Before we begin, it is important to note that the music in StarCraft II is very much not finished. There is only one piece of music for the Protoss, while the Terran and Zerg have 5-6. So naturally, this will change over time.
It is also important to note my general feelings on the music in StarCraft I. To me, it was hit and miss. Most of the Terran music was good, the Protoss music had occasional insight, but the Zerg music was just blah. Except for the Radio Free Zerg song.
As for the StarCraft II music... it is pretty much the same style of music. Indeed, it may be too much of the same, but I'll get to that a bit later.
The SC2 menu piece is very good. It has echoes of the original main menu, but with some of its own character. Although, I have to wonder: why a 7 minute piece for a menu, when the menu for Battle.Net has a different theme? Anyway, the main menu piece seems very much like a StarCraft II Overture. It has echoes of Terran, Zerg, and Protoss themes. The Zerg theme you may have heard in the Zerg reveal video, though here it is done much better. The piece flows into the different movements reasonably well.
The Battle.Net menu music is unintrusive, but not something you're going to actually want to hear.
The in-game music is probably the least changed. Oh, it's recorded with better instruments and sound quality, and they are different compositions. But the style is still very clearly that of StarCraft I.
I would say that the most improved is the Zerg. In SC1, the Zerg music was mostly just noise, devoid of anything resembling a melody or real music. In SC2, they still have some of that quality to it. It uses many of the instrumental sounds of the SC1 Zerg, so it still hearkens back to its roots. Even so, it manages to actually have a point in SC2; the music sounds like something that grows and festers.
The Terran music is probably the least changed, thematically and instrumentally. Indeed, it seems to have somehow become more guitar-y than it was. This leads to certain riffs that sound like they came out of Firefly or something. There are other riffs that are so close to those in SC1 that you'll automatically assume that they will continue directly into one of the Terran pieces. This is not the case.
As previously mentioned, there is only one Protoss piece currently, so it is harder to evaluate it. Even so, it seems similar to the other two: no thematic differences and retaining the same instruments.
There is something missing from these pieces. And that is a definitive statement, a unique signature. See, there is nothing about these pieces that is unique outside from their identity with the original StarCraft music. And that is a problem.
Let me explain by analogy. Take the main-line Mario series of platforming games. Each of them has different music. And while the most iconic is the main level music from Super Mario Bros. 1, there is a clear understanding of what "Mario music" is. The main level music from every Mario game has it, from SMB3's more playful, almost toylike theme to Super Mario 64's energetic directive to seek and find. Each theme has its own identity, but they all have stylistic similarities to one another. Each theme pays homage to what came before, but they also have their own distinctive qualities.
There is none of that here. StarCraft II's battle music has no identity of its own; it is simply a restating of what StarCraft I did. It doesn't even constitute a remix, as that would require putting a different spin on the pieces. SC2's music may have different melodies, but the core of the music is nothing more than StarCraft 1. It has no voice of its own, no soul of its own; it is borrowing the soul of another game.
What the music is saying is that it is music for "StarCraft II", not "StarCraft II."
Showing posts with label Impressions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Impressions. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Rank Fear
StarCraft II's matchmaking scheme is excellent. And the league/division system has an almost MMO quality to it. Progressing up in rank within your division feels like gaining XP.
There is a downside to this: Rank Fear.
See, unlike an MMO (or at least, WoW), you can lose rank. Each game is therefore zero sum of sorts: to gain rank, I must defeat my enemy. And if I fail, I lose rank.
That's all well and good. But improving at playing the game requires experimentation. And experimentation means that you're going to lose.
If you're trying to put together a new build, it's going to fail. A lot. If you're trying to find a good timing to expand, you're going to get caught and killed. A lot.
Back in the days of Battle.Net 1.0, this didn't mean much. Oh, you got a loss on your record, but what did that matter? But in 2.0, with your division rank on the line, are you really going to expand into a rush just so that you can have practice trying to fend it off?
But what happens if you don't? Then your opponent dictates your play. If you don't know how to fast-expand against an early-aggression build, because you've always scouted it and took the safe option, then your skills are going to be behind. You're going to play it safe.
And if there's one thing StarCraft is not about, it's playing it safe.
