I suck @ FPS... Any suggestions for improvement?

[Elif Tymes]

I realize, and have realized, that I suck majorly @ FPS. In UT2k3 I cannot beat team qualifier on the skilled setting. In battlefield 2, my kills to death ration was less than 1, propably near to .5. In Day of Defeat, I would generally get 5-6 kills in an hour or more of playing. In CS, I would get even less.

I'm not a stupid person by any means, I can think quickly and on my feet(I do speech, and was third in my state in debate a couple years ago). I have decent hand eye coordination/muscle control(I play guitar, know how to juggle, etc) My system doesn't lag(Heck, I drop the detail settings to make sure I get 50+frames) And My Razer is an exquisitely responsive mouse(I usually game on 7 out of 10 @ 1600 DPI resolution, which means I have to move it slightly farther, but it's more accurate)

Does anyone know of any drills/etc. to make me a better player? I thought juggling would help... But it doesn't seem to.

[lucasp]

Ping pong helps with the "twitch factor" and concentration.

[azu]

it kinda worked for me..

play some game like ut..

adjust game speed to higher than your normal one..

play. if you can get HS with lightning gun at those speeds
im sure you'll win every lan :D

you'll be going.. jeezz im going soo slow [play cod 2 :D]

as for me? i like my 800 DPI mouse. fits my hand perfectly. its generic and gets the job done. my fire buttons are left click and mouse wheel down for games like cs. cuz if i have an lcd. i play 1280x1024.. heads from far away show up clearly.. i play with the smallest cross hairs.. kinda make them go through there and hit fire or scroll down.

don't spray..

always click :D

[Elif Tymes]

I do play ping pong, forgot about that. I'm halfway decent, but no where near phenomenal. Maybe I'll start practicing that more.

As for higher game speed, I've tried that. Many times. What I did for UT2k4 was started on "Masterfull" and played until I couldn't beat the map(basically, right after the first one :-p)

Then I dropped down to the level below masterfull and played until I got stuck on that skill level. After that, I switched back to the masterfull one and tried to beat the level I got stuck on. If I couldn't beat it still, I dropped down to the level below the level below masterfull(adept I think) and would play that until I got stuck. then I'd play the one before masterfull and generally, I could beat that map.

The problem is, I plateued. I am no longer improving, I rarely(if ever) get any sort of headshots, with lightning gun or without. I play @ 1440*900 resolution(because of my monitor) whenever possible, so it's not like the people are too small to see.

Garrr, I just can't hit the darn baddies.

[Goateh]

There are some aim maps that are availabel for games like CS.
I used to have the problem in CS and games like that, my suggestion would be to just power through it an keep on practicing. In UT you could try putting the bots on a setting that you can beat just to keep the aim right, keep doing it until it becomes somewhat of a reflex action.

Another thing to do would be to get ahold of some demos from people that play better, or just spectate them. Find out what they do that gives them a bit of the edge, it could just be that they play crazy amounts of the game.

My 2c.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

here's how i became proficient............play UT instagib for about a year. that will hone your twitching skills.

btw i play CS:S now as toyishONE! if anyone ever sees me, not to brag, but i don't know anyone who has a scout like mine ;)

my biggest love of all time is Soldier of Fortune 2, or sof2. i played it for about 3 years, most of it competitively. i think it was the greatest "pure" shooter out there with realistic guns.

[EL_BaRTO]

Assuming you play CS, one simple way: practice, practice, practice. This concept also applies to most FPS games. PRACTICE. Also some tweaking network settings (for multiplayer gaming). Try to play on aim maps to get you use to aiming and shooting a specific weapon. Again, practice. Once you get comfortable and good, transition to normal maps (tournament maps, I suggest). Again play and practice over and over again. Part of being "good" in fps is skills, but also knowing the map (to develop strats and techniques). I'm not the best, but I'm decent, and what I did above greatly helped me to play better. Well that's my advice :cool: .

