On February 23 2012 20:26 monkybone wrote:

The bouncing around happens on every mineral field, it doesn't affect the difference between blue and gold bases. The differences that are already there, assuming ideal mining (no bouncing around), will remain the same because of this.

Yeah but if you completely mine out a patch, you are now increasing the amount of scvs bouncinng around, i.e. decreasing the income faster. Also assuming ideal mining, by mining out a patch, you now introduce unideal mining, which is also decreasing the income faster.

naggerNZ

New Zealand708 Posts

February 23 2012 11:37 GMT

#84

I drop mine on whatever patch appears to have the least remaining minerals.

Tobberoth

Sweden6375 Posts

February 23 2012 11:46 GMT

#85

On February 23 2012 20:37 naggerNZ wrote:
I drop mine on whatever patch appears to have the least remaining minerals.

More or less the worst possible tactic unless you're undersaturated, where it's still not beneficial.

naggerNZ

New Zealand708 Posts

February 23 2012 13:28 GMT

#86

On February 23 2012 20:46 Tobberoth wrote:

Show nested quote +

More or less the worst possible tactic unless you're undersaturated, where it's still not beneficial.

My bad. I mean't to say the opposite. I guess I should sober up.

love.less

United Kingdom293 Posts

February 23 2012 14:11 GMT

#87

dropping mules on gold patches or close patches isnt gonna win or lose you any games nobody should really go crazy about it.
but mining out patches because your trying to use the "correct" method probably will

Waah

United States120 Posts

February 23 2012 14:29 GMT

#88

I've seen forgg pull the first few mules of the game off the mineral line if they weren't going to make it back with the minerals. You may miss an extra return if you drop them on a very far patch to begin with, but you don't lose any either, in the sense of resources you'll never get out of said mineral patch. So long as you drop the mule on a mineral patch that'll get you the most amount of trips back and forth, does it matter? (assuming you have the apm to check and make sure it doesn't mine minerals on a trip where it'll expire without being able to return the minerals)

I don't think it matters as much in the later stages of the game though.

Asha

United Kingdom38257 Posts

February 23 2012 14:35 GMT

#89

I drop on close patches early game when there's less going on and I can more reliably pull mules off before their last trip.

I drop on further patches later when I know there's more stuff to do and I'm more likely to miss the mule before it expires.

Fhaete

Canada15 Posts

February 25 2012 17:27 GMT

#90

I haven't seen any systematic information about which patches, on which maps, cause the MULE to overmine (collect 300 minerals, return only 270) - but in my testing, maps do matter. These are the results I've found, for the main base of the maps in the current map pool :

Antiga Shipyard : overmining on the 2 close patches
Cloud Kingdom : no overmining
Korhal Compound : no overmining
Entombed Valley : overmining on the 2 close patches
Metalopolis : overmining on the 4 close patches
Shakuras Plateau : overmining on the closest patch
Tal'darim Altar : overmining on the 2 close patches
Shattered Temple : overmining on the closest patch

This was done on the single player version on the maps (I expect they'll be the same as the ladder version, otherwise I guess my testing was useless). Further assumptions : all main bases work the same (I just picked a starting location at random, didn't test them all). No SCV was mining during that time, since I don't think SCV's interfere with MULEs.

So, on some maps it is OK to MULE the closest patches without worrying about overmining and losing 30 minerals.

wunsun

Canada622 Posts

February 25 2012 17:45 GMT

#91

On February 26 2012 02:27 Fhaete wrote:
I haven't seen any systematic information about which patches, on which maps, cause the MULE to overmine (collect 300 minerals, return only 270) - but in my testing, maps do matter. These are the results I've found, for the main base of the maps in the current map pool :

Antiga Shipyard : overmining on the 2 close patches
Cloud Kingdom : no overmining
Korhal Compound : no overmining
Entombed Valley : overmining on the 2 close patches
Metalopolis : overmining on the 4 close patches
Shakuras Plateau : overmining on the closest patch
Tal'darim Altar : overmining on the 2 close patches
Shattered Temple : overmining on the closest patch

This was done on the single player version on the maps (I expect they'll be the same as the ladder version, otherwise I guess my testing was useless). Further assumptions : all main bases work the same (I just picked a starting location at random, didn't test them all). No SCV was mining during that time, since I don't think SCV's interfere with MULEs.

So, on some maps it is OK to MULE the closest patches without worrying about overmining and losing 30 minerals.

How many did you test per patch?

Just one mule? Just curious how solid this data is.

Fhaete

Canada15 Posts

February 25 2012 17:49 GMT

#92

On February 26 2012 02:45 wunsun wrote:

Show nested quote +

How many did you test per patch?

Just one mule? Just curious how solid this data is.

When the result seemed close, I tested twice. When it was not really close, just once. On that closest patch on Shakuras Plateau, I actually tested it 3 times, because the MULE was so close to completing its trip. But it failed every time. Breaks my heart.

If there is interest in this data, I could do more documented testing, on the multiplayer maps, etc. I just didn't want to go overboard at once, because it seems hard to believe no one has tested this before.

EDIT : re-reading your question, maybe you were asking how many MULEs were active ? Just one at a time. Whenever I was testing a patch, the MULE was the only thing mining in my base, and the SCV's were far away.