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New from SC2, practice?

Forum Index > BW General
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sebmathguy
Profile Joined November 2010
United States26 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-11 03:47:36
February 11 2011 03:46 GMT
#1
So I started playing sc2 in september, and I recently picked up a copy of broodwar, and discovered that I actually like it a lot better than sc2. But it turns out that I'm pretty terrible at it. (0 wins) so my question is, is there somewhere I can go where there are people of similar skill level to practice with. I currently get rolled by everyone in D-.
No0n
Profile Joined March 2010
United States355 Posts
February 11 2011 03:47 GMT
#2
Uh you could practice vs. computer to practice your mechanics and your builds. op Teamliquid is probably a good place to start. There are a bunch of people there to help you improve.
Park Sang Woo(Sea.Really) Fighting! E-STRO forever.
seRapH
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States9798 Posts
February 11 2011 03:53 GMT
#3
TBH when I started out I found it helpful to go into campaign, type "show me the money", and macro my way to victory.

Still, my first season was like 2-17 -__-
OP TeamLiquid is great, just keep saying stuff and wait for ppl to not be AFK.
boomer hands
Kiante
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Australia7069 Posts
February 11 2011 03:53 GMT
#4
Go on liquipedia, pick a build order for each matchup. Practice it vs a computer till you can at least get to 30 supply without screwing it up (have them written down), then move onto iccup
Writer
sebmathguy
Profile Joined November 2010
United States26 Posts
February 11 2011 03:56 GMT
#5
holy crap that was fast, thanks
Conversion
Profile Joined April 2010
United States3308 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-11 04:02:36
February 11 2011 04:01 GMT
#6
yeah. just saying zerg or terran is going to have a steeper learning curve to play decently at D levels (in my opinion)

if you ever feel like you need some tips or anything, just add and message me. ConversiOn at iccup

oh most people even with a rts background go on like 60+ game losing streaks, so don't feel tol discouraged!
vOdToasT
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Sweden2870 Posts
February 11 2011 04:46 GMT
#7
You can start playing on battle net
If it's stupid but it works, then it's not stupid* (*Or: You are stupid for losing to it, and gotta git gud)
Loser777
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
1931 Posts
February 11 2011 04:48 GMT
#8
On February 11 2011 13:46 vOdToasT wrote:
You can start playing on battle net

Yeah, it's a pretty bad idea to start playing on ICCUP right away. My first season on ICCUP I was 0-11.

Just be sure to stay away from the games that have funky symbols for a name even if the map is something recognizable. those would be dem koreans
6581
nayumi
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Australia6499 Posts
February 11 2011 04:52 GMT
#9
LOL my first season was like 1-32 with my only win from the opponent getting dropped.

Sugoi monogatari onii-chan!
billyX333
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
United States1360 Posts
February 11 2011 04:53 GMT
#10
it makes me feel fuzzy inside when i see these threads about sc2 players coming over to BW
LunarC
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States1186 Posts
February 11 2011 04:58 GMT
#11
Here's the best way to start:

1. Pick up Day[9]'s old BW podcasts and watch his old BW dailies.
2. Pick a standard build order for your race. Practice the shit out of it against a computer. If you make a mistake, restart the game and do it over. Once you feel you understand all of its nuances in execution, move onto another build order.
3. Get some pro replays and watch an entire game. Try to pick out why the player does everything and how they make their decisions. Make sure the replay is from 1.16.1 or else it may corrupt.
4. Practice getting APM up by not only spamming, but also practicing flipping through all of your hotkeys. Building a good hotkey setup is also very important. Do not forget to utilize F-keys.
5. Get people to practice against. This can be difficult.

Good luck, have fun! Learning to play BW is like learning how to write. First you concentrate on mechanics and form, then you can move onto the bigger concepts of, say, expressing an idea.
REEBUH!!!
Shana
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Indonesia1814 Posts
February 11 2011 04:59 GMT
#12
My first season on iCCup was like 2-50 or so :p

Glad to see more people move from sc2 to BW
Believing in what lies ahead. | That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.
Spazer
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada8033 Posts
February 11 2011 05:00 GMT
#13
On February 11 2011 13:58 LunarC wrote:
5. Get people to practice against. This can be difficult.

