Weekend starts in 4 hours!!!!!!!Starcraft II here i come......

August 13, 2010

no movies, no eating out, only gaming till morning and getting my ass kicked all over the place........Starcraft II is a hard game on the 'Hard' difficulty setting :'( and very easy on the Normal setting.....dont know what to do....

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oh January 25th where are u??????

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Final Fantasy XIII rox!!!!!!!!!!!! Crysis 2 = a major disappointment..... oh January 25th where are u??????

Feedback

zippdementia - August 13, 2010 (10:03 AM)
I've been playing mostly on hard with the occasional excursion into brutal. Hard isn't really all that Hard, you just have to get in the programmers' heads and figure out what they were building the level around. Generally speaking, if you get a new unit in a mission, that's the unit you want to build 80 copies of to win. Getting research points is essential to your success on Hard, as is making intelligent buying decisions for upgrades. Don't forget about the value of mercenary units and of setting up a second base as quickly as possible.

Also, despite my advice about focusing on one unit, always send a mix of units into battle, and take advantage of your SVCs ability to heal machines.

If you need help with specific missions, I'd be happy to offer advice, though I'm not very far in yet (I can only play a mission a night between work and writing and filming).

WilltheGreat - August 13, 2010 (02:45 PM)
We should rope Suskie and form a team for epic 4v4 multiplayer.

Suskie - August 13, 2010 (02:49 PM)
I'd be up for that, but you guys would have to draw straws to see who gets paired up with me. Bronze League, Rank 78. 15 league wins out of 49 total league matches. Needless to say, I'm still not very good.

zippdementia - August 13, 2010 (06:37 PM)
Ha, and I haven't even tried multiplayer yet! But I'd be happy to jump in. I'll have to play as Terrans, cause I only know the other forces by having fought against them.

I'll be honest... I'm not eager to go against some random opponent and get my butt handed to me. I could practice against the computer, I suppose. But right now I use every moment of my time in the game on missions and achievements.

Suskie - August 14, 2010 (05:38 PM)
20 wins, 56 total matches. Getting better.

blood-omen - August 15, 2010 (10:42 AM)
not playing multiplayer either.....just playing the campaign...i try each mission on Hard first but if i dont succeed then i switch to Normal and move on.....

zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (12:28 PM)
After playing a number of the Protoss missions (seriously, I don't get why people are complaining about not getting a well rounded product with this first starcraft game... everyone keeps complaining about the tri-release) I think they are still going to be my race of choice in multiplayer.

For years I did Zerg, but when I last revisited Starcraft 1 (right before I wrote my review of it) I became enamored with the Protoss for their ability to quickly establish a well defended base. They are the only race that can do this. Zerg defenses suck and Terran defenses are great but take a lot of micromanaging to establish promptly.

I might give some multi player a shot this next weekend.

Suskie - August 15, 2010 (12:52 PM)
That sums it up well. The vast majority of the people I've played so far used either Terran or Protoss -- the former because they felt more comfortable with that class since there's an entire campaign built around them, and the latter because they're arguably the easiest class to use effectively. Zerg easily have the steepest learning curve.

zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (05:03 PM)
Yeah, and from what I hear they can no longer do their blitz rushes at the start of a match. I think that was the main thing I used them for in the old game: you'd send out overminds or drones to memorized mineral locations and get a hive started and then you'd harvest as fast as you could to build up 48 Zergling and just send them on a run against the enemy.

As for the current status of Zerg, that's all conjecture, I don't personally know. I have been meaning to watch some matches and get a feel for how people play. My god, you could make a life out of this...

Suskie - August 15, 2010 (05:36 PM)
Well, one of the tough lessons I quickly learned is that even a handful of enemy attack units can mean a quick defeat if you're not prepared to defend against them. Since Zerglings are incredibly easy to spawn, whenever I fight someone who's using Zerg, I always make it my first order of business to get a few marines functional, and then to block off the entrance to my base with a couple of supply depots.

zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (08:06 PM)
It is one of the few complaints people level against Starcraft: the game is ultimately about speed and many of the winning strategies involve ignoring the more expensive units and doing crazy things with units like Vultures, Zerglings, and Stalkers.

