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I never was a big fan of shooters. My introduction to the genre started with the CD-game Chex Quest (basically an E-rated DOOM mod) that my mom picked up on a box of cereal. I was pretty good at it back then and had a lot of fun, as short as it was. But maybe it was simply due to the fact that I had no money and really didn't have a lot else to play. Skip forward a few years and I tried my hand at playing the Quake III Arena demo and just got my ass handed to me over and over again. I really sucked at this style of play. It was eventually discouraging to the point where I just decided to quit playing games of the FPS genre altogether. I decided that they were no longer fun at all anymore.

Later after getting a job I bought The Orange Box and after playing Half-Life 2 and Portal and having an absolute blast with single-player it re-ignited my desire to play shooters. I again tried playing competitive shooters such as TF2, Counter-Strike: Source, Battlefield 2, Halo 2, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and I just couldn't compete with anyone. However, when playing single-player games such as Crysis, Half-Life: Source, and RPS games such as Mass Effect, Bioshock, Borderlands, and Fallout 3 it was a lot of fun. I've also had some good fun playing co-op modes such as Left 4 Dead, CoD: Black Ops Zombies, etc. I have no problems playing against AI opponents, but in arena mode I suck.

I know it's not that I just don't have coordination or reflexes, I do very well in RTS games, MMOs, Action-Adventure, and Action RPGs. In fact I like the pressure in these games. I do admit I have some difficulty conserving ammo in single-player modes. But IRL I'm not a bad shot at all. In fact I am a qualified expert on the Marine Corps rifle range. Maybe I just need a circle of friends online to motivate me. But it's pretty discouraging to me because these games are what a lot of the online gaming community is centered on. Any thoughts on how to overcome this? Maybe I should just realize that these games are not for me and just play what is fun, but I still feel like I'm missing out on a lot.

I always loved playing FPS games at highest difficulty level and because of that i find it quiet easy when i go online. I like fast pace games because 1) there is very little advantage for sniper players, and 2) you have to be very good at jumping around places to dodge bullets, which i am

EDIT: I hate counterstrike just because there is a undue advantage for those who just seat around in corners and wait for people to come. It's no fun.

For the fast paced shooters (counter strike etc) make sure you have a decent mouse, and turn the sensitivity DOWN! Then get used to it...a mate of mine is pretty good at CS, has the thumb buttons assigned to 'turn left' and 'turn right' so he can spin quicker when he needs to, cos his sens is so low...but that's extremely difficult to get used to. It's all about practice. Deathmatch servers will help, as there is no wait to respawn. Quite hectic though

Also, public servers are generally full of jerks, the game only gets really good if either you find a decent clan's server, that is well modded, or play mixes with people you know.

mikehodges2 wrote:

For the fast paced shooters (counter strike etc) make sure you have a decent mouse, and turn the sensitivity DOWN!

Did I just hear you call Counter-Strike a "fast paced" shooter? Come here for a spanking.

You cannot play fast paced shooters with a low sensitivity, because they'll rape you before you put the crosshair on them. Try Quake Live for example, all the professionals either use mouse acceleration for rapid maneuvering (and to maintain precision with light mouse movements), or a high(er) sens, or some of them even use both.

just go at your own pace and disregard all the griefing and trash talking. as soon as you're comfortable with your mouse sens and get more familiar with the weapons and how they react/work, play on. no one is an ace from the start. practice makes perfect

Took me probably about 300 hrs of CS to get to a consistent 2:1 KDR. So... yep practice makes perfect.

Just find a FPS that you like the idea of and play it endlessly. Once you get good at one then branch out into others. Until you can master one, there's no point jumping between heaps as you'll only confuse yourself.

BFBC2 is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay slower than CS. Team gameplay heavily REQUIRED.
TF2 is less 1 shot kill. Team gameplay required.
CS is fast. You can lonewolf this.
Quake is insanity (though was where I started playing FPSs). You can lonewolf this.
COD is just fail (MW1 is OK). You can lonewolf this.
etc.

So they're all a bit different without even going into engines, mouse performance, weapons, game type, map size, latency etc.

hmm I find it the opposite way, I find FPS games really easy and usually dominate without trying but in RTS i only ever do above average - good because im too lazy to do good multitasking. Most FPS games have a slight metagame that once you learn which weapons work, and the maps you can easily get in top scoring if you have half decent aim.

Altho that said, any pro gamer would whoop me sideways as they would with most gamers. I'm more talking about pub gaming, or xbox live etc.

blitzy wrote:

hmm I find it the opposite way, I find FPS games really easy and usually dominate without trying but in RTS i only ever do above average - good because im too lazy to do good multitasking. Most FPS games have a slight metagame that once you learn which weapons work, and the maps you can easily get in top scoring if you have half decent aim.

