Well, you all knew it was coming (not really...maybe a handful of you that have seen my Comprehensive Squad System saw it coming) but I now have a short list of well working systems, abilities and ideas which I want to attempt to turn into a map. The key to a successful game, as we all know, lies in two things:
1. Is it fun to play?
2. Is it easy to learn, but difficult to master? Lack of depth can lead to monotony, but a steep difficulty curve turns people off.
I hope somebody can help me answer the first. Let me be clear in saying that this is both a brainstorming thread and a project development thread. I hope to get the basic concepts for a fun, addictive map through feedback here, which I will then implement into my design. I already have alot of the basic concepts/units laid out, but I hope to recreate Starcraft II as a squad game, with new racial abilities and truly different playstyles depending on the team you choose to play as (Terran, Zerg, or Protoss).
So if you have an idea, post it. If you would play the game (or wouldn't) tell me why. Most importantly, if you want more information, read on, or see my Comprehensive Squad System thread (see link in my sig) for a video of the Squad behavior and combat.
Here's a video of the Squad Customization System mentioned at the bottom of this post. It's nearing completion (not quite there yet), but I thought I'd show SOMETHING to get some more interest and maybe some feedback. The video could be better, but whatever....it gets the basic premise across.
Keep in mind that this video shows units that are more or less standard starcraft units (no modded stats or costs yet, just left them all standard for the purposes of creating this portion of the map. NOTHING will be left standard if I go on to finish the game (and I'm thinking I will if I can get some helpers).
Here are some basic principles for each of the teams:
Protoss
I never felt like the Protoss properly exuded the feeling of being the galaxy's most advanced race. Nor did I feel particularly overawed by their technology. They are the hunters of the galaxy, purifiers of the universe. Truly a force to be feared! I feel the following point form notes reflect that :P.
Note: I'm working on the Protoss first, so the list of ideas is much more fleshed out for them than the other teams.
Buildings have shields, but units do not (without upgrades)
The protoss have a building which can grant shields to a unit anywhere in the field (provided it doesn't already have any)
Protoss can only warp in units from a central power node (a main base)
Protoss have the strongest units, but are resource heavy and supply limited
Protoss must expand or be destroyed. Though expansion is a requirement, it is not an asset
Protoss units specialize in reconnaissance
Protoss upgrades only affect their units
Protoss can spawn units nearly anywhere, but do not cover ground well after creation
Protoss units use Dark Protoss models to look more intimidating
The Central Power Node can gather resources without probes, so losing all your probes is a minor setback early on
All Protoss buildings possess anti-air weaponry
Protoss Sentries can seal access to map boundaries with damage-dealing ripfields
Protoss units will make use of attachments to make them look more intimidating
The Protoss can call down a beam from a mothership (invisible: beam comes from the sky...I HATE the tiny mothership we have now...it's way too wimpy). This will permanently alter terrain, but will have limits
Zerg
The Zerg have bothered me since Starcraft II's release. They were my favourite team in SC1 and have remained my favourite in SC2. Unfortunately, the design on them has stopped them from feeling like an infestation and makes them feel more like a race of insects. I'm cool with that, but I really dislike that the swarm-like tendencies they should have simply aren't there. Zerg should be good at expanding, rather than being forced to. They should be capable of massive armies that require little supply, rather than only having one unit under 2 population (banelings, swarmlings, and drones don't count). Below are the changes I would see them have.
Zerg units are the weakest, but unbelievably cheap
Zerg do not need to expand for resources, but DO need to expand in order to produce more units (overlords encourage a lack of buildings and minimal expansion...which produces the opposite of what I would want)
Zerg can corrupt resources, temporarily halting production for another team
Creep can fight back (maybe?)
Zerg upgrades tend to affect the player’s race on a global scale
Zerg race has an upgrade that halves the supply cost of all squads
The Zerg start out as the weakest team, with nothing but a Queen and can easily be rushed. The more land they corrupt, the more dangerous they become, until eventually they're nearly impossible to overwhelm. Beating them early is a must
Zerg buildings automatically produce weak units to help fight off nearby enemies, assuming those enemies are on creep.
