Coverage: WarCraft III Cologne Finals 2009 >> Terran Late Game Experience >> (pg1) (pg2) (pg3) (pg4)






On the Weekend of the 26th of June I was confronted with a big challange: Playing the game I have waited for 11 years. In addition to playing StarCraft 2 I would be attempting to gather information so that I could write an article about it at the same time.
Equipped with my iPhone, I left the voice recorder-app running (so that I could take notes for this article while playing), and started my first game on the Lost Temple map. But even before my first game I navigated through the nicely animated menu (for the map preview) which had a Battle Cruiser in the Background. The new version of Lost Temple looks really good; it has the standard layout of 4 starting positions (where the 12 is now open to the other side) and uses a new game mechanic of sight blocking grass very well. In addition to this the map got modified with two Xel' Naga Watch Towers in the middle of the map, which reveal a large portion of the map when a ground unit is nearby. Furthermore there are 2 high yield mineral fields at the 11 and 5 position (not the islands, but on the mainland, reachable by ground units), which were blocked by destroyable rocks. Although the map looks very finished, Dustin Browder declared that there were still some balancing issues which they are working on. Before we really get into the game I would like to mention two things. First, I am casual Gamer and enthusiastic StarCraft fan, so don't expect too much of "Gosu-play”. Secondly, you will find some precise information about tech trees, minerals, gas, buildtime, energy etc. which are of course all subject of change as we all know.


The basic, I am overwhelmed

The game looks great! As with everything Blizzard does, you see the love they must have for their games. When producing units the factories do small animations. The unit portraits are moving like they’re motion captured. Air units increase their height when flying over obstacles on the ground. The environment looks absolutely vivid. This becomes even more interesting if you consider that this was an April build! I was so overwhelmed that at one point I forgot to proceed with my audio comments for you guys (sorry)!

So started with my Command Center 400100 at 9, my Enemy Hawks at 3 as protoss. I sent SCV to the mineral batches scatter fine to free batches but I think a 3/3 Split is even more efficient. The SCV can now even qeue up multiple buildings and other unit move away when the SCV wants to construct at the same location. Upgrading your Command Center really adds some huge tactical variations: I upgraded the Command Center in my Main Base to an Orbital Command 15035(Barracks req.), which opens up for a lot of Build Orders: Are you using the the mule 50 to pump your economy, do you increase your Supply with the Extra Supply function 50 to max your army or do you even save all your energy in order to detect your enemy or cloaked units with the Scanner Sweep 50? What I didn't know before was: The mule has 60hp, it's gathering really fast and you cann call it down to any Command Center you have, not only to the one you are summoning with, it comes down with a droppod and has only one mule inside!

For better defense I decided to upgrade my expansion with aPlanetery Fortress 15015050(Engineering Bay req.) as it nearly covers your ramp when you place some buildings there to block, it gets an armor increase and a weapon turret dealing splash damage, which is good for anti-harassment and early rushes. The drawback is that you cannot lift off with it anymore, in contrast to the CC and the OC which can also transport up to 5 SCVs (when lifted). Later on you can buy the "Defense Range Bonus" upgrade in the Engineering Bay, which provides the PF with +1 Range and turrets for fair 10010080.



Read on the next page about the defensive abilities of the Terrans, including the new Bunkers and defensive upgrades.

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