(F)requently (A)sked (Q)uestions

If you have a question, mail it to MacMark.

Some common questions and their answers:

Check Blizzard's Warcraft 3 glossary and the UrbanDictionary for additional informations. I used both as a source for some answers on this page.

What does tp mean?

TP means teleporting by using a scroll of town portal. It takes your army to a friendly main building that you select.

Is there a demo version of Warcraft 3?

Yes, you can download the demo. The Warcraft III demo features:

A two-mission tutorial introducing players to one of the central Heroes of Warcraft III
Three all-new missions that chronicle the Orcs' embattled journey to Kalimdor
Head-to-head play through Battle.net, Blizzard's free online gaming service

How can I define my own key bindings?

The standard key binding can be seen when you move your mouse over those icons in the lower right corner.

If you want to customize those keys, then read the information file named "CustomKeyInfo.txt" in your Warcraft folder. It starts with this:

WARCRAFT III KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS AND TOOLTIP CUSTOMIZATION
---------------------------------------------------------

Customization of command keyboard shortcuts can be accomplished by creating a file called "CustomKeys.txt" in the installed folder of Warcraft III. Entries in this file will override the existing default shortcuts. Additionally this file can be used to override default tooltips. The only utility required to create this custom file is a simple text editor such as Notepad. Once a customization file has been created in the installed folder, the gameplay option "Custom Keys" must be set to 'ON' in order for Warcraft III to actually use the data in the custom file.

Beyond that there's an example file for custom hotkeys named "CustomKeysSample.txt" in your Warcraft folder. You can use it as a starting point for your own customization. It contains things like:

…
//raider
[orai]
Hotkey=R
Tip=Train |cffffcc00R|raider
…
…

Example

Here's an example from aZn_sEnSatIoN showing how to use hotkeys. This is how it looks in the original CustomKeyInfo.txt file:

//glaive thrower
[ebal]
Hotkey=T
Tip=Train Glaive |cffffcc00T|rhrower

Example of glaive thrower change hotkey:

//glaive thrower
[ebal]
Hotkey=O
Tip=Train Glaive Thrower(|cffffcc00O|r)

In the game the hotkey would now be O, the train glaive tip would look like "Train Glaive Thrower(r)"

The |cffffcc00O|r is equvilent to: Train Glaive Throwe[r]

The [] is for the highlighted, I'm an orc player also and I have made a custom keys thing with spells like vbnm in order from looked at like v is for windwalk b is for mirror image, etc

MacMark, if You don't got a custom keys text You can send a reply to my e-mail because I got very nice things just for orc and favorite heroes.

What means CC?

CC means "creep and counter". If you play team games your allies want to know what to do. Usually they will go rush the enemy or cc: creep a little and counter the enemy's attacks.

What means micro and macro?

Micromanagement (Micro): To focus time on controlling individual units in battle. When someone "has good micro" they are good at controlling their troops. If you run nearly dead units away from the battle or run in circles with a unit that the enemy attacks, then you're doing micromanagement for example.

Macromanagement (Macro): To focus time on creating new buildings, researching upgrades, expanding, and training units. To focus on Macro typically means to let battles fight themselves or to ignore units in combat while focusing on building, training, and expanding.

Usually Starcraft players are marcomanagers. In Warcraft 3 you will need some micro to be good.

I need help in a single player mission!

You can find hints how to do the single player missions of Warcraft 3 on these pages:

How can I watch replays?

To watch a replay file you've downloaded, put it into your "Replay" folder located in your "Warcraft III Folder" folder. Start "Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne" (or "Reign of Chaos" if it's a vanilla game replay), select "Single Player" and then select "View Replay" and select this file from the list. Game version 1.10, 1.11 and 1.12 should be able to play each others' replays.

How can the CD key be removed?

If you switch to a new computer and sell your old one, you want to make sure your CD key isn't in use on the old sold computer online. So how to remove (without formatting the hard drive)? I asked Blizzard that question and the answer is:

Please use the following steps to uninstall the game:

Mac version

1) How to remove the Warcraft III folder:

Find the Warcraft III folder on your hard drive and open it.
Copy or move the Save folder to the desktop.
Copy or move any maps you have made (in the Maps folder) to the desktop.
Delete the Warcraft III folder.

