UC Berkeley Offering a StarCraft Class

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hellwig

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It sounds like this is a community-college like course, not applicable towards graduation. I mean, at my college, I took a semester of Golf (thats right, the thing with the clubs and the little white ball). That didn't mean it applied towards my necessary credits, it was just something to do for fun. There were lots of student-run courses, rock-climbing, martial arts, etc.., and they were all just for fun.

Now, if this Starcraft course could be applied to say, a Computer Science degree, then that would be ridiculous. But they would probably also lose their accreditation.
 
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Why the heck did they not offer that last year?! Damnit! And decals are often taught by students. There was even one decal that taught beer pong. Thats right, a professor teaching the "physics" of beer pong. God that school was so nerdy.
 
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i used to work for DECAL. This class has no bearing towards a degree, except for the fact that you can get units (either 1 or 2) for graduation purposes or minimum semester requirements
 

Tindytim

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[citation][nom]hellwig[/nom]It sounds like this is a community-college like course, not applicable towards graduation. I mean, at my college, I took a semester of Golf (thats right, the thing with the clubs and the little white ball). That didn't mean it applied towards my necessary credits, it was just something to do for fun. There were lots of student-run courses, rock-climbing, martial arts, etc.., and they were all just for fun.Now, if this Starcraft course could be applied to say, a Computer Science degree, then that would be ridiculous. But they would probably also lose their accreditation.[/citation]

Did you miss the part where the article said it was recommended the students know calculus and differential equations. That relatively advanced mathematics, not to mention differential equations in specifically intended for applications dealing with populations (it's some really complex sh*t). So this has little in common with your Golf class, they'd probably have to do quite a bit of homework.
 

dconnors

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Devin here...

I don't think the student(s) starting this class have the intention of it being a major requirement. When you're in college, taking electives is one of the pros, so being able to take an elective that focuses on the of the greatest computer games of all time sounds like a lot of fun. Heck, it will probably help kids make it through a boring semester, too.
 

afrobacon

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Differential Equations are simple, take basic calculus and add a dimension or two.

I wish this class was offered on the east coast...
 

Tindytim

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[citation][nom]afrobacon[/nom]Differential Equations are simple, take basic calculus and add a dimension or two.I wish this class was offered on the east coast...[/citation]

Diffy Q is a little more difficult then calculating Par in Golf class.
 

igot1forya

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War Lessons 101: The Zergling Rush - "Learn how being a deushbag can get you an easy win, EVERY TIME!.

War Lessons 102: Killing The Enemy's Workers - "Resource draining the old way got you down? Well learn how to kill them using Tanks or Revers. How about building cannons behind the minerals! Or just for the hell of it flying a dozen Irridated Science Vessels with Defensive Matrix on them"

War Lessons 103: Creative Ways To Piss Of Allies - "Got an easy win before you? Can't disengage Ally to Victory, but you still want to back-stab? Learn the best methods to royally pissing off your allies (with out cheating!). Like covering their bases with Creep, or covering there base with floating buildings, perhaps you prefer Mind controlling EVERY one of there Overloards as soon as they are made"

God I can't wait for SC2
 

hellwig

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[citation][nom]Tindytim[/nom]Did you miss the part where the article said it was recommended the students know calculus and differential equations. ... [/citation]

Jeese, I guess the fact that I actually TOOK 3 semesters of Calculus, plus Diff Eq (plus linear algebra, probability, discrete mathematics, algorithms, vector analysis, and fields and waves) wouldn't qualify me for this BS (thats bullshit) class.

Where I went to school, the first 2 semesters of Calculus were general course curriculum, so requring calculus for any course offered at my school would have been a little redundant.
 

SirCrono

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[citation][nom]Tindytim[/nom]Diffy Q is a little more difficult then calculating Par in Golf class.[/citation]

And calculating golf ball trajectory is easy I suppose, a lot of diff eqs there I might add.

Anyway, I'd hit that class in a second
 

bf2gameplaya

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Important is the idea behind the class: treat your game arenas as equations to be solved. It is a finite system with limited inputs and known outputs and available maths are at hand for a solution.

There was a great PC game, Battlezone that had you harvest a single resource to create your base which created your units. Due to their only being a single resource to consider, unlike Starcraft's multiple resource system, 'solving' the game was incredibly easy and gave me almost unfair advantage over others!

To help you visualize: you measure the time the harvester has to take to complete a resource sortie (travel time + working time) weighted against the amount of resource received, measured against the resource cost of a structure (or unit) that can increase your ratio of resources received over time taken to receive it. All of this balanced against an ever changing probability of outside influence (enemy) interrupting the process (either taking more time to complete a sortie through evasion or reducing the resources received by killing your peon).

If you actually apply rigorous maths to the above algorithm you reveal a "best practice" style of play that can be somewhat counter-intuitive and incredibly effective. Give it a shot!
 

rooket

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Well there is a major for recreational activities. I forgot what it is called, but it is about as useless of a degree as getting an art degree. But I don't really know that UC Berkeley would offer a degree like that, I'm not sure how the UC system works.

Not really that good of an idea to addict more students to a video game imo, but it varies per individual. I haven't played starcraft since 2000. It was fairly addictive but it is easy for me to get away from a video game. I'm waiting for starcraft II to come out, but I'm probably going to play it for a little bit then stop while my friends continue to play that one for 10-20 years constantly. I haven't found the need to become the best starcraft player or whatever like those guys. It is just a game, and to me games are just for fun for a short while to fill in gaps where you'd otherwise be bored in life. Well starcraft 1 makes me bored anyways. That game is too old.
 
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