New Q3 player

Post by **d3licious** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:43 pm

I finally got a pc after having to deal with a laptop with absolutely no graphics card for about 2 years until i saved up enough money... soo i get to play all these PC games ive been holding on to.. so i started playing Q3 a fucking bunch but have a few questions that deal with the problems ive been dealing with.. i searched for the answers to no avail so here goes..

1. what is a good button layout? i still play mostly default except q and e are my prev and next weapon buttons because i absolutely hate reaching for my numbered keys to change weapons.. is there a universal layout that mostly players use that i just dont know about or do they have long fingers to reach 5-9?.. as far as layout goes im just referring to jump, and the weapon buttons.. i also dont mind getting used to a new layout if it is goin to result in better reaction time and less time switchin weapons....

2. i know im a little late to the q3 scene but is there still any good pure servers or games online?.. whenever i try to play online i have to play these games with fucked up rules like shoot 50 rockets in a second or a rail/machine gun.. i just dont enjoy these games when i just want to get better at the game itself... i only try to find games through the game itself and i realize there might be other options like gamespy and such.. is there any places i should look where people still play competitive pure games on the default maps?

Im sure you all have been asked this enough, but if anyone could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.. thanks

Post by **Zyte** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:49 pm

1. I, and i think most q3 players, would advise you to bind your weapons around your moving controls, at least the most important ones. So, when using wasd for movement, bind q,e,r,f,z,x,c etc for your weapons. Figure out for yourself what you like the most.
I personally use right mouse button for jumping, since you will use that VERY often for strafejumping.

2. Use All seeing eye to pick servers. You can filter out servers with settings you dislike.

Post by **d3licious** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:55 pm

Wow, that was fast and was exactly what i wanted.. fucking tyte zyte thanks

Post by **Kammesennin** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:57 pm

i used wsad for movement, spacebar to jump, c to crouch, mouse2 is to bring out the rocket launcher, and one of my side buttons (i have an 8-button mouse) is to bring out the railgun. use the mousewheel to cycle through weapons. Also, if I ever need to I have MOUSE3 set to zoom.

Post by **bork[e]** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:31 pm

Movement: wasd
Jump: Space
Crouch: Shift
Walk: Caps Lock

Q = Plasma Gun
E = Shotgun
F = Rocket Launcher
G = Lightning
Z = MachineGun
X = Rail Gun
R = Gauntlent

That's mine anyway... After a few weeks of just screwing around with it I found that to be best for me. Only recently have I made Q Plasma and Z Machine, for years it was the other way around...

Post by **d3licious** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:38 pm

thanks guys... and as for your mouse kammesinnin, how did you manage to get your mouse to be assigned to things... i have a wheel, two top buttons, and two side buttons one on each side, one for your thumb and ring finger.. so in total four with a wheel.. but i cant get the wheel or two sides to assign to anything, any one know why?

oh and zyte, mouse 2 for jump is fucking rediculous.. it took a few games to get used to it but i noticed with space as jump i never hardly jumped..

Post by **bork[e]** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:02 am

in the console type:

(This is the side button on my mouse anyway, should be the same though)

/bind MOUSE4 "weapon 1"

Or whatever you wanna bind to it.

MOUSE1 = Left Click
MOUSE2 = Right Click

I'm sure you get the idea

Post by **D'Artagnan** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:59 am

here you can try my config if you like;
http://pages.infinit.net/oldman/q3config.cfg

Post by **d3licious** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:44 am

it seems my mouse buttons besides 1 and 2 arent recognized as buttons even if they are assigned. In game they dont work.. whatever.. ne ways i did find a setting i liked

q=rail
e=rl
r=bfg
f=plas
c=shot
g=gl
x=machin
z=gaunt
mouse2=jump

basically i just based priority over what feels best.. as in i feel comfortable hitting e super quick for rl.. and f for plasm.. and so on..

