Counter-Strike kinda has a steep learning curve.

[state 08]

I bought Half Life 2 last week when It was on sale for 19.99. I was more excited to play CS:S for the first time. I install, pick a name, and Join a game in de_dust. Man I got my ass rocked. I got one or two lucky kills and 30 deaths. It got better over time, but it?s still kinda hard. After awhile, I tried a different level.

One thing I noticed is that each level has its own strategy. Different hiding spots and more importantly, different ways one should move about the level. Then there is also weapon choice. I still don?t feel comfortable with any weapon. I like the accuracy of the rifles, but I like the speed of the SMG?s.

Right now, I?m experimenting with entering an area with a flashbang and killing fast.

Oh well, practice makes perfect.

:beer:

 

[QueBert]

My opinion, Dust is a great map, but hell to learn how to play CS on. The rounds can take forever, and you'll probably die quick. So you spend minutes sitting around waiting for the last few campers to actually go looking for people instead of camping.

join a twitch map server, Iceworld, Poolday are both excelent maps that will force you to increase your accuracy and speed. Also, the rounds will fly by. 60 seconds can be pushing it on Poolday. Once you get the basics down, Dust and Italy are great. If you can stay alive Dust is super fun, I don't have a special server I play on, so typically the ones I randomly join are full of campers who just wanna awp. Find a good server and stick with it.

You'll get owned for a long time if you play good people, but that's how you learn how to play. A good mouse will help you out tons.

 

[Malladine]

Here's a list of CS tips I compiled a few years ago. Having played CS:S since then i can safely say that they do still apply! :beer:

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

1. Never use anything but a rifle. If you can't afford a rifle, then just get some rounds for your pistol and pick up another weapon off the ground as soon as you can.

2. Use the map. Any map has multiple routes to achieve an objective and you can tell how your team is doing on each route by how many are still alive there. For example, on Aztec, if you're guarding the double doors and you can see on the map that everybody who was guarding the bridge is now gone, there's a high likelyhood the enemy is streaming through that area and youre going to want to turn around and expect a fire fight.

3. Make it an unfair fight. Travel in numbers. Shield yourself behind cover. Firing while moving makes you very inaccurate so you want to be in such a position that you can be still for a half second while firing. But just camping is a bad idea. If you're in the same spot for more than 30 seconds there's a high likelihood that the other team is already behind you and unless you move you're going to give some l33t bastard an easy knife kill.

4. Fire in controlled bursts of 3-4 rounds unless you're in very close combat. Takes a cool head to not unload your clip like a frightened jack rabbitt, but cooler heads prevail.

5. Learn the maps. The better you know the natural chokepoints and camper nests, the better you can anticipate where your opponent may be. That's the key to the game.....knowing where your opponent will be so you can anticipate the encounter and give yourself that few hundredth of a second edge that will mean the difference between endng up 2-30 and 25-10.

For now, just follow a group of 3 or so guys as they leave the spawn point and hang back a little and help as you can. Most likely they are working as a team or off the save proven principles and you'll leapfrog ahead in understanding the game and the maps and players' tendencies. Watch what they do and when they do it and how they do it. You may even pick up the occassional sloppy kill from your vantage point. If they all get waxed, back around behind a corner, count to 3 and then round the corner with your rifle barrel blazing.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

6. Don't team flash
7. Walk around with your crosshair at head level so it's easier to line up a hs
8. Use your radar
9. Use headphones?

 

[HN]

the problem with learning CS in this day and age is that it's been out so long that you're more than likely playing with veterans that play 25 hours a day. so once the round starts, you get pwned and don't have a chance to really get into the finer details of the map/gameplay.

I haven't gotten around to putting in cs:source yet, but if bots are possible, i'd suggest starting there first (but not for too long, just for practice).

 

[chowmein]

pub (public) servers are full of stat wh0res. you can't enjoy the true function of the game unless you find a few friends or a team.

learn the hitbox and gun control.

take your time (but not too much) side-strafe is your friend. most noobs hit moving targets.

never spray unless you're point blank.

 

[sandorski]

1) Hang back, follow your TeamMates until you know the Maps
2) Stick with a group, don't go running off on your own. Later on, if you are skilled enough, you might be able to LoneWolf it, but even then it's very risky
3) Try to fire short bursts(3-4 shots) rather than just spraying, especially at longer distances. If you and an enemy are within 6ish feet, then go full auto as a last act of desperation(don't worry, you will )
4) buy Armor
5) be careful with nades, especially on FF servers, but accidental Team Flashes really suck and will probably just get you killed with your Team Mates
6) Important Keys
G=Drop Weapon: drops currently selected Weapon and will pickup the Weapon of sametype off the ground
B=Buy
F2=Buy last Loadout: Buys what you bought or had at the start of the last round. This really helps you get going at the begining of a round

7) If your Team is rushing to a particular spot, go with them. The Rush is not always effective and many usually die doing it, but (especially for Ts in Dust) it is the best strategy to accomplish the Objective
8) The Objective is the Primary Goal. If you die, but the Objective is acheived, you have done well. If you survive to the end, but the Objective is not acheived, you have done poorly


Hmm, I see many of thesepoints have already been stated. In each case, consider my repition as another "Vote for...".

PS: P90 ownz!!!!!!

 

[Sforsyth]

I to just bought this game and I Spend about 10 hours playing it Friday night/morning and most of the other player are to good, I like staying in Dust and Dust 2 maps they seem the easiet for me, you get better !

 

[networkman]

Another fan of the p90 here too. Its longer reload time does suck, but the 50 round clip is very handy when opponents run out of ammo and are trying to reload while you're still able to continue firing.

