EPTWhen I'm working on a math problem for homework, I have a list of tools that I can use to solve the problem. Each tool is an algorithm which crunches the numbers and outputs an answer. When the answer is incorrect then it is due to either one of two things:
- I am using the wrong tool
- I am using the algorithm incorrectly
To correct my answer I go through the working again and check the numbers. If the numbers seem to be correct then I choose another tool.
How do I maximise the probability of choosing the correct tool?
Mostly through pattern recognition. Some tools require the question to be in a certain pattern. Some tools don't really care about the pattern but approach the problem from a more fundamental point thus increasing the complexity of the solution. The solution not only has to be correct, but also as elegant and as simple as possible. I can find the area of a square in a grid by counting each grid box and adding them all up, but I can also measure the length of one side of the square and square it. The latter solution is obviously the superior one since it makes better use of the information we have to optimise the working.
What does this have to do with winning?
When applying formulas, one doesn't always think of why that formula works. When a problem is encountered, searching for another tool isn't always the answer. Sometimes you have to analyse the separate parts of your tool to really understand why the answer is incorrect.
In StarCraft II, build orders are your tools. Each applies to a range of situations for which you choose a build order to your liking that is applicable to your current situation and your game plan. Speaking from personal experience, I have unfortunately resorted to jumping from build order to build order to solve a whole match up. As if there is a single build order to rule them all. A perfect build order that will lead me by the hand all the way through the mid-game.
I slowly started to realise that this game is called a real time strategy game for a reason. I was so used to sticking to build orders, not thinking. It's almost like I've been using a calculator for arithmetic all my life that I've destroyed my own arithmetic calculating abilities. Like I forgot how to count. I just input the numbers in the machine and when the answer is not to my liking I just get mad that the machine isn't adding well enough when I myself barely know what adding is.
This epiphany led me to a more fluid play style where I actually think during the game. Now I've read a lot about how instincts dominate over thinking, but some instincts need to be developed through thinking to the point where coming up with a solution on the spot is instinctive. Thinking during the game means that I don't need to load myself with all the knowledge I need before the game. I just need a very loose guide of what the state of the game should be like after every significant action.
Day[9] has mentioned multiple times that your game plan is more important than the build order. In one of his dailies he pulls up notepad and writes down the set of objects you should be aiming to have during different phases of the game, regardless of their order.
This mentality has helped me the most in PvZ and less so, but still noticeable, in PvT, but has really thrown me back in PvP. I'd chalk this down to the possibility that PvP is much more focused upon the early game where the efficiency of the build matters so much more than in the other match ups. Information is more restricted. Thinking about a situation does not help as much because there are less concrete solutions to the problem The answer requires 'guesses' and 'estimations' until enough information is revealed, by which point it might already be too late.
It's very interesting to see how a different mentality is required for each match up. PvZ used to be my worst match up until I took to analysing the builds of my opponents, writing down their build orders to be able to conduct timing attacks on the fly rather than predetermined by my build order.
I'd love to read different opinions about this. I know different players take different approaches to solving different situations. Please keep in mind that this is just an opinion piece, nothing scientific. It's not meant to come to any specific conclusion, but to spur discussion on something that is perhaps subjective.