Post by **Bacon** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 5:52 am

mine is

Q - Shotgun
E - Grenade
R - Rail Gun
F- Rocket Launcher
V - Lightning Gun
Z - Machine Gun
1 - Gauntlet
4 - Plasma Gun
G - BFG

WASD Movement

L-CTRL - Jump
L-ALT - Use Item

Post by **Zyte** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:00 am

d3licious wrote:oh and zyte, mouse 2 for jump is fucking rediculous.. it took a few games to get used to it but i noticed with space as jump i never hardly jumped..

dont jump much in firefights, especially not in rail vs rail situations, you'd better strafe instead. Jump while moving though, and gain speed by strafejumping. If you cant strafejump i suggest you get to it.

Post by **d3licious** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:03 pm

when you say strafejump im assuming your meaning in a sense bouncing back and fourth during a fight.. see, ive heard the word before but dont know exactly what you mean by it, but thats how i took it..

Post by **Zyte** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:30 pm

Strafejumping is not the bouncing, it is combining you're movement keys with jumping in a special way, which results in faster movement and longer jumps.

The following comes straight out the FAQ and explains how to do it:"

What is and how do I strafe jump?

A process that enables you to move at a faster-than-running pace. When you strafe jump you perform a continuous jumping cycle while running forward and strafing in alternate directions (or the same direction if you want to curve your jump).

How to do it:
Firstly, lets get you into the habit of jumping continuously, because strafe jumping is a bit hard to attempt all at once. Perform the following on a level with nice long open spaces or corridors like Deva Station.

Stage 1
Run forward. At no time in this example do you let go of the run forward key. While running, Jump When your in the air, release the jump button and press-and-hold it again. When you land, you will jump back into the air instantly. Repeat the above until you are comfortable with doing it everywhere.

Stage 2
Perform the exact cycle as above EXCEPT: When you jump in the air the first time, press and hold strafe left IN ADDITION to what you do already (holding forward and jump-cycling) After you land and skip back into the air, switch from holding strafe LEFT, to holding strafe RIGHT After you land and skip back into the air, switch from holding strafe RIGHT, to holding strafe LEFT for as long as you want/can travel

Note:
Playing jackrabbit can leave you a target for rail whores because yur ability to change direction is limited. Also: You can do this backwards, simply by using the BACK key instead of the forward key

Post by **Quebeth** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 5:28 am

For me:

Movement - ESDF
Jump-Spacebar
Zoom-Mouse 2
Shoot-Mouse 1
Use-Enter
Rocket launcher-R
Plasma Gun-T
Shotgun-Y
Railgun-U
Gauntlet-I
Machine Gun-O
Grenade Launcher-P
Lightning Gun-G
BFG-H

Post by **Cooldown** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:47 pm

d3licious wrote:when you say strafejump im assuming your meaning in a sense bouncing back and fourth during a fight.. see, ive heard the word before but dont know exactly what you mean by it, but thats how i took it..

Strafe jumping is an important technique to master. Strafe jumping accelerates the user to an incredible degree if used correctly.

While moving forward, strafe in either direction, hold forward, jump and move your crosshair in the same direction. The best thing to do when learning to strafe jump is to move your cursor very gently left and right, alternating strafe keys between jumps. That is, hold forward strafe right, move the cursor right, jump, strafe left, move the cursor left, jump, etc. You shouldn't be moving your crosshair more than a few inches.

The best way to get a feel for how to do this is watch demos of professionals - they strafe jump constantly. You can find demos at Cached, EsReality, Cyberfight, and Challenge-TV. Some notable players to watch are czm, cooller, and ZeRo4.

Good Luck!

Post by **menkent** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:55 pm

aside from config tweaking, a good way to improve is through demos.
not only can you download and watch matches by other players (especially the ultra-leet), but you can record your own matches and then watch them back. you'd be amazed at how moronic some of the things you do in-game look when you're not caught up in the heat of it.

Post by **CrinklyArse** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:01 pm

Movement: wasd
Jump: Space
Crouch: C

Q = Rail gun
E = Rocker Launcher
F = Gauntlet
R = BFG
thats all ive bothered with so far, everythin else i just use the mouse wheel to cycle through my weapons.

