BFBC2 – Battlefield: Bad Company 2
I picked up BFBC2 from Game yesterday for the PS3. Traded in those games I had on Ebay as it was fairly obvious they weren’t going to sell on there – even for a tenner each. I’d worked out that after paying Ebay twice (once for the final valuation fee, then again to withdraw the cash from Paypal) I would probably end up with as much as the trade in price….so to avoid the inevitable bag o’ crap that occurs when selling on Ebay I saved myself the hassle.
How is it? Am I enjoying it? Do I prefer it to MW2?……..Don’t know. It’s still sitting in the cellophane wrapper on the TV table. Hopefully I’ll get on there later tonight.
Unfortunately, BFBC2 means that the Hauppage Fund has taken a hit. For the last time I hope.
Mario *Cheat* Kart
Regular readers will be aware of my views on cheating. If you’re not then check this post, and this one. You may or may not be aware of my love/hate hate/loath relationship with Mario Kart Wii. If you missed those posts then you can find them here and here. Well, my Nintendo Fanboy Mike sent me a text earlier asking if I fancied getting destroyed on Mario Kart Wii again. Glutton for punishment as I am I agreed.
After a couple of one on one races he takes us to the big bad world……which shouldn’t be that bad as this is everyone’s favourite cuddly plumber and chums. The first couple of races were pretty fun actually. 8 – 10 people of varying levels of incompetence is alright. I even managed to come in at a blistering fifth place!
But then something unusual happened. We drive off the line and from behind someone all sparkly with the “doo doo doo do doo do doodoo” music comes barrelling through…… hang on a minute – we’re not even in to the first corner and haven’t passed any boxes so how are they all sparkly and musical? They were sparkly and musical for the entire race – or as I prefer to call it: cheating. I’ve seen it all now – how pathetic do you have to be to cheat on Mario Kart?! “Mario” and “Cheating” are two words that shouldn’t be in the same sentence. I didn’t think it was even possible to cheat on the Wii, but obviously I was wrong…… and it’s put me off that stupid game and console even more than I was before.
Amusingly, and in keeping with my ‘cheating = wanking’ analogy, the cheat’s name was Richard….. yup a Dick.
Donncha’s PS3
It looks like it’s all systems are go – bar a cable – for Donncha and his PS3. He’s already got some BFBC2 games in, so hopefully we can get in a squad and he can act as a human shield show me the ropes.
YouTube
This is literally just a couple of quick things that some people may not be aware of when viewing or uploading to YouTube.
Viewing: On some videos, especially those by Machinima, there are adverts. You can close them off in many cases. However, if you have control of the browser you are using you can do away with them altogether. I don’t know if there are similar add-ons for other browsers but I’m using AdBlock Plus on FireFox – both of which you can get for no monies!
Machinima YouTube video in Google Chrome
The same video in FireFox with AdBlocker Plus
On the subject of FireFox add-ons and YouTube, if you ever feel the need to download a video from there you can use any of a whole host of add-ons available for that very purpose. I’ve been trying to work out which add-on I use, but they pretty much all do the same thing.
And lastly for YouTube – uploading. I know Geoff does it, I do it and a couple of other people do it – but one thing that a lot of people don’t do when uploading videos is to set their work to ‘Private’ until it has finished processing. Even Machinima doesn’t do it which is quite surprising – but is also the reason why the first 20 or so messages on their uploads are always along the lines of “Quality sucks…”.
A couple of uploaders said that doing this messes with the subscription visibility for their subscribers, but I suspect that they chose the Private option after it had completed the upload. The Private option needs to be chosen and saved before the upload completes.
Thursday Thursday Thursday – it’s Weekly-ish Update Day! This is the Reader’s Digest version of what’s gone on in the past week. This is aimed at new visitors to the blog who may not know what’s going on and as a recap not only for you subscribers, but for me as well. It’s nice to get everything in one place and give any little updates that would be missed on the original post.
Cheating
It’s been an interesting week for the subject of cheating. Premier Call of Duty site codnation.net launched it’s own Boosting/Modded Lobbies section. I initially thought that it was to flag said goings on, but alas it was actually to promote the practice. That made me decide to leave their site and the story is told in the Boosters, Boosting and general disappointment post. I haven’t viewed any of the responses to my Goodbye post on codnation.net, but when I checked the site earlier the Boosting/Modded Lobbies was no longer visible to me. The section is still accessible though so I don’t know what’s going on there.
On the same theme – Wings of Redemption has caused more controversy. This time by allegedly touting the services of a prestige hacker……for a price. The Who is Wings of Redemption post has been updated with that information and given a bit of an overhaul to make it easier to read.
Last on the cheating bus is the announcement from FourZeroTwo on Twitter that they are patching the super fast lobbies. I don’t actually know what these are as it appears they are an Xbox phenomenon, but I do know someone who finds themselves in them all the time…
Links, Link Throughs and The Geoff Effect
As I’ve said before it’s a bit of a surprise to me that people not only read this blog, but come back for more. And it’s great! So thanks everyone who has subscribed and those regular visitors and posters. I would like to make special mention to Geoff (sasbenjr) who has harnessed the power of YouTube and sent an ungodly amount of people this way…..twice
Link throughs from Geoff = many peeps
I was happy getting visitor numbers that barely made double digits so seeing this many visits is mind blowing.
