Touchscreen Starcraft demonstrates how RTS games were meant to be played

by Vladimir Cole { Sep 9th 2006 at 10:01PM }

This footage of touch-screen Starcraft (greatest real-time strategy game ever, by Blizzard, naturally) sizzles.

Lest ye doubters think it fake, consider: (a) this isn't the game's replay interface, (b) the mouse pointer teleports to the exact location of finger touches.

Looks real. Looks rad. Also looks a tad clunky. With an RTS game that's been coded from the ground up for touch-screen interface, we'd be converts. Blizzard, make it happen in SC3!

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Catalyst @ Sep 9th 2006 10:09PM

I remember seeing touchscreen Warcraft III a loooooooong time ago. I'm sure someone will have the link.

Number Zero @ Sep 9th 2006 10:10PM

That is pretty damn cool.

Kelso @ Sep 9th 2006 10:11PM

That's just plain cool in my personal opinion. RTS gaming @ its best.

Catalyst @ Sep 9th 2006 10:12PM

Found it. Warcraft III with touch screen, voice commmand, etc.

http://www.ggl.com/news.php?NewsId=2738

Aaron @ Sep 9th 2006 10:17PM

It's calle Advance Wars: Dual Strike, obvies.

Why SC3 and not SC2?

SC2 is probably already well into its development schedule. (Just conjecture on my part.) It's probably too late to add touchscreen features. Plus, we'd need consumer operating systems that utilize touch features before a major developer codes a game to use that interface. Games won't drive touch adoption. Mass market applications will.

BklynKid @ Sep 9th 2006 10:23PM

They need to wait till the first multi-touch screens come out. Having to wait time your fingers right in a heated battle could get annoying.

devJohn @ Sep 9th 2006 10:21PM

This is different than th WCIII because it's using a technology that's relatively affordable. I've had my hands on a few models of LCD touchscreens and they're just as the video indicated. The display is connected by USB and registers like a mouse device and can be used in the Windows GUI just like a mouse or graphics tablet. The first thing I did when I saw one was to open MSPaint and start 'fingerpainting' on it. They are a tad bit cumbersome to use with user interfaces because your finger isn't a precise pointing instrument and most things based on a mouse want you to click small/exact points. Then you have the right-clicking problem.

As far as what to buy I've used Elo 15" screens and the models that Dell puts out (rebranded 3M Microtouch screens). The Dells are obviously cheaper and I've yet to see any real problems with them. The WCIII video is more like a smart whiteboard which uses projectors/cams to display the image on a table or wall and detect your hands near the display rather than an active surface that picks up where you press.

Patryk @ Sep 9th 2006 10:25PM

Korean's would leave a couple million fingerprints on the screen per game. Doubt it'd be successful.

devJohn @ Sep 9th 2006 10:25PM

For smart whiteboards:
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART+Boards/default.htm

Touchscreens:

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&cs=&cat=prod&k=touchscreen

ShMgS @ Sep 9th 2006 10:28PM

SC3 because some people consider brood wars to be #2.

Dr.Swiss @ Sep 9th 2006 10:28PM

"Touchscreen Starcraft demonstrates how RTS games were meant to be played"

Yes, on the DS. ;)

PORT IT OVER, BLIZZARD!!! AND BRING WIFI WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!

Raynre @ Sep 9th 2006 10:36PM

StarCraft DS Wi-Fi would own my soul. O_O

Psaakyrn @ Sep 9th 2006 10:36PM

Unless they were developing 2 interfaces, one with tablet PC's in mind? You're using a lot of assumptions there, which though likely to be true, may still be proven false.

Eitherway, That starcraft demo won't be anywhere near the final version, I can see a lot of problems with that interface... and the warcraft demo won't be coming anytime soon, because non-single input touchscreens are still in research stage. However, it would be possible to use dual-input (and more complex input, for that matter) with the Wii, if one uses two remotes, but you've to be REALLY hardcore to try that.

In reference to more complex inputs, additional stuff that the Wii would be able to do: (I'm assuming remote only, and directional buttons)

Forward/backward: zoom in/out.
Shifting remote outside boundary box (not pointer): scrolling map.
Trigger: hold map (for rotations).
Up/left/right: configurable: attack, move to and defend, special.
Down: select. (like on mouse-based RTS, selecting a single unit twice in succession selects all units of the same type)

Throw in a headset for voice commands, and it should be reasonably versatile.

Jesse 3rd @ Sep 9th 2006 10:36PM

Let's see...Touchscreen..Starcraft...Hm...

Oh, I know! Starcraft DS, that's what I was waiting for Blizzard to make.