[Herr Rogers]

I've never heard of "exercises" to make you good at FPS. It may sound nerdy, but some people are just born good at FPSs, and no matter how much you practice, you will never be as good. Just practice....

[two_dope2000]

Herr Rogers has a point some people are just born to play fps, so theres nothing left to do but play FPS.

OK enough fps doug qouting, In bf2 i get around 50-60 points a round, UT2k4 i always seem to have the flag, and ive never had my ass handed to me in the original UT, which is where it all started, which brings me to my point. Play the original UT with all bots, i basically learned everything i know from that game. Also, theres two kinds of FPS, tactical (Americas army, BF2) and then theres just point and spray (CS, CSS, UT). I'm more on the tactical side, but i love a good round of insta-gib. :D

[mage_x]

stop playing several games and stick to just one you want to be good at. practice several hours (5+) per day, and don't just play, actively try to make yourself better. don't expect single player UT to make you any good.

[Herr Rogers]

Herr Rogers has a point some people are just born to play fps, so theres nothing left to do but play FPS.

OK enough fps doug qouting, In bf2 i get around 50-60 points a round, UT2k4 i always seem to have the flag, and ive never had my ass handed to me in the original UT, which is where it all started, which brings me to my point. Play the original UT with all bots, i basically learned everything i know from that game. Also, theres two kinds of FPS, tactical (Americas army, BF2) and then theres just point and spray (CS, CSS, UT). I'm more on the tactical side, but i love a good round of insta-gib. :D

CSS and CS are so tactical it's not even funny. They are still fast paced, but there's definately a "game-plan" present whenever you play. The maps are a bit too big to be called point and spray. Change that to Quake and UT. I'm insulted! :D

[AZNBoiOnFIYA]

at least youre willing to admit youre not that good at fps's. there are just some cases where you cannot beat the people who play 8-12hrs a day, but if you keep practicing im sure youll get better. another thing, try to enjoy a game. having fun isnt always about having the most kills. on the off chance that you wont get any better you could always switch to rpg's.

[two_dope2000]

CSS and CS are so tactical it's not even funny. They are still fast paced, but there's definately a "game-plan" present whenever you play. The maps are a bit too big to be called point and spray. Change that to Quake and UT. I'm insulted! :D


Ill admit i havent sat down and played cs or css for a period of time, although i own (meaning i BOUGHT them) them both, lol. Everytime i try to get on a server, i get my as handed to me in seconds, maybe its just the servers im trying but i didnt see anything tactical about it :S. And dont diss single player UT, i wasnt joking when i said everything i know is from that game, we still LAN it every week. Im gunna have to stick by what Herr rogers said about "being born to play FPS", everyone has thier preference on game genres, be that as it may, you might not be good at it. Just have fun and dont cheat.

[mcoleg]

Elif, try to find some instagib games online. i'm sure ut23k has some... it's pretty much the best practice for shooting.

analyze certain things and ask yourself some questions, like for example:

re-examine your mouse - could it be the mouse acceleration is on in windows? or sensitivity is too high for you? are you using your wrist to move the mouse or the whole hand moves? start with removing mouse accel. alltogether (see razerblueprints) and lowering the sensitivity to where you make a perfect 180 with a good twich of a wrist. that's your median. go lower if you want but don't go higher till you get the shots down pat.

figure out what sort of shooter you are - reflex or method. method ones calculate the shots several in advance and usually play with lower sensitivity; they move the mouse as one would when playing a puzzle; they compensate the shots by strafing as well as by moving a mouse. reflex shooters do less thinking but respond better in unexpected situations, they play with higher sensitivity more often than not; they go for mouse shot compensation most times.

tweak your games - i know you want them to look pretty but there are certain requirements to be met in order to improve your play. look up good settings for whatever game you are playing and don't be afraid to drop the resolution or graphics quality a bit in order to reach desired fps. you wouldn't believe how easy it is to shoot ppl in css when you are sitting on 100 fps solid (that means you have to bench at least 150 in video test).

