A giant map doodad I'm working on for Lumen my Starcraft II mod
Put this arching across middle of map over empty outerspace/hole and just the 3 tips touching land where 3 bases are
Put this arching across middle of map over empty outerspace/hole and just the 3 tips touching land where 3 bases are
First draft of Command Center
And some WIP for it:
And some WIP for it:
Draft at a test scene to demonstrate the new skins as they are being built
Depending on your gamma/monitor setup it may look a bit dark/black, It's meant to be night but not actually solid black
No team colors hence why It's all a bit grey.
Depending on your gamma/monitor setup it may look a bit dark/black, It's meant to be night but not actually solid black
:-)
No team colors hence why It's all a bit grey.
Ok where do I start, Starcraft 2 Beta is finally with us, the game I have been waiting for 12 years.
Yes here I gush again about the game I hold so dear
Is this not the most bad ass Starcraft illustration ever made... my money is on someone in the cinematic team cooked that one up, you sir... I salute you:
Link: www.johnberube.com
I remember when the announcement video came out, an amazing cinematic, teasing me with It's visual depiction of a universe I thought id never see again, rendering in gorgeous 21st century definition:
An amazing leap from the originals cinematic
:-D
It ended with the phrase 'It's about time'
And then the developers proceeded to mull about for another 3 years!
But alas they did good work in this time.
I spent the last few months fretting about getting a Beta testing key to play and use the game and It's editor before It's release. As I had an idea for a MOD to sell on there proposed built in e-store.
Well after trying to win a key in a monthly competition which I managed to get 3rd place in (key on for 1st!) I was dying...
I watched as the beta ease release in pain, watching others play and enjoy it... and then I checked my inbox and I had only gone and received a key!... blood rushed to my head and face... I felt a sudden warm burning sensation as my face filled with blood, id imagine at this point any lesser man would have fainted with a mix of fear and joy.. is this real, is this a joke, what if it doesn't work I don't want to get my hopes up, I bet it'sa cruel joke and I'm going to be devastated.. I can't look...... I sat there stunned... then scrambled to see if it was the real deal and if it worked... and it did! and it was joyous, and it was everything I had ever hoped for (rare for someone as pessimistic as me)
Id literally spent the day just resigning myself to never getting the key and watching others thru an impervious metaphorical pane of glass stroking at it from the other side, id even downloaded the game illegally knowing full well it wouldn't work without a login, just sat there watching it install with It's sexy installer graphics and sound effects, and then watching it load, and watching the animated 3D background as the operatic music swells, as it teased me with it;s login screen and as it threw me right out with a helpful denied message of woe and suffering... on top of all this I was having worst day ever for many other suddenly compounding reasons... so receive the key was just nerd bonerdom.
So here I am, I have played it a fair bit, and It's outstanding, sure many kinks and irks but for a Beta, It's pretty damn spiffy one, It's prettier than I thought it would be, some units (Terran) look shit and having looked at them closer.. It's because they are shit. My outstanding optimism will sadly probably nose dive from It's dizzying height once the game is released, as no doubt every lil issue I come across now, I just assume they will surely fix it and improve it by release. But even if it nose dived it would still be pretty damn high. The only thing spoiling my SC2 experience thus far has been my loosing, but even that is taking a slow turn for the better as my brain scrambles to work out the complexity thrown at it without so much as a intro guide... you get thrown right in at the deep end into competitive online play, online play against other beta testers.. a demographic surely made up of mostly pro gamers and mad enthusiasts... that's my excuse anyway.
The editor now I hear may not make much if any appearance in the beta period, which is lame, but having the key will still surely be helpful in seeing the capabilities. And I have already managed to hack out some 3D models and textures from the game and re-render them outside the game. My MOD idea consists of a lot of re-texturing of existing units, so I can actually start that before the game is even out.
My modified Battle Cruiser, just playing about, some of the Terran unit models suck so bad compared to the others.
And Blizzards ooh hi-def realtime cutscene version of the Battle Cruiser that I rendered, man that is one bad ass model, let alone hat It's used in realtime for the cutscenes.
This game is highly sexual.. nerd boners all round
Starcraft 2 in all It's 3D glory below:
And the original:
Oh yeah bad ass graphics at 640x480 max
So yah the game is sweet, I don;t even care that I'm loosing so much.. ok I do care, but it just makes me want more. And I'm finally getting the hang of it. Though It's all relative because as soon as I get the hang of it, it will no doubt shove me up against even tougher players and I'll be back to feeling like a dumbs again
:-)
I still haven't figured out quite how the ranking works and how I ladder up...
It was disturbing quite how little it 'felt' that playing Starcraft 1 didn't help... I thought id be starting of with at least some semblance of competitiveness, oh no the game has changed quite a bit, just enough but not too much, just enough change to shake everything up and completely stop you relying on almost any exact tactic or build order you were ever comfortable with, and that's good... but I did spend and still do spend a good deal of time midst battle just going... ok wf do I even build to counter that unit I have no idea. But that phase will pass... well once Blizzard stop mucking about changing all the unit stats around during the beta period at least
:-)
I look at learning Starcraft as a real long term thing, not like I would think about ANY other game, as this is the only thing I'd ever dram of playing competitively and as a 'sport'. It's something I'll work on over years and enjoy for decades I hope, especially if they keep bring out the content updates with the 2nd Campaign and the 3rd planned.. oh yeah I'm a big fat nears when it comes to this... I even have a Starcraft 2 hat and shirt.. but I won those... and.. they don't come close to fitting me so It's all good... In fact I promised if I got the key i'd sit in all my nerd attire I won and just like play all day straight and fly in some twinkles or corn dogs or some horrible American delicacy and pretend I'm the fat comic store guy from the Simpsons and thoroughly enjoy the lack of balance nutrition... so goin to do that... watch this space