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Someone Casted My Game?

Remember that one game I had with RevFaYDe? Well, someone on YouTube casted that game! :D Check it out!

YouTube or TwitchTV?

Okay, so I'm choosing between my YouTube or TwitchTV to show my ladder games here. Right now, I uploaded a 22-minutes long ZvP game on YouTube, and it takes about an hour to do it. In addition, I had to use Windows Movie Maker to change the video file to .wmv format so that the file size is about 200 MB before uploading it to YouTube; this took about 20 minutes or so. This is taking way too long. So from now on, I'm going to use TwitchTV videos to show my ladder games since they come out a lot faster.

Here's the game that I was talking about earlier:



I won't spoil you too much here. But let's say it's one of those long ZvP macro game where you see a lot of stalkers, colossi, roaches, hydralisks, some infestors, corruptors, broodlords, spine crawlers, and mothership. :)

I finally bought Dxtory!

Hurray! I finally got myself a full version of Dxtory! :D I really love this software after testing its trial version for hours since a few days ago; I can use it for both recording videos and for streaming. It's so more useful than Fraps. I guess getting Dxtory for myself is like my Christmas / New Year present for me. :) I plan to stream and record my ladder games more and upload them to YouTube in the coming days! :D

Here's some eye candy for you:

Last Streaming Test for the Night

Well, I'm done for tonight tweaking settings on XSplit and Dxtory. Here's my final result, probably the best quality so far:


Watch live video from hellzergsc2 on Justin.tv

Good night.

Comparing XSplit Scenes with and without Dxtory Video Output

I tested streaming SC2 using XSplit scenes with and without Dxtory Video Output, and I have to say that the difference in quality is very minimal, but it is noticeable in full-screen; I think I can see some blurred pixels in normal XSplit scene. Here's my TwitchTV video comparing the two scenes:


Watch live video from hellzergsc2 on Justin.tv

Basically what I did was I periodically switched XSplit scenes while I was playing SC2 by myself. And I think the main difference between the two scenes is the color saturation. I think the normal XSplit scene has more yellow-green color saturation; I'm not really sure. And for both of these scenes, I haven't noticed much difference in lag while I was playing SC2. It's odd but interesting. But there's lag in the streaming video output though.

Testing Dxtory Trial Version with XSplit

So, I'm spending most of my time nowadays trying to find the best stream quality using Dxtory Trial Version and XSplit Broadcaster. The best result I've had so far is the following video from my TwitchTV channel:


Watch live video from hellzergsc2 on Justin.tv

Neat, isn't it? :D Basically all I did was to leave my resolution in Dxtory as my desktop resolution (1280x720) with 30 FPS, and change XSplit resolution to something small but 16:9 ratio (640x360). I think I'm gonna keep testing to reduce even less lag! :)

Huge FPS Drop when Using XSplit

I think I'm gonna try FMLE from now on rather than using XSplit when streaming my games because after recent patches from XSplit, my FPS drops in half from like 30~60 FPS to 15~25 FPS in-game. And this happens even before I start broadcasting with XSplit. :( And I think I'm going to buy Dxtory because it has so many more options than Fraps, and you can't stream using Fraps.

Other Screen Capture Programs

I tried a free screen capture program called GRegion 3.1. It captures the 3-D games in the same way as Fraps does, but its quality is not up to par with Fraps or Dxtory. :( Dxtory costs like $47, and Fraps costs like $37. But you can't use Fraps to broadcast or stream SC2 whereas you can with Dxtory. And I read that you can't experience any lag on Dxtory, but you do a little bit on Fraps. It sounds like Dxtory is the better option here, but I still am not sure which one to use. :/ I hate dilemma. x(

What Video Capture Program to Use to Record My Games

I've been using HyperCam 2 to record my ladder games for a while because it's free and easy to use. However, its quality is not that good compared to Fraps! For instance, here's a test video from the Fraps 3.4.7 free version:



It looks SO GOOD, doesn't it? :D I might buy Fraps 3.4.7 full version later, and I won't pirate it because I'm a good guy. :)

ZvZ on Arid Plateau and Testing with YouTube Embed Video

Here's another ZvZ but this time, it's on Arid Plateau. I configured the video compression to make the file as the smallest possible size to upload it to YouTube quickly. It was a close ZvZ though!



