[ARTICLE] The step up from being an amateur CS:S Player

[joshkent]

Stepping up from being an amateur cs player - by joshK

Over the past few months I've constantly been added and asked by various players how did you get good, how did you improve and whatnot. I always tell them the same thing, which is to be confident, be loyal to teams, and to have that want to improve. In this article I will hopefully be able to give you a somewhat 'In depth' analysis on how you can improve and how to improve your game to be able to move up in the ranks, and how to improve on your personal game.

PART 1 - Settings

Before you get into watching demos, practicing your aim and all of that you must have you own personal settings in which will make your game more efficient and consistent. I do like to keep my config rather simple, but there a few things in which you must have if you want to be consistent.
Firstly, you want your mouse sensitivity to be just right. Before you find a sense which is right for you, make sure you have mouse acceleration off. This is a must if you wish to be consistent in your game play. To make sure you do not have any form of acceleration on, go to your Mouse settings in control panel, and under the pointer options tab make sure 'Enhance Pointer Precision' is un-ticked. Secondly, download this - Download mousestuff.rar

You want to go to 'install' and double click on the registry file there. After that, go to the mousemovementrecorder.exe and move your mouse around in the middle of your screen and if there are no green or red colours, you have no mouse acceleration.

Now, I chose a sense in which I can comfortably do a 180 to get quick kills or revenges on people who are behind me, but a sense in which is low enough that I can easily change targets when they are in front of me. The best thing you can do is have a large mouse pad. Currently my pad is 40x30cm and in game if I move my mouse from one side of my pad to the other I can do a 360 degree rotation on my screen. It is essential you can quickly move your aimer around the screen without having a sense which is too high.

To have better game play you want to have at least 100 FPS. If you're not getting this, I suggest lowering your texture detail and whatnot, or get an FPS config. Luckily, I don't need anything like that and can comfortably run source on my native resolution.

As I said previously, I believe it's key to have a simple config. Here's mine currently just to give you an idea that you don't need a 500 page detailed settings galore essay for a cfg.
Download joshkentscfg.rar

Part 2 - The want to improve

In this game if you want to get better you most certainly will, if you're doing it correctly but if you have a negative attitude towards the game and other players then it WILL affect the way you play, negatively. Honestly, when you're playing ignore others comments, get out of your head that people may be cheating and focus on your own game.

PART 3 - Confidence

Now, I'm known to have a pretty big ego, and I think it's a huge reason why I am able to frag consistently and at a high level. I'm confident in my abilities and don't ever second guess myself when I'm playing. This is key if you wish to frag well. I hear a whole bunch of people saying 'it's not that simple though, I can't just change my attitude like that', which I think is ridiculous.

This part of your games not clue, or aim it's just in your head. If you believe you will be able to pick the guy you think is in short window on tuscan then you sure as hell will. If you believe you can pressure the B player on dust2 into an awkward spot and take the site by yourself then you sure as hell can if you believe in yourself and are confident.

Part 4 - Ability

Now, this part of your game will take a long time to work on, and won't make you better overnight. You need to gradually improve on the following two things for years.

a) Smarts

Smarts, or more commonly known as clue is a huge part of my personal game and is what I relied on going through cevo-a/m/i when I didn't really need to have huge aim to get the frags when I needed to, but just to outsmart players.

With clue, and introducing it into your game you always need to be finding the easiest and safest way you can get kills. For example if I'm holding a line as a CT in carpets on inferno, in my head I'm thinking what will I do if they push me, where am I going to flash them, what happens if they're pushing diggity, how am I going get out of carps safely if they're pushing diggity, and so on.
The easiest way you can improve your clue is NOT by playing, but by watching and studying how players better then you play their personal game. Honestly, the best place for this in my opinion is a site I love to watch which is JuanSource - Your premiere source for demo commentaries and strategy articles. Juan played for pandemic, and was most famously known for leading and calling for 3D. The amount of articles and commentaries on there is amazing.

When watching demos and whatnot, you can't be thinking that after you watch ten demos you'll be really good with your clue. It's quite the contrary really. When I used to watch a lot of demos I didn't directly copy how players held or the exact flashes they used. What demos do is give you ideas, and different lines you can hold, while watching how players react to different situations.

If I'm not bringing my point out strongly enough here, watch demos, watch other players but don't copy them. Just get ideas of how you can play, and how you can react to different situations.

b) Aim

Over the last month or two I've really been working on my aim and I can see drastic improvements. I created a routine for myself which covers all of the main weapons.

When I'm bot praccing, there are only two maps I will use. The map I start off on is ecoslaw. With this, I will put 8 or so bots on the terrorist side, which are on easy mode, and have no weapons. I slowly burst fire them one at a time with the M4A1, until I do approximately 200-250 bots. After that I'll restart the map with 5 bots and slowly shoot a usp to kill them all, and after I've done 100 or so bots, I'll do the same with a glock. When finished, I'll change the map to all_around_aim.bsp which is great for working on your AK or deagle. I'll verse the maximum bots with an AK which is about 14, with the same settings as ecoslaw and just burst them all without spraying if I can help it.

