as I was recently asked by sakana about my aiming technique I decided to share some thoughts on "how to" actually do it "right".
Therefore, I want to start out with some general aspects which are good to know and then get into more details.
*edit: it is my personal opinion given on how to approach certain things. i might be wrong, there might be better solutions etc. it is just my personal opinion stated here. (i also hope some people might understand that i have put much thought into improving my game, likely more thought than most other players, therefore maybe it makes you understand i am legit).
////////GENERAL REMARKS////////////
First: practise, practise, practise, you need to get used to your settings and grow confidence in your movement and your aim. you can actually tell if a player is truely skilled or maybe just a cheater if you look at his movement. all good players on the server such as newb.zi zealot blaze etc. also have a consistent movement, you do not see them too many stupid things 99% of the time. that is a good indicator for true skill and consistency and confidence. the obvious cheaters that had been spotted on the server usually have amazing reaction times and aiming skills but fail to move properly. if you are only practising moving around you might fail to aim properly. if you gear your setup towards aiming (with one weapon) you will fail to move properly or use other weapons. i will come to this later: aiming and movement are strongly related and it is always a compromise. settings that favor movement disfavour aiming. settings favoring aiming will disfavour movement.
Second of all, having good hardware is integral. Things that are required to actually become good:
You need to have constant fps (100/120/125/200) depending on what quake version you are using. Modern computers should do it easiliy. I have like 1000 fps on /timedemo 1 /demo four. I remember an old "unwritten rule" from 2003 to be told by SK/u.stelam when he said that if you are having close to 300 fps on timedemo/ demo four you are always good to go.
I am very oldschool, so I keep using maxfps 125 with a 120hz monitor and maxpackets 125, timenudge 0 due to unlag mod, actually pinging around 40. I feel the monitor and its settings are most underrated. Try to get a high HZ monitor. I actually feel a difference between 60 85 and 100/120 hz. The game will feel much smoother with higher hz and also slower, therefore it is easier to hit. I use a resolution of 1024x768@21" CRT monitor. I was used to 4:3 resolutions from the old days. I use "Custom resolution tool" to force 120hz in my gaming resolution. my desktop resolution is much higher and i dont care there about HZ.
I use a standard USB keyboard, i have a huge mousepad (ROCCAT TAITO) and a logitech g100s@1450dpi. I started to raise DPI settings from 1200 very slowly. higher dpi should be more accurate but at some point I cannot handle higher DPIs. you have also to be aware that DPI and sensitivity feel differently depending on FOV and resolution you are using. I use this mouse because I have always used logitech mouses with the same shape. so i sticked to it, i tried other mice but they never worked that well because my brain is pretty much programmed to that shape.
Sound is very OFTEN underrated. I have teammodels mynx and enemymodels tankjr. tankjr is actually a bit too bit but I am just used to it and the sound of tankjr is very distinctive. it also differs A LOT from mynx sounds therefore I am able to distinguish between opponent and teammate. tankjr is also very "loud" therefore you might be able to hear an opponent easier compared to other enemymodels. I have a Sennheiser headphone which also helps hearing opponents since it is rather high quality. q3 sound engine is made in a way that you are able to hear stereo/ two way. therefore if you use headphones you should be able to tell if an opponent is entering the room from the right hand or left hand side. therefore you can hear the opponent before you can actually see him. if you have confidence in that, some practise, experience and such you are able to attack and hit your opponent before he actually knows you are there (sorry no illegal wallhack, rather a legal anticipation tool/technique that gives me the edge very OFTEN).
of course, that you need a chair and a table that is comfortable to you and is big enough for your hardware (especially when you use 21" CRT ^^). this will also influence how you hold your mouse and move generally. To me there are no actual rules. a lot of russian players hold the mouse in an 90 degree angle to the monitor, the mouse is centered on the table and the keyboard is on the lap. my keyboard is centered to the monitor and the mouse is on the right hand side next to the monitor. if you do not have a lot of space you will tend to be a high sens player, if you have a lot of space and use it you will tend to be a low sens player. in the end, if your brain is already programmed to a certain style do not try to change it. it will take years/ will be impossible.
third, software is important:
i do not mean any tools that help your aiming but i mean having the right mod installed and a good config. newb.zi made a thread about it. so i just want to refer to his work. you need a good config which helps vision and does not show any unimportant graphics like details on walls etc. (i use r_picmip 5 because some structure on the walls and floor help me identify where an opponent exactly stands and lets me shoot rockets directly on his feet, which is btw the better rocket aim because direct hits dont happen most of the time. if an opponent is on a higher level you cannot shoot towards the floor of course, therefore in those situations you might change the weapon.)
fourth, natural talent is helpful. in order to test your reaction times go here: https://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/ average person has 215ms reaction time. being above average (faster) helps.
