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Is registration still open?
If so, I'm registering SoD 303751774
If so, I'm registering SoD 303751774
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Posts from Diamond Monster
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Looks like things were really bad there... usually on 126 Diamond, Dragon Utopia can already be broken)
For speed - binding Enter to the middle mouse button helps me a lot.
CryptoNight
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Good info. For Fortress players, you could add a ranking of castle strength for quick battles here. In terms of damage output/losses.
Javdet
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Well, the Castle is actually quite good on quick battles. The infantry is slow and doesn't have time to engage.
WT 426409548
Wicc
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... continued ...
7. Combat Technique
Applies only to WT.
You should use hotkeys as much as possible, never click manually on wait, def, and cast — only the W, D/Space, and C keys respectively. Moreover, D is even more advantageous here, since Space on most keyboards is pressed slightly slower, and the thumb has to travel a greater distance to Space than the index finger to D. And Enter at the end of a battle was already mentioned. This saves 1-2 seconds per action, which is a lot.
You should also minimize the number of waits in simple battles. If troops won't move/attack after waiting, they should be put into defense immediately. Similarly, you shouldn't wait with shooters if the mobs won't come into direct shot range after their turn.
For simple battles, you shouldn't separate all single-unit stacks just to avoid spending time on their wait/defense. If the main strike stack can handle the mobs on its own, the shielding/distraction stacks should be combined into one stack. Though you can keep one single unit just for safety.
If you have Tactics, you shouldn't use it if it's not critical for the battle's outcome — saving 5-10 seconds won't hurt. That is, for shooter towns, you often don't need to set up shielding around archers, and for Tyraxor/Miner, you can start with the strike stack from its initial position, which usually reaches its target anyway.
8. Distance Calculation
Mainly for chains or curved trajectories. At first, a lot of time is wasted here...
WT's alt-click, which calculates distances, is very helpful. But there are often cases where it can't be used, and you have to estimate by eye.
Calculating the exact value is usually time-consuming, so approximate methods should be used. For example, count in cells — 1 for a straight move, 1.5 for a diagonal move. That is, look at the trajectory, count the total number of moves, then add half of the diagonal ones. I don't recommend counting step by step; if you make a mistake, you'll have to recount from the beginning, which immediately costs 10-30 seconds.
If the movement will be across different types of terrain and roads, you should first decide on a unit of measurement — 1 unit is not always equal to 100 movement points. Sometimes it's beneficial to take a straight move on a road as a unit, in which case you first need to convert the hero's movement points into units. Typically, in WT, medium roads are used, where 1 unit equals 65 movement points, so you need to multiply the hero's movement range by 1.5, and if the roads are fast, multiply by 2.
Also, for mixed terrain, I recommend calculating moves for each type separately, then adding them up at the end. This is also to prevent recalculation.
When building and checking chains, don't forget about WT's trick with temporarily resetting movement points — it allows for precise hero placement even with short controls.
Optional but useful — standardize transport heroes on the same unit type, even if faster ones are available. This will unify movement length and simplify chain calculation/recalculation. This is especially critical in situations where you have to make several transfers in different directions. For the same reason, it's better to send logistics/explorer heroes for scouting/gathering, and use simple heroes for transport purposes.
9. Mouse and Keyboard
For real-time games, the mouse and keyboard are objects of obsessive tuning; they are carefully chosen and tested in different working modes. For short controls, you should also pay attention to this matter, albeit less intensely.
The buttons on the mouse and keyboard should press easily, without effort, and not stick anywhere. In the CIS, in Michurinsk, I recall, the keyboards were very stiff, with large, tall, hard-to-press keys.
It's advisable to use a simple mouse — 2 buttons and a scroll wheel. It's really annoying when, in a hurry, you accidentally press some extra button with unpredictable results.
As for mouse settings — cursor acceleration should be set to 0, and any extra options like "enhanced pointer precision blah-blah-blah" should also be turned off. Cursor speed — to taste.
You can check the convenience of your settings through various online games for clicking speed and accuracy. A classic is the Reflex game at www.missionred.com; calibrate your mouse settings based on achieving a high score and minimal fatigue in the wrist/shoulder.
The keyboard layout should ideally have a wide Enter key, a wide left Shift, and no power management buttons above the arrow keys. The Windows key between Ctrl and Alt can also get in the way. The reasons are the same — in a time crunch, you could accidentally press the wrong key.
If the keyboard doesn't meet these requirements, the extra keys can simply be removed; they are easily pried off with a screwdriver.
Laptop keyboards are generally inconvenient for fast-paced play, so it's better to connect an external one. Moreover, I recommend taking the simplest and cheapest one, with a classic key layout and no extra features. Besides, you won't feel bad about prying it apart with a screwdriver if needed.
... to be continued ...
7. Combat Technique
Applies only to WT.
You should use hotkeys as much as possible, never click manually on wait, def, and cast — only the W, D/Space, and C keys respectively. Moreover, D is even more advantageous here, since Space on most keyboards is pressed slightly slower, and the thumb has to travel a greater distance to Space than the index finger to D. And Enter at the end of a battle was already mentioned. This saves 1-2 seconds per action, which is a lot.
You should also minimize the number of waits in simple battles. If troops won't move/attack after waiting, they should be put into defense immediately. Similarly, you shouldn't wait with shooters if the mobs won't come into direct shot range after their turn.
