Spring - User contributions [en]

Glossary

2009-05-21T21:21:25Z

Chill: added CB comm bomb

[[Category:Playing]]

===Intro===

Can't find what you're looking for? Please edit this page and add an entry for the word/phrase you don't understand, with the text "what's this?" (click the "Edit Page" link at the bottom to begin). Secondly, have a look to see if there are any "what's this?" entries that you know the answer to, and fill them in.

Please keep this page in alphabetical order, and remember it is just a glossary not an encyclopedia - brief descriptions only please! Thank you.

===Glossary===

;AA
:"Anti Air" - units which are good against aircraft.
:Also see [[Absolute Annihilation]]. "Balancing mod" with lots of extra units, based on [[UH]].

;AoE
:Area of Effect.

;assist-build
:See "build-assist".

;BA
:[[Balanced Annihilation]]. The most popular Spring mod.

;balancing mod
:Changes the stats, abilities, or build menus of existing units, may add extra units.

;BB
:"Big Bertha", which is a "VLRPC".

;BSR
:"Brave Sir Robin" - producer of [[UH]].

;build-assist
:Speeding up unit/building construction with extra con units.

;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_plus_plus C++]
:A computer language. Spring is written in this language.

;CA
:[[Complete Annihilation]] mod. Constantly in development Total Annihilation based mod experimenting with new graphics and gameplay ideas.

;CB
:see Comm Bomb

;CEG
: ''todo''

;[[CVS]]
:"Concurrent Version System", allows the developers to work together; it contains the Spring source code.
:"[[SVN]]" (Subversion) is another system for the same task.

;comm
:"commander", the unit you start the game with.

;comm bomb
:Self-destructing (Ctrl+D) your commander in an enemy base to destroy it.

;commnap
:Snatching an opponent's commander with a transport unit (usually an air transport such as an [[Unit:Atlas|Atlas]]/[[Unit:Valkyrie|Valkyrie]]), with the intent of self-destructing it in the enemy's base.

;con
:"Construction", e.g. "con air"/"air con" is a construction aircraft.

;DD
:"Doomsday Machine", Core T3 Laser tower.

;DPS
:Damage Per Second.

;[http://www.doxygen.org doxygen]
:Source code documentation system used on Spring. Generates [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/doxygen/ documentation] directly from code.

;[[FAQ]]
:Answers to "Frequently Asked Questions".

;LOS
:Line Of Sight (of your units).

;LRPC
:Long Range Plasma Cannon.
:See also "VLRPC" (Very -""-).

;LUPS
: Lua Particle System.

;[[Maximum_Annihilation|MA]]
:[[Maximum_Annihilation|Maximum Annihilation]] mod - TA themed mod which evolved from [[Balanced_Annihilation|BA]] and features lots of new units and some changes on the concept to make it more challenging and fun.

;mex (mexes)(mohomex)
:Metal Extractor(s).

;[[MiniSpring]]
:[[Mods|Mod]] with all the unit sizes scaled down by a factor of 2.

;[[Mods|mod]]
:Modification to the game which changes the units, see [[Mods]].

;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_.NET .NET]
:A software development platform used by Spring.

;[[NOTA]]
:Not Original Total Annihilation, referring to the a TA mod.

;[[OTA]]
:Original Total Annihilation, referring to the unmodified TA units.

;OP
:OverPowered, when a unit is too strong.

;Phoenix Works
:A game [[lobby]] and persistent campaign system supporting Spring [[XTA]] as well as several (mainly rebalancing) mods for [[OTA|original TA]].

;Porcing
:Playing defensively and not expanding (Small and Good Defense, like a Porcupine); term from an old [[CaveDog]] Strategy Article.

;PW
:See "Phoenix Works".
:Can also stand for "PeeWee"s.

;rebalance
:See "balancing mod".

;rush
:Early attack, see [[Rushing]].

;self-D
:"Self-destruction" - all units can do this ([CTRL]+[D] to activate/cancel).

;[http://sf.net SourceForge]
:The [[open source]] website used for the development of the source code.

;[[SVN]]
:Subversion, used by the developers, it contains the [[Spring]] programming code. Considered superior to [[CVS]].

