UT2K4, how the heck do you get good at this game

[coolred]

I know its old, but some guys form work just started playing this game, and I suck at it. How do I get better? I can't seem to find any tips or guides or anything, and practicing isn't making me any better. Help

 

[Ayah]

Play it lots? Trial and error works in FPS games for me.

 

[xtknight]

Practicing definitely will make you better. That's really the only way. You shouldn't worry about doing well, just have fun with it.

 

[John]

Play 1v1's against skilled players. I've been playing UT2K4 since it was released but hated regular weapons. However in instagib, Zark, or PIG I did rather well. I recently gave it up to pursure different games.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm mostly harmless (threat level: 0.1 / 10 ) but still enjoy the team play in Onslaught.

Practice is the way to get better. Learning the maps helps too. Too bad I'm too busy / lazy to do either

 

[lxskllr]

You just need to keep playing, and don't get discouraged. UT has a steeper learning curve than most fps'. Also, many of the people have been playing since 1998. That's a lot of years developing skill to overcome. Having fun is most important. Start with the goal of not being last, and build up from there. It'll be an awesome feeling when you win your first match, and you'll start to win more and more over time.

Check out our clan forums at www.co30.com. There's some information there if you look through our topics, and be sure to stop by our server. We have a good group of regulars, and we're noob friendly. That's not to say you'll have an easy time of things. We have some highly skilled players that regularly play there, but many will help you out with some tips, or suggestions. Feel free to ask anyone with the (Co30) tag. They'll be more than happy to give advice, as will many of the regulars that aren't in the clan :thumbsup:

Zoë(Co30)

 

[TheRyuu]

Yea man, keep playing.
I've played CS:S for years and although I'll probably never suck at it, it always seem to happen that when I stop playing for a while I'm not as good as I would normally be.

Practice makes perfect in just about anything including PC/Console gaming or just gaming/sports/whatever else...in general.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Personally, I feel that the secret to winning FPS' is to not get shot. Works for me all the time in CS:S

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: coolred
How do I get better?

Play more?

Unless you are already good at twitch shooters, you just have to play more. Learn the maps. Learn the weapons in both regular and alt-fire modes, how to use adrenaline and some special moves to your advantage like double-jump and dodge (strangely I don't use dodge because it screws up my playing style). Know how to combo-fire the shock rifle. Know how to make the rockets heatseek. Things like that. Just knowing what everything does will make you better, after that it's practice.

Another thing is that I don't think there's separate hit boxes for the head except for when you're using a sniping weapon - I could be wrong though. Basically unless sniping, just aim and shoot - don't bother going the extra mile for the head.

Oh, has anyone mentioned playing more?

Seriously, it takes time and playing against experienced players can be discouraging but keep at it. As mentioned, those more experienced players have years over you on this game. Don't expect to be as good as them or anywhere close anytime soon.

 

[CP5670]

As others have said, play a lot. There are a couple of specific moves you want to master and it's worth spending some time alone just practicing those, but other than that the only way to improve is to put a lot of time into playing. I became good at the original UT only after I started spending several hours a day with it. (back then, I had time for that )

 

[n7]

UT2k4 has an insanely high learning curve.

I would know, as i've played it since the demo came out.

As frustrating as it is, playing against the good players really does help you improve your game.

I will tell you right now though, practise doesn't necessarily make perfect in this game.

As much as i wish it did, the truth is, some people just naturally have more skill than others, & in a game like UT2k4, that difference in skill tends to be very exaggerated due to the style of play.

That all being said, play more & play some more.

I found that after a certain point, i pretty much reached a point where i couldn't get any better...

Still frustrates me, but i've adapted by playing a very defensive/mixed/insanely offensive style which tends to create confusion, since most players don't expect their opponent to play the way i do.

Another thing i find that helps is watching good players.

Spectate 1v1s, or TDM matches & see how people play, & what allows them to win.

If there is one huge tip i can suggest it's to learn how to time the shields/double damage/health/weapons.

All powerups spawn 27.5 seconds into the game, or if you watch the clock, the **:33 second point

50A spawns 27.5 seconds after being picked up
100A spawns 55 seconds after being picked up
DD (double damage) spawns 82.5 seconds after being picked up.
+100 Health keg spawns 55 seconds after being picked up
If weapon-stay is off (all official 1v1s, & often TDM is like this), then weapons spawn 27.5 seconds after being picked up.
All health vials & packs (not the rare keg) spawn 27.5 seconds after being picked up.

