Stormgate - sci-fi/fantasy RTS from ex-Blizzard devs

[Wirdschowerdn]

Open Beta is out on Steam.

Played a little bit around, and it's basically exactly how I imagined it. A (small) Blizzard game all but in name. Vanguard are basically Terrans from Starcraft, and the Infernals are the Undead from War3. Even in that early build you can already tell there's more passion being put into this game than whatever Blizzard will mangle up next.

 

[ArchAngel]

Open Beta is out on Steam.

Played a little bit around, and it's basically exactly how I imagined it. A (small) Blizzard game all but in name. Vanguard are basically Terrans from Starcraft, and the Infernals are the Undead from War3. Even in that early build you can already tell there's more passion being put into this game than whatever Blizzard will mangle up next.

Ok but why should one play this over Starcraft 2? Why should SC1 and SC2 pro gamers switch to this game?
Game looks like a poor copy of SC2, I wish they dared to change more.

 

[Nathir]

Artstyle looks horrible. Who even cares about gameplay at this point.

 

[Jrpgfan]

Artstyle looks horrible. Who even cares about gameplay at this point.

Art is fine. You need to go out more and make some

 

[Multidirectional]

Got destroyed 10 games in a row yesterday, figured I will be reaching MMR where it's playable for braindeads like me soon. Next 2 games people leave right at the start. First fucking day of open beta and there are already people smurfing, amazing. Too early to say whether I will enjoy this, first I need to figure out how to play this and my tiny brain takes long to do that in these games. However, I'm pretty sure SCII felt a lot better to me right from the start. But then it was a complete game by the time I started it. I do like these quick macro buttons, anything that makes RTS simpler to control is fine by me.

 

[Venser]

Don't expect balance to be any good. Yesterday on stream Pig (SC2 commentator and ex pro with random race) said the balance is completely broken and he did some rushes exploiting bugs (you could use glyph on a building that just got started in order to buff your units, which is definitely a bug. Should only be possible if the building is finished). It's gonna take many months if not more to balance the game. This is expected tho, just look at what a mess SC2 beta was.

 

[Multidirectional]

Oh I have no idea what SCII was like in the beginning, I only started to play it when it was already LOTV.

Anyway, just got my first win. Looks like it's fine to build a lot more defense towers early in the game here. I was going by SCII mindset that says don't build more than one static defense per base until you have a strong economy going, but here these things cost only 25 "minerals" so might as well spam them early on. Still don't know what to do about these fucking Vanguard dogs that run in my base around 30 seconds into the game. Doesn't look like there's any chance for me to have a single army unit by the time they come in so all I can do is micro workers back and forth which is not my favorite thing to say the least. For all their talk about making more noob friendly RTS than SCII, these dogs make start of the game more annoying, if anything.

 

[Hellraiser]

1) The rather lame "choose your planet" approach forces missions to be designed where most can be solved by simply massing whichever combat unit you just unlocked. Diamondbacks, Reapers, Goliaths, Vultures, Wraiths, Firebats, and Medivacs are all units designed to be effective for a single mission and then just about worthless afterwards

Not true on brutal difficulty. On brutal most missions lean heavily into using "the meta" cookie cutter solution of marines, marauders, medics with siege tanks, with later missions giving you a science vessel based alternative like vikings+banshees. The unit of the mission, if not part of the cookie cutter, is occasionally useful for the gimmick of the mission (firebats in bunkers, medivacs for moving around etc.), but not by itself as a primary means of destroying the outposts and enemy unit groups guarding the objectives. It is simply too uneconomical for the brutal difficulty variant of the mission to just spam it if it's not already "the meta". Reapers are about the only exceptions I recall, in the two missions where they are most useful (their own mission and the hellion mission).

In particular diamondbacks, goliaths and vultures can never be built at all in the campaign, marines+marauder+medic balls with siege tanks (you can unlock them before all of those missions) are just way better in those missions. Wraiths are also another one that is pointless, vikings and banshees (with science vessels) were way better in the Odin mission.

 

[Cyberarmy]

With 3 M you don't even need siege tanks most of the time. Maybe medivacs for extra support

 

[Multidirectional]

Had a nice late game win just now where I finally figured out how to make flying units and did my first "mutalisk harass". My macro becoming bit more optimized with faster expanding. Looks like 3-4 bases is a good point to start pumping units. So far cannot be arsed to collect these powerups on the map as I'm too busy optimizing my build . Also having really hard time reading the fights, usually have no idea when it's a fight I should take or avoid.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I’m curious about the campaign(s) and lore. Are the demons gonna be revealed/redeemed as misunderstood good guys again, like the orcs, zergs, and warcraft demons? Are they going to be a race with their own culture, or mindless puppets of whoever the current demon king is?

 

[Multidirectional]

Finally had my first game where I felt like a proper zerg. Super greedy expanding all over map, build loads of production and spam units like crazy. First time I reached max 300 supply.