;[[SWTA]]
:Star Wars "total conversion" [[Mods|mod]].

;[[SY]]s
:"Swedish Yankspankers" - the guys who started the whole [[Spring]] thing 8)

;[[TA]]
:Total Annihilation, the name of the game.

;[[TA-WD|TAWD]]
:"Total Annihilation: World Domination" - a quality World War 3 [[TC]].

;TC
:See "total conversion".

;TiA
:Tired Annihilation, a TA-based mod by Tired.

;total conversion
:A [[Mods|mod]] which replaces the entire unit set, and often every other aspect(graphics, sound, etc.) of a game.

;[[UH]]
:"[[UberHack]]" - Perhaps the most widely acclaimed "balancing mod" - produced by "BSR".

;UF
:Unknown-Files, a site that hosts Spring content.

;unit stats
:The amount of armour, max speed, etc. that a unit has.

;[[UTASP]]
:A truly massive unofficial unit pack expansion for [[TA]].

;VLRPC
:Very Long Range Plasma Cannon.
:See also "LRPC".

;veh
:Stands for "Vehicle".

;[[XTA]]
:Standard mod packaged with Spring. Developed by a small community of enthusiasts. v9.5 is latest version.

=== See also ===
* "[http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=435301#post435301 Abbreviations]" entry in the [http://www.tauniverse.com tauniverse.com] forum

Glossary

2009-05-21T21:18:52Z

Chill: added OP

[[Category:Playing]]

===Intro===

Can't find what you're looking for? Please edit this page and add an entry for the word/phrase you don't understand, with the text "what's this?" (click the "Edit Page" link at the bottom to begin). Secondly, have a look to see if there are any "what's this?" entries that you know the answer to, and fill them in.

Please keep this page in alphabetical order, and remember it is just a glossary not an encyclopedia - brief descriptions only please! Thank you.

===Glossary===

;AA
:"Anti Air" - units which are good against aircraft.
:Also see [[Absolute Annihilation]]. "Balancing mod" with lots of extra units, based on [[UH]].

;AoE
:Area of Effect.

;assist-build
:See "build-assist".

;BA
:[[Balanced Annihilation]]. The most popular Spring mod.

;balancing mod
:Changes the stats, abilities, or build menus of existing units, may add extra units.

;BB
:"Big Bertha", which is a "VLRPC".

;BSR
:"Brave Sir Robin" - producer of [[UH]].

;build-assist
:Speeding up unit/building construction with extra con units.

;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_plus_plus C++]
:A computer language. Spring is written in this language.

;CA
:[[Complete Annihilation]] mod. Constantly in development Total Annihilation based mod experimenting with new graphics and gameplay ideas.

;CEG
: ''todo''

;[[CVS]]
:"Concurrent Version System", allows the developers to work together; it contains the Spring source code.
:"[[SVN]]" (Subversion) is another system for the same task.

;comm
:"commander", the unit you start the game with.

;comm bomb
:Self-destructing (Ctrl+D) your commander in an enemy base to destroy it.

;commnap
:Snatching an opponent's commander with a transport unit (usually an air transport such as an [[Unit:Atlas|Atlas]]/[[Unit:Valkyrie|Valkyrie]]), with the intent of self-destructing it in the enemy's base.

;con
:"Construction", e.g. "con air"/"air con" is a construction aircraft.

;DD
:"Doomsday Machine", Core T3 Laser tower.

;DPS
:Damage Per Second.

;[http://www.doxygen.org doxygen]
:Source code documentation system used on Spring. Generates [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/doxygen/ documentation] directly from code.

;[[FAQ]]
:Answers to "Frequently Asked Questions".

;LOS
:Line Of Sight (of your units).

;LRPC
:Long Range Plasma Cannon.
:See also "VLRPC" (Very -""-).

;LUPS
: Lua Particle System.

;[[Maximum_Annihilation|MA]]
:[[Maximum_Annihilation|Maximum Annihilation]] mod - TA themed mod which evolved from [[Balanced_Annihilation|BA]] and features lots of new units and some changes on the concept to make it more challenging and fun.

