Starcraft II WWI '08 panel part 3: Terran
by Dan O'Halloran 
{ Jun 25th 2008 at 3:24PM }
Pardo then moved on to the final Starcraft race, the Terrans. The theme here they wanted to push was guns, guns and more guns. No Queen or Mothership here, just lots of units with lots of firepower.
The first unit Pardo talked about was the Jackal. It's a fast, mobile firebat that spits out fire lots of splash damage. With its speed and mobility it has the potential to take a big chunk out of your opponent's forces.
The next unit was The Thor. It's a large ground assault unit with two abilities. In addition to its anti-air flak cannons, it can self-repair. And if it is destroyed, its wreckage stays on the battlefield and can rebuild itself.
No Hero for you!
Finally, Pardo talked about some larger issues about the game they were working with. They didn't want the game to too heavily emphasize micromanaging units. They want players to have time to deal with the macro issues of resources, expansion and strategy. So they designed most units to be simple movers and shooters, not like the more complex units of Warcraft 3.
They also de-emphasized Hero classes for the same reason. Hero characters will mostly be met in the single player story mode and even then, as characters to talk to instead of taking control of them in battles.
In terms of development, the team is focusing currently on spell casters and special abilities that come later in the game as well as upgrades for base units. The story campaign is about one-third done.
The last point Pardo wanted to make before the panel was open to questions was about the evolution of Battle.net. With the release of SC2, Battle.net will be transformed to become what they hope is the premiere gaming platform for PC online play.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Arttemis @ Jun 28th 2008 5:50PM
Thank God. Leave the heavy micro-management for WC games.
Man, Blizzard is doing so much right with this and D3.
Mr. X @ Jun 29th 2008 12:48AM
Your'e clearly a total noob.
Backslash @ Jun 29th 2008 4:09AM
As much as I appreciate your sentiment, Mr. X, I have to agree with Arttemis. I feel like the realms of Starcraft and Warcraft have to be even more distinct than they already are--not just in terms of story, units, characters, etc. (which would be obvious), but also in gameplay. We all know people are going to micromanage anyway--so who cares what Blizzard's intentions to focus on macromanagement are anyway?