When you are moving into a new area, pushing the last point on Granary for example, take in who is aware of your presence. Sometimes you can come in on the opposite side of the main team a few seconds after they push, and no one will notice you come in because they are so occupied with the push on the other side. If this happens it is going to change how you play considerably, compared to if you’re spotted right away and the opposition is prepared for your approach.
If I come in and haven’t been spotted (e.g. Soldiers are pre-occupied), that is a great time to try and jump on the Medic and force uber early/take him out. If on the other hand the enemy soldiers are aware of you, jumping straight at the Medic would be a decidedly bad idea.
That is just one highly simplified example of how being aware of who is aware of YOU, can and should influence your play. Just take a second to look around you and take in who’s spotted you and who hasn’t.
I would be genuinely interested to hear some comments back on this one. Is this something you do all the time anyway? You tried it and you do, or maybe you don’t find it opens up any opportunities you didn’t see before?
I wish a happy Christmas and New Year to all,
nub out.
21/12/2009
10/12/2009
Sometimes you’re useless
I see many players who have a certain restlessness, an idea or feeling they should be doing something all the time. On Granary capture point four for example, when your team is building uber getting ready to push last. It’s at these times I see scouts taking unnecessary risks like peeking round corners or checking the top entrance to last which is just a death trap. In these kind of situations peeking round corners can sometimes gain you a quick kill, but more often than not it’s a quick kill for the other team. That isn’t to say you should totally change your game and become a passive player, sometimes doing something a little risky like taking out the player who comes too close can help change the game.
As scouts we are fast, agile, cap double speed and have the ability to deal a lot of damage. This means we’re capable of seizing opportunities no other class can. An opening the opposing team leave when pushing we can take advantage of, get behind and win an entire round singlehandedly. But to take advantage of opportunities like this we have to be alive!
There is no hard fast rule for when you should or should not just sit and wait patiently, as with everything it’s ultimately situational. Nevertheless, I believe you can really improve your game if at certain times you learn to accept the fact you are useless, and focus on staying safe and alive. You can then be comfortable in the knowledge that in thirty seconds from now a beautiful opportunity will likely present itself to you and you will be alive and ready to seize it – rather than dead and looking on helplessly as your re-spawn timer counts down.
It’s something to think on at least.
As scouts we are fast, agile, cap double speed and have the ability to deal a lot of damage. This means we’re capable of seizing opportunities no other class can. An opening the opposing team leave when pushing we can take advantage of, get behind and win an entire round singlehandedly. But to take advantage of opportunities like this we have to be alive!
There is no hard fast rule for when you should or should not just sit and wait patiently, as with everything it’s ultimately situational. Nevertheless, I believe you can really improve your game if at certain times you learn to accept the fact you are useless, and focus on staying safe and alive. You can then be comfortable in the knowledge that in thirty seconds from now a beautiful opportunity will likely present itself to you and you will be alive and ready to seize it – rather than dead and looking on helplessly as your re-spawn timer counts down.
It’s something to think on at least.
23/07/2009
Sensitivity?
Talking about sensitivity always seems to spark a big debate where some people inevitably lose their cool and others start talking total nonsense. I am going to impart what advice I can give about sensitivity from my own experience, take from it what you will.
What I would call high sensitivity would be anything up to about 12 cm/360 degrees. I would say medium sensitivity was anything from around 12 cm/360 degrees to about 25 cm/360 degrees. Low sensitivity then would be around 25 cm/360 degrees to infinity and beyond. When I played UT2004 I knew players who used 70 cm/360 degrees (they were good), and until about a month ago I used 48 cm/360 degrees.
The bottom line and most important thing to realise about sensitivity is it really is purely personal preference. There are going to be advantages and disadvantages with using different sensitivities, but any disadvantages are potentially irrelevant if your play-style or technique accommodates for them. You can potentially be the best in the world with 5 cm/360 or 100 cm/360.
I made the switch from resting the base of my wrist on the mouse-mat to holding my arm in the air and aiming from the arm in the air. This was done as I lowered my sensitivity, as you can’t really move the mouse well across 20 cm of mouse-mat if your wrist is resting on the pad. The really low sensitivity of 48 cm/360 gave me really fantastic control in the horizontal axis, for scout duels and battles on flat ground like a lot of granary it was great.
I used 48 cm/360 for a long period of time, many months. I eventually switched up to 36 cm/360. Still being a low sensitivity it felt good and gave me the control I wanted, but it gave me some extra manoeuvrability when I needed to aim quickly in the vertical axis like around the badlands spire.
Maybe no sensitivity is better than any other per se. But possibly there is a better sensitivity for you personally. It is possible that as you evolve as a player you may need to change sensitivity to adapt your mouse control to your play style.
What I would call high sensitivity would be anything up to about 12 cm/360 degrees. I would say medium sensitivity was anything from around 12 cm/360 degrees to about 25 cm/360 degrees. Low sensitivity then would be around 25 cm/360 degrees to infinity and beyond. When I played UT2004 I knew players who used 70 cm/360 degrees (they were good), and until about a month ago I used 48 cm/360 degrees.
The bottom line and most important thing to realise about sensitivity is it really is purely personal preference. There are going to be advantages and disadvantages with using different sensitivities, but any disadvantages are potentially irrelevant if your play-style or technique accommodates for them. You can potentially be the best in the world with 5 cm/360 or 100 cm/360.
