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I've been wondering about this for a while.
I'll start by telling you guys about me.
So I realized that I used to just zone out when I played, and everything I did was done out of instinct.
After a while, I realized that I was making some pretty dumb decisions, so I taught myself to have everything mechanic-wise done subconsciously, and then free up space in my brain to think about what he's doing and what I'm doing and who's ahead/behind and what my next step is.
So to do this, I made someone talk to me nonstop while I played Build Order Testers and stuff while I played around with my units, and forced my eyes to stay glued to the minimap.
So now when I play, I can see everything (thanks to the minimap), my macro is decent, and I'm microing decent, and I have enough handspeed (thanks to piano) to do most of the things that I want.
And what's going on in my head are the following things:
1. Who's ahead/behind right now? 2. What advantage does he have? Economy? Tech? Army? Upgrades? Production? 3. What is he doing right now? 4. What is my next step? 5. How's our positioning compared to each other? 6. Can I take map control from him? (Only if I don't have it)
And occasionally I'd think about building placements and stuff (as the SCV is heading to the location, I might spend a split second thinking about placement, but usually I already have it planned out).
And some other times, I don't think at all, especially during intense multitasking situations, since I really like multi-pronged attacks.
One thing I've noticed about a lot of high-tier players is that they can talk while they play (some streamers are on Skype calls with their friends and are having conversations while they play and stuff. So I'm guessing they play all zoned out)
So enough about me. What goes on in your head while you play?
I almost always go on auto-pilot, and just go through the motions of making drones and hoping to not get attacked, although I find I play a lot better when I'm actively concentrating on specific aspects, like injects, scouting opponent's army size and composition, reacting to cheese/tech, misc. harassment.
Day[J] taught me the most important advice I've ever heard.
He told me this thought process order and to repeat it every 10 seconds:
-What's my overall game plan? -How am I going to get there? -Scout my opponent -Upgrades -Do I feel safe? -If yes make drones, if no make units -Scout my opponent again -How can I transition into late game? -Should I be preparing a timing attack? -Scout again
If I am doing something cheesy, like a 6 pool, 7 roach rush, 2 base hydra all in, 1 base Nydus all in, ninja expansion, or proxy hatchery. It's:
-I HOPE HE DOESN'T SCOUT -This is going to cause so much damage if I can get away with it -Oh God, was that a worker scout? I hope he doesn't check that area -If he scouts it: F10 + 'N' -If he doesn't: http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4475/fuyeah.jpg
Instead of early game apm spam, i think through on my game plan. If my goal is to experiment on the effectiveness of different builds, i will decide on what builds i want to use. Refine the build best tailored for a certain map? Choose to test out the limits of other builds that are sub-optimal for that certain map? For zerg, you can also choose to spend some games trying to push the limits on how much you can drone. If my goal is to win, i will prepare the best possible build made for that map/positions and depending on opponents' playing style, while doing adjustments in the mid-game depending on his builds.
Other in-game decisions include: -How far ahead/behind in terms of strength of army(tech/upgrades included in here) and economy. -I don't just think on how to get more ahead when i'm already ahead. My first priority is always how to protect this lead before getting more ahead (toss = dts, terran = drops) Is it possible to use this lead to punish him or put more pressure. -If i'm behind, how do i get back into game? Burrow? Counterattacks? Step up attempts to pin enemy back into base while buying time for my tech/economy? -Forced to play blind, make calculated risks to defend against most possible aggressions while still not behind in economy that much. -Again make calculated risks on how to get ahead right from the start depending on scouting info.
If I am focused this is what goes through my head repeatedly.
1. What am I currently planning to do? 2. Am I scouting well enough to know what he is doing/planning? 3. Are my hatcheries injected? 4. Do I have too much resource buildup? 5. Are my overlords spread out and positioned well? 6. What should I use my larva for based on what I scouted? 7. What tech/upgrades should I also get based on what I scouted/have planned?
1. Remember to look at the minimap 2. Remember to look at the minimap 3. Remember to look at the minimap 4. Remember to look at the minimap 5. Remember to look at the minimap 6. Remember to look at the minimap 7. Remember to look at the minimap 8. Remember to look at the minimap 9. Remember to look at the minimap 10. Remember to look at the minimap
Playing random, i sometimes have too many things to thing aout which sometimes distracts me.
