I stink at all fps games.. help me fix..

A

awdark

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 22, 2003
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:D As topic says, how can I play fps games better?

Virtually ALL shooters I play results in a ratio of at least 5:1, 5 of my death to one kill. If its 1v1 like on Doom3, I get something like 20 deaths to 3 kills..

In the past I used to think that perhaps it was a matter of dialup with high pings.. now with broadband I die several times faster lol. When I host on my own server, I have a theoretical advantage that my pings are low and they have at least 30ms ping.. nope.

The other thing I thought was the cause of my crapppyness was computer... I figured that if I play at say 30 fps the lag would kill me.. after upgrades, I can see myself die with nicer graphics.. :rolleyes:

Is there special techniques to aim? I usually go for the approach of see.. click mouse button and hold until I am out of ammo..

Any special techniques to dodge shots? I seem to go to the bullets instead of jumping away..

Currently Playing Doom 3... sometimes halo, die just as much.. Battlefield I am ok sometimes...

:p This might generate insults to me... but I am trying to improve right? ;)
 
theres a few things you can do. might want to start watching demos of professional gamers, see what they do.

a lot of it is behaviour too, doing unexpected things and trying to guess what the other guy is doing.
 
Well... If you are constantly moving... it makes you much harder to hit, in games like doom and UT (espicially UT/2k3/2k4) Just always be jumping.
 
OK, DOOM 3...(as with most games) you need to know the maps and spawn locations. Always be on the move and always go back to stock up. That's my bit of advice.

DOOM 3 is easy to dominate in.... It's a lot easier of an FPS game than say UT2k4.

Basically, outgun your way since you would know the locations of items. Find a weapon your decent with and stick with it. Rocket launcher I like. The chain gun is pretty good too. Plasma rifle is a bit iffy for me. Shotgun is a bit harder.

Oh yeah...berserk power up. You can die in berserk mode by taking damage, so if you're not good enough at punching people, switch to a weapon. I'm pretty sure it does more damage in berserk.

EDIT: Don't bother taking out your flashlight either. In a dark game like DOOM 3, it makes you easier to spot.
 
I suggest you go to lan parties and watch other people play, just as in physical sports, you get better by watching others, and then by playing with others who are better than you. First you have to get better though :p
 
How do you do in offline mode?

do you always play your offline games in hard?

some games you have create a handicapp so that you die easier, take more damage, etc.

do you use WASD?

do you turn off all the visual goodies?
 
awdark said:
:D As topic says, how can I play fps games better?

Virtually ALL shooters I play results in a ratio of at least 5:1, 5 of my death to one kill. If its 1v1 like on Doom3, I get something like 20 deaths to 3 kills..

In the past I used to think that perhaps it was a matter of dialup with high pings.. now with broadband I die several times faster lol. When I host on my own server, I have a theoretical advantage that my pings are low and they have at least 30ms ping.. nope.

The other thing I thought was the cause of my crapppyness was computer... I figured that if I play at say 30 fps the lag would kill me.. after upgrades, I can see myself die with nicer graphics.. :rolleyes:

Is there special techniques to aim? I usually go for the approach of see.. click mouse button and hold until I am out of ammo..

Any special techniques to dodge shots? I seem to go to the bullets instead of jumping away..

Currently Playing Doom 3... sometimes halo, die just as much.. Battlefield I am ok sometimes...

:p This might generate insults to me... but I am trying to improve right? ;)
Click to expand...
When you say you hold until you run out of ammo... are you joking? thats gotta be the worst approach ever. You gotta ration your ammo. Think decisively and quickly in the heat of battle, try to anticipate where your opponent wants to go and what he is trying to do. Strafe like crazy, its your friend, when you strafe, you stop for a split second before you head back in the other direction, use that time to fire a salvo at the enemy, it increases your accuracy. Try this conciously at first, and after a while it will become second nature to you
Cheers
 
Well FPS games are known for having what people call "twitch skills". This is basically referring to the fact that the person who twitches the fastest wins. By that I mean the person who can move his reticle over you and then press the button fastest wins.

If you have slow 'twitch reflexes' your going to die a lot. Also you might have problems tracking with mouse on a moving target while also moving. Basically these are things that just get better with long use. Most people you are going to be playing against online have been playing for at least a few years.

If you are relatively new to FPS games (as in started playing online within a year or less) then lack of experience is just your problem and tbe only solution is to keep it up heh.