Thanks Geoff, and to everyone else who has linked here – the offer still stands regarding graphics for regular contributors (Geoff, Paul, Donncha etc). I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read and contribute here so please don’t get offended if I haven’t mentioned you by name.
There are a couple of new blogs in the blogroll on the right (and there are also a couple more blogs that I’m subscribed to but haven’t yet added) that you might like to have a look at.
Big post, Little post?
As I have a tendency to post a load of entries within a short amount of time I was concerned that some of you might not appreciate your inbox being flooded with yet another entry from me. So I put it to the polls and so far it’s overwhelmingly (statistically speaking) in favour of the ad hoc posting as opposed to one massive post per day – and only one Spartacus…..
General Gaming
This was the week that wasn’t. I played more Mario Kart on the Wii than Modern Warfare2, plus I was a bit under the weather with the same thing that everyone else seems to have at the moment – basically a cold. Mario Kart Wii still disappoints me, but it’s not as bad as I initially felt. And now that I’ve gone back to a proper FAL loadout MW2 is no longer the mass of donkey balls it was while using the Acog Scope.
I’ve also been watching quite a few BFBC2 videos and so that may on the cards at some point…..
The Hauppage Fund
Minor set back. Normal service will resume shortly…..
YouTube SneakyMode has joined OnlyUseMeBlade and taken a leave of absence from video making. It’s a shame as he was working on a nice interface and then all of a sudden…..gone. Oh, well, good luck to him.
Meanwhile, my channel (MrCheapkills) is bumbling along as usual. Three to Watch is up to Week 5 – and continues to have a positive response. However, I think I’m going to have to diversify a bit and include at the very least BFBC2 vids.
MW2 Stimulus Pack
Xbox beta testers (hehehe)…. only five days to go! PS3 and PC – end of April apparently. I think we’ll see a resurgence of interest in MW2 from this – despite the grumblings that people have about the price. Personally, I’m looking forward to it and will be raiding the penny jar for this DLC. More info here.
Search Terms
Unfortunately I can’t better “phalanges of pterodactyl” in the search terms used to find this blog. For most of the week the search terms have been pretty constant with the top 5 being:
#5 heartbeat sensor noob
#4 modern warfare 2 vs bad company 2
#3 sasbenjr
#2 wings of redemption
#1 mw2 stimulus map pack
That is pretty much it for this week. There are a couple of other posts that have been made on various things. I hope this has found you well, and hasn’t taken up too much time to read. As ever, thanks for taking the time to read my posts and sharing your thoughts with me and the other readers.
This is sort of a follow on from my original cheating post. This post concentrates on boosting, and the gaming community attitude towards it.
As a PS3 player of Modern Warfare 2 I have no personal experience of boosting. But just as I’ve never been to China, I am in no doubt that it exists.
Boosting Flavours
There are two types of boosting. You have the title/emblem/camo boosters, and prestige boosters. There is a difference between how each goes about their “business”, but they are essentially doing the same thing – cheating. If a player gains something while abusing in-game mechanics then it is cheating. That’s the way it is, and that is how it always has been. From tenth prestige to a spinnning nuke emblem, if you didn’t earn them, then you didn’t earn them.
Icon Boosters
The first category of boosters (title/emblem/camo boosters) can usually be found in Free For All, or Friendly Fire/Ricochet game types. In FFA they’ll normally be nuke boosting, although trading headshots for camo is also prevalent. The main problem is that calling in a nuke you didn’t earn spoils the game for every other legitimate player. Trading headhots or some other type of kill to unlock an attachment or camo is just as bad – if not worse. Ocassionally you’ll also find boosters in other game types, the most prevalent is Riot Shield boosting where one person equips the riot shield in order to get a load of points from taking damage. They will usually be in collusion with at least one other person in the lobby. In a Friendly Fire/Ricochet game type it doesn’t even matter if their cohort is on the other team! Big deal? Well no. While they are playing with each other your team is at least one man down! In both examples the boosters are spoiling the game experience for the people who are actually trying to play the game properly. Not cool.
Prestige Boosters
And then you have the prestige boosters. I don’t think there is much of this on the PS3, but on the Xbox360…. well it seems that booster lobbies are much sought after and lucrative to the so called JTaggers. What happens is that a person gets hold of a modded Xbox360, alters the game code, invites people in – usually for a fee and then bish bash bosh you’re tenth prestige in minutes. Why should that be a problem? It’s just a title right? Well no. Being tenth prestige means you have a total of 15 classes available to you, ten customisable and all weapons and attachments. That puts them at a major advantage over the legitimate players. Plus using a modded Xbox and/or altering game code completely against the Terms and Conditions of use.
Forums Encouraging Cheating
But the biggest disappointment to me is the likes of this (link) on CodNation.net. Here we have a site that is all things Call of Duty. But as far as I’m concerned they are not only condoning boosting, but actively encouraging it with the new “Boosting/Modded Lobbies” section. That’s just completely out of order. They should be doing all they can to discourage cheating. What’s even more pathetic are the types of responses they have there:
if anyone knows someone that does 10th lobbies for free please message me i have been scammed over 10 times and have lost almost 60 dollars. message my xbox live gamertag or have them message me on my gamertag. my gamertag is ******. please help me out
….scammed over 10 times? Boo hoo hoo! Don’t cheat, don’t get burned.
be very very careful. its really easy to get ripped off in doing this. i even scammed a few kids before so i could change my name hehe, and im not the smartest. make sure you know that they can do it before you even think of sending them points
….I’m speechless. Cheats and thieves all in one spot!? Where’s Sandy Ravage!
