Following the first-ever Blizzard fansite summit in China, StarCraft sites in the country are claiming that the upcoming StarCraft 2 beta test will include a “very powerful” map editor.
Blizzard’s Chinese representatives apparently confirmed the inclusion of the map editing software with the beta test and said it will let users create RPG maps, although whether it will be limited in any way is currently unknown. The beta release will not include any single-player content, however, and a connection to Battle.net will be required even to play against the AI. The beta version of the game will have its own Battle.net ladder.
StarCraft 2 will require “really good hardware” to run at the highest visual settings, according to the report, with a “mainstream dual core” CPU, two gigabytes of RAM and a 9800 GT video card are recommended for medium settings.
But StarcraftWire.net notes that while the Chinese sites say the map editor “is for sure,” Blizzard’s RTS Community Manager Stefanie “Xordiah” Gwinner said the software probably won’t launch in conjunction with the beta and wouldn’t guarantee its release at all. “Most likely not in the first phase of beta,” she said. “Won’t promise anything for later phases, since we generally don’t promise anything,” although she added it would probably come out some time later in the test.