;mex (mexes)(mohomex)
:Metal Extractor(s).

;[[MiniSpring]]
:[[Mods|Mod]] with all the unit sizes scaled down by a factor of 2.

;[[Mods|mod]]
:Modification to the game which changes the units, see [[Mods]].

;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_.NET .NET]
:A software development platform used by Spring.

;[[NOTA]]
:Not Original Total Annihilation, referring to the a TA mod.

;[[OTA]]
:Original Total Annihilation, referring to the unmodified TA units.

;OP
:OverPowered, when a unit is too strong.

;Phoenix Works
:A game [[lobby]] and persistent campaign system supporting Spring [[XTA]] as well as several (mainly rebalancing) mods for [[OTA|original TA]].

;Porcing
:Playing defensively and not expanding (Small and Good Defense, like a Porcupine); term from an old [[CaveDog]] Strategy Article.

;PW
:See "Phoenix Works".
:Can also stand for "PeeWee"s.

;rebalance
:See "balancing mod".

;rush
:Early attack, see [[Rushing]].

;self-D
:"Self-destruction" - all units can do this ([CTRL]+[D] to activate/cancel).

;[http://sf.net SourceForge]
:The [[open source]] website used for the development of the source code.

;[[SVN]]
:Subversion, used by the developers, it contains the [[Spring]] programming code. Considered superior to [[CVS]].

;[[SWTA]]
:Star Wars "total conversion" [[Mods|mod]].

;[[SY]]s
:"Swedish Yankspankers" - the guys who started the whole [[Spring]] thing 8)

;[[TA]]
:Total Annihilation, the name of the game.

;[[TA-WD|TAWD]]
:"Total Annihilation: World Domination" - a quality World War 3 [[TC]].

;TC
:See "total conversion".

;TiA
:Tired Annihilation, a TA-based mod by Tired.

;total conversion
:A [[Mods|mod]] which replaces the entire unit set, and often every other aspect(graphics, sound, etc.) of a game.

;[[UH]]
:"[[UberHack]]" - Perhaps the most widely acclaimed "balancing mod" - produced by "BSR".

;UF
:Unknown-Files, a site that hosts Spring content.

;unit stats
:The amount of armour, max speed, etc. that a unit has.

;[[UTASP]]
:A truly massive unofficial unit pack expansion for [[TA]].

;VLRPC
:Very Long Range Plasma Cannon.
:See also "LRPC".

;veh
:Stands for "Vehicle".

;[[XTA]]
:Standard mod packaged with Spring. Developed by a small community of enthusiasts. v9.5 is latest version.

=== See also ===
* "[http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=435301#post435301 Abbreviations]" entry in the [http://www.tauniverse.com tauniverse.com] forum

Ubuntu install

2009-05-13T17:34:37Z

Chill: changed 'jaunty 8.10' to jaunty '9.04'

= http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/2653/ubuntulogowq2.png Ubuntu =

We now have a maintained and up to date APT repository for Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty), 8.10 (Intrepid), and 8.04 (Hardy). If you have some older version of ubuntu, you can easily upgrade with these instructions: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading.

The components necessary for a fully playable spring game are the spring engine, a lobby client (already installed in Ubuntu), a mod and at least one map. Currently the repository contains everything except mods.

= Installation =

To install the engine, lobby client and maps follow the instructions for either the GUI or CLI installation method below.

== Graphical Interface ==

Go to System -> Administration -> Software Sources, and click on the Third-Party Software tab. Then, click the Add button, and paste one of the two lines corresponding to your Ubuntu release (9.04, 8.10, or 8.04).

'''Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope"''':
<code><pre>
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu jaunty main
</pre></code>

'''Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex"''':
<code><pre>
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu intrepid main
</pre></code>

'''Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron"''':
<code><pre>
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu hardy main
</pre></code>

Then click Close, and Reload. After that's done, you can just [http://springoo.mooo.com CLICK HERE TO INSTALL EVERYTHING]. Alternatively, you can head to System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager, and search for ''spring''. For the bare essentials, you'll need to install the spring-engine, spring-maps-default, and spring-lobby-springlobby packages. Other maps are available there, so check them off if you'd like to get them. After you're done, click on Apply, and Spring will be downloaded & installed.

