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161-514: As with the other races, the Zerg are the subject of a full single-player campaign in each of the series' real-time strategy video games. Zerg units are designed to be cost-efficient and fast to produce, encouraging players to overwhelm their opponents with sheer numerical advantage . Since the release of StarCraft , the Zerg have become a gaming icon, described by PC Gamer UK as "the best race in strategy history". The term " Zerg Rush ", or "zerging",

322-809: A board game based in the StarCraft universe. Blizzard Entertainment also licensed Wizards of the Coast to produce an Alternity based game entitled StarCraft Adventures . In 2015, Blizzard released Heroes of the Storm , a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game in which players can control over 15 characters from the StarCraft universe as playable heroes, such as Artanis, Kerrigan, Nova, Raynor, and Zeratul. The game features two StarCraft -themed battlegrounds, Braxis Holdout and Warhead Junction. Various soundtracks from StarCraft, such as Terran and Zerg Theme, are present as background music in

483-424: A "system administrator" force, often multinational, which does what some call "nation-building", but, most importantly, connects the nation to the core and empowers the natives to communicate—that communication can be likened to swarm coordination. Swarming is not a panacea for conflict at all levels. If there is a significant military force preventing the system administrator from working on developing connections,

644-459: A Dominion colony and getting it off the planet as quickly as possible. As with its predecessor, Retribution does not include any new gameplay features beyond its single player campaigns and an abundance of multiplayer levels. The add-on was not well received by reviewers, and instead it was regarded as "average", but at least challenging. Retribution is similarly not widely available, and Blizzard Entertainment offers no comment regarding support or

805-475: A Leviathan, she controls the local Swarm inside, and starts rebuilding her forces from scratch. She later evolved into a Primal Zerg after a confrontation with Zeratul, leading her to the origins of the Zerg. She became a Primal, after absorbing the spawning pool and killing Primal Leaders to collect essence. With her newfound power, she initially takes the fight to the Dominion after subduing countless Queens. She

966-512: A Zerg cerebrate , Zeratul inadvertently allows the Overmind to learn the location of the Protoss homeworld, Aiur. The Overmind quickly launches an invasion to assimilate the Protoss and gain genetic perfection. Pursued by his own people as a heretic for siding with the dark templar Zeratul, Tassadar returns to Aiur and, with the assistance of Raynor and the templar Fenix , launches an attack on

1127-463: A campaign against the UED, recapturing Korhal. She turns against her allies, with Fenix and Duke both perishing in the ensuing attacks. Kerrigan later extorts Zeratul into killing the new Overmind, giving her full control over the entire Zerg Swarm. After defeating a retaliatory attack by the Protoss, Dominion, and the UED (consequently destroying the last of the UED fleet), Kerrigan and her Zerg broods become

1288-468: A carpet of bio-matter referred to as the "creep", which essentially provides nourishment for Zerg structures and creatures. The visual aesthetic of the Zerg greatly resembles that of invertebrates such as crustaceans and insects (and certainly draws inspiration from the creatures from the Alien movies). The Zerg are shown to be highly dependent on their command structure: if a Zerg should lose its connection to

1449-500: A development team led by Metzen and Phinney. The game debuted at the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo and used a modified Warcraft II game engine . StarCraft also marked the creation of Blizzard Entertainment's film department; the game introduced high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series. Most of the original development team for StarCraft returned to work on the game's expansion pack, Brood War ; that game's development began only shortly after StarCraft

1610-561: A distinct tactical role within the hierarchy. Cerebrates further delegate power through the use of overlords for battlefield direction and queens for hive watch. The quest for 'genetic perfection' is a pseudo-religious concept to Zerg that drives them on a steady state of evolution and conflict; the zerg believed there was a state that the zerg could reach where they no longer needed to evolve, that their evolutionary form would never have to change again because they could already adapt to any situation. Abathur, an evolution master, doubted that this

1771-519: A force as large as an OMG. Once it was recognized that success could be claimed with a significant deceleration, other novelties were introduced, among which was Synthetic Density which required the SMAs to distribute pneumatic models (fitted with radar reflectors) of tanks and artillery along the OMG's MLA, these requiring the room to be put down and time to be lost before progress could be resumed. The proposal

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1932-438: A goal by a higher-level commander, by a peer unit detecting a target, or by intelligence systems that feed information to the swarming units. Convergence is the key feature, which, while it can be distributed, causes swarming units to coordinate their actions, apply force, and know when to stop applying force. Edwards holds that several axioms of military doctrine change with the use of swarming: Osgood points out that swarming

2093-496: A hive worker to a warrior strain. StarCraft 's manual notes that some species bear little resemblance to their original forms after just a short time into assimilation (an example would be the formerly peaceful Slothien species, which was assimilated and mutated into the vicious Hydralisk strain and so on). The Overmind controls the Swarm through secondary agents called cerebrates. Cerebrates command an individual brood of Zerg, each with

2254-543: A large number of less expensive aircraft, coupled with a small number of extremely capable "silver bullet" aircraft, had the effect of a much larger force. Boyd's concept of quick action is based on the repeated application of the Boyd loop , consisting of the steps Boyd's concept is also known as the OODA Loop , and is applicable to all military operations, as well as to civilian competition from sports to business. These are

2415-419: A last job, the assassination of Jim Raynor. A number of action figures and collectable statues based upon the characters and units in StarCraft have been produced by ToyCom. A number of model kits, made by Academy Hobby Model Kits , were also produced, displaying 1/30 scale versions of the marine and the hydralisk. In addition, Blizzard Entertainment teamed up with Fantasy Flight Games to create

2576-493: A lawsuit against Microstar for selling the add-on, arguing that as the product was unauthorized and created using StarCraft ' s level editing software , it was a breach of the end user license agreement . We believe that we must aggressively combat the sale and distribution of unauthorized add-ons associated with our properties. In our opinion, Stellar Forces meets neither Blizzard's standards nor our customers' expectations. As gamers ourselves, we feel obligated to prevent

2737-506: A leverage against her, keeping the location where he is imprisoned a secret, until she joins forces with the Hyperion to locate and rescue him. Seeing that she discarded her humanity after all the effort he took to restore it, Raynor rejects her, despite her confession that she loves him, and parts ways with her. Kerrigan turns her attention to Korhal and sends her forces to bring down Mengsk once and for all. During their showdown, Mengsk uses

2898-492: A militarized force like the Constabulary in the post-WWII occupation of Germany. Swarming would allow major powers to rapidly respond to guerilla forces, but, given the appropriate synchronization and communications, the less powerful forces can use swarming themselves. Modern communications allows military units to stay widely dispersed. The front, rear and flanks are disappearing from military conflict. Swarming allows

3059-427: A new Terran Dominion . During the assault on Tarsonis, Mengsk allows the Zerg to capture and infest his psion second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan . This betrayal prompts Mengsk's other commander, Jim Raynor , to desert him with a small army. Having retreated with Kerrigan to their primary hive clusters, the Zerg are assaulted by Protoss forces commanded by Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul . Through assassinating

3220-403: A new Overmind to restore control of the Swarm. Through allying herself with the Protoss, Kerrigan strikes at the cerebrates, causing disruption of their plans. Eventually, the UED fleet takes control of Char and pacifies the new Overmind with drugs, putting the cerebrates and most of the Zerg under their control. Kerrigan retaliates by forming a tenuous alliance with the remnants of the Dominion and

