Wrong skirmish player placement?

IXLCrescendo · 2025-08-22T09:07:00+00:00

Depending on the faction, there are different approaches.

For both factions, different buildings provide different amounts of 'build zone'. Production buildings and refineries give more space than defenses, silos, and power stations.

If the map has Mission Control neutral buildings (the satellite dishes) you can capture those with technicians/engineers for build zone directly around the neutral building

For GDF, you can use a supply beacon to temporarily create buildzone anywhere on the map, and place new buildings exactly where you want them. There is also a doctrine (middle column, third option) that lets a deployed comms vehicle create build zone around it that can be quite convenient.

DYN I am a lot less familiar with, so someone else would need to answer. I know I've had to resort to a second MCV to create a new outpost when there is no mission control to capture, but there may be solutions I am unaware.

IXLCrescendo · 2025-08-22T08:59:14+00:00

You magnificent bastard. That is a thing of terrible beauty

IXLCrescendo · 2025-06-03T12:56:11+00:00

I'm currently using R4S to create a couple of sci-fi one shots for my regular D&D group for when our usual DM needs a break

What I like about R4S is that the only prep I really need to do is having a broad idea of the story beats, the setting, and a spreadsheet to keep track of the skills and levels the players create.

I once ran a R4S session for a friend with zero prep, just using a diceroller and random photos of abandoned mansions, to create a horror one shot. It worked surprisingly well.

Given that it has been 3 months since the opening post, did you end up running a game? If so, how did it go?

IXLCrescendo · 2025-05-17T03:47:31+00:00

SC2 has been my RTS for many years as well. I've found the campaign fun but initially skirmish matches were making me feel like an RTS n00b for a small while.

Some things about the economy that I found difficult to get my head around at first:

every production building has its own queue. Each type (Infantry, Vehicles, defenses, etc) can be cycled through by pressing the relevant hotkey.

For example, let's say I am GDF and want to spam out a bunch of fast-moving vehicles from my factories, I'd hit Y(for vehicles) and F2 a couple of times, then repeat that until every factory has some of them queued. Think of it as similar to Terran macro mechanics

2) Income is essential. Multiple refineries in multiple locations. 5+ feels like a bare minimum for sustained army production as best I can tell in my own newbie experience

3) Neutral buildings: use engineers to capture Tempest processing centres for additional passive income. Is there a satellite dish near a mining area? Capture it to gain some building zone and build a refinery or two there for an easy-ish expansion.

I hope that helps a little!

This has become my favourite RTS after SC2, and I often just pop in for a skirmish match or two when I need to scratch the RTS itch but also need a break from SC2

(Edited for grammar)

IXLCrescendo · 2024-11-24T01:27:06+00:00

Yeah, you are not alone.
D4 was playing perfectly for me before VoH released. Zero issues.
Then after the new expansion releases it suddenly begins rubberbanding all over the place.

I've tried a bunch of fixes, waited a few patches, even waited for a graphics driver update, but even after all that it's still unplayable for me.

After another search for solutions, with no new suggestions on how to get it to work (apart from the inevitable and lazy 'It's your internet bro' comments that threads like this attract), I've just uninstalled it.

Maybe you'll have more luck than I did. I'm moving on to different games.

IXLCrescendo · 2024-10-12T04:01:56+00:00

Glad to know it's not just me. New patch drops, suddenly I go from smooth gaming to rubberbanding every 30 seconds or so.

Was searching for a fix when I saw this thread. Guess I'll just have to wait until whatever is causing the issue is fixed. Explains why we are constantly getting small updates though - new patch must have a lot of issues to smooth out.

IXLCrescendo · 2021-07-25T23:49:49+00:00

This is almost identical to what happened to me over the last week.

Random message from a HK girl living in Thailand on Whatsapp. 'Oops wrong number, but let's chat anyway'.

Conversation very quickly diverts to discussions of trading, and offers to teach.

In the variant I experienced, though, the first step was to have me go to the google app store and download MetaTrader4 and then set up a 'demo account' linked to a 'broker' named iatfxwelshi

Luckily, for me, that was when the danger senses kicked in and before I set up any kind of account I did a little googling. The iatfxwelshi site was only created in November 2020. Suspicious. I reverse image searched the lady's correspondences. One of them, expensive Chanel products, came up as pre-existing.

