MechCommander is a real-time tactics video game based on FASA 's BattleTech / MechWarrior franchise, developed by FASA Interactive and distributed by MicroProse in 1998. An expansion pack , Desperate Measures , was released in 1999.
120-735: Players assume the role of the commander of Zulu company from the Federated Commonwealth's First Davion Guards, a member of the Inner Sphere (IS) . The planet Port Arthur must be taken back from the Clan Smoke Jaguar . The game's campaign progresses through 30 different missions broken into 5 operations with 6 missions apiece. Each mission consists of a number of objectives which may include destroying enemy units, capturing or defending enemy units, protecting friendly units, and capturing and defending bases. Some missions must be completed within
240-598: A Nintendo 64 version, StarCraft 64 , began in 1999, converted from PC by Mass Media Interactive Entertainment—a subsidiary of THQ —and published by Nintendo . StarCraft 64 was released in the United States on June 13, 2000, and in Australia on May 25, 2001. The musical score to StarCraft was composed by Blizzard Entertainment's composers. Glenn Stafford composed the Terran and Protoss in-game themes, while Derek Duke, who
360-408: A collectible card game , a series of more than 100 novels , and an animated television series . In its most basic form, BattleTech is played on a map sheet composed of hexagonal terrain tiles. The combat units are roughly 12-metre-tall (39 ft) humanoid armored combat units called BattleMechs, powered by fusion reactors and armed with a variety of weapons. Typically, these are represented on
480-554: A Nintendo 64 memory Expansion Pak to run. In addition, StarCraft 64 features a split screen cooperative mode , also requiring the expansion pak, allowing two players to control one force in-game. StarCraft 64 lacked the online multiplayer capabilities and speech in mission briefings. In addition, cut scenes were shortened. StarCraft 64 was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Game Story" and "Best Strategy Game" awards among console games, which went respectively to Summoner and Ogre Battle 64 . A remastered edition of
600-479: A Zerg cerebrate and is pursued by both the Protoss and Terran Dominion . Enslavers acts as an exemplar single-player campaign for the game's level editor , highlighting how to use the features of the program. StarCraft ' s first expansion, Insurrection , was released for Windows on July 31, 1998. The expansion was developed by Aztech New Media and authorized by Blizzard Entertainment. Its story focused on
720-857: A certain time limit. In each mission, players controls a limited number of units which are either mechs or support vehicles. This control is through a simulated aerial viewscreen above the battlefield. Each mission restricts both the combined tonnage and the number of units allowed. Briefings are supplied prior to the start of the mission which lists the objectives and other relevant information. A wide range of strategies and tactics may be used on any given mission, and players can customize their forces for each one. In between missions players can repair and refit mechs, assign mechwarriors to each mech and purchase mechs, vehicles, mechwarriors, and components. These items are purchased with Resource Points which are awarded for completing previous mission objectives. Few mechs, vehicles, mech pilots, and components can be purchased at
840-426: A dial in its base. BattleMechs, the hulking flagship units of the franchise, made a natural subject for computer emulation, and so in 1988 Infocom released a PC/Commodore 64/Amiga based RPG called BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception . It was later followed up with a sequel, BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge in 1990. Both games were reasonably well received, although aside from storyline continuity
960-492: A disc, and requires a product key to work just as the full version does. However, one product key can support up to eight spawned installations with access to Battle.net. Limitations of a spawned installation include the inability to play single-player missions, create multiplayer games, or use the campaign editor. Newer releases of the game available through Battle.net or discs that include the Windows Vista label don't support
1080-623: A fictitious future timeline during the 25th century AD in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector, the game revolves around three intelligent species fighting for dominance: the Terrans are humans exiled from Earth who are now skilled at adapting to any situation; the Zerg are a race of insectoid aliens in pursuit of genetic perfection and obsessed with assimilating other races;
1200-602: A home console port onto the PlayStation , but the team ultimately decided to develop and release it for the Nintendo 64 instead. Resurrection IV is set after the conclusion of Brood War , and follows Jim Raynor embarking on a mission to rescue the Brood War character Alexei Stukov , a vice admiral from Earth who has been captured by the Zerg. The Brood War missions required the use of
1320-442: A powerful crystal on a Terran Dominion colony. The expansion was not received with critical support, instead being regarded as average but at least challenging. After the release of Retribution , Blizzard Entertainment announced a new official expansion pack that would continue on the story of StarCraft . StarCraft: Brood War was consequently created, developed jointly by Blizzard Entertainment and Saffire . Brood War continues
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#17328512506901440-415: A range of more ballistic military technologies and machinery, such as tanks and nuclear weapons. Although each race is unique in its composition, no race has an innate advantage over the other. Each species is balanced out so that while they have different strengths, powers, and abilities, their overall strength is the same. StarCraft features artificial intelligence that scales in difficulty, although
1560-495: A science-fiction feudalistic Dark Age setting. The game was at first called Battledroids . The name of the game was changed to BattleTech in the second edition because George Lucas and Lucasfilm claimed the rights to the term " droid "; the machines themselves were renamed BattleMechs from the second edition onward. The game components included: Rather than create their own original robot art, FASA decided to use already-extant designs that had originally been created for
1680-421: A second soundtrack, StarCraft Original Soundtrack , had been released on iTunes . This soundtrack consisted entirely of the original music from StarCraft and Brood War , both from in-game themes to music used in the cinematic cutscenes . Before the release of StarCraft , Blizzard Entertainment released a free-to-download game demo entitled Loomings , comprising three missions and a tutorial. The prequel
