Blizzard rolls out Patch 2.0.10 for StarCraft 2

 

 

Patch 2.0.10 promises to be many things and while it is a lot of things, the new patch will have little to no impact on the current landscape of 1v1 battles. Rolling out the patch notes on their official forums, Blizzard announced changes to custom UIs, custom game search categories, map editing, replays, and perhaps the most interesting feature of all, the introduction of a color blind friendly mode.

 

If you have been deterred at playing StarCraft 2 multiplayer due to optical deficiencies in perceiving certain colors, aka color blindness, this news is huge. With a reduced reliance on color coded cues and recognition of certain icons, this move allows for a more inclusive StarCraft 2 experience that can and may lead to the rise of newer and better players whose game was otherwise thwarted by color confusion.

 

Adding to the improved clarity in icons will be the addition of destructible terrain markers on the mini-map. This is perhaps the most welcomed change to the mini-map which will receive a visibility update helping color blind players, as with the rest of us, in monitoring activity on the game essential tracker.

 

The biggest change though will probably be celebrated by shout casters and competitive gamers who have a knack of reviewing replays the most. In what was, in its current state, a slow and clunky replay timeline slider; video scrubbing will now receive a massive overhaul in the latest patch, leading to a smoother and more time efficient viewing experience when seeking events beyond what has already buffered. 

 

 

Other notable highlights include the addition of new levels of zoom when watching a replay, a feature that has casters everywhere spotting even wider grins, and customizable UI layouts loadable from one’s own document folders. Map editors get some love too with updates to the terrain module; adding support for map symmetry, as well as tweaks to multi-region publishing, among a slew of other alterations.

 

On the race front there were few changes to report, though worthy ones include a fix on Mutalisk Glaive Worms, stating that they will now not bounce off disguised Changelings, and Widow Mines now not being able to cancel the graviton beam.

 

Blizzard has not yet set a release date for the patch though they did tease on their official webpage that it is “coming soon”.

 

What are your thoughts on the latest StarCraft 2 patch? Excited at the new UI and replay improvements? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[UPDATE] The link to the full patch notes doesn’t seem to work anymore with this may be linked to the fact that Blizzard is experiencing problems rolling out Patch 2.0.10, notably within the SEA region. http://www.pcgamesn.com/starcraft/starcraft-2-patch-2010-delayed-following-issues-asian-release-old-replays-incompatible-new-version