I have a tendency to be a timid player. This is just my natural inclination; whenever things are going wrong, I tend to fall apart and lose. To counter this, I force myself to play aggressively. I try to force myself to attack, even sometimes when it's not safe or even prudent to. In order to make myself expand faster, I simply say at the start of a match that I'm fast-expanding this game. And I stick to it.
Yes, that means that if I scout early Barracks+Reactor pressure that I'm pretty much hosed. But what if I could fend it off? I'm not that good at any skilled micro (focus-fire is about as good as I get), but what if I was good enough to hold my expansion against early pressure? And what if I could learn to do it consistently? I'd be a better player for it.
Remember: it's just one match. One game. So what if your rank goes down for awhile? In a week, you'll have that rank back plus some, once you've learned how to fast-expand into anything. Alternatively, you may have learned that you can't fast-expand into anything. This is also a valuable lesson; it teaches you to focus on something else where your play is deficient.
My point is this. Experiment. Try things. Try things a lot. Don't be so afraid of losing one match that you're unwilling to improve and expand the tools in your répertoire. Because that's the only way you're going to be good at StarCraft II. Fear is the path to rank stasis.
StarCraft II is not an MMO. Your character doesn't get better simply by winning, because there is no character. There are no stats, no loot. There is only you and your skills. Leveling yourself up requires taking risks, and taking risks means losing.
Do not let your fear of losing now stop you from improving your game.
There is a downside to this: Rank Fear.
See, unlike an MMO (or at least, WoW), you can lose rank. Each game is therefore zero sum of sorts: to gain rank, I must defeat my enemy. And if I fail, I lose rank.
That's all well and good. But improving at playing the game requires experimentation. And experimentation means that you're going to lose.
If you're trying to put together a new build, it's going to fail. A lot. If you're trying to find a good timing to expand, you're going to get caught and killed. A lot.
Back in the days of Battle.Net 1.0, this didn't mean much. Oh, you got a loss on your record, but what did that matter? But in 2.0, with your division rank on the line, are you really going to expand into a rush just so that you can have practice trying to fend it off?
But what happens if you don't? Then your opponent dictates your play. If you don't know how to fast-expand against an early-aggression build, because you've always scouted it and took the safe option, then your skills are going to be behind. You're going to play it safe.
And if there's one thing StarCraft is not about, it's playing it safe.
I have a tendency to be a timid player. This is just my natural inclination; whenever things are going wrong, I tend to fall apart and lose. To counter this, I force myself to play aggressively. I try to force myself to attack, even sometimes when it's not safe or even prudent to. In order to make myself expand faster, I simply say at the start of a match that I'm fast-expanding this game. And I stick to it.
Yes, that means that if I scout early Barracks+Reactor pressure that I'm pretty much hosed. But what if I could fend it off? I'm not that good at any skilled micro (focus-fire is about as good as I get), but what if I was good enough to hold my expansion against early pressure? And what if I could learn to do it consistently? I'd be a better player for it.
Remember: it's just one match. One game. So what if your rank goes down for awhile? In a week, you'll have that rank back plus some, once you've learned how to fast-expand into anything. Alternatively, you may have learned that you can't fast-expand into anything. This is also a valuable lesson; it teaches you to focus on something else where your play is deficient.
My point is this. Experiment. Try things. Try things a lot. Don't be so afraid of losing one match that you're unwilling to improve and expand the tools in your répertoire. Because that's the only way you're going to be good at StarCraft II. Fear is the path to rank stasis.
StarCraft II is not an MMO. Your character doesn't get better simply by winning, because there is no character. There are no stats, no loot. There is only you and your skills. Leveling yourself up requires taking risks, and taking risks means losing.
Do not let your fear of losing now stop you from improving your game.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
First Impressions: Zerg
Welcome to the StarCraft II Beta, build version 0.2.0.13891.
I played 10 games as Zerg. I'll talk more about the specifics a bit later, but here are my impressions of the game from a Zerg perspective.
It works.
The overall hectic feel that SC1 had is retained in this game. I can't guarantee that everything will feel the same for someone with 300+APM and the multitasking skills to match. But for me, there was always something better that I could do.
The Zerg themselves don't feel finished. At all. There are a number of just flat-out odd things.
