Games / StarCraft

StarCraft: Brood War

Both versions of StarCraft are welcome. Against people, play on Remastered or on the 2009 version, 1.16.1. Against Nova (opens in a new tab), you need the 2009 version: it is the only one the bots can run on. The launcher starts the right one for each match.

3 brackets scheduled · 42 players · Nova plays all three races

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StarCraft, from a league game

Brackets

Every bracket in the league →

Who plays it

7 players call this their main game.

Which build you need

There are two StarCraft builds and they cannot see each other. Which one you have decides which nights you can play.

Human track · from Blizzard StarCraft: Brood War, current version Blizzard gives the game away. One installer, no key, and it is the build the weekly brackets use. Install it, then let the launcher find it. starcraftremastered.blizzard.com · external link · free Get it from Blizzard
Bot track · version 1.16.1 StarCraft 1.16.1, the 2009 build The only build our bots can run on. Blizzard stopped distributing it years ago, so there is no official button to point you at. OPLeague does not host or hand out the game. If this build is already on your computer the launcher will find it, check it and set it up; if it is not, the page below explains what to look for. required for Nova in every race How to get it

Why the bots need a sixteen-year-old build

Nova runs on BWAPI, the community framework every StarCraft AI is built on. It hooks into the 2009 build. Blizzard added anti-cheat protection in the 2017 patch that shuts BWAPI out, so Nova cannot run on the current client and never will. The launcher knows which build a match needs and starts that one, so you never have to.

StarCraft questions

The short answers

Which version of StarCraft does the league use?
Both, and you do not have to choose. Brackets against people are played on Remastered or on the 2009 build, version 1.16.1, whichever one you already have. You only need 1.16.1 to play Nova, because the bots hook into that build and the 2017 patch shut them out of the current client. The launcher knows which build a match needs and starts that one, so you never have to think about it. The two builds, side by side
Who made the league maps?
We did. Sessrumnir, Frostgate, Jotunheim and the rest were built here on known-good terrain and balanced by measurement rather than by feel: mining rate, gas distance and rush distance come out identical for every player, and each map publishes its own fairness numbers. They are free, they arrive by email, and every one of them opens in both builds of StarCraft. The maps and their numbers
Do I have to upload my replays?
No. The launcher reports every match when it ends, with the replay attached, so there is nothing to find on your drive and nothing to type in. That is also what makes a result checkable: a score with no replay behind it is a claim, and the league does not rank claims. What the launcher does

Every question, answered