2023.07.30
I just finished Starcraft Remastered, so I thought I'd just revisit this quickly. I've played through the 3 acts at least once, and Wings several times; I don't expect to learn much new. But I am enjoying hanging out in Joeyray's.
All too soon we're on the Hyperion.
Now it's time to choose order of missions, upgrades, purchases, etc.
I know after a playthrough or two I had a decent order, but I can't remember it now (and I don't have notes about it).
A look online quickly reveals an order that makes the most sense storywise: "An attempt to create an accurate WoL canon mission order."
I like this; it tries to make the most of the story, and give you the most time with characters that can come and go.
"Wings of Liberty in Chronological Order" also seems to make sense, especially using the newsfeed and Kyla Velassi clues, but the other order seems more balanced. We'll see if I can even tell any difference.
2023.07.31
I'm really enjoying being back in this environment. All the different characters, dialogues, stories, research, etc. - individually some are not great, but it all adds up to a place I like. I still don't know what this is called - an RPG story on top of an RTS?
2023.08.01
Whispers of Doom is great; what with the return of Zeratul and Kerrigan, and learning more about the prophecy etc. - but it's an RPG mission, and those trouble me. My roleplay is to keep everyone alive, so maps like these can take me a while.
2023.08.06
Oops, forgot the necessary thing to do in Media Blitz, and missed Piercing the Shroud. Hate having to reload earlier; can't miss a secret level.
2023.08.13
Playing final level... and done. Nice to see the story again, but probably not worth the time spent. I could have just watched it on Youtube, but it is nice to actually manage the base building, defense and offense, etc. yourself.
Do I want to waste some more time here? Maybe on versus comp maps that have campaign units?
2023.09.08
Trying to play some solo maps. The few I am finding have Error Attribcache_Corrupt_Map.
Under Custom, Melee, search campaign:
Twilight Fortress + campaign units (thinkinchaos)
not bad, but some units and abilities missing. does it matter what game i select? was using Legacy, so maybe
Arid Wastes - Campaign Content (Vacare)
bookmark to find later
set to Legacy of the Void
Create Lobby, change Melee to Co-op VS A.I.,
2 Easy Zerg Any for now, to check out map
Start. already seems better, CC has more options, but rax missing X, also factory no X - can't build tanks. oh good - building Z allows X, can proceed.
Really bad bug - siege tanks won't fire in siege mode. Useless. Too bad; close to what I was looking for.
2023.09.09
Try the Arid Wastes - Campaign Content (Vacare) again, but set to Wings, Create, Co-op VS AI, Medium. Start.
no, sadly, still same bug; rate at 1/5.
Want to try Twilight Fortress + campaign units (thinkinchaos) again, but it doesn't show up in list with various searches.
But if I set Wings to Legacy, then it shows right up. I guess maps are locked to the 3 acts of the game; maybe it doesn't matter what I select.
If I try and start the above map, there isn't even a selector which act to run it with.
Let's start with Wings of Liberty, Newest (because I have to select something?). Search campaign.
Shanghai Night - Campaign Tech (Orvanick). Interesting in that I had set the initial search to Wings, click this map, it's set to Legacy, but Create Lobby is grayed out because "This map is not allowed for your currently selected expansion level." This means a few things; let's see how it pans out. I really don't wan to use a 12 players map. Set it to Wings, Create - can't set it to vs AI. fail.
set to Heart, Top. search campaign. no.
set to Legacy, Top. search campaign.
(6) Ice Cliffs + Brood War Campaign Units (Blizzard)
what does this even mean. Legacy, Create, Co-op vs AI, fills in 3 players, don't see any way to change that number, but it could be good.
T vs 3Zmedium
I don't see any sign of brood war anything. quit. rating 1/5.
(8) Old Estate with Campaign Units (TheMoonUnit)
Under act selector, can only select Legacy. Create, Co-op fills in 4 AI.
T vs 4Z very easy.
I can build merc compound! Very interesting. Even more interesting, I can use regular buildings to make mercs. Unfortunately some things are still missing - I especially miss flamethrower turrets. I have vultures with mines but they are not reloadable, and I don't have widow mines. Still, it's an interesting mix, and I can see keeping this map in rotation. Especially since it does have some things I didn't even ask for, like bots that don't use up any supply.
This is a good time to restate the goal, because it's not about cheats. What I want is to hold off the Zerg under nearly overwhelming odds, with some extra technology to help me through. That's where turrets and mines and campaign units come in handy. so I can keep dialing up the Zerg difficulty until I can't take it anymore. I'll try some of that with this map, but I can see moving on before too long.
2023.09.11
Custom -> Melee, Wings of Liberty, Top Played...