1800-556: A separate Confederate colony alluded to in the manual to StarCraft , following a group of Terran colonists and a Protoss fleet in their fight against the Zerg and a rising local insurgency. Insurrection was not received well, being criticized by reviewers for lacking the quality of the original game. Insurrection was followed within a few months by a second expansion, Retribution . Developed by Stardock , published by WizardWorks and authorized by Blizzard Entertainment, Retribution follows all three races attempting to seize control of
1920-429: A strategy of the quality of their units over the quantity. The insectoid Zerg possess entirely organic units and structures, which can be produced quickly and at a far cheaper cost to resources, but are accordingly weaker, relying on sheer numbers and speed to overwhelm enemies. The humanoid Terrans provide a middle ground between the other two races, providing units that are versatile and flexible. They have access to
2040-470: A tremendous amount of hype to live up to. The fact that it does live up to the high expectations set for it may be the only recommendation it needs." Although at the time StarCraft ' s graphics and audio were praised by critics, later reviews have noted that the graphics do not compare to more modern games. The capacity for the game's artificial intelligence to navigate units to waypoints also faced some heavy criticism, with PC Zone stating that
2160-604: A variety of different Japanese anime , including Dougram , Crusher Joe , and Macross . The rights to these images were licensed from Twentieth Century Imports (TCI) . In later years, FASA abandoned these images as a result of a lawsuit brought against them by Playmates Toys and Harmony Gold over the use of said images. The anime-sourced BattleMechs continued to be referenced in-universe, but their images were no longer seen in new sourcebooks. This led them to be termed by fans as "the Unseen". When Fantasy Productions licensed
2280-411: Is currently owned by Topps and, for video games, Microsoft Gaming ; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps. The series began with FASA's debut of the board game BattleTech (originally named Battledroids ) by Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock III and has since grown to include numerous expansions to the original game , several board games, role playing games , video games,
2400-424: Is generally blamed for the uneven advancement, the destruction of industry and institutes of learning over the centuries of warfare having resulted in the loss of much technology and knowledge. As rivalries and conflicts have dragged on, advanced technologies are redeveloped for the battlefield. Chicago-based FASA Corporation's original 1984 game focused on enormous robotic, semi-humanoid battle machines battling in
2520-609: Is identical to real-world history up until approximately 1984, when the reported histories begin to diverge; in particular, the game designers did not foresee the fall of the Soviet Union , which plays a major role past 1991 in the fictional BattleTech history. Individual lifestyles remain largely unchanged from those of modern times, due in part to stretches of protracted interplanetary warfare during which technological progress slowed or even reversed. Cultural, political and social conventions vary considerably between worlds, but feudalism
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#17328512506902640-442: Is limited to specific locations: Protoss buildings need to be linked to a power grid, while almost every Zerg structure must be placed on a carpet of biomass, called "creep", that is produced by certain structures. Terran buildings are far less limited, with certain primary base structures possessing the ability to take off and fly slowly to a new location. Terran buildings, however, require the worker unit to continue construction on
2760-445: Is played in turns, each of which represents 10 seconds of real time, with each turn composed of multiple phases. BattleTech' s fictional history covers the approximately 1,150 years from the end of the 20th century to the middle of the 32nd. Most works in the series are set during the early to middle decades of the 31st century, though a few publications concern earlier ages. MechWarrior: Dark Ages and its related novels take place in
2880-461: Is to be commended for trying something different in the overcrowded field of RTS games. Unfortunately, it lacks polish, and the repetition of each mission drags down the fun factor." The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated the game for " PC Strategy Game of the Year " at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , although it ultimately lost to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri . The game
3000-592: Is widespread, with many states ruled by hereditary lords and other nobility, below which are numerous social classes. A key feature of the BattleTech universe is the absence of non-human intelligent life . Other than one or two isolated encounters in novels, mankind is the only sentient species. Above all, the central theme of BattleTech is conflict, consistent with the franchise's wargaming core. Interstellar and civil wars, planetary battles, factionalization and infighting, as well as institutionalized combat in
3120-499: The best-selling games for the personal computer. It has been praised for pioneering the use of unique factions in RTS gameplay and for having a compelling story. StarCraft has had its storyline adapted and expanded through a series of novels published between 2000 and 2016, the expansion pack StarCraft: Brood War , and two officially authorized add-ons , Insurrection and Retribution . A sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty ,
3240-493: The human race, such as criminals, the cybernetically enhanced , and genetic mutants , to colonize the far reaches of the galaxy. An attempt to colonize a nearby solar system goes wrong, resulting in humanity's arrival in the Koprulu Sector. In the distant Koprulu Sector of the galaxy, the exiles form several governments, but quickly fall into conflict with each other. One government, the Confederacy of Man, eventually emerges as
3360-418: The railgun . There are exceptions such as faster-than-light travel and communication, without which the setting cannot function. Radically advanced tech mixes with seemingly anachronistic technologies such as internal combustion engines and projectile weapons . Artificial intelligence , nanotechnology , androids , and many other staples of future fiction are generally absent or downplayed. Incessant warfare
3480-427: The technology tree , every unit performs differently and requires different tactics for a player to succeed. The psionic and technologically adept Protoss have access to powerful units and machinery and advanced technologies such as energy shields and localized warp capabilities, powered by their psionic traits. However, their forces have lengthy and expensive manufacturing processes, encouraging players to follow