Yet, on the same site there are people up in arms about nuke boosting…. the mind boggles. I’ve made my last post on CodNation.net – I’m not going to condone cheating by participating in a site that encourages it. It’s one thing to have a section that discusses cheating in order to make people aware of what to look for – but this goes beyond the pale!
Obviously there are plenty of sites and forums out there dedicated to cheating – which is another kettle of stinking fish. But I thought that CodNation was reputable.
Is Boosting Ever Acceptable?
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of boosting is when, if at all, it is acceptable. The one example that springs to mind is WoodysGamertag. He bought a PS3 in order to enable him to play with his subscribers and then mentioned about boosting in order to gain the weapons and perks he had unlocked on the Xbox360. It takes time to level up and unlock stuff so in Woody’s case, and if he was only doing it to play with his subscribers then that is acceptable to me – if you disagree then let me know why in the comments. I’m having enough trouble finding the time to level up on one console, it would be an impossibility to try it on two! However, his decision may come back to bite him on the bum due to his foray into the MLG/GB scene (Major League Gaming and Game Battles) as part of their rules state:
B. Cheating
2. We have a zero tolerance policy for cheating. Teams caught cheating, “glitching”, or abusing in-game mechanics in any way will be removed from GameBattles.
I’m pretty sure that boosting comes under the heading of abusing in-game mechanics. But that could only relate to what happens during play.
Like I said in my first post on this subject, cheating is like masturbation. It’s something that you should only really do when you’re on your own. No matter how you dress it up, or justify it, you’re still a wanker.
I was looking to see if it would be worth my while selling a couple of games on there as opposed to trading them in. They’re not brand new titles and realistically if I traded them in I’d get maybe a fiver each. A fiver is better than nothing, but it’s not better than more than a fiver…..
But I digress. I was looking through the PS3 games section and I found a couple of things that ranged from ludicrous to downright pathetic. The downright pathetic items should come with a free kick to the crotch.
I’m not posting the listing numbers as once they end they’ll probably be inaccessible, so I’ll post the pictures and a brief description for them. Here are the top 3:
In at number three is…….
The sticky crosshair for your TV –
Be the best gamer!
You're MLGpro now!
” Be the best gamer you can be with crosshairz screen targets.
NEW FROM CROSSHAIRZ RED TIGER, BLUE TIGER AND URBAN CAMO SIGHT DESIGNS!!!! LIMITED EDITION
These sights attach to your tv screen with no fuss, no glue, no mess
The pack of 3 sights come in 3 different designs
Its up to you which you use but
they all enhance your gaming as you can now fire from the hip
saving you from the split second fuss of aiming manually ”
Yup, because the funny crosshairs you get in game are so annoying and just get in the way….. What’s even more ludicrous is that the example is not even from a hardcore game (no crosshairs or HUD) – the proper in game crosshairs are there!
At number 2 we have –
Rapid Fire Kits –
Be just like your heroes
” RAPID FIRE FOR PS3!!
FREE FITTING!!
HERE I HAVE FOR SALE IS A RAPID FIRE KIT. WITH FREE FITTING SERVICE!
THIS KIT IS BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PS3 CONTROLLER,
IT HAS 4 SEPARATE RATES OF FIRE & FIRES WITH THE ORIGINAL R1 TRIGGER
THIS KIT HAS NO FAULTS WHAT SO EVER.
OTHER EBAYERS KITS MAKE THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ALL RAPID.
Now you can be just like Wings of Redemption for a fraction of the price!
And at number one with the douchiest no life loser listing is –
The Lag Switch –
Got Douche?
” This is a lag switch these worked best and give the most lag possible. i use the best quality cable to assure the best connection quality and lag.
I have tested all my lag switches unlike some people selling lag switches I actually play on my Xbox and Ps3 and know all of these work.
All you need to do is press the button when you want lag this way gives you maximum control of the lag. “
I don’t know what is worse – that people cheat, that someone would actually build a lag switch in order to cheat, that someone would build a lag switch to sell to someone for them to cheat, or that there are people out there who are so pathetic and inept that they have to buy this crap…..
A special mention goes to this listing:
Blue screws.... Do you know where yours are?
” Official PS3 Hard Drive Blue Screw
For Sale Official Sony Playstation 3 Hard Drive Blue Screw.
This screw secures your Hard Drive Caddy in Place.
Have you lost or damaged yours. “
Think carefully now…..have you lost or damaged yours? Are you sure?
Call of Duty Classic
Earlier today while the littlest one had a snooze I decided to have a go of Call of Duty Classic – or Call of Duty as it was called back in the day. I got it free as part of the Hardened Edition of Modern Warfare 2. When Call of Duty came out on the PC it was fantastic. I wasn’t the best player, but I could certainly hold my own. At the time (2003) this was the Medal of Honor:Allied Assault killer. It was almost revolutionary – it probably was. This was the first time that I had played the multiplayer on a console.
