StarCraft Beta (1997): Late development state, Battle.net setup and gameplay

[@MobCat_]

I don't know a lot about older windows, but you could use the windows hosts file to redirect the ip. Would be a lot easier way to redirect the ip rather then editing the exe. Don't think it's in windows 9x but it is in windows 2000.

[@bitsundbolts]

You are absolutely right! I just followed an old article that described the hex-editing version. But you are right, there is a 'Hosts.sam' file directly in the Windows directory which should do the trick as well!

[@shaunclarke94]

I believe that will only work for DNS lookups. If the game is using actual IP addresses only you might be out of luck.

[@bitsundbolts]

You are right, it will only work for DNS names. There was one in the original file, but I am not sure if it may have worked using this entry. I may try it when I get the chance.

[@hylje]

You can also set your internal network static IP configuration to the IPs hardcoded by Blizzard, since the client doesn’t route to the Internet anyway

[@shaunclarke94]

@@hylje that's actually a good trick. Very low-tech, but it will work!

[@3dfxvoodoocards6]

Starcraft was such a fantastic game. Even today I think it is the best and most enjoyable RTS ever.

[@RaPtOr9600]

5:50 OG battlenet login, loby and countdown didnt see that in decades. Happy memories.

[@zoiuduu]

messing with a hex editor is black magic to me. Im really impressed. Great video.

[@Tegelane5]

10:27 Ultralisk "bloodlust" ability would have been nice.

[@Chris-yc3mm]

Great game. Really like the music

[@DenisBriski]

Nice blast from the past! If i remember correctly, there was also a Starcraft Demo that contained missions not available in the final game and acted as a prequel

[@coolguy02536]

7:11 D-Matrix had to be researched, that's just lovely

[@danielberrett2179]

Loved this game. The music is still so Great.

[@osrr6422]

Man, I played so much starcraft as a kid. Even played it using direct dial with a buddy.

[@konradstrachan]

ah I remember direct dial.. my friend and I briefly thought about stringing ethernet cables between our homes but it was far too far..

[@Zatra]

Gracias por esta información 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 creí que era imposible jugar la versión BETA de starcraft ojala algún día se pueda encontrar la versión ALPHA 🥳

[@bitsundbolts]

That would be awesome! This Beta Version I used was almost the finished game. But it would be interesting to get earlier builds with unrefined units, buildings, and other game assets.

[@spavatch]

I was more of a Total Annihilation guy but it's nice to see old pre-release variants of games being brought back to life for our enjoyment :)

[@K10driver]

In 1998, my siblings and I talked our parents into buying the game in the US. The first box was found at German customs and destroyed. The second one, however, made it to us. I still have the box and the CD today.

[@Nevakonaza.]

Impressive work, Thoroughly enjoyed this video. I remember playing SC back in the day, I had no idea its now F2P :)

[@bitsundbolts]

Thank you! StarCraft was an amazing game - and I still enjoy looking at it today. I remember skipping a day at school after I discovered the map editor 😂

[@Nevakonaza.]

@@bitsundbolts Haha,i can relate, When i discovered FC3 Map editor spent weeks glued to the screen!!

[@heinrichagrippa5681]

Aside from what other comments have pointed out, things I noticed at a cursory glance: the carrier has 10 interceptors rather than a maximum of 8 and hallucination only seems to create one illusory unit instead of two. Also, I think the sprite of the archon in the process of merging is different.

[@manobit]

이것은 한국의 민속게임!? One of the South Korean folk games!?

[@Ale.K7]

Nice!

[@mesterak]

Very cool thank you!

[@Sheevlord]

Blizzard betas from back then are more polished than their final releases these days.

[@UpLateGeek]

You should've got your friend to bring their Pentium over and had a LAN party! 😆 I always sucked at SC, it was very strategy-heavy, and I could never remember which units were best against what. My friends were much better than me, so I always lost. We did have a few LAN parties back in the day, and it was mostly 3D shooters, but we would play strategy games later in the night since most people went home before midnight and only a handful of us stayed overnight. It was actually at one of the early LAN parties that I learned you could get free cable TV just by buying a cheap TV tuner card and running some filters to unscramble the signal. There was a younger kid in our group who happened to have a TV tuner card in his PC, and discovered the Adult channel that way. Luckily we managed to distract him back to the games before it got too explicit.

[@bitsundbolts]

I played with my brother back then - custom maps we spent hours to create. Then we team up and fight against one or two opponents. Most people switched to 3D shooters from what I know - easier to understand and I can see that it makes more fun playing those faster games than RTS.