1. What is my race and my opponent race? 2 what map is this that i can utilize for my race against his? 3 is he going to cheese me because my name is cheeserocka (i ten to macro and never cheese). 4. What position is he in this map? 5. Would a macro play or early aggression play be better on this map and positions? 6. Is cheese a viable option if i see a weakness on his play? 7. What is my unit composition goal, and how do i plan to adapt it to his? 8. knowing people tend to think random players are weaker late game, should i prolong this game to my advantage? 9. Is the player favored? If so, how can i macro better than him since my micro is most likely weaker than his 10. Why am i thinking toommuch (this one is a joke) After the first 2-3 mins developing a plan, my thinking mechanics kick in: Protoss: probes, look at supply, make pylon, check warpgates, upgrade, scout Terran: make scv, look t supply, make depo, check buildings, upgrade, scout Zerg: make drones, look at supply, how many overlords then make, watch creep, look at injects, upgrade, scout
- what is my overall plan? - make scvs make units make depots look at minimap - what is my opponent doing? should i change my plan to counter it? - make scvs make units make depots look at mini map - what is my opp doing.... repeat endlessly
my build is totally on auto pilot up to ~15 minutes (including expanding up to three bases and setting up the fourth, after that I have to think again about some stuff because I haven't experienced that superlategame often enough).
Regarding questions I like to keep it simple so there are two alternating thoughts in my head
1. What can I do right now to maximize the efficiency of my units? (Can I blink in somewhere, can I scout something, is there space for a HT-Drop, is there a weak point in the enemies defense, etc.) 2. What do I need to win aka where does my money go right now? (Expansion/Tech/Units?)
So its basically tactics and how long do I have until a fight will go on so I can decide if I rather put my money in long term stuff or need something right here, right now to fend off his next wave. (Easy example about that: I like to stay low on units in PvT up to the 10 minutes mark because thats when most pushes arrive. Because of that I stay on ~10 units mostly consisting of Sentries and a couple of stalkers while throwing up 6 Gates, a robo and all the tech I need - if I then sense that the terran is coming to me I'm able to pump out units obscenely quick - but if the terran is going for an quicker attack my 3 Gates will be used and I can't put up that much infrastructure).
This information is obtained by scouting various things, such as: - his opening - his expansion timing - unit count - etc...
Based on obtained information, I react accordingly. I feel this is by far the most important thing to do during the game.
Of course you shouldn't forget to build workers and supply depots and whatnot, but that's something which will be second nature quickly enough and doesn't require a lot of mental activity in my opinion. Trying to predict his next move does and is extremely important to be able to get ahead.
"Ok, which cheese will i not scout this game and die to?" "That again. Why didn't i scout it?" "Right, because i fail too much to scout properly" "gg"
Thats about it... and yes, i'm a Zerg player
Oh, and ZvZ thoughts: "Ok, will he 6pool, 8pool, 10pool or 14pool ling/bling all-in?" "Well, i'll FE anyways, maybe i get lucky" "Oh, it's an 8pool ling/spinecrawler/drone all-in again" "gg"
Yes, i have a very positive attitude in my games... maybe thats why i'm stuck in diamond :p
EDIT: Just to note, everything else runs on auto-pilot, i decide the strategy mostly on the loading screen when i see the race.
When I play as Z then it's something like 1. Can I make Drones? 2. Do I have enough OLs to spend my larva if I scout something? 3. Will I have infestors when he attack? (makes me scout a lot) 4. Where can I expand 5. Larva! 6. Larva! 7. Damn I forgot creep spread again 8. Larva! 9. Go To 3, Then Go To 1
When I play as T (I tend to play very aggressive, micro/harrassement heavy) 1. SCVs 2. What is my opponent doing, how can I exploit that NOW 3. Don't lose my Banshees, Reapers, Helions 4. Keep him buisy, get him off track 5. Has he overcommitted to defend my harrasement yet? 6. if yes -> ATTACK his front; If no -> Go to 1
I pretty much just zone out, With just a little thought to things such as are dts coming? Are they expanding? Etc. But thats only when I am unable to scout anything. Except in games where I want to work on a single mechanic such as Injects, My injects where looking pretty bad so I got on ladder and my primary concern was keep Queens low on energy, I may have lost a few games but I now keep Queens energy low without having to think about it.
