First contact with the Protoss. Better think fast. Yesterday’s Extra Credits discussed depth & complexity in games. When discussing complexity, James asks the question “How many mental calculations per second are you asking of your player?” He then goes on to posit that turn-based strategy games are no more complex than first-person shooters, based on… Continue reading The Speed of Strategy
Tag: StarCraft2
The Art of Thor: Talking Terrain
Siege tanks love some high ground. With regard to narrow passes, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.* Should the army forestall you in occupying a pass, do not go after him if the pass is fully garrisoned, but only if it is weakly… Continue reading The Art of Thor: Talking Terrain
The Art of Thor: The Tortoise and the Hare
The Viking: Fast, smashing anti-air missiles, wide vision area. Great for both offense & defense. The Art of War teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of our enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to recieve our enemy; not on the chance of our enemy’s not attacking, but rather on the fact… Continue reading The Art of Thor: The Tortoise and the Hare
The Art of Thor: Build to Attack
You don’t build stuff like this just because it looks cool. There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. It’s tempting to get ahead of ourselves. It’s why folks rack up debt. In the context of StarCraft 2, though, you may begin to think that what you’re doing in the process of… Continue reading The Art of Thor: Build to Attack
The Art of Thor: Don't Panic!
Choose your moves carefully. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. It’s difficult not to panic when you’re being shot at. It may seem an obvious statement, and I don’t wish to downplay the severity of real-world situations in… Continue reading The Art of Thor: Don't Panic!
The Art of Thor: Spend, Spend, Spend
Somebody’s gotta feed these boys before they go out fightin’, and that somebody is you. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been associated with long delays. You don’t get bonus points for unspent resources at the end of a match. It’s a concept that can be difficult for… Continue reading The Art of Thor: Spend, Spend, Spend
The Art of Thor: The Basics
“Oh, hello, BlueInk. That’s a nice base you have. But you don’t have anybody there to defend it, huh? Oh, well. Guess I’ll just Prismatic Beam everything to death. GG” “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the… Continue reading The Art of Thor: The Basics
The Art of Thor: Introduction
The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. I want to be a better player of StarCraft 2. The first step in achieving a goal is having that goal in mind, stated as simply as… Continue reading The Art of Thor: Introduction