another thing i might advise is to follow your crosshair. you know how all those swat guys always look over the muzzle and don't look around? sort of like that. what you see is what you can shoot at. if you look at someone or something, aim at it. you'll become conciously aware of where you are aiming at and not just a general direction but, say, the parts of the body. the more details you soak in, the better.

so, the very simple drills, if you want them:

do 180 turn to whatever side you feel more comfortable. mark where you aim when you stop
do 90 turn, both right and left. the same
follow your crosshair (pay some attention to the vertical position of your crooshair, it very much depends on the game where you should concentrate the aim but for now just don't let it droop or go above the heads.)

this is very basic but it does help though.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

very good advice, but i just wanted to say, its impossible to get 100fps solid in cs:s with current hardware.

[Yuriman]

There are 2 major componants of being a good FPS player, shooting people and not getting shot. :p

I'm a lefty, and play on a right handed mouse, so I have a slight disadvantage when it comes to hitting people, but I am better than most because I sit back from the game, and look at how someone plays, and then decide how best to avoid getting hit by them. Some people tend to swing out to their right more, or aim too far ahead of you, watch for these things and use them to your advantage.

For your own shooting, find out what you do most to miss people, and keep that in mind as you play. For me, I tend to overshoot, and overcompensate for movement, but I accel in vertical combat. I also do better in long range combat than close.

Also, take your time, and find a sensativity that you are very comfortable with. I mean, spend a good deal of time playing at each sensativity, adjusting up and down, and watching how it effects your score. Sometimes, it will "feel" better but you will play worse.

For reaction time, there is nothing better than UT instagib.

[mcoleg]

nice points, Yuriman

hUMANbEATbOX, i have no problem doing it on most maps with my dothan box

[SolidxSnake]

I've never heard of "exercises" to make you good at FPS. It may sound nerdy, but some people are just born good at FPSs, and no matter how much you practice, you will never be as good. Just practice....


I started out on CS better than most pubbers today (in my expirience)

and i'm only 14 :p

but yeah, FPS, you start out either good or bad, and then you raise your skill level by practice and adjusting the game settings and configuration to your liking.

[Wiggles]

Elif, try to find some instagib games online. i'm sure ut23k has some... it's pretty much the best practice for shooting.

analyze certain things and ask yourself some questions, like for example:

re-examine your mouse - could it be the mouse acceleration is on in windows? or sensitivity is too high for you? are you using your wrist to move the mouse or the whole hand moves? start with removing mouse accel. alltogether (see razerblueprints) and lowering the sensitivity to where you make a perfect 180 with a good twich of a wrist. that's your median. go lower if you want but don't go higher till you get the shots down pat.

figure out what sort of shooter you are - reflex or method. method ones calculate the shots several in advance and usually play with lower sensitivity; they move the mouse as one would when playing a puzzle; they compensate the shots by strafing as well as by moving a mouse. reflex shooters do less thinking but respond better in unexpected situations, they play with higher sensitivity more often than not; they go for mouse shot compensation most times.

tweak your games - i know you want them to look pretty but there are certain requirements to be met in order to improve your play. look up good settings for whatever game you are playing and don't be afraid to drop the resolution or graphics quality a bit in order to reach desired fps. you wouldn't believe how easy it is to shoot ppl in css when you are sitting on 100 fps solid (that means you have to bench at least 150 in video test).

another thing i might advise is to follow your crosshair. you know how all those swat guys always look over the muzzle and don't look around? sort of like that. what you see is what you can shoot at. if you look at someone or something, aim at it. you'll become conciously aware of where you are aiming at and not just a general direction but, say, the parts of the body. the more details you soak in, the better.

so, the very simple drills, if you want them:

do 180 turn to whatever side you feel more comfortable. mark where you aim when you stop
do 90 turn, both right and left. the same
follow your crosshair (pay some attention to the vertical position of your crooshair, it very much depends on the game where you should concentrate the aim but for now just don't let it droop or go above the heads.)

this is very basic but it does help though.

Damn good advice. :thumbup:

Take note of the looking and aiming advice. I always have my crosshair pointed at what I'm looking at.