Since all 1v1s revolve around the armor (as those getting it the most will basically always win unless there's a huge skill gap), get that timing down!

Every 55 seconds means in a 15 minute match:

It's picked up at 14:33, then add 5 second to the last digits on the clock (38)
So it will spawn again @ 13:38, & so on, assuming it's picked up at the exact time it spawns.

There's actually a huge amount of strategy involved in 2k4, which is something most people don't realize.

Oh, & good luck.

If you use Xfire, add me: n7dgs
Or add me via buddies: n7

I'd be more than happy to play with ya

 

[Zenoth]

Play more.

Humans tend to get better at things when they do those things repetitively...

 

[cw42]

n7 has obviously played a lot of UT2k4 lol.

 

[Zenoth]

Originally posted by: n7
UT2k4 has an insanely high learning curve.

I would know, as i've played it since the demo came out.

As frustrating as it is, playing against the good players really does help you improve your game.

I will tell you right now though, practise doesn't necessarily make perfect in this game.

As much as i wish it did, the truth is, some people just naturally have more skill than others, & in a game like UT2k4, that difference in skill tends to be very exaggerated due to the style of play.

That all being said, play more & play some more.

I found that after a certain point, i pretty much reached a point where i couldn't get any better...

Still frustrates me, but i've adapted by playing a very defensive/mixed/insanely offensive style which tends to create confusion, since most players don't expect their opponent to play the way i do.

Another thing i find that helps is watching good players.

Spectate 1v1s, or TDM matches & see how people play, & what allows them to win.

If there is one huge tip i can suggest it's to learn how to time the shields/double damage/health/weapons.

All powerups spawn 27.5 seconds into the game, or if you watch the clock, the **:33 second point

50A spawns 27.5 seconds after being picked up
100A spawns 55 seconds after being picked up
DD (double damage) spawns 82.5 seconds after being picked up.
+100 Health keg spawns 55 seconds after being picked up
If weapon-stay is off (all official 1v1s, & often TDM is like this), then weapons spawn 27.5 seconds after being picked up.
All health vials & packs (not the rare keg) spawn 27.5 seconds after being picked up.

Since all 1v1s revolve around the armor (as those getting it the most will basically always win unless there's a huge skill gap), get that timing down!

Every 55 seconds means in a 15 minute match:

It's picked up at 14:33, then add 5 second to the last digits on the clock (38)
So it will spawn again @ 13:38, & so on, assuming it's picked up at the exact time it spawns.

There's actually a huge amount of strategy involved in 2k4, which is something most people don't realize.

Oh, & good luck.

If you use Xfire, add me: n7dgs
Or add me via buddies: n7

I'd be more than happy to play with ya

:Q

 

[neutralizer]

Practice with instagib. It helps your aim immensely.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: neutralizer
Practice with instagib. It helps your aim immensely.

Lots of really good tips here. Especially that one.

Since no one else said it I will recommend you start off with the lowest difficulty bots and work your way up.

Play several rounds of DeathMatch, 1on1, 2on2, 10 way free-for-all and so forth. When you play enough times you will find them to be less of a challenge. Thats the time to move up the Bot Difficulty. I can get pretty high up there in most game modes.
Even though I get killed in "God-Like" I usually own losers on the Net who try to tell me that God-Like is easy for them.

Also, there are even more things to know than n7 told you. Things outside the gameplay itself. Most serious players dont use music and try to use surround sound if possible. Though I have been told that stereo mode with maximum seperation is really the best way to tell where somebody is at. (Headphones help a lot with this.)

Additionally, unless the server is checking your settings, you should probably go with minimum graphics detail. Aside from a high resolution, everything thats eye-pleasing in the game is really just a distraction. You might be able to lock in on opponents faster with-out details getting in your way. (Again, some servers may check for and require certain minimum detail levels.) Also, a high frame rate never hurts.

IN GAME:
Dont ignore some of the alternate weapons. Even though its difficult to use, the Bio-Rifle causes excellent damage. And the little globs stay on the ground for a while when rockets are done exploding and flak is done bouncing.
Shock Rifle to the head causes good damage and fires at a much higher rate than the sniper or lightning guns.
Camping is generally frowned upon but it can be useful for watching the more experienced players work. They tend to do things in a very efficient pattern.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: cw42
n7 has obviously played a lot of UT2k4 lol.