I always played passive, Drone drone drone, So recently I decided to make my primary concern to pressure my enemy, Attack as much as I can, Instead of droning to hard and dieing now, I have started winning again vs Protoss. So currently in ZvP + Show Spoiler +
1. Is he open to a early Roach/ling all in, or a Bling bust? 2. Is he to spread out can I drop? 3. Does he have detection? 4. Does he have full vision of his base? 5. Can I nydus anywhere? 6. Pressure an expo. 7. Drone/Expand while attacking.
Something really interesting happened a few weeks ago when i played on korean ladder for the first time. For so long, my games had been defined by a BO and trying to extend that into late game by a random spamming of drones and units. The choices i made where hasty and sometimes really stupid because they were in the heat of the moment and i wasn't thinking clearly.
However, when i played my first few games on the korean ladder my mindset completely shifted. From game 1 of my placement matches i was going under the assumption that i would get destroyed in every game. I was alert and best of all, i was being smart. During these games my thought process would go something like this....1. what tech am i headed towards right now? 2. what is he doing? 3. if i don't know what he's doing how am i setting up to find out? 4. can i drone right now? 5. do i have an advantage?
I think that if i allow myself to play under the impression that i might get destroyed at any moment i will always play in this manner. The mind is a fickle thing.....
- Is he being too greedy? If so, right now, do i have the tech, larvae and money to punish him? If yes then go for it, else, be even greedier myself.
Scene 2:
- Is he about to push already? Can i drone some more? Should i make some more lings RIGHT NOW to survive or can i wait another 40 seconds so i have a lot more mutas?
Scene 3: Ok, we are exchanging punches. Can i spare some cash to reach drop/brood/ultra tech?
Scene 4: As i'm about to attack, select a group of i.e. 24 lings and send groups of ~8 with right click to different mineral lines or the main (for the tech buildings) to cause some caos . Also works with hydra drops pretty well as he cant just warp 3 zealots and be done with it. And hydras destroy stuff so quick :O.
Hows my macro? What' my opponent doing? What's my next move?
I usually zone out too, and almost always i over think what i will be doing before the game, then during the game i just play to have fun (still in diamond ^^)
Generally i just try to get the big picture and trust that my mechanics are suffiecient.
"I need to check the minimap. Okey I better get more drones. Shit 7 minutes better get my lair and gas. Okey gases down I need to poke his ramp. More drones. Inject. Ohh shit upgrades forgot. Lair done. Okey infestation pit. I need to expand. Inject. Drones. Ohh damn hes pushing make units. I better attack him now. Inject. Infestor upgrades. Transfer drones to my expansion, I better get infestors. Does he have enough sentries or maybe DTs? Inject. Units. Upgrades. I better drop him. I better check his third. Oh hes expanding Ill deny it with my lings. Okey I got that expansion Ill expand myself okey make drones. Transfer drones. Attack fungal fungal fungal, better surrond, burrow roach thats wounded win."
All I have going on in my head is "meow meow meow meow meow meow meow" or something of the sorts until the end of the game because I'm most likely wasted.
anyways, in all seriousness; most of what everyone else has said is also what I think about too As a zerg player: 1. Drones/Expand? 2. Inject/Spread Creep? 3. Look at Minimap/Food/Resources? 4. What is my opponent is doing or probably going to do? (ie. scout) 5. What am I going to do next in response? (ie.plan ahead) 6. Repeat until steps 1-5 until someone ggs.
These steps are pretty general for most zerg players though.
I feel my metal aspect is my worst I tend to think about mostly metagame things, responding to drops, moving army, even engaging is all automatic. I go into every non-zvz thinking I've already lost the game, and never concider winning being a possibility (even though my winrate is ofc around 50%)
My thoughts usually go like this throughout the game: start - first scout arriving: "Dont think about last game, f**k *insert race*, overpowered bla bla bla bla, you stupid mistake-making moron, you had that game bla bla bla! And now another game on stupid horrible *insert name of map*, most certainly close positions AGAIN! why do I even play?"
then it alternates between autopilot (if I dont see anything unexpected, I dont react at all) and: "Ok wtf is he doing? NOOOO why is my overlord all the way over there, need to scout the bastard. wtf is he doing..." and then as soon as Im fairly certain, I go back to autopilot.
