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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

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Zeratul: "I bring tidings of doom. The xel'naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key."
Jim Raynor: "The key... the key to what?"
Zeratul: "To the end of all things."
―Zeratul delivers a warning to Jim Raynorsrc
Wings of Liberty
Developer

Blizzard Entertainment

Publisher

Blizzard Entertainment

Designer(s)

Dustin Browder (lead designer)
David Kim (balance designer)[1]
Mike Heiberg (senior game designer)[2]
Brett Wood (senior software engineer)
Chris Sigaty (lead producer)
Tony Hsu (producer)[2] Frank Pearce (executive producer)
Dave Bergain (lead environmental artist)[3]
Nick Carpenter (cinematics director)
Samwise Didier (senior art director)
Allen Dilling (senior artist)
Rob McNaughton (lead technical artist)
Andy Chambers (lead writer)
Chris Metzen (creative development)

Version

Alpha or pre-alpha as of October 2008[4]

Released

TBA

Genre

Real Time Strategy

Engine

Completely new engine[5]

Modes

Singleplayer, Multiplayer

Platforms

Macintosh OSX[6]
Windows XP, Windows Vista

Requirements

Internet connection to install[7]

Input

Mouse, keyboard

Wings of Liberty is the name of the StarCraft II terran campaign and episode.

It will be the first StarCraft II product and will be released separately from the two expansions, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void,[8][9] occurring before them chronologically.[10]

Wings of Liberty is expected to have 28 missions.[11]

Contents

[edit] Development

The Wings of Liberty beta is expected to launch some time in 2010.[12]

The final release has been pushed back to at least the first half of 2010 to give adequate time to develop Battle.net.[13]

The game will contain a method for learning how to play the other races.[14]

A collector's edition will be available.[15]

[edit] Campaign

[edit] Campaign Overview

The terran campaign will focus on Raynor's Raiders, which has become a mercenary force based in the Hyperion. The campaign starts at Mar Sara, site of the start of the original StarCraft.[16]

Jim Raynor is "the central hero and character of the campaign,"[17] which focuses on his fight against the Terran Dominion as well as his relationship with Infested Kerrigan.[18]

Raynor's forces are out of money and morale, but Raynor has been trying to reverse this by acquiring alien artifacts and selling them to the mysterious Möebius Foundation.[17] The arrival of Kerrigan kicks off all the events of Wings of Liberty.[6]

The campaign will have a clear cut resolution.[10]

Zeratul and Kerrigan will both make appearances in the campaign and have a major impact in it.[19]

[edit] Mechanics

The campaign is expected to take 20-60 hours to complete, depending on how "completist" the player is.[20]

In the terran campaign, players will be able to choose their own missions in the middle part of the campaign rather than progress through a set series.[17] The missions are designed to emphasize player choice, such as which technology to buy and missions to play.[16] The choices will be made obvious, and may affect the fate of some characters.[21]

Mission replays can be viewed and data displayed. Missions can even be played again in order to get achievements.[22]

[edit] Character Interactions

Jim Raynor will be the main character, and the player will direct him, determining to some extent who Raynor will become based on their choices. This is different from the "vague" player character from StarCraft.[16] The player will have the choice of bending Raynor towards good (by taking missions from certain characters such as Ariel Hanson)[23] or evil (by taking missions from characters such as Tychus Findlay and Gabriel Tosh).[24]

Interactions in briefings will also change, as Jim Raynor can interact with those around him (e.g. he can walk around the Hyperion, talk to characters like Tychus Findlay and his second-in-command Matt Horner and even play around with his armory's crane).[17] The player can choose which characters to interact with.[16]

Often missions will be associated with different characters. For instance, after fleeing Mar Sara, Jim Raynor can choose between rescuing the abandoned Fringe World of Agria or retrieving an artifact from fanatical protoss on Monlyth. If the former mission if concluded, a new character, Ariel Hanson, will be added to the roster of Raynor's Raiders.[25]

In addition, Blizzard wants players to understand the universe as a whole, so they will visit planets, get a sense of the geography, learn who the major players and characters are and find out about political factions.[16]

