New Zerg Deficiency in Starcraft 2?

This thread is for long time Zerg players only.

I believe this is a case where the old system worked better than the new system.

In the original Starcraft, when playing Zerg you can control click one larva to select all larva on screen. If that selected 9 larva and you had sufficient resources, you could then press the 'M' key 1 time to create 9 mutalisks. This feature is now gone in Starcraft 2. You will have to press 'M' 9 times to create 9 mutalisks.

I remind you Zerg are traditionally a unit massing race. During some matches of the original game I would produce double or triple the units numbers of my opponent.

According to urban dictionary: Zerg - [v] To assure ones victory using overwhelming numbers

In Starcraft 2, I can see this feature having been removed as something truly irksome, as I end up pressing 'Z' for zerglings over and over again every single game, and wearing out my 'Z' key (and pinky finger) in short order.

Are there any other long time Zerg players on this board that would care to share their thoughts about this?

Thanks for reading

I find it much more intuitive. I had a bit of trouble with it yesterday. Particularly when mutating zerglings and overlords, but when I get used to it, I think I'll be much more fond of it.

But especially when you have 7 larvae on a Hatchery, it's just so much easier to pick and choose what gets spawned, one by one.

(Also, you press "T" 7 times in StarCraft 2, not "M". :P)

Thanks for the reply Aldrius.

I don't have a beta key and probably won't be able to play the game until release date. Until this I'll puts some trust into the opinions of StarCraft regulars who are in the beta.

Again?

It's nearly the same, look:

Make 9 Hydralisk in BW: (Hatch Hotkey + s + h) x 3 = 9 actions
Make 9 Hydralisk in SC2: All Hatcheries Hotkey + s + h x 9 = 11 actions

The difference is going to be 2 actions always. It's probably even faster to repeatedly press the same key, than to cycle tru all the Hatcheries.

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Originally Posted by Norfindel

Again? It's nearly the same, look:

Make 9 Hydralisk in BW: (Hatch Hotkey + s + h) x 3 = 9 actions
Make 9 Hydralisk in SC2: All Hatcheries Hotkey + s + h x 9 = 11 actions

The difference is going to be 2 actions always. It's probably even faster to repeatedly press the same key, than to cycle tru all the Hatcheries.

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Maybe you didn't read the part where I control + click one larva to select all larva on screen, then press "Z" one time. I build my unit pumping hatcheries together to fit in one screen and can produce 24 lings with 2 clicks.

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Originally Posted by Norfindel

Again?

It's nearly the same, look:

Make 9 Hydralisk in BW: (Hatch Hotkey + s + h) x 3 = 9 actions
Make 9 Hydralisk in SC2: All Hatcheries Hotkey + s + h x 9 = 11 actions

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Or we could just CTRL-Click on a larvae, select all that we can see, and press H.

2 actions.

KillaKhan, thanks for the backup man.

Over on sc2armory I made a similar post and someone replied:

"I think you can press just once by clicking SHIFT+Z or something like that.
Cuz i've seen a livestream where the guy created 6 roaches at the exact same time, so there must be a way to do it."

I replied that it that would be awesome if that was true! Can someone with a beta account try this out? I'd be very appreciative! TIA

I'll try it out right now.

EDIT: Doesn't work. Yet.

Maybe the guy is just REALLY fast.

or he's written a script to do it.

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Or we could just CTRL-Click on a larvae, select all that we can see, and press H.

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"all that we can see", unless you've got more than one hatchery in your main, is usually 3. At most.

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Originally Posted by Nicol Bolas

"all that we can see", unless you've got more than one hatchery in your main, is usually 3. At most.

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Read my earlier reply where I denote creating multiple unit pumping hatcheries in the same area for this very reason. Four hatcheries together = 12 selectable larva in one control click.

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Read my earlier reply where I denote creating multiple unit pumping hatcheries in the same area for this very reason. Four hatcheries together = 12 selectable larva in one control click.

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I've done this before in my callow youth, but I've never seen anyone with actual skill put more than 2 hatcheries on the same screen. Actual players put Hatcheries where they belong: at expansions.

Plus, isn't there an advantage to now instead be able to highlight multiple larvae and quickly create a mixed group?

Even if you really wanted all zerglings, there must be some Alt-ctrl combo or some such allowing you to do so. (?)

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Plus, isn't there an advantage to now instead be able to highlight multiple larvae and quickly create a mixed group?

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That's really where I am with it. It is much easier to build some Zerglings, some Drones, some Roaches in a precise and known combination to maximize the composition of your army/economy.

Spawn Larva allows you to effectively Drone while still massing units. To do that, you need to be able to specifically say how many of what you want from the selected units.

It will take you several hours to get used to the difference. Even after having played for 6+ hours, I'll still occasionally just hit "Z", expecting 6 Zerglings to pop out.

Hm, I didn't try alt-press... but I don't think that'd work. It's usually not alt.

It's better this way since I can control group all my hatches and just S,ZZZ,O and not have to single select a larva should a single ovie need spawning, for example.