Hopefully this shows them how awesome that would be, and how much more money they would make offa us gamers.

Wulkar @ Sep 9th 2006 10:40PM

Me want.

BrotherEstapol @ Sep 9th 2006 10:44PM

I donno bout you guys, but I'd feel more comfortable with that monitor mounted, back-down, on a desk/my lap, and using a stylus.

Nice work getting it working though!

Oh and 1+ for StarCraft DS...SC64 is sitting there just waiting to be ported. ;)

john rambo @ Sep 9th 2006 10:50PM

Am I the only one who thinks this is completely retarded?

Paul @ Sep 9th 2006 10:54PM

#7

Touchscreen features? All they need to add is a new interface and voice commands for hotkeys (just rip motorola razr voicedial software, it works).

Anyway, any tablet with touchscreen can do this natively, they would only being supportive to the users. Go for it, I say.

makesevenupyours @ Sep 9th 2006 11:16PM

pretty cool vid, and i liked the warcraft one as well.

but as the summary above the warcraft vid said, the best warcraft and starcraft players are VERY fast with their mice and keyboards.

myself included. now im not one of the best players. but having been playing RTS games since i was 5, i think i have gotten pretty good and pretty fast.

i think any good RTS player understands that.

anyway...its a cool idea and im sure could be fun, but unless that kinda stuff goes mainstream, i wouldnt want blizzard to do that. its too risky.

futurebiblehero @ Sep 9th 2006 11:02PM

While not the same as this, I second the sentiment that Blizzard needs to port their RTS games to the DS. A portable WC3 would be wonderful (and don't tell me the DS can't handle -that- game). The DS was made for a Warcraft port.

yeoz @ Sep 9th 2006 11:03PM

I've actually been playing quite a few games on my Tablet PC, and it's far better a control scheme then a mouse. However, FPS's don't really work because tap-to-shoot doesn't really work out all that well. :(

Mitch @ Sep 9th 2006 11:04PM

Touchscreen or no, PC RTS games would haved to be dumbed down a lot to be playable on the DS simply because the DS's touchscreens are only 256 x 192 pixels each. There's no way you can communicate the amount of information needed for a PC FPS on a screen with such a low resolution.

Mitch @ Sep 9th 2006 11:05PM

When I said FPS in my last comment, I meant RTS.

Ben @ Sep 9th 2006 11:14PM

"Touchscreen Starcraft demonstrates how RTS games were meant to be played"

Take "Touchscreen" out and that statement is still perfectly true. Amazing.

TeddyN @ Sep 9th 2006 11:14PM

Starcraft DS
Drool...

(scurries off and performs a strange ritual involving goats)

Shipley @ Sep 10th 2006 10:07AM

touch screen monitors are kind not a big deal. every cube in my building has them. all it does is perform a single mouse click when you tap something.

Peter Davis @ Sep 9th 2006 11:49PM

damn. if only it was running in the real best RTS of all time, Total Annihilation. but still very cool.

Night Elve @ Sep 9th 2006 11:55PM

The day that Blizzard decide to port all its RTS to consoles i will hate them so badly. (I know yeah StarCraft 64 and WarCraft 2 for PSX)

... But seriously StarCraft only belongs to PC where a Mouse and a Keyboard rules the world.

Yon @ Sep 10th 2006 12:16AM

RTS Wii would be better for a PC to Consle/Portable adaptation

Rob @ Sep 10th 2006 12:15AM

I used to play Starcraft with my tablet. It works great. But its not as fast as mouse users, so you are at a disadvantage in multiplayer.

quicksilverzxc @ Sep 10th 2006 12:45AM

We need a Nintendo DS2 (bigger screens, better graphics), so the Sony fanboys can stop claiming superiority with the PSP and games like Starcraft DS would be more than realistic.

It's really a matter of time, 2-5 years maybe, its up to Nintendo, but anyone would be naive to think that the DS is the last version of their handheld division. Once we see Microsoft's zune, maybe Nintendo will decide that multimedia would be a nice add on for the DS2. I just wish I was one of Miyamoto's peeps, sigh.

Magnj @ Sep 10th 2006 12:24AM

RTS on DS PLEASE! This looks very cool though.

Serge @ Sep 10th 2006 12:28AM

What's this music? Someone?

pixelator @ Sep 10th 2006 1:38AM

An RTS on the DS isn't going to play or look anything like a PC equivalent. You'd need a lot more screen resolution and size to do something like this properly. The GBA and DS simply aren't the platforms for stuff like this. The PSP might not be, either, as it lacks a mouse or touchscreen.

