Speaking as a complete "noob" this didn't help me as much as it looked like it would, because there wasn't enough info about the exact keys you are pressing and what you are clicking.
So I look at the scene where the void rays shoot each other for a sec to keep charged and i'm thinking, if I right click them on each other they'll just follow each other instead of shooting each other right? If this is for complete beginners, you might have to spell it out incredibly simply, a la "Starcraft for Dummies" style.
Thanks for the effort on this project though, i'm sure it will be much appreciated by "noobs" everywhere. And no I don't care about the state of the room you are casting from if my void ray skills improve!
On July 26 2010 06:19 - Praetorian - wrote: Speaking as a complete "noob" this didn't help me as much as it looked like it would, because there wasn't enough info about the exact keys you are pressing and what you are clicking.
So I look at the scene where the void rays shoot each other for a sec to keep charged and i'm thinking, if I right click them on each other they'll just follow each other instead of shooting each other right? If this is for complete beginners, you might have to spell it out incredibly simply, a la "Starcraft for Dummies" style.
Thanks for the effort on this project though, i'm sure it will be much appreciated by "noobs" everywhere. And no I don't care about the state of the room you are casting from if my void ray skills improve!
there is a difference between noobs and complete imbeciles
there is a difference between noobs and complete imbeciles
do little work yourself
I'm not an imbecile i'd like to think i'm fairly intelligent, was gold league before SC2 beta went down and played SC1 quite a lot. Just didn't get how some of the things were done at first without knowing what was clicked / pressed, and I think it took something away from the idea of instant help to "noobs".
there is a difference between noobs and complete imbeciles
do little work yourself
I'm not an imbecile i'd like to think i'm fairly intelligent, was gold league before SC2 beta went down and played SC1 quite a lot. Just didn't get how some of the things were done at first without knowing what was clicked / pressed, and I think it took something away from the idea of instant help to "noobs".
While I do try to stay as newbie friendly as possible, I am definitely not trying to teach to the ULTIMATE newbie--quite honestly, I wouldn't have fun at all teaching people the difference between attacking, moving, and attack-moving. Similarly, I choose to assume that most of my audience knows how to attack their own units. The type of person I try to target with my videos is someone who has all the mechanics of the game under their fingers, and is just looking to figure out how to optimize their play to take it to the next level. When the game releases, I'd imagine this is a person who has completed the single player campaign, but has struggled to find their way up the ladder in 1v1.
I had an idea for some future episodes in your series. Perhaps it would be helpful to the audience to go over the beauties of the macro-made <shift> key, for queuing multiple buildings (e.g., photon cannons, supply depots, etc.), using it for multi-location patrolling, queuing up an ability along the path (e.g. blink as each unit in a squadron approaches a location on a cliff, roaches unburrowing once they reach the mineral line, maybe even raven seeker missles if that's possible, etc.)
I've just recently discovered this mechanic after watching some videos you reccommended in the comments of one of your previous videos, and I feel after playing against the AI a few times while the beta is down, that it's greatly improved my game. Also, you may have covered this already, or maybe I'm remembering another video, but if you haven't, if you had any suggestions on macro with terran since the <tab> key has been nerfed.
It's whatever, I mean, don't feel like you have to do what I suggested, but I thought these topics might make for good instruction.
On July 26 2010 06:19 - Praetorian - wrote: Speaking as a complete "noob" this didn't help me as much as it looked like it would, because there wasn't enough info about the exact keys you are pressing and what you are clicking.
So I look at the scene where the void rays shoot each other for a sec to keep charged and i'm thinking, if I right click them on each other they'll just follow each other instead of shooting each other right? If this is for complete beginners, you might have to spell it out incredibly simply, a la "Starcraft for Dummies" style.
Thanks for the effort on this project though, i'm sure it will be much appreciated by "noobs" everywhere. And no I don't care about the state of the room you are casting from if my void ray skills improve!
Hotkey your void rays. Say 4 for example.
Click 4 a, then click on one of your void rays, then do the other one. They will now be attacking each other. Press 4 m, click direction you want to move.
P.S. To be fair, if you can't do the void rays attacking each other. You shouldn't really be getting void rays intill you are better. Void rays are quite micro intensive. Also, you would have to practice the timing.
Hi, I watched all your vids and really enjoyed them! Oh yeah and to all the haters complaining about your bedroom, that is insane, most important thing is the content, which I think is REALLY well done and obv a lot of effort was put into it ... anyway... I'm from another RTS, did not play the beta, and SC2 is very interesting, the game mechanics are both exciting and intuitive. I had a couple noob questions, I wonder if you could help me?
1. As zerg, is there a faster way to select larvae than clicking on their images on the minimap? Like a hotkey for existing larvae or a way to preselect the morphs of future larvae?
2. Is there a hotkey or way to find idle military? Or a way to cycle through my military, and find them?
3. Is there a "bring all military units here" command/hotkey?
4. What's the best way to make my peons attack an enemy unit? They seem to be really reluctant to do this, should I select a small number at a time, shift-click them through the opposition (harder to do vs something like zerglings)?