(12) Wasteland Remnants + Liberty Campaign (Quarts)
trying Melee, 3v3, met and toss vs zerg (my favorite), leave difficiluty on default (Hard), Any Build.
this map looks good at first, i see medics and firebats in the barracks. hopefully there are no bugs. there are vultures, siege can be researched. i can build science vessels. first bug: vultures seem to have 4 mines, but as soon as deployed 2 reach 0.
my teammates mopped up the enemy quickly. i don't think we had all built out our supply, and yet the map got really laggy. is it because the map is too large? filled with doodads? is it my ancient pc, or would that even make a difference if upgraded? worth trying again.
What if I create lobby with Legacy selected? same as above but Zerg set Very Hard. There's the answer in the barracks, as soon as I build X I see no medics. Quit, start again, T+2Ph vs 3Zvh.
I don't understand - why are there no medics again? Strangely, there are upgrades in engineering from the Wings campaign.
Start again as above, Custom... Once again no medics. Why did it work the first time? Quit. Rate 2/5.
I see a Blizzard map that says + Campaign and Coop units, is that true? Wow, there are some crazy units in here. This seems so well done, I wonder if it really is an OEM map. Have I been missing the good stuf all along? The only possible downside so far is that the enemy seems to know how to use all the extra units too. I must check out all Blizzard maps that say campaign units. That was Twisted Vern; bookmarking that.
(8) Sand Canyon + HOTS Custom Map support mod (Blizzard)
Doesn't sound like Blizzard, but let's try. Do I Create Lobby or Create With Mod? try mod. wow, lots of extensions. Campaign and Coop units sounds promising. Is that a mod that can be plugged into any map? If so that could really simplify things.
2023.09.16
The idea of a campaign units plugin that anyone can use, including your AI teammates and opponents, sounds appealing but wasn't the kind of fun I am looking for. There are so many unit types that I can't keep track of anything. I'm not giving up on it yet though, its too promising. I wonder how hard it is to make that extension - could I just use the existing one and make my own by removing some things?
(8) Megaton + Ultimate Campaign Mod (Blizzard)
Create Lobby or Create With Mod? would it be 2 different maps? trying lobby first (Wings selected, if that matters (it doesn't)); harder diff (this is a whole 'nother issue to dial in).
Barracks has medics, good. No turrets. Engineering has a bunch of bunker upgrades; hire Elite units? Yes, can now train War Pigs, but they show up as Sons of Korhal.
Trying Mod, select extension Campaign and Coop units. The extension seems the same, offers every unit and then some.
Why does my protoss ally seemingly have a hero unit, Talis? And how do I get one?
SCVs can build outlaw structures, including Joeyray's Bar (i really like the sounds it plays when clicked). Looks like there's a whole alternate lore waiting in the various outlaw units, and they have their own upgrade path in engineering. Mixing RPG with RTS can be interesting, but maybe not on a resource scarce map like this,
2023.10.06
Custom -> Melee, Wings of Liberty, Top Played... checking Extension Mods...
The MrGW mod Campaign and Coop units seems well developed; few others are, still looking.
Trying Ultimate Campaign Mod with a stock Blizzard map.
(4) Backwater Gulch (Blizzard). T+P harder vs 2Z harder. regular resources.
Perdition turrets - finally! And with science vessels too.
Later... I think I lost this one; failed to expand quick enough, teammates died.
2023.10.13
(4) Rich Income Twilight Fortress (DrMurloc) + Campaign and Coop units
Kind of small, trying it. T+Pharder vs 2Zharder. I don't see any campaign anything, quit.
Try again but create with mod, trying Ultimate Campaign Mod.
Intersting way to place the mercs: you have to buy an upgrade in the armory.
Not bad, makes for a quicker game, and the enemy isn't spamming me with every unit ever made. I still want the bigger 3v3 or 4v4 maps, but for smaller games this is good. 5*
2023.10.16
Custom Melee bookmarks
(4) Rich Income Twilight Fortress (DrMurloc)
Map Info, change to WoL, create with mod, Campaign and Coop units.
Heroic Units - never noticed that before, turning it on.
seems to have all the usual noise from "Campaign and Coop units".
It's fun, but there are way too many units, and the AI uses them too.
2023.11.17
Maybe this is not the right location or format. Trying a Google Doc.
note to myself: merge
Google Doc "game Starcraft Custom Melee vs AI 2023-2024"
with
scratch: Starcraft 2 vs AI [https://thelastoftheoriginalvideogamers.blogspot.com/p/scratch-sc2.html]
2024.04.06
That's enough of that. I'm done here (again), for now.
