Pr0nogo

One of the biggest design focuses of Rebel Yell was attempting to recapture the feeling of exploring something new. The first time any of us played the original campaign of SCBW was also the most influential time, generally during our formative years, where we began to soak in the exciting setting of Starcraft. Personifying an alien invasion of humble space cowboys conducted by an unending swarm of insectoid aliens is something you don't often get a second chance at, and it's easy to look back on Blizzard's efforts in SC1 with a critical eye and deem it unfitting for such a task. Redesigning Rebel Yell to better provide the feelings of excitement, dread, and drama was harder than I initially expected, without having full narrative control or the ability to commission new voice acting. I chose to mostly ignore the ramifications of any changes I made to the story; I cut most of the briefing dialogue down to only the most important lines, and removed most cutscenes that took player control away, providing a smoother gameplay experience while keeping the original themes of the missions intact.

Before I continue, it's important to recognize the contributions of everyone who helped make Project: Hydra possible. This was originally conceived of as a collaboration between Nekron and myself, and despite some differences in design philosophy eventually resulting in me taking the sole role of the lead designer, his work was foundational in getting Hydra off the ground and onto your hard drive. Exhaustive testing of scenarios by DarkenedFantasies, TF-, and Connor greatly assisted the development of these maps, and helped smooth out unintended difficulty spikes and improve the overall level of quality. Lastly, some responses to the sneak peaks I gave on my livestream provided valuable insight into the mindset of the average player, essentially giving me the first thoughts of fresh players that hadn't designed or tested the scenarios.

The first map is a very on-rails, text-heavy tutorial that would have benefited the most from having some sort of voice acting, but I didn't feel comfortable adding any unofficial transmissions outside of easter eggs. I'm pleased to say that the 2019 remaster won't include this mission, as I don't feel it offers anything of value, especially in light of the fact that almost all of the information within is tangible to players on their first run through the opening maps.

The map is the original Boot Camp, expanded to a larger size by Vorgozz, who was dismayed that I wasn't originally planning on producing a co-op tutorial. Using his expanded map as an outline, I redesigned the Zerg base areas, coded in expansions for the AI, and added an allied Terran base in the bottom right that runs without a town hall structure - the first of many in Rebel Yell. I think the decision to show unconventional AI setups (AIs that expand frequently or lack a main structure entirely) was a good one, as both of those archetypes show up in later maps.

Boot Camp was removed from the 1.16.1 version of Rebel Yell as I felt that its presence actually detracted from the overall experience. The key takeaways I gleaned from producing this mission were that tutorialization is best left to emergent experience, where each mission offers enough onboarding time to allow players to familiarize themselves with the game rules and get a lay of the land, so to speak. This is simple to accomplish in proper missions that don't have the facade of a tutorial, and my future projects have the advantage of assuming a certain level of competence of the player from the very start.

Acting as an amalgam of Wasteland and Backwater Station, the second map of Hydra merges two individually mediocre maps into a single enjoyable experience. The micro section that opens things up is reminiscent of Wasteland, introducing Raynor with a bit more gusto than simply walking up to him and rescuing him. There are a lot of ambient events throughout this section that I think greatly contribute to player engagement, and reward exploration significantly while keeping players on their toes. The second zone is a macro section where you take command of Backwater Station and fight against two Zerg bases, one of which houses a familiar Infested Command
Center.

One of the main draws to this map is the enhanced attack that Raynor uses, which took a lot of technical wizardry (and help from Voyager7456) to get working in Remastered. The science behind it isn't super interesting, but the end result is a much more useful attack for Raynor's Vulture, though it comes at the cost of being able to micro as fluidly as before. The first two grenades in his barrage are area-damage concussive, while the third and final shot is single-target and deals normal damage. This makes him much more versatile in terms of which units he can dispatch; he's still very powerful when dealing with Zerglings or Terran infantry, but holds his own against Hydralisks, Goliaths, Dragoons, and the like. Overall I think this makes him much more rewarding to use, and players will be less likely to keep them in their mineral line, for the most part.