3381-979: A novel that was written by Graham McNeill which focuses on the origins of the characters in the Mengsk family. In January 2010 Keith R.A. DeCandido and David Gerrold authored the StarCraft: Ghost Academy to elaborate the training of Nova as an espionage agent and in September 2011, Simon & Schuster published the StarCraft Ghost: Spectres as a sequel to the novel StarCraft Ghost: Nova . Timothy Zahn released Starcraft: Evolution in 2016. In addition to these, Blizzard Entertainment authorized two short stories in Amazing Stories magazine, entitled StarCraft: Revelations and StarCraft: Hybrid . Revelations

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3542-480: A number of StarCraft graphic novels . Two series were announced: StarCraft: Frontline , which is a series of short story anthologies that spanned four volumes, and StarCraft: Ghost Academy , which was written by Keith R.A. DeCandido and follows several characters, such as Nova, during their training as the psychic assassins called "ghosts". There was a Starcraft graphic novel released in 2010, produced by Wildstorm and DC Comics , which features outlaws working on

3703-618: A people efficiently adapted by evolution. Every thousand Zerg warriors killed at a cost of one Terran soldier was a net victory for the Zerg; the Zerg Swarm didn't care any more about expending warriors than the Terrans cared about expending ammunition. The Zerg were originally commanded by and unified by their absolute obedience to the Zerg collective sentience known as the Zerg Overmind , a manifestation of this hive mind, and under

3864-417: A periodicity that could easily be used for an indications checklist appropriate for a warning center. Such lists depend on seeing a local pattern to give a specific warning. Semiautonomous swarming, in which the actors occasionally interfere with one another, is seen in attacks on computer networks by loose confederations of malicious hackers. On occasion, especially when the attack uses a botnet , some of

4025-457: A realization of Boyd's theories. A swarming case is any historical example in which the scheme of manoeuvre involves the convergent attack of five (or more) semiautonomous (or autonomous) units on a targeted force in some particular place. "Convergent" implies an attack from most of the points on the compass." Due to the vulnerability of sophisticated air defense systems such as S-300 and S-400 to mass attacks from low flying cruise missiles, it

4186-561: A relief column sent by Alexander the Great . Bactrian horse archers surrounded various Macedonian phalanxes , staying out of range of their melee weapons, and shot arrows until they had no more. The archers would then withdraw to a supply point, but another swarm of horse archers would sometimes replace them, and sometimes attack elsewhere. The Bactrians eventually caused the phalanx to break formation, and destroyed it. Alexander recognized his forces could not directly combat horse archers, but that

4347-408: A replacement for them. Swarming is a logical extension of network-centric warfare. At present, the networking for swarming is only available in specific contexts. Enthusiasts of swarming sometimes apply it to situations that have superficial similarities, but really do not qualify as swarms. While swarms do converge on a target, not every military action, where multiple units attacked from all sides of

4508-403: A short but flattering review, describing it as having "definitely been worth the wait" and also drew note to the cinematic cut scenes, stating that they "actually feel like part of the story rather than an afterthought." IGN stated that Brood War ' s enhancements were "enough to enrich the core gameplay without losing the flavor" while GameSpot noted that the expansion was developed with

4669-483: A single game, StarCraft II was split into three parts during development, one for focusing on each race. The base game, Wings of Liberty , follows the Terrans, while two expansion packs, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void , have been released to complement Wings of Liberty and further the story from the views of the Zerg and Protoss, respectively. The story of Wings of Liberty continues from four years after

4830-523: A solid following around the world, particularly in South Korea , where professional players and teams participate in matches, earn sponsorships, and compete in televised matches. By June 2007, StarCraft and Brood War had sold nearly 10 million copies combined. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and its sequels obtained similar praise, and also sold very well. By the end of 2017, the franchise's lifetime revenue totaled over $ 1 billion. In addition,

4991-410: A substantial number of helicopters. As a countermeasure, NATO considered neutron bombs but their use was politically controversial. NATO instead devised a plan to slow the thrust with a swarming counterattack, called Dynamic Density, which used single-seat Small Military Aircraft (SMAs) operating autonomously in pairs with infantry ATGWs such as Milan, their pilots being infantry. One aircraft would carry

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5152-807: A successful pro-gaming scene . Pro-gamers in South Korea are niche media celebrities and StarCraft games broadcast over three television channels dedicated to gaming. StarCraft has won numerous Game of the Year awards, is often described as one of the best real-time strategy games made, and is widely credited with popularizing the use of distinct and unique sides—as opposed to sides of equal ability and strength—in real-time strategy games. Although Insurrection and Retribution were not particularly well received, StarCraft: Brood War generally received very positive reviews, with an aggregate GameRankings score of 95.00%. The magazine PC Zone gave Brood War

5313-413: A sudden attack by Kerrigan and the Zerg swarm. After obtaining the exact location, he departs to an ancient Xel'Naga temple where he has a vision of Tassadar, who prompts him to claim the artifact in possession of the Terrans. Zeratul returns to warn Artanis of Amon's return, but he decides to proceed with his plans of leading his army to reclaim Aiur. Amon awakens on Aiur and takes control of the majority of

5474-433: A symbol to which observers need to connect the purpose of the attack. Xel%27Naga StarCraft is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment . The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance among four species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the ever-evolving insectoid Zerg ,

5635-443: A target, constitute swarming. Other conflicts, especially historical ones, fit a swarming paradigm, but the commanders involved did not use the concept. Nevertheless, historical examples help illustrate what modern analysts do and do not consider swarming. Some historical examples with at least some aspect of swarming include: At the siege of Samarkand, Spitamenes used Bactrian horse archers in effective swarming attacks against

5796-455: A variety of tasks consisting of programming and design for levels, visuals and audio effects. In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost began development under Nihilistic Software , with the aim of releasing the game for the Xbox , PlayStation 2 , and GameCube during late 2003. Unlike previous real-time strategy StarCraft titles, Ghost was to be a tactical third-person action game. Although the press

5957-521: Is March 29, 2016. At the same time, Blizzard has announced that new commanders are planned to be added to the Co-Op mode in Legacy of the Void as a DLC, with Karax to be the first addition given for free. The success of StarCraft spurred the creation of two authorized add-on titles to StarCraft , as well as one failed attempt at a deviation into a genre other than real-time strategy . Insurrection

6118-475: Is a deliberately structured, coordinated, strategic way to strike from all directions, by means of a sustainable pulsing of force and/or fire, close-in as well as from stand-off positions." One aspect of swarming is that it moves away from the traditional model of a rigid chain of command. This paper suggests abandoning the term command and control in favor of Agility is a characteristic of an organization or unit capable of swarming. Focus can be designation of

6279-462: Is designed to be unobtrusive in order to allow the player to focus, with only the music that attaches to the cinematic interludes permitted to become more distinctive. Brower has also pointed out that certain musical themes in StarCraft II become associated with certain characters, a technique borrowed from composers such as John Williams and Richard Wagner . Brower has said that most of

6440-540: Is not advisable to have a soldier so engrossed in displays that an enemy can sneak up and hit him over the head with a rock. One of the challenges of designing modern networked systems is not to overwhelm the users with information. Those users will also need extensive training, with their sensing and synchronization information, to use them properly under combat stress. Swarming requires autonomous or semi-autonomous operating agents, with strong synchronization and communications among them. Senior commanders release resources to

