StarCraft

StarCraft logotype

Welcome to the StarCraft WikiBook. Here you will learn the basics and strategies of StarCraft, as well as gain some background information. We hope you find this book enjoyable. Use the navigation bar above to quickly find the page you want.

Table of contents

1. Home
2. Introduction
   • Beginnings
   • Units
   • Buildings
   • Damage types
3. Strategies
   • Strategy Guide
   • High Templar
4. Single Player
   • Tutorial
   • Episode 1
   • Episode 2
   • Episode 3
   • Episode 4
   • Episode 5
   • Episode 6
   • Enslavers
   • Secret Missions
   • Heroes
   • Special Structures
5. Star Edit
   • Custom Maps
   • Evolves
6. StarCraft Alpha
7. Project Revolutions
8. Appendices
   • Where Next?
   • References
   • Contributors

StarCraft is a Real Time Strategy computer game produced by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998. It was unique at the time in that it had three races, each of which had asymmetrical statistics, abilities, and strategies: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. Generally, the Terrans represent humans and form a middle-of-the-road race; their technological progression in the game is similar to that in ‘’’’’WarCraft 2’’’’’; they form Episodes 1 and 5. The Zerg have more weaker units and form Episodes 2 and 6, while the Protoss have stronger units and form Episodes 3 and 4.

StarCraft Lore

In StarCraft, the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races engage in a massive interstellar conflict, with the game involving taking over unique, strategic planets, and court intrigue, with rebellion and trickery in each episode.

Xel-Naga's Creations: Protoss and Zerg

The Xel'Naga, an ancient spacefaring race obsessed with breeding the ultimate race, found hope on Aiur, where they civilized the psionically attuned Protoss based on their purity of form. After the creators revealed themselves and built a temple, however, the Protoss fell into disarray. The Xel'Naga left in defeat, and never learned that the Protoss had reunited under the Khala (the Way) and had later formed two subgroups, the High and the Fallen (Dark) Templar. The Xel'Naga realized that the cause of the Protoss rebellion lay in their independent minds. Though they marked their arrival on Char and Braxis with more temples, but only when they arrived on Zerus did they finally find their target, which exhibited purity of essence. They created an Overmind and minion Cerebrates to control their new race, the Zerg, with each Cerebrate controlling a Brood. The Zerg evolved into fierce community covering multiple genuses. With its psionic powers, the Overmind lured a herd of space creatures to the planet. With the genetic code of the Behemoths (Overlords), the Zerg became free of their terrestrial confines and the Overmind launched a surprise attack against the Xel'Naga, who were never heard of again. At the beginning of the StarCraft saga, the Protoss populated Aiur, Braxis, and Shakuras, while the Zerg had shifted its Broods from Zerus to Char to direct its long-awaited campaign of overcoming the Protoss.

Caught in the Middle: Terran

The Terrans in StarCraft are outcasts from Earth, which has been taken over by the United Powers League. The original Terran colonists were sent aboard giant ships to travel far into deep space. One of the colonies, Tarsonis, forms the Confederacy, an interplanetary empire over the Koprulu Sector. At the beginning of the game, the Terrans have claimed 13 worlds. The Confederacy's kleptocracy and oligarchy has angered many of its subjects, and some groups, such as the Sons of Korhal and Raynor's Raiders, have begun to demand greater liberty. When the rebels on Korhal proved victorious, the Confederacy annihilated glassed the planet's surface with nukes. All life on the surface was extinguished. However, as Episode 1 shows, the Confederacy's grip over its realms continues to collapse. For the rest of the storyline, you will have to play the game.

StarCraft BroodWar

Wikipedia has more on this subject.

Blizzard now mysteriously Warps In the planet of Earth and its United Earth Directorate, along with the UED Expeditionary Force which begins its invasion of Koprulu, Aiur, Braxis, and Char in Episode 5. Meanwhile, the Protoss battle the Zerg on Shakuras and fulfill a Xel'Naga legacy, while the Zerg are torn between the Queen of Blades, UED Scientists' Psi Disruptor, and Daggoth's Overmind Cocoon. BroodWar continues the StarCraft saga with the intrigues of the Protoss, the invasions of the Terran, and the infestations of the Zerg. For the rest of the storyline, you will have to play the game.

Gameplay

The Campaign(s) included are divided into 10 levels each, in which two or more players are involved. The player is given one of them and the intro to the level explains how it fits in with the plot mentioned above. Within each level, the player controls a group of one of the races, and usually has to establish a base, train and create an army, defend themselves, and either attack or carry out some special mission. The location of bases almost always depends on the location of the two primary resources of the game, mineral outcroppings and vespene gas geysers. Both are mineable and are used to finance other buildings and units.