////////RAILING DETAILS////////////
it is important to determine a good sensitivity and a good fov.
if you have a bigger monitor you can use bigger fovs. if you use a high fov everything seems to be slower but also everything becomes smaller. if you use a low fov everything is big and appears easier to hit but opponent seem to move faster. i have 21" monitor with fov 110 (because I have always used fov 110 with 17"/19" and my brain is sort of programmed to it). i suggest to get a fov and in general settings (vision) you feel confident and happy with and then go on to determine your right mouse sensitivity. there is not one perfect sensitivity, there is a range of sensitivities that probably work for one.
determining minimum sensitivity
you have to be able to point your mouse towards everything you see on screen. if you have to lift your mouse up or need a lot of time to move to anything you see on screen your sensitivity is too low. try raising it.
determining maximum sensitivity
if you are pointing towards one direction and an enemy pops up behind you he is at worst 180 degrees away from you. therefore you should always be able to turn 180 degrees. at unfreeze server there is often a lot of action going on and you have to turn back and forth therefore it might be useful to do 360 degrees. if you can easily and quickly more than 360 degrees due to a high sens you are using your sensitivity is definitely too high. therefore try lowering that value.
as a result you should be able to always point towards everything you see on screen and in heavy combats you should be able to respond quickly to do a 180/360 degrees turn
combining with mouse acceleration
thats about making compromises. some may suggest not to use accel at all because it can mess up your aim and your movement. i personally have a very low acceleration and a mid sens. therefore i am able to turn quickly and aim calmly (the latter is very important). to me it is worth experimenting but i understand people who avoid that setting. you should make sure you disable it on your OS and only enable it in quake if you like. back in the days i used windows NT and later with windows xp I had an accel fix because it was hidden in the registry. back in the days i used mid to high sens with high accel. i was flicking around with the mouse all the time due to a small mouse pad and very limited space. i was using a zoom script to aim with MG, LG, RG and even shoot prediction rockets with RL. i did and i still do have mouse accel disabled for zooming, especially when railing I am almost constantly zooming in mid to long range battles. besides i am actively using low mouse accel nowadays. it also makes my movement feel more straight toward. i guess you can tell that from watching my demos. BUT, due to my seating position and everything it is easier to me to move my mouse from left to right than from top to bottom and vice versa. therefore you can change the sensitivies for me left/right and top/bottom individually by using m_yaw and m_pitch (see newb.zi's guide). i primarly suffer when i have to rocket jump, therefore I use a rocket jump script (which does not work on quakelive because it is cheat protected, e. g. your_sister uses it too).
bind 6 "vstr rj" // bound to mouse button
set rj "centerview;cl_pitchspeed 99999;+lookdown;+attack;+moveup;wait 2;-lookdown;-attack;-moveup;wait 2;centerview"
button 6 is bound to my mouse via logitech software.
///// 4 techniques on how to use railgun ///////////
first, obviously one method is to be naturally talent and just point and click (without using zoom or zoom scripts) which also includes flickshots. this sounds easy but actually is the most difficult one. especially if you use accel, your aim might not be as steady as when accel is disabled. i often use that technique in low range/ close range combats.
second, being very calmly and not moving your mouse except pointing towards the direction of your opponent. you wait for him/ her (hi to princess ^^) to cross your crosshair and then you just click +attack-button. this is the easiest method and it works well with noobs (movement or strategy wise) and players who are unaware of you. when they move in a straight line it is easy to predict where they will go. you just point towards that direction or the place there are going to. e. g. if someones runs towards an armor you point right towards the armor and wait for your opponent to get there. it also works when opponents are low and try to retreat the area. they will go for doors or try to hide behind corners. you can predict that easily. at some point it will feel like you are not actually aiming at all because it is so predictable and easy.
third, a technique I was once told by a good player which does not work for me. you move your crosshair from left to right or from right to left over your opponent. when your crosshair is on the opponent you press attack. this only works if your opponent is not strafing smartly. otherwise it is actually difficult and i suggest technique #2
fourth, you are using zoom and combining techniques one, two and three, which is probably my favoured technique. you zoom into and hold your mouse in the direction of your opponent, try to be as close with your crosshair to the opponent