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HALF LIFE - Multiplayer Guide (version 1.0)


Written by Tim Wuyts (February 11th-16th, 1999) E-mail: tim.wuyts@planetinternet.be

The author is also the webmaster of The Cheat Empire: http://home.planetinternet.be/~twuyts
Here you can always find the latest cheats & walkthroughs for PC Games.
(Copyright notice at the bottom)

-



* Introduction
* Additions
* Before You Start
* The Controls
* General Tactics
- Maps
- Camping
- Dodging
- Techniques
- Retreating
- Target
- Medical/HEV Stations
* The Weapons
- Crowbar
- Glock gun 9mm
- .375 Magnum
- Shotgun
- MP-5 Submachine Gun
- Crossbow
- Rocket Launcher (RPG)
- Gauss Gun
- Hive Hand
- Gluon Gun
- Grenades
- Trip Mines
- Snarks
- Satchel Charges
* Specific Map Info
- Frenzy
* Legal Notice

-


Introduction
============

Let me start out by telling you that I'm not a hot shot Half Life player. There are millions
of
players who can beat me anytime. But since Half Life is the first 3D shoot'em up which I
really
like (no, I don't like Quake) I started playing some deathmatches too. I first started out as
a
real loser, I got pinned to the wall every single time. After playing several deathmatches, I
managed to take a step up from total loser to a 'medium' player. This guide simply points
out
how I tried to improve myself, there are probably lots of other tactics but these are the ones I
used. (Anyone who has additional tips can mail them to me any time!)

If you really want to become a Half Life deathmatch hot-shot, I can give but one advice:
practice. The more you play, the better you get! (And I need a lot of extra practice ;)


Additions
=========

This is where I put the info which is related to new versions of the guide, but since this is
version 1.0 ...

I prefer to be mailed if you have some additional hints & strategies, but if you want to make
an
addition to this guide put your information here (in the same way mentioned below):

Name E-mail Addition made

This will allow me to contact the persons who made additions, so I can re-write the guide if
I want to (giving credit to the original authors of course).


Before You Start
================
When you play an on-line game (not LAN) the lag might interfere with gameplay. A latency of
200 and less usu works once you hit the 300 mark or higher half life becomes unplayable (at least
on my computer). You know: you see another guy standing at the other side of the room and the
next frame you are lying on the ground and he's dancing on your head. Remember that it's
better
to drop e few graphic details (like the decals) to improve speed over the net than to have a lot
of lag (esp. if you want to win).

Are there ways to lower latency? Yes there are! You can make specific files which make sure
you don't load decals and other stuff which lower latency! I suggest you look on the internet
for additional info. There are several files you can download like lowping.zip which are a lot
of help.


The Controls
============

First of all I would like to say that you'll have to learn to play the game combining the
mouse
and keyboard controls. Sometimes you see people playing the game on their keyboard only,
crunching their fingers in all kinds of impossible ways. The combination of mouse and keyboard
is the best and most easy way to play.

Don't use the default controls of half life! In single player you can do everything at a
slow, relaxed pace. In multiplayer, this will get you killed! eg. the 'R' button to
reload
is to far away from your other controls, by the time you have pressed the button, you'll be
perforated with bullets. These are the controls I use:

Mouse --> to aim
* Left mouse button: Fire 1
* Right mouse button: Fire 2
* Wheel: Scroll through weapons

Keyboard:
* Arrow up: Run forward
* Arrow left: Strafe left
* Arrow right: Strafe right
* CTRL: Jump
* SHIFT: Crawl
* ENTER: Use item
* INS / 0: Reload

The other buttons don't really matter that much, unless you don't have a wheel mouse. If
you don't have it, the buttons for the selection of your weapons are important too.
Assign quick keys to the weapons you use the most (and that doesn't always have to be the
gluon gun).

Personally, I don't use the strafe button that much, but it sometimes comes in handy when
you try to dodge the opponent. However ... continually jumping and crawling tends to be more
confusing to the other players than a simple strafe movement, so I prefer this tactic.
(Although I must admit, that sometimes I simply forget to do it, result --> My head gets blown
off).

Like I already said, these are the controls I use while playing half life. If you feel more
comfortable using other controls, use them instead of these. This is just some advice for
the rookies out there, who haven't considered the use of alternatice keys.


General Tactics
===============

Actually, there is nothing like a 'general tactic' in a game like half life. Your
strategy
(if you would have any) highly depends on the kind of map you are playing. eg. it is not wise
to be camping if you have a large, open map!

Maps
----
I urge you to explore the map before you go into battle (a tournament). If you don't
you'll
get fried. Of course, you can't know all the maps, but most half life servers support a range
of good to excellent maps which will return quite often. Try to learn the positions which
might give you an edge over your opponent.

This exploring can be done off-line if you want too but it might be more beneficial to start
playing right away and to experience what good positions are. Some spots may seem excellent
when you are off-line, but it might turn out otherwisewhen you are on-line, because it's too
obvious or some other reason. If your ass gets blown off several times, you'll know that
it's
a poor spot (believe me)!