3600-425: The video game series of the same name , it was released in 1998. A Classic Mac OS version was released in 1999, and a Nintendo 64 port co-developed with Mass Media and published by Nintendo was released in 2000. Blizzard started work on the game shortly after Warcraft II , another real-time strategy game, was released in 1995. The first incarnation debuted at the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo , where it
3720-494: The "pod" ownership community continue to update the software and hardware for the Tesla II cockpits (e.g., by developing kits that allow to replace the original CRT monitors with modern LCD ones ) for both private, commercial, and convention use. StarCraft (video game) StarCraft is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows . The first installment of
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3840-566: The Combat Operations book). The Succession Wars is played on a political star map , with players trying to capture regions of space. Recent years have seen a trend of consolidating the expansions into "core products" for efficiency. Beginning under FanPro's aegis, then continued under Catalyst Game Labs, the various rulesets have been combined into a series of Core Rulebooks: After the FASA Corporation closed in 2000, Wizkids bought
3960-460: The E3 1996 build of StarCraft fared especially poorly in comparison to Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 , another science fiction real-time strategy game which was being demoed at E3, despite the fact that the demo had been faked by Ion Storm employees; in reality, the demo for Dominion was actually a pre-rendered video that the employees were merely pretending to play. As a consequence the entire project
4080-613: The Inner Sphere, ComStar, the Periphery states and the fallen Star League. FASA launched two additional systems to complement the core game: BattleTroops , an infantry combat system, and BattleForce , a large-scale combat simulator governing the actions of massed BattleTech units. The Succession Wars , a board game released in 1987, is one of only two purely strategic titles of the series (the other being "The Inner Sphere in Flames" from
4200-550: The Overmind has been seeking for millennia. The main Zerg swarm promptly invades Aiur, while Kerrigan is dispatched to deal with Tassadar, and despite facing heavy Protoss resistance, the Overmind is able to embed itself into the crust of the planet. The final episode of the game sees Aldaris and the Protoss government branding Tassadar a traitor and a heretic for conspiring with the dark templar. The player (later retconned to be Artanis ) initially serves Aldaris in defending Aiur from
4320-402: The Overmind's weakened defenses and destroy the Overmind's outer shell, but take heavy casualties in the process. Tassadar channels his own psionic energies in combination with those of the dark templar through the hull of his command ship and crashes it into the Overmind, sacrificing himself in order to destroy it. Blizzard Entertainment began development on StarCraft in 1995, shortly after
4440-462: The PC version of the game, rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "The quality of the play balancing and the elegance of the design mean that StarCraft sets a new high watermark for all real-time strategy games." The reviewer from the online second volume of Pyramid stated that "One of the most hotly anticipated computer games of the last two years, Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft has had
4560-528: The Protoss are a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities who are attempting to preserve their civilization and strict philosophy about their way of life from the Zerg. Many journalists of the video game industry have praised StarCraft as one of the most important and greatest video games of all time . The game is also said to have raised the bar for developing real-time strategy (RTS) games . With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide by February 2009, StarCraft became one of
4680-476: The Protoss military reporting to Aldaris, a representative of the Protoss government . Aldaris is at odds with Tassadar – the former occupant of the player's position – over his association with Zeratul , a member of a heretical group known as dark templar. The story of StarCraft is presented through its instruction manual, the briefings to each mission, and conversations within the missions themselves, along with
4800-405: The Terrans discover that a second alien race, the insectoid Zerg , has been stealthily infesting the surface of several of the Terran colonies, and that the Protoss are destroying the planets to prevent the Zerg from spreading. With the Confederacy threatened by two alien races and internal rebellion, it begins to crumble. The player assumes the role of three nameless characters over the course of
4920-454: The Year", and tied with Age of Empires for " PC Strategy Game of the Year ". Starcraft also won the Origins Award for Best Strategy Computer Game of 1998. In 1998, PC Gamer declared it the 5th-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it "a strategy game that continues to evolve and surprise many months after its release, and that currently represents the state of
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5040-515: The Zerg invasion, but while on a mission to arrest Tassadar, the player joins him instead. A Protoss civil war erupts, pitting Tassadar, Zeratul, and their allies against the Protoss establishment (known as The Conclave.) The dark templar prove their worth when they use their energies to slay two more of the Zerg cerebrates on Aiur, and the Conclave reconciles with them. Aided by Raynor's forces—who sided with Tassadar back on Char—the Protoss break through
5160-403: The battlefield. Players require vespene gas to construct advanced units and buildings, and they acquire it by constructing a gas extraction building on top of a geyser and using worker units to extract the gas from it. In addition, players need to regulate the supplies for their forces to ensure that they can construct the number of units they need. Although the nature of the supply differs between
5280-421: The beginning of the campaign, but more become available as the game progresses. However, only IS technology can be purchased. Clan technology such as weaponry and new mechs must be salvaged from the battlefield. Salvaging equipment is an important feature of the game. Each mech is piloted by a mechwarrior. Pilots increase in skill as they use them during missions. The more missions and kills a particular pilot has,
