Loving it !!

Questions and comments on tactics and playstyles
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Cpl Foggy Dewhurst
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Loving it !!

Post by Cpl Foggy Dewhurst »

I downloaded this today and I am absolutely addicted. I love the game! Why haven't I found it sooner?! :lol-old:

I'm still rubbish, mind.

I've been alternating between mouse & keyboard, and can't seem to figure out which one I like the best.

With the mouse, I seem to have gotten more kills. I mean, whether I use mouse or keyboard I get killed every 2 minutes or so, but I got a lot less kills with the keyboard than I did with the mouse.. but I used mouse about 6 hours after playing with the keyboard so perhaps it's just my skills improving ever so slightly.

Which control do you think is best for a newbie to start off with? Mouse or keyboard?

I'm not understanding 'cloak'. It says my tank is invisible, and yet, I'm always getting killed with it? Even when jumping around/manoeuvring to make it difficult for them to target via radar. I'm sure the cloak isn't working for me? :?

Anyway, to the point (I'm on morphine a lot - medical reasons, so I tend to blab on a lot, you'll all have to forgive me for that at times) - I felt really bad/guilty tonight as I was playing team games, I'm always red, being the colour of St. George, and being so rubbish I was obviously always pulling down their scores in CTF games, which I really enjoy playing but felt bad pulling the scores down.

I'd appreciate it if someone could help me improve my aiming/manoeuvring.

Thanks,

Corporal Walter 'Foggy' Dewhurst.
Ta!
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macsforme
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Post by macsforme »

Personally I prefer to drive with a mouse, having switched over from keyboard driving after using it for 2-3 years. I find that the mouse gives me finer control and more accurate movement, which is helpful when you need a very precise jump or other movement.

Tanks with cloaking are invisible on your main display (as in, you cannot see them out-the-window), but they still appear on radar. As you get more and more advanced, you'll be able to tell where a tank is based on it's position on the radar even if it's cloaked.
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Post by joevano »

And then there is the dreaded seer flag, they can see you when if you are cloaked.

Another tip (even though you didn't ask for it), generally when facing an opposing tank, even from a long distance, the first tank to jump is the one that dies. Jumping is bad in a battle, usually, learn to dodge rather than jump and you will have much more success. A jumping cloaked tank is slightly more difficult from a distance, so it may take 2 shots instead of one to get the make up for the timing uncertainty, but it isn't terribly difficult with practice.
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Post by Spazzy McGee »

Woot, another Englishman! (I assume from your post...) Glad to have you around.

BZFlag is one of these games that they say is "Easy to learn, difficult to master". Which is one of the reasons I guess I've played for so long. No matter how long you play for there will always be someone better than you, and somebody to challenge you.

I've been a keyboard player ever since I started (being a laptop user, especially), and I can see how it has held me back in terms of dodging skills. The thing with the mouse is you can control your speed pretty accurately. On the keyboard you really only have two speeds. That said, I know keyboard players that are some of the best.

Also, seeing as you're new to the game, I would recommend trying lots of different games and servers to expand your 'repertoire' of moves and styles. Play 2 Castles & Missile War for general play, HiX for teamwork and precision, MoFo for superflags and thinking on your toes, Pillbox for dodging, Olympics for tank-control; the list goes on.

Have fun.
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Cpl Foggy Dewhurst
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Post by Cpl Foggy Dewhurst »

Hey, McGee, thanks for your tip. You too, Donny.

I started playing with keyboard last night, but around 3 AM this morning I decided to give mouse a go. I got killed a lot more, not being used to dodging with the mouse, but also seemed to get a lot more kills as I found myself being able to keep up with other people, being able to turn as fast and sometimes faster, being able to swoop in, fire, and drive off to circle around - I find the mouse a lot easier to use now. I just really need to learn how to dodgy properly.

I've played on all the games last night/today, as you can tell I'm pretty addicted after just one loooooooooooooooooooong day & night of playing :lol-old: I'm absolutely inlove with this game.

