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.

This New Bioshock Trailer Seems Off...

Something seems different about this Bioshock trailer....no, it's not the poor quality, or the lack of it being uploaded to youtbe because the upload page keeps giving me a 404.....

See if you can tell the difference:

Oh, that's right I added Guile's music from Streetfighter 2. Man, it really does go with everything, doesn't it?

What is Wrong With the Campaign

Is the SC2 campaign the greatest single player RTS campaign ever created? Yes. Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to tell you what Blizzard could (and should) have done better.

Where are the Open, old-school style missions?

Every single mission in the campaign has some little gimmick it's using to make it different. Trains with possible adjutants aboard, angry Protoss probes closing off gas veins, and crystals that create large death fields only Battlecruisers can handle.

What happened to the standard, here's your base, here's the enemy's base now go fight missions? The ones without that annoying (so friggin annoying) dwarf man giving you the exact unit that will preform best in every single mission right when you need it?

While this is a mainstay of the RTS genre (generally you are denied the upper end of the tech tree until you've beaten missions with only the lower end on a gradually increasing difficulty curve) you get the exact unit you need to win that mission. Example, for "Outbreak" what works best is a crapload of Hellions. The only use in the game I found for Diamondbacks was for stopping Dominion trains, and Wraiths? Ok I guess, but only used on the "Wraith" mission.

This system makes the brilliant and depth-increasing upgrade system seem arbitrary. Why bother upgrading units when you get the unit you're supposed to use on the mission it works best on? Where is the choice in that?

For experienced players who say "fie on you dwarf man I'm making marines because I want to, screw your Siege Tanks" there is plenty of experimentation with strategy, but the game almost discourages it by saying "Here's the exact unit you need to beat this mission, make a million of them and you will win."

The lack of open missions make the campaign seem shorter than it is. The only time you may feel like you need upgrades for your units is the last few missions on Char. After an entire campaign of honing strategy, you only get to really use it on one mission.

I think one way to solve this would be to allow for a "campaign custom game" or something of the sort. I want to play a 1v1 (or 1v2, 1v3+) vs an Insane computer with all my units/upgrades/research available. That would be fun.

The Most Epic Game Ever.

So checking HD's youtube channel, as I do daily, I found this game:




Now, let me tell you. I've watched thousands of replays (from WC3 and SC2) in my day, and this is close to the most epic game I have ever seen. If you want to have a serious nerdgasm, you've got to see this game.

Here are the links to the videos (in order):
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Go watch now! Yes, it's long, but trust me. It's worth it.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Strategy

As with most things in starcraft 2 you're going to have to keep a few things in mind when it comes to the differences in starcraft protoss strategy from the original to the new game. There have been so many changes that it's actually quite interesting how much the game has managed to stay so much like the original starcraft and yet be such a great new groundbreaking pleasure to play. But there are some new mechanics and things you're going to have to keep in mind. We won't go into much compare/contrast here because it doesn't matter all that much what used to be, the only thing that matters is now and starcraft protoss strategies start with these things and then continue in part 2 with builds.

First, you'll simply have to make use of chronoboost. It's an interesting ability that draws from your economy to speed the build rate of a structure. You'll have to figure this in to your planning and be very tactical when applying chronoboost in order to win with the protoss. Since protoss buildings build more slowly and have to gather up energy you're going to fall behind if you let a Nexus just sit there and wait for it to hit full strength. You can almost figure in the cost of chronoboost into certain unit builds in order to get them fast enough to counter your opponent for certain must have units and upgrades like the observer and thermal lance.

warpgates are also simply awesome and you really need to get them figured into your builds and strategy. There are five units for protoss that can use the warpgate anywhere there is a power field. This levels the playing field against the much faster zerg units since you can just "warp in" zealots, stalkers, sentries, high templar and dark templar units at strategic locations.

Next come shields. every protoss unit has them and they regenerate much faster than in the original game mechanics. Shields basically work like an extra life bar. As long as your shields are up you're not taking any health loss. If you can figure out how to micro manage your shields on your units you can know when to pull back and let your shield recharge. Really, this is one of the keys in the new version of the game. I like to call it pecking at the foe. You run your units up and blast away for a bit, and then retreat to keep from losing any units. Take out what you can bit by bit without losing much yourself - if at all. It takes great micro to do that, but if you can enter the mid game without having lost anything while at the same time taking down maybe half of your opponents units, you're almost sure to win the match. We'll go into the specific build strategies in part 2.

Starcraft 2 Protoss

There are a lot of changes in starcraft 2 from the original, but most of them have to do with the game engine itself. Sure, there are some changes to the races and units and how everything fits together, but the neat thing is that Blizz managed to completely overhaul an entire game without making it a different game. Which is kind of a hard trick to pull off. Usually when game makers do sequels they fail because the sequel is just not as good a game than the original or is so different it's nothing like the first game, or they fail because the new game is too much like the first game so that not enough has changed to keep it interesting. The starcraft 2 protoss race is a good example of just enough different while remaining mostly the same.

The best way of looking at the way starcraft 2 works is to start with the units themselves. The zealot is pretty different than in the original but the function is the almost exactly the same. The zealot, like all protoss units is powerful by itself. In a straight up fight the zealot can take out 3 to 5 marines or zerglings all by itself, but it's slower than either. As a result the zealot makes a great meat shield for any stage of the game, as well as a good unit for harassment of economies and other functions. And you'll probably end up using them a lot. You will find that in starcraft 2 you'll be in far more need of gas than minerals and you can just blow those extra minerals on more zealots since they are so useful in many different ways.

The sentry is another great protoss unit. They do the same amount of damage as a marine, but include three special abilities tat make any protoss task force much more effective. The force field ability does just what it sounds like. It puts up a block that enemy units cannot penetrate. It doesn't last forever, but it has cool uses like cutting an enemy force in half or blocking them from getting away or even entering battle. The sentry ability reduces incoming ranged damage to your units. They also have hallucination, but that one doesn't get used as much. Hallucination creates a unit that doesn't really exist. You can hallucinate a Colossus to fool your opponent into thinking you are making them even if you haven't.

Stalkers are great as well. They can hit both ground and air units and hit hard. When you add in the blink ability it allows them to move up cliffs in order to escape or attack from flanking positions. Blink also allows you to get away from a zergling rush or siege tank fire into a much more favorable position - the one that doesn't get you killed and let's you wreak havoc on the enemy.

And that's just three of the protoss units in starcraft 2. But they give you a good flavor for the highly technological and very alien feel of the protoss from the original game. In other words, they fell the same, but you play them differently than before. In that way, they are just as good as the original, just in a new game that's even better than the original.