Alright... as we all know, starcraft is a unique RTS in many ways. One of the ways starcraft has always seemed the most unique to me was in it's use of the keyboard. Have you ever watched other RTS games played live by top players? They don't use the keyboard a tenth as much as a Starcraft player does. We play an incredibly difficult mind game while our left hand glides over the keyboard with precision and and style. This makes Starcraft possibly the most difficult game ever created. We're hitting combos on our keyboard like it's street fighter, meanwhile out positioning our opponents like chess. But there's even more than this going on.
Have you ever noticed the patterns on your keyboard? Most of the starcraft i talk to who aren't koreans don't... Here are a few of my favorite keyboard combinations 4d5d6d7d8d9d0d (i've just made seven dragoons in half a second), 0p9p8o (two probes from my nexus and then an observer), 4z5z6z7t8t9t0t (three zeals, four temps... i'll prob morph one group into an archon ; ). I know exactly which fingers to use on which keys and it allows me to get big tasks out of the way more quickly so i can focus the rest of my energy on strategy. As most koreans do, and foreigners don't, you can practice these keyboard combinations even if your not playing starcraft... Just practice them in wordpad or something.
In my own mind... Starcraft has always reminded me of a game that Day[9] and me grew up playing together as children. Beatmania. We love this game btw.
This game has always struck me as remarkably similar to starcraft. Obviously he's not out thinking someone... but his hands are tapping the keys rapidly in a pattern. In starcraft we have a bigger controller and we play the entire thing with our left hand (because we're SO GOD DAMN SEXY! ; ). Mastering patterns with your left hand can greatly help increase your skill... I'll play another song i like to play when I'm doing some PvT fast nexus on Gaia. I named it 'Eschobars Nightmare' becuase i actually name all my builds after i write them out (nerd pride folks)... Here, i'll play it for you now:
0p0p0pbp0p0p0p0p0pbn
0pbg0pba0p0pbybg4z0p
9p9pbp4d5d6s0p9pbp4d <-- 6s is me making dragoon range.
5d0p9pbp0p9p4d5dbn0p
9p4d5dbp0p9pvrbgbg
there may be a few mistakes... that was just from memory, when i play it's easier to do because seeing my food/money/army helps me stay on top of the next few notes i have to play. There's also another branch i can easily transition into if i want to get my two gateways and robo before my second nexus. My music can take me to many places ;D
Originally i was opposed to MBS... you can see me ranting like a lunatic about it in this thread:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?currentpage=All&topic_id=53602&show_part=After thinking it over i think MBS will allow for more difficult patterns to master while playing the game. I want to see for myself first, but i think it will be good...
But i want more... i want more sexy things i can do with my keyboard. I want it to be a step up from starcraft! Here's my ideas.
Upgrades:
Why do we need one hotkey for an upgrade? That's too simple... i already know a basic combo i can do to upgrade out of three forges fast... everyone knows it. w [click] a [click] s [click]. Now i've upgraded out of three forges in a second. But wouldn't it be cooler if i had a special combination i had to do for just one upgrade? What if for my level one attack upgrade i had to do this combination on the keyboard:
wga <--- this combination would take three fingers, obviously you can do it quickly, but this would follow the basic keyboard pattern logic starcraft was based off of...
what about a level two weapons upgrade?
wgart <--- now it's four fingers instead of three. Better upgrades = harder combos.
What about level three?
wgart[space] <--- now i've used five fingers (thumb on space) to get a level three upgrade.
If a player does this combination wrong he is punished and has to start over again. We could do different cool patterns depending on the race and the upgrade.
But i want more still...
What about that mother ship? It seems like it could kick some ass. But if i find out the mother ship is easy to make (hotkeywise) i'm going to be pissed... What if i just have to hit 'm' on the keyboard... wtf? NO WAY! lets step it up. Okay this might be a little too crazy... but what if the mothership requires a big keyboard combination to produce? Here are some of my ideas.
If the mothership is SO powerful and can only be produced once... maybe we could make it a two hand keyboard combination to produce. you would have to hit these combinations at the same time, otherwise start over. This would mean you can't use your mouse at all while making the mother ship.
Left hand. | Right hand.
vdsa | nkl;
asdv | ;lkn
qq | pp
The final move will involve your entire left hand making a chopping motion on the left hand side of the keyboard:
[esc]
~
[tab]
[caps lock]
[shift]
[ctrl]
You would have to hit all these keys at once... like your making a karatie chop on your keyboard.
What do you guys think? This would be a totally new way to use the keyboard and pick up the intensity of the game on all fronts. This would also make SC2 revolutionary for stepping up the use of the keyboard for the sake of game play.
What do you guys think? Do you have any sexy keyboard combinations you think should be implemented?
Discuss!!^^
EPT
