The zB Master Released! news

Hard work from Warcraft vs Starcraft is now in action with [ZanMgt]Gabriel's new take on Zergling Blood!

In zB Master, use the macro mode to swiftly command your brood while deploying upgrades and special units directly into the heart of your opponents, confuse your opponent with your “eye's” vision, and fight for the title of zB Master in this rapid-fire Starcraft-styled micro/macro frenzy!

- intense Starcraft-styled Micro/Macro gameplay
- custom interface and artwork
- balancing mechanism for kills & deaths
- original Starcraft music and sound effects
- approximate Starcraft 2's stats for units
- six player free-for-all

DOWNLOAD ZB MASTER (7.9 mb) Moddb.com

ZB MASTER: OBJECTIVE
To become the zB Master you must reach round's kill goal before your opponents. “Points” are then handed out depending on placement for the round, and after three rounds, the player with the most points wins to become the zB Master!

Each round increases the spawn rate of Zerglings and the number of units that must be killed to win, so that each round becomes progressively more hectic.

ZB MASTER: MICRO / MACRO MODE
By selecting your Zerg Beacon (/press escape) you can enter “Macro mode”, where every unit in the arena will receive the same order.

In addition to commanding all of your forces at once, macro mode possesses the ability to rally your new recruits to a location, purchase upgrades, and drop in special units. Switching back to “micro mode” then is as simple as selecting individual units.

ZB MASTER: BALANCING ACT

KILLS – Every unit killed earns a “zB”, which can be used to purchase round-specific upgrades for your special units.

LOSSES – Losing a unit gives you “Energy”, which can be spent to drop in special units anywhere onto the battlefield – even your opponent's holdout!

HANDICAP – If you fall below 25% of your opponents average underlings, you're given an extra Zergling every second until you've caught up. A mini-map ping is signaled for each player receiving this handicap.

ZB MASTER: SPECIAL UNITS
The Autoturret acts as your base defense and allows some temporary reprieve, but don't rely on them for too long, as they can be taken down if the opponent gains too many forces.

Marines arrive as your earliest available ranged unit. They're good at chewing Zerglings up at a distance, but can be outrun easily. Stimpacks give the Marines an extra kick with 50% faster movement speed and 50% faster attack speed.

Roaches start with +1 armor and nearly double any other unit's HP. Best used as a distraction or special unit killer, as their slower attack rate makes it difficult to withstand overwhelming forces.

Hydralisks have the greatest range in the game, with an upgrade that extends the range even further. Slow movement speed makes sniping special units their strong-suit, but in a pinch their 90hp can be used to distract a few Zerglings.

ZB MASTER: SPYING EYES
I've got my eye on you – Every issued order will cause the immediate area to light up in your opponent's team color.

With this extra edge in psychological warfare you can tap into your rival's thoughts by seeing exactly where their focus is.

We've run “zB Master” on the LAN over and over again, but if we missed a spot please let us know so we can improve it!

With [ZanMgt]Gabriel's entry into WC3 finally completed, he will now be joining us in finishing Warcraft vs Starcraft! Along with getting Gabriel's help, the restructuring of the campaign we did a week or so ago should allow us to meet our "Q1" deadline as well as continue WvS's development after the initial release.

More or less, we will be releasing WvS in a campaign map format (.w3n) instead of the "bolder" original plan of building a campaign out of a single map file, which ultimately we decided was an interesting idea, but totally and necessarily costly.

The new much simpler plan involves a straight-up melee fight against the AI and the prologue for the three acts of the campaign; the three acts being completed one-by-one after the initial release.

So, until the next update, why not try out zB Master on Battle.net? =D

BASE BUILDING
In this video, we show two minutes of base building in Warcraft vs Starcraft.

WVS: SPAWNING POOL PROGRESSION VIDEO
The Spawning Pool was modeled twice. One took about two hours to model and texture and animate, the other about a week. Can you tell the difference?