Springlobby can be found in Applications -> Games. (Please note that you also need mods to play, and they aren't yet available in the repository. Scroll down to the Mods section of this page on how to get those).

'''At this time, only the Intrepid version of Springlobby supports automatic downloading of maps and mods.'''

== Or in the terminal CLI ==

Press alt-F2 to run a command. Enter:
<code><pre>
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/springproject.list
</pre></code>

Copy and paste the following into the file:

Ubuntu 9.04:
<code><pre>
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu jaunty main
</pre></code>

Ubuntu 8.10:
<code><pre>
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu intrepid main
</pre></code>

Ubuntu 8.04:
<code><pre>
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/spring/ubuntu hardy main
</pre></code>

Save the file. You can then either use the graphical package manager Synaptic (System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager) and search for spring related packages, or just install spring from a terminal using:
<code><pre>
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install spring spring-maps-default
</pre></code>

Many other map packages are also available in the repository. To add them in a terminal enter.
<code><pre>
sudo apt-get install spring-maps-1v1 spring-maps-deltasiege spring-maps-hunterw
spring-maps-kernelpanic spring-maps-smallsupreme and spring-maps-teamplay
</pre></code>
or go to www.jobjol.com and download them from there

=== Other information ===
The webpage for the repository is here - you can browse other spring packages there as well: https://edge.launchpad.net/~spring/+archive

For configuring the lobbies, you can note that the package installs the Spring executable at <code>/usr/games/spring</code> and
read-only data in <code>/usr/share/games/spring</code>.

{{Finalizing_linux_install}}

{{Linux_tips}}

{{Troubleshooting_linux}}

Balanced Annihilation

2008-10-14T12:12:34Z

Chill: added modinfo link

===Overview===
A fork of [[Absolute Annihilation]], Balanced Annihilation takes up where Absolute Annihilation left off.
The current version of Balanced Annihilation is 6.5.
Balanced Annihialtion is developed primarily by the [WarC] clan, and is intended to provide a balanced mod that refines, not redefine, the expanded OTA experience of AA.
The main differences between Absolute Annihilation and Balanced Annihilation are unit balancing changes and bug fixes, made to address game play concerns following the release of AA v2.23. As AA is also old and outdated currently, it also features lua gadgets and effects that AA never had.

For a detailed list of changes, see the thread link below.

===Links===
*'''[http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16190 Balanced Annihilation Forum Thread]
*'''[http://modinfo.adune.nl/index.php?MOD=ba641 Browse this mod at modinfo.adune.nl]

Balanced Annihilation

2008-10-14T12:06:23Z

Chill: version number ++

Glossary

2008-10-10T12:06:09Z

Chill: removed drama and edrama

===Intro===

Can't find what you're looking for? Please edit this page and add an entry for the word/phrase you don't understand, with the text "what's this?" (click the "Edit Page" link at the bottom to begin). Secondly, have a look to see if there are any "what's this?" entries that you know the answer to, and fill them in.

Please keep this page in alphabetical order, and remember it is just a glossary not an encyclopedia - brief descriptions only please! Thank you.

===Glossary===

;AA
:"Anti Air" - units which are good against aircraft.
:Also see [[Absolute Annihilation]]. "Balancing mod" with lots of extra units, based on [[UH]].

;assist-build
:see "build-assist"

;BA
:[[Balanced Annihilation]]. The most popular Spring mod.

;balancing mod
:changes the stats, abilities, or build menus of existing units, may add extra units

;BB
:"Big Bertha", which is a "VLRPC".

;BSR
:"Brave Sir Robin" - producer of [[UH]]

;build-assist
:speeding up unit/building construction with extra con units

;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_plus_plus C++]
:A computer language. Spring is written in this language.

;CA
:[[Complete Annihilation]]. Constantly in development Total Annihilation based mod experimenting with new graphics and gameplay ideas.

;[[CVS]]
:"Concurrent Version System", allows the developers to work together; it contains the Spring source code.
:"[[SVN]]" (Subversion) is another system for the same task.