5400-614: The best, if not the best, real-time strategy games ever created." StarCraft is frequently included in the industry's best games rankings, for example it ranked 37 in Edge ' s top 100 games of all time. StarCraft has even been taken into space, as astronaut Daniel T. Barry took a copy of the game with him on the Space Shuttle mission STS-96 in 1999. StarCraft ' s popularity resulted in Guinness World Records awarding
5520-430: The box art. Along with Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy , it was one of the few games to ever be officially recommended by Sci-Fi. BattleTech#Inner Sphere BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs . The trademark
5640-498: The building until it is completed. Also, once a Terran building has taken a certain amount of damage, it will catch fire and can eventually burn to the ground without further enemy action if repairs are not performed by a worker unit. The Protoss, by contrast, only require a worker unit to begin the process of transporting a building to the theater of operations via warp, and their buildings' shields (but not their structure) are regenerative. The Zerg worker unit physically transforms into
5760-463: The characters and units in StarCraft have been produced by ToyCom. A number of model kits, made by Academy Hobby Model Kits , were also produced, displaying 1/30 scale versions of the marine and the hydralisk. In addition, Blizzard Entertainment teamed up with Fantasy Flight Games to create a board game with detailed sculptures of game characters. Blizzard Entertainment also licensed Wizards of
5880-418: The company later released a statement noting that their primary troubles had been with finding a publisher, which eventually led to the announcement of a free-to-play reboot called Mechwarrior Online , set around the start of the clan invasions. The game was published in 2013 by Infinite Games Publishing, the same company which later published MechWarrior Tactics . IGP filed for bankruptcy and sold off
6000-506: The concept of custom NPC mechs that had their own names (like Kotare's Turkina ), weapon configurations and overall superiority to the standard modifications. This idea was carried on to, and greatly improved in, MechCommander 2 . A compilation called MechCommander Gold was released in 1999 that includes the base game and the expansion. The game received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings . Next Generation called it "a good first effort, and FASA
6120-475: The designers, such as the abilities for units to burrow and cloak , could be implemented. Later improvements to the game included pre-rendered sprites and backgrounds, constructed using 3D Studio Max . An isometric in-game view was also adopted, in contrast to Warcraft II ' s auxiliary bird's eye perspective . In addition, the game utilized high quality music, composed by Blizzard's resident composers, and professional voice actors were hired. Despite
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#17328512506906240-544: The destruction of the Confederacy by luring the Zerg to the Confederate capital Tarsonis. Raynor is outraged by Mengsk's true aims of obtaining power at any cost and deserts, followed by the player, taking with them a small army of the former colonial militia of Mar Sara. Mengsk reorganizes what remains of the Terran population into the Terran Dominion , crowning himself as emperor. The second campaign reveals that Kerrigan
6360-472: The extent of the AI's tactical and strategic planning. The single-player campaign consists of thirty missions, split into ten for each race. Each race relies on two resources to sustain their game economies and to build their forces: minerals and vespene gas. Minerals are needed for all units and structures, and they are obtained by using a worker unit to harvest the resource directly from mineral nodes scattered around
6480-533: The fact that it had been infested by the Zerg, the player joins Arcturus Mengsk and the Sons of Korhal. Raynor, who is freed by Mengsk's troops, also joins and frequently accompanies the player on missions. Mengsk then begins to use Confederate technology captured on Mar Sara to lure the Zerg to Confederate installations and further his own goals. After forcing Confederate general Edmund Duke to join him, Mengsk sacrifices his own second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan , to ensure
6600-548: The first BattleTech Center at the North Pier Mall in Chicago. The BattleTech Center featured 16 networked, full-sized cockpits or "pods" that resembled a BattleMech cockpit with over 80 separate controls. Each player selected a 'Mech to pilot into combat against up to seven other human players in the other cockpits. Virtual World Entertainment, the company that managed the centers, later opened many other Virtual World centers around
6720-408: The flag objective-based games. In addition, the game incorporates a variety of specialized scenarios for different types of game, such as simulating a football game, using the Terran hoverbike unit to conduct a bike race, or hosting a Zerg hunting competition. StarCraft is also one of the few games that includes a spawn installation , which allows for limited multiplayer. It must be installed from
6840-519: The forums and enthusiasm for the game, Blizzard Entertainment later incorporated the group's name into StarCraft as a cheat code to speed up the production of units and gave the group thanks in the game's credits. The game was released for Windows on March 31, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on April 9, with the Classic Mac OS version following a year later on March 12, 1999. Development on
6960-457: The game board by two-inch-tall miniature figurines that the players can paint to their own specifications, although older publications such as the 1st edition included small scale plastic models originally created for the Macross TV series, and the 2nd and 4th edition boxed sets included small cardboard pictures (front and back images) that were set in rubber bases to represent the units. The game
7080-574: The game four world records, including "Best Selling PC Strategy Game," "Largest Income in Professional Gaming," and "Largest Audience for a Game Competition" when 120,000 fans turned out to watch the final of the SKY proleague season 2005 in Busan, South Korea . Researchers have shown that the audience for watching StarCraft games is diverse and that StarCraft uses instances of information asymmetry to make
7200-520: The game from different perspectives. At BlizzCon 2007, StarCraft creator Chris Metzen stated that he hoped to novelize the entirety of StarCraft and its expansion Brood War into a definitive text-based story. Later novels, such as Gabriel Mesta 's Shadow of the Xel'Naga and Christie Golden 's The Dark Templar Saga , further expand the storyline, creating the setting for StarCraft II . A number of action figures and collectable statues based upon