The tank battle game proved useful, as jumping wasn't allowed, which forced me to try and learn how to dodge better rather than simply hop around like a fairy with a pineapple stuck up my butt.

But yes, with the mouse I seem to be able to kill a lot more people than I could with the keyboard. I find shooting/aiming a lot easier, it seems faster and more precise as you can control how fast and how far the tank turns.

How small do you have the mouse box? I've got it set at #4 at the moment, which seems fine for me for the time being.

This is my setup;

Left click, fire
Right click, jump
Wheel down, lock on
Wheel up, binoculars
F, drop flag
I, spawn

It's nice and comfortable for me, starting to feel natural. Anyhow, I don't mind getting killed in FFA and such, it's just good fun playing. I get to do a bit of killing myself, too, so all is good. I just feel bad in important games when I drag the scores down getting killed, heh.

I am surprised at how angry some people get in those games though, simply at a game that's supposed to be fun. Every 2 minutes there was someone crying about cheaters, hackers etc etc because they got killed.
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Post by tw1sted »

Cpl Foggy Dewhurst wrote:I am surprised at how angry some people get in those games though, simply at a game that's supposed to be fun. Every 2 minutes there was someone crying about cheaters, hackers etc etc because they got killed.
Some of our players do get a bit too into the game at points, but you get that on any other game too. There really isn't much that can be done about this situation other than to ignore it.
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Post by z[h]ero »

Cpl Foggy Dewhurst wrote:This is my setup:
Left click, fire.
Professional players do fire either with mouse-scroll-wheel, or they reassign multiple keys for fire (but still use simultaneously mouse to steer their tank). In this way, experienced dodgers can be easier killed.
Cpl Foggy Dewhurst wrote:I am surprised at how angry some people get in those games though, simply at a game that's supposed to be fun. Every 2 minutes there was someone crying about cheaters, hackers etc etc because they got killed.
Let me guess, was it a ctf-game?
Well, theoretically ctf is a nice team orientated game style. Sorry, but in practice not just some few individualists care too much about teamstats, this results in aggressive behaviour and egoistical teamplay.
Switching to FFA improves this problem dramatically. In contrast to CTF, on FFA maps players basically JUST get mad/aggresive if their teammembers always gets hit by geno, (that's understandable)
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Post by Cpl Foggy Dewhurst »

Thanks, Z[h]ero.

I've set fire to Q & E, I'm firing faster now, too, while using mouse at the same time to move.

Still not doing very well on the dodging front, and jumping seems to be useless for me as they just wait for me to land so my death rate hasn't improved any, although my kill rate has!

I still die 2-3 times for every kill.
Ta!
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Post by optic delusion »

Your score will rise and fall with the caliber of competition you play against, and there's always a bit of luck involved, if you happen to have the ideal flag to go against another flag. For example, cloak is immune to laser, so anytime you have cloak, check for lasers nearby.

This is the best help site of all time for newbies, and even pros might learn a thing or two if they haven't seen it before. It was offline for a little while, but it's back now.
http://shellshock.bzflag.bz/guides-firstcontact.html

Be sure to click the wiki link near the top of this forum page, too.
Take a look at my Defender game mode concept.

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Post by Cpl Foggy Dewhurst »

Thanks, Optic, appreciate it.
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Post by Cpl Foggy Dewhurst »

I'd really appreciate a training session sometime. I've had a bit of on the spot training tonight thanks to Del and a couple of other hospitable chaps, I'm still really rusty on the dodging front, aiming my angle shots, and....... I hate jumping because I jump to avoid getting shot, but I get shot anyway in mid-air or the nano-second I land.

I'm getting plenty of kills in once I get the feel of the map and such, but it's all my deaths that let me down, I always die 2-3 times for every kill on average.

Anyone care to lend a Corporal a hand?
Ta!
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