Sunday, 6 November 2011

HALF-LIFE multiplayer guide


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||                          A D V A N C E D                          ||
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||                       M U L T I P L A Y E R                       ||
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||                            G U I D E                              ||
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Hey!! I decided to write this because I have seen a lot of guides 
around the 'net dedicated to Half-Life, but almost none dedicated to 
telling the players how to actually be considered good in multiplayer
(and, yes, I had to learn this on my own, and trust me, it wasn't fun. 
lol). Hopefully, this will help you a bit in your quest to becoming 
"good" at Half-Life and not be labeled a newbie your whole life, or I 
should say your "half-life". :P

Let me start out by telling you that I'm not a hot shot Half Life player.  There are millions of 
players who can beat me anytime.  But since Half Life is the first 3D shoot'em up which I really 
like (no, I don't like Quake) I started playing some deathmatches too.  I first started out as a 
real loser, I got pinned to the wall every single time.  After playing several deathmatches, I 
managed to take a step up from total loser to a 'medium' player.  This guide simply points out how 
I tried to improve myself, there are probably lots of other tactics but these are the ones I used. 
(Anyone who has additional tips can mail them to me any time!)

If you really want to become a Half Life deathmatch hot-shot, I can give but one advice:
practice.  The more you play, the better you get! (And I need a lot of extra practice ;)
SO YOU MUST LEARN TO KEEP YOU EGO ASIDE IN ORDER TO MASTER THE GAME
FOR ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION EMAIL ME AT nirmalvishal1@gmail.com

BEFORE I CAN START
===================
When you play an on-line game (not LAN) the lag might interfere with gameplay.  A latency of
200 and less usu works once you hit the 300 mark or higher half life becomes unplayable (at least
on my computer).  You know: you see another guy standing at the other side of the room and the
next frame you are lying on the ground and he's dancing on your head.  Remember that it's better
to drop a few graphic details (like the decals) to improve speed over the net than to have a lot
of lag (esp. if you want to win).

Are there ways to lower latency? Yes there are!  You can make specific files which make sure
you don't load decals and other stuff which lower latency!  I suggest you look on the internet
for additional info.  There are several files you can download like lowping.zip which are a lot
of help.

THE CONTROLS
==============
First of all I would like to say that you'll have to learn to play the game combining the mouse
and keyboard controls.  Sometimes you see people playing the game on their keyboard only,
crunching their fingers in all kinds of impossible ways.  The combination of mouse and keyboard
is the best and most easy way to play.

Don't use the default controls of half life!  In single player you can do everything at a 
slow, relaxed pace.  In multiplayer, this will get you killed! eg. the 'R' button to reload 
is to far away from your other controls, by the time you have pressed the button, you'll be
perforated with bullets.  These are the controls I use:

Mouse --> to aim
  * Left mouse button: Fire 1
  * Right mouse button: Fire 2
  * Wheel: Scroll through weapons (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - If you don't have a wheel mouse)

Keyboard (AZERTY):
  * Z: Run forward (W for Qwerty)
  * D: Run backwards
  * Q: Strafe left (A for Qwerty)
  * D: Strafe right
  * C: Crawl
  * E: Use Item
  * SPACE: Jump
  * LEFT SHIFT: Reload

The other buttons don't really matter that much, unless you don't have a wheel mouse.  If
you don't have it, the buttons for the selection of your weapons are important too.
Assign quick keys to the weapons you use the most (and that doesn't always have to be the 
gluon gun).

Personally, I don't use the strafe button that much, but it sometimes comes in handy when 
you try to dodge the opponent.  However ... continually jumping and crawling tends to be more 
confusing to the other players than a simple strafe movement, so I prefer this tactic.  
(Although I must admit, that sometimes I simply forget to do it, result --> My head gets blown 
off).
The best thing you can do off course is to combine the 3 tactics: strafing, jumping and
crawling at the same time.  If you can pull this off and still aim you'll be one of the better
players around.

Like I already said, these are the controls I use while playing half life.  If you feel more
comfortable using other controls, use them instead of these.  This is just some advice for
the rookies out there, who haven't considered the use of alternatice keys. 
OK WELL I WILL CONTINUE TO DISCUSS THIS IN THE NEXT POST.....

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= D e A t H m A t C h =
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Half-Life Death Match is defined as regular Half-Life, simply because 
it was the original multiplayer that came with Half-Life. There are 2 
modes of play: "Deathmatch" and "Teamplay". "Deathmatch" is basically a 
free-for-all, where every player is against each other. In a 
"Teamplay" game, there can be teams of players who compete against 
other teams of players. Either way, the goal is to frag (or kill) as 
many of the other players as you can.  

General Tactics
===============
Actually, there is nothing like a 'general tactic' in a game like half life.  Your strategy 
(if you would have any) highly depends on the kind of map you are playing.  eg. it is not wise 
to be camping if you have a large, open map!
Maps
-------
I urge you to explore the map before you go into battle (a tournament). If you don't you'll 
get fried.  Of course, you can't know all the maps, but most half life servers support a range 
of good to excellent maps which will return quite often.  Try to learn the positions which 
might give you an edge over your opponent.

This exploring can be done off-line if you want too but it might be more beneficial to start
playing right away and to experience what good positions are.  Some spots may seem excellent
when you are off-line, but it might turn out otherwisewhen you are on-line, because it's too
obvious or some other reason.  If your ass gets blown off several times, you'll know that it's
a poor spot (believe me)!

