In Starcraft you are acting as a general while controlling an economy,
building an infrastructure, and taking command of your own army. Sun Tzu was way ahead of his time and I used this to my advantage.
Once I had read and understood the importance of Sun Tzu’s teachings I was able
to apply it to the game. In Starcraft the player must choose when to focus on
growing economy, when to raise a standing army, and how to counter the tactics
used by the opposing player. What Starcraft does is show where the true power
lies in any military endeavour. If you can out-resource, out-build, and only
then out-think your opponent, you’ll come out on top. Reading the Art of War
had helped me develop a new understanding of the game. An example of this can even be seen in the civil war.
Generations of historians and analysts have looked back at the Civil War and come to the conclusion that the South was destined to lose, despite having a motivated army and some of the best generals in history, like Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson. However, modern wars are industrialised which means that the more advance nation wins. If only the South had listened to Sun Tzu and pursued peace after their first victory in the war...
“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” -Sun Tzu
After reading a lot about Sun Tzu and his work I decided to research some other applications. The biggest contribution that The Art of War had made was in the field of military. Many of the world’s greatest generals throughout history have in some way or form used Sun Tzu’s philosophy. Since the original text was written in Chinese, it has been translated into almost every major language. Most often it is associated with military strategy but as I was researching I found it interesting that over time it has been interpreted for many different applications. One of the most common applications was in the business world. The Art of War is written in a style that is poetic. Because of its style, it can be applied to almost any situation. Many CEOs and managers are implementing points stressed in the Art of War and applying them to the office.
By breaking down the book into main points you can apply them to your everyday life:
• The importance of intelligence:
• The importance of maneuvering so your enemy is hit in his weakest points
• The importance of morale
• How to conduct diplomacy so that you gain more allies and the enemy loses allies
• Having the moral advantage
• The importance of national unity
• All warfare is based on deception
• Logistics
• The proper relationship between the ruler and the general
• Know the difference between Strategy and Tactics
• No country has benefitted from a prolonged war
• Subduing an enemy without using force is best
Some Quotes to Live By:
“If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.”
“The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.”
“If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose.”
“The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.”
“Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.”
“When the general is weak and without authority; when his orders are not clear and distinct; when there are no fixed duties assigned to officers and men, and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter disorganization.”
“Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.”
“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.”
Over the course of the week I began to read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I decided to research about Sun Tzu prior to actually reading his work. The Art of War is believed to have been written about 2000 years ago by a man by the name of Sun Tzu in ancient China. He was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty. Despite the fact that historians are still arguing about the origins and legitimacy of Sun Tzu, it still impacts both Asian and Western culture and policies. Even after his death many generals still implemented his ideas into battle. What I found most interesting is that a text that is written thousands of years ago can still be applied to modern life. I was surprised to learn about some of the applications.
The Art of War has become very popular across the globe. You would think that a book written thousands of years ago would be outdated but in the 1980s a law was enacted that made it so that no officer can become a general or admiral without graduating from one of the nation's war colleges, where ''The Art of War'' is a mainstay of the curriculum. The ideas created by Sun Tzu are till this day being implemented by the military. Sun Tzu was thinking way ahead of his time. Even in one of our most recent wars the US implemented this ancient Chinese philosophy.
In the words of Sun Tzu. ''Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness... And as water has no constant form, there are in war no constant conditions.'' Flexibility is a key aspect in war. Being able to adapt to any situation can gain you almost any victory. This was especially important when US soldiers had to fight against Iraqi irregulars and improvised explosives.
While Sun Tzu had to use secret agents to gain crucial information, the US military developed high tech sensors. General William F. Kernan told Congress that the ability to ''gather, analyze, and share critical information electronically allows us to fulfill Sun Tzu's dream of a common picture of the battle.''
I have spent a lot of time reading about Sun Tzu and reading his work. His work was way ahead of his time. I think that it is amazing that modern day nations still utilize his ideas that were originally written down on bamboo strips.
Here is the link to my first vlog where I explain some of the inspiration for my project. The camera and microphone quality is not great but I hope you still enjoy.
This project could not have come during a better time. Approximately one year ago Blizzard announced their plans for the next installment in the Starcraft Franchise. I have been waiting so long for the release. At least I don’t have to wait 12 years like the last one that Blizzard released. However within these years Blizzard has done an awesome job perfecting every aspect. Even the trailers are so well done.
If Blizzard ever decides to stop making games they can always make animated action movies. Being that the game is not going to be released until 3/12/13 I have not been able to play. However I was able to get my hands on the beta test where I could play a couple of games. The game is greatly improved and I am so glad that Blizzard is making the right steps.
In preparation for the release myself and thousands of other players have been searching the internet looking for any insider information about the gameplay. However, It isn't hard to find it. As I have said in the previous blog Starcraft is a community of players. One of my personal favorite sites to visit is twitch.tv. On this website players can start streams and allow for others to watch live. This is particularly advantageous for professional players to stream and gain a fan base while practicing. This website is great for allowing players to share ideas within the community and even for other games too even though they aren’t as cool as Starcraft. Many of the top beta testers stream live games on twitch. I actually do not play the game that frequently. I spend most of time on sites like twitch, youtube, and various forums immersing myself in the game. Reading forums and watching videos help me gain a new understanding of the game and learn new tactics. The most prolific and popular professional Starcraft analyst is called Day9. He has been apart of the gaming community since its origin. He has over 300,000 subscribers and over 74 million views on his main channel on youtube.
My goal for this week was to establish a baseline of my skills and knowledge. When I wasn't playing lacrosse or staying up reading Les Mis I was finding time to play. During a competitive match both players start out with the same basic means to form an empire. Each player starts out with a main control center for operations and six harvesters. The harvesters must then be sent to collect resources and return them to the control station. Both players are competing for supremacy. The end goal is to eventually kill your opponent by destroying his structures with your warriors. Once you have established a steady economy, you can then start to construct structures capable of building warriors. Different warriors require different amounts and kinds of resources and can only be produced from certain structures. Each different type of warrior has a certain application and use. It is up to the player or commander to use each warrior properly and kill your opponent. Amongst the three races to choose from there are 43 different types of warriors and 48 different structures. In order to master the game of Starcraft a player must first gain the knowledge of when and how each unit works. This can only be achieved by playing the game more frequently.
Starcraft is a very complex game and in this video a commentator by the name of Husky does a nice job explaining the basics of the game through the use of a special program
.
All in all I am absolutely in love with this game. I have spent a large amount of time playing and I am so glad to see that as time progresses it is getting more and more popularity on a global scale.
When I asked myself "What am I passionate about?" not much came to mind. Growing up I never really had a hobby or activity that I was truly passionate about. However, I did play a lot of sports. It was in middle school that I first discovered lacrosse. I fell in love with it and have been playing it since. With the next season approaching I figured that it would be a great opportunity for me to spend some time outside of practice to improve. I am passionate about lacrosse but I have been very busy and there isn' much that I could accomplish in 7 weeks. So with this idea off the table I had nothing. On the night before our brainstorming was due I came up with the perfect idea. Why not combine the reason I procrastinate and the project itself? VIDEO GAMES! And I knew the perfect game to play. Starcraft.
It is my nerdious past time. When I'm not eating or sleeping I'm immersing myself in the game. Sadly not a lot of people are familiar with this game. Starcraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998. It is set in a fictitious timeline during Earth's 25th century and is based upon three races fighting for control of the galaxy. The first race is called the Terrans, humans exiled from earth. The second race is called the Zerg. They are insect like creatures that can swarm entire planets. The final race is called the Protoss. They are humanoid aliens with advanced technologies and psionic abilities. These three races make up one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. In a typical game two players start off on opposite sides of a map. The object of the game is to kill your opponent. Throughout the course of a game players have to build infrastructure, manage an economy, and take control of massive armies.
Starcraft is praised as one of the best and most important video games of all time. It raised the bar for developing rts games and sold millions of copies world wide. Despite it's popularity on a global scale, SC is not popular in the United States. It is extremely popular in South Korea where players and team s participate and compete in tournaments, earn sponsorships, and even can be seen on televised events. In 2009 the GSL tournament held in South Korea packed the stands. In 2005 the Starcraft Champions packed 120,00 people into a stadium. It had 40,000 more people attend then the Superbowl.
In order to play at that high of ranking you need the mastery of a chess grandmaster and the precision and coordination of a master cellist. This video shows a player called Jaedong while playing. APM stands for actions per minute which includes every key you press and every mouse click you make. In this game Jaedong's APM reaches 500 during the height of battle and averages around 300. Thats crazy, he is pressing about 5-8 keys every second. This is one of the factors that makes Starcraft such a great game. It takes more skill and coordination to play than almost any game.
The Starcraft storyline has expanded through several novels, and authorized expansion packs. And after 12 years the second installment was released. Blizzard is even releasing a new expansion next week (they announced the release about a year ago). Stacraft is an awesome game and I enjoy playing every second of it. Goals: Step 1: evaluate playing: Having spent a large amount of time playing Starcraft already, I will need to use the first block of time to play the game, and begin evaluating my own knowledge. The first step to improving my skills is to establish a baseline. All of my further progress will be measured against my initial stats.
Step 2: read about starcraft, and about traditional war strategy: Many people play the game and make up the community. Within this community ideas spread, new players can meet, and trends form. In this step I will research current trends in battle strategies in order to improve my gameplay.
Step 3: Compare new information to starcraft tactics: In Starcraft you are acting as a general. Reading works and researching tactics developed by history's greatest generals can help me gain a new understanding of war.
Step 4: detail a battle plan: Apply tactics and ideas developed by great generals like Sun Tzu. After studying various historical military geniuses I will design and apply their strategies and create my own battle plans for the game.
Step 5: implement plan: I will have to test my plan by playing. Hopefully using new tactics will improve my gameplay.
Step 6: measure success: Contribute to the community and advance in rank.
In the Starcraft community each player is ranked. Each player is divided into the seven different leagues based on skill level. Each league is then split into pools of 100 people. It is in these groups of 100 people you compete for first. At the end of each season the top players are promoted and the worst are demoted (not a lot). The highest league is called Grandmaster. This league consists of the top 200 players in each region (North American, Europe, Asia, etc). My goal is to advance as far as I can in this ladder system. I will use my rank to demonstrate my progress.
End Goal: Aside from ranking up I plan on achieving one more goal. In this final step I plan to give back to the community. As I said before, Starcraft is a community. Within this community players share ideas. I plan on using tactics developed by history's greatest general and applying it to the game. My hope is to develop a battle strategy that is new. Perhaps other players can eventually benefit. In the end I will be giving back to the community to help other players expand their knowledge of the game.