WilltheGreat - August 15, 2010 (08:09 PM)
Stalkers with good micro are insane. I've had to deal with them several times.

Also 4pool is still a viable all-in build. The idea being you play Zerg and build NOTHING, not even more drones, until you can afford a spawning pool. Then you build the pool and by the time it's done you have just enough minerals to morph three larvae and pounce with six zerglings way earlier than you should be able to.

Of course the build gets owned by half-decent walls, and if you lose momentum your economy is gimped for the entire rest of the game.

blood-omen - August 15, 2010 (09:21 PM)
totally agree with this being a well rounded package....since u do get to play as the Protoss and not just as the Terrans....

Suskie - August 15, 2010 (09:43 PM)
Yeah, the first multiplayer SC2 match I ever played was a custom match against a friend of mine who's much more experienced, and I was so scared of him that I essentially hid in a corner of the map for a whole game and built a lot of static defense to keep him out. Turtling does extend your lifespan significantly but you ultimately lose the resource war, and he eventually annihilated me with a hundred of so of those Protoss flying rape things.

I've gotten a lot better now that I've learned to play more aggressively. It seems like a sure-fire way to win is to simply get the offensive edge over your opponent early on and continue keeping them on edge.

zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (09:51 PM)
I agree with Suskie. The few games I played of even the original Starcraft always turned out better when I was reckless and did crazy things that people weren't expecting.

Of course, I think the tops was being rushed when I was playing Zerg... by a small army of SCVs that actually killed me.

Suskie - August 15, 2010 (09:55 PM)
Ha! That's funny, because just an hour or so ago I played a guy who rushed me with Probes at the very beginning of the match. They were crushed by my platoon of valiant SCVs.

He then told me he just played a guy who tried that and won, and I thought to myself, "Wow, this'll be a quick match." Was it ever.

zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (08:30 AM)
I still like your bunker story. People in Starcraft have balls.

blood-omen - August 16, 2010 (10:42 AM)
i agree.....u know with the balls thing :P

Suskie - August 16, 2010 (01:16 PM)
My... bunker story?

zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (03:06 PM)
Getting raped by a bunker placed right outside your base. That's classic Starcraft playing.

WilltheGreat - August 16, 2010 (03:08 PM)
Proxy gate is more fun.

Though less efficient with the new warp mechanics. Now it's more like "Drop a pylon and some cannons in enemy base".

Suskie - August 16, 2010 (03:25 PM)
Oh, you mean the barracks. Yeah.

zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (04:46 PM)
Players now are pretty aggressive, constantly sending units out of their base, so the bunker would have to be really well placed to avoid detection, I think.

WilltheGreat - August 16, 2010 (04:58 PM)
Dropping it in their nat is always fun.

blood-omen - August 16, 2010 (09:21 PM)
16 out of 26 missions done.......enjoying this game a lot!!!!!!!!!!!

zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (09:58 PM)
I think we're roughly in the same round-about area, Bomen, in terms of progress. I just got to Prince Valerion's missions. So far my favorite mission has been the one where you play as Nova (that was a long time in the coming). I really enjoy the ghosts a lot better in this game.

Actually, in general, I like the specialty units better. It may have just been me, but I found Ghosts and Science Vessels to be rarely worth the cost in the original and they demanded a level of micro managing which I could never handle well. I do see their benefit, esp. Science Vessels, in turning the tide of a battle, but I also liked going for two or four more wraiths or an extra siege tank or three.

The worst were the defilers. They always seemed so useless for the amount of time it took to build them up.