PS: This thread made me want to play quake

Post by **Cooldown** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:19 pm

Your configuration should be specific to the way you play. Everyone has their favorite set up and if anyone tells you that there is one best way to set up your controls, they're plain wrong. Copying another player's set up is a good way to get started, but you need to tweak it until it's right for you.

In setting up your controls you should follow these principles:

- Comfortability. If you're like many people who play Quake for hours at a time, your configuration should allow you to comfortably rest your fingers on a small set of keys and minimize the stretching and reaching you have to do. This will let you play more effectively for a longer period of time.

- Key Efficiency. Ultimately, you want to have the smallest number of keys, which allows you access to all key weapons, movements, and other often-used commands. If you have too many keys or your scripts are too complex, you will begin losing track of what each key does. Additionally it's easy to accidentally hit the wrong button during a critical moment. I tend to use a lot of scripts in my config to improve the flexibility of my configuration and reduce the number of keys I have to manage.

- Effectiveness. Last but not least, the configuration needs to work for you. What works for the top ranked player might be totally ineffective for you. This requires a little bit of thought on your part. As you play, think about what commands you are always using, which keys you always have to stretch for, and how keys might be more naturally arranged.

Where you assign keys should be a function of how critical the key is to your game. You can essentially divide your keys into three Zones: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.

- Primary keys should be the commands you need when you're in an intense firefight. I can play an entire game without my fingers ever leaving these keys/buttons, which minimizes the amount of moving and reaching I have to do. These include movement keys, weapons, attack, jump, and grapple.

- Secondary keys should consist of the keys surrounding the Primary Zone. Getting to these keys require a minor stretch but are still easy to get to without removing most of your fingers from the Primary Zone. You should feel comfortable getting to these keys during the course of an active shoot out. These include crouch, zoom, +button2 (use item), +button3 (taunt :icon32:), scores, and important teamplay binds.

- Tertiary keys require a major stretch to access and could require removing your hand from the Primary zone or the mouse. For this reason, the Tertiary Zone should contain non self-preservation critical keys. These may include chat, demo controls, voting, toggles, and other other miscellaneous functions.

If you're a beginner, launch Quake and go to the Main Menu. Select Controls and you will find all the commands nicely laid out, waiting for you to assign keys. If you are beyond that and already have an autoexec, edit from there. I do all of my config editing in my autoexec using Notepad.

Start off with figuring out which keys you want to use for movement. Once you have that figured out, assign the surrounding keys. Remember, as you move away from the Primary Zone, the commands and functions should be increasingly less important.

When you think you are finished, fire up a Skirmish game and play against a couple of bots to get a feel for the new config. Does it feel OK? Are you still stretching to get to a key? Did you forget something? If you need to tweak some more, get right back in and tweak away until your satisfied or too tired to care.

Good Luck!

Post by **d3licious** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 6:30 am

hey its pretty tight so many people relied with comments, everything is appreciated..

as far as my progress is going, i have learned how to strafejump and it wasnt hard to learn but its hard still to use it effeciently, i still run into walls or miss jumps, and im sure ill be able to do it subconsciously someday.. and i did end up finding a good config for me.. i def like not having to move my fingers far so all my weap buttons are like q,e,r,f,c,x,z,v.. and i also almost completed the single player arenas on nightmare, whether thats good or not, about 3 weeks ago i couldnt even fathom nightmare,

i was also wondering if i could squeeze some more info from you guys..

i noticed in a few demos jumps that are either insanely hard or impossible, and then i found out that there is a patch called cpma and most of the demos were in cpma, and they were able to double jump, and run faster... i downloaded it and attempted to unzip the files but could not get it to work. i ended up deleting it but still have the link.. i was wondering if this is a recommended patch realizing i would only want it if there is a larger base of players online for it.. right now i play the 1.3 ver and just the included maps.. should i dl it or stick with what i got?

also i apologize if i offend anyone but 99% of the games i play online use mods such as excessive or crazy rules and i have yet to find one all that fun.. can anyone direct me to any servers that play small pure either ffa or tm dm games?

thanks again.