[edit] Sets

Raynor and Tychus at Joeyray's Bar

Numerous between-mission set pieces exist, such as the bar on Mar Sara where Tychus Findlay was reunited with Jim Raynor, and includes features such as a jukebox (which enables music to be turned on or off), a bulletin board containing useful information (such as wanted posters) and nostalgic pieces (such as a picture of Raynor and Findlay in the Heaven's Devils), and a TV set which showed newscasts informing Raynor about events affecting the Terran Dominion.[26]

At least some parts of the Hyperion's interior will be used in the terran campaign of StarCraft II.[17]

[edit] Armory

The Hyperion's armory is the favored hangout of engineer Rory Swann. It also contains a simulator to test new units and a construction crane.[27]

In StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, players can buy new upgrades here.[28] Players will be able to "customize" their selections which suit their playstyles, for instance buying defensive upgrades for bunkers would suit a defensive playstyle.[25] When a new upgrade is bought, a short video of the unit or ability is shown.[29]

[edit] Bridge
Bridge of the Hyperion

The bridge of the Hyperion is where mission briefings take place. Matt Horner is usually stationed here.[27]

The Battle Report screen allowed missions can be "replayed". Furthermore, alternate missions can be played, but will not affect the plot of a particular run through Wings of Liberty. Battle Reports of each mission are generated with stats ranging from probe count to the actual build order.[22]

Views of outside planets and star systems can be seen by selecting the "viewscreen".[25]

[edit] Cantina
The cantina

The ship houses an on-board cantina, where Jim Raynor has been known to drink.[27]

The cantina features TV sets (to watch the news) and a jukebox stolen from a bar on Mar Sara. Newly-introduced characters often congregate here.[25]

Graven Hill
Mercenary recruiter Graven Hill hangs out here.[30]

Gabriel Tosh
Gabriel Tosh hangs out here.[25] He is an arms dealer.[31]

[edit] Lab
The lab

Players who delve deeply into the storyline can finish research objectives, a type of quest. Completing enough of them will grant access to new technology. This is separate from upgrading tech at the Hyperion's armory.[32] These are available in the lab.[30] Dustin Browder is currently unsatisfied with the available upgrades, believing them to be too weak.[33] Blizzard is thinking of using "research points" collected from miscellaneous protoss and zerg relics instead.[34] It is known that researching alien artifacts will improve the stats of units.[35]

The scientist Stedman spends his time here.[36]

Zerg Evolution Research
Campaign

Wings of Liberty

Objective

Find 4 Zerg Chrysalis

Researched at

Stedman, Hyperion Lab

Notes

+1 Damage for Infantry[30]

Edit
Protoss Shields Research
Campaign

Wings of Liberty

Objective

Find 12 Protoss Relics

Researched at

Stedman, Hyperion Lab

Notes

+1 Armor for All Vehicles[30]

Edit
Zerg Mutation Research
Campaign

Wings of Liberty

Objective

Kill 2 Brutalisks

Researched at

Stedman, Hyperion Lab

Notes

All Vehicles Gain Bonus Weapon Damage[30]

Edit

In such spaces, such as the cantina, new characters can be found, and news reports can be watched.[25]

Mercenaries will be available in the campaign. They can be hired from Graven Hill for short-term contracts.[30]

[edit] Unit and Upgrade Availability

Units will become available in the campaign through missions.[28] The player can also gain access to upgrades for them which are purchased outside actual missions[17][37][38] in the Hyperion armory. Players will be able to "customize" their selections which suit their playstyles, for instance buying defensive upgrades for bunkers would suit a defensive playstyle.[25] In addition, other upgrades that will never be seen in multiplayer, such as area-of-effect increases or the ability to add both a tech lab and a reactor to a barracks will be included in the system.[39]

Each mission completed gives access to a unit or upgrade to a unit. Each unit has two upgrades.[40]

Raynor's Raiders will have access to some older technology, such as Wraiths, goliaths and medics; Raynor's been around for a while and would likely use the older technology.[39]

