|
The most frequent thing you can read on these forums is “Macro Better”, and for good reason. Your “Macro”, your ability to manage your economy and production will greatly outweigh all the other factors in your game until the highest of levels. So we should “Macro Better”, but as the benevolent day[9] teaches us, stating a problem isn’t the same as stating a solution. We’ve all told ourselves “I shouldn’t miss injections” and “I shouldn’t supply block myself”, but we still do it. The following is my solution to the problem of zerg macro. It has made my play faster, better, and much more fun, not to mention taking my maxing times from around 18 minutes to a flat 14.
The Problem: Missed injection, supply blocks, unused larvae. All leading to weak macro.
The Solution: Synchronizing all macro actions to larvae spawn cycle.
Larvae spawn is the lion share of zerg’s production and occurs optimally in 40 second synced cycles over all your hatches. It is the heart beat of the swarm. What I’ve done is construct my entire macro cycle in synchronization with this cycle, this synchronizes optimally with the combined time of the natural hatchery larvae production and an overlords builds time, and somewhat less optimally with creep spreading. With some minor memorization it also allows synchronization of tech buildings with larvae spawn.
Prepping for the cycle:
1. Bind single hatchery to hotkey [4] (Preferably not your soon to be lair)
2. Bind all hatcheries to hotkey [5]
3. Bind all queens to hotkey [6]
4. Set mouse-4 as backspace
5. Set mouse-5 as camera location
6. Constantly single tap [4] as you play
*Obviously you can use different specific hotkeys; these are simply the ones I prefer.
The reason we bind the single hatchery to [4] is so that when we single tap it we will see the single hatch info screen, WHICH HAS A HUGE BAR FOR LARAVE SPAWN TIMING. This is our timeline; our entire cycle must be executed within this time. The only problem with this is that a hatch that is researching, upgrading or making a queen will show that timer instead, you should pick the hatch you don’t intend to upgrade to lair as your timer. In case both your hatches are busy, you can bind a single queen to [4] and use its energy as a counter, thou this is much less graphically convenient then a hatch.
Executing the cycle:
Cycle v.2 in response to comments (more strict focus on macro and the core principals)
+ Show Spoiler +
Timer Resets >>
1. Inject all your hatches (I use 6 to select all queens then cycle hatches with mouse-4)
2. Make units with your larvae (8 larvae from the spawn)
3. Spread creep (I use ctrl+mouse-5 to set camera to my creep tumors then go mouse-5, select all tumors, spread, reset camera )
4. Decide whether your next cycle will be of 1 supply per larvae units (Lings/Drones) or 2 supply units (Everything else but Ultralisks, at which point your supply is probably maxed anyway).
5. Make Overlords (Your hatches natural larvae creation will now provide you with larvae at a perfect timing; you should now make overlords in accordance to your decision in the previous step. If you’re going for 1supply units – 1 overlord per two hatches; 2 supply units – 1 overlord per hatch. With 2 bases and a macro hatch it becomes either an alternating 1-2-1-2-… for 1 supply units or a 2-3-2-3-… for 2 supply units) making the overlords separately from units also means you can give them a dedicated rally point with ease.
6. Create an additional hatch (20/40) if applicable. Hatch will be in sync with the cycle.
7. Start making a new queen (30/40) if applicable. Queen will be in sync with the cycle.
*. Tap [4] occasionally to see how the timer progresses.
Timer Resets >>
Simplified cycle for newer players:
+ Show Spoiler +
Timer Resets >>
1. Inject all your hatches (I use 6 to select all queens then cycle hatches with mouse-4)
2. Make units with all your larvae (8 larvae from the spawn)
3. Make Overlords (Your hatches natural larvae creation will now provide you with larvae at a perfect timing. If you’re going for lings or drones – 1 overlord per two hatches; any other units – 1 overlord per hatch.
*. Tap [4] occasionally to see how the timer progresses.
Timer Resets >>
Original cycle kept here for archiving:
+ Show Spoiler +
Timer Resets >>
1. Inject all your hatches (I use 6 to select all queens then cycle hatches with mouse-4)
2. Make units with your larvae (8 larvae from the spawn)
3. Spread creep (I use ctrl+mouse-5 to set camera to my creep tumors then go mouse-5, select all tumors, spread, reset camera )
4. Scout and think (Reposition your current overlords, send some lings around and think about what you see. You have to decide whether your next cycle will be of 1 supply per larvae units (Lings/Drones) or 2 supply units (Everything else but Ultralisks, at which point your supply is probably maxed anyway).
