• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 18:24
CEST 00:24
KST 07:24
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview4[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview2herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026)7Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview5
Community News
StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th19Weekly Cups (May 18-25): MaxPax wins doubles0Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League4Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double0Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results2
StarCraft 2
General
StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview Weekly Cups (May 18-25): MaxPax wins doubles Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview
Tourneys
GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
Welcome to the External Content forum Mutation # 527 Hell Train The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 526 Rubber and Glue
Brood War
General
Every Matchup's Top 5 Winrates (all ASLs & KSLs) Pros React To: ASL S21 Finals BW General Discussion Very long shot - StarCraft x A7X video Pros React to: TvT Masterclass in FlaSh vs Light
Tourneys
[ASL21] Grand Finals Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [BSL22] WB Final & LB Semis - Saturday 21:00 CEST [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Muta micro map competition [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
ZeroSpace Megathread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread Dating: How's your luck? European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development streaming software
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Customization Drives Loyalty…
TrAiDoS
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2752 users

How long is a game tick in seconds?

Forum Index > BW General
Post a Reply
Normal
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 16 2005 00:05 GMT
#1
In the Starcraft campaign editor, you can find out times of pretty much everything, but I'd like to know how long the value actually means in seconds. (If I recall correctly, a tick is 1 second on normal speed, but of course all games are played on fastest).

If you can tell me the fraction of a second it is per tick, that'd be cool.
too easy
paper
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
13196 Posts
July 16 2005 00:26 GMT
#2
you can always run some tests with an in-game timer and hyper triggers and a unit factory ^___^a
Hates Fun🤔
sundance
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
Slovakia3201 Posts
July 16 2005 00:34 GMT
#3
Wrong forum
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
PoP
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
France15446 Posts
July 16 2005 00:40 GMT
#4
1 second = (approximately) 23.8 ticks according to jca's bwlib.
Administrator
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 16 2005 01:09 GMT
#5
On July 16 2005 09:34 SuNDAnce wrote:
Wrong forum


Thanks for contributing, faggot.

1 second can't possibly be 23.8 ticks, take for example Terran Infantry Weapons, 266 ticks, would be awesome if it took 11 seconds to complete...

The one reference I have is I believe that its 80 ticks to make an scv, and it makes in approximately 12 seconds? The reason I posted the thread is that I wanted the exact number if anyone knew it.
too easy
0x64
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
Finland4615 Posts
July 16 2005 01:18 GMT
#6
On July 16 2005 10:09 exalted wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2005 09:34 SuNDAnce wrote:
Wrong forum


Thanks for contributing, faggot.

1 second can't possibly be 23.8 ticks, take for example Terran Infantry Weapons, 266 ticks, would be awesome if it took 11 seconds to complete...

The one reference I have is I believe that its 80 ticks to make an scv, and it makes in approximately 12 seconds? The reason I posted the thread is that I wanted the exact number if anyone knew it.


Ticks are different from the unit used by the editor!
Ticks are the basic time unit which divides actions. Actually 23.8 ticks/sec is the same regardless of the game speed settings.
But the building time ticks/sec is variable depending on the game speed.
23.8 is basicly the speed of the game timer.
Dump of assembler code from 0xffffffec to 0x64: End of assembler dump.
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 16 2005 01:25 GMT
#7
Can you go into this more into depth? I don't quite get what this number 23.8 means - two different tick systems? How are they related? ?_?
too easy
OhNoKickedAgain
Profile Joined April 2005
Czech Republic232 Posts
July 16 2005 01:44 GMT
#8
well the best way how to know it is just set countdown timer to 10 seconds and count with clocks how many seconds it takes
#1 bio.dante fan [bio.dante was kicked without any purpose so WTF?]
RiSE
Profile Joined April 2004
United States3182 Posts
July 16 2005 01:55 GMT
#9
On July 16 2005 10:09 exalted wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2005 09:34 SuNDAnce wrote:
Wrong forum


Thanks for contributing, faggot.

1 second can't possibly be 23.8 ticks, take for example Terran Infantry Weapons, 266 ticks, would be awesome if it took 11 seconds to complete...

The one reference I have is I believe that its 80 ticks to make an scv, and it makes in approximately 12 seconds? The reason I posted the thread is that I wanted the exact number if anyone knew it.


Too bad he's correct
heavy hand upon the land, feel it's weight inside you
sundance
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
Slovakia3201 Posts
July 16 2005 02:25 GMT
#10
On July 16 2005 10:09 exalted wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2005 09:34 SuNDAnce wrote:
Wrong forum


Thanks for contributing, faggot.

