October: Games Played and Time Lost

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Happy Halloween. By the way, most of my WoW gametime has been more or less pushed to the backburner until Cataclysm comes out. This is usually about the time that I take an extended pre-release WoW break anyways, but to be honest, there’s just not a whole lot to do at the moment. I guess I can PvP or run dungeons, but the two big things that I really wanted to complete before the expansion (Loremaster and Kingslayer) have been finished. Besides, it’s gaming season and all of the new shit is starting to come out. Come early December it’s not like I’m going to do anything else on my computer for X months other than play WoW.

I posted a series of Minecraft videos on YouTube. The original idea was to narrate them, something that I still might do. I was going to do a Keiya’s adventures sort of continuous story bit but, eh. The problem with that is Minecraft is one of those games that I am usually playing while either half-watching or half-doing something else. It’s relaxing (when not in dark areas at least lol) and I like it that way. These videos are ultra crap-ass but I had fun recording them and hope that at least at least one person enjoys them.

I haven’t had much of a chance to play the Minecraft update in depth, just in small spurts; Partially because I was busy this past weekend and partially because a new Sims 3 expansion (Late Night) pack came out. I caved in and bought it after work on Friday; Obsessively playing it for a good portion of the weekend, which means that it probably warrants a review post. It’s a fairly standard expansion pack for better or for worse. I’d say that it’s probably my favorite out of the three that have been released, but much of it seems half-assed compared to the corresponding Sims 2 expansion features. The implementation of apartments in particular are pretty lame.

Wow is it really November already? Hey, CoD and AC:B are coming out soon…

Minecraft: Brave New Worlds

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Note: If anyone cares, there are forums on this site; Mostly for me to play around with, but guest posting is now enabled. If anyone has a question or concern about any topic I post about or any game that I play, I would be happy to respond.

I played around with the new talents and mechanics in the latest WoW patch last week. The verdict on the new retribution changes is still out in the open, but that is for another post. So in Minecraft World #1, Base Beta has a spiral staircase that winds all the way down to the bedrock layer, where there are a series of tunnel mines extended off in various directions. One of these tunnels goes on for quite a bit but surfaces up against the edge of a lake. Base Gamma was built a short distance away from that tunnel in a small valley surrounded by mountains and a neat waterfall flowing into a small lake.

There’s a small cave entrance off in the far corner of the lake. I explored it and unearthed a huge huge series of underground caverns (which was later connected to a tunnel dug from inside of Gamma ). In the process of exploring, I came across a section of the cave that just infinitely spawned mobs of every single type. Had I been wiser, I totally could have setup a bad ass mob farming trap. I mean, I sat there and whacked on them until I ran out of weapons and arrows and they still came.

Later on, I had explored the area in peaceful to see if there was a mob spawner nearby, but could not find any. What I did find was an even larger series of caves right above me in the same chunk. I am assuming that they were spawning in the darkness and falling down some hole in the ceiling. I didn’t realize that they could spawn in that quantity that fast. That cave was also nowhere near my origin chunk. I checked that too.

Anyway, being a dumbass, I kept dying in that same area, losing 2 diamond picks and a small stash of diamond ore in the process because I had not bothered dropping them off at Gamma. It was then and there that I had pretty much ragequit that game and started a new world with the intention of being more build centric. So Minecraft World #2 is what I have been up to lately. I made a video today detailing what I had built last week over the 3 day weekend (and some change. The dock, underwater tunnel and tower were built this week). It was supposed to be narrated, the YouTube annotations will have to suffice for the time being.

Also: Is there a better way or program to use to re-encode Fraps videos? Is there? Or at least, is there some way to get Fraps to encode differently so that 1 minute videos aren’t 500+ MB in size? Handbrake doesn’t seem to ffmpeg very well and would encode videos without errr the video part, so I had to decompress the file in virtual dub (couldn’t get the proper codec working in that program either, but didn’t really bother trying. It was late), then encode it in handbrake. Bah. Nevermind. The issue was fixed in Handbrake’s nightly builds.

