The game mechanics of Blizzard Entertainment's real time strategy game StarCraft, released in 1997, develop on that of its conceptual predecessor Warcraft II (1995).

Basic mechanics

The central objective in any StarCraft (multiplayer or single player) game is to submit opponents (human or computer-controlled) by overpowering them, usually by destroying all his buildings. Some single-player missions feature slightly different, although very similar objectives.

Race asymmetry

StarCraft's predecessor, Warcraft II, while advanced for its time, featured what many gamers believed to be a weakness in that, apart from a few minor (but significant, balance-wise) differences in available spells and the cost of upgrades, the game's two races were exactly the same mechanically, with only graphical differences. StarCraft improved upon this by incorporating three races, Protoss, Terran, and Zerg instead of two, and by revamping the unit rosters to include unique technologies and units in all three factions. The unit types available to each race defines its racial identity. The Protoss can field powerful and expensive warriors and machinery, while the Zerg count on sheer numbers and speed to overwhelm their opponents, the Terrans being the versatile and flexible alternative to both races. As such, the choice of the race is a crucial one, because each race requires a completely different playing style. StarCraft is often praised as a result of its well balanced units: no matter what race they choose, players of equal skills have more or less equal chances to win a game, even though the races are highly dissimilar.

Resources

Like most computer strategy games, the game is centered on resources. Resources are needed to construct units and buildings and more advanced units require more resources. In order to win, players need to balance between quickly expanding to resource locations to gather as many resources as possible, defending those locations against the enemy, and preventing the enemy from gathering them for themselves. StarCraft features two kinds of resources: minerals (required for all units) and Vespene gas (required for some advanced units and upgrades). Minerals appear as blue crystalline formations protruding from the ground and are 'harvested' by worker units (drones, SCVs, or probes, depending on the race) while Vespene gas appear as green clouds forming above geysers. Vespene gas, unlike mineral crystals, can only be harvested after a refinery building is constructed over the geyser.

Players cannot create an infinite number of units; each unit has a "supply/support" rating that adds to a pool. The main building provides a certain supply capacity at the beginning of the game. If the player is to build more units after reaching this capacity, they must build units or buildings providing additional supply to extend their supply pool (Supply Depots for Terrans, Pylons for the Protoss and Overlords for the Zerg). The game sets a maximum supply of 200 for each player; beyond this limit the player can no longer create units, even if more supply-providing units or buildings are produced. Smaller, weaker units use one supply whereas larger ones, like nuclear missiles, can use up to eight. Supply can be seen as a third resource, because it has to be managed at least as carefully as minerals and Vespene gas, especially at the beginning of the games.

The singleplayer game

StarCraft offers players who do not wish or do not have the possibility to face human opponents two alternatives; a series of single player missions, divided in three episodes (one for each race, plus three more episodes in StarCraft: Brood War, and the possibility to play custom games against up to 7 computer-controlled opponents.

The single player missions serve the double purpose of telling the game's story and introducing players to the units and specificities of each race. These missions mostly require the player to destroy several different enemy bases; sometimes additional objectives like protecting certain 'heroes' (special units) or destroying specific buildings (ex.: a Confederate Ion Cannon, in the last Terran mission or StarCraft), bringing units to a specified position, or defending a base against incoming assaults for a given period of time. Since they are also intended to gradually introduce the units unique to each race, many missions place restrictions on the units and technology the player has at his/her disposal for the duration of the mission. For example, in the first missions of StarCraft, the player cannot build advanced units like Battlecruisers or "research" powerful upgrades like the Tank siege mode (which enables Terran tanks to do more damage). Usually, the player already has a more or less established base and a number of combat units at the beginning of the single player missions.

Custom games in the Melee mode (the mode most often used) against computer opponents is very similar to online games against other human players, with the exception that computer controlled players often display very characteristic behaviors (like the ability to give several orders simultaneously, or distinctive building and expansion patterns). Both the players and any computer players (up to 7 can be set up) start with only a main building (the building used to produce workers) and four workers, regardless of the race selected. No combat units are provided at the beginning. Players. human and computer-controlled, must then set up a base as quickly as possible and start producing combat units in order to overpower enemy forces. The game is won when all enemy buildings are destroyed.

