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Heart of the Swarm MEGATHREAD

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(I posted this 5/28/11 on a separate forum, but finally found the time to format it correctly for Ghoztcraft since it limits media files)

 

I'll be updating this thread constantly as new content arises. I'll be pulling it from various websites and try to include the source.

The official Blizzard SC2: HoTS preview website can be found here:

 

http://us.battle.net...-swarm-preview/

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Blizzard's latest teaser trailer of Starcraft 2's next campaign, Heart of the Swarm, has been posted. It gives us a small taste of what we can expect to see in Kerrigan's side of the story.

 

 

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A quick video of compiled concept art for HoTS.

 

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An interview with StarCraft 2's core dev team about the game.

 

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Gameplay footage!

 

CLICK ME

 

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Text Q&A taken by the fine folks at www.wellplayed.org

 

Q: What is StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm?

A: Heart of the Swarm is the first expansion set to Blizzard Entertainment's sci-fi real time strategy game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Heart of the Swarm continues the epic story from Wings of Liberty with an all-new campaign that focuses on Kerrigan, the erstwhile Queen of Blades. New multiplayer content will also be included in the expansion, as well as new features and upgrades to the Battle.net online platform.

 

 

Q: What features can we expect from the single-player campaign of Heart of the Swarm?

A: Heart of the Swarm's campaign will include approximately 20 new missions. Players will be able to evolve their swarms with unique, campaign-only units and abilities, and this evolution will happen in an organic manner befitting of the expansion's Zerg theme. As an example, zerglings can be induced to evolve the ability to split into broodlings upon death. Further evolution can yield specialized sub-species of zerglings such as the swarmling, a variant that spawns three swarmlings per larvae instead of the standard two zerglings. The fearsome raptor is another evolutionary offshoot of the zergling that has more health, and the ability to leap short distances to quickly close the gap on an enemy.

Another aspect of Heart of the Swarm that makes it unique from Wings of Liberty is that Kerrigan will play a major role in each of the battles as a powerful hero. Over the course of the campaign she gains in strength as well as new capabilities. Players will choose what abilities to enhance and powers to use from mission to mission.

Heart of the Swarm will also include a wider variety of sets for players to explore between missions -- these sets change dynamically as players complete missions, giving a sense of a changing world as Kerrigan makes her presence felt throughout the galaxy. Fully-voiced cut-scenes will round out the cinematic gaming experience in Heart of the Swarm's campaign, while a new array of achievements will unlock in-game rewards such as portraits and decals.

 

 

Q: Will there be any technical upgrades to the graphics engine?

A: We'll be making some improvements to the graphics, including upgrades to the look and behavior of zerg creep, as well as some changes that allow our artists to better showcase the new types of planets that Kerrigan will explore in Heart of the Swarm. We still plan to keep the minimum hardware requirements the same for this expansion set as they were in Wings of Liberty.

 

 

Q: What are some of the changes made to multiplayer Heart of the Swarm?

A: While we're not quite ready to go into detail about the new multiplayer content in Heart of the Swarm, we can say that this expansion set will include new units and new maps. We'll have more details about multiplayer Heart of the Swarm content at BlizzCon.

 

 

Q: What changes will come to Battle.net with Heart of the Swarm?

A: As far as Battle.net improvements, one primary focus will be on getting the StarCraft Marketplace up and running at some point around the launch of Heart of the Swarm. The maps and mods community in StarCraft II has published tens of thousands of custom maps using the StarCraft II editor. Our goal with the new Marketplace design will be in upgrading the custom map UI to better showcase the wide variety of great new maps and mods to players who are looking for fun new gaming experiences. We want players to be able to more easily find, rate, and sort through all the great custom maps that have been created.

The Marketplace will also eventually include a commerce element that will allow mapmakers to charge a fee for their work. While there will always be a wealth of free content, we believe that allowing content creators to profit from their work will foster an environment for more complex and higher-quality custom maps. Our ultimate hope is that the StarCraft Marketplace will function and thrive in a similar manner as mobile "app-stores" -- tons of free and premium content for players, and a limitless source of entertainment through StarCraft II and Battle.net.

