Okay. Saw an article on Rock Paper Shotgun about an application called Evolution Chamber. It’s making huge waves in the StarCraft II community because it uses genetic algorithms to optimize build orders…and it works. It came up with a build order for the fairly standard Zerg seven-roach rush that can have you attacking your enemy with an overwhelming force in under five minutes if you execute it perfectly. It currently only works for Zerg, but Terran and Protoss versions are in the works.
If you don’t play StarCraft II, allow me to explain the above. A “build order” is basically a recipe, a series of instructions on how to build your base and make your units that you follow exactly in order to produce the desired result – in this case, seven roach units that you can then use to rush an unprepared enemy.
Or even a prepared enemy. There’s been a lot of debate on whether a Protoss player could survive against such a rush at all. The answer turns out to be just barely yes, but only if the Protoss player knows exactly what’s coming.
A lot of people are saying things like “Oh, this is no big deal; games like Chess and Go have standard openings.” Yes, but in Chess and Go you see the open happen, you know right away what your opponent is up to, and you get to counter as your opponent opens. Chess and Go also have actual gameplay beyond the standard opening. The combination of extremely fast real-time gameplay, fog of war and the ability to choose a random race means that you could conceivably have no idea where your opponent is on the map or what race he’s playing until those seven roaches come bashing down your front door. At which point, the game is over. The opening was the game.
Which means you didn’t play StarCraft II. You played rock-paper-scissors. You only get to play StarCraft II if one player’s opener doesn’t automatically destroy the other’s (to continue the rock-paper-scissors metaphor, you both pick rock). Evolution Chamber is only going to make that worse. The meta-game is quickly overtaking the game-game. Which is why I don’t play StarCraft II online.
That and I suck.
I’ve always said that one of the key measures of good rts game design is whether or not the game has build orders. If I was making an rts and I saw people coming up with effective build orders, I’d consider the design a failure.
Following a build order is not playing a game! It is reading instructions which, while being something of a fun past time in its own right, is not gameplay.
(I suck too)
You may have picked an exception to the rule. Time will tell if the 7RR hits to fast and hard.
However, you can make it to the top tiers or SC2 based solely on mechanics. You know what beats a really good strategy? More units.
After playing for a bit and following a few “pro” weblogs I realized at my level build orders and strategies don’t really matter. I focused on my mechanics and made it into the diamond leagues. I don’t know what percentile that is but lets say top 20%.
I would then argue with some confidence really solid mechanics alone could take you to the top 5% of the diamond leagues.
My complaint would then be the game is so damn difficult and complex most players would be better served practicing mechanics then even thinking about build orders or strategies. It’s like playing golf. You better get your swing down before you start talking to be about which ball flies truer.