Comprising nothing but small sounds recorded from the James Cameron masterpiece ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’, ‘Skynet Symphonic’ is my tribute to one of the greatest action features of all time!

Each section is composed entirely of sounds from a major scene in the film. For example, the Terminator pounding on the fire escape door is used as a kick drum. Bones breaking play the role of a snare. Electrical disturbance acts as a crash cymbal.

Turn up your cones and enjoy!

Clark Ashton Smith (13 January 1893 – 14 August 1961) was an American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft’s death in 1937, that he is mostly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales.

Just a little reminder for you guys (and girls, hehe) that this site is now on a different address : www.scifirama.com

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BlizzCast – Episode one of new Blizzard Entertainment podcast series, BlizzCast is here.

    To kick off our BlizzCast series, we’ve decided to begin where every great Blizzard idea begins, at the concept level. To speak with us we have Samwise Didier, our Art Director and concept artist to many of the popular Blizzard icons you’ve grown to love such as the Pandaren, Fel Orcs, Dark Templars, Zerglings, and many more.  We’ll be chatting with Samwise on how he came up with the characters he did, as well as what it is like to work on both the Warcraft and StarCraft franchises.
Be sure to view the transcript to see all of the artwork.

Download first episode in mp3 format or read the transcript.

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Players
Two to six players each take the role of an important leader from the StarCraft universe – Jim Raynor, Arcturus Mengsk, Judicator Aldaris, Executor Tassadar, Sarah Kerrigan, or the Overmind – and take command of powerful armies. With three distinct races, each with two unique factions, each game of StarCraft: The Board Game will be different.

The Galaxy
At the beginning of the game, players assemble a galaxy of interconnected planets, each with regions containing resources such as valuable minerals, vespene gas, and conquest points. Planets are connected by both normal and z-axis navigation routes, representing the three-dimensional nature of space. By strategic placement of valuable worlds and navigation routes, players can create strongholds for themselves or connect their worlds to planets ripe for conquest.
Once the galaxy has been assembled, players place their initial bases and units and the conflict can begin!

Resources
There are three types of resources found on the planets in the StarCraft galaxy: minerals, vespene gas, and conquest points. Minerals and gas are harvested by workers and used to build units, research new technology, build new bases, and buy base upgrades. Conquest points are one way in which players win the game – having a unit or a base in the same region as a conquest point resource will add conquest points to a player’s total each turn, ultimately bringing her closer to winning.

In situations of dire need (or if a player suspects that she will lose control of a region), extra workers can be dispatched to aggressively harvest a region, depleting it. If a region is sufficiently depleted, it will become devoid of resources and cannot be used again. Only regions containing minerals and vespene gas can be depleted – conquest points are never harvested by workers.

Orders
Orders are the primary means by which players take action in StarCraft: The Board Game. Players have three distinct order types to choose from: Mobilize, which is used to move units and attack enemies, Build, which is used to construct bases and units, and Research, which is used to develop new technologies and draw event cards. Each turn each player places four orders on planets in the galaxy – either planets on which they already have units, or adjacent planets – thereby creating order stacks on each planet. Players take turns resolving orders on a last-in, first-out basis. Players who have no available orders must pass and draw an event card instead. This unique order-stacking mechanic allows clever players to, for example, delay enemy assaults or launch sneak attacks before a garrison can be reinforced, based on when each order is placed and where.
Each faction also has three enhanced orders, one of each type, that are only available once the prerequisite building upgrade has been purchased. These orders, which are printed in gold, are more powerful versions of the standard order. Each one can only be used once per turn, and only if a player has built the appropriate base upgrade.
Units
Each race has a variety of unique units, including battle-hardened Terran Marines, ravenous Zerglings, and deadly Protoss Zealots, each represented by highly detailed plastic figures in their faction color. Units are the means by which players expand and defend their territory. They can be used to start the colonization of a neutral planet and also to attack and seize enemy territory.
Units are either flying or ground units, and they have combat abilities against either land or ground units (or both!). A clever player will pay close attention to what sorts of units her opponents are building, being sure to build some units that are effective against fliers if her opponent builds a strong air force, for example.

Combat
In StarCraft: The Board Game, conflict is inevitable. Resources are limited and only one faction can win. Eventually, armies will invade and a battle will start.

Once a player uses a Mobilize order to invade, he moves units from elsewhere on the planet or from adjacent planets into the target region. These units are the attacking army. The units already present in the region become the defending army.

Battles are divided into skirmishes. The attacker selects pairs of front-line units – one attacker, one defender – to create each skirmish. If one side has more units than the other, then the surplus become supporting units and are added to other skirmishes to assist. Then, each player chooses a combat card from his hand for each skirmish, placing it (and potentially a bonus “reinforcement” card) facedown next to his units in each skirmish. If a player has no cards in his hand, or has no cards he wishes to play, then he can draw one from the top of his deck and place it without looking at it. When the players are done, the combat cards are revealed and the skirmishes are resolved.
Each combat card has both major and minor values for attack and health, as well as one or more unit icons on its face. If the card played matches the front-line unit of that skirmish, then the major values are used. Otherwise, the minor values are used. For example, one card may show Goliath and Wraith icons on its face, and have an attack strength of six and a health of seven for its major values. If used in a skirmish in which a Goliath or Wraith is the front-line unit, it will use these combat values. If played on a skirmish with a Marine as its front-line unit, for example, it would instead use the minor values – three and four, in this case. Cards that are keyed to different units can have wildly divergent combat strengths. The average strength of a Siege Tank or a Battlecruiser, for example, is much higher than that of a Zergling.

Combat cards may also have special abilities, which either modify their combat values or grant keywords such as “cloaking” or “splash damage” to key units. Often these abilities prove more valuable than the combat values on the cards!

Once both combat cards have been revealed and their total attack and defense values established, things start blowing up! In each skirmish, units are destroyed when the enemy attack value is equal to or higher than their own defense value. It is possible, although unlikely, for every skirmish in a battle to end with mutual annihilation!

After all skirmishes in a battle have been resolved, if there are any defending units remaining the attacker must retreat. (A wise attacker will attack with at least as many units as are present to defend a location!) If there is no suitable location to retreat to the surviving attackers are destroyed.

The Event Deck
Over the course of the game, players will draw event cards from the event deck (either in lieu of resolving an order, or as part of a Research order). This deck is carefully constructed at the start of the game so that as the game draws closer to its finale, the event cards become more and more exciting! Event cards may produce new units, give factions unique and powerful abilities, or hasten the end of the game.

Victory
While StarCraft: The Board Game does have standard victory conditions (more on these later), the core of the game is the unique victory conditions possessed by each faction. Whether establishing a certain number of bases or controlling a set number of regions, each faction has its own goal, its own way to win, and its own strategies for doing so! Even two factions of the same race play very differently due to these varied victory conditions, and knowing your own goal as well as those of your opponents is vital to success.

Don’t lose heart, however; even if your unique victory condition seems impossible, there are other ways to win. If a player reaches fifteen conquest points at the end of a turn, he is the winner! If the game ends due to the event deck game clock expiring (due to two “The End Draws Near” events being played), whoever has the most conquest points wins.

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