[@ParsProTotoSB]

I would like to know more about the units stats. I had an early version of starcraft pre brood war. I remember some of the costs of the units, which were quite wild. 500 gas and 50 minerals for an Arbiter, sunken colonies with abysmal attack speed animation. Photon cannons with explosive damage, battlecruisers costing 8 supply, etc. Since I cannot find the stats written somewhere for earlier versions of the game, this would be the closest I could get.

[@bitsundbolts]

Ah, I would have to give this another try. I still have the server set up. If I get the time, I can give this game another try.

[@neonmarblerust]

8:30 High Templar only cost gas… and psi storm was 25 energy?

[@bitsundbolts]

Seems like they weren't done with balancing resource cost at that time.

[@Thomsonicus]

Nice

[@timmarsden86]

Great video. Could you not edit the config file for the Battlenet launcher to change the listening port? Also was there a reason you didn't do this with virtual machines? Seems like that would've made it a bit easier than using very old hardware!

[@bitsundbolts]

I use old hardware because this is a retro channel. The beta does not have a config file where you can easily change the ports. But there were some good suggestions how to setup this beta version without editing that file in a hex editor.

[@SEGAClownboss]

This is great. I've been wondering how many of these beta maps have made it to the retail version of the game. From what I've researched, four of these maps made it to the final game - they are Orbital Relay, Alpha Draconis, Tarsonis Orbital, and Ruins of the Ancients. I've been scouring over the internet trying to find the remaining two. Thanks to your video I see that Ash 96x96 is called "Ashworld of Char", and that it doesn't seem to have been ported for v1.00 of Starcraft. The one map name I could never find was for Wasteland 96x96. Can you remember what it was called and what it looked like, or can you look it up? If these maps don't exist in the retail version, I would like to see if I can try to recreate them for the current version of the game.

[@bitsundbolts]

I am finishing a video right now. I'll have a look tomorrow. You can contact me using the email address in the About-tab of the channel. Great to see some interest in the video and that it helped you find more information!

[@SEGAClownboss]

@@bitsundbolts Cool, thanks, I'll wait for an answer.

[@bitsundbolts]

Hello, I went through the footage and I could identify 4 maps and one I am very certain: 128x128_ash4: Alpha Draconis Volcanic World 128x128_space4: Tarisonis Orbital Platform 128x128_wasteland4: Ruins of the Ancients 96x96_ash4: Ashworld of Char 96x96_space4: Orbital Solar Relay (probably - I don't have footage where I select the map) 96x96_wasteland4: I couldn't find this in the footage 96x96_space4 is unsure which map I selected, but it would make sense to be some orbital solar stuff. Unfortunately, I could not find any indicator of 96x96_wasteland4. I added a link in the description to my Dropbox. Look for "StarCraft BETA maps" where I uploaded some screenshots (and the maps as well). I hope this helps.

[@SEGAClownboss]

@@bitsundbolts Thanks for replying, but, there's a problem I'm not sure that you're aware of - maps made in the beta release are incompatible with the final release(v1.0) of the game and later. 4 of these maps were ported and made playable to v1.0 but two of them never were, and that's what made them so fascinating and ellusive to me. They are "Ashworld of Char" and "Mar Sara Wastelands"(that's what I've discovered the remaining map is called). I did extract them from the beta disc myself and everything a long time ago, but I'm still fundamentally unable to play them and I've been looking for a way to either port them or recreate them piece by piece in the new StarEdit. Either way, thank you very much for everything you provided.

[@bitsundbolts]

I see. I was not aware that those maps are incompatible with the final retail version. The Beta version I have does not have the map editor (although it was promised in game as a download option). I have a feeling that recreating the maps may be the only workable solution as I don't think the version of StarEdit can produce any compatible format.

[@Aranimda]

Do we have enough Pylons now?

[@freehatespeech6804]

Terran is indeed the weakest race in the original StarCraft; you are right about that. The game is balanced with Brood War though.

[@doyouwtech9012]

big fan of Warcraft I and II I remember trying StarCraft and being very disapointed with gameplay and graphics. Opefully I found out about StarTrek Armada I & II which is REAL space RTS, 2 times more races to play with. As for medieval nostalgia, Age Of Empire II coveed it greatly so I totaly forgot about Starcraft even Warcraft III didnt catch my eyes. Have you played Startrek Armada I & II and the very very good total conversion mod Fleet OPS (stand alone later) ?

[@xephorce]

epic too bad it wasnt the single player but still fun to see.

[@chrisg8988]

Zerg and Zurg are simply stylistic differences, both are pronounced the same.

[@aleksandersaski5387]

Starcraft, Warcraft, Minecraft... what gives?! Why is "crafting" so popular?

[@raghusoren9147]

⭕🅿❤❤❤😂😂