1 second can't possibly be 23.8 ticks, take for example Terran Infantry Weapons, 266 ticks, would be awesome if it took 11 seconds to complete...

The one reference I have is I believe that its 80 ticks to make an scv, and it makes in approximately 12 seconds? The reason I posted the thread is that I wanted the exact number if anyone knew it.

Why you always act like immature retard?Maybe b/c you are immature retard.Grow and manner up faggot.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
sundance
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
Slovakia3201 Posts
Last Edited: 2005-07-16 04:53:39
July 16 2005 02:43 GMT
#11
EDIT:My list was pretty much incorrect.Sorry for that.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
hasuwar
Profile Joined April 2003
7365 Posts
July 16 2005 02:48 GMT
#12
a marine doesn't take 20 seconds to build on fastest..no way in hell
Diablo3 ID: Exalted#1710 -------R.I.P. http://hasuwar.isgsa.org. Much love to Toptalent
sundance
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
Slovakia3201 Posts
Last Edited: 2005-07-16 02:56:59
July 16 2005 02:51 GMT
#13
I took it from BWCoach
EDIT: But now i've tested it and it seems it's exactly 15s.I dunno if other numbers are incorect too.

EDIT no.2 :Ok it's correct time +5 sec in every case i've checked.Now i'm going to edit my looong post.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
hasuwar
Profile Joined April 2003
7365 Posts
July 16 2005 02:56 GMT
#14
There's some map making site that I can't remember, but I'm sure they have it on there somewhere. It was recently posted on that ihatett newb who was saying how he was spamming tl.net
Diablo3 ID: Exalted#1710 -------R.I.P. http://hasuwar.isgsa.org. Much love to Toptalent
iNsaNe-
Profile Joined January 2005
Finland5201 Posts
July 16 2005 02:57 GMT
#15
Thanks SuNDance
It takes a fool to remain sane.
sundance
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
Slovakia3201 Posts
July 16 2005 03:11 GMT
#16
Now it should be correct.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 16 2005 04:18 GMT
#17
There are still many errors, simply look at the simple ones:

Lair -> Hydralisk den 50% = exact morph
Shuttle -> Support bay 50% = same morph time

These are incorrect in your list, while they are half the other in the campaign editor.
too easy
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 16 2005 04:29 GMT
#18
I just timed Vehicle Weapons, 170 seconds, your list is way off.
too easy
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 16 2005 04:35 GMT
#19
I don't understand the previous value but from some simple tests, in order to find out the number of seconds it takes to build a unit/upgrade, multiply the number given in the campaign editor by 0.639 to get the actual value of seconds it takes on fastest setting.
too easy
sundance
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
Slovakia3201 Posts
July 16 2005 04:49 GMT
#20
It's taken from BWcoach bwdata.txt file.And it looked like it's real value+5 second.But now i've tested few more and it seems my theory is incorrect
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
GroT
Profile Blog Joined January 2004
Belgium3003 Posts
July 16 2005 21:57 GMT
#21
moved your thread, making that mistake is really no big deal guys, don't argue about it please =[
DANCE ALL DAY
Taiche *
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
France1963 Posts
July 17 2005 02:12 GMT
#22
On July 16 2005 10:09 exalted wrote:
1 second can't possibly be 23.8 ticks, take for example Terran Infantry Weapons, 266 ticks, would be awesome if it took 11 seconds to complete...

The thing is one second is actually equal to around 23.8 ticks. The problem is "time units" in StarEdit aren't ticks
Manifesto7 Uses ReXplorer, and so should you! : http://repasm.net/rx/
enkera~
Profile Joined May 2005
Venezuela725 Posts
July 17 2005 03:35 GMT
#23
the ticks are like what ?

tick-tick-tick-tick or..
tikcitkicktikvitkivktikcikvitkicktivkcitkitkitkicvkt ??
If I go back to Seoul practice hard so no one can beat me, and for sure I will dedicate all those winnings and honors to my father, Im going back, dont worry, Im going back to the real nada, so remember I will take care of my family dad.. -NaDa
Never Post
Profile Joined July 2004
United Kingdom503 Posts
July 17 2005 04:45 GMT
#24
On July 17 2005 12:35 enkera~ wrote:
the ticks are like what ?

tick-tick-tick-tick or..
tikcitkicktikvitkivktikcikvitkicktivkcitkitkitkicvkt ??


