Newcomer Q&A

[beef42]

So, having discovered your wonderful mod this morning I immediately engrossed myself in an eight-hour session which has just ended.

Needless to say, my head is spinning a little and this may impact my ability to express myself in English. You have been warned.

Anyway I haven't really played FPS games since I was a kid, but thenl TF2 came out. So I've been playing that for last three months, enjoying it a lot.

Until I came across this mod. In comparison TF2 is slow and simple. There is no doubt that this game has a lot more meat in it.

Anyway, I had some questions.

1, this bunnyhopping stuff. If I understand correctly, the purpose is to gain and/or maintain speed gained from other things, like concs and rockets and whatnot. I read somewhere that I just have to keep spacebar down to autohop, but this does not seem to work. I have to hop manually. Did I miss an option somewhere or will I just have to cope with this? A full explanation on the hopping about would be very nice, if somebody can type that up/link me to it.

2, spies. Spies in this game are a lot more fun than in TF2, but I seem to be unable to figure out how to identify them. In TF2 you just look at his health and his weapon.

3, concjumps. I have gathered there are two ways. One is to toss the nade then jump from it as it detonates, another is simply to let it explode in your magic third arm, jumping as it detonates. Is there any difference in the velocity gained from these two methods? Are there any advantages or disadvantages at all? By the way, the conc graphic is awesoem.

4, euro servers. I live in Euroland and I can't help but wonder if I am going to be able to find people to play against. I am quite certain there is plenty of American activity, but those 100+ ping times make it a bit annoying. So can I find populated Euro servers whenever I want to? Or just evenings? Or just weekend evenings even?

5, HWG's minigun. I read it overheats but I seem to be able to fire all my rounds in one go. I've discovered I can stop the little bar on it with rightclick, but why would I do that? Don't I want to spit as many bullets as at all possible?

6, sniper. Which classes can I 1shot with uncharged headshots (the most effective way of sniping in TF2, and thus the one I am accustomed to)?

7, on some maps, mostly the attack/defend ones I sometimes find myself without my class specific grenade. Since this grenade is the most awesome grenade, I must wonder if this is a balance thing or if I am supposed to find special bags around the maps in question?

yeah, that's all I can come up with right now.

please, if there's anything a lot of newbies seem to not know, please do not hesitate to post it in this thread.

[GeoKill----->]

Bunnyhop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTo7tbEeKn4

Spy have an icon above their head, those are your friendly spies.

As for concing. HH (handheld conc) seems easier for getting from point A to B. For dropping, lets say you are playing Openfire. You drop a conc in the water, you conc into the flag but at the same time you have another one prime. You get the flag and conc out. So it really depends on how you play really.

As for UK server, try the official server, filles up pretty quickly


As HW, I do no play HW so I fully do not understand that class.

There's no nades to avoid spam

Glad I saw you ingame

[beef42]

How does indentifying friendly spies help me? Perhaps I didn't express myself clearly... I want to know how to identify disguised enemy spies.

Thanks for your answers, clears up a few things.

Oh, and it's not all roses about this game btw. What the hell is it with the football (that's soccer to people across the pond) map? Waterpolo I think it is. It's but a flat field where all players on the server are visible at one time, causing massive fps drops as they merrily spray their various weapons on each other. And in some complete disregard for people with mere mortal computers, developers decided to add insult to the injury with some utterly useless water graphic on the floor, just so they could call it waterpolo? WTF!?

Btw, can you score by throwing the ball into the goal or do you have to move into the goal with it? I tried to do it, but the few times I actually got hold of the ball near the net this dude with a bowler hat came up and beat me to death with an umbrella.

[im2cool4uroflolz]

Congrats, you got Unagi'd.

Yeah, you have to bring it in the goal.

DO NOT INSULT THE GREAT WATERPOLO.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by beef42

How does indentifying friendly spies help me? Perhaps I didn't express myself clearly... I want to know how to identify disguised enemy spies.

Thanks for your answers, clears up a few things.

Oh, and it's not all roses about this game btw. What the hell is it with the football (that's soccer to people across the pond) map? Waterpolo I think it is. It's but a flat field where all players on the server are visible at one time, causing massive fps drops as they merrily spray their various weapons on each other. And in some complete disregard for people with mere mortal computers, developers decided to add insult to the injury with some utterly useless water graphic on the floor, just so they could call it waterpolo? WTF!?

