SC2Mapster

Starcraft 2 - Heart of the Swarm Arrives March 12, 2013

HotS now has a release date and can be preordered!

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Prepare for the approaching Swarm.... On March 12, 2013, StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™ launches around the world, igniting an intergalactic storm of intense strategic combat and opening a savage new chapter in the war between terran, protoss, and zerg. You can pre-purchase the expansion NOW directly through Battle.net® and be ready to play the moment it goes live.

In addition to the Standard Edition and retail-exclusive Collector’s Edition packed with bonus items, you’ll also have the option to upgrade a Standard Edition to the Digital Deluxe Edition, which comes equipped with all the in-game content from the physical Collector’s Edition, including a Torrasque skin for your zerg Ultralisks in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer, unique Swarm-infested portraits for your StarCraft II character profile, a Baneling pet for your World of Warcraft® characters, and a set of zerg-ified blade wings for your heroes in Diablo® III.

Whether you plan to tear a path of destruction through the all-new Kerrigan-focused single-player campaign or jump right into the multiplayer action with the devastating new units under your command, it’s never too early to begin preparing for your Heart of the Swarm experience. Simply log in to your Battle.net® account and pre-purchase Heart of the Swarm, and you’ll be flagged to automatically download the expansion content prior to launch.

Learn more about Heart of the Swarm

Learn more about the Digital Deluxe Edition

Learn more about the Collector’s Edition

For more details on the March 12 launch of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, head to the Heart of the Swarm game page to learn more about the expansion and pre-purchase your digital copy.

When you pre-purchase StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, you will be able to download an encrypted version of the game once it’s available, prior to the game’s release. This content will be unlocked and available for play when the expansion launches on March 12, 2013.

Zerg Hunters by MaNtEc0r

Zerg Hunters is greatly inspired by Necrodragon's "Orcs & Elves" from Warcraft 3. Those who already played it in WC3 will recognize a lot of familiar content and gameplay, those who haven't, will learn fast, since it's a very intuitive game style. Four hunters use their advance in the beginning to chase down all eight low hp zerg. It's about teamplay, movement and surrounding incautious victims. Not keeping all zerg on the go will inevitably lead to a loose for the hunting team, since zerg are able to increase their survivability and battle power if undisturbed.

There is a short ingame tutorial for beginners and a PSR (personal skill rating) - System for more experienced players.

The Dominion Strikes Back by oldschool01

Much like how Blizzard's 'Left2Die' is a nod to Valve's 'Left4dead', 'The Dominion Strikes Back' is a nod to Starwar's 'The Empire Strikes Back'. The map re-imagines if a 'Battle of Hoth'-like fight took place in the world of Starcraft 2.

Blizzards Custom Map Spotlight by Blizzard

Blizzard posted last week two new maps for their Custom Map Spotlight. One of which is from our very own gamfvr.

Star Battle

First up we have Star Battle. You may remember we put this map in the news awhile back.

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Map Title: Star Battle
Category: Ship Battle
Mode: 6v6
Author: zedu
Description: Star Battle is a 6v6 map that allows you to command powerful warships in space. Join a battle between Terran and Protoss warfleets and crush your enemies with highly customizable ships of war. Enjoy this large-scale, DotA-esque battle of push your way to the enemy command center. Be careful, the risks are high and there is no respawn.

Star Shooter Defense

Next up we have Star Shooter Defense, as luck would have it, we had this placed in the same article as the other map (odd huh?). Don't forget to stop by his thread to give him any new feedback!

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Map Title: Star Shooter Defense
Category: Shooter
Mode:3rd Person
Author: gamfvr.
Description: A 3rd person shooter where you defend your base against incoming enemy troops. Pick one of five iconic Terran units and battle in the frontlines as you beat back wave after wave of assailing enemies. Each class has their own unique skills and abilities so level up, gain minerals from your kills and call down reinforcements to survive all 50 waves.

Hive keeper by Bibendus

A new Hive Keeper development diary is out showing the new unit's UI and leveling system. Im sure you remember this from past news articles. Make sure to keep on eye on it as it looks to be turning out very nice.

Marine Tug of War by HavingFunMakingMaps

Classic remake of the original Starcraft: Broodwar Marine Tug of War game in a 1v1 or 2v2 style.

Both sides struggle to push their lane of Marines to their enemy's final line of defense. Their only chance is to use their limited resource to upgrade, purchase recruits or special spells.

Some spells include Airstrikes which demolishes entire enemy lines. Mustard gas that extinguishes all biological enemy units on the field. Mighty Thors that will squish any enemy unit it walks on.

You and your ally must control both air and ground by intensive micromanagement and creative strategies to outwit your enemies and claim victory.

XML Data Editor Tutorial by OneTwoSC

As you all know, patch 1.4 added some great new things to the editor. One of these new additions was the xml view for the data editor. Our one and only OneTwoSC once again gives us another fantastic tutorial, this time giving us the basics of this new feature, and how you can use it to speed up your development time. Make sure to give this video a look.

Heroes of Might and Magic by Zolden

Heroes of Might and Magic for Starcraft 2 is a unique realtime version of HoMM. In this map you have a hero and a castle. The castle produces income and troops while your hero leads armies to conqure kingdoms. There are four races with unique units and skills: human, elf, warlock and wizard. This game also uses some nice custom models (from wow) to give its units a great look (aka a dragon is really a dragon) Make sure to check this map out!

Note: You can view part 2 and 3 of this video in his project page here

StormKeep by Ninjacore studios

Two teams of 5 players each are placed in separate arenas and pitted against one another in a desperate attempt for survival, each team's objective is simple: survive longer than the other team. As simple as this may sound; the amount of depth provided in StormKeep make it possible for near endless ways to reach this goal.

New Featured Maps

Blizzard has updated the list of featured maps. Here's the new list:

• NOTD (Night of the Dead) by Ability1
• Banana Cheaters by Rodrigo

Congratulations to both Rodrigo and Ability1!

Speeding Ticket Escape by aTTari

aTTari has just released his latest map, called Speeding Ticket Escape! The map pits you against a variety of challenging obstacles that can be completed together with your friends. Complete with a fully functional vote-kicking system and an optional time limit to spice things up, this is definitely a map worth checking out. It is currently published on Battle.net EU.

Master Commanderby Monictor

Master Commander is a 1v1 turn-based strategy game inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics , in which each player commands a group of rpg-archetype unit classes to out-strategize and eliminate his opponent. Make sure to check out the video below for more details about how the game plays out! You can check out his thread, and another great video here.

PropHuntBy xil_theMINISTER

PropHunt is a sc2 map remake of a TF2 mod. In this game players select a "prop" to be and hide around the map, while other players attempt to seek them out. Some of you may remember this type of gameplay from bounty's doodad hunt. However, this time around you wont have to deal with a first person PoV. Make sure to give the video a watch and check out the maps beta thread here

Don't forget to check out patch 1.4 notes here

Starcraft cartoon by DarkTampellar

Some of you may remember the comic we put in the news a few months back. Though no more of the comics were translated into English, he has now translated the cartoon for us. Enjoy!

Around the Community by you!

As always, we have some very impressive screenshots from the Weekly Terraining Exercise this week. This weeks theme is "Haunted forests". Take a look what some of the users have put up already.

Make sure to take a look at the thread, as there are some very nice shots there. Also don't forget to take a look at some of the older weeks as well!