Info From an Actual Blizzard Employee

[Blizzardman]

I have worked for Blizzard entertainment for now more than eight years with the late legendary Bill Roper at my side. During my time I assisted in the creation of the original Starcraft, with Blizzard North for Diablo, and Warcraft II and III. I was going to work on the Frozen Throne expansion, about a year ago, when Bill and some other excs called me upstairs where the Vivendi reps work (We call it Diablo's lair). During a short meeting, I was told Vivendi decided it was time (ordered us) Blizzard began creating a new graphics engine. In much shock I discovered it was for Starcraft 2!
Now that more then a year has passed since that wonderful day in Diablo's lair, I feel it is time that someone from Blizzard actually tell our fans we are working RIGHT NOW on SC2. I do not think it's fair to leave you guys in the dark for so long; especially since we were going to tell the World in a trailer that would of been shipped with Frozen Throne. (Vivendi pulled it) Well enough about my back-story, Let's get to the details.
First off, Sc2 will be a fully 3d game. The Engine, while unique, will be similar to Warcraft 3, but will much improvement. A good example would be the code I am right now creating for deformable terrain. Sc2 will have full spectrum of Weather effects, some of the more unusual including Ion storms, Acid rain, and much much more. As units are upgraded they will change in texture and overall appearance.
Second, Sc2 will have six races. The old three will of course be brought back along with the Xel'naga, Niomus, and Koprus. The Koprus are the Zerg/Protoss hybrid creatures Duran was breeding in SC1. The Xel’naga need no introduction. The Niomus are a race of extremely advanced energy beings. Each race will of course have their perspective leaders; however, the Xel'naga and Niomus have yet to be decided.
Every race will have more than 50 total units to choose from all with vastly different themes. The Protoss have become more like terrorists, (instead of the mighty warriors they once were in SC1). The Terrans have taken a more aggressive role in the universe now having vastly upgraded tech to play around with (including fusion shields and portable nukes!) The Zerg will take a more middle ground role with vast unit production abilities and some greatly improved air. The Xel'naga, Niomus, and Koprus all will have special tactics; however, to this date they are still being designed.
Gameplay will be greatly changed in Sc2 versus Sc1. With now three resources to play around with instead of two and so much new tech, it will literally take months just to play will all of them.
Units can also be customized do to a completely new upgrade system. Battle Net is being completely rebuilt based upon a 10 Gigabit/sec LAN interface for all in server transfers with more than Five Terabytes of Storage for in-game cache, and various other items to assist gameplay and reduce lag.
There are many new features and changes/improvements, but it would take my hours to write them all and I think this is fitting for a press release. Blizzard is building your dream-game, you will just have to wait a few more years, but soon we will release that trailer you are all salivating over. (Count on the day of SC ghost's release!) And you will actually get to see a Xel’naga! But until then I guess this will have to do.

[assassin_666]

i dont beleive you one bit at least make a decent story :chair:

[Demon_Child]

I have worked for Blizzard entertainment

I have quit reading after that. :rolleyes:

[Dark_Soul74]

Your post seems reasonable enough, normally anyone who would try this immediately goes into saying that it will be mostly as you said(lacking some of the better terms, however), but filled with spelling errors.

I will beleive you for now, but most people will not unless a screenshot is given.

The anecdotes make sense too(Diablo's Lair, eh? That bad?). They seem like either it's the real thing or someone that planned this very well.

Most people are going to be skeptical after getting tons of these types of things, however, so don't worry about it. If you are actually telling the truth, and the trailer or some screenshots come out, you'll probably get bugged with spam about the features. ;)

Edit: PS Will this be easily moddable or come with software to work on models or whatever? I am a modder of StarCraft myself(Darn you 1.07! :mad2: ), and would like to know. One reason I am asking about the software being available(For purchase maybe?), is because of how annoying it is to have WarCraft 3 model creation, since you can't really do much unless you can find the right convertor and then settle with low quality results, or buy really expensive software.

I am also designing several units you might want to include in SC2. I think they are pretty good as of now...;)

[Ark-templarius]

I'll just quote myself from BF.

The Xel’naga need no introduction.
Yes, they do. We know little about them.

The Protoss have become more like terrorists, (instead of the mighty warriors they once were in SC1).
That seems hard to believe because that crumbles the foundations of their beliefs.

and portable nukes!
What was wrong with the Tactical ICBM Silos?

In short, if you are a Blizzard representative, why didn't you share details of SC: Ghost for fortification? The Ghost section of Blizzard.com hasn't been updated since October.

[IceFlare]

For now, I have wishful thinking yet I harbor great doubts about this.

[Geno]

Really... I could get excited, but as of now... I'm just going to go 'Nice...' and leave it at that. If you really CAN prove it, send some screenshots or something. You have to understand, if you can get us PROOF of it, we might believe you, but until we have that, we won't believe much, for all the people claiming they know what's going on. If you worked for Blizzard, you would know that ;)

~Larry "Geno" Meyers

[Doom_Dragoon]

Well, lets analyze this, shall we?