Post by **^misantropia^** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 1:21 pm

You can get 1.32, the latest and arguably greatest version of CPMA, here (warning: 120 MB download). There's an active playerbase in Europe, a little less so in the USA. Be warned that the crowd is pretty hardcore and high-skilled: I usually own left and right in other mods but in CPMA I'm an average player at best

Still, in this mortals humble opinion, it's the best mod out there.

EDIT: me and a mate try out new maps every once in a while and then game play is a bit more laid-back than on your average CPMA server. If you want to join us sometime, PM me and I'll hook you up with a time and place.

Post by **Cooldown** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:48 am

d3licious wrote:i downloaded it and attempted to unzip the files but could not get it to work. i ended up deleting it but still have the link.. i was wondering if this is a recommended patch realizing i would only want it if there is a larger base of players online for it.. right now i play the 1.3 ver and just the included maps.. should i dl it or stick with what i got?

CPMA (also referred to as ProMode) itself can be downloaded from Challenge-TV either as a full package (120.4 MB) (all necessery files) or upgrade for older verions. You also need Point Release 1.32 to play online, this can be downloaded from official id Software site - Win32 or Linux version, both being 28 MB files.

To install CPMA, you unzip the CPMA Full Package zip file, there will be two folders, baseq3 and cpma. Simply copy the the cpma folder to your "Quake III Arena" folder. Next, open the baseq3 folder contained within the zip file, there should be .pk3 map files. Now copy and paste these files into your "Quake III Arena\baseq3" folder. If instead you choose to install the CPMA Upgrade simply copy the files in the unzipped folder, cpma, and place them in your existing "Quake III Arena\cpma" folder.

d3licious wrote: i noticed in a few demos jumps that are either insanely hard or impossible, and then i found out that there is a patch called cpma and most of the demos were in cpma, and they were able to double jump, and run faster...

You might want check out this CPMA demo, it demonstrates the basics of jumping - circle jump, bunny hopping and strafe jumping. You must have CPMA installed, and you can use Seismovision to play the demo. Also, I suggest you read swelt's article "Promode Movement", which will provide you with more in-depth information on learning how perform such jumps.

d3licious wrote:right now i play the 1.3 ver and just the included maps.. should i dl it or stick with what i got?

People often play on other, non ProMode maps, mostly when playing CTF or TDM. The following maps / map packs are among the most popular ones:

- <A HREF="http://www.threewave.com/" TARGET="_blank">ThreeWave Maps</A>
Very important if you want to play either CTF mode. CPMA doesn't have many maps suitable for these modes, so 3Wave ones are used.

<A HREF="http://games.linuxdude.com/tamaps/archive/q3wpak0.pk3" TARGET="_blank">q3wpak0.pk3 (22.6 MB)</A>
<A HREF="http://games.linuxdude.com/tamaps/archive/q3wpak1.pk3" TARGET="_blank">q3wpak1.pk3 (30.5 MB)</A>
<A HREF="http://games.linuxdude.com/tamaps/archive/q3wpak2.pk3" TARGET="_blank">q3wpak2.pk3 (20.6 MB)</A>
<A HREF="ftp://www.clanbase.com/pub/q3wpak3.zip" TARGET="_blank">q3wpak3.pk3 (31.3 MB)</A>
<A HREF="http://games.linuxdude.com/tamaps/archive/q3wpak4.pk3" TARGET="_blank">q3wpak4.pk3 (43.4 MB)</A>
You can also download the whole <A HREF="http://games.linuxdude.com/tamaps/archive/Threewave_files/threewave_16_full.exe" TARGET="_blank">ThreeWave mod</A> (182 MB), which contains all these maps.

- <A HREF="http://www.swelt.nildram.co.uk/maps.htm" TARGET="_blank">Swelts' maps</A>
Swelt is great mapper supporting ProMode with his maps, from which many became official CPMA maps available in CPMA map packs.