Though, over the past few days, I have caught myself taking in some of the nice imagery in HL2 (looking at the screen as a whole), and getting shot from behind or something. Sweet game btw. I never knew what I was missing until now.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

nice points, Yuriman

hUMANbEATbOX, i have no problem doing it on most maps with my dothan box

while i wish i could believe you, i find it hard to believe. no offense, but people with 3ghz fx57's and sli gtx's don't even get 100fps solid. although i would love for you to prove me wrong. you could make a short vid playing in say a 20 person server, pick any non-custom map, and make sure you run everywhere on the map. i guarantee you will see 60fps at some point in time.

[mcoleg]

http://www.webuysoft.com/cssvidtest.JPG

this is the best i can do on a short notice. in-game fps is capped at 99, doesn't go bellow -15 droop on most maps.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

i never really understood the built in stress test, as it in no way shape or form reflect in game play for any source games.

even on my rig, i spend much of my time in game over 100fps, but i drop all the way down to 30 at times, and i bet you do too (well, maybe 35). i've heard lots of people say they get massive frame drops, even on top end equipment.

i'm not trying to argue or anything, its just if anyone reads what you said about 100+fps solid (meaning all the time), they might wonder why they aren't getting similar numbers.

[mcoleg]

hUMANbEATbOX, if you look at my settings, you'd see that it's kept pretty low so the high loads don't affect my setup as much as it might some other ppl; the cfg is pretty tweaked as well. also, i think i misspoke - it's 99 fps solid on most maps, since it's capped, with an average -15 droop from that 99 on heavier load. i am sure there's a bigger droop on certain maps and in certain situations but the average stands.

i think that's the last we should speak of this, if you don't mind - the thread is about helping Elif, so...

[hUMANbEATbOX]

haha, sorry if i offended you! no harm meant!

to get this back on topic, one of the biggest mistakes i see new players make in FPS is running around looking at the ground. this goes well with the "aim at everything you look at" theory. always keep your x-hairs at head level when running around corners!

[LegolasElf]

Here's an idea, play FPS games as a form of entertainment, not as something serious, that way you reduce the pressure you apply on yourself so you can play more smooth. Video games aren't everything in life, they are absolutely nothing, useless time wasters in my oppinion.

[mcoleg]

no, no offence man.

interesting point about looking down - i remember i had to try hard to re-train ppl who come to instagib from reg. weapons clans - they'd always look a bit down to save fps when strafe running and thus loosing on aiming time. (q3a-based games). new players do misjudge the level aim in most games though; or m/b they try not to fall down or something :P

[Careface]

don't expect single player UT to make you any good.

I have to disagree with this point. having playes FPS' since i was about 4 (when DOOM first came out in '93) playing offline is fine. Infact, I could even go so far as to say that it was better than online DOOM, as humans tend to make mistakes (obviously).

Though being on the topic of UT, when i first got ut at the end of '99, I didnt have decent/prolonged access to the internet, so I made do with bots. Eventually, yes, I did outgrow bots, getting godlikes on godlike bots, passing godlike tournament mode without dieing etc etc, but even during my late UT days (after I realised 2k3 totally sucked.. i mean what was up with the weapon switch?? it was aweful) that certain bots (not naming names, Loque) was still a challenge to have a deathless victory on a 1v1 dm with IG.. his reflexes are friggin leet, and will certainly keep you on your toes..

Of course, as other people are saying, it all boils down to practice.. practice practice practice until you out grow a certain skill level, or whatever. But remember of course, that anything is practice. you will never master the game, there is no such thing. Remember, even if you can get 30frags on godlike bots in a minute, try doing it in 50seconds :D theres ALWAYS something to keep you advancing in skill.

