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SC2 major upcoming updates!

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Rui

Rui

Rui

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UPDATE:
It is now confirmed by Blizzard that the Arcade Beta has begun: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/6176111/The_Patch_150_Arcade_Beta_Has_Begun-6_1_2012

I have no idea what their source is, but this appeared on SC2Mapster around this time yesterday. I believe there is an ongoing Beta test of what they are calling the Arcade, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the Marketplace that Blizzard have been wanting to implement since Wings of Liberty. Someone somehow managed to get what you see below.

Personally I'm highly interested in the StarTools, for all the discussion that's been going on lately promoted by BlinkBoy. They say advanced users can use Discreet's 3dsMax plugin, but then they say it allows people to easily get models into SC2. I'm not sure if it's a language trick here, but it sounds a bit contradictory.

NOTE: The information contained in here is not official and is subject to change.
Click to expand...

Summary

  • Sc2 has been split into "melee" and "arcade", and maps must be in either the melee maps or custom maps list, NOT both
  • Major improvements made to custom games system- games now have reviews, patch logs, tutorial support, ratings, and much more (read the full list below for details)
  • Major improvements made to the editor, including a re-worked UI for the data editor, a cinematic editor, an AI editor, a 3DS max plugin, a far improved trigger debugger, a new physics engine, and more.

Global Changes


  • Sc2 Battlenet menus improved
  • Instead of "single player and multiplayer" we have "starcraft 2 and arcade"
  • Custom maps must be either "starcraft" or "arcade". They cannot be both. This means that melee-oriented games (like 1v1 Obs, or straight-up melee maps) will be separate from non-melee custom games

The Arcade


  • Players can search for games based on genre, overall popularity, star rating, newness, and recent spikes in popularity.
  • Players create an icon for their games, which will be what players see in the arcade list (sort of like the apple app store)
  • Clicking on a game icon brings players into the Game Info page, a section devoted entirely to showing off what a game is all about, providing play instructions, and revealing other important information about the game.
  • All the content in Game Info is under control of the game creator, except for reviews of course.
  • Joining public matches and creating private games is done from the Game Info page. This will be the portal players return to again and again to play the game.
  • The game info page will contain the following sections, all of which you will set up
    • Overview: This will contain the game description, as well as screenshots that show off the action.
    • How to Play: This is where players will find the Basic Instructions, How to Win, and Advanced Instructions sections. You can also include images.
    • Patch Notes: You’re able to update patch notes as often as you like, so players can see how the game is growing and improving.
    • Reviews: After playing, players can give your game a star rating and enter a text review. Once enough ratings are provided, your game gets an average score to let players get a general idea of quality.
    • Star Rating. Players can also mark each other’s reviews as “Helpful” which will ensure that the best reviews rise to the top.
  • Tutorials are supported! Players can attach a separate map file that will be a tutorial for players. This will allow you to set up a tutorial mission specifically for new players.
  • Games have their own chat-channels automatically, allowing your players to jump into a chat easily

The Sc2 Platform


  • Sc2 is now a streaming game
  • This means it will only be necessary to download a fraction of game data to get into the action

The Editor


  • Added UI XML Editor for adding and modifying SC2Layout files
  • Editor updated to use Visual Styles in Editor
  • Added high resolution minimap support
  • Font Style editing added to Text Editor
  • Added Data Editor horizontal auto-layout to better utilize available screen space
  • User-defined data system, accessed through the new User type in the Data module as well as the corresponding functions in the trigger library.
  • Cinematic Editor
    • New editor module with powerful tools for creating in-game cinematic sequences (not many changes from what we saw of it during blizzcon)
  • AI Editor
    • New editor module for user friendly management of AI wave timing and composition
    • Much easier to set up AI, instead of just using clunky trigger commands
    • Error Debugger
    • Trigger Debug Window support for breakpoints, stepping through functions, and variable inspection
    • Galaxy script code memory limit increased; 4x -10x more memory can be utilized depending on how scripts are being used
    • Added support for passing structure, array, and function references as function parameters
    • Improved Galaxy error message output
  • Actors
    • Camera Actor added for controlling camera through actor events
    • Scene Actor added for controlling global actor settings (Halo settings, Power visual hiding)
    • Light Actor added for creating lights in the world
    • Terrain Actor added for physics impact FX support
    • Creep Actor added for higher performance creep effects including creep engulfment
    • Ragdoll deaths and support for combat driven physics impulses
    • Added support for water ripples and physics collision based water splashes
    • Terrain squib support for tileset specific dust or snow clouds FX
    • Line and Arc targeting cursor support
    • Added ActorInfoDisplay cheat for live actor debugging