<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/index.php?mode=filedetail&file=138" TARGET="_blank">nodm7</A> (2v2, FFA)
<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/index.php?mode=filedetail&file=162" TARGET="_blank">nodm10</A> (2v2, FFA)
<A HREF="http://www.swelt.nildram.co.uk/files/nodm15.zip" TARGET="_blank">nodm15</A> (1v1, FFA)
<A HREF="http://www.swelt.nildram.co.uk/files/nodm17.zip" TARGET="_blank">nodm17</A> (4v4, FFA)
<A HREF="http://www.swelt.nildram.co.uk/files/nodm18.zip" TARGET="_blank">nodm18</A> (4v4, FFA)

- <A HREF="http://www.planetquake.com/ztn/maps.htm" TARGET="_blank">ztn's maps</A>
Two of his maps are played:

<A HREF="http://q3a.clanbase.com/miscdl.php?did=325" TARGET="_blank">ztn3tourney1</A> (1v1)
<A HREF="http://teresabanks.de/maps/ztn3dm1.pk3" TARGET="_blank">ztn3dm1</A> (2v2)

- Other
Assortment of other custom-made maps

<A HREF="http://challenge-tv.com/index.php?mode=filedetail&file=140" TARGET="_blank">ospdm5a</A> (TDM, FFA)
<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/index.php?mode=filedetail&file=11" TARGET="_blank">q3dm14tmp</A> (TDM, FFA)
<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/berserk/files/q3amphi.pk3" TARGET="_blank">q3amphi</A> (1v1, FFA)
<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/berserk/files/q3amphix_beta.pk3" TARGET="_blank">q3amphix_beta</A> (1v1, FFA)

- <A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/index.php?mode=filedetail&file=178" TARGET="_blank">Map Pack #7</A>
Official CPMA Map Pack must have!

- Tricking

<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/berserk/files/b0_beta5.pk3" TARGET="_blank">b0_beta5</A>
<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/berserk/files/opc1.pk3" TARGET="_blank">opc1</A>
<A HREF="http://www.challenge-tv.com/berserk/files/sk1lljumping" TARGET="_blank">sk1lljumping</A>

d3licious wrote:also i apologize if i offend anyone but 99% of the games i play online use mods such as excessive or crazy rules and i have yet to find one all that fun.. can anyone direct me to any servers that play small pure either ffa or tm dm games?

Using ASE, you can filter out server in a variety of ways. In the left pane you can select the Mod, gametype as well as use modifiers to only show servers that are not full, not empty, within a certain geographic location, within a ping range, etc. There are plenty of skilled opponents in OSP, CPMA, and various other mods. If you wish to play with me, simply PM me (by clicking on the

icon at the very top of my post) and name a time and place.

I hope I answered all of your questions.

Good Luck and Happy Fragging!

Post by **^misantropia^** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:11 pm

Cooldown wrote:ztn's maps</A>
Two of his maps are played:
<A HREF="http://q3a.clanbase.com/miscdl.php?did=325">ztn3tourney1</A> (1v1)
<A HREF="http://teresabanks.de/maps/ztn3dm1.pk3">ztn3dm1</A> (2v2)

Teensy weensy addition: ztn3dm2 (1v1) occasionally gets played too.
Cooldown, have you ever considered writing game guides for a living?

Post by **Bacon** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:40 pm

d3licious wrote: i have learned how to strafejump and it wasnt hard to learn but its hard still to use it effeciently, i still run into walls or miss jumps, and im sure ill be able to do it subconsciously someday...

Get Defrag and Play it with me, I'll teach you real starfejumping

Post by **d3licious** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:42 am

thanks cooldown, that shit should be stickied, unless it already is

Post by **CrinklyArse** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 12:39 pm

CrinklyArse wrote:Movement: wasd
Jump: Space
Crouch: C

Q = Rail gun
E = Rocker Launcher
F = Gauntlet
R = BFG
thats all ive bothered with so far, everythin else i just use the mouse wheel to cycle through my weapons.

PS: This thread made me want to play quake

ive changed
Q= Rail
E=Rocket
F=Grenade L
X=Lightning
Z=Shotgun
R=Plasma