Regarding this, on Iccup, if you hop onto op teamliquid, there might be people willing to help you out.
Liquipedia
MiraKul
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Malaysia498 Posts
February 11 2011 05:00 GMT
#14
Get used with BOs when playing against comps then go to bnet then iccup

my 1st season was 0-8. so dont give up!
ovrpwrd
icystorage
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Jollibee19350 Posts
February 11 2011 05:16 GMT
#15
dont forget to analyze or get help in analyzing your losing replays
LiquidDota StaffAre you ready for a Miracle-? We are! The International 2017 Champions!
DyEnasTy
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States3714 Posts
February 11 2011 05:20 GMT
#16
Well, you will lose alot. This game us much much more difficult than SC2. Welcome to the big leagues. Take the advice that is offered in this thread. And dont get frustrated. I had some ridiculous losing record when I joined iccup quite some years ago. Learning takes time, especially for a game that has 12 years of being "figured out" behind it.

And most important: HF!!!
Much better to die an awesome Terran than to live as a magic wielding fairy or a mindless sac of biological goop. -Manifesto7
2Pacalypse-
Profile Joined October 2006
Croatia9530 Posts
February 11 2011 09:10 GMT
#17
Here's a good advice from this thread:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=186958

On January 23 2011 23:38 Soulforged wrote:
This season, on my way to ~C+, I doubt I met what I'd consider a less-than-C ranked player more than a couple times - in ~30 games. Feels like with SC2, the lower tier players mostly dissapeared; or it could be just the timezone(koreans durr hurr). Saw nearly no players below 180 apm .

Anyhow, iccup's not your best bet for starting out - that is, if you care even a bit about losing consistantly.

I've wrote this before, but this should be a good way to progress for a total beginner player:

1)Play AI. If you can beat 3 alone, without abusing static defense beyond the 1st attack(sunken/lurk, cannons, lots of tanks, etc), you're set to go online.
Seeing as you have decent mechanics already you probably can skip this step.

2)Play on U.S.East. That's the weakest official server, if you stick to "1vs1 Python noobs" games, aside from occasional smurf, you'll be mostly getting players who don't even use hotkeys well, in 100-150 apm ranges.

Have >50% win rate? Drop the "noobs" from the game title.

3)Still have >50% win rate? Add "good" to game title.
Go on to Europe or U.S.West. Play other maps; for example, on Destination or Fighting Spirit on public b.net you'll meet players stronger than on Python.

Now, I can't really tell about West, but Europe public games should range from D- to C- in skill level.

4)After having a decent win rate at previous stage, you totally can go on to iccup and get to ~C- without much trouble. Or you could stay on official servers and play some play/obs - it's kind of a lottery from D- to C+, though. Better off going straight to iccup.

Figure out where you are on this list, and continiue from there.
Or you could stay on iccup, meet some fellow tl.net beginners, and practice with them, etc. Just remember that playing people who demolish you has both advantages and disadvantages: your gameplay will be crisp(as they kill you for first mistake), but your motivation could go down, fear, thinking it's impossible, etc.
Moderator"We're a community of geniuses because we've found how to extract 95% of the feeling of doing something amazing without actually doing anything." - Chill
malady
Profile Joined November 2010
United States600 Posts
February 11 2011 09:50 GMT
#18
i suck

wanna play with me?
dumchu
Soulforged
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Latvia936 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-11 10:04:57
February 11 2011 10:02 GMT
#19
^Now, there are things I could add to that advice, since it was more person-specific.

In case you're completely new to bw, and haven't seen neither replays nor pro matches, and don't even know what units do/counter,... if you do, skip over the first step eeeeasily.

