So I was in The Hive Workshop's chatroom yesterday and some of the users such as redmarine and Dr Super Good have informed me that creating StarCraft 2: World of Warcraft would be a good idea because of the following reasons:
- StarCraft 2's engine is far better than the WarCraft III engine - looks better, better performance, and more to do in it.
- Galaxy Editor surpasses the World Editor by a long-shot according to some modders who've toyed with it already.
- Easy-to-use and easy-to-customize, unlike the World Editor.
- We use all of the World of Warcraft exports as we can get: models, textures, animations, sounds, music, icons, interface images, etc.
- Making SC2:WoW multiplayer is less of a hassle as it is for Wc3:WoW.
- More people will own StarCraft 2 than WarCraft III. (a likely prediction)
- No need of third-party programs to run the mod properly.
But there are some cons as well:
- Blizzard Entertainment may force a price onto the project, requiring those who wish to play SC2:WoW to pay-to-play SC2:WoW first. It wouldn't be a monthly fee though - just a one-time fee.
- Not everyone who was looking forward to Wc3:WoW will be able to play - many people who look forward to Wc3:WoW have low-end computers.
- Very large file size. Although this will be the same case for Wc3:WoW, the size may be larger due to the fact we'd be using all of WoW's content, which is often a lot.
- If Blizzard Entertainment, for some reason, decides to notify us that we're doing something they do not like, SC2:WoW will be canceled - but at least Wc3:WoW will remain alive.
- Wc3:WoW might not live much longer, but we'd release a BETA anyway to show what we had/have.
I and the rest of the team are quite curious what you guys may be thinking. Do you guys approve of this? Development on terrain would certainly be much faster and the new editor's code which StarCraft 2 presents will also make the possibilities much greater. In the end, for players who can handle StarCraft 2, it'll be a much better playing experience than it is on Wc3:WoW. No harm intended against Wc3:WoW of course, but quiet honestly, if the Wc3:WoW team shifts to StarCraft 2, life for us and you guys may get better...
Comments?
And of course, for this week's update, Warsong Gulch has been a focus for me. However, not a ton complete. But to shut you guys up a tiny bit, here's a Work-In-Progress screenshot of what I've got so far. WIP 1, WIP 2, WIP 3.
The Horde side is about 45% complete (need to add mountains, fix the cliff that drops to battlefield, and a few other things. Then I'll work my way to the Alliance base as I add tiles and props and so on that lead up to it. I know the Horde side may look like $#!% because of the tile choice, but it's the best tile we've got for The Barrens/Warsong Gulch. As for the scale being "too large" or "too far", I'm still working on it, but for the most part, it's like that so it takes a bit to steal the flag and capture it. Would be a pain in the @$$ if your flag was captured within 1 minute.
I might upload more screenshots tomorrow. Stay tuned, as always...
"Blizzard Entertainment may force a price onto the project, requiring those who wish to play SC2:WoW to pay-to-play SC2:WoW first. It wouldn't be a monthly fee though - just a one-time fee."
That will not be the case, as you (as the author) have complete control over whether you wish to charge for the game or not. The only circumstance under which Blizzard would force a charge, would be if they didn't approve of the project and the charge would be in the form of a fine unless you stop development, but seeing as they are looking to promote their up-and-coming modding scene, that is very unlikely. So yeah, the final decision whether to charge for the mod will ultimately lie with you. :)
Personally I don't think they would force a price or fine. But some users at THW think otherwise, so I thought I'd just note that just in case.
I also don't think that they would force developers to charge for the custom content. After all, in their presentation on the new Battle.net they did say that although they make it possible to charge, they keep out of it and leave it up to the developers. I'd imagine Blizzard might take a share of the profits, as the custom content is developed with their tools and their engine, but I really don't think they'll force a charge.
And them stopping people from creating custom content is highly unlikely, so again..a fine (in my opinion) is out of the question :)
Yeah this seems to be a good idea, Iv been toying around in the galaxy editor its pretty cool.
As for people who's PC's are to slow to run SC2, I was able to get the beta working on a AMD Thunderbird 1.1ghz 512 ram, ATi x1600 pro agp.
the game is optimized very well.
Yes I'll back you guys up 100% since starcraft 2 two will be extremely fun in wow form.
Thanks!
Would probably be way cooler than doing it in WC3, though I won't buy SC2.
My computer cant handle Starcraft 2 man. The switch would suck for me.
And more people already own Warcraft 3 than they would Starcraft 2.
Cause you gotta realize that people torrent the game as well. Although it is stealing.
I think Craka has a point with the assumption that more people will own SC2 than WC3. Not only has it got a massive following from the Blizzard fan community, but generally will appeal to every gamer who enjoyed wc3 - so the potential will be far greater than sticking to wc3. And people who play RTS games, aren't going to buy WC3 over SC2 simply because the general demand goes towards the newer games due to better graphics, better gameplay, better support, better features, etc.
Granted, gamers whose computers won't/can't handle SC2 will inevitably be left behind, but that sadly is the nature of the gaming industry. Companies can only do so much optimising.
I've tested the SC2 beta on my 3 year old laptop and it still runs perfectly fine even on higher settings. I'm all for the move to SC2. Bring it on :)
I think overall (I haven't read the comments but this is my personal view) that you should probably stay with WCIII, its is Warcraft and has less of a chance of being considered a "threat" to WoW (like it would ever be, no offence intended) due to it already being Warcraft, the work is there and the community is Warcraft. Moving to Starcraft 2 has its benefits but I think a Warcraft based MMO mod on a Warcraft game would work better then on a Starcraft game.
I would stick to Wc3:WoW for as long as you can and get it released, and then afterwards move to SC2, if you create some of your models in better resolution (some doodas might not even have to), then you can reuse them in SC2:WoW :)
I'd like to see a somewhat completed version of Wc3:WoW first, but what does my opinion count in such a big question anyways
If we DO decide to make SC2:WoW, we'll definitely release Wc3:WoW in a playable state first to help satisfy our Wc3:WoW fans at least a little bit.
I think that is a Gay idea, but that maybe will be better after all
SC2:WOW Plz.