Terran
Finally, we come to the Terrans. I've tried to find a nice balance between Zerg and Protoss for the Terrans to settle into, while also giving them their own strengths. Like the other teams, I have a firm image of how I want them to play out, but I also want to keep them distinct.
Terrans are the only team with the ability to heal (scvs AND healers)
Heavy emphasis on ranged fighters
Terrans have no casters
Healers are called into an area for temporary support. They cannot be built
Terrans possess the fewest air units
Terran upgrades often aid allies
Terrans can build starports, which each provide one transport. At any time, this transport can pick up any collection of units in the field and drop them at a targeted location. You must have line of sight to place the drop off location
Terran units tend to be faster than either the Zerg or Protoss units, allowing them to cover ground faster and outmaneuver opponents
Upgrades
Here's an example of an individual unit, and how it is affected by upgrades. Say hello to the Protoss' bread and butter unit: The Templar Knights!
Knights: Made up of three dark zealots. These are the strongest units in the game, but require an unrealistic amount of resources and are melee exclusive.
Upgrades:
(No Name Yet): Knights can take significant chunks out of enemy shields
Personal Shields: Grants Knights shields of their own
Templar Training: Cloaks Knights while moving
As you can see, I'm a firm believer in giving upgrades that do more than a % damage boost, or something like that. A fine game to compare my upgrades to would be Halo Wars. There were some things that game did well and some it did badly, but one thing it did incredibly well was upgrades.
I figure nine squads per team is enough (at least for an initial release) + custom buildings and game mechanics.
Customization and Replayability
The game will feature full squad customization, allowing you to literally create your own team. Changes made will not come into effect until the next game you play. If you don't like the starting squad layouts, you can create your own, for all three races! See the youtube link above for an early look at this system!
That's all for now, please post feedback and/or ideas.
Uhhh, so I guess the answer is no? Nobody would play it? :P Some feedback would be nice guys, let your voices be heard!
The 'Out There' idea is now 100% going to be implemented. To show off the strength of the squad system I created, I'm actually going to be finishing the squad customization (regardless of whether or not it becomes a game). I'll put up a video when its done.
Since this is a brainstorming thread, I figure I should post some more ideas I had.
When I mentioned Terrans being great at covering ground, I was thinking something along the lines of them building Starports with transports on the landing pad. When they need to get somewhere they can call in a transport to take any units anywhere on the map.
Another goal I've set for this potential project is the removal of frustrating targeting types. One of the most aggravating things to have happen in Starcraft is getting hit by air or cloaked units, when you literally can't fight back. Having the wrong units for the job is one thing, but being entirely unable to fight back is something else altogether.
The customization of squads means in-game training options probably cannot be done (I'll see about the 'Catalog' triggers). The change in cost, supply and tooltips would be difficult to implement. More importantly, varying tech requirements would be really awkward (for instance, somebody adding a tank to a barracks unit) and switching which unit is built from which building might be a little awkward as well. I believe all of these can be done, but I'm thinking about an alternative.
Instead of needing to write up all those options through triggers and alter a potential 72 different units/squads, I was thinking a custom UI could be implemented. The custom UI would be brought up at will using a button off to the side of the screen. From here, you could build any unit in your arsenal (provided you have the building and/or research required) and the order to train it would automatically go to the closest building that can train it (it will also prioritize based on how many units the building is already training).
Finally, a third option: Putting a custom UI in place that comes into play around a selected building. This would achieve the opposite effect. You'd need to micromanage to build your units, but you'd have greater contorl over when/where they're produced.
Alright mapsters, let's get some feedback! I've nearly finished the Squad Customization system and will have a video up as soon as its presentable! I find it quite impressive (possibly because I know how much work it was O_O). I'm editing the first post with my new ideas.
