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Thaddius encounter recreated in StarCraft II
Ever wonder what happens to raid bosses when they get bored? For Thaddius, it seems he has been spending some time moonlighting over in StarCraft II. While he was there, it also seems like he's picked up a few more tricks and upgraded his armor. After all, Naxxramas was only a setback! IIam4 used Thaddius as an inspiration for his entry into the custom ability contest on SC2Mapster by recreating his Polarity Shift. While he was recreating this ability, he also decided to add a few new features of his own. Shocking Grasp A random target will be paralyzed and take damage over time. If any other unit comes within range of the afflicted unit, Shocking Grasp will jump. This can create a chain reaction. Spawn Volatile Spark Two volatile sparks are spawned, serving as summoned adds that should be DPSed down right away. These abilities combine to create a very interesting and creative boss battle using the StarCraft II editor. The amount of micromanagement required to keep all of your units alive adds a nice level of complexity to the boss encounter. I personally like that Thaddius is a giant Maruader unit. This video is a nice showcase of the tools that were available even in the beta and exactly what could be done with enough motivation. StarCraft II is set to release on July 27, 2010. While I'm absolutely certain it will be a fantastic game in its own rights, I can't help but wonder if we will see any more player-created World of Warcraft crossovers with the tools that are shipping with SC2. Can you imagine a campaign where the end boss is casting Defile while you try to micromanage all of your units safely around it? How about navigating your troops into position for a Shatter or managing Burning Adrenaline. Maybe a little Doomfire for good measure! This could bring a whole new level of fun to Tower Defense and Mastermind-style game mods! So, if you could recreate any one boss or ability from WoW in a StarCraft II fight, what boss would it be?
StarCraft 2 beta extended to June 7
As if your Zerg rushes needed any more fine-tuning, Blizzard has gone ahead and announced an extension to the StarCraft 2 beta, to June 7. Originally set to conclude on Monday, this gives players an extra week to see which race is the most dominant. Protip: it's totally the Protoss. StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty lands at retail on July 27. [Thanks, David]
StarCraft 2 beta ends May 31, returning 'several weeks' later
If you didn't make it through the entire headline and simply started panicking when you read "StarCraft 2 beta ends," the first thing you need to do is relax. Now breathe. It should help you to calm down knowing that the beta will start back up again after "some hardware and software configuration changes" from Blizzard are made "in preparation for the final phase of the beta test and the release of the game [on July 27]." That said, you've still got another two-ish weeks of gameplay left before the beta goes on hiatus. That's like ... 200 Zerg rushes or something!
StarCraft 2 beta Mac client out now
Yes indeedy -- the wait is over for you Mac types, as Blizzard has released the Mac client version of the StarCraft 2 beta. We almost didn't think it would make that April deadline, but it did, a scant two days before the month ends. Those of you with a StarCraft 2 beta key can roll on over to Battle.net and start downloading right now. The rest of you can continue drooling over our hands-on of the beta, or check out the writeup on the single-player missions that we got to see last week. And if you really want a beta key as soon as possible, for Metzen's sake, get to pre-ordering!
Map editor coming to StarCraft 2 beta this week, Mac beta a few days later
Tired of all that free StarCraft 2 beta you've been playing lately? Blizzard's upcoming patch should help to stir you from your pit of doldrums, adding the "Galaxy Editor" (read: map editor) for beta users. According to a report at Shacknews, we could be seeing the release by as early as today and as late as this Friday. Three or four days after the patch's release, lead producer Chris Sagaty says, the Mac Beta client will become available. Unlike in the retail release of SC2, beta users won't be able to upload their maps/scenarios to Battle.net 2.0 for sharing with other users. However, maps created during the beta will presumably be sharable when the game arrives on PCs and Macs sometime in the first half of 2010. [Via BigDownload]
Blizzard 'hoping' to release StarCraft 2 Mac beta client in April
This month, it's finally good to be a Mac-based gamer. In addition to the reveal that Valve will be moving Steam (and the Source Engine) over to Apple's OS, we discovered this morning that Blizzard is hard at work on a StarCraft 2 beta client for Mac. According to recent Twitter Q&A with the game's devs (catalogued here), the studio is "currently working on a Mac version of the beta and hope to release it sometime in April." Unfortunately, it seems that if you didn't register many moons ago, you still might not be eligible for inclusion, as the developers also reveal that "We have no plans to make an open beta at this time." Considering the game is still planned for release in the first half of this year, though, it would seem that even without a beta invite you'll be playing the game fairly soon. %Gallery-66757%[Via BigDownload]
StarCraft 2 release still targeted for first half of 2010
The StarCraft II beta is currently underway and already has us pining for the full release. As for exactly when that will happen, all we've known is that Blizzard plans to release the game in the first half of 2010. According to the latest BlizzCast, that's still the plan. During the podcast, production director Chris Sigaty stated that the beta should last "three to five months" and added that Blizzard is "still targeting the first half of this year." With a three to five month beta window, that puts the end of the test somewhere between May and July. Of course, there's no telling how soon the game will release after the close of the beta, but hopefully it won't take too long. The universe won't save itself, after all. Finally, for those out there lucky enough to be in the beta, you should know that the first patch is now available. You can check out the list of changes on the Battle.net forums. [Via Big Download]
PSA: Beware of StarCraft 2 beta scammers
As you may have heard, the StarCraft II beta is now officially underway. Right now, beta invites are streaming to email inboxes everywhere. As a result, scammers are out in full force as well, hoping to phish some account details from unsuspecting Blizzard fans. In order to help you avoid this potential trick, our friends at WoW.com have provided a simple guide for determining if a beta invite is legitimate (the one shown above is a gag made by us, incidentally). Simply follow the steps below to see if your beta invite is the real deal: Type battle.net into your browser (no typos) and it will go to the secure battle.net site appropriate to your region. Enter your account info. Under Manage My Games, choose Add or Upgrade a Game. Enter the Beta Key provided in the email where it says Enter Game Key. Press Add Game. If the beta is properly added to your account, you're good to go. If the beta key doesn't work, or if the email directs you somewhere else to obtain a key, it's not a real invite. WoW.com advises users to forward any fake invites to hacks@blizzard.com.