So here’s a Cartograph render of my World #2 map (posted below this paragraph). The generated map was about twice the size of the cropped image that I uploaded. Out of everything rendered there were 43812115 blocks of stone, 390598 blocks of grass, 23159 gold ore, 9505 diamond or and a whopping 410 blocks of clay. CLAY. Why is it so damn hard to find clay? I can’t possibly build my brick empire with 410 blocks of clay. More exploring is necessary.
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Uncharted 2

I better post this before I disappear into the world of Minecraft again. Sorry, did a pretty shoddy proofing reading and editing job, even for me. I was looking for a new console game to fix on a few weeks back and ended up purchasing Uncharted 2. TL;DR, it’s really fun, go buy/rent it. I really didn’t know what to expect from this game, it was a title that I have heard of multiple times, heard that it was fantastic, but just blew off because of a time constraint or general lack of interest. More specifically, at the time it seemed like a generic action game, in that it didn’t fill one of my fantasy/sci-fi weakness niches so I passed on it.

In some sense, it is a generic action game: Nathan Drake, from a design standpoint is such a normal character. He’s un-noteworthy to a point: He doesn’t have an eye-patch, a mechanical arm or super powers. There’s not a whole lot that stands out about him on a surface perspective, which is what I think makes him a great character. There’s no gimmick or “miracle.”  Nathan Drake and the cast of Uncharted 2 are believable characters to the extent that I think players get the feeling that if they were a little more athletic and well studied, they too could climb walls and partake in wonderful adventures. It creates a connection rarely seen in a game nowadays.

Uncharted 2 is cinematic. It plays out like an interactive movie, which in game speak translates to a well paced plot-based linear title. The action scenes are artfully scripted, the dialogue is well placed and well written, and the cutscenes are plentiful, but well done and don’t overstay their welcome. In fact, many could have been cutscenes were replaced by (for lack of a better term) playable scenes.

Uncharted 2’s gameplay is pretty standard fair in terms of action games. Much of the gameplay reminds me of Assassin’s Creed in the, climbing around and jumping on things sense (but without the sandbox element). The free running and climbing is very fluid if not a bit obvious, since much of it consists of searching for conspicuous bricks and ledges sticking out from walls, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it feels very very similar control wise, so having played Assassin’s Creed not so long ago, there wasn’t really a learning curve which is nice (because apparently, my game attention span has shrunk).

The camera angles are very deliberate; it’s like a movie and its director: We are supposed to experience certain scenes from a certain angle. It works well for the story and the game’s atmosphere at a small sacrifice to gameplay (in my opinion at least). Any time a game takes control of the camera, console games especially, awkward control situations are created. For example: At one point a truck is chasing you. the camera pans around to a full frontal shot so that Drake is running towards you with the truck speeding after him in the background. You are supposed to run and gun, but which way do you  hold the stick? Are the controls reversed because the camera is reversed? The point of reference tends to change with some frequency and that just feels really really odd to me as a primary PC gamer. It’s not that big of a deal, but camera antics are a personal pet peeve.

The combat felt a little weak for an action title. Aiming and targetting is a little cludgy and the cover system doesn’t feel as natural as it should. Much of the ranged combat also felt somewhat off. I mean, in what magical land, real life, gaming or otherwise are headshots not insta-kills? Did they just not register or do they really take two or three headshots to go down. Awkward. Uncharted 2 also suffers from Obvious Level Design Syndrome, though to a pretty minor extent: You walk into a large round room with boxes and other low cover walls strewn about. There are two doors off on the opposite side. What are the odds that a swarm of enemies are about to rush?

Even so, the combat system is fun and doesn’t feel like a chore. You have the option of sneaking up and stealth killing an enemy, going balls out and rushing, taking a cautious ranged approach or any number of strategies. There are a surprising number of combat options depending on both level and weapons available. One method might work well for one particular scene whereas poorly in another.