I made the switch from resting the base of my wrist on the mouse-mat to holding my arm in the air and aiming from the arm in the air. This was done as I lowered my sensitivity, as you can’t really move the mouse well across 20 cm of mouse-mat if your wrist is resting on the pad. The really low sensitivity of 48 cm/360 gave me really fantastic control in the horizontal axis, for scout duels and battles on flat ground like a lot of granary it was great.
I used 48 cm/360 for a long period of time, many months. I eventually switched up to 36 cm/360. Still being a low sensitivity it felt good and gave me the control I wanted, but it gave me some extra manoeuvrability when I needed to aim quickly in the vertical axis like around the badlands spire.
Maybe no sensitivity is better than any other per se. But possibly there is a better sensitivity for you personally. It is possible that as you evolve as a player you may need to change sensitivity to adapt your mouse control to your play style.
11/07/2009
Low LOD / Picmip Hack for TF2
With mat_picmip highest value limited to 2 on match servers, you need to force the settings for DirectX using either RivaTuner or ATI Tray Tools (For NVIDIA and ATI cards respectively).
WARNING: Don't mess with these applications, they are powerful tools which if not used properly can damage your hardware. I don't take any responsibility for you messing your graphics card up! As long as you stick to these tutorials you will be fine.
Once this has completed you will get to the main RivaTuner screen.
Next, click the power user tab.
Then expand the "RivaTuner \ NVIDIA \ Global" menu. Enter a value in "LODBiasRange" of 15.
Go back to the main tab. Then click on the little arrow Under "Driver Settings" next to whe it says "ForceWare detected." Click on the directX Symbol to open a new window (Pink in screenshot below).
In the new window, adjust the slider to where you want it. Put it on 0 to turn off any changes (Application will decide the LOD). 15 will be worst textures.
WARNING: Don't mess with these applications, they are powerful tools which if not used properly can damage your hardware. I don't take any responsibility for you messing your graphics card up! As long as you stick to these tutorials you will be fine.
RivaTuner Tutorial (NVIDIA GPUs)
Step 1 - Download RivaTuner
RivaTuner DownloadStep 2 - Install RivaTuner
Usual procedure, extracts to somewhere like your desktop. Then browse to the setup file and follow the wizard.Step 3 - Set up RivaTuner
First time you run the program you will have to wait for it sort itself out.Once this has completed you will get to the main RivaTuner screen.
Next, click the power user tab.
Then expand the "RivaTuner \ NVIDIA \ Global" menu. Enter a value in "LODBiasRange" of 15.
Go back to the main tab. Then click on the little arrow Under "Driver Settings" next to whe it says "ForceWare detected." Click on the directX Symbol to open a new window (Pink in screenshot below).
In the new window, adjust the slider to where you want it. Put it on 0 to turn off any changes (Application will decide the LOD). 15 will be worst textures.
ATI Tools Tutorial (ATI GPUs)
(Thanks to "apy" from the ETF2L forums for this tutorial)Step 1 - Download ATI Tools
ATI Tools DownloadStep 2 - Go to settings from Tray Icon
Step 3 - Adjust LOD
Go to the "Additional" Tab and then adjust the LOD slider as desired.
10/07/2009
07/07/2009
Badlands Tactics
Approaching Badlands Mid Point
When attacking middle badlands there are quite a lot of options, and the way to play it can be quite dynamic so it will be hard to describe exactly what to do, but I will talk about it and do my best.
What I will do is break it down into four main entry points, and describe how to play each of them with the benefits and disadvantages.
Shithouse
One of my favourite ways to approach middle is from the shithouse. When I go this way I don’t drop out of the hole, instead I go past the spire and up behind the train (green arrow on the screenshot). The first important thing about going to the shithouse is being careful for an enemy scout coming straight to you. If you play it right, in my experience this is easy enough to deal with as long as there is only one scout who comes, if two scouts come aggressive to your shithouse you are going to have a hard time until the soldiers arrive.
If a scout has come to the shithouse that is going to be your focus for a short while. It is usually pretty quick and easy to determine if scouts are coming or not, as they usually come pretty fast or you will spot they have gone straight on the point instead. As you are in the defensible position you should be able to damage him pretty good, I usually don’t worry about killing the scout who comes, just force him to back off then move on (and get healing if needed). Because coming to your shithouse is quite far out he isn’t going to be able to get healing very easily, so the enemy team is going to be a player down for a while, and usually badlands middle is decided pretty quickly.
The next priority is going to be to walk along the left side of the train and look towards the enemy canyon. It is a common aggressive tactic for the soldiers to come with the medic this way, and you spotting this early and calling it for your team is really important. If you see this is what the enemy team is doing you are going to want to stay cool and relaxed, try and dodge and spam that comes and do your best to prevent the soldiers jumping up on your train. If you can knock a soldier back down, do-able with the Scattergun and easier with the Force-a-Nature, the chances of you winning the point are going to be much higher as it buys you time for your soldiers to get out.