 

[Tavar]

Finally had my first game where I felt like a proper zerg. Super greedy expanding all over map, build loads of production and spam units like crazy. First time I reached max 300 supply.

Did you turn off a lot of details or is it normal that your units look so washed out and blurry? How much fun is the game? I played a lot of SC2 back when it came out and often it felt like you were just dodging trap doors and try not to lose instead of actually having impact on the game (I was playing Zerg).

 

[Multidirectional]

Did you turn off a lot of details or is it normal that your units look so washed out and blurry? How much fun is the game? I played a lot of SC2 back when it came out and often it felt like you were just dodging trap doors and try not to lose instead of actually having impact on the game (I was playing Zerg).

I didn't turn off anything, it's on Ultra. I don't know if unit models are final but they did say they haven't done working on lighting yet. How much fun the game is you better find out yourself. It feels like a middle ground between SCII and WC3. Lower lethality than SCII but thankfully no "upkeep" garbage from WC3 that punishes you for having better macro. As it is in it's current state I think SCII is the better game, but then it's a comparison between a complete and incomplete game. Not only they are yet to add a third race to Stormgate, they don't even have tier 3 tech added for existing races. I do manage to have fun with it, though it's enjoyable in a different way. More chill rather than adrenaline pumping experience of SCII. In 20+ games I've played so far there hasn't been a single "gotcha" moment where I look away for 3 seconds and my entire army is gone. So no doubt it's going to be more appealing to people who cannot stand that about SCII.

As for Zerg in SCII, it is a reactive race where you are supposed to scout what's coming and make appropriate counter. That is, if you are playing macro and not all-ins. It's how the race is because you are supposed to choose when to make workers and when to switch to making units, unlike Terran and Protoss where you can make both at the same time. So yeah, if your scouting sucks you often end up feeling like a punching bag with Zerg. It is still by far my favorite race to play as I've spend the most time on it, with Terran to me being mostly clunky annoying shit.

 

[ArchAngel]

Finally had my first game where I felt like a proper zerg. Super greedy expanding all over map, build loads of production and spam units like crazy. First time I reached max 300 supply.

Did you turn off a lot of details or is it normal that your units look so washed out and blurry? How much fun is the game? I played a lot of SC2 back when it came out and often it felt like you were just dodging trap doors and try not to lose instead of actually having impact on the game (I was playing Zerg).

Zerg is different now than at start. It is less vulnerable to cheese and you can and should be more aggressive. Other two factions now prefer to turtle and do specific pushes.
Sc2 MP is free to play. Go play that instead.

 

[Multidirectional]

Zerg is different now than at start. It is less vulnerable to cheese and you can and should be more aggressive. Other two factions now prefer to turtle and do specific pushes.
Sc2 MP is free to play. Go play that instead.

I love destroying turtling protoss fags by right clicking mass banelings into their mineral lines while mass expanding all over the map. A lot harder to do vs Terrans though, if they get a good spread of planetaries/tanks/mines going with Zerg I often end up just killing myself by trying to attack them before I have late game tech. And my least favorite ones are Battlecruiser turtles. Fly in, do some damage then teleport out before you can kill even one of them. Next time he comes over with higher BC count and does it again. Managed to get enough Corruptors to one shot BC? Then he teleports out after losing max one BC. Sometimes you can just fly in their base and kill these things there but if it's a smarter player he will have a bunch of turrets with some mines spread out to hide BCs in. And some of them are just happy to turtle on 3 bases entire game too until they get to high enough BC count to kill a bunch of Corruptors with mass Yamato cannons. Get to 20 BCs and suddenly you can delete 20 Corruptors in couple seconds and teleport out. Or even stay and fight the rest, depending on how many are left. So even if I manage to deny him all other expansions and mine out more than half the map myself he still has a chance of winning. I feel like it might be worth switching to Stormgate eventually just so I don't have to deal with this faggotry anymore.

 

[ArchAngel]

Zerg is different now than at start. It is less vulnerable to cheese and you can and should be more aggressive. Other two factions now prefer to turtle and do specific pushes.
Sc2 MP is free to play. Go play that instead.

I love destroying turtling protoss fags by right clicking mass banelings into their mineral lines while mass expanding all over the map. A lot harder to do vs Terrans though, if they get a good spread of planetaries/tanks/mines going with Zerg I often end up just killing myself by trying to attack them before I have late game tech. And my least favorite ones are Battlecruiser turtles. Fly in, do some damage then teleport out before you can kill even one of them. Next time he comes over with higher BC count and does it again. Managed to get enough Corruptors to one shot BC? Then he teleports out after losing max one BC. Sometimes you can just fly in their base and kill these things there but if it's a smarter player he will have a bunch of turrets with some mines spread out to hide BCs in. And some of them are just happy to turtle on 3 bases entire game too until they get to high enough BC count to kill a bunch of Corruptors with mass Yamato cannons. Get to 20 BCs and suddenly you can delete 20 Corruptors in couple seconds and teleport out. Or even stay and fight the rest, depending on how many are left. So even if I manage to deny him all other expansions and mine out more than half the map myself he still has a chance of winning. I feel like it might be worth switching to Stormgate eventually just so I don't have to deal with this faggotry anymore.