But all those units are so much more useful in SC2.

blood-omen - August 16, 2010 (11:10 PM)
i cant relate to Stacraft I coz like i said b4 i was too young to understand what RTS games were all about. Warcraft III was the game that got me hooked to RTSes.....

i think u are talking abt the Tosh vs. Nova stage where you get the choice of either freeing the spectres or otherwise.....i played as Tosh and calling in nuclear strikes is awesome....

Suskie - August 16, 2010 (11:15 PM)
Man, I need to hit up the campaign again. I'm still only around ten missions in, because I played a bit of it and then got hooked on multiplayer. On the plus side, I'm now up to 43 wins out of 80-some matches. My goal is to hit the Silver league by the end of the week.

WilltheGreat - August 16, 2010 (11:26 PM)
I went up against a string of pros in my qualifying matches and got stuck near the bottom of Bronze :\

Suskie - August 16, 2010 (11:38 PM)
My rank is... 39 or something? I was in the 80s just a few days ago so I've definitely been improving fast.

blood-omen - August 17, 2010 (12:18 AM)
so can we expect a party when you guys hit the big league?????

zippdementia - August 17, 2010 (06:49 AM)
And I need to hit up multiplayer soon, but I'm still too stuck on the coolness of the story missions to delve in quite yet. It sounds exciting, though.

The great thing is, I haven't wanted to experience a game this fully in a long time. Most games these days I play once, maybe do a couple extra bits, and then put down for all time except to occasionally show a friend.

But I have plans to go back through SC2's campaign and get every achievement methodically. I want to rise in the ranks of multiplayer.

This reminds me of when I first bought SC1... I didn't buy another game for nearly two years. Just not necessary. I think SC2 may do a similar thing to me, though I definitely still plan on picking up Other M and Deus Ex 3.

Dammit, I still need to get home and finish Alpha Protocol, too... but right now I'm working out of state at a Nuclear Plant. And we've got plans now to bring our films to Cannes, which is going to take some leg work.

blood-omen - August 17, 2010 (01:13 PM)
didnt buy a game for 2 years!!!!!!wow!!!!!oh well just finished another mission which took me 1 hr and 30 minutes on Hard....Haven's Fall i.e.

zippdementia - August 17, 2010 (01:24 PM)
Really? 1 hr and 30? I don't think I've spent longer than 40 mins on any level. Most of the levels have taken me between 15 and 30. I guess I played so much single player SC1 that I've gotten used to building up a base really fast.

The big trick is always to go looking for a second base location. Once you've got two bases up, you cut your mission time in half and your difficulty by quite a bit, too!

WilltheGreat - August 17, 2010 (02:12 PM)
The only mission that took me over an hour was the night/day one. And only because I insisted on using nothing but Firebats and Hellions.

Suskie - August 17, 2010 (04:31 PM)
I've officially broken even: 48 wins out of 96 games. Screw you, I'm proud of myself.

By the way, my Battle.net address is mikesuskie@gmail.com in case anyone here wants to add me. Feel free to ring me up for a match whenever you like.

zippdementia - August 17, 2010 (05:34 PM)
I think the night/day took me 56:43, if I recall correctly. I could be wrong. That could've been 1:06:43.

Yeah, it's a long mission. Like you, I really only used Firebats and Hellions. Second time through I think I'll up my game for that level.

blood-omen - August 17, 2010 (09:26 PM)
it took me longer because i was busy mind controlling the Zerg monsters.....i must have used the mind emulator on 25-30 of those babies and i also let the Zerg infest all colonies before i went and purged them all to hell....muahahahahaha!!!!

plus i also spent time checking out the level three upgrades for infantry......

zippdementia - August 18, 2010 (08:27 AM)
I went Psi Disrupter. I don't need more units to micro manage.

Plus, a mind controller only seems useful, to me, if I can grab a drone. Otherwise, it's just a quick distraction to a single unit who is quickly ganged up on by the thousands of zergling that inevitably accompany a zerg attack.