For simple battles, you shouldn't separate all single-unit stacks just to avoid spending time on their wait/defense. If the main strike stack can handle the mobs on its own, the shielding/distraction stacks should be combined into one stack. Though you can keep one single unit just for safety.
If you have Tactics, you shouldn't use it if it's not critical for the battle's outcome — saving 5-10 seconds won't hurt. That is, for shooter towns, you often don't need to set up shielding around archers, and for Tyraxor/Miner, you can start with the strike stack from its initial position, which usually reaches its target anyway.
8. Distance Calculation
Mainly for chains or curved trajectories. At first, a lot of time is wasted here...
WT's alt-click, which calculates distances, is very helpful. But there are often cases where it can't be used, and you have to estimate by eye.
Calculating the exact value is usually time-consuming, so approximate methods should be used. For example, count in cells — 1 for a straight move, 1.5 for a diagonal move. That is, look at the trajectory, count the total number of moves, then add half of the diagonal ones. I don't recommend counting step by step; if you make a mistake, you'll have to recount from the beginning, which immediately costs 10-30 seconds.
If the movement will be across different types of terrain and roads, you should first decide on a unit of measurement — 1 unit is not always equal to 100 movement points. Sometimes it's beneficial to take a straight move on a road as a unit, in which case you first need to convert the hero's movement points into units. Typically, in WT, medium roads are used, where 1 unit equals 65 movement points, so you need to multiply the hero's movement range by 1.5, and if the roads are fast, multiply by 2.
Also, for mixed terrain, I recommend calculating moves for each type separately, then adding them up at the end. This is also to prevent recalculation.
When building and checking chains, don't forget about WT's trick with temporarily resetting movement points — it allows for precise hero placement even with short controls.
Optional but useful — standardize transport heroes on the same unit type, even if faster ones are available. This will unify movement length and simplify chain calculation/recalculation. This is especially critical in situations where you have to make several transfers in different directions. For the same reason, it's better to send logistics/explorer heroes for scouting/gathering, and use simple heroes for transport purposes.
9. Mouse and Keyboard
For real-time games, the mouse and keyboard are objects of obsessive tuning; they are carefully chosen and tested in different working modes. For short controls, you should also pay attention to this matter, albeit less intensely.
The buttons on the mouse and keyboard should press easily, without effort, and not stick anywhere. In the CIS, in Michurinsk, I recall, the keyboards were very stiff, with large, tall, hard-to-press keys.
It's advisable to use a simple mouse — 2 buttons and a scroll wheel. It's really annoying when, in a hurry, you accidentally press some extra button with unpredictable results.
As for mouse settings — cursor acceleration should be set to 0, and any extra options like "enhanced pointer precision blah-blah-blah" should also be turned off. Cursor speed — to taste.
You can check the convenience of your settings through various online games for clicking speed and accuracy. A classic is the Reflex game at www.missionred.com; calibrate your mouse settings based on achieving a high score and minimal fatigue in the wrist/shoulder.
The keyboard layout should ideally have a wide Enter key, a wide left Shift, and no power management buttons above the arrow keys. The Windows key between Ctrl and Alt can also get in the way. The reasons are the same — in a time crunch, you could accidentally press the wrong key.
If the keyboard doesn't meet these requirements, the extra keys can simply be removed; they are easily pried off with a screwdriver.
Laptop keyboards are generally inconvenient for fast-paced play, so it's better to connect an external one. Moreover, I recommend taking the simplest and cheapest one, with a classic key layout and no extra features. Besides, you won't feel bad about prying it apart with a screwdriver if needed.
... to be continued ...
ariputra
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Moreover, D is even more convenient here, as Space is pressed slightly slower on most keyboards, and the thumb has to move a longer distance to press Space than the index finger to press D.
Now everyone will be able to manage.
Wicc
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Now everyone will have enough time.
And many games are decided by a lack of just a few seconds. See Lizard's report above.
wt
skype roi.blia
skype roi.blia
CryptoNight
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You're being unnecessarily sarcastic. For actions that are repeated hundreds or thousands of times during a game, even saving a fraction of a second adds up to a significant amount over time.
And many games are decided by a lack of just a few seconds. See Lizard's report above.
Wicc
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wt
skype roi.blia
Go ahead and register with a proper nickname, and then I'll add you.
MaxGor 603160437 СОД
Wicc
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Well, it's someone's clone, right? :)
Go ahead and register with a normal nickname, and I'll add you.
By the way, you can make guesses. I think it's Besha :)
Added 2 minutes later
Another pair for the first round:
MaxGor - darkello
CryptoNight
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How do you determine who goes first in a duel – in a chat, who starts first, and then that person chooses the color, but in a duel, there’s a bidding war for the color... Could this be decided with a coin toss?
Wicc
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Vic, how do you determine who starts banning in WT — in SoD whoever goes second chooses the color, but in WT there's bidding for color... Is this decided by a coin toss?
And for SoD-cup, here's what we'll do: whoever is higher in the HeroesWorld rating chooses — color or castle. Since there's been talk that the rating supposedly has no effect on anything... let it have an effect now :)
This does not apply to games that have already started or to those where banning is already underway.
Added 8 minutes later
Exact wording (added to the first post):
For SoD: the player who is higher in the HeroesWorld rating chooses — color or castle.
For WT: there is a bid, the winner chooses — color or castle.
Then the castles are chosen via standard banning (in both SoD and WT). The player who received the color in the previous step bans second. The player who received the castle in the previous step bans first.
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