It's also important to know where the good guns are on the map.  You don't want to be running
around with your 9mm gun all the time, sooner or later you'll get fragged.  A good gun doesn't
necessarily mean the gluon gun.  This also depends on the map you're playing on.  Long range 
guns might be applied on large, open maps (like crossfire), while short range guns are 
better to use in small, fast paced maps.

If you don't know the map you're playing you should try to remember both of the things
mentioned above (positions, guns) as soon as possible.  Also try to get an advantage by
listening, if you hear someone reloading a gun, you know you should be careful.  Too many
people (including myself) tend to forget about this!  Players tend to be fixed on their screen,
not on the sounds that surrounds them.
Camping
-------------
Camping, in general, isn't a good tactic.  You might snipe a few other players, but as soon as
they know where you are you're fried.  Even worse, they can see you, but you don't see them in
time.  Camping should only be done from dark (preferably higher) positions.  If it isn't dark,
don't start camping, you'll be spotted fairly easy and it only takes a good RPG rocketto take
you out.  Furthermore, camping should only be done if you have the right weapons.  If you don't
have a crossbow or the RPG rocket launcher, camping on a sniping position doesn't have any use!
If you are camping in a small bunker, make sure you have a powerfull short range gun (eg. shot
gun).  If you don't have the appropriate weapons get the hell out of there.  But even if you
have the right weapons and in a dark spot, camping is not advised ... you are a sitting duck.
Keep on moving, the more you move, the harder it is to hit you.

Dodging OR Escaping
----------------------------------
Dodging is another word for acting like a nut.  Which is good since you can't predict what a 
nut is going to do.  What does this actually mean when you are in a multi-player game:

Don't walk/run in straight lines, it's very easy to hit someone if he walks straight, even
snipers can take you out. If you walk, try walking from the left to the right and the other way
around.  This will make it more difficult for snipers to hit you.

When you are in a direct confrontation with someone try to move around.  It's harder for you to
aim too (but that just takes some practice) but the other player will be having difficulties 
hitting you too.  Like I said before you can strafe, but if you really want to be confusing try
jumping around in combination with some crawling.  The first time I saw someone do this, I 
thought he was crazy, but he fragged me before I could even hit him.  This also takes a bit of
practice, not so much for better aim, but rather to "not forget" to do all these crazy things.
I recently started applying this technique and it does work, I die less (which means that the
others don't have as many kills ;)) but I also tend to forget to jump around sometimes, which 
usually results into death.

Techniques
------------------
This sounds fancier than it really is.  What do I mean by techniques?  You probably do know all
the basics of jumping and crawling.  But there are some additional moves that might prove to be
beneficial.

First of all, don't risk your life to get it ... only if it's up for grabs.  Once you have it
try the combination of crawling and jumping.  This will give you a huge boost in terms of speed
... excellent to cross wide, open spaces.

Secondly the famous 'Gauss jump'.  All you need is: a gauss gun and a place to land (but that
doesn't tend to be a problem).  All you have to do is charge the gauss gun, point it to the
ground and release the charge.  You'll be flying high into the air.  This is usefull if there
are maps with high elevations which you want to reach quickly but it can also be applied in 
emergencies (read: dead threatening situations).  Make sure you land on an elevated position,
since you'll lose hit points if you don't.  You can also do this using the rocket launcher, but
this is not advised since it does involve a "health risk" ;).

This takes me to the concept of 'falling'.  In most MP games realistic damage is turned off,
resulting in a loss of 10 HP when you fall.  If this is the case, fall ahead I would say.
10 HP is nothing, especially if you have to go a long way down in open positions (I'm not
talking about tunnels or anything).  You shouldn't worry about the 10 HP because it can cost you
a lot more if you climb down.

Retreating
---------------
I can be pretty short on this one.  If you do have to retreat, always try to walk backwards.  Ok,
there is a chance that you run into a trip mine, but it's pretty low.  Why do you have to run 
backwards?  Simple, to beat the hell out of the person you are running away from.  If you just 
run away, you will be shot in the back.  However if you run backwards there still might be 
chance that you send the guy to fraggy heaven before he whacks you.

Target
----------

target
I mean 2 things by this:

First of all you have to target someone to kill!  This doesn't mean shooting some rounds in the
air, nope you need to aim.  Aim is an important aspect of the game and it isn't easy!  If you
can't aim, you can't kill ... if you can't kill, well ... you get the idea.  Once you can aim 
properly, you can beat anyone.  If you have the chance to hit the competitor in the head,
do so ... he'll get more damage.

Secondly, if you target someone, keep a 'lock' on him.  Don't start shooting multiple targets,
try to concentrate on 1 target, finish him off and then proceed to the next.  If you take on
too many targets at once, the impact will be limited.  Ok, you'll wound the guy, but he can 
heal himself or even worse, it's easier for your competitors to take him out!  This is something
you don't want to do, always go for the kill!

Medical/HEV stations
--------------------------------
Whenever you are using one of these, make sure the area is clear of enemies.  Also when using it
try to face it in a way that you can see a large portion of the field.  Try to avoid turning
your back to the playing field.  But even if you use this technique, these reloading stations
are still dangerous spots.  Only use them if you really need them or when they are at a more
covered spot.

 
hev station
keep u posted soon


THAT'S ALL FOLKS ! MORE TO "COME" ON "WEAPONS GUIDE"
for further information email me at nirmalvishal1@gmail.com