News and Updates
Podcast: Galaxy Code Editing
IskatuMesk takes a cup of coffee this time around and hands it over to Master Jademus Sreg, creator oh the popular Photon Cycles, a Tron style StarCraft II multiplayer map. IskatuMesk interviews Sreg in the overall interaction someone experiences with the Galaxy Editor and the issues, or lack of, a well-knowledged coder will experience with Galaxy code. This lengthy interview shares the viewpoints from a all-around experienced mapper, IskatuMesk, and the issues faced when attempting to create a map, in comparison to the greatly different outcome someone like Sreg faces when working on his own projects as someone who understand Galaxy code and having worked in WarCraft III's JASS.
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
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Podcast: Map Terraining
IskatuMesk and Lavarinth have a chat in regards to the ongoing Campaign Contest. Why the contestants drop out? Why do they join? How do they stay motivated? These topics are discussed and raged upon in this podcast. In addition, with both individuals terraining for their own projects, IskatuMesk asks for some input in regards to how does one balance realism and gameplay into a map in StarCraft II. Wibod also chimes in at times with some input.
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
Patch 1.5 Incoming
Patch 1.5 Is Coming
The upcoming 1.5 patch will be our most feature-laden patch to date. This patch represents the first steps towards the release of our first expansion for StarCraft II, Heart of the Swarm, and will include numerous upgrades and fixes throughout the game. One of the most significant additions will be the all new Arcade feature which includes improved custom game visibility, ratings, reviews, game instructions, screenshot support, and more. Patch 1.5 will also include significant improvements throughout the overall user interface, streaming support, antialiasing, editor and modding upgrades, new art tools, and more. We’ll go into further details about these features in future developer updates. In this update, I would like to provide some insight into the thinking and motivation behind a few of the upcoming changes.
Arcade & Custom Game Selection
We discussed the new Arcade and Custom Game creation tools that would be available at BlizzCon 2011 and while things have changed since then, we are looking forward to getting it out to players for testing. Overall, the biggest complaint we’ve heard is about the popularity system and how games are listed. The challenge we face with the interface is how much to orient the space towards the player, versus how much we focus the interface on the needs of the mod maker. Mod makers want a very egalitarian society where no single map has any type of “advantage” in the interface. On the other hand, most players just want to see the best maps and they don’t want to have to sort through hundreds of maps to find the ones that are good. We think what we have now doesn’t do enough to surface new maps that are good. While we tried to make things better with “Fun or Not,” the system alone isn’t doing enough for many of our mod developers so we wanted to try something different.
To help players find games more easily in patch 1.5, we intend to include an “open games list.” To be clear, this will not be every open game that is on the service. Instead, the open games list will deliver to you a selection of games from the many hundreds or thousands that are currently open. We are currently working on different ways to determine how the list you’ll see is generated.
We’ll also be releasing the art tools that we use internally to create art for StarCraft II, thus enabling mod developers the ability to more easily create their own art and add it to their creations. In addition, we’re beginning to reach out directly to mod and game developers that have created fun, quality maps on Battle.net to get direct feedback, help them tackle obstacles, and provide them with early access to the 1.5 feature set so that they can begin to prepare for Arcade prior to its release. We’ll be revealing more details about the Arcade and the changes we’ve made to the concepts in the near future.
Contact & Communication
We’ve heard concerns about the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty social experience and many of these comments boil down to, “the service feels empty” and “I don’t know where to go to find people.” We have some simple fixes we’re going to put into the chat system to try to give players some additional connectivity. These aren’t huge fixes, but they may help players who want a more social experience.
First, we’ll allow players to resize their chat windows to fill a larger portion of the screen. We’ll also remember the chat channel you were in as well as the position of that chat channel on your screen for when you next return to the game. This will allow players who want to recreate something that feels a lot more like Warcraft III or the original StarCraft to build their own interface that looks a lot like those older games.
We’re also working on a feature that will help players connect with other players and games that are near their location (connecting through the same IP). We believe this will primarily be used by people in internet gaming rooms, offices, dorm rooms, and local tournaments where you just want to find the guy sitting in the desk next to you. Although this may not be ready in time for the release of patch 1.5, we do intend to have this available by the time Heart of the Swarm ships.
Much of the content we are working on for Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm is motivated directly by community feedback. While we’re unable to respond to every post, or even most posts, your feedback does get to us. Thanks for sending it.
Let us know what topics you’d like us to cover in future Developer Updates in the forum discussion thread. Topics that we’re thinking of covering include: Game Balance, Heart of the Swarm Multiplayer Progress, and Blizzard DOTA Gameplay.
Source: Battle.net
Diablo III Gone Gold: May 15th, 2012
The End of Days approaches…. Diablo III will be unleashed from the Burning Hells on May 15, 2012, and you can be ready to play the minute the servers go live by pre-purchasing the game digitally on Battle.net today.
Beginning May 15, players around the world will be able to return to Tristram to discover the dark secrets of a fallen star and begin their quest to save Sanctuary from the impending demonic invasion. To secure your place as a barbarian, monk, demon hunter, witch doctor, or wizard right now, simply log in to your Battle.net account, and then purchase and download* Diablo III, and you’ll be ready to play when the game launches.
Source: Battle.net
New Blizzard Custom Game: StarCraft Master
A new challenge is coming: the new single-player Blizzard mod StarCraft Master. StarCraft Master offers you the opportunity to put your skills to the test in 30 different challenges that will tax your knowledge and your ability to control your forces. Each fiendish challenge will demand your utmost concentration to prevail, and they’ll help you hone your unit micro-management skills in situations which mimic real battles.