While on the subject of reloading.. it might be a good idea to get in the habit of switching to your secondary weapon; if you're sure you're in a *relatively* safe spot, reloading your primary is fine, otherwise switching to your pistol keeps you ready for an enemy so you don't get killed while trying to reload.

Fortunately, CS:Condition Zero allows you run maps with bots locally so you can get a feel for some of the maps offline before going in with the veterans. You can even customize the bots so they can't use certain types of weapons while you're practicing.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: networkman
Another fan of the p90 here too. Its longer reload time does suck, but the 50 round clip is very handy when opponents run out of ammo and are trying to reload while you're still able to continue firing.

While on the subject of reloading.. it might be a good idea to get in the habit of switching to your secondary weapon; if you're sure you're in a *relatively* safe spot, reloading your primary is fine, otherwise switching to your pistol keeps you ready for an enemy so you don't get killed while trying to reload.

Fortunately, CS:Condition Zero allows you run maps with bots locally so you can get a feel for some of the maps offline before going in with the veterans. You can even customize the bots so they can't use certain types of weapons while you're practicing.

To go along with your weapon switching suggestion, I'd like to point out that 'q' will switch between your current and last weapon. I mention it because it's unquestionably the quickest way to get to your pistol when your rifle runs out of ammo.

 

[watek]

just shoot em in the head

 

[PingSpike]

I don't know why anyone likes that dust map, its total sh|t...the terrorists are just fvcked. dust2 is pretty good, but dust is either a camp fest or a slaughter fest.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I don't know why anyone likes that dust map, its total sh|t...the terrorists are just fvcked.

I disagree. When the T's all rush together, the CTs are F'd.

dust is either a camp fest or a slaughter fest.

Yup. When Dust comes up I just hang back and wait until both sides thin out a bit and then go to the hallways and rush or get rushed as the timer winds down. When the T's rush the round is over in less than a minute.

Got to love Prodigy.

 

[PingSpike]

I've only been on pubs once when the Ts dominated on dust. We rushed to the left repeatedly. I'm not sure if the other team just sucked or if the distance is slightly shorter for the Ts. Either way, its hard to get people to do that...because the leader basically absorbs bullets while the rest of the team advances...and being dead sucks ass so no one wants to be the leader.

Going under the tunnel is just to risky...sometimes its not as heavily gaurded but you're walking into a spot where you have no cover and can be fired upon from all four sides. It just isn't a real option.

If the CTs keep their wits about them and just hold back until the timer runs out they have it made.

Yeah, prodigy is a great map.

I disagree with you about only using rifles...on certain maps you can slaughter with SMGs or even shotties...but the rifle is an all purpose weapon that works well in pretty much every situation.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Got to love Prodigy.

:thumbsup:

 

[QuantumPion]

The best map is dust2. office is a close second. dust (1) is the worst map ever, I don't know why it is so insanely popular. It is just camp, stalemate, camp, stalemate, every round lasting 3-5 minutes.

I havn't been playing CS lately but I started playing back in beta 1.0 when the very first version first came out.

 

[PingSpike]

dust2 and office are good maps...but I've really been having a good time with some of the new updated maps in CS:S. I really like the new assault and inferno...actually looks like a new game for once. I always have a good time on cbble too and that other map that has a castle theme like cbble...there's a main bridge that controls the center, I can't remember the name of it.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
dust2 and office are good maps...but I've really been having a good time with some of the new updated maps in CS:S. I really like the new assault and inferno...actually looks like a new game for once. I always have a good time on cbble too and that other map that has a castle theme like cbble...there's a main bridge that controls the center, I can't remember the name of it.

Chateau?

Haven't played the new Assault, but, oh man, is there anything better than camping on the oven hood?

Is there an updated Oilrig? I kinda got to like that one too.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: PingSpike
dust2 and office are good maps...but I've really been having a good time with some of the new updated maps in CS:S. I really like the new assault and inferno...actually looks like a new game for once. I always have a good time on cbble too and that other map that has a castle theme like cbble...there's a main bridge that controls the center, I can't remember the name of it.

Chateau?

Haven't played the new Assault, but, oh man, is there anything better than camping on the oven hood?

Is there an updated Oilrig? I kinda got to like that one too.

Nope, not chateau...I don't really like chateau.

New assault is good, except you can sometimes see the guys feet through the ducts...which really blows for the CTs.

I never played the original oilrig, but a lot of people are asking for a remake. I suspect its next on the list.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Only other castle theme I can remember is Piranesi.

Yeah, Chateau was just a big mess. Oilrig has a steep learning curve, but, once you get the hang of it, each round can really play a lot different than the previous one depending on your route.

 

[zerocool84]

i don't know about always using a rifle, rifles are ok but they'r not the best guns in the game, in addition to the ak-47, i like to use the MP-5 cus it's quick and very accurate, very easy to get hs, and the DEAGLE which PWNS j00. also the glock pwns in CS:S

 

[Jeff7]

Be warned that some folks just aren't meant to play quick-reaction games like CS. I tried it for well over two years, and still couldn't maintain even a 1:5 killeath ratio regularly. I'd be preparing to click the mouse button to fire as someone came around a corner, but I'd generally be dead before I could actually shoot anything. Slow reaction time turnaround I guess. I can see any enemy and recognize them very quickly - takes me awhile to actually DO something about it though. It wasn't a ping handicap either - I'd manage <50ms pings easily.
My kills were largely luck, like hiding behind a box with the auto-shotgun, as the T's rushed right past me. Something cowardly satisfying about mowing them down in the backs, until one straggler came around the corner before I could reload again. Desert Eagle was my secondary weapon of choice - powerful and accurate. Tiny ammo clips, but they packed a punch.