Most people think that online is better, well.. yes, i kinda can see their point of view, but if you were just go online as a total noob, not only is it not fun, its not even really good practice. Start off easy (novice bots) then grow better and better and get upto higher skill levels, THEN go online with a decent knowledge of the game, and then you will find that you start to get better a lot quicker.. its like chemistry, being online is a catalyst, only it only works under certain conditions (like having base skill to start off with)

Anyway im ranting, you probably see my point now, and you probably even disagree, but hey im not worried. its how I learned, its how Ive been playing FPSs for 12years, and its still what I will continue to do (though not with UT, as i have already got the "base skill" lol.. I should hope so too, after how long ive played it for!)

Careface*

[zexmarquies01]

someone above mentioned America's Army...

use that!

in the beginning, you HAVE to qualify with weapons to unlock them. Which is target practice, and shooting things as they pop up. and keep doing that. Do that with regular weapons, pistols, and the sniper. Its built to make you learn to shoot fast, and accurate. try to get to the point where you unlocked the sniper. Takes a while, and CAN be difficult for some. But remember, you are human. the reason humans are around is that we can adapt to nearly ANYTHING. and that includes video games.

Or you could always bust out the old NES, and play some duck-hunt! (man...that sounds REALLY tempting too!)

[tom10167]

Single player UT was a joke, other FPS no, but UT on regular difficulty was disgusting.

[Goateh]

I think the underlying point that people are trying to point out in this case would be that practice is the major way to imporve your game :)

[dfonda]

Well first off don't go postal! I use electrodes attached to my behind, they give me an electrical shock each time my character takes a hit.. You become better very fast. or you could use a cheat code. :p

Sorry its been a long day. :)

[Elif Tymes]

Wow :) Lots of good advice here :)

I followed a bit of it(I think I have my mouse settings tweaked) and started up a game of UT2k3, me vs. a "hardcore" bot(Kleshk, or whaver his name is, hardcore difficulty :-p) on a small map with rail guns(The one where there is one bridge in the middle, two sort of bridges on the outside, and then two wall like bridge things on the outside of those... Can't remember it's exact name)

Anyways, I didn't do so hot the first 5-10 minutes. I beat the bot(barely! 20-18 or so) and decided to move up to nightmare. Got my bum handed to me (4-20!).

Anyway, my objective for that session was to get better with aiming, so I exclusively used the rail gun(unless, of course, I didn't have it)

Anyway, some highlights:

Saw enemy drop down on one of those jump things, as soon as he came back up one shotted him w/rail gun.

One other time, I hit the jump, noticed I flew past the enemy, rotated down and fired my rocket(no rail gun at the time)

One shot KO :).

So, it was pretty neat, I did some cool stuff(I thought :-p) and I think I saw some improvement(Hey! I wasn't dead the entire game!! WOW!)

[hUMANbEATbOX]

keep playing those bots, but you gotta learn people. the sooner you do that the better.

in ut2k3 look for TDM (Team Deathmatch) or CTF (capture the flag) servers that are running instagib. that way you spawn with buddies, you can feel safe for a bit, run with the team, try to pick ppl off.

[Elif Tymes]

Yea, I'll need to reinstall UT2K3... My dad killed the HDD it was on(was merging partitions with partition magic, and he decides that since I'm not home, and my laptop is on, it must not be doing anything so he just shuts it off by holding the power button :-p)

So, it's Q3 for a while,b ecause that was on my C: instead of my G and I actually have the patches:-p.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

o i thought u said you had just played ut2k3 sorry.

ya find some tdm server in q3. i would say instagib again, that's the only one that will improve your aim in such a way that you can transfer those skills to another game (unless its quake4).

[Stavros]

This is going to sound nerdy, but me and my cousin were hell-bent on not getting put out in a local Halo 2 Tournament. So, what did we do? For 2 weeks straight we played Halo 2 Campaign Co-Op on Legendary. I ended up placing third and my cousin ended up taking first. I think he's a little more naturally skilled at FPS than I am.

The moral: (as stated before) Practice. This will help you get reasonably good at first person shooters, but to become an overall better player you must face different styles of playing and adapt. Adaptation (IMO) is key to becoming a better gamer.

Mentality. Don't let another player get in your head. If you get stressed take a half hour/hour away from the game and cool off. I know it helps me. I'm not worth beans when I'm aggrivated.