6601-493: Is not new, although the means of coordination and synchronization are going through significant changes. Howard Rheingold cites mobile communications technology as a key enabler: The bees sense each other's buzzing and instinctually move in concert in real time. Text messaging on mobile devices and instantaneous file sharing off the internet via PDAs allows groups of people to receive their instructions, move in unison, nearly instantaneously, without prior planning or forethought. And,

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6762-403: Is now commonly used to describe sacrificing economic development in favor of using many cheap, yet weak units to overwhelm an enemy by attrition or sheer numbers . The tactic is infamous; most experienced real-time strategy players are familiar with the tactic in one form or another. Zerg have two cell types at birth — one which creates random mutations, and another that hunts these mutations —

6923-651: Is set in a distant sector of the Milky Way galaxy. A Mac OS version of the game was released by Blizzard Entertainment in March 1999. A Nintendo 64 port including StarCraft , Brood War , and a new secret mission "Resurrection IV" was released in the United States on June 13, 2000. The game's story revolves around the appearance of two alien races in Terran space and each race's attempts to survive and adapt over

7084-460: Is thought that swarm tactics are well suited for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions using swarms of networked miniature spoofing decoy drones accompanying large numbers of JASSM-ER cruise missiles launched from mass fire platforms such as Rapid Dragon . Prevention of fratricide, as well as the ability to make ad hoc swarming attacks on targets of opportunity, is one of the major goals of combat data networking among units down to

7245-538: Is written from the viewpoint of a Confederate marine during the early stages of StarCraft . The first four novels, including the e-book Uprising , were later re-released as a single anthology entitled The StarCraft Archive in November 2007. A fifth novel entitled StarCraft: Queen of Blades was published in June 2006. Written by Aaron S. Rosenberg , it is a novelization of the second campaign in StarCraft from

7406-498: The StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm expansion, which was released in March 2013. The third and final StarCraft II installment, Legacy of the Void , was released in November 2015. In 2016, a single-player nine-mission pack, Nova Covert Ops , was released in form of DLC . The original game and its expansion have been praised as one of the benchmark real-time strategy games of its time. The series has gathered

7567-543: The United Nations . It is the job of the system administrator force to deal with low-level conflict, and there must be both resources and a smooth transition plan from Leviathan to System Administrator responsibility, of which a classic successful example were the Operation Rankin plans that covered several ways in which Nazi power might end which is more a mission for police, which certainly can include

7728-699: The Blizzard studios, performed by musicians such as Laurence Juber (formerly of Wings ) and Tommy Morgan . The soundtrack also contains John Bacchus Dykes and William Whiting's hymn Eternal Father, Strong to Save (1860). The orchestral music for Heart of the Swarm was likewise recorded in Marin County, again with the services of Kurlander and Noone, with 80 performers from the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. Brower stated in an interview in 2013 that he intended to continue

7889-539: The Dark Voice, Amon. Kerrigan is the protagonist and player character of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. After being deinfested, she was taken in Valerian Mengsk's hideout to research on her, until the Dominion attacks the facility, she escaped along with the rest of the facility, except Raynor, who was captured by Nova. She later learned that Raynor was executed and seeks revenge on Arcturus. As she enters

8050-624: The Milan post and four missiles, the other the night-vision sight and four missiles (two of which might be anti-helicopter), and the tactics would be shoot and scoot. The SMA, known as the Dragoon, was evaluated and highly praised by the MoD's test pilots at Boscombe Down, its STOL performance and ease of handling making it ideal for this role. Large numbers would be needed and 5,000 was suggested as sufficient to ensure that swarming would be successful against

8211-480: The Overmind and ultimately sacrifices himself to kill the creature. In Brood War , the Protoss are led by Zeratul and Artanis . They begin to evacuate the surviving population of Aiur to the dark templar homeworld of Shakuras under a fragile alliance between the two untrusting branches of the Protoss. On Shakuras, they are misled by Kerrigan into attacking the Zerg to advance Kerrigan's quest to securing power over

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8372-544: The Overmind loses control of the cerebrate's brood, causing it to mindlessly rampage and attack anything. As a result of the Overmind's death in StarCraft and the subsequent destruction of a new Overmind in Brood War , the remaining cerebrates perished, as they could not survive without an Overmind. Sarah Kerrigan replaced the cerebrates with "brood mothers". These creatures fulfil much the same purpose, but are loyal to Kerrigan and could survive her temporary departure during

8533-402: The Overmind's control the Zerg strove for genetic perfection by assimilating the favorable traits of other species. Zerg creatures are rapidly and selectively evolved into deadly and efficient killers to further the driving Zerg imperative of achieving absolute domination. After a species has been assimilated into the Swarm, it is mutated toward a different function within its hierarchy, from being

8694-423: The Overmind, the cerebrates are the only Zerg with full sapience, each with its own personality and methods, although they too are genetically incapable of disobeying the Overmind. The Overmind also possesses the ability to reincarnate its cerebrates should their bodies be killed, although Protoss dark templar energies are capable of disrupting this process. If a cerebrate is completely dead and cannot be reincarnated,

8855-620: The Protoss race through the Khala, the telepathic bond that unites all emotions for the Khalai faction of the Protoss. Only Zeratul and the Nerazim, the Dark Templar, are immune due to their lack of connection to the Khala, and the Nerazim proceed to save as many Khalai as they can by severing their nerve cords, which connect them to the Khala, with Zeratul sacrificing himself to save Artanis in

9016-1041: The San Francisco Symphony and Opera and recorded at the Skywalker stage at the Lucasfilm Ranch in Marin County, California, under the name "Skywalker Symphony Orchestra", conducted by Eímear Noone . Brower also recalled the use of a 32-voice choir in Seattle, Washington. Both these recording sessions were mixed by John Kurlander, who had previously worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Beatles' Abbey Road . The Terran country and blues pieces were recorded at Dreamland studio in Woodstock, New York , and performed by members of Peter Gabriel's band, including bassist Tony Levin and drummer Jerry Marotta . Remaining pieces were recorded at

9177-590: The Scythian horsemen surrounded the detached cavalry. At the right moment, Alexander's cavalry reversed direction and pushed half of the Scythians straight into the main phalanx of Alexander's army, where they were slaughtered. Upon seeing this, the remaining half of the Scythian army retreated from the battle. Mongols under Genghis Khan practiced an equivalent of swarming, partially because their communications, which used flags, horns, and couriers, were advanced for

9338-592: The Shapeshifter's master and only by allied effort, they finished them. Kerrigan left them to her Broodmother Zagara's control. One of the main factors responsible for StarCraft 's positive reception is the attention paid to the three unique playable races, for each of which Blizzard developed completely different characteristics, graphics, backstories, and styles of gameplay, while keeping them balanced in performance against each other. Previous to this, most real-time strategy games consisted of factions and races with

9499-422: The Swarm , which had a GameRankings aggregate score of 86%. The standalone expansion pack sold 1.1 million copies within the first two days of its release on March 12, 2013, and was the best-selling PC game in that quarter. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void , the third expansion pack, was similarly well received, having a GameRankings aggregate score of 88% while selling more than 1 million copies worldwide within

