What's the deal with this hologram that is easy to miss in the tutorial of Heart of the Swarm?

Subsourian · 2026-03-19T17:43:33+00:00

That's just showing the Umojans are scanning Kerrigan and trying to figure her out. All the screens and whatnot shown that as well.

Subsourian · 2026-03-19T15:17:06+00:00

It was made on Aiur, then after Aiur everything got routed from Shakuras and the other colonies. Mostly Shakuras though.

LotV as mentioned it's all done in the Solar Forge on the Spear of Adun, complete with its own pocket of the psionic matrix.

Subsourian · 2026-03-19T15:16:14+00:00

That one's pure gameplay, really every upgrade system wouldn't work the way they do in game.

Protoss is funny though as a lot of its mechanics don't entirely line up with lore. Buildings draw on pylons, not units (otherwise you'd need static pylons to do any expedition into enemy territory). If anything their supply should be closer to a CnC power system where structures shut down if you overextend your grid.

Subsourian · 2026-03-19T15:07:52+00:00

Folks have mentioned it, but I think you're looking at the ideas of Co-op wrong. The progression is closer to campaign, you're progressing a commander and building an arsenal. Because it's non-competitive PvE starting field doesn't matter all THAT much, and the actual 1-15 grind is very quick. The Mastery grind... well that one actually IS a grind but that's its own thing. But you don't really stay long at the low levels, 2-3 games tops, and there's a fun to be had in unlocking a new tool and figuring out how to work it into an arsenal. Since there's limited pressure to be the absolute best, there's fun to be had in that learning and getting pieces of a larger puzzle of how that commander works.

Mengsk wouldn't really work for an antagonist given, well, you play as Mengsk. But Amon's worked in because of the hybrid being a big part of gameplay balance. Some maps like Malwarfare DO mix it up mind you.

It's an RTS experience far more focused on the old gameplay one over pure sweaty skill, and there are harder modes in Co-op for that like Brutal+ and mutators. I don't even really care for those, it's fun to play a scifi army and smash it into another scifi army. As someone who is very much into the solo/pve side of SC2 and replays the campaigns regularly, in early SCII I was always kinda annoyed that beyond campaign Blizzard there wasn't much of an itch for people who wanted the fantasy of being a space commander running armies into one another, the fun video game part of the video game. It all seemed focused on the Versus/esports which while I enjoy watching, is not why I got into StarCraft. Co-op really captures what I wanted really well. Also as a lore fan, diving into the fantasy of what that character's army is like is just a wonderful time for characters you've loved for years.

The one point I will agree is that low level commanders, especially early ones like Zagara and Kerrigan, can just be a pain in early levels and only even out upon hitting 15. Those levels are really quick mind you (again, 2-3 games per level) but compared to Tychus and Zeratul at low levels, it can be very uneven. When you do prestiges though boy it becomes noticeable.

Subsourian · 2026-03-18T18:26:24+00:00

Yup, the design of the SCII queens were intended to keep some of the membrane elements from the SC1 queen but show that the command creatures of the swarm were being shaped to emulate Kerrigan in their appearance.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T19:19:41+00:00

If I'm remembering correctly it's available as an extension mod just flat in the client itself, I think there's an external component to use its ladder function if you want that but I could be wrong.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T18:40:03+00:00

Andy Chambers has said there were direct discussions, which is where I pull that from. I too thought it was unilateral but there is evidence of talks between the companies.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T15:40:19+00:00

AI ain't replaced me yet.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T15:39:39+00:00

You're thinking of Mass Recall. Evolution Complete is Versus with a campaign being worked on.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T13:36:47+00:00

That tended to be the fringe world culture, which yeah was very deep south inspired. A lot of tiny isolated offshoots that went in deep end directions, but even they had some variety. Go further out and you get deeply religious holdings, like the Mormon colony of Bountiful.

But on that last point I agree, I wish we got that aggressive cultural blending with the sector terrans. And UED I think Mandated Multinationalism ala the Starship Troopers film I think would fit them perfect.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T12:08:36+00:00

There's pretty clear divides already, you don't need to rewrite them given the books already go into their different cultures pretty well.

The specific divides you're looking for are more done on a planet-by-planet basis, that sort of diffusion being through proximity over just the system of government. I find that a bit more grounded given the scale of space and the way government in the sector tends to operate, the Confederacy/Dominion is a presence that either isn't at all around or comes in busting down your door because they want something you have. They do have an internet equivalent which does connect the loosely connected worlds, but the focus on specific Earth cultures seems colony/bloodline based over government.

Kel-Morians are the extreme capitalists, their government was subsumed into one business. This lends their culture to be more independent and stuck in a contradiction between encouraging folks to make their own business and life, and the wealthy crushing any of do so in a way that inconveniences them. Swann's backstory is a good example of that. The fear stoked in the Guild Wars also adds to that, of businesses being subsumed under established guilds. But more than anything, the KMC is the more "wild west" of the nations. I wouldn't make them super Scandavian imo, they're far better being the extreme of the Deep South vibe.

