|
Ok so I got a friend kinda into bw and of course hes a noob hes never played really much RTS nevermind pc games before.
So even though im not good I know quite a lot just dont put it into practice, so like can anyone make up a list of what I should perhaps teach him, and in what kinda order. I mean tonight i was speaking to him explaining how the supply count works etc...
He's coming round tomorrow I'm gonna show him about hotkeys n' stuff.
I was thinking like basic keyboard use n' stuff (like using shift, ctrl, hotkey etc...) then perhaps some build orders for toss.
What you guys think? I need some helpz.
ty
|
ask him if he likes the game, then ask him how good does he want to be. I think a pretty good way would be to just have him watch you play.
|
United States24673 Posts
If he's a complete noob then start with what all the units are, what all the basic controls are, and then a very basic overview of what you should be trying to do during the game...
Most importantly he needs time to practice and get used to the interface before you can teach him much of anything significant.
|
Just let him experiment on his own. Control groups will be way too much at this point, considering he doesn't even know the units, or probably even how to move them efficiently. Teach him stuff like Attack Click and "b" for build basic if you must teach him anything. What he really needs is someone his own level to play games with him. You'll go bored out of your skull if you play with him.
|
Netherlands6142 Posts
yer, just the basic rtfm stuff first. hotkeys can come later
|
Teach him how to make 12+ gateways and turtle off of 3 base and then push out with 200/200 supply and win. This can only be used in Pvp and pvt. So tell him if he plays a zerg just to leave.
|
Basically I think the only way he could keep his interest is if you would be as noob as him, so he would have a chance of winning. Since that's not the case,. I'm almost sure, no matter how much effort you put into it, he'll entirely give up MONTHS before becoming even the equivalent of a D-
sadly, Starcraft has gotten so IMBA for any potential new players
|
Your plan seems good so far, however the most important thing is that he practices the mechanics on his own, while your duty is to keep him interested (read - frustration free)
|
The very first thing I would teach, before even build orders, unit counters, scouting, basic strategy, etc is macro. As obvious as it is, new players just don't seem to "get" that you should always be pushing to the absolute extreme of your means- pumping workers constantly, keeping a decent infrastructure/supply count and keeping minerals low. In fact, when I was a complete and total noob many years ago, I remember thinking that I should actually be spending as few minerals as possible. My rationale was that, since resources are finite (at least minerals are) on low money maps, I should be making the most efficient setup possible- minimum army I need to stay alive, only a couple gates, so I wouldn't be the first to run out of resources. Maybe not all noobs are THIS deluded, but macro makes all the difference in the world when you're starting out.
|
You can't throw someone into competitive gaming straight away. Let him play the campaign, play UMS, play fastest - generally just muck around. If he's never played the game before don't even think about build orders, hotkeys and apm.
Definitely show him how competitive 1v1 works by demonstrating, don't make him plays lots of 1v1 though, he'll just suck for a long time and get bored. After a while, when he's played quite a bit, you can start showing him vods/replays and explaining what's going on. If he likes what he sees he'll be motivated to improve.
|
On February 24 2009 09:05 3clipse wrote: The very first thing I would teach, before even build orders, unit counters, scouting, basic strategy, etc is macro. As obvious as it is, new players just don't seem to "get" that you should always be pushing to the absolute extreme of your means- pumping workers constantly, keeping a decent infrastructure/supply count and keeping minerals low. In fact, when I was a complete and total noob many years ago, I remember thinking that I should actually be spending as few minerals as possible. My rationale was that, since resources are finite (at least minerals are) on low money maps, I should be making the most efficient setup possible- minimum army I need to stay alive, only a couple gates, so I wouldn't be the first to run out of resources. Maybe not all noobs are THIS deluded, but macro makes all the difference in the world when you're starting out.
this is really valid
noobs never understand that you're in a race from second one to mine and produce as much as possible, as QUICK AS POSSIBLE.