If no scouts are coming, and no heavy classes are coming aggressive from canyon, you are going to want to move on up the left side of the train towards the point. If there are players on the point then you can try and damage them as much as possible. If the point is quite free the best thing is to move up and try and prevent players from coming onto the point, the badlands middle is really heavily based around who can take positioning fastest. Killing the enemy players isn’t that important, you should be damaging the enemy heavily and making sure they can’t move up towards the point while your team does. You can dance around on the point and avoid damage while dishing it out in good quantities
To Canyon (Underneath point)
My favourite way of approaching mid badlands is having one scout by the shithouse as described above, and the other heading to underneath the point. These are the two ways for a scout to quickly get to your medic and screw you up in no time.
The theory of how you play the underneath is essentially the same as by the shithouse. The idea is to lock down the enemy scout or anyone who is trying to come aggressive from underneath, and then move on. If one scout comes underneath for you, just relax, play defensive and let him come too close so one of your soldiers rockets him in the face (make sure to call it). Else, just stay defensive and outplay him, keep him at bay with good shots! As long as he is the aggressive one let him walk into your shots, and send him packing back to resupply.
If two scouts come at you aggressively underneath, you are going to play as defensive as you possibly can and maybe even fall back a bit towards the house until you can get some help. Make sure to call straight away if two scouts come underneath. If you use my tactic and send your scout partner to the shithouse he can either drop behind the scouts to help you, or go really aggressive on point.
You don’t want to sit underneath the point for ever, of course. If the whole enemy team goes aggressive on point and you're just sitting underneath being useless, that's no good. Exactly when to leave the underneath of the point and go help elsewhere, there is no rule, just experience. If you go too early you risk a scout who was biding his time coming as soon as you leave. If you wait underneath for too long doing nothing, your team are going to struggle.
If you go underneath and it’s pretty quiet, or you’ve just sent an enemy scout running back with his tail between his legs - it’s time to move on. What options do you have now? You could rush up the enemy side from underneath: this is a risky option, but if they don’t spot you coming you can potentially do a LOT of damage. Alternatively you can rush the enemy shithouse, which is again risky but can be potentially very damaging.
Another option is to go on point, you can get up quite nicely by jumping on the rock [screenshot below] and then onto point. Going on point means dealing out as much damage as you can, while dancing around as much as possible. Use the rock and the trains and all these height levels to your advantage, dance about between them being a distraction and avoiding damage.
Straight to Point
Heading on point, you will most likely want both you and your scout partner to go together.
If you’re going to be slow there isn’t any point in trying to get straight on point, as the demo will have Stickies prepared and the enemy scouts will have the positional advantage with you moving into them.
Going straight on point you'll probably meet the enemy scouts, being a bit aggressive on the scouts might send them back. You shouldn't stick around on point too long as the soldiers will emerge soon enough and the demo will probably be on you. I also wouldn't move up past their train, as you are just asking for trouble.
Pushing Second
Pushing second is a game of jumping on and off the spire while the enemy Demoman is suppressed. If the demoman is down this point is usually a cinch, as he is the only class who can really damage you without jumping to the point.
A good tactic is to send one scout up to the spire, have him get capping. The other scout sits back with the medic and watches the left for scouts coming behind [screenshot below]. When you get low on the point you can drop back for healing and your scout partner can go up, alternatively you can just assign one to watch left and one to try and cap. If one of you dies it’s probably best to send one of you onto the spire leaving left open, make sure to call this to your team so they know no one is watching behind any more.
If you are on the spire, it shouldn't be too hard to knock soldiers back down, avoiding their rockets at the same time is trickier and involves some luck too. You should also be able to knock scouts down pretty consistently too if they try and jump to the point from the balcony. It can be hard to get enough of a meatshot to stop them from reaching the point though.
This is an alternative tactic to just having two scouts holding in the house / holding the enemy canyon. I personally find having two scouts sitting there kind of useless, particularly when it only takes one good scout with the resupply to hold two of you back. BUT if you find yourself getting backcapped by two scouts on middle by a particular team, I suggest you send the scout who is holding the left INTO the house where he can watch the enemy canyon / resupply. He can then fall back if two scouts rush, but you will have an early warning of scouts going to middle.
Get out for a backcap when defending last
When defending last on badlands, a good option is to get out behind the team. I wouldn’t recommend trying to get two scouts out, as if something goes wrong losing both your scouts is 'gg.'
What I do is keep running around and peeking on different exits, waiting for a gap in the enemy team where you may be able to sneak out. I find the most common way of being able to sneak out is through “main.” If you hang around main constantly checking if anyone is looking from the top of the stairs, staying buffed from your medic as you’re likely to get hit by some spam, an opportunity is likely to arise. As soon as you see no one is looking you can run straight down main then out the main door (You can hide behind the barrels too)
It is a bit of a gamble whether or not there is going to be anyone checking the lobby or not, if you are quick and sneaky I personally find I have a high success rate of getting out if you time it right. One of the biggest problems is enemy players who have just re-spawned or are just about to spawn. If you know a player has re-spawned recently the chances are you are going to run into him in the lobby or as you come out of the lobby, so just keep an eye on the scoreboard to see who’s alive or not.
The real purpose behind this is to camp, stay totally hidden near/on the spire until the enemy team pushes in. If you can make it out undetected and sit on the far side of the spire, get your team to call when the enemy team is pushing in. Make certain your team call they are really pushing in, not just spamming round corners a bit but actually coming in with uber and looking to commit. It is at this precise moment that you want to start capping the spire.
When the enemy team is pushing in like this, people are shouting in comms, there are rockets and stickies going off and it’s pretty loud. Chances are it will take them a few moments to even realise you’re back capping; it’s also the moment they are furthest away from the spire.
