14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard Entertainment has released its latest patch for StarCraft II, the studio’s newly-launched real time strategy game. Available as a free download for Mac OS X and Windows PC users alike, the release brings important changes and bug fixes.
The first documented change is that Battle.net Chat Channels have been added. Blizzard claims that players can now join others in both public and private channels.
The patch adds an in-game chat bar command to whisper to other players.
Using the /w command will pop up an auto-complete list which includes: friends, party members, chat channels, and other players within your current game, Blizzard explains, on the Battle.net forums.
Battle.net options to auto-join previous private channels, and to prevent chat channel text from appearing in the in-game chat display, have also been added.
Next up, map makers can now use custom UI layout files to create new UI or override existing game UI, Blizzard said.
Gameplay changes include the addition of Stalemate Detection which Blizzrd documents as follows:
· The game will end in a tie for all remaining players if no players have income, production, or destroyed any structures for three consecutive minutes. · A countdown timer will now appear when the game detects this scenario.
Graphics-wise, an Extreme graphics option has been added, allowing players to configure screen space ambient occlusion. Additionally, unit information now displays abilities and upgrades in the help dialog.
Interface changes include:
· Customizable Hotkey Support has been added. · Mouse buttons can now be bound to the Push-To-Talk hotkey. · System Alert panel has been moved to the top of the screen – duration of most system alerts has been reduced. · Added a hotkey to Pause/Resume game for both single-player and multiplayer (Pause/Break key). · Added a toggle button to the in-game replay panel to show or hide duration information. · Added a hotkey indicator option to show the primary hotkey on top of command buttons. · Added an option to disable any error sounds. The Response Sounds checkbox now controls whether unit-specific audio is used for error sounds instead of a generic buzz.
For the rest of the documented enhancements, including bug fixes, see the official release notes for StarCraft II Patch 1.2.0 here.