Product:StarcraftMachines at War 1.1Warfare Incorporated 1.2 Argentum 1.2
Price~$30 new$19.95$29.99$11.95
PPC OS compliancen/a (Win95+)WM2003+PPC2k+: ARM + MIPSPPC2k+; ARM only as of 1.2 (older versions also supported MIPS)
Smartphone OS compliancen/a (Win95+)SP2003+, both QVGA (including natively Landscape devices) and 176*220--
Memory requirementRuns even on 32M Win95/98 computersComparatively high: 13M on QVGA MS Smartphones. Note that the game will also run with 8M RAM as is explained in the readme. VGA hi-res requires a bit more memory.<10M<10M
In-game music+; just great+; a bit repetitive, but still better than that of Argentum (particularly quality-wise), let alone WI. Can be, theoretically, made stereo – it, however, didn’t work with me because it's, by default, mono. However, if you just copy over the desktop music (which is of much better quality and stereo), it'll work just fine.-+; a bit repetitive, low quality and mono, though
VGA hi-res support? (All PPC apps work on VGA devices using pixel doubling)n/a+; scaling (showing a game map of four times bigger), not high-res sprites shwoing the same map size--
Screen orientation?n/aBoth LS and Portrait (default: Portrait) on all machines. QVGA (both SP and PPC): 1 2. A 176*220 demo secreenshot; example of Portrait mode on QVGA; the same on VGA Both LS and Portrait (default: Portrait); built-in setting (works under pre-WM2003SE OS’es too)Portrait only
Multiplayer?+ (LAN. Battle.net and TCP/IP hacks)- (only in future if at all)+ (full TCP/IP and native Widcomm BT; up to 4 players; Palm – PPC cross-platform play possible)-
Number of players? Game types with more than two players?2-8; 1 on 1 / Groups, freely settable2-4. In the latest, 1.1 version (as opposed to previous versions, where the game type NOT settable and it was always one-on-one as can be seen in HERE), it now supports teaming with the AI, its under Settings > Game > Align Players, so now you can have 1vs2 or 2vs2 battles2-4; game type NOT settable 2?
Single player missions?3 * 12 official (+ the same in Brood War) + TONS of unofficial ones; packed with video cutscenes every about 6 missions+14 single player missions + 6 bonus missions + downloadable, fan-created ones. Also see THIS. +
Number of maps?Several built-in (2…8 players); tons of user-createdSeveral21 multiplayer maps + several user-created available on their homepage User created maps possible; I’m not aware of any of them being available anywhere
Mission editor?+-+-
Game speed setting?+; MP: set at the beginning of the game and can’t be speed up later; single player: + / - on the numeric keypad+ can be even dynamically increased / decreased with a buttonpress (through button assignment) – MUCH better than anything else- (only before starting games – see the Game Speed slider in both multiplayer and single player mode)- (not settable at all)
Stats+ (no time-based charts, unlike with Machines)By far the best: separate population / scavengers / offensive and defensive units / buildings / credits charts); example: 1 2 3, along with a full view of the map. ++
Control: hardware buttons and/or keys usable? (for example, for group selection / quick focusing to a building)+ (selection / focus: 0…9 keys, freely definable)+;assignable to anything; excellent! PPC w/o a keyboard: 1 2; PPC PE with a keyboard : 1 2; MS Smartphone w/o a keyboard (in this case, s310): 1 2 3) and with keyboard (HTC s710 / Vox): 1 2. Note that, unlike with PPC’s with keyboards, in the latter case no keys were predefined and they need to be defined by hand, should you want to use keyboard menu / production shortcuts. This is a minor problem.-; not any assignment is possible-; not any assignment is possible
Upgrades + (in general, two-level standard attack / defense upgrades separately for ground and air units + some unit-specific upgrades)+ (in general, four-level upgrades; it’s referred to as ‘tech tree’ here. QVGA screenshots: 176*220 screenshots: 1 2 3; QVGA screenshot)++
Map viewing modes (Fog of war etc.)- (Fog of war all the time, unless you use hacks)Excellent: Three modes: normal, discovered (terrain visible, activity isn’t) and fully visible - (Fog of war all the time)- (Fog of war all the time)
Quick scrolling on borders with stylus with selections (no need for minimap-based scrolling)+ (with mouse)- with stylus (need to use the D-pad). Of course, it still works with combined group selection- (the only way to scroll is either using the D-pad or doing this in selection mode – that is, dropping the current selection)+
Unit production: Size of queue5>1010 6
Mass-select of the same unit production buildings (barracks etc)- (already possible in Brood War)+--
Rally point redefinable?++ -+
Money taken at once?++-+
Unit movement & selection:Mass selection of the same visible unit type+ (Ctrl + left click or double left click)+ (double tap; no keyboard shortcut)+ (double-click)-
Attack-Move (instead of simple move)+ (A on keyboard + left click)+--
Patrol?+ (even with waypoints!)+--
Maximal number of selectable units at a time12(no restrictions)(no restrictions)(no restriction, albeit, only the first 14 will be shown)
Groups10 groups, including buildings; quick access via 0…9 keys10 groups, including buildings; quick access via 1..4 icons (PPC) / 0..9, definable keys (default: QWER) on PPC’s / Smartphones with built-in QWERTY. -5; on-screen icons only for quick selection and assignment
Units firing back at attacker attacking another friendly unit in the very close vicinity?+++n/t
Buildings: Mass building deployment (of the same type)?- (albeit SCV’s and probes can be pre-programmed to automatically move on to making the next building, not necessarily of the same type, as soon as it’s ready with the old one)+ (excellent – in a row)--
Sell buildings?--+ -