Altho that said, any pro gamer would whoop me sideways as they would with most gamers. I'm more talking about pub gaming, or xbox live etc.

The moment you mention Xbox Live, you lose all credibility . Do not bring a controller to a mouse fight, it's like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

Just like anything else its all about practice practice practice. Memorize the maps, know the camping spots, keep moving.......know your key commands, macro what you can, etc.

What boils down to is that after enough times of throwing yourself at others you get better. If it its team play watch how others play. Like in TF2 I sucked at playing a spy, always died. But I spectated a ton of match always following the spy and learned.

Some of the people who clobbered your ass in Quake3 could have been playing online shooters since DOOM, or maybe Quake. Anyhow, skill is an enormous differentiator in FPS, that is, someone with just 50% more experience than you can ROFLPWN you time and time again, and he/she in turn is probably smacked down time and time again by someone who has another 50% extra experience.

Then there is the factor of talent ofcourse.

And as others have already said, make sure you get comfortable with your aim, your mouse, your mouse sensitivity and the like. For shooters, my preference is for HIGH framerates (I plan on buying a 120hz panel for this), low input lag (never enable vsync or triple buffering) and a consistent as possible mouse response.

The mouse is a story in itself. To get really good in FPS, your hand and mouse must essentially disappear. Your mouse and mousing surface must provide the same in-game movement for the same muscle input every time, so the sensitivity must be the same, the resistance must be the same (no dirty muck) and depending on your preference you have to always have acceleration enabled or disabled (IMO disabled is always better). Only that way your brain can build that muscle memory that instantly translates your in-game targeting to mouse movements that are dead-on every time. You may think that $20 mouse pads and 1000hz mice are total BS, but that's what they're there for!

Personally, I'll be saving up for a nice fast computer with a very fast single GPU (I cannot imagine alternate frame rendering making me very happy). I'll hook that up to a 500hz or 1000hz mouse. Then I'll buy a 120hz panel and probably tone down my in-game settings to get a consistent 100+ fps. I'll probably still suck but maybe I'll suck a little bit less

Firestarter wrote:

The mouse is a story in itself. To get really good in FPS, your hand and mouse must essentially disappear. Your mouse and mousing surface must provide the same in-game movement for the same muscle input every time, so the sensitivity must be the same, the resistance must be the same (no dirty muck) and depending on your preference you have to always have acceleration enabled or disabled (IMO disabled is always better). Only that way your brain can build that muscle memory that instantly translates your in-game targeting to mouse movements that are dead-on every time. You may think that $20 mouse pads and 1000hz mice are total BS, but that's what they're there for!

The train of thought is right, but practice still does little to verify your theory. Acceleration is a staple, a must-have for nearly all Quake professionals of today, because twitch shooting and acrobatics simply require a "versatile" sens. That is, fine aim when you move it gently, and rapid flicks when you must maneuver yourself expertly. If you took away accel from under the pro players, they would either suddenly aim like poop, be incapable of rocket jumps or strafe jumping, or god forbid, both.

DeadOfKnight wrote:

I never was a big fan of shooters. My introduction to the genre started with the CD-game Chex Quest (basically an E-rated DOOM mod) that my mom picked up on a box of cereal.

Chex Quest was awesome! I had my parents buy me a box of Wheat Chex (yuck!) just to play it as I was really into FPSs back then. I wonder if I still have that somewhere... I bet if I don't, one of my friends still does.

Meadows wrote:

Firestarter wrote:

The mouse is a story in itself. To get really good in FPS, your hand and mouse must essentially disappear. Your mouse and mousing surface must provide the same in-game movement for the same muscle input every time, so the sensitivity must be the same, the resistance must be the same (no dirty muck) and depending on your preference you have to always have acceleration enabled or disabled (IMO disabled is always better). Only that way your brain can build that muscle memory that instantly translates your in-game targeting to mouse movements that are dead-on every time. You may think that $20 mouse pads and 1000hz mice are total BS, but that's what they're there for!

The train of thought is right, but practice still does little to verify your theory. Acceleration is a staple, a must-have for nearly all Quake professionals of today, because twitch shooting and acrobatics simply require a "versatile" sens. That is, fine aim when you move it gently, and rapid flicks when you must maneuver yourself expertly. If you took away accel from under the pro players, they would either suddenly aim like poop, be incapable of rocket jumps or strafe jumping, or god forbid, both.

