View Full Version : When do I stop making workers?
blupp74
10-19-2006, 5:40 AM
Saw a comment on a post in SC.org (yes, I go there sometimes when it's dead here...like now...) by lammas that building workers throughout the entire game is suicide. Which makes a lot of sense, since as your units die, and you keep building workers, you'll eventually end up with 200 pop workers.
On the other hand, I've been told I don't make enough workers.
What I usually do is constantly pump workers from my CC (I'll go the T approach here, since that's my main). When my expo is nearing completion, I move 12 (1 control group) to the expo. From there I keep pumping SCV's from both CC's, until I have built my 3rd expansion. Then my main is usually pretty close to dry, so I just move all (or around 95%) of those workers to the new expo...and by the time I have a 3rd expo (if the game goes that far) my 1st expo is usually close to dry too, so I just move those workers there.
In short, by the time I have a 2nd expo, I don't really build more workers (unless I need some at my main to build a building, and I notice I moved them all away...which rarely happens, cause I usually keep 1-3 SCV's there to collect gas, even if it's depleted).
And if this is an economical disadvantage, when should I stop building workers? Or maybe I'm just expoing too slow, if my 1st expo is dry by the time I have a 3rd expo?
WickedImposter
10-19-2006, 8:19 AM
i tihnk it all depends on your eco. oyu certainly sohudnt pump workers the whole game, but if you think that your a little short on resources, you should make some. once you have like 1k surplus going, your fine
95% of the time, you never really want to stop worker production.
Exceptions to the rule:
1)Map is drying out
2)You are reaching population cap -- but once you lose military units, or drones/scvs/probes, you'll need to make more again, so honestly you are only "stalling" production for a while
People "stall" production in quite a few scenario, but I think to have the mentality to not build any more workers for the rest of the game is very, very few and far between.
lammas
10-19-2006, 8:47 AM
keep making them out of every cc you have for first 15minutes so that you have 70-80 workers eventually (enought for 3-4 expansions)
blupp74
10-19-2006, 9:01 AM
keep making them out of every cc you have for first 15minutes so that you have 70-80 workers eventually (enought for 3-4 expansions)
The thing is, I don't have a timer running while I play, nor do (or can) I count the workers while I play.
This should be in the next BW patch: Next to the pop. info on the top right of the screen, it should say how your worker/fighter ratio is. That would be great.
Guess I'll just go on doing what I do, and try to take it a little bit further...
Lol, if we all had little timers sitting next to our computers as we play starcraft none of us would ever win.
Whenever someone tell you a minute mark to start/stop something by it doesn't mean you have to be on the mark. 15 mins is more felt than actually looked at. Eventually you'll see markers for when you should stop that happen around the 15 minute mark. Take notice of those (play against the comp to get used to finding these things) and when you really play then you can look for those markers and you'll know when to stop.
DragonPraetor
10-19-2006, 9:58 AM
Dude, just keep building them until you get to like... 70... Like Lammy said... If you think you have too much, cause you have like a stack of 40 not mining... It's probably time to expo.
MrBobby
10-19-2006, 12:07 PM
once you have like 1k surplus going, your fine
surely playing ideally you never want to have more than 400 surplus (ie when saving up for a new cc)? otherwise you're wasting minerals.
WickedImposter
10-19-2006, 5:15 PM
umm, of coures, but when you have like 4 expos running hard than your prolly gonna have surplus. Im saying that once you have enough to have a 1k surplus while macroing, your ok.
vIsitor
10-20-2006, 2:10 AM
3-4 per mineral patch, anything more is overkill. In an average base, you have anywhere from 21 to 48 workers. And never put more than three workers on vespene duty; if you have spare workers, transfer them to an expo.
blupp74
10-20-2006, 3:43 AM
3-4 per mineral patch, anything more is overkill. In an average base, you have anywhere from 21 to 48 workers. And never put more than three workers on vespene duty; if you have spare workers, transfer them to an expo.
I've heard that a 4th worker will give 26 extra gas per minute. Which doesn't sound much, but with 2 expos that's 78 extra gas per minute, which could be the difference between an extra tank per minute (more or less)..and I'll already have over 50 workers on minerals all together...so the 3 workers extra on gas (1 per base) shouldn't lose me much minerals.
...or?
I don't know for a fact, but that doesn't sound right to me. I think most people just put 3 on gas. Maybe you should do a test, 3 games with 4 and 3 without with a friend, don't build any units, and quit after 5 minutes and save rep, check out the gas?
