Plants vs management and passage. Zombies

There is such a sign: if the word “against” appears in the title of the game or film, nothing good can be expected. Exceptions rarely happen, and they can perhaps count on the fingers of one hand, and even “extra” fingers will remain. Perhaps this is one of the most banal options for the name and almost the most “contagious” – only the spelling of the name through points is worse.

Another rule is associated with the presence in the game or film of revived dead as the main opponents. In more than half of cases, they will walk in crowds, growl and try to eat the protagonist or heroine. What to expect from a game called "Plants against a zombie"? Naturally – both!

They are approaching!

At first Plants vs. Zombies may seem like a completely simple game. Judge for yourself: from right to left on the screen they slowly lame one after another zombies, whose task is extremely simple: go along the lawn to the house, climb inside and eat its owners, especially their brains. Everything, as they say, "in the best traditions".

But this is not an action movie, and therefore not a hero who alone shooting restless, nor even a group of survivors with firearms in their hands will not be. To stop the bloodthirsty dead, it is necessary to collect solar energy, which in itself falls from the sky. Then plant several sunflowers that will give even more "sun". And only then to plant the only defense in the beginning in the ground – "pea shootings".

Exactly like this: in full accordance with the name of the last line of defense between the zombies and your brain will be. Each of them has their own abilities, but they all serve in order not to miss the undead to the left edge of the screen, where the door to the house is located.

But zombies are only slow and weak at first. Very soon, the player will meet the dead who put a bucket on his head; dead people who know how to jump with a pole; the dead who read the newspaper, and even with the whole Bobslene team of the dead. There are twenty -six varieties in the game in total, almost each of which requires a special approach. It happens that because of one plant planted not there, you have to start the level from the beginning.

But the “green army” can boast of diversity – there will be fighters in it for all occasions. Day or night, on land or in the pool, on the ground or on the roof – peas, mushrooms, cabbage and corn will be on guard of the brain of those who planted them.

The complexity of the game is growing gradually, so that even one who has never met games in the Tower Defense genre could figure out what to do here at all.

The art of breaking the garden

The player's task is complicated by the fact that he can take a limited number of plants for each level. And if at first this is not so important – there are few varieties of zombies and defenders – then around the middle of the game the selection of “cards” with the defenders becomes quite difficult and interesting. Before starting the level, the player is shown zombies who miss https://instaspin-gb-casino.co.uk/ the fence. Looking at them and imagining what they can, you need to choose "cards".

We have to take into account where exactly the battle will take place: at the level with the pool, you must definitely take aquatic plants, and a foggy night should be thought about included in your “detachment” fan plants that expand the review.

And finally – personal preferences. And here is the spaciousness for choosing it is huge: slowing down the zombies, preventing them from approaching close, or build an impregnable wall of nuts, which will hold back the wave of attackers? Plant three “cheap” shooters or for the same number of “sun” of one, but strong? In the end, that you like peas or cabbage more?

You can get acquainted with your friends and opponents in the intra -game "Almanac", in which information about everyone whom the player has already met methodically enters. From it you can draw the most valuable information about the inner world of burning pepper, the habits of corn catapult, and even about the disputes of zombologists around Zombony. But the main thing is that Almanac contains information about the special abilities, survivability of zombies or damage caused by the plant.

What else can be done with a zombie?

The main action of the game is divided into five large blocks, each of which is a new battlefield or the time of day. But even after the victory over the big and terrible zomboss, the game does not end. On the contrary, the real fun is just beginning!

As you pass, except for new zombies and new plants, new games of the game are also available. This is the “survival game” mode, when the zombies simply do not end-everyone goes and goes, and mini-games with a completely unique, “zombic” shade. For example, variation on the topic “Gather three in a row”: plants are planted on the lawn in random order, and it is from the same plants that you need to make combinations vertically and horizontally. In total, you need to choose seventy -five "lines". It seems to be simple. But after all, the need to defend from the piercing dead has not gone anywhere: they are still limping and hoarsely threaten to eat someone's brains. So you have to ensure that the zombies do not break through the defense due to the fact that three pea bush unexpectedly disappeared from the field.

If the mini-game is not enough, there is also the "puzzle" mode. In one of them, you need to at randomly break the vases standing on the lawn – there may be either a plant or a zombie. The dead man, jumping out of the vase, begins to measure the house measuredly in the direction of the house to guess? – Eat the brains of the owners. The second “puzzle” changes the roles: now, using a given set of zombies, you need to eat all plants first, and then – absolutely true! – Brains.

Well, if you get tired of shooting and revived dead – welcome to the small Zensky kindergarten, where you can just rest, watering flowers. For good care, plants will generously pay you with coins, which you can buy from a neighbor new reinforced “cards” or useful devices that will facilitate the confrontation of crowds of undead.

Black zombies, gray zombies

Talk about Plants vs graphics. Zombies is difficult. You will never confuse one plant with another, just as at first glance, distinguish a zombie zombie from a zombie with a staircase. All characters are painted with great irony and are able to cause a well -deserved smile.

