protoss is easier
In 2016, I offered my opinion that zerg was the easiest race to code a good bot for. Later I started Steamhammer, and backed up my claim with results: A year after my post, Steamhammer was one of the strongest bots on the ladder, thanks to efficient build orders and adaptive midgame unit mixes, which were unusual at the time. (Today’s Steamhammer is far stronger than then in absolute terms, but does not rank as high because the rest of the community moved faster.)
Of course that doesn’t prove I was right; maybe I did a good job and made it look easy. While Steamhammer was on its rise, I made another post comparing average ratings, which offered some evidence that protoss is easier for most people. Which is the most common opinion.
Today we live in a different world. For a bot to count as “good” it must have more and sharper skills than then, and fewer bugs. And the zerg skills needed to win today are more difficult to code than those of 2016 and 2017. I again have results:
These are Randomhammer win rates on BASIL. Zerg wins over 65%, protoss wins up to 65%, and terran wins... around 40%. There is far more effort, there are far more lines of code behind zerg-specific skills than behind protoss skills, but protoss is nearly as strong. I put roughly similar effort into terran and protoss, but terran is far weaker. Today, a good bot is easier with protoss.
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Tully Elliston on :
Zerg needs concave and flanking.
krasi0 on :
I think that we can all agree that Terran is the most vulnerable target here. Even a blind bunker often doesn't save your ass against a rush. You need to put in a lot more effort just to survive with some resemblance of working economy.
OTOH, Protoss having the bulkier, tougher tier 1 units is definitely the hardest to abuse by the opponent initially. Just train some zealots and dragoons early in the game and it's unlikely to result in a blunder against the average opponent. Especially if you also have a cannon or two at hand. Zerg appears to be somewhere in the middle in that regard although you definitely MUST make some smart choices early in the game economy-wise.
Of course, later in the game the balance often shifts unpredictably. Especially, depending on tech and unit type composition choices. And this is where the really interesting part of the game Starcraft lies.
BTW, the above somewhat applies to human players, too. Not just your average bot.
Dan on :
The biggest issue is that Terran units require a different approach to micro than Protoss and Zerg. "Throw units into sim; attack if sim happy; retreat if sim unhappy" gets you pretty far as both Protoss and Zerg but is suicide as Terran. On the other hand, Terran needs to be careful when it chooses to leave its base, but doesn't require as many moment-to-moment adjustments as Protoss and Zerg. SAIDA and XiaoYi don't use a combat sim at all; krasi0 uses "a very old version of FAP that gets called in certain combat situations." Dragon treats any units covered by siege tank fire as invincible. Iron and Leta both won tournaments without a combat simulator, though Iron added one some time between AIIDE 2016 and COG 2017.
Protoss/Zerg micro mainly revolve around mobility; Terran revolves around organized pushes. Protoss/Zerg revolve around pressure and poking for vulnerabilities; Terran waits for hard timings. It's not about which race is easier but which races are more similar in play style.
Jay Scott on :
That said, and maybe it’s only because I don’t understand terran as much, I’ve struggled with some of the terran skills that Steamhammer does have. I do feel that they’re harder.