9660-418: The Swarm , the Dominion discovers where Raynor and Kerrigan are hiding and launch an attack on them. Kerrigan manages to escape, but is cut off from Raynor and upon hearing news that he was captured and executed, she returns to Zerg territory to retake control of the swarm and exact revenge on Mengsk. During her quest, she has an encounter with Zeratul, who advises her to travel to Zerus, the original homeworld of

9821-531: The Swarm. This situation persists until the events of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm . Kerrigan, believing Raynor to have been killed in a Dominion surprise attack, enters the original Zerg spawning pool to become the Queen of Blades again. This time she is no longer motivated to destroy humanity, having kept more of her original mindset due to the non-interference of the Zerg Hive Mind, and by extension,

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9982-471: The US commander to know where to commit reserves. Cordesman observes that swarming is a viable terrorist tactic against targets of opportunity. Al-Qaeda , for example, uses a different form of swarming than those of advanced militaries, in which the general objectives of operational cells are agreed in a manner coordinated, but not continuously controlled by the core organization. Once the decision has been made on

10143-467: The Void. In a short epilogue after the end of Legacy of the Void , Kerrigan calls for Artanis and Raynor's help to confront Amon inside the Void to defeat him once and for all. In the occasion, they meet Ouros, the last of the Xel'Naga who reveals that to confront Amon on equal terms, Kerrigan must inherit Ouros' essence and become a Xel'Naga herself, as Ouros himself is at the last of his strength. Assisted by

10304-408: The Xel'Naga artifact, which they sell to the enigmatic Moebius Foundation in order to fund their revolution. Soon after, Zeratul delivers a psychic crystal that allows Raynor to share visions involving an ominous prophecy where Zerg-Protoss hybrids and an enslaved Zerg swarm wipe out the Terrans and the Protoss. The vision reveals that only Kerrigan has the power to prevent the eradication of all life in

10465-413: The Zerg race. It spans 27 missions (20 main missions and 7 side missions). The saga of StarCraft is ultimately completed with StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void , which was released on November 10, 2015. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void is a stand-alone game in which new units are added to all three races as well as changing existing units, and also makes groundbreaking changes to the economy-aspect of

10626-404: The Zerg, Terran and Protoss forces, the empowered Kerrigan vanquishes Amon, before disappearing without a trace. Two years later, Kerrigan appears before Raynor in human form and he departs with her to never be heard from again, while the Zerg, the Terran and the Protoss civilizations begin to rebuild in an age of peace and prosperity. The StarCraft series includes a core set of titles that carry

10787-400: The Zerg, where she regains her powers as the Queen of Blades, returning stronger than ever, and learns that a fallen Xel'Naga named Amon was responsible for making the Zerg what they are: a warring swarm, bound to a single overriding will. After confronting a legion of servants of Amon, including a breed of Protoss-Zerg hybrids, Mengsk informs Kerrigan that Raynor is still alive and uses him as

10948-537: The Zerg. This deception comes after she reveals that a new Overmind has entered incubation. Meanwhile, Earth decides to take action in the sector, sending a fleet to conquer the Terran Dominion and capture the new Overmind. Although successfully taking the Dominion capital Korhal and enslaving the Overmind, the UED's efforts to capture Mengsk are thwarted by a double agent working for Kerrigan, Samir Duran . Kerrigan, allying with Mengsk, Fenix, and Raynor, launches

11109-626: The actions of the Sons of Korhal, the Zerg are lured to the Confederate capital Tarsonis , where they capture the psionic ghost agent Sarah Kerrigan and infest her. Returning to the Zerg base of operations on Char , the Zerg are attacked by the dark templar Zeratul , who accidentally gives the location of the Protoss homeworld Aiur to the Zerg Overmind. With victory in sight, the Overmind launches an invasion of Aiur and manifests itself on

11270-672: The activities of three species in a part of the Milky Way known as the Koprulu Sector. Millennia before any of the events of the games, a species known as the Xel'Naga genetically engineer the Protoss and later the Zerg in attempts to create pure beings. These experiments backfire and the Xel'Naga are largely destroyed by the Zerg. Centuries before the beginning of StarCraft in 2499,

11431-435: The artifact to immobilize her, but Raynor appears to protect her, and Mengsk is ultimately killed by Kerrigan. With the Dominion under control of Mengsk's son Valerian, Kerrigan bids farewell to Raynor and departs with the Zerg Swarm to confront Amon and his forces. In Legacy of the Void , Zeratul invades a Terran installation under control of Amon in order to pinpoint the exact location of his resurrection, taking advantage of

11592-530: The artificial intelligence behavior was modified, new graphical tilesets for terrain were added, and the game's level editor received improved scripting tools to facilitate cut scenes with the in- game engine . The expansion received critical praise for fixing various balance issues with the original game, development attention on par with that of a full game, and for continuing with single player campaigns that were heavily story-driven. In April 2017, Starcraft received its first update in over 8 years, and Brood War

11753-458: The availability of the add-on despite authorizing it. StarCraft: Ghost was intended to be a tactical stealth game for video game consoles developed under the supervision of Blizzard Entertainment. Announced in 2002, the game was constantly delayed due to various issues, including a change of development team from Nihilistic Software to Swingin' Ape Studios in July 2004. As updates about

11914-454: The balance and difference between the races was "remarkable", continuing to praise the game's "radical" approach to different races and its high degree of success when compared with other games in the genre. IGN was also positive about the unit arrangements for the three races, crediting Blizzard Entertainment for not letting units become obsolete during extended play and for showing an "extraordinary amount of patience in balancing them." GameSpot

12075-542: The beginning of development for Diablo . The development was led by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, who also created the game's fictional universe . Using the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness game engine as a base, StarCraft made its debut at E3 1996 . The game's success led to the development of two authorized add-ons, which were both released in 1998. However, neither of the two add-ons were particularly well received by critics. StarCraft also marked

12236-401: The beginning; the former was released in 2013 and the later was released in 2015. All the games in the main series are real-time strategy games , where the player views the events as a military commander for each of the three species. In addition, two spin-off titles have been released; these are authorized expansion packs to the original that focus on other characters and settings based at

12397-406: The behavior and mentality of the Terrans, the Protoss remain hidden to examine the humans, while protecting them from other threats without their knowledge. The Zerg, however, target the Terrans for assimilation to harness their psionic potential, forcing the Protoss to destroy tainted Terran colonies to contain the Zerg infestation. StarCraft begins days after the first of these attacks, where

12558-423: The capability of the host nation to resist insurgency. Foreign internal defense includes the economic stabilization of host countries. In Thomas Barnett's paradigm, the world is divided into a "connected core" of nations enjoying a high level of communications among their organizations and individuals, and those nations that are disconnected internally and externally. In a reasonably peaceful situation, he describes

12719-427: The conclusion of Brood War and revolves around Jim Raynor's struggles against the Terran Dominion. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is an expansion pack to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and was released on March 12, 2013. It is part two of the StarCraft II trilogy. The expansion includes additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on Kerrigan and

12880-599: The conclusion of the original game. It starts with the Protoss' struggle to ensure the survival of their species and continues with the intervention of the United Earth Directorate into local Terran affairs. The livelihood of both the Protoss and the previously silent Earth government is then threatened by the ever-increasing power of Sarah Kerrigan and her Zerg broods. In addition, the expansion introduces new features and improvements. A total of seven new units with different functions and abilities are included,

