Blizzard custom maps now in beta

Aiur Chef, StarJeweled, and Left 2 Die, three new Blizzard-made custom games for StarCraft II, are now available for beta testing on Battle.net. While these custom games are still under development and we don't yet have a release date to share, we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to test them out and give feedback before they're officially released.


To help get you started, here's a quick summary of each custom game as well as some basic instructions on how to play.



Aiur Chef

Category: Collection/Cooking

Mode: Free For All

Players: Up to 8


Each round of Aiur Chef features a theme ingredient and three succulent recipes that play upon its unique flavor. Before you can master these themed dishes, though, you'll first need to scout across the map and collect a variety of tasty ingredients (including the theme ingredient). Each recipe has its own set of required ingredients, listed in the recipe menu in the upper-left of your screen, which can be picked up off the ground or acquired by killing specific creatures. Don't get too greedy when loading up on ingredients, though -- inventory space is limited, so you'll want to focus on collecting ingredients for one recipe at a time.

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Once you've collected the proper ingredients, you'll need to return to the kitchen in the center of the map and use the Beacon to prepare your dish. Each dish created using the theme ingredient will award you points based on the complexity of the recipe. Some dishes even award special one-time use abilities like Hearthstove, which allows you to quickly port back to the Beacon, and Decoy, which places a fake theme ingredient on the ground for other players to scavenge. Take advantage of these abilities whenever possible, as they could provide the competitive edge you need to outcook your opponents.


The player with the most points at the end of three rounds will be named Executor Chef, culinary guru of the entire Koprulu Sector. With such a prestigious title on the line, expect some fierce competition... and get those psi blades ready!



StarJeweled

Category: Puzzle/Strategy

Mode: Solo vs. A.I., Co-op vs. A.I., Player vs. Player

Players: Up to 4 (1v1, 1v1 A.I., 1v2 A.I., 1v2, 2v2, 2v2 A.I., etc.)

StarJeweled focuses on matching groups of jewels according to color and strategically selecting StarCraft II units to overcome an opponent's forces and destroy their base. StarJeweled can be played several ways, including cooperatively against the A.I. or competitively against other players.

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Each successfully matched jewel combination provides a burst of energy; the larger the jewel combo, the bigger the energy burst. This energy can be spent to train a variety of StarCraft II units, including zealots, banshees, and ultralisks, which will help you eliminate your opponent's defenses. You can also use energy to cast spells that heal friendly targets and do damage to enemy units. To activate a unit or spell once you've gained enough energy, simply click on the corresponding icon located beneath the jewel board.

Since the goal of StarJeweled is to destroy your opponent's base while protecting your own, you'll want to choose which units you purchase carefully. StarJeweled is not just about matching as many jewels as possible, but also managing your energy efficiently and understanding how the units in the game counter each other. If you're unfamiliar with all the units' strengths and weaknesses, each unit's tooltip (which you'll see by hovering over its icon) includes a list of what it's strong against and what it's weak against. Use this knowledge to use your advantage, and pay attention to what units your opponent is building.

A game of StarJeweled consists of five rounds. Each round will continue until one player's or team's base is destroyed. Take out your opponent's base in three out of the five rounds and you win!


Left 2 Die

Category: Survival and Siege

Mode: Co-op, Night 2 Die

Players: Up to 2

Left 2 Die is a cooperative take on the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty campaign mission Outbreak that shifts between two phases: a night phase and a day phase.

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At night, you and a teammate are tasked with protecting your base against waves of infested terrans. In order to survive, you'll need to use defensive structures like bunkers and coordinate your defenses against the invading zerg armies. You'll also want to watch out for special zerg units such as the Kaboomer and Stank that can perform unique and powerful abilities capable of overwhelming even the strongest front lines.

During the day, the attacks on your team's base will cease, giving you and your teammate time to train additional units and take them out to destroy infested terran settlements scattered across the map. It’s also a good idea to continue building up defenses during the daytime so you can survive the merciless onslaught of zerg that swarm your base at night.