Sure it's a nice distraction, but I'd much rather slow all those zergling down at once and then massacre them while they are sitting stupidly next to my bunkers... with a phalanx of seige tanks close behind... equipped with those missiles that do less damage to your own units, of course.

blood-omen - August 19, 2010 (10:28 AM)
seems like a good strategy but i liked having the zerg on my side for a change.....

Feedback
	zippdementia - August 13, 2010 (10:03 AM) I've been playing mostly on hard with the occasional excursion into brutal. Hard isn't really all that Hard, you just have to get in the programmers' heads and figure out what they were building the level around. Generally speaking, if you get a new unit in a mission, that's the unit you want to build 80 copies of to win. Getting research points is essential to your success on Hard, as is making intelligent buying decisions for upgrades. Don't forget about the value of mercenary units and of setting up a second base as quickly as possible. Also, despite my advice about focusing on one unit, always send a mix of units into battle, and take advantage of your SVCs ability to heal machines. If you need help with specific missions, I'd be happy to offer advice, though I'm not very far in yet (I can only play a mission a night between work and writing and filming).
	WilltheGreat - August 13, 2010 (02:45 PM) We should rope Suskie and form a team for epic 4v4 multiplayer.
	Suskie - August 13, 2010 (02:49 PM) I'd be up for that, but you guys would have to draw straws to see who gets paired up with me. Bronze League, Rank 78. 15 league wins out of 49 total league matches. Needless to say, I'm still not very good.
	zippdementia - August 13, 2010 (06:37 PM) Ha, and I haven't even tried multiplayer yet! But I'd be happy to jump in. I'll have to play as Terrans, cause I only know the other forces by having fought against them. I'll be honest... I'm not eager to go against some random opponent and get my butt handed to me. I could practice against the computer, I suppose. But right now I use every moment of my time in the game on missions and achievements.
	Suskie - August 14, 2010 (05:38 PM) 20 wins, 56 total matches. Getting better.
	blood-omen - August 15, 2010 (10:42 AM) not playing multiplayer either.....just playing the campaign...i try each mission on Hard first but if i dont succeed then i switch to Normal and move on.....
	zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (12:28 PM) After playing a number of the Protoss missions (seriously, I don't get why people are complaining about not getting a well rounded product with this first starcraft game... everyone keeps complaining about the tri-release) I think they are still going to be my race of choice in multiplayer. For years I did Zerg, but when I last revisited Starcraft 1 (right before I wrote my review of it) I became enamored with the Protoss for their ability to quickly establish a well defended base. They are the only race that can do this. Zerg defenses suck and Terran defenses are great but take a lot of micromanaging to establish promptly. I might give some multi player a shot this next weekend.
	Suskie - August 15, 2010 (12:52 PM) That sums it up well. The vast majority of the people I've played so far used either Terran or Protoss -- the former because they felt more comfortable with that class since there's an entire campaign built around them, and the latter because they're arguably the easiest class to use effectively. Zerg easily have the steepest learning curve.
	zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (05:03 PM) Yeah, and from what I hear they can no longer do their blitz rushes at the start of a match. I think that was the main thing I used them for in the old game: you'd send out overminds or drones to memorized mineral locations and get a hive started and then you'd harvest as fast as you could to build up 48 Zergling and just send them on a run against the enemy. As for the current status of Zerg, that's all conjecture, I don't personally know. I have been meaning to watch some matches and get a feel for how people play. My god, you could make a life out of this...
	Suskie - August 15, 2010 (05:36 PM) Well, one of the tough lessons I quickly learned is that even a handful of enemy attack units can mean a quick defeat if you're not prepared to defend against them. Since Zerglings are incredibly easy to spawn, whenever I fight someone who's using Zerg, I always make it my first order of business to get a few marines functional, and then to block off the entrance to my base with a couple of supply depots.
	zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (08:06 PM) It is one of the few complaints people level against Starcraft: the game is ultimately about speed and many of the winning strategies involve ignoring the more expensive units and doing crazy things with units like Vultures, Zerglings, and Stalkers.
	WilltheGreat - August 15, 2010 (08:09 PM) Stalkers with good micro are insane. I've had to deal with them several times. Also 4pool is still a viable all-in build. The idea being you play Zerg and build NOTHING, not even more drones, until you can afford a spawning pool. Then you build the pool and by the time it's done you have just enough minerals to morph three larvae and pounce with six zerglings way earlier than you should be able to. Of course the build gets owned by half-decent walls, and if you lose momentum your economy is gimped for the entire rest of the game.
	blood-omen - August 15, 2010 (09:21 PM) totally agree with this being a well rounded package....since u do get to play as the Protoss and not just as the Terrans....
	Suskie - August 15, 2010 (09:43 PM) Yeah, the first multiplayer SC2 match I ever played was a custom match against a friend of mine who's much more experienced, and I was so scared of him that I essentially hid in a corner of the map for a whole game and built a lot of static defense to keep him out. Turtling does extend your lifespan significantly but you ultimately lose the resource war, and he eventually annihilated me with a hundred of so of those Protoss flying rape things. I've gotten a lot better now that I've learned to play more aggressively. It seems like a sure-fire way to win is to simply get the offensive edge over your opponent early on and continue keeping them on edge.
	zippdementia - August 15, 2010 (09:51 PM) I agree with Suskie. The few games I played of even the original Starcraft always turned out better when I was reckless and did crazy things that people weren't expecting. Of course, I think the tops was being rushed when I was playing Zerg... by a small army of SCVs that actually killed me.
	Suskie - August 15, 2010 (09:55 PM) Ha! That's funny, because just an hour or so ago I played a guy who rushed me with Probes at the very beginning of the match. They were crushed by my platoon of valiant SCVs. He then told me he just played a guy who tried that and won, and I thought to myself, "Wow, this'll be a quick match." Was it ever.
	zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (08:30 AM) I still like your bunker story. People in Starcraft have balls.
	blood-omen - August 16, 2010 (10:42 AM) i agree.....u know with the balls thing :P
	Suskie - August 16, 2010 (01:16 PM) My... bunker story?
	zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (03:06 PM) Getting raped by a bunker placed right outside your base. That's classic Starcraft playing.
	WilltheGreat - August 16, 2010 (03:08 PM) Proxy gate is more fun. Though less efficient with the new warp mechanics. Now it's more like "Drop a pylon and some cannons in enemy base".
	Suskie - August 16, 2010 (03:25 PM) Oh, you mean the barracks. Yeah.
	zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (04:46 PM) Players now are pretty aggressive, constantly sending units out of their base, so the bunker would have to be really well placed to avoid detection, I think.
	WilltheGreat - August 16, 2010 (04:58 PM) Dropping it in their nat is always fun.
	blood-omen - August 16, 2010 (09:21 PM) 16 out of 26 missions done.......enjoying this game a lot!!!!!!!!!!!
	zippdementia - August 16, 2010 (09:58 PM) I think we're roughly in the same round-about area, Bomen, in terms of progress. I just got to Prince Valerion's missions. So far my favorite mission has been the one where you play as Nova (that was a long time in the coming). I really enjoy the ghosts a lot better in this game. Actually, in general, I like the specialty units better. It may have just been me, but I found Ghosts and Science Vessels to be rarely worth the cost in the original and they demanded a level of micro managing which I could never handle well. I do see their benefit, esp. Science Vessels, in turning the tide of a battle, but I also liked going for two or four more wraiths or an extra siege tank or three. The worst were the defilers. They always seemed so useless for the amount of time it took to build them up. But all those units are so much more useful in SC2.