;comm
:"commander", the unit you start the game with.

;comm bomb
:"self-D"ing your commander in an enemy base to destroy it.

;commnap
:Snatching an opponent's commander with a transport unit (usually an air transport such as an Atlas/Valkyrie), with the intent of selfdestructing it in the enemy's base.

;con
:"construction", e.g. "con air"/"air con" is a construction aircraft.

;DD
:"Doomsday Machine", Core T3 Laser tower.

;[http://www.doxygen.org doxygen]
:source code documentation system used on spring. Generates [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/doxygen/ documentation] directly from code.

;[[FAQ]]
:Answers to "Frequently Asked Questions"

;LOS
:Line Of Sight (of your units)

;LRPC
:Long Range Plasma Cannon
:See also "VLRPC" (Very -""-)

;[[Maximum_Annihilation|MA]]
:[[Maximum_Annihilation|Maximum Annihilation]] - TA themed mod which evolved from [[Balanced_Annihilation|BA]] and features lots of new units and some changes on the concept to make it more challenging and fun.

;mex (mexes)(mohomex)
:Metal Extractor(s)

;[[MiniSpring]]
:[[Mods|Mod]] with all the unit sizes scaled down by a factor of 2.

;[[Mods|mod]]
:Modification to the game which changes the units, see [[Mods]].

;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_.NET .NET]
:A software development platform used by Spring.

;[[NOTA]]
:Not Original Total Annihilation, referring to the a TA mod.

;[[OTA]]
:Original Total Annihilation, referring to the unmodified TA units.

;Phoenix Works
:A game [[lobby]] and persistent campaign system supporting Spring [[XTA]] as well as several (mainly rebalancing) mods for [[OTA|original TA]].

;Porcing
:Playing defensively and not expanding (Small and Good Defense, like a Porcupine); term from an old [[CaveDog]] Strategy Article.

;PW
:See "Phoenix Works".
:Can also stand for "PeeWee"s

;rebalance
:See "balancing mod"

;rush
:Early attack, see [[Rushing]]

;self-D
:"self destruct" - All units can do this ([CTRL]+[D] to activate/cancel).

;[http://sf.net SourceForge]
:The [[open source]] website used for the development of the source code.

;[[SVN]]
:Subversion, used by the developers, it contains the [[Spring]] programming code. Considered superior to [[CVS]].

;[[SWTA]]
:Star Wars "total conversion" [[Mods|mod]]

;[[SY]]s
:"Swedish Yankspankers" - the guys who started the whole [[Spring]] thing 8)

;[[TA]]
:Total Annihilation, the name of the game.

;[[TA-WD|TAWD]]
:"Total Annihilation: World Domination" - a quality World War 3 [[TC]].

;TC
:See "total conversion"

;TiA
:Tired Annihilation, a TA-based mod by Tired.

;total conversion
:A [[Mods|mod]] which replaces the entire unit set, and often every other aspect(graphics, sound, etc.) of a game.

;[[UH]]
:"[[UberHack]]" - Perhaps the most widely acclaimed "balancing mod" - produced by "BSR".

;UF
:Unknown-Files, a site that hosts Spring content.

;unit stats
:The amount of armour, max speed, etc. that a unit has.

;[[UTASP]]
:A truly massive unofficial unit pack expansion for [[TA]].

;VLRPC
:Very Long Range Plasma Cannon
:See also "LRPC"

;veh
:"vehicle"

;[[XTA]]
:Standard mod packaged with spring. Developed by a small community of enthusiasts. v9.5 is latest version.

=== See also ===
* "[http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=435301#post435301 Abbreviations]" entry in the [http://www.tauniverse.com tauniverse.com] forum

[[Category:Playing]]

Games

2008-10-10T11:36:23Z

Chill: copied/paste maximum annihilation intro text

== '''Games''' ==

===[http://www.moddb.com/games/pure P.U.R.E.]===
A game based on a completely original IP, allowing players to participate in the epic, galaxy-spanning conflict between the human Resistance forces and the malevolent A.I. known as 'The Overmind'

===[[Gundam RTS]]===
Set during the One-Year War in the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam Metaseries, Gundam RTS features fast, intense mech combat gameplay in a truly Gundam style.

