Much happened, and many things were discussed. Both a bit formal as well as much of it very informal and very "down to earth". This is some of the highlights that happened at the
RTS Community Summit

Some of the current higlights are:

- They very recently moved StarCraft 2 out in the open. For the last 2,5 years, not even Blizzard employees knew what
was going on in that room. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- After moving to Blizzard, Brader have had tonnes of old Westwood collegues try to find out what he was really on about at Blizzard (to no avail). -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Rob Pado talked some about how they create the StarCraft 2 Story. They start with a skeletal story, a bit about what specific events they want to have. Then they have this stoy somewhat more fleshed out with scripts of the actual events, and puzzle it all together for the story line. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- For those who wondered about StarCraft 2 Story, the hidden map in StarCraft Brood Wars is canon, so we might be seeing hybrids as non-playable enmies, much like demons in WarCraft 3.

- Rob reserves the right to change some details afterwards, in order to make the whole of the universe work better. He says balancing is concised of "math, sience and nubers". -- Making of StarCraft 2

- They try to create units that can't be balanced, and then make them balanced against each other. First some math structure, then type of damage / armor and how much damage. Then balance it in gameplay. Point is to try and make everything overpowered, but balanced. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- They see the game creation like it right now is in a "training camp" much like a "player tryouts" in sports,
and who actually qualifies to the team will change before the season starts.

- They will probably change things all the way into beta. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Asked about if they would allow some "axed" units to be usable in a map editor for, Rob says that there can
be problems if the technology used when the unit was axed is significantly different compared to the tech used
at release. If it would require much work to put it in the editor, it will probably not be included, but they want
as much extra content as possible in the StarCraft 2 Editor. Things they cut in beta have greater chances of coming into the game anyway. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Dustin Browder later talks about the same thing, that they really would like all these cool units in the map editor, even if they are not playable in StarCraft 2 multiplayer.

- Rob says after release, there won't be that many content patches (no mention of an expansion).

- Plan to use a similar matchmaking of WC3 in StarCraft 2. Any problems WC3 might have had is that it needs
a critical mass of players. Under that, the system doesn't really work as good, but that isn't the fault of the system. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Seems quite aparent that there will be some form of beta testing to the community. Details of how, or if both players and community representatives (fansites) will get it is unsure. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- They choose between having a new race, and keeping the old ones quite the same as before, or having 3 races, and letting them be even more different. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- They had concepts of a 4th race ("the fourth race never came as far as 3D models" Rob said)

- The choice to take 3 races came quite early. Warcraft 3 originally had plans for 9 races.

- Playing StarCraft 2 is awesome! For the most part have the same feeling as StarCraft 1, and some original starters, such as Barracks for Terran are exactly the same. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Browder admits that he does not have the same experience playing StarCraft 1 that many fans probably have, and isn't 100% aware of everything in the game. This should not be so much a problem, as it is a team work, and they have all kinds of different knowledge and opinions in the team, and the point is gettign teh rigth feel, and a fun game, and nothing else. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Bit anoying playing 2v2 and "E" is the new hotkey for probe (subject of change). -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Interesting how they changed supply depots to work a bit as in StarCraft 1, but with the added functionality of submerging, so you can take units through. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Psi Storm somewhat nerfed in damage, but due to smarter pathing of units, it can still do even more damage to groups of enemies, as more units are hit. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- After badgering Browder plenty about StarCraft 2 development process, and when it can be released, it is apparent that they do not have a date they want to match. No news there. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- On the other hand, he gave us an estimate that they were perhaps 60% done with the game.

- He basically says it will not take another 2,5 years before release, but then says "write whatever you want,
I give up". -- Making of StarCraft 2

- The process of game making isn't about time in that way, he says that in the beginning, it takes longer time to find out what "the game wants to be" and they find ways to work even more efficient on the way. That said, the last 40% of game creation would probably be a lot faster than the previous ones. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Pure speculation, but around a year or something does seem very probable, as all the game mechanics basically works. It is more a matter of game balance, single player, and making the game more efficient to fit for more people's computers. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- Having as many people as possible able to play the game is a big piority before release as well as gameplay.

- Terran and Protoss are playable. Zerg seems to be just zerglings now (more work behind the scenes, as Browder mentions that he knows some specifics on the Zerg Overlord, but isn't telling us).

- Changed the Archon, removed it's feet. -- Making of StarCraft 2

- The change they already made to siege tanks with updated graphics. The Siege Tank new concept was the original one they had for Thor.

The Making of StarCraft 2 by Leord, starcraft.incgamers.com

-[ Back to SC 2 News ]-