It was horrible. I couldn’t work out how to get my character to run, couldn’t aim, every time I tried to throw a grenade I’d swap to my pistol. It was an ugly clunky nightmare. If I was playing with a keyboard and mouse then I’m sure I would have done much better, but I was cannon fodder. Worse still was that it wasn’t as pretty as I remember it…..dang it was ugly. I’ll blame that on the console port – it’s a good excuse.
So here’s my top tip – if you remember something through rose tinted glasses, don’t take them off to have a better look.
What am I doing wrong?
I know I’m not the only one having a bad run of it at the moment. But what am I doing so wrong in Modern Warfare 2? Either I’m getting worse, or the other players are getting much better. I’m struggling to make it to double figures most of the time. Went into Domination and even though I was capping flags I was still ending up at the bottom of the leaderboard. I had a go at Hardcore Team Death Match, but found that I was needlessly getting killed by my teammates more than the enemy were killing me. Spending more time waiting to respawn than actually playing is not really my idea of fun.
It seems that no matter what I’m doing at the moment I’m getting completely mullered left, right and centre. I could of course just load up a Scar-H/Spas-12 combo with Stopping Power and all that and probably do a bit better, but I want to level up the guns as they come – not rely on one loadout. Which brings me on to the FAL….. Using the Holographic sight on that makes it a beast, but I unlocked the Acog scope (which you need to use to unlock the Thermal scope) and all of a sudden it’s a pea shooter! Even with Stopping Power. And I don’t seem to be able to hit the broad side of a bus with that scope either.
When you watch videos on YouTube it seems like they simply have to go to one place and the enemy just come to them like a shooting range. I try that and I either don’t see anyone for the whole match or some wannabe MLGPro decides to make me his bitch. Why can’t I find these games where all the ducks line up in a row?
Sorry to moan, but it’s doing my head right in (and this is with a break from the game!).
And the poll….
On average I post three things per day. It’s not a target or some sort of ploy to spam the wordpress feed (hmmmm, now there’s a thought….), it’s just the way it goes. Something will pop into my head, or I’ll see something and so I blog it. Then I’ll see something else and blog that too like some sort of ADHD OCD Magpie. Occasionally I’ll get my act together, have a couple of things in mind and post them all together. The only exception to the sporadic posting is the Weekly-ish Update when I condense the goings on into one post.
So here’s the question – would you prefer one massive post, or the current multiple posts? The reason I ask is that I see that there are people subscribed and the last thing I want is for you to get a number of email notifications and think “Bloody hell, does this guy ever shut up?!”
In these two vids (audio only) FourZeroTwo and Major Nelson discuss the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Map pack. The upcoming maps are discussed, why they chose Crash and Overgrown from Call of Duty 4, how they made the decisions they made regarding map construction and map choice.
The interview is fairly Xbox360 orientated, but the information regarding the maps is universal to all platforms.
Come March 30th Activision release the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Map pack on the Xbox360 to combat “mapathy” (PS3 and PC a month later). It’s apparently going to cost 1200MS points and contain five maps (two from CoD4) and possibly some other graphical but useless content.
I don’t know how much 1200MS points are as I’m on PS3 and work in pounds, shillings and pence but it’s probably about £8 (USD$12) if the World at War map packs are anything to go by. **EDIT: from this blog I found that 1200MS points is £11.** Apparently, there is much resistance to the price, I’m not sure if it’s because there are two “old” maps or some other issue but you can get the general idea from this forum thread at codnation and this blog post at the Gaming Shed Blog – there are probably numerous other grumblings elsewhere, but these are two that came up straight away.
But the main issue with whether to buy the map pack or not is whether you want to play online or spend your time being kicked from games for not having the maps.
I didn’t get World at War until really late – Novemeber-ish 2009 – after all the map packs had been released and found online play virtually impossible. It would allow me to join a lobby…..tick tick tick down the time until game start and then – BOOT, you don’t have that map (well why let me join the lobby at all?!)!
With over 4 million players, I think that those who choose not to purchase the map pack are going to find themselves in a similar situation with no way of opting for non-map pack lobbies. Although non-map pack lobbies would resolve the issue, I get the feeling that those making the green off the game already know that, which is why it’s not going to happen (and is an issue that I’ll comment on in another post).
If you want to continue playing the game online then, realistically you’re going to have to stump up the £11. Personally I don’t think that is a vast sum of money – it’s just over £2 per map. Yes, even the “old” maps. When it comes down to it, the old maps are not going to be direct ports – they’ll be updated graphically, and probably with slight differences to suit the MW2 environments. At a time when many players are getting fed up of the same maps it will add some variety and will generally be welcomed.
It’s Thursday, so it must be time for the Weekly-ish Update of what’s been going on with this blog, gaming and the YouTube channel.
YouTube
First – congratulations to sasbenjr (Geoff) for passing the four thousand subscriber mark. His success is down to his measured analytical approach to describing tactics in his videos for both Modern Warfare 2 and more recently Battle Field: Bad Company 2 and his interaction with his subscribers. Definitely worth a view if you haven’t already (and if you are a regular viewer of this blog then you’re probably already familiar with his work). Well done Geoff and all the best for a successful future.
