Guide to Basic Gas Economics

SC2Legacy has posted a great article on Basic Gas Economics:

Now that the community has gotten to sink its teeth into the full-fledged version of Wings of Liberty, many players are experiencing the joys and heartaches of playing StarCraft II multiplayer in a competitive setting.  Players are continually looking for a way to better improve their game play and obtain the coveted rank-one position in a diamond league.  When you boil it all down, success in StarCraft relies on a player’s strategy and execution. Many players focus on their execution by playing StarCraft II night and day; some racking up more than 1300 games in less than one month.  But improving their basic strategy of the game is equally as important.  A better strategy of the game can be gained by understanding the finer details in the numbers behind StarCraft.

There are a lot of different aspects of the game that can be better understood by understanding the relationship of the numbers and the stats.  With numbers used to describe everything from damage, unit sizes, spell radiuses, weapon and movement speed; many players are simply overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data given to them.  Rather than look into every aspect of the game, this article will simply focus upon gaining a better understand of the economic system and its relationship with build times.

One of the most fundamental systems to consider in StarCraft is the economic system of gas and minerals.  Many players do not take the time to think about this and simply train workers until they feel they have enough while putting three harvesters on gas.  Although this strategy may work for some, a good understanding of the economic system will give players a leg up in inventing new strategies while honing existing strategies.  In order to build all but the most basic of units, the player needs to harvest gas. Unlike minerals, the maximum collection rate of gas per base is capped at six assuming proper mining distances.  Adding additional workers to mine gas will have a zero return on your investment.  By gaining an understanding of the economic system a player can answer this very important but basic question: How much gas do you collect during one game minute from one Extractor/Refinery/Assimilator assuming three workers and correct Hatchery/Command Center/Nexus positioning?

First, what is a “game minute?”  The simple answer is a game minute is 60 game seconds but one second in real life does not necessarily equal one game second.  Because StarCraft can be played at multiple speeds, it is important to note that all time will be discussed using StarCraft’s time system.

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SC:L Editorial Basic Gas Economics

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Basic Gas Economics

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