Why you should stop playing UrT to become a better player
As you have seen the site hasn’t been updated for a while. There are various reasons.. work, study, different projects and so on. Because of this stuff, I stopped playing Urban Terror for a while and I can say that I needed it, and here’s why.
First: Confusion
When I came back it was hell. I missed some keys, got damn slow with reaction times, I was spamming too much and I got angry quickly. Urban Terror is really focused on fast paced fights and reflexes are a must. Playing often will make you a better player and it will help develop your aiming skills as well as your reflexes.. however it will make you stop thinking about what you are doing, and you will just mindlessly repeat the same actions every time.
Bad habits
Everybody has bad habits, mostly related to your aim. Coming back after one or two weeks away from UrT will make a good chance to overwrite your mind schemes. Don wrote a great post about aiming, which however requires great commitment.. most of all if you play everyday with the same old habits. It’s a good occasion to stop spamming, stop whining at bad hits and stop circle jumping the wrong way.
Predictability
Usually when you play often, you cycle through the same 10 to 15 maps.. unless you’re a fan of some obscure servers. You will come to know this map like the palm of your hand, and you will unconsciously record 3 or 4 paths in your mind that you will follow.. mostly related to the opening of the game. Coming back after a while will make you see the map like never before. You certainly know it but maybe you forgot about some spots that now seems pretty nice, or some jumps that you never tried. Experiment and evolve from there.
New weapons
Well.. you just came back, why don’t you try some new weapons? Get rid of that LR-300/M4 and start playing with an AK107, it’s a great weapon! And did you know that the PSG-1 is great for CTF or Team Deathmatch? Or why don’t you pick the Beretta instead of a DE?
New servers
As everybody you will probably have 2 to 3 servers where you always play. The same good old people that you know very well and that you play every night. Well.. you might know them so well that you actually can predict what they are going to do and they can predict what you are going to do. Playing with the same people every time is fun, but you will become naturally lazy in trying to find new way of killing them because you already know them. Jump on new servers, play with new people that you never met in maps that you never played. You might find new tactics, strategies and maybe some new friends!
New Settings
This is the right moment to change your aim settings, gear or binds. Most of this stuff relies on habits.. two different configs can work equally well with the right amount of playtime. If you always wanted to change your sensitivity or raise your DPI but you always feared to loose your accuracy.. well this is the right time to do it.
Conclusion
In conclusion.. taking a rest is totally worth it. It will empty your mind from bad habits and will force you to do better. What do you think? Ever stopped for a long time? What did you do when you came back? Tell us in the comments!
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Great post, Engine! I haven’t played for a while too and restarted a week ago. I found
that I was more willing to experiment with different tactics(like using HE instead of smokes like I always do). I guess we could have an experiment?
But I think the community would like to see some more articles on the DailyNade.
I’ve taken two breaks: a 3 month long break last summer. Didn’t aid or kill my “skill” in any way. The last real break I took was in December, for about three weeks. I came back a much better player. I started realizing better ways to move, better ways to shoot, and more importantly, better ways to strategize. I can actually hold my own on CTF, though I still get wooden spoon cause I run the ball. I gave up my M4/spas/de/smoke/medkit setup and started with an sr8/ump/mp5 then an hk69/ump setup. Now I’m weening myself off of those, using a g36/spas setup. I use HE/smoke nades interchangeably, and after that month off, started playing different servers: bomb and ctf mode reg grav, ctf and tdm low grav, and continue to do so on a regular basis. Where before my favorites list held only our clan servers, now it holds a multitude. It’s been a change for the better all around—today I was able to pull off golden scope, touch of death, needs a bigger tent, and unabomber in one map.
Welcome back Engine! I find that every weekend I don’t play as soon as I actually do I play like a wacky waving arm flailing tube man.
how can you stop playing UrT? that is like qutting life!
i play everyday
i just stop playing for 3-4 days and at my coming i found me more relax and didnt say bad word when dying….(rage)
it play way better
you should probably word the title of this post a little better unless you want to sound like a 5 year old with bad grammar skills
By the way, can someone make an article about how to use AK?
It seems like a lot of pros can use it very effectively. Yet, I never figured out how to get good results with it. If I use it the way I use LR300 (usually in bursts of 3-5 shells) what I see is that it just doesn’t work well this way. It deals more damage per shot, but rate of fire is low and accuracy is worse than LR300. Yet, from my experience, being on the receiving end of AK, specially in up close and personal combat can be very devastating.
No guide needed, the secret is to use it in semi-auto. Here’s a three steps guide to get good with the AK.
1. Set it to semi-auto
2. Play for 3-4h aiming ONLY for the head, do it slowly, carefully, and most of all, don’t care about your score. Just try to do head shots consistently.
3. Profit.
To be effective with the AK, you don’t need to fire it fast. It’s got a strong recoil and its spread grows very fast. Instead, aim your shots well, and shoot only as fast and you can aim your shots. If your opponent has no kevlar, you can kill them with two well placed bullets in the chest, this can be done at extremely long range with careful aiming.
Lastly, the advantage of the AK is that it fires relatively slowly, while still retaining a high damage output. Use that to your advantage. When your opponent is out of ammos because they fire in burst, you still have a half-full (or more) magazine. If you play your cards well, they won’t have the time to reload or switch weapon.