***UPDATE – Pyrotoz has got his new PS3.*** Pyrotoz’s PS3 is still dead. He’s decided that the best option is to go for a new PS3 Slim instead of risking the same thing happening again to a repaired machine. Personally, I think that in the long run that’s probably the smart choice as the PS3 slim has not had the reported failures that the older fat models have. His most recent video explains his position. ***UPDATE – Pyrotoz has got his new PS3.***
My YouTube channel is now in to double figures for subscribers. That makes me more popular than Cannon and Ball, but not as popular as The Chuckle Brothers (joke). ‘Three to Watch’ is now in its fourth week and it’s always nice to receive the positive messages from those featured. The thing is, I don’t feel like I’m really doing anything – the people I feature are the ones doing all the work. So if you would be so kind, pop along to their channel and show them some love. And when I say “show them some love” I mean comment, rate and subscribe if you like what you see.
My subscriptions list on YouTube now stands at 71. It would be more, but I unsubscribed from a couple of people as I really can’t stand listening to someone complaining constantly about something they choose to do. If you’d like to check out who I’m subscribed to then click on the YouTube logo:
The Hauppage Fund
Is still at the same place as it was last week. I’m fifty squids away from the price Play.com are asking.
Gaming
I’ve not been doing so well this week as my Game Results posts testify. But I’m not the only one. It seems that having a crappy time is catching. I suspect that all the average players are now on BFBC2 leaving all the 1337 kids on MW2 to mow down those of us who are older and slower. Damn you BFBC2…..damn your eyes *shakes fist*!
Another issue for me is perhaps my obsession with stealth in game making me ineffective in combat. Using Cold Blooded means not being able to use Stopping Power and I’ve found that I do a lot better with Stopping Power……
Blog Views and Template
When I started this blog I didn’t know what direction it would take, or even if anyone would read it. Many of the first posts are simple verbosity – just posting whatever rambles came in to my head regarding Modern Warfare 2. I was happy to see the stats showing that more than one person had visited per day, and then gradually it became the norm for at least 30 unique visitors per day coming here (whether they found what they’re looking for….I don’t know). Recently though the views have increased again with two major spikes – once when Geoff (sasbenjr) gave me a shout out on his channel, and then Tuesday when we almost broke the 100 views mark.
I’m not entirely sure what caused the spike on Tuesday, although it could have been related to my interaction with Paul Hearne’s blog as I created a new header for him:
Is this responsible for a spike in views?
This was after I had made a new header for here and was playing about with the wordpress templates. I ended up having to alter the header colouring to match the template it’s on as this is a hosted version of WordPress. Being hosted means that I would have to pay to change the CSS to make it look exactly how I would want it to……and that’s not going to happen. In the future I may switch to my own server, but for now, this will do.
And lastly, my favourite:
Search Terms
I love looking at the search terms that point people to this blog – I’m a geek like that. Some are to be expected – MW2, Tactical Knife, and other MW2-centric terms. The top searches are still for Wings of Redemption and all things related to him – especially his face….. Den Kirson has also been quite popular. But this week, the most amusing term has been…. “Commando Peas”
I kid you not. I even did my own search to find out what commando peas could possibly be, but there were no results other than this blog…. Maybe it’s going to be the new big title from one of the game publishing houses. Commando Peas – you heard it here first!
Okay, I’m a little bit obsessed by quick scoping in Modern Warfare 2 right now. But putting all the issues about how much skill is involved aside I have a question for quick scopers – does Cold Blooded Pro cause a problem for you?
The reason for the question is that I know that with Cold Blooded Pro, not only does your name not show up to the enemy, but it also stops the crosshairs from going red and negates the aim assist. From what I can see from the many discussions on quick scoping, a major part of it is having the aim assist snap on to your target – especially when “drag scoping”. Logically if someone is using Cold Blooded Pro then this would make it more challenging for a quick scoper to get the kill as the ‘snap’ would not happen.
Obviously those who are actually skilled rather than those who possess skillz will have no problem countering this. But I’d really like to have some feedback on the Cold Blooded Pro perk and if it affects the ability to quick scope. I’d also be interested in doing some tests in MW2 on the PS3 if anyone is interested.
Let’s get some caveats out of the way before we get to the main feature. These tips are what work for me. I’ve been playing FPS games for almost a decade on and off and have been rubbish at them. But thanks to the wonder of YouTube and the YouTubers who take the time to upload videos and share their tips I’ve been able to improve by analysing what I’m doing compared to what they’re doing. There are two users whose videos I’ve found to be most useful – SeaNanners and Sasbenjr. The reason why I use them as examples out of the 60-odd other people I’m subscribed to on YouTube is that in their videos they explain what they are doing (sasbenjr to a much higher degree than SeaNanners) and because they also use a tactical play style that is more suited to us older (I never thought I’d be calling myself old at 34…..) and slower gamers.
So on with the tips.
#1 – Handicap yourself
This tip is not for everyone. It can cause you to fall out of love with the game, reconsider your life choices and generally cause a complete crisis of confidence – so if you are of sensitive disposition move on to tip #2. In order to improve your aim you need to be able to aim to begin with. Any nugget can pick up a Scar-H or an ACR and be a demon in game. It’s easy when you use a strong recoil-less gun. But that’s a crutch, doesn’t help you improve, and it soon becomes boring using the same thing all the time. What should you do? Use this loadout:
Sleight of Hand
Whatever second perk you like
Steady Aim or Ninja
The FAL
What?! The FAL!? Yes the FAL. It’s single fire which means that YOU will have to stop relying on spray and pray kills and actually learn how to aim properly. Think the FAL is too easy? Then use a pistol. Think the pistol is too easy? Then you don’t need to be reading a post about improving your aim. Using the FAL helps you get into the habit of #2…..
