Monday, January 26, 2004
TDM - the bane of my fun
After regaining my balance, opening my eyes and finishing my bacon sarnie on Sunday, I decided it would be a good idea to play some Q3. I saw there were a few peeps on my server, but when I joined it seemed that some prankster had changed it from Free For All to Team Deathmatch. I’ve never really played TDM, unless you count CTF, so I thought I’d give it a go.
The rules are pretty much as you expect – just like FFA but you have a red and blue team. The team that racks up the fraglimit first wins. It was kinda fun for a bit, but I do enjoy my FFA, so I went elsewhere.
Later on I saw that nobody was on my server, so I restarted it with its usual FFA settings. After just half an hour I went back to it and the same prankster, who I now know to be HTP-PhantomFreak (a good player) had set it to TDM again. I then noticed that there were two HTP members against NastyHoodlum. He was on his own, so who was I to stand at the sidelines to see him get pummelled?!
I dived in there and managed to help out a bit, but they were so far ahead that we didn’t really stand a chance of catching up. In the next game we showed them “the way of the Nasty” and whooped their asses good and proper.
But on a couple of occasions I couldn’t help thinking I wasn’t having as much fun – and here’s why: I was accused of wallhacking and using an aimbot. It was only light-hearted and not very serious, but it was a claim all the same, and it tainted what was quite a fun game. There must have been a reason for the other player to suggest it, and that reason was not that he thought I was cheating. The reason was clearly that he was frustrated at not being in the lead. And it was truly HTP v Nasty – almost like a set clan war that happened by chance.
This led me to realise what I have always guessed: serious team matches are not what I am about. The day I start getting serious on Q3 is the day I stop playing, and from yesterday’s episode I know that at least I know how to see it coming so I can avoid it.
But it was nice to kick ass!
After regaining my balance, opening my eyes and finishing my bacon sarnie on Sunday, I decided it would be a good idea to play some Q3. I saw there were a few peeps on my server, but when I joined it seemed that some prankster had changed it from Free For All to Team Deathmatch. I’ve never really played TDM, unless you count CTF, so I thought I’d give it a go.
The rules are pretty much as you expect – just like FFA but you have a red and blue team. The team that racks up the fraglimit first wins. It was kinda fun for a bit, but I do enjoy my FFA, so I went elsewhere.
Later on I saw that nobody was on my server, so I restarted it with its usual FFA settings. After just half an hour I went back to it and the same prankster, who I now know to be HTP-PhantomFreak (a good player) had set it to TDM again. I then noticed that there were two HTP members against NastyHoodlum. He was on his own, so who was I to stand at the sidelines to see him get pummelled?!
I dived in there and managed to help out a bit, but they were so far ahead that we didn’t really stand a chance of catching up. In the next game we showed them “the way of the Nasty” and whooped their asses good and proper.
But on a couple of occasions I couldn’t help thinking I wasn’t having as much fun – and here’s why: I was accused of wallhacking and using an aimbot. It was only light-hearted and not very serious, but it was a claim all the same, and it tainted what was quite a fun game. There must have been a reason for the other player to suggest it, and that reason was not that he thought I was cheating. The reason was clearly that he was frustrated at not being in the lead. And it was truly HTP v Nasty – almost like a set clan war that happened by chance.
This led me to realise what I have always guessed: serious team matches are not what I am about. The day I start getting serious on Q3 is the day I stop playing, and from yesterday’s episode I know that at least I know how to see it coming so I can avoid it.
But it was nice to kick ass!
Wimmin Again. Lads, despair not!
Further to my previous post on the welcome influx of female Q3 players, I need to vent a *little* bit of frustration about those females that choose not to play Q3. Instead, they make it their aim in life to make their other halves (e.g. me, Hoodlum, etc) bear the brunt of their misery when we do so much as even look at the computer.
This should be familiar to you: “You’re playing THAT HORRIBLE game again aren’t you! Now I’ve had to put the dishes away/take trash outside/vacuum the hallway/enter your chore here, ALL ON MY OWN”, etc. These adorable ladies want us to sit beside them and watch soul-destroying DIY and reality TV programmes. The thing is, even when we do help with the dishes, ironing, trash, etc, we get yelled at for doing it wrong anyway!