At the same time, the graphics reminds of games written on Flash: flat figures drawn background … There is no high technology here … but in fact it is not necessary. Disadvantages of technology more than pay off humor.

The situation is about the same with music: there are few melodies in the game, but they sound unobtrusively just as “background”, without distracting attention from the gameplay. This process is also voiced quite well: at least the hissing whisper of the zombie “Brains-S-S-S …” will definitely remember for a long time. The plants are slightly worse-not one of them is particularly talkative, and the sounds of shots and other effects in the midst of the battle create such a mishmash that because of them you can sometimes get confused in what is happening.

Otherwise, everything is surprisingly good. The game is free from errors, management and interface are simple and understandable, and most importantly – convenient. What else to want from the game called "plants against zombies"?

• • •

Reasons to play in Plants vs. Zombies, much more than the arguments "against". A lot of good humor, a honed gameplay with a gradually growing complexity, many opportunities to play as you like … a huge number of additional mini-games, finally.

Verdict:

A sea of ​​humor, tasks of various difficulties, various tactics of passage. If you do not know what Tower Defense is, then this is a wonderful occasion to meet. And what is especially remarkable – unlike many similar games, she has a face. And it does not matter that it is dead ..

[Break]] Sunflower

Sunflowers always swing to the beat of music, which only they can hear. They themselves claim that this is the rhythm of the Earth itself, but other plants relate to this with suspicion.

Not a single battle in the game "Plants against the Zombie" is complete without sunflower. In the end, someone must supply the player with solar energy so that he can plant other plants? Sunflower cope with this role “excellent”, from time to time scattering “sun” around them.

An additional amplification map makes sunflowers dual, increasing the increase in solar energy. Two sunflowers in the place of one – this is very antiox!

Dolphin zombies

This variety of living dead appears only in the pool. They do not differ in a special strength, but they float very quickly, come closer to the first row of your defense and jump over it, starting to eat plants at once from the second row.

To delay them, you can plant special tall nuts in the pool on water lilying water, through which you can not jump. But if there are not enough energy for these “nuts”, you can just plant two empty sheets of water lily. The dolphin will jump over the first, and the zombie will find to eat the second, without reaching your “main forces”.

And yes, dolphin is also a zombie.

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Cactus

The cactus can be prickly, and not everyone is able to see his soft heart behind sharp spikes, which he wants to love and be loved. However, for the past few months the cactus has been dating an armadillo, and so far in their relationship has a harmony reigns.

For the player, the cactus is the only opportunity to defend themselves from the zombies that fly by hanging themselves in the airy ball. The needles that this green unshaven type shoots, all the same, where their goal is on Earth or above the ground.

And for a zombie this is a real cactus of final death.

Zombies with the stairs

It seems that during his lifetime this zombie was very fond of arranging repairs in his house. At least the ladder in his hands, a hammer on a belt and a pencil behind the ear is brought to such thoughts. It is unfortunate that other zombies reached him, because after death he became a real nightmare of defensive gardening.

If he puts his staircase to the barrage row of nuts, then not only he can freely move through it, but also those zombies that follow. If this happens during one of the “waves”, when the dead go dozens, the player runs the risk of getting five or six zombies at once near unprotected plants.

Fighting him is not easy enough: he moves fast, and health is not bad. The only thing he is really afraid of is magnetic mushrooms that can leave a zombie with a stairs at the moment.

Collection of mini-games in Plants vs. Zombies is an almost independent game. Some of them change the gameplay so much that it is worth stopping in more detail and see what the developers offer players.

All mini-games can be divided into three large groups. In the first change, they take place with a zombie-they receive new abilities, or we will have to resist the whole game of some one type. The second group is changes in the game process: new opportunities, but more often – additional difficulties. And finally, the third is the mini-games that completely change the game.

A variety of attackers

The very first game in this group is Zombotany – At the same time, one of the most complex. Its essence is that instead of the usual revived dead people, their hybrids with plants go on the field. What does it mean? So this is that now the zombies will meet our defenders with the “fire” of Goroshin and destroy the defenders from the distance.

For memory: Nuts that the player plants are shot only in one direction – and this is exactly the side that we need. This mini-game has a well-built wall of nuts-the key to victory.

In the option Zombotany 2 new "hybrid" zombies appear, and now it is advisable not to let them in at all to their "beds". This can be achieved in different ways: either by putting a line of rapid-firing peas, in front of which to arrange burning hemps, or try to slow down the zombie pea-delayed.

Note: a pea that the stump set fire to double damage. But a frozen pea, flying through the flame, loses its inhibitory action.

Mini-games Invisi-Ghoul, Big Trouble, Little Zombies and Zombie Nimble, Zombie Quick not much different from ordinary levels. In the first of them, zombies become invisible, but only for the player-plants shoot at them as usual, so the priority task: to provide at least some defense.

IN Bobsled Bonanza The bulk of the attackers will be the “zombony” laying the ice tracks, and the zombies-bobsleists who drive along these paths. It is best to put in advance before each such “path” a bush of spikesty grass, which the vehicles of the dead really do not like.

