Surprise, G3 Knights! (StarCraft)

All of our G3 Knights that are capable and willing to participate are welcome to join us. The specific details are in a thread in the G3 Knights subforum. Hope to see you there!

UPDATE: There are now screenshots of our melee games in other posts in this thread. Check 'em out!

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Several of our members have been playing StarCraft together for two weeks now. I thought I'd revisit this thread and tell the rest of you a bit more about it.

Players: As of this edit, Bostonian, Kyleena, Tes4addic, Bullet Sponge, Nirano and myself (6 players) have been online frequently, several on a daily or near daily basis. Occasionally Cray199, Natatattt, and even sometimes Lord Cryofax visits to play.

Games: Many games consist of members teamed up together versus an equal number of computer opponents. What is played is chosen by group consensus. Less frequently we have member vs member games in the forms of one on ones and team games with or without computers on either team. There are also currently two popular Use Map Settings games (UMS) among our members. For those unfamiliar with UMS, these levels are basically a game within a game (StarCraft) so to speak - I'll describe these two games further below.

Atmosphere: What can I say? Like the Guild itself, all of our players are very friendly. If you played this game publicly for just 30 minutes you'd probably see people throwing expletives and insults at each other ("noob!"), attacking their own teammates (backstabbing), and someone using some kind of hack/cheat. But, come play with us and enjoy no bull! And speaking of bulls, we never ask anyone to participate in a match they don't want to play (i.e. a member that doesn't want to play against other members competitively won't be expected to).

Skills: We have members of many different skill levels, but several including myself are happy to answer questions or give you general advice if you aren't too keen on your own skill level. I've seen most of our players send assistance to teammates who are under attack as well, so you're not in the fight alone. Most of our players have finished at least some of the single player campaigns. Some specialize with certain favorite races, with Protoss currently enjoying the most popularity, followed by Terran and Zerg.

Use Map Settings: Currently, Jail Tag and Worms are the only UMS games sometimes played. Both are excellent games that are fun and fairly easy to learn, yet deep enough to remain interesting after many plays. I will attempt to explain these in brief but they will no doubt sound more complicated in explanation than they are to play.

JAIL TAG

Type: Team Game, with 2 teams consisting of 2-4 players on each team
Objective: Put all opposing players in 'Jail' by destroying their unit to win the round
Victory: First team to reach the number of rounds chosen (can be anywhere from 1 to 10 rounds)

When Jail Tag starts, each player selects a unit to play as (some selections shown below). These are no ordinary units though - each one has some form of special ability, and these are the key to the game, as you have infinite energy to use these powerful abilities/spells (except Cloaking and Mind Control). That may sound silly, but the game is sort of like rock paper scissors in this regard - some units cannot harm other certain units, so you must work as a team with your allies to take down foes that all represent unique threats to your team.


Example: Move your guy onto the blue pad under the Battlecruiser to play as that unit.

When a player's unit is destroyed in battle, they are placed in the opposing team's Jail. Any players in Jail can be rescued and freed by survivors on that team, allowing their fallen comrades to re-enter the round and choose a unit again. In this way your teammates can return with a unit better suited to dealing with their team's remaining foes. To rescue teammates from Jail, touch this Beacon on your enemy's side of the map:



But beware! Hidden gun traps protect the Jails, and they not only prevent you from sitting here freeing your teammates forever, but will also alert the enemy team to your rescue attempt - even if you are Cloaked. Best not to stick around... free your pals and get out! A minimum of 4 players are required to play Jail Tag, but it gets especially exciting with 6 or 8.


WORMS

Type: Free For All, with 2-4 players
Objective: Eliminate (or out-live) other players (Worms) to win the round
Victory: First Worm to win the number of rounds chosen (can be anywhere from 1 to 7 rounds)

Deceptively silly and simple, Worms places you in control of a single Protoss Shuttle (your worm's "head"). Your Shuttle must stay moving at all times; if it holds still for more than a few seconds, you lose. As your Shuttle moves around, it makes a trail (consists of Zerglings, shown above) that no Shuttle - including yours - may cross without being eliminated. Sounds simple enough, right?

There's a twist though. At the start of each round you are given a mix of fixed and random power-ups. These power-ups are units that are carried inside the Shuttle and activated by being unloaded from the Shuttle. The power-ups allow you to attack other players and defend yourself from their attacks - but you only get the 8 you start with each round, so they must be used wisely!


Power-ups in the Shuttle. The SCV is a "Switcheroo" as shown by holding the mouse over it - simply click on it to unload it and use it, instantly switching locations with a surprised rival!