2) How to remove the preferences files for the game and battle.net:

If you are using Mac OS X, open the ~/Library/Preferences folder using the Finder's Go To Folder option.
If you are using Mac OS 9.2.2 or earlier open the System folder and then open the Preferences folder
Find all the files in the Preferences folder which contain the words "Warcraft III", "BNUpdate", or "Battle.net" and delete those files.

PC version

If you uninstall the game from your computer then the CD-Key will also be removed.

How to use sounds from Warcraft?

In your Warcraft directory is the "Warcraft III World Editor". This editor has in his menu "modules" the "Sound Editor". Open this, navigate in the treeview to your favourite sound and choose "Export Sound" in the file menu (or click the export icon or use the context menu on the sound). You get a WAV file. Import that with e.g. iTunes and save it as a MP3 file. Now you can use it like I do on a web page with a HTML line like this:

Here's a screen shot of the editor.

What means "n00b"?

The words "n00b", "nooblette" and "newbie" have the same meaning: A new player who has no gaming skills yet and few experience.

Being a newbie is nothing bad - everyone started as a newbie. Only players that give newbies a bad feeling for being a newbie are bad guys. Some more experienced players need it for their ego to harass newbies. Who does this is a real low life in my opinion.

What means "smurf"?

Some players are accused on Battle.net to be a "smurf" or to do "smurfing". A smurf is an (usually) experienced gamer posing as a newbie under an alternate name. "I think i'm going to smurf and rape some n00bs."

The term "smurf" is used in online gaming to signify a famous person playing games under a fake name. They say the term was coined by Warcraft legend "Shlonglor." "We lost to those smurfs: They were better than we thought they would be."

Those players (smurfs) are pretty annoying since they're newbie killers and avoiding real competition on their real playing level. Let's say a player has a level of 9 in Warcraft, makes a new name and starts from level 1 again. He will be matched against other level 1 players (usually newbies) by the ladder system and kill them easily. The ladder is trying to give you an equal match and those smurfs ruin the ladder's matching algorithm by starting from scratch.

What means "gosu"?

You see often players using the word "gosu" on Battle.net like "he's a gosu player", "you're gosu" and so on. The word "gosu" came from the Mandarin (Chinese) term "gao shou", which literally means "high hand". A gao shou is someone with a large amount of skill.

On Battle.net this term often refers to players that are very skilled and do nothing else but playing Warcraft the whole day. So in our situation it can mean both: Being awesome and having no life.

Why does my game not connect, why can i not host a game?

I got a DSL-router, enabling several computers to have a local area network and simultanous internet access via DSL. The router has a built-in firewall which caused some trouble for playing Warcraft on the internet: Nobody was able to join a game hosted by me or follow my invitation. After enabling for my computer the "DMZ" (demilitarized zone) of the firewall, Warcraft worked on the internet finally. Basicly "DMZ" means direct connection without firewall to the internet. But that exposes my computer to any attacks from outside of course. So I looked for a better way to play.

The solution is, to enable only those ports on the firewall you need. For Warcraft 3 you need TCP port 6112 to be allowed for every IP address you want to play from on your local area network.

I did a little research on Blizzard's web pages and they provide a lot of informations on their networking page, that is pretty usefull. I especially suggest their sub page about firewalls, proxies and routers. Blizzard gives you instructions about configuring some of the most popular firewalls.

How can i take screenshots?

Usually the F13 key (labeled "print screen" on some keyboards) let's you capture a screen picture of Warcraft 3 that will be put into a folder "Screenshots" inside your "Warcraft III Folder" directory. This works during game play for both Warcraft 3 versions: Mac and PC.

For Mac OS X users there's the usual OSX functionality available too: Simply press the keys Apple-Shift-3 for full screen pictures - works even in the Warcraft movies. Apple-Shift-4 lets you select an area by dragging. Apple-Shift-4 and Space lets you select a window, menu bar, the dock or any other desktop object area. (Mac OS 9 and earlier have similar hot keys.) You find the screenshot pictures then on your desktop. If you want to put the screen shot on the clipbaord, rather than create a file, hold down the Control key when you press the other keys. You can then paste the picture into a document. Use Apple's built in help and search for "screen pictures" to get more informations. You can use OS X's "Grab" utitility program too to get sceenshots. I recommend the shareware "GraphicConverter" to work with pictures like converting and compressing them.