Play on the hardest setting. It seems to me you've plateaued and aren't going to get any better if you just play the difficulty that you're awesome at. If you play the hardest setting and just keep at it, it forces you to adapt to that difficulty and sooner or later you'll get better. (that's my cousin and I got good at Halo 2, but that was like last summer, so I'm not that great at Halo 2 anymore). Just keep plugging away at it and you'll develop the reaction time.

[squads]

please lets not talk about Halo...everyone in this forum knows that fps is played with a mouse and keyboard. Halo plays so incredibly slow i can't stand it.

But yea I played UT instagib 135 speed for several years and my aim got sick. I went to CS and found that the pump shotty was my best gun because I could react so quickly and basically kill in one shot (if close enough). I got the hang of pretty much all of the guns eventually and can use them effectively.

[zexmarquies01]

also like people was saying, raising up the speed really high helps ALOT! you get used to super speed, once you play again, it feels slow, and you can then cause major PWNAGE.

i used to play the hell out of Super Smash Brother's Melee on the Gamecube. I was doing pretty decent. but had trouble agenst my friend. i started playing agenst level 9 computers on lightning mode.

i found that fighting FOX on level 9 in lightning mode was HARD. but after doing that for a small ammount of time, till i could beat fox. I went back to normal mode and fought my friend...

i PWNED him. he barly touched me at all! he never even killed me once. I told him what i did, and he laughed. Realized it was a good idea.

sadly though, i outgrew lightning mode...and its still to slow for me. my ( and one of my other friends ) reaction speed is still MUCH faster than what lightning mode can give in that game.

so yeah, try tricks like that. they actually do help. but practice is what it takes for aiming correctly.

[wa77ss]

I learned to play FPS's with Rainbow Six Three on xbox live. That game is slower than most but the shooting has to be so exact its either you are good or bad, its hit or miss. In my opinion it is one of the best games to learn on regardless if its played with a controller. One of the best things you can do is learn to shoot single bullets at a time but very fast. It can be very difficult at first but once you get it you will be very good, because your aim doesnt need to be all that good, it only takes one bullet on most games = ). Also, even when playing games that are less tactical than others, its very helpful to learn how to duck and lean even when you are in the open, this helps a lot because most folks go for the headshot and its not easy to hit a head moving very fast in different motions. Lastly I would say that its good to know the maps very well, this helps a lot in tactics, unsuspected rushes can lead to a mutli kill round when they are not expecting it. Good luck !!!

[Elif Tymes]

Yea, he literally just killed it:-p. Was playing QIII, not UT2K3... I'm getting patches, etc. now and should have them downloaded.

I didn't even know you could adjust speed. I'm definately going to keep playing QIII on a more difficult setting(maybe someday I'll be ble to actually shoot the bots! lol!) and propably work more on UT2K3 and speed it up as fast as I can(any hints how to do this?)

[Beginner]

elif

welcome to my world

but i'll up the anty, i suck at EVERY game. alot of helpful posts here on how to hone my skills, thanks guys

[DDR-PIII]

nice points, Yuriman

hUMANbEATbOX, i have no problem doing it on most maps with my dothan box

what gfx are you running ?

[mcoleg]

6800gt, 256mb

[TheGreySpectre]

fps>high gfx

just practice mainly

[ps2cho]

someone above mentioned America's Army...

use that!

in the beginning, you HAVE to qualify with weapons to unlock them. Which is target practice, and shooting things as they pop up. and keep doing that. Do that with regular weapons, pistols, and the sniper. Its built to make you learn to shoot fast, and accurate. try to get to the point where you unlocked the sniper. Takes a while, and CAN be difficult for some. But remember, you are human. the reason humans are around is that we can adapt to nearly ANYTHING. and that includes video games.

Or you could always bust out the old NES, and play some duck-hunt! (man...that sounds REALLY tempting too!)

