It's been a little while since the last post... over the last week or so however I have been working on and thinking about a Granary tatics article, which I hope to finish soon and publish as soon as it's good enough.
While you're waiting for that here's me playing heavy :-)
See you in Process...
nub
04/09/2012
04/01/2010
Play to practice, not play to win
Whenever you go into a game, have a specific element of your game you will be practicing. I will give some examples of what you might decide to practice so you know what I mean:
- Practice on your focus, i.e. to stay intently focused on the game for the entire 30 minutes, down to the last second
- Aim: as a whole, or you can get really specific, e.g. head into game with the intent to practice your aim under badlands middle
- Movement
- Team-play: as a whole, or specifically practice team-play with your scout partner
- A specific tactic you worked out with your team
- To just relax, have fun and enjoy the game
Playing to practice and playing to win are different things. I think you will progress much better if you go into games with the intent to practice specific elements of your game. I think a lot of people make the mistake of going into game either playing just to win, or with the idea that they can be practicing every part of their game at once.
Now you can build up a picture of where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and turn your practice playing into a much more powerful and beneficial activity.
- Practice on your focus, i.e. to stay intently focused on the game for the entire 30 minutes, down to the last second
- Aim: as a whole, or you can get really specific, e.g. head into game with the intent to practice your aim under badlands middle
- Movement
- Team-play: as a whole, or specifically practice team-play with your scout partner
- A specific tactic you worked out with your team
- To just relax, have fun and enjoy the game
Playing to practice and playing to win are different things. I think you will progress much better if you go into games with the intent to practice specific elements of your game. I think a lot of people make the mistake of going into game either playing just to win, or with the idea that they can be practicing every part of their game at once.
Now you can build up a picture of where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and turn your practice playing into a much more powerful and beneficial activity.
21/12/2009
Being aware of who’s aware of you!
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.
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.
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.
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