And here's SC2Gears mouse print for this game:

Funny ZvZ and Testing TwitchTV Embed Video

I'm just posting a short ZvZ that I did a while ago that I thought I lost, but I didn't. :D Anyways, I'm gonna try to embed my TwitchTV video here. And I'm sorry if the video lags a lot; I gotta somehow improve my streaming quality again. :(


Watch live video from hellzergsc2 on Justin.tv


And here's SC2Gears mouse print for this game:

Some Things I Pay Attention to During Games Nowdays

I quickly wanted to share some things that I have as a mental checklist during a ladder game. Now, these videos below are from a game that I just played by myself as a warm-up without an opponent on Tal'darim Altar LE.

1. I like to do gas Trick after 9/10 Overlord to get the 11th Drone faster.




2. In the early ZvP games, I usually let my first two Zerglings chase a probe, and then scout the edges of cliffs and other places.



3. To keep track of my creep spread, I hotkey a Creep Tumor to #3 and later double tap #3, build a new Creep Tumor, then hotkey that new Creep Tumor to #3 so that I can keep track of its building time and cooldown time and keep spreading creep.



4. In the mid game, it's a good idea to send Overlords to each base and queue them to generate creep.



Hope this helps other Zerg players out there. Thanks for reading! Good night. :)

Quick Thoughts About What I Plan to Do with My Blog

I'm thinking about uploading tons of FPVODs (First-Person Videos) of my 1v1 ladder games daily on my YouTube Channel, embed each of them on my blog, and talk about each game afterwards. Then using SC2Gears, maybe I can also post each corresponding mouse print below each FPVOD as an art of my mouse movements that were generated during each game. Maybe I can also change the colors of mouse prints sometimes to spice up the art. :)

I know that reading about a battle report of a game is fun, but it takes a quite a bit of time for me to watch through the replay and take screenshots, upload them in order to imgur, then upload each image to a blog post with a description of what's happening. Also, I think you will prefer to watch the actual first-person view of me playing 1v1 ladder games to see what I am actually doing in-game which I feel is more exciting to watch. If pictures are worth 1,000 words, then I believe that videos are worth 1,000,000 words. Maybe I could still do battle reports occasionally but not make them so long.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and good night.

Views of 2 Players Starcraft II by MessieursNotFound

I was searching my username "HellZerg" on YouTube, and then I found MessieursNotFound's Views of 2 Players Starcraft II videos. It's pretty cool to be able to watch each player from the first-person point-of-view simultaneously. While I was browsing through these videos, I was included three times! These videos were uploaded about 5~8 months ago, but let's check them out for fun. :)

1. This is a ZvT on The Shattered Temple where my plan was to go Zerglings and Infestors. But unfortunately, I got all-ined by the Terran player before I could even mass up Zerglings and Infestors. I should have built those three Spine Crawlers and Baneling Nest sooner. But oh well, I learned my lesson.



2. This is a ZvP onTal'darim Altar LE where the Protoss player goes for Forge Fast Expansion, and I go for a 2-base no speed upgrade Zerglings and Banelings all-in. By the way, this was the first time ever of me beating a Grandmaster League player! :D



3. By the way, this video doesn't have music. Anyways, This is a ZvP on Backwater Gulch where the protoss player blocks my ramp with three pylons and a Photon Cannon, hides his Stargate at the third expansion's high ground area, then does four Warp Gate and Void Rays push with proxy Pylons all over the place. I took a hidden expansion at the eleven o'clock position, but it didn't work out well since I lacked macro at my main. I should have built a macro Hatchery at my main and build more queens, some Spine and Spore Crawlers, and Hydralisks, but those proxy Pylons really helped my opponent out a lot.