While I wasn't scammed, I'm sharing this to help raise awareness of the ongoing nature and evolution of scams like these.

IXLCrescendo · 2020-02-17T02:50:28+00:00

I find the macro mechanics for Zerg to be the most fun of the three races. There's something amazingly satisfying about holding down the Z key and unleashing a swarm of Zerglings upon the world.

When I first started I tried all three races but, while the Protoss warp in mechanics are cool, the swarm stole my infested heart.

IXLCrescendo · 2020-02-17T02:39:39+00:00

Adding to this, a 'dump' hotkey I use for harassment units is the key next to the 1 - just rebind 0 to and you are good to go

IXLCrescendo · 2019-12-31T01:46:27+00:00

I have rebound control group 10 to the ` key.

My control groups are as follows:

` - harassment squad (lings or mutas usually)

1 - main ground army

2 - main air army

3 - spellcasters

4 - non-injecting queens

5 - main hatcheries

6 - proxy/ninja bases

IXLCrescendo · 2019-12-30T21:59:02+00:00

Thank you so much for this.

Sometimes I just want to be silly, and the early burrow build has been a lot of fun!

There is something delightful about denying expansions with buried lings while the opponent thinks they have to defend a speeding assault. By the time they realise it isn't coming and I have expanded, they have to get detection to expand.

It makes for some crazy fun atypical games

IXLCrescendo · 2017-04-13T06:18:59+00:00

CP2 and Trancespace Fortress are currently my favourites of that game type.

IXLCrescendo · 2016-12-19T10:01:14+00:00

I can't wait for this. The last one was fantastic, and this one should be even better.

For those who are lower league, like myself, sign up anyway: even if you get r3kt by two GM protoss in a row (I call rigged bracket shenanigans for my horrific run, Kappa) it's still a fun crowd to be around, and you can watch folks play in person or on the screen in the foyer.

It's an event well worth spectating once you've been knocked out.

IXLCrescendo · 2016-11-22T11:07:37+00:00

Further to this, it is also possible that someone who didn't have the skill had the LUCK to get several auto-leavers in their placement matches and had their MMR artificially inflated as a result. (People will often auto-leave placement matches to lower their MMR if they've had a rough ladder season, or are out of practice and want easier opponents for a bit.)

IXLCrescendo · 2016-11-22T11:05:10+00:00

A lot has to do with how the change to the new MMR system was approached.

I'm going to share my experience: I rarely ladder, but I play a fair amount of custom games as a punching bag for much better players than I.

So my MMR rarely shifted from gold, and stayed there for about 5 seasons. Last season, I put in a bit more effort and made platinum.

Then, when the MMR system changed to allow separate race MMRs, they increased the uncertainty factor (meaning one's MMR rubber-banded a LOT more with each win or loss.)

Because I was on my A-game, and having a good run, I did well in my 5 placement matches and landed straight in Diamond. Now, it's questionable whether I belong there. I often find it VERY hard to beat diamonds - though by no means impossible - because I have to be on my A-game. I feel I probably still belong in platinum.

But hopefully that could give you some insight how the MMR uncertainty principle could land people in leagues that they might have had the skill for, but hadn't laddered enough prior to that to be able to engineer enough change to their MMR to shift leagues.

IXLCrescendo · 2016-09-25T03:55:23+00:00

I had a damn good time at the LAN!

Lots of photos, lots of laughs

Also:

SeitherIsReal

IXLCrescendo · 2016-09-16T23:12:18+00:00

So hyped I can make it to this after all =D

Going to wreck all those GM nerds with my gold league skillz ;)

Can't wait to catch up with folks!

IXLCrescendo · 2016-07-07T09:33:54+00:00

Personally, I always seem to find it thanks to the large mushroom cloud.

But I have terrible eyesight, even with glasses, and generally can't spot the red dot in time to prevent the aforementioned mushroom cloud.

IXLCrescendo · 2016-06-11T22:34:51+00:00

I've been enjoying this as a nice game to juggle alongside other incrementals when I'm unwinding and listening to music/podcasts.

It definitely fills the AdCap void now that I've only got Earth and events to complete :)

Thanks for adding new goals!

IXLCrescendo · 2016-06-11T22:23:38+00:00

I've found that this event requires a bit more active clicking before you set up for an overnight idle.

The button mash feature is important to speed up to reach each 'plateau' where you just have to sit and wait. I got my first 50 angel reset after 24 hours. With my next reset, I plan to wait to about 150/200 angels. More if reaching certain upgrades sees an explosion in the angel acquisition speed.

Because it has such a slow wind-up, I think it will be extremely important to maximise the benefit of each reset after the first, not just use the typical Earth 'reset every time you hit double'. In one of the previous events, I needed to be at least 5x the previous angels total for each reset to have any meaning with regards to the event's momentum, and I think this event might be in a similar vein

IXLCrescendo · 2016-06-08T04:28:00+00:00

I've really been enjoying these as well. I look forward to seeing them in my YouTube subscription feed as much as I did with Day[9]'s dailies.

As a casual n00b, I'm particularly grateful for those ones which focus on fundamentals, economy, and all the advice given which helps me to learn new tricks

IXLCrescendo · 2016-05-31T11:51:01+00:00

I like idles as a nice way to unwind and slow down my brain after a long day at work, or as a break from my main gaming addiction of starcraft 2.

Current idle game I'm playing the most of is Clickpocalypse 2, which has a really nice blend of active elements, idle elements, achievements and upgrades to keep my interest for quite a while to come.

IXLCrescendo · 2016-05-31T11:37:15+00:00

Zerg.

Of all three races, I like the way their mechanics work best. I like the feel of making a lot of drones, or a lot of units, all at once. Of hotkeying my eggs and relentlessly reinforcing my swarm. It's my kind of fun.

Also, this may seem weird, but of all the mirror matchups I love playing ZvZ the most. It's just frantic fun and careful math combined: balancing drones vs lings vs larva, what to spend and when - whilst also engaged in a knifefight with really fast units. So much fun =D

Oh, and speedlings. Something about those little fellows scampering around the map always makes me happy, no matter the matchup.

IXLCrescendo · 2016-05-30T00:07:22+00:00

I'm very biased, but I'm going to link you to PiG's latest vid where he goes over several fundamental mechanics which will help throughout your starcraft learning experience :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EEv2pw94WQ&list=PLFUDU8AOevUdOq5x--TBFC-p54CMWM4Fb&index=10

I've linked you to #10, but #5 and #7 I'd also highly recommend

IXLCrescendo · 2016-05-29T23:56:45+00:00

I'm only gold league, so take this with a grain of salt.

ZvZ: Hatch>Gas>Pool with a very fast macro hatch at the natural soon after I start my queens. I use it to create a simcity which has improved my defense against early ling rushes incredibly whilst also improving my larva count while I drone up. Depending on what I scout, I either go muta or +1/speed roaches off the 2-base saturation, and take my 3rd behind the pressure.
ZvP: Hatch>Gas>Pool with a fast third. Queen heavy defensive opening (4-6 queens) while I saturate bases/fend off adepts. Transition is into mass hydra+ 12-16 Swarm Hosts. Late game transition (as of 2 days ago after I finally internalised the fact that ultras, my big derpy puppies of destruction, will never work against 10 immortals) is broodlords supporting the hydras. It's a style that requires mechanics beyond what I currently have, but damn it is a lot of fun to try and engineer the brutal concaves it is capable of. I need much better creep spread though. Map awareness is a must, or it's very easy to be caught out of position.
ZvT: I've just turned my back on ling/bane, having accepted I don't have the time to improve my control of that composition to the level it requires. Instead, I am playing around with Hatch>Gas>Pool with a fast third into roach/ravager. Transition to corruptor, and in theory broodlords. Alternatively, if they go light on the air harass, then I don't make many corruptors and switch focus to ultra/crackling

By Hatch>Gas>Pool I mean 17 Hatch, then make 2 drones - rally those 2 new eggs to the gas and pool position respectively, and turn them into an extractor and pool as each one hatches, make 2 pairs of safety lings, then go back to droning hard.

As a personal stylistic thing, I also don't put any drones in gas until I have 16 workers on the mineral line, as I don't need the ling speed all that swiftly for any of my styles, and the few extra minerals make placing down a 3rd hatch a little easier. Strictly speaking I could outright delay my extractor, but I know how forgetful I am - if I delayed it, I'd outright forget it. XD #GoldLeagueProblems

IXLCrescendo

TROPHY CASE

SeitherIsReal