Try Infestors and mind control?
As for banelings, baneling bombs on mineral lines from fast overlords was most fun for me. Especially if I was able to coordinate it on multiple bases.

 

[Multidirectional]

Chasing down BCs with infestors ain't exactly easy. It's cool when it works though. Dropping banelings with overlords doesn't work for me, I'm better off just right clicking them into bases while distracting the opponent somewhere else with Mutalisks or just Zergling run in. It's only 4 banelings that you can fit into an overlord, plus the whole loading/unloading units shit I never enjoyed in any RTS, I find it tedious. When I attack with banelings it's at least 20-30 of them so it's guaranteed damage. Even if they pull their workers in time I can still at least delete their base and defenses.

 

[ArchAngel]

Chasing down BCs with infestors ain't exactly easy. It's cool when it works though. Dropping banelings with overlords doesn't work for me, I'm better off just right clicking them into bases while distracting the opponent somewhere else with Mutalisks or just Zergling run in. It's only 4 banelings that you can fit into an overlord, plus the whole loading/unloading units shit I never enjoyed in any RTS, I find it tedious. When I attack with banelings it's at least 20-30 of them so it's a guaranteed damage. Even if they pull their workers in time I can still at least delete their base and defenses.

I never cared about winning, just doing cool shit.

 

[Multidirectional]

Looks like a lot more people joined the ladder, getting way more wins than losses today. So come and play, noobs.

Just had one dude call me a "cheeser" after killing him with two base push while he was.. on one base. Love shit like this.

 

[ArchAngel]

Looks like a lot more people joined the ladder, getting way more wins than losses today. So come and play, noobs.

Just had one dude call me a "cheeser" after killing him with two base push while he was.. on one base. Love shit like this.

My first MP match in SC2 was one base Terran coming into my base with 2 Cloaked Banshee and killing my workers.
This was after I grinded enough matches vs hardest AI and I could beat that AI. Of course AI never cheesed :D
This is also when I learned you need to send your first overlord to scout what cheese they are preparing to use vs you..

 

[Multidirectional]

Fuck me, had 10 wins in a row. Ladder seems way easier now at 1.4k MMR than it was at 1.1k when I started couple days ago. Granted I myself also improved, but I'm also judging based on the quality of opponents harassment. Every single Vanguard I fought in the beginning had their dog go into my base and be pretty annoying earlier than 40 second mark. Now almost all of the dogs arrive way too late to do anything. Also most games I started winning with my first tiny push where I go out to harass with couple of Brutes and a Gaunt, going out of my base at 2 min mark. When they arrive there most of the time they cause so much disruption I am free to just keep pushing with more of these units while saturating my second base. Most games were over like this by the time my second base is filled with workers or even earlier. Looks like them streamers got a lot of noobs to come. Only the last game of these 10 was against someone fairly competent, who defended my first push with bunker and kept expanding almost as fast as me. Took 20 minutes to kill this guy, now I need a break.

 

[whydoibother]

Open Beta is out on Steam.

Played a little bit around, and it's basically exactly how I imagined it. A (small) Blizzard game all but in name. Vanguard are basically Terrans from Starcraft, and the Infernals are the Undead from War3. Even in that early build you can already tell there's more passion being put into this game than whatever Blizzard will mangle up next.

Ok but why should one play this over Starcraft 2? Why should SC1 and SC2 pro gamers switch to this game?
Game looks like a poor copy of SC2, I wish they dared to change more.

Why should I play this new RTS instead of re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-replaying the old RTS?
Bigger question is, why should you care what streamers and tourneyfags are playing? You are the reason the genre died.

 

[Justinian]

played 1.5 games against harmless ai, just alt f4d out of the second one. Feels like Warcraft 3 designed by an accountant. Only good thing I can say about it is that it does play smoothly, not as good as SC2 but very good compared to most RTSs. But I hated Warcraft 3 and I don't want to play a game that feels like Warcraft 3 with less interesting units, factions and abilities, even if they did away with low unit caps and upkeep.

 

[ArchAngel]

played 1.5 games against harmless ai, just alt f4d out of the second one. Feels like Warcraft 3 designed by an accountant. Only good thing I can say about it is that it does play smoothly, not as good as SC2 but very good compared to most RTSs. But I hated Warcraft 3 and I don't want to play a game that feels like Warcraft 3 with less interesting units, factions and abilities, even if they did away with low unit caps and upkeep.

I tried to watch a few matches on twitch and yea, it does remind me more of WC3 than Starcraft. Blah.