Playing COD4 with my Dad

[James Bond]

I can't remember how many years its been since my dad and I played games together... but it's definitely been a while... I think the last one was Warcraft II. For reference, he's in his mid 50s and I'm 23.

His brother is a faily avid gamer, and my dad decided he wanted to get back into some sort of game so that us three could play together - I look at this as a good chance to bond. Because they both have Mac's, though, this was a difficult task because so few games are cross-platform.

Because my dad is getting older, I knew he would have a hard time with COD, especially online. We've all played the past few nights, and he has really gotten romped on for the most part. I know he wants to be good so that the game is fun to him... he get's frustrated going 3-40, and I feel really bad (most of the time at least 1/4 of his kills are on me because I pretend not to see him when he rolls up on me).

Does anyone have any advice for how I can help him? Maybe I need to look around for more newbie-friendly servers? Give him some "lessons" at his place? Start looking for a new game? I feel really, really bad about the whole situation... Sorta like when the son beats his dad at basketball for the first time, you know... I don't want him to feel like he is too old to do the stuff that I can do.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Play on servers with fewer people. That way it's less hectic and more about actually being a good shot. Or have him play on a relatively noob-friendly map like Crossfire (awesome map nonetheless).

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Play on servers with fewer people. That way it's less hectic and more about actually being a good shot. Or have him play on a relatively noob-friendly map like Crossfire (awesome map nonetheless).

Yeah, I've noticed that it's more enjoyable with fewer people. I hope that he does get better some - I think he will with time. His first day he was just running spraying... He didn't even realize you could zoom, haha.

 

[Schadenfroh]

he get's frustrated going 3-40

Your father is going through what I went through with that game. Tell him to switch to the grenade launcher on the assault rifle. If he is like me, he will die right as one runs out of ammo for it.

Personally, I would get something that is slower paced. IMO, COD is far too fast paced, it feels like spawn and die. Combat Arms is a free multiplayer FPS that has a far better pace.

 

[Liet]

Slower-paced game with less random grenade-spamming deaths?

Honestly, if he's doing that badly I'd consider another game... ideally somethign co-op so that his dying won't be as much of a factor. If only Left 4 Dead were being release for Mac...

 

[JAG87]

You dont have to do anything!

When people are bad at something they like, they naturally want to play more to get better at it. Thats a win for you because you get to spend more time with your dad. If your dad was naturally amazing at cdo4 he would get tired of it, even if he liked it.

Obviously this will only work if he still has patience at his age.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: Liet
Slower-paced game with less random grenade-spamming deaths?

Honestly, if he's doing that badly I'd consider another game... ideally somethign co-op so that his dying won't be as much of a factor. If only Left 4 Dead were being release for Mac...

Yea. I think we'll give it a week or two. It's been only a couple days so far and he hasn't played an FPS since who knows when.

COD is a lot more fast paced then I first imagined though, which does suck. Are there any other modes that may be more appropriate? I played one last night that felt CS-esque, and I loved it, although the no respawn may be a bad move for him.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: Liet
Slower-paced game with less random grenade-spamming deaths?

Honestly, if he's doing that badly I'd consider another game... ideally somethign co-op so that his dying won't be as much of a factor. If only Left 4 Dead were being release for Mac...

I know... it's a bummer.

Anyone know how big of a performance hit he would take if he played a game through Parallels? He's got a beefy ass machine... 8800GT and all..

 

[CrazyLazy]

Get him to level 55 if he isn't already, makes it much easier to get kills. Get a gun he likes, doesn't really matter what, with stopping power and 3x grenades. After that it's just a matter of practice. There are plenty of COD4 strategy sites out there to read up on as well.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

You might want to get him playing Sabotage. It's that CS sort of gameplay you were describing, but with unlimited respawns. The battle rages in one area, so it might be a bit easier to get a grip on the situation. My dad tried playing Doom3 with fond memories of the original game. He wasn't terrible at it, but my brothers and I had to help him sometimes. He would often get disoriented and didn't really know how to use strafing and such to his advantage. He managed to beat Mass Effect by himself though, which requires quite a lot of shooting. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks and I think CoD4 might be a bit too hectic for a someone new to FPSs.

 

[the unknown]

I say just let him play the campaign on the highest difficulty, or a notch below. It's a great game, so he will have fun. He'll also learn how to play the game well too. Also, make sure his sensitivity and controls are solid as that can make a huge difference. User interface is key with people that don't play games much.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Does anyone have any advice for how I can help him? Maybe I need to look around for more newbie-friendly servers? Give him some "lessons" at his place? Start looking for a new game? I feel really, really bad about the whole situation... Sorta like when the son beats his dad at basketball for the first time, you know... I don't want him to feel like he is too old to do the stuff that I can do.

"You can train a noob, but then you just have a trained noob."

Seriously, I'd pick something co-op to play. Back before it was easy to play online, I more or less dominated all the people I played FPS deathmatch with...to the point they wouldn't play with me anymore. I would do things like you did...let them waste me sometimes, give myself secret handicaps...because I knew I'd totally break their spirit if I won 10 to -1 everytime.

Good co-op games let even bad players contribute...unfortunately, few such games exist anymore.

