AI Researcher Releases Browser Version of StarCraft on OpenBW Engine with Multiplayer Support

The classic RTS is now available to play in a new format.

The original real-time strategy game StarCraft, released in 1998, still attracts the attention of genre fans and modders today. Recently, it became possible to play the RTS in a browser — thanks to an artificial intelligence and related technologies researcher.

Heinrich Kuttler announced the release of the browser version of the first StarCraft on social media. According to the researcher, AI technologies were used to create the project:

OpenBW is severely underrated. It's a header-only library, a pixel-perfect re-implementation of the first StarCraft (the project appeared even before the spread of AI!). With a little help from Fable, a web version emerged. For desktop PCs only for now. There might be UI bugs. But 1v1 play via WebRTC is already supported!

The researcher published several screenshots as an example:

The browser version of the first StarCraft is based on the "OpenBW" project — an open-source implementation of the StarCraft: Brood War engine, written in C++. This code reproduces the original game's behavior "pixel by pixel".

In the current version, all three races are available — Zerg, Protoss, and Terran, and a battle can be started on the "Weave" map. Not only gameplay mechanics but also sound are reproduced.