Problems in protection

The mini-games of the second group do everything to create additional problems for us. For example, c Slot Machine There are no initially available "cards" with plants. The defense will have to be built by pulling the “one -armed bandit” handle: two identical drawings fell – get one plant. Three fell – it will be possible to plant three plants. Each rotation of the drum will cost you about twenty -five “sun”, and it will be often necessary to rotate it … Protection of the house here retires a little into the background. The main task in this mini-game is to collect two thousand solar energy.

IN Wall-Nut Bowling The goals of the game remain unchanged, but the methods of achieving them … Of all the possible plants, only several types of nuts will be available to you: from ordinary small to exploding and giant, which are rolled through zombies no worse than rollers. And these nuts need to knock down as many dead as possible.

For memory: ordinary nuts here are good because they allow you to earn coins. Having hit the zombie, the walnut bounces to the side, and if he finds another target there, then the second blow will give you two coins, the third – three, and so on. Just have time to collect!

Game mode Portal Combat It is complicated that two portals appear on the lawn, through which you can go in both directions. That is, on the one hand, zombies can take place in them, and on the other, peas and cactus needles perfectly fly into one entrance and fly out of another, striking zombies that are going to enter the portal. Nevertheless, there is still the difference between the “entrance” and “output”: although the portals look flat, they have “entrance” on only one side. Charges released by the plant from the other side of the portal, where there is no “entrance”, will fly by as if nothing had happened.

Last Stand -A wonderful mini-game to check your planning and savings skills. Five thousand "Sun" is allocated for all expenses to the player. For this amount it is necessary to build a defense that can withstand five waves of zombie attacks. After each wave, you will receive a “bonus” in two hundred and fifty units of solar energy, which will be enough at best only to slightly paste protective structures.

Case from practice: Five "waves" can hold out, almost without changing plants. To do this, the first line on the left is planting “trivial” peas, in front of it – burning hemp, and on the right on each path, how much money is enough, we sew the chipped grass. Most zombies will not reach hemp. Only zombies-football players and zombies are some danger, but we gradually protect ourselves from a wall of nuts.

The game is completely different

And finally, a few more mini-games exist, as it were, “on their own”, having almost nothing in common with what can be seen when playing.

The first of them is Zombique – reports the player an aquarium with three floating zombies at the disposal. These "wrong" dead somehow drop the same "sun" into the water. The purpose of the game is to redeem the "Cup", which costs a thousand units of energy.

The problem is that the zombie still needs to be fed. Moreover, the same brains that you have so carefully defended from them ..

To accelerate the process, for just a hundred “sun” you can “buy” additional waterfowl in the aquarium. Just remember that there can be no more than three brains at the same time in water-and an attempt to feed five or six zombies can fail.

Whack a zombie leaves the goal of the game unchanged – prevent the zombie from entering the house. But this time you have to do without helping plants. All you have is a heavy hammer, graves and zombies that climb out of them. It will have to be pushed back into the ground with raging dead dead water, personally reassuring everyone with a hammer on the head. Some – several blows.

Starcraft, 1998 a.D. 28 The most striking quotes of reviews on Starcraft… or Starcraft 2?

June 27 was released Starcraft 2. Advertising hype around the release, incredibly high expectations, compliments (for quality) and criticism (for non -original) addressed to Blizzard … It sounds insanely familiar? All this was already – 12 years ago, in another, a naive industry, where instead of the IGN website everyone read Adrenaline Vault, the British magazine PC Zone was one of the most popular English -speaking gaming publications, and GameSpot and Gambling were just starting their own Creative path. But they wrote about Starcraft about the same.

“Very soon you begin to understand that you are playing not for the sake of victory, but for the sake of the process! For example, playing for the race of people, you do not feel much need for nuclear missiles. But I want to try! And now you are already starting to delay the last hour of the enemy, so that there is someone to throw a bomb … ” – Andrey Shapovalov, Sergey Purikov, Gamemany magazine, 1998.

“The game has a lot of violence. But they are killed mainly for self-defense (-4 points). When someone dies, they show blood (-1.5 points). Something is constantly exploding in the game, and many units part with their limbs (-1.5 points). The words “damn”, “damn”, “bitch son”, “ass” and “cattle” (-4 points) sound. The name of the Lord is remembered in vain (-5 points). There is no sexual content in the game (with the exception of one joke), as well as occult topics (not counting the Grain mutations) "". – JPEARCE, Christ Centered Games ( www.CCGR.Org ), 2005.

“I was pleasantly surprised that Starcraft turned out to be so good and managed not to disappoint – despite the preceding exit of the game, a hype and hopelessly high expectations. If more “clones” were made like this, we would have much less complaints about RTS unoriginality!" – Pete Hines, Adrenaline Vault ( www.Avault.Com ), 1998.

