SC2Mapster

@ noproblems:
I am also hoping we can still be able to use this when the beta is down.

stettcl: FYI the drag drop launch doesn't work with the Mac OSX version of StarCraft. Is there a way of getting around that? I am willing to be at hand for testing if you want to support this OS.

I hope so as well. Unfortunately, none of these issues are up to me. As far as I am aware of, there is nothing I can do to make the map playable on Mac, it's all up to Blizz :) I have published v0.92 (v0.93 coming soon) on B.net EU however so if you have a European client you can play it on line.

I need some more tips on how to keep my probe alive. I realise the probe loses speed as it turns to go to a new location and that is the opportunity for the ling to get a take a swipe at it. So I have tried to reduce the amount of waypoints and tried to keep it all linear as possible. Are there any obvious tricks I am missing?

A basic tip you may have missed is that you should try to make the probe take turns as smoothly as possible. This means instead of ordering it to turn 90 degrees straight away, you should instead give five or six consecutive move commands at increasing angles so that the ling won't be able to catch up. This doesn't have to take much of your time, you can do it within a second or so.

Also, ideally you don't want to use any way points at all, you'll probably get hit each time you use one. If you do have to use some at first, try to focus your attention on the probe immediately afterwards so it has time to replenish its shields.

If you want post or pm me with more specific problems and I will be more than happy to help!

Here's a couple of more general tips for new players to increase their effective APM and Multitasking:

• Try to make each command sharp and precise. When you tell a probe to build a pylon, you don't need to sit and look at it doing so. You want to select it, press b->e->click and immediately go do something else.
  Generally, when we are new to the game we tend to sit and look at our base a whole lot of time while there are not that many things that need to be done, or they can be done from a distance.
  

• (Ab)use hotkeys! Don't ever do something with the mouse when you can do it with a hotkey.

• It is very important that you have a build order that you know by heart. Sitting and thinking of what to build next is something you really can't afford to do... Find a build order, at first don't even worry if it is good or if it "counters" the opponent. Just find a build order (preferably from a replay) and stick to it. You will notice that your play will improve tremendously!

• When in a game, improving should be your first priority! Winning comes second. Way back when I was learning how to play bw, I started following the point above. I got a standard safe macro oriented build order and did it every single game. I didn't care about microing battles just good solid production. At first I lost A LOT but after a while I started winning games just on pure macro! No matter what my opponent was doing, I just had more stuff and a-moved to victory.
  So don't do cheesy or funky builds, these will never help you improve and don't get frustrated if you loose to them. Just worry about improving and winning will come naturally!

So, before you start the map, decide on your build order. Don't make it something funky, you can beat this map with pure tier 1/1,5 units even on hard.
Then start the map and try to always look at the probe, going back just for a second each time to build your buildings. Build your units via hotkeys while microing the probe.
Don't worry about beating the map at first, just make stuff non stop without looking :P Winning will come very soon.

Sorry for the wall o'text, I hope this helps :)

@ dukaluke: Thank you for pointing that out! It's because I wanted it to load the energy setting for the race chosen by the payer, except I forgot that this only applies to preset difficulty settings.
I'll be fixing this in the next version.

@ bb82:

1) Yes, drag it onto the exe or launch it from the editor.
2) When the servers are down for a new patch, yes you can play. When they close the beta at the end of the month, I can only hope :)
3) Yup it's called spamming to keep your fingers warm. It's usually along the lines of: select workers->select main building->set rally->repeat. You can go to teamliquid.net and watch some of the many good players that are streaming their games in first person view!
4) Yea, unfortunately in very easy you can give it quite a lot of waypoints. I would say try not to give it more than one or two though.
5) Yes, there is a big debate about this, many people have asked but i find it rather hard to balance the map with an expo. I'm trying to find a way to make this work. 8) Use pinky on ctrl/shilft and index finger for number. Having a good keyboard hand is extremely important so don't go easy on yourself! Try to do things correctly even if you find it hard and I guarantee it will become second nature after a while.

Also read the post above for some beginner's tips. Keep trying hard and you will improve in no time!