Looking back at this mission, I think the best thing for it would be to further increase the scale and to streamline the concepts it introduces. By consolidating the Raynor introduction into a cutscene that opens the mission up and allowing for players to control bases immediately afterwards, the macro focus and no-nonsense approaches to level design would be very clear. Making the Terrans of Backwater an allied AI player would also communicate to the players my penchant for larger-scale battles and AI modding, which I intend to make more consistent in the 2019 version of Hydra. Additionally, thanks to the advantages of 1.16.1 and FaRTy1billion's handiwork, I'm able to remove the friendly-fire of Raynor's grenades in multiplayer, which wasn't possible in SC:R.

This mission is widely known as the noob-killer, mostly due to the large difficulty spike compared to the previous two missions, where there weren't even active AI. I wanted to preserve this jump in difficulty while still making it fair, which lead me to include Kerrigan in the mix, justified lore-wise by the kitbashed dialogues in the briefing. Obviously this would be akin to a retcon if Blizzard implemented it in an official capacity, but the point of Hydra wasn't to be logically consistent with the original story, or it wouldn't make any sense for the second player to be there to begin with.

Kerrigan's inclusion is particularly cool because of her new Snipe ability, which makes her better at dealing with high-HP single targets than Raynor. Snipe's low energy cost makes Kerrigan very rewarding to use, but as she also uses Cloak (and in later levels, Lockdown), and because Snipe is only usable on organic units, it's not a cure-all that turns her into a one-woman army. It still rounds out one of her weaknesses, namely fighting Hydralisks and Ultralisks, though the latter will be a major energy sink for her. Making her regenerate health over time also prevents her from feeling overly vulnerable, though she's still not the tankiest hero out there. Including Kerrigan in such an early map also gives her more screentime, which to me is a plus since she's fun to use and you'll never see her again after map 9.

Aside from that, the map has been expanded to the right to allow room for player 2's base and a new side objective. North of Kerrigan's position is a small outpost of Confederate militia surrounded by Zerg. Reaching the position will transfer control of all remaining forces to the two players, including the twin Siege Tanks, making both offense and defense a more realistic endeavor. Failure to save the Confederates from certain doom (usually around the 15 minute mark) causes the brood that attacked them to do the same to you. This feeds back into the idea that AI allies exist as buffers against your enemies; saving them rewards you with added combat strength, and if you choose instead to leave them to die, the AI will continue to press its attacks against you.

The last big change to the map comes in the form of who does what. Player one reprises the role of the beleaguered Magistrate as he struggles to secure his borders against the relentless swarm, while player two commands Kerrigan and her Sons of Korhal forces. P2 is encouraged to take an offensive role against the Zerg, with the surrounding resource areas offering minimal resistance and most of the attacks being directed against P1. This allows P2 to decide whether they should focus on destroying the outlying Zerg clusters to reduce the AI's production, push to rescue the Confederates, or attack the brown cluster directly - the latter of which being the key to completing the offensive main objective. If you clear the central plateau of brown production, you short-circuit the timer and win before 30 minutes. Otherwise, you must simply hold out and survive the onslaught - something the Structure Armor upgrade is pretty helpful with.

There could have been much more chaos on the map to better characterize the Zerg invasion and that adding a one-click ability to Kerrigan was a shortsighted and forced manner to essentially force interaction onto the hero. I would much rather manipulate unit behavior in a similar fashion to the new weapon for Raynor's Vulture, as that still mandates some degree of precise unit control in order to get the most out of the power budget. If I recall correctly, my mindset on this topic was very focused around making sure players used their heroes, which goes against allowing players to make their own choices. Some players will never use heroes no matter how good they are, and likewise, some players will always try to make use of them regardless of their utility. I think I should focus on offering micro- and hero-focused players a variety of options to play to their strengths, while understanding that there's little I can (or should, or should want to) do about players who lean more towards macro play. This sort of philosophy also takes pressure off of me to overload heroes with utility, which in turn will make for more enjoyable interactions, as the only people who will be using the heroes are those who genuinely enjoy using them to begin with.

