Build Order Notation

Navane

Netherlands2749 Posts

May 04 2024 16:16 GMT

vp- bunker FE vs standard
9 depo
11 rax
12 gas
13 scout (N search)
15 depo(with rax scv)
@88 gas -2 scv
17 factory
22 CC (low ground)+ add on + 1 gas (2 on gas)
23 bunker+1 gas (total 3)
24 depo
27 aca
32 armory @2nd tank
2nd gas @ 2 tanks
38 2x scan asap
2nd factory
+1 when armory done
siege mode after +1 is researching
scan @ first goliath
- 3 gate=not reaver
- 2 gate=cannot rule out reaver
3rd cc
starport @ 50% +1+ebay (~72)
After 4 goliaths->vultures
3rd fact as you start vultures
science facility @ 100% starport+ 2nd armory
Vulture speed after 3rd
save up gas for 9 factories as soon as gas allows
~~ begin building depo 3 at a time, produce 8 vulture, 1 tank constantly)
After 9 factory built->add on+vessel
After vessel->mine upgrade

In the past I have played broodwar with a midi keyboard, the parallels between playing piano and playing broodwar never eluded me. I found a TvP build order, and the regular notation always seemed so clunky, compared to the beauty that is sheet music.

Transcribing build orders into sheet music might only be appreciated by broodwar musicians, not many I suspect. I reuse a lot of concepts form music, as sheet music is also a recipe for actions in time. It concerns with orders of things, simultaneous, sequential. I'm still in the early phase of bending this notation to broodwar, but these are the ideas so far:

cc, depot and scv are lower, middle and upper c
buildings on the lower staff, a descending triad following the tech tree
- barracks: a
- factory: f
- starport: d
units on the upper staff, following their buildings
- marine (baracks): a
- vulture (factory): f,
  - tank: e (i thought of making it f-flatto follow the addon?)
  - goliath: g (similarly, f-sharp?)
- dropship (starport): d
addons are flat: b
- acadamy: b barracks
- fac addon: b factory
- port addon: b port
upgraders are sharp: #
- engineering bay: # barracks
- armory: # factory
- science facility: # port
upgrades are staccato: . (dot)
- siege (factory addon upgrade): b f-dot
- +1 attack (factory upgrader (armory) upgrade): # f-dot
expression:
- prerequisites: when "b" is done immediately upon completion of "a", they are connected with slurs: a~~~~b
- timings are noted where applicable: supply, mineral and gas timings. When timings are let go, they are denoted with a fermata, the little umbrella.
- domino cascade: things happening almost at the same time, depending on each other, are noted with an arpeggio: the squiggly vertical line.
- unit timings are a bit off, as it is not prescribed in the original build order.

All these concepts are explained in the partiture the first time they are encountered. Later releases with build orders for professionals will omit these explainers, resulting in a cleaner sheet. Multiple openers can be printed on a single sheet, and the concept can be expanded to all matchups and races.

+ Show Spoiler +

% lilypond code to generate the sheet above
upper = \relative c'' {
\clef treble
\key c \major
\time 4/4
\partial 2 c8^scv c c c |
c c c c c c c c |
c-> c c ces^88 <ces a>-marine ces <ces a> ces |
<c a> c <c! a>^100 c <c e,>-tank( c c c |
<c e,> c c c) c c c c |
c c c c <c g>-goliath c <c g> c |
<c g> c <c g> c <c f,>-"vulture"\arpeggio <c f,> <c f,> <c f,>\fermata \bar "||"
<e, f> f f f f f f f
}

