Does anyone play Call of Duty or other multiplayer shooters? I need help.

[rockymountaindem]

I'd be tempted to ask this in-game, but I'm sure all I'd get are a bunch of "stfu n00b" and other insulting replies from 14 year old hotshots in mom's basement. So, I'm here to ask you kind folks.

Put simply: I suck at COD. I keep trying, but I never get any better. Am I right to get the impression that the people who rack up 70 kills and 20 deaths really do nothing else with their time than play this game and hone their skills? I feel that way a lot. I've come up with some areas that I need to work on...

1) Using the metal sights:

How does this work? Do I need to be centered right on the target, or will "close enough" do? What's the margin of error? I ask this because it leads to...

2) Being too slow:

I often spend too long trying to line up shots with the metal sights, only to get hit right before I'm ready to fire. How can I improve?

3) Inaccuracy:

Sometimes I manage to fire first, but miss. Then the other guy kills me. It happens all the freakin' time. WTF?

4) The spiral of death:

This is my term for when two people with automatic weapons run in circles trying to kill each other. I almost never win in these situations. How can I improve?

5) Reaching out and touching someone:

These dudes see me from like 200 feet away and manage to kill me with a single headshot while I'm looking the other direction. Can I assume they're using an aimbot or are they really that good?

Any general tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm tempted just to give up, but it's a good way to take a quick 10-15 minute break while I'm doing work in my dorm without having to go out and spend money at the coffee shop or anything like that. I can also pick it up and put it down at my leisure, which is appealing. But being as bad at it as I am really takes the fun out of it.

[DS1]

1. Oh that brings back memories

:D

Read this, it's for Quake but you'll figure it out.

Reload after every gun incident, never run anywhere without 30 bullets ready

Practice, lots of it. Know the levels.

[flvegan]

3. I'm with DS1 here. Reloading is key.

Any game I play, if at any time that there's not someone/something to shoot at, I reload.

Also, check out the Gaming Forum here at DU. Good folks, there (I lurk a lot).

[entanglement]

2. It's been a while, but

Check that the servers are clean, i.e. no aimbots / 'see through wall' hacks etc (reputable servers only). Increase your mouse sensitivity, it'll take a while getting used to it at first, but it really helps. Do you 'strafe' effectively? If not, I recommend you learn how to keep your sights on the opponent (play in bot/single player mode for practice) while evading their fire. And lastly, stealth pays off in a big way on some maps

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

4. Hey RMD:

"Spiral of death" = "circle strafing", a time honored first person shooter technique, here is a summary, from Quake, but applies to pretty much all FPS so far:

http://www.quaketerminus.com/quakebible/basics-move.htm

Circle Strafing

One of the fundamental techniques you should learn is the circle strafe. Circle strafing is the skill of circling around your opponent while keeping him in your sights the entire time. The purpose of this maneuver is to be able to keep the sights on your opponent and shoot at him while dodging around in a circle. In order to execute the circle strafe, you must be strafing in one direction while turning your mouse in the opposite direction. The key to executing this maneuver successfully is to use smooth and continuous movements, especially when it comes to keeping your aim on the enemy. Although it's very unlikely that the enemy will stand still and allow you to circle around him, you can adapt your movements based on where he moves to keep him in your sights. A good way to practice your circle strafing technique is to find a pillar in one of the maps and circle strafe around it. Using a weapon that has a continuous rate of fire, such as the Super Nailgun, keep your aim on the pillar while circle strafing around it.

This is one of the things I dislike about FPS games because I think it's "unrealistic" that people would do this in real life, but you need to know it, one of the peculiarities of mouse/keyboard gaming.

As a general rule, I think ALL FPS online games have a certain number of people using hacks, exploits, aimbots etc. but remember, there's also a certain number of 15 year old boys who have unlimited time to play COD and get mad skills to where they can rule you. My basic assumption is usually that the person wtfpwning me is a legit player who's just better, and not cheating, but sometimes cheating is obvious.

Are you playing COD original or COD2? I'm just playing the single player COD2 now, but I have COD original also. If you like maybe we can make a server and practice techniques sometime. What username do you go by?

Games are different with respect to things like sniper aiming also. Most FPS games have awarded an "instant hit" to a sniper shot with someone in your sights, as if the shot arrived instantaneously, but Battlefield 2 is the first one I've seen where you have to lead the target based on distance. Not so sure about COD/COD2 yet but it seems like "instant hit".

PM me if you wanna practice circle strafe etc.

ON EDIT: FPS games that I have currently are BF2, Far Cry, FEAR, HL2/CS:S/DOD:S, COD2, and I have COD and Doom 3 but they are not loaded on my system at the moment.

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. Doing these things will help:

For the weapon's iron sights, you want to be centred on the target...but remember that with the realism factor, your weapon may "pull" a bit to the left or right of dead centre. If you're using a fully automatic weapon (SMG/STG44/BAR), fire in short bursts of about three rounds, as this allows you better control of your weapon (if you don't limit fire to bursts the barrel will drift up and to the right).

Learn to make effective use of cover; know where on a map there are walls, rocks, trees, etc., that you can use to screen yourself.

Don't stay in any one place for too long. Doing so is a good way to have someone sneak up behind you.

If you don't have decent surround speakers, use headphones. It makes a tremendous difference in being able to locate enemies by sound.

Adjust your mouse sensitivity to the highest setting, and spend some time getting used to it. This helps A LOT.

Turn up your screen resolution as high as you can. If you need to lower your texture quality or turn off the eye candy to do it, go ahead. Higher resolution means that you'll be able to spot enemies at a distance more easily (if you're getting popped by headshots from what seems like a ridiculous distance, my guess is that the players doing so have a better graphics card and are probably running at 1600x1200).

[rockymountaindem]

6. That's good advice

I use headphones, as my laptop has a very decent sound card and it helps me hear footsteps and identify where shots are coming from.

I don't know what else I can do about resolution on my little laptop though. At home with my more powerful desktop, I played one day and noticed I did markedly better than on the laptop. You're probably on to something there.

I already know to fire in bursts.

As for mouse sensitivity, I'll give that a try. I haven't fiddled with it in awhile, but what the heck? It can't make me do much worse.

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. There's a Logitech gaming mouse you might want to look at.

Allows you to adjust the sensitivity in-game so that you can pretty much target a pixel. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007Z1M50?v=glance

[texas1928]

8. I played MOHAA all the time and COD

I was ok. I did learn to counter circle strafing. Plus if you have to take out a grenade. That ends their little game real quick. I have friends that are trying to get me to get COD2 and I may do it. Just have not gotten it yet.

[rockymountaindem]

9. Wow, I just tried it witn the increased mouse sensitivity

I thought I'd have trouble zeroing in on a single spot, but quite the contrary. I managed to get myself into respectable territory, instead of getting pwned every time like in the past.

Next I'll have to try it out on a server that isn't rifles only ;)