Then as things start to happen, engagements and whatnot, if a lot of things are happening, my mind goes blank and I just respond. If not, I think one of 2 things: "Hmm you're ahead right? he's fucked? but... how the hell do I finish him???" or "God fuck this game, Im so screwed, this is pointless, damn overpowered *insert race*. Please make a mistake, please make a mistake!"
And then when I lose or win, I get mad at the opponents race and conclude how much he sucks and how much I suck (usually pretty evenly hard on both of us)...
For the record, in a calm state when not playing, I believe the game to be very balanced... but when playing, I'm not the happiest of people and whine at pretty much anything I litteraly get offended when winning, completely believing that he lost the game from being horrible, not that I played well...
Lol, everyone has the same reply of "make workers, scout, expand, etc." I do:
What map am I going into? What aspect of the map can I abuse? What race is that guy? How can THEY abuse the map? What are my goals in this game? How can I safely or greedily get there? What is that guy doing? What can you assume he's going to do? Does he have a good enough wall off? If not, go obliterate him with lings Make drones whenever it's safe Make sure to scout his army Don't skimp out on a couple units worth of larva just cause you feel that it's 75% safe Post overlords throughout the map, you don't want to let a ninja dropship in Is my creep spreading decently? Make sure the queen poops out her intestines so that I get enough creep Are my upgrades going? Am I saturated? Can I expand? Can I attack? Make a macro hatch once I get to three bases Do I know what that guy's doing? Can I sneak in an expansion? Is my gas getting too high? Don't be scared to make lings if need be Am I at Hive tech? Crush him
1) I think about my build that i have preset for the race and the map 2) looking at my minerals and minimap 3) *if something isn't happening (uhhh....check for proxy) 4) adapt to situation 5) *if i feel no attack (enemy teching to harrass) 6) MAP AWARENESS (*this goes for any game)
for ex. #6 - got to have obs in the general area. watching key areas for air harrass/pressure push
1. How much vision do I have? 2. Do I have enough info to estimate what is coming? 3. When was the last time I checked his base? 4. Am I droning enough? Am I safe to do so? 5. Am I injecting often enough? 6. Drone saturation 7. Did I forget upgrades/tech? 8. What is my advantage and what is his? Can I abuse this advantage now?
F*** I didn't make an overlord, s*** I need to scout, holy **** injects!!!, **** why don't I have a third up already **** ****. What the **** is he doing right now. He doesn't have an expo yet? He is dead unless he.... ***** ***** *****. Oh well better luck next time.
That is about my average game I'd say.
When I'm not freaking out due to my bad play I have all this stuff in my mind:
1. Do I have the economic advantage or do I have to do damage? 2. Can I do damage (army advantage, tech advantage or mobility/position advantage)? 3. Is my opponent teching and how can I make sure I'm safe against his tech? 4. Is my opponent going "all in" and do I have to invest in extra defense? 5. Can I safely take another expansion/invest in economy? 6. Is my opponent taking an expansion and am I in a position to deny it? 7. Is there a weakness in my opponent which I can exploit? 8. Can I trade units and is this favorable for me 9. Is my unit composition cost effective against my opponent and how can I adapt? 10. Is my opponent more mobile and can I defend all important locations?
I JUST got a new computer that allows me to play the game on all settings maxed out. so my mind set has been pretty much this:
-OMG everything is shiny! -Is my creep pulsing? -holy cow look at that TREE! -forget the tree look at THAT FLOWER! *zooms in and pans left and right* -what is this strange contraption in the middle of the map? -my god... his units GLOW! (Toss) --or-- -my god, his units BLOW UP! after they die. (Terran) --or-- -my god, that's a huge pile of blood and gore on the ground (Zerg; usually mine) -hey! I can see my unit's reflection on the water! It even reflects the blood after it dies! -WOW flowers puff up in a cloud of purple smoke when creep touches them! and Trees become purple! -Golly gee! what used to look like low-poly models are now high-poly masterpieces! *inspects each and every unit that I've created and pan around them, even my opponents*
Oh, my shitty silver macro is on auto pilot. not like its being used or anything anyways...
