The Command Line
Many people think Starcraft takes no command line parameters, but, like Warcraft II: BNE, it can take quite a few.
Setting up command line parameters in a shortcut:
1. Right click Starcraft.exe.
2. Click on "Create Shortcut".
3. Right click on the new shortcut.
4. Click on "Properties".
5. Append any command line parameters to the "Target" field. Example: "C:\Program Files\Starcraft\StarCraft.exe" ddemulate
Here is a list of command line parameters:
Code
ddemulate -- Emulates directdraw instead (Fixes vista problem).
nosound -- Disables game sound.
nosound -- Disables game sound.
In addition to these two commands, you can use any cheat code in the command line as well.
Example: "C:\Program Files\Starcraft\StarCraft.exe" ophelia xzerg01
This will skip the menu completely and start with the first Zerg Expansion campaign. It may be possible to mod the campaign maps for testing purposes (Broodwar AI for example).
I have not tested other codes.
*Special note: There is no "-" used in the commandline. It is just "ddemulate", not "-ddemulate". That goes for all other command line parameters as well.
General Game Rules
Some people don't know the basics of hosting a game on Starcraft. Allow me to inform you of some unwritten rules and tricks to hosting a public game.
Recreating the game:
If you're the host of a game and told players that you would remake it, those players expect the game to be remade before they click the join button. If you've finished a game, try to gain a head start by exiting early. Hold Enter to skip the score screen, and quickly use the shortcut keys ALT+C and then press Enter. Unless players have not yet left your game, you would have recreated it quickly without any problems. Otherwise, wait a few seconds for the remaining players to quit. If you're impatient or players are still in the game, it's common practice that you add an exclamation mark (!) to the end of the game name.
Updating the game:
Updating the game brings it to the top of the Join Games list. A common practice is to close all the slots, and then re-open them. Unfourtinately, closing one slot and re-opening it does not update your game. You must close ALL the slots first, so that your game is registered as "full", and then re-open the slots so that your game gets re-registered as "available". This is commonly known as "refreshing slots", but the term is misleading.
Saving a game:
When a host saves a public game, and all the players will continue from that save, it's best to stick to common practice and simplicity. When making the save, keep the same game name, and set the password to "1". "1" is probably the most common password in any online game.
So remake fast, close/open ALL slots, and password is always "1". Now, I'll explain some other unwritten rules and one important fact.
In-Game Latency:
Low latency means the response time between orders and the units obeying them is decreased. This increases the frequency of packets being sent to other players in the game, and improves game performance.
High latency means the response time between orders and the units obeying them is increased. People who micro units don't want this. This decreases the frequency of packets being sent to other players, and improves network performance, but slows down game performance (Battle orders, player reactions, etc). If you are only observing a game, do not touch the latency.
Observing a Game:
There are several rules for observers of a game. First of all, make sure you are Terran if you are in a melee position. Ally and unvision all other observers, and unally and unvision the players of the game. Next, turn on Allied Chat. If you own a Command Center, lift it and move it out of the way. Move any other units out of the way as well. Do not pause or unpause the game, do not change the latency, and make sure you are not slowing down the game.
Latency Trick:
There are common cases of people who can't join a friend's game, and receive the message "The game creator's latency is too high.". There is a very distinct workaround though. First, the person that has the problem with latency creates a game of his own, and has the original host join his. Even if the original host can't join your game, this will reduce the chance of getting the message for this session.
Example:
Person A tries to join Host B's game, receives latency message.
Person A creates a game and Host B attempts to join his game, receives latency message.
Host B re-creates the game and person A can now join it without problems.
Note: This trick works with most people, but possibly not everyone.
Hidden Commands
There are hidden "/replay" commands to show leaderboard statistics. These commands only work in replays. Here is a list:
Code
/replay show kills -- Shows the number of kills.
/replay show razings -- Shows the number of razings.
/replay show slaughter -- Shows the slaughter leaderboard.
/replay show resources -- Shows the resources.
/replay show minerals -- Shows the minerals.
/replay show gas -- Shows the gas.
/replay show score -- Shows the total score.
/replay show score units -- Shows the units score.
/replay show score buildings -- Shows the buildings score.
/replay show score kills -- Shows the kills score.
/replay show score razings -- Shows the razings score.
/replay show score user -- Shows the custom score.
/replay hide -- Hides the leaderboard.
/replay show razings -- Shows the number of razings.
/replay show slaughter -- Shows the slaughter leaderboard.
/replay show resources -- Shows the resources.
/replay show minerals -- Shows the minerals.
/replay show gas -- Shows the gas.
/replay show score -- Shows the total score.
/replay show score units -- Shows the units score.
/replay show score buildings -- Shows the buildings score.
/replay show score kills -- Shows the kills score.
/replay show score razings -- Shows the razings score.
/replay show score user -- Shows the custom score.
/replay hide -- Hides the leaderboard.
You can view my raw document here: http://code.google.com/p/vgce/source/browse/trunk/docs/Blizzard/Starcraft/sccmds.txt
EDIT: Added latency trick and a note about the command line parameters.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 21 2009, 5:34 am by Heinermann. Reason: update