Starcraft FPS Update. Major. news - UnrealStarcraft

Starcraft: Source Update Major

Hey everyone! We have some good, bad and interesting news!

First off for some may think is bad news... We are moving to the UDK! Now called UnrealStarcraft!
This decision didn't come lightly. We had to decide whether to wait for a big Source SDK update or to switch over. We expected for them to have a big update when Portal 2 came out and sadly that did not happen. Some of you will probably say, “well why not stay with Source? People make outstanding games and mods with it still.” Which are true, people do make outstanding games even with its heavy limitations. Before I get to my point I would like to say that all three of us started from the bottom up on learning how to mod. You can compare the models we had from 2009 and early 2010 to now, or look at this comparison under the update. With three people we not only had to learn what we wanted to do from the bottom up (Modeling and Programming), but we had to expand our knowledge to mapping, importing, scripting, texturing, and a lot more than that. Of course you get mods where 1 person does everything, but they do simple mods and not a full conversion. So Instead of learning and getting better at an outdated engine we wanted to try something more current and with good reason.

*Higher Resolution Textures/Advanced Texture Creation System.
*Higher Poly Limit.
*Built-In Dynamic Lighting (Which was deemed necessary to set the mood in game).
*Overall Easier To Learn For New Team Members.
*UDK IS FREE!
*In-Game Mesh Editing/Animation

Hopefully everyone understands the switch and the reasons behind it.

Now for the good news! We updated last with the Vulture model, and so now we will get into what models we have finished. (Click on Picture to get linked)

*The Zergling – No Texture – High Poly Version – Took a total of 10 hours of modeling and texturing.
We looked at several concepts and decided to go with the Starcraft: Ghost Version seen here.

*The Vulture – No Texture – Normal Poly –

The design was both made from several blizzard and fan-made concepts.

*Main BattleCruiser – No Texture – Normal Poly -

This was also made up of several found concepts.

*ARG Rifle - No Texture - Normal Poly -

*Test Face Modeling - No Texture - High Poly - Characters will be started when most of the story line is finished. Here is a example of a older gentleman.

*Zealot - High and Medium Poly - No Texture

You might ask why they are not textured. Long story short some of them have W.I.P. Textures and the others we don’t have time for until we finish most of the models. As of now enjoy our high-resolution renders?

These two models were made over a year ago, now see how much better we have gotten :D.

Animation: As for animation, we have the Battle Cruisers, Zergling, Vulture, Probe and more being animated a.s.a.p. Along with the animations we are trying to get into entities and triggers (Attacks and Shields ETC).

In-Game: “WTFBBQ WHY NO IN GAME SCREENIES?!?!” this should’ve been in the Q&A instead but we figured we address it on a more personal level. As of now we do have several models imported into the UDK as static meshes for testing purposes. We do have videos of them but it is in what we call “Blank Space” where we make a simple map and throw the models in there and record what their proper size should be and how much stress they put on the system once imported. So there isn’t much excitement there.

Textures: As addressed before some are being textured while others are not.

Mapping: We are learning what we can as fast as we can so be patient please! :D

Storyline: We had it on hold for a while but we are trying to develop an interesting story line that is fit for the StarCraft Universe. We do have the first couple chapters done but so far we expect to have fifteen plus chapters.

Bosses: We haven’t intertwined the bosses with the storyline but an Ultralisk and Archon boss should be expected.

Multiplayer: Designs and Concepts have been thrown out their but nothing has been decided as for what game types there will be.

Now for the interesting news here is the Q&A.

1. Q: GodofDarkness Sep 9 2011, 11:28pm says:
will this mod have a campaign mode or is it just Multiplayer only?

1. A: Our mod will have both Campaign mode and Multiplayer, but they may not be released at the same time.

2. Q: dragon99919 Sep 10 2011, 8:50am says:
Will we be able to fell this old cool StarCraft climat? I mean, you know... Same music, world really close looking to original StarCraft.

2. A: Yes, we’re trying to replicate the ambience and the environmental areas to match the original game.

3. Q: Cerjonah Sep 12 2011, 8:58am says:
Will all the Races Playable and are there aerial combat? like toss carriers against a bunch of wraiths?

3. A: Yes, we are trying our best to make all the races playable, though not all units available.

4. Q: Stugs Sep 12 2011, 10:04pm says:
Will zerglings be bot controlled like left 4 dead? because im pretty sure 32 players wouldn't all want to go zergling to make zerglings effective, since its all about power in numbers and all.
Also, will the vehicles be drivable? and not one of those annoying map props with noobs standing next to it raping the "E" button thinking its drivable.

4. A: Zerglings will be player controlled in multiplayer, but bot controlled in Single. Yes several vehicles will be drivable including the new vulture.

5. Q: Defcon6 Sep 13 2011, 12:38pm says:
Is it possible to use more than just one kind of unit/weapon? Will there be multiplayer, in which case, will you be able to control different kinds of units? And if you can, will you be able to control infested terrans as well? Will it be teambased colours on armour and soforth and lastly, will there be factions within the 3 race, or will it be race vs race vs race?

5. A: No, all units will have pre-load-outs and will only be able to use the given weapons, to most this may seem boring but we are trying to integrate a skill system allowing different load-outs in terms of stats.

6. Q: lol1234 Sep 10 2011, 5:28pm says:
Okay, I got one, will this actually be finished? :P

6. A: We don’t know :P.

7. Q: Ravious Sep 10 2011, 7:40am says: How in depth will the combat be? May it be on the same level as the original Starcraft series?

7. A: It’s hard to compare it when you change genres. It will intrigue you guys I’m sure.

8. Q: sbseed Sep 10 2011, 1:30am says:
tell me it has a better storyline than starcraft 2... course i dont think that would be very hard at this point.

8. A: Well we aren’t sure how it will turn out, but we will try out best to make it good.

9. Q: Paradigmthefallen Sep 10 2011, 10:24am says:
Will it just be shooting, or will there be some sort of RTS inclusion? Also, will there be stealth elements in it like the cancelled Starcraft TPS?

9. A: No, we haven’t planned on any hybrid gameplay. Yes, the ghost we be able to use cloak in multiplayer.

10. Q: Hiredcifo Sep 10 2011, 10:33am says:
ok one queschin
Requirements(progs and system)?

10. A: Since we just moved over to the UDK, we will release an average after we start beta tests, which won’t be for a while.

Also, we are still in need of serious developers, whether you started learning or want to help out as long as you are committed you can be a part of the team. Jobs include pretty much everything; Mapping, Modeling, Programming, and Texturing etc. We are not in need of any voice actors sorry, BUT WE DO WANT A STORY WRITER ON THE TEAM, so if you have a creative imagination, come talk to us!

Alright well hope that solved a lot of questions. Now expect even more awesome content from us in the future. We hope to have your continued support for the exciting game we are trying to make. Also we would like to state that we are not selling the game, it might be an indie now but it will still be free of charge. Thanks for reading!