[Maynarde]

The Zerg Timer!



DOWNLOAD HERE!

Some good friends of mine from Manic Games Studios have designed this handy little application for low to mid level players to practice their larva inject timings. It's simple, and effective; a little audio bell goes off every set amount of seconds to remind the player to inject

It runs in the background, you hit Shift+Z after your first inject and viola the timer starts. Simple as that. It can be used for injects, mules, chronoboosts, you name it! Higher level players don't really need this tool but it's free for anyone to use.

This is of course a practice tool, the designer's intended use of this tool is for players to eventually have this trigger in your brain. This tool will of course NEVER be allowed in a tournament environment.

Enjoy

Send the Manic Games boys your love and check out their sick puzzle game Critical Mass. It's their first game and very addictive

Quick Comments

	Bugalugs McScruffin:	Good find.
	syfPhoenix:	just what i needed
	nirvAnA:
	PapaBigBelly:	BEAUTIFUL! thanks for sharing with the SC2 SEA community :)
	TAEdarus:	#winning

[Bugalugs McScruffin]

Hmm, I may have to try this out sometime. Good find Maynarde.

[Maynarde]

Wasn't found, these people are friends of mine and asked me to test it. They offer it to the community now that it's done. Hope you enjoy it man

[NvPinder]

When exactly do outside aids become cheating... Because this, at best, comes incredibly close to crossing the line in my opinion :\

Quick Comments

	EveJeonSa:
	Xenomorph:
	Mayo:

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by TAJPMoney

When exactly do outside aids become cheating... Because this, at best, comes incredibly close to crossing the line in my opinion :\

It's a glorified metronome man, people have used them in the past to practice timings and macro in games. It's just a digital one.

Originally Posted by AsylumofSouls

I play zerg at Gold/Platinum level and probably lose most often because of bad inject timings but this, despite being an awesome tool and probably exactly what I need to get into diamond, is too close to cheating for me =(

Totally fine Use or don't use man, free to do either or.

[NvPinder]

Originally Posted by Maynarde

It's a glorified metronome man, people have used them in the past to practice timings and macro in games. It's just a digital one.

Yeah whilst that might be true, I'd honestly probably state my case to the admins that it's cheating if some guy was sitting at a lan tournament with a metronome that clicked loudly every time he needed to lava inject :P.

I get that no one would use them in that scenario, and its just for practice, but the thing is ladder to some people isn't 'just for practice', it's what they play for. Hell playing with a maphack against people can be a legitimate learning technique (I'm being serious here, i used to play broodwar buddies all the time and we'd both share vision and do our builds, gives you an amazing sense of timings that happen within the game, you're much more concentrated when playing than watching a replay). But something tells me if I do that on ladder, although just for practice purposes, people wouldn't be all that thrilled about it.

I guess I'm just playing devils advocate here more for the sake of discussion, as I think it would be a great learning technique, but, in my view, it's still definitely considered a form of cheating that if someone was using it in a game against me and it was a game i cared about winning or losing, I wouldn't be happy with them.

Quick Comments

Kalikah:

[AsylumofSouls]

I play zerg at Gold/Platinum level and probably lose most often because of bad inject timings but this, despite being an awesome tool and probably exactly what I need to get into diamond, is too close to cheating for me =(

[crAzerk]

I'm out so I can't try it yet, but how does it work past the first inject? Is it somehow synced to the game engine such that it only starts the countdown after you hit an inject? Or does it just literally play a sound every xx seconds?

Edit: oh ok so it's just a metronome

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by crAzerk

I'm out so I can't try it yet, but how does it work past the first inject? Is it somehow synced to the game engine such that it only starts the countdown after you hit an inject? Or does it just literally play a sound every xx seconds?

It's synched to when you hit Shift + Z. So if you open the tool and set it to 25 seconds, you would hit Shift + Z after your first inject in the game, then the tool just runs and beeps everytime 25 seconds has ticked over. It doesn't do your injects for you, it's just beeps :P

[AsylumofSouls]

I'll give it a workout in practice games for sure and hope it helps me on ladder.
Thanks for the link Maynarde.

[iMSystem]

Quick question, if it starts when you hit Shift-Z and say even though you hear they bell, you don't inject until 2 seconds after, will the next beep be in with that inject. Or will it be 2 seconds earlier.

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by System

Quick question, if it starts when you hit Shift-Z and say even though you hear they bell, you don't inject until 2 seconds after, will the next beep be in with that inject. Or will it be 2 seconds earlier.

2 seconds earlier, it's literally a stopwatch.

