StarCraft pro: Players not always best designers
Print Edition
David Kim is one of the most noted examples of a top game player becoming a successful game designer — a transition that he said is not as easy as it may seem.
As a senior game designer in Blizzard Entertainment, Kim plays “StarCraft II” at a pro-level for the company. He is involved with designing multiplayer features and balancing the races, or species, and multiplayer features for “StarCraft II,” the world’s top RTS (real time strategy) game. It has engaged players at every level, from millions of beginners globally to e-sports professionals.
Before joining Blizzard Entertainment in 2007, Kim was one of the world’s top independent players of StarCraft.
“It’s not the case that best game players have the best game understanding and game design ability,” said Kim in an interview during the ChinaJoy digital entertainment expo in late July.
Kim came to Shanghai to meet fans and promote Blizzard’s latest, “StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm” at ChinaJoy. Kim, born in South Korea, was making his first visit to China’s biggest electronic games show.
In an interview, Kim talked to Shanghai Daily about professional gaming careers, e-sports in China and game balance in the StarCraft series.
Q: Why did you come to Shanghai?
A: I came here to have an in-depth look at the Chinese game industry. The (ChinaJoy) exhibition, crazy amateur players and booth girls were all awesome. It’s impressive even compared with Gamescom (in Germany) and Gstar (in South Korea).
I designed the “StarCraft II” multiplayer experience, including multiplayer balance, units, abilities and maps, as well as new features and upgrades to the Battle.net online platform. I wanted to check out feedback on the new game.
Q: How do you go from a top player to a game designer?
A: I don’t think it’s easy to become a top game player, first. It’s not about how hard you try, it’s also about how much talent you have.
After being a top player, it requires consistent learning, creating and polishing as well as several years of experience.
Q: What’s your view on Chinese e-sports?
A: China is growing rapidly in e-sports and has top “StarCraft II” players like Jim and MacSed. They are stepping up and gaining international recognition gradually.
We have organized WCS (World Championship Series for StarCraft) and we are glad to see progress for Chinese players in WCS.
Q: What are the advantages of the three races in “StarCraft II”? How do you keep them balanced?
A: I don’t want to be biased against any race. Every race has weaknesses and strengths. Terran’s strength is powerful defense combined with strategic options. Zerg’s advantage is pushing power while Protoss has powerful and small units with spells. Personally speaking, the defense and high-tech of human race is cool.
Q: What are your hobbies when not playing games?
A: I like reading comic books. My favorite is a Japanese comic on boxing. I like every kind of movie except horror. I, of course, play other games besides StarCraft — like Warcraft and Diablo.
GREAT NEW GEAR
Acer’s flagship handset model at ChinaJoy
Acer Liquid S1 uses a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 1GB memory RAM and a 5.7-inch screen for complicated mobile games. It was shown during the ChinaJoy expo at booths of several mobile game developers like Chukong.
The handset also features an 8-megapixel camera with an aperture up to F2.0.
Price: Not available
Dell’s Alienware computer for games
The Alienware 18, which debuted during the ChinaJoy game expo, is a monster gaming powerhouse with every detail engineered to give players an intense game experience.
It features an Intel i7 processor and dual graphic chips that deliver increased performance, better image rendering and higher frame rates for games. For the 18-inch model, a 3D display screen is optional.
Price: 29,999 yuan (US$4,838) and 39,999 yuan
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