This map definitely wouldn't have been possible without the resident installation expert TF-, also known as ciox. We worked together on the outline and he did most of the triggering. The main goal of this map's overhaul was to make the installation feel more alive, while also making the experience enjoyable and intense, always presenting the players with goals to accomplish. The original mission was very bland and could be completed in under a minute with the right clicks. We both knew that wouldn't fly. I came up with the idea to apply a timer on the mission, explained away by the Confederates performing a system-wide data wipe - except unlike the previous map, the timer wouldn't be static. Bringing Technicians to various terminals would unlock doors across the facility, perform special actions to tip the scales one way or another, and most importantly, add a delay to the data wipe. Getting the timer just right so it wouldn't feel overly generous or overly unfair was a bit of a challenge, but I think it's in a good place now. Technicians are also able to commandeer vehicles, similar to the UED mission, Patriot's Blood. Confederate Ghosts aren't shy about using Lockdown though; securing a few Goliaths doesn't guarantee that you're out of the woods yet.

Raynor's marine variant has 20 bonus health and 1 bonus armor from his base stats and can pick up a few Supplies (flags) to restore his health and energy. His energy is solely used to fuel his Grenade Toss spell, which doesn't quite one-hit marines but gets them very close. 75 explosive damage makes all enemy infantry very weak, one-hits enemy traps, and deals good damage to enemy vehicles, all in a pretty wide area of effect, for 90 energy. This makes energy management and target selection important but still allows a few whiffs without it resulting in mission failure. A few other comeback mechanics exist - some are easter eggs or secrets, while others are small groups of reinforcements that can be secured prior to the final section. This map took the most effort to design and iterate upon, and I'm proud of what was accomplished. I don't often find myself enjoying installation maps, so I'm glad TF- and I were able to come together to design a solid one.

For the 2019 edition of Hydra, I intend to increase the map size and heavily alter the layout to offer more replay value and to better reward exploration. When it comes to modding in improvements to this mission, there are an unending amount of possibilities presented by 1.16.1 as a platform - things like designing and implementing custom door assets that will train Confederate troops to simulate the installation's operatives requesting reinforcements immediately come to mind. These doors would be destructible, perhaps by Raynor specifically, adding more utility to his grenades which would likely be converted to an ammo system and generally have less immediate return for simple one-clicks (see the Kerrigan Snipe rant from Desperate Alliance). Allowing players to use Raynor to solve some of the more combat-oriented puzzles is a good way to add more depth and skill expression to the mission, and since it is, in fact, the only mission of its kind, I intend to do some crazy shit with it. Think "allied Sons of Korhal AI setting up a base inside the facility and sending waves of men after the Confederate stronghold while you infiltrate it with Raynor and the hackers" kind of crazy.

This is the first of three missions that feature both Raynor and Kerrigan, and also the first mission to meaningfully specialize the techtree, if only slightly. Player one can upgrade their ship upgrades to tier 2, whereas player two can do the same for their vehicles. This encourages the players down divergent paths of the Terran techtree, but doesn't mandate that player one build only infantry and Wraiths, or that player two avoid building a Starport. Both players are also able to requisition tier 2 Engineering Bay upgrades. At the end of the day, I don't think the act of splitting the techtree was done in a very intuitive manner, and I think I'll have some element of player choice in the mix for the future version of Hydra - a mechanic like choosing which element of the techtree to escalate in strength could fit well for this purpose, as then it would be a strategic decision by the player as opposed to an arbitrary decision by the mapmaker.

The early micro section is designed to provide a bit of a sandbox for the usage of the buffed heroes as they make their way to the Antigan base camp. Once there, Kerrigan kills the Confederate officers (without pausing the game…) and the Antigans hand over the keys to the players. I disliked that the original map had so much unused space after the macro section began, so I decided to spawn in a few floating structures for one of the enemy AI and have them land in the space the players battled through in the micro section, making use of the starting zone once again. The primary focus of this map was always that it was the first large-scale macro mission, and also the first proper Terran vs. Terran scenario, so I really wanted to have the AI throw the kitchen sink at the players and ramp up pressure very quickly. Keeping it within reason was an unavoidable design challenge and I think ultimately the AI might be a little too difficult in the early game while falling off harder than what is ideal in the late game.