I, being a primary PC gamer am usually poo-poo about console graphics, but I was legitimately impressed with Uncharted 2, specifically its color palette. This game is notably color. As in, a game that actually achieves a realistic graphical design (as opposed to cartoony or abstract) while using colors extended beyond shades of brown and browner. Amidst, drably designed “modern” games, Uncharted 2 is a shining jewel. Seriously, it’s vibrant.

Uncharted is a visual treat. The environment is lush, detailed and quite varied; Ranging from jungles, to temples, to snowy mountains. The shadowing is gorgeous and the visual design is pleasing. There were a couple occasions in which I hit an invisible wall, but not many. The game boundaries and level flow are presented naturally enough not to notice. Nothing breaks immersion more than a game element sticking out like a sore thumb. Speaking of which, instead of having a giant bar across the screen, color is also used to indicate Drake’s health level. As he takes dangerous amounts of damage, the game’s color saturation will fade, when you are about to die it’s black and white.

Uncharted 2 isn’t the most original game. It’s one part Indiana Jones and one part Tomb Raider, mashed together in cinematic video game form. It also doesn’t excel in any particular area (though as mentioned before, the graphics are very impressive). What it does provide though, are a variety of experiences neatly tied together in a package that has been polished to a mirror shine. It’s the kind of game that will make you wonder why other similar games aren’t as fun and polished. Well worth buying.

Obsessive Minecraft Playing

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Beware, Minecraft is a time siphon. Hours go in and block castles crafted from stone come out. Normally, when some fad indie game suddenly goes popular, it ends up being some obtuse title that’s difficult to really get into, unless you pour hours into getting over some ass learning curve. I held off on buying Minecraft for as long as I could, possibly for that reason or possibly for more shallow graphical preferences. I mean, it sounded neat and I know that it has been around for a long ass time but for some reason, I just didn’t find it appealing enough to try out, until a coworker basically showed me not only exactly what it was, but what could be done within the confines of the game. Since utterly caving in, I haven’t been able to put it down. This game is some serious crack.

Minecraft is part LEGO, part exploring and part survival. You start off in a randomly generated 3D world. Everything within this world is constructed of textured blocks, which are mineable and will yield various resources (mining stone will yield stone and so forth). These resources are used for building things and crafting items. You can use wood to make wooden planks. These wooden planks can be used to build a wooden house or used to craft things like swords, picks, etc. Oh and when evening hits, mobs will spawn from the darkness and try to kill you.

I think that everyone has their own approach to Minecraft; It’s certainly open enough. Some people focus on the exploration, some people stab the zombies and some people (okay most people probably) enjoy it as a giant bucket of LEGO. There is no real goal and no real story other than the one that you create. It’s just, fun to play. If you have some time and $10 it’s well worth a whirl. If I find time I will post my illustrated Minecraft story thus far. I really wish Minecraft had a screenshot key. Pasting images into paint and manually saving them is kind of ghetto, but whatever. PS: This comic makes sense now. Stupid exploding zombies…

Final Fantasy XIV: Gridania

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This morning, for the first time ever, the Final Fantasy XIV updater actually worked. As in, I was able to download and install the patch as intended without having to resort to megaupload mirrors linked on forums. Rock on! Anyway, there is something that I find visually unappealing about the way Limsa Lominsa looks and is laid out. For whatever reason it just feels sterile to me or something.

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So instead of continuing in that zone, I rolled a new character (pictured to the right) in Gridania. The city itself, set in the midst of a lush green forest, is comprised of crafted wooden structures interwoven with the natural environment. I suppose every fantasy MMO needs its “elven” city so this would be it. Gridania’s layout is fairy straightforward: It’s roughly a circle with a couple of offshoots. There’s still an ungodly amount of running between one end to the other, but I think that it is easier to navigate than Limsa Lominsa’s multi-tiered spread.