So I have made a few more observations…
If I have to spend 2 hours fixing a computer virus or system crash, I get “Wow, thanks for fixing it, you’re great, have a cup of tea”, or if I get a flat tyre and spend 20 minutes changing it and then get a new one fitted, “that’s great, you’re really helpful”. Note that these two examples are things we’d rather not be doing. Yes, I was away from the other half, but it did not pain her to know I was doing these things. But if it’s 2 hours playing Q3 at the same computer, or 20 minutes polishing the same car, then all hell breaks loose!
That’s what I’m talking about – it’s not the fact that we’re away from them; it’s the fact that these girls get mad at not being involved in their other half’s enjoyment! They are jealous of Q3 and clean cars, and will go out of their way to tell us that without actually saying it. Of course, which woman on this planet would actually admit to being a jealous person?!
So guys, don’t worry about her, just continue playing with a smile on your face, in the comfortable knowledge that she really loves you and is only upset because it’s only trying to get more attention. I know one way that would work better, but it's unprintable on the web ;-)
And that bastard Jeff is the luckiest bastard on Earth – his wife encourages him to play Q3, and even plays it herself. The bastard. And she’s damn good too. The utter, utter bastard.
Further to my previous post on the welcome influx of female Q3 players, I need to vent a *little* bit of frustration about those females that choose not to play Q3. Instead, they make it their aim in life to make their other halves (e.g. me, Hoodlum, etc) bear the brunt of their misery when we do so much as even look at the computer.
This should be familiar to you: “You’re playing THAT HORRIBLE game again aren’t you! Now I’ve had to put the dishes away/take trash outside/vacuum the hallway/enter your chore here, ALL ON MY OWN”, etc. These adorable ladies want us to sit beside them and watch soul-destroying DIY and reality TV programmes. The thing is, even when we do help with the dishes, ironing, trash, etc, we get yelled at for doing it wrong anyway!
So I have made a few more observations…
If I have to spend 2 hours fixing a computer virus or system crash, I get “Wow, thanks for fixing it, you’re great, have a cup of tea”, or if I get a flat tyre and spend 20 minutes changing it and then get a new one fitted, “that’s great, you’re really helpful”. Note that these two examples are things we’d rather not be doing. Yes, I was away from the other half, but it did not pain her to know I was doing these things. But if it’s 2 hours playing Q3 at the same computer, or 20 minutes polishing the same car, then all hell breaks loose!
That’s what I’m talking about – it’s not the fact that we’re away from them; it’s the fact that these girls get mad at not being involved in their other half’s enjoyment! They are jealous of Q3 and clean cars, and will go out of their way to tell us that without actually saying it. Of course, which woman on this planet would actually admit to being a jealous person?!
So guys, don’t worry about her, just continue playing with a smile on your face, in the comfortable knowledge that she really loves you and is only upset because it’s only trying to get more attention. I know one way that would work better, but it's unprintable on the web ;-)
And that bastard Jeff is the luckiest bastard on Earth – his wife encourages him to play Q3, and even plays it herself. The bastard. And she’s damn good too. The utter, utter bastard.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Sorry Jeff, here’s one…
I just got a mail from NastyJeff saying he enjoys reading my meaningless drivel on here. I just realised I haven’t written anything for a week, as I’ve been rather busy. So this one’s for you Jeff.
It seems that some Nasties have got some real nasty things happening to them recently. In the last few weeks THREE of the Clan have had to see a doctor for one reason or another. Jeff, sadly a doctor can’t help you - you’ll need to go to a clinic that deals with your “special” problem, hehehe :-)
Mind you, Jeff did make it into a game on the server last night. That’s the great thing about this game, you can’t catch any diseases of anyone, so even if you’re coughing and spluttering all over the screen you can still join in, as long as your slow refresh rate and 3d graphics doesn’t make you feel too seasick.
For an invalid he did OK – in fact in one game he actually whupped my ass in typical jeffbot style, which was pretty good considering he was on my server at the time with a mega ping. Those Americans like everything big – cheeseburgers, cars, pings, you name it!
Totally unrelated: this morning I had a quick came of baseq3 CTF. I was really crap, and I couldn’t understand how I was getting fragged by one rocket shot when it took me about 5 rockets to frag anyone else. But I did help my team win by making a capture all the way back from the other side on my own :-) That was a great way to start this morning.
I just got a mail from NastyJeff saying he enjoys reading my meaningless drivel on here. I just realised I haven’t written anything for a week, as I’ve been rather busy. So this one’s for you Jeff.