The game is too realistic for every other game out. This will not improve your accuracy or reactions whatsoever. Sorry buddy :-/ AA is a slow game, CS, UT and almost every other FPS game out is fast paced and you have less than 1 second to make splitting decisions.

On match days, so im warmed up i find the best way is to firstly join a public server and play about 10 rounds regardless of score, then leave, join a different public for 10 rounds, leave and join one last server for 10 rounds.
You have now played 30rounds with different skill levels. At this point i finish up with 15rounds on aim_ak-colt to perfect aim and the rest is adrenaline for the match :)

Just keep playin and you'll get it.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

you've go the energy for a match after 45 straight rounds? my eyes would be bleeding....

[Roofles]

I have a program on my computer that trains mouse accuracy and response. I forget the name, but if anyone else has it hopefully my description will help someone else find it til I get back to my house to check for you. But essentially its a game where targets move toward and away from you and vary in size as they do this, then once you progress through the levels they spawn faster and faster. You lose once too many targets have made one complete cycle (ie all the way forward and all the way back). Your score is determined on how many targets you hit, and how many you missed. So you get a higher score by being more accurate, it gets really fast fairly quick and will help out straight reaction time and accuracy greatly.

A side note, It sounds like you are erring to the side of deathmatch type games. I note this because in CS 1.6 you can make up for not being the best shot with rediculous strats or teamwork. But of course aim helps out a lot. Also knowing the map helps out a ton when playing any game, knowing where people are most likely to hide, and the like.

Complete side note, get a good set up for 3D sound. You have no idea how much of a benefit that is in FPS games because without seeing your opponent you have a good idea of where they are and can react much faster that way.

[Seven]

Again, it depends on the game you are playing.

For UT series games...the weapons generally have good accuracy (i'm talking about the railgun), and as a result it's easy to just point and shoot. Where the technique comes from is being able to know what's coming.

Honestly, I got good playing Tribes 2 way way back when. Imagine UT, except people have jetpacks, and it's possible to midair people...that's how I got good. I got used to the physics of the game, and after that it was easy to do stuff like midairs.

For games like the battlefield series, at first I noticed that I really sucked (I mean going like 0-20 for a full round). Why? Well I thought that the machine gun and the grenade launcher were cool, so I struggled to use them right. However, when I switched to a more balanced weapon loadout (assault rifle/grenades), my kill ratio soared.

[YellowDart]

I'm actually surprised that nobody's mentioned map knowlege. You can have subpar aim and play against an opponent with uncanny-good aim... but if you know the map and your enemy doesn't, you'll win more often than not. As people have said, practice practice practice. Practice does make your aim better, and it also gives you time to learn your maps. Once you get those 2 things down, you'll be a killing machine.

*edit*

Also, if the game you're playing has hand grenades, get good at using them. Learn how to be accurate with a throw and any subsequent bounces. Learn to read where your opponent is going. Learn to get access to your nades quickly.

[jaredavidporter]

Wut i did on ut2k4 when i first played it was put it on skilled then when i got to the point where it was very easy for me i bumped up the bot level. I would suggest to play online though, people online are more challenging then bots and the thing about playing against people is that they are unpredictable. So my advice to you is if ur starting off new try what i said. I did that and im a pretty good player(if playing on inhuman is good i guess :shrug: ) and i do average online.

[rogerdugans]

I pretty much suck too.
But I also don't give a rat's backside. :D
I have a blast anyway.

That's the important part to me- having fun while gaming.

I don't consider it a race, or a career or anything that really amounts to anything at all- just a few hours of fun now and then.

[joethemole]

its about strats man.. i suck and can't get hs for nothing in CS, yet i'm always like 15-3 cause i've played so much i know all the tricks. and the best trick is to know where to look for enemies, then wait for them to come to you. i call it mobile camping. It works, try it.

[1cem4n]

my advice is to start a local server for yourself and then add like 15 bots on normal. when you can beat that everytime, you can bump up the difficulty.

-1cem4n

[White Runner]

How bout a game with good hitboxes?

Duck Hunt FTW!!!!!