By far the most popular game at our offices, QIII: Arena has been out for gaes, but fun never stops being fun.
Quake III Arena (Q3A) is old, really old. Even Quake 4 has started becoming old for some people, but Q3A is still blazing fast, loads of fun, runs on pretty much any machine and there is still a very loyal community online and an offline (well us here at Digit, at least) can’t finish a day without few rounds.
Performance And Quality
Maximum quality might be a treat for the eyes, but performance is more important when you’re playing with ten players in-game, with gibs and blood flying all over the place. To remove the gore, bring up the console ([`]) and enter /cg_ gibs 0 and /com_blood 0.
To reduce the confusion in multiplayer team games, you can use the command – /cg_forceModel 1 and then /cg_EnemyModel (this only works for the OSP mod. The first command will make all the models in game the same as yours. The second command makes all the opponents the TankJR model. You can choose whichever model you wish. /cg_enemycolors sets a colour to the enemy’s model. Eg. /cg_enemycolors 2222 will force the enemies to look a bright green.
Controls And Key Layout
The default 1 through 0 keys for changing weapons aren’t the best, assuming you’re using the default WASD setup for moving about. Using the mouse scroll to scroll through the weapon list can get you killed, so use the keys around the WSAD keys—Q,E,R,1,2,3,4, etc.— for weapons like the plasma gun, lightning gun, and the rest. The most important weapons, the Rocket Launcher and the Railgun, can be bound to your mouse’s middle click and right click respectively. The new changes will undoubtedly take time getting used to, but you’ll eventually strike gold.
Your mouse settings need to be set right as well. Preferably, it’s good to have the mouse sensitivity set to around 2, assuming that you’re using an 800 dpi mouse. You can set values by typing the command /sensitivity 2. Low sensitivity will give you the accuracy you need but still won’t get quick reactions. Set the acceleration to around 0.5 using the command /cl_mouseaccel 0.5. Play around with friends, until you have the settings just right for you. You should end up with a setting where you can make one swing of the mouse and make a 360-degree rotation in game without having to lift the mouse.
Strafe-jumping
Strafe-jumping is a way to improve your speed while jumping about in game. To view your current speed, bring down the console (press [`]) and type /cg_drawSpeed 1 (this only works with the OSP—Orange Smoothie Productions—you’ll see the speed meter on the right top of the screen. You’ll soon notice that default player speed in Quake 3 is 320 ups.
To begin strafe-jumping, hold down the strafe key and start jumping continuously; move the mouse gracefully in the direction of your movement. You will notice that your speed will increase slowly, but will definitely exceed 320 ups (units per second). Make sure you time every jump perfectly—any breaks, and you’ll be left without any speed. If there’s enough space to run about, it’s possible to get your speed all the way up to 1000 ups and beyond!
| Playing QIII online in India |
| For FPS multiplayer games, low pings are absolutely important. FragShack is a gaming community that has two Quake III servers. You will need to download the latest update to play on the server. First update to 1.32 and then download the small 1.32c patch and extract the EXE to the Quake III folder. The complete OSP 1.03a mod with maps for Quake 3 can be downloaded from http://www.orangesmoothie.org/download.html. The Quake III OSP server address is 202.88.131.139, Port: 28000. |
Opponent Gyaan
Experiencing years of mindless carnage and playing with the weirdest of characters for close to a decade has made us wiser; while these may sound silly and obvious, they are very effective. Aiming is one thing, not everything. You could buy the costliest mice and mouse pads, make a thousand tweaks, but there is nothing more effective than truly understanding your opponent(s).
Observe and remember each one of your opponents’ running patterns, his rocket dodging patterns and his favourite camping spots. Use this knowledge to your advantage to predict and react well in advance. Wait at his camping spots and dominate. Do it well, and you will soon find your opponent beginning to lose it. To avoid finding yourself at the receiving end of these tactics. Keep changing your patterns and style. It’s all about moving – keep making random strafing movements in no one pattern.