It seems that some Nasties have got some real nasty things happening to them recently. In the last few weeks THREE of the Clan have had to see a doctor for one reason or another. Jeff, sadly a doctor can’t help you - you’ll need to go to a clinic that deals with your “special” problem, hehehe :-)
Mind you, Jeff did make it into a game on the server last night. That’s the great thing about this game, you can’t catch any diseases of anyone, so even if you’re coughing and spluttering all over the screen you can still join in, as long as your slow refresh rate and 3d graphics doesn’t make you feel too seasick.
For an invalid he did OK – in fact in one game he actually whupped my ass in typical jeffbot style, which was pretty good considering he was on my server at the time with a mega ping. Those Americans like everything big – cheeseburgers, cars, pings, you name it!
Totally unrelated: this morning I had a quick came of baseq3 CTF. I was really crap, and I couldn’t understand how I was getting fragged by one rocket shot when it took me about 5 rockets to frag anyone else. But I did help my team win by making a capture all the way back from the other side on my own :-) That was a great way to start this morning.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Mega Rail
I was hopping around a few servers last night, and had a bit of luck on the S*R server. Usually those guys kick ass, but as none of their clan were there I was able to show the other players the way of the Nasty! Which was nice.
I later ended up on my own server, where a nice group was gathered. From Memory it was 4.2>JakeLee, NastyHoodlum, LiquidLight, me, JustaGirl and Kuna. JakeLee monopolised the winner’s rostrum, so I was generally battling for 2nd spot with rest of them. A very good player, but had to be told off for camping – bad boy! I’m not sure if he was joking, but he said Sweetpie was his mum, so I didn’t kick him. Favouritism? Me?
Then S*R Pino joined and wiped the floor with us, though I did once land on his head while he was camping and blew his brains out – hasta la vista, amigo!
Soon, everyone left except for …. Damn, I forgot his name, but I’ve seen him around a few times. He wanted to know how to set up an insta-unlagged server, so I promised to email him the necessary files. He then asked if he could change parameters, so I demonstrated by changing selfknockback to 1000.
Now, I have railjumped before, but not quite like this. With this high setting you can actually play q3dm17 without actually falling into “the wrong place”, or even using much of the playing surface, so long as you shoot the invisible walls at the correct angle. If you’re careful you can shoot the wall, bounce into the ceiling and fall gently back down onto the map. Hours of fun!
And I then found myself a nice camping spot accidentally on dm20(?) - The spacemap with 6 lifts. If you’re careful you can jump onto the little square lights halfway up the scaffolding structures. I have since found it quite useful if you fall between platforms, as you can sometimes aim to land on one to save your life. Then you can uprate the selfknockback to jump out of the hole – hey presto!
Next I need to try changing the opponent knockback :-)
I was hopping around a few servers last night, and had a bit of luck on the S*R server. Usually those guys kick ass, but as none of their clan were there I was able to show the other players the way of the Nasty! Which was nice.
I later ended up on my own server, where a nice group was gathered. From Memory it was 4.2>JakeLee, NastyHoodlum, LiquidLight, me, JustaGirl and Kuna. JakeLee monopolised the winner’s rostrum, so I was generally battling for 2nd spot with rest of them. A very good player, but had to be told off for camping – bad boy! I’m not sure if he was joking, but he said Sweetpie was his mum, so I didn’t kick him. Favouritism? Me?
Then S*R Pino joined and wiped the floor with us, though I did once land on his head while he was camping and blew his brains out – hasta la vista, amigo!
Soon, everyone left except for …. Damn, I forgot his name, but I’ve seen him around a few times. He wanted to know how to set up an insta-unlagged server, so I promised to email him the necessary files. He then asked if he could change parameters, so I demonstrated by changing selfknockback to 1000.
Now, I have railjumped before, but not quite like this. With this high setting you can actually play q3dm17 without actually falling into “the wrong place”, or even using much of the playing surface, so long as you shoot the invisible walls at the correct angle. If you’re careful you can shoot the wall, bounce into the ceiling and fall gently back down onto the map. Hours of fun!
And I then found myself a nice camping spot accidentally on dm20(?) - The spacemap with 6 lifts. If you’re careful you can jump onto the little square lights halfway up the scaffolding structures. I have since found it quite useful if you fall between platforms, as you can sometimes aim to land on one to save your life. Then you can uprate the selfknockback to jump out of the hole – hey presto!