The Gridania Rank 1 quest line, “The Color of Sin” is a personalized linear story that is very single player Final Fantasy-esque, integrating short cutscenes with gameplay and dialogue. In pure MMO mechanical terms, the gameplay itself wasn’t too interesting; You run around between NPCs, you talk to people, do an escort quest and kill a few things. That’s pretty standard fare, but I really like how the entire quest line is packaged together. Overall, it succeeds as a narrative and at retaining the overall feel of the Final Fantasy franchise.

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As a part of this quest line, after quite a bit of NPC bouncing, you are eventually told to head to the growery. At this particular location you are tasked with learning a dance from a group of 6 children in order to partake in a ritual. In order to learn this dance, you must talk with each child and perform a specific emote based off of a text clue. I think this part of the questline would have been less frustrating if the hints had made more sense (mistranslation?). I had to look up a few of the answers or copy the other players around me, who also looked just as confused based off of the frustrated emote spam. By the way, if anyone needs them, here are the solutions:

Elyn: /lookout (wave 3 times, what?)
Nicoliaux: /clap
Sansa: /bow
Ryd: /surprise
Aunille: /beckon
Powle: /cheer

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In exchange for these “dance lessons,” you must escort two children into some forest grove. The escort quest functions much like any other MMO escort quest. You must stay near the children (bounds are represented by the red circle on the minimap) and you must not let any harm come to them. The NPCs aren’t on rails, they use some sort of pathing algorithm which is alright, just a little different than what I am used to.

I would love to play more storyline quests like this one. I hope that Square Enix is majorly holding back because after finishing “The Color of sin,” the next storyline quest doesn’t occur until you hit rank 10 (the one after that being at level 20 and so forth). Inbetween story quests, at least to my understanding, you grind on guildleve quests which are generally uninteresting. I mean, if the entire leveling structure was mostly story quest based, that would be pretty bad ass. At the moment, content seems way too sparse and bizarrly paced. But then again, Square Enix did say that they were holding a few things for release day.

Out of curiosity: are there any keybindings in this game or is there a way of at least macroing certain items? Since the menus are so slow and nested, I would like to be able to access as many things as possible with the keyboard. Ideally, ‘r’ for example should allow you to respond to tells, ‘j’ should open the quest journal and so forth. Doesn’t FFXI have default keybindings for most menu items?

Final Fantasy XIV Impressions

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At some point I was thinking of purchasing Final Fantasy XIV and playing it for a month or two until Cataclysm approached its actual release date (in which case I would continue obsessively playing WoW :P). I don’t feel like I really gave Final Fantasy XI a fair chance and would have loved to at least experience a taste of why people find that game so attractive. But as mentioned before, I don’t really want to do the $60 temporary MMO thing again, ala Aion, so that leaves the open beta.

All other criticisms and issues aside, I will be frank: The interface and controls are horrible if not borderline unacceptable. My goal is to play the open beta past the introductory curve for the sake of getting into the real meat of the game but the problem is that, it feels like such a chore to do anything in FFXIV at this point. I mean, I was never fan of the nested menus, but they aren’t too different than any menu found in any of the console Final Fantasy games which weren’t too bad. the real problem is that there is a palpable delay between literally everything that you do. It is cludgy and feels like a bad port.

The interface lag makes it feel like I am playing the game through a remote terminal connection, which to my understanding is a correct assessment given that literally everything, including mouse control is being handled server side, or at least feels like it. Speaking of which, why is there no hardware mouse support? Supposedly Square Enix is ‘considering’ adding it into the game at some point, but that is such a basic feature. It is like selling a car and then adding the wheels on at a later date.

I think it’s pretty clear that Square Enix has absolutely no idea how to make a game that is not console based. There is a solid standard for PC MMO interfaces that hearkens back to the days of Everquest. Over the past decade or so, one game or another has build upon it but it is effectively, the same damn layout, it just works and there is little reason to deviate from it. But, I am playing a beta so hopefully within the next few weeks at least a few of the interface issues will have been polished out.

Also, the omega hares of death have been replaced by the dodos of impending doom.