First off, Sc2 will be a fully 3d game. The Engine, while unique, will be similar to Warcraft 3, but will much improvement. A good example would be the code I am right now creating for deformable terrain. Sc2 will have full spectrum of Weather effects, some of the more unusual including Ion storms, Acid rain, and much much more. As units are upgraded they will change in texture and overall appearance.
Seems reasonable enough. Sounds realistic too.
Second, Sc2 will have six races. The old three will of course be brought back along with the Xel'naga, Niomus, and Koprus. The Koprus are the Zerg/Protoss hybrid creatures Duran was breeding in SC1. The Xel’naga need no introduction. The Niomus are a race of extremely advanced energy beings. Each race will of course have their perspective leaders; however, the Xel'naga and Niomus have yet to be decided.
Niomus, now why does their description remind of the Protoss...?
Every race will have more than 50 total units to choose from all with vastly different themes. The Protoss have become more like terrorists, (instead of the mighty warriors they once were in SC1). The Terrans have taken a more aggressive role in the universe now having vastly upgraded tech to play around with (including fusion shields and portable nukes!) The Zerg will take a more middle ground role with vast unit production abilities and some greatly improved air. The Xel'naga, Niomus, and Koprus all will have special tactics; however, to this date they are still being designed.
Gameplay will be greatly changed in Sc2 versus Sc1. With now three resources to play around with instead of two and so much new tech, it will literally take months just to play will all of them.
Units can also be customized do to a completely new upgrade system. Battle Net is being completely rebuilt based upon a 10 Gigabit/sec LAN interface for all in server transfers with more than Five Terabytes of Storage for in-game cache, and various other items to assist gameplay and reduce lag.50+ units per? 50 * 6 = 300. That's quite a bit, don't you think? So the Protoss became terrorist, the Niomus became the Protoss, the Terran became the Zerg, the Zerg became the Terran. 3 resources? That's what they did with Warcraft 2, isn't it? Customizeable units? (cough) Warcraft 3. The bnet thing seems reasonable I guess...

All in all, I say utter bs, but hey, what do I know...?

[Valjean]

Energy beings and Psionic beings aren't the same. -_-

[WeekendLazyness]

The biggest giveaway:
Battle Net is being completely rebuilt based upon a 10 Gigabit/sec LAN interface for all in server transfers with more than Five Terabytes of Storage for in-game cache, and various other items to assist gameplay and reduce lag.
Blizzard doesn't own the servers. I know AT&T hosts at least some, and that figure is really unrealistic for a WAN interface.

Oh, and you would be fired if you were a Blizzard employee and were posting this.

[assassin_666]

Your post seems reasonable enough, normally anyone who would try this immediately goes into saying that it will be mostly as you said(lacking some of the better terms, however), but filled with spelling errors.

I will beleive you for now, but most people will not unless a screenshot is given.

The anecdotes make sense too(Diablo's Lair, eh? That bad?). They seem like either it's the real thing or someone that planned this very well.

Most people are going to be skeptical after getting tons of these types of things, however, so don't worry about it. If you are actually telling the truth, and the trailer or some screenshots come out, you'll probably get bugged with spam about the features. ;)

Edit: PS Will this be easily moddable or come with software to work on models or whatever? I am a modder of StarCraft myself(Darn you 1.07! :mad2: ), and would like to know. One reason I am asking about the software being available(For purchase maybe?), is because of how annoying it is to have WarCraft 3 model creation, since you can't really do much unless you can find the right convertor and then settle with low quality results, or buy really expensive software.

I am also designing several units you might want to include in SC2. I think they are pretty good as of now...;)
WTF are you on crack that is a horrible story, portable nukes, 6 races, and 50 units per race
im not sure if blizzard will be able to make sc 2 good but blizzard isnt that fucking retarded and insane

[ZeroDarkStar]

If you truly worked for Blizzard, you'd have lost your job by now.

[Battlecruiser]

yeah most probably it is a lie.

[Fenguin]

Oh wow! You must feel so smart after posting this! So you're assuming that we're all idiots who are so desperate for more Blizzard information that we'd believe such a story. I'm sorry, but the majority of the world is more educated than that.

But I admit that you have some talent. Not many people can write such that interesting story that even some educated people might find true.

I have but one question: What's your name? Ooohhh... you got served! :D

[StealthyDeath]

100% Fake, just like this one that was spread around since StarcraftGateway put it up. Least this new one has better spelling and grammer.


Hello. We at Blizzard Entertainment like to let the fans know what's going on with our products. For this reason, we have decided to release some StarCraft 2 information to some of our fans' sites. We give you permission to post this information on your site.