Totally disagree. (Though I can understand why some people prefer mouse accell.) Mouse accelleration is the worst thing possible for all of the above. What you want is super high sensitivity and zero mouse accell. Then your muscle memory knows exactly how far to throw and you only have to throw a very short distance to do a full turn. Aiming becomes a fine control art but you will learn it with time. The way to do this is to play for about 10 hrs at one sensitivity and then slowly increase your sensitivity in little chucks until your pratically off the chart.

Meadows wrote:

The train of thought is right, but practice still does little to verify your theory. Acceleration is a staple, a must-have for nearly all Quake professionals of today, because twitch shooting and acrobatics simply require a "versatile" sens. That is, fine aim when you move it gently, and rapid flicks when you must maneuver yourself expertly. If you took away accel from under the pro players, they would either suddenly aim like poop, be incapable of rocket jumps or strafe jumping, or god forbid, both.

I must have spent an entire day trying to get the hang of strafe jumping with no luck.

I can't do either, but I'm really good at blowing myself up with rockets. If you took away mouse acceleration, I'd still be the blow-myself-up-with-rockets king. Same with the Redeemer in UT99, I know where it is on every map that has one, and I can blow us all up; I ain't afraid to die.

To help on this matter I would start by saying you have to break down the game into its component parts. Reflexes & strategy.
Many players get stuck on one and ignore the other. I find a marriage of the two results in the best K/D ratio and the most rewarding play.

Reflexes are going to be a marriage of hardware, latency, and motor skills. Make sure you have a good mouse, good mousing surface (good texture, and good sized area). Get a solid high speed connection remember upload not download is the limiter for online play. Know that in many games you want to fire in bursts to allow for recoil to be minimized and tighten your weapon accuracy and head shots do more damage than body shots so if you can line em up go for it, I personally tend to aim for the upper chest and let recoil plant the second and third shot in the face. Once you have all the variables under control the only thing that makes you better is practice practice practice.

Strategy is going to be everything from you weapon choice to how you move through the game to how you observe opposing player movement. Advancing with either cover fire, chasing a flash/smoke/frag grenade will provide another level of distraction for defending opponents during an assault. Also using grenades to cover a retreat while reloading or flanking is wise. Take note of player movement through the level. Note check points, lines of sight, potential cover and bullet penetration of objects. Your movement will be determined by several parts, your kit/weapon/perk combo. Consider potential kit/weapon combos and engagement distances move in a fashion that works with what you have equipped(if you have a sniper rifle don't run in if you have a shot gun don't hang back etc.) Consider crouching and or leaning to change your player profile, a profile is what an opponent sees when looking at you if you minimize your profile you are a smaller target. The ultimate rule for strategy is all things considered anticipating your enemies movement and having prepared reactions to their dynamic threats.

I personally was predominantly obsessed with reflexes in shooters until I played competitive paintball in college that gave me the necessary perspective to see all the added layers of strategy that is present though not immediately apparent. If you can rent a gun and go to a local field some time with some friends and break down and analyze the experience.

Playing on public servers devolves into running around the map and shooting people in the same locations. It's the same for Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Quake, Battlefield, etc. Competitive play is more engaging but the environment of players tends to be... lame, to put it nicely. Some of the comments above are really over analyzing most FPS games in my opinion. Take a game like Counter-Strike. Once you've memorized the maps you're good to go. Strategy in a competitive environment breaks down to tendencies and that's about it.

Reflexes are what separates great players from the best. I can easily get a 2:1 K/D in CS, Black Ops, BFBC2, Quake, etc. That's about the extent of my skills. If I play against the top tier of talent it becomes obvious very quickly that while I make the same "strategic" decisions my reflexes are not quite that quick.

Meadows wrote:

Did I just hear you call Counter-Strike a "fast paced" shooter? Come here for a spanking.

You cannot play fast paced shooters with a low sensitivity, because they'll rape you before you put the crosshair on them. Try Quake Live for example, all the professionals either use mouse acceleration for rapid maneuvering (and to maintain precision with light mouse movements), or a high(er) sens, or some of them even use both.

Hahaha.. *tail between legs* sorry - It was early when i posted, and CS is the only game I play online! Please forgive me

So yeah, all that advice was for CS. Low sensitivity, big area for your mouse. It's all about the aim, take your time, hit their faces, and try not to spray. The first bullet out the AK is pretty accurate, as is with most guns. Silenced M4 is a favourite of most people.
Again, deathmatch servers are good to practice on, but you may need to be a reasonable level to survive on them, as ppl playing on them are usually half decent. Good luck!
Still not found another game that gives the same feel with the weapons. It is very, very good if you can get into it.

