Starcraft Replays

Starcraft replays have always been popular, and there are good reasons why. With the next generation game starcraft 2 now on shelves (you've got your copy already right?) those replays have even more cool features like stats and all kinds of ways of looking at them. In some countries like Korea (duh) those replays go onto television with almost screaming commentators making sports-like color commentary along the way through the match. Starcraft as a sport seems a little over the top to me but there are some really good reasons to get into those replays that you might not have thought about yet.

Starcraft is an especially complex game because it is RTSG (real time strategy game). Strategy games are complex enough as it is, but when you add in the time factor it speeds up the amount of strategy you have to do in the shortest possible period of time. You can think if it asa bit like chess where you only have one second to make a move. Chess is hard enough when you have fifteen minutes or even hours to analyze what to do next, it would be brutal if you had to play it as fast as possible.

Those replays let you in on the secrets of power playing that the pros use. You know, those guys who are playing starcraft for big bucks on television overseas. The pros are the ones who develop all the killer builds and great micro strategies that trickle their way down through the rest of the ladders, and the best way of figuring out the current state of the art when it comes to starcraft strategies comes from watching those epic match replays.

You can learn an almost infinite amount of information by watching starcraft replays if the thing has a good announcer and you know what to look for. It's even better if you can get the original file and watch it with all the statistics and stuff at your fingertips. Dissect what the very best players in the world are doing with their macro and you're sure to learn a few things that can really help you improve.

There are lots of places to watch good starcraft replays such as battle report and HD, but it remains to be seen exactly how everyone is going to use the replays from starcraft 2 with all the nifty upgrades they include. But I'm sure it won't be long before you will figure out how to make the best use of those replays once they are hitting a broadcast website near you. So get to watching and you're sure to improve your starcraft 2 gameplay by leaps and bounds.

Starcraft Trainer

 I've been playing video games longer than I care to tell you about. Probably too long, as a matter of fact. I couldn't even begin to tally up the number of hours (or money) I've spent on gaming over the last - well - a lot of years. But games are fun and a bit addictive and provide a great escape from the everyday without too much in the way of side effects. Sure, there are those who think that games make people more likely to go on mass murdering sprees and all sorts of other nonsense, and there are probably much better ways to spend your time, like with a good book, but overall I think that's it's a pretty innocuous pastime. But with every new generation of games there are those looking for an unfair advantage, and starcraft trainers are no different.

I went through a stage like that myself actually. Looking up cheat codes and what not on the old original nintendo. It was a lot harder to do in those days to be sure, but the internet has changed all that in a huge way. Now cheat codes and hacks and cracks are available all over the internet at virtually a moment's notice. One quick search and you can figure out how to cheat in way that basically make you a godlike entity in the game. A virtual NPC if you will. Able to easily beat what you once found almost impossible, or maybe even completely impossible to do. But after a year or so of using cheat codes back in the day I quit, for good.

It turns out that using cheats makes the game not a game anymore, but rather a rush to the end. And the end of cheating leaves you with a bit of an unsatisfied feeling. Actually it's completely unsatisfying. There is no challenge to a game if you hack it. That's what made those old huge console games so much fun for so long. They only had three buttons and there was no way around having to play the game against the rules. I'll never forget a friend and I finally beating Rastan (yeah I'm old). We whooped and yelled and jumped around like we had actually done something worth yelling about. But it was fun - playing with cheats and beating the game? Not fun at all in the end.

So when it comes to starcraft trainers you can be sure that they will always be around. But really, what's the point in using a trainer to simply finish the game? You'll rocket through the campaign that you paid good money for and then you'll just be done - and bored more than likely. It's a complete waste of time and has some other negative potential consequences as well.

Many trainer programs are actually viruses or spyware in disguise. No elite programmer is going to sit down and spend several hundred hours hacking a game that's just going to change in a few months without some kind of motivation. Typically that motivation is money. But sometimes it takes the form of simple punkness. THey can get a cheap thrill knowing that they are crashing the computer of every person silly enough to load their little subversive program - a program that probably doesn't do anything to starcraft at all.

So in the end, it's my opinion that starcraft trainers and cheats and hacks in general are just dumb. Why pay money for something and then not get anything out of it? It seems a little weird to me, but only because I already know that I've tried cheating and it was a whole lot less fun than doing it the good old fashioned way - and just beating the game outright all by myself. It's a whole lot more fun and satisfying to win.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Strategy part 2

We looked at a few of the things you're going to have to keep in mind when it comes to starcraft 2 protoss gameplay in part 1. Now let's look a bit more precisely at builds so that you have an better idea of what starcraft 2 protoss gameplay looks like from the inside. Of course, we just don't have enough space here to give you a complete strategy, but there are some excellent guides available to give you all the nitty gritty details.

