EPTAll in all, after going back to SC1, it feels like driving a much simpler, much more raw manual race car vs driving an automatic F1 racecar (the ones with paddle shifts and no clutch, with 5000 buttons for fuel changes). I think that was one of the reasons why SC1 was such a success in eSports and why Warcraft 3 was a pretty big failure. It's simplicity and ease of learning (compared to War3's 5 races, 15 heroes and god knows how many units) create a quick fan following because the average person can quickly understand what is going on.
Does anyone else here feel that this "critical mass", or "ball" mechanic of the game is at least a little bit lame?
I personally feel that it greatly discourages me from using micromanagement to gain an advantage, because a ball that flattens out into a concave via homeomorphism just seems... counter-intuitive, given my Brood War background, and WC3-esque in that it is like the micromanagement-heavy gameplay... only inflated...
![[image loading]](http://www.wargames.co.uk/Pending/Archive/May04/phalanx-LDS.jpg)
I mean, yeah, it did work for the Spartans and all because of how efficient it is... but I'm just not as impressed by the skill required in order to use it (e.g. zero skill because the game does it for you automatically)
Yes, units path around things far quicker and more efficient than in SC1 (running up ramps is a big problem in SC1) but also turns down the tactical-ness of the gameplay.
Let me explain - in SC2, you often moved your units into a ball, and balls of units would attack each other. Micro usually consists of moving them back and forth until one side wins.
SC1 had locked down control. That is, units for some reason would stay in formation. Probably due to the magical box. I find this a good and bad thing. It's good because you have consistent unit behavior, the formation they started in will end in. And units didn't always clump up into a tight ball meaning engagements were tactical, rather than ball vs ball. Units usually spread out to cover more area so instead of massive balls of stalkers coming in at you, you see a wide front of dragoons moving down the map.
Let me explain - in SC2, you often moved your units into a ball, and balls of units would attack each other. Micro usually consists of moving them back and forth until one side wins.
SC1 had locked down control. That is, units for some reason would stay in formation. Probably due to the magical box. I find this a good and bad thing. It's good because you have consistent unit behavior, the formation they started in will end in. And units didn't always clump up into a tight ball meaning engagements were tactical, rather than ball vs ball. Units usually spread out to cover more area so instead of massive balls of stalkers coming in at you, you see a wide front of dragoons moving down the map.
( quotes from this thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=128317 )
Maybe if my selection groups were capped at 12 like before... then my critical mass balls wouldn't be as big and it would require 1m2m3m4m to get them into that shape... which would be a nice start...