First, there will be 4 races, Terran, Protoss, Zerg, and the Protoss/Zerg hybrid, called Vanix. Each race will have 5 new units, 2 new buildings, and new upgrades. For the Terrans, they will have: Rocketeer (shoots rockets, has splash damage), Heavy Cruiser (improved Battle Cruiser, used in heavy assault situations), Wraith Bomber (it's a bomber), Wriath Kamikaze (like the Zerg's Scourge, but has guns too), and Cannon (not like the Protoss cannon, but more of a tactical strike cannon, immobile) The Protoss will have: Mothership (improved carrier, holds 20 interceptors, more health, more shields), Nomad (physically improved Zealot, with an energy rifle), High Archon (a Dark Templar/High Templar meld, it will be like a Dark Archon, can mind control, and attack), Walker (combination of 5 Dragoons, slow, but very powerful), and Exploder (name may change by release, it's just like an Observer, but can be sent in to detonate inside an enemy base.) The Zerg will have: Hyperlisk (Ult! ralisk's evolved stage, much quicker, and much more powerful, can burrow), Acid Colony (attacks both ground and air with acid), Creeper (does not attack, only moves underground, used for spying), King (like a Queen, but can attack, and infest any building of any race that produces soldiers, thus making things like Infested Siege Tanks that roll into areas and explode), and finally Bladeling (a bigger version of a Zergling, stands upright, and wields blades for arms.)

Second, here are some of the upgrades (some, not all, there are many more than this). The Terrans will have: The ability to make any building fly (including supply depots), Omega Ray (like the Battle Cruiser's Yamato gun, the Heavy Cruiser's Omega Ray will do much more damage), and (one of our favorites), the ability to eject from a vehicle. Let's say a Siege Tank is about to be destroyed, you can eject the person inside, and you'll be able to run away, thus saving a person for later use. The people inside the vehicles will be statistically better than Marines, they'll have more health, do more damage, and have better range. Some Protoss upgrades include: Pylon mobility (yes, now you will be able to move your Pylons. It will be wheel based, so it can't travel over water.), Dragoon Cloak (you'll be able to cloak your Dragoons with this, we're not sure if we will have this for Walkers though), and Fortify (a High Archon ability, it channels the shields of the High Archon into e! ither a building or another unit. Zerg upgrades will include: Overlord bombing (you'll be able to pick up bombs with overlords, and instead of just spying with them, drop bombs on your enemies) Zergling Acidic Sac (will allow Zerglings to spit acid), and Hyperlisk Trample (if a Hyperlisk encounters a small unit like a Marine, it can simply walk all over him and kill him) There will be some added graphic effects too, if you destroy a Battle Cruiser, it may either explode in the air (depending on the force of the blow) or it may fall to the ground, causing damage. Another cool effect we have planned, sometime when you destroy a Siege Tank, you'll see the driver fly into the air, then plummet to the ground. We also plan the following: If a machine based unit is destroyed, it does damage to the units around it.

We do not have much information on the Vanix race, we have just started working on them. We may even throw in a hidden mission or two, or even a hidden race. The cheat codes will be changed, and they will still be disabled on Battle.net. Speaking of Battle.net, it will be possible for 14 players to compete in a match, and it will be possible to change settings (day/night, fog thickness, etc.) Alliances will be chosen before the match starts, and cannot be broken. You will be able to ally with the computer as well.

[Shinigami]

Blizzard is building your dream-game, you will just have to wait a few more years (...)
From the sound of your description it would take years simply to balance the six races and three hundred units, not to mention integrate the weather to do whatever you've aimed for without being ridiculously overpowered.

And I'll ask one thing just because it would be a crime not to: why are you posting your grammatically incorrect press release in a fan forum as opposed to the official Blizzard web site? Come to think of it, why is an employee who codes even making a press release?

[Battlecruiser]

From the sound of your description it would take years simply to balance the six races and three hundred units, not to mention integrate the weather to do whatever you've aimed for without being ridiculously overpowered.

And I'll ask one thing just because it would be a crime not to: why are you posting your grammatically incorrect press release in a fan forum as opposed to the official Blizzard web site? Come to think of it, why is an employee who codes even making a press release?

exactly why it is a huge lie

[Achelus]

During my time I assisted in the creation of the original Starcraft, with Blizzard North for Diablo, and Warcraft II and III.
Everyone already bashed the crap out of you, but I'll put one more down. Your effort to make it look like you knew the difference between Blizz North and Blizzard failed.

[blkmage]

From the sound of your description it would take years simply to balance the six races and three hundred units, not to mention integrate the weather to do whatever you've aimed for without being ridiculously overpowered.

And I'll ask one thing just because it would be a crime not to: why are you posting your grammatically incorrect press release in a fan forum as opposed to the official Blizzard web site? Come to think of it, why is an employee who codes even making a press release?
Because they want a new job.

[Demon_Child]

I had stopped reading after the "I have worked for Blizzard entertainment," because entertainment is supposted to have a "E" not an "e". Does this guy really think that I am stupid enough to fall for that bullshit?

[UED77]

Hmpf. This reminds me of CJRMB and the campaign contest... altho I'm sure that this one IS fake.

UED77

[Battlecruiser]

If you truly worked for Blizzard, you'd have lost your job by now.

yeah but he never gave his name so they wouldn't know who to fire.

[Fenguin]

Um... how many people 1) have worked side-by-side with Bill Roper, 2) were specifically asked to go into the "Diablo's Lair" to be shown secret stuff, 3) worked on almost every game Blizzard has ever made? Not many; I would say about... um... 0-2. Oh, and who also can't write with the spelling and the grammar of a twelve-year-old.

