Crash course for playing concmaps

[Lt Llama]

The tutorial with a bunch of links to stuff can also be found on Euroskillz Tutorial Page

Do you feel you have no clue what to do on a concmap?
Whats the purpose?
Is there no flag?
Ok, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhh, how do you fly like that?
THIS MAP SUCKS!!!! [RAGEQUIT].

First some bla bla

If you feel familiar with these questions and emotions when you connect to a conc server then this little tutorial is for you.

Playing concmaps is really another ball game than CTF or DM or any FPS game where fragging is involved. You really don't need to be Einstein to be a good concer, but you need focus and have the ability to play systematically. A good concer use gut feeling based on his experience and a focus on adjusting the timing of each conc. There is no shortcuts to experience, as we all know, so that part I leave to you. Just train your ass off and it will come. But staying focused and adjust timing notch by notch is the way to success and making those insane jumps.

Plain concmaps originates from TFC and a few freaks, like me, got addicted to only play concmaps. Ok, we are deserters to the original idea of playing TF, but wtf, here we are and its not so easy to get rid of us. If you been away from TFC for a long time or is a newbie, then you wont stand much of a chance on todays TFC concmaps. If you by accident end up playing one of the hardest maps you will be in a world of trouble.

But lets start from the beginning. There is no other purpose than getting from start to end by using concussion grenades on a concmap. Start killing people and you will soon learn how popular it is (Hopefully quad maps will come in FF and skills maps for soldiers and demomens will come). This may seem simple enough, but a well designed concmap is one of the biggest challenge to your motor and timing skills you will ever experience.

REBIND YOUR CONCS

So to start out as a concer on a concmap you only need to do one thing, rebind your concs. I have always used my right mouse button for concing so change that in your Options. You will need it as soon as you use 2 or more concs.

CHANGING FOV

Changing fov (Field of View) is a matter of taste. FF use default_fov "90", but many concers and quad jumpers increase the fov to get a better view of the jump. Enable your console and play around with the values of default_fov. Increase it and test what you like.

BASIC CONCING TECHNIQUES

Timing

I never used anything else than the beeps to find the right timing for the concs.
In FF you also have the conc timer on the hud.
I might get flamed by saying this but forget the hud timer and use your ears.
The timing of the conc is now client side in FF which means you will have no lag between the beeps and when the conc actually explodes.
This is a huge leep forward compared to TFC and should make it a whole lot easier.

So just use your basic rythm feeling and listen to the beeps.
*beep* *beep* *beep* *explode*

The power of the conc

What you want is to get the most power out of the conc blast as possible.
To do this you need to be at the optimal distance to the conc when it explodes.

See the conc blast as a spheric energy with deminishing power the further away from the conc you are.

You will get the best power when you are at the edge of the conc blast.
The exception to this is when the conc is on the ground as the ground rips power off the conc. The same goes for walls ofc.

But if you have a conc on the ground and jump just before it goes off you will get a good push.

The angle of the conc blast

If you see the conc blast as a spheric energy its easy to get this.

• If you drop a conc below you to the left the conc will push you upwards to the right.
• Dropped under you, it will push you upwards.
• Dropped above you it will push you downwards.

Remember, the conc can take you in any direction, just adjust the angle and it will take you there.

Prime and hold

This is a riddle for most newbies, how the .... do you make the conc explode instantly?
This is done by priming (aka holding down the mouse button for the conc) and drop it just before it
explodes. This can be used in mid air, or standing still. Often used to do jumps where more than one conc is involved.

Strafing

By strafing means making turns in mid air using the mouse button in combination with left or right keys. For a lot of jumps you need to learn strafing.

What you can do with 1 conc

If you got the timing right you can use 1 conc to get quite far.
I will use ff_charybda as an example. j1 on charybda needs only 1 conc to pull off. Just prime and hold the conc, jump off the edge and drop the conc below you to the left.

Check the trajectory angle and drop the conc accordingly.

Many jumps are also done by using one Hand Held. A hand held conc is a conc you prime and dont let go off. You just hold it and jump at the exact time it explodes. This can take you forward or upwards at a significant speed.


What you can do with 2 concs

A double forward jump:

• Put first conc on the ground.
• Prime and hold second conc on second beep
• Jump before first explodes and drop the second in mid air just behind you.

A double high jump:

• Put first conc on the ground.
• Prime and hold second on second beep
• Stand on top of the first conc and jump just before it explodes and drop second under you.

A double jump with second hand held:

• Put first conc on the ground.
• Prime and hold second conc as fast as you can
• Jump before first explodes and dont let go of second conc. The second conc will explode in your hand and propell you forward at an amazing speed .

What you can do with 3 concs

A lot of things, i give some basic use of it.

A high jump:

• Put first conc on the ground.
• Prime and hold second on second beep
• Drop second below you in mid air
• Prime third asap
• Drop third under you before it explodes.

A high jump with third HH:

• Put first conc on the ground.
• Put second conc on the ground at 1,5 beeps.
• Prime third asap.
• Jump before first explodes. With right timing you should land on the second concs conc blast.
• Hold third conc and do a hand held after hitting second concs conc blast.

A long forward jump:

• Put first conc on the ground.
• Throw second conc as far away as you can in the direction you are going on 1,2-1,5 beeps.
• Prime third conc on the 3-3,5 beep.
• Crouch and jump in front of second conc.
• Hit second conc in front of the blast and HH third.