[Edit]: Well, the video is up. The customizatino system's interface is done, but as you can see, there's still work to be done on how they're recreated in the game. The most obvious flaw is the sounds not syncing up (easy, but time consuming fix). The bottom line is, I need feedback and suggestions.
Alright, I'll record the custom video in the next few hours (finally buying Fraps). Through vigorous testing of Catalog functions, I've determined that a custom UI will definitely be necessary.
I don't have a microphone though so it'll only be visual :S.
I'd play a squad based melee game like Dawn of War 2. But I don't get your races description. Why the races have to be extreme opposites ? Resultats are that Zergs are a mass, Protoss are a few good, and you have trouble finding a place for Terran. You should simply have a different gameplay, a bit like common melee have already.
It's not truly an issue of polarizing the teams. I want the teams to better capture the feeling that you're supposed to get from them. In standard Starcraft II 'Melee' games, Protoss do not feel more advanced than the Terrans. Similarly, the Zerg don't feel like a swarm. I mean, the Zerg have game mechanics which actually discourage expansion (overlords for Supply instead of buildings), have the most expensive units in terms of vespene, and only have one unit that is 1 pop or less. It's simply bad design. I want to recreate the races in such a way that they'll 'feel' different. Playing as two different teams in standard Starcraft II feels way too similar. The Squad layout will help make the game feel like it takes place on a larger scale and will help enforce replayability.
However, the purpose of this thread is to get feedback like that, so if you have any more specific ideas, or points to make, don't hesitate to post them.
How is this going? I have been considering adding squad based combat to my own project, and it's nice to see someone has already made significant progress into the idea.
I've been thinking about a Squad-based SC2 map for a very long time and see that you're well on your way to achieving the concept.
However I do believe that a few criteria need to be met to make the game work. Customisable squads are a very enticing element of the game that will make people want to play the map, but I imagine it working much like a deck of cards. By this I mean, the squads capabilities need to be "tiered" to allow for progress throughout the game, customising a first tier squad is only capable of so much, whereas a second tier squad can accomplish much more; a 3 is still a 3 regardless of it's suit, and a 4 is still higher.
I don't really have to time to explain all of my ideas for this subject right now but I think it could help your project a great deal if you're looking for feedback or ideas.
Although I disagree with some of your design concepts for the races, I love the over all concept. I would definetely, definetely play it, at least once. Whether I continued would be largely based on how well this is all implemented and balanced.
I don't think my disagreement on the race designs would be a problem for me unless it seemed unbalanced.
Over all I very much like the squad customization, and your system seems to work great. About some of the race designs,
Seems slightly OP, but I guess it will help capture the feeling of high tech. An alternative to consider might be very strong anti-air shields. You could use the visual effect which was originally created for the Tempest's anti-ground shields, turned upside down. Could be interesting.
Zerg race has an upgrade that halves the supply cost of all squads
This seems like it would be a littler overpowered, as well it would just become and essential tech. Which is kind of boring. I think that there should definitely be situations in which you would not want to get this. Some kind of trade off. Perhaps a comparative weakening of units, or something.
The Zerg start out as the weakest team, with nothing but a Queen and can easily be rushed. The more land they corrupt, the more dangerous they become, until eventually they're nearly impossible to overwhelm. Beating them early is a must
This is a bad idea. A very very bad idea. It dictates how the game has to be played out if people want to win whenever there is a zerg in the game. And only if the players actually realize this. All in all I think try to create this would simply wreck up the game.
Looks like fun actually. It could be an arena type deal with a few matches where you and your opponent both choose a squad to face off against each other, although you wouldn't know which squad the other team had picked.. so it would be a bit like a complex version of rock, paper, scissors.
Yes, it's designed as an RTS. Sorry I haven't responded. The thread went quite a while without any feedback and I took a few weeks off of modding. I'm back into it now and dividing my work between two projects (one of which is Squadcraft, but it has been given a lower priority until I can get my older title up to my new standards).