#2 – Make your targets come to you
Okay, there’s nothing you can do about someone zooming around the map using Marathon, Lightweight and Commando getting you in the back, but for everyone else you can pretty much control what happens if you are in the right position. In Modern Warfare 2 it can be difficult to hang back when everyone is running around like the sky is falling. But that’s what you’ve got to do – you already know the high traffic areas of the map (it’s where you die a lot) so your mission is to get a vantage point of that area that gives you a low profile to the enemy while allowing you to easily see them. You need to keep your crosshairs on the traffic area ready to get your victim. Always be looking straight down that corridor so that enemies are running towards or away from you – not across your field of view. It’s much easier to shoot a target when it is stuck in your line of sight rather than moving across it. I wouldn’t stay in the same spot for more than two kills (or a couple of minutes) – best move to another location that also gives you a view of your previous perch in order to ping the guy going for the revenge kill. Moving also prevents you from getting tunnel vision or ‘zoning out’ due to inactivity.
#3 Practice shooting stuff
Set up a Lan game and join it. It’ll be lonely as you’ll be the only one there, but it also means that you won’t spend your time being shot in the face while you attempt to improve your aim. Choose a target, or targets and practice shooting from one to the other. I like HighRise for this as one of the buildings has a clock above a doorway – I run around the corner and bring the aim up to that. If you do this for a couple of minutes before going online proper you should be a bit more prepared.
Target Practice
What you’re trying to achieve is the ability to bring up your sights and hit the target as soon as it comes into view. This skill will aid you when you spot someone while moving around the map. Also try shooting targets at varying distances – the exploding barrels are particularly satisfying targets.
#4 Make your aim true
Your crosshairs should always be where the threat is most likely. In buildings your sights should sweep the corners and then stay on the doorway as you move towards it ready for anyone coming through – apply this to moving through maps like Favela, Karachi and Invasion where there are many streets as well as buildings. When you’re maintaining a strategic presence (or camping) you should be sweeping the areas that the enemy are most likely to be coming from. Keep an eye on your mini map – unless your green triangle buddies start disappearing you should be looking in the opposite direction ready to get anyone who is attempting to flank. When you’re moving keep your sights up – if you find that you’re all over the place, move on to #5.
#5 Choose a sensitivity that suits you
Some people play on sensitivity 10 and treat it as some sort of mark of 1337ness. And good for them. Personally, I’m currently on sensitivity 3 on the PS3. When I had my Cheap Freaks on it was 7. Your level of sensitivity should compliment your playstyle and controller control. If you spend 12 hours a day playing and have the reactions of a rattle snake on speed then chances are that a higher sensitivity would suit you. Conversely, if you play a couple of games a day and are generally ham handed then lower sensitivity will be your thing. In either case you need to find what works for you. The only way to do that is to play – try the exercise in #4 – if you can’t hit the clock on your current sensitivity then try lowering or increasing it depending on your results.
#6 Choose your shots
I think it was Hutch that said “You’ll miss every shot you don’t take” which is true and is especially correct when sniping. But “Nothing gets you killed quicker than giving your position away” – that’s mine. If you are using an unsilenced weapon don’t blast wildly at anything that moves. If you miss, you panic and your aim gets worse, in the meantime the enemy knows where you are and is going to shoot you in the face. Load up a silenced weapon and add Stopping Power – then try it again. The silencer prevents you from showing up on the radar, and in my experience unless you’re standing right in front of the enemy they tend to get all jack rabbitty and hop for cover as they don’t know where they are being hit from instead of returning fire.
#7 Take a breath – relax
This is probably the most important one, at least it is for me. I noticed that when I saw an enemy I would get a bit tense and my aim would be all over the place. This is because that tension made my movements stiff and jerky. By relaxing, my aiming movements were smoother and more controlled. It made sighting running enemy a lot easier. Get into the mindset of “I’m gonna shoot you sucka!” rather than “There’s a guy, has he seen me, can I get him…?”. Make it so that as far as you’re concerned you’ve already won the firefight, the only thing left to do is pull the trigger.
#8 Prefire and burst fire
When just using the crosshairs you can swing around quick and easy, but as soon as you ADS this movement is slowed significantly – even on higher sensitivities (although it is also dependent on the weapon you are using). When you encounter an enemy at closer range who is an active threat (an “Oh shit!” moment where you’ve seen them and they’ve seen you) get your crosshairs over them and fire before bringing up your sights – that initial prefire can be the difference between your killstreak, or just plain being killed. When you are firing a fully automatic weapon ensure that you burst fire by tapping the trigger. This will create a narrower grouping of your rounds. This is especially important when using LMGs, the MP5K, Tar-21 and the F2000 (not that anyone uses that one anyway). Although the recoil can be useful for getting headshots, after the initial kick you’ll be shooting at the sky – and unfortunately you don’t get kills by doing that.
