FPS School

[StriderKyo]

I'm no ace FPS player. I'm not incompetent or anything, but I'm not gonna rock people's faces either.

So those of you that are skilled at them, what would you recommend people do to get better? "Just practice" I can figure out on my own, but any genre has some fundamentals or tricks of the trade that'll improve your game. I realise different games will have different nuances (my fps of choice is Halo), but there have to be commonalities, too.

So let's hear it from the bobbing-gun simulator gurus!

[MVS]

Use Headphones.
Watch the good players when you are dead.
Aim before you shoot.

[arjue]

find the most overly powerful weapon in the game and use it to no end.

[FX]

1.) Know the map, inside and out - find those spaces for when you need to lose someone or need a moment to recover. Also, it'll come in handy for when you need to shoot while running backwards.

2.) What MVS said, watch the good players when you are dead - watch and learn.

3.) Keep moving - a sitting target is a dead target.

4.) Know the order of your weapons, and which key brings them up instantly - accidentally choosing the wrong weapon at the wrong time can cost you a life.

5.) Practice - You're going to get your ass kicked before you start kicking ass.

6.) Don't be a cheater - If you can't win on your own without hacks, then you're just wasting your time.

7.) Experiment to see which role you play best - My best role in Wolf is Medic. At the same time, be versatile, and at least have some knowledge of how all the other characters/roles work.

8.) Don't spawn kill - it's lame.

9.) Practice accuracy - Don't waste a whole clip of ammo when a few short bursts will do.

[Johnny Nighttrain]

Use Headphones.
Watch the good players when you are dead.
Aim before you shoot.

this is exactly what i hear the most.

anyways guys, thanks for the info. im still new to PC gaming so it's still appreciated.

guys know anything else that's extra usefull with Counter Strike?

[Tain]

Counter-Strike? I'm still kinda new to it, but...

Use stealth when you can.
Slower movement = greater accuracy.
Try to watch all exits of a room at all times.
Also, it might not hurt to have seperate keys bound to instantly throwing grenades and the like.

In fact, in Quake 3 (Well, Rocket Arena and Threewave), all of my 'primary' weapons (Rocker Launcher, Railgun, Lightning gun, Plasma gun, Grenade launcher) have their own key floating around the WASD. Really handy.

[Blaine]

Camping has a bad reputation because people abuse it and usually combine it with something even more repelling such as spawn killing.

But after you learn a map, establishing yourself as a good camper is one of the best ways to train your accuracy and reaction time.

Really, you're not gonna win a head to head rocket battle with some dude who's be lobbing since Quake 1. You're probably going to die immediately, repeated and and never learn anything. Not fun.

But if you take up a decent sniper position with an appropriate weapon, you'll really pin point your aim.

Some of the best sniping locations require a little fidigity jumping or movement (I learned how to EMP jump in TFC soley for the purposes of advanced sentry placement...which is really camping) that will come in handy when you're ready to run around.

Another added benefit is once you know a map, and know how to camp, you'll know how to AVOID campers and snipers.

I'd say #1 is learning the map, inside and out. #2 is learning to aim well, followed by learning the weapons and then finally...never under estimate the power of sound. Don't listen to MP3's. The games use stereo sound for a reason, and you can often hear someone coming quite a distance away.

VERY necessary in Natural Selection Half-Life.

[Adrian]

Don't play CS, bad place to start. QuakeWorld/Quake 3 is a damn sight more fun and the skills from these can be transferred to all over FPS. Ignore any FPS that has "Unreal" in the title.

1. Rocket launcer: this has splash damage so just aim at people's feet, bounce them around and predict their position. You can also fire at walls to hurt people. Basically getting a direct hit is very rare and shouldn't be used to open things up, only when the other guy has no/little control over where he's going eg mid air.

2. In DM just keep moving and killing. Try and minimise your deaths but just get stuck in. If you fanny around collecting health bonuses you won't get frags. Self preservation is important but not a priority, killing as many people as you can before going down is the idea.

3. Configure your keys properly outside the game. Bind weapons to keys, increase your FOV (field of view), turn off graphical effects until you're getting at least 60fps constantly.

4. There is no etiquette in death match. Fuck this "no spawn killing, no camping" crap, if it's working, keep at it. Just don't spam the chat console.

5. Shotgun: you can't keep firing like crazy with this, minimise your shots and practice accuracy.

6. Learn the maps, especially where all the weapons are.

7. Listen to some good music whilst playing.

8. Different weapons are better in different situations. Be prepared to switch between them at any time. Bouncing someone with a rocket then railing them mid-air is really satisfying.

[SonofdonCD]

What can I say that hasn't been said already?

Well, I'm not the best FPS gamer, but I'll try:

1. Learn the map - Like all have said, that is required. Otherwise you will die.

2. Gain accuracy - See above.

3. Learn all weapons - Even the ones you hate, since hopefully every weapon has a purpose, and a time when it's more effective than others (If Halo does one thing right, it's weapon balance).

4. Find your temperament - By this I mean what type of play style fits you most. Are you a Sniper, or do you just go kamikaze style? Depending on what type of game you're playing, certain temperaments work more in your favor. Which leads me to.......

5. Learn all of the nuances of each game mode - By that I mean DM compared to CTF compared to king of the hill, etc. Each mode offers different gameplay, therefore your strategies have to change. That's why finding your temperament is key. Once you know that, then you can adjust your game style to fit the situation.

Besides that, the only real advice I could offer is:

6. Be able to adapt - There will always be new situations that you've never experienced before, and that this thread will have not prepared you for. Just be quick on your toes and be aware of your surroundings at all times, and you will be on the road to being a better player.

[xS]

Try something like DOOM and Blood(or Serious Sam). I think that those games helped me out a lot initially.