Then you'll explain you need certain amounts of worker saturation to obtain the best infrastructure ,depending on how the game evolves and what type of timing you're aiming for
|
tell him hes gona get raped for 2 years straight despite practicing like a mad cunt every single day.
i just don't think it's possible for people to get into sc now, the pubbie level is just so high already he will lose interest and would have just wasted his time.
its harsh but you know it's true.
|
lol we're all wasting in our time in the end. He may as well play a good game with me instead of 360 with himself.
Anyway hmm dunno i mean i could play terran vs him without using my keyboard or something 
Thanks for all the advice, I agree about keeping his interest in the game, like any suggestions on how to do that?
|
What's wrong with playing a game for fun?
I say ignore all those people telling you what part of competitive broodwar to teach him, just let him play the game and enjoy it.
Interest in bw develops naturally, just do what most casual gamers do, UMS, bgh, etc.
|
its worth getting into it and learning it even if only to be able to follow pro games i dont think letting him watch you play is a great idea since him playing would be so much better, both for improvement and learning. i suppose to inspire him or something it could be ok, but I think you should let him play around with patrol vultures and mines. and nukes. maybe guiding him through some campaign and teaching the basics
micro is more fun at first imo you should work on that and maybe play ums if he gets frustrated
|
He's only going to stick with it if he actually likes the game...if he can't even appreciate a progamer level match, I doubt he'll want to stick with it.
|
Based on experience, I can tell you noobs will not want to play the game unless they are intrinsically driven to win at everything and/or they really like the game to start with. If you force it on them, it will look like a fucking chore with all the build orders and hotkeys.
Also, do not force protoss on him even if it is the most noob friendly race. A pure noob is crap regardless of race, only once they get to some level of competency does the protoss noob advantage play out.
|
I agree with everyone else. Just let him play for a while, and especially practice macro. Keep reminding him to make probes, pylons, expansions, etc. Play in single player ums map and have him see what it's like to control units, cast spells, understanding usage of minerals/gas, things like understanding whether to engage or retreat and hotkeys can come later. Basically, show me the money 5 times and have him rally to different points and kill off his own units without dropping production off a few gates, add more gates as he gets better for a macro guy.
|
Make him play the 1st 2-3 levels of the terran campaign. The part where they teach you the basics.
|
I would just hold off on the build orders, he needs to learn the basics about starcraft.
|
|
On February 24 2009 09:21 Nytefish wrote: What's wrong with playing a game for fun?
I say ignore all those people telling you what part of competitive broodwar to teach him, just let him play the game and enjoy it.
Interest in bw develops naturally, just do what most casual gamers do, UMS, bgh, etc.
I disagree entirely.
I knew SC existed before but when I heard that SC2 was being released, I was bored and it sparked a lot of interest. I went to gosugamers to follow the news of the unveiling and between news posts I saw foreigner rankings and a link to pro-games on youtube. I was shocked to learn that an old RTS had such a following. I was so interested and excited to learn about progamers, build orders, strategy, etc.. that I started playing almost immediately. After learning the absolute basics, like what units did what and what hotkeys were, I jumped right into APM and build orders.
You can't force someone to be interested. But if they are genuinely interested and passionate, they can jump right into strategy, build orders and mechanics. Assuming of course that they know what units did what and that basic shit.
|
You can try playing Team Melee vs comps. You build and he controls the army. This way he learns the basic build order by watching you and you get to show him which units go well together and what they do. Then switch places.
Then like everyone said, just play for fun: 3v3BGH, UMSs like Team Micro Arena, watch reps, or join 1v1play/ob games.
|
I remember when I first developed in interest in competitive play. I've owned BW for about 10 years and played UMS on and off but I never really gave playing the "real" game a shot for a long time. The campaign wasn't nearly as fun or challenging as playing UMS online, and while I found Zero Clutter 3v3 games sort of fun, they got repetitive and old fast.
