Hey everyone! I’d like to take a moment to announce a little training game I just released on the arcade!
What is Orbital Defender?
Orbital Defender is a custom game for the SC2 Arcade that is designed to help players improve essential Starcraft mechanics. Over the Christmas break I played about 400 games of Heart of the Swarm 1v1 on ladder. As I started analyzing my play while laddering I really identified my mechanics as an area that I could improve quite a bit. This gave me an idea: Why not create a SC2 custom game that is fun to play and also directly improves my Starcraft skills?
How does it work?
In Orbital Defender your job is to protect 3 Orbital Command Centers, each in a different location and being attacked by a unique set of enemy units. In order to effectively protect each base, you need to use hotkeys to quickly cycle between bases while watching the minimap to see where the attacks are coming from. You defend your command centers by killing enemy units with the correct hotkey. Using Standard hotkeys each enemy unit hotkey is set to the first letter of the unit name: (Z)ealot, (S)talker, (B)attlecruiser, etc. This is designed to allow new the ability to easily identify/remember the correct hotkey, letting them focus more on multitasking. For advanced users, the game supports custom grid profiles that allow a user to work whichever hotkeys they like.
In addition to defending your Command Centers, you also have an SCV worker located on a different part of the map. Periodically an icon will appear in the top right corner of the screen where your resources are in Starcraft. The icon will show a building that needs to be built by the scv within a short duration. If it is not built, additional waves of units will attack your command centers, forcing you to APM harder.
The Goal
The goal of the game is to build essential hotkey mechanics as well as important habits like frequently checking the top right corner of the screen for resource information, and the bottom left of the screen for minimap information. For new players I hope this game will help them learn to play fast, constantly staying busy. For experienced players I hope that the game can be useful for refining already strong hotkey mechanics, and also as a warmup exercise to get your hands/eyes warmed up and alert for a ladder match.
Is there anything else?
Yes, actually. There is a silly machinima intro with terrible voice acting by yours truly that introduces some backstory and ridiculous characters. Why? Well, why not I guess lol.
You can find Orbital Defender APM in the Survival section of the SC2 Arcade. (Currently NA only)
For more of my mods for SC2 and other games you can visit my site:
www.Kurtsparkuhl.com
-edit- I've uploaded a video of the Game Story as well as a Introduction to Gameplay video. Enjoy!
Hey everyone! I’d like to take a moment to announce a little training game I just released on the arcade!
What is Orbital Defender? Orbital Defender is a custom game for the SC2 Arcade that is designed to help players improve essential Starcraft mechanics. Over the Christmas break I played about 400 games of Heart of the Swarm 1v1 on ladder. As I started analyzing my play while laddering I really identified my mechanics as an area that I could improve quite a bit. This gave me an idea: Why not create a SC2 custom game that is fun to play and also directly improves my Starcraft skills?
How does it work? In Orbital Defender your job is to protect 3 Orbital Command Centers, each in a different location and being attacked by a unique set of enemy units. In order to effectively protect each base, you need to use hotkeys to quickly cycle between bases while watching the minimap to see where the attacks are coming from. You defend your command centers by killing enemy units with the correct hotkey. Using Standard hotkeys each enemy unit hotkey is set to the first letter of the unit name: (Z)ealot, (S)talker, (B)attlecruiser, etc. This is designed to allow new the ability to easily identify/remember the correct hotkey, letting them focus more on multitasking. For advanced users, the game supports custom grid profiles that allow a user to work whichever hotkeys they like.
In addition to defending your Command Centers, you also have an SCV worker located on a different part of the map. Periodically an icon will appear in the top right corner of the screen where your resources are in Starcraft. The icon will show a building that needs to be built by the scv within a short duration. If it is not built, additional waves of units will attack your command centers, forcing you to APM harder.
The Goal The goal of the game is to build essential hotkey mechanics as well as important habits like frequently checking the top right corner of the screen for resource information, and the bottom left of the screen for minimap information. For new players I hope this game will help them learn to play fast, constantly staying busy. For experienced players I hope that the game can be useful for refining already strong hotkey mechanics, and also as a warmup exercise to get your hands/eyes warmed up and alert for a ladder match.
Is there anything else? Yes, actually. There is a silly machinima intro with terrible voice acting by yours truly that introduces some backstory and ridiculous characters. Why? Well, why not I guess lol.
You can find Orbital Defender APM in the Survival section of the SC2 Arcade. (Currently NA only)
For more of my mods for SC2 and other games you can visit my site: www.Kurtsparkuhl.com
-edit- I've uploaded a video of the Game Story as well as a Introduction to Gameplay video. Enjoy!
Looks pretty good.Like you said great practice for new players.