[Battlecruiser]

Um... how many people 1) have worked side-by-side with Bill Roper, 2) were specifically asked to go into the "Diablo's Lair" to be shown secret stuff, 3) worked on almost every game Blizzard has ever made? Not many; I would say about... um... 0-2. Oh, and who also can't write with the spelling and the grammar of a twelve-year-old.

haha not too many.

[ZeroDarkStar]

yeah but he never gave his name so they wouldn't know who to fire.

Easily traceable.

[BSTRhino]

hehe, good joke.

[Blizzardman]

I will address some of your issues. First off, Blizzard can eat shit and die. People I have worked with for eight years were fired for trying to keep the idea Blizzard was founded upon alive. Vivendi has clamped down on us like a mighty hand that just won't let go. Anyone who gets in its way is removed. Second, all Blizzard games have a six month-Year programming stage before we have a press release. The reason why? Because we can show our fans actual stuff from the game the day of the press release. (Well we can, but never really have)
I was assured the day of Frozen Throne's release that we were going public with SC2, but Vivendi gladly showed us our places as the whipped monkeys we are. Their delay is not fair for the gamers. You have made this company from the ground up, and just to claim showing a trailer of SC2 the day of SC ghost's is better business than FT is complete BULLSHIT.
Now about those servers. You are right we pass the buck when it comes to hosting because it would cost us about 50 million to build what we need. That is why we have just contracted Microsoft to host the new Battle Net. However, we are creating a very interesting piece of software too assist in the reduction of lag. (Full 3d engine, 200-250 pop cap, do the math=Massive multiplayer lag)
The truth is you can bash me to hell all you want. I am trying to stand up against the people that have and will continue to lower the quality of Blizzard Entertainment. If I have to leak SC2's to some pimply nerds, then so be it. You doubt my knowledge of Blizzard ask me anything about the company you would ever want to know. I worked for New World Computing before JVC sold it off to 3do and then joined up with Blizzard in 1994. I have been making software for 15 years; if you want a name, figure it out. I replaced Roper that should be more than enough.

[Blizzardman]

Also, those server numbers are for in-server communication. NOT THE WAN NUMBERS!

[Demon_Child]

Ok, let's just say that you ARE an actual employee, then it shouldn't be too difficult for you to provide proof of your employment. We have really nothing to go with but your words and as descriptive as they may be about your point of view. (from the inside) However, it still leaves a lot of questions that need to be answered.

I may not know much about the coorperate politics since I never really wanted to be a pencil pusher behind a desk, but I know about their line of thinking since I work as a Maintenance Tech. at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, in Chattanooga, TN. This was the first Coca-Cola bottling manufacturer ever created by the Coca Cola company.

[Blizzardman]

Well to address the 2d/3d Graphics question many of you have, Starcraft 2 is going to use 3d graphics; however, we are building a new engine far better than the one used by Warcraft 3. This engine will look somewhat alike to Warcraft 3 (a number of improvements), but we are now using a tech called M3DSf (Mass 3d Scale Frames). It is similar to that used in the Lord of the Rings movies for Helms Deep and other battles. This allows for up to 2500 units to be on the screen at the same time without any lag whatsoever. Each Unit is assigned an ID tag and placed within a 500 MB game-created cache. Whenever a unit moves into a different section in this new graphics engine the wire frame is automatically drawn without need of a video card. This system allows a large amount of units to move smoothly without any clipping or lag in a 3d environment. This engine does have the drawback of requiring AT LEAST A 3.0 GHZ processor and 128 MB video card, but with at least three years to go that shouldn't be a gigantic problem.
The new Battle net will do most of the calculations for players in regards to graphics, and then send them special data packets, which will guide that in-game cache along with your video card. Because BN will be the middleman in the online graphics process, a supply cap of 200-250 has been proposed with no upkeep. Battle Net will have a smart program called Auto-allocator, which will allocate more graphic rendering assistance to larger games with more graphic demands. As the system right now stands, lag will not be a problem for games with less than 6 people; with allocation assistance, games with up to 14 people can be created with almost no lag.
The New Battle net will require a Broadband connection. 56k cannot support the amount of information between host, server, and other players will require in such a rich graphics environment. The exact speed required is not yet known; however, by initial tests about 400 kbs download, 300 kbs upload should be enough.
It is still too early to tell, but it looks like the game will be around 8-15 GB in size. This is in part because of the extremely advanced graphics engine that is alone 3 GB in size. Add the engine to the unit models, which start at 15 MB and some go as high as 87 MB, (Yes each unit!). Pool all 450+ units we have so far and you get a lot of space. With all this stuff you will require a shit load of memory, roughly 1GB.
It is Blizzard's opinion, as well as mine, that Starcraft was one of the best games ever created. We now are charged with making another game that is suppose to improve upon the Starcraft genre. We have a budget in the tens of millions and a staff of over 200 people trying to fill SC's shoes. When we decided to make SC2 a 3d game, then we had to basically create a whole new level of 3d gaming because the current model is unacceptable for the level of quality SC2 is expected to have. We now have to recreate Battle Net as well to insure SC2 will be even better than SC1. If this means pushing the envelope on system requirements, then so be it. SC2 will be played for years to come after its release, thus as time passes those requirements will become less of a mountain and eventually a small hill (look at Diablo II).
We at Blizzard believe that our company defines every area we have entered as the new standard. Other companies have attempted to copy Warcraft on every level, and every attempt has yet to produce a title that can win in a head to head match-up. Look at Lords of Everquest or War of the Ring as examples of other computer game creators attempting to out-stage us, but egregiously failing in the process. Rest assured, Blizzard is going to deliver a game (some 2006) that will create the best damn reason you will ever have to go without sleep for days at a time saying, "Just one more hour!”

