StarCraft College Course

[The Pezman]

http://www.tumeroks.com/starcraft-course-opened-for-college-earn-credits/

[Zephyr]

Weird classes have been around for a long time. I have no clue where a credit like this would be useful.

[The Pezman]

Well, it's at friggin UC Berkley, so I imagine more places than you might initially think.

[Thylacine]

I could see that having business (cooperation of units), computer programming (RTS, specifically), anthropology and other human studies (net culture) applied to it.

I would think that, if the wrong teacher taught it, it could ruin the game for some people.

[The Coop]

Weird classes have been around for a long time. I have no clue where a credit like this would be useful.

Useful? Likely not. But who could resist having a degree that says "The trustees of UC - Berkeley, by virtue of the authority invested in it hereby confer upon **insert name** the degree of Associate of Zerg Rush with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto", with all its underlined areas being done with "^_____________________^"... and getting to join the Honor Society of ΚΣΚΣΚΣ?

[Skrypnyk]

I would love it if in the class, you never ever ever got to play the game.

Just a big 'fuck you' to people who thought it would be an easy/fun/cheap class to get a credit in.

[Dhsu]

The StarCraft Campaign Editor actually has a fairly deep scripting language. I was terrible at terrain but man did I have fun with the "programming."

[SoulinEther]

I am suddenly very jealous of my Berkeley friends.

[zircon]

The StarCraft Campaign Editor actually has a fairly deep scripting language. I was terrible at terrain but man did I have fun with the "programming."

"Deep" is pushing it... it's not even as complicated as basic Javascript. It's all plain English, no real coding needed.

[Dhsu]

That's why I said programming as opposed to coding, and deep as opposed to complicated. The goal of programming languages and IDEs in my mind should be to free the programmer from syntax and formatting, to allow him to just build...and in this regard plain English would actually be the *ideal* programming language (or at least a modified version where the grammar and vocabulary are non-ambiguous).

And that's where the Campaign Editor succeeds IMO. It's high-level enough so anyone can get into it, but still powerful enough to do what you want it to. It has many of the features you'd expect in a "real" programming language like conditional loops, functions with parameters, and even objects with attributes. Hopefully modern IDEs will eventually get to the point (if they haven't already) where they can auto-complete keywords and code blocks to such an extent that it'll be just like making StarCraft triggers...point and click.

[friendlyHunter]

And that's where the Campaign Editor succeeds IMO. It's high-level enough so anyone can get into it, but still powerful enough to do what you want it to. It has many of the features you'd expect in a "real" programming language like conditional loops, functions with parameters, and even objects with attributes.

Not to start an argument, but... Do we have the same Campaign Editor?? It's reasonable to call Warcraft 3's scripting interface "deep", but SC's was, er, a hassle to use, and not powerful at all.
but still powerful enough to do what you want it to.
Haha, perhaps we just differed in what we wanted it to do =p
You'd think someone with programming experience would have an easier time fliddling with the Campaign Editor's limited language, BUT NO!!


Hopefully modern IDEs will eventually get to the point (if they haven't already) where they can auto-complete keywords and code blocks to such an extent that it'll be just like making StarCraft triggers...point and click.
Hmm, I can say some IDEs are getting close to this (which is a good thing IMO), but frankly the phrase "it'll be just like making StarCraft triggers" makes me laugh... I have no idea how many hours I've spent reordering actions to get things to work properly, and wrestling with those darned scrollbars!! I eagerly await whatever editor StarCraft II has to offer.

In closing: I'm afraid SC map editor scripting has no real application other than making SC maps =]

[Dhsu]

Not to start an argument, but... Do we have the same Campaign Editor?? It's reasonable to call Warcraft 3's scripting interface "deep", but SC's was, er, a hassle to use, and not powerful at all.

