Info & Strategies

While StarCraft's unit AI's and clumsy controls force you into a hands-on, RSI-inducing, clickfest of frantic micromanagement, there's no denying that Blizzard got the recipe for strategic balance and near infinite replay value absolutely spot on. There's a surprising amount of complexity and depth in StarCraft, but a lot of it isn't actually shown in the game interface. This originally led to a plethora of fan pages and strategy sites, continuing years after the game's initial run. Unfortunately, some of the really good old strategy guides, like Da StarShack and The Institute have completely disappeared into the primordial void of fan site history. I've had to do a bit of dredging, but anyway...

Despite the game's incredible longevity and burgeoning popularity, the years have nevertheless taken their toll. You can, however, find a comprehensive and neutral description of the game and everything about it at the excellent free Internet encyclopedia, the Wikipedia. There are still many small time strategy and info sites out there, but they all tend to rehash the same material. Many of these smaller, personal sites have either disappeared or been recycled into other interests by their creators. Another attribute of StarCraft strategy sites is a preponderance of midi music, although happily, this is less prevalent the last time I checked. Not only can you brush up on yer StarCraft, you can hone your air guitar skills as well. Unfortunately, the slow demise of midi tunes has been replaced by a horrendous predisposition for annoying, sticky pop-ups, and a huge proliferation of crap, strategy-free (and skill-free) "money maps" that seem expressly designed to entertain bored kids on too much red cordial. Such are the perils of Geocities and Tripod user pages, and immense mass market appeal. There's an old StarCraft fans' Ultimate web ring if you're up for a browse of these early but neglected sites. Just a word of warning: these thngs can have a seriously deleterious effect on your sound card, your privacy and your general sense of well-being towards enthusiastic StarCraft fans.