You might also be playing against better then average players. I've been playing FPS games for years and years now and I won't even touch most counter-strike games. I know that if I go in there I'll die pretty quick since the people who play there know that game inside and out.

If none of the above applies to you (and you aren't known to have poor hand eye cordination), then I would think you are simply lacking technique. In which case demo's or observer mode in games you like to play would be what you need most.
 
First slow you mose down and make sure mouse accelaeration is off. Next play all the time.
 
You can always practice your reflexes by bashing bots. Q3A was realy the turning point where I went from a crappy player, to someone who could hold his own. When I first got the game, I could barely beat them on "Hurt Me Plenty", now I can beat most of them on "Nightmare" Some of my skill was from learning the maps and how to domminate items (Juce Cycles) but some of it was also learning how to dodge effectively and improving my aim.

Anyways, long story short, practice, practice, practice. Try to play either human or bot that is slightly better than you, but not overwealming. As you get better, up the difficultly, to compensate.
 
and dont resort to cheats ever! it just proves that you are a quitter!

but yeah

-have a good mouse(logitech MX series) + good mousing surface and not to high of a sensitivity, low is good.
-no matter what if you want to play optimally, keep a constant high framerate
-know your environment
-know your arsenal
-move and act quickly
-know how to be random

analyze what you are doing when you encounter an enemy, do you tend to circle strafe left every time? or appear in the same spot? gotta change that if you want to be really good. teach yourself to break patterns.

in other words, be like bruce lee. be like water. :D
 
I'm in a similar boat when it comes to CS beta .. :(

I'm fairly random ...decent "twitch" reflex ...but really bad aim , lol

sometimes I jump on guy and just mow him from head to toe with the machine gun..then its like that scene from Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark movie and the other guy just stands there ..puts his knife away then draws his little weenie pistola and shoots me in the face ...


...darn
 
go play some ut2k4 instagib. you get good at aiming really fast. that and play some slow high intensity shooters (yes, CS counts). i prefer Call of Duty and the multiplayers Search & destroy mode.

it just takes time and relaxation. and always aim ahead of where you think they're going.
 
heres a tip...be dedicated. To a lot of hardcore gamers its not just a game.
 
If you want to be hardcore about it, get a copy of CS and play it with bots offline. Set them to Jason mode at first (knives only) and just practice getting headshots on as many in a row as possible, with different guns. Then give them guns, and repeat.

It worked pretty well for me.
 
SocceRich20 said:
InstaGib mode will definately improve your aim.
Click to expand...
^^^
Exactly what I was going to say

Reflexes and quick aiming are the key thing to practice. Start up a few instagib bot games in and Unreal Tournament game and let loose. After a while you will become much better at hitting moving targets.
 
Cigolon said:
haha. another vote for that one.
theres a way to build a twitch. down 15 of those in a row.
Click to expand...

15 :O Your heart will explode if you get a good scare
 
Another vote for Instagib. As for watching other players, I think that's a crock of crap. Just play and you'll learn eventually. Watching other people play is fun but I've never got anything out of it really. Take it like this, try and learn something every time you die. If you are trying to get better and don't learn at least one thing every round or whatever, then why are you playing? FPS is not something you pick up overnight, you gotta be out there playing all the time to get any better.

To me it's all about anticipation and like others have said, knowing the map. CS is a great example of knowing the maps and anticipation. If I'm the last one left and it's me versus 1 or however many, I try and anticipate what I would do if the situation was reversed then I come up with a way to counter that. It's instinct I guess.

As far as reloading, if I play CS and I fire even 1 bullet, ill reload if no one is around heh. At some point in time if you dont see any improvement, keep playing though.
 
That 1 bullett could be the difference between life and death in CS.

I do the same in DOD, even though the ammo doesn't carry over into the next magazine as in CS
 
Third the instagib. No splash damage, so you have to hit, and you have to keep moving to survive. Sniper-rifle arena also works. (Good headshot practice.)
 
I see..
First two
So keep moving.. Is it better to slow down and shoot or continue bouncing while shooting?

I do better offline, but CS bots do kill me if I dont catch them following the standard waypoints..

wallijonn
What is WASD?

I turn off enough eyecandy to make the game run smoothly...

quiksilverx181
I see.. so strife is good.. um use pure strife or continue holding W?
I do run out of ammo a lot because I try to go for a even spray of the area.. hold while I try to follow my target.....

Klade
I like that explanation of twitch skills.. I think mine are likely slower than most. And amount of fps.. I used to play offline some until about a year ago when I finally managed to play online and was slaughtered people!=bots.