These fun and demanding challenges range from “kiting” a single unit, to managing incoming damage and maximizing unit abilities, to controlling a mix of units to obtain victory over a superior enemy force.
Test our your skills by trying out StarCraft Master on Battle.net!
Source: Battle.net
Podcast: Campaign Contest
IskatuMesk sits down by his lonesome this time around to monologue to the audience about the Campaign Creations Campaign Contest, alongside some sitewide updates about Campaign Creations, and delves a bit further into creating something, for those still wondering what they should do.
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
Campaign Creations Campaign Contest
Campaign Creations brings to you the next level of contests. Creation is key here. The possibilities are limitless. The time frame? Months. Let your imagination run wild in this, the Campaign Creations Campaign Contest!
Okay, so you get it. It's a campaign contest, that ends in pretty much half a year from now, giving you plenty of time. What do you use to create though? Any of these games! StarCraft, WarCraft III, Diablo, Diablo 2, or StarCraft 2! Any restrictions? No! Use all the tools designed by the community, or none at all! This is your project, it's your story, it's told how you want to tell it without limitations to production value!
"I get it, already, but where are the prizes?" That's probably your last question. Well, without further delay, the top three winners will get the following to pick from!
COLLECTOR'S SET
Limited Edition Mega Blocks StarCraft Battlecruiser
World of WarCraft Wind Rider Cub Plush
World of Warcraft Gryphon Hatchling Plush
2009 BlizzCon Collector's Pin
StarCraft II COllector's Pin
StarCraft Poker Set
Alliance Penant Banner
CREATOR'S SET
n00bz Marine: Ghoul, Murloc, Ragnaros Set
Blank Marine n00bz (Large)
StarCraft Poker Set
StarCraft Puzzle Set
StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters
2009 BlizzCon Collector's Pin
StarCraft Messenger Bag Spectre Edition
GAMER'S SET
StarCraft Board Game
World of WarCraft Board Game
StarCraft Poker Set
StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters
2009 BlizzCon Collector's Pin
StarCraft Messenger Bag Spectre Edition
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Visit Campaign Creations' official contest forum for more details and sign up today if you have the courage to tackle your imagination!
Podcast: BlizzCon
With BlizzCon having recently passed, the two voices of Campaign Creations sit down to enjoy a chit chat in relations to a multitude of topics. While the main topic at hand was BlizzCon, thus the title of the cast, many conversations flowed after including the topic of motivation and IskatuMesk's recent release of Black Sun.
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
Head on over to our Podcast section to check out our previous podcasts as well, or click here to get listening!
Black Sun: Salvation Completed
Resident long-time modder IskatuMesk has completed a project that began long ago, and it is not a mod. Black Sun is a four-year long project that ends with a feature-length video showcasing assets and material created for Sins of a Solar Empire and presented with loose-fitting dialogue and composition. It offers a tiny glimpse into the writings of IskatuMesk and the evolution of his abilities in voice acting and graphics including custom sound effects, particles, models, textures, and more. Everything you see originated from the mind of IskatuMesk, and is presented in full high quality recording via Sins of a Solar Empire.
When asked what Black Sun is, IskatuMesk had this say:
Black Sun is emotion.
Black Sun is pride.
Black Sun is despair.
Black Sun is sadness.
Black Sun is anger.
Black Sun is at its heart a reflection of my inner conflict against psychosis, depression, and suicide.
Black Sun is loosely based on my life's work.
As it is today, Black Sun: Salvation is an experimentation in graphics and sound engineering. It is a two-act video that showcases some material inspired by my novel, created for myself and presented publicly. It is the last mod-related project I plan to create as I desire to move on to private game design.
You can watch all of Black Sun: Salvation in it's entirety in the dedicated forum thread, or simply visit the source link below.
When asked what Black Sun is, IskatuMesk had this say:
Black Sun is emotion.
Black Sun is pride.
Black Sun is despair.
Black Sun is sadness.
Black Sun is anger.
Black Sun is at its heart a reflection of my inner conflict against psychosis, depression, and suicide.
Black Sun is loosely based on my life's work.
As it is today, Black Sun: Salvation is an experimentation in graphics and sound engineering. It is a two-act video that showcases some material inspired by my novel, created for myself and presented publicly. It is the last mod-related project I plan to create as I desire to move on to private game design.
You can watch all of Black Sun: Salvation in it's entirety in the dedicated forum thread, or simply visit the source link below.
Source: Black Sun: Salvation - A Journey Unto Hell and Beyond Forum Thread
Diablo III Beta Coverage with Isk and Lav
Oh, you know this is going to be good. There may have been a recent delay in recording a podcast, and most of you who don't bother to visit the forums may of wondered why. IskatuMesk and Lavarinth decided to pass the time one night some time back and launch their Diablo III Betas and gave it a whirl.
The Diablo III Beta consists of a partial Act 1, leading you from the beginning to the first boss fight- King Leoric, who returns from his ghostly slumber since the original Diablo. Many have wondered why we are allowed to have such a minimal taste of the game considering the ability for Runes are not even present in the Beta, a major aspect of the new gameplay strategies for Diablo III.
So sit back, relax, and click on the top banner, read more, this link, or the source link to watch us battle our way through the Diablo III Beta from start to finish.
Source: Diablo 3 beta Forum Thread
Campaign Creations