“RTS veterans will not find anything special in Starcraft – the game will not find any awards for originality, although everything has been done very well. If you are familiar with the genre, then you will like the game. Just do not wait for surprises: Starcraft is just a disk with missions from all your favorite RTS lord of the spins casino at once ". – Chris Anderson, PC Zone magazine, 1998.

“This review is like an article by the forties, which states that computers will never find practical use …” – Jarga, Computer & Video Games UK ( www.ComputerandvideoGames.Com ), 2009.

“In 1997, all Asia experienced the deepest financial crisis. Trying to correct the economic situation, the government of South Korea opened paid Internet cafes. Blizzard advertised Starcraft wherever possible: on a TV, on packages of chips … As a result, a Starcraft manaign began in the country. Not only did one copy of Koreans sold one copy – the game has almost become national sports. And then – not every sport is shown 24 hours a day at once on two channels!" – Yami Shuria, Gamefaqs ( www.GameFaqs.Com ), 2005.

“In order not to happen, in the game, only twelve units can be controlled in the game at a time. This does not always help-six zilots, for example, easily endure an enemy base-but still makes massive attacks. In the multiplayer, people with developed fine motor skills win – real RTS cowboys, which overcome the restrictions of the flawed interface due to their own agility ”. – Ron Dulin, Gamespot ( www.Gamespot.Com ), 1998.

“For the first time I tried Starcraft at home from a friend, at three in the morning. Of course, I did not understand anything in the offspring on the screen (some blue cubs fought with brown cockroaches) and failed to figure out management. A week later I asked a friend to give me a disk so that I could play online. You can guess what happened to me further!" – Syarrow, IMDB ( www.IMDB.Com ), 2000.

“In other games, the mechanic is the same – it doesn’t matter if you play for Core or ARM grouping, for the fraternity of the NOD or for the global defense initiative, for the Vikings or for the francs, for the Borgs or the federation, for the empire or for the rebels … three Such different races speak of the creative courage of Blizzard, and the impeccability of the balance – about the remarkable patience of the developers ". – Tom Chick, IGN ( http: // PC.IGN.Com ), 2000.

“In the Blizzard Game Network Battle.Net Starcraft can be played for free. “Poglive” and connecting to the game is very easy – unless, of course, you have a telephone connection with the World Wide Web ”. – Gamers ’Temple ( www.Gamerstemple.Com ), 1998.

“During the construction of buildings, Les Terrans use universal modules, Les Zergs themselves mutate in buildings, but Les Protos call buildings from their world. So three completely different games of the game are available to the player: Les Unités Protosses require large financial and time costs, while Les Zergs can crush L’Ennemi due to the use of En Masse graphing … ” – Zick, Jeux Video magazine, 2001.

“Why does it constantly seem to me that I am not playing in Starcraft, but Warcraft 2, but?! It's not about the engine and not in units … The fact is that I scream the same things in the monitor as three years ago: “What?! Well, where did you go?"" Stupid unit! We are in the other direction!"" Well, what the hell, in general?!"(Add your own curses at will)". – Colin, Game Revolution ( www.Gamerevolution.Com ), 1998.

“The human race in the game is represented by terrans, which are easiest to describe as rustic gopniks in space. The second race is grains, alien shrimp, the main strength of which is in the ability to multiply quickly. And who are the protosss, I still did not understand ". – Neurosplicer, Amazon ( www.Amazon.Com ), 1999.

“One of the tasks of terrane is very reminiscent of the battle of the Rorks-Dront from the Anglo-Zulusian war-you need to beat off the continuous attacks of the grains for thirty minutes. The mission is amazing – but more often persist!" – James Anthony, Gameblitz ( www.Gameblitz.Com ), 1998.

“By loading Starcraft, I went through a couple of missions and thought – well, decent graphics, elegant interface, expressive terraries … but so far nothing special! Then my first Kuregovsky rash happened ". – Rick Ferenbacher, Games Fist ( www.Gamesfirst.Com ), 1998.

“The plot of Starcraft can only be liked by a complete drug addict. The story is so idiotic that it remains only to miss all the dialogs and watch exclusively videos. ". – Damir Rukavina, Hacker magazine (Croatian edition), 1998.

“It surprises me that so many people are complaining about the plot of Starcraft. Each race has its own interesting characters (Jim Reinor is generally the coolest hero in the history of the RTS genre!), in the script there was a place for war, betrayal, and tragedy … Although most events are predictable, it seems to me that this is just an ideal plot for such a game ”. – Laststand, GameFaqs ( www.GameFaqs.Com ), 2004.

“Sarah Kerrigan has a very interesting voice, and Reinor has a typical southern accent, because of which he became my favorite character (well, yes, I love southern accents! What is it?!) ". – Pattiwhacka, Gamefaqs ( www.GameFaqs.Com ), 2001.

“The actors in the game are not professional, but good voice acting! All characters are alive. The noble protoses of Zeratul, Phoenix, Tassadar and Aldaris are real medieval knights. The Great Terrants Admiral Gerard Dahl, Captain Jim Reinor and Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov give a reason to be proud of humanity-they, without trembling, look at the gums of an unknown enemy. Well, as for the Zergs … The former earthly warrior Kerrigan is inimitable in the role of an agent of the ultrack!" – Anthony Ensel, IMDB ( www.IMDB.Com ), 1999.