Nah, ticks are those insect things that bite you.
Note to self: [You have short term memory loss - you did post this]
Excalibur_Z
Profile Joined October 2002
United States12248 Posts
July 17 2005 13:43 GMT
#25
I ran some tests on this a while ago and thought I made a post about it, but I can't find it. There are 24 ticks per second. That is at Fastest speed. So if you had a spell like Irradiate which deals 3.33 damage every 8 frames (ticks), that equates to 10 damage per second on Fastest, but it would be less on slower speeds. Cooldowns are measured in ticks, and this fact must be considered when performing calculations relevant to the passage of normal time at various game speeds.

The 24 ticks per second information was gathered from BWChart, which rates actions against the Fastest game speed. Since nobody is capable of performing an action every frame, even with the fastest hotkey cycling in the world, the game speed must be reduced. By bringing the speed down to Slowest and performing massive hotkey cycling, then opening the replay in BWChart (which always assumes 24 ticks per second), the reported APM is greatly inflated, up to a theoretical maximum of 1440 APM. However, in this way, it is possible to view the actions performed on each frame through reading the action log. Unchecking the Seconds box converts all of the time information to ticks, and from there it can be counted that when one second begins, 24 frames appear before the next second.

Anyway, tick information is used for cooldowns. Other values, such as build times, are displayed in the editor in seconds. These values assume Normal game speed, which is of course slower than Fastest. That means some calculations must take place to convert a build time as reported in the editor to what actually occurs at Fastest speed. For example, an SCV has a build time of 20 on Normal speed. On Fastest speed, it is closer to 12.5 seconds, thus suggesting that Fastest is approximately 66% faster.

So, to summarize:

- When discussing cooldowns, divide all values by 24 to determine the actual time in seconds at Fastest speed.
- When discussing build times, divide all values by 1.66 to determine the actual time in seconds at Fastest speed.
Moderator
enkera~
Profile Joined May 2005
Venezuela725 Posts
July 17 2005 14:19 GMT
#26
I have to say..

Excalibur_Z You're GOD
If I go back to Seoul practice hard so no one can beat me, and for sure I will dedicate all those winnings and honors to my father, Im going back, dont worry, Im going back to the real nada, so remember I will take care of my family dad.. -NaDa
Hot77.iEy
Profile Blog Joined March 2003
Finland1486 Posts
July 18 2005 00:38 GMT
#27
Seems like people are talking about 2 different things. -_-
-.-
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
19:00
Mid Season Playoffs
SKillous vs Arrogfire
Gerald vs MindelVK
goblin vs TBD
Jumy vs HonMonO
SteadfastSC185
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft208
SteadfastSC 185
ZombieGrub173
ProTech84
StarCraft: Brood War
Artosis 362
NaDa 9
Dota 2
capcasts108
Counter-Strike
summit1g10527
Doublelift2644
Fnx 1390
tarik_tv1292
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King119
PPMD54
Other Games
Grubby3573
Liquid`RaSZi1466
C9.Mang0221
mouzStarbuck160
Liquid`Hasu131
ViBE107
fpsfer 2
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV174
Counter-Strike
PGL162
StarCraft 2
angryscii 29
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 124
• RyuSc2 36
• Response 7
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21258
Other Games
• Shiphtur381
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
1h 36m
Maestros of the Game
14h 36m
Big Brain Bouts
17h 36m
Shino vs Scarlett
Bly vs DnS
Serral vs ByuN
Replay Cast
1d 1h
RSL Revival
1d 8h
Lambo vs SHIN
Solar vs Rogue
herO vs Clem
Maestros of the Game
1d 12h
IPSL
1d 17h
ZZZero vs WorsT
Julia vs eOnzErG
BSL
1d 20h
TerrOr vs Dewalt
Bonyth vs eOnzErG
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
[ Show More ]
Maestros of the Game
2 days
OSC
2 days
IPSL
2 days
Dragon vs Artosis
dxtr13 vs Hawk
BSL
2 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
4 days
Maestros of the Game
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Maestros of the Game
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
6 days
Maestros of the Game
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

ASL Season 21
2026 GSL S1
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

2026 KK StarCraft Pro League
BSL Season 22
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
KK 2v2 League Season 1
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
SCTL 2026 Spring
WardiTV Spring 2026
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: King of Kings
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
Bounty Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.