Next I need to try changing the opponent knockback :-)
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Urban Terrible
Saturday Night was planned as an evening of LAN partying on OldTimer’s server, with a big Urban Terror theme to it (well, WAN partying actually, but there you go…). I decided I would join in after a family meal at a nice Italian restaurant – which I must add was indeed thoroughly delicious. I had chosen not to drive, so by the time we got home, put the brats to bed and opened another bottle of wine I was a “little” bit squiffy.
Squiffy usually means I can’t play Q3, but as I’d said I would be there I decided to join in anyway. After all, I had spent a long time downloading all the mods, maps, etc, just for tonight (see my previous post).
I joined the server and for the next hour I really didn’t have a clue what was going on. In Urban Terror there are not one, but two areas of the screen where you see text from people talking. Another part of the screen is your health, etc, so it’s quite hard to actually focus on the game as your team are barking orders at you. “Medic – I’m in the south tunnel” OK, so I run to where I think a south tunnel might be… nobody there. Once I found him he was already dead. Then I get shot. Fat lot of good that was eh? The next time I tried to help someone I reached them, and didn’t know what to do next. In the Q3Freeze game you just stand next to someone and they get better. In this game that doesn’t happen, you need to do something with a bandage or a doctor’s bag or something confusing like that. Though I did keep on trying the standing thing and kept getting shot. Or bleeding to death.
The hardest part was the maps. In Q3 you don’t really need to know a map to play well, but on a large map with two flags, you really need to know your way around, if only to know where the flags are meant to be. This was a tough call, as I was slowly ingesting increasing amounts of Merlot and my body was reacting very slowly and inaccurately to my brain’s commands. This was getting tougher…
I decided to leave the game and come back later. By the time I rejoined there was only one other player left, so I played against him and he showed me how to defuse a bomb, etc, which was very helpful and I had quite a laugh, even though he kept beating me. So I then decided to go for some Insta-Unlagged fun again.
Back into character with a railgun (rather than a bland soldier with a pistol), I was enjoying everything much more, and realised that I like Q3 for the game that it is, not for the engine that lies beneath it.
Urban Terror just felt like a war shooting game on a computer, which isn’t exactly special, is it? I guess the reason I enjoy Q3 so much is that it’s true escapism. It’s a completely unfeasible environment, but it feels alive. It has simple move and shoot functions – none of this fannying about with bandages and stuff.
UT was an experience, and quite fun, but you can’t even begin to compare it with the Q3 game. Rock on, railers!
Saturday Night was planned as an evening of LAN partying on OldTimer’s server, with a big Urban Terror theme to it (well, WAN partying actually, but there you go…). I decided I would join in after a family meal at a nice Italian restaurant – which I must add was indeed thoroughly delicious. I had chosen not to drive, so by the time we got home, put the brats to bed and opened another bottle of wine I was a “little” bit squiffy.
Squiffy usually means I can’t play Q3, but as I’d said I would be there I decided to join in anyway. After all, I had spent a long time downloading all the mods, maps, etc, just for tonight (see my previous post).
I joined the server and for the next hour I really didn’t have a clue what was going on. In Urban Terror there are not one, but two areas of the screen where you see text from people talking. Another part of the screen is your health, etc, so it’s quite hard to actually focus on the game as your team are barking orders at you. “Medic – I’m in the south tunnel” OK, so I run to where I think a south tunnel might be… nobody there. Once I found him he was already dead. Then I get shot. Fat lot of good that was eh? The next time I tried to help someone I reached them, and didn’t know what to do next. In the Q3Freeze game you just stand next to someone and they get better. In this game that doesn’t happen, you need to do something with a bandage or a doctor’s bag or something confusing like that. Though I did keep on trying the standing thing and kept getting shot. Or bleeding to death.
The hardest part was the maps. In Q3 you don’t really need to know a map to play well, but on a large map with two flags, you really need to know your way around, if only to know where the flags are meant to be. This was a tough call, as I was slowly ingesting increasing amounts of Merlot and my body was reacting very slowly and inaccurately to my brain’s commands. This was getting tougher…
I decided to leave the game and come back later. By the time I rejoined there was only one other player left, so I played against him and he showed me how to defuse a bomb, etc, which was very helpful and I had quite a laugh, even though he kept beating me. So I then decided to go for some Insta-Unlagged fun again.