Juggling

By juggling means dropping concs under you, one by one in mid air to get you higher and higher.

Start as described in "What you can do with 3 concs" and keep on priming concs in mid air at each beep and drop them below you.

Combos

We havent seen the really hard concmaps in FF yet, but they will probably come.

Hard jumps often use a combination of all described techniques. It can be very high juggle jumps, jumps with huge drops, jumps with extreme demands on timing, jumps with so many walls to pass that you will loose
count of them. Some of the hardest jumps for TFC nowadays can use up to 10 concs or more to complete.

Summary

I don't know how useful this was or how crazy you think I am, but I hope it can help some of the few who actually want to learn advanced concing.

In a usual game of fragging the prestige is in counting how many frags you got. On concmaps it is the reward of hearing the spectators say "GJ" when you worked your ass off to finish a concmap.

I dont know about you, but that turns me on .


ff_charybda demos

I submit demos of the jumps on ff_charybda as I think thats a map which illustrates most of what I been ranting about.

I hope you enjoy it, and hope you enjoy playing concmaps.

FF_CHARYBDA DEMOS


ADVANCED CONCING TECHNIQUES

(++KARMA to KubeDawg who took the time to add this section)

What you can do with 3 concs

An Ultra High Jump:

• Prime the first conc and throw it on the ground.
• Prime a second conc at the second beep, and throw it on the ground, where the first conc was dropped.
• Prime a third and final conc, but use this as a hand held conc.
• Crouch on top of the first 2 concs, and jump right before the first one goes off.

The second conc will then throw you very high up, but the 3rd will hand held you ultra high.

The Flower Technique:

• Prime the first conc and throw it on the ground.
• Prime a second conc at the second beep, but use this as a hand held conc.
• Stand over the first conc, and jump right before it goes off. At the same exact time you jump, look almost straight up and throw your second conc above you.
• Prime a third conc immediately after throwing the second conc, then throw below you for maximum height.

This doesn't really get you a super amoung of height, but it looks really cool when done correctly.


Prepriming:

• First, prime a conc and throw it to your side.
• Second, prime a 2nd conc at the 2nd beep of the first conc, then throw it out in front of you, preferrably into an open area.
• Third, prime a 3rd conc immediately after the 2nd conc is thrown, and hold onto it, as it will be used as a hand held.
• Next, Jump in front of the 1st conc so it pushes you in the direction of the 2nd conc, and the 2nd one, if timed correctly, should pop you up, or further forward, depending on if it was thrown into a pit, or if it's on even land.
• Once it pops you up, the 3rd should go off, as the hand held, and give you lots of height, or lots of speed, depending on how you hit that second conc.

There are many ways to do this technique, as many levels in maps have pits that seem impossible to get out of. If you do this correctly, you can pop yourself out, up and up further to get through what may seem to be impossible obstacles.


What you can do with 5 concs

A Double Hand Held Jump:

• First, follow the Ultra High Jump technique.
• Once airborne, prime a 4th conc as soon as the third conc goes off from the ultra high jump, and look in an upwards direction. Then release it as you start slowing down, but do not wait to release it after you start falling. This will cause your grenade to go in an upwards direction, and if released just right, it will catch up to you when you go in a downward direction, propelling you back up.
• Once released, immediately prime a 5th conc. Use this as a hand held so when you hit the 4th, you will have a better chance of doing a hand held.

This is a very hard trick to pull off, especially in Fortress Forever. In TFC, it took me about 50 tries to get it down. How it works is similar to the flower technique, but airborne. You throw the conc above you while you are still going upwards, and when you start falling, the conc should then catch up to you, shooting you back up, and if you primed that 5th conc immediately, this should allow you to hand held it. But, even some very experienced concers cannot do this, so if you can do this, you will have achieved greatness.

I will make a video of me on concmap_rax from TFC after I get off work, so I can demostrate how to do this.


Base concing (pun definitely intended)

Entering/exiting an enemy base:

• First, you prime a conc and time it so as soon as you enter the enemy base or specific area, it is about to go off. This allows you to reach areas usually unattainable, and also throws off the enemy defense as sometimes you will dizzy them with your conc, or disallow them to react fast enough to the speed you get when you hand held.
• Second, is planning what to do once you've reached your destination. If it's a flag you're trying to grab, make sure to take into account enemies in the room, or sentry guns, so watch out.
• Once you get what you need, you can use this technique to exit as well, and in certain maps, it can be very useful.
• When making your exit, you can think ahead by anticipating how far away the enemy is from you, and if you are afraid they might be close enough to kill you, prime a grenade, hold onto it, drop it below you when you think when it goes off, they'll have hit it, making your escape much easier.

An example: You are on the map 2fort, and you are offense, you enter through the enemy base down the spiral, and hear a sentry gun inside the flag room in the corner opposite the flag. Well, if you are out of regular grenades, it might be a bit difficult to get in and get out, especially if it's a level 3 sg. prime a conc, throw it on the floor, and anticipate how long it will take for that conc to get you to the flag, and prime a 2nd conc immediately when this occurs to you. Once the first goes off, already be prepared to have that second conc take you for a ride after you've grabbed the flag, and hand held it. This will hopefully get you back out of the room, almost unscathed, and maybe even have a 3rd conc ready to throw at the bottom of the enemy elevator to pop yourself up and exit with the flag.