[edit] Protoss Mini-Campaign
Protoss gameplay

Wings of Liberty will include a protoss mini-campaign[41][42] based on Zeratul, focusing on the "greater threat".[43] It must be unlocked.[44] It will consist of a series of missions, and will include other protoss forces.[21] However, it will not include all units, buildings or upgrades, as its purpose is to tell a story, not to prepare a player for multiplayer.[45]

Other mini-campaigns will also feature in StarCraft II. However, Raynor will remain as the main character of the installment.[10]

[edit] Mission Types

The "Train Job"

Blizzard intends to create varied interesting missions, each with an interesting gimmick or unique strategy.[16]

The mission types will be varied; early missions are focused on acquiring credits and equipment.[46] One mission consists of a series of train robberies.[47] The third mission will be a hold-out mission.[26]

Other missions described include one where lava rises every five minutes, killing anything that isn't on high ground (Mining Your Own Business);[30] a mission where infested terrans emerge at night and force the player into a hold-out situation, but they become dormant during the day, during which the player tries to kill as many as possible (Outbreak);[30] a mission where opposing terran and zerg forces seek to steal an alien artifact from within a hostile protoss fanatics base (Tooth and Nail);[30] a mission in mission in which a lone ghost must influence a battle; a mission on ancient forbidden platforms or spaceship where the very space damages units,[48][49] a mission on a scrap planet where there are no traditional resources and scrap must be collected,[48] the "Thor" mission[50] and one mission will have walls of fire burn across the map and the player must complete the mission before being consumed by a nearby supernova.[51]

[edit] Storyline

Infested Kerrigan confronts Zeratul.

Zeratul encountered hydralisks (which he killed) and then Infested Kerrigan while investigating xel'naga mysteries. She had expected his arrival.[52]

[edit] Mar Sara

Jim Raynor was present on Mar Sara, fighting against a Terran Dominion takeover of a local colony.[30]

Traveling back to Joeyray's Bar, he met up with his old friend Tychus Findlay. Findlay offered Raynor a business proposal; "liberating" alien artifacts from the Terran Dominion. The Dominion had recently prohibited transportation of such artifacts, and began digging them up on planets such as Mar Sara.[53] The artifacts would be sold to his contact, the formerly legitimate Möebius Foundation.[26] Raynor and Findlay's forces teamed up to steal one such artifact from the Dominion.[30]

The zerg invaded Mar Sara en masse, starting at the location of the dig. The Raiders defended a town until the Hyperion could rescue them.[30] The zerg had, in fact, struck many Dominion worlds.[25] Afterward, Raynor had to choose between rescuing the colonists of Agria or retrieving an artifact from protoss fanatics at Monlyth.[30]


[edit] A Chilling Warning
Zeratul's warning.

While seeking a drink in the Hyperion’s cantina, Raynor was surprised by Zeratul, who warned him that the "xel'naga return" and that the artifacts were the key.[17]

[edit] List of Missions

Main article: Wings of Liberty missions
Wings of Liberty Missions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Old Rivals
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Public Enemy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Liberation Day
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Old Times
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Dig
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Zero-Hour
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Escape from Mar Sara
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Evacuation of Agria
 
 
 
 
 
Tooth and Nail
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Outbreak
 
 
 
 
 
Mining Your Own Business
 
 
Legend
Required Optional Secret Cinematic

[edit] Characters

[edit] Trivia

Such is the scale of Wings of Liberty's storyline that Chris Metzen believes that it would take at least three novels to tell it were it in written form, though nine would be the preferred number. He considers the ending of the game to be one of his favourite moments out of all the work he's done at Blizzard Entertainment.[54]

[edit] Videos

Campaign gameplay preview.