<<quote>>Quote from wingednosering: The protoss have a building which can grant shields to a unit anywhere in the field (provided it doesn't already have any)
This seems like it might be a little hard to use effectively. Unless we are talking like a maximum of a dozen or so squads for the Protoss.<</quote>>
It's actually more straightforward than it probably sounds. You select the building, target an allied squad, and that unit gains the bonus until you retarget the building or the shields are destroyed. Once the shields are destroyed, the building has a cooldown before it can recreate the shield and will need to be redirected.
Quote:
Quote from wingednosering: Protoss must expand or be destroyed. Though expansion is a requirement, it is not an asset
Why? Because of their unit costs?
Yup. Protoss units are incredibly expensive. Because their units are so ridiculously strong, they could potentially hold a single base for a very long time, but the resources will run dry quickly.
<<qoute>>Quote from wingednosering: Protoss can spawn units nearly anywhere, but do not cover ground well after creation
ANYWHERE? Or in power fields which are very easy to set up or some such?<</quote>>
Power fields, but there will be many different ways of creating power fields. I haven't completed all the methods of powering the terrain, but currently Colossi can be upgraded to have a constant power field around them, making them walking resupply stations. Standard pylons are not in the game.
Quote:
Quote from wingednosering: All Protoss buildings possess anti-air weaponry
Seems slightly OP, but I guess it will help capture the feeling of high tech. An alternative to consider might be very strong anti-air shields. You could use the visual effect which was originally created for the Tempest's anti-ground shields, turned upside down. Could be interesting.
What's the model you're refering to? The anti-air buildings were implemented as a necessity. They are not strong enough to fight off an entire atack on their own, but the Protoss units cost so much supply and tend to move slower than most units, so the risk of air harrassment was too high. Ideally the anti-air defenses will keep people from sending just 1-2 air units in to harrass the protoss guy, but won't actually do much damage to a proper army.
Quote:
Quote from wingednosering: Zerg upgrades tend to affect the player’s race on a global scale
Could you elaborate on this a bit?
This means their upgrades are like those from the Engineering Bay or Evolution Chamber in the standard melee games. The upgrades tend to affect all of your units at once, instead of one specific unit type (like Siege Mode for tanks).
Quote:
Quote from wingednosering: Zerg race has an upgrade that halves the supply cost of all squads
This seems like it would be a littler overpowered, as well it would just become and essential tech. Which is kind of boring. I think that there should definitely be situations in which you would not want to get this. Some kind of trade off. Perhaps a comparative weakening of units, or something.
I want the zerg to maintain the 'swarm' concept throughout the entire game, so anything I can do to encourage masses of units is probably a good thing. Having said that, I can see how a mandatory upgrade (which this was intended to be) could become annoying after a while. I'll think about a trade-off for it.
Quote:
Quote from wingednosering: GoThe Zerg start out as the weakest team, with nothing but a Queen and can easily be rushed. The more land they corrupt, the more dangerous they become, until eventually they're nearly impossible to overwhelm. Beating them early is a must
This is a bad idea. A very very bad idea. It dictates how the game has to be played out if people want to win whenever there is a zerg in the game. And only if the players actually realize this. All in all I think try to create this would simply wreck up the game.
The idea is not for the Zerg to be unstoppable at the end and useless at the start. I worded my quote very, very badly. Their army maintains a slower state of growth at the start, but the Zerg specialize in claiming and holding land. The idea is that if you don't stop their inexorable expansion, eventually there will be nowhere left for you to go. So it's not so much that you need to rush them as you need to make sure they don't box you in by claiming all the land aside from your own base. This is part of why the protoss will struggle once their resources run dry. You can take land away from the Zerg, but it can be quite difficult.
The plan is for creep to play a more central role in combat. I won't elaborate on it yet, but it's not going to be so predictable as you're thinking.
Quote:
Quote from wingednosering: Terran upgrades often aid allies
How so? What if the allies are of different races. Can you give any examples?
I can give one example. They cannot build medivacs like they build other units, but through upgrades, they can gain the ability to drop in a group of medivacs in a targeted area. For a time, they will heal all allied units in the area.