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Final Fantasy XIV Open Beta Delayed

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I am disappoint. I was looking forward to giving Final Fantasy XIV a short whirl this week without having to dish out $60 at launch. Oh well, maybe the beta won’t be pushed back too long (or outright cancelled). It’s a little worrisome that there would be critical bugs severe enough to completely pull the installer and the entire beta 3 weeks before the launch date. But on the other hand, name one large MMO with a perfect and unhithered launch? I assume that within 3 to 6 months time most of the critical bugs and server load issues will have been smoothed out. That time period is when we need to be taking a more critical look at both the game and Square Enix’s ability to support it.

That said, I still hold very little faith in Square Enix to ever hold the ability to make a decent MMO or single player RPG ever again, based off of the notable decline in their flagship titles. Unless major positive change happens, gone are the days of the JRPG dynasties. But then again, I’ve become somewhat of an MMO skeptic and obviously WoW biased. I hope I’m wrong and that it is a legitimately good game, regardless of my disinterest in subscribing.

Since I’m on the topic of FFXIV: Many people have been abuzz about the XP capping. I don’t comment too much without actually having played the game (QQ) but my question is: Is it really necessary to gate content to that extent? And, will it work toward a more casual friendly game or will it just frustrate people? All MMOs gate content to some extent, but a hard cap seems pretty harsh. I guess it depends on how much non-grind content is available. If there are for example, very comprehensive secondary systems (like crafting), it might not be that bad of a change.

But still, WoW currently rewards players for spending some time away from the game by rewarding rest experience. I have always been a fan of positive reinforcement over punishment. Penalizing the hardcore player base, the one demographic willing to stick with it through thick and thin does not seem to be that wise of a choice. I mean, charging prospective players $13 a month and then arbitrarily dictating exactly how long they can play? What? I am an adult and can dictate my own time usage. As for minors, just put a parental lock in place. That’s my 2 cents.

The Nature of Role-Playing

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When people talk about where role-playing games come from, I’m pretty sure that pen and paper systems like Dungeons & Dragons come to mind. In truth, people have been role-playing for centuries, spanning from improvisational theater to murder mystery types of parlor games to even a child’s game of pretend, even though we don’t think of them as role-playing games.

So that begs the question: What exactly is a role-playing game? The term “role-playing” in modern times has been thrown around so much that is has seemingly lost its meaning. The traditional definition of a role-playing game encompasses a fairly wide range of games in which a player assumes a role in a fictitious setting. Success and failures within the game are determined by a set of rules and guidelines. The goal of any good role-playing game is to tell a collaborative story, crafted out of the choices and consequences of its players.

This is how it usually works: Each player chooses or is assigned a role or a character. Each player is in turn in charge of using that character to interact with the setting for the sake of progressing the narrative. The point is that, the players are responsible for choosing paths from their character’s point of view. It’s all about viewing something from another person’s perspective and deciding what they would do, not you.

The game world, at least in a traditional pen and paper role-playing campaign is represented by a dungeon master, who is generally in charge of managing the setting and creating any details or encounters that the players would come across on their adventure. The dungeon masters also serves as a referee, enforcing the game’s rules and providing player guidance. In a computer based RPG (CRPG), the dungeon master is represented by the AI.

So what makes a computer game apart of the role-playing game genre? First and foremost: Computer role-playing game is a misnomer: CRPGs lack the distinct ability to allow players to choose. Many of the newer RPGs such as Mass Effect, do allow for some degree of choice but ultimately lack the ability to create emergent stories based solely upon a player’s actions. At heart, a role-playing game is a story created by its players. The setting is just a construct.

A more accurate description would be interactive fiction. The player assumes the role of a character and plays through a predefined story. The game still tells a story, but a linear one. All video game narratives are linear, some just hide it better than others. But if having a story and playing an entity is the definition of a CRPG, then all computers games would be of that genre. In Mario you assume the role of Mario on a quest to save the princess. In Half-Life, a game that is ironically closer to a role-playing game than many actual CRPGs, you are for all intents and purposes Gordon Freeman. Valve has been very careful about not breaking your point of view within the game.