7320-612: The game more entertaining for spectators. In addition, StarCraft has been the subject of an academic course; the University of California, Berkeley offered a student-run introductory course on theory and strategy in spring 2009. After its release, StarCraft rapidly grew in popularity in South Korea . Professional gamers in South Korea are media celebrities, and StarCraft games are broadcast over three television channels dedicated to
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#17328512506907440-583: The game sees the player as a cerebrate , a commander within the Zerg Swarm. The player is ruled over by the Zerg Overmind – the manifestation of the collective consciousness of the Swarm and the game's primary antagonist – and is given advice from other cerebrates of higher rank and status while accomplishing the objectives of the Swarm. In the final part of StarCraft , the player is a newly appointed Executor within
7560-406: The game to "avoid the problem that has plagued every other game in the genre". Many critics also praised the strength of the story accompanying the game, with some reviewers being impressed by how well the story was folded into the gameplay. The game's voice acting in particular was praised; GameSpot later hailed the voice work in the game as one of the ten best in the industry at the time. Equally,
7680-403: The game was not received as positively by reviewers, and was criticized for poor graphics in comparison to the PC version. However, critics did praise the game and Mass Media for using effective controls on the gamepad and maintaining the high quality audio. At the inaugural Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards ), StarCraft won "Computer Entertainment Title of
7800-457: The game), and proceeded to explain the meaning of the term. The storyline of StarCraft has been adapted into several novels. The first novel, Uprising , which was written by Blizzard employee Micky Neilson and published in December 2000, acts as a prequel to the events of StarCraft . Other novels— Liberty's Crusade by Jeff Grubb and Aaron Rosenberg's Queen of Blades —retell the story of
7920-455: The game, StarCraft: Remastered , released August 14, 2017, preserves the gameplay of the original while adding support for ultra-high-definition graphics , Blizzard's modern online features, and re-recorded audio (soundtrack and sound effects). On June 8, 2019, as part of the grand finals of the third season of the KSL, Blizzard announced a graphics overhaul pack for the game by Carbot Animations,
8040-558: The game, increasing to 1 million units sold in Korea by November 1999. StarCraft ' s worldwide sales reached 4 million units by July 2001; South Korea accounted for 50% of these copies. By May 2007, StarCraft had sold over 9.5 million copies across the globe, with 4.5 million of these being sold in South Korea. Since the initial release of StarCraft , Blizzard Entertainment reported that its Battle.net online multiplayer service grew by 800 percent. Generally, StarCraft
8160-465: The game. In the first act, the player acts as the Confederate magistrate of an outlying colony world of Mar Sara, threatened by both the Zerg and the Protoss, and is forced through events to join the rebel Sons of Korhal under its leader Arcturus Mengsk . Mengsk's campaign is accompanied by Jim Raynor , a morally conscious law enforcement officer from Mar Sara, and Sarah Kerrigan , a psychic assassin and Mengsk's second-in-command. The second episode of
8280-478: The genre's art". With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide by February 2009, StarCraft became one of the best-selling games for the personal computer. It has been praised for pioneering the use of unique factions in RTS gameplay, and for having a compelling story. GameSpot described StarCraft as "The defining game of its genre. It is the standard by which all real-time strategy games are judged." IGN stated that StarCraft "is hands down one of
8400-415: The heretical dark templar . Tassadar allies himself with the dark templar prelate Zeratul , who assassinates Zasz , one of the Zerg's cerebrates in their hive clusters on Char. The cerebrate's death results in its forces running amok through the Zerg hives, but briefly links the minds of Zeratul and the Zerg Overmind , allowing the Overmind to finally learn the location of the Protoss homeworld Aiur, which
8520-467: The inability for developers to make an effective pathfinding system was "the single most infuriating element of the real-time strategy genre". In addition, several reviewers expressed concern over some familiarities between the unit structures of each race, as well as over the potential imbalance of players using rushing tactics early in multiplayer games. Blizzard Entertainment has strived to balance rush tactics in later updates. The Nintendo 64 version of
8640-434: The large number of such pre-designed BattleMechs, vehicles, aerospace units and other military hardware, the creators also established a system of custom design rules, enabling players to generate their own units and field them in combat. In addition to game rule books, FASA published several background books detailing the history, political and social structures of various factions in the game, including all five Great Houses of
8760-585: The liberation of Port Arthur, the player once again assumes command of Zulu company in a campaign to liberate the desolate planet Cermak in the Periphery, taken by a renegade Smoke Jaguar, Star Colonel Marcus Kotare (a character that was featured briefly in MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries ), for an unknown reason that is revealed later in game. Once again, the player starts with inferior Inner Sphere mechs (pilots and mechs from original campaign cannot be exported into expansion), though both mechs and pilots are better than in
8880-508: The license from Topps. CGL continues to hold the license to this day; with the end of the MechWarrior: Dark Age miniatures game, the name of the traditional tabletop game has reverted to simply BattleTech . On June 24, 2009, Catalyst Game Labs announced that they had secured the rights to the "Unseen" art. As a result, art depicting the original 'Mechs could be legally used again. However, an update on August 11, 2009, stated that
9000-448: The mid 3100s. A detailed timeline stretching from the late 20th century to the mid-32nd describes humanity's technological, social and political development and spread through space both in broad historical terms and through accounts of the lives of individuals who experienced and shaped that history, with an emphasis on (initially) the year 3025 and creating an ongoing storyline from there. Generally, BattleTech assumes that its history
9120-422: The more experienced and valuable he or she becomes. If a pilot gains enough experience, he or she will increase in rank. The four ranks from least to greatest are "green", "regular", "veteran", and "elite". Rank determines how effective a pilot is in a certain class of mechs (light, medium, heavy, or assault). MechCommander: Desperate Measures is an expansion pack that was released in 1999. Set immediately after