Btw, can you score by throwing the ball into the goal or do you have to move into the goal with it? I tried to do it, but the few times I actually got hold of the ball near the net this dude with a bowler hat came up and beat me to death with an umbrella.

I'm guessing you never played TFC, so starting there with spies is kinda pointless. In order to ID an enemy spy, you can do the following:

Be a scout and run into everyone on your team(kinda weak, but it does work) since scouts expose cloaked/disguised spies.

If Friendly Fire is NOT on, you can shoot players on your team... spies will bleed, friendlies will not. I advise only shooting once, with a shotgun(or super shotty), otherwise you can(and probably will) annoy your team mates.

Spies will automatically expose enemy spies from cloak and/or disguise, just like a scout. Problem is, you lose yours at the same time.

Engies can detect spies by hitting team mates with the wrench. If it doesn't give them armour and they bleed... it's a spy.

Medics can HEAL(with the medpack(slot 1 weapon)) team mates..... hitting an enemy spy will INFECT them, thus making it REAL easy to spot one.

Other than that.... you can develope a sence for it.... it's a matter of knowing the classes(by playing them), knowing how they act, and looking for inconsistencies.

It takes time, and isn't 100% accurate... but I'm pretty decent at it.

Welcome to Fortress Forever!! I don't mind hitting the Euro server(Official), but I'm on the East Coast of USA.... so you better be up way late.

[Adamido]

Originally Posted by beef42

How does indentifying friendly spies help me? Perhaps I didn't express myself clearly... I want to know how to identify disguised enemy spies.

Basically, do what Iggy said and observe people coming in your base. If you see a pyro running to you with a crowbar, it's a spy for at least 80%. Shoot him with the shotgun if Friendly Fire is off. If he doesn't bleed's, he's a nub pyro with crowbar, but if he bleeds, then make him bleed more(because its a spy.)
Also, if you see a "teammate" standing next to sentry gun or dispenser, shoot him immediately to spycheck him. Most likely that dude is an enemy spy sabotaging shit! Don't let him.

Also, have fun playing FF.

[Firefox11]

Welcome! =D

[QUOTE=beef42]1, this bunnyhopping stuff. If I understand correctly, the purpose is to gain and/or maintain speed gained from other things, like concs and rockets and whatnot. I read somewhere that I just have to keep spacebar down to autohop, but this does not seem to work.[quote] For what I understood, pressing and holding jump only makes it so you'll jump automatically the next time you hit the ground, but then you will have to press it again for the next jump. It saves you the hassle of timing exactly the spacebar press.

Originally Posted by beef42

2, spies. Spies in this game are a lot more fun than in TF2, but I seem to be unable to figure out how to identify them. In TF2 you just look at his health and his weapon.

There are a few ways to identify them:
- Speed: Spies always run at medium speed. After you've played a bit, you'll be able to tell which Soldier is running faster than he should (being a Spy then).
- Weapon: Allies carrying the melee weapon are not usual, except Engineers and maybe Spies and Medics. Any other class is most likely to be a Spy.
- Standing behind a friendly SG may mean that player is a Spy sabotaging stuff, shot him to stop the proccess.
- Of course, uncloaking in front of your eyes ;D
- To spycheck, shot the suspicious player if FF is off, then keep the assault if he does bleed. If FF is on, shot him with your weakest weapon (single shotgun, usually), if he turns and shots towards you and stays the same, then he's not a Spy. Also, there's no need to spycheck people who is shoting, since you can't attack while disguised.

Originally Posted by beef42

3, concjumps. I have gathered there are two ways. One is to toss the nade then jump from it as it detonates, another is simply to let it explode in your magic third arm, jumping as it detonates. Is there any difference in the velocity gained from these two methods? Are there any advantages or disadvantages at all? By the way, the conc graphic is awesoem.

Dropped concs are easier to pull off, but the enemy knows where you'll go, risking yourself. Hand held concs are harder to predict and allow you to conc without need to come to a halt.

Originally Posted by beef42

4, euro servers. I live in Euroland and I can't help but wonder if I am going to be able to find people to play against. I am quite certain there is plenty of American activity, but those 100+ ping times make it a bit annoying. So can I find populated Euro servers whenever I want to? Or just evenings? Or just weekend evenings even?