Back into character with a railgun (rather than a bland soldier with a pistol), I was enjoying everything much more, and realised that I like Q3 for the game that it is, not for the engine that lies beneath it.
Urban Terror just felt like a war shooting game on a computer, which isn’t exactly special, is it? I guess the reason I enjoy Q3 so much is that it’s true escapism. It’s a completely unfeasible environment, but it feels alive. It has simple move and shoot functions – none of this fannying about with bandages and stuff.
UT was an experience, and quite fun, but you can’t even begin to compare it with the Q3 game. Rock on, railers!
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Morning again!
Now that the season of goodwill is over, and I am back to work, it’s time to be *Nasty* again in the mornings!
Last night I downloaded about a Gig’s worth of mods and maps packs. These were Urban Terror, Western Q3 and Rocket Arena. After trying each one for only a few minutes I noticed that Rocket Arena is sort of like Threewave but with no flag capturing, Western Q3 is very crap and Urban Terror – ermm, I am a muppet and I couldn’t load it properly, so you’ll have to wait. I’ll give a fuller description of these games when I play them properly.
After the downloading had finished and trying these out, I felt I was in a position turn on my server without lagging everyone out. Within seconds there was an Unnamedplayer on there, so I decided to join in.
He seemed quite good, but kept lagging, so I thought I’d leave and get on with the morning’s chores of making sandwiches, etc. But then I see a Nasty connecting. Hoho – it’s the moose loose in the NastyGimp hoose – BanziBaby. He’s the one that looks like a freaky child with white clothes on and a baseball cap. And he’s Scottish, but I don’t hold that against him :-)
He joined the game and we had a little natter about the mods I’d downloaded, and gave some hopefully useful advice. Meanwhile, Unnamedplayer chatfragged me – pesky git. I think I may automatically kick anyone who has no name, as they clearly have something to hide.
So Unnamedplayer kindly sodded off and it was just me and Banzi – the Southern Poofter versus the Northern Savage – Railguns at Dawn.
Give the wee Scotty some credit – I was already at 6 frags when he joined, and we then had a really good battle all the way to the end. He pipped me to the top 30 to 27. That was a reet laugh – maybe I should eat more neeps and tatties and I can be a big, ginger, sweaty skirtwearer just like him. GG Banzi – next time you will be Gimped…
Now that the season of goodwill is over, and I am back to work, it’s time to be *Nasty* again in the mornings!
Last night I downloaded about a Gig’s worth of mods and maps packs. These were Urban Terror, Western Q3 and Rocket Arena. After trying each one for only a few minutes I noticed that Rocket Arena is sort of like Threewave but with no flag capturing, Western Q3 is very crap and Urban Terror – ermm, I am a muppet and I couldn’t load it properly, so you’ll have to wait. I’ll give a fuller description of these games when I play them properly.
After the downloading had finished and trying these out, I felt I was in a position turn on my server without lagging everyone out. Within seconds there was an Unnamedplayer on there, so I decided to join in.
He seemed quite good, but kept lagging, so I thought I’d leave and get on with the morning’s chores of making sandwiches, etc. But then I see a Nasty connecting. Hoho – it’s the moose loose in the NastyGimp hoose – BanziBaby. He’s the one that looks like a freaky child with white clothes on and a baseball cap. And he’s Scottish, but I don’t hold that against him :-)
He joined the game and we had a little natter about the mods I’d downloaded, and gave some hopefully useful advice. Meanwhile, Unnamedplayer chatfragged me – pesky git. I think I may automatically kick anyone who has no name, as they clearly have something to hide.
So Unnamedplayer kindly sodded off and it was just me and Banzi – the Southern Poofter versus the Northern Savage – Railguns at Dawn.
Give the wee Scotty some credit – I was already at 6 frags when he joined, and we then had a really good battle all the way to the end. He pipped me to the top 30 to 27. That was a reet laugh – maybe I should eat more neeps and tatties and I can be a big, ginger, sweaty skirtwearer just like him. GG Banzi – next time you will be Gimped…
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
3-wave
I downloaded Threewave a few weeks ago in order to get some more maps. But last night I decided to see what the game was all about. Maybe I tried it before, but only once or twice and I really didn’t know what was going on. This time was no different – I still didn’t know what it’s all about.