9240-575: The multiplayer aspects of the game were positively received. StarCraft has received multiple awards, including being named as one of the best games of all time by GameSpot, IGN , and Game Informer . According to Blizzard Entertainment, StarCraft has won 37 awards and has received a star on the floor of the Metreon as part of the Walk of Game in San Francisco in early 2006. Next Generation reviewed
9360-485: The music owed much of its inspiration to Jerry Goldsmith 's score for the film Alien . The first official game soundtrack, StarCraft: Game Music Vol. 1 , was released in 2000, comprising tracks from both StarCraft and Brood War , as well as a sizable portion of remix tracks and music inspired by StarCraft , created by several South Korean disc jockeys. The soundtrack was distributed by Net Vision Entertainment. In September 2008, Blizzard Entertainment announced that
9480-528: The old editions." In the August 1997 edition of Dragon (Issue 238), Rick Swan reviewed FASA's fourth edition of BattleTech, and called it "A snap to learn... as exciting as it is addictive; there are few gaming experiences more satisfying than blasting giant robots into scrap metal." However, for people who already owned the third edition, Swan suggested that "there's no compelling reason to invest in version four." The BattleTech franchise first extended beyond
9600-530: The original x86 version. The original game, along with the expansion, was released for free in April 2017. In 2021, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted StarCraft to its World Video Game Hall of Fame . During the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine , Ukrainian presidential spokesman and Chief of Staff Oleksiy Arestovych described reports of a potential Russian offensive as a "zerg rush" of 10,000 volunteers (in reference to Zerg swarm species tactics from
9720-457: The other two species." The hand-drawn graphics seen in the E3 version were also replaced with rendered graphics. In early 1997, the new version of StarCraft was unveiled, receiving a far more positive response. However, the game was still marred by technical difficulties, so Bob Fitch completely redesigned the Warcraft II engine within two months to ensure that many of the features desired by
9840-511: The part of the deal regarding designs that originated in images from Macross had fallen through, returning the original images to Unseen status once again. Since then, designs that originated in images from Dougram and Crusher Joe are no longer considered Unseen. In the March 1988 edition of Dragon (Issue 131), Jim Bambra called the first edition BattleTech tabletop game "a brilliantly conceived and presented game of robotic combat set in
9960-434: The player cannot change the difficulty level in the single-player campaigns. Each campaign starts with enemy factions running easy AI modes, scaling through the course of the campaign to the hardest AI modes. In the level editor provided with the game, a designer has access to four levels of AI difficulties: "easy", "medium", "hard", and "insane", each setting differing in the units and technologies allowed to an AI faction and
10080-404: The popular Magic: The Gathering . WizKids , owners of the BattleTech franchise after 2001, introduced a collectable miniatures-based variant of the classic tabletop game called MechWarrior: Dark Age in 2002 (later renamed MechWarrior: Age of Destruction ). The game incorporates WizKids' " Clix System ", a means of tracking the combat statistics and abilities of each figure by turning
10200-540: The producers of multiple Blizzard-related parody animations, including their first and longest-running one, the StarCrafts series. As a graphical overhaul, its effect applies to all game modes and menus in StarCraft: Remastered . It was released on July 10, 2019, as StarCraft: Cartooned alongside an announcer pack featuring South Korean YouTuber and children's television host Hyejin "Hey Jini" Kang. StarCraft
10320-745: The professional gaming scene. Professional gamers in South Korea have gained television contracts, sponsorships, and tournament prizes, allowing one of the most famous players, Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan , to gain a fan club of over half a million people. One player, Lee Yun-yeol , reported earnings in 2005 of US$ 200,000 (equivalent to $ 312,012 in 2023). StarCraft was part of the United States Air Force 's Air and Space Basic Course , used to teach newly active officers about crisis planning under stress and joint service teamwork. Other efforts to make more 'realistic' current-day battle software led to distractions when simulated hardware didn't align with
10440-456: The progress, StarCraft was slow to emerge. The continual delays inspired a group of StarCraft fans on the official forums who labeled themselves "Operation: Can't Wait Any Longer" to write a series of fictional stories in which the members of Operation CWAL attempted to retrieve the beta version of StarCraft from Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California . To pay homage to their presence on
10560-681: The property, these "Unseen" images were expanded to include all art produced "out-of-house" – that is, whose copyrights resided with the creators, not the company. Catalyst Game Labs has continued this practice. The game's popularity spawned several variants and expansions to the core system, including CityTech which fleshed out urban operations, infantry, and vehicle combat, AeroTech which focused on air and space-based operations, and BattleSpace which detailed large spacecraft combat. FASA also published numerous sourcebooks, known as Technical Readouts, which featured specifications for new combat units that players could select from. However, despite
10680-453: The races—Terrans use physical supplies held in depots, Protoss use psionic energy channeled from their homeworld via pylons, and Zerg are regulated by the number of controlling overlord units present —the supply mechanic essentially works in exactly the same way for each race (just with differing impacts on gameplay), allowing players to create new units when there are sufficient resources to sustain them. Protoss and Zerg building construction
10800-548: The real hardware active duty officers knew about. The science fiction setting allowed students to focus on the battle tactics. The annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment hosts a competition for AIs playing the game. As of 2015, humans still win. In 2014, an unofficial version for the Pandora handheld and the ARM architecture became available by static recompilation and reverse engineering of