The multiplayer game

Replay-Screenshot Zerg vs. Terran

StarCraft users can play against other players via a LAN or the Internet, using Blizzard's free Battle.net gaming network. The most popular game type is a 1 vs. 1 duel played in Melee mode. This game type is won by destroying all of the opponent's buildings. However, other, less commonly played game types (such as Sudden Death) also exist. A Melee duel with reasonably experienced players (played at highest game speed), typically lasts between 8 and 60 minutes, the average being about 15 minutes. Traditionally the game does not end with the utter annihilation of one party. Instead, the losing player, when he does not see any chance of winning, sends the message "gg" (good game) and leaves the game, resulting in an automatic victory for their opponent. There is a limited amount of resources at each location, and only a limited amount of resources can be gathered in a specific time frame from one location. Depending on what race the players choose, one player might need to expand to considerably more resource locations in order to win the game.

Mastering StarCraft

Many StarCraft players recognize three skills essential to becoming a good player: micro-management, macro-management and multi-tasking.

• Micromanagement refers to unit control, especially in battle. Having this skill means to attack only when it's cost-effective, retreat fast enough in case you see it's not (effectively doing more damage with fewer units), while preventing the enemy from doing the same. It requires knowledge of the units, their shooting range, speed, abilities, strengths and weaknesses.
• Macromanagement means to keep your economy running, expanding at the right moments to the best locations, picking the right upgrades, building towards and producing the right units in time, spying on the enemy, predicting his moves and, hopefully, outsmarting him. It requires knowledge about the tech-trees (for prerequisites) and the map (where to defend, where to attack, where to expand).
• Multitasking refers to being able to do many things at the same time. StarCraft enables the player to use a variety of shortcuts to jump to a specific position on the map and give fast orders. Having this skill means, for example, to defend and attack at the same time, while not neglecting your micro-management and still working efficiently towards your long-term goals. If the opponent is confident, he might try to distract you with something, usually drops, for you to take care of in order to 'steal your time'.

Sometimes Actions Per Minute (or APM) is used as a quantitative indicator of one's ability to micro- and macromanage. Having a high APM rating does not necessarily mean that one is a skilled, or even decent player; a high APM rating instead indicates a fast, active player. A player's APM rating is determined by calculating the average number of actions that a player performs during each minute beyond the first 80 seconds of a game. An action in StarCraft is defined as selecting a unit or building, giving an order to a unit or building, or designating a target for an order (for example, ordering a marine to attack a supply depot would be three separate actions). Professional gamers, such as those in South Korea, have been known to achieve average APM ratings of over 300, and peak APM ratings, such as during a battle, of over 500 (8.33 actions per second). The computer program BWChart allows StarCraft players to easily determine their APM ratings.

Whether an action is good or not is judged by its cost-effectiveness, meaning the player's own costs/wins compared to those of the opponent.

A typical game

Even though new tricks and tactics are still being discovered despite the game's age, it is possible to outline what usually happens in a "one-on-one" between experienced players.

The map and thus the resource locations are known to both players. However, many multiplayer maps have several possible start locations. If the map is set to have Random Start Locations, each of both players is randomly placed on the map at one of the possible spawn points, unaware of their opponent's position. Everything out of the sight radius of their units appears black, any buildings or terrain that has been seen at least once by a player's units will be shown grayed out in the last known status — this effect simulates fog of war. Each player starts with four resource-collecting units ("workers") and the structure needed to build more workers (the "main building"), right next to a resource location.

Early game

The players start collecting resources immediately after the beginning of the game. Because the flying Overlords provide supply for Zerg units, Zerg players start the game with a movable unit not capable of collecting resources. An experienced Zerg player will most likely use their Overlord to scouting (look for the enemy) right from the start. Players using the other races will wait a minute or two before sending one of their workers to scout, so as not to lose any resource collection capacity during the crucial beginning phase. Scouting to keep informed about incoming threats and weaknesses of the opponent is a vital part of the game.

As players start scouting, they also start building the structures needed to accomplish his first goals. A player can choose to fortify his base against potential early attacks (for example, a Terran player would produce Marines and put them in Bunkers), conduct for an early attack ("rush") himself (a Zerg player might strive towards producing a substantial numbers of Zerglings to overwhelm his opponent instead of concentrating on developing his own base). Players can also choose to quickly expand to new resource locations. Each tactic has its strengths and weaknesses, which is why it's important for the player to act on the information gained through scouting. It's also why the player will try to kill enemy scouts or force the opponent to pull them backwhen given the chance. Scouting remains important during the whole game. Throughout the game, experience players position cheap, "cloaked" (units invisible to all but certain "detector" units), or fast-moving units at crucial positions of the map.