===[http://www.imperialwinter.com Star Wars: Imperial Winter]===
A Star Wars themed game set in the troubled post-Return of the Jedi era, SW:IW features over a hundred units for the fractured Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance fighting for control of the galaxy.

===[http://www.evolutionrts.info Evolution RTS]===
A new breed of Game for Spring. Prepare to engage in a war that changes every week, with objective based missions, evolving units, fast paced combat and a compelling plot line that YOU alter with every mission!

===[http://www.spring1944.com Spring: 1944]===
Spring:1944 is a WWII themed game based on the open source Spring Engine, with a goal is to create four fully functional sides (US, Germany, USSR, Britain) with period-accurate units and strengths. Realism is a primary design goal, second only to creating a game that is fun and accessible to play.

===[[Kernel Panic]]===
A game based around combat '''inside''' a computer, with 3 unique sides: the System, the Hacker and the Network waging war in a matrix of DOOM! Unlike other real time strategy games, no resource economy exists in KP, with the only constraints being time and space.

===[[Expand_and_Exterminate|Expand and Exterminate]]===
An original IP game loosely based around the Earth 2150 series of games.

=== '''Total Annihilation Based Games ("Mods")''' ===

====[[Complete Annihilation]] ====
CA is a regularly updated game that is often regarded as a showcase of what the Spring Engine can do. As well as looking very good, CA is well balanced, using a rarely used RTS balancing method known as 'flat-balancing', where every unit factory is viable from the start of the game to the end, and no units are superseded.
Although CA is a game that uses OTA content, it is currently working towards being TA-IP free.

====[[XTA]]====

Originally developed as a Total Annihilation mod by the Swedish Yankspankers, XTA is the Original Public Mod released with first versions of Spring. Development of this mod by the SYs has stopped a while ago, but it is still played and actively developed by the community .

====[[Balanced Annihilation]]====
A popular, highly balanced mod based on the late, immensely popular mod Absolute Annihilation. BA is designed for competitive 1v1 gameplay but is also perfectly suited for larger team games.

==== [[NOTA | Not Original Total Annihilation]] ====

Usually abbreviated to NOTA, Not Original Total Annihilation is a rethink of the Total Annihilation universe but completely different gameplay from OTA, focusing on huge battles where a minor skirmish can involve hundreds of units, and a completely rethought air and sea gameplay.

==== [[Maximum Annihilation]] ====

Maximum Annihilation's development started with using BA as basis but instead of just doing some minor refinements it leaps ahead and adds in new or removes content just like its "spiritual predecessors". The goal is to provide a more intense gameplay experience by adding new strategic possibilities and lots of interesting features without having superflous or extremely similar units.

== Installing Games in Spring ==

The files for these content packages generally go in the mods directory of your spring install. Some of the games have automatically updating installers, and some of them simply provide links to the packages which must be installed manually.

== Game Development ==

For information on creating games for the Spring engine, see the [[Mod Development]] page.

How to be good at 1v1

2008-10-09T14:49:11Z

Chill: some typing errors (didn't review complete page)

== Intro==
I thought i'd try and throw down in text all the thoughts in my head and how I think when playing high level games. But i'm afraid after writing this it comes out as tiny patches only scratching the surface of various areas.

Please dont take this as a comprehensive guide, as Meta-gaming is something you have to really learn yourself, as I echo a few times through this