However, neither of these games, to say the last, are considered even close to CRPG by modern standards. Traditional CRPGs were defined by gameplay, being largely stat based and heavily influenced by D&D. Nowadays, the RPG genre spans such a wide variety of titles that gameplay itself is almost irrelevant to its definition. So again, what exactly defined a computer based role-playing game? What exact criteria separates an RPG from a non-RPG? Two things:

  1. Character progression: All CRPGs have either a leveling or an advanced skill/stat based character progression system in effect. Above all game mechanics and combat systems, character progression is the one technical element that all CRPGs have in common.
  2. A narrative: A narrative must contain (my loose definition) a setting, characters, conflict, story and dialogue. In regards to computer games, role-playing games usually have more developed story interaction than most other games of other genres. By definition, all RPGs feature a character or role that the player fills.

Both Deus Ex and Half-Life are first person shooters yet only one is considered to be a part of the role-playing genre. Even though Half-Life, as mentioned before, could arguably be truer to a role-playing game than most actual CRPGs, it is not because it has no character progression system in place. The same is true of many other RPG sub-genres: For example: Final Fantasy Tactics vs StarCraft, Puzzle Quest vs Bejeweled. Though many games have a narrative, in order to be considered a CRPG they must also have character progression.

Interesting exception: Sleep is Death. It’s a two-player collaborative story telling game. One person creates and controls the world the other persons plays an entity or a character in that world. The player and creator alternate turns: The player interacts, moves or speaks and the creator in turn alters the world. Each turn is automatically screenshotted and compiled into a story. That’s the closest thing to role-playing that I’ve ever seen in a computer game. Specifically because of the role player choice has within the game and the focus on actual story telling.

So will we ever see a “true” single-player or massively multiplayer role-playing game? One day, but not now. At the moment I don’t think that gaming technology has progressed to the point of being able to create a fully emergent story. But that said, the CRPG genre is constantly changing so the next great game could be just around the corner. I don’t think I covered everything that I wanted to cover in this post. So at some point I would like to type out at least two more articles: 1. The Appeal of Role-Playing, why we like it and what we learn. 2. Eastern vs Western Style CRPGs.

…Then Along Came a Nuke

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I was linked a few YouTube videos of absolutely hilarious Cataclysm quests (obviously, minor spoilers in the video links). These are the kind of quests that I am looking forward to when the expansion pack finally rolls around at the end of this year; Non-standard, quirky and fun. Not so much WoW play lately other than some raiding, some PvP, and some putzing around on my hunter who by the way, has another piece of ICC loot to strap on. One day I might even chant and gem it! If the group permits, I so want to sneak him into Lady Deathwhisper for the bow. No one else needs it right?

Back to the main topic: Another “Keiya’s game replay of the moment” post. I still haven’t had a chance to get some good 1v1 time on. By the time I finish eating and doing whatever around the house after I get home from work, my lovely 2v2 partner is ready to play <3. So this is another 2v2 TP vs TP game on Novice Discord IV. I had a lot of fun playing this one, mostly because I managed to play around with and get a few nukes off towards the end of the match. Also, Viking dancing is kind of fun. Land, fly, land fly…

Ghosts are fun to fiddle around with even though they seem to be fairly micro intensive. I am still pretty fail at this whole micro and rock, paper, scissors thing. At some point in the near future I think I am going to try branching out from my typical 111 banshee rush opener. It’s feeling like a one trick pony at this point. Though to be fair, the practice league maps seem to be all of the novice flavor with the stupid rock blockades in the middle. I guess it helps to fend off early waves but it makes it hard to scout and to rush out any ground units without going for a medivac drop or something like that.

StarCraft II has some crazy fun custom maps out there. We have been playing a series of tower defense maps for the past couple of days. There’s a good classic 50 wave TD map based off of Elemental Tower Defense for Warcraft 3. There were also a couple of good co-op base defense maps available. If I can remember what the name of any of these maps I will edit this post with a link.