We do have other Battle.net feature upgrades and improvements planned as well, and we'll have more details on those at a later date.

 

 

Q: Will Heart of the Swarm require ownership of Wings of Liberty?

A: For the regions that have a standard box business model such as North America and Europe, yes, Wings of Liberty will be required in order to play Heart of the Swarm. For other regions that have alternative access models, we'll provide details at a later date.

 

 

Q: How much will Heart of the Swarm cost?

A: We typically don't provide details about pricing until the game is closer to release. We do view Heart of the Swarm as an expansion set, so for the regions that have a standard box business model such as North America and Europe, we will price accordingly. For other regions that have alternative business models, we'll provide details at a later date.

 

 

Q: Will there be a console version of Heart of the Swarm?

A: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is being developed for Windows and Mac. We have no current plans to bring StarCraft II to any console platform.

 

 

Q: When is Heart of the Swarm coming out?

A: It's too early to talk about a specific release date at this point in time. As with all Blizzard games, our ultimate goal is to provide the best possible experience for our players, and we will take as much time as is needed to ensure that Heart of the Swarm meets the expectations of our players, as well as our own high standards.

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A slideshow I compiled of various screenshots found around the Internets of HoTS content. Will be updated as I find more.

 

http://s874.photobuc...mview=slideshow

 

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An alpha version of the 'ending' of HoTS. Quite dated.

 

 

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Gameplay trailer made by Blizzard.

 

 

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Blizzard Insider interview with Dustin Browder on HoTS.

 

Now that the player is shifting perspectives from the terran to the zerg, how will this alien point-of-view affect the gameplay and storytelling mechanics of StarCraft II's single-player missions?

Kerrigan is a creature consumed by pure rage. She has been infested, tortured, and hunted. She grew to command over a third of the power of the entire sector, and she has to deal with problems of a scope that Jim Raynor could never even imagine, including the dark unknown of the Xel'naga and all-out genocidal wars against the protoss. To put things into perspective, Raynor is a central figure in the StarCraft story, but he remains just one man. Kerrigan became a goddess worshipped by billions of zerg who would execute her every command without question.

 

As a comparatively insignificant creature, Raynor cannot understand what it means to be the Queen of Blades. We hope to convey that epic sense of power and scale through the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

 

Can you give any specific examples of how the hive-evolution mechanic in Heart of the Swarm will work differently from the tech upgrade mechanic used in Wings of Liberty?

We are trying to focus the player on finding new DNA from exotic and strange creatures around the sector so that you really feel like the key to zerg success is finding and infesting the immense, deadly monsters that live on the most savage planets in the galaxy.

 

The Swarm is going to evolve differently than your army upgraded in Wings of Liberty. You will be able to choose new abilities for your units, much like you could in Wings, but you can also permanently change your units into new creatures. For example, the zergling can be changed into a swarmling or into a raptor. Swarmlings spawn three zerglings instead of two when hatched from an egg, while raptors leap into combat with their enemies. Once you make this type of choice you are locked in to that unit, so your decision should carry considerable weight, and the end result should feel like a very different unit.

 

What kinds of new zerg units can players expect to see in the single-player campaign?

It's still too early to know which units will make the final cut. We are trying to create mutations of many of your favorite units from StarCraft lore that allow you to really feel like you are mutating and evolving your Swarm. We are also exploring bringing in creatures that have been previously seen but never controlled in StarCraft.

In Wings of Liberty, players controlled Jim Raynor for a few missions. Will players get to do the same with Kerrigan in Heart of the Swarm? If so, how will her gameplay differ from Jim's?

Kerrigan will appear on almost every map in Heart of the Swarm. Unlike Raynor, Kerrigan is a creature of power that leads her army from the front, smashing aside siege tanks and destroying battlecruisers with her psionic abilities. And unlike Wings of Liberty, the mission isn't over if she dies. Kerrigan will be able to revive at the nearest hatchery if she is killed, allowing you to use her aggressively against your enemies.

 

Kerrigan can also be upgraded over time, gaining new powers that allow you to use her in a variety of different ways. You will be able to choose which powers you want to use before every mission, allowing you to evolve Kerrigan before each battle.

