StarCraft Tools *[EK] members must read!*

[fanatacist]

To enforce the standard of a higher level of play, I am going to recommend the use of the following programs/sites for all [EK] members:

BWChart
Info: http://bwchart.teamliquid.net/us/bwchart.php
Download: http://bwchart.teamliquid.net/bin/bwchart104a.zip  (need WinZip)

Brief description:
Program that analyzes replays, and tells you a wide variety of information. Very useful for getting into the basic numbers of the game to determine advantages, strategies, build orders, almost anything!

RepDepot.net
Link: http://repdepot.net/

Brief Description:
Best site for uploading replays currently, reveals APM and winner. This is what you are expected to upload all your replays on.


ICCup Launcher + Other ICCup Necessities
Info: http://www.iccup.com/
Download: http://www.iccup.com/files.html  (On the right-hand side, under StarCraft)

Brief Description:
This launcher is a necessity for ICCup Ladder play, which I will encourage all members to use to improve themselves!


ADVLoader
Info: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=90265
Download: http://satcron.com/downloads/AdvLoader_2.3.exe

Brief description:
This launcher starts StarCraft with a lot of useful plug-ins, such as Latency Changer (allows for LAN Latency games on B.net), AutoReplay (necessary for providing evidence of your victories for EK ELO), APMLive (helps you improve!), and many more.

::EDITED:: by Sorceress

[Scott]

Unless Blizzard specifically sanctions those programs, you should use caution if using them on battle.net; warden is in full effect, and the tests the modules that are out there do will not discriminate between those programs and hacks.

[fanatacist]

However there have been no instances of anyone being banned for them, currently.

[Scott]

Irrelevant; there hasn't been any ban waves for SC yet. Blizzard doesn't ban people on sight; they spend months making a list and checking it twice before they act en masse.

[Bnu-Sorceress]

I would say that you cannot require someone to have those programs to join EK. Its just not fair for people that don't like using external programs and/or do not want the risk of having keys banned and whatnot but have the necessary skill to join.

[fanatacist]

I would say that you cannot require someone to have those programs to join EK. Its just not fair for people that don't like using external programs and/or do not want the risk of having keys banned and whatnot but have the necessary skill to join.

Tournaments are played on LAN Latency, which is only available through ADVLoader (#LL). Without #LL many things such as muta micro, vulture micro, etc. suffer greatly from B.net lag time.

[Scott]

I've always believed that entirely too much emphasis is put on the latency mode. The vast majority of players out there don't even understand what it actually does, and even more that do don't have a sufficient grasp of how packets cross a network to interpret the ramifications of what it is.

Switching to LAN latency will technically improve micro effectiveness, but by an margin so small that I would judge it to be potentially noticeable, but completely irrelevant to all but professional players.

In any case, I don't think you should be allowed to require the tools. If you wish to use and recommend them, I have no issues with that.


[edit] Looks like I missed an important point: If you set the latency mode too "fast," and the network's actual latency is too "slow" for that setting (which I would argue is the case more often than not for internet-based lan-latency games), then you suffer far more than if you set the latency mode to its "slowest" setting, even though it doesn't "feel" that way in-game.

[Bnu-Sorceress]

I'm with Camel. Feel free to recommend the tools and everything else, but players cannot be forced to use a third-party program to be a Part of [EK]. As far as the issue with muta and vulture micro, all players are affected by it, so it does not give one player an advantage over another.

[Scott]

I'm with Camel. Feel free to recommend the tools and everything else, but players cannot be forced to use a third-party program to be a Part of [EK]. As far as the issue with muta and vulture micro, all players are affected by it, so it does not give one player an advantage over another.

Not necessarily; terran players do not suffer at muta micro

[Bnu-Sorceress]

The leadership has come to a unanimous decision that you are not allowed to require members of BNU to have certain programs.

However, we believe that repdepot.net should be used, as it is not a program, simply a website for uploading replays. BWChart is recommended as it does not modify gameplay, but again, is not required.

ADVLoader and ICCup are to be used at user discretion.

[fanatacist]

Well, buttfuck.

I will not try to argue your decision but I will note that I am far from professional but the presence of #LL makes muta and vulture micro much easier for C-/D+ ICCup players like myself, so it's not as unnoticeable as you think.

[Scott]

I didn't say it's unnoticeable. However, I doubt what you've noticed is the latency mode, since what you're describing is pure latency.

[fanatacist]

I didn't say it's unnoticeable. However, I doubt what you've noticed is the latency mode, since what you're describing is pure latency.

Errrr... I'm not understanding you, but yea? I know it's not actual LAN Latency, but it's better than low latency. Send a command on LL, Low, High, and Extra High latency, and the response time of the unit increases with each step up. Whatever you want to call that, it's important.

[Scott]

No, what I'm telling you is that it's not important. The game is still running in real time, there's just a slightly longer delay before your actions become effective. If you set that delay too low (which you are doing by using lan latency), then your units appear responsive, but the enemy can appear to be cheating. Trust me, it's definitely bad.

[fanatacist]

No, what I'm telling you is that it's not important. The game is still running in real time, there's just a slightly longer delay before your actions become effective. If you set that delay too low (which you are doing by using lan latency), then your units appear responsive, but the enemy can appear to be cheating. Trust me, it's definitely bad.

... How would the enemy appear to be cheating?

If it's bad, then why do progamers and pretty much everyone that cares about performance in micro have either real or simulated LAN Latency? I do not see any reason for FASTER response time to be a negative influence on the game.

Go on BW. Set the latency to Extra High. Tell a probe to mine a mineral. The probe moves to the mineral let's say .2 seconds later. Set the latency to Low. It now moves .1 seconds later. In terms of this, it's not important.

Muta micro relies on the perfect timing of the attack being released and the subsequent retreat, creating the "dance" that is now famous. On high latency settings, it is almost impossible to retreat in time for the attack because you have to anticipate the precise moment that the mutas all fiire a shot, and send the command to retreat before the shot is even fired. At LAN Latency or simulated LL, the aspect of timing anticipation is minimized and muta micro becomes a much more usable technique, on all levels.