Introduction
Well, you all knew it was coming (not really...maybe a handful of you that have seen my Comprehensive Squad System saw it coming) but I now have a short list of well working systems, abilities and ideas which I want to attempt to turn into a map. The key to a successful game, as we all know, lies in two things:
1. Is it fun to play?
2. Is it easy to learn, but difficult to master? Lack of depth can lead to monotony, but a steep difficulty curve turns people off.
I hope somebody can help me answer the first. Let me be clear in saying that this is both a brainstorming thread and a project development thread. I hope to get the basic concepts for a fun, addictive map through feedback here, which I will then implement into my design. I already have alot of the basic concepts/units laid out, but I hope to recreate Starcraft II as a squad game, with new racial abilities and truly different playstyles depending on the team you choose to play as (Terran, Zerg, or Protoss).
So if you have an idea, post it. If you would play the game (or wouldn't) tell me why. Most importantly, if you want more information, read on, or see my Comprehensive Squad System thread (see link in my sig) for a video of the Squad behavior and combat.
Here's a video of the Squad Customization System mentioned at the bottom of this post. It's nearing completion (not quite there yet), but I thought I'd show SOMETHING to get some more interest and maybe some feedback. The video could be better, but whatever....it gets the basic premise across.
Keep in mind that this video shows units that are more or less standard starcraft units (no modded stats or costs yet, just left them all standard for the purposes of creating this portion of the map. NOTHING will be left standard if I go on to finish the game (and I'm thinking I will if I can get some helpers).
Here are some basic principles for each of the teams:
Protoss
I never felt like the Protoss properly exuded the feeling of being the galaxy's most advanced race. Nor did I feel particularly overawed by their technology. They are the hunters of the galaxy, purifiers of the universe. Truly a force to be feared! I feel the following point form notes reflect that :P.
Note: I'm working on the Protoss first, so the list of ideas is much more fleshed out for them than the other teams.
Zerg
The Zerg have bothered me since Starcraft II's release. They were my favourite team in SC1 and have remained my favourite in SC2. Unfortunately, the design on them has stopped them from feeling like an infestation and makes them feel more like a race of insects. I'm cool with that, but I really dislike that the swarm-like tendencies they should have simply aren't there. Zerg should be good at expanding, rather than being forced to. They should be capable of massive armies that require little supply, rather than only having one unit under 2 population (banelings, swarmlings, and drones don't count). Below are the changes I would see them have.
Terran
Finally, we come to the Terrans. I've tried to find a nice balance between Zerg and Protoss for the Terrans to settle into, while also giving them their own strengths. Like the other teams, I have a firm image of how I want them to play out, but I also want to keep them distinct.
Upgrades
Here's an example of an individual unit, and how it is affected by upgrades. Say hello to the Protoss' bread and butter unit: The Templar Knights!
Knights: Made up of three dark zealots. These are the strongest units in the game, but require an unrealistic amount of resources and are melee exclusive.
Upgrades:
As you can see, I'm a firm believer in giving upgrades that do more than a % damage boost, or something like that. A fine game to compare my upgrades to would be Halo Wars. There were some things that game did well and some it did badly, but one thing it did incredibly well was upgrades.
I figure nine squads per team is enough (at least for an initial release) + custom buildings and game mechanics.
Customization and Replayability
The game will feature full squad customization, allowing you to literally create your own team. Changes made will not come into effect until the next game you play. If you don't like the starting squad layouts, you can create your own, for all three races! See the youtube link above for an early look at this system! That's all for now, please post feedback and/or ideas.
Uhhh, so I guess the answer is no? Nobody would play it? :P Some feedback would be nice guys, let your voices be heard!
The 'Out There' idea is now 100% going to be implemented. To show off the strength of the squad system I created, I'm actually going to be finishing the squad customization (regardless of whether or not it becomes a game). I'll put up a video when its done.
Since this is a brainstorming thread, I figure I should post some more ideas I had.
