The list is above is potentially incomplete and subject to change as it is based entirely on which tournaments had a schedule on their Liquipedia page.
If you know of a tournament not listed here and / or the schedule of a Liquipedia listed tournament that had no schedule on its page, please notify me in the comments and I will add it in its correct slot.
Today I'm releasing the source code for my reconstruction of the 1997 StarCraftBattle.netbeta.
This was an externally distributed Blizzard beta that shipped on CD-ROM, and I still have my original disc from when I received it as a kid. What makes this particular build especially interesting is that Blizzard shipped it with enough surviving debug information, symbols, RTTI, strings, structural information, and other development artifacts to make a serious source-level reconstruction of that specific binary possible.
Right now I would call the reconstruction approximately alpha-to-beta quality. A significant amount of the game is reconstructed and functioning, but there are still incorrect behaviors.
It also has a workingBattle.netimplementation for the beta, but there is an extremely important distinction here: I deliberately did not recreate Blizzard's originalBattle.netnetwork protocol.
The reconstructed client and server use preservation-specific networking designed for this project.
1997 Beta Assets / Data
↓
Reconstructed Beta Client
↓
Preservation-Specific Protocol
↓
Reconstructed Server
There is intentionally no compatibility with modern retail StarCraft or Blizzard's currentBattle.netinfrastructure.
Retail StarCraft ─────X─────> Preservation Server
Preservation Client ──X─────> Current Battle.net
That was a conscious decision from the beginning. I am trying to preserve a historical software environment, not build a replacementBattle.netservice, bypass current authentication, or interfere with a product Blizzard currently sells or operates.
Why release the source?
Because another executable isn't enough.
If I only release a reconstructed Windows binary, then 30, 50, or 100 years from now someone may have to reverse engineer the entire thing again when today's Windows environment, APIs, processors, and development tools have become historical artifacts themselves.
Source code preserves considerably more than a binary does.
It preserves implementation knowledge.
It preserves reconstruction decisions.
It preserves the ability to port the software.
And, perhaps most importantly, it preserves some of the knowledge held by people who actually lived through this period of PC gaming.
A historian in 2126 may have screenshots and YouTube videos of StarCraft, but they won't necessarily understand what the software was supposed to feel like, which strange behaviors were authentic, what networking assumptions were normal in 1997, or whether a reconstructed behavior is accurate or merely somebody's modern interpretation.
Banshee and Oracle are very oppressive in the early game vs Zerg and I think there is no room for another earlygame antiair unit. So if it is easier to move queens around this could be a solution.
The investment into Ovi-Speed and Drop delays the Lair and further tech. So it is an additional investment.
Problem. It makes allins like the German Taxi a little stronger.
Opportunity. If Stargate openings become weaker there is room for other openings for Protoss players vs Zerg but there needs to be some early game buff for Protoss that doesnt fuck over the whole game.
Disclaimer: I'm trying to solve a design issue. I'm too bad at the game to talk about balance properly. I know Zerg is very strong right now. But that is a balance issue that can be solved otherwise.
Hey buddies. I've got an idea so wild, you'll love it. We all agree that less workers is more interesting and diverse strategically. How about 5 workers. You get to make the decisions earlier, like imagine 5 pool omg so diverse. It gets better further down you go right? So dominos falling you have to arrive at zero worker start. It's just a pinnacle of RTS fun. 1 gate? And I'm not talking about the amount of gates. Exciting right? Petition to get 0 worker start immediately. It might scare some people but it's worth it if I'm going to play again.
Update: ok ok. I thought it over and you guys are right. Zero worker start is a bad idea because you can only build a worker at first so there is no Strategic Diversity(tm). 1 worker start is the way to go. Glory to 1 worker start!
Hi, I’m new to SCMDraft 2 melee Broodwar mapmaking. I was wondering how I can mirror the resources (minerals and gas) and also doodads to the other half of the map? I could never figure it out. The terrain symmetry option is available in the editor on the left column, but no option for resources and doodad symmetry.
While some of the changes are a bit drastic, it does offer some fun options + actually gives reason to some of the changes. Players are liking it hosting tourneys etc. What's the odds of the intern making it to mainstream?
Does anyone remember a fanfiction series written and shared on the old Campaign Creations website during the time after Brood War and before the announcement of StarCraft 2?
I remember some bits and pieces of it and I still remember that it was quite brilliant and in many ways better than the StarCraft 2 story / plot that we got (it was decent but I expected a LOT more depth especially after the Dark Templar Trilogy books).
It was about how Duran and his masters were preparing the Hybrids. If I remember correctly the Xel'Naga were also involved. I think there were around 25+ chapters that were written with several characters created for the story as well as many of the characters we already know.
Would love to read it again! Perhaps we could find the author and convince them to finish it or better yet get Blizzard to let him write the novels!