While the struggle to survive in Left 2 Die can be daunting, you and your teammate will have some help along the way. You can earn zerg Biomass by killing special zerg units and destroying infested buildings, and then use the collected Biomass at the Science Facility in your base to research new units and structures like medics, firebats, and perdition turrets. Both you and your teammate will receive these upgrades, which will aid you in your struggle against the zerg strain.   

In order to achieve victory in Left 2 Die, you'll need to eradicate all traces of the zerg virus. Work together to survive at night, assault and rebuild during the day, and use Biomass wisely for epic upgrades to win!

Night 2 Die: If you're looking for a different kind of challenge, be sure to try out Left 2 Die's Night 2 Die mode, essentially a "survival" mode in which infested structures are invulnerable and daybreak never comes. You'll have to fend off wave after wave of the infested, with each wave becoming increasingly more powerful. While defeat is inevitable, the challenge comes in seeing how long you can endure in the dark.


To play the beta versions of Aiur Chef, StarJeweled, or Left 2 Die, simply go to the Multiplayer tab in StarCraft II and look for the custom games window. A few of these games have more than one difficulty setting, so select the level of challenge that's best for you. We hope you enjoy them, and we're looking forward to hearing what you think.

See you on Battle.net!

Source here

Pf: Love Is In The Aiur

How to Register:

You have until 12:00 (12pm) on Saturday 5th February to register for the tournament. The link to register can be found under the Tournaments heading at the top of our PolarfluKe.co.za.

When and Where:

Saturday 5th February - Groups will kick off at 15:00 (3pm), following the close of registrations at 14:00 (2pm). Groups generally come to an end around 19:00 (7pm), thus allowing us all to still attend social gatherings that evening.

Sunday 6th February -The Single Elimination bracket opens at 15:00 (3pm) once more, with the grand final taking place around 20:00 (8pm).

The tournament will run via the European Battle.net server. Thus please ensure you are in possession of an EU server account.

Admin Assistance:

Throughout the tournament fluKe, Alcardu and bLuuMz will be available for queries and general assistance. you may contact us via IRC (channel #polarfluke) or Battle.net (Alcardu, Code: 599| fluKe, Code: 855)

Tournament Structure:

Saturday -16 groups, played best of 3. Unseeded players will be randomly assigned a group.

Sunday -Top 2 from each group proceed to the 32-player bracket, Single Elimination, best of 3.

Seedings taken from PolarfluKe records.

Placement Prizes:

R1000

Spot Prizes:

TBC

Note: Spot prizes will only be awarded to players not receiving a placement prize. To be eligible you simply have to take part and play all your matches [Groups and Single Elimination should you proceed to that stage]. Prizes can only be won by South African residents.

Rules:

·         Map selection will proceed as follows: Each player is allowed to completely veto one map from the map pool, for the duration of the match. After this players take turns to eliminate one map each, until the final ‘Starting Map’ is left. Every subsequent map will be chosen by the previous map’s loser, taking into account that a vetoed map may not be chosen. A coin toss will decide which player goes first. Alternatively players may simply agree on a starting map.

o    Map Pool:
1. Steppes of War
2. Lost Temple
3. Blistering Sands
4. Metalopolis
5. Jungle Basin
6. Xel’Naga Caverns
7. Delta Quadrant
8. Scrap Station
9. Shakuras Plateau

·         In the case of a disconnection: A disconnection within the first four (4) minutes of play time will result in a rematch. A disconnection after four (4) minutes will result in a loss, unless the players request a rematch and an admin approves. Any disputes should be brought to an admin’s attention.

·         Foul language and general misconduct: Those guilty will receive a warning based on severity. Misconduct includes tardiness, disrespect to other players or administrators and players not submitting results to an administrator after a game is completed. Administrators reserve the right to disqualify a player for misconduct.

·         Match Results: A map is won in one of two ways – Beat your opponent sufficiently to have him/her admit defeat (Standard practice is ‘gg’) or destroy all of his/her buildings.The result of each match must be reported by both players to an admin.

·         Replays must be submitted to a tournament administrator after each round in the format ‘Player1_Player2_Map_GameNumber’ (Example: Alcardu_fluKe_ScrapStation_2). Email fluke[@]polarfluke.co.za or alcardu[@]polarfluke.co.za.

