Inter-Building Space

[Nikzad]

I was just thinking, how do you think they will design the grid system for buildings in SC2? Big squares or small squares?

But more importantly, do you think that they will still allow small units (lings, hydras, Z-men, DTs, HTs, and Terran infantry) to slip through between some buildings? Or will the space between two gateways, or any other building, be impassable?

[SirBaron]

Since it's blizzard i'd expect them to allow for a lot more movement inbetween buildings... 10 years of technology and all that.

[MarineCorp]

I think blizzard should put more spaces between buildings for small units

[Major Willy]

Does Z-men sound inappropriate to anyone else?

I'm assuming building will be Warcraftish but still have gaps for smaller unit leaking.

[Nikzad]

why the &^@%! does Z-men sound inappropriate?

I have to deal with listening to every say "ZEE-LOT RUSH FTW OMFG WTF KEWL," so I think people can tolerate Z-men, even if I hardly ever say it or use it, and it was just a one time thing

but back on-topic, why did they let small units get in-between some buildings but not others? what ramifications would this have for the way you lay out your base? I would always get annoyed when lings would rush right between my gateways and attack the photon cannons with ease

[Major Willy]

Never mind. I don't think it'd be safe for me to reveal what it sounds like without getting a slap across the face from a moderator.

In a last stand effort VS a good Zerg player I lifted all my buildings except my CC (I needed to Scan to reveal attacks) and landed them in the Supply Depot wall I had.
To my dismay, swarms of Zerglings rand right through and won the game for him.

[burkid]

willy, i get the Z-Men thing. thats pretty randomly dirty.

im gonna assume some building (like supply depots) will have impassible spaces, but other buildings (like barracks/gateways) will have space.

[Nikzad]

hahah nice post count burkid...1111

i get the Z-men joke - how immature!

was it only unit producing buildings that had room around them? I think that makes sense

[mc2]

Blizzard has mentioned somewhere that there'll be a grid system for laying out buildings. I usually leave about 2 grids between each buildings to allow units to pass through.

The AI, especially Protoss AI, love clustering all their structures together. That can be vital because they are powering multiple structures with a or few pylons. And splash damages can reach the full potential.

I think all small units (units that take up 1/8 space in a transport) can slip through buildings that are right next to each other. Medium units (1/4 in a transport) needs one space between buildings. But hydralisks can slip through 2 hatcheries vertically.

So generally I would lay out my buildings in a grid-like pattern. Depending on the map and base itself, I might cluster some together to save space. Things like supply depots and upgrade buildings should be clustered at the inside of the base to save room. Gateways, Barracks, Factories, etc should have spaces around them so troops can move around.

[DontHate]

yea in one of the interview batches they said it's still gridlike, which i love.

btw there was this video of a protoss (i think his name was like kingdom or something) doing a proxy rush somewhere, but he got his gateway stuck in the corner so he conceded.

[Ghost]

Enlighten me on the z-men joke?


Z-men sounds like semen, as in sperm, as in "omg sexual innuendo ha ha ha"

[Major Willy]

Batman told me to do it.

I never had a problem with my own units not getting through my base because I'm smart enough to seperate certain buildings and keep a good path open. Learned this from the good old days of Warcraft 2.

[mc2]

In my country, Z is pronounced like "set"

[BoydofZINJ]

If you look at the terran buildings - they do not seem as bulky and most seem to be square. I am sure that small units might squeeze thru them but larger units will be stopped dead. Protoss buildings look like they could not stop any units except very bulky ones.

[DontHate]

If you look at the terran buildings - they do not seem as bulky and most seem to be square. I am sure that small units might squeeze thru them but larger units will be stopped dead. Protoss buildings look like they could not stop any units except very bulky ones.

no i'm pretty sure each building is the same width. The buildings are all the same size(for the same number of blocks used up). I might be wrong i donno i never play terran.

[GrahamTastic]

Wouldn't it be cool if you could change the directions that buildings were facing? Then units could always come out the front door and you would never "not know for sure" which way units would emerge from a building (on the side facing the front lines, or on the side facing your minerals or on the side where they would just get stuck.)

[Fenix]

We had a topic on that. It was cool.

[GrahamTastic]

We had a topic on that. It was cool.

Really?? Oh...sorry. I missed it. I think that it would be a cool feature since the game is in 3D.

[BoydofZINJ]

I personally hope, that Blizzard keeps space inbetween buildings specific to a race. I believe in its one of the Terrans strong points and one of the protoss and zerg weak points and might continue to be so. However, the graphics seem to suggest that even the supply depots are not as "squareish" are before and it looks like units might be able to squeeze thru a supply depots arranged together. However, this could also be an advantage, since it looks very narrow.

[burkid]

well that would pretty much screw up the role of suppy depots being walls if units can go between them.

[DontHate]

on some occasions probes can go through the barracks and supply depo block.

[burkid]

workers are exceptions, they can go through units too.

[Nikzad]

yeah sometimes my probes walk through my nexus when I build lots of stuff around it

I go "lol. hax."

[10-Neon]

I've seen Vikings squeeze in the gap between the Factory and the Barracks... In fact, most units can fit through most gaps.

[burkid]

10-Neon, can marines fit through 2 supply depots side by side?

[10-Neon]

I think they can... at least, I've had DTs do it. I think the main function of walling is not to totally stop incoming units, but to slow them down- to force them to go into a nice clean line so that you can kill them one-by-one. So, while infantry can sneak through, they're hampered, and large units can't do it at all.

Interesting note: on several maps you can't wall at all. The "tall grass" stuff is unbuildable, and on a few maps, they have little corridors of tall grass along the entrances, so units can just walk past any walls you might make. Again, expect to use walls to slow and encumber, not stop all together. You will need detectors to stop things like DT rushes.

[Darkmer]

I definitely think small units will be able to get through spaces between some buildings. The proof would be the Thor and how the developer said he was too big to fit, implying (maybe) that other units can fit.

However, I think the developers will set it up so a pro can place buildings in a way that makes a wall, like a supply depot wall. It would only makes sense and it is even encouraged! The proof would be the underground supply depots, the designers obviously wanted us to use them as walls if they made them collapsible.

I wouldn't want zerglings to be able to run around everywhere and I think the developers will keep these collision issues in mind.

[Smokiehunter]

I do believe if placed in a certain way smaller units will be able to fit through and visversa

[GrahamTastic]

It definitely sounds like this strategy will be easier to utilize in StarCraft II because of the new building placement system that allows you to easily see how much room is in between each building. Buildings could be strategically placed to allow only certain units entrance, and it would be easy to tell.