Deathmatch
Deatmatch is fun! My first experiences were null-modem games of Quake and the occasional laggy internet match of the same game. Wasn't all that fun ... But then, Unreal came along and let me play against bots. Suddenly I could have proper deathmatch against more than one opponent without a network and without lag. Still, there was a feeling something was lacking from the experience. Especially once one patch stuck the bots at highest skill level so I got miserably kicked every time I just looked at botmatch ... Until the autumn of 1999, my best taste of multiplayer deathmatch was one or two matches at school.
Then the real lift came during the civil service. There wasn't much fun to be had there except in the computer room, and what every computer there had was a copy of Quake 2 ... Software rendered matches of Quake 2, and after a while of the mod Action Quake too, kickass! I even got pretty good at it, at least compared to the local opposition. Always do better against humans than bots ... Don't think I'm a very good player by any other standards though, don't play fanatically enough for that :-) ...
After the civil service ended, causing little sorrow among the participants, good deathmatch seemed a more distant dream again, but not for long. I got my hands on a demo of Unreal Tournament, and botmatch was great, especially since the bots could handle all the game modes properly. Hesitated for a very short time (a few seconds) when I found the game at about half price a few days after finishing the demo ...
Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament?
Depends ... Quake 3 deathmatch is more straightforward and a lot faster. UT has a somewhat lower pace and feels more sophisticated. I mean, Q3 doesn't even have alternative firing modes, and the interface of UT is so much better. Plus you've got so much more to choose from, game types, settings, maps, everything. So, I guess I'll pick UT if I have to choose, but I like to have both and save myself the problem of deciding ...
The List of Things to Improve in My Gameplay
- My aim - too bad at using sniper-type weapons. Especially when on the move, surprise. Just suck with the Quake 3 railgun ...
- Movement. Don't move enough or with enough variation. Think I've got a tendency to slow down further when aiming too. Seldom jump to dodge incoming prjectiles. Never ever use rocket jumping.
- General weapon practise. Very much connected to the first point ...
- Spatial awareness. Often focus too much on one target, forgetting people targeting me from other directions. General map knowledge won't hurt either of course, but that varies from game to game so it won't get a point of its own ...
- Self preservation. Running away from hopeless fights, getting a decent weapon and armor instead of attacking superior enemies with the basic weapon.