It's also important to know where the good guns are on the map. You don't want to be
running
around with your 9mm gun all the time, sooner or later you'll get fragged. A good gun
doesn't
necessarily mean the gluon gun. This also depends on the map you're playing on. Long range
guns might be applied on large, open maps (like crossfire), while short range guns are
better to use in small, fast paced maps.

If you don't know the map you're playing you should try to remember both of the things
mentioned above (positions, guns) as soon as possible. Also try to get an advantage by
listening, if you hear someone reloading a gun, you know you should be careful. Too many
people (including myself) tend to forget about this! Players tend to be fixed on their screen,
not on the sounds that surrounds them.

Camping
-------
Camping, in general, isn't a good tactic. You might snipe a few other players, but as soon as
they know where you are you're fried. Even worse, they can see you, but you don't see
them in
time. Camping should only be done from dark (preferably higher) positions. If it isn't dark,
don't start camping, you'll be spotted fairly easy and it only takes a good RPG rocketto
take
you out. Furthermore, camping should only be done if you have the right weapons. If you
don't
have a crossbow or the RPG rocket launcher, camping on a sniping position doesn't have any
use!
If you are camping in a small bunker, make sure you have a powerfull short range gun (eg. shot
gun). If you don't have the appropriate weapons get the hell out of there. But even if you
have the right weapons and in a dark spot, camping is not advised ... you are a sitting duck.
Keep on moving, the more you move, the harder it is to hit you.

Dodging
-------
Dodging is another word for acting like a nut. Which is good since you can't predict what a
nut is going to do. What does this actually mean when you are in a multi-player game:

Don't walk/run in straight lines, it's very easy to hit someone if he walks straight,
even
snipers can take you out. If you walk, try walking from the left to the right and the other way
around. This will make it more difficult for snipers to hit you.

When you are in a direct confrontation with someone try to move around. It's harder for you
to
aim too (but that just takes some practice) but the other player will be having difficulties
hitting you too. Like I said before you can strafe, but if you really want to be confusing try
jumping around in combination with some crawling. The first time I saw someone do this, I
thought he was crazy, but he fragged me before I could even hit him. This also takes a bit of
practice, not so much for better aim, but rather to "not forget" to do all these crazy
things.
I recently started applying this technique and it does work, I die less (which means that the
others don't have as many kills ;)) but I also tend to forget to jump around sometimes, which
usually results into death.

Techniques
----------
This sounds fancier than it really is. What do I mean by techniques? You probably do know all
the basics of jumping and crawling. But there are some additional moves that might prove to be
beneficial.

First of all, don't risk your life to get it ... only if it's up for grabs. Once you have
it
try the combination of crawling and jumping. This will give you a huge boost in terms of speed
... excellent to cross wide, open spaces.

Secondly the famous 'Gauss jump'. All you need is: a gauss gun and a place to land (but
that
doesn't tend to be a problem). All you have to do is charge the gauss gun, point it to the
ground and release the charge. You'll be flying high into the air. This is usefull if there
are maps with high elevations which you want to reach quickly but it can also be applied in
emergencies (read: dead threatening situations). Make sure you land on an elevated position,
since you'll lose hit points if you don't. You can also do this using the rocket
launcher, but
this is not advised since it does involve a "health risk" ;).

This takes me to the concept of 'falling'. In most MP games realistic damage is turned
off,
resulting in a loss of 10 HP when you fall. If this is the case, fall ahead I would say.
10 HP is nothing, especially if you have to go a long way down in open positions (I'm not
talking about tunnels or anything). You shouldn't worry about the 10 HP because it can cost
you
a lot more if you climb down.

Retreating
----------
I can be pretty short on this one. If you do have to retreat, always try to walk backwards. Ok,
there is a chance that you run into a trip mine, but it's pretty low. Why do you have to run
backwards? Simple, to beat the hell out of the person you are running away from. If you just
run away, you will be shot in the back. However if you run backwards there still might be
chance that you send the guy to fraggy heaven before he whacks you.

Target
------
I mean 2 things by this:

First of all you have to target someone to kill! This doesn't mean shooting some rounds in
the
air, nope you need to aim. Aim is an important aspect of the game and it isn't easy! If you
can't aim, you can't kill ... if you can't kill, well ... you get the idea. Once you
can aim
properly, you can beat anyone. If you have the chance to hit the competitor in the head,
do so ... he'll get more damage.

Secondly, if you target someone, keep a 'lock' on him. Don't start shooting multiple
targets,
try to concentrate on 1 target, finish him off and then proceed to the next. If you take on
too many targets at once, the impact will be limited. Ok, you'll wound the guy, but he can
heal himself or even worse, it's easier for your competitors to take him out! This is
something
you don't want to do, always go for the kill!

Medical/HEV stations
--------------------