[Exedore]

Well, at least the people here are far less gullable than at other forums. Blizzardman has invalidated his story numerous times and knows next to nothing about actual hardware. Some points to mention

- Microsoft makes SOFTWARE, not hardware such as servers. They don't host servers either, other than their own web and file servers.

- You lack any knowledge whatsoever of 3D rendering.
- There is no way that any program could be 3GB in size for just the executable and DLL's. Warcraft 3's executable and DLL's are a little over 10MB.
- If the lower end models are 15 MB in size, then they're about 50 to 100 times more complex than most fps models that I know of.

I have a bigger description of his fallacy in terms of the technical aspects over at Blizzforums.

[Doom_Dragoon]

pwned by te Exedore.

[Blizzardman]

You guys should know this isn't a press release. This is a press leak. Blizzard in no way supports my actions, nor would they be happy with this exploit. You should note that all leaks are reported directly to the lead designer of the project in question for damage assessment and control. Considering the lead designer just happens to be me, I think I’ll let this one slide.
As for balance issues, many SC fans would be saying, "300 units WTF kind of crack are you smoking?" It is interesting to note Blizzard's work began in 2000 for SC2. We started by creating a mock SC2 with the SC engine and a few mods. Blizzard worked for an entire year to complete the 2d SC2 clone. Basically a massive inter-office Beta had been running for more than three years with all the new races and units. It took Blizzard a few years, but they have balanced the game. I didn't know of this Beta because I was working with Microsoft on Ghost and before that Vivendi on a few projects. I hadn't actually set foot in our HQ for more than three years before I was called to the meeting with Roper and Vivendi execs. Also note: the 2d SC2 clone was also under the cover-story of being another expansion pack to SC, many of our own beta testers didn't even know.
When I began work on the 3d graphics engine for SC2 the game itself had already been play tested, a very unusual order of doing things. With a team of 200 members, the engine is nearly complete along with six out the twelve cinematic scenes and most of the plot. As the game takes place in stages, the player has a choice in stage three to pick a final side until the end (except the Niomus), thus there are five different endings. Stage one and two will be one continuous plot shifting from side to side. One mission you will be playing Terran while another Protoss or Zerg. This modular style of play will give the players a true feeling of how big SC2's universe is; every Race is doing something.
The only race you will play that gives a feeling of loose ends is the Niomus. This is in part because they are the launching pad for the planned expansion. The term energy being does not do the Niomus justice. They were one of the Races the Zerg nearly wiped out in the Overmind's conquest. Because the Niomus lacked military technology, they focused their efforts on racial evolution. This evolution eventually turned them into beings of pure psionic energy. When the Niomus return the players will see unclear goals. The Niomus have entered this plane of existence for something, but what is it? The Niomus might even be moved to the expansion as a playable race, just making cameo appearances in SC2.
The game itself will take place in stages, as I have said above. Each race will gain new technology and units for every new stage. This is to an extent that the entire strategy for a race will change. A great example would be the Protoss. When the Protoss start off they are a weak race with only a few thousand to their numbers. After they meet the Xel'naga and form an alliance, their numbers and supplies will greatly increase as a result of cloning. Their units will become far more suited for direct combat instead of terrorist hit and run strikes. The Terrans will start with a large offensive advantage, but as they travel through the chain of events will become far more destructive to their enemies and themselves. The Xel'naga and the Zerg are the only two races that will continue on a single chain of strategy. The Zerg need numbers and it will be reflected as the stages progress. The Xel'naga are few and will always be few. This will be reflected by their use of robotics in ground combat and massive ships bent on Zerg eradication. The Hybrid (Koprus) is the most adaptive of all the races. Originally bred to kill the Xel'naga as time progresses they will adapt too fight the other races.
This will make multiplayer games far more interesting. Instead of a single chain of strategies that can be used for a single race, the amount of time, which has passed, will change what strategies work and fail. The Zerg might not be the best for early game rushes, but the Protoss with their hit and troops might work far better. With three different stages of development and multiplayer games allowed access to all genres, the amount of strategies a player can use is just outstanding.
It is our goal to make SC2 still worth playing six years from its release. Just as SC1 has entertained you, we will stop at nothing to repeat the process. Good day and happy gaming from Blizzard.

