Star Blog #11

 Just picked up SC2 and never really played an RTS before....where to start?

I know a couple of people have recently picked up SC2 or are picking it up shortly (people are finding it for $35 - $40 which is a great deal!).

I'm still very much a noob at this game and have no real RTS experience before but here is how I would approach learning the game :)

Before any of this post your character name and character code (we need both) in the SC2 thread in the PC section of the main forums so we can add you to our friend list.  You can find this in the add friend part of the user interface in Starcraft 2.

1.  Go through the tutorials - they are very basic but will get you clicking a bit and will explain the basics.

2.  Do the challenges - the challenges are pretty cool and let you play with some units wihout teching up to get them.  They will also teach "what beats what" - which is a really important concept.  Just because a unit is way up the tech tree, costs a lot of gas and a lot of minerals to produce doesn't mean it's "the shit".  It probably means it is a good unit that provides some nice advanatages but it will be weak against some units as well - and it may shock you to find out that your new shiny unit that was way up the tech tree and costs a lot to produce can be taken out by the cheapest lowest tech units.

3.  Campaign - meh.  I didn't play the campaign - I'm primarly a multiplayer only kind of person and I rarely play the SP of any of the games I own - that's true for SC2 also.  I think playing the campaign would obviously be usefull - you will learn a lot I'm sure.  But it is kind of scenario based and it gives you access to units that aren't available in the MP - so I'm not entirely sure that is more useful than just playing 1v1 with the AI.

4.  1v1 AI :)  Start out simple - get a simple base, keep mining and producing drones/probes/scv's - and then spend your money - spend spend spend.  If you're rich - you are probably losing the game.  Overtime you want to get into some good habits - using keyboard shortcuts instead of clicking with the mouse, don't queue up a bunch of things to build (queueing up is bad - you are spending your money before you have it and 3 seconds from now you might need that money for something more time critical etc.).  You want to build units as they are needed.  Eventually you'll want to explore the tech tree and try out some new units  and learn a real "build order"....but early on I would just worry about controlling that base and building a ton of units.  Play a bunch of matches in 1v1 vs. AI.

5. Experiment with each of the 3 races - they all play different and 1 might cater to how you like to play more than the other.   I've kind of failed in this regard and am only now trying the other races.  I started with Protoss and really haven't deviated.  In the last week or two I've been playing a little bit with Zerg and really enjoying it.  Learning what each of the buildings is and what they are responsible for in relation to each race is important for when you get into 1v1 games later on.

GLHF! 

Day 9 - Getting into Starcraft 2

Day 9 - Starcraft 2 Mechanics, APM and Mouse