13041-536: The couriers of opponents without them. These couriers kept the Mongol senior and subordinate commanders informed, such that they could make fast decisions based on current information. In modern terms, the courier system provided the means of getting inside the opponent's OODA loop . With fast communications, the Mongols could make decisions not just on what they could see locally, but with that information oriented within

13202-689: The debut of Blizzard Entertainment's film department. Previously, cinematic cut scenes were seen as simply gap fillers that often deviated from the game, but with StarCraft and later Brood War introducing high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series, Blizzard Entertainment is cited as having changed this perception and became one of the first game companies to raise the standard regarding such cut scenes. StarCraft ' s success also inspired third-party developer Microstar Software to release an unauthorized add-on, entitled Stellar Forces , in May 1998. Blizzard Entertainment consequently filed

13363-500: The development of the game became less frequent, and the graphics and game mechanics became more outdated, suspicion began to grow that Blizzard would cancel the game. Finally, on March 24, 2006, Blizzard indefinitely postponed the game's development. The story of the game is about Nova , a Ghost agent of the Terran Dominion . Frequently used as an example of development hell , in 2008, Blizzard Entertainment refused to list

13524-545: The dominant power in the sector. However, Zeratul secretly uncovers a plot by Duran to create Protoss-Zerg hybrids and learns that Duran is a servant of not Kerrigan, but a "far greater power". Four years later, in Wings of Liberty , Kerrigan and the Zerg vanish from the Koprulu Sector, allowing the Protoss to once again take on a passive role in the galaxy. Meanwhile, Raynor forms a revolutionary group named Raynor's Raiders in order to overthrow Mengsk. On Mar Sara, Raynor liberates

13685-531: The events of Starcraft 2 . An exception to all of this would be the Primal Zerg, who inhabit the original Zerg homeworld of Zerus (as seen in Heart of the Swarm ). The Zerg Hive Mind was created to control the Zerg, and eventually put them under the control of the main antagonist of the series, the fallen Xel'Naga Amon. Some Zerg, however, managed to avoid being subsumed. These are the Primal Zerg, who have much

13846-534: The first campaign, Terran colonists attempt to defend themselves from the Zerg invasion of the sector as well as from a rising insurgency . The second campaign has the player directing a Protoss task force sent to clear the Zerg infestation of the colony by any means necessary. In the final campaign, the player assumes the role of a Zerg cerebrate, whose goal is to crush all opposition on the surface. The expansion contains 30 new campaign missions and over 100 new multiplayer maps, although it does not include new content in

14007-446: The first forty eight hours of release, which breaks the record of best selling strategy game in the history of the gaming industry. It received very positive reviews with an aggregate GameRankings score of 93%, and was nominated as the "Best PC Game of 2010" on GameSpot. By the end of 2012, Wings of Liberty had sold more than 6 million copies. This success continued with the release of the first expansion pack, StarCraft II: Heart of

14168-410: The forces of Jim Raynor and Fenix , their subsequent victories turning the tide against the UED. However, she later betrays the alliance by dealing long-term damage to the infrastructures of her allies and killing Fenix. Proceeding to blackmail Zeratul into killing the new Overmind, Kerrigan's forces destroy the remnants of the UED fleet, giving her full control of the Zerg and establishing the Swarm as

14329-459: The form of units and graphical terrain tilesets. Insurrection was criticized by reviewers for lacking the quality of the original game, and is not widely available. Although the add-on is authorized by Blizzard Entertainment, they offer no comment on support or availability of the game. Retribution is the second of the two authorized add-on packs released for StarCraft . The add-on was developed by Stardock and published by WizardWorks . It

14490-496: The game as cancelled . It was not until August 23, 2014, in an interview with Polygon , that Chris Metzen confirmed that StarCraft: Ghost was indeed cancelled. Blizzard still has yet to produce an FPS game based on StarCraft . In summer 2019 there was a 2nd project called StarCraft: Ares that was cancelled when Blizzard focused on developing Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV instead. Blizzard Entertainment began planning development on StarCraft in 1995, shortly after

14651-446: The game began in 2003, shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was released. The soundtrack for the original StarCraft was provided by Glenn Stafford, Jason Hayes, and Tracey W. Bush. The soundtrack for StarCraft II was provided by Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Neal Acree, and Russell Brower . Brower, Blizzard's Director of Audio, has suggested that the music of StarCraft serves two functions: The music heard during gameplay

14812-577: The game by Carbot Animations, the producers of multiple Blizzard-related parody animations, including their first and longest-running one, the StarCrafts series. As a graphical overhaul, its effect applies to all game modes and menus in StarCraft: Remastered . A port of the StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War campaigns was released in 2011 as a fan-made mod for StarCraft II under the name "StarCraft: Mass Recall". The mod includes

14973-583: The game was leaked online in 2021 before being taken down due to a request by Blizzard. StarCraft II was announced on May 19, 2007, nearly a decade after the original, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul , South Korea. StarCraft II was being developed, under the codename Medusa , for concurrent release on Windows XP , Windows Vista and Mac OS X . Blizzard announced a release date for July 27, 2010. Development on

15134-414: The game. Heroes of the Storm originated as a custom map called "Blizzard DOTA", as a part of the arcade feature for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty . The StarCraft series has been a commercial success. After its release, StarCraft became the best-selling PC game for that year, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide. In the next decade, StarCraft sold over 9.5 million copies across

15295-465: The game. The story of StarCraft is concluded by following the Protoss Race in their quest to reclaim their homeworld and for Kerrigan to ultimately slay the greatest threat to the entire universe. The game is divided into a 3-mission prologue, a 19-mission main story campaign, and a 3-mission epilogue that wraps everything up. At BlizzCon 2015 , during the "Future of StarCraft II" presentation, it

15456-633: The general targets, the operational cells cut positive control links from the core, although they may still receive financial and other support. A signature of al-Qaeda operations has been multiple, near-simultaneous attacks, such as the several hijacked airliners in the 9/11 attacks , the closely spaced bombings aimed at US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and attacks on buses and trains in London. The attacks on trains in Spain had an additional dimension: not all

15617-415: The globe, with 4.5 million of these being sold in South Korea . Since the initial release of StarCraft , Blizzard Entertainment reported that its Battle.net online multiplayer service grew by 800 percent. StarCraft remained one of the most popular online games in the world ten years after its release. After its release, StarCraft rapidly grew in popularity in South Korea, establishing

15778-534: The hardline international government of Earth , the United Earth Directorate (UED), commissions a colonization program as part of a solution to overpopulation. On the way, the computers automating the colony ships malfunction, propelling the Terran colonists far off course to the edge of Protoss space. Out of contact with Earth, they form various factions to maintain their interests. Intrigued by

15939-470: The hive mind, it may turn passive and incapable of action, or become completely uncontrollable and attack allies and enemies alike. Zerg buildings and units are entirely organic in-game, and all Zerg can regenerate slowly without assistance (though not as quickly as Protoss shields or Terran medivac). Zerg production is far more centralized than with the Terrans and Protoss; a central hatchery must be utilized to create new Zerg, with other structures providing