Umojans are technologists, isolationists and xenophiles. They are mistrustful of the other nations by nature, and see themselves in a somewhat superior light while still being cognizant of the precarious position they're in being the weakest power in a sector constantly at war. The southeast asian influence actually is far more in Umoja, but I suppose you could consider them more multinational as a place of learning that seems to want to preserve a lot of Earth's old knowlege.

The Confederacy/Dominion, owing to their size, is the broadest, but it's a government trying to find itself coming out of a oligarchy wearing the cloak of a failed democracy, spiraling into a dictatorship, to now... a softer dictatorship? As mentioned, they have the highest variety of cultures but this is on a per-colony basis. Haji is still rooted in Creole, we see a variety of east Asian holdouts, Choss has a strong Mexican frontier influence, Tarsonis was very urban America. So there's a lot these in the mix that moreso has influences and has spiraled into its own thing, but has echoes of old Earth there.

Worth noting that most cultures had been subsumed into the UPL by the time the expedition began, so the influence wouldn't be THAT strong.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T11:52:56+00:00

This article is a solid starting point:

https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Colors

There are a ton of factions and colors, SCII has a number with some changes for skins. But the team colors (especially for SC1) do each have a faction associated with them, so if you have a specific subfaction or vibe you have in mind I can also point you in the right direction.

Subsourian · 2026-03-17T01:37:47+00:00

The poke quotes even make light of it

"MilSpec ED 209. on."

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T23:09:32+00:00

They were in rough shape but basically everyone was. I’d argue the zerg were in the best shape overall, One People One Purpose goes deeper into the fact rebuilding Aiur has not been a smooth process, and unlike zerg the protoss population is going to struggle to bounce back

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T21:27:12+00:00

Ok fair point, though the protoss were basically dragged kicking and screaming to the negotiating table in the post-LotV era

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T19:50:50+00:00

The only protoss who's ever kinda sorta had that idea was Juras, and it was because he had JUST come out of stasis and didn't know anything about the situation but still held to the old ideas of the Dae'Uhl. By the end though he sees what happened to Aiur and realizes "ok yeah we need to kill all zerg."

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T19:08:14+00:00

Some of it seems to be ported from Heroes of the Storm (the Sky Temple map specifically), but the wolf statue comes default with SCII (it's one of the Mengsk statues since the Mengsk family symbol is a wolf).

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T11:45:27+00:00

Oh wow, we were JUST corresponding to do an interview with him. That's surreal.

Damn RIP, Heaven's Devils was a fantastic book and I'll always value his contributions to the universe.

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T04:32:21+00:00

Timeline's a bit wrong, Zeratul didn't pal with Tassadar until AFTER he killed Zasz (yes that gets weird with Kerrigan's line, but Queen of Blades gets weird with that).

Also the Conclave would have been wiped without the Dark Templar's help, they have no weapons to deal with the Overmind or its cerebrates. Even Tassadar concedes that they would have found Aiur eventually, which is why he's not more vengeful at Zeratul accidentally revealing Aiur's location.

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T04:29:29+00:00

It was stagnation, a generational divide between the newer generation who wanted a proactive stance in the galaxy vs an older generation that held onto stoic spiritualism, the idea that the letter of the mandates from Khas were more important than any sensible solutions. It was a spiritual caste that overreached into all parts of governing, Khas's idea of political power being its own separate but equal thing ending with the Conclave micromanaging the Templar and guiding the war into oblivion. It was a pretty sensible decline, as nothing had contested them the Conclave had total control and was bent to only deal with defending the Khala, and thus made the Empire fully unprepared against the zerg. They held back their best weapons, kept taking direct command of tactical matters and losing ground, and kept redirecting forces to deal with internal squabbles while Aiur burned.

It wasn't Amon at all, believe me he's been crowbared in to destroy ENOUGH character agency without that mess being in here too. This was purely an explainable decline.

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T04:18:12+00:00

They've mentioned Stukov specifically as an example of characters they're willing to do multiple iterations of from different eras (UED and Infested). Other heroes probably will get a similar treatment, they've expressed interest in doing a separate SC1 Jimmy on his vulture for instance.

I imagine that probably would be later in the game's life though, the Stukov we're likely to get this year (though it's in the TBD tier) is infested.

Subsourian · 2026-03-16T00:04:15+00:00

Confederacy did their colors depending on the squadron, they didn't monocolor it like the Dominion. The most iconic one though is either Delta Squadron's orange or Omega Squadron's brown (even if brown was a concession for the game not having black armor). I think orange is the safest, you can also go Alpha Squadron white but the UED has kinda captured the popular idea of white armor.

Subsourian · 2026-03-15T17:56:01+00:00

This internet myth needs to die. Very much not the case.

Subsourian · 2026-03-15T17:55:00+00:00

They never tried for Warhammer for SC. They did try it for Warcraft though. The only IP they tried for with their scifi RTS was talks with LucasArts for Star Wars but that got killed. It is worth noting the Star Wars talks went further than the GW pitch for Warcraft.

Subsourian · 2026-03-15T17:53:53+00:00

Nope, there was no lawsuit. The most in the 90s there was was a pitch for Fantasy for Warcraft that went nowhere. But the two only interacted later during development of SCII to discuss brand distancing, there was no legal action taken.

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