You really shouldn't have to think a whole lot after you've played a bunch of games. Playing a bunch of games and getting a basic understanding of what can happen based on what you see should take the thinking out of the game. But obviously you can't have everything down pat so you never have to think at all.
For me, the things that I still need to think about in game:
Does he have a ninja expo? Is my saturation even? How long until I need to prepare for Broods? Is it time to add DT or colossus (when I open twilight)
Eventually I hope to not have to think of anything, just know all the reactions and what I need to do. When you have to think about something in the moment instead of already having thought about it between games or in previous games, you play slower and less efficiently.
1. Mmm yeah Kerrigan ur so hawt. 2. Not enough minerals you say? Don't worry I'll get you some more 3. Not enough overlords? how about you gimme some of ur ovies kerriggannn yeeee. 4. aw fuck marines
On July 25 2011 23:55 Zenatsu wrote: I JUST got a new computer that allows me to play the game on all settings maxed out. so my mind set has been pretty much this:
-OMG everything is shiny! -Is my creep pulsing? -holy cow look at that TREE! -forget the tree look at THAT FLOWER! *zooms in and pans left and right* -what is this strange contraption in the middle of the map? -my god... his units GLOW! (Toss) --or-- -my god, his units BLOW UP! after they die. (Terran) --or-- -my god, that's a huge pile of blood and gore on the ground (Zerg; usually mine) -hey! I can see my unit's reflection on the water! It even reflects the blood after it dies! -WOW flowers puff up in a cloud of purple smoke when creep touches them! and Trees become purple! -Golly gee! what used to look like low-poly models are now high-poly masterpieces! *inspects each and every unit that I've created and pan around them, even my opponents*
Oh, my shitty silver macro is on auto pilot. not like its being used or anything anyways...
It's really a huge difference between low and high settings... i don't understand how people can play on lowest settings after seeing the beautiful graphics of "Ultra" :p
On July 25 2011 23:55 Zenatsu wrote: I JUST got a new computer that allows me to play the game on all settings maxed out. so my mind set has been pretty much this:
-OMG everything is shiny! -Is my creep pulsing? -holy cow look at that TREE! -forget the tree look at THAT FLOWER! *zooms in and pans left and right* -what is this strange contraption in the middle of the map? -my god... his units GLOW! (Toss) --or-- -my god, his units BLOW UP! after they die. (Terran) --or-- -my god, that's a huge pile of blood and gore on the ground (Zerg; usually mine) -hey! I can see my unit's reflection on the water! It even reflects the blood after it dies! -WOW flowers puff up in a cloud of purple smoke when creep touches them! and Trees become purple! -Golly gee! what used to look like low-poly models are now high-poly masterpieces! *inspects each and every unit that I've created and pan around them, even my opponents*
Oh, my shitty silver macro is on auto pilot. not like its being used or anything anyways...
It's really a huge difference between low and high settings... i don't understand how people can play on lowest settings after seeing the beautiful graphics of "Ultra" :p
It's purely preference, although I do see the advantage of low graphics. For example depth of field is one of the things that can confuse me as to where air units exactly are so I prefer to play all low.
On July 25 2011 23:55 Zenatsu wrote: I JUST got a new computer that allows me to play the game on all settings maxed out. so my mind set has been pretty much this:
-OMG everything is shiny! -Is my creep pulsing? -holy cow look at that TREE! -forget the tree look at THAT FLOWER! *zooms in and pans left and right* -what is this strange contraption in the middle of the map? -my god... his units GLOW! (Toss) --or-- -my god, his units BLOW UP! after they die. (Terran) --or-- -my god, that's a huge pile of blood and gore on the ground (Zerg; usually mine) -hey! I can see my unit's reflection on the water! It even reflects the blood after it dies! -WOW flowers puff up in a cloud of purple smoke when creep touches them! and Trees become purple! -Golly gee! what used to look like low-poly models are now high-poly masterpieces! *inspects each and every unit that I've created and pan around them, even my opponents*
Oh, my shitty silver macro is on auto pilot. not like its being used or anything anyways...
I did this exact thing after I built my pc from playing on a macbook lmao.