“And to this day, Starcraft remains a fascinating pastime – you will not be planned to plan complex maneuvers, but you can see how siege tanks go into the battle or how a cloud of graighings rummages through the Terran base. Really – we do not need every strategy to contain a lot of nuances and details. Situations "aliens against tanks" is quite enough!" – Stoo, a force for good ( www.Forceforgood.Co.UK ), 2004.

Starcraft. Legend: the path to release

The main e -sports strategy, immediately after the release of the game classic, on March 31, 2010 is 12 years old. On the eve of the release of Starcraft 2, Gamery, recalled how the small studio Silicon & Synapse has turned into Blizzard Entertainment, and the failure game “Orcs in Cosmos” – in the best strategy of the XX century.

Blizzard Entertainment appeared due to a striking occasion. Once, students of the University of California Mike Morheim and Allen Edham sat in a computer class in a practical lesson and programmed. When Allen went to the printer to pick up the printout, Mike decided to make fun: he sat down for the liberated computer, scored the Lock command, entered his password and returned to his place. Five minutes later Allen came and as if nothing had happened continued his work. It turned out that both students had the same password – Joe. So mysterious Joe introduced the future founders of Blizzard.

Edham wanted to become a developer all his life: he also tested games for the founder as a student InterPlay Brian Fargo and programmed his own projects for the https://lady-linda-casino.co.uk/ company Datasoft. After graduating from the university, Allen decided that he knew about the gaming industry, and decided to open his own business. He persuaded Mike and Frank Pierce (another university friend) to establish a small studio in Irvain – so on the eighth of February 1991 a startup appeared Silicon & Synapse.

Allen and Mike invested $ 10,000 in the company and called the president and vice president, respectively, and Frank became their first programmer. Soon the trio turned into a quartet: Mike invited his university friend, a talented programmer Patrick Wyette to the team.

Battle chess, Vikings and races

Throughout 1992, friends ported games Interplay Productions with Commodore 64, Amiga and Macintosh. Their efforts, for example, appeared DOS versions J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and two parts Battle Chess.

The proceeds went to expand the staff and rent an office with an area of ​​55 m2. According to Allen, everything that he and Mike earned in the first years, they invested in the development of the company: “If we had free money, we did not increase the salary of each other, but immediately hired another artist or programmer”. It happened that for many months, including during Starcraft development, friends worked for eighty hours a week – that is, almost twelve hours every day.

Formally the first game developed by Silicon & Synapse – this is an arcade race RPM Racing , released Internet for SNES (we have better known as Super Nintendo). But in fact, RPM was only a remake of another race, Racing Destruction Set , published Electronic Arts In 1985. But the next project Silicon & Synapse, magnificent platformer The Lost Vikings , Friends have developed from scratch.

The game also released InterPlay, and the owners of almost all the platforms existing at that time – Amiga, Amiga CD32, Sega Megadrive, Snes, PC (and in 2003, it also ported on Game Boy Advance). In June 1993, another Silicon & Seega Mega Drive appeared on SNES and Sega Mega Drive Synapse – Rock N ’Roll Racing , Arkada, in which it was necessary to shoot opponents under the roar of rock music.

Critics quickly appreciated the potential of Silicon & Synapse – so, magazine VideoGames He called the company the best developer of 1993. However, the ordinary players had nothing to do with this. Allen decided that to achieve success, they need to rename the studio. “No one has a concept of what this damn Synapse means,” he repeated during coffee breaks.

Mike Morheim suggested calling the company " Chaos Studio ", But it soon became clear that a company with this name already exists. Its owners were ready to sell the rights for one hundred thousand dollars. Friends decided that $ 100,000 was too expensive for a beautiful phrase. Sortering different options, Mike and Allen came to Ogre Entertainment Studio , But then, lazily leafing through the dictionary, Allen stumbled upon the word "Blizzard". So Silicon & Synapse became Blizzard Entertainment.

Carte blanche

In 1993 an educational company Davidson & Associates I acquired Blizzard Entertainment for $ 10 million – on the condition that twenty employees of the studio retain complete independence. Subsequently, the owners of Blizzard changed several more times. In 1996 Davidson & Associates with Sierra on-line was bought by the company CUC International , And already in 1997, CUC International united with a network of hotels, real estate agencies and car rental centers HFS Corporation , Having formed a conglomerate Cendant Corporation. In 1998, after accused of financial fraud, Cendant sold her game unit Sierra on-line, which included Blizzard, a French publishing house Havas. It, in turn, was bought in the same year Vivendi Universal. Finally, July 9, 2008 after the merger Activision and Vivendi Games has formed a publishing house Activision Blizzard.

