GAME DEV II · THE PC FRONT · FIELD GUIDE

STARCRAFT

The war goes online.

1998. Blizzard ships a space war on PC, and a whole country turns it into a televised sport. Twenty-eight years later, Sega and Nintendo fight it out on every PC in the Dojo. Four against four. Real people on the other side. No computers to blame.

FREE TO PLAY SEGA = TOP NINTENDO = BOTTOM 4 VS 4 BIG GAME HUNTERS

STEP ZERO

What done looks like

It's Thursday, war day. You're at your PC, and StarCraft is already open. You're not on the main menu and you're not still downloading. You're sitting in a game lobby, the waiting room before the match.

The lobby's name matches what's written on the board, like SEGA v NIN 1. The map says Big Game Hunters. The game type says Top vs Bottom.

Your name is on the correct half. Sega Kids sit in the top four slots. Nintendo Kids sit in the bottom four. Your race is picked, and you know which one it is and why.

All eight slots are full, and your captain's cursor is on Start Game.

If your screen looks like the picture, you're ready for war. If it doesn't, find the step where it stopped matching and start there.

THE PLAN

Three days. One war.

Tuesday is setup. Wednesday is practice. Thursday is war. Skip Tuesday and Thursday is you watching a progress bar while your faction fights one player short.

TUESDAY 10/6 · SETUP
  • FIRST 15Make your Battle.net account. Install the Battle.net app and start the StarCraft download. It's about 3 GB, times every PC in the room, so start it right away.
  • THENTwo videos, back to back: how a Blizzard side project became Korea's national sport, then how Steam took over PC gaming. The download keeps running while you watch. Both are on the quiz.
  • BEFORE BELLPost your BattleTag in #waroftheconsoles. Read the Races and Controls sections below.
WEDNESDAY 10/7 · PRACTICE
  • 0:00Log in, open StarCraft. Anyone still downloading, finish now.
  • 0:05Practice Round. Your faction vs the computer, no points. Learn the buttons and the joining here, not in the real thing.
  • BELLCaptains: tell Sensei who couldn't get in.
THURSDAY 10/8 · WAR
  • 0:00Log in, open StarCraft. The 3-minute opener plays while everyone loads.
  • 0:05The War. Three 4v4 games at once, Sega on top, Nintendo on bottom.
  • BELLCaptains report. Points hit the scoreboard.

TUESDAY · FIRST 15 MINUTES

Get in the game

Four steps. StarCraft has been free since 2017, so you won't need a card or a code. If a page asks you to pay for something, you're on the wrong page.

1

Make a Battle.net account

Go to battle.net and click Log In, then Create a free account.

Use an email you can actually open right now, because Blizzard may send a code you'll need to type in.

Pick your BattleTag. That's the name everyone sees in the lobby, so make it something your captain can recognize.

Keep it school-appropriate. The whole room sees it on the big screen.

2

Install the Battle.net app

On battle.net, click Download to get the Battle.net app for Windows. Run the installer, then log in with the account you just made.

The app is the launcher. Every Blizzard game opens from inside it, StarCraft included.

3

Install StarCraft

In the app, find StarCraft in your games list. Click Install and let it download.

You want the original StarCraft, not StarCraft II. It's the one with Brood War included.

Start this before the videos. It downloads while you watch.

4

Post your BattleTag on Discord

In #waroftheconsoles, post your exact BattleTag, numbers and all.

Captains use those posts to know who's on their team. If your BattleTag isn't there, you're a stranger in their lobby.

PICK ONE · STICK WITH IT

The three races

Every player picks a race in the lobby. All three are fair, and that balance is what made StarCraft a sport. They just play completely differently. First time? Terran.

HUMANS · EASIEST TO START

TERRAN

WORKER
SCV
SUPPLY
Supply Depot
ARMY
Barracks makes Marines
  1. Keep making SCVs from the Command Center.
  2. Build a Supply Depot, then a Barracks.
  3. Pump Marines. Lots of Marines.

Buildings can lift off and fly. Nobody else can do that.

ALIEN TECH · FEWER, STRONGER UNITS

PROTOSS

WORKER
Probe
SUPPLY
Pylon
ARMY
Gateway makes Zealots
  1. Keep making Probes from the Nexus.
  2. Build a Pylon, then a Gateway next to it.
  3. Zealots hit hard. Keep them together.

Buildings only work inside a Pylon's glow. No Pylon nearby, no building.

THE SWARM · FAST AND CHEAP

ZERG

WORKER
Drone
SUPPLY
Overlord
ARMY
Spawning Pool unlocks Zerglings
  1. Everything hatches from larva at the Hatchery.
  2. Morph a Drone into a Spawning Pool.
  3. Zerglings come two at a time. Flood them.

Drones turn into buildings, so every building costs you a worker.

THE MOUSE IS YOUR WEAPON

Controls

This is why StarCraft lives on PC. The mouse does almost everything, and the keyboard makes you faster. Learn these and you can play.

L-CLICK

Select one unit or building.

DRAG

Box-select a group. Up to 12 units at a time, which is a 1998 limit.

R-CLICK

Move there, or attack whatever you clicked on.

A+L-CLICK

Attack-move. Walk there and fight anything on the way. Use this when you push.

CTRL+1

Save a group to the 1 key. Then just press 1 to grab them again.

SHIFT+L-CLICK

Add or remove a unit from what you've got selected.

S

Stop. Cancels what they're doing.

H

Hold position. They stand their ground and don't chase.

To build: select a worker, then click the building's button in the command card at the bottom right, then click the spot on the map. To make units: select the building that makes them and click the unit's button.

I

Never stop making workers

More workers means more minerals, which means more army. The player with the idle base loses.