1)If you can't handle more than one computer comfortably, and do have free time with a will to get better, you can totally give campaign a go. It can, even on first playthrough, be cleared in a day-two.
First of all, campaign has a lot of weak points, such as: you usually have to clear a whole map of opponents, which makes you want to instinctively mass carriers/battle cruisers/guardians. If you avoid that and stick to mass hydra/ goon-zeal / vulture/tank/goliath, it will be useful.
Another thing is, the resource distribution in campaign sucks. Bases are in relatively weird places, mineral patches are far from command centers (I think BW campaign is a bit better at it than SC).

What is it good for, then? Units are introduced to you, one by one, in an enviroment where they are usually being an effective counter to something. It's a good place to learn hotkeys for all the units, and learn what kind of army compositions can be effective.

2)Now, if you're not a total beginner, go on with that list I've put up above. As far as specific training, I would recommend practice these four things that beginner players usually lack:

2.1) Macro! Constant production of workers and bases and unit production facilities. It does not matter that you're making not-optimal unit combination or micro mistakes if you have even 1.5 times the army of your opponent.

2.2) Scout! Know what opponent has, know what can attack you, and slowly you'll be able to tell "when" and "what" he could possibly have. Keep that probe alive, scan, use observers, park a ling outside the exit of his base, spread overlords, do whatever it takes but don't play in the dark.

2.3) Aggression! Beginner games are way too passive, and it slows down your learning. It's not uncommon to watch a C- game play out with two sides handling over an advantage to each other, without sealing the deal and letting their mistakes pile up.

If, due to scouting, you think you have decisive advantage in economy/army/tech/positioning, go and try to kill your opponent. If it doesn't work, you'll know why it didn't for the next game. If you never try, you'll not get to learn the adequate judgement of the situation.

On the same line, try to ease up on static defence. For example, if you make too much sunkens, you'll _survive_, but hand the game to the opponent and pick the slow death. If you make too little, you will lose the game to an attack right away. Early on it can be hard to judge when you made too much defence and could get away with less, so, in order to speed up learning, I'd recommend trying to walk the line of bare minimum defences. If you do not survive, increase a little for the next game.

4) Rushes! Okay, this will be hitting you on D levels hard, pretty much regardless of your race. If zerg, you'll get bunker rushed, vulture busted, 2 port wraithed, cannoned, attacked by 2gate zealots, 5pooled, and a bunch of strategies that makes no sense but still manage to work occasionally. If you're terran, you'll be goon busted, zealots will mess up your wall, DTs and reavers will be dropped, zergs will 5pool\3hatch speedling\2hatch lurk slow drop you, and many others. As prototoss, you'll be rushed by 2gates in your base\map center, 3hatch hydra, 2hatch hydra, 5pool, 9pool speed, 3hatch speedlings, 2hatch muta, 2hatch lurkers, 2fact variations, etc.

Now, every time you learn how to handle another rush while using your standard build, your win rate will be rising. Liquipedia helps somewhat, but more than that, searching in this strategy section will, as well as posting your replays/asking questions. Also, practice partners of your level\slightly above are awesome, so give op teamliquid on iccup a try; it's a great place for beginners to hang out at.

Also, watch pro games. Even if only for entertaiment and motivation. Downloading a top player replay pack (in could be even one year old; doesn't matter that much) and studying it to the bone works wonders as well.

Read the guide on how to improve over here on tl. It's awesome and goes pretty far in detail, though somewhat terran-focused. Overall, there's a TON of tools you can use; the better your dedication/effort, the faster your skill will rise. Or you could take it slow as well :|.
Comeh
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States18919 Posts
February 11 2011 10:08 GMT
#20
If you ever need a practice partner, or if you want someone to watch replays with you, i'd be happy to help when I can find the time .
Just keep working on it - I found it really helpful to force myself to work on mechanics (with a given build order) to force my apm up so I could execute strategies more effectively.
ヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノDELETE ICEFROGヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(
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