Now, after this I will go on a map like blood_assault and do exactly like I practiced, just burst firing. It is essential you don't awp on this map, otherwise you're just wasting time. If you want to improve your awp skills, go on awp_india or something like that.

This routine fits the way I like to play, and everyone has to find their own way in which they can improve their aim. Copy mine if you wish, and see if it helps you, make your own routine because this is an essential part of every players game.

Part 5 - Working your way up

There's only one word you really need to know if you want to work your way up through the ranks. That word is loyalty. If you haven't noticed I've been in the same team since cevo-a and I'd like to think the reason I've been able to win is not because of my individual capabilities, but because of teamwork which is an essential part of every teams game. If you don't have any sense of team orientation you will fail at becoming a good player.

To conclude the article I hope you can take on board that every player must find their own way to be creative in their game play, and to consistently work on your aim, clue, and confidence as it will improve the way you play.

Thanks for reading,
Josh

[Ryu]

This sums up everything pretty well, good guide from someone who's worked their way up from the bottom, from an idealistic team that stuck together with pretty much 3-4 of the same members every season.

[numky]

Good write up joshk. :]

[Tom[wh]]

Nice Josh Definitely agree with most of that, especially the confidence part :P

[M1ST]

Really solid write up man and i 100% agree with the confidence part, good stuff keep em coming.

[marciver]

excellent read.

[overloadd]

great article
everything sounds spot on

[mech]

Josh.........Your a good ferkin mate eh

['kezz.,]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to joshkent again.

Good read, I think this will be helpful for newer players especially the part about loyalty.

[Smoke.Signals]

good write-up great read

[vOnz]

Where do I put the cfg?

[B^Man]

Yeh thanks for the effort, a good read should help me and many others out.

where can i get ecoslaw cant find the stupid thing?

[<^>]

nicee

[oohsean]

juan does my thinking for me.

[jabz]

Great article josh. I particularly agree with the loyalty you were talking about. It's so important, and as an individual you improve so much just by playing with the same people. I think with aim it really comes down to the individual too. I found personally that bots will only get my aim so good, and I get to a point where I can scrim with the same aim without ever having to play bots. That's why its so important just to have consistent settings and not change them around all the time because you have a bad night. Consistency is the key .

But something you didn't mention and what I think is most important, is to remember your playing a computer game and it's just for a bit of fun in your spare time. Over the years I have played CS you tend to see the people who become too involved in the game tend to get over it very quickly and stop playing the game altogether.

great article

edit: must spread more rep etc

[Metal#37]

Good read, and very good points from his experiences.

[MattskE.]

was a good read

[HawX]

good read

[precision]

really good read has inspired me to pick up my game ive gotten slack since 2 weeks ago

[pop n fresh]

your shit josh ?

[boh~]

learnt quite a bit from this, cheers for writing it up.

[infzoraN]

all in all a pretty good write up

I really agree with how important confidence is, and i like how you highlighted how important loyalty is.

However, when you're speaking to people about things like aim, i respect how you've told people to turn mouse accell off but you shouldn't tell people that turning mouse accell off is a must. Aim should be a preferential thing, some people perform better with it on (myself being one of them). The only input i would have would be 2 say that aim should be purely guided by yourself, for those reading this thread, don't necisarrily turn mouse accell off, if your comfortable with your sens, then dont' change anything. what you're used to is always best.

Take that point from me. A friend who shall remain nameless told me to change my sens and resolution after playing with the same for a year straight. It's the worst thing i ever did. It ties in with what josh said about practice the more you get used to it the better you will perform, and if you go changing your resolution and sens coz of guides and people telling you to then you won't get anywhere. Anyway long story short, i changed my res and sens at the end of 08 and i'm still nowhere near as good as i was back then.

Imo things that you shouldn't change for anyone other than yourself.... (mouse, resolution and sensitivity.) these are the most important factors in aim and if you keep your settings the way you like them, rather than conforming to one persons opinion you'll be far better off for it.

Anyways my rant makes it look like i disprove of this thread, but that's not true.

I agree with most of the outlined points but i suggest to avoid reccomending that people

make sure you have mouse acceleration off. This is a must if you wish to be consistent in your game play.

good write up nevertheless, hopefully people learn some stuff from it

[joshkent]

all in all a pretty good write up

I really agree with how important confidence is, and i like how you highlighted how important loyalty is.

However, when you're speaking to people about things like aim, i respect how you've told people to turn mouse accell off but you shouldn't tell people that turning mouse accell off is a must. Aim should be a preferential thing, some people perform better with it on (myself being one of them). The only input i would have would be 2 say that aim should be purely guided by yourself, for those reading this thread, don't necisarrily turn mouse accell off, if your comfortable with your sens, then dont' change anything. what you're used to is always best.