[Blizzardman]

Exedore didn't you know Microsoft just invested 200 million into servers for on-demand hosting? They are specifically for massive accounts that use huge amounts of bandwidth. But wait you wouldn't, because Level 3 is doing all the hosting for Microsoft, Microsoft just owns the hardware. The server purchase is in part because of a large upgrade of MSN's core software as a result of Windows Longhorn. They couldn't find anyone who could host what they needed, so they built it themselves and rented out the extra space.
As for that good old graphics engine, you should really research into how complicated a Graphics engine would have to be to support what we need. First off, take 2500 15 MB modules and place them all on a screen at 1600x1200 res. You will notice your video card can't support it. Instead we had to find a way around this technology-based problem. We had to build a whole new level of 3d software. Of course you can't compare our engine to anyone else’s, because it is the first of its kind. It took over 250,000 programming hours just to get a beta ready. Most of us worked 16 hours a day, and what we couldn't do had to be done by experts from Nividia and AMD. The engine will actually install a new driver for your graphics card, just to support our new 3d engine.
And Exedore, I would like to know were you learned about 3d Engines. The Lithtech Engine is roughly 400 MB in size. The Halocron Engine's upgrades for Halo 2 makes it roughly 600 MB. If you actually programmed for a company that created one of these engines you would know the graphics data installed on a persons computer is included in the Engines Size estimate.
I have been writing software for 15 years and nothing angers me more than little pricks like you whom think they have learned everything about Graphics Programming! Oh look, I can make Visual Basic draw a line! I now know everything about 3d rendering. You haven't programmed until you write software on an apple II in your basement for slave wages.

[Dark_Soul74]

99% of all people trying to start false rumors would have quit by now. That means you are either true, or very concentrated on spreading lies.

As I did before, I'd go with real.

[NaughtyDogs]

Sounds real enough to me. Im not a computer wiz, so I dont know if all the numbers make sense, but since its described as a big game it seems to fit the profile. I hope its real, I've been waiting for SC2 to come out and this sounds like its better than any other RTS out there to date. I just think it would be funny if he was telling the truth and all you people who doubted him suddenly had your foot so far in your mouth it came out the other end. Anyway thats my two cents. Whats the projected release date Blizzardman?

[Dark_Soul74]

Ooh. Also, I don't think you answered my question about how moddable you think this will be.

[Doom_Dragoon]

Well, I'll just believe you for now. I would like to know how what features you have planned for the level editor.

[WeekendLazyness]

I'm still suspicious. Some of the numbers you have given are unrealistic and you even mixed up AMD and ATI. I doubt you know the difference between the two.


Also, those server numbers are for in-server communication. NOT THE WAN NUMBERS!
Now I might be wrong, but I was under the assumption that the Battle.net (not Battle Net as you put it) servers are in clusters spread across the country. I fail to see how within these clusters a 10Gb/s interface would provide any substantial improvement, as the big lag would come from the WAN connection. I also wonder why Microsoft was chosen, unless you are planning on dropping Battle.net and using the Zone interface.


Exedore didn't you know Microsoft just invested 200 million into servers for on-demand hosting? They are specifically for massive accounts that use huge amounts of bandwidth. But wait you wouldn't, because Level 3 is doing all the hosting for Microsoft, Microsoft just owns the hardware. The server purchase is in part because of a large upgrade of MSN's core software as a result of Windows Longhorn. They couldn't find anyone who could host what they needed, so they built it themselves and rented out the extra space.
Longhorn isn't out yet, and won't be until 2005. And they wouldn't do this because Windows 2003 Server suits them fine.


This engine will look somewhat alike to Warcraft 3 (a number of improvements), but we are now using a tech called M3DSf (Mass 3d Scale Frames). It is similar to that used in the Lord of the Rings movies for Helms Deep and other battles. This allows for up to 2500 units to be on the screen at the same time without any lag whatsoever.
If you knew anything about movie production, you would know that a 3D scene takes many hours to render. Also, they used something called Massive, not M3DSf.


Whenever a unit moves into a different section in this new graphics engine the wire frame is automatically drawn without need of a video card. This system allows a large amount of units to move smoothly without any clipping or lag in a 3d environment. This engine does have the drawback of requiring AT LEAST A 3.0 GHZ processor and 128 MB video card, but with at least three years to go that shouldn't be a gigantic problem.
Wow. Redrawn without the help of a vid card. I had to laugh when I read that. I doubt you realize how taxing that would be to the CPU, especially because CPU's don't support the OpenGL or DirectX instructions. Oh, and if you were anywhere near tech savvy, you would know it's not the speed of a proc that determines its performance, but a mixture of the speed, architecture, and what it is being asked to do. Only a 128MB vid card? I think the type of GPU would matter more.


The exact speed required is not yet known; however, by initial tests about 400 kbs download, 300 kbs upload should be enough.
Those are just lab tests. A real-world test would probably require a better upload speed, which as it is now unrealistic for current broadband service.


It is still too early to tell, but it looks like the game will be around 8-15 GB in size. This is in part because of the extremely advanced graphics engine that is alone 3 GB in size. Add the engine to the unit models, which start at 15 MB and some go as high as 87 MB, (Yes each unit!). Pool all 450+ units we have so far and you get a lot of space. With all this stuff you will require a shit load of memory, roughly 1GB.
Your code must be really crappy to hog that much memory. Haven't you ever heard of compression?

Oh, and one final thing, what multimedia instructions will the game run? OpenGL or DirectX, or possibly some other one, such as MMX? And which version?

