What is Starcraft and why is it always mentioned?

[Totality]

Whenever I see a new RTS being made I always seem to see people saying "It's not as good as Starcraft!". I have decided to have a look into it as recently a few of us have been trying out older games (mainly because I work away and have to use a work laptop with a crap i965 integrated card!!). What I have seen confuses me!

The game seems to have been released in 1998 so is it purely nostalgia that means people think it is great? For the date it was released I'm sure it was revolutionary, but is it still any good compared to modern day RTS games and if so what makes it that good?

I have no problem with older graphics and if the playability is what makes it great then fair enough, but do people still play it today or is all this talk based on nostalgia for what was great at the time? For example - I remember Command and Conquer 1 being amazing when I first played it but having recently tried it again it is shocking!

EDIT: Have just found a demo so downloading it now and will decide for myself! Wouldn't mind hearing from people who rave about it though...

 

[SkeeterUK]

Duno, i guess it was good when released but i never saw anything decent about it, gfx crap and just looks and plays like any other. I hear it was balanced really well but that doesnt make it legendary status to me.

 

[Dave****]

It is South Koreas major sport. They have tv channels dedicated to it.

I remember reading a preview of starcraft 2 and them saying how the koreans were annoyed that a new version was being released and I didn't quite understand why until the article said imagine one day we were told " forget football!! here is football 2!!"

This is one of the reasons it's so big still.

I can't stand RTS games myself though

 

[Shamikebab]

Personally I can't stand Starcraft, far better RTS games around imo. However, for competitive play and the like I can completely understand why it's as popular as it is.

 

[Totality]

Ahh it has a fixed resolution of 640x480 and no way to change it in config files, etc from the looks of it after googling. There are resolution "hacks" but they are apparently buggy.

Playing on a widescreen monitor at 640x480 looks, erm, interesting! Back to the drawing board looking for a good RTS from the old days!

 

[Funcy]

Get some Age Of Empires: Conquerors on the go.

Used to play that for hours on the zone and gamespy arcade

 

[MotherMayI]

Duno, i guess it was good when released but i never saw anything decent about it, gfx crap and just looks and plays like any other. I hear it was balanced really well but that doesnt make it legendary status to me.

You havn't played a lot of RTS online have you?

Sort of like me saying counter-strike is just 'like any other FPS', when I know nothing about competetive FPS games.

 

[Chronictank]

It's one of the most balanced RTS's around with 3 diverse 'sides' as well as really good game play.
It also caters for the various 'styles' of RTS player,
For normal people not those crazy koreans;
If you are good at micro management, you can play terran
If you like to build mass armies, you can play zerg
If you want to play the tech game, you can play protoss

The fact the different styles of players can be matches up in a single game where they can use their particular strengths makes it entertaining to watch on a competitive level

Personally i don't find cnc hard at all, they tried to make it a bit better in Tiberium wars by copping out and giving the computer a significant resource advantage but that just accented the issues with that game for me, the person who builds the most essentially wins, everything else was pretty non consequential.
Admittedly i only played the online portion for a short period before getting bored a couple of months after it was released so i can't really say i have extensive knowledge on the online side

but trying to take out a few computers on hard without a wall in on SC is a different ballgame altogether

 

[shipinabottle]

It's one of the most balanced RTS's around with 3 diverse 'sides' as well as really good game play.
It also caters for the various 'styles' of RTS player,
If you are good at micro management, you can play terran
If you like to build mass armies, you can play zerg
If you want to play the tech game, you can play protoss

The fact the different styles of players can be matches up in a single game where they can use their particular strengths makes it entertaining to watch on a competitive level

Personally i don't find cnc hard at all, they tried to make it a bit better in Tiberium wars by copping out and giving the computer a significant resource advantage but that just accented the issues with that game for me, the person who builds the most essentially wins everything else was pretty non consequential.
Admittedly i only played the online portion for a short period before getting bored a couple of months after it was released so i can't really say i have extensive knowledge on the online side

but trying to take out a few computers on hard without a wall in on SC is a different ballgame altogether

this, its the most balanced and open strategy game.

obviously you cant take anything away from the Age of Empires series (-No.3)

extremely excited for the number 2. be the best rts for a long time if it lives up to the hype.

 

[welshdragon]

Yes I can't wait for number 2, wish they'd hurry up and release it already!

 

[Xinn]

I'm sure Kreeeeeee will be along soon to give you a detailed view into why it's so fantastic

 

[KNiVES]

It's sacrilegious to criticize anything made by Blizzard, so I strongly suggest you edit your posts.

 

[Wyrdo]

Starcraft is awesome, I'm dissapointed I didn't get into the SC2 beta phase that just started.

 

[MURDEROUS G]

For the date it was released I'm sure it was revolutionary, but is it still any good compared to modern day RTS games and if so what makes it that good?

It's still revolutionary now. The main thing that sets it apart is that the three races are completely and totally different in every imaginable way; from how they handle unit cap/'food count', to the way they construct buildings, to unit hitpoint loss and regeneration, each aspect has a different mechanic for each race and it's all balanced impossibly well. This lends it a longevity and strategic depth that no other RTS can touch - nothing has come close to it since.

is all this talk based on nostalgia for what was great at the time?

No. It's not like the people who praise it are hazily remembering the gameplay through rose-tinted glasses from way back in the mists of time - vast numbers of people are still playing this game (or watching pro games) now, twelve years on from its release. Nostalgia isn't really a factor in people's assessment of how good it is.

plays like any other

lol

 

[anything I don't mind]

if you are older than 18 or even 20 or so you might know that quake and star craft are the best games ever designed for multiplayer.

these games are cult classics and of course counter strike.

you might argue and say there are other fps and rts that are just as popular or more popular etc.

but if you don't get what i am saying it is probably an age thing or just that you have never played these games multiplayer.

competition wise and pro gamer wise, sc and q3 (quake live now) and cs or (cs:s) top games.

yea i don't have a beta for sc:2 i cant explain how i feel

 

[Kainz]

A lot of the older RTS's beat the pants out of the junk we have today, especially the washed out EA ruined C&C Series.

Age of Empires 2 imo, remains one of the best all round RTS's - why? Great maps, good, solid resource management, and it is sprite driven so it'll run on virtually anything.

As said, Starcraft is an awesome MP title, which is also sprite driven.

 

[Indie]

if you'd research starcraft then you'd find out.. theres VoD's all over the internet from South Korean TV shows in which teams/singles compete against each other

its their 2nd national sport next too football... insane

I played for a long time, got quite competetive at it.

 

[anything I don't mind]

yea i spent many hours playing red alert.

what do you mean by sprite driven ?

 

[MotherMayI]

The graphics are sprites, not 3d models.

 

[craptakular]

Company of Heroes owns all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!