StarCraft 2’s new observer UI mod tool should make for better eSports broadcasts

StarCraft II, and its widow mines.

Blizzard have introduced an an official modding tool to StarCraft 2 which will allow spectators (and more pertinently, shoutcasters) to watch games using a custom UI.

To use the new tool, you’ll need to drop custom files from the game’s Editor into a StarCraft 2 folder on your PC marked ‘Interfaces’ – a folder which won’t exist unless you choose to create it.

SC2Interfaces are less than accessible to the lay-zerg, then, but should enable the capable and persistent to twist a UI designed for player control into one better-suited for spectating.

A modder might create a ‘ObserverVariables.txt’ file, for instance, which would turn off in-game tooltips for the duration of a match. Other files can introduce different font styles or localised text support.

Details on how to access SC2Interfact functionality through the Editor can be found here.

Do you think you’ll be digging into the editor to see what’s possible? Or, perhaps more sensibly, waiting to see what seasoned SC2 modders can come up with to help out shoutcasters?