5. Make Overlords (Your hatches natural larvae creation will now provide you with larvae at a perfect timing; you should now make overlords in accordance to your decision in the previous step. If you’re going for 1supply units – 1 overlord per two hatches; 2 supply units – 1 overlord per hatch. With 2 bases and a macro hatch it becomes either a 1-2-1 cycle for 1 supply units or a 2-3-2 cycle for 2 supply units)
6. Build another hatchery if applicable (Best to drop the hatch on 20/40 on the timer)
7. Make a queen if you want another one (This should be timed to 30/40 on the timer – your new queen will be synchronized with the current cycle)
8. Reposition drones if required
Timer Resets >>
Keeping to this cycle will not only make sure you inject on time, it will synchronize your overlord production with your larvae so you will supply cap less and help you spread creep and utilize the larvae you have. You will also have synchronized queen and be able to synch your tech buildings with available larvae.
Tech building synchronization timings to spawn larvae timer:
Roach warren - 25/40
Hydralisk den - 0/40
Spire - 20/40
Infestation pit (Taking into account the research time as well) - 30/40
Ultralisk Cavern - 15/40
Hope you guys have as much fun with this as I’m having; it made playing zerg into a much more flowing and rewarding experience for me.
GL HF!
|
I love you, can I kiss you?
This is so so so helpful, I will try it out immediately.
|
okay i'll try but you can basicly also just set everysingle queen and hatch on a hotkey press em all and in 2 secs u injected 3 hatches?
thats what i do and it works out fine aswell
|
I think that Hatchery cycling is very important to zerg macro.
However, I would like you to mention gas timings: because it is the worst thing in the world when you have all your tech timings, larve, injections, a good read on your opponent, and ONLY 100 min with 650+ gas; from to much gas to early.
|
On October 11 2011 19:38 johanngrunt wrote:
I love you, can I kiss you?
This is so so so helpful, I will try it out immediately.
:D Thanks!
|
On October 11 2011 19:40 dayshadow wrote:
okay i'll try but you can basicly also just set everysingle queen and hatch on a hotkey press em all and in 2 secs u injected 3 hatches?
thats what i do and it works out fine aswell
Sure, as long as you have an isolated hatch for the timer, your golden.
|
On October 11 2011 19:42 EndOfLine wrote:
I think that Hatchery cycling is very important to zerg macro.
However, I would like you to mention gas timings: because it is the worst thing in the world when you have all your tech timings, larve, injections, a good read on your opponent, and ONLY 100 min with 650+ gas; from to much gas to early.
I don't think gas timings fall under the subject of this guide. This isn't strategy dependent, unlike gas timings, which are totally strategy dependent.
|
did you just fix zerg macro
|
On October 11 2011 19:55 darkscream wrote:
did you just fix zerg macro
Never thought of it as broken :D
But this definitely fixed my macro, Like I said I went from maxing on 18+ to 14.
|
Very interesting I will give it a shot, but, for the most part I have my injects timed automatically, except in late game then I miss them quite a few times! This may help me during the late game.
I love how you include when to place buildings to be complete on larvae pop! Thanks for that. I think my biggest problem is making OLs on my cycles I useally just power units out, But I think this will help me stop getting capped so much.
I do have a ton of unused larvae during late game too, Thanks bro maybe this will help me get out of my 1v1 slump; about to get demoted :\.
|
I find creep spreading after larvae inject is the best way to do it. It's not optimal, but one doesn't forget as easily!
|
This is brilliant. Do you by chance have a replay of you employing this method, just so I have a good idea of what it looks like when its done right. 
|
So. Neat.
I main Terran but like to play Zerg for fun, this will for sure help me avoid those nasty supply blocks right after a million larvae pop.
|
On October 11 2011 20:45 Ataxsus wrote:This is brilliant. Do you by chance have a replay of you employing this method, just so I have a good idea of what it looks like when its done right.
Thanks,
All of my replays from about the last 2 months are using this method. To be honest I'm a bit embarrassed to share them, I'm not very good. I'll look over them when I get home tonight and see if I can find one that's clean enough to upload.
|
This definitely makes things very smooth to execute. Ideally you time your tech and production out so that you're not wasting time by "waiting" for the right heart beat to make stuff (e.g. build order planning).