[Blizzardman]

Before I answer any more questions about the game itself, I think its best you get to see some loveable faces I see everyday (Or used to see)This first picture is of Glynnis Talken (Kerrigan)

http://www.blizzplanet.com/coppermine/albums/Blizzard%20Employees/glamglyn.jpg


Thse second is Rob Pardo, myself, and Bill somewhere in California.



http://www.blizzplanet.com/coppermine/albums/Blizzard%20Employees/blackwhite_bench.jpg



The third is our Music designer for SC2, Hard at work.


http://www.blizzplanet.com/coppermine/albums/Blizzard%20Employees/Nihilistic/clint_score_click.jpg

These are jut a few pictures I fished out of the archives, going to try and get you some clips of hte Production team the day we finished the Graphics Engine. (We all got drunk really fast!)

[WeekendLazyness]

All taken right from here:
http://www.blizzplanet.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=79
http://www.blizzplanet.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=85

[Edgewize]

Well, I think this is total bullshit. But I've sent Blizzardman a challenge over PM and we'll see if he knows the right answers. I'll be very surprised if he does.

[WeekendLazyness]

Will you post your pm and his answers?

[Dark_Soul74]

Still haven't gotten the answer to my modding question...*sigh*

[StealthyDeath]

I wonder why he doesn't just quit with all this false stuff. I would also think that most of your hardware requirements are beyond what most people have or at least mine.

[WeekendLazyness]

Oh, they are.

From that picture and by process of elimination, that guy is Mike Morhaime, the man who cofounded Blizzard. Yet Blizzardman said he joined in 1994, which means he's a fake.

[Blizzardman]

Well actually I did join Blizzard in 1994. Silicon & Synapse was the company Allen, Frank, and I founded in 1991. If you remember correctly, Blizzard didn't exist until the development of Warcraft in May 1994. Beforehand we created minor titles for Sega, SNES, and DOS under the Silicon & Synapse logo. So technically I have only worked for Blizzard 8 years.

[WeekendLazyness]

Are you going to answer all the questions you have been getting?

[Hunta]

1994 - 2004 = 10 years ?

[Blizzardman]

Come on fans you should know everything about the games and the team that built them. Remember in 2001 when there were rumors of SC2. And then they turned out to be SC ghost. Remember that Ghost is coming out on console only. Blizzard doesn't have the ability to program a game for Xbox or Playstation, they have to be outscored. From 2001-late 2002 I was working with Microsoft, specfically regarding SC Ghost development. When it became clear my work was done, I left an returned to add some touches to Frozen Throne. (As you know, that never happened as a result of SC2) During the two year period I was in Washington, I technically wasn't working for Blizzard Entertainment. The Paychecks were coming directly from Vivendi Universal Games. Roper actually filled in for me during my absence. (Left pizza boxes littered throughout my office and a strange smell)

[Dark_Soul74]

Again....Do you think that the new SC2 would be easily modified? As in, it comes with the neccesary tools(or purchaseable) to make units? Such as the exact tools you used.

[Blizzardman]

The editor for Starcraft 2 will be similar to that used in Warcraft 3. We are trying to ship it with a custom unit creator and other useful modding features. This is a try because we have so much work ahead of us (thus the 2006 release date). We know why SC and WC II, III have survived so long. Modding has become a community by itself and we will only continue to give our loyal fans the tools they need to make the game more enjoyable for themselves and others

[Dark_Soul74]

Hooray! Making the pictures for normal SC is hard using only MS Paint. :p

Can you say anything else about...say...the units?

Edit: Is there any way to obtain the original tools used to make StarCraft's graphics?

[Doom_Dragoon]

I would like to know just what features the editor will have. I haven't played War3, so...

[Fenguin]

Well, I think this is total bullshit. But I've sent Blizzardman a challenge over PM and we'll see if he knows the right answers. I'll be very surprised if he does.
Have you gotten any answers from him yet? If it takes longer than five minutes, you know that he's searching for them on Google :)
His words are worthless IMO. :) Anyone could write something like that. Tell us more, oh great Blizzardman! :annoy;:

[Doombringer64]

Who cares he is lying this some interesting fan fic.

[Blizzardman]

I answered them within the hour he posted the message, your great forum leader has yet to respond. So I will.
--------------------------------------- Questions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, I'm getting tired of these unvalidated stories on Starcraft 2 that sound like pipe dreams from a 15-year-old bullshit artist.

So let's play a little game here. I'm going to ask you some questions that I already know the answers to. We'll see if you can get four of the five right. If you can, we'll take what you say seriously and I'll put some serious public pressure on Vivendi.

If you can't answer them, though, then you will openly admit that your stories are bullshit (or else I will ban your account).


- What is Andy Bond's official job title, and when did he officially join Blizzard?

- What is Tom Cadwell's official job title, and what company did he previously work for?

- What are the precise specs for the computers in the small World of Warcraft realm clusters?

- Exactly how large is the current alpha build of World of Warcraft, including the engine and datafiles?

- What three races are currently being tested in World of Warcraft?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edgewize | Grand Poobah of WarBoards.org


My Answers
--------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardball eh?
ok I'm game.
---------------------------
Well to my knowledge Tom “Zileas” Cadwell currently works for Ethermoon Entertainment as (In his words) Supreme High Coordinator of Irrelevant. I believe he wrote a strategy guide for SC (Not 100% sure). However, I do know he used to work for Pandemic Studios in 99.



