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StarCraft20 years agoRaistlin

Sneak-peak on BWCoach

[s]bwchart[/s]The international man of Brood War tools, France jca, has done it again. After giving us tools like BWChart, APM Live! and Replay with Audio, another program is being launched; it's called BWCoach. I looked up the word coach in the dictionary, and it states:
a) A person who gives instruction, as in singing or acting.
b) A private tutor employed to prepare a student for an examination.

So, what is this BWCoach? According to jca's words, it's your own personal coach for playing Starcraft Broodwar like a pro. So instead of having your friend sitting by your side and telling you what to do; trust the machine! Or rather, trust yourself, because you'll be doing all the dirty work.

BWCoach helps you...
...keep your APM high.

This works just like with APM Live, another program made by jca. It will tell you your APM in the upper left corner, and another thing has been added; by adding a number of your lowest APM acceptable, this program will actually tell you when that threshold has been reached.

...achieve a good build order.

By using these so called 'training files', which are text files containing build orders. In this training file, you can add many build orders; build orders you need for the different matchups. When you first start your game, you tell BWCoach the matchup you are going to play, and then you can switch through the different build orders you have added in the training file.

...think about the things you need to do (scout, make units, etc).

In this multibased program, there is also a timer, which gives the program the ability to show tips and information during one point of time. With this, you can remember to scout on a regular basis, when to expand and other useful tips.


bwcoach-page_about.gif


How does this work, then? As I mentioned before, with training files. I can't exactly speak with experience, since the program is still in its beta stage. But there are lots of information at BWChart.com, and I will try to explain it to you here.

First off the most important thing - adding training files. Here, you have two ways to choose between. The first one is to write it all on your own. An example jca has showed us on his site is a TvZ using metal. I'll show you a bit of the code here;

[MAIN]
TITLE=Metal vs Zerg
AUTHOR=Hurtntime
DESCRIPTION=Metal build with fast wraith for overlord harassment
DATE=05/03/2004


And then after this, you write the actions according to a certain form which jca has explained more thoroughly here.

The second and more easier way is to extract the actions and the build order from a replay. In BWChart 1.02N. So if you think you've played like a god in one game and you really want to play like that again - use this tool.

It works kind of like a mix-music program; there is a timespan located at the bottom and then there's boxes of information up there - as you can see in this picture.


bwcoach-viewbo.gif


After choosing a training file, you start up the game. When you're in the game 'lobby', you press F6 until you reach your wanted build order. A text strip will be shown in the upper left.


bwcoach-lobby.jpg


And then the game is rolling. If you've done it correctly, BWCoach will now give you instructions while playing the game. If you did put an APM threshold, and you go below it, it will scream at you. As you can see in this image, a sound will appear when you're below the threshold.


bwcoach-page_apm.gif


After playing the game, BWCoach will check how well you did following the BWCoach. By enabling this, you needed to press F9 before playing.

So, what will jca give us next? Only time will tell. The exact date on when BWCoach will be released is yet unknown, but expect it soon.

Links
BWChart.net - Introduction to BWCoach
BWChart.net - How to work the BWCoach
TeamLiquid.net - Source
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