CS is "fast-paced" at the higher tiers of gameplay. It is basically TDM with round-based respawning and hit-scan weapons (M4, AK47, AWP, Desert Eagle and auto-AWP). The same CS players are also capable Quake and UT DM players.


Professional players don't need or use mouse acceleration. They simply train themselves to handle high mouse sensitivity on the fly (ie they can still sharpshoot with hit-scan weapons). That's how you see those feats of snap-headshots and accurately train rapid-fire weapons when buddy-hopping. It takes hundreds of hours to get that point. Most people don't have the time, perseverance and persistence to get that point.

IMHO, top-tier playing is 70% experience/30% skill. It is true that having fast reflexes and excellent eye to hand coordination helps. What makes the difference is understanding the game mechanics, map layout and use them to make split second decisions. That's how some of the top FPS players are still in their 30s and are able to compete against younger players (late teens-early 20s).

Maybe that's why I feel it's fast paced, tend to only play experienced players. And no, never use acceleration. Like i said, its all about aiming quckly and accurately, eventually your reflexes kick in and you can aim with a twitch.

UT2k4, start single player. The game adjusts bot skill slowly from novice to expert levels. Real easy to learn, and an awesome game.

Airmantharp wrote:

blitzy wrote:

hmm I find it the opposite way, I find FPS games really easy and usually dominate without trying but in RTS i only ever do above average - good because im too lazy to do good multitasking. Most FPS games have a slight metagame that once you learn which weapons work, and the maps you can easily get in top scoring if you have half decent aim.

Altho that said, any pro gamer would whoop me sideways as they would with most gamers. I'm more talking about pub gaming, or xbox live etc.

The moment you mention Xbox Live, you lose all credibility . Do not bring a controller to a mouse fight, it's like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

lol, I don't really understand that logic.. xbox live is just as competitive as anywhere else, if anything playing on PC with a mouse is easier. Playing with a control pad has disadvantages that make games interesting, e.g. you have to be more careful of your positioning because you cant turn as quickly to face someone that got behind you. I've never had a problem with either though, and certainly don't want to derail this into a pad vs mouse discussion. I really like playing FPS on PC but don't play it as much due to RSI. Played most FPS games since wolf3d, sadly I'm that old, and probably why I get RSI if I game too much on PC.

Also I'm sure you meant - Do not bring a controller to a mouse fight, it's like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

I sort of skimmed through the topic, so I apologize if I repeat another person's post. When you play online mp, a lot of gamers will be competitive so they turn down the graphics quality to either match or exceed their monitor's refresh rate. If ur getting 45 fps on CS: Source, chances are the other players are getting 150fps @ medium settings under a 1280x720 resolution with at least a 3mb/s internet connection.

There's nothing wrong with just enjoying the single player elements of games. The only time I ever play multiplayer is at a LAN party with people I know, or the few times I jumped on the UT2k4 TR server. Other than that, I just play the single player story and really enjoy myself. You don't have to feel like you are missing something if you are satisfied with the single player portions.

Deijya wrote:

I sort of skimmed through the topic, so I apologize if I repeat another person's post. When you play online mp, a lot of gamers will be competitive so they turn down the graphics quality to either match or exceed their monitor's refresh rate. If ur getting 45 fps on CS: Source, chances are the other players are getting 150fps @ medium settings under a 1280x720 resolution with at least a 3mb/s internet connection.

That's not just for shooters, too. I play SC2 online with medium settings, but if I'm playing single-player stuff (and the campaign is worth playing over and over again) I'll play on Extreme with all the ambient occlusion and whatnot.

Skrying wrote:

Playing on public servers devolves into running around the map and shooting people in the same locations. It's the same for Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Quake, Battlefield, etc. Competitive play is more engaging but the environment of players tends to be... lame, to put it nicely. Some of the comments above are really over analyzing most FPS games in my opinion. Take a game like Counter-Strike. Once you've memorized the maps you're good to go. Strategy in a competitive environment breaks down to tendencies and that's about it.

Reflexes are what separates great players from the best.

Ok well I would argue many points here for many reasons but you statement is loaded with to many accusations I could respond all day. Suffice it to say I disagree. Ignoring spawn killing/dieing these games are predominantly strategic in nature. Reflexes don't matter if you walk into my sights ya know. Many of us play so much we reflexively react to elements that elude many players. Its not so much over anylizing as breaking down how something works. While a game can be played mindlessly to say that good play is mindless or best played without thought is a grave oversimplification and disservice to game design as a whole. Grouping BC2 in with other more actiony shooters also exposes a grave error in your logic since BC2 is in fact a class based game and can be played without shooting similar to TF2.

