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Is it possible to determine where a SCV will move next while building or on which side of the building it will finish?

Here is my scenario:

Enemy is going 6pool and his lings will arrive before my 2nd Supply goes up. Can I somehow control the SCV so he does not get attacked while building or finish outside of my wall?

6
  • 1
    pretty sure the answer is no
    – l I
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 15:21
  • you should be able to get a marine out as his lings get to your wall
    – Paralytic
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 15:26
  • Follow up question, is it at least deterministic? :P
    – Nick T
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 15:27
  • @NickT good luck testing it, see if its deterministic depending on the exact pixel location you click on :P
    – l I
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 15:30
  • 1
    Well not exactly @yx. I'm pretty sure I've always seen the SCV travel in a X shape when building. Top Right, bottom left, top left, bottom right, top right, repeat. Time to go check. Now granted you can change where they start if a building is mid construction, but once it falls into the building rhythm they continue that way.
    – Sorean
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 15:38

2 Answers 2

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No, you won't be able to control the path specifically.

However, there is some micro that you can use to get a small benefit out of it. You could select the SCV and stop construction (make sure you're not cancelling the building) before the SCV travels to the outside part of the building and then restart construction inside the wall, you'd have to do that a lot to ensure that your SCV stays inside the base.

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  • 1
    This is going to add a ton of time to your construction though.
    – Resorath
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 18:48
  • Yeah it would, not denying that, but the question was concerned about keeping the SCV alive which this does accomplish.
    – Sorean
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 18:58
  • 2
    Actually, when an SCV constructs a building he always begins by traveling through the building to the other side. So for example when an scv is attacked from the outside of the wall, you stop & restart construction to bring him inside. Past this initial move, I don't believe the scv movement is predictable.
    – tenfour
    Commented Apr 19, 2012 at 23:58
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No, unfortunately this is not controllable.

In earlier versions the problem was even worse (for players playing against Terran), because SCVs sometimes used to go completely inside a building, making them unclickable. Since catching an SCV at the right time (it being on the edges of the building) was sometimes completely up to luck, a lot of players complained about it (in particular in reference to SCVs building bunkers, where it was sometimes completely up to random numbers if you could defend against a Terran contain as Zerg or not), and it was subsequently patched in Patch 1.2.0

  • SCV construction movement has been made more consistent.

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