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Karune. 2008-01-11. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 25. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-01-11.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Teamliquid staff. 2009-12-03. StarCraft II Interview with Dustin Browder. Teamliquid.net Accessed 2009-12-04.
  3. ↑ 2008-06-29. Samwise Didier, Dave Bergain. WWI 08 Coverage - StarCraft II Art Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2008-06-29.
  4. ↑ Blizzcon Video Archive (Sonkie vs Yellow). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-10-19.
  5. ↑ Karune. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 39: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-05-28.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chris Sigaty. 2009-12-04. Interview with Chris Sigaty. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-12-23.
  7. ↑ Gunnar Petzall. 2009-08-17. StarCraft II Developers Talk Single Player. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-08-28.
  8. ↑ Mike Farley. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II Single Player Is A Trilogy! Kotaku.com Accessed 2008-10-10.
  9. ↑ Eduardo Vasconcellos. 2008-10-10. Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games. IGN. Accessed 2008-10-10.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 StarCraft Legacy staff. 2008-04-04. StarCraft II Lore Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed on 2009-05-12
  11. ↑ Blizzard staff. 2009-11-19. Developer panel. StarCraft II. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-12-08.
  12. ↑ StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-11-08. IgroMir 2009 StarCraft II Coverage - Day 2. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-11-09.
  13. ↑ Cydra. 2009-08-05. StarCraft II Update. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-08-05.
  14. ↑ Chris Sigaty, Samwise Didier. Blizzcon 2008 StarCraft 2 Press Q&A. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2008010-12.
  15. ↑ We are looking to gather some good questions aimed specifically at the developers of StarCraft II about their experience in developing the game. Fun questions are a plus. Submit your questions to this thread and there is a chance they may be selected to be added in a special video interview with the developers. Feel free to shoot out questions to all parts of the team: Production, Design, Art, Programming, QA, etc.