However, we were distracted. In 1994, Blizzard Entertainment released four games at once: Majong Shanghai 2: Dragon’s Eye , Platformer Blackthorne and beat ’em up The Death and Return of Superman , as well as the famous real -time strategy Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. Actually, in those days, the RTS king was considered Westwood Studios With her Dune 2 (1992), and the fans of the genre had a lot. But in 1993-1994, while Westwood herself worked on Command & Conquer, Strategies in real time almost did not come out.

Noticing this, Blizzard took up the first "Warcraft". The demo version of the epic saga about the war of people and orcs was first shown to the general public at the summer exhibition of household electronics in Chicago. This event, by the way, is also noteworthy that Allen Edham met the owners of California on it Condor , David Brevik and Max and Eric Schaefer. In January 1995, they just took up the development Diablo , The producer of which Allen Edham performed (it was he who insisted that the dull step -by -step battles replace with more dynamic and exciting battles in real time). Looking ahead, let's say that at the end of 1996, Diablo went to gold-and eight months before that Condor studio joined Blizzard and began to be called Blizzard North.

By that time Warcraft: Orcs & Humans has already come out – 100,000 disks were sold during the first year. In Irvain, development began Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness. Everything about everything about everything Blizzard took ten months – and this despite the fact that in the second part a revolutionary network mode of the game was implemented at that time and a new graphic engine was used. The strategy was released in December 1995-and by March 1996 it diverged in a circulation of half a million copies.

One space strategy instead of three

Intoxicated by the success of Blizzard Entertainment and the leadership of Davidson & Associates wanted the next studio game to be released exactly a year later-exactly before the Christmas holidays of 1996. Given that Warcraft 2 discs scattered like hot pies, it would be reasonable to announce Warcraft 3. However, the producers of the series, Mike and Allen, did not want to engage in self -repetition and decided to make another game.

After several meetings, it turned out that both the leaders of the company and ordinary employees were not averse to creating another RTS, but only in it there should not be a fantasy world, but a high -tech world of the future. The name for the new project was invented quite quickly – Starcraft.

By this time, in the bowels of Blizzard, there were a full speed of two more strategies with a futuristic setting – Shattehed Nations And Pax Imperia2 (sequel of the RTS of the same name, released Heliotrope Studios At Macintoshas in 1992). Shattehed Nations narrated about the internecine war of people in the post-apocalyptic world and was canceled in May 1998 (the trailer can still be found on YouTube on the key "Shattered Nations Trailer Cancelled Blizzard Game"). And Pax Imperia 2 was created in parallel with Starcraft, but when Blizzard realized that the games would compete with each other on the market, it was also canceled. As a result, Pax Imperia 2 finished Heliotrope itself, and it came out in October 1997 under the name Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain.

Grain, Zurgi and Space invaders

With Starcraft everything was not easy too. At the very early stage of development, it was planned to limit himself to two races – however, with different sets of units. The authors wanted to move away from the so -called chess scheme for building gameplay, when the warring parties dispose of the same set of figures.

In Warcraft 2, the troops had similar combat characteristics and differed from each other only by the appearance. Elven archers were contrasted by the broken berserkers, hefty ogra were drawn with horse knights, the fire -breathing dragons competed in the air with the riders of the griffins – and so on. Developing a new strategy, Blizzard put on diversity: one race got highly developed technologies (laser guns, starships, psionic weapons and all that so on), and the other relied on gross power and prevailed due to numerical superiority.

Gathering an alpha version, the developers came to the conclusion that the game should not have two, but three sides, as in Dune 2: Terrans (Terran), Protoss (Protoss) and … Nightmarish invaders-this is the originally called reasonable insect -shaped creatures. Then they were renamed Zurgov (Zurg), but a few months later it turned out that in the announced Pixar The animated film "The History of toys 2" will be a negative character – the evil emperor Zurg. For every fireman “U” replaced with “E” – so the Zurgi turned into Zergov (Zerg).

Early alpha

Initially, Starcraft was created on a slightly modified Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness engine, the release was scheduled for November 1996. Blizzard even released several promoters. In the first, short, there were neither beautiful cat-scenes, nor a slide show from screenshots-only the game logo (by the way, it also differed from the final) and yellow on a black background, which represented the audience of three participants in the conflict: Terran, protoss and – Then still – Zurgov. In the second video, on the contrary, there was only one line of text (“From the creators of Warcraft …”), but a short sketch with flying spaceships appeared (the key to search for YouTube – “Starcraft 1995 First Trainer”). This turned out to be enough to interest the players.

For E3 , Passing in May 1996, a raw demo version was collected – the so -called early alpha (screenshots show how much it was different from the final game). So, resources were mined not from the deposits of crystals and gas deposits scattered along the ground, but from asteroids. Because of this, the rubbish drones did not glide on the ground, but flew along the sky. Pay attention to the interface – it is practically under the carbon copy of the sodran with Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness. Take a look at how primitively the special biological substance is made, on which the grains are rebuilt (by the way, it was originally called not a crypt (CREP), but the Pupayi (Pupae)). On one of the screenshots, the surface of this substance is painted blue, on the other – in purple. Now take a closer look at the structures – many of them are very similar to the buildings of the orcs.