The nice thing about protoss if you like to micro is that the standard opener is pretty simple to handle on a macro level. With fewer decisions to make everything becomes how you use your smaller unit numbers to defeat your enemy who is probably massing lots of bad guys against you (especially zerg). So the standard opener goes like this:

Probe, Probe, Probe -> Build Pylon

Chrono Nexus, Probe, Probe

10-12 supply, Gateway

That's pretty much all there is to it. Once your gateway is up all that's really left is tactical decisions based on expanding and unit choices or upgrades to counter what your opponent is doing. Effective scouting is a must for protoss strategies of any kind to work well. You have to be able to see what your opponent is up to and try to move before he does so that you have time to get your (typically) slower units into play against his weaker (normally) forces and stomp them out.

One build that will get you shooting up the competition ladders is called a 4 gate push. You won't see it all that much in platinum and diamond leagues, because the players are good enough to know how to stop it with highly coordinated and precisely executed micro, but for anyone who is short of very very good, it's really hard to stop a protoss player who is good at a 4 gate push.

Start just like we outlined before and then go for a cybernetics core. Build one assimilator after that and warp gate tech research as soon as the core is done. Then build a few more probes while the assimilator is finishing and get them working. At 150 minerals after this grab 3 gateways and after that it's just zealots, stalkers and 2 or 3 sentries while the warp gate tech is finishing up. By the time you can use the warp gates you have a nice little army to send through it. This whole time you need to be scouting and get a pylon close to to his main base while not letting him find your extra gateways. If you can get a gate close to both the natural and an expansion you've pretty much won. Pop through one gate and hammer away for a bit, then when you start taking to much of a beating just hop through to the other base and wipe it out.

And that's kind of what protoss strategy is all about. With shields you can use the warp gates to get right up close to an enemy base, run in and fire away while your shields hold and then warp to another location. He will be pulling troops to fight off your attack in one spot, but before he can do much more than break through your shields you can be in another spot where there are little to no troops or reinforcements. It takes a lot of good micro to do this, but if you get it down it's hard to stop.

Starcraft 2 Strategies part 2

The rest of multitasking is execution speed and tactical triage. before you can even think about doing any of this your macro has got to be perfect every single time and completely second nature. You can't do five things at once if you can't do one thing well. Start with great macro and you're more than halfway there - to victory. The next part is perpetual motion through high execution speed.

If you watch matches between good players you'll notice that there is always a LOT going on. There is rarely a time when a unit that is not designed for static defense isn't moving. But if you watch weaker player's games you'll notice things like units sitting around a lot doing nothing, buildings not churning out more units, scouts not scouting. The difference between pros and nubs is how many plates they can keep spinning at once, and how many locations on the map they can keep in constant motion. The micro of all that stuff isn't quite as important as all the stuff moving itself.

Which brings us to tactical triage. You can't ever fall into the trap of watching a battle unless it requires macro in order to turn the tide of the match. And before you enter a battle like that you better make damn sure that you have two or three other attacks already in motion to put pressure on somewhere else in your opponent's bases. Idle troops on one side of the map while you try to win with micro just isn't nearly as good as doing a little bit of micro here and there and keeping all of your troops in perpetual motion. Units should never sit still, even if they are not attacking anything. If anything just to keep your enemy guessing about what the heck you're doing moving all your chess pieces around the board.

If you know what to watch and what to ignore you are well on your way to good tactical triage. Get that little cluster of zerglings moving and never let them stop. It really is like spinning plates. If you are zerg against terran and are relying on your arbiter you need ot be able to get into action before he gets emp'd. That's execution speed and triage. But even if you lose that arbiter you might still be able to win if you've got three other small attack forces already in motion that will hit them where they are not looking and not prepared. The more things you give your opponent to react to, the better chance you have of keeping them playing defense while you get to go on the offensive.

They say defense wins championships, but that's bull. At least in starcraft. In order to win consistently in starcraft 2 you have to keep the pressure up and get ahead of your opponent's economy and unit resources. That means taking things out as often and as widespread as you can. Just a worker here and there along with a marine or two and maybe a building - it all adds up over the course of a match. If you can kill that worker or three in one spot while you also take out a small expeditionary force over there and a building at their expansion - well, the game is practically in the bag because you were able to multitask three attacks at once without dropping the ball on your macro.

Starcraft 2 Strategies

I almost hate to tell you this, but I'm not really very good at PvP games. At least, i wasn't until I drew on a lesson I had learned much earlier in life in an entirely different game. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even a computer game at all. For a while I thought I wasn't all that good at RTSG's like starcraft because I'm getting over the hill. You know, old guys just get whipped by young studs right? That should be hogwash in a strategy game. It's not all about how fast you can push buttons in weird combinations and it certainly has nothing to do with how much I can bench press. It does have a lot to do with how fast you can think, and I should have an advantage there - older and wiser you know? And that's how I really improved my starcraft strategies, by relying on an old rule and a different kind of natural talent.