Anyway,
-SCVs, need moar scvs...can I expand again, how about a macro orbital -why is he still not expanding wtf another allin -well how do I defend against this does he have gas, can I get a hellion or something in there to -see wtf is going on -whats this song? -need to queue scvs so I can check -gogo hellions gogogo -YES GG now I just can't fuck up -lol why are you attacking a siege line -how the f am I playing people this bad, this must be his bad mu or if I'm playing against toss: -wow thats a lot of chrono -i think i can still make bunkers and expo in nat -yeah i got this -still no expand? -fuck -ok you can hold this just pull your scvs -yeah you can totally hold this -how the fuasjdksakjnkdjbnsafjklnkjsng after the game: oh 22 probes lol
Not much. I always scout around the map and by the tell of gas and unit comp you can rule out alot of possible options that can hit you and instead focus on things he can actually do. I think most people just goes on auto pilot and in a way that is bad because you don't really notice when you are doing things wrong or bad decisions. I guess thats why coaches in team houses are so good because they can break bad habbits you have because of your auto pilot.
i just memorize all the build orders and then my mind goes blank and i'll just see what he's going for then i'll react, if there's something in my mind i wont play well lol
1. Are my bases saturated 2. Do I have the xel naga's in control 3. Are my overlords in proper places so I can see what he's doing 4. Is he going banshee or void ray? 5. When should I get my third? 6. Is he making a CC in his main? 7. Should I go baneling or roaches? 8. Spire or infestors? 9. How do I hotkey my army with 1,2,3, 10. Am I spreading Creep 11. Is he going colossi, do I have enough corruptors/ or amazing infestor micro 12. What if he DT transitions, I'm I prepared? 13. I'm I ahead in the Upgrade game? 14. Do you think he could have expanded after that push, can I pressure him? 15. When should I go Hive, is it safe? 16. what should I do when I get to 200/200, and he's turtling? Drop/Nydus, what if he just straight up attacks? 17. Should I GG? I think I can still win?
and so many other things, about specific army positioning. Should I flank like that, where's his tank line, should I engage etc.
i always hope that my downloading of porn doesn't interfere too much the lag while playing sc2. of course, i won't pause the downloads just for sc2, you have to set priorities in life afterall!
The things i always have going on in my head is 1. What is my opponent doing? 2. How can i take advantage of that to get ahead
That is it. Everything else is already planted in my mind before the game started. I don't do any prep i just know after i know the map and the matchup what i am going to do.
Seriously I don't think about anything. Been playing RTSs at such a high level for so long that I've seen all the builds and cheeses. It's just execution of my build.
auto pilot! edit: i cant believe all of you that think about so much during your games! maybe its the lower rated players or something, who haven't played enough games (no offense). it just seems like if your asking yourself is it safe, what should i do etc. that your not gonna be doing it fast enough.
On July 25 2011 16:55 Hatefiend wrote: I love this post.
Day[J] taught me the most important advice I've ever heard.
He told me this thought process order and to repeat it every 10 seconds:
-What's my overall game plan? -How am I going to get there? -Scout my opponent -Upgrades -Do I feel safe? -If yes make drones, if no make units -Scout my opponent again -How can I transition into late game? -Should I be preparing a timing attack? -Scout again
If I am doing something cheesy, like a 6 pool, 7 roach rush, 2 base hydra all in, 1 base Nydus all in, ninja expansion, or proxy hatchery. It's:
-I HOPE HE DOESN'T SCOUT -This is going to cause so much damage if I can get away with it -Oh God, was that a worker scout? I hope he doesn't check that area -If he scouts it: F10 + 'N' -If he doesn't: http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4475/fuyeah.jpg
LOL
But yeah, agree with some of the posts above me, i.e. "Ohshit I need to ______"
Also, do tournaments play on the Ultra settings? When I watch vod's, there's random glowing and stuff that I don't see when I play...or I don't notice.My laptop's so sad so often...
I think it was chill or someone who talked about adding and subtracting points after engagements in game (this was in bw). Like he expo'd faster lose a point or a I got a free stalker, point for me so in game I usually think about ways to win or ways I could lose points, the builds and macro and stuff is pretty automatic
I play both Terran and Protoss in masters league, and I don't even think that much during my games. I just focus on following my builds that I've picked out for each matchup. The builds are just overall solid macro builds. I will think if something is up, such as cheese and I will react accordingly. In a regular game though, the only thing I might think about is who is ahead or behind, and whether or not I might need to take some sort of tech or economic risk. Otherwise, theres not much going on in my head besides build order, micro, macro, and surviving timing attacks or cheese.