II

Never get supply blocked

When the supply number at the top is almost full, build supply now: Depot, Pylon, or Overlord. Blocked means nothing new can be made.

III

Attack together

Four armies arriving one at a time lose to one army arriving all at once. Talk to your faction. Pick a target. Go together.

WEDNESDAY · NO POINTS

The practice round

Your faction teams up against the computer. It's the same lobby, same joining, same map as the real war, so the first time you do all of it isn't the time it counts.

Who's in it

Your captain hosts a game called PRACTICE SEGA or PRACTICE NIN. Your faction fills the top slots, and the captain sets the bottom slots to Computer.

What to do

Build workers. Build supply. Build your first army building. Make five units and attack-move them at the computer. That's the whole goal.

When it ends

Sensei calls it, win or lose. Leave the game and head back to the main menu. If there's time, run it again.

What it's for

Ask your questions here. "How do I build" during the real war costs your faction the game.

WEDNESDAY + THURSDAY · EVERYONE

Join your faction's game

The game names and passwords go up on the board. Your captain creates the game. You find it and get in.

1

Open StarCraft

Open the Battle.net app, click StarCraft, then click Play.

The first launch can take a minute. Don't double-click it twice, or you'll end up with two copies running.

2

Go to Multiplayer

From the main menu, pick Multiplayer. You're already logged in through the app, so you'll land online.

Then open the list of custom games.

Gateway check: the game shows which gateway you're on. Everyone in the room has to be on U.S. West. Different gateway, different game list, and you'll never see your captain's game.

3

Find the game on the board

Look for the exact name on the board, like SEGA v NIN 1. Type it into the search box if the list is long.

Click it, then type the password from the board. Capitals count.

Can't see it? Your captain may not have made it yet. Refresh, and check that the name is spelled exactly right.

4

Sit on your side

Sega Kids: top four slots. Nintendo Kids: bottom four. If the game drops you on the wrong half, click an open slot on your side to move.

Pick your race from the dropdown next to your name. Then hands off. Your captain starts it.

5

Get in voice

In Discord, join your faction's voice channel: wotc-sega or wotc-nintendo. Headphones on.

All three of your faction's games share one channel, so start every callout with your game number: "ONE: they're at my base." "THREE: attacking now." No number, nobody knows which map you mean.

Turn on push-to-talk. Twelve open mics in one room is just noise.

CAPTAINS ONLY

Hosting the game

One captain per game hosts it. If your faction has two captains, decide before class who hosts which game.

1

Create the game

Multiplayer, then the custom games list, then Create Game.

Make sure you're on the U.S. West gateway first, same as everyone.

Name: exactly what's on the board, like SEGA v NIN 1.
Password: exactly what's on the board.

2

Set the map and type

Map: Big Game Hunters, the 8-player map, in the default map list.

Game type: Top vs Bottom, set to 4 vs 4. That's what locks Sega on top and Nintendo on the bottom.

For the practice round: name it PRACTICE SEGA or PRACTICE NIN, then set the four bottom slots to Computer.

CAPTAIN'S JOB, IN ORDER:
Make the game. Call your faction in, in your voice channel. Check every name on your side against the BattleTags in #waroftheconsoles. Wait for 8 of 8. Start. Screenshot the end screen. Post it in #waroftheconsoles.
THE HOMEWORK: GG. Assigned Wednesday, presented Friday. Your faction picks a race and proves it's the best in StarCraft, and everyone presents. Screenshot your proof during Thursday's war. OPEN THE GG GUIDE ▶

THE WAR

Rules of engagement

Three games at once

SEGA v NIN 1, 2 and 3. Four Sega against four Nintendo in each. Sensei and the captains balance the games before the start.

How you win

Destroy every enemy building. When a player has no buildings left, they're out.

The clock

Sensei calls time before the bell. If both sides are still alive, the faction with more players still in the game wins. Tied on that, it goes to Sensei's call.

Nobody quits

Leaving a game early hands the other side a free player. If your base is gone, stay and watch your team. You're the scout now.

Hands off other screens

Point and yell all you want. Touch another player's mouse and your faction forfeits that game.

Proof

The captain screenshots the end screen and posts it in #waroftheconsoles with the game name. No screenshot, no points.

64
per game won
32
last player standing in a game
128
faction that wins 2 of 3 games
x2
ALL IN: captain calls "no losses" before start, and nobody on the team gets knocked out

Four players. One army.Talk or lose.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Stuck?

Raise your hand first. Don't fix it alone in silence, because one stuck player holds up seven others.

Signup won't accept my email

Try a different email you can open right now. If it asks for a phone number, tell Sensei.

I installed StarCraft II by mistake

Wrong game. Go back to the games list and install the original StarCraft. SC2 can keep downloading or you can cancel it.

StarCraft is still downloading on war day

Tell your captain right away so they can fill your slot or balance the games. Then keep it downloading. You may get in for the second half.

I can't find the game in the list

Check the spelling on the board, including the spaces. Check that you're on U.S. West. Refresh the list. Make sure the captain actually created it.

The game isn't in my list, but it's on my neighbor's

You're on a different gateway. Switch to U.S. West and look again. Still missing? Have a different captain host. A shaky connection on the host's PC can hide the game from some players.

Wrong password

Capitals count. Read it off the board letter by letter. If it still says invalid and you're sure it's right, the captain can remake the game without a password. The game name keeps strangers out well enough.

I'm on the wrong half

Click an open slot on your faction's side. If your side is full, tell the captain. You're probably in the wrong game.

The game froze or kicked me

Rejoining a game that already started isn't possible. Stay at your PC, tell your captain, and watch the projector game. You're in the next one.