This week’s Q&A tackles the questions on how Starcraft units would behave in the game. Most of the inquiries are about how realism and game balance are being structured in the Starcraft.

From Starcraft2.com

Chat with Devs: Terran Ghosts are currently being tested as an effective Tier 1.5 unit, capable of sniping down high profile enemy targets, have an increased attack damage towards light armored units, as well as an upgradable EMP against Protoss and energy using threats. If that isnt enough, these highly advanced Terran soldiers at higher techs can also be equipped with a personal cloak ability, and launch drop pod reinforcements, as well as call down a massive nuclear strike. The StarCraft II Ghost will surely be bringing a whole new meaning to “You call down the thunder and I’ll reap the whirlwind.” Of course, I should mention, all of this is subject to change.


—StarCraft II Q&A – Batch 20—

1. Will it be possible to give more fluid and realistic movements to small aircraft with proper banking and turning rather than just abrupt sprite-style direction changes?

We are currently in the process of implementing banking animations for flying units, but playability always comes first. If the animations affect playability negatively, it could get cut.

2. With the Reavers no longer in the game, will the Protoss have any units capable of performing brutal worker raids? (Starcraftlive.net)

The Colossus is an excellent choice for worker raids, since it is able to attack from higher elevations, and can be transported by the Phase Prism. In addition, we are exploring some ideas for the Twilight Archon that would allow him to make devastating attacks on enemy workers.

3. Will there be a escort ship for Battlecrusier because Protoss have like many kinds of capital ships?

With the Predator unit cut, the Viking is now the primary Terran air to air fighter. In addition, the Viking no longer requires an upgrade to transform between a ground and air unit and is also built directly from the Starport rather than the Factory.

4. Will there be units who can trample opponents (such as an Ultralisk)? (gamereplays.org)

Currently, there are no units that trample, but have discussed this idea as a possibility. Nonetheless, we also hit the dilemma of having a trample unit that is able to destroy enemy unit assets far beyond its own cost of the trample unit, with relatively little micro.

5. Will siege tanks be able to shoot at targets in the fog of war picked up by sensor towers, but not yet confirmed by visual sighting?

No. Siege Tanks will only be able to hit targets within visual range. In addition, Siege Tanks firing from the fog of war, such as on an unseen cliff, will not reveal its location from the fog of war to its enemy, thus will not be able to be return fired upon.

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This patch is supposed to improve the stability of the game for Hellgate London players, so there wont be any documented skill balances. Memory leak issues, according to the patch changes log, should occur less now and some items will not spawn where they shouldn’t now. A new theme has also been introduced, the Guy Fawkes theme. For those who don’t know who Guy Fawkes is, just check the Guy Fawkes entry on wikipedia.

Guy Fawkes on wikipedia.

On a sidenote, This patch seems to have disabled the Halloween items, probably triggered by the change in themes. This was not intended by FSS so they are gonna patch it up again a few hours from now, November 6, 2007 – 6:00AM PST to be exact. The EU and US Hellgate London servers will be taken down for a few hours from then to fix whatever server side issues they have to fix and they will have the patch (for the patch?) available for download.

Here’s the official statement on hellgate london patch 0.1 from the Hellgate London Team.

——————————————-

Greetings all!

We’re excited to see so many people playing and working hard on their characters. We’ve been working just as hard to crush bugs and add features, and we’ve got some surprises for you in this patch.

Although it was mentioned in Patch 0, we’ve moved Elite Difficulty to a feature that everyone can enjoy. We’ll warn you now – this is no walk in the park. If you’ve wanted more of a challenge, you’ll get it.

Amongst the persistent changes and features introduced in this patch, our subscription members are getting a slew of special Guy Fawkes related quests, environments, items, and rewards. Remember, remember the Fifth of November – although we’re going to be celebrating longer than just one day.

Thanks again for playing. See you online!

The Hellgate: London Team

—

World Events

• The All Hallows’ Eve event has ended. Halloween item drops and quests are no longer available, although all the goodies still work. If you have Candy, All Hallows Visage, or Zombot – they are yours! NOTE: If you have the plans and parts to construct a Zombot but have not yet done so, the recipe is still active.

UI

• Many new UI sounds for better feedback.
• Elite Mode button now lights up only when a player has completed the main storyline.
• Added a queuing system to the request dialog to better handle concurrent party, duel, trade, and guild requests from other players.
• New Account Information in the Options menu.
• Character’s level now properly displays after they join a guild
• Party members are now always displayed in the Party UI regardless of how far apart they are, as long as the characters are in the same area / level.
• New error message/sound when a character attempts to purchase an item without enough gold or room in their inventory.

Graphics

• Overall memory usage improved, especially in Stations. This increases client stability, reducing “memory exhausted” crash issues.

Skills

Not many balance changes – mostly bugs.

Templar

Guardian

• Prayer of Healing cannot be used while poisoned.

Blademaster

• Surge of Speed effects do not stack with Adrenaline boosts.

Cabalists

Summoner

• The Summon Reaper cool down is now fixed and independent of other Minions.

Hunters

• Escape displays its rate of use.

Engineer

• Drones stats/items now save on logout.
• Drones now properly receive Armor and Shields when equipped with armor using the Armor Retrofit skill.
• Improvements to Haste Bot per-level effects.
• Molotov Assault now has a splash damage component in addition to its field effect.

Quests

• PDA quest item can now be picked up.
• Camera and UI modes only change for the player commanding the RTS quest rather than all party members.

Items

• Dual Focus and Dual Melee affixes no longer spawn. This also addresses edge-case bugs associated with dual wield weapons rarely disappearing.
• Rebalanced Health and Power regeneration affixes.

Monsters

• Addressed numerous sync issues with Ravagers.

Environments

• More chests have been added to the Underground Cave passage set.

Miscellaneous

• Random recipes (including those found at Crafters) no longer produce Unique items.
• Slightly increased character damage in Elite Mode.

Special Subscriber Features

Here’s a host of explosive features for our subscription members.

Themed Events and Items

Special storylines, quests, NPCs and events designed to celebrate special seasons or provide different themed challenges. Some of these take place every so often, while others only happen at a specific time of year.

Guy Fawkes (November 5 – November 11)

• Nemo, Master of Festivities – He has moved to his permanent home inside Templar Base with several surprises for adventurous souls.
• Guy Fawkes Quests -There are bigger demons out there, and perhaps they’re being drawn to the flames that erupt on Bonfire night. Track down a series of named monstrosities and explore new areas as you seek to keep these horrors at bay.
• Bonfire Nightmares – Parts of the city have been made even more fiery than usual by the culmination of increased demonic activity and the explosive nature of the times. Keep an eye out for these rare locations.
• Grenades – What would this celebration be without explosions? Lots of explosions… so many, in fact, that everyone gets in on the fun of hurling the Marksman’s staple – Grenades. Now, imagine what else you could do with them…
• Guy Fawkes Recipes – Making things is a big part of the remembrance of Guy Fawkes for the survivors in London. The ingenuity of Guy Fawkes is represented in the numerous recipes and schematics that crop up during this time.
• Guy Fawkes Treats – Bonfire Toffee, Toffee Apples, Baked Potatoes – all of the expected foodstuffs (and more) to keep winter’s chill at bay and bolster characters with a wide variety of beneficial boosts.
• Fawkes’ Flameguards – Handling explosives can be tricky, so you’ll want to make sure to find the right pair of gloves to keep your hands safe and sound.
• The Legacy of Guy Fawkes – The Techsmiths have been busier than usual, so you’ll never know when gear might drop that has a thematic tie to the celebration.

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