 

In addition to Raynor, Wings of Liberty also had some important supporting characters such as Matt Horner, Gabriel Tosh, and Tychus Findlay. Who are some of the supporting zerg characters that will be accompanying Kerrigan in Heart of the Swarm?

We are hard at work at creating the fierce creatures of the zerg that Kerrigan commands between missions. We have Abathur the evolution master who controls the genetic vector of billions of zerg species. Abathur will teach the player all he or she needs to know to thrive in the brutal and violent world of the zerg. Through Abathur, we'll make it clear that "survival of the fittest" is the essence of what it means to be zerg.

 

Early in the campaign you'll also conquer a lesser zerg brood commanded by Za'gara, a zerg queen who remained in hiding on Char after the events of Wings of Liberty.

 

What are the challenges of adapting the zerg units or zerg gameplay to the mission structure established in Wings of Liberty?

The zerg economy is harder for players to manage and can be difficult to use correctly in the campaign where so many new challenges and objectives are being thrown at you at once. Certain units like mutalisks are balanced very specifically for multiplayer and can quickly become too powerful in the campaign. Banelings are also balanced for multiplayer and are generally far too weak in campaign where your enemy has a large resource advantage.

 

We are still too early in development to know how many other things are going to go wrong, but we're prepared to face many more challenges in balancing the campaign going forward.

Thanks for your time. Are there any other details you'd like to share before you go?

We are hard at work on the campaign, on new multiplayer units, on Blizzard DoTA, and on our Map Marketplace. We really appreciate all of the support and enthusiasm for StarCraft II from all of our players around the world. We'll roll out new information just as soon as we can get it to you.

 

We are extremely excited about the success of StarCraft II and the positive response we've received regarding the Wings of Liberty campaign, and we think Heart of the Swarm will deliver an even better experience. Additionally, the eSports response has been absolutely phenomenal. eSports organizations are popping up all over the world, matching extremely high caliber players against one another. If you haven't had a chance to check out the exciting matches, I highly recommend you look into one or more of the leagues out there including the GSL, MLG, and the NASL.

http://us.battle.net...og/2852733#blog

 

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JP sits down for an interview with Dustin Browder (Lead Designer) to discuss details on the upcoming release of Heart of the Swarm.

 

http://tv.majorleaguegaming.com/vide...dustin-browder

 

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JP sits down for an exclusive talk with David Kim (Lead Balancer), in which they discuss Blizzard's work on balancing SC2 multiplayer.

 

http://tv.majorleaguegaming.com/vide...iews-david-kim

 

 

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Keep a lookout on this thread for more information regarding HoTS! I'll be attending BlizzCon 2011 so I'll be sure to update this thread with information and pictures I get from there.

 

Feel free to post what you find and I'll add it to the main thread.

Edited by GhoztMan 

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Lawl, that means it was real after all. Well I doubt anyone wants it spoiled anyways.. but if you do..

 

 

It showed Kerrigan in zerg form again, Raynor in a building looking for Mengsk, then killing him, they some some shit then explosions happen. That's all I remember, watched it like a year ago

 

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HAAHAHA ugh anyway yeah I watched the leaked ending a while ago. was not surprised on how that ended because I predicted something similar

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For some reason, I'm not too crazy about this. I'm sure I'll be buying it anyway.

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Do you think there will be a starcraft 3 in the future?

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I refuse to read the spoilers and watch that video. We all predicted how it was going to go down at the end of the first sc2.... UGh!

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I doubt there will be a SC3. I think SC2 is as far as it'll go.

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In 20 years I'm predicting it

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Added two new interviews with Dustin Browder (Lead Designer) and David Kim (Lead Balancer). :)

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I heard when this comes out blizzard is going to make some major changes to the multiplayer. like getting rid of units or revamp them for different purposes.

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That would make sense considering each expansion introduced new units to the entire game. Multi player is going to change along with it.

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Well there are some now more "useless units". The reaper is very rare occurrence now do to nerfs, Mothership is still a powerful unit but not used by many protoss players, Zerg I think is currently stepping away from hydras compared to previous patches. But yeah I think the reaper is utmost useless unless for scouting and harass but even then terran has other scouts techniques.

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