 

[skace]

Games require practice, it's kind of insulting to people who are good to just assume one person can sit down decide they want to be good at something, turn it on, and start kicking ass. It just doesn't work that way.

You can either shield him from the online community or practice with him to improve.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: James Bond

Does anyone have any advice for how I can help him? Maybe I need to look around for more newbie-friendly servers? Give him some "lessons" at his place? Start looking for a new game? I feel really, really bad about the whole situation... Sorta like when the son beats his dad at basketball for the first time, you know... I don't want him to feel like he is too old to do the stuff that I can do.

"You can train a noob, but then you just have a trained noob."

Seriously, I'd pick something co-op to play. Back before it was easy to play online, I more or less dominated all the people I played FPS deathmatch with...to the point they wouldn't play with me anymore. I would do things like you did...let them waste me sometimes, give myself secret handicaps...because I knew I'd totally break their spirit if I won 10 to -1 everytime.

Good co-op games let even bad players contribute...unfortunately, few such games exist anymore.

Yeah, it's true. And because he has a Mac, there really are few options. I guess I'll have to look around a bit.

 

[James3shin]

Maybe you guys can play Co-op in Left 4 dead, is it available for macs? CoD online is very sink or swim, much like any other online FPS shooter against human players. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Liet]

I checked L4D.com earlier, and it's not available for Macs; only PC and Xbox.

http://www.pure-mac.com/action.html has a list of FPS games available for Macs, but who knows whether they'll work multiplayer cross-platform.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: Liet
I checked L4D.com earlier, and it's not available for Macs; only PC and Xbox.

http://www.pure-mac.com/action.html has a list of FPS games available for Macs, but who knows whether they'll work multiplayer cross-platform.

What a pathetic list, haha.

 

[CPA]

Age has nothing to do with it. I'm 38 and I smoke my boys (12 and 15) in almost every game we play.

 

[udneekgnim]

Originally posted by: James Bond
I can't remember how many years its been since my dad and I played games together... but it's definitely been a while... I think the last one was Warcraft II. For reference, he's in his mid 50s and I'm 23.

His brother is a faily avid gamer, and my dad decided he wanted to get back into some sort of game so that us three could play together - I look at this as a good chance to bond. Because they both have Mac's, though, this was a difficult task because so few games are cross-platform.

Because my dad is getting older, I knew he would have a hard time with COD, especially online. We've all played the past few nights, and he has really gotten romped on for the most part. I know he wants to be good so that the game is fun to him... he get's frustrated going 3-40, and I feel really bad (most of the time at least 1/4 of his kills are on me because I pretend not to see him when he rolls up on me).

Does anyone have any advice for how I can help him? Maybe I need to look around for more newbie-friendly servers? Give him some "lessons" at his place? Start looking for a new game? I feel really, really bad about the whole situation... Sorta like when the son beats his dad at basketball for the first time, you know... I don't want him to feel like he is too old to do the stuff that I can do.

play Team Fortress 2 and have him play Pyro

edit: nm TF2 not supported on Mac

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: CPA
Age has nothing to do with it. I'm 38 and I smoke my boys (12 and 15) in almost every game we play.

I agree. The problem though is that he hasn't played any video games in over 10 years really.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: udneekgnim

Originally posted by: James Bond
I can't remember how many years its been since my dad and I played games together... but it's definitely been a while... I think the last one was Warcraft II. For reference, he's in his mid 50s and I'm 23.

His brother is a faily avid gamer, and my dad decided he wanted to get back into some sort of game so that us three could play together - I look at this as a good chance to bond. Because they both have Mac's, though, this was a difficult task because so few games are cross-platform.

Because my dad is getting older, I knew he would have a hard time with COD, especially online. We've all played the past few nights, and he has really gotten romped on for the most part. I know he wants to be good so that the game is fun to him... he get's frustrated going 3-40, and I feel really bad (most of the time at least 1/4 of his kills are on me because I pretend not to see him when he rolls up on me).

Does anyone have any advice for how I can help him? Maybe I need to look around for more newbie-friendly servers? Give him some "lessons" at his place? Start looking for a new game? I feel really, really bad about the whole situation... Sorta like when the son beats his dad at basketball for the first time, you know... I don't want him to feel like he is too old to do the stuff that I can do.

play Team Fortress 2 and have him play Pyro

edit: nm TF2 not supported on Mac

Yeah, this is why I was wondering about the performance hit on Parallels... If it isn't too bad I might have him try a few PC games.

 

[Baked]

Macs? Tell them to buy a Xbox 360, problem solved.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

What game style are you's playing? maybe try a different style. To be honest, its hard not to get a k/d ratio like that sometimes. I'm decent and I will make it difficult for good players to romp my team in domination but honestly, it takes a lot of work. I frequent a server called DFL new york

 

[CottonRabbit]

Originally posted by: the unknown
Also, make sure his sensitivity and controls are solid as that can make a huge difference. User interface is key with people that don't play games much.

Yes, try lowering his sensitivity a lot if you haven't done so already. That might help him orient himself. The default sensitivity in most games is usually way to high for me at least.

 

[Atreus21]

You could get him TF2, and let him spend his time as a full-time medic on you. That always generates a sense of loyalty and trust.