Together Retro: The Quake Series / Quake Live -WHEN TO PLAY?

[Ack]

so I've been dying a lot on this level: http://quake.wikia.com/wiki/The_Ebon_Fortress

Is it one particular spot that is stopping you, or just the whole level?

My first suggestion would be to shoot the enemies in the face.

[noiseredux]

it's not one spot so much as just a matter of too many damn enemies. I get worn down after a while and can't seem to find enough health to keep going. I'm sure I'll get thru soon enough. I've got most of the layout memorized at this point!

[dsheinem]

try sucking less

[noiseredux]

try sucking less

You want me to ditch kb/m?

[Ack]

try sucking less

You want me to ditch kb/m?

No, keep using it. You need to learn to play games the right way anyway.

What weapons do you have at this point? Are you circle-strafing properly, just like I taught you to do?

[MrPopo]

All right, Mr. Poponator, now that I'm through Quake II and taking a break to go play an RPG, I want to hear more of your thoughts on the Quake II Mission Packs, especially since you fired up Ground Zero last night after our conversation. Is it as tough as you remember? Does it truly make baby Jesus weep tears of blood? Inquiring minds want to know!

What's the breakdown like for the two Q2 mission packs? I know there are new enemies, but are there new weapons and the like? And is everything still brown?

The Reckoning is the first of the two mission packs. I did a larger write-up of it in the FPS thread, but basically it has a few new weapons and then several "new" enemies. I use quotes there because they consist of reskinned enemies that are stronger through getting a new weapon and some more health. There is one completely new enemy but it only shows up in a couple locations for reasons that will make sense when you see it. Difficulty-wise it's tough but for the most part fair; you need to be on your game but there's still a definite ramp up from beginning to end.

Ground Zero is the second mission pack. It also has a few new weapons and a few super versions of existing enemies. The thing that's been frustrating me is that the difficulty curve starts very high. In the first map I've encountered various soldiers, grunts, melee guys, fliers, and gunners, while dealing with limited ammo. I beat it the first time I went through it, died a few times on the second map, accidentally overwrote my save, and now I keep getting stuck on the first map because I die for some stupid reason. The second map threw in Icarus's and potentially other baddies; I just didn't get far enough to see them, and again there was a major ammo crunch. The monster density is also quite high, which adds to things.

And Noise, the reason you keep running out of health is you keep taking hits. Try not doing that.

[noiseredux]

What weapons do you have at this point?

Shotgun, double shotgun, nailgun, rocket launcher. I use the rockets on those dudes in the water who don't seem to die unless you blow them up. And then switch 'tween shotguns and nailgun (love dat nailgun) for everything else. I found that in this level most of the enemies get so close to you that trying to rocket launch 'em is dangerous. I died plenty of times by my own rocket.

Are you circle-strafing properly, just like I taught you to do?

Not well. Circle-strafing feels so much easier to me with an analog stick. So mostly I'm doing the shoot then strafe left/right to avoid projectiles thing. Or the shoot while running away backwards thing.

[Ack]

What weapons do you have at this point?

Shotgun, double shotgun, nailgun, rocket launcher. I use the rockets on those dudes in the water who don't seem to die unless you blow them up. And then switch 'tween shotguns and nailgun (love dat nailgun) for everything else. I found that in this level most of the enemies get so close to you that trying to rocket launch 'em is dangerous. I died plenty of times by my own rocket.

Are you circle-strafing properly, just like I taught you to do?

Not well. Circle-strafing feels so much easier to me with an analog stick. So mostly I'm doing the shoot then strafe left/right to avoid projectiles thing. Or the shoot while running away backwards thing.

well, it sounds like you have the weapon philosophy down pretty well so you know to avoid splash damage. But your mobility needs work, and admittedly, while Popo's advice is joking, it's also sound. You're getting worn down because you just haven't got the mobility yet from the sound of it. Keep working on your WA and WD directional combos.

Also, how high is your mouse sensitivity? If it's not maxed out, you're doing it wrong. You need to be able to whip around pretty quick and keep up or go faster than moving targets so you can learn to lead them properly with projectiles. Everyone I know who plays kb+m boosts their sensitivity to near the max in just about everything.

Finally, there is bunny hopping and crouch jumping. I don't know if crouch jumping helps in Quake, but bunny hopping is one of the things Quake made famous.

[noiseredux]

But your mobility needs work, and admittedly, while Popo's advice is joking, it's also sound. You're getting worn down because you just haven't got the mobility yet from the sound of it. Keep working on your WA and WD directional combos.

I think you nailed it. I'm hitting W, or A, or D. But not a lot of WA or WD. I just need to build up some muscle memory here.

Also, how high is your mouse sensitivity? If it's not maxed out, you're doing it wrong. You need to be able to whip around pretty quick and keep up or go faster than moving targets so you can learn to lead them properly with projectiles. Everyone I know who plays kb+m boosts their sensitivity to near the max in just about everything.

This I just figured out last night. My mouse has a button that adjusts the sensitivity, and after boosting it I felt a lot better.

[Ack]

Ah, yeah, that's definitely a big piece of the puzzle then. Try to find an enemy who uses projectiles that you can easily practice on. Then try using WA and WD to move at an angle and constantly keep your crosshair trained on them while you move. Teach yourself to learn to adjust whenever they send a projectile your way so you can dodge the incoming attack.

And also take some time to learn the enemies' tells for when they are shooting or about to shoot. It will give you that much more time to dodge, especially if they use a projectile. If they're using a hitscan weapon, it'll be the only chance you have to prepare for their attack.