lower = \relative c {
\clef bass
\key c \major
\time 4/4
\partial 2 c2-cc |
r^5 c'4^9-depot a8^11-rax( bes^12-gas |
r4^13 c4^15) f,2^17-fac |
r8 c16^22 fes-"addon" b8^23-bunker c^24 r4 aes^27-"academy"( |
r4 r8 <fis bes>^32-"armory" r2 |
r8 cis16-"scanner"^38) cis f4\fermata \slurHalfSolid fis8-.-"+1"( fes-.-"siege" r4 |
c4 d8-"port")\( ais'-ebay f4\arpeggio dis8-"scifa"\) fis16 fes16-.-"speed"
\tuplet 3/2 {f4^4 f^5 f^6}
\tuplet 3/2 {f4^7 f^8 f^9}
}
\score {
%\remove "Bar_number_engraver"
\new PianoStaff \with { instrumentName = "TvP" }
<<
\set PianoStaff.connectArpeggios = ##t
\new Staff = "upper" \upper
\new Staff = "lower" \lower
>>
\layout { }
\midi { }
}

Let me know what you think. Keep in mind that this is not a serious effort, but it's also a very serious effort.

MegaBuster

167 Posts

May 04 2024 17:17 GMT

awesome!

played mezzo-formaggio

I can see an orchestra score for a team game, with a more drum-styled notation for the carrier players of course.

sharkeyanti

United States1273 Posts

May 05 2024 18:32 GMT

This is pretty cool! You might want to use tremolo notation over the high C for SCVs to save a bit of visual clutter.

I love the idea of the slurs, which can make it super clear about the function of the build order.

Could add a symbol for scouting maybe?

Navane

Netherlands2749 Posts

May 05 2024 21:40 GMT

You get it sharkeyanti, thanks! The 13th scv is the scout; it has an accent. Another thing is taking the SCVs off gas (flat on 88g) and putting them back on (the natural on 100).

I actually like the "visual noise" of the scv building, as it shows you a base rythm to hang the rest of the build on. I was even thinking of going into 16th notes once the second CC is built, and triplets once the third is built. Maybe once the BO leaves the hard supplies, the tremelo can denote "just keep making this".

I have to clean up the supply though, I forgot to count the army in the unit supply, so the BO is quite off in the example above. But the idea still stands of course.

And MegaBuster, it took me a couple of seconds, but I take it you consider this a cheeze opening?

Peeano

Netherlands5188 Posts

May 07 2024 21:26 GMT

Reading music notation is already hard enough as it is, regardless of that this idea is very cool!

Navane

Netherlands2749 Posts

May 09 2024 17:17 GMT

I added Flash's goliath builds for TvZ.

The supply should match this time. I used the build orders from LUCKY_NOOB's thread, which include pretty detailed unit production.

+ Show Spoiler +

I choose to keep the timing constant, so when you have two command centres, the scv production goes from 8th to 16th notes, and when the third factory kicks in, the goliaths production goes from 2/4 to 3/4. This way the sheet shows where it gets busier, both for building and the unit production.

The accents (>) are the scout timing for scv, or the move out timing for the three vultures.

One little musical trick to ease the sheet on your eyes, is the turrets. Those are actualy 4 64th notes; the extra two flags mean: play this note 4 times in the given time (one flag means, do it twice; two flags means do it twice twice, so four times).

It ends in supply acadamy (into scanners), with tanks, goliaths and scvs.

_fool

Netherlands678 Posts

May 12 2024 07:54 GMT

It's stuff like this that puts SC in a league of their own. Absolutely brilliant!

sharkeyanti

United States1273 Posts

May 14 2024 19:24 GMT

Love the updates, Navane. Very creative!

AhGaeza

1 Post

May 17 2024 18:13 GMT

--- Nuked ---

WombaT

Northern Ireland26036 Posts

May 21 2024 17:43 GMT

#10

This is such a cool idea, I was actually thinking of this particular problem the other day, there’s seemingly no standard universal way of noting BOs.

This is a much more elegant answer than I could come up with! Unfortunately I’m rather rusty on my musical notation, in that ‘I can’t fluently read it but I understand it’ kind of level.

Anyone tried pumping this ‘piece’ into music software to hear what it sounds like yet haha?

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