Roaches at Tier 1, but without their trademark regen. Indeed, they don't get their regen until Hive tech. What they are at Tier 1 is a Zerg Zealot: 16 damage and 145 Hp, for 75/25/1 cost. I'm not sure what burrowed movement is really supposed to do to these guys, but it isn't really helping. To make them useful at Tier 2, you have to research 2 upgrades, as well as do a lot of burrow micro. That just isn't worthwhile.
Also, Roach regen only works (unless it's the Tier 3 upgrade) when the Roach is burrowed. But this upgrade doesn't give Roaches burrow; that has to be researched separately, thus driving up the cost of Tier 2 Roaches.
Overseers also are very odd. They don't give extra control when made. All they are is detectors that can create Changelings. The Zerg only have 3 spellcasters to begin with: Queens who are stuck in your base casting Spawn Larva, Infestors, and Overseers. And now Overseers are practically useless.
Corruptors have an ability that shuts down any building for 30 seconds. This feels very... strange. It's an AtA unit, but unlike the Phoenix, it's spell has nothing to do with its AtA powers. The Phoenix's Graviton Beam allows other Phoenixes to shoot at ground targets. The Corruptor's corruption ability doesn't. It's simply an alternate reason to get Corruptors. I never got the chance to abuse this ability, but I will in the future.
Ultralisks were nerfed hard. They're basically 600 Hp versions of their SC1 incarnation. No linear AoE attack, no double attack, and no research upgrade for either. Their research is exactly their SC1 research: +2 armor and extra speed. On the plus side they can still burrow and they still have their 60-point anti-building attack.
Having two gas Geysers in your base (that provide half the total gas of one in SC1, so you don't get more gas) is actually quite a boon, particularly for the Zerg. Roaches and Banelings are Tier 1 units. Being able to throw down an Extractor at 25 less minerals than SC1, and only put 2 Drones on it to give you just enough gas to power out a few supporting Banelings or Roaches to compliment your Zergling army. It's not really much of a difference, but you can control your gas income a bit better. The double-geyser also makes gas more valuable: you have to pay almost twice as much to get the same income rate as SC1, so teching has more of a cost to it.
On to the games.
ZvZ: I can't say what this match will ultimately be like, as my only ZvZ match was against someone even less skilled than me. Mutalisks were annoying due to the only GtA being Hydralisks, who are 100/50 and quite strong. I suspect that any ZvZ that survives past the initial Roach spam will likely become a war for air supremacy. Tier 3 tech is utterly useless against someone massing Tier 2: I eventually won with mass Hydra, slaughtering 10+ Ultralisks.
ZvT: I have a pretty solid opening build for this game. I feel it's pretty safe, though I won't know until I play more than 3 games of it.
It's 10-Overlord-Pool. While the pool is making, Drone to 13 and save Larva. At the moment the Pool spawns, you should have ~300 minerals. Enough for instantly 3 Zerglings and a Queen, taking up up to the 18 unit cap.
With Terran Reapers and other tricks, plus the fact that they easily deny you a scout, I find this is about as econ-heavy as you can afford in ZvT. Zerg fast expansions are too easy for the Terran to punish without having some Hydra or Muta around. So you'll probably want to scout the Terran to see if he's expanding. If he did, mass Zerglings/Banelings and attack. If not, expand yourself.
Note: I've since heard that the extractor trick works in SC2. This might be worked into this build.
ZvP: If you're playing any game against Protoss, you're going to see one build 80% of the time: 3-gate Zealot. I played 6 games vs. Protoss, and lost 5 of them (winning only to someone who really had no idea what they were doing). Of those 6 games, 4 players went 3-gate Zealot.
The problem with 3-Gate is Chrono Boost. Oddly enough, it isn't the effect on Probe production that is the problem. The problem is if they save up 100 energy (4-casts worth), throw down 3 gates, and dump all of that energy into Zealot production. That's pretty much death. It's too many Zealots too fast.
I'd heard about this build before the Beta finished downloading. And despite going 0-4 to it, I don't think it's invincible. You just have to know about it. And SC1 Zerg are so used to relying on Overlord scouting and being the aggressor in ZvP that it's mentally hard to take a defensive posture. That means one thing: Drone Scouting. You must know that this is coming before your pool finishes.
