Warcraft 2 Battle Net Edition Download

[Tinisha]

In Warcraft II, as in many real-time strategy (RTS) games, players collect resources to produce buildings and units in order to defeat an opponent in combat. Players gain access to more advanced units upon construction of tech buildings and research. The majority of the display screen shows the part of the territory on which the player is currently operating, and, using the small minimap, the player can select another location to view and operate on. The fog of war completely hides all territory (appears black) which the player has not explored: terrain that has been explored is always visible in gray tones, but enemy units remain visible only so long as they stay within a friendly unit's visual radius. Buildings remain displayed as the player last saw them, and do not register unobserved changes such as being built, damaged, or repaired, etc.

Warcraft II is a real-time strategy game.[2] In Warcraft II one side represents the human inhabitants of Lordaeron and allied races, and the other controls the invading orcs and their allied races.[3][4] Each side tries to destroy the other by collecting resources and creating an army.[5] The game is played in a medieval setting with fantasy elements, where both sides have melee, ranged, naval and aerial units, and spellcasters.[2][6][7]

Warcraft II allows players to play AI opponents in separate Human and Orc campaigns, and in stand-alone scenarios.[6] Most of the campaign missions follow the pattern "collect resources, build buildings and units, destroy opponents". However, some have other objectives, such as rescuing troops or forts, or escorting important characters through enemy territory.[8]

The game's map editor allows players to develop scenarios for use in multiplayer contests and against AI opponents. The editor runs under the Mac and also under either Windows 95 or, if the WinG library was installed, under Windows 3.0.[6][9]

The scenarios can be played against the AI or in multiplayer games with up to eight players participating. The DOS version initially provided multiplayer games by null modem cable, modem or IPX, and Mac players could also play via TCP/IP or AppleTalk.[10] Blizzard quickly released a facility to connect with Kali, which allows programs to access the Web by means of IPX.[2]

Warcraft II requires players to collect resources, and to produce buildings and units in order to defeat an opponent in combat. The Human Town Hall and Orc Great Hall produce basic workers that dig gold from mines and chop wood from forests and then deliver them to their Halls.[4] Both buildings can be upgraded twice, each increasing usable resources per load from the workers.[11] Players can also construct Shipyards, which can produce both combat ships and Oil Tankers. These tankers build construction offshore Oil Platforms and then deliver the oil to buildings on the shoreline. As all three resources are non-renewable, players must use them efficiently.[11][12] This can lead to creative thinking regarding forests as both a source of lumber and a means of forcing the enemy to go around it.[13]

Workers can also construct Farms, each of which provides food for up to four units, and additional units cannot be produced until enough Farms are built.[11] Farms, being very tough for their cost, are also employed as defensive walls.[13]

Humans and Orcs have sets of buildings with similar functions, but different names and graphics, for producing ground, naval, and air units.[2] All but basic combat units require the assistance of other buildings, or must be produced at buildings that have prerequisite buildings, or both.[11][14] Many buildings can upgrade combat units.[8] When advanced units appear, the Orcs have a strong advantage in ground combat, while the Humans have the more powerful fleet and spellcasters.[15] The most advanced ground combatants on each side can be upgraded and taught some spells, which are different for the two sides.[16] Some campaign missions feature hero units, which are more powerful than normal units of the same type, have unique pictures and names, and must not die, as that causes the failure of the mission.[17]

Initially most of the main map and minimap are blacked out, but the visible area expands as the player's units explore the map. The fog of war completely hides all territory which the player has not explored, and shows only terrain but hides opponents units and buildings if none of the player's units are present.[18]

All functions can be invoked by both the mouse and shortcut keys, including game setup, the menu options and some gameplay functions including scrolling and pausing the game. Units and buildings can be selected by clicking or bandboxing (i.e. using the mouse to draw a box around the units to be selected), and then their actions can be controlled by the mouse or keys.[18]

The First War brought the Fall of Azeroth, following the Orc campaign in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. The survivors of Azeroth have fled by sea to the Human kingdom of Lordaeron, and the Orcs have decided to conquer Lordaeron, in what is known as the Second War. Both sides have acquired allies and new capabilities, including naval and air units, and more powerful spellcasters.[4]