Edit: It’s called Standard Tower Defense.

Victory Against Humans

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We have been braving the toils of battle.net against real people with both success and failure, but mostly success! The actual outcome of our gaming evenings have been based off of a series of d20 rolls: 1 through 9 for real people and 10 through 20 for custom AI games. Our first few wins were overwhelming victories against people who were obviously new. Game #4 was the first “real” opponent who made an effort to attack. I don’t know how the practice league works, but it seems like were are being paired with more skilled people the more we play. Just for the heck of it I have been jotting down short notes about some of the matches that we have played throughout the week. Here are a couple of highlights:

3rd game: We got complacent after the first two wins and having little to no defense, pretty much got rolled over very early in the game. We also got rolled over during our 5th game  but I am pretty sure that was just due to the other person being better :P. I like how you can kind of sort of gauge your opponents skill level based off of their SC2 portrait on the game load screen. If they have one of the portraits that is not unlocked by a normal campaign play-through odds are that the game is going to be fairly short lol.

4th game: This match was a lot of fun because our opponents were decent. They got a good mid-game stalker/viking rush off. Mothership and banshee spam still prevailed though I feel as if we should be exploring other build options at this point. First decent win \o/

8 through 10: We went double Terran and “experimented” with viking rushing. Basically, just going 111 build with a reactor on the starport to shit out vikings as much as possible. It worked well twice; The first game being an 11 minute win, the second game being an 18 minute win. The third game was a massive failure because something uuuuh bad happened lol.

11th game: Even match, they had half of the map and we had half of the map. They surrendered almost exactly at the one hour mark, ending a huge no resources left on the map standoff. That was a very fun match. I spent a not so insignificant portion of my time faffing about turtling my base because I wasn’t sure what else to do. I should have realized that the southern zerg base was a lost cause and sent units up to help my partner overtake and hold the top part of the map earlier on. And yay, I also learned a couple of nuking and siege tricks over voice chat courtesy of my lovely 2v2 partner <3.

I really like the replays, we have been examining and commenting on each interesting vs match. I have gotten reasonably okay at turtling and eliminating expansions, ultimately leading to wins by resource attrition. Still not good at keeping constant, early pressure on other players. You see this micromanagement thing is uuuh tricky. This is what I have learned so far in my two+ weeks of playing. I still intend on learning to play a race that is not Terran at some point.

  1. Terrans should wall off their ramp as early as possible to prevent scouting and to help defend against early rushes. Apparently more cleaver people are able to craft ramp funnels around units and bunkers, redirecting an invading force around armed units.
  2. Supply depot walls make reasonable fodder. They will also retract into the ground with you select them and press “r”. In practical terms, it means that they make great gates.
  3. Ultimately, StarCraft is a resource strategy game. No minerals = no units.
  4. Expand early and try to prevent your opponent from expanding.
  5. The general strategy, afaik, seems to be: Attack and retreat attack and retreat. Harass early and as often as possible. Pull out to avoid excessive unit loss; The goal of an early rush is to do more economic damage to your opponent. Reapers can kite all level 1 units but can be countered by like, placing a bunker or a marauder at your mineral line.
  6. You can queue unit actions by holding shift and right clicking. Awesome for siege tanks: Hold shift, right click, siege mode, go do something else. Also awesome for scouting: Right click all over the map, let the unit scout, do something else. I NEVER KNEW THIS.
  7. You can mix and match Terran building addons. Need a tech lab on your factory right away? Lift off and swap it out with something else that has a tech lab…as long as your base isn’t retardedly layed out like mine usually is. Also good for pre-building expansions so that say, you will be able to start pushing out Banshees immediately without having to wait for a tech lab to build. An idle building is a useless building.

A couple of replays are included below for posterity. I still need to hop on and do some 1v1 matches. In fact, I was planning on doing that earlier today but I uuh had to be productive this weekend and step away from my computer for a good portion of the day.