If the player chose attack early, then he will start doing so after 4 or 5 minutes. There are several known tactics for early attacks and how to best protect oneself against them. When two "gosu" (skilled players) play against each other, early attacks can be as dangerous for the attacker as they are for the defender. Indeed, in order to amass enough units to have any hopes of succeeding in defeating the opponent in an early attack, the attacker must neglect other parts of his "economy". This choice can later put him in a difficult position, should the "rush" fail. Very short games usually are the result of a successful or unsuccessful "rush".

Expansion and struggle for resources

If both players survive the first 10 minutes, they start the battle for space. The players generally will try to get as many resource locations as possible to secure more resources than the opponent, and "starve" him. The players start this quest with the handicap or the advantage they acquired during the early game. During this part of the game, the players will stock up their army and try to weaken their enemy by various attacks on resource locations, tech-buildings (structures required to research upgrades and build advanced units), as well as production facilities.

During the rest of the game both players will try to get resource domination. A considerable resource control advantage can still be broken by finding weaknesses in the opponent's strategy, "doing a come-back". A simple example of this is to build a lot of air units, when the opponent has little anti-air defense, because they concentrated on building a lot of units specialized in ground combat. Sooner or later one player will start dominating the game, winning more and more ground. However, the amount of resources on the map being limited, the struggle for resources is often quite short — long games are rare as small advantages tend to increase over time.

Ending

In a typical ending the stronger player sends a massive amount of combat units towards the other player's main base. The losing player tries to delay the attacker in order to collect his troops for defense. The attacker will push the defender to the outskirt of the base, still with enough troops to defeat the enemy on his own ground. The defender, having almost no troops left and the opponent's army at the outskirts of his main base, surrenders. However, players often surrender before a huge attack happens, because they realize they won't be able to get a resource advantage anymore.

Professional Play

Major Starcraft Professional Tournaments

Notable Professional Starcraft Players

Lim Yo hwan (SlayerS_`BoxeR`) (Terran)

Known to Koreans as the "Terran Emperor", Boxer is the most popular Starcraft player in Korea, even having a DVD of his best games released. He is also probably the most successful (with the possible exception of Nada), having won the World Cyber Games (WCG) twice and having won the OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) twice. He came to fame by dominating the professional Starcraft scene as a Terran player at a time when Terran was considered relatively weak, and innovated heavily, most notably making much more effective use of the Terran Dropship unit than had been achieved in the past. Boxer is particularly known for his superb micro (unit control) and his highly creative and original play, and was not so good at the macro (economic management) side of the game, which resulted in a gradual loss of dominance as other players improved at a faster pace. Today, while no longer the top player, Boxer is still going strong (having spent much effort improving his macro), and even made it to the finals of KTF-EVER sponsored OSL of late 2004 (though he lost to Oov 3-2).

One of his famous games is a Terran vs Terran against Chunsang. In that game, Chunsang has seven Battlecruisers, while Boxer has eleven Wraiths and seven Ghosts, a force that would normally fall easily to the Battlecruisers. However, Boxer drops off the Ghosts on a ledge and proceeds to lockdown all seven Battlecruisers in the span of one second. He then cleans up the helpless Battlecruisers with his Wraiths. Boxer's losses: one or two Ghosts. Chunsang's losses: 2800 minerals and 2100 gas within twenty seconds.

Guillaume Patry (X'Ds-Grrrr...) (Protoss)

Canadian player Grrrr... was easily the number one player in the world for some time in the era before professional gaming fully took off in Korea, and played successfully in Korea for some time (including winning an OSL) before fading from the scene as new players surpassed his skill.

Kim Dong-Soo (Garimto) (Protoss)

One of the only three players to win the OSL twice, Garimto was notable for succeeding even during Boxer's height of dominance. He also innovated heavily with Protoss build-orders, making frequent use of "hidden" tech buildings and other tricks. Garimto had to quit SC in order to do his Korean military service, but now regularly acts as a commentator for games. In his commentary he is known for criticizing current Protoss players for playing sloppily and hence not achieving the potential of the race.

Hong Jinho ([N.C]..Yellow) (Zerg)

The most successful Zerg player over the long term, Yellow, the "Storm Zerg", is known for his aggressive play, and for his rivalry with Boxer (who is usually on the winning end, at least when it comes to important finals). He also seems to suffer from a certain degree of angst due to continued strong showings combined with failure to win one of the major leagues.

