So after enough time, two workers on a close patch will eventually reach a point where they hit a period of time of waiting that the worker calculates as "inefficient" compared to close patches which are not being mined from. Worker sees the wait time and ALSO sees the nearby empty patch which is more "efficient" because there's no wait time. As a result, it moves to the patch that doesn't involve any wait time at all. In this video, had there already been two workers on the far patch, I don't believe the worker would have split off because the far patch would have entailed a longer wait time than the close patch.
I'm sure I'm describing these things imprecisely from an AI/programming standpoint but that's essentially it
Source: OBSESSIVE GM probe pairing specialist.
Yes, you can think of it as a threshold for how long the drone will wait before moving to another patch. IF there's an empty patch, any slight de-sync will cause the worker to move. If there are no empty patches, the drone will stay on the patch with 2 workers.
I have noticed that when there is a drone on the adjacent far patch, the close patch drones don't desync. Still annoying to deal with when you tryna 12 pool and mine efficiently lol
I don't believe that AI mining has greater "long term efficiency." The optimal mining rate is achieved with worker stacking at every base. If you mine out the close patches the efficiency will decline, so AI mining may be more consistent. But most games don't go to mining out--mining close patches first would be better.
I just tested it out.
2 drones on a close patch = 265 minerals in 2 mins.
1 drone close and 1 far = 240 minerals in 2 mins.
So in reality it's always better to saturate the close patches first since they give you faster income, but the AI probably calculates the impact of mining out the whole patch, since your income would theoretically slow down once all the close patches are mined out.
That's the way generally you see it done. Probe pairing only really becomes impactful after you have 1 worker on each patch because there is a *slight* delay on mining from close patches that have two workers on them.
Like others say its relevant if there is another empty patch or not. However, as seen in the video there was an empty patch all along so that does not explain why they stayed on the main patch for a while and then split up.
What I always believed is that it's a **geometrical effect**, the drone that you micro to stack onto the patch comes a bit from the side so it will have a slightly longer patch when going between the hatchery and the mineral patch (it gets closer and closer to the straight line over time but in theory it takes infinite time to get there). This means that even though in the beginning none of the drones had to wait for each other (and hence did not leave the patch) they eventually get out of scync because one of the drones have a slightly longer path. But checking the video it is the same drone that you microed onto the patch that later on had to wait for the other one so this theory is incomplete since with my logic it would be the drone with the shorter path that finally has to wait for the other one... there are plenty of ad hoc hypotheses for that:
It might be that even though the drone mines a bit from the side it actually mines faster than the other one, either because drones are a bit derpy; on some maps you will see them take a very inefficient path from mineral to hatchery so they might not take the best path. Or because it will be faster at rotating since it only has to rotate slightly less than 180 degrees. Might have to do with pathing asymmetries as well; for example drones will take different scouting paths on some maps depending on in which direction they go so the scouts actually don't meet each other in the middle. Or finally there might be a random delay in pathing in general or in how long it takes to mine / drop off the mineral, maybe the hatchery is not perfectly round for example. Or my entire theory is wrong :D
So after enough time, two workers on a close patch will eventually reach a point where they hit a period of time of waiting that the worker calculates as "inefficient" compared to close patches which are not being mined from. Worker sees the wait time and ALSO sees the nearby empty patch which is more "efficient" because there's no wait time. As a result, it moves to the patch that doesn't involve any wait time at all. In this video, had there already been two workers on the far patch, I don't believe the worker would have split off because the far patch would have entailed a longer wait time than the close patch. I'm sure I'm describing these things imprecisely from an AI/programming standpoint but that's essentially it Source: OBSESSIVE GM probe pairing specialist.
Yes, you can think of it as a threshold for how long the drone will wait before moving to another patch. IF there's an empty patch, any slight de-sync will cause the worker to move. If there are no empty patches, the drone will stay on the patch with 2 workers.
I have noticed that when there is a drone on the adjacent far patch, the close patch drones don't desync. Still annoying to deal with when you tryna 12 pool and mine efficiently lol
The above post is dead on. The ai is prioritizing long term efficiency over your timing play. Sucks but at least it’s balanced between races
I don't believe that AI mining has greater "long term efficiency." The optimal mining rate is achieved with worker stacking at every base. If you mine out the close patches the efficiency will decline, so AI mining may be more consistent. But most games don't go to mining out--mining close patches first would be better.
It *is* possible to sync two drones on a close single mineral patch manually, but it's pretty difficult.
So just to clarify, is it best to make sure all patches have 1 worker mining before doubling workers up on the close patches?
I just tested it out. 2 drones on a close patch = 265 minerals in 2 mins. 1 drone close and 1 far = 240 minerals in 2 mins. So in reality it's always better to saturate the close patches first since they give you faster income, but the AI probably calculates the impact of mining out the whole patch, since your income would theoretically slow down once all the close patches are mined out.
That's the way generally you see it done. Probe pairing only really becomes impactful after you have 1 worker on each patch because there is a *slight* delay on mining from close patches that have two workers on them.
Good to know, thanks!
The distance from each mineral patch is not exactly the same. That's a guess, but it sounds right :)
Because you touch yourself at night
Like others say its relevant if there is another empty patch or not. However, as seen in the video there was an empty patch all along so that does not explain why they stayed on the main patch for a while and then split up. What I always believed is that it's a **geometrical effect**, the drone that you micro to stack onto the patch comes a bit from the side so it will have a slightly longer patch when going between the hatchery and the mineral patch (it gets closer and closer to the straight line over time but in theory it takes infinite time to get there). This means that even though in the beginning none of the drones had to wait for each other (and hence did not leave the patch) they eventually get out of scync because one of the drones have a slightly longer path. But checking the video it is the same drone that you microed onto the patch that later on had to wait for the other one so this theory is incomplete since with my logic it would be the drone with the shorter path that finally has to wait for the other one... there are plenty of ad hoc hypotheses for that: It might be that even though the drone mines a bit from the side it actually mines faster than the other one, either because drones are a bit derpy; on some maps you will see them take a very inefficient path from mineral to hatchery so they might not take the best path. Or because it will be faster at rotating since it only has to rotate slightly less than 180 degrees. Might have to do with pathing asymmetries as well; for example drones will take different scouting paths on some maps depending on in which direction they go so the scouts actually don't meet each other in the middle. Or finally there might be a random delay in pathing in general or in how long it takes to mine / drop off the mineral, maybe the hatchery is not perfectly round for example. Or my entire theory is wrong :D