Since 3-gate Zealot is a rush build, it auto-kills any fast expand. So you need to know if they're going for it before you expand. Also, Tier 2 is not going to save you from this; you will die while whatever Tier 2 building you're going for is still being produced. If the Zerg are going to be able to deal with 3-gate Zealot, it will have to do so at Tier 1.
Being hyper-defensive probably works. If you throw down 5 Sunkens, you'll probably survive. But it's not going to let you win, because 3-gate Zealot isn't very econ-damaging. You'll be stuck behind your Sunken line in your main, so you'll have to go for Lair tech on one base. This isn't going to work, since they have contained you. They can expand and build a devastating economy.
So you need to do the containing. That means you need units. Since it's Tier 1, it has to be Zergings plus either Banelings or Roaches. I tried Banelings, and they might have worked if my enemy hadn't attacked while my Ling/Bane army was about to attack them. I was out of position and killed. But I don't think Banelings do enough damage per their cost to Zealots (despite Zealots being Light). Also, the Baneling Nest itself costs gas.
The Roach Warren does not. Roaches do of course, but this buys you valuable time. So if you see 3-gate Zealot, instead of instantly getting a Queen with the extra 150 when your Pool pops, get a Roach Warren. You're really going to need the Queen's Spawn Larva, so don't forget to get her too. You'll also need gas. Whether you get an extractor before or after the pool, you'll need one quickly.
Your goal with a Zergling/Roach build is to contain your enemy and expand. You don't want to overextend yourself and get your army cut down, but you want to make your expansion safe. You'll probably need at least one Sunken to help with the defense against the initial attack. This buys you time to Drone up to getting a good gas and mineral flow. Once you have that, pump Lings and Roaches, then go for the contain. Try to periodically enter his base and kill Zealots before they build up into too big of a ball.
I can't guarantee that this will work, of course. But it has a chance.
I played 10 games as Zerg. I'll talk more about the specifics a bit later, but here are my impressions of the game from a Zerg perspective.
It works.
The overall hectic feel that SC1 had is retained in this game. I can't guarantee that everything will feel the same for someone with 300+APM and the multitasking skills to match. But for me, there was always something better that I could do.
The Zerg themselves don't feel finished. At all. There are a number of just flat-out odd things.
Roaches at Tier 1, but without their trademark regen. Indeed, they don't get their regen until Hive tech. What they are at Tier 1 is a Zerg Zealot: 16 damage and 145 Hp, for 75/25/1 cost. I'm not sure what burrowed movement is really supposed to do to these guys, but it isn't really helping. To make them useful at Tier 2, you have to research 2 upgrades, as well as do a lot of burrow micro. That just isn't worthwhile.
Also, Roach regen only works (unless it's the Tier 3 upgrade) when the Roach is burrowed. But this upgrade doesn't give Roaches burrow; that has to be researched separately, thus driving up the cost of Tier 2 Roaches.
Overseers also are very odd. They don't give extra control when made. All they are is detectors that can create Changelings. The Zerg only have 3 spellcasters to begin with: Queens who are stuck in your base casting Spawn Larva, Infestors, and Overseers. And now Overseers are practically useless.
Corruptors have an ability that shuts down any building for 30 seconds. This feels very... strange. It's an AtA unit, but unlike the Phoenix, it's spell has nothing to do with its AtA powers. The Phoenix's Graviton Beam allows other Phoenixes to shoot at ground targets. The Corruptor's corruption ability doesn't. It's simply an alternate reason to get Corruptors. I never got the chance to abuse this ability, but I will in the future.
Ultralisks were nerfed hard. They're basically 600 Hp versions of their SC1 incarnation. No linear AoE attack, no double attack, and no research upgrade for either. Their research is exactly their SC1 research: +2 armor and extra speed. On the plus side they can still burrow and they still have their 60-point anti-building attack.
Having two gas Geysers in your base (that provide half the total gas of one in SC1, so you don't get more gas) is actually quite a boon, particularly for the Zerg. Roaches and Banelings are Tier 1 units. Being able to throw down an Extractor at 25 less minerals than SC1, and only put 2 Drones on it to give you just enough gas to power out a few supporting Banelings or Roaches to compliment your Zergling army. It's not really much of a difference, but you can control your gas income a bit better. The double-geyser also makes gas more valuable: you have to pay almost twice as much to get the same income rate as SC1, so teching has more of a cost to it.