5. Currently is there a spreadsheet that DIRECTLY COMPARES unit stats? There are lots of unit stats found online but I have been working on my own spreadsheet that does direct unit costs, one-hit calculations, etc; however I know someone else will do something tidier and more informative, is it out yet? Hah.
On July 06 2010 06:38 DuncanIdaho wrote: I tend to attempt to tech up to something better, but typically I find scouting to be a feeling of, well I see it coming, they'll get here right as the counters are still in production and not quite finished... But sometimes I get lucky and I see their army and have time to tech up. And I realize getting a peek at their army is only one part of scouting, knowing what buildings are out and what xpos they're attempting to grab are also spoils of scouting, but my game tends to lack when i see a mixed group. I can deal with mass anything, given sufficient time to build a mass of the countering unit, but when they mix stuff, I grit my teeth, mix stuff on my own that I think might work, and sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. And I'm not wanting to know the "Do this and you'll always win" advice, but just recommended counters that work against typical things we'll see, and preferably counters that are reasonable to have made in time (either needing micro or not, of course, though the less micro necessary the better :p ).
This is a pretty common problem for new and even intermediate players. What you'll get better at in time will be already having what you need when he brings out his new unit. Rarely if ever do you scout a literal unit of his and then build counters (though you might build more)... by this time it is too late, you've officially been surprised. What you're looking for is early signs of it. You might scout his lack of units (indicating he is teching). You might scout an expansion (indicating his tech will be delayed). When you see something like this, you begin to prepare. For example, if I see a zerg player with spines at his natural, but few units, I make sure I have appropriate tech to deal with muta. Even without scouting muta directly. You get a feel for the timings "ok, he should be finishing his lair about now" and prepare accordingly. The idea of "building counters" is so crazy flawed from the get-go... Yes, you need to have certain units to hold off certain attacks, but if he knows you are going to build the counter to his unit, then he will build the counter to yours, and you will build the counter to that... on and on, meaning nothing really counters anything.
Mixed armies (which result from above scenario) are all about management. If your immortals fight his tanks, and collossus fight his marines, you are going to do unimaginably better than if your immortals fight his marines and your collossus fights his tanks. Tactics, and applying these units correctly is the most important things. The same army can obliterate or be obliterated. So while it's important to have a good composition (note, not a counter-composition), focus on how you apply your units and you will see big gains.
I'd like to see some noob-friendly shows about how to break out of bronze (that's even a good name, eh?). For example, a friend of mine who just got the game was complaining to me about getting destroyed by Void Rays. I remember my first online games and getting the same type of feeling.
I know that it isn't easy or even a good idea to talk about specific anti-VR strats, for example, but since a number of people are likely to run into this, having something for them to grab onto might really help them out. Illustrating the value of good scouting, strong macro, early pushes, etc can give that mental boost to overcome the frustration of going down to a bunch of VRs early in your online career.
Other ideas (and perhaps related) would be a couple of basic builds for people to work on. I've found that a 3 or 4 rax build is a good general opening because 1) it's simple: just focus on marines and marauders, with a couple basic upgrades 2) can handle a lot of stuff fairly easily, especially if you build enough SCV to support 4 rax. Once you get in the habit of really overproducing scv (not actually overproducing but it feels like it to a noob), you'll see that your economy is surpassing even 4 raxes and you can start with second tier, etc. At least for me, this approach really helped me up my terran game, and I'm sure there are similar builds for toss and zerg (2-3 gate and roaches, maybe?) that allow people to focus on basic (drones & lowmoney) while still being able to handle a lot of what other people will through at them.
Two new videos up! My first Map Spotlight, showing an AWESOME and very frequently used map by myself: The Unit Tester.
My next video, this time in a new segment I'm calling the "Micro Lab" we talk about an important micro technique. This will show you how to turn an even battle into a solid win: Fleeing the Weak.
It would be awesome to get walked through some of the newer maps in the pool. Nothing compares to practise obviously, but I feel like I've seen so many matches on LT, ST, BS etc. that I just know them, without even laddering that much. All the newer maps in the pool however, are a different story - only realise they even exist when I'm playing someone, and haven't seen a blatant back-door, or something equally stupid.
It's a shame that folks aren't on this thread so much any more. I guess now everyone actually has the game they're focused on practise. I personally like to take some time to reflect after getting owned ;-)
Let's get some more ideas together fellow noobs!!!
Oh lord, Please don't teach anymore new terran players how to build 3 barracks and how to press a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a. then 1a
I don't think we can fit anymore 6 year-olds in platinum right now.
Awsome to see your still keeping at the vids Trebis, I'll be checking them all out later, keep up the great work bro! Also I thought I'd add that anyone who says you should do this or that with regards to blocking site of your room should just be ignored, personally i dont give a shit if we can see your room, everyone gets to see Day's winny the pooh drawing on his wall and doesnt say anything dumb like "take it down its not starcraft related".
On August 14 2010 09:22 Mantikor wrote: Oh lord, Please don't teach anymore new terran players how to build 3 barracks and how to press a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a. then 1a
I don't think we can fit anymore 6 year-olds in platinum right now.
Good thing for the first commandment of noob schoolage: Thou Shalt Not Teach Cheese.