This is not to be done when the enemy team has an uber advantage! The perfect time to do this is when you know both teams are charging ubers and it's pretty even, it's at these moments when there isn't a lot you can do as scout other than cover entrances.
How easily and where you can get out will vary from team to team and game to game, you may find one team always seems to have someone watching main (either from the stairs or from the lobby. If this is the case, maybe that team doesn't watch the bottom left very well, and you could sneak out that way.
What else to do defending last?
Going for the backcap again and again and again is stupid. If the team is any good they will wise up to it, and counter you by keeping players near the spire to catch you.
If it's an uber versus uber situation, you are going to want to try and stay alive if you can. Scouts are really valuable for pushing out to the spire, that is pretty much the only way you are going to take second back. If you die, by the time you respawn the enemy team will be back in.
While you are staying alive like good little scouts should, one of your main focuses of attention should be on the enemy scouts. I'm sure all of you have experienced enemy scouts rushing in from bottom left, or even from main! And then capping the point before anyone can jump on it. Try and prevent this from happening by watching these entrances where scouts can sneak in and ninja the point.
I hope you found this helpful. See you in badlands, peace...
nub
18/06/2009
Demo of Force-a-Nature usage on Badlands
Hey people,
Here is a game I played on badlands using the FaN. I think I made use of the weapon particularly well and made some quite creative play with it. I think you will find this demo quite interesting to watch.
Download the Demo here
Hope you find it useful, and please leave some feedback in the comments!
Peace,
nub
Here is a game I played on badlands using the FaN. I think I made use of the weapon particularly well and made some quite creative play with it. I think you will find this demo quite interesting to watch.
Download the Demo here
Hope you find it useful, and please leave some feedback in the comments!
Peace,
nub
19/05/2009
Some thoughts on play
Routine and the unknown
We build up an understanding of the game through experience. We repeat the same actions many times, and by doing so we build up a picture of how we predict events to unfold, and what is the best/most efficient route or position. This is an extremely useful tool, because of it we learn the best strategies, the best player positions and the best build orders in games like Warcraft 3. It is because of this that we can see mirror Starcraft players having units and buildings in perfect symmetry even minutes into the game.
Despite the importance of this part of the way we learn, we have to understand its limitations too. It is easy to fall into the trap of being caught out by more unexpected or creative play when we are just doing our normal routine. We can use the fact people create routines and the standard way of doing things defensively and offensively. Defensively: to learn about and improve ourselves and our play. Offensively: to take advantage of our opponent’s routines.
I will give an example. There was a time when we were playing Weapons of the Rebellion, the map was badlands and we were pushing last point. Both Player Thirty-Two and I had died, and we re-spawned at the same time on the middle point. I ran out slightly ahead of P32, my mind was not on what was happening and I was just bunny hopping away waiting until we arrived inside the enemy base. As I jumped into the enemy house on the way to the canyon, I suddenly got damaged, and then I was dead before I realised. Seconds later Player Thirty-Two was dead too trusting me not to make an error. What had happened was that Predz had somehow got behind, and decided to camp there.
My fatal mistake was assuming that I “knew everything.” There was no reason, no expectation that someone could be anywhere near by when I had just re-spawned on mid, and that clearly incorrect assumption put my team in a horrendously bad position: no scouts alive with an enemy scout behind – not good! It is important to understand why we have routines, that there are always more and less efficient ways of doing things. But it is highly important that we don’t get limited by what we already know, and always remember that no matter how good we are or how much better we are than our opponents there is always the unknown, always something to learn. And always leave room for a touch of creativity!
Overconfidence
I often find that when people pull off a nice manoeuvre such as a good kill or some other kind of good play, they become more likely to make a mistake in their following actions. They become overconfident in their actions, and they are more likely to take risks beyond what is sensible for “good play.” It is standard that as one grows in experience this part of you is tempered, but this kind of overconfidence may still exist in some ways.
An example of what I mean. I remember a time where I was at the enemy canyon on badlands, and two enemy scouts were there. I managed to pull off a double kill getting both of them, which is a considerable feat even versus less skilled scouts. My next action was to rush straight to last point and try and take on 4 players by myself. The result is nothing but halving the advantage my team has, I have just put us up a 2 player advantage, and because of my arrogance I quickly halved that to only a 1 man advantage.
Just a tip to keep an eye on your play. Watch yourself, and make sure you are making good decisions, not brash ones based on your mad lust for frags!
04/05/2009
Demos from Monday night
Hey!
So tonight I think I played really well, and had some really nice games versus these two great teams. If any of you are interested in watching the matches, the download links are from speedyshare.com, which is the best upload website I have encountered. The best games to watch are probably Game1 (Gravelpit versus Clan00) and Game3 (Well versus YoYoTech).
The least interesting demo is probably the turbine game, although if you are playing engineer yourself on this map it might be useful to you, and I do kill 3 players as an ubered engineer ^^!
Game1 | Gravelpit vs Clan00 | Download
Game2 | Turbine vs Clan00 | Download
(I am playing Engineer for most of Turbine)
Game3 | Well vs YoYoTech | Download
(People had problems watching this demo, like resolution change, be warned!)
Game4 | Gravelpit vs YoYoTech | Download
Until soon...