The first thing you’ve got to do is figure out how to join a game. And when you join a game you don’t actually join it. It’s a bit like when PB only lets you spectate, but this wasn’t the reason. I actually joined the red team and was foced to spectate. Just as I was about to start asking silly questions, I was saved by the blue team scoring – I was suddenly allowed in. Whoopee!
I immediately noticed that you cannot actually start moving until the countdown has finished. I guess that allows you and your team to discuss strategy, etc, which can only be a good thing. As soon as the game started I steamed ahead to find my way around the map in search of the blue flag. I was given the rocket launcher, so in my travels I was desperately looking for a bunch of rockets in case I ran out. Hmmm, nothing at all. Whilt looking around I got fragged by some geezer with a lightning gun. Where’d he get that from? And why am I suddenly spectating again?
OK, so the rules are slowly coming to me… you only get one life per flag capture. Interesting – that means you have to be clever with your gameplay as there are no powerups around for health, etc.
I got into the next game and was told “Gimp SG”.
Gimp SG? What does that mean? Ahh, maybe he means Gimp Stay Guard, and look after the flag. So I stayed back and got fragged again. Hmmm. So I was brave and asked “what does SG mean?” I typed that question and as soon as hit enter I knew what it meant. But it was all too late – I was the ridicule of the game. Cue the chorus of “oh dear”, “OMG”, “Noob”, “LOL”, etc, etc. OK, OK, I just figured out he meant shotgun, but I had a rocket launcher.
I then carefully moved my mousewheel: Lo and behold, all the weapons had been available to me all this time! Were there any more surprises for me? Actually, yes, there was one more.
After the capturelimit has been reached you don’t automatically go to the next map. You go into a room with a gauntlet. I’ll spare you the details of my mega-humiliation, but basically you have to vote which map you want next by going to a certain part of the wall in the room. Of course I was totally oblivious to everyone asking me to do this, as I didn’t know what they were going on about. I was jumping around merrily, wondering where everyone had gone and accidentally fell into one of the wall spaces and inadvertently voted for a map. Nice :-)
Cool – so now I can play threewave, but still need to learn the maps... Well, you live and learn.
I downloaded Threewave a few weeks ago in order to get some more maps. But last night I decided to see what the game was all about. Maybe I tried it before, but only once or twice and I really didn’t know what was going on. This time was no different – I still didn’t know what it’s all about.
The first thing you’ve got to do is figure out how to join a game. And when you join a game you don’t actually join it. It’s a bit like when PB only lets you spectate, but this wasn’t the reason. I actually joined the red team and was foced to spectate. Just as I was about to start asking silly questions, I was saved by the blue team scoring – I was suddenly allowed in. Whoopee!
I immediately noticed that you cannot actually start moving until the countdown has finished. I guess that allows you and your team to discuss strategy, etc, which can only be a good thing. As soon as the game started I steamed ahead to find my way around the map in search of the blue flag. I was given the rocket launcher, so in my travels I was desperately looking for a bunch of rockets in case I ran out. Hmmm, nothing at all. Whilt looking around I got fragged by some geezer with a lightning gun. Where’d he get that from? And why am I suddenly spectating again?
OK, so the rules are slowly coming to me… you only get one life per flag capture. Interesting – that means you have to be clever with your gameplay as there are no powerups around for health, etc.
I got into the next game and was told “Gimp SG”.
Gimp SG? What does that mean? Ahh, maybe he means Gimp Stay Guard, and look after the flag. So I stayed back and got fragged again. Hmmm. So I was brave and asked “what does SG mean?” I typed that question and as soon as hit enter I knew what it meant. But it was all too late – I was the ridicule of the game. Cue the chorus of “oh dear”, “OMG”, “Noob”, “LOL”, etc, etc. OK, OK, I just figured out he meant shotgun, but I had a rocket launcher.
I then carefully moved my mousewheel: Lo and behold, all the weapons had been available to me all this time! Were there any more surprises for me? Actually, yes, there was one more.
After the capturelimit has been reached you don’t automatically go to the next map. You go into a room with a gauntlet. I’ll spare you the details of my mega-humiliation, but basically you have to vote which map you want next by going to a certain part of the wall in the room. Of course I was totally oblivious to everyone asking me to do this, as I didn’t know what they were going on about. I was jumping around merrily, wondering where everyone had gone and accidentally fell into one of the wall spaces and inadvertently voted for a map. Nice :-)
Cool – so now I can play threewave, but still need to learn the maps... Well, you live and learn.