Take that point from me. A friend who shall remain nameless told me to change my sens and resolution after playing with the same for a year straight. It's the worst thing i ever did. It ties in with what josh said about practice the more you get used to it the better you will perform, and if you go changing your resolution and sens coz of guides and people telling you to then you won't get anywhere. Anyway long story short, i changed my res and sens at the end of 08 and i'm still nowhere near as good as i was back then.

Imo things that you shouldn't change for anyone other than yourself.... (mouse, resolution and sensitivity.) these are the most important factors in aim and if you keep your settings the way you like them, rather than conforming to one persons opinion you'll be far better off for it.

Anyways my rant makes it look like i disprove of this thread, but that's not true.

I agree with most of the outlined points but i suggest to avoid reccomending that people



good write up nevertheless, hopefully people learn some stuff from it

Mouse acceleration off is must if you wish to be as consistent as you can. I used to play with it on, and now that it's off my aim has improved tenfold. Mouse acceleration is dependent on how fast you move your mouse - AKA your sense is always slightly changing if you move your mouse faster or slower thus it is important to have it off.

Things like resolution and whatnot are personal preference, though, as many people disagree with me since I play on 1920x1200

[TUZHEL -_^]

hahah me and josh use some crosshair at lan big mate

well done baby

[ManJi]

I have never been able to stick with same reso / crosshair for longer than a week - the whole time I have been playing css (so since 05), probably why I'm still shit LOL

[infzoraN]

Mouse acceleration off is must if you wish to be as consistent as you can. I used to play with it on, and now that it's off my aim has improved tenfold. Mouse acceleration is dependent on how fast you move your mouse - AKA your sense is always slightly changing if you move your mouse faster or slower thus it is important to have it off.

Things like resolution and whatnot are personal preference, though, as many people disagree with me since I play on 1920x1200

i disagree with you on this one, sorry, i started playing with mouse accell on and as a result, i have what seems a really really high sens, coz i just flick like a boss. However i turned it off, at the reccomendation of half the people i knew, as a result, i had to turn my sens higher because i could no longer flick, this made my long range aim even worse because i relied on having my sens up high for those close range flicks which i was so used to, maybe if i hadn't of got used 2 playing with mouse accell it would be different, but i can honestly say that mouse accell works for better for me. It allows me to be able to flick if i need to, to kill a guy behind me, but it allows me to keep my sens lower to make those long range headshots. Anyway this isn't a debate about which is better. I believe there are arguments for both. I just don't believe you shouuld be 100% and say that turning mouse accell off will improve your game as i can tell you it certainly didn't for me.

I'd just let people decide on their own settings, but offer them the information to know about mouse accell and let them make their own mind up from there.

Like i said, i'm pretty passionate about it coz i'm talking from experience and i'm not saying you're wrong at all and i did enjoy the guide. But that's the only thing i'd probably leave up to the player.

[Insomniac_]

Muscle memory pretty much proves turning it off is better overall.

[snyper]

Ferg uses mouse accel as do a lot of pro 1.6ers. It's all just preference.

bl there.

[infzoraN]

Ferg uses mouse accel as do a lot of pro 1.6ers. It's all just preference.

bl there.

that's what i'm trying 2 say!!!!!!

[joshkent]

It's fine if it suits you, but it changes your sense randomly so turning it off WILL make you more consistent if you have it off long enough. This guide is really for people who want to improve over the long run, so with muscle memory it will help your game.

[Flankdog]

Ferg is too inconsistent ay :P

Good read mate. Will help fuckloads of people.

[oohsean]

Ferg uses mouse accel as do a lot of pro 1.6ers. It's all just preference.

bl there.

I need Juan to say this before I believe it~

lolz

[MoeycQ]

good read.

i think i should point out that people shouldnt overthink how to improve. dont think about every possible method to improve, just play, build your own style and take tips along the way, play with and against better players, work your way up with a team rather than as a player. (josh did this with mplex, and so did i with x7). find a bunch of people you enjoy playing with that are on the same wavelength as you, rather than players who have amazing aim with a cbf attitude.

[f0oster]

good read.

i think i should point out that people shouldnt overthink how to improve. dont think about every possible method to improve, just play, build your own style and take tips along the way, play with and against better players, work your way up with a team rather than as a player. (josh did this with mplex, and so did i with x7). find a bunch of people you enjoy playing with that are on the same wavelength as you, rather than players who have amazing aim with a cbf attitude.

qfe.

really great read josh. as much as we banter eachother, i've just gotta respect a good post like this.

[joshkent]

: D =D

[pop n fresh]

i am sure huk told u all this

[joshkent]

i am sure huk told u all this

these are my own personal opinions on the game

[tayzR]

Great write up :P

[karzoN_]

Zakk[t]. - Article

zak2g copy

[joshkent]

lol...