Peace,
nub
So tonight I think I played really well, and had some really nice games versus these two great teams. If any of you are interested in watching the matches, the download links are from speedyshare.com, which is the best upload website I have encountered. The best games to watch are probably Game1 (Gravelpit versus Clan00) and Game3 (Well versus YoYoTech).
The least interesting demo is probably the turbine game, although if you are playing engineer yourself on this map it might be useful to you, and I do kill 3 players as an ubered engineer ^^!
Game1 | Gravelpit vs Clan00 | Download
Game2 | Turbine vs Clan00 | Download
(I am playing Engineer for most of Turbine)
Game3 | Well vs YoYoTech | Download
(People had problems watching this demo, like resolution change, be warned!)
Game4 | Gravelpit vs YoYoTech | Download
Until soon...
Peace,
nub
30/04/2009
m0re's FPS configs
I have been really busy this last week, so apologies for the fact I haven’t had any time to write up any content for you all. But fear not, I will try and get something up soon.
I will also use this opportunity to quickly tell you quickly about m0re’s configuration files. I am sure a lot of you have some kind of FPS config, but if you haven’t heard about m0re’s configs then I recommend you have a look. I find they have the perfect balance of settings to fit my tastes, m0re has a really unbelievably good knowledge of the settings.
He has a high and a highhigh version of his configs, I personally use the highhigh version but with mat_filtertextures set to 1 to turn off the pixilation effect you get (although if you are really struggling for FPS this will give a considerable boost). Also make sure to edit some the settings in the file such as FOV, sensitivity and HUD elements to how you want them. There is also a nice custom HUD which he has developed so you can check that out too if you are interested, you can find his website here, and I have added a permanent link to his site in the links box on the right.
Peace,
nub
I will also use this opportunity to quickly tell you quickly about m0re’s configuration files. I am sure a lot of you have some kind of FPS config, but if you haven’t heard about m0re’s configs then I recommend you have a look. I find they have the perfect balance of settings to fit my tastes, m0re has a really unbelievably good knowledge of the settings.
He has a high and a highhigh version of his configs, I personally use the highhigh version but with mat_filtertextures set to 1 to turn off the pixilation effect you get (although if you are really struggling for FPS this will give a considerable boost). Also make sure to edit some the settings in the file such as FOV, sensitivity and HUD elements to how you want them. There is also a nice custom HUD which he has developed so you can check that out too if you are interested, you can find his website here, and I have added a permanent link to his site in the links box on the right.
Peace,
nub
22/04/2009
Map skills, TF2 Mentor Project
Before I get started I have one important thing to say, I want to make a really big shout-out to the guys at the TF2 Mentor Project who can be found here. Kind volunteers from the community sign up to help out lower skilled teams by imparting their knowledge and helping out with tactics etc. I would also like to say to my fellow div 1 and 2 players if you have any spare time to help out with this project you may be able to help out lower div teams more than you realise.
I have a lot of good things planned for the future guys, so when I have the time I hope I can get some really good stuff posted up here. For today though I am going to cover a small topic, but one of high importance: moving around maps and the different “jumps” available to scouts.
I often take the time to run around a map by myself, just jumping on things without any real purpose, just experimenting and seeing what I can find. I find running around an empty map like this helps open my mind to new jumps and new ways of doing things.
It's easy to get into a routine where I get stuck doing the same stuff: the same few key jumps I use each time, the same routes I take etc. This is bad for a few reasons: one it stops me being creative and approaching things from a new perspective, and secondly I end up becoming predictable for the enemy team.
Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly that spending time on some empty map practice is a silly or useless exercise. For example, something which has happened to me far too many times...
I have a soldier right in my face and I am just about to make a neat jump to avoid his rocket, up I go towards a little ledge where safety awaits me and then hopefully a fast retreat. As I climb through the air in what feels like slow motion, I suddenly begin to realise I’m not going to make it, and I slide back down onto the floor just in time to meet his rocket, damn. Making a neat unexpected jump can often buy you a couple of seconds, sometimes this will enable you to escape, at other times those two seconds will allow you to finish off an enemy medic who would have otherwise survived and could change the outcome of the round.
Other than just running around experimenting on empty maps, another purpose for being there is to practice and perfect specific jumps. I will now go over a few of my favourite jumps, some you may not know and some will be classics that everyone should know...
I will start off with an essential one, from my last post lots of people got back to me asking how to make this jump:
The trick in making this particular jump is hitting the rock on the right at the correct moment when crouched. You double jump off the ramp, not right at the top, but as you have just begun to run down it. Then you want to hit the rock and slide round onto the roof. This jump can be quite tricky, I spent quite a bit of time not understanding how to make it until I got it down consistently.
The next jump relates to my last post as well, being as it is another essential gravelpit one:
The key to making this jump is not trying to jump onto the actual wooden platform: what we are aiming for is the little wooden block which slightly extends from the side (I shoot at it with my pistol at about 10 sec in the video). Once you know that it should be a simple matter of practicing for a little while until you make it, you can easily refer to the video and watch how I do it again if you have any problems.
This jump here is without a doubt the hardest jump I know, and one probably the least number of people will know:
I really can't say how to make this jump, as I can't make it consistently. To be confident at a jump I would say I would want to be able to make it 19 times out of 20 at least. If anyone can pull this jump out in a clan war and make a kill or escape because of it definately let me know and I may post it up here on the blog.