16100-553: The horse archers needed resupply of provisions, horses, and arrows. Alexander split his forces into five columns and began building fortifications in the areas where the Bactrians had resupplied. Eventually, his anti-swarm tactics worked: cut off from resupply, the Bactrians had to meet the Macedonian phalanx, which were vastly superior in melee. Alexander made it priority to engage guerillas or other light mobile forces. Spitamenes

16261-474: The level of individual tanks and soldiers. Blue Force Tracker is an early vehicle-level synchronization system, also operating in helicopters. These systems are still new and undergoing considerable improvement. One fratricide incident in Afghanistan came from the users not understanding that their target designation device reinitialized, after battery replacement, to the position of their designator, not of

16422-421: The local population from Dominion control and also discovers a component of a mysterious Xel'Naga artifact. The Zerg reappear and overrun Mar Sara, forcing Raynor to arrange an evacuation to his battlecruiser, the Hyperion . The Raiders embark on a series of missions to undermine Mengsk, stop frequent Zerg infestations on Terran worlds, gather psychic individuals for military assets, and find the remaining pieces of

16583-409: The main storyline. These games were released in chronological order, with each new title following on from the events that are depicted in the previous title. A full second game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty , was released in 2010, taking place four years after the end of Brood War. Two expansions, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void (both currently stand alone games), were planned from

16744-517: The military to fight everywhere. Swarming is advantageous to less powerful countries and groups, because it allows them to balance their disadvantage in firepower and numbers. Despite being less technically advanced, Communist forces made good use of swarming in Asia during the Cold War. The Chinese were able to make up for their lack of firepower by attacking from all sides and then quickly advancing to

16905-420: The most powerful faction in the sector. In StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty , Jim Raynor and the rebel forces who oppose both the Dominion and the Zerg, manage to secure an ancient Xel'Naga artifact and after successfully infiltrating Char, they use it to subjugate the Zerg and restore Kerrigan's human form. Once again without a unified leadership, the Zerg get divided into multiple broods feuding over control of

17066-426: The music for the original StarCraft series was produced on keyboards. The original material for the Wings of Liberty soundtrack spans approximately four hours. Brower has said in interviews that his team was consciously seeking a film-score feel for StarCraft II . In a short commentary provided for Blizzard, he recounted that the orchestral music for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was performed by 78 members of

17227-414: The native lifeforms of Zerus, who had the natural ability to absorb the "essence" of creatures they killed, transforming their bodies to gain new adaptations. The Xel'Naga created the Overmind and bound the primal Zerg to its will. They gave the Overmind a powerful desire to travel across the stars and absorb useful lifeforms into the Swarm, particularly the Protoss, their previous creation, so as to become

17388-470: The necessary technology tree assets, whereas the other two races can produce units from several structures. Zerg units tend to be weaker than those of the other two races, but are also cheaper, allowing for rush tactics to be used. Some Zerg units are capable of infesting enemies with various parasites that range from being able to see what an enemy unit sees to spawning Zerg inside an enemy unit. In addition, Zerg can infest some Terran buildings, allowing for

17549-559: The occasion. After escaping the planet with an ancient vessel, the Spear of Adun , Artanis reclaims the artifact as Zeratul suggested and gathers allies among the many Protoss tribes scattered across the galaxy in order to remake his army and launch another assault on Aiur. Using the artifact, Artanis' forces restrain Amon's essence, time enough for the other Khalai Protoss who were still under his control to sever their nerve cords and banish Amon to

17710-464: The original units, campaigns, and hidden missions, but uses the StarCraft II engine including the AI mechanics, which makes the game notably more difficult than the original. It was completed in 2019 and has since received minor technical updates. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the official sequel to StarCraft released for Windows and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment on July 27, 2010. The game

17871-409: The other part of the paradigm comes into play: the leviathan , a first-world military force that takes down the opposition regular forces. Leviathan is not constituted to fight local insurgencies, but major forces. Leviathan may use extensive swarming at the tactical level, but its dispatch is a strategic decision that may be made unilaterally, or by an established core group such as NATO , ASEAN , or

18032-465: The others. The player assumes three roles through the course of the three campaigns: a Confederate colonial governor who becomes a revolutionary commander, a Zerg cerebrate pushing forward the species' doctrine of assimilation, and a Protoss fleet executor tasked with defending the Protoss from the Zerg. StarCraft soon gained critical acclaim, winning numerous awards, including being labelled "the best real-time strategy game ever made" and being ranked

18193-462: The overall situation. They could then decide and act while the enemy were still waiting for information. Outnumbered Mongols could beat larger forces by faster communications, which allowed units to withdraw and regroup while other groups continually stung the enemy, withdrew in turn, while the earlier group again hit the enemy. Swarming was present in the operations of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, but were generally replaced by melee and mass in

18354-474: The perspective of Jim Raynor . This was followed in November 2006 by StarCraft Ghost: Nova , a book focusing on the early origins of the character of Nova from the postponed StarCraft: Ghost game. Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido , the novel was meant to accompany the release of StarCraft: Ghost , but was continued despite the postponement of the game. In 2007 Christie Golden , an author whose previous work included novels in Blizzard's Warcraft series ,

18515-419: The physical structure of the country rules out the currently available fighting vehicles. However, networked and swarming SMAs, again 5,000 in number, all armed with laser designators for the second echelon of conventional ground attack aircraft, would constitute force multipliers with a substantial impact. Swarming ties in well with the theories of the military strategist John Boyd , the "high-low mix" in which

18676-493: The planet. However, at the end of the game, the Protoss high templar Tassadar sacrifices himself to destroy the Overmind, leaving the Zerg to run rampant and leaderless across the planet. The Zerg return in Brood War initially as uncontrolled indiscriminate killers without the will of the Overmind to guide them. Through the early portions of Brood War , Sarah Kerrigan is at odds with the surviving cerebrates, who have formed

18837-476: The powerful and enigmatic Protoss, and the godlike Xel'Naga creator race—in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector. The series debuted with the video game StarCraft in 1998. It has grown to include a number of other games as well as eight novelizations , two Amazing Stories articles, a board game , and other licensed merchandise such as collectible statues and toys. Blizzard Entertainment began planning StarCraft in 1995 with

18998-412: The pre-industrial era. More synchronized manoeuvre was paced by the availability of mobile communications. Blitzkrieg was certainly a use of manoeuvre, but it was less flexible than later operations in which every tank and aircraft had radios, and far less flexible than forces that have effective networked information systems. They define swarming, in a military context, as "...seemingly amorphous, but it

19159-522: The predominant Terran government, the Terran Confederacy, falls into a state of panic as it comes under attack by both the Zerg and the Protoss, in addition to increasing rebel activity led by Arcturus Mengsk against its rule. The Confederacy eventually succumbs to Mengsk's rebels when they use Confederate technology to lure the Zerg into attacking the Confederate capital, Tarsonis. In the consequent power vacuum, Mengsk crowns himself emperor of

19320-482: The process of associative musical themes in Legacy of the Void . The StarCraft series is supported by at least 12 novelizations and an anthology, all published by Simon & Schuster , two short stories, and two graphic novels. At BlizzCon 2007, Chris Metzen stated that he hoped to novelize the entirety of StarCraft and Brood War into a definitive text-based story. The first novel, StarCraft: Uprising ,