Just a little

Originally posted by: neutralizer
Practice with instagib. It helps your aim immensely.

Very true.
Bytes, aka on here, John was an insanely good instagib player...i remember many good games with him...or should i say being pwned by him.

Instagib will help with aim, as it's very much like the shock rifle primary.

Be careful not to get entirely absorbed into instagib though, as you'll lose your sense of movement a little if you never play regular weapons.

Like John, I played instagib for a long time, but i have to admit it didn't help me alot playing regular weapons, since movement style is a lot different, & the only guns similar to instagib are the lg & shock.

Granted, i also have always had bad aim, so the benefits of being good at instagib will vary.

And yeah, as shortylickens mentioned, i barely touched on the surface of tips.

Sound is hugely important for 1v1s.

You can generally get away with playing music in the background for fooling around, but in competitive play, i play with music either nearly completely inaudible, or off so i can hear where the opponent is before you see them.

 

[Aikouka]

One thing I've always found to be a good tactic in most run-n-gun FPS games is to almost never stop moving. Even with instagib, I never stop moving for even a second. I also never move in the same patterns (that's how people can kill you even when you're moving ). Also, if you're in a close range, you can try jumping as most people can't keep on you very easily if you're bunny hopping constantly. Also, when using the rocket launcher, a typical mistake that newer players make is to always aim for the player. Rocket Launchers are notorious for having good splash damage, so it's possible to just aim at their feet and cause significant damage. That's why I usually aim low when using a rocket launcher.

Adrenaline codes are definitely a must. I remember one game of UT2K4 with my old roommates. I got stuck with my roommate who was too busy schmoozing with a girl, so it was pretty much me vs two people. My other roommates weren't bad players either, so it wasn't very easy with the inside map we had (I'm usually better at outside rather than inside maps). Using invisibility was one of my key advantages that literally gave me 110% of our kill score (yes, my roommate had a -3 compared to my 36 ). I think Inivisibility is either right-right-left-left or up-up-down-down... I can't remember which off the top of my head, but I feel more inclined to say the latter is speed and the first is invisibility. There's also 2 more adrenaline buffs if I remember right, but I tend to only use the two I mentioned. Unfortunately, I still ended up losing that match 40-33 :/. I don't know how many times I died, but I highly doubt most of their 40 was me.

EDIT: Changed my adrenaline code guesstimates around after looking at them again.

 

[sandorski]

Play the Tournament Mode(I believe that's what it's called). It'll put you through all Gamtypes and even explain a few things about them as you advance.

 

[SonicIce]

While we're on the subject, check out my little map.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Don't feel bad, I never became good at Unreal games either, I can kill your ass in Quake or Hl2M, but not Unreal. One thing I noticed while playing other run and gun games is the shot gun owns. Except for stupidly long ranges, I don't know why I play CTF on one of Quake 3's CTF maps and noobs are using the shot guns as if they're snipers. Anyways, another thing is to not switch between tactical shotters and run and gun shooters often. It really screws you up. As I said, I suck at UT, and I would like to see more tips.

 

[coolred]

Good stuff guys, I haven't read it all yet. But this instagib, I assume its an option/game mode un UT2K4?

I think my main problem is aiming while jumping, I need to work on that alot.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Originally posted by: coolred
Good stuff guys, I haven't read it all yet. But this instagib, I assume its an option/game mode un UT2K4?

I think my main problem is aiming while jumping, I need to work on that alot.

That becomes second nature after awhile

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: coolred
Good stuff guys, I haven't read it all yet. But this instagib, I assume its an option/game mode un UT2K4?

I think my main problem is aiming while jumping, I need to work on that alot.

Yes, Insta-gib and Zoom Insta-gib are mutators available in the game.

My favorite mutators are Zoom Insta-gib + Low Grav + Double Jump. Mixed with DM Antalus, you go flying and can snipe from the top of the plateaus :laugh:

 

[John]

To be good at UT2K4 you must use fatal1ty branded equipment on your system. Combine that with some dd'null h4x and you're golden. Once you're good most people will accuse you of cheating anyhow.