Arcade Highlight: Castle Ulrezaj
Earlier this year, our China team hosted a contest to see who could create the best StarCraft II Arcade game. While there were many great entries, we found one map spectacular, and we couldn't wait to share it with Arcade players around the world. Without further ado, we're pleased to announce this week's Arcade Highlight and China Arcade contest winner: CastleUlrezaj by Nanakey!
CastleUlrezaj is a side scrolling action platformer that has you taking the roll as Tassadar who is investigating a cosmic disturbance in Korhal and ends up battling against Terran, Zerg, and even Protoss forces. You’ll find power-ups along the way that grant Tassadar new abilities that allow him to explore previously unreachable areas as well as provide new weapons. Enemies also have the chance of dropping cards that allow you to summon units into battle. Using these cards, you can deploy a squad of Marines or summon Colossi for extra firepower. The boss battles are epic and reminiscent of classic 2D games where you find yourself constantly dodging attacks and repositioning your hero to take them out.
Jump online and enter the world of CastleUlrezaj. If you already have StarCraft II installed, click here to start playing now. Like all of our Arcade Highlights, you and your friends can also play it free with the StarCraft II Starter Edition.
Traysent: What made you interested in game design?
Nanakey: I consider myself a moderate gamer. I like PC and video games such as Castlevania, Halo, and StarCraft I & II. These games brought me a lot of joy and fond memories. I’ve always discussed with my friends, “If I were a designer, what would I do to make an amazing game?” It’s really an exciting chance to design an original and imaginative world, and it’s a worthwhile challenge to design fun gameplay mechanics. I also enjoy the time spent brainstorming with my team.
T: What made you want to make games with the StarCraft II editor?
N: The StarCraft II editor is a very powerful tool and has plenty of art assets. It’s perhaps natural that a StarCraft II player tries to use the StarCraft II editor to create a new story based on the Blizzard Universe. And the biggest motivation is I can share the game through Battle.Net and play with my friends.
T: What was the inspiration for CastleUlrezaj?
N: I enjoyed Castlevania very much and I’ve tried to create some other 2D platform sidescroller games in the past. One day I found a way that I can use units to make a huge, multi-chamber set which the traditional terrain system couldn’t do. With this discovery, I decided to create CastleUlrezaj as a tribute to Castlevania.
T: How long did it take to make your game?
N: I finished most of the work in 6 months. At that point, my partner Delphinium spent two days translating the game into English. We also had help from Kduk, a member of the StarCraft II Mapster community, who translated it into Korean in a week. Here is a statement I wanted to share from him: “When I started to translate it, I spent 16 hours a day with only four hours of sleep a night. Not only was there literal translation to do but also cultural translation, which involves reworking word order as well as choosing appropriate words for eastern culture and so on.”
T: How many people worked on this game and what roles did they have?
N: Delphinium and I founded a 2-member team called “Froggy&Catty”
I was in charge of the StarCraft II editor, and Delphinium used SC2 Tools Beta to create new effects, animations and models. Additionally, we received worldwide help. Zolden from Moscow created the BGMs, and Kduk from Korea translated it into Korean. Renee from Goblin Academy helped us solve the many technical problems we ran into.
T: What was the hardest obstacle in the development process and how did you overcome it?
N: I’ll let Delphinium answer this question. He was always supportive and encouraging when I got frustrated with bugs and trying to implement new functions.
“During the development process we found a bug which would suddenly crash the game. Nanakey plodded away for two days and two nights digging through all of the code looking for a solution. At last, she found that the bug happened only when a marauder was on the screen and found a fix for it. It was the definitely the most exhaustive part of the development process for Nanakey.
T: What advice would you give to someone who was interested in using the StarCraft II editor to make their own game? Where is a good place for them to start the learning process?
N: The StarCraft II editor is more powerful and complex than Blizzard’s previous map editors. I think it’s best for people to start simple and really focus on the basics before they jump into a complex project.
SC2Mapster and the Goblin Academy are great sources for Arcade developers. Make sure you read the stickies and FAQ’s before you ask a question that has already been answered!
T: Do you have any plans for other games or future goals as a game designer?
[SPOILER] N: We are working on a new project that tells the story after Marauder Dustin and Tassadar save the world. Watch out for it!
T: What’s the best way people can follow you and your work (Twitter, Facebook, Website, etc.)?
N: Chinese players can find new information here.
Our foreign friends can follow us here.
T: Do you have any favorite games on the StarCraft II Arcade?
N: Delphinium, Kduck and I believe that Smashcraft, created by Mephs, is the best game on the Arcade. It’s a 3v3 hero arena that was released 2 years ago. This game has cool heroes, polished abilities, and an impressive tutorial. Mephs did a great job showing the power of the StarCraft II editor.