Game Engine Improvements


  • Game Engine
    • Max unit selection size increased from 255 to 500
    • New trigger event for Behavior apply/remove
    • New Stunned flag for Behaviors that allows queuing commands
  • Graphics Engine
    • Added support to define lighting regions in the game world
    • Lighting can now be set per player
    • Added unit specific Halo support for pre-targeting
    • Anti-aliasing support
  • UI Improvements
    • Custom unit status bar support added
    • Added new in-game pathing display that shows the path a unit will take on the minimap
    • Added self-cast hotkey support
    • Added Font Glow support
    • Added powerful control over frames, portraits, status bars, text, trigger dialogs and more. Full details, tips, and tutorials are being created to help creators take full advantage of these tools.
  • StarTools
    • Blizzard is releasing their company art tools to the community
    • StarTools is a set of plugins for Discreet®'s 3ds max®, these tools allow advanced users to create, modify, and quickly preview models and animations, including particle and ribbon effects, that can be used in StarCraft II custom maps.
    • This means you can quickly and easily get models created and added to sc2

Updating your map for 1.5


  • You do not need to do this for your maps yet, since this is only a closed beta
  • All game types
  • Set up your Type and Genre
    • Games published prior to Patch 1.5 will still be available on the service when the patch goes live. All user created games will default to appearing in Arcade, under the “Other” genre.
    • Creators will need to re-save their game in the 1.5.0 client version and select the Type and Genre where they want to their game to appear.
  • Arcade game types
    • Add a Game Icon Image
    • The icon image is the first thing players see. It’s a great opportunity to make a first impression on potential players - check out existing app-stores for inspiration.
    • Game Icon Images are added through the StarCraft II Editor.
  • Add Game Info
    • Game Info is where players learn about your game and see what cool experiences it has to offer. At a minimum, you’ll want to provide a complete Description, easy to understand How to Play Instructions, and some screenshots that make your game look awesome.
    • Going a step further and creating customized images (e.g. a diagram of game controls, or a simple guide map of the play area) for Game Info will really help you stand out. The old saying about “show not tell” should be your motto here!
    • Game Info is added through the StarCraft II Editor
  • Set up a default mode
    • From the Game Info page, there’s a big “PLAY” button that most players will use to get into your game. This creates or joins a public lobby, of the default mode you define for your game.
    • Alternatively, some games have players set up gameplay parameters after they load into the match. This is fine, but it’s recommended to make the setup process as streamlined and user friendly as possible so new players aren’t scared off right when they start the game.
    • This means you likely want to set the default to what you consider your “core” game experience.
    • Build a Tutorial
      • Tutorials can also be built and used as a practice mode for players to experiment in a sandbox type environment.
      • To use the Tutorial feature, first publish the tutorial map to Battle.net. Then you can configure your main game to point to the tutorial.
 
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MGCǂSpectre

MGCǂSpectre

MGCǂSpectre

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What was really good in War3 was having that Magos War3 model editor that allowed you to use 3ds max or Milkshape or even blender, then do the rest texturing, team color, particles in it. If such tool is made it would be great. Me for example and others, who don't want to use 3ds max and simply want to export some other software models to M3 without having to go through 3ds max can't do that (which so far I already learned as I had no other choice but that's like the only reason I keep 3ds max on the PC).

I find it nice that the game types are separted, everyone will be at their right place without having to mix melee with custom. Though who would care about melee cg when HotS brings enough ladder opportunities. You need to be a distinguished mapmaker to be invited, to me it bears no interest to see it early - it is enough someone to show.

OneTwoSC that made many tutorials about the editor gives a little demo:
 
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RiotZ

RiotZ

RiotZ

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eImtoR said:
What was really good in War3 was having that Magos War3 model editor that allowed you to use 3ds max or Milkshape or even blender, then do the rest texturing, team color, particles in it. If such tool is made it would be great. Me for example and others, who don't want to use 3ds max and simply want to export some other software models to M3 without having to go through 3ds max can't do that (which so far I already learned as I had no other choice but that's like the only reason I keep 3ds max on the PC).

I find it nice that the game types are separted, everyone will be at their right place without having to mix melee with custom. Though who would care about melee cg when HotS brings enough ladder opportunities. You need to be a distinguished mapmaker to be invited, to me it bears no interest to see it early - it is enough someone to show.

OneTwoSC that made many tutorials about the editor gives a little demo:
Click to expand...

i dun c ne demos
 

BlueStudios

BlueStudios

BlueStudios

Level 4
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"Galaxy script code memory limit increased; 4x -10x more memory can be utilized depending on how scripts are being used"

YES!!!!!
This will make a LOT of people happy. I know like 90% of map makers gave up on SC2 because of this one limit. Maybe it will bring life back to the custom map community now that its getting so much larger.
 

Statharas

Statharas

Statharas

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BlinkBoy said:
You forgot to mention that nothing there is official. The content may be more or less, or it could come by parts and not everything as a whole.
Click to expand...

i recieved 2 e-mails, 1 about general arcade info, and another about the beta invitation


Screenshot2012-05-18%2014_27_16.jpg
alright%21.png

jj.jpg
 
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RiotZ

RiotZ

RiotZ

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eImtoR said:
If you don't judge by the activity of hiveworkshop.com and go to sc2 devoted sites you will see modding aka mapmaking&modding has normal activity and the only thing that was done barely was modeling
Click to expand...

LOL, THAT'S A GOOD ONE.

http://www.udmod.com/

Look at the dates on the news, they are separated by months, and extremely scarce, look at active members, barely anyone, almost all guests.

