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One of RA2's earliest and current AI master, Starcore created the widely used [[Starcore AI packs]], which replace the weak [[Stock AI]] with some truly dangerous machines. As a pure builder, he's no slouch; from the devastating [[rammer]] Warmachine to the mighty [[HS]] [[Tempus Fugit]], Starcore can take any design and make the best use of it.
One of RA2's earliest and current AI master, Starcore created the widely used [[Starcore AI packs]], which replace the weak [[Stock AI]] with some truly dangerous machines. As a pure builder, he's no slouch; from the devastating [[rammer]] Warmachine to the mighty [[HS]] [[Tempus Fugit]], Starcore can take any design and make the best use of it.
+Starcore joined the AceUplink RA2 Forums in December 2003 and was banned from their forums before even posting his first post. It was a mix-up, they thought his IP was owned by a toxic member the forums admins had recently banned. But it almost cost the RA2 Community one of its great builders and the founding father of the Starcore Stock Packs and DSL. It is hard to know if RA2 would still be being played if not for his efforts. Luckily the banning got sorted out and Starcore went on to post his first bot on the forums, Borg Queen of which RFS called it "Overloaded" and ACAMS defended Starcore by saying, "How can it be overloaded, that is like having too much money!"
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+Starcore went on to release the first Starcore Stock AI pack on January 17, 2004, with 15 teams (0f 3-bots each) of his own design (with a bit of help from his sons) all stock and showing off a wide range of building technique and examples. He believed online competitions and tournaments of the time were ruled by a few bot builders that kept various bot building techniques and Botlab glitches to themselves inducing unfair advantages. Up to and including using hidden parts and AI parts because once a bot was built others couldn't tell from the outside in a Stock competition. Starcore wanted everyone to have a chance to learn and compete on a level playing field. There was also an issue back then of AI packs using unbalanced custom parts to try and give the AI bots unfair advantages over the players that didn't have the same parts available in their bot building. Starcore felt that there was plenty of power to be shown tight, efficient AIed bots using a wide range of building types and techniques.
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+For the second Starcore pack, a PM from Rejected (called such because he too had been hit by the banhammers of AceUplink) on ways to improve Alien Queen's stability started a friendship and opened the doors allowing others to include their own bots and teams to show off building skills and an even more diverse range of bot types and techniques. This brought in teams by Rejected, ACAMS, Clutch, Diablo, and Eyce. And many individual bots by Pheud, ACAMS, toAst, Artitan, Clutch, and Rejected. This saw the birth of such bots as the poker VS, Clockwork Hydra, and probably the first juggler in RA2, Mechanical Waterbug. Starcore v2.0 was released on March 11th, 2004, less than two months after Starcore v1.0.
Starcore planned to release the V4 of it's AI pack in 2005, but he disappeared from the community some time ago. He returned in 2007, and an Alpha version of V4 was released tightening designs, upgrading many of the bots to DSA and Caster Armor. This again put the Starcore pack at the forefront of the RA2 Stock packs as one of the most challenging and diverse packs released. Many cut their teeth and grow their skills reviewing and competing against the Starcore pack bots.
Starcore planned to release the V4 of it's AI pack in 2005, but he disappeared from the community some time ago. He returned in 2007, and an Alpha version of V4 was released tightening designs, upgrading many of the bots to DSA and Caster Armor. This again put the Starcore pack at the forefront of the RA2 Stock packs as one of the most challenging and diverse packs released. Many cut their teeth and grow their skills reviewing and competing against the Starcore pack bots.
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'''Notable Robots'''
'''Notable Robots'''
−[[Tempus Fugit]]: A [[Lightweight]] horizontal spinner with 6 razor tips and 2 z-teks as weapons. Earlier version entered in [[BBEANS]]3 but didn't fair well. It was massively updated for Starcore v4 Alpha making it one of the strongest [[LW]] [[HS]] around.
+[[Tempus Fugit]]: A [[Lightweight]] horizontal spinner with 6 razor tips and 2 z-teks as weapons. Starcore came back to RA2 briefly and entered an old version entered in [[BBEANS]]3 but didn't fair well. This showed to Starcore the community had grown and improved and spurred him into creating a massively updated version for the for Starcore v4 Alpha making it one of the strongest [[LW]] [[HS]] around.
−[[Alien Queen]]: One of the more distinctive [[RA2]] [[VS]] ever built. She has been updated and improved with each edition of the [[Starcore AI packs]].
+[[Alien Queen]]: One of the more distinctive [[RA2]] [[VS]] ever built. Built because Starcore felt he could out-do a famous bot of the time called Digital Apocalypse (DA). Alien Queen has been updated, improved, and made more stable with each edition of the [[Starcore AI packs]].
[[Fury]]: Bigger brother to the updated [[Tempus Fugit]]. [[Fury]] is one of the legendary [[MW]] [[HS]].
[[Fury]]: Bigger brother to the updated [[Tempus Fugit]]. [[Fury]] is one of the legendary [[MW]] [[HS]].
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[[Maelstrom]]: A pretty good [[HW]] [[HS]]. It had wedges in the v3 of the [[Starcore AI packs]], but it now has more plows and belly caster armor.
[[Maelstrom]]: A pretty good [[HW]] [[HS]]. It had wedges in the v3 of the [[Starcore AI packs]], but it now has more plows and belly caster armor.
−[[Spin Doctor]]: [[HW]] [[HS]]/[[SnS]] hybrid with 30 irons. Not as good as Pure [[HS]] in sheer damage potential, but now that it has belly caster armor, that makes it much better against popups.
+[[Spin Doctor]]: [[HW]] [[HS]]/[[SnS]] hybrid with 30 irons. It may not be as good as Pure [[HS]] in sheer damage potential, but with its belly caster armor, it is much better against popups.
[[T-800 Terminator]]: A solid [[HW]] [[HS]] with 27 Maces, 2 Spikes, and 4 Ram Plates. It did very well in [[BBEANS]]5.
[[T-800 Terminator]]: A solid [[HW]] [[HS]] with 27 Maces, 2 Spikes, and 4 Ram Plates. It did very well in [[BBEANS]]5.