19481-406: The production of special infested Terran units. In StarCraft , the Zerg are obsessed with the pursuit of genetic purity, and are the focus of the game's second episode. With the Xel'Naga–empowered Protoss targeted as the ultimate lifeform, the Zerg invade the Terran colonies in the Koprulu Sector to assimilate the Terrans' psionic potential and give the Zerg an edge over the Protoss. Through

19642-430: The rear. The Vietcong were famous from attacking from all directions out of nowhere and then quickly disappearing. When they did come into close contact, they used a technique called "hugging the belt", which meant they were too close for the US to employ air and artillery support. If the attackers "hugged" at several points, "pulsing" their attacks, they both neutralized external fire support, but also made it difficult for

19803-412: The release of the first two add-on packs, Blizzard Entertainment announced the official expansion pack to StarCraft , entitled Brood War . Most of the team at Blizzard Entertainment responsible for StarCraft returned to work on Brood War . Development on Brood War began shortly after StarCraft ' s release, and Blizzard Entertainment were assisted by members of Saffire , who were contracted for

19964-415: The result being that any mutations that survive are the strongest of all. Despite being a hive-minded species, the Zerg understand the principles of evolution and incorporate this into the development of their species. Zerg purposely situate themselves in harsh climates in order to further their own evolution through natural selection. Only the strongest with the best mutations survive, and they assimilate only

20125-411: The sale of unauthorized add-on products that do not add value to the StarCraft experience. In November 1998, Blizzard Entertainment won the court case against Microstar Software. In the settlement, Microstar agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in punitive damages and to destroy all remaining copies of Stellar Forces in its possession, as well as to formally apologize to Blizzard Entertainment. After

20286-462: The same basic " chess " play styles and units with only superficial differences. The use of unique sides and asymmetric warfare in StarCraft has been credited with popularizing the concept within the real-time strategy genre. Contemporary reviews of the game have mostly praised the attention to the gameplay balance between the species, as well as the fictional narratives built around them. In their review for StarCraft , IGN's Tom Chick stated that

20447-399: The same genetic abilities but are not bound to the Overmind. These creatures are each independently sapient, and if they follow a leader it is because they choose to. Their lack of a Hive Mind also shields them from specific psionic attacks engineered to counter the Zerg Hive Mind. Zerg have conquered and/or infested many worlds, but only two of them are important: The Zerg were created from

20608-454: The same level of care as the full game. In 1999, Next Generation listed Warcraft and Starcraft as number 32 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time", commenting that, " StarCraft took it all a step further, with an innovative campaign structure and fantastic game balance for endless hours of multiplayer fun." The release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty performed very well commercially and critically, selling 1.8 million copies within

20769-704: The same size, or capacity. In such situations, swarming involves the use of a decentralized force against an opponent, in a manner that emphasizes mobility, communication, unit autonomy and coordination or synchronization. Historically military forces have used the principles of swarming without really examining them explicitly, but there is now active research in consciously examining military doctrines that draw ideas from swarming. In nature and nonmilitary situations, there are other various forms of swarming. Biologically driven forms are often complex adaptive systems , but have no central planning, simple individual rules, and nondeterministic behavior that may or may not evolve with

20930-434: The same time as the main storyline. Like the main series, these two titles are also real-time strategy games. A spin-off, StarCraft: Ghost , which was to be a third person action - stealth game , was in development, but has been placed on indefinite hiatus . StarCraft , released for Windows on March 31, 1998, is the first video game in the StarCraft series. A science fiction real-time strategy game, StarCraft

21091-607: The sector and beyond. After collecting more artifact pieces, the Raiders forge an alliance with Valerian Mengsk, Arcturus' son, who is their secret benefactor from Moebius Foundation. After recovering the final artifact piece, Valerian and Raynor work together to invade the Zerg world of Char and use the artifact to restore Kerrigan's humanity, thus weakening the Zerg at the cost of much of the Dominion fleet. An agent of Arcturus makes an attempt on Kerrigan's life, and Raynor defends her and takes her in for medical examination. In Heart of

21252-674: The series was awarded a star on the Walk of Game in 2006, and holds four Guinness World Records in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition of 2008. On March 27, 2017, Blizzard announced StarCraft: Remastered , a remastered version of the original StarCraft , with the core updates being up-to-date graphics and revised dialogue and audio. As of 2017, the original StarCraft , its Brood War expansion, and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty are free to download and play from Blizzard's website. The story focuses on

21413-414: The seventh best game of all time by IGN in both 2003 and 2005, and the eleventh best game in 2007. StarCraft: Brood War is the official expansion pack for StarCraft , developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Saffire . Released for Windows and Mac OS in the United States on December 18, 1998, the expansion directly continues the events of StarCraft . The expansion's story continues only days after

21574-406: The situation. Current military explorations into swarming address the spectrum of military operations, from strategic through tactical. An expert group evaluated swarming's role in the " revolution in military affairs " or force transformation . They observed that military swarming is primarily tactical, sometimes operational and rarely strategic, and is a complement to other efforts rather than

21735-401: The species as "very diverse but well-balanced, " stating that this allowed for "a challenging and fun gaming experience." Allgame stated that the inclusion of three "dynamic" species "raises the bar" for real-time strategy games, complimenting the game for forcing the player to "learn how [the aliens'] minds work and not think like a human". Commentators have also praised the aesthetic design of

21896-501: The strongest species into their gene pool . It was stated in an interview by Blizzard employees that the Zerg Swarm are universally feared, hated, and hunted by all the sapient species of the Milky Way . The Zerg are a collective consciousness of a variety of different species assimilated into the Zerg genome. The Swarms' organization, psychological and economic, is more like that of ants or termites: they are communal entities,

22057-583: The swarm, but do not control them once released. If the agents are semi-autonomous, there will be an on-scene commander giving general direction to the swarming agents. In the 1980s, the Soviets developed an 'Operational Maneuver Group' (OMG) for a fast armored thrust deep into NATO defences east of the Rhine River . An OMG was expected to exploit strategic surprise with a force equal or greater than an armored division, featuring up to 700 tanks, 500 IFVs, and

22218-753: The swarms were associated with al-Qaeda. While John Arquilla , a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, cites the ability to plan separate and widely dispersed attacks, coordinated by mobile communications that might originate from a cave on the Afghan-Pakistan border, he does not emphasize the apparent al-Qaeda technique of releasing operational units to local control, once the policy is set. See Clandestine HUMINT operational techniques . The apparent al-Qaeda methodology of letting operational cells decide on their final dates and means of attack exhibit an operational pattern, but not

22379-436: The target. If the bomber had a beacon that gave the crew the precise location of the friendly troops, that would have been another way of avoiding attacking one's own troops. Alternatively, the US and other major powers may go to a more cooperative model, as in the foreign internal defense mission of special forces . In that model, which needs extensive lead time, the major power uses nonmilitary and military means to increase

22540-769: The technology allows groups to do so without a central leader. One modern example is the protesters at the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, in 1999, who were able to orchestrate their movement effectively in this way. Current military applications of swarming combine the use of swarms: large numbers of relatively small agents or weapons, with synchronized actions, such that the swarm reacts faster than its opponent and defeats it. This section deals with general principles, but also high-intensity combat. Swarming does not require good military intelligence alone, but intelligent soldiers who can manage multiple information streams and keep situational awareness. It