Monday, January 05, 2004
Look out - the Germans are coming!
There are a few definite levels of ability in Q3. I know this because I have been at each of these levels. There is no “cusp” or “no-mans-land” between these levels. Everyone fits in with a certain ability level, without exception.
The abilities are as follows:
1. Crap – you are a novice and you know it. You look around you when you spawn and get fragged immediately. If you do not get better right now, you will give up and never play again.
2. Beginner – you can actually beat someone in a FFA game. OK, you may not quite reach double figures, but you can beat a 1, and you know it.
3. OK – you can beat 1 and 2 but seriously, those guys winning must all be cheating, even if this is a PB server. Occasionally you may get to win a game, but that’s only if you fire off a few lucky frags and you’re playing with muppets.
4. Getting there – You can hold your own most of the time and usually end up in the top three. Wins come quite often and you can expect to win at least one game in an evening. But you hope nobody good comes on to play.
5. Good – why do these newbies bother? They are just sitting ducks. You win most of the time, but there are some people who join the server and kick your ass – how the hell do they do it?
6. Bloody Hell – The people that 5 are afraid of.
I know a few number 6s, and I wonder how they get that good. After almost 9 months of playing, I can now call myself a 4 (with the occasional smattering of a 5 if I have not had too many beers). When a 6 comes on, I just know the end is nigh and I run for cover or just brave it, and wear out my “nice shot” bind key.
So where do they come from then? US? UK? Denmark?
Let me tell you – it’s Germany.
So how do I know this?
I have admitted to being a 4, and in my frequent CTF and FFA games I am usually somewhere near the top and often at the top. But after being invited by one of these meisters to go to a certain CTF server, I thought I’d follow along and kick ass. Let me tell you - I was well and truly thrashed by everyone there. The chat was all in German, and they were all, without exception, accurate, fast, deliberate and just plain brilliant. In order to survive there you need to be a 6. I managed to rack up a score of 30 by the time everyone else was way over 100, or even 150.
I tried again the next day, and with the same results. It then dawned on me that all the seriously good players I have sparred with in the past have been German. Including one 14-yr old!
I think it’s time for more practice, before the Germans try yet again to take over ze vorld (and fail again). MWWWAHAHAHAHA!
There are a few definite levels of ability in Q3. I know this because I have been at each of these levels. There is no “cusp” or “no-mans-land” between these levels. Everyone fits in with a certain ability level, without exception.
The abilities are as follows:
1. Crap – you are a novice and you know it. You look around you when you spawn and get fragged immediately. If you do not get better right now, you will give up and never play again.
2. Beginner – you can actually beat someone in a FFA game. OK, you may not quite reach double figures, but you can beat a 1, and you know it.
3. OK – you can beat 1 and 2 but seriously, those guys winning must all be cheating, even if this is a PB server. Occasionally you may get to win a game, but that’s only if you fire off a few lucky frags and you’re playing with muppets.
4. Getting there – You can hold your own most of the time and usually end up in the top three. Wins come quite often and you can expect to win at least one game in an evening. But you hope nobody good comes on to play.
5. Good – why do these newbies bother? They are just sitting ducks. You win most of the time, but there are some people who join the server and kick your ass – how the hell do they do it?
6. Bloody Hell – The people that 5 are afraid of.
I know a few number 6s, and I wonder how they get that good. After almost 9 months of playing, I can now call myself a 4 (with the occasional smattering of a 5 if I have not had too many beers). When a 6 comes on, I just know the end is nigh and I run for cover or just brave it, and wear out my “nice shot” bind key.
So where do they come from then? US? UK? Denmark?
Let me tell you – it’s Germany.
So how do I know this?
I have admitted to being a 4, and in my frequent CTF and FFA games I am usually somewhere near the top and often at the top. But after being invited by one of these meisters to go to a certain CTF server, I thought I’d follow along and kick ass. Let me tell you - I was well and truly thrashed by everyone there. The chat was all in German, and they were all, without exception, accurate, fast, deliberate and just plain brilliant. In order to survive there you need to be a 6. I managed to rack up a score of 30 by the time everyone else was way over 100, or even 150.
I tried again the next day, and with the same results. It then dawned on me that all the seriously good players I have sparred with in the past have been German. Including one 14-yr old!
I think it’s time for more practice, before the Germans try yet again to take over ze vorld (and fail again). MWWWAHAHAHAHA!