The audience met the game cool. There were six computers at the Blizzard Entertainment booth, and at the beginning of the exhibition they were equally divided between Starcraft and Diablo – however, on the last day of E3, the space strategy huddled only on one. The reaction of the profile press was not enthusiastic: she described the essence of the game with two nouns and one pretext – “Orcs in Cosmos”. Also, due to the abundance of violet color, Starcraft was nicknamed "purple" Warcraft ". It was a failure.

Blizzard had a difficult choice: either release the game before Christmas holidays in the form in which it appeared on E3, or transfer the release date for an indefinite period to fundamentally change the gameplay and graphics, or completely cancel the project, as happened with the Shattered Nations. Choose the second option.

Alpha and Beta

Almost all the developments went to the garbage basket. The team of programmers, led by Bob Fitch, settled for changing the graphic engine and writing a new algorithm for artificial intelligence behavior.

In early 1997, the alpha version of the game was ready. Take a look at the screenshots: there is no trace of the old interface. The graphics have changed. For example, the walking robots Terran and Goliaths look different, the carriers of the protosss seem much less. Many units have other names: dragoons are called templars, enemy – phoenixes, observers – witnesses, and river – trilobites. Some units have additional weapons: say, the already mentioned Goliath knows how to shoot from a machine gun, guns and flamethrower. And in the 1998 Starcraft, he beats for ground targets from a machine gun, and on air – from a missile installation.

The alpha version looked good, but its quality was not enough. Due to the fact that the game used the modernized graphic nucleus of Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, the developers could not realize a number of interesting ideas-for example, elaborating with grains or invisibility of Terran.

Bob Fitch programmers again had to thoroughly delve into the insides of the engine. “Give me two months, and we will be able to introduce everything you want, and even ten times more,” he reassured designers. Despite the fact that in 1996, three-dimensional games already existed ( Wolfenstein 3D , Doom , Doom 2 ), Blizzard did not redo her two -dimensional engine. The developers were quite satisfied with the sprites of “Warcraft”: “Let the game have a good new engine – with a bad gameplay, it still will not last long,” Patrick Whayette remarked every now and then. Thus, Blizzard focused not on the technical, but on the gameplay and plot component.

In the spring of 1997, a beta version was collected. Almost all units migrated from it into a release, only some have changed names and a few characteristics. So, the Terran infantrymen turned from looters into marines and instead of laser rifles began to use rapid -fire machines. This, by the way, is far from the only example of how the weapons of units changed in the course of development. Did you know that the Terran could initially throw the enemies of the bomb on the heads of the enemies, and the ghost was armed with powerful missiles? Pay attention to the screenshots again: many protoss buildings differ from those that we saw in the final version (pylons look fun). But the buildings of Terran almost all were preserved in its original form.

While the programmers fiddled with the engine, Morheim created several new departments that were responsible for the KAT scenes-in the middle of the development of Mike and Allen decided that the game videos were simply necessary. Bob Fitch was still working: “Twinnot began in August 1997, then I first began to linger in the office … Initially,“ lingering ”meant to“ work 50 hours a week instead of 40 ”. Then I worked 60 hours a week, then 70, then 80. Then it turned out that I didn’t leave the office at all – I live there. Others bring me food, I sleep on the couch – and, in spite of everything, I still want to play this game ".

"This damn toy"

Blizzard planned to release Starcraft December 15, 1997. Now all the company’s employees were sitting in the office without any time, trying to be in time for the intended time-and, according to the press release, “slept on the floor, ate pizza from the store nearby and worked out shifts for 30 hours”. The programmer Jeff Strain, who was engaged in a game editor, did not leave Starcraft even at the bed of a pregnant wife: in December, Annie was in the ninth month, and one fine day she began to fight. Jeff took her to the hospital and sat next to him for six hours – all this time he programmed on his laptop multitasking regime of the campaign editor. When the effect of sleeping pills ended, the first that Annie saw was her husband's fingers running on the keyboard. “How can you work on this damn toy during the birth of our daughter!" – she exclaimed. Jeff looked out for a moment from behind the monitor and replied: “This is not a damn toy, Annie. This is Starcraft ".

But, despite all efforts, instead of a disk with a master of the game, by December, only a beta version was ready for testing. At first glance, it looks like a release option like two drops of water. But if you look closely, you can find a lot of differences. So, at the beginning of the game, only one working unit is given and they collect not 8, but 10 units of resources; The construction of buildings and upgrades proceed much faster; You cannot assign a collection point for the produced units; The protosss and Zergs have blocked up armor upgrades … And these are only a few examples from a huge list of discrepancies.

The time remaining to the release – from December to March – went to polish the gameplay. Blizzard did not do anything else except Starcraft. The employees played for three months, found bugs and inconsistencies in the balance sheet of forces, and then diligently corrected everything – Mike Morheim is still sure that 10% of the bugs that were captured during the final testing distinguish a good game from the Great.

