StarCraft II Map Editor

Age of Empires II: Age of Kings and «Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds», both RTS games based on Ensemble Studios’ engine, had simple to use but very deep Map Editors. There is even a portal, HeavenGames, dedicated to map making, and the sites devoted to those two games had a very active community (well, the Age of Kings branch still has one, the Galactic Battlegrounds is now pretty much dead). Those games introduced me to the world of Map Editing, and since then, I’ve always liked Map Editors (especially RTS ones).

I have many fond memories of that portal. The thing is that we’ve experimented very much with what could be done with Ensemble’s Map Editors. Oh, and so much could be done, ranging from RPGs to Total War-style battles, from arcade games with ammo and healthpacks (you know, the engine really wasn’t planned for that) to stealh-based gameplay to chess to many other things. Well, yeah, we didn’t forget about classic RTS maps, but that’s not the point. The point is, at the time it was one of the most advanced Map Editors out there (the irony was, of course, that technically speaking it was a very simple and, infact, unadvanced Map Editor out there; I suppose Ensemble, while developing the Editor, didn’t imagine all the things the fans would be making it). And even Ensemble itself couldn’t create a more successful editor for its subsequent 3D games.

Then came WarCraft III from Blizzard Entertainment, and it had a really powerful Map Editor, which was pretty functional, but… You know, if one was to take all the crazy stuff people were doing with Ensemble’s editors and compare it to what could be done in WarCraft III Editor, I think Ensemble would take a higher ground. Of course, this all could be just a matter of subjective opinion, but based on all the WarCraft III custom maps I’ve seen, all of it could be done in the editor by Ensemble (the only differences being two dimensions and some roundabouts of the engine’s restrictions). Yes, Blizzard’s editor was multifunctional indeed, but it just felt like everything possible in it was in the normal limits of the editor, I didn’t feel a sensation of wanting to and eventually getting out of the limits, out of all possible restrictions, the feeling we as the HeavenGames community had with Age of Kings and Galactic Battlegrounds.

What this has to do with StarCraft II, you may ask? Well, I never was a big Blizzard fan. The only Blizzard game I really was a fan of is called The Lost Vikings, and when it was released Blizzard wasn’t Blizzard yet. Of course I’ve played all the Blizzards main series: WarCraft, StarCraft, Diablo. But, aside from WarCraft III, I never really finished any of them – at a certain point I would just put the game away and never touch it. Though I do have to admit that WarCraft II and StarCraft have some really awesome music which to these days sometimes pops up in my head. And when Blizzard focused on it’s multiplayer-role-playing-game-we-all-know-the-name-off-and-therefore-I-don’t-see-any-reason-to-name-it, the company fell under my radar. When Diablo III and StarCraft II were announced, I haven’t paid much attention.

And now, those who know my apathy towards Blizzard (don’t get me wrong, I respect the company and acknowledge that it makes really qualitative games) will laugh. I can’t wait to get my hands on StarCraft II now. Also, I want to kick someone (gotta find who), because no one has ever said to me that StarCraft II not only has a Map Editor, but it has a FREAKING SUPER MEGA DUPER UBER MAP EDITOR! As far as I understand, its default capabilities are akin to any normal RTS Map Editor, but let loose map and mod makers and... Well, I’ll just put out some videos I’ve found on the Internet. Some of them are test videos, some are more like raw versions, some are finished works… But it’s all very damn cool.

Special thanks for using the

Monkey Island theme, even if it's an electronic remix

I haven’t yet seen StarCraft II Editor with my own eyes, but… You know, one of the frequent answers on the ‘How to get some experience (beginner's experience at the least) in game making to start eventually develop games professionally’ question sounds something like ‘Make a modification, alone or in a team, for one of your favourite games.’ I think it would be safe to add ‘Or you could buy StarCraft II and do something in its Map Editor in any genre you’d like’, because, and now I want to rant with censored words out of my admiration, this is one damn good editor. Kudos to Blizzard.