Most of the time I zone out for the game and think about other things. Often I do not look back/comprehend what happen until the game is over, however this my games usually consist of 1+ of the following.
1.) Hmm...I like this song. 2.)Sing along with song. 3.)Hmmm..what should I do today. 4.)That chick I saw at (location) was (describing word). 5.) I'm hungry what should I eat after this game.
Ideally nothing is going on in my head, except instinct. I do my thinking mostly out of the game. Most of the thinking I do ingame is just, a clusterfuck of everything.
You don't want to be thinking during your games, that's how you lose. Ideally you should automatically know the response to everything.
I actually think about the specific action that I'm doing, and the hotkeys that I have to use, so it goes around in early game "5s, 5s, 5s, 5s, 2*click* 2*click....."
This helps me to zone out, keep my mechanics up, and allows me to let my brain do the thinking. I've watched and played enough games and have a good enough memory and game understanding that consciously thinking during a game can sometimes lead to me over-analyzing the situation, however my passive decision making, or instinct, is what I will rely on.
I also keep constantly trying to figure out exact what the current state of the game is, who has what advantages in what areas, who has better map control who's been mining more gas, who's lost more gas in units, and of course, how do I get from where the game is now, to what I want the game to look like (I think day9 refers to this as a game plan or something like that), basically, any moment where I'm not actively trying to micro, I'm trying to figure out exactly how i can get the game to look the way I want it to, all the way down to the last little detail, and exactly what action I need to do next.
Yeah, its pretty much auto pilot going on in games :D
And the intereting thing is, i mostly remember some counters or sick strats i saw in streams when i am in a ladder game. But when you would ask me in between some games "whats the perfect counter to this/that", i would have to think a long time about that
"WTF is he doing" "I think I made too many drones" "WTF is he doing" "I don't think I made enough drones" "WTF is he doing" "Why do lings die so fast" "WTF is he doing" "I have no clue what he's doing so Im just going to blind infestor and hope for hero fungals"
On July 25 2011 16:40 Isaac wrote: I like to think: Whats my APM? Is this what MarineKing would do? Is there a timing I can execute? Does he have collosi?
Ladies and gentlemen, this might be the Louis C.K. of the sc2 world...
Personally I go with:
4) how does the information that I have so far scouted affect my build? 3) when, by what, and from where am I expecting the first attack? 2) how can I use the meta-game to take an advantage? 1) how many scvs will they bring?
At start - Fuck I hope I could pwn this noob Early game - Just BO routines About to lose (if he is manner) - Well its ok. Losing is normal sometimes. "WP, re?" About to lose (if he is BM) - fuck how can i prolong this and irritate him About to win (if he is manner) - Ok just deal enough so that he cant come back but not totally destroy him. wait for his gg About to win (if he is BM) - fuck you noob please dont leave yet fucker im gonna rape you so hard. Then i leave him just enough to rebuild while I do something really BM like mass banelings or something
Mash dem keys like mad to get high APM while executing BO as good as possible Is he cheesing? naww ok build stuff and expand SHIT HE HASNT EXPANDED YET MAKE ROBO AND 6GATES ASAP ooh wait he did expand now im stuck with these useless building but w/e... macro macro did my ball beat his? if yes - hell yeah crush that noob, show him who's gonna be the next MC if no and opponent is not zerg - leave and pretend like nothing happened if no and opponent is zerg - BM him for a while saying he sucks and plays OP race, leave game
Basically you should never really think about what your opponent could be doing, that just leads to you changing what you've practiced around what you "Think" he is doing. I generally stick to my gameplay which is premade, then if I SEE something or NOTICE something different I quickly go through my head what it COULD mean then I prepepare for it. Generally being prepepared is bad, but generally depending on who you play preperation for something is good. Like getting a couple extra queens if you scout a factory, you don't see banshees, but even if he doesn't get banshees you still have 4 queens which are good against hellions + good for spreading creep against tanks.
What goes through my mind isn't a whole lot, generally I like to play with a clear mind, I find I lose a lot of games where I over-think things. If I do think things, it most likely goes along the path of, "can I get away with a double expand?" "I wonder how I can get around that detection to harass" "I wonder whats for dinner?"
