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[G] TheStaircase - An Alternative Improvement Method - Pag…

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
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mGGNoRe
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Australia124 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-21 23:36:28
September 21 2014 23:36 GMT
#1321
On September 21 2014 15:05 sherifusa1988 wrote:
Awesome, thx a lot mGGNoRe, but is it ok to build spine and spore crawlers in zerg step 1?


Spores and Spines are buildings not units. They also only cost minerals so Im 99% sure they are fine to build in step 1.
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
September 22 2014 00:30 GMT
#1322
don't be fooled, you are practicing your macro, micro, and multitasking mechanics by doing all-ins. What you are not practicing is the late game, or "macro strategy". There is a common misconception that "macro" means playing long games and has no other definition. Macro mechanics is the pressing of buttons to make stuff, which happens in every game.

I suggest mixing it up for your battle units. Experiment with different combinations and learn about the strengths weaknesses and synergies of your race.
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
mGGNoRe
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Australia124 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-22 04:28:10
September 22 2014 04:27 GMT
#1323
On September 22 2014 09:30 JaKaTaK wrote:
don't be fooled, you are practicing your macro, micro, and multitasking mechanics by doing all-ins. What you are not practicing is the late game, or "macro strategy". There is a common misconception that "macro" means playing long games and has no other definition. Macro mechanics is the pressing of buttons to make stuff, which happens in every game.

I suggest mixing it up for your battle units. Experiment with different combinations and learn about the strengths weaknesses and synergies of your race.


Eventhough I've finished the Staircase I had so many crazy games on the early steps. I had one game where I attemped to push with spores/spines against a protoss third base, using the zerglings as cover. Another where I attempted to mass queen/spine drop on step 3. It really got me to think about the game differently. So I totally agree with experimenting as much as possible on each step. It's not only fun but you learn a lot about the game as you do it.

Thanks jakatak!
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
September 22 2014 13:47 GMT
#1324
you're welcome! You don't happen to have any no gas+micro games I could use for the next video, do you?
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
sherifusa1988
Profile Joined August 2014
Egypt6 Posts
September 22 2014 17:16 GMT
#1325
Ok I am now done with step 1 and ready to move on to step 2....
but which one is correct? the one on the spreadsheet? or the one on the forums?
am I allowed to "mine gas", or "no gas but control units as to the best of my ability"?
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
September 22 2014 20:34 GMT
#1326
no gas + micro.
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
Garsecg
Profile Joined September 2014
United States129 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-25 13:41:33
September 23 2014 05:53 GMT
#1327

@garsecg
that's awesome! any good games of the slow ling only w/ micro I could use for the next video?


Here's a few of my best, let me know if you want me to go through some more.

EDIT: I know they say step 1, but I am very bad at step 1 and habitually look at where my army is. I'm working on it! Nevertheless, these should help.

ZvZ -- http://ggtracker.com/matches/5453771

Notes: I did really well this game. It's a loss, but I hit my goal in every category (masters) and maxed out on slow lings a few times. A loss, but there were times where I had A LOT of lings.

ZvT -- http://ggtracker.com/matches/5453689

Notes : I won this game by turtling up, massing a bunch of lings, then overtwhelming the Terran rush. Satisfying win, and out of all my games, I think the last battle where I overwhelm him would make a good clip.

I'll post some more when I have some that I think are high quality -- let me know if you have any feedback RE what you're looking for

Also... if you're wondering why the name of my guy is Quetzal in the replays.... I made my account here before double-checking I had a name change. As such, my guy on ladder atm is Quetzal.

Here's a link to my profile if you ever want to browse. I'm labeling all of the replays by the step, so it should be obvious RE the tracker when I can move up and start labeling S2 (step 2) and so forth: http://ggtracker.com/players/354064/Quetzal

FINAL EDIT: Just finished step 2 on the ladder, played 25 games in total. The last 5 are strictly slow ling w/ micro, and the last one should be pretty good for highlights. My creep spread wasn't as good as in other games, but I focused much more on ling production instead of worrying about making extra queens. Link: http://ggtracker.com/matches/5458965

Hope some of these help!

ThunderChild.EU
Profile Joined November 2011
France5 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-10-07 21:59:50
October 07 2014 11:50 GMT
#1328
I can't believe it took me so long to discover this thread. I gave it a try and all I can say is: whow. This learning system takes away a whole lot of (self-inflicted) psychological pressure compared to my normal 1v1 laddering plus it gives me a way to measure my progress.

Many thanks to JaKaTaK!!