An obvious design focus for the 2019 version would be the map's difficulty curve, but I'm also thinking of radically changing the map's core identity by vastly increasing the map size and doing something similar to the proposed overhaul of Wasteland Station - making the Antigan base an allied AI, except they will only ally with you once you weaken enough of the Confederacy's hold in the territory. This means that the micro section would be axed in favor of opening up with your own base of operations with which to liberate the Antigans and crush Duke's innumerable squadrons. I may also look for a way to throw Zerg into the mix to add the ever-desirable free-for-all feel to the map, and to ground the Zerg in the Antigan environment a bit better, since they come out of nowhere in the next mission. Time will tell how drastic my overhaul will be, but I'm betting on it being "pretty drastic".

Much like the last mission, this map features both Raynor and Kerrigan on the field, though the players' bases are separated and they have access to the same tech. There's a new establishing cutscene that informs players of the allied AI controlling not only the Norad II and its surviving crew, but three surrounding colony bases that will eventually succumb to infestation if left undefended. This map's design is such that it's very unlikely the average player will save even two out of three of these encampments due to the aggression of the AI, but the abundance of targets reduces the amount of early game pressure the players must deal with, allowing them to pick their targets with greater ease. Once the first base falls, however, the Zerg inevitably set their sights on Raynor and Kerrigan, so early action is a must - especially
with Duke's survival at stake.

This map is a change of pace not just due to the surplus of allies, but also because of the layout. Duke's pressured constantly by the brown clusters that surround his position, and as the purple colonies drop, the crash site becomes the target of ever more hostiles. This mission is balanced around a 20-25 minute victory window, with either the Zerg becoming too hamstrung by player action to finish the Norad II off, or Duke's position falling to their unchecked tides. It's possible to root out brown's vast production on the outer edges of the map, but doing so distracts from the more imminent threat to the good general, and thus runs a risk. Due to this mission's shorter par time it's inevitable that some players will see it as easier than Revolution, which takes about an hour to complete and is much more focused on unfiltered macro play by comparison. Combining the pacing with separate starting bases make this map one of the few that really tests the skill level of both members of the co-op team, as lesser players are more likely to be overrun and less likely to contribute enough damage to the main objective.

I like the fact that this map tests individual play more than some of the previous missions. Previously, a weaker link could be compensated for if the other player was good enough, and that is still true in Norad II - just less so. I hope to maximize this in the overhauled version of the map, as I think the variety in challenges is a good thing. I also think that increasing the map size in this mission and adding more of an early game by way of reducing the starting number of units and structures for all players would benefit the map, as it would allow players of all walks to get a better grip on the map and its play pattern while giving everyone a little more room to breathe. I'm considering increasing the map size as well, but I haven't made a decision as to whether that would add too much to the mission's runtime. Overall, I'm satisfied with this mission in a vacuum, and I think it will require the least work out of any map in Hydra to remaster.

This mission's increase in scale was ultimately what drove me to patch maps 5 and 6 with increased stats for Raynor and Kerrigan. They become serious threats at all stages of the game by the time this map rolls around, which is good because you don't start with much in Trump's world. The big change to this mission is the actual presence of Zerg on the field, which become enraged when you plant the emitter in one of two available positions. Your main objective is no longer the planting of the emitter, but the destruction of all Confederate production, meaning you actually have to use the Zerg to your advantage without suffering defeat to their innumerable forces. The sheer number of units that start streaming into the Confederate bases after the emitter is planted hasn't been seen in previous missions, and feels like a truly unstoppable wave compared to the more manageable numbers of hostile Terrans you face beforehand.

The utter chaos that this map falls into really ticks all my boxes. With limited starting resources and only one expansion per player, you're forced to take early action against the Confederates or risk not having a strong enough army to seal the deal. The Zerg will eventually die if you don't plant the emitter, which further complicates things and makes planning your strategies before you execute them an absolute must. It's possible for each player to independently take their respective expansions, but holding them is another story. Additionally, pushing too far into Confederate territory may render them too weak to hold off the Zerg long enough for you and your buddy to pick off the remaining production. Ultimately, the idea of balancing the strength of multiple hostile factions ends up feeling pretty unique, at least by my metrics, and the story significance of planting an emitter is much more tangible when you have to watch the Zerg cut through the Confederate forces - and feel genuine dread at the thought of the swarm coming for you next.