On to the games.
ZvZ: I can't say what this match will ultimately be like, as my only ZvZ match was against someone even less skilled than me. Mutalisks were annoying due to the only GtA being Hydralisks, who are 100/50 and quite strong. I suspect that any ZvZ that survives past the initial Roach spam will likely become a war for air supremacy. Tier 3 tech is utterly useless against someone massing Tier 2: I eventually won with mass Hydra, slaughtering 10+ Ultralisks.
ZvT: I have a pretty solid opening build for this game. I feel it's pretty safe, though I won't know until I play more than 3 games of it.
It's 10-Overlord-Pool. While the pool is making, Drone to 13 and save Larva. At the moment the Pool spawns, you should have ~300 minerals. Enough for instantly 3 Zerglings and a Queen, taking up up to the 18 unit cap.
With Terran Reapers and other tricks, plus the fact that they easily deny you a scout, I find this is about as econ-heavy as you can afford in ZvT. Zerg fast expansions are too easy for the Terran to punish without having some Hydra or Muta around. So you'll probably want to scout the Terran to see if he's expanding. If he did, mass Zerglings/Banelings and attack. If not, expand yourself.
Note: I've since heard that the extractor trick works in SC2. This might be worked into this build.
ZvP: If you're playing any game against Protoss, you're going to see one build 80% of the time: 3-gate Zealot. I played 6 games vs. Protoss, and lost 5 of them (winning only to someone who really had no idea what they were doing). Of those 6 games, 4 players went 3-gate Zealot.
The problem with 3-Gate is Chrono Boost. Oddly enough, it isn't the effect on Probe production that is the problem. The problem is if they save up 100 energy (4-casts worth), throw down 3 gates, and dump all of that energy into Zealot production. That's pretty much death. It's too many Zealots too fast.
I'd heard about this build before the Beta finished downloading. And despite going 0-4 to it, I don't think it's invincible. You just have to know about it. And SC1 Zerg are so used to relying on Overlord scouting and being the aggressor in ZvP that it's mentally hard to take a defensive posture. That means one thing: Drone Scouting. You must know that this is coming before your pool finishes.
Since 3-gate Zealot is a rush build, it auto-kills any fast expand. So you need to know if they're going for it before you expand. Also, Tier 2 is not going to save you from this; you will die while whatever Tier 2 building you're going for is still being produced. If the Zerg are going to be able to deal with 3-gate Zealot, it will have to do so at Tier 1.
Being hyper-defensive probably works. If you throw down 5 Sunkens, you'll probably survive. But it's not going to let you win, because 3-gate Zealot isn't very econ-damaging. You'll be stuck behind your Sunken line in your main, so you'll have to go for Lair tech on one base. This isn't going to work, since they have contained you. They can expand and build a devastating economy.
So you need to do the containing. That means you need units. Since it's Tier 1, it has to be Zergings plus either Banelings or Roaches. I tried Banelings, and they might have worked if my enemy hadn't attacked while my Ling/Bane army was about to attack them. I was out of position and killed. But I don't think Banelings do enough damage per their cost to Zealots (despite Zealots being Light). Also, the Baneling Nest itself costs gas.
The Roach Warren does not. Roaches do of course, but this buys you valuable time. So if you see 3-gate Zealot, instead of instantly getting a Queen with the extra 150 when your Pool pops, get a Roach Warren. You're really going to need the Queen's Spawn Larva, so don't forget to get her too. You'll also need gas. Whether you get an extractor before or after the pool, you'll need one quickly.
Your goal with a Zergling/Roach build is to contain your enemy and expand. You don't want to overextend yourself and get your army cut down, but you want to make your expansion safe. You'll probably need at least one Sunken to help with the defense against the initial attack. This buys you time to Drone up to getting a good gas and mineral flow. Once you have that, pump Lings and Roaches, then go for the contain. Try to periodically enter his base and kill Zealots before they build up into too big of a ball.
I can't guarantee that this will work, of course. But it has a chance.
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