10920-405: The release of a BattleTech game known as MechWarrior: Living Legends and the first public beta was released on December 26, 2009. A possible MechWarrior 5 was being produced, though it lingered in development for about a year and was eventually canceled. Originally, Smith & Tinker owned the BattleTech electronic rights, but, after failing to find funding for a new MechWarrior game,
11040-453: The release of highly successful Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness . Using the Tides of Darkness game engine as a base, StarCraft made its debut at E3 1996 . The version of the game displayed, assembled by the team's lead programmer Bob Fitch, received a rather weak response from the convention and was criticized by many for being " Warcraft in space." According to programmer Patrick Wyatt ,
11160-465: The rights in December 2014. Piranha Games continued work on MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries , was released as an Epic Games exclusive in December 2019. Piranha Games will be releasing a stand-alone sequel to MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries called MechWarrior 5: Clans on October 3, 2024. The franchise saw its first online-dedicated game with Multiplayer BattleTech: EGA in 1992, which was followed by Multiplayer Battletech: Solaris in 1996. 1994 saw
11280-614: The rights to the game in January 2001. They reworked the IP to launch their MechWarrior: Dark Age collectible miniatures game, but licensed the rights to continue to publish products for the old game to FanPro (itself a subsidiary of Fantasy Productions ). Topps bought Wizkids in 2003, but this did not change any publishing agreements at that time. FanPro held the license to the original tabletop game (which they rebranded as "Classic BattleTech") until 2007. At that point Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) acquired
11400-582: The rights to the series were bought by Piranha Games in 2011, who had originally been working with Smith & Tinker to create MechWarrior 5. On July 9, 2009, it was confirmed that the franchise would be rebooted. Further trailers were released and it was confirmed that the timeline would be set around 3015. Though it seemed that the legal troubles which originally plagued FASA due to the similarities between BattleTech mechs and those in Robotech/Macross had returned to cause some troubles for Piranha Games,
11520-406: The rules revisions "presenting the fundamentals in clear, simple language". Swan also admired the game's post-apocalyptic vision, calling it "one of the hobby's richest settings." He concluded with a recommendation to buy the third edition: "While the previous version was a class act ... the third edition stands as the definitive treatment, a handsome upgrade worth the purchase price even for owners of
11640-731: The second game held few similarities to its predecessor. The first pure simulation of BattleMech combat, however, was released for computers in 1989. Titled MechWarrior and published by Activision , the single-player game gave users the opportunity to pilot a range of Mechs and engage in combat against computer-controlled opponents. Sequels MechWarrior 2 (1995), MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries (1996), MechWarrior 3 (1999) and MechWarrior 4 (2000), and MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries (2002) created simulations of progressively higher technical sophistication. "Mekpaks" for MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries made by Mektek were released, adding new weapons, Mechs and graphics. A group also modded Crysis for
11760-741: The series' first console original title, the simply titled BattleTech for the Sega Genesis . Other notable titles include the MechCommander series for the PC ( MechCommander in 1998 and MechCommander 2 in 2001), the MechAssault series ( MechAssault and MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf in 2002 and 2004, respectively, for the Xbox , and MechAssault: Phantom War in 2006 for the Nintendo DS ). A new turn-based strategy game , simply titled BattleTech ,
11880-405: The shape of arena contests and duelling , form the grist of both novelized fiction and game backstories. The level of technology evident in BattleTech is an unusual blend of the highly futuristic and the nearly modern. The universe leans towards hard science fiction concepts. Much of the technology is either similar to that of the present day, or considered plausible in the near-future, such as
12000-421: The spawn installation. StarCraft takes place in a science fiction universe created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney for Blizzard Entertainment. According to the story presented in the game's manual, the overpopulation of Earth in the early 24th century has caused the international governing body, known as United Powers League (which was later succeeded by United Earth Directorate), to exile certain members of
12120-591: The start of the original campaign. The expansion features a total of three campaigns. Aside from the missions, the expansion also includes a new soundtrack, new landscapes along with redesigned and new buildings, new weapons, three new mechs for each side—Stiletto, Bushwacker, and Mauler for IS and Shadow Cat, Nova Cat and Turkina for the Clan, and new vehicles including Alacorn, Pilum and Regulator tanks, as well as ammo trucks that also doubled as mobile bombs and Centipede scout vehicles. Desperate Measures also acted as testbed for
12240-611: The story of StarCraft from days after its conclusion, and was released for both Windows and Mac to critical praise on December 18, 1998, in the US and in March 1999 in Europe. Before Insurrection , an unauthorized expansion pack, called Stellar Forces , was published by Micro Star but was recalled weeks later when Micro Star settled a lawsuit brought by Blizzard against it. It consisted of 22 single player maps and 32 multi-player maps which are considered to be rather plain. In 2000, StarCraft 64
12360-441: The strongest faction, but its oppressive nature and brutal methods of suppressing dissidents stir up major rebel opposition in the form of a terrorist group called the Sons of Korhal. Just prior to the beginning of the game, in December 2499, an alien race possessing advanced technology and psionic power, the Protoss, makes first contact with humanity by destroying a Confederate colony world without any prior warning. Soon after this,
12480-460: The structure created, which is capable of slowly healing itself. Multiplayer on StarCraft is powered through Blizzard Entertainment's Battle.net Internet service. Through this, a maximum of eight players can compete in a variety of game modes, including simply destroying all other players (which may be competitive, as in Ladder play, or non-ranked, as in melee play), to king of the hill and capture