OK, this next jump isn't such an interesting one, but it is a very important one:
To get onto the crate is easy, just make sure you are jumping off of the capture point itself as it's up higher than the floor. Then making it from the crate to the balcony is the hard part. It involves jumping as late as possible, jumping forward and twisting up right on the first jump so you are looking at where we want to be. Then crouch jumping to the ledge on the second.
This next jump is relatively well known now, but I had to put it in because I just love it. I also must shamefacedly admit that it took me ages to get this one perfected:
Practical uses for this jump? Well, it may be harder nowadays because it is so well known, and now I have posted it here it will be even better known. A while back I used to use it when defending: I would go straight to A before the round started and get up top and camp there as the enemy team capped A beneath me. Once they had finished capping and began walking off towards B I would jump off the roof and go for a medic kill. It was surprisingly effective, and even if the medic didn't die I would force uber.
This next one is another of my favourites, again posting it here is going to reduce it's effectiveness, but I hope the ones I have shown you will inspire you to find new and less known jumps ;]
I don't often use this jump, but the times I have used it I have caused even very high skilled players to become extremely confused. I then proceed to do absolutely no good at all because I always laugh too much to be able to aim anymore ;D
Alright people, that is it from me today, I hope you enjoyed this post.
Peace,
nub
I have a lot of good things planned for the future guys, so when I have the time I hope I can get some really good stuff posted up here. For today though I am going to cover a small topic, but one of high importance: moving around maps and the different “jumps” available to scouts.
I often take the time to run around a map by myself, just jumping on things without any real purpose, just experimenting and seeing what I can find. I find running around an empty map like this helps open my mind to new jumps and new ways of doing things.
It's easy to get into a routine where I get stuck doing the same stuff: the same few key jumps I use each time, the same routes I take etc. This is bad for a few reasons: one it stops me being creative and approaching things from a new perspective, and secondly I end up becoming predictable for the enemy team.
Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly that spending time on some empty map practice is a silly or useless exercise. For example, something which has happened to me far too many times...
I have a soldier right in my face and I am just about to make a neat jump to avoid his rocket, up I go towards a little ledge where safety awaits me and then hopefully a fast retreat. As I climb through the air in what feels like slow motion, I suddenly begin to realise I’m not going to make it, and I slide back down onto the floor just in time to meet his rocket, damn. Making a neat unexpected jump can often buy you a couple of seconds, sometimes this will enable you to escape, at other times those two seconds will allow you to finish off an enemy medic who would have otherwise survived and could change the outcome of the round.
Other than just running around experimenting on empty maps, another purpose for being there is to practice and perfect specific jumps. I will now go over a few of my favourite jumps, some you may not know and some will be classics that everyone should know...
I will start off with an essential one, from my last post lots of people got back to me asking how to make this jump:
The trick in making this particular jump is hitting the rock on the right at the correct moment when crouched. You double jump off the ramp, not right at the top, but as you have just begun to run down it. Then you want to hit the rock and slide round onto the roof. This jump can be quite tricky, I spent quite a bit of time not understanding how to make it until I got it down consistently.
The next jump relates to my last post as well, being as it is another essential gravelpit one:
The key to making this jump is not trying to jump onto the actual wooden platform: what we are aiming for is the little wooden block which slightly extends from the side (I shoot at it with my pistol at about 10 sec in the video). Once you know that it should be a simple matter of practicing for a little while until you make it, you can easily refer to the video and watch how I do it again if you have any problems.
This jump here is without a doubt the hardest jump I know, and one probably the least number of people will know:
I really can't say how to make this jump, as I can't make it consistently. To be confident at a jump I would say I would want to be able to make it 19 times out of 20 at least. If anyone can pull this jump out in a clan war and make a kill or escape because of it definately let me know and I may post it up here on the blog.
OK, this next jump isn't such an interesting one, but it is a very important one:
To get onto the crate is easy, just make sure you are jumping off of the capture point itself as it's up higher than the floor. Then making it from the crate to the balcony is the hard part. It involves jumping as late as possible, jumping forward and twisting up right on the first jump so you are looking at where we want to be. Then crouch jumping to the ledge on the second.
This next jump is relatively well known now, but I had to put it in because I just love it. I also must shamefacedly admit that it took me ages to get this one perfected:
Practical uses for this jump? Well, it may be harder nowadays because it is so well known, and now I have posted it here it will be even better known. A while back I used to use it when defending: I would go straight to A before the round started and get up top and camp there as the enemy team capped A beneath me. Once they had finished capping and began walking off towards B I would jump off the roof and go for a medic kill. It was surprisingly effective, and even if the medic didn't die I would force uber.
This next one is another of my favourites, again posting it here is going to reduce it's effectiveness, but I hope the ones I have shown you will inspire you to find new and less known jumps ;]
I don't often use this jump, but the times I have used it I have caused even very high skilled players to become extremely confused. I then proceed to do absolutely no good at all because I always laugh too much to be able to aim anymore ;D
Alright people, that is it from me today, I hope you enjoyed this post.