One day I found a link to an old Nada game (might have been vs Yellow?). They were playing in a huge outdoor stadium. This blew my mind. There was a place in the world where people would sit in a crowd and watch people play this game. There had to be something more to it. After that I started watching some old pro vods and was blown away at both the strategic depth of the game and the lightning fast dexterity of the pros. If something had this kind of fanbase and this sort of absurd skill ceiling it had to be worth playing. That said, I watched reps, vods and obs games for a loooooong time to get a feel for the game (and just for entertainment) before I even started playing. I became a member at gosugamers for all the top foreigner replays, but TL eventually won me over as my #1 site with it's superior progaming coverage.
|
United States889 Posts
A piece of advice:
I got my friend to buy the game. He became interested in multiplayer soon thereafter, so I taught him two builds, which he repeats to no end: 5pool, and proxy hatch. He finds it endlessly amusing.
|
id say let him play the campaign and see how he likes each race BUT make sure to really emphasize how defensive structures are supposed to be used in 1v1 play and a lot of other things that the campaign teaches you how to do and WHEN is it applicable.
i agree about teaching him macro and make sure to let him know not to tech in so many directions (i.e upgrading infantry armor for terran if hes getting mech and whatnot)
|
I think that telling him about the game's units immediately is a bit of a mistake. His first impressions are important and you have to keep stuff really general or he'll be overwhelmed fairly quickly.
Based on my experience, you should let him play (campaign or 2vCpu with him) and explain stuff when he asks. For example if he's a total noob, as soon as he understands the worker/army concept, he'll be making tons of zealots. Now when he makes his first dragoon (or when a CPU controled muta comes bugging him), you should be there to explain how dragoons work and how handling his zeal/goon ratio has got to be an important part of his gameplay. Then you do the same when he makes a DT for the first time etc...
I'd say keep the damage/armor spreadsheets for when he's hooked .
|
thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
Basic build orders.
Play one Mu and One BO agianst him repeatedly until he starts to get a hang of things. Give him pointers, etc.
MORE SCVS GOOD TO GO SIRRRRRRRR
|
Have him play through the campaign, send him interesting pro VODs to watch every now and then (as much as he's interested) and teach him mechanics. Tell him to just have fun for now; play the campaign, play computers, answer any questions he has, and comment on VODs as you're watching them or send him GOM vods. haha.
Until he's comfortable playing at around 80APMish at least and his mechanics are starting to cohere, don't worry about BOs and timings and whatnot.
|
Best way to get him to improve is to find him an equally newby rival. People said that it's hard to even get out of D- for months but I did it pretty damn easily just because I wanted to get better than the person who introduced me to the game.
|
On February 24 2009 10:26 404.Nintu wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2009 09:21 Nytefish wrote: What's wrong with playing a game for fun?
I say ignore all those people telling you what part of competitive broodwar to teach him, just let him play the game and enjoy it.
Interest in bw develops naturally, just do what most casual gamers do, UMS, bgh, etc. I disagree entirely. I knew SC existed before but when I heard that SC2 was being released, I was bored and it sparked a lot of interest. I went to gosugamers to follow the news of the unveiling and between news posts I saw foreigner rankings and a link to pro-games on youtube. I was shocked to learn that an old RTS had such a following. I was so interested and excited to learn about progamers, build orders, strategy, etc.. that I started playing almost immediately. After learning the absolute basics, like what units did what and what hotkeys were, I jumped right into APM and build orders. You can't force someone to be interested. But if they are genuinely interested and passionate, they can jump right into strategy, build orders and mechanics. Assuming of course that they know what units did what and that basic shit. A person who's just started the game won't have a clue as to what to do when first starting out. It's dumb to teach someone a 1 rax FE if he has absolutely no clue why he's doing it. Until he's at the level where he understands, even just a little bit, how much of a difference getting that CC up that much faster makes, it's pointless teaching him stuff he won't understand until he's played the game more.
You can throw someone straight into the competitive playstyle and gamble his interest. Most likely he will become frustrated as hell and become inactive. If he's one of the few, he'll stick to it and finally manage to break into the D- range sooner than otherwise.