However, I'm a bit confused on how to use the Reference Spreadsheet.
Let's assume I'd like to shoot for Diamond as my League Goal, playing Protoss.
The Protoss Benchmarks tell me I have to meet a Diamond's Saturation Speed and Spending Skill four out of five games in a row. So far so good.
However, there is a column labeled "Chronoboost" and I haven't found any hint on the Spreadsheet or at GGtracker.com which level of "Chronoboost and Energy Max-out" I have to meet. So what am I supposed to do with this column?

And what about supply blocks? I can't find any hint at GGtracker.com that supply blocks are counted within my replays. Is there no such function?

The german version of the Spreedsheat is another source of confusion. There are different columns, for example # of hard supply blocks and there's a benchmark key named Energy mentioned in the lower left corner, which doesn't show up in the benchmark table.

Any help on these questions would be much appreciated!

Best regards,

ThunderChild

Edit: typo
YoTcA
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany151 Posts
October 07 2014 13:37 GMT
#1329
I can at least help with your problem with the german version: It is simply out dated. German version number is 5.9.1 and the English spreadsheet is already at Version 7.0 (upper left corner). This might be the reason why they show different information.
So I would advice you to ignore it, if your English is advanced enough to understand the English version.
ThunderChild.EU
Profile Joined November 2011
France5 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-10-08 09:33:00
October 07 2014 21:59 GMT
#1330
Yeah, well... he who can read has the advantage it seems. *G* Thanks for the hint. As for my english: I can cope ;-) Again, thank you!

Anyone else who could enlighten me?


Edit:

I took some time and searched through the last 20 pages of this thread. It seems to turn out that supply blocks can't be measured by the raw replay data. However I found this:
On June 15 2013 04:52 JaKaTaK wrote:
Hooray for questions! :D I'm really digging this discussion.
[...]
2. Injects and supply blocks are encompassed in Spending Skill and Saturation Speed (as you recently learned). If you get supply blocked or larva blocked, you will likely miss your Spending or Saturation benchmarks. If you are missing one of these benchmarks, its probably because of one of those factors.
[...]

This gives me the impression that I don't have to check for supply blocks since they indirectly influence my Spending Skill and Saturation Speed. Is that correct?

In any case I would really like to suggest that such an information would be posted on the FAQs at GGtracker.com. This topic was adressed several times throughout this thread, I believe there are some people out there who would appreciate this additional piece of information.

At any rate, this is a really cool project and a total joyride for me, laddering with the staircase!

( And does anybody has some answers to the other questions in my previous post, please? :-) )
ThunderChild.EU
Profile Joined November 2011
France5 Posts
October 14 2014 14:36 GMT
#1331
While I've been waiting for answers, I have continued my StairCase-Ladder experience. It's just awesome!

I'd like to share this printable version of the spreadsheet that I created today:
Printable TheStairCase Spreadsheet (PDF)

If you have any feedback on this one, just post here and I'll be happy to make improvements if need be.
jarosan
Profile Joined October 2014
2 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-10-17 07:23:00
October 17 2014 07:22 GMT
#1332
Hi,

Thanks Jak for the StairCase. It really helps break things down to smaller pieces and concentrate on them.

I'm having a bit of a problem however. I'm on Step 3 (mine gas, only given units) with protoss. I play against Very Hard AI. I constantly have good spending and saturation benchmarks (from platinum to master), but i still cannot beat AI. I send mass zealots, but they get crushed by the more technical enemy army.

Should i be worried? The way you write in the StairCase description is that winning should not be the main goal. OK. It's not. But somehow i feel, that I'm too concentrated on spending and saturation. I try to go for early pushes, sometimes it workers out and i deny his third, but then the enemy usually shrugs off my army.

I mean it's still possible to play Step 3 the same way as Step 1 just with mining gas, doing upgrades and stuff and still making all benchmarks. I feel that there is a flaw in this logic.

Should i be winning my matches against Very Hard AI before moving to Step 4?


Thanks

PS. I'm playing WoL. Do you have an older version of Given Units for WoL? There is no MsC
BurningRanger
Profile Joined January 2012
Germany303 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-10-17 08:13:31
October 17 2014 08:10 GMT
#1333
On October 17 2014 16:22 jarosan wrote:
Hi,

Thanks Jak for the StairCase. It really helps break things down to smaller pieces and concentrate on them.

I'm having a bit of a problem however. I'm on Step 3 (mine gas, only given units) with protoss. I play against Very Hard AI. I constantly have good spending and saturation benchmarks (from platinum to master), but i still cannot beat AI. I send mass zealots, but they get crushed by the more technical enemy army.