	blood-omen - August 16, 2010 (11:10 PM) i cant relate to Stacraft I coz like i said b4 i was too young to understand what RTS games were all about. Warcraft III was the game that got me hooked to RTSes..... i think u are talking abt the Tosh vs. Nova stage where you get the choice of either freeing the spectres or otherwise.....i played as Tosh and calling in nuclear strikes is awesome....
	Suskie - August 16, 2010 (11:15 PM) Man, I need to hit up the campaign again. I'm still only around ten missions in, because I played a bit of it and then got hooked on multiplayer. On the plus side, I'm now up to 43 wins out of 80-some matches. My goal is to hit the Silver league by the end of the week.
	WilltheGreat - August 16, 2010 (11:26 PM) I went up against a string of pros in my qualifying matches and got stuck near the bottom of Bronze :\
	Suskie - August 16, 2010 (11:38 PM) My rank is... 39 or something? I was in the 80s just a few days ago so I've definitely been improving fast.
	blood-omen - August 17, 2010 (12:18 AM) so can we expect a party when you guys hit the big league?????
	zippdementia - August 17, 2010 (06:49 AM) And I need to hit up multiplayer soon, but I'm still too stuck on the coolness of the story missions to delve in quite yet. It sounds exciting, though. The great thing is, I haven't wanted to experience a game this fully in a long time. Most games these days I play once, maybe do a couple extra bits, and then put down for all time except to occasionally show a friend. But I have plans to go back through SC2's campaign and get every achievement methodically. I want to rise in the ranks of multiplayer. This reminds me of when I first bought SC1... I didn't buy another game for nearly two years. Just not necessary. I think SC2 may do a similar thing to me, though I definitely still plan on picking up Other M and Deus Ex 3. Dammit, I still need to get home and finish Alpha Protocol, too... but right now I'm working out of state at a Nuclear Plant. And we've got plans now to bring our films to Cannes, which is going to take some leg work.
	blood-omen - August 17, 2010 (01:13 PM) didnt buy a game for 2 years!!!!!!wow!!!!!oh well just finished another mission which took me 1 hr and 30 minutes on Hard....Haven's Fall i.e.
	zippdementia - August 17, 2010 (01:24 PM) Really? 1 hr and 30? I don't think I've spent longer than 40 mins on any level. Most of the levels have taken me between 15 and 30. I guess I played so much single player SC1 that I've gotten used to building up a base really fast. The big trick is always to go looking for a second base location. Once you've got two bases up, you cut your mission time in half and your difficulty by quite a bit, too!
	WilltheGreat - August 17, 2010 (02:12 PM) The only mission that took me over an hour was the night/day one. And only because I insisted on using nothing but Firebats and Hellions.
	Suskie - August 17, 2010 (04:31 PM) I've officially broken even: 48 wins out of 96 games. Screw you, I'm proud of myself. By the way, my Battle.net address is mikesuskie@gmail.com in case anyone here wants to add me. Feel free to ring me up for a match whenever you like.
	zippdementia - August 17, 2010 (05:34 PM) I think the night/day took me 56:43, if I recall correctly. I could be wrong. That could've been 1:06:43. Yeah, it's a long mission. Like you, I really only used Firebats and Hellions. Second time through I think I'll up my game for that level.
	blood-omen - August 17, 2010 (09:26 PM) it took me longer because i was busy mind controlling the Zerg monsters.....i must have used the mind emulator on 25-30 of those babies and i also let the Zerg infest all colonies before i went and purged them all to hell....muahahahahaha!!!! plus i also spent time checking out the level three upgrades for infantry......
	zippdementia - August 18, 2010 (08:27 AM) I went Psi Disrupter. I don't need more units to micro manage. Plus, a mind controller only seems useful, to me, if I can grab a drone. Otherwise, it's just a quick distraction to a single unit who is quickly ganged up on by the thousands of zergling that inevitably accompany a zerg attack. Sure it's a nice distraction, but I'd much rather slow all those zergling down at once and then massacre them while they are sitting stupidly next to my bunkers... with a phalanx of seige tanks close behind... equipped with those missiles that do less damage to your own units, of course.
	blood-omen - August 19, 2010 (10:28 AM) seems like a good strategy but i liked having the zerg on my side for a change.....

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