That's all for now. Thank you for reading! :D

Battle Report - ZvP on Xel'Naga Caverns

I'm going to write another battle report of ZvP but on Xel'Naga Caverns. It was pretty close game with back and forth battles. I hope that you enjoy! :D

I start at the top-right position, and my opponent starts at the bottom-left position.





After a while, I scout an early Forge with early +1 upgrade with my Overlord. Is my opponent going +1 Zealots timing rush?



I build Roach Warren to counter as many Zealots as I can.



Then, I spot a mysterious Pylon in construction around the cliff. What? Cannon rush and Zealots?


What a relentless Probe you are! I'm going to chase you and kill you! D:



As predicted, an early +1 Zealot push comes in, and my Roaches defend my natural expansion well.



Then, I rushed with my Roaches towards his natural expansion, and a wild Void Ray appears.



Somehow, I thought making mass Zerglings was a great idea. But, no! It's very, very bad! He even has +1 upgrade on his Zealots. -.-





So, I just kept making Roaches and some extra Queens to defend another push that consisted of Void Rays and Zealots.



After the battle, my opponent leaves my base with his two live Void Rays.



Then, I tried to break the rock at my gold expansion, but I guess I can't take it now since I don't have good anti-air units yet. So, I built the Hydralisk Den.






This battle is going to be a disgusting one. So many Void Rays! My Queens are annihilated! :(





As you can see my Roaches from the previous picture, I go for a counter attack as my natural expansion is getting destroyed.







My opponent's army composition is still Void Rays and Zealots. I make more Hydralisks and Roaches and hold them off while retaking my natural expansion.





Then, I try to be aggressive with my remaining Roaches and Hydralisks, but this didn't go well.





Now, my opponent is thinking about taking his third expansion, but it quickly gets denied. Then, I take my gold expansion.








When I checked out his third expansion again, my Hydralisks get tons of Psionic Storms. STORMUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! D:





Then, I push again with my Roaches and Hydralisks, and while I was retreating, my Hydralisks get Psionic Storms again. Ouch! Look at their heatlh! :(





I must defend my gold expansion, or I will lose!



But I move my Hydralisks to the backside of my Roaches, micro to accompany the Roaches killing Archons, and then fend off the Void Rays. They are hero Hydralisks! :D



I push towards his third expansion again, but this time, my opponent doesn't have much army but a lot of High Templars. Then, his third Nexus gets destroyed, soon.





GG. The game ends here.



Thank you for reading! :D

My StarCraft 2 Graphics and Hotkeys Settings for Larva Injection

I just wanted to share my settings for SC2 Graphics and Hotkeys. So, here's a screenshot of my SC2 Graphics settings:

I like to play SC2 on low graphics, but I want to see all the physics effects such as tank death animation, colossus death animation, banelings exploding marines (yes, it's very satisfying for me to watch marines dying to banelings! :D), etc. Another reason is that I use a laptop computer to play SC2, and here's its system specs:

• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M-430 @ 2.27 GHz
• 8 GB RAM (I upgraded it from 4 GB to 8 GB)
• 64-bit OS using Windows 7
• NVIDIA GeForce 310M Graphics Card

It's not the most amazing laptop for gaming, but on low graphics settings I can play without noticeable lag.

Now let's talk about my Hotkeys settings. Here's my reassigned hotkeys:

• Create Control Group 9 = Control + W
• Create Control Group 10 = Control + `
• Select Control Group 9 = W
• Select Control Group 10 = `
• Add to Control Group 9 = Shift + W
• Add to Control Group 10 = Shift + '
• Base Camera = Backspace, Space

The reason for these reassigned hotkeys is mainly for larva injection. I hotkey all my queens to W (of course, this is a famous hotkey for Protoss players, the warp gates! Why doesn't Zerg have a default hotkey for queens? D:), and the Tilda key for the upgrade bulidings like Evolution Chamber, Spire, etc. Speaking of larva injection, I really like to use GoSuViBE's larva injection method where you rebind your hotkey for cycling through your bases to the Space bar and spam V + Space bar + left mouse click. Similarly, I do the following:

• Select all my queens by pushing W with my ring finger
• Push V using my left thumb
• Push the Shift key with my left pinky
• Push the Space bar with my left thumb again
• Push the left mouse button using my right index finger at the center of the screen

If I have an odd number of queens and hatcheries, then I just skip the hatchery without a queen. Or, I can just double tap each hatchery's hotkey number then do larva injection with the corresponding queen. Also, it's a good idea to check the progress bar of each hatchery's larva injection by spamming hatcheries' hotkeyed numbers and looking at the progress bar at the information panel at the bottom of the screen. To demonstrate what I am talking about, I will use the Spawn Larva Tester map to show a video below where I will select all my queens to hotkey them to W, hotkey each hatchery from 1 to 6, use the larva injection method that I talked about earlier, then check each hatchery's larva injection progress bar. Then, I do another round of larva injections.




And of course, you don't have to check the exact number from each progress bar; I just did it for the demonstration purpose. Hopefully I helped some Zerg players out there to make their larva injection easier! :D

Battle Report - ZvP on The Shattered Temple

I am going to write a battle report on a ZvP on The Shattered Temple, and I will try my best to explain why I do things the way I do and to bring you entertainment. So, let's begin!

I am the red Zerg starting at the six 'oclock position, and my opponent is the blue Protoss starting at the nine o'clock position.

 Next, I usually do a 9 overlord, drone, gas trick, then drone to get the 11th drone just a tiny bit faster.

Then, I do 15 pool and 16 hatch usually when the opponent's worker is not blocking my natural expansion. I get gas at around 20~21/26 and get zergling's speed upgrade.

Notice here that I have sent my second overlord to my close position's ramp to spot any probes that can build a proxy pylon. Also, I scout the edges of other places with my zerglings. I quickly kill the probe with two zerglings to prevent any super early push.

Now that my ling speed upgrade has finished, I make my lings work on my opponent's third's back rock.

Meanwhile, my opponent pushes into my natural expansion with 5 sentries and a zealot to see what I am up to and possibly do some damage.

However, the early push gets quickly denied by my speedlings that were working on my opponent's third's back rock and also a few of my roaches.

After a while, I finish upgrading tunneling claws for my roaches and push into my oppoonent's third to see what units he has, and then I unburrow them to kill off his sentries.

Since my opponent has almost all of his armies at his third, I harass his main with my mutalisks.

Then when he moves all his stalkers to defend his main, I run in with my lings and some roaches to his third to kill more probes.

Now I have 67 drones, and he has 36 probes. I build spine crawlers just in case he decides to mass up his armies and push towards me to kill me. My spine crawlers will help me buy time to tech to Hive.

Since he has many immortals and stalkers, I make hydralisks to fend him off and stop pushing towards me. This will also help me buy time to tech to Hive and get broodlords later.

But oh no! my gold expansion is destroyed by some zealots and dark templars! I rebuild my gold expansion later.

Now my opponent takes his gold expansion.

While he's taking his gold expansion, I already am morphing my broodlords.

My opponent decides to engage me at the center, but since I have roaches, hydralisks, and broodlords, he can't engage me and decides to retreat.

My opponent must defend his gold expansion; otherwise, he can't win this game. He decides to blink his stalkers closer to my broodlords. This will not go well for him.

Next, he loses all his colossi to my roaches and banelings.

But from somewhere far, far away, hero zealots take out my third! O.o

YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THIS GOLD!

I try to mow down his main with my roaches and hydras, but he defends his main well with powerful archons and voidrays and stalkers at the bottom of his main.

My opponent tries to double expand at the twelve o'clock position and at the one o'clock position. He has no other choices.

I am almost maxed again, and I kill his expansion soon with roaches, hydralisks, and four infestors.

Finally, we exchange gg's, and the epic game is over!

Thank you for reading! :)