There are two power-ups you always get every round that you need to know about:
Death Spike: This launches a projectile from your Shuttle that homes in on a random opponent (you can't control which opponent it goes after). If struck by a Death Spike, that player is eliminated from the round.
Dig: This power-up allows you to strike anything very close to your Shuttle. It allows you to clear a safe path through a trail (Zerglings) so that you can cross unharmed, blast an enemy Shuttle that gets too close, and even destroy incoming projectiles if carefully timed!

There are a handful of other power-ups you can get randomly at the start of each round, including some different Spikes and some other power-ups that assist you or allow you to surprise your enemies with various tricks. It is best with 3 or 4 players, but can be played with a minimum of 2.

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Remember, there are screenshots from some of our melee games further down in this thread.

Last edited by SecretInfluence on Thu Jul 22, 2010 4:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

The future is predetermined by the character of those who shape it.

Nice! The only thing longer than this wait was the wait for StarCraft II! Well, perhaps that's just a SLIGHT exaggeration. Looks great guys!

-Bost.

"Consider me a fool for eating the best-tasting dog treat created by mankind's greed."

-Drowelite

Oh, count me in!

Sweet. I rarely visit here but I've always liked the place. I'll definitely play this!

Are you kidding me!! Man, and this morning my internet went out and I was convinced the site was undergoing an update! Somehow you two have me on the edge waiting for some change. I guess this is a first step!

Here's some screenshots from some of our StarCraft sessions so far, if anyone is interested:



▀▀ Bullet Sponge encounters the forces of ▀▀ Tes4addic in this three player Free For All.



▀▀ SecretInfluence and ▀▀ Bostonian team up to take out one of two computer opponents.



Both ▀▀ Tes4addic and ▀▀ Kyleena's forces collide and exchange blows before simultaneously retreating in a 1v1.



▀▀ Cray199 successfully rushes a computer as payback for getting rushed by two of them the game before.



▀▀ Bostonian breaks through a Terran computer's bunkers and gladly tears up its base in a 2v2 comp game.



▀▀ Kyleena and ▀▀ Tes4addic combine and eliminate a Zerg computer's base despite aid from its Terran ally.



▀▀ SecretInfluence attempts to ward off ▀▀ Bullet Sponge's tank drop with Probes.



▀▀ Kyleena's Zealots buy precious time for her forces elsewhere to arrive and repel this computer's attack.



▀▀ Bostonian lays into a computer's base with his Scout fleet, supported by Zealots from ▀▀ Tes4addic.



▀▀ Bullet Sponge descends upon an unsuspecting computer opponent with mighty Guardians in a 5 player team game.



▀▀ Tes4addic engages ▀▀ SecretInfluence in an epic Carrier fleet showdown!

The future is predetermined by the character of those who shape it.

I just want to say I've had a lot of fun playing against and with you guys. I know there are way more Guildmembers who said they have Starcraft though! Come on and play! If we get a few more maybe Crofax and Secret can stage a tournament or something.

Getting my games prepped and downloaded as we speak. Problem with me is I have one hell of a hectic schedule. Tonight will be no good for me, but tomorrow night I finish work at 12:30 EST, and I am more than willing to hop on at 1 A.M. EST when I get home and play a round or two.

Nirano

Chief of The CRA

Love the idea and love the screenshots. I'll try to find my copy and dust it off.

I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every single moment of it.

Would be a pleasure to have you, Lord Athas. Just post in the StarCraft Details thread in the G3 Knights subforum once find it, get it set up and are ready to play.

The future is predetermined by the character of those who shape it.

Made an update to the first post in this thread talking a bit about what our games are like; who plays, what we play, and explaining our two special games, Jail Tag and Worms, for anyone that is curious. I also intend to post some more screenshots of our melee games soon.

The future is predetermined by the character of those who shape it.

The Server is looking REALLY nice now Secret! I must say, I've had a whole lot of fun playing with all of you. I hope more people join in soon, as it really is a good time! I look forwards to seeing more screen shots when you have the time as well.

Athas, I hope you can find your copy soon, or perhaps get a new one at some point, it'd be great to have you join us!

-Bost.

"Consider me a fool for eating the best-tasting dog treat created by mankind's greed."

-Drowelite

I've collected 30 good 4 player melee maps created or enhanced by the online community and bundled them here for download and play. Simply put the maps somewhere of your choosing inside the 'maps' subdirectory of your StarCraft folder if you'd like to host them. And if not? No worries, you'll automatically get them as required from anyone else hosting a game on one.

Download StarCraft 4 Player Melee Map Pack (2.52mb)

It's a shame the online community doesn't make many noteworthy 5, 6, 7 or 8 player maps, because we could use some of those.

The future is predetermined by the character of those who shape it.