    Please avoid specific gameplay type questions or other questions better suited for our traditional Q&A batches.     Karune. 2009-04-15. Collector's Edition Questions for Devs. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-04-17.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 1). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-13-10
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 2007-08-03. StarCraft II Single-Player Campaign BlizzCon Preview. Gamespot. Accessed 2007-08-07.
  18. ↑ Rob Pardo. 2008-10-10. Starcraft 2 Trilogy Announcement. Wegame.com Accessed 2008-10-12.
  19. ↑ Dustin Browder and Thierry Nguyen. 2008-12-30. StarCraft 2 Wings of Liberty (PC, page 2). 1up.com Accessed 2008-12-31.
  20. ↑ Gunnar Petzall. 2009-06-29. StarCraft 2 page 2. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-06-29.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 2009-12-16. Exclusive Starcraft 2 Q&A (English). StarCraft 2 Source. Accessed 2009-12-16.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Deep.Thought. 2009-08-18. StarCraft II Single Player Fact Sheet. StarCraft Wire. Accessed 2009-09-07.
  23. ↑ Tom Phoenix. BlizzCon 2008: Starcraft II Lore Panel. StarCraft II Armory. Accessed 2008-10-12.
  24. ↑ Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch, Chris Metzen, Andy Chambers. Behind the Lore of StarCraft II (PC). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-10-12.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 25.7 Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 2). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 2007-08-12. Official Features Summary. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-08-17.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2009-08-19. StarCraft 2 Single Player Campaign: Videos, Screens, Details. StarCraft 2 Blog. Accessed 2009-08-29.
  29. ↑ StarCraft II is doing this to a degree in the single player game, or at least was last I saw. Before you pick a unit upgrade in between missions it shows a little video of how the unit or ability works. Pretty cool stuff. Bashiok. 2009-11-16. Skill Tree Icons Should Have Demos. Diablo III General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2009-11-17.
  30. ↑ 30.00 30.01 30.02 30.03 30.04 30.05 30.06 30.07 30.08 30.09 30.10 30.11 30.12 Zero. 09/08/17. July 20, 2009 Wings of Liberty Single Player Info. StarCraft Legacy. Last accessed: 09/08/17.
  31. ↑ Mike Schramm, Chris Metzen, Andy Chambers. 2008-10-12. BlizzCon 2008: Starcraft II lore panel. Joystiq. Accessed 2008-10-12.
  32. ↑ Dustin Browder, Nick Brekon. 2009-06-29. First Details on StarCraft 2's Mercenaries, and How Wing Commander Influenced Blizzard. Shacknews. Accessed 2009-07-01.
  33. ↑ Webnet. 2009-08-17. The Wings of Liberty Experience. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-08-29.
  34. ↑ Dustin Browder et al. 2009-09-04. BlizzCon 2009 StarCraft 2 Fansite Q&A - Part 12/5. Youtube. Accessed 2009-10-07.
  35. ↑ 2009-12-18, IGN, StarCraft 2: All We Know. Nick Nolan, accessed on 2009-12-18
  36. ↑ 1ThorsHammer. 09/08/17. StarCraft II Mission Guide Preview. StarCraftWire.net. Last accessed: 09/08/18.
  37. ↑ Frank Pearce, Bob Colayco, Dave 'Fargo' Kosak. 2008-08-21. Blizzard Talks StarCraft II at Leipzig (PC) (page 3). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-08-23.
  38. ↑ Frank Pearce, Bob Colayco, Dave 'Fargo' Kosak. 2008-08-21. Blizzard Talks StarCraft II at Leipzig (PC) (page 4). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-08-23.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch, Dustin Browder. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II: Making the Split (PC). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-10-12.
  40. ↑ Edwards, Tim. "StarCraft II: What A Rush." PC Gamer Magazine 189 (July 2009): 58-65.
  41. ↑ Also keep in mind, that Wings of Liberty is focussed around the Terran storyline - even though we have a Protoss mini campaign in the game, you will learn a lot more about the Terran heros. This why it is good to introduce them to players who have not followed their every step the last years - or in Tychus' case, introduce him in general. Xordiah. 2009-11-24. Questions About Content Drop. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-11-24.
  42. ↑ AJ, LordofAscension, Joneagle X. 2008-10-11. Live Coverage. Starcraft.org Accessed 2008-10-17.
  43. ↑ 2008-10-13. StarCraft II Zeratul cinematic. Gameplanet. Accessed 2008-10-13.
  44. ↑ Webnet. 2009-08-17. Dustin Browder Q&A - Wings of Liberty. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-08-29.
  45. ↑ I won't go into details, since we don't give out information on the campaign of StarCraft 2, but I can confirm that there will be a Protoss mini-campaign that lets you control Protoss units. This part of the campaign mode is of course way shorter than the Terran part, but it is very fun to have a very different playstyle to add even more variety to the game. I am sure every Protoss fan will love this part of the Campaign! That being said, the Protoss mini-campaign will not prepare you for the multiplayer as Protoss, you won't be using all units or getting to know buildings and upgrades. In general, even for Terran, it is not the objective of the singleplayer to show how to play the game effectively, it is to tell a story and do a lot of fun things, that would not be possible in multiplayer. The Challenges, mini-missions, that ask you to complete a very specific task, are more suited to give players the opportunity to learn how to use the units and how to play the game. Xordiah. 2009-12-23. Protoss short campaign in Wings of Liberty. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-12-23.
  46. ↑ Dustin Browder, Destructoid. 2009-06-29. Destructoid Interview. Destructoid. Accessed 2009-06-29.
  47. ↑ Gamespy staff, Dustin Browder. 2008-12-23. StarCraft II (PC) (page 2). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-12-24.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Stapleton, Dan. "StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty." PC Gamer Magazine 193 (November 2009): 10-13.
  49. ↑ Dustin Browder, Nick Breckon. 2009-06-29. StarCraft 2 Bonanza: Beta Still Not Dated, But New Screenshots, Singleplayer Details. Shacknews. Accessed 2009-06-29.
  50. ↑ Chris Metzen, Leord. 2009-08-18. Single Player Interview With Chris Metzen. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-09-12.
  51. ↑ Dustin Browder et al. Världsexklusiv Starcraft 2-intervju! (17:25). Press 2 Play. Accessed 2009-06-17.
  52. ↑ 2008-10-11. Starcraft II: BlizzCon 08: Opening Cinematic Teaser (CAM). Gametrailers. Accessed 2008-10-11.
  53. ↑ Blake Ellison. 2008-10-10. StarCraft 2 Trailers Gather Everyone For Storytime (2nd trailer). Shacknews. Accessed 2008-10-11.
  54. ↑ 2009-08-20, Starcraft II Story & Characters Interview. YouTube, accessed on 2009-09-08
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