Or...you can let him build his own interest and let him learn because he wants to. He'll be more likely to stick with SC, even if it takes him longer to break into D-.
|
On February 24 2009 09:21 Nytefish wrote: What's wrong with playing a game for fun?
Yeah just let him play the campaign to learn the ropes of the game, and make sure he reads the "starcraft tips" that show up at the beginning of each campaign mission. That's how I learned about hotkeys and such.
Once he beats all the campaign missions, he'll be a 40APM D--- player, and you can start to mold him into a competitive player from there if he's interested.
|
On February 24 2009 12:01 PH wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2009 10:26 404.Nintu wrote:On February 24 2009 09:21 Nytefish wrote: What's wrong with playing a game for fun?
I say ignore all those people telling you what part of competitive broodwar to teach him, just let him play the game and enjoy it.
Interest in bw develops naturally, just do what most casual gamers do, UMS, bgh, etc. I disagree entirely. I knew SC existed before but when I heard that SC2 was being released, I was bored and it sparked a lot of interest. I went to gosugamers to follow the news of the unveiling and between news posts I saw foreigner rankings and a link to pro-games on youtube. I was shocked to learn that an old RTS had such a following. I was so interested and excited to learn about progamers, build orders, strategy, etc.. that I started playing almost immediately. After learning the absolute basics, like what units did what and what hotkeys were, I jumped right into APM and build orders. You can't force someone to be interested. But if they are genuinely interested and passionate, they can jump right into strategy, build orders and mechanics. Assuming of course that they know what units did what and that basic shit. A person who's just started the game won't have a clue as to what to do when first starting out. It's dumb to teach someone a 1 rax FE if he has absolutely no clue why he's doing it. Until he's at the level where he understands, even just a little bit, how much of a difference getting that CC up that much faster makes, it's pointless teaching him stuff he won't understand until he's played the game more. You can throw someone straight into the competitive playstyle and gamble his interest. Most likely he will become frustrated as hell and become inactive. If he's one of the few, he'll stick to it and finally manage to break into the D- range sooner than otherwise. Or...you can let him build his own interest and let him learn because he wants to. He'll be more likely to stick with SC, even if it takes him longer to break into D-.
As I said in 2 different places in my post, once you have the basics down, what all the units do and the tech trees, and if he's genuinely interested, then you may aswell start teaching builds, economics, mechanics, etc.. The sooner you start, the sooner you compete at a decent level, the sooner you find competitive brood war rewarding.
Ionno, there's nothing wrong with fun. I guess my idea of fun is winning against a gosu practice partner, not strip jessica alba. So many players that want me to teach them tell me that "I've been playing for years, but doing fastest and UMS. I wish I played low-money sooner."
I've heard it enough to think that it's best to guide the competitive players down the "right" road instead of throwing them into a pile of "find your own ways to have fun in broodwar"
|
Don't mention build orders, worker splits, muta stacking, E han timing, or whatever else. You have to go basic so he understands the game and enjoys it.
1) Campaign: Explains all units in a simple and strait forward manner, and will help him build basic game sense. Ensure he plays every game without cheating.
2) Racial Selection: Have him select a race. Base the selection on what he finds the most fun.
3) Maps: Download the mappack from ICCUP. http://www.iccup.com/files/view/iCCup_Season_7_Full_mappack_02.html From here on out, all games he plays should be on these maps. Have him play 10+ games on each map before moving to the next. Prior to moving to the next map he should know both the layout of the current one, as well as the location of all expos (Even under the fog of war. Especially needed if he plays Terran).
4) BWChart: Download BWChart http://www.iccup.com/files/view/BWChart_1.03G.html Have him save all his replays and us BW's charts function to rename them. This helps him track his advancement (which can be very hard to gauge at times). It also also gives him a past record of all his games, so that he can see aspects of his gameplay that he needs to work on.
5) Basic Macro: The best way I've seen to practice this for new players is to play 1v 2/3/4 FFAs against the computer. FFA's encourage turtling, which isn't what we want, so in addition; give him a mineral limit to always be under during these games, and start high. It doesn't matter what he is building, as long he stays under the mineral cap you assign him. This should force him to sacrifice forces in order to produce more, which should help his game sense as his playstyle progresses.