I’m on it……Engine, expect an email soon….
BTW, did you ever get that HK article? I messed up the attatchment….
I probably have it somewhere. If you still have it, send it again… just to be sure.
Done.
HK69? I’ve pissed off many a player with that thing. Squirrels especially tick people off—and especially while they fly through the air in low grav. =)
playing with the tube on crowded ctf servers is honestly the most fun i’ve ever had playing this game. flying around corners and squirreling people in the head is hilarious!
You guys should try the TDM nade suicide sometime. Simply run right outside enemy spawn and spam nades. You’re gonna dies alot, but you’re gonna have a pretty sweet KC. Also, I had 4 kills with one nade before.
haha yeah, i still try to keep myself alive while i tube. i like getting people to chase me through a corridor or other cramped area and shoot a nade straight into the ground or near a doorway as i’m running. if you time it right the result is priceless
ut4_suburbs (as blue) and ut4_toxic are definitely my favourite maps for tubing atm
Agreed.
If you need/want a specific article, let me know, I’ll see what I can come up with. I’ll probably start working with one on playing Bomb Mode in a couple days.
This is so fck*** true.
I think the most important part is “old habits”. When you play after a long break, you see the game with new eyes, you’re more motivated, and that’s all good.
I have just recently picked UrT up after being gone since last September. And let me say, everything you’ve said is totally true.
I mean sure I’ve totally lost any skill I had, but that will return with time. But I’ve noticed a tremendous difference with the way I play, my loadout ironically enough has switched from LR/DE to AK/Beretta.
I can’t shoot for crap, but I think I’m playing a bit smarter at times.
This is true man, I was thinking about this for some days
Yes, this is a great tip. It works.
After i went snowboarding for 2 weeks, I really focused much more on playing smart, and not with that usual: “I’m playing casa eyes glazed over staring blankly at the screen” style.
i cant stop!
haha holy shit, you are absolutely right about everything! too bad when i take a break for a while i replace all my handy tricks with new tricks, need somehow to remember them and use them all at the same time.
about the ak47, its a very nice weapon, untill you face opponents with a higher ping.
My playstyle is to always do the unpredictable *ideally*, so I don’t find much difference after a break other than the skill loss! XD
Though playing after taking a break DOES give me that refreshing feeling.
Another cool thing to try out is playing other FPSes and coming back to UrT (or vice versa). Often you find you can apply some of the principles of killing and survival to the other game effectively, like Counter Strike and Call of Duty
I found that taking a break and changing some tactics can require a little time to be efficient. It’s not instant as most would expect. I’m a speed nut, been dropping that kevlar as fast as I could for the pre-nade funk.
Changing the mouse settings (I tend to jitter on some movements, so I had to readjust my horizontal sensitivity to hit them heads.
The refreshing feeling is nice, especially when you fire up that AK after a long time… It works great when you pull that small harass and bait a flank, then stab ‘em in the back…
@rYuuJiN, the approach with an AK is to hurt / kill at long distances… when you get real close, pop that retta spray, works like a charm… unless you’re the UMP funk master, giving some head tango.
A good thing I found very useful is to adjust or make use of new binds, like a throw nade then autoswitch back to your primary (make sure you have the same bind but to drop on your secondary weapon in case you’re in a small tunnel). Having a good FOV adjust script (giving you a “zoom” feature) switching between 90 degrees to 110 degrees makes wonders when using the LR or the AK. It takes a while to get used to it, but it’s an indispensable tool to have ready in case you’re hitting on riyadh with the idea that you’re god against an sr-8…. you never know, some crazy folks out there tend to do it… (I do it with a knife or a negev for the laugh, just make sure you got that circle jumping going spotless!)
I play with AK 103
for a year, ever the same auto.
If you don`t hit with the three first bullets, stop shotting, hide, run , crunch or whatever, but wait , only when the spread get low, start shooting again
My two cent.
This site is dead?
It is all but dead. Big news are coming, so stay tuned
@ palladin:
my oppinion is that the zoom script is totally useless…
better:
play all the time with 110 fov !
i would like to play 180 fov
Engine..what up with this site? Email me.
last comment august 3?
well the reason is that when 4.2 comes out this site will rise from the grave.
If I were you I’d keep an eye on the site in the next couple of weeks
Just sayin’
I’m guessing new host, new layout, new contributors. I’m on call, BTW, haven’t touched the game in a while though.
What’s going on. It seems that Urban Terror 4.2 will never come out, and now you’ve stopped blogging.
What happened, is that everyone, including the web site editors, probably took the advice of this article and took a break from UrT for the duration of summer.
so what happened to the nade?
“If I were you I’d keep an eye on the site in the next couple of weeks
”
Just sayin’
A couple of weeks passed
but if ure saing this i belive you this site will come back to life
UT 4.2 is like Waterworld’s dry land: a myth.
Fuck off. I’m happy with 4.1
I’ve actually taken a *long* time off from UrT. (Exploring other types of games from FPS, mostly) and am getting ready to pick it up again.
Was always a rusher or a medic, but I’m going to try sniping, since it’s something that I’ve wanted to get good at for some time now.
Wish me luck!
WHY YOU SHOULD BECOME A BETTER PLAYER TO STOP PLAYING URT?
I choose noobism
i have Tag pressure what do i do