·         Ingame Spectators: Players may decide if they are to allow spectators into a match, however administrators and approved shout casters may spectate any match.

·         The administrators decision is final, no discussion on decisions will be entered into.

·         Participants of a minor age must submit a letter of consent via email along with their entry for the tournament.

As always we welcome feedback, both negative and positive. So don’t hesitate if there is anything you wish to bring to our attention or inquire about further :)

2011 is going to be one hell of a ride, hold on tight!

Source PolarFluke

Spartan Company 4v4 Tournament

"Hey guys. Tournament Time.

Sat 19 Feb, 18:00

Please register teams here in this format

Team Name:
Team Leader: and Char code
Player 2and Char code:
Player 3and Char code:
Player 4and Char code:"

Source = http://spartancompanysc2.webs.com/apps/forums/topics/show/4029148-spartan-company-4v4-tournament

Registrations here: http://spartancompanysc2.webs.com/apps/forums/topics/show/4029148-spartan-company-4v4-tournament

StarCraft II: The Balancing Act

At BlizzCon 2010, a panel of developers, including StarCraft II Game Director Dustin Browder, Battle.net Project Director Greg Canessa, Game Balance Designer David Kim, Senior Game Designer Josh Menke, and Associate Game Balance Designer Matt Cooper, participated in panels that answered many burning questions players had about StarCraft II, Battle.net and the ladder system, how to become a better player, and how matchmaking is balanced. One of the questions that has emerged from these discussions involves the term 'adjusted win percentage,' and we hope to shed a little light on just what that means.



One of the many measures we use to assess balance in StarCraft II is the relative win rate for each race matchup. However, if the matchmaking system is working properly, then players of any race should be so well matched versus their opponents that their win/loss ratios should be very close to 50%, even if the races weren't particularly balanced. In effect, the matchmaking system could be hiding balance issues -- if we didn't use an adjusted win percentage which takes the matchmaker's effects into account.



What's an adjusted win percentage? While the math behind calculating an adjusted win percentage is extremely complex, it can be summed up as the 'true' win percentage of a given race, produced by removing the skewing effects of the matchmaker and factoring in player skill. By combining information from millions of games being played, hundreds of thousands of players, their hidden skill rating, and a little math, we can generate reasonably accurate figures to compare how successful each race really is against the others.



These stats can then be sorted by league, region, specific stretches of time, or any other way we might want to arrange the data for analysis. The end result is the information that we use (in combination with many other resources) to piece together a picture of what current StarCraft II balance looks like.



Now that you might have a clearer idea regarding what they are, we'd like to share some recent adjusted win percentages from November 11th for several regions around the world. Before you review these numbers, we'd like to address some common misconceptions. First, these numbers shift fairly rapidly as newly discovered strategies spread through the community -- and they're changing all the time. Also, due to the way the numbers shake out, we expect a variance of +/- 5% in these results; win/loss ratios that are +/- 5% suggest balance between those races. So, if a win/loss ratio is approximately 55%:45%, then that's still within acceptable boundaries. By contrast, win/loss ratios exceeding 60%:40% could indicate that a small imbalance might exist and merit further investigation.



In any case, these numbers aren't the last word in, nor the only component of, our balance analysis. It's best to consider them a point of interest and one step along the path to fine tuning balance, rather than the final destination. We'll also take a look at how the races fare versus one another from region to region.



NA – Global – 11/11

PvT:       59.8%

PvZ:       51.7%

TvZ:        50.3%

NA - Diamond – 11/11

PvT:       55.3%

PvZ:       52.1%

TvZ:        48.4%



Korea – Global – 11/11

PvT:       57.0%

PvZ:       49.7%

TvZ:        54.2%

Korea – Diamond – 11/11

PvT:       58.0%

PvZ:       43.0%

TvZ:        46.1%



Europe – Global – 11/11

PvT:       51.0%

PvZ:       48.6%

TvZ:        51.5%

Europe – Diamond – 11/11

PvT:       48.3%

PvZ:       51.5%

TvZ:        51.4%