Though I appreciate the increase in scale that came with the inclusion of the Zerg in-map, I feel that being completely unable to interact with them until the emitter is planted feels pretty lame. I enjoy playing large-scale free for all matches that have me checking my corners, so to speak, for all sorts of enemies. As a result, one of the first things I plan to do with this map is increase its height, adding more expansions and more room for interaction with the Zerg. Generally the four AI on this mission will also start with less units and structures, allowing for that much-sought-after early game to once again exist, which will add even more value to the extra map space. We'll see how it plans out but my early concepts for the overhaul seem very promising if you ask me.

This mission is peak Terran vs. Terran, providing players with a decent amount of starting tech and letting them run hog wild in the early game with powerful heroes. Duke boasts one extra range over default Battlecruisers, as well as benefiting more from upgrades, and Mengsk's inclusion as a Siege Tank hero allows for some interesting strategies for early aggression. I originally wanted to include a spell for Mengsk that would replace his Siege Mode ability, but was unable to get it working on SC:R, so it was scrapped in favor of extra range in siege mode. The mission objectives have also changed to be a bit more true to the subtext of the original; though you can win by destroying all Confederate production, the more common method is to plant four Psi Emitters using Duke's flagship. Kerrigan is just as mishappy with you as she was originally.

This mission is also the only time you'll see two unique Confederate AI personalities, at least until later campaigns. Mango acts as a first response squad and tries to take map control in the early stages by expanding and boxing you in, while the Alice Blue spec-ops squad resort to dirty tactics like worker-hunting with Wraiths, Siege Tanks on islands, and nuking. Eventually, the familiar faces of Sienna and Scarlet reveal themselves, claiming you caught them with their pants down and filing lawsuits as they scramble their attack waves. The rest is simple on paper but requires a solid half-hour of focus for even the best of players, as the frequent nuking and Wraith squadrons leave your heroes perpetually vulnerable - something I'm likely to change in future versions of the map, as it feels a little too sudden and unfair in the SC:R edition.

In a vacuum and as an expansive Terran vs. Terran match, this mission is quite the success. However, the stifling amount of map control your foes have at the start of the map feels very limiting even if it makes some sense lore-wise, so I'll be focusing on allowing scouting and early-game decision-making to matter again when I return to this mission. I think your allied AI could use some sprucing up too, perhaps by including them as a reward for completing bonus objectives as was initially planned. I would also like to add a third faction to this mission, again allowing for more replay value and a greater sense of scale overall.

The second mission to be remade from scratch, my version of New Gettysburg is significantly more ambitious than Blizzard's, as it should be in this day and age. Massive AI armies have you surrounded and outgunned in this four-way free for all between you, the Confederates, the Zerg, and the Protoss. The Confederates are mostly isolated by the Zerg, which attack everyone indiscriminately and can be dispatched if you and your partner so desire. Your primary objectives are to destroy the Protoss and Confederate production, which means safeguarding the Zerg from the Protoss (and yourselves from the Zerg, of course) tends to be the main focus of players. This is no easy task, as it means going through the combined might of Tyrian - a zealot/archon/arbiter personality, and Ultramarine - a dragoon/reaver/carrier personality. This mission was enough of a reason for me to nerf Stasis Field's duration using Neiv's mtl plugin, and thank tod for that functionality being available - I'm not sure how anyone would be
able to beat this map otherwise.

This mission also debuts the hero upgrades that improve ability damage - Extra Pepper for Raynor and Caliber Upgrade for Kerrigan. These are fairly useful for warding off Zerg attacks at home while you egress towards the Protoss, and generally serve to add a bit of spice to a mission that would otherwise lack any new technology. I'm not certain this mission necessarily needed anything new, as its sheer scale is ludicrous and novel enough. Still, I feel the decision to spend money and time on improving your heroes over the rest of your arsenal is worthwhile enough for players to consider, especially if they're the hero-focused players I spoke of in Desperate Alliance's section. I'm a big fan of how labyrinthine this mission's outline feels, though it would certainly require the early game to be reinstated if first-timers were meant to scout and plan around what they found.