As for the Alpha Build of Wow, last time I checked roughly 3 GB. I haven’t spoken with the lead designer for some time, so the exact number at this time eludes me.



Last time I spoke with Jeff Kaplan the three races currently being tested are Orc, Tauren, and Troll.



You honestly can’t be serious about the stats for comps the Realm Clusters. First off, I would like to know if you mean the stats for the Beta servers or for the computers being used by the Alpha testers? The computers used for Alpha testers are all completely different so that the team can test compatibility. Even if I told you the stats on our Wow server there would be no way you could possibly know with 100% accuracy unless you actually work for us, thus I don’t see a point to that question.



As for Andy Bond, Software Engineer official title. I think we took him onboard roughly 2000 during Diablo II alpha. Might be little sooner.



------------
Hope that answers your questions.








--------------------

[Fenguin]

Hah. I still don't believe you.
Let me ask you a few questions now:
1) Why is your email what it is? [not listed for privacy purposes] Send me something from a Blizzard email and I'll believe you.
2) Why is your IP located in Colorado? A WHOIS search returned Comcast Cable Communications COLORADO-10. I wasn't aware that Blizzard has a headquarters in Colorado. Oops, they don't. And don't tell me crap about how you're on vacation.

Edge's questions were Googlable. :)
Here's another question: Who's the lead designer of WoW?

[Lucifer_Hawk]

googlable, lol, that word is awesome. Anyways, I find this argument to be very interesting, keep it up guys, this is the best entertainment I have had in ages. I read every singel post so far, and thats a shocker! keep it up woot woot

[Blizzardman]

I have a question for you. If I was going out of my way to tell all the fans of Starcraft that SC2 is indeed coming out, why wouldn't I cover my tracks? I am using a computer in Aspen CO. to post these messages. The IP address would then point to Colorado instead of my true location. Easy to do if you have programmed for 15 years. As Windows XP allows remote access, I could be in China and still post as if I was in Colorado.

[Fenguin]

Haha, so you're a 1337 h4x0r now, aren't you? Well, tell me, how did you gain control of this "computer in Aspen CO"? Hah. I bet you don't know a thing about any kind of hacking. I even doubt your programming expertise. Or did you just magically fly to CO to post this?

It seems that you have not yet told me the lead designer of WoW. Can't find the answer on Google, can you?

Finally: I doubt a Blizzard employee would resort to this kind of childish arguments ("I'm a hacker, fear me!") to prove his point. Especially one who is held in such high regard by Blizzard management.

edit: "covering your tracks" eh? That's why you posted a picture of yourself. Haha, nice try, ggnore thx.

[Fenguin]

20 minutes. And he's viewed this thread in that time. I think we have him in a corner. ;)

[Doom_Dragoon]

...all you Fengmister :tup: (me likes this smiley :)).

[Lucifer_Hawk]

very talented job fenguin, I applaud you, but theres no smiley for that, so just think I am applauding you, it works :)

[Edgewize]

OK, this was entertaining to a point, but now it's just boring. Fenguin did a nice job but I'll finish you off.

Well to my knowledge Tom “Zileas” Cadwell currently works for Ethermoon Entertainment as (In his words) Supreme High Coordinator of Irrelevant. I believe he wrote a strategy guide for SC (Not 100% sure). However, I do know he used to work for Pandemic Studios in 99.

Nice googling. Too bad it's not recent info. He works for you now. Oops.

http://www.ethermoon.com/bios/zileas-bio.phtml

As for the Alpha Build of Wow, last time I checked roughly 3 GB. I haven’t spoken with the lead designer for some time, so the exact number at this time eludes me.
Last time I spoke with Jeff Kaplan the three races currently being tested are Orc, Tauren, and Troll.

Nice snag from Gamespot, complete with name dropping.

"Mike Morhaime" needs Jeff Kaplan to tell him whats going on in the WoW alpha? It almost sounds as if you can't just check your own internal copy.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/worldofwarcraft/preview_6089143.html



You honestly can’t be serious about the stats for comps the Realm Clusters. ... I don’t see a point to that question.

I was referring to the types of computers that will be used in the production systems. And I am serious, because I happen to know the answer. But I guess you don't.


Not to mention that all your earlier technical mumbo-jumbo makes absolutely no sense, and I'm a fairly accomplished 3D graphics programmer. 3ghz target system, my ass.

Looks like I finally get to say CLOSED AND BANNED!

[dunchy]

The only question I'd have is who drove the car Blizzard had in 99? Do you remember that? The promotion area at long beach? I cannot confirm nor deny your claims BlizzardMan, but you sound angry. You must understand how many false claims the community has seen, take a look athere (http://www.blizzforums.com/showthread.php?t=4343 )

Ignore the link, someone edited it, but 2 - 3 posts later Scauthra copied and pasted the article into his post, see how many claims there are, and none have proven to be real, what assurance do we have you are correct?

[Fenguin]

I think Edge pwned him already. ;)