The customization of squads means in-game training options probably cannot be done (I'll see about the 'Catalog' triggers). The change in cost, supply and tooltips would be difficult to implement. More importantly, varying tech requirements would be really awkward (for instance, somebody adding a tank to a barracks unit) and switching which unit is built from which building might be a little awkward as well. I believe all of these can be done, but I'm thinking about an alternative.
Instead of needing to write up all those options through triggers and alter a potential 72 different units/squads, I was thinking a custom UI could be implemented. The custom UI would be brought up at will using a button off to the side of the screen. From here, you could build any unit in your arsenal (provided you have the building and/or research required) and the order to train it would automatically go to the closest building that can train it (it will also prioritize based on how many units the building is already training).
Finally, a third option: Putting a custom UI in place that comes into play around a selected building. This would achieve the opposite effect. You'd need to micromanage to build your units, but you'd have greater contorl over when/where they're produced.
Lots of options, and I'm still brainstorming.
Alright mapsters, let's get some feedback! I've nearly finished the Squad Customization system and will have a video up as soon as its presentable! I find it quite impressive (possibly because I know how much work it was O_O). I'm editing the first post with my new ideas.
[Edit]: Well, the video is up. The customizatino system's interface is done, but as you can see, there's still work to be done on how they're recreated in the game. The most obvious flaw is the sounds not syncing up (easy, but time consuming fix). The bottom line is, I need feedback and suggestions.
seeing is believing sport... post the video so that we can check it out
Alright, I'll record the custom video in the next few hours (finally buying Fraps). Through vigorous testing of Catalog functions, I've determined that a custom UI will definitely be necessary.
I don't have a microphone though so it'll only be visual :S.
Recording now.
I'd play a squad based melee game like Dawn of War 2. But I don't get your races description. Why the races have to be extreme opposites ? Resultats are that Zergs are a mass, Protoss are a few good, and you have trouble finding a place for Terran. You should simply have a different gameplay, a bit like common melee have already.
It's not truly an issue of polarizing the teams. I want the teams to better capture the feeling that you're supposed to get from them. In standard Starcraft II 'Melee' games, Protoss do not feel more advanced than the Terrans. Similarly, the Zerg don't feel like a swarm. I mean, the Zerg have game mechanics which actually discourage expansion (overlords for Supply instead of buildings), have the most expensive units in terms of vespene, and only have one unit that is 1 pop or less. It's simply bad design. I want to recreate the races in such a way that they'll 'feel' different. Playing as two different teams in standard Starcraft II feels way too similar. The Squad layout will help make the game feel like it takes place on a larger scale and will help enforce replayability.
However, the purpose of this thread is to get feedback like that, so if you have any more specific ideas, or points to make, don't hesitate to post them.
Video is up.
How is this going? I have been considering adding squad based combat to my own project, and it's nice to see someone has already made significant progress into the idea.
Hi there.
I've been thinking about a Squad-based SC2 map for a very long time and see that you're well on your way to achieving the concept. However I do believe that a few criteria need to be met to make the game work. Customisable squads are a very enticing element of the game that will make people want to play the map, but I imagine it working much like a deck of cards. By this I mean, the squads capabilities need to be "tiered" to allow for progress throughout the game, customising a first tier squad is only capable of so much, whereas a second tier squad can accomplish much more; a 3 is still a 3 regardless of it's suit, and a 4 is still higher.
I don't really have to time to explain all of my ideas for this subject right now but I think it could help your project a great deal if you're looking for feedback or ideas.
Although I disagree with some of your design concepts for the races, I love the over all concept. I would definetely, definetely play it, at least once. Whether I continued would be largely based on how well this is all implemented and balanced.
I don't think my disagreement on the race designs would be a problem for me unless it seemed unbalanced.
Over all I very much like the squad customization, and your system seems to work great. About some of the race designs,
-This seems like it might be a little hard to use effectively. Unless we are talking like a maximum of a dozen or so squads for the Protoss.
Why? Because of their unit costs?
ANYWHERE? Or in power fields which are very easy to set up or some such?