SC2 modding is dead on the internet. HoTS is our last best hope.
 

MGCǂSpectre

MGCǂSpectre

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So Udmod, Hiveworkshop and WC3C are your criteria? It gets tiresome to bash every stupid post posted around here. Look at SC2Mapster, look at SC2Legacy look at TeamLiquid.net although that one is melee&esports oriented but still has making topics often, Blizzard subforum, gawd knows what else forums devoted to SC2 - I even used them for beta contests I do not remember their names as I use just 1 forum for SC2 and it is obvious which one it is and obviouly not THW. Have in mind War3 was in a similar state 2 years after release but ofc most here are 2008+ newbies to know. Not sure if it was trolling or missing the most obvious sites. No, I'm just wasting my time here responding to such posts.
 

RiotZ

RiotZ

RiotZ

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eImtoR said:
So Udmod, Hiveworkshop and WC3C are your criteria? It gets tiresome to bash every stupid post posted around here. Look at SC2Mapster, look at SC2Legacy look at TeamLiquid.net although that one is melee&esports oriented but still has making topics often, Blizzard subforum, gawd knows what else forums devoted to SC2 - I even used them for beta contests I do not remember their names as I use just 1 forum for SC2 and it is obvious which one it is and obviouly not THW. Have in mind War3 was in a similar state 2 years after release but ofc most here are 2008+ newbies to know. Not sure if it was trolling or missing the most obvious sites. No, I'm just wasting my time here responding to such posts.
Click to expand...

Tl;Dr

SC2Mapster is barely alive, I'm a member of Teamliquid that's not for modding. Don't even know what SC2Legacy is.
 
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MGCǂSpectre

MGCǂSpectre

MGCǂSpectre

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What barely alive? It has resources - scripts, maps, even some model edits. Just because you don't see shitload of maps unlike here in war3 doesn't mean barely alive. This actually speaks good - the fewer I see featured are nice maps, unlike the loads of pointless and stupid war3 maps that as some moderators will tell you - exist here.

Also if you check the activity, your thread will be on page 2 the next day, idk what 'barely alive' you mean. And this is only 2 years after release, have you seen War3 TFT - 2 years after release? Not much different with tools and things.

The only thing is that there was more modeling, you cannot get easier modeling and editor when you want more features and

1024x1024 custom texture DDS compressed with BX1/.. 512KB at best, the map compresses the import a lot except for sounds.. no way you can get war3 sizes with models and textures when these are better quality. Unless you make war3 style models and low polies which would be just meaningless when this game should make you do better quality ones.
 

Bribe

Bribe

Bribe

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I really hope at least some of this turns out to be true. Having built-in anti-aliasing puts a lot more stress on a graphics card's generic driver to do the job, resulting in lower FPS and an end-result which is likely of lesser quality.

If Blizzard is really doing an update to the user's experience of this magnitude, it makes me feel a lot better that I am building a computer JUST to play this game.
 

Dr Super Good

Dr Super Good

Dr Super Good

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Having built-in anti-aliasing puts a lot more stress on a graphics card's generic driver to do the job, resulting in lower FPS and an end-result which is likely of lesser quality.
Click to expand...
It puts no more stress than forcing anti-aliasing via drivers. The anti-aliasing is for top range graphic cards such as the GeForce 600 series so should be left off if your graphic card is slightly dated or of low performance. I will not be using anti-aliasing on my 275 GTX as I highly doubt it will perform very well in the average custom map. Anti-aliasing is optional and generally not considered a requirement to max a game visually (as anti-aliasing has no real maximum setting with modern cards capable of up to 64x or other insane numbers).

If Blizzard is really doing an update to the user's experience of this magnitude, it makes me feel a lot better that I am building a computer JUST to play this game.
Click to expand...
It is all part of HotS coming eventually. Like with WC3 Blizzard is making considerable improvements for its expansion. It is unclear if some of the extra functionality like creep climbing buildings and synchronized physics and tail physics is only going to be in HotS or if they will back port it to WoL as part of a generic engine update.

I am looking forward to pointers as function arguments. Finally structs will be useful and you can expect pretty amazing systems.
 

MGCǂSpectre

MGCǂSpectre

MGCǂSpectre

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^ agreed. meh playing Diablo 3

It seems some didn't understand - the cherry on the top of the ice-cream with this new patch is Open Games list. This is bringing back the War3 system where you see the current maps with at least 1 player in it currently waiting. I haven't tested but if the setting remains the way you last left it - like when you choose Melee only maps, next time you log on you see the same display of Melee maps only - you may get used to keeping the system like that forgetting that Popularity system exists at all. It may not be 100% like War3 where you could even name hosted games (maybe to disallow the usage of 'NO NOOBS' 'NO IDIOTS' titles') but at least it's similar to it.

I still do not understand - why they made so that you have to log out to cancel an auto-starting game. Leavers can exit even with log out if they are hardcore, it doesn't solve it. So far if I want to play some cg and not vs too low or only vs specific race I log in-out like 10 times per game start.
 
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