Jhefile
I dont see mouse acceleration in the control panel, but I dont think I have that so I dont think thats a problem.

doh-nut
I have a basic ms optical wheel mouse.. seems efficient
Hmm be like water.. I will keep that in mind.

ThreeDee
Hehe What sucks is when you do that and you get killed with one shot and get told that they still have 100% health.

HRslammR+whoever said that
Instagib? Do they have it for UT2003 I have those cds somewhere.
Ill google it..

Knowing the map and anticipating others.. I should analyze the maps more.. I like to play almost in a straight line.. go based on map.. I guess I could anticipate my enemies after I die....
 
WASD refers to using those keys instead of the arrow keys for movement. It's considered better because there are more keys nearby you can use, which saves you from moving your fingers too far from the movement keys. (It's also a more natural position on the keyboard for my left hand with the layout of my desk, but that's an individual thing.)

Instagib is a mutator in all versions of UT, and comes with the game.

If people kill more efficiently than you with the same weapons, you probably need to work at your aim. Remember, headshots do more damage in many games.
 
I'd say one of the key things to do is to turn down your sensitivity. I don't know if this holds true for faster pace games like Quake, Doom, etc, but in games like CS, DoD, CoD, etc it helps a lot when it comes to your aim. By turning down your sensitivity, I'd say something < 3.0 is good (I use 2.0).

Also, view demos/movies of top players and teams. They allow you to not only see how the top players play, but you'll also where the "money" spots are for certain maps.

Knowing your maps is also key, it'll allow you to know where the chokepoints are, where enemy spawn is, where enemies are likely to come from and where to expect them.
 
awdark said:
Is it better to slow down and shoot or continue bouncing while shooting?
Click to expand...
If you're talking CS, then it's better to stop for an instant and squeeze off a shot or two and keep going. In UT, just keep going. It depends per game, since in CS your accuracy is lowered as you move/jump, etc.

I see.. so strife is good.. um use pure strife or continue holding W?
Click to expand...
either one. if you want to move closer, then hold W; otherwise, don't. do it at your discression, and do it with a slight element of randomness, rather than moving smoothly.

I do run out of ammo a lot because I try to go for a even spray of the area.. hold while I try to follow my target.....
Click to expand...
bad idea (in CS at least). in CS, the more shots you take in a row, the more inaccurate your shooting is. i suggest several shot (2-3 shot) bursts with the assault rifles (which leaves a moment in between bursts for them to start to recenter), and longer (5-10 shot) sprays with SMGs. of course, if you're right in their face, there's nothing wrong with holding the trigger down, but don't do it and try to track people, etc; won't often work.

I have a basic ms optical wheel mouse.. seems efficient
Click to expand...
i always thought so myself. now i'm using this expensive-as-all-hell MX510, and i can honestly tell you it makes a difference. it's probably all psychological, but the results are certainly tangible. these mice do help if you make a lot of fast twitches, because standard opticals can't always track those movements, sometimes aiming you straight up or down and making you spin in circles, etc.

Hehe What sucks is when you do that and you get killed with one shot and get told that they still have 100% health.
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yeah, a deagle to the head will do that to a person.

Knowing the map and anticipating others.. I should analyze the maps more.. I like to play almost in a straight line.. go based on map.. I guess I could anticipate my enemies after I die....
Click to expand...
knowing your maps is vital. my father hosted a server at his work on weekends, "Dust for Newbies". We played dust 24/7 :rolleyes: , but I learned that map like no other. It's like my official home now, and I could tell you more tricks about it than the average magician has about him. It can help you significantly, turning the tide when your team is getting mauled, etc.

finally, don't give up. that's key. we were all newbs at some point (some more than others...), but through repeated sessions of getting your @$$ handed to you, you begin to pick up little things that make a gradual difference, until one day you realize you've gone 1:1 and you cry out for joy. i think the height of my CS career was 72:1, almost exclusively with the Para and the TMP on de_dust.

hey, good luck with the gaming. see you in the games.

hey, good luck with the gaming,
 
@awdark
In the past I used to think that perhaps it was a matter of dialup with high pings.. now with broadband I die several times faster lol. When I host on my own server, I have a theoretical advantage that my pings are low and they have at least 30ms ping.. nope.
Click to expand...

I've played with my PC on 900ping outnumbered against brats with around 200-300pings (CS_Office). They got massacred. Framerate and Aim is a necessary factor but hardly critical. Strategy wins the day in confined maps. Anybody can shoot, but it takes brains to duck.