Seems slightly OP, but I guess it will help capture the feeling of high tech. An alternative to consider might be very strong anti-air shields. You could use the visual effect which was originally created for the Tempest's anti-ground shields, turned upside down. Could be interesting.
-Could you elaborate on this a bit?
This seems like it would be a littler overpowered, as well it would just become and essential tech. Which is kind of boring. I think that there should definitely be situations in which you would not want to get this. Some kind of trade off. Perhaps a comparative weakening of units, or something.
This is a bad idea. A very very bad idea. It dictates how the game has to be played out if people want to win whenever there is a zerg in the game. And only if the players actually realize this. All in all I think try to create this would simply wreck up the game.
-How so? What if the allies are of different races. Can you give any examples?
@Ardnived: Go
Looks like fun actually. It could be an arena type deal with a few matches where you and your opponent both choose a squad to face off against each other, although you wouldn't know which squad the other team had picked.. so it would be a bit like a complex version of rock, paper, scissors.
I think this is intended to be more of an altered melee. An RTS.
Yes, it's designed as an RTS. Sorry I haven't responded. The thread went quite a while without any feedback and I took a few weeks off of modding. I'm back into it now and dividing my work between two projects (one of which is Squadcraft, but it has been given a lower priority until I can get my older title up to my new standards).
<<quote>>
Quote from wingednosering: The protoss have a building which can grant shields to a unit anywhere in the field (provided it doesn't already have any)This seems like it might be a little hard to use effectively. Unless we are talking like a maximum of a dozen or so squads for the Protoss.<</quote>>
It's actually more straightforward than it probably sounds. You select the building, target an allied squad, and that unit gains the bonus until you retarget the building or the shields are destroyed. Once the shields are destroyed, the building has a cooldown before it can recreate the shield and will need to be redirected.
Yup. Protoss units are incredibly expensive. Because their units are so ridiculously strong, they could potentially hold a single base for a very long time, but the resources will run dry quickly.
<<qoute>>
Quote from wingednosering: Protoss can spawn units nearly anywhere, but do not cover ground well after creation ANYWHERE? Or in power fields which are very easy to set up or some such?<</quote>>Power fields, but there will be many different ways of creating power fields. I haven't completed all the methods of powering the terrain, but currently Colossi can be upgraded to have a constant power field around them, making them walking resupply stations. Standard pylons are not in the game.
What's the model you're refering to? The anti-air buildings were implemented as a necessity. They are not strong enough to fight off an entire atack on their own, but the Protoss units cost so much supply and tend to move slower than most units, so the risk of air harrassment was too high. Ideally the anti-air defenses will keep people from sending just 1-2 air units in to harrass the protoss guy, but won't actually do much damage to a proper army.
This means their upgrades are like those from the Engineering Bay or Evolution Chamber in the standard melee games. The upgrades tend to affect all of your units at once, instead of one specific unit type (like Siege Mode for tanks).
I want the zerg to maintain the 'swarm' concept throughout the entire game, so anything I can do to encourage masses of units is probably a good thing. Having said that, I can see how a mandatory upgrade (which this was intended to be) could become annoying after a while. I'll think about a trade-off for it.
The idea is not for the Zerg to be unstoppable at the end and useless at the start. I worded my quote very, very badly. Their army maintains a slower state of growth at the start, but the Zerg specialize in claiming and holding land. The idea is that if you don't stop their inexorable expansion, eventually there will be nowhere left for you to go. So it's not so much that you need to rush them as you need to make sure they don't box you in by claiming all the land aside from your own base. This is part of why the protoss will struggle once their resources run dry. You can take land away from the Zerg, but it can be quite difficult.
The plan is for creep to play a more central role in combat. I won't elaborate on it yet, but it's not going to be so predictable as you're thinking.
I can give one example. They cannot build medivacs like they build other units, but through upgrades, they can gain the ability to drop in a group of medivacs in a targeted area. For a time, they will heal all allied units in the area.
@wingednosering: Go
Id play it!!
Come on, let me at it!