Hong's most impressive signature move may be his mutalisk harassment, where he controls a small wing of mutalisks to hit random enemy targets and run before retaliation.

Park Jung Suk ([Oops]Reach) (Protoss)

Reach, the "Standard Protoss" (or "Hero Protoss") is the Protoss player who has been most consistent in the long term, beating Boxer in an OSL final near the height of his dominance, and generally placing well in tournaments. As his nickname suggests, he is generally known for his standard/solid/safe style of play, with strong macro and use of Psi Storm, although he has been leaning away from this slightly in recent times due to changes in the playing style of the other races.

Lee Yunyeol ([Red]NaDa) (Terran)

The "Tornado Terran", Nada succeeded Boxer as the number one ranked player. Nada also achieved the highest peak KeSPA rank ever (estimated, as the ranking system was rescaled at one point). He is known for having incredible macro, with the ability to rapidly conjure up a large tank army seemingly from nowhere. His focus in gameplay tends to be more defensive in the early game, concentrating on building up a large force while skillfully harassing the opponent, rather than directly attacking them, with a massive strike being launched at precisely the right time. Nada has won 2 OGN Starleagues, 3 MBC Starleagues, and the first KT-KTF invitational tournament (the most monetarily rewarding of StarCraft tournments).

Choi Yeon Sung (IloveOOv) (Terran)

The current number two ranked player, Oov's macro is even better than Nada's, leading to him being jokingly known as the "Cheater Terran" in Korea. He is also somewhat more aggressive than Nada and seems to have a more varied playstyle, and possibly a somewhat better strategic grasp of the game, which may account for his greater current success. Oov has won the MBCGame Starleague (MSL) three times in succession, an amazing feat, and in November 2004 finally won the OSL, cementing his place as one of the strongest players of the game.

He has an interesting relationship with Boxer (who is on the same team as him); he sees Boxer as a kind of "older brother" or mentor and as a result was somewhat regretful for beating him (3-2) in the finals of EVER OSL in November 2004.

Park Sung-jun (JulyZerg) (Zerg)

The number one ranked player as of early 2005 (having surpassed IloveOov in the April rankings), July is credited with revitalizing what had been stagnant Zerg play, and of leading the way for a kind of "Zerg renaissance" with his highly dynamic and aggressive style, incorporating a strong understanding of his opponent's weaknesses. He is the first Zerg player to win an OGN Starleague (beating IloveOOv 3:2 in the final) and also won the second KT-KTF invitational. July is known for being closer to the amateur community than the average pro player, having played in amateur leagues such as the WGTour Speed Ladder in the past, and was one of the players on the Asian team for the friendly Blizzard Invitational Tournament held in early 2005.

Other Notable Players

Zerg

• Gorush
• Chojja
• Ogogo
• H.O.T.-Forever

Protoss

• Nal_Ra
• Kingdom
• Zeus
• IntotheRain
• Legionnaire

Terran

• The Marine
• Xellos
• Silent_Control
• Sync
• [Oops]Cloud

History of Pro-Level Tournament Winners

All listed from oldest to most recent:

Winners of the OGN Starleague:

• FreeMura (1999)
• Grrrr (1999-2000)
• Garimto (2000)
• Boxer (2001)
• Boxer (2001)
• Garimto (2001)
• Sync (2002)
• Reach (2002)
• Nada (2002-2003)
• Xellos (2003)
• Kingdom (2003)
• Nal_rA (2003-2004)
• JulyZerg (2004)
• Iloveoov (2004)
• Nada (2004-2005)

Winners of the MBC Starleague:

• Boxer
• Nada
• Nada
• Nada
• Nal_rA
• Iloveoov
• Iloveoov
• Iloveoov
• GoRush

Winners of the KT-KTF Invitational:

• Nada (2003)
• Julyzerg (2004)

Winners of the World Cyber Games in Starcraft: Brood War:

• Gorush (2000; technically this was the "World Cyber Challenge" rather than the "World Cyber Games")
• Boxer (2001)
• Boxer (2002)
• Ogogo (2003)
• Xellos (2004)

List of players with two or more major victories:

• 6 Nada
• 5 Boxer
• 4 Iloveoov
• 2 Gorush, Xellos, Garimto, Julyzerg, Nal_rA