At the evenings there are plenty of Euros playing. I should know, I'm Euro ;D

Originally Posted by beef42

5, HWG's minigun. I read it overheats but I seem to be able to fire all my rounds in one go. I've discovered I can stop the little bar on it with rightclick, but why would I do that? Don't I want to spit as many bullets as at all possible?

The most heated it is, the faster you shoot, yes, but the gun becomes less accurate, IIRC. So you can go full charge close quarters, and let the CoF drop as the enemy leaves. It is not as noticeable in 2.1 though.

Originally Posted by beef42

6, sniper. Which classes can I 1shot with uncharged headshots (the most effective way of sniping in TF2, and thus the one I am accustomed to)?

Hmm, I guess they are Scout, Sniper and Engineer. Not sure on Medic and Spy, but I would guess not.

Originally Posted by beef42

7, on some maps, mostly the attack/defend ones I sometimes find myself without my class specific grenade. Since this grenade is the most awesome grenade, I must wonder if this is a balance thing or if I am supposed to find special bags around the maps in question?

Usually, AvD maps don't allow secondary grenades due to their power in both Offense (run the flag or as anti-SG tools) and Defense (due to their Area denial usage). However, there is at least one grenade bag that supplies you with them at every consecutive capture map (cornfield or palermo) and usually one at stage one and two at Dustbowl style maps.

[Agent Buckshot Moose]

Originally Posted by beef42

1, this bunnyhopping stuff.

Just tap jump again in midair and hold it. You'll jump as soon as you land. Rinse, repeat. The true work in bunnyhopping comes with your gliding and air control skills.

5, HWG's minigun. I read it overheats but I seem to be able to fire all my rounds in one go. I've discovered I can stop the little bar on it with rightclick, but why would I do that? Don't I want to spit as many bullets as at all possible?

It used to overheat; this was removed in 2.1. The wiki might need to be updated... or you're reading the in-game hints which are really out of date. For most situations you can just fire at full throttle. You might want to lock at a lower level for really long distances though.

6, sniper. Which classes can I 1shot with uncharged headshots (the most effective way of sniping in TF2, and thus the one I am accustomed to)?

There are no classes that you can kill with an uncharged head shot from full health. However, Scout & Engineer will die from a headshot after a VERY small amount of charge time. The sniper requires a bit more charge on a headshot, but will also die very easily.

7, on some maps, mostly the attack/defend ones I sometimes find myself without my class specific grenade. Since this grenade is the most awesome grenade, I must wonder if this is a balance thing or if I am supposed to find special bags around the maps in question?

Balance. Most maps will have a grenade bag somewhere though.

Please read the wiki for a lot more info: www.fortress-forever.com/wiki

[Ihmhi]

Play Dustbowl as the defender, and imagine if every Demoman spawned with 2 MIRV grenades - or even 1. Aaand that's why dustbowl and some maps (especially AvD maps) don't have secondary grenades. Most do have grenade bags, though.

[beef42]

First of all, thanks to everybody for their answers.

Anyway since I already have this thread I don't want to make a new one... What I wanted was demos.

Actually, demos recorded by people good at the game. Preferably playing against good people too. That is all.

[greenday5494]

this will help
http://www.fortress-forever.com/wiki...7s_Guide_to_FF

[Hammock]

you'd probably have better luck watching for a pickup in ff.pickup on irc and sit and watch in spec and record your own demos.

[squeek.]

Originally Posted by Hammock

you'd probably have better luck watching for a pickup in ff.pickup on irc and sit and watch in spec and record your own demos.

Definitely. Watching pickups should be helpful (see my sig).

I know Gator uploads some demos here if you want to take a look at those: http://jbmpaintball.com/gator/ff/demos/

Pretty sure those are all from UGC matches/pickups.

[Gator-]

damn. All those are from 2.0 if I'm not mistaken. I'll probably take those down and start uploading my 2.1 demos :]

Also
www.ffschool.org

[VinnytheBoss]

i must say for a newcomer to fortress games...these are some excellent questions every newcomer should be asking.. you said them very clear too

good shit

[Rehab]

fucking jager bombs.

[squeek.]

Originally Posted by VinnytheBoss

i must say for a newcomer to fortress games...these are some excellent questions every newcomer should be asking.. you said them very clear too

good shit

Definitely. If only everyone trying FF for the first time was like the thread starter.