the standard configuration parameters, the editor also supports tablet input. If you have a tablet the pressure sensitivity corresponds to the size and strength of the brush.

The uniform brush looks at the height at the center of the brush and adjusts the surrounding terrain to match that height. It is very helpful when trying to create plateaus and similar features as can be seen around area 1. The smooth brush does just as you think it would by smoothing out the terrain to make rolling hills out of jagged peaks. The majority of the parameters control just how quickly the brush changes the terrain. The smooth brush was used around area 2 to create a less varied terrain level.

Cliffs

Cliffs play a major role in both gameplay and aesthetics. In standard melee gameplay, units with the high ground have a distinct advantage in that they can fire down on enemies without suffering return fire. Of the four possible cliff levels, only three are playable on with the forth being used purely for aesthetic purposes (this level is the bottom most one and is often obscured by water, lava, or fog).

For almost every texture set, there are two different types of cliffs; natural and man made. The difference between the two can be seen in the screenshot below. Areas 6 and 7 show the organic cliffs in the Bel-Shir tile set while the other areas show off the manmade cliffs. Area 1 shows the top most cliff level while area 2 shows the next level and area 4 showing the default level. Areas 5 and 7 show off the lower level that is unplayable with area 5 being obscured by water.

The raise an lower cliff operations do just as you would imagine, but they can be difficult to work with sometimes especially when creating complex outlines. This is where the same level cliff operation comes to the aide. Simply place the cursor over a cliff level, click, and the area you pull your mouse over will become a cliff of that level.

Ramps are also a critical part of creating cliffs in that they allow units to move from one level to another. To place a ramp, simply use the add ramp operation. Manmade and organic ramps can bee seen in areas 3 and 6 respectively. When removing ramps it is critical to use the remove ramp operation.

IMPORTANT: If you do not use the remove ramp operation you may end up with holes in your map that are impossible to fix.

In terms of cliff aesthetics, you can cycle through the cliff faces by brushing over the cliff area with the same level cliff operation

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Its been a long time coming, but StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty has finally made it into the hands of millions of fans across the goal. The big question is, did Blizzard do the original justice?With a compelling plot, colorful characters, a multiplayer experience that trumps all others, and an editor with a gazillion assets to play with, we’re pretty sure fans will be pleased (hell, we certainly are). Over the past week we’ve flown through the single player campaign on hard and we’re happy to say it is just as epic as Blizzard promised. Over the course of nearly 30 missions, players are faced with tough choices over who they want to ally themselves. All of the main characters are extremely colorful in terms of their attitudes and dialogue and they are usually always willing to give you a piece of their mind.

As for the actual gameplay, the mechanics don’t differ much from the original (which is a good thing). The few mechanics that have been tweaked result in a much more pleasant experience that allows the player to focus more on strategy and tactics than needlessly microing certain units. The ability to queue up a unit’s actions (for example ordering a SCV to build multiple bunkers or supply depots) as well as the ability to select an almost infinite number of units (the limit is actually right around 256) streamlines the entire gaming experience.

One of the major things players will notice, is the difference between the campaign and the multiplayer. The campaign features dozens of units and a bevy of upgrades that are not found in competitive play. Most RTSs use the campaign to prep players for the multiplayer, but Blizzard departs from this practice by encouraging players to play through a series of “challenges” that will test and hone a player’s skill to better survive in the ultra competitive arena we’ve come to know as StarCraft II’s multiplayer. Playing against the AI is also encouraged before jumping into the multiplayer.

While the multiplayer component may be scary to newcomers, Blizzard has made it much more accessible by creating ladders for players of different skill levels. While this doesn’t guarantee that players will always be matched against an equally skilled opponent, it does create a goal to work towards.

As for user created content, Blizzard has outdone themselves by producing an extremely polished, user friendly editor. While the number of custom maps and mods are increasing day by day, we expect there to be a wide selection of awesome content a few weeks down the road, things that will trump anything we’ve seen with the WarCraft III editor.

We won’t try and give StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty a score (the MetaCritic rating at the time of writing is nice and high at 96), but we will say it is well worth your hard earned cash. Check out some snipets of reviews below along with their associated scores if you need more convincing. We’ll update the reviews below as they roll in.

Joystiq – 100
StarCraft 2 didn’t change the formula because it didn’t need to. This isn’t just a fresh coat of paint on StarCraft, it is StarCraft, right down to its pixelated bones. It’s proof that games don’t have to be disposable, that some games are so creative and balanced and fun that they don’t go out of style or disappear over the years. Some games, it turns out, really are timeless. Joystiq Review

Games Radar – 100
The wait was worth it. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty delivers on all fronts with unique singleplayer missions, a gripping story for the campaign and excellent multiplayer. Prepare yourself for the definitive RTS of the decade. StarCraft II is the new standard and will cast a shadow over all RTS titles that follow for quite some time. Games Radar Review

Destructoid – 95
Somehow, Blizzard has managed to make StarCraft II feel instantly familiar, while still keeping the entire game feeling fresh and new. The single-player is ridiculously fun, the multiplayer is as addictive as hell, and virtually every new mechanic Blizzard has introduced has helped to improve the game. Destructoid Review

Game Trailers – 95
If judged solely on its failure to resolve its story, Wings of Liberty could have been a disappointment. But with a production so carefully thought out, masterfully designed, and flawlessly executed, it’s impossible to come away from the game with a negative impression. Starcraft II is the sequel that we’ve been waiting for. Game Trailers Review

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