12600-529: The tabletop wargame format with the release of MechWarrior , a role-playing game in which players portray BattleMech pilots or other characters in the 31st century. The RPG system has been republished in several editions and expanded by various sourcebooks and supplements. In 1996, FASA also introduced the BattleTech Collectible Card Game , a CCG developed by Wizards of the Coast , creators of
12720-461: The use of cinematic cutscenes at key points. The campaign is split into three episodes, each allowing the player to command one of the game's three races. In the first segment of the game, the player and Jim Raynor are attempting to control the colony of Mar Sara in the wake of the Zerg attacks on other Terran worlds. After the Confederacy arrests Raynor for destroying Confederate property, despite
12840-566: The war-torn universe of the Successor States", and complimented the high production values of the game components. Bambra concluded with a recommendation: "Try the Battletech game. If you like it, it might inspire you to form your own BattleMech unit and battle your way across the Successor States." In the June 1993 edition of Dragon (Issue 194), Rick Swan reviewed FASA's third edition and liked
12960-427: The world. It later merged with FASA Interactive Technologies (FIT) to form Virtual World Entertainment Group (VWEG) in order to better capitalize on FASA's properties. In 1999, Microsoft Corporation purchased VWEG to integrate FIT into Microsoft Game Studios and sold VWE. VWE continues to develop and support the current BattleTech VR platform called the Tesla II system, featuring BattleTech: Firestorm . Members of
13080-449: Was a contracted composer at the time, wrote all the in-game music for the Zerg. The cinematic scores were composed by Stafford and Hayes. Hayes also collaborated with Stafford on one of the Protoss in-game tracks. Tracy W. Bush provided additional support in composing. The musical score of the game was received well by reviewers, who have described it as "appropriately melodic and dark" and "impressive", with one reviewer noting that some of
13200-415: Was a runner-up for Computer Games Strategy Plus ' 1998 "Real-Time Strategy Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to StarCraft . The staff called the former game "great", but argued that "only StarCraft was stellar". Due to its science fiction setting, MechCommander received an overt recommendation from The Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy ), to the point of Sci-Fi's logo being present on
13320-540: Was made available for the full game in October 1999 as a custom map campaign, adding two extra missions and hosting it on Battle.net . In addition, the full release of StarCraft included a secondary campaign entitled Enslavers . Consisting of five missions played as both the Terrans and the Protoss , Enslavers is set in the second campaign in StarCraft and follows the story of a Terran smuggler who manages to take control of
13440-408: Was not killed by the Zerg, but rather is captured and infested in an effort to incorporate her psionic traits into the Zerg gene pool . She emerges with far more psionic powers and physical strength, her DNA completely altered. Meanwhile, the Protoss commander Tassadar discovers that the Zerg's cerebrates cannot be killed by conventional means, but that they can be harmed by the powers wielded by
13560-474: Was overhauled, bringing the focus onto creating three distinct species. Bill Roper , one of the game's producers, stated this would be a major departure from the Warcraft approach, comparing its two equal sides to those of chess and stating that StarCraft would allow players to "develop very unique strategies based on which species is being played, and will require players to think of different strategies to combat
13680-423: Was received positively by critics, with many contemporary reviewers noting that while the game may not have deviated significantly from the status quo of most real-time strategy games, it was one of the best to have applied the formula. In addition, StarCraft ' s pioneering use of three distinct, unique, and balanced races over two equal sides was praised by critics, with GameSpot commenting that this helped
13800-531: Was released in April 2018. The game was developed by Harebrained Schemes , and led by Jordan Weisman , the creator of the series. BattleTech material appeared in various publications from other companies, ranging from articles in professional gaming magazines to fanzines devoted exclusively to the game. FASA provided some material to gaming magazines, allowed associated fan clubs like MechForce to publish newsletters, and treated some magazines like BattleTechnology as semi-official publications. Some of this material
13920-596: Was released in July 2010, along with two expansion packs and a campaign pack between 2013 and 2016, while a remastered edition of the original and its expansion pack was released in August 2017. The original game, along with the expansion, was released for free in April 2017. Blizzard Entertainment 's use of three distinct races in StarCraft is widely credited with revolutionizing the real-time strategy genre. All units are unique to their respective races, and while rough comparisons can be drawn between certain types of units in
14040-514: Was released in North America for the Nintendo 64 , co-developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Mass Media and published by Nintendo . The N64 port features all of the missions from both StarCraft and the expansion Brood War , as well as some exclusive missions, such as two different tutorials and a new secret mission, Resurrection IV . Blizzard Entertainment had initially considered releasing
14160-427: Was released internationally on March 31, 1998, and became the best-selling PC game for that year, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide. In the United States, it was the best-selling computer game of 1998, with 746,365 units sold. It was the country's 14th best-selling release of the period between 1993 and 1999, selling 916,000 copies. By April 1999, South Korean players had purchased almost 300,000 units of
14280-405: Was treated as canon at the time and some of it, especially 'Mech designs, came to be used in official product. An exhaustive list is impossible but more notable publications are listed below. Magazines with some BattleTech articles: Fanzines and magazines dedicated to BattleTech: The BattleTech creators' goal of creating an immersive BattleMech simulation came about 1990 with the opening of
14400-404: Was unfavorably compared to Warcraft II . As a result, the project was entirely overhauled before being showcased to the public in early 1997, at which time it received a far more positive response. The game's multiplayer is particularly popular in South Korea , where players and teams participate in professional competitions , earn sponsorships , and compete in televised tournaments . Set in
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