#9 The Strafe Fire
When I first started playing FPS I was given this tip by a guy who played Quake (never my thing). It’s what they would do, back in the day, during the ‘dance of death’. The what? I know, you don’t see it so much anymore due to the lower health and stronger weapons in most games. The Dance of Death was what would happen when two players find themselves toe toe with no melee ability. They would basically circle each other until one had managed to shoot the other to death. Although the Dance of Death is pretty redundant nowadays, the circle strafe technique is not. It’s useful for getting around corners where you suspect there is someone maintaining a stategic presence (yes, camping). So here is how you do it. Find an object like a barrel that you can move freely around. Now put your crosshairs on it, or ADS if you like. Once you’ve done that your task is to move around it in an arc keeping your crosshairs or sight on the target object while maintaining a set distance from it. In order to do this you need to push the movement stick in one direction and the look stick in the opposite direction. Start off slowly with small movements and then build up the pace. You should practice doing this clockwise and anti-clockwise. This is actually easier to show rather than describe…
When I get the capability to record I’ll make a video illustrating these tips.
And so, example videos. First, SeaNanners. There’s not too much commentary regarding what he is actually doing at the time, but he give some good advice on playing the game. Main thing to watch for is where he positions himself, how he moves around the terrain the way he moves from position to position.
Narrowing your profile to the enemy by using cover
Although he’s mobile he is not blindly running and gunning (ignore the Heart Beat Sensor). Watch how his crosshairs are always pointed at his direction of travel and where the enemy will be coming from – the pauses at junctions and minimising his profile to the enemy.
And now sasbenjr. This is the Rundown with M16 video. In contrast to SeaNanner’s video Geoff talks us through what he is doing and why, including cool little graphics to illustrate threat areas.
Graphics showing threat areas from sasbenjr
Check out the part where he is on the balcony facing the bridges which allows him to control the engagements while maintaining a lower profile with height advantage.
I’d appreciate any feedback on this. If it’s been helpful to you, not helpful, or even if you have some tips of your own. Like I said, these work for me, but I’m always looking for ways to improve.
Improving Your Aim
March 10, 2010Let’s get some caveats out of the way before we get to the main feature. These tips are what work for me. I’ve been playing FPS games for almost a decade on and off and have been rubbish at them. But thanks to the wonder of YouTube and the YouTubers who take the time to upload videos and share their tips I’ve been able to improve by analysing what I’m doing compared to what they’re doing. There are two users whose videos I’ve found to be most useful – SeaNanners and Sasbenjr. The reason why I use them as examples out of the 60-odd other people I’m subscribed to on YouTube is that in their videos they explain what they are doing (sasbenjr to a much higher degree than SeaNanners) and because they also use a tactical play style that is more suited to us older (I never thought I’d be calling myself old at 34…..) and slower gamers.
So on with the tips.
#1 – Handicap yourself
This tip is not for everyone. It can cause you to fall out of love with the game, reconsider your life choices and generally cause a complete crisis of confidence – so if you are of sensitive disposition move on to tip #2. In order to improve your aim you need to be able to aim to begin with. Any nugget can pick up a Scar-H or an ACR and be a demon in game. It’s easy when you use a strong recoil-less gun. But that’s a crutch, doesn’t help you improve, and it soon becomes boring using the same thing all the time. What should you do? Use this loadout:
Sleight of Hand
Whatever second perk you like
Steady Aim or Ninja
The FAL
What?! The FAL!? Yes the FAL. It’s single fire which means that YOU will have to stop relying on spray and pray kills and actually learn how to aim properly. Think the FAL is too easy? Then use a pistol. Think the pistol is too easy? Then you don’t need to be reading a post about improving your aim. Using the FAL helps you get into the habit of #2…..
#2 – Make your targets come to you
Okay, there’s nothing you can do about someone zooming around the map using Marathon, Lightweight and Commando getting you in the back, but for everyone else you can pretty much control what happens if you are in the right position. In Modern Warfare 2 it can be difficult to hang back when everyone is running around like the sky is falling. But that’s what you’ve got to do – you already know the high traffic areas of the map (it’s where you die a lot) so your mission is to get a vantage point of that area that gives you a low profile to the enemy while allowing you to easily see them. You need to keep your crosshairs on the traffic area ready to get your victim. Always be looking straight down that corridor so that enemies are running towards or away from you – not across your field of view. It’s much easier to shoot a target when it is stuck in your line of sight rather than moving across it. I wouldn’t stay in the same spot for more than two kills (or a couple of minutes) – best move to another location that also gives you a view of your previous perch in order to ping the guy going for the revenge kill. Moving also prevents you from getting tunnel vision or ‘zoning out’ due to inactivity.
#3 Practice shooting stuff
Set up a Lan game and join it. It’ll be lonely as you’ll be the only one there, but it also means that you won’t spend your time being shot in the face while you attempt to improve your aim. Choose a target, or targets and practice shooting from one to the other. I like HighRise for this as one of the buildings has a clock above a doorway – I run around the corner and bring the aim up to that. If you do this for a couple of minutes before going online proper you should be a bit more prepared.
Target Practice
What you’re trying to achieve is the ability to bring up your sights and hit the target as soon as it comes into view. This skill will aid you when you spot someone while moving around the map. Also try shooting targets at varying distances – the exploding barrels are particularly satisfying targets.
#4 Make your aim true
Your crosshairs should always be where the threat is most likely. In buildings your sights should sweep the corners and then stay on the doorway as you move towards it ready for anyone coming through – apply this to moving through maps like Favela, Karachi and Invasion where there are many streets as well as buildings. When you’re maintaining a strategic presence (or camping) you should be sweeping the areas that the enemy are most likely to be coming from. Keep an eye on your mini map – unless your green triangle buddies start disappearing you should be looking in the opposite direction ready to get anyone who is attempting to flank. When you’re moving keep your sights up – if you find that you’re all over the place, move on to #5.