You don't have enough time in most situations to even think about the choices open to you. Once you've played enough the obvious choice is automatic and it comes down entirely to how quick you execute it. Just talk to a professional athlete. LeBron James isn't the smartest player, but he's smart enough and a athletic freak. The best FPS players are not the smartest, but they're smart enough and have freak reflexes. But hey, go ahead and view it however you want. I'm not into pretending these games are more than they really are.

blitzy wrote:

Airmantharp wrote:

blitzy wrote:

hmm I find it the opposite way, I find FPS games really easy and usually dominate without trying but in RTS i only ever do above average - good because im too lazy to do good multitasking. Most FPS games have a slight metagame that once you learn which weapons work, and the maps you can easily get in top scoring if you have half decent aim.

Altho that said, any pro gamer would whoop me sideways as they would with most gamers. I'm more talking about pub gaming, or xbox live etc.

The moment you mention Xbox Live, you lose all credibility . Do not bring a controller to a mouse fight, it's like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

lol, I don't really understand that logic.. xbox live is just as competitive as anywhere else, if anything playing on PC with a mouse is easier. Playing with a control pad has disadvantages that make games interesting, e.g. you have to be more careful of your positioning because you cant turn as quickly to face someone that got behind you. I've never had a problem with either though, and certainly don't want to derail this into a pad vs mouse discussion. I really like playing FPS on PC but don't play it as much due to RSI. Played most FPS games since wolf3d, sadly I'm that old, and probably why I get RSI if I game too much on PC.

Also I'm sure you meant - Do not bring a controller to a mouse fight, it's like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

console games have a larger pool of more novice players than pc does for sure. They struggle so much with their controls that most players typically forgo strategy and logic. I play frequently on both platforms and I get kills and see players doing things in live that I only rarely witness on pc. #1 player movement in console games online is way way way more basic and predictable. I find that even with the fact that I stink horribly with my gamepad I can step back and out think most opponents in the console space. Its like flanking was never invented for console gamers or something.

Skrying wrote:

You don't have enough time in most situations to even think about the choices open to you. Once you've played enough the obvious choice is automatic and it comes down entirely to how quick you execute it. Just talk to a professional athlete. LeBron James isn't the smartest player, but he's smart enough and a athletic freak. The best FPS players are not the smartest, but they're smart enough and have freak reflexes. But hey, go ahead and view it however you want. I'm not into pretending these games are more than they really are.

Ok well shooting some one in the back seems to win out every time but I could be wrong. I got into the deeper mechanics of how to play a shooter because the OP was asking what do we do to do well. I simply answered his question. I can't discount that reflexes will rack you up kills, they do. You need reflexes for greatness. The thing is he wasn't asking how to make the NBA he wanted to know how to play Basketball ya know. My name comes from running into rooms guns blazzing and racking up kills that way. I've since change tactics in the last 15 years of gaming and come around to a more passive and thoughtful play style. This is why I don't like TDM very much in most games. The day of rocket jumping for the win or nailing the shock rifle combo are kinda behind us with recoil and reloading adding more layers of strategy and tactics to the basic act of pointing and shooting. Counter strike used to feel like a sim and now it feels like the ut of the game world because of how games have changed, especially shooters. You'd be surprised how many people don't take corners or move through environments with any sense of awareness but just wander around looking for targets. to support the argument of shooters as mindless you could simply look to most of the people who I get easy kills off of, they got good reflexes but just meander around, doing great against like minded but ill equipped foes but loosing to the guy that was using the noodle. I like getting through a round of bad company 2 with 2-5 deaths and 20-40 kills(and not always as a sniper I'll play forward positions more often than not) I guess I'm speaking more to the mil-sim shooters or team based games out there but its the way I function. I don't DM in UT as much as I used to.

The reflexes come into play as long as all else is equal. Having played alot of Action Quake 2 against some very skilled opponents make that perfectly clear. On some maps you have limited choices and everything falls through who can actually spot, turn and hit the other first... theres no price for being second. Playing against less skilled opponents I could outsnipe people while them being on lan and I on dialup, and you have to lead quite abit in AQ2 when on dialup and a 120ms difference... a skilled player would be impossible to hit, or rather, it was 50/50 depending on which way he'd turn... because they never went in a predictable maner, bunny jumping was a requirement, not an option, for the ones who wasnt able too, they did from ambushes they didnt even know was there.

Todays games are less prone to perfect twitching since they dont use the same kind of netcode, they often use predictive algoritms... have more scattering on many weapons if you miss with the first single bullet, etc, etc. They are easier for the masses, but sadly, they take away a huge piece of the skill. On the other hand, they place more emphasis on strategy, so all in all, as I get older, its perhaps not such a bad trade after all.