Haha, perhaps we just differed in what we wanted it to do =p
You'd think someone with programming experience would have an easier time fliddling with the Campaign Editor's limited language, BUT NO!!
I honestly haven't seen anything that couldn't be done (within reason of course). You should see some of the stuff the UMS community has come up with, it's pretty impressive.

Hmm, I can say some IDEs are getting close to this (which is a good thing IMO), but frankly the phrase "it'll be just like making StarCraft triggers" makes me laugh... I have no idea how many hours I've spent reordering actions to get things to work properly, and wrestling with those darned scrollbars!! I eagerly await whatever editor StarCraft II has to offer.
You might have run into a shortcoming of the language (or perhaps your own programming), but the interface was always really intuitive to me. And besides, you're going to spend hours debugging no matter what language you use. :P

In closing: I'm afraid SC map editor scripting has no real application other than making SC maps =]
Well what else would it do, vector calculus? :<

Actually if they added mathematical operators that might actually be possible...

[Skummel Maske]

The goal of programming languages and IDEs in my mind should be to free the programmer from syntax and formatting, to allow him to just build...and in this regard plain English would actually be the *ideal* programming language (or at least a modified version where the grammar and vocabulary are non-ambiguous).

Not to derail the thread, but we had an interesting discussion about this subject during a lecture today. While some thought it would make things alot easier, it would also introduce a lot of new problems, and lack the structure required to debug properly. It would go from strict&structured to.. guesswork?

Back to topic. I wonder what an employer would say to an application showing a degree in Starcraft.

[Moseph]

Back to topic. I wonder what an employer would say to an application showing a degree in Starcraft.
They'd say, "Sweet! If we get zerged, this guy'll know what to do!"

[Bleck]

I have no clue where a credit like this would be useful.

you can apply this to pretty much any credit that isn't a hard science or business credit

[Rambo]

Confirmed: I'm moving to Berkeley.

[Arek the Absolute]

I don't know whether to find this interesting or embarresing...

[The Author]

Registration for this class is gonna be zerged...

[Harmony]

Calculus and Differential Equations are highly recommended for full understanding of the course Are they trying to make the class sound harder than it possibly could be? All signs point to yes.

[Zombie]

I would take this class every semester.

[Maco70]

There was a civ3 course in my high school.

That is all.

[DarkeSword]

Actually I think a lot of people are going to sign up for this class expecting one thing and end up struggling or failing because it turns out to be something very different.

[Sinewav]

I wonder why my old christian college didn't have a Bible Adventures class.

[Kiri]

Classes like this are called DeCals, and are student run classes with a faculty sponsor. I'm enrolled in a more serious one this semester about invasive species management, but they range from learning another language to teaching inmates at San Quentin prison.

If you'd like to see what classes are being offered this semester just check out the list: http://decal.org/courses/index.php

There's always some strange ones like this every semester, but its one of the things that makes Berkeley a fun school to go to. =)

[relyanCe]

I wonder why my old christian college didn't have a Bible Adventures class.

How 'bout a "warfare in the Bible" class? I'm sick of OT messages...

[bonzai!]

Confirmed: I'm moving to Berkeley.

YES.


Andddd I am definitely dropping in on this class sometime soon. I've heard it's going to be PACKED.

[friendlyHunter]

Andddd I am definitely dropping in on this class sometime soon. I've heard it's going to be PACKED.

[insert Zerg joke here]

[SoulinEther]

Actually I think a lot of people are going to sign up for this class expecting one thing and end up struggling or failing because it turns out to be something very different.

precisely what I was thinking... but was too lazy to post.

[Bahamut]

Actually I think a lot of people are going to sign up for this class expecting one thing and end up struggling or failing because it turns out to be something very different.

I don't know...it is being offered by Berkeley, so it's not like classes there are exactly easy anyway.

[po!]

YES.


Andddd I am definitely dropping in on this class sometime soon. I've heard it's going to be PACKED.

yea i was thinking maybe i should drop by the class just to see what a ZOO it is

hmm.. i guess i missed the first class which was last night