#5 Choose a sensitivity that suits you
Some people play on sensitivity 10 and treat it as some sort of mark of 1337ness. And good for them. Personally, I’m currently on sensitivity 3 on the PS3. When I had my Cheap Freaks on it was 7. Your level of sensitivity should compliment your playstyle and controller control. If you spend 12 hours a day playing and have the reactions of a rattle snake on speed then chances are that a higher sensitivity would suit you. Conversely, if you play a couple of games a day and are generally ham handed then lower sensitivity will be your thing. In either case you need to find what works for you. The only way to do that is to play – try the exercise in #4 – if you can’t hit the clock on your current sensitivity then try lowering or increasing it depending on your results.
#6 Choose your shots
I think it was Hutch that said “You’ll miss every shot you don’t take” which is true and is especially correct when sniping. But “Nothing gets you killed quicker than giving your position away” – that’s mine. If you are using an unsilenced weapon don’t blast wildly at anything that moves. If you miss, you panic and your aim gets worse, in the meantime the enemy knows where you are and is going to shoot you in the face. Load up a silenced weapon and add Stopping Power – then try it again. The silencer prevents you from showing up on the radar, and in my experience unless you’re standing right in front of the enemy they tend to get all jack rabbitty and hop for cover as they don’t know where they are being hit from instead of returning fire.
#7 Take a breath – relax
This is probably the most important one, at least it is for me. I noticed that when I saw an enemy I would get a bit tense and my aim would be all over the place. This is because that tension made my movements stiff and jerky. By relaxing, my aiming movements were smoother and more controlled. It made sighting running enemy a lot easier. Get into the mindset of “I’m gonna shoot you sucka!” rather than “There’s a guy, has he seen me, can I get him…?”. Make it so that as far as you’re concerned you’ve already won the firefight, the only thing left to do is pull the trigger.
#8 Prefire and burst fire
When just using the crosshairs you can swing around quick and easy, but as soon as you ADS this movement is slowed significantly – even on higher sensitivities (although it is also dependent on the weapon you are using). When you encounter an enemy at closer range who is an active threat (an “Oh shit!” moment where you’ve seen them and they’ve seen you) get your crosshairs over them and fire before bringing up your sights – that initial prefire can be the difference between your killstreak, or just plain being killed. When you are firing a fully automatic weapon ensure that you burst fire by tapping the trigger. This will create a narrower grouping of your rounds. This is especially important when using LMGs, the MP5K, Tar-21 and the F2000 (not that anyone uses that one anyway). Although the recoil can be useful for getting headshots, after the initial kick you’ll be shooting at the sky – and unfortunately you don’t get kills by doing that.
#9 The Strafe Fire
When I first started playing FPS I was given this tip by a guy who played Quake (never my thing). It’s what they would do, back in the day, during the ‘dance of death’. The what? I know, you don’t see it so much anymore due to the lower health and stronger weapons in most games. The Dance of Death was what would happen when two players find themselves toe toe with no melee ability. They would basically circle each other until one had managed to shoot the other to death. Although the Dance of Death is pretty redundant nowadays, the circle strafe technique is not. It’s useful for getting around corners where you suspect there is someone maintaining a stategic presence (yes, camping). So here is how you do it. Find an object like a barrel that you can move freely around. Now put your crosshairs on it, or ADS if you like. Once you’ve done that your task is to move around it in an arc keeping your crosshairs or sight on the target object while maintaining a set distance from it. In order to do this you need to push the movement stick in one direction and the look stick in the opposite direction. Start off slowly with small movements and then build up the pace. You should practice doing this clockwise and anti-clockwise. This is actually easier to show rather than describe…
When I get the capability to record I’ll make a video illustrating these tips.
And so, example videos. First, SeaNanners. There’s not too much commentary regarding what he is actually doing at the time, but he give some good advice on playing the game. Main thing to watch for is where he positions himself, how he moves around the terrain the way he moves from position to position.
Narrowing your profile to the enemy by using cover
Although he’s mobile he is not blindly running and gunning (ignore the Heart Beat Sensor). Watch how his crosshairs are always pointed at his direction of travel and where the enemy will be coming from – the pauses at junctions and minimising his profile to the enemy.
And now sasbenjr. This is the Rundown with M16 video. In contrast to SeaNanner’s video Geoff talks us through what he is doing and why, including cool little graphics to illustrate threat areas.
Graphics showing threat areas from sasbenjr
Check out the part where he is on the balcony facing the bridges which allows him to control the engagements while maintaining a lower profile with height advantage.
Also check out his FAL videos.
I’d appreciate any feedback on this. If it’s been helpful to you, not helpful, or even if you have some tips of your own. Like I said, these work for me, but I’m always looking for ways to improve.
Peas and loaves.
Find me on PSN – evaDlivE
Posted in Gaming Tips, youtube | Tagged afghan, aiming, call of duty, cod6, commentating, commentators, FAL, highrise, improve, map, modern warfare 2, mw2, ps3, sasbenjr, seananners, silencer, team, tips, video, youtube | 9 Comments »