22701-458: The three races. Swarming (military) Swarming is a battlefield tactic designed to maximize target saturation , and thereby overwhelm or saturate the defences of the principal target or objective. Defenders can overcome attempts at swarming by launching counter-swarming measures that are designed to neutralize or otherwise repel such attacks. Military swarming is often encountered in asymmetric warfare where opposing forces are not of

22862-484: The three races; in particular, the powered armor worn by the Terran Marine was rated eleventh on in a Maxim feature on the top armor suits in video games, and ninth in a similar feature by Machinima.com . This positive view, however, is not universally held. For example, Computer and Video Games , while describing the game as "highly playable, " nevertheless described a "slight feeling of déjà vu" between

23023-478: The time. Also one of the standard tactics of Mongol military was the commonly practiced feigned retreat to break enemy formations and to lure small enemy groups away from larger groups and defended positions for ambush and counterattack. Genghis Khan used the Yam system, which established a rear line of points for supplies and for remounts of fast-moving couriers. The remount system allowed horsemen to move much faster than

23184-492: The ultimate lifeform. The Zerg are a completely organic race, making no use of lifeless technology and instead using specialized organisms for every function efficiently fulfilled through biological adaptation and planned mutation of the Zerg strains. Their buildings are specialized organs within the living, growing organism of a Zerg nest, as are the Leviathans "space ships" that carry them across space. Zerg colonies produce

23345-458: The units may try to overpower and control one another, as well as the target. One of the observations of the Center on Terrorism and Irregular Warfare was that unfocused mass disruption was not a useful terrorist, and by extension general military, tactic. The 9/11 attacks had symbolism. A cyberattack on a stock market would have symbolism. For the political purposes of the swarm, there has to be

23506-690: Was announced at the Worldwide Invitational in South Korea on May 19, 2007, with a pre-rendered cinematic cut scene trailer and a gameplay demonstration of the Protoss. Further demonstrations regarding the game's new features have been showcased at subsequent BlizzCons and other games conventions. The game incorporates a new 3D graphics engine and adds new features such as the Havok physics engine . StarCraft II also incorporates DirectX 10 level effects in Windows. Originally envisioned as

23667-422: Was authored by series creator Chris Metzen and Sam Moore, a Blizzard employee, and was featured on the cover of the 1999 spring edition with art by Blizzard's art director Samwise Didier . Hybrid was written by Micky Neilson and again was accompanied by artwork by Didier; the short story was published in the spring edition of 2000. At New York Comic-Con in 2008, TokyoPop announced that they would be producing

23828-494: Was brought in to write a trilogy entitled the StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga . The trilogy acts as a link between StarCraft and its sequel StarCraft II . The first installment, Firstborn being published in May 2007 and Shadow Hunters , the second novel, being published in November 2007. The final part of the trilogy, Twilight was released in June 2009. I, Mengsk was publish in 2009,

23989-461: Was complimentary of the species in its review for StarCraft , describing the races as being full of personality. Stating that the use of distinct races allowed for the game "to avoid the problem [of equal sides] that has plagued every other game in the genre", GameSpot praised Blizzard Entertainment for keeping it "well balanced despite the great diversity." Other reviews have echoed much of this positive reception. The site The Gamers' Temple described

24150-539: Was effective as long as his force were mobile, and he had adequate communications with mounted couriers. Once he was forced into direct battle with heavy forces, he lost the advantages of his forces and was defeated quickly. At the Battle of the Jaxartes River, Alexander once again faced swarming tactics from an army of Scythian horse archers. Alexander sent a unit of heavy cavalry ahead of his main line. As expected,

24311-504: Was later shocked after she knows that Raynor survived and held by Dominion as a bargaining chip. She organizes a raid, rescuing Raynor but the man fell into disbelief that the one he saved, returns to being a monster. She also confronted an ancient Shapeshifter creating Hybrids at the behest of her former rival named Alexei Stukov. She later prepared to end Arcturus Mengsk's reign by killing him in his palace in Korhal. She later left to confront

24472-412: Was positive about the video game console direction taken by Ghost , the game was consistently delayed, and during the third quarter of 2004, Nihilistic Software discontinued their work with the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic Software had completed the tasks it had been contracted for and that the game would be delivered on time. The game was never released, although footage purported to be from

24633-433: Was possible, but reasoned that "chasing the illusion of perfection" was, regardless, tactically sound. The vast majority of the Zerg do not have any free will as they are genetically forced to obey the commands of those further up the Zerg hierarchy, although they are sufficiently intelligent to form strategies and work as a team on the battlefield. Despite this, the average Zerg has no sense of self preservation . Along with

24794-614: Was published in the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution and a couple of years later a shorter article suggested that if the Soviets themselves had used SMAs in swarms in Afghanistan their COIN operations against the Mujaheddin would have been far more successful. Contemporary Western armies in Afghanistan can readily accept that swarming at the tactical and operational levels is appropriate, but

24955-411: Was released for free to both PC and MAC. A remastered edition of the game, StarCraft: Remastered , released August 14, 2017, preserves the gameplay of the original while adding support for ultra-high-definition graphics , Blizzard's modern online features, and re-recorded audio (soundtrack and sound effects). On July 10, 2019, Blizzard released StarCraft: Cartooned , a graphics overhaul pack for

25116-448: Was released for the PC in late 1998. The game is set during the second campaign in StarCraft , revolving around the acquisition of a crystal of immense power connected to the Xel'Naga . Divided into three campaigns, the game has the player assuming the roles of a Protoss fleet executor, the commander of a Dominion task force, and a Zerg cerebrate, all tasked with retrieving the crystal from

25277-456: Was released. In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost began development under Nihilistic Software . Unlike the previous real-time strategy games in the series, Ghost was to be a stealth - action game . After three years of development, work on the game was postponed in 2004. Development of a true RTS sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty , began in 2003; the game was announced in May 2007 and was released in July 2010. StarCraft II continued with

25438-478: Was revealed that Blizzard will release additional mission packs to keep players engaged with StarCraft II. The first pack is called Nova Covert Ops , and will center around the character Nova . The mission pack consists of three episodes, with a total of nine new missions. It did not require the purchase of StarCraft II and could be played with the Starter Edition. The release date for the first episode

25599-487: Was the first StarCraft novel to be released in paperback . StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga , published in July 2001 is the third novel, written by Kevin Anderson under the pseudonym Gabriel Mesta . It serves as a link between StarCraft and Brood War . The fantasy author Tracy Hickman was brought in to write the fourth novel, StarCraft: Speed of Darkness , which was published in June 2002. Speed of Darkness

25760-399: Was the first add-on pack released for StarCraft . Although developed and published by Aztech New Media , it is authorized by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for the PC on July 31, 1998. The expansion's story focuses on a Confederate colony during the course of the first campaign of StarCraft . As in StarCraft , the player takes control of each race in three separate campaigns. In

25921-518: Was written by Micky Neilson, a Blizzard Entertainment employee, and originally released only as an e-book in December 2000. The novel follows the origins of the character Sarah Kerrigan . The second novel, entitled StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade , serves as an adaptation of the first campaign of StarCraft , following on a journalist following a number of the key Terran characters in the series. Written by Jeff Grubb and published in March 2001, it

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