The old rule I mentioned? The best way to get better is by playing against those who are much better than you. Way back in the day I was pretty good at table tennis. Or so I thought. Then this little guy from the Philippines showed up and was beating me like 21 to 3 every single game. and he had this shot that you couldn't return - I mean it was basically un-hittable. But I didn't get mad, I just played him about 500 games. And it forced me to improve. By the end of a semester I was able to make the matches respectable, and even win a decent percentage of the time. I never did get as good as he was, but I got a lot better myself.

And that became a sort of rule for me from then on. Any time I wanted to get better at something, I just went and put myself around the folks who were the very best at it and constantly compared myself and my performance to theirs. I figured out what they were doing that made them so good and then emulated their every move until I was good enough to add some flavor of my own to the process. And it works, every single time - and starcraft strategies are no different.

If you really want to get good - the answer is to get your butt handed to you about 500 times. Honestly - play against really good competition and just grow a thick skin. They are going to laugh at you, kick dirt in your face, and all the other crap bullies do, but every time you get blown up you'll know one more mistake you can't make. eliminate a mistake here and one over there. Get a little faster at this and something else. Know how to work against a 4 gate push and a 6 pool - before you know it you'll be a LOT better than you ever were.

Starcraft 2 Gameplay part 2

Now we know what macro is when it comes to starcraft 2 gameplay, so it's time to put that preliminary knowledge to good use. We'll go with an example here. Perhaps the strongest build currently for protoss is the 4 gate push. If you can get good at a 4 gate push it's very hard to stop. Players in the very highest competition ladders use the 4gp with devastating results. Combined with good macro it's a build that is a winner.

The first thing you need to do is figure out exactly what it takes to execute a 4 gate push. We cover the basics in another article, but a little searching around will find you other good resources that will give you a great overview and even in depth analysis of the build. And that's the second part of good macro. You already know that when playing as a protoss that you need to use a good build and then learn to macro that build well. Now you know that a build called the 4 gate push is a great build. next, you need to have an understanding of why it's a good build and what all the parts of the build mean.

Once you've gained the first two things - knowing what to do, understanding why to do it, you're ready for the last bit - and that's practice. The best way to begin practicing macro is in single player mode. Just run the build over and over in real time against the computer. Use the stats analysis in the game to figure out what you're doing well compared to the pros (you can look at replays of the build along with stats) and just keep practicing that one build until you can do it without even thinking about it. This will free up your mind in matches to worry about micro without dropping the ball on your macro.

Practice will get the build into your subconscious and train you to hit all the right hot-keys every few seconds. It will ensure maximum worker uptime and resource collection as well as precision when it comes to getting the proper units and buildings into play the instant the materials are available. Once you can do all of the build at just the right times - you're ready for practice under pressure in matches. And that's where the rubber really meets the road. Get good at the build in solo play, but perfect it under pressure during matches.

Playing one build over and over until it becomes second nature is the very fastest way to improve your starcraft 2 gameplay. All you need ot do is know what to do by finding the best builds, study those builds so that you understand them, and then practice the build in solo and match play until you can do it basically with your eyes closed. While that may sound like it will take a ton of time, it's really not that bad. And since it will improve your gameplay more than anything else you can do per unit of time - why not give it a shot?

Starcraft II Gameplay

In the next two articles we're going to cover something you may have heard of before, but might not be sure exactly what it is, or how to get better at it. starcraft ii gameplay is highly dependent on three things: macro, micro and multitasking. And the first of these, macro, is absolutely essential if you are going to raise your skill level from just pretty good to really great. Without great macro ability you'll be stuck in the lower ladders and never be able to rise to the more competitive divisions.

What is macro anyway? Macro is all of the "big picture" things you have to do in every match - whether single player or match play. It means building units, watching your economy and building structures. Everything else is micro. Scouting your enemy positions, sending units in to harass, countering and attacking with your main force - that's all micro. Without good macro you will never be able to be in the right place at the right time with the right units to do any micro effectively. In other words, if you don't macro well you've lost already to a good player.

The nice thing about macro is that it's the easiest part of your gameplay in starcraft ii to fix. All you have to do is start with a few simple rules and you'll be well on your way to the next ladder before you know it. All it takes is knowing exactly what to do and then practicing it until you don't even have to think about it any more. That's all there is to it really. It's not that complex, there is no reinventing of the wheel, you just ahve to know what works and then practice it until it becomes second nature to you in match play.

Let's start with an example from the game. Just in case you don't know what a build is - it's macro. A build is what to build, in what order, in order to set you up for everything else you're going to do. Each race has several "go to" builds that work for even the best players. As a matter of fact, the best players are the ones who develop these builds. That means you don't have to go and figure out what works, you just copy what the very best players are doing point by point. We've published several of the best builds before, but you can find them pretty easily. And that's where good macro starts; with a little research into the primary builds. Once you know what you're supposed to do and when, that only leaves understanding and practice. We'll cover those in more detail in part 2.