I tend to talk to myself throughout the whole game. Saying things such as "Wow I suck" or when I lose to cheese "YOU'RE THE EFFING WORST PLAYER I'VE EVER SEEN YOU IDIOT." Stuff along those lines.
On July 27 2011 09:14 Latedi wrote: Mash dem keys like mad to get high APM while executing BO as good as possible Is he cheesing? naww ok build stuff and expand SHIT HE HASNT EXPANDED YET MAKE ROBO AND 6GATES ASAP ooh wait he did expand now im stuck with these useless building but w/e... macro macro did my ball beat his? if yes - hell yeah crush that noob, show him who's gonna be the next MC if no and opponent is not zerg - leave and pretend like nothing happened if no and opponent is zerg - BM him for a while saying he sucks and plays OP race, leave game
lol this is what goes through my head when I think about what is going through protoss's head.
Mostly its autopilot until its "FUCK he has a big ass army" then I have to start thinking about how the hell am I going to manage to not die here. I often yell at myself in my head for being so terrible and forgetting stupid things like festor energy upgrade, or just upgrades in general. So mostly a lot of cursing and raging at myself for being SO bad. Edit: I guess this was okay for my 400th post :D
Early game, I'm scouting, trying to figure out which branch of my build to take to get ahead/not too far behind.
Mid game, I'm trying to figure out how to get an advantage. Can I expand safely? If not, can I tech safely? If not, can I upgrade safely? If not, make units
Oh, and don't get supply blocked. Look at the minimap.
On July 25 2011 18:07 dani` wrote: Primarily this:
- What is he doing?
This information is obtained by scouting various things, such as: - his opening - his expansion timing - unit count - etc...
Based on obtained information, I react accordingly. I feel this is by far the most important thing to do during the game.
Of course you shouldn't forget to build workers and supply depots and whatnot, but that's something which will be second nature quickly enough and doesn't require a lot of mental activity in my opinion. Trying to predict his next move does and is extremely important to be able to get ahead.
This is something that is super important. read this 3 times. It will save you from countless all ins, let you know if YOU can all in, or if you can push and do some damage!
For me its mainly- Drone, inject, supply, check if a Zealot rush is coming, make lings, make overloards repeat till i get lair tech decide if i should go muta or infestor then lose to 6 colossi then think about switching back to Terran
1. What race is he? 2. What is my default build vs this race? 3. Execute this build. 4. Its going pretty good... .Push out 5. Fuck 6. Fuck 7. Fuuucckk 8. FUCK 9. FUCK FUCK FUCK 10. F10, N!
im High masters, gm this season for sure. Nothing is really going on in my head on the conscious level.. i just see and react... If anything is going on in my conscious mind its just reminding my self of mental checklist.. but i mean... things just sort of pop up.. like ... ok time to scout here... ok this is low gas army... and early 2nd gas.. watch out for dts.. its kind of like walking... its instinct. the odd thing is... i play probably 1/100th of the majority of high masters /gm players.. for now atleast.. will be massing up soon. i want to go pro
In TvZ I play pretty automatically. I've refined the crap out of my builds in that matchup to the point that I know the zerg timings based on my own army composition. If my army looks like this, he can either have x/yor z. I flat out win to against x and if he holds with y I do a if he holds with z and do b. Then it's the usual litany of checking food, checking minimap, food, minimap, attack here, food, minimap, rinse, repeat, Oh, he said something unprintable about marines and rage quit. That was fun!
My other MUs are nothing like so Zen though. Those are the ones where I'll just kind of randomly decide to do things and they'll either work or they won't. I'm confident they will eventually feel like that, once I figure out and internalize a good safe opening for those MUs like my TvZ, but I almost never get to the midgame in tvp or tvt feeling like the game is even and once you feel like you're behind, you're your own worst enemy. I definitely over-think things in those and would probably be better if I just did the same thing all the time for a bit and simply accepted the losses and tried to make minute adjustments to fix them. Logically that's what I know I have to do, but it's so much easier to go 'F-ing high templars are so F-ing overpowered! F- this F-ing game!' *deskflip.
EPT
. Also works with hydra drops pretty well as he cant just warp 3 zealots and be done with it. And hydras destroy stuff so quick :O.
![[image loading]](http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6145/mindgamefinal.jpg)