On my Lite, playing Advance Wars and Age of Empires, I don't even like using the touchscreen because it and the stylus are so tiny.

On any console, including the Wii, you'll need a precise enough control (be it analog stick, mouse or motion controller) to make it work. And I mean PRECISE. The higher the resolution and more units you have on the screen, the better your selection tool needs to be, especially when time is of the essence.

Alkaiser @ Sep 10th 2006 1:24PM

I want to see someone take a chopstick and then use it to play Counter-Strike on a touchscreen. Headshots for days! :)

Will K @ Sep 10th 2006 1:23AM

"greatest real-time strategy game ever, by Blizzard, naturally"

Dem's fightin' words...What about Total Annihilation? It was way better than Starcrap!

pangit @ Sep 10th 2006 1:32AM

i am also with the people that think there should be starcraft on the ds (or any rts.) didnt blizzard have an online poll about an rts on the ds?

also concerning the resolution of the ds and starcraft...what was starcrafts resolution? wasnt it less that 800x600??

pangit @ Sep 10th 2006 1:50AM

well advance wars and age of empires are turn base.

btw how is age of empires? i thought about picking one up a while ago? do you recomend it?

Kevin @ Sep 10th 2006 3:04AM

I still liked Command and Conquer: Red Alert better than Starcraft

mb @ Sep 10th 2006 3:21AM

Sorry, Total Annihilation is the best RTS of all time.

soma @ Sep 10th 2006 4:05AM

Uhhhh, Total Annihilation sucks in comparison to StarCraft, no matter the nostalgia TA creates.

Now, back on topic. Using a touchscreen to play SC would put you at a HUGE disadvantage. There is no way it would be close to as fast as a keyboard/mouse combo. Experienced players hotkey everything anyways, and I can use my mouse almost as fast as I can think of things to do. So...no thanks.

oldschoolgamr @ Sep 11th 2006 9:58AM

A touch screen requires the same travel distance for your finger as a mouse does - you just get to push the screen instead of the mouse button and it "feels" more natural to not have to look/follow a recticle. HOWEVER - if you used a pointing device, like say the wii remote - it would actually shorten the movement distance and time - since you only need to change where you are pointing at (angle of pointer)...

True Dat

Ben @ Sep 10th 2006 6:38AM

I have worked with a computer system that used a touch screen interface and where ever you touched the screen the mouse pointer immediately went to that location so I can understand why this game does it too.

(It was a computer control system for a chemical plant designed by Honeywell)

Jim @ Sep 10th 2006 7:33AM

Peter Molyneux would complain about how tired your arms get when playing.

ThornedVenom @ Sep 11th 2006 1:29PM

Well, though I've never used a touchscreen monitor before, I think that this sort of control scheme would only work if the monitor was lying in a horizontal or semi-horizontal position: I wouldn't imagine myself reaching out for a vertical screen for 30 minutes in a row (the wii has a certain advantage because you can rest your elbows against your knees when you're on a couch).

Besides that, it looks very promising. Oh, and I'm a DS user. ;)

Moogle @ Sep 10th 2006 8:12AM

TA Nostalgia? It came out less than a year earlier. Personally I think TA was superior to SC in every way. I have a group of friends that still plays every week or two, and it's going to be one of the games played at the lan party next weekend. Just personal opinion, of course, but w/ more exposure I think TA would have been as or more popular than SC.

BTW, TA fans, check out http://aa.planetannihilation.gamespy.com/
and http://www.supremecommander.com/

Anyway, back on topic...
Yeah, multi-touch interfaces would be wonderful because I know I'd be tripping over myself any time I tried to do something quickly with a normal touch screen. Using a (only) normal stylus would solve the problem but slow you down a bit.

RTS DS: To address the lack of high-rez on DS, the game would just have to be designed to a scale appropriate to the information space available. It wouldn't be exactly equal to whatever your favorite RTS is, but it'd be fair and balanced. I'd like to see some novel interface design there. Design it so it can be held like Brain Age, like a book. Press either shoulder button to have the touch screen swap from world view to build menu so that doesn't clutter your interface. Allow custom hotkeys on the ABXY and directional pads [1] for your stylus hand to press. The DS could be a wonderful interface. Hmm... Anyone have any experience with homebrew DS development? :)

------------
[1]: Idea: shift to build menu, press a key and the currently assigned build commands highlight. Next tap on a build command reassigns that key to whatever you selected. Hotkeys could then be unique to the type of unit selected, or you could have the dir pad be global, ABXY be unit specific. Or, of course, dir pad could map scroll.