Game mechanics

Direct Strike has very different game mechanics as standard SC2 games. This article explores these mechanics and their implications for the player.

Comparison with standard SC2 games
In standard Direct Strike, all units are the same units found on Ladder games in SC2 with identical attributes.

Some fundamental differences in a Direct Strike game as compared to standard SC2:


 * Income is passive and limited to Minerals only;
 * Units have different costs than that of standard SC2 games;
 * Very limited micro-control available;
 * Supply is represented by the number of grids the unit takes. There's a separate grid available for air and ground units.

When examined closely, these differences imply drastically different decision making process, making DS unique from standard SC2 games.

Units

 * When units spawn, they attack-move towards the enemy base. Commands such as move, stop and hold position are unavailable.
 * The manual use of some skills are available only when there are enemy units nearby.
 * Units expire after 86 seconds and are removed from the map; they do not snowball infinitely forever.

Income
Income is passive in Direct Strike.


 * At the beginning of each game, every player receives 7 minerals per second.
 * Whichever team that crosses the mid-line receives an additional +1 mineral per second.
 * Each Extractor (aka "gas") grants the player an additional +0.5 minerals per second.

Uneven matches
In uneven matches (e.g. 2v3), The players spawning rate will be adjusted to ensure that no spawns are "missed".