Ah Deathmatch. There are so many stories to tell, how can I just
give one? I think the thing that really made DM for me and not for
others in the past was the element of surprise. Back in the days of
Doom I would play my friends over my step-dad's phone line upstairs in
my house, while the other friend would be downstairs. Doom is a dark
game. I loved it. Sounds were a big clue as to where people were. I
would follow people around for a while, letting them look for me not
thinking to turn around. And when they entered a somewhat dead-end,
turned around, they'd see the blank stare of a pressure suit helmet
followed by a *boom* and a very red screen.
I can't think of any stories that particurlarly stand out in my head
over the years. I don't play because I have something to prove, or
because it feels like I'm killing other people. I just play because
it's fun seeing my skills improve over time and knowing that I don't
suck as much as I used to. =] I can give tips of what I have learned
over the years.
The old old Doom deathmatch wouldn't respawn ammo or armor. So,
controlling these were a very major issue. If you could get to all
rockets, Soul Spheres, and Blue armors on the level, you won. Hands
down. So, knowing where they all were and the shortest path to them
from any position the level was adamant.
Doom was great, but most probably want to read about quake. =]
Well, the biggest change that helped was switching from Keyboard Only to
using the mouse (for most people nowadays, that's not an issue... and
for the record, I use a trackball). The next biggest step came about a
year later when I joined a CTF clan. Before I was basically a
freelancer/roamer of the levels. Having a specific duty in a CTF game
and sticking to it was a whole new experience for me. Also, learning
how to communicate with a team on a different level was difficult.
But, learning those two things improved my game 100%.
The biggest things that help me out in a game is A: Knowing when to
run away and B: Knowing when to keep pursuing your attacker when he
starts to run away. It all comes down to how comfortable and confident
(not cocky) you are. If you're hurt bad and you're being wailed on,
it's usually best to get the hell out of there, stock up, and take
another crack at him. Learning to fire downwards, move around corners,
all while running backwards works WONDERS when you are being chased. If
you're down to 50% health and your current opponent starts to run, you
need to ask yourself if you think you can take him or not. If you think
you can, go for it. If you think you can't, stock up. I've killed many
people with just a few health left. Sure, I almost died, but I got the
kill and they didn't. That's where it counts.
One thing I started to do about half a year ago was improve my
toe-to-toe game. And the biggest thing that helped there was jumping.
Yes, jumping. If you've ever seen me play, I look like a rabbit. Not
only does it minimize rocket damage to you, but if you change direction
every time you land, you become an EXTREMELY hard target to hit. Not
only that, but as you jump, you can get a better angle to shoot your
opponent from. Be warned, jumping doesn't always help. People can
sometimes catch on quick and try to time your jumps and landings. When
this happens, either stop jumping completely or jump and fire at random
points of time. Another great thing about jumping is that you can
completely jump over a person in quake2 if you have a running start.
This is a great tactic if you can pull it off. It confuses the hell out
of them and by the time you land you already have a rocket imbedded in
their skull.
Another thing not a lot of people do is lead their shots. If you
see a person running around some crates to get some items, lead the
person with your weapon (or approxmiate) and start firing where he is
going to come out. Usually they'll walk right into your blasts. If
you are defending base in CTF and some enemies come in, don't just start
firing at them. Usually people want to get into base, get the flag, and
get out as fast as possible. If this is the case, take your crosshairs
off the person and start pumping rockets at your flag. No matter what,
they're going to take a crapload of damage if they go for your flag.
Another good defense tactic is never stay in the same place for long.
If you do and you are playing me, I will fire at your defensive spot
before I do anything else and usually before you can get a shot off.
So, move around on defense.
I don't really want to get into a lot of CTF tactics (since that is
what I do mostly) so I'll wrap it up for now. If you really want to
learn some CTF tactics from an "ok" player, you can mail me or something
I guess. But dm tips to help survival: Know when to run, know when to
pursue, know your level, know your weapons, learn your enemy, lead your
shots, move erratically, be aggessive at times, be defensive at times,
never stick to the same spot for more than 30 seconds, don't develop a
pattern, and the most important rule: have fun. If you aren't having
fun, then why the hell are you playing? =]