Is there special techniques to aim? I usually go for the approach of see.. click mouse button and hold until I am out of ammo..
Click to expand...

This is a definite nono. That may work in older FPS games, but newer games have the bullets spreading the longer you hold the trigger. Also, try not to move too much, the bullets spread out even more. Inversely, crouching (or better yet, crawl) will let you pick off a flea 100 yards away.

This got worse in farcry. Running + LargeBulletSpread + SmallHitboxes = Not being able to kill the guy 10 feet away with a full clip.

In a map with open areas with no cover in CS, the veterans are the ones that crouch and pick off everyone with 2-3 round bursts, while the noobies run around putting holes in everything except the guy they're chasing. Please correct me if you think otherwise.

Any special techniques to dodge shots? I seem to go to the bullets instead of jumping away
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Simple, duck. I'm not kidding. Some people seem to think just straffing is enough, the truth is, when you dodge left, the guy sees you move left, turns to you again, and shoots, you're dead. The experienced one's would already know the places to take cover when entering an area (That nook in the wall give 50% cover, the crate give 75%, that stairstep gives 50% if i crouch), when under fire, they instinctively head for those safe spots while laying down suppressing fire.

If you successfully managed to find cover, and there's an exit nearby, get out of there ASAP coz they'll blast you to pieces if you so much as show a hair, even if they don't see you, they'll usually lob a grenade or two to smoke you out. You can usually circle around while they've still got their guns trained on where you were last and blast them from behind. This works surprisingly well. :rolleyes:



You want to improve? Master your mouse first. Take up drawing in Photoshop as a hobby to improve your precision. Then play something more speed intensive like Virtua Cop. When you think you're good enough, take on the Bots at Quake3 to work on your reflexes. Once you get the hang of them, go for Medal of Honor and make the M1Garand your primary weapon.

And the most important factor of all. Turn off your 5.1 surround and switch to headsets. Even with cheap crappy ones, you can still hear them coming a mile away and from which direction. You hear footsteps, back off a bit, crouch, and shoot just as they come out. Works every time ~_^ The thing is, you'll get branded as a camper even tho you've only been there 0.5 seconds :(

Here's a techniques for Deathmatches since the DoomII era, before joining a deathmatch game, know where the weapons are and plot out a course around the map. If done right, you'll pick up most of the weapons the first run through, and pick them up again just as they respawn on your next run around. This is very advantageous in any DeathMatch game. First, you're running around the map at high speed, it's much harder for them to track you and you're more likely to catch them off guard. Second, you're picking up the goodies as you go, less ammo for them, hehehe ~_^

@wallijonn
Offline mode isn't much different really. Even on normal difficulty, you get more chance to work on your aim =)

Key's are a matter of prefrence, assign to the keys most comfortable to you, if you have to look down to press a key, consider reassigning it to someplace within better reach. Have the grenade hotkeyed to your ALT button instead of '0', move the reload key to 'TAB' so you straff right while reloading, whatever. Personally, i use QWES to move, WASD is too awkward.

Mouse sensitivity is also depends on your preference. I usually have mine at 1/2 to 2/3 in CS. Helps a lot with 'twitch' kills, being able to do a 180 withought having to raise your mouse raises your chance of survival (I'm used to turning 720 degrees in one mouse sweep tho so it may not work for you). Games usually lowers your sensitivity automatically when you zoom in.


Download CS_Acadamy (Or was it CS_Academy?) it's a map specifically designed as a practice map. There'a another one (Forgot the name) that also teaches you how to work on your sniping skills too.
 
Ok lets fix it... for a very large amount of money I can remove your head from the neck and replace it with a gamers head. Just pray I can sew your new head back on really fast... I think people die after a few mins without blood feeding the brain. However, your in luck your brain is well nicely saying ( slower ) than others and doesnt require as much blood to feed it. So hell 10 min window I would estimate... normal person is 1 min.
 
I also would agree that your mouse can make a big difference, but if you feel aim is not a problem then look elsewhere. Either way you need to aim, and aim precisely... most games a head shot is a much more critical hit than the body, in some games one shot to the head is enough. Practice aiming for the head, if you run into someone with equal skills and similar weapon and you aim for the body and they aim for the head... you lose.