Day9 would be proud for figuring out the math
Unfortunately any time you're forced to defend from an attack (such as harass or any other situation where you're forcibly missing injects, etc.) you'll experience "arrhythmia." Here, good players will already have had this "heart beat" internalized more through instinct rather than a set in-game timer which is less vulnerable to the previously mentioned hiccups. That said, this mindset is a good place to start, I especially like your metaphor.
|
On October 11 2011 21:16 dicedicerevolution wrote:This definitely makes things very smooth to execute. Ideally you time your tech and production out so that you're not wasting time by "waiting" for the right heart beat to make stuff (e.g. build order planning). Day9 would be proud for figuring out the math Unfortunately any time you're forced to defend from an attack (such as harass or any other situation where you're forcibly missing injects, etc.) you'll experience "arrhythmia." Here, good players will already have had this "heart beat" internalized more through instinct rather than a set in-game timer which is less vulnerable to the previously mentioned hiccups. That said, this mindset is a good place to start, I especially like your metaphor.
Hi,
Obviously you're gonna get intterupted, your'e also gonna make mistakes, de-sync queens, lose queens, miss overlords, forget to check [4] constantly and every other error under the sun. But you have something to come back to, a rhytem to realign to. The rythem helps you not to forget becuase your overlords spawn just as your injects do, and your first larave after you use the spawned larave from the inject come up just as you need to make overlords. It's self-reinforcing, thats actually an even stronger reminder then the visual one, overlords into larvae, larvae into overlords.
An additional advantage using the hatch as a timer instead of the queen is that once you miss an inject with a queen you won't have that easy 0-25 timer anymore. with the hatch it's either counting down, or it isn't.
|
Good idea, but cumbersome execution, having to check that single hatchery takes a lot of multitasking especially in the late game with a lot to do.
The idea of cycling around larva spawn is good, I use it, but you don't need to check your hatchery. Remember that your hatcheries have natural spawn larva, if you wait for a full larva cycle then you have natural larva sitting around waiting for the inject larva to pop, which is not efficient. Instead, you should constantly be producing from your natural larva to keep the larva count down, and whenever you get a surge in larva count, that tells you your inject larva came out, which is a marker for you to inject again, spread creep, etc..
This way, you can maximize your larva efficiency and not miss inject at the same time.
Also, for overlords, whenever your inject larva comes out, you should always begin a production cycle with a couple of overlords, this should become a natural habit so that you don't need to keep track of it.
|
On October 12 2011 01:42 w3jjjj wrote:
Good idea, but cumbersome execution, having to check that single hatchery takes a lot of multitasking especially in the late game with a lot to do.
The idea of cycling around larva spawn is good, I use it, but you don't need to check your hatchery. Remember that your hatcheries have natural spawn larva, if you wait for a full larva cycle then you have natural larva sitting around waiting for the inject larva to pop, which is not efficient. Instead, you should constantly be producing from your natural larva to keep the larva count down, and whenever you get a surge in larva count, that tells you your inject larva came out, which is a marker for you to inject again, spread creep, etc..
This way, you can maximize your larva efficiency and not miss inject at the same time.
Also, for overlords, whenever your inject larva comes out, you should always begin a production cycle with a couple of overlords, this should become a natural habit so that you don't need to keep track of it.
I disagree.
"having to check that single hatchery takes a lot of multitasking" - I don't think a single tap every ~8 seconds is a lot of multitaking.
"if you wait for a full larva cycle then you have natural larva sitting around waiting for the inject larva to pop" - Nope, those natural larave are the ones I'm using for the overlords
"you should always begin a production cycle with a couple of overlords" - Definitly wrong. If you create your overlords as your larave spawn you will have them before you need them. You just used all your larvae, your overlords build in 25 seconds. you now have your new overlords and a supply cap lead, but you only have as many larave as your hatchs, let's assume 2. it's better to delay the overlords to your first larave that spawns naturally after you inject as THOSE overlords will pop just as your larave does.
|
interesting method to focus more on the battlefied, sadly i don't have free easy to access shortcuts for that. Still should help alot of people out that have problems with the extra zerg macro mechanics.
|
On October 12 2011 02:37 FeyFey wrote:
interesting method to focus more on the battlefied, sadly i don't have free easy to access shortcuts for that. Still should help alot of people out that have problems with the extra zerg macro mechanics.
I'm not sure I follow? do you mean the extra mouse keys? You can just use other hotkeys for that. It's just the way I do it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