Peace,
nub
12/04/2009
Intro and Gravelpit
I thought it would be nice to help some people by imparting some of my experience, and in the process give me a chance to think about my own game and try to understand why I make some of the decisions I do. I am starting off by giving a quick overview of scout tactics on Gravelpit. I chose this map to begin with specifically because this map can be really strange for scouts. Sometimes I feel utterly useless on the map, but at other times I feel the map can really give our class some special opportunities. I will give some basic and relatively standard tactics, with my most important aim being to try and explain why we make certain decisions as I think just giving out instructions for people to follow is useless.
Coming from C is particularly good when the enemy team has a sentry on the ramp, which is a very cookie cutter position [Shown below].
The benefits of coming from C opposed to other routes I will now discuss. Coming from the right side of B spawn is of course suicide, you won’t be able to get out of the tunnel until the sentry has been destroyed. Coming from the left of B spawn or from the A-B connector is a more viable option, but you are still fighting against a team who has high ground (soldier on the roof, the house just by the connector [the left house in screenshot below]). Your visibility is also rather restricted coming this way: the wooden palisades and the house narrow down your view considerably.
With these things factored in, coming from C seems like the best option a lot of the time. When coming in from C though, it is important not to rush in, if you aren’t sure where the sentry is don’t be caught off guard and come rushing in to meet a sentry behind the house, placed towards C or anywhere else unexpected. Check out the video below as an example of what may be the unexpected (This same sentry spot was used by Dignitas in their UKESA game vs Crack Clan):
You have two entrances to choose from coming from C: the left and the right, always be aware for cleverly placed sticky traps exiting either of these doors. If the sentry is placed behind the house going left is going to be useless until it is taken down.
Going right you can get on the roof quickly, this is a viable option, but is highly dependent on the enemy team not spotting you until you have got up there. If it is timed right, when the rest of your team is pushing in, it is possible to get up on the roof without the enemy team noticing or being able to react to it in time to stop you. When up on the roof you have a lot of options, don’t underestimate how much damage you can do from up there. Soldiers will find it difficult to deal with you; even if they jump you can knock them down again a lot of the time. Not only the damage but the pressure you create from up on the roof combined with your heavy classes pushing should overwhelm the enemy quickly. The demoman will most likely be the most able class to deal damage to you up on the roof throwing sticky bombs up there, or even hitting you with a nade... >.<
Most teams have their entire team behind the house, coming from the right means you will face less spam, which can be useful depending on what you are doing.
Coming from the left C entrance means you will get spotted right away by their team behind the house, but this doesn’t matter and is actually desirable if we are playing it right. Our positioning up on the left with our team pressuring around the rock area means we have tactical and psychological advantage over the enemy team: our positioning means their weak players can’t fall back towards us without risking being picked off by us. Also being pushed from two sides like this creates a lot of stress and can panic teams which can cause them to make bad decisions, having to pay attention to the front and back at the same time will inevitably lead to looking the wrong way at some point.
OK, so attacking C gives us five ways of entering the point area. If it is played right, with good decision making and timing, I think this area can really be a nice arena to play in as a scout.
There are many height levels; there is the ground, the first level where most of the entrances are at, the second level coming up to the point and the point itself. What is special about this area opposed to many areas is that the players up top aren’t always at the advantage. The area lends a lot of cover, like the two walkways which extend to the first level of the tower, which means we aren’t at the mercy of soldiers above us firing rockets down at us.
You can use your speed and double jump to really enjoy a high level of survivability; all the while you should be trying to deal large amounts of damage and confuse the enemy team by “disappearing” with some clever movement and jumps.
If you are walking up to the point, and you come across a heavy or a demo in your face, you can easily just get a shot off as you jump off. For other classes jumping off the point means taking much longer, or taking damage from sticky/rocket jumps to get back up. This is not the case for us scouts, so use it to your advantage and disappear if a healthy soldier is in your face, and look for someone with low health or someone who hasn’t seen you and is vulnerable to a full shot in the back.
I can’t emphasise enough that you need to stay alive when attacking this point. As a scout you are one of the most important classes when attacking C because of your double jump and x2 when capping the point. Like I have said, you really don’t want to be rushing heavy classes and getting yourself into trouble, just play it safe and stay alive until a good opportunity arises e.g. your team calls a weak player who has fallen down.
It is quite common to run a sniper when attacking C, particularly when the enemy team is running a heavy. If the sniper is taking the place of one of you scouts then it can be a nice option to sit round a corner behind the sniper and wait, there is a high probability the enemy team will send one of their scouts to kill the sniper, so you can be ready to surprise and take out the scout who rushed your sniper.
The timing of your entrance into this point can be one of two ways. Your two scouts can go in ahead of the team, cause a distraction so the rest of the team can uber in when the enemy is “looking the other way.” If you are going in first like this then it is best to go in a different way from the main team so as many players as possible won’t notice the uber until as late as possible.
The other way to time your entrance is the complete opposite. Enter the point area after the main team has ubered in, so you can get in undetected and pick off any players who are weak or have fallen off the point. It is quite common for the enemy team to run a sniper who will sit by the spawn; this may be a good opportunity to rush him also. When doing this type of attack, the bottom entrance [video below] is going to be your friend. If the enemy team isn’t allocating the resources to cover this area (it can be quite hard to spot because of the walkway just above this exit) you can slip in unseen and position yourself somewhere unexpected.
I hope some of you scouts out there will find this useful. Hopefully it will have given you some new ideas, and make you think about your game.
Feel free to leave comments and feedback, if I get a good response and feel like people found this useful then I will continue posting about all things scout.