Despite my praise for the concept and the outline, I generally think this mission missed the mark. The map features some of the most advanced AI I've made to date, but it's in service of a gameplay pattern that doesn't feel very fair or even very engaging as you're stuck defending against Zerg that you'd rather kill 9 times out of 10 as you push into Protoss that you should be collaborating to kill, even though it rarely feels possible to sync up with your partner due to the construction of the map. I think this mission is only a few tweaks away from being solid, but it'll require a lot more work to become truly great. I don't know if I'll end up editing this version or starting from scratch with the original map file in mind, but whatever the method, the result will be more internally consistent than the SC:R edition.

My magnum opus, and the only good mission in all of Project: Hydra's SC:R edition. The Hammer Falls sees the inclusion of the Magistrate as a hero Science Vessel, with Defensive Matrix, EMP Shockwave, and Disruption Web. It also features the most dynamic and cutting-edge AI in the entire project, which sets it apart almost immediately with the first set of attacks. The reveal of Tassadar's remaining fleets is thematic and will take players by genuine surprise the first time it happens, which is a satisfactory "moment" given the lack of custom voice acting. Additionally, the humble beginnings of the AI of this three-way free-for-all allow for meaningful scouting, and it's even encouraged due to the presence of a flying hero. I definitely think the Magistrate's power budget is overshot at the end of the day, though it could have been addressed by having AI focus him down more often, which would have encouraged other Science Vessels to be constructed for the purpose of d-matrixing him, but at the end of the day he's a satisfying hero to use even if his play pattern still suffers from the one-click syndrome discussed earlier in the diary.

I'm also very pleased with how approachable the map feels compared to the previous mission. Internal testers like 2w.Sovereign and Sinned communicated their pessimism with New Gettysburg, but more often than not felt compelled to retry this mission until they found what they felt was a winning strategy. I saw this sentiment echoed across several playtests and I personally feel the map gives players more room to make the proper (or improper) decisions, which greatly contributes to the sense of fairness. The mission's approachability and the reinstatement of the early game combine for a satisfying opening 10 minutes, which is not to say that the map is easy, as I feel it's at least on par with map 9 - it just doesn't frustrate players as much, which is indicative of a better guiding design. That being said, it's likely that I had to stumble with New Gettysburg in order to make The Hammer Falls, and I'm satisfied with this mission, as it likely stands as the best mission made in SC:R.

The Protoss AI in this mission are accessory and do not have to be destroyed for mission completion, as your main objective is simply to destroy the Ion Cannon. Tassadar's forces reprise their colors and personalities from the previous mission, and the Sons of Korhal AI closely resemble the colors of the Confederacy that used similar personalities - Brown focuses on mech and infantry, Red focuses on air and harassment, and White focuses on well-rounded compositions and game-ending pushes. I originally intended to include a Zerg AI to carry over the four-way free-for-all feel from New Gettysburg, but I was unable to apply team color directly to the hero graphics in SC:R, and so I had to use one player slot for a teal rescuable player. Despite the loss, the mission still lends to a big sense of scale, and the AI eventually fill up the map if you let them.

The 2019 edition of this map will include a remodeled Ion Cannon that actively launches long-range salvos of slow-moving missiles at various intervals. I'll likely include Power Generators as bonus objectives, which will increase the delay between salvos, buying players more breathing room at the expense of the investment required to destroy the generators, which themselves will become more defended over time. The cannon will also target Protoss on occasion, and I'd rather not have players rely on random chance, so there will either be an announcement when it fires that indicates the cannon's target, or there will be a way for players to reroute the cannon's target. Its minimum range will be immense, so getting in close will feel like a natural solution to the problem, and as it is your sole objective I am likely to move the central base to another area of the map and have all the Sons of Korhal AI build up defenses around it as the map plays out. The mission is also likely to see a map size increase, as I feel the final mission should have a bit more oomph to it, which may also mandate the inclusion of the Zerg I mentioned earlier. Even though I'm very satisfied with how The Hammer Falls turned out, I still think it's worthwhile to explore the original concept that included the Zerg, the four-way free-for-all, and the Ion Cannon that drew power from various parts of the station and absolutely crushed anything it shot at. Somehow I doubt there's a better weapon to personify Mengsk's personality as a dictator.