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Frequently-Asked Questions

Updated 27 April 2024

Content Questions


Q: Will there be a focus on singleplayer content?
A: Yes. As Cosmonarchy's game state continues to evolve, we are consistently evaluating the techtrees and mechanics in a more melee-oriented environment, complete with AI support. Our driving motivation, however, has always been to create high-quality campaigns and compelling cooperative content, and that is what we will set our sights on after the game state is considered finalized.

Q: To what extent are you supplying new voice acting, sound effects, visual changes, and other such updates?
A: New units have (or will have) new unit responses and weapon, death, and ability sounds. As many units as possible have received aggressive order responses and distress responses. Old units remain otherwise unchanged, unless they received ability overhauls that demand audiovisual modifications.

Q: What is the reason for renaming so many units?
A: Starcraft 1's unit names are mostly surface-level descriptions of what the unit's combat role was intended to be, and didn't always accurately describe the unit in the first place (e.g. Scout). Not only do Cosmonarchy's new names have more character to them, they also act as ways to differentiate between SC1 and Cosmonarchy variants of the same unit.

Cosmonarchy's Zerg names are a mouthful for most, but they follow this internal consistency:
  • -osk means production structure (e.g. Hachirosk, Larvosk)
  • -ith means defensive structure (e.g. Spraith, Surkith)
  • -leth means support/utility unit (e.g. Ovileth, Zoryusthaleth)
  • -rokor means short-range unit (e.g. Zethrokor, Gorgrokor)
  • -lisk means mid-range unit (e.g. Hydralisk, Lakizilisk)
  • -thalor means long-range unit (e.g. Protathalor, Keskathalor)

Q: Will you be editing or remaking Blizzard content?
A: No. Though Cosmonarchy began as a rehash of the original campaigns called Project: HYDRA, there is no reason to limit the scope of the mod to that of Blizzard's work. Other content developers are free to do as they wish with Cosmonarchy's powerful mapping tools!

Q: Because of the sheer number of changes to the game, isn't this project no longer "really Starcraft"?
A: We see Starcraft as the glass ceiling of RTS: it's the best to date, but not without its faults.

Collectively, we want to push the game in the directions that we enjoy as players without sacrificing what makes Starcraft (and RTS games, broadly-speaking) great to play.

This involves cutting down on point-and-click active abilities, increasing the risk and reward of positional gameplay, and removing some of the less exciting APM sinks, such as spam-moving your Goliaths and Dragoons up a ramp.

The goal is to create additional choices, support a myriad of playstyles, and manifest a higher skill ceiling, so that even though good players are rewarded and poor players are punished, both have a fighting chance so long as they are willing to learn and improve. The value of our work within the genre will be judged on the basis of how well we meet those goals.

Other Questions


Q: I'm a content developer. Can I use Cosmonarchy, either in part or in full, for my own work?
A: Yes. You can use all audiovisual assets for your own projects, you can use the tilesets in your maps, and you can equip your SCMDraft 2 profile with Cosmonarchy's mpq to make maps using the new tech and tiles (more info on custom profiles and mpqs in the mapping starter guide. We consider the project open-source. If you do make use of something, please give credit to the original creators, be they ourselves or another developer.

Q: How can I learn more about Cosmonarchy?
A: You can track development on Pr0nogo's youtube channel. You can discuss the project on The No-Frauds Club's discord server and forum.

Want to Help?


For those most fraudulent (or otherwise convinced of the project's grand potential), there are ways to help Cosmonarchy along in its development, or to simply improve what is already developed! If any of them interest you, reach out via discord or email (contact@fraudsclub.com).

Most weeks, we run a game night called Fraudarchy. One of the simplest ways to help us by participating in these game nights, or organizing multiplayer sessions on off-days - and even if you just play singleplayer content, giving feedback based on your time with the project is another way you can potentially help. Failing all that, simply spreading the word is forever appreciated.

If you fancy yourself a content designer, you can contribute to our growing pool of multiplayer maps and cooperative scenarios. If they're good enough for our tastes, you can expect to see your work played during game nights! Consult the mapping starter guide for info on setting up a modified editor profile, and the mapmaker's guidebook for Cosmonarchy-specific tips and tricks.

True legends have in the past provided models, particles, sound effects, and voice acting. If you have something to offer in the audiovisual department, and your work meets or exceeds the quality of our own output, we would very much appreciate your contributions! As of the time of writing, much of the voice acting is done by Pr0nogo, and a great many visual assets are shamelessly ripped from other RTS games - and with our graphics team hopelessly understrength, replacing them all is unlikely to happen. Models for Zerg are in a particularly dire state, as you are likely to witness during playtime.

Finally, if you are balling out of control and feel like the project has enhanced your life, you can send us money for our efforts. We do not ask for financial contributions, but they are indeed appreciated. Contact us directly if you are so inclined.

Bugs and Issues


The best way to make us aware of an issue is to send us a message via discord. Consult our Trello page to see if your issue is already on the board - and if you are playing on the Release version, don't be surprised if we are already aware of the issue! Read on for instructions on submitting bug reports.

What happened?
Explain the issue concisely and with clear terms. Screenshots or video recordings can sometimes help with these reports. If there was a crash, freeze, or desync, describe what was happening prior to the game-ending event as clearly as you can remember.

Is it a memory exception crash?
If a small window with a red X appeared and displayed a long hexadecimal error code, this is a memory exception. If the first non-zero number in the memory address is 4, your report will most likely be useful to us!
Open the most recently-updated .ERR file in your Starcraft/Errors directory. Find the final large block of text, starting with 'PROGRAM VERSION: 1.16.1.1', and attach it with your bug report.

Is it a freeze?
If the game freezes, you will not see any error messages, and clicking on the game window will eventually cause a "silent" crash with no popup.
Freezes are notoriously difficult to debug, but you can try attaching a debugger like OllyDbg and step through the function addresses. If you see the game looping through memory addresses that start with 4, and are 6 digits long, sending us the address of the looping function as part of your bug report would be very useful.

Is it a plugin panic?
If a small window appeared with "[luginname] panic!", with [luginname] being one of 'Aise', 'mtl', 'aice', or 'aidebug', please screenshot the window and attach it with your bug report.

Is it reproducible?
Reproducible errors are significantly easier to resolve than uncommon issues. If you can reproduce the issue, we should be able to as well, so let us know how you did it!