Also special thanks to Player Thirty-Two, Renegade26 and Scary for their help with this post.
Peace,
nub
Attacking B
Coming from C is particularly good when the enemy team has a sentry on the ramp, which is a very cookie cutter position [Shown below].
The benefits of coming from C opposed to other routes I will now discuss. Coming from the right side of B spawn is of course suicide, you won’t be able to get out of the tunnel until the sentry has been destroyed. Coming from the left of B spawn or from the A-B connector is a more viable option, but you are still fighting against a team who has high ground (soldier on the roof, the house just by the connector [the left house in screenshot below]). Your visibility is also rather restricted coming this way: the wooden palisades and the house narrow down your view considerably.
With these things factored in, coming from C seems like the best option a lot of the time. When coming in from C though, it is important not to rush in, if you aren’t sure where the sentry is don’t be caught off guard and come rushing in to meet a sentry behind the house, placed towards C or anywhere else unexpected. Check out the video below as an example of what may be the unexpected (This same sentry spot was used by Dignitas in their UKESA game vs Crack Clan):
You have two entrances to choose from coming from C: the left and the right, always be aware for cleverly placed sticky traps exiting either of these doors. If the sentry is placed behind the house going left is going to be useless until it is taken down.
Going right you can get on the roof quickly, this is a viable option, but is highly dependent on the enemy team not spotting you until you have got up there. If it is timed right, when the rest of your team is pushing in, it is possible to get up on the roof without the enemy team noticing or being able to react to it in time to stop you. When up on the roof you have a lot of options, don’t underestimate how much damage you can do from up there. Soldiers will find it difficult to deal with you; even if they jump you can knock them down again a lot of the time. Not only the damage but the pressure you create from up on the roof combined with your heavy classes pushing should overwhelm the enemy quickly. The demoman will most likely be the most able class to deal damage to you up on the roof throwing sticky bombs up there, or even hitting you with a nade... >.<
Most teams have their entire team behind the house, coming from the right means you will face less spam, which can be useful depending on what you are doing.
Coming from the left C entrance means you will get spotted right away by their team behind the house, but this doesn’t matter and is actually desirable if we are playing it right. Our positioning up on the left with our team pressuring around the rock area means we have tactical and psychological advantage over the enemy team: our positioning means their weak players can’t fall back towards us without risking being picked off by us. Also being pushed from two sides like this creates a lot of stress and can panic teams which can cause them to make bad decisions, having to pay attention to the front and back at the same time will inevitably lead to looking the wrong way at some point.
Attacking C
OK, so attacking C gives us five ways of entering the point area. If it is played right, with good decision making and timing, I think this area can really be a nice arena to play in as a scout.
There are many height levels; there is the ground, the first level where most of the entrances are at, the second level coming up to the point and the point itself. What is special about this area opposed to many areas is that the players up top aren’t always at the advantage. The area lends a lot of cover, like the two walkways which extend to the first level of the tower, which means we aren’t at the mercy of soldiers above us firing rockets down at us.
You can use your speed and double jump to really enjoy a high level of survivability; all the while you should be trying to deal large amounts of damage and confuse the enemy team by “disappearing” with some clever movement and jumps.
If you are walking up to the point, and you come across a heavy or a demo in your face, you can easily just get a shot off as you jump off. For other classes jumping off the point means taking much longer, or taking damage from sticky/rocket jumps to get back up. This is not the case for us scouts, so use it to your advantage and disappear if a healthy soldier is in your face, and look for someone with low health or someone who hasn’t seen you and is vulnerable to a full shot in the back.
I can’t emphasise enough that you need to stay alive when attacking this point. As a scout you are one of the most important classes when attacking C because of your double jump and x2 when capping the point. Like I have said, you really don’t want to be rushing heavy classes and getting yourself into trouble, just play it safe and stay alive until a good opportunity arises e.g. your team calls a weak player who has fallen down.
It is quite common to run a sniper when attacking C, particularly when the enemy team is running a heavy. If the sniper is taking the place of one of you scouts then it can be a nice option to sit round a corner behind the sniper and wait, there is a high probability the enemy team will send one of their scouts to kill the sniper, so you can be ready to surprise and take out the scout who rushed your sniper.
The timing of your entrance into this point can be one of two ways. Your two scouts can go in ahead of the team, cause a distraction so the rest of the team can uber in when the enemy is “looking the other way.” If you are going in first like this then it is best to go in a different way from the main team so as many players as possible won’t notice the uber until as late as possible.
The other way to time your entrance is the complete opposite. Enter the point area after the main team has ubered in, so you can get in undetected and pick off any players who are weak or have fallen off the point. It is quite common for the enemy team to run a sniper who will sit by the spawn; this may be a good opportunity to rush him also. When doing this type of attack, the bottom entrance [video below] is going to be your friend. If the enemy team isn’t allocating the resources to cover this area (it can be quite hard to spot because of the walkway just above this exit) you can slip in unseen and position yourself somewhere unexpected.
I hope some of you scouts out there will find this useful. Hopefully it will have given you some new ideas, and make you think about your game.
Feel free to leave comments and feedback, if I get a good response and feel like people found this useful then I will continue posting about all things scout.
Also special thanks to Player Thirty-Two, Renegade26 and Scary for their help with this post.
Peace,
nub
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