In the Second War, the Orcs are successful at first, but the Humans and their allies take the initiative,[19] partly thanks to an Orc rebellion initiated by the warlock Gul'dan, who seeks to raise the sunken Tomb of Sargeras.[20] Eventually, the Alliance forces push the Horde to Blackrock Spire, but Anduin Lothar, commander of the Alliance, is slain there.[21] At the final battle around the Dark Portal in Azeroth,[19] the Alliance exterminates one Orc clan and captures the Orc supreme commander and the remnants of his forces. Hoping to avoid further invasions, the Alliance destroys the Dark Portal.[20]

After seeing the excellent response to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, released in November 1994, Blizzard Entertainment started working on Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Development began in February 1995[22] and the game was released in North America and Australia on December 5, 1995,[23] and by Zablac Entertainment in Europe in January 1996 for MS-DOS, with a port for Mac OS releasing in August 1996.[24][25][26] Blizzard later explained that the small budgets of the time allowed short development times.[27] The response to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans also allowed Blizzard to recruit additional top-class developers.[28] The company's initial design combined modern and fantasy elements, such as fighter pilots ambushed by a fire-breathing dragon. However, they found that this was unsatisfactory, and that there was plenty of content for a fantasy RTS.[29] The initial release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness ran over a local area network using IPX but not over the Internet communications protocol TCP/IP. Kali, which used the Internet as if it was a local area network, became very popular and Blizzard quickly provided to players a program that made it easy to set up multiplayer Warcraft II games using Kali.[2]

In 1996 Blizzard published Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, an expansion pack initially contracted out to Cyberlore Studios. This contract was cancelled as Blizzard, unhappy after a milestone check-in, moved development in-house.[30] The expansion introduced new Human and Orc campaigns, featuring new and much more powerful heroes.[17] Later that year the company released Warcraft II: Battle Chest, a compilation of Tides of Darkness and Beyond the Dark Portal, for DOS and Windows 3.[31]

Several non-canon expansion packs were released; these expansion packs are not a part of the human and orc campaign story. In 1996 WizardWorks published W!Zone, an expansion pack developed by Sunstorm Interactive, Inc. and authorized by Blizzard Entertainment. It was followed by W!Zone II: Retribution, an expansion pack published by WizardWorks and authorized by Blizzard Entertainment.[citation needed] In 1997 Maverick Software published The Next 70 Levels an expansion pack developed by Maverick Software and authorized by Blizzard Entertainment. It was followed by The Next 350 Levels, an expansion pack published by Maverick Software and authorized by Blizzard Entertainment[citation needed]

Blizzard sold exclusive worldwide rights to develop, publish, and distribute console versions of the game to Electronic Arts.[32] In 1997 Electronic Arts published Warcraft II: The Dark Saga for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, which combined the campaigns of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal. This port was developed by Climax. The Dark Saga also allowed players to automate upgrade of buildings and production of units, and to select more troops at once, facilities that were not extended to the DOS and Mac versions.[8][33] Early betas of The Dark Saga included a working two-player mode which utilized the consoles' respective link cable peripherals, but Electronic Arts eliminated this feature before the final release.[34]

Warcraft II debuted at #2 on PC Data's monthly computer game sales chart for December 1995, behind Myst.[36] It held the spot in January 1996, but dropped to #3 in its third month.[37][38] The game stayed in PC Data's top 3 from April through October,[39][40][41][42] securing first place in April, August and September.[39][41][42] After falling to #5 in November, it exited the top 10 the following month.[43][44] Warcraft II achieved worldwide sales of 500,000 units within three months of release,[45][46] and of over 1.2 million by November.[47][48] This made it the world's most commercially successful computer game of the year as of November, according to PC Data.[49] In the United States, it was the second-best-selling computer game of 1996, again behind Myst.[50] The game sold 835,680 copies and earned $34.5 million in the region for the year.[51] To capitalize on this success, Blizzard released the Warcraft Battlechest on November 11,[52] which bundled Warcraft: Orcs & Humans with Warcraft II and the Beyond the Dark Portal add-on.[53]

c80f0f1006