[[Break]] Starcraft as an academic discipline

In 2009, in one of the oldest and most prestigious higher educational institutions of the United States, the University of California at Berkeley, they introduced an unusual subject called “ Starcraft: The Art of War ". The course consists of lectures and practical classes, at which students learn to think effectively and make correct decisions in the conditions of manifold – and use the skills gained during the game in real life. Teachers – professional e -sportsmen from South Korea – not only open the secrets of skill on the principle of “do as me!", And disassemble different game strategies using complex formulas, probability theory, etc.p. On the Internet you can find videos of several lectures, each lasts from half an hour to one and a half (the key to search for YouTube – “UC Berkeley Starcraft Class Lecture”).

Full set

Immediately after Starcraft, various teams began to create their games and additions “based on” (three such addons were recognized as official, although Blizzard itself developed only one of them).

The Canadian studio was faster Aztech New Media – Exactly four months after the release of Starcraft, July 31, 1998, a strategy appeared on sale Starcraft: Insurrection. It consists of three dozen missions for a single campaign and more than a hundred cards for multiplayer battles, but new content (units, for example) does not add. In general, players accepted Starcraft: Insurrection, although they noticed that the addon has been tested worse than the original game. The second addon, Starcraft: Retribution , developed Stardock Systems And published WizardWorks Software , appeared at the end of 1998. It included 120 cards and a large single campaign. Retribution was evaluated as a mediocre addon-except for cards and single campaigns, he again did not add anything special, and the cards and campaigns themselves were very complicated.

The only addon developed by Blizzard itself was released on November 30, 1998. Starcraft: Brood War continued the campaign of the original game, added seven new units, new musical tracks and textures. In addition, Brood War corrected the balance of forces a little – this was predetermined by the success of the addition.

There are also four addons that Blizzard considers unofficial. Three mods were created not by professional developers, but by fan communities. Starcraft: Liberation And Starcraft: After Vrod War Add a 10 and 21 new mission to the game, respectively. Starcraft: Realistic , designed by Russian modmakers from the team Red System (www.Redsys.ru ), includes 7 missions for graves, 5 – for protosss and 3 – for the terran. In addition, Red System came up with several interesting graphic effects. So, Terran aviation leaves a smoky train, and protosss – photon; Behind flying missiles, a fiery tail curls; The guns of tanks and goliafs shoot with return; A broken plane does not fly apart in the air, but dives to the ground and explodes. The fourth unofficial addon, Stellar Forces , released by the company Micro Star , It includes 22 levels for – for the network game.

The collection of a real Starcraft

For twelve years of Starcraft's existence in the world of winning capitalism, countless various souvenir products were released – from pens and figurines to comics and books. Here are just some of the things that the real fan of the series is obliged in their collection.

Starcraft: advanced

Manga, which is officially distributed by the St. Petersburg Publishing House "Comics Art". Two out of four existing collections have already been on sale.

Starcraft: Hybrid and Starcraft: Revelations

The two very first stories, the action of which takes place in the Starcraft universe (there will be a dozen books and comics behind them). Published in the American magazine Amazing Stories in the spring of 1999 and 2000.

Starcraft: The Board Game

Fantasy Flight Games, published in the fall of 2007, which can play 2-4 hours from two to six people.

Gaming soundtracks

Two hourly collections with intra-game music: published in January 2000 Starcraft: Game Music Vol. 1 and appearing in August 2008 Starcraft Original Soundtrack.

P.S. If this is not enough for you, you can go to South Korea and buy souvenir figures there, carbonated drinks, potato chips, telephone cards, stickers and other collector things with Starcraft symbols. And you can make various units from the Lego designer yourself.

Bright light of an open star

Starcraft to the wide masses are most known, of course, like an e -sports game. For the first time the largest annual cybersurnament World Cyber ​​Games Passed in 2000 – and even then Starcraft competitions were held: Brood War (e -sportsmen use addon because it is more balanced than the original).

Representatives of South Korea invariably win the WCG grand finals (the highest achievement of Russia is the second place in 2005): in this country there is almost the second religion for young people in this country. Back in 1999, 1 million copies were sold in South Korea alone-despite the fact that then 40 million people lived in the country! Today, one disk with the game is already 23 inhabitants of the country. Korean television channels regularly conduct broadcasts from various tournaments, and thousands of young people spend daily training for several hours. An experienced Starcraft makes up to 500 clicks per minute! Do not believe? Look at your youtube fights (an interesting video, for example, can be found on the key “National Geographic: World Cyber ​​Games [5/5]” is a ten -minute recording of the match between two Korean cyberstexts).

Professional Starcrafts receive up to half a million dollars a year from prize and advertising deductions. Thus, one of the outstanding Korean e-sportsmen, Lim Yo-Khwan, at the peak of his careers earned an average of $ 390,000 per year, and the other progemner, Lee Yun-Eol, in 2007 signed a three-year contract for $ 830,000-this is more than the presidents of many receive Game corporations. By the way, it is interesting that five out of the six best Korean e-sportsmen play professionally for Zerg (as of February 2010).

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