== Opening Quote ==

''Post by Swiftspear pretty much summing up how you move from being a good player to an elite player''
<blockquote>
I'll put up any boxer who has gone through a proper training routine against any boxer who just fights with people constantly. The boxer with the training routine will always win. If you want to be the best you have to train, not just crunch hourage. You will take WAY longer to intellectualize the game if you just play and don't study it. The best player is the best player because their reflexes are honed, they know exactly what happens in every situation, and they know what their opponent knows so they can counter him. Ability to play a game at the high level breaks down into 3 areas: Mastery of the interface, mastery of the numbers, and mastery of the mind game. If your game plan for improving is "Play the game alot" you only really improve your mastery of the interface, and even then you will likely be worse at that then someone who has improved all three area's at once through proper training because you're relying on accidentally discovering the optimums rather then knowing the optimums because you have crunched the numbers and developed the theory.
</blockquote>
*<blockquote>
If you want to be the best at the game, you study replays, analyze in depth what was done right, what was done wrong, analyze where you are spending your time and what you are letting slip, then take the knowledge gained and replay and get new replays. Also test out units, see which units can shoot over DT and which can not, which units can crush which corpses and which can not, which units can get through which bottlenecks and how easily, if you know the game theoretically you don't have to make the mistakes the first time to learn from them. Finally study your opponents and learn what makes them tick. Know what an opponent is most likely to do just for statistical convenience, figure out a counter. Know your opponents strengths and weaknesses, know the counter to every counter and the counter to every counter counter in and out and know exactly what if you do you are weak to, and how you can minimalize the risk.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Ask any great chess player how they learned to play the game, weather it was more beneficial to them to talk with other players about the strategy of the game and read over the theory books, or weather it was more beneficial to them to just play the game over and over and over, they have all done both. While it's objective, you need to play to win, that doesn't mean you will win if all you ever to is play alot. Being the best is alot of boring work as well as the fun of playing.</blockquote>

The first step to being an elite player is you have to want to be a good player, I dont mean "I wouldnt mind being a elite player", you have to be willing to learn everything it takes.

Being a top player isnt something you can be instructed on, you become an elite player when you can train yourself. Luckily, you can be taught to train yourself.

== Reading Material ==

http://www.sirlin.net/Features/feature_PlayToWinPart1.htm
Playing to win, this is the bible of playing competetively, breaking the barriers in yourself described in the article you are already double the player you were before.

'''The Art of War'''
http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

Though I highly reccomend the whole thing, the part most pertaining to playing TA is the chapter 'Tactical Dispositions'

'' 7. The general who is skilled in defense hides in the
most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in
attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven.
Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves;
on the other, a victory that is complete.''

==Getting started==

First you need to watch people better than you do what you want to do, watch their tactics, their build orders, their micro.

Analyze their moves, find why they are being used instead of other ones, think of ways they could be changed to be more powerful. Assess the impacts of every move on every level.
''How much metal is this tactic costing compared to how much damage it is doing?''
''How much concentration does this need?''
''How much micromanagement?''
''How much micromanagement and concentration does it leech from the enemy?''
''Does it make the opponent act irrationally?''

I cannot teach you all the questions because being an elite player means being able to teach yourself the questions.

Being able to watch how a tactic went wrong in a replay is a thousand times easier than to predict how a tactic will go wrong when you are playing in real time.

Now you have to do the tricky part, lose alot of games. The biggest way to stall in climbing the mountain of being a great player is to be afraid of losing. Dont forget this, because the higher you get the worse the fear can become.

Every game you lose, find out what beat you, then work back.
20 Instigators leveled my base and destroyed my commander
*How did they slip through
*How did my opponent stop this happening to him
*How did my opponent get the metal to do this
*How did my opponent know where to strike

== Know Thy Enemy ==
Keep a profile in your head of every player, check the 'Recent games' as often as you can on the ladder site, see the outcome of the tournaments. Watch every game of every player worth watching.

Know your opponents to the point you can be half way through a game and know exactly what they are doing. Until you know what every radar blip they are sending at you is gonna be.
Every player has a style, every player weighs risk versus reward differently

Skill as a player is not only knowing your opponents, but not allowing them to know you

== Summing up in nice dot points ==

*Dont use a tactic because it is what someone better than you does, use it because you know why they use it.

*Tactics have to be used with the intent of winning the game. Dont tech unless the tactical options for winning on the current tech level are exhausted.

*Hold yourself responsible. No tactic is lame. It doesn't matter if your teammates are noobs. The only way to improve yourself is to find what you did wrong.

*Keep your cool. Look at everything objectively. Don't let yourself change tactics from "Seeking to win" to "Prolonging Defeat".

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