From my experience best way to culture macro skill is to work on one thing at a time. Starting with; a) Basic Economy: Ensure he has enough SCVs, and that he protects them from harassment. b) Production: Make sure he has enough production facilities. If anything, try to overdo his production, just so hes used to it. Tell him to attempt to have every building constantly producing units. Unit control is secondary at this point, so just create and throw away armies. He can attack move to the corners for the map if he wants, but he needs to be comfortable with constantly losing and creating units. c) Expansions: Try to win every FFA with at least 4 bases at the end (He needs to get used to expanding and defending, timing expansions comes later). d) Supply: If he hits his supply cap, he needs to move his army out and attack.
6) Basic Micro: It's time to stop throwing away the units he produces. Have him maintain his macro level and actually controlling his army in fights. Sounds like a small step but this is massively important.
I could keep going, but I need to get back to my paper. I'll continue some other time if you want. Also, I'm not an amazing SC player, so I help my friends practice a lot. Feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt.
|
just 5 pool for fun til your decent at mirco
|
If you can find another guy basically let them 2v1 you a lot. It's great fun, for you especially, and they only need to improve a little before they will beat you. Then they will see progress. In time he ask for 1v1 :D
|
let him watch u play on bnet or w/e and commentate on urself on what youre doing and why. strats and all.
|
just tell him a little bit about the units, how the game works, how to go about a game of starcraft etc. the very basic stuff, so he knows how to play. just let him play single player for a while and against computers so he can get a feel for the game and see if he likes it or not.
once he gets better (if he still likes the game) show him more advanced stuff, and show him some vods and stuff.
also introduce him to UMS maps for fun
|
CA10828 Posts
everyone loves bgh. your timings for basic build orders are similar enough to a regular map but it helps noobs because of the greater amount of resources in the late game.
|
From what I see, he's very new into Starcraft. Hence he wouldn't be too familiar with units and spells, or Starcraft in general. I strongly advise against teaching him proper 1v1 yet, or letting him watch you 1v1 while commentating what you doing at this point. Reason being, for the former, he has not basics to begin with, and the latter, he has absolutely no clue to what you're trying to explain.
1. So, expose him to the game. Campaigns are the best. That's what I do when I learn a new game, is to jump to campaigns first to get the hang of it. Let him complete all 6 chapters his own. If he has trouble, get him to read guides, or give him a tip or 2. Screw the macro part. Who cares if he turrets/turtles in every mission, and move out with 200/200 fully upgraded pure Hydra/Dragoon/Tank army. He's just learning the game atm.
2. Now that he's familiar, expose him to 1v1 games, 1v2, 2 vs comps or whatever. Be it low money or fastest or BGH. Go easy on him definitely. Let him do whatever build he wants. This is where you try to teach abit of macro. Tell him he should try to be constantly producing units. Don't bother with other mini aspects like constant SCV production etc. Focus on just the main units first. Its just the exposure. Let him know why you're usually winning, with more focus on the units. Let him know how Hydras rape Dragoons, Dragoons rape Vultures etc. This way, he would know more on how each unit works, and which is more effective than the other etc.
3. Perhaps show him some cool videos. Pimpest plays would be great of course. It would certainly amaze him since he is now able to understand why they're considered 'pimp. Maybe expose him to some progaming games, or even the scene itself. He might not be willing to commit to watching them though, but it's certainly worth a try.
4. Hopefully with interest, he's now willing to give proper 1v1 a shot. The videos should give him a rough feel on how 1v1 is, how there's usually a certain build order, scouting etc. From here, teach him some standard build orders on popular maps. Teach macro etc etc. From here on, its actually up to you, since if he's at this point, he probably is rather interested in learning.
It's pretty much a step by step thing. Kinda applies to most games as well. Just don't rush things =]
|
|
|
|