Also as mentioned in most FPS you really need to be moving, as mentioned it's harder to hit a moving target but the other factor at least for me is that when I'm moving my reaction time is faster than when I am stationary. You also might want to try more realistic FPS games like America's Army, as this game rewards patience and tactical thought more than pure twitch games. I also agree with the statement about using short controlled bursts when firing. I loved UT & CS, and frankly I was good at them, but I'm now 36 and my reflexes are not what they use to be... and it sucks. I just can't keep up in UT2K3/4 anymore so I've found other games, like AA and Halo.
 
doh-nut said:
and dont resort to cheats ever! it just proves that you are a quitter!

but yeah

-have a good mouse(logitech MX series) + good mousing surface and not to high of a sensitivity, low is good.
-no matter what if you want to play optimally, keep a constant high framerate
-know your environment
-know your arsenal
-move and act quickly
-know how to be random

analyze what you are doing when you encounter an enemy, do you tend to circle strafe left every time? or appear in the same spot? gotta change that if you want to be really good. teach yourself to break patterns.

in other words, be like bruce lee. be like water. :D
Click to expand...

do what this guy said, it helps. that and practicing, that really helps. try to find out the accuracy of the guns you play with. playing UT2k4 everyday since march :)
 
UT2003 or UT2004 insta gib on inhuman or godlike or wutever the highest one is.

ull be better in no time..
 
Even the best players will get owned once in a while, but there is always something to learn.

-use cover effectively, I like to slide along the walls (makes it look like you come out of nowhere)
- turn up your speakers (especially surround sound) so you can hear if anyone is around the corner, I always anticipate that someone is so I can 'twitch' kill ;) around the corner.
- like one person already mentioned, always reload as one bullet can make a huge difference ( like entering a room in call of duty with 8 people... :D )
-never rush into rooms, let the n00bs run in and get killed, then rush in and fire at the enemy who will most likely be caught reloading his rifle (always a classic ;))
-if you just got a game, I would play in a server with no one else to just get a feel of the map, find all the hidden corners
-follow your teammates to see the path they take, I always do this when I just get a game
-never run in open spaces, 'no-man's land', you'll only get killed by a camping sniper
-run in groups, that way one of your teammates can take a bullet for you and you can get a bead on the assailant
-always strafe, in circles around corners/boxes/people as it makes it very hard to get a head shot even with the most skilled players
-never waste your grenades, it sucks when you end up in a room of enemies with only a pistol and no grenades, and one of the enemies just happened to turn around...
- let your team run ahead, they'll only die more, as there is very little teamwork on public servers so just stay behind and pick of the stray enemies in the beginning
-sneak up on the enemy when you know your way around the map, especially using the outskirts then you can pick of the enemy one by one before they know what the hell is hitting them
-never rush for items, otherwise a sniper will more often than not kill you, but if you must take the item only touch the edge of it, not run over the whole thing
-always aim for the upper torso, or atleast just above the stomach, never aim down unless its the only way to hit an obscured enemy
-learn the ins and outs of every weapon and the sounds, so you know if you are dealing with a machine gun or a little pistol
-if you are heavily outnumbered don't be afraid to run away, hide behind a bush, and ambush them as they run around the corner looking for you...:D
 
Alright dude seriously the logitech mx mice seem to make a difference. Im not a good gamer but I tend to hold my own in most games and in FPS always be moving. Standing still is DEATH. You should only be standing still if sniping and if so only for 10 seconds at MOST. No one likes a camper. Find out your weapon. I personally go with a shotgun doom 3 just because im so used to from playing with it in single player. You can usually figure out techniques by analyzing what type of game it is. Like CS is a more realistic game than Doom 3 therefore dont just pray and spray. But Doom 3 is all about shooting slightly accurately and unloading on them when you get that perfect shot. Where as in CS its all about getting a couple of well placed shots. Im a noob too but these are the things that helped me.
 
want a good ratio?
use your teammates as bait

always be on the move, a sitting duck is a dead duck
 
Bennyb said:
Well... If you are constantly moving... it makes you much harder to hit, in games like doom and UT (espicially UT/2k3/2k4) Just always be jumping.
Click to expand...


Bunnyhoping is not skill mmm k? :rolleyes:
 
Haha, I laugh at those that go prone in Enemy Territory, like I can't aim down...
 
I didn't read through all the crap, but I have a few words.

Aim for the upper body
Shoot short bursts instead of spraying
Strafe, strafe, and more strafe
Take your time
Control your breathing (if that's a variable in the game)
You don't have to get closer and closer when shooting.. It just makes it easier for them.
Mouse sensitivity DOWN
Don't panic

And if I think of anything else I'll edit it in.
 
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