Should i be worried? The way you write in the StairCase description is that winning should not be the main goal. OK. It's not. But somehow i feel, that I'm too concentrated on spending and saturation. I try to go for early pushes, sometimes it workers out and i deny his third, but then the enemy usually shrugs off my army.

I mean it's still possible to play Step 3 the same way as Step 1 just with mining gas, doing upgrades and stuff and still making all benchmarks. I feel that there is a flaw in this logic.

Should i be winning my matches against Very Hard AI before moving to Step 4?


Thanks

PS. I'm playing WoL. Do you have an older version of Given Units for WoL? There is no MsC

I think I can answer these as well.
As long as you're meeting your League goals in Spending Skill and Base Saturation, you're doing fine. Winning and losing is irrelevant. You don't want to win. You want to get better. This is especially true for the lower steps. The limitation on few unit types is there for you to concentrate on spending resources instead of wasting time on thinking about what units to make. You'll eventually get to the point, where you are allowed to build high tech units too. The point is: by that time you'll still be able to spend all your resources.

So, in short: No, you don't need to win against Very Hard AI before moving to the next step. You just need to meet your League goals.

Oh and... just leave the MsC out in WoL. There is no replacement for that unit.
My Livestream: http://www.twitch.tv/burningranger | My youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BurningR4nger
jarosan
Profile Joined October 2014
2 Posts
October 17 2014 08:54 GMT
#1334
Thanks for your reply BurningRanger.

What I notice in my games it that I don't scout and harass enough. It's possible to do some Warp Prism drops and better scouting with Observers. Doing this better I could probably beat Very Hard AI with just Chargelots. It's probably easier to learn how to do this (scout, harass) on Step 3, before I move to more units. However since I'm passing all benchmarks I can already move to the next step

So I thought that maybe somebody can post from his own experience with StairCase his personal benchmarks like:
Step 3 - beat Very Hard AI
Step 4 - beat Elite AI
etc.

Thanks again
TedBurtle
Profile Blog Joined April 2014
Belarus201 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-10-17 16:24:27
October 17 2014 16:23 GMT
#1335
On October 17 2014 17:54 jarosan wrote:
Thanks for your reply BurningRanger.

What I notice in my games it that I don't scout and harass enough. It's possible to do some Warp Prism drops and better scouting with Observers. Doing this better I could probably beat Very Hard AI with just Chargelots. It's probably easier to learn how to do this (scout, harass) on Step 3, before I move to more units. However since I'm passing all benchmarks I can already move to the next step

So I thought that maybe somebody can post from his own experience with StairCase his personal benchmarks like:
Step 3 - beat Very Hard AI
Step 4 - beat Elite AI
etc.

Thanks again

Just throw away fear, and jump on ladder. My benchmarks was:
Step1 - Beated every AI from very Easy to Elite *7 games total*,Then beated bronze oponent on ladder *1game total*
Step2 - Passed 9 of 10, won like 5 of 10, promoted to silver
Step3 - Like 20 games to get used to it.
Step4 - Few games and im Gold....Passing steps from here become easy, and i just learned some macro openers, and from there in 2 seasons im almost diamond..
P.S. I never played RTS..Was pro DOTA1 player, but never played wc3/sc2.

Thx JAKATAK :D
Unbeatable Protoss
enykie
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany64 Posts
October 18 2014 13:44 GMT
#1336
I'm confused with the sign up. Made an account on ggtracker, enabled the staircase view, authenticated my account, but now i can't find where I can select my league goal and race? Where is this?
ThunderChild.EU
Profile Joined November 2011
France5 Posts
October 18 2014 14:31 GMT
#1337
You don't select those at ggtracker.com. You choose for yourself which race you want to play and which league you want to set as your long term goal.
Then you play games, upload the replays and check if you have passed them according to ggtracker.com's Staircase view: Did you spend your ressources well enough? Did you saturate your bases fast enough?

To keep track for yourself, there is the Spreadsheet, linked in the first post - or my PDF that I uploaded and linked a few posts above.
Mythodea
Profile Joined November 2014
Mexico4 Posts
November 04 2014 06:52 GMT
#1338
Someone probably asked his already but I'm not going to go through 67 pages of text to find it lol

Question: In order to "pass" a certain stage, do we need to hit our goal league for all THREE bases of the saturation speed? Just the first two? Enlighten me please.

Thanks!
Cascade
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
Australia5405 Posts
November 04 2014 07:04 GMT
#1339
If you play protoss: no. :p
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
November 04 2014 12:25 GMT
#1340
you need to hit it for as many bases as you take, up to 3.
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
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