ShadeZ
10-20-2006, 1:47 PM
I see the top players just not even caring how many they select and sometimes having 5 on gas :P
I guess they don't have time to correct themselves o-o
lammas
10-20-2006, 3:45 PM
ive heard that a 4th worker will give 26 extra gas per minute
ive heard it too but when i asked what maps and versions he used i got no answer.
anyways if gas is perfectly placed use 3scv if not use 4
blupp74
10-22-2006, 6:12 AM
I don't know for a fact, but that doesn't sound right to me. I think most people just put 3 on gas. Maybe you should do a test, 3 games with 4 and 3 without with a friend, don't build any units, and quit after 5 minutes and save rep, check out the gas?
I just made games against cpu, spending no gas. 1 with 3 workers, 1 with 4. After 5 minutes, there was a whopping 24 gas difference. So I think I'll just stick to 3 on gas...
WickedImposter
10-23-2006, 4:29 PM
ya lol. 4th wont really make a diff, unless the geyser is abnormally far away
PH0BiA
10-24-2006, 7:08 PM
Make workers in relation to how fast you expand...Unless you're on a money map....If that's the case, throw out all stratedgy and masssss.
blupp74
10-26-2006, 5:14 AM
Make workers in relation to how fast you expand...Unless you're on a money map....If that's the case, throw out all stratedgy and masssss.
Except I won't know how fast I'll expand in the beginning of the game, and I can't just hold off worker production because I *might* expand later.
So how am I supposed to know this relation, until the moment I expand?
When I expand, I already want enough workers so I can move 12 or so workers to the expansion. If I can't expand, I'm dead anyway.
WickedImposter
10-26-2006, 7:10 PM
just keep pumping, youll know when you should stop. if you havent expoed yet, just keep pumping and once you expo you just send more than normal. i think that in a game you sohuld have maybe 50 workers by mid game. i think.
Gladstone
10-27-2006, 11:23 AM
i usually stop making workers after my 2nd expo/natural is in process.
I just keep pumping untill I forget to pump because I'm macroing/microing to the point I don't remember. Works pretty well usually.
EDIT: hey check it out! the tc now has 10,000 posts in it!
WickedImposter
10-27-2006, 9:14 PM
ya. just keep pumping until you forget to do it, as in when your microing. well, thats different in the case of lammy and ahzz :D
Hey, if ahzzy can forget to research crackling and lammy can forget to build a supply depot then it's definetly possible. :P
WickedImposter
10-27-2006, 9:24 PM
lol. that is so unlikely though. i mean, come on, its lammy and ahzz.
gregleo2
11-25-2006, 11:56 AM
I usually have twelve SCV's per minerals, and six per vespene geyser. I expand as necessary, and have two or three making buldings and defenses. I also have a repairman to repair damaged buildings as I tend to go overobard with spider mines against zerg rushes.
I use more SCV's than neccessary to many people, but I think that it depends on your preference.
Siege_Commander
11-25-2006, 3:10 PM
? 12 scvs per patch, or 12 for all patchs? cuz the first is way overboard and the last is way too little.
gregleo2
11-26-2006, 11:49 AM
I would never put 12 SCV's on one patch of minerals, unless that patch had, like, 15 resource nodes. I forgot to mention that I use this scale in terms of TWO resource nodes. Totally forgot to put that in there.
MidnightGladius
11-26-2006, 12:08 PM
Z should have 1 per mineral unit and 3 per gas at each expo, unless they're going 1base or late expo or something, in which case they should act more like P or T with 2-3 per mineral unit.
z should really have more than 1 per mineral. it's around one per mineral and about 4 or so more
Superiorwolf
11-27-2006, 7:20 PM
I play Z and in my main I usually have 2-4 per mineral expos usually less because I forget to build drones :(
Siege_Commander
11-27-2006, 7:55 PM
Its curcial not to forget to build workers. In fact, im still working on it, along with multi-tasking
bloodbane
11-29-2006, 11:57 AM
once u have 3-4 keeping pumping workers regularly like 5 per minute all together and maybe get another expo up or have these workersready to replace
but dont do this if your main runs dry or your workers go over 65-75 depends on things but then thats supply need for miltary
and if your main is nearly dry keep making workers but like 1 from cc everynow and then to have to replace dead
vBulletin® v3.7.2, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.