[iMSystem]

Originally Posted by Maynarde

2 seconds earlier, it's literally a stopwatch.

I thought this may be the case.
In that case if you keep missing the bell by 2 seconds, it can drastically un-align itself with your actualy inject times.

Still a really good idea, but a few tweaks to the program would help.

For example, make a section on the program where you can set the key-stroke that starts the stopwatch.
Then you can set it to the same hotkey you have for your injects in game, thus if you do miss the bell by a few seconds, the forthcoming bell will be aligned.

Again, I am not knocking down this, but just giving some ideas

[|Erasmus|]

Originally Posted by System

I thought this may be the case.
In that case if you keep missing the bell by 2 seconds, it can drastically un-align itself with your actualy inject times.

Still a really good idea, but a few tweaks to the program would help.

For example, make a section on the program where you can set the key-stroke that starts the stopwatch.
Then you can set it to the same hotkey you have for your injects in game, thus if you do miss the bell by a few seconds, the forthcoming bell will be aligned.

Again, I am not knocking down this, but just giving some ideas

if you're actually detecting when an inject happens and always notifying correctly, I think it does come suspiciously close to cheating... As a metronome pinging every 25 seconds to tell you the -optimal- spacing on injects it's a useful training tool to commit inject timings to muscle memory.

[iMSystem]

Originally Posted by |Erasmus|

if you're actually detecting when an inject happens and always notifying correctly, I think it does come suspiciously close to cheating... As a metronome pinging every 25 seconds to tell you the -optimal- spacing on injects it's a useful training tool to commit inject timings to muscle memory.

I suppose this is another issue as well.
For example there is no way you will be able to bring this program into a Tournament environment, but that doesn't matter to much because this isn't aimed at tournament players.

I would still be weary about using it as the Blizzard Terms and Conditions are a bit iffy about this kinda stuff.

And I didn't think about that either Bug.

I'll just go in the corner now :P

[Bugalugs McScruffin]

Peeps don't know what a metronome is?

Quick Comments

Mayo:

[Maynarde]

You can always shit Shift + Z again after your misaligned inject as well

[iMSystem]

This is true, but the program is meant to help, not make you push another set of keystrokes while playing.

[Maynarde]

True that! And yes this is to try and get the macro mechanics deep set into your brain so that the tool eventually becomes obsolete, as would a stopwatch or metronome for a player practicing for a tournament.

[Bugalugs McScruffin]

The only problem is V is used for larvae inject, morph Overlord, build Evolution Chamber. Anything else?

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by Bugalugs McScruffin

The only problem is V is used for larvae inject, morph Overlord, build Evolution Chamber. Anything else?

Shift + Z is the hotkey, champ. You won't build zerglings unless you have your hatch selected.

Originally Posted by System

I would still be weary about using it as the Blizzard Terms and Conditions are a bit iffy about this kinda stuff.

It's a stopwatch. It's not synced to the game or reliant on anything from SC2. You could use it to time when you need to check on something in the oven. SC2gears comes WAY closer to breaching the terms and conds but is considered to be fine and used by many

[|Erasmus|]

Originally Posted by Maynarde

Shift + Z is the hotkey, champ. You won't build zerglings unless you have your hatch selected.

he was talking about system's suggestion of detecting the keystrokes for an inject

[lolwut]

would this be bannable or frowned upon if used in ladder 1v1 matches?

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by lolwut

would this be bannable or frowned upon if used in ladder 1v1 matches?

Of course it's not bannable, Blizzard can no more ban you for using this tool then they can reach through your screen and choke you for using a stopwatch. Frowned upon? Depends who you talk to

[SmokyMcPot]

The tool is a nice metronome for SC2 - Im a drummer so I use metronomes for thier musical purpose :P
Its nice to have a program metronome with a sensible hotkey. Having said that, even though I'm a Gold leaguer, I dont think i will benefit from this tool.

I dont think it is sophisticated enought to be a cheat: it does not auto detect if you are late on an inject and correct itself, so you will have to spend attention to "resync" the tool.

I think it would be good for new players to get used to the timing of the larva pop.

[idiotech]

Hi all, I made this tool with my mate matt. Glad to see it helped a few people out

Quick Comments

Maynarde:

[Bugalugs McScruffin]

Haha, System. Don't worry about it. Professional programmer, so it's my job to work out all those annoying corner cases.

Originally Posted by Maynarde

Shift + Z is the hotkey, champ. You won't build zerglings unless you have your hatch selected.

That wasn't what I was saying. If you use V as the hotkey (the key you press for injects) it is also used in other areas of the game, which would stuff up the sync with your injects.

Quick Comments

Maynarde:

Sorry mate, misunderstanding

[iMSystem]

Originally Posted by Bugalugs McScruffin

Haha, System. Don't worry about it. Professional programmer, so it's my job to work out all those annoying corner cases.

I'm am about to head into Programming 3 next year for my Uni.
Excited because I love programming, and sitting around for hours solving problems.

So good..
This year I had to create a Contact Manager program, wasn't that flash but still sick fun ^_^

[Kalikah]

Well, give the guys some points for intent - they're massive SC2 fans, and thought they'd try and help others out who struggle. . . I'm sure they didn't mean it as a cheating tool at all, although I can see how it could be considered one. But having some extra help while practicing isn't cheating as long as when you're competing/playing head to head everyone's got a clean slate? Just my 2c.

Quick Comments

Bugalugs McScruffin:

[Maynarde]

I'd complain about someone using this tool at a LAN for sure lol. I'm glad it's being discussed with level heads (sc2sea ) the designer of this tool promoted it on TL with his first ever post and is gettin flamed somethin awful T_T

[crAzerk]

@Maynarde
Bug was referring to System's post , hence he said V
EDIT: (typed this before reading page 2 woops)

Anyway yea the limitations are fairly clear in that it screws up once you have more than one hatch or u're a second slow (snowballing), but as the OP says this is meant for lower level players who need to develop this larva sense so.. It's still good I suppose.

Personally I rely abit on the sound when larva pops from my hatchery yea I play w fairly loud game sounds+ headphone so I can hear such things clearly

[aLtMrFool]

Sometimes I can't get the subtle difference between programmer and programer.. Esp when people in most other forums don't make a space between pro and gamer..

[crAzerk]

? 'programer' is a misspelling.

You meant you can't tell the difference between 'programmer' and 'progamer'?

[EveMassacrisM]

I personally think this kinda programme does not help you with your play at all. Timing of larvae inject should be trained till it becomes a habit. Over reliance on these things might do more harm than good.

Not to mention this is somewhat of a 3rd party programme, and if used on ladder it IS considered cheating. You could argue you wouldn't use it to play on ladder/tourneys and stuff but Blizzard, I don't think, would care.

I would think twice before touching this stuff.

[crAzerk]

@massacrism
Chillll bro !

Think about it for a sec, the program is not going to be of much help due to it going out of sync easily and once you have multiple hatcheries, etc.

But I agree with you in that it MAY do more harm than good - newbies or whoever that use this program will start to press ctrl+z on top of their V+clicks which will not only slow them up but mess them up when they eventually stop using this.

[ZergGirl]

Originally Posted by crAzerk

@massacrism
Chillll bro !

Think about it for a sec, the program is not going to be of much help due to it going out of sync easily and once you have multiple hatcheries, etc.

But I agree with you in that it MAY do more harm than good - newbies or whoever that use this program will start to press ctrl+z on top of their V+clicks which will not only slow them up but mess them up when they eventually stop using this.

Line up all your injects.

I was under the impression you just press CTRL Z once and it will just cycle down from xx time and repeat until you tell it to stop.

Quick Comments

Maynarde:

Your impression is correct

[crAzerk]

@zerggirl

Imagine you have 2 hatcheries to inject.
A typical GM-level player takes about 1 second to inject both. This already means your timer is 1 second off.
After a few more times the timer is so off that it will throw you off more than help you inject.

The only way to overcome this is to include 'Ctrl Z' which resets the timer somewhere in the rotation.

[ZergGirl]

Originally Posted by crAzerk

@zerggirl

Imagine you have 2 hatcheries to inject.
A typical GM-level player takes about 1 second to inject both. This already means your timer is 1 second off.
After a few more times the timer is so off that it will throw you off more than help you inject.

The only way to overcome this is to include 'Ctrl Z' which resets the timer somewhere in the rotation.

It would only throw the timer off if you are missing your main hatchery inject by a second, which shouldn't be happening? ;o

If it takes me 5 seconds to inject all my hatcheries, fine.. as long as i'm not missing the first hatch it doesn't screw up the timer.

[Fourby]

I think Pinder has a good point.. Although it may be good for creating a habit etc etc, using it on ladder wouldn't be that fair, if it was to be used it should just be in customs.

Also what massacrism said.. It could create a reliance on the program rather than a habit if timing.

[Meatex]

If a pause was added in between loops to allow for time to inject it would be better
And I can tell you 100% that it will be a great tool for cheating if you have bad injects very early game
But if something is beeping telling you to inject and you know if you don't do it everything will get messed up but you are busy defending and counter attacking this kind of tool would do more harm than good in a real game. Its great for practice and once you are at the point where the tool isn't going to distract you from important tournament games or even ladder games - then you no longer need to use the tool

[TADivinity]

I havent read everything because im cbf, but this tool is OKAY in my opinion.

I used the same on my laptop with an interval timer when I was in lower levels.
The BEST thing I got out of it was realising how often you really have to be injecting!! That realisation is fantastic for newer players, and it definately got me to a decentish point with my injects today.

By the way, its 31 seconds. Trust me. 31 - given you wait a second or two for that first inject when youre queen pops - so that you can instantly inject each time.

Also, IMO it helps to have this on another computer to use one click on a laptop-clicker (i.e. doesnt move) to stop the clock, and hit the spacebar to restart. Quick and easy, no alt tabbing.

EDIT: Im going to add in that it IS possible for you to get into a habit of opening it etc before you play. Personally I stopped because one day I wanted to see how much I had picked up after having it ring in my ear for a week of consistent gaming or so.

If you find it is helpful and decide to use it, understand that it will do way more harm than good if you become addicted to using it, and quite frankly once you make a higher level (even SEA masters) it will actually just slow you down having to either take your hand off the keyboard or mouse to stop/start it - or having to alt/tab.

Quick Comments

Maynarde:

Excellent post, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head

[DeekZ]

This is cool, gonna give it a shot next time I'm playing zerg. Can you change the keybind to start/reset it? Shift-Z is what I use to quick mute skype which I practically am always using when I'm on Starcraft.

[Highlander]

I want a 31s egg timer.

[Dox]

I'm surprised there's so much discussion on this. For newer or lower ranked Zerg players, this can be a handy tool to help you develop a habit. But as you develop, this becomes more of a hindrance than anything, for two reasons:

1) Past the 8 minute mark, you're often forced to delay your inject by a few seconds because something more important is happening. So it will fall so far out of sync

2) I'd say most Masters+ Zergs have already played enough games to have the inject timing drilled into their subconscious. More often than not, you'll see the player select their queen at around ~23 energy and start hammering the V key, just in time to inject as the larvae come flying out of the Hatchery.

Most people have their own mechanical queues in place anyway, whether it be via a logic train or otherwise. I think the general flow for most Zerg players every 25 seconds is: scout opponent -> make units -> inject -> spread creep -> rinse, repeat.

Quick Comments

TADivinity:

you forgot make OLs. But all true

[Bugalugs McScruffin]

Inject then make units. >.<

[Dox]

Actually that reminds me - at WCG 2001, there was a Brood War player who was banned from listening to his Walkman because he listened to a single song on repeat which he relied upon for audio cues.

I can't remember who it was, all I remember is that he was from clan DAG.

[Hybrid]

wow i think i may give this a go, This will be a usefull training program to get me synched with injects!

[Maynarde]

Just an update; they've made a Terran and Protoss version of the timer It essentially does the same thing just has a different artwork and a different default time.

[SLCN.Kez]

I actually have a program like this except it has a seperate timer for creep spreading as well. It gets kinda annoying n stuff tho so i turned it off and my injects are like clockwork hehe .

That being said, I dont think you can have shades of grey, you should either have it allowed in tournaments or not allowed full stop, not have it "aimed at lesser players" and then say "oh but pros in t ourneys" cant use it because its like a cheat then say "It's a stopwatch. It's not synced to the game or reliant on anything from SC2. You could use it to time when you need to check on something in the oven. SC2gears comes WAY closer to breaching the terms and conds but is considered to be fine and used by many".

I think you need to pick 1 or the other but not a lil of both. That being said, you could easy get away with it just on ladder and it would be a good practice tool

[sRFullstop]

Nice program. It will help players for sure. I prefer to just keep practicing rather than relying on a timer though.

[mrGRAPE]

It's kind of a useful tool in practice just to get the rhythm of doing larva injects once in a while, but once you miss a couple of injects it gets a little confusing to hear the beep and then go back to see that it's still birthing larva.

What you want to be cultivating is not plain relying on the program to tell you when to larvae inject. You want to be able to do it yourself by constantly checking either 1) your hatcheries 2) your queen and then allowing the program to remind you let's say like in the middle of a battle / drop / when you're busy then you can go "oh snap! gotta larva inject".

If you have your hatcheries grouped up all in one hot key like I do, you can just use the base cam to check the progress and then go back to what ever you were doing. Only takes a split second =)