
Berkeley University Course on Starcraft Theory and Strategy - adambyrtek
http://academicearth.org/courses/starcraft-theory-and-strategy
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hjkl
Some context: this was a DeCal class which is run by students.

From the DeCal website: "DeCal is a student-run democratic education program
at the UC Berkeley - here, students create and facilitate their own classes on
a variety of (often unorthodox) subjects."

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meastham
Came here to say this.

The DeCal program is really awesome. I took one titled "Advanced Unix Systems
Administration" my first semester that was possibly more valuable than some of
the faculty-led courses I was taking at the same time.

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flanger
I second this -- the Unix System Administration series
(<http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/decal/2008-spring/advanced/>) and the DeCal
classes in general were some of the most rewarding classes I took at Cal.

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MikeCapone
I'd totally take that too. Currently a silver player, 7th in my division. My
goal is to make it to the gold league before the end of this year.

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mcharkin
A couple of years ago Carnegie Mellon used to have a student led course on
DOTA, although I am not sure intense and mathematical that was. My friends an
I only joked about the course's existence.

I am curious, is anybody aware of any other video game related courses at
other universities?

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rdamico
"Calculus and Differential Equations are highly recommended for full
understanding of the course."

Wow, these guys are serious. Wonder what aspects of SC2 they plan to actually
break down quantitatively using differential equations...

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ygd
Probably supply and demand stuff. I've never played SC, but I understand that
you need to mine for "minerals" and spawn units and build buildings.

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jarin
I would totally take that course. With a 0/10 league record, lord knows I need
it.

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jpenney
Watch some of the day[9] dailies at <http://day9tv.blip.tv> and you'll improve
at least a little bit. Watch the episode on the Mental Checklist
(<http://day9tv.blip.tv/file/3732340/>) first.

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whimsy
This.

Since I started watching Day[9], I've figured out why I'm losing to Gold level
players.

~~~
MikeCapone
Out of curiosity, what is your ranking and what did you discover about your
play?

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whimsy
I'm Silver ~60 but I was Bronze in Beta. The biggest thing lately has been
drone timing - Day[9] suggests that reactive Zerg is the most powerful so long
as you react perfectly, so I've been playing more reactively and I've been
practicing better drone timing.

Reactive Zerg tries to balance power-droning (making nothing but drones) with
reacting to the opponent's offensive postures. Ideally, reactive Zerg should
only produce military units right before an attack, and only produce those
units necessary to fend off the attack without taking other damage to its
economy. Reactive zerg wins mid-game or late-game after their economy blows
past that of the opponent.

I'm still in low Silver because I'm trying too hard to play reactive Zerg
now... however, it's teaching me to keep growing my economy after the early
mid-game. Once I switch back to a somewhat more offensive Zerg, I think I'll
have an advantage that I didn't have before.

~~~
MikeCapone
Thanks! I'm not a Zerg player (I'm Terran), but I thought this insight by Day9
about Zerg was excellent. I'll try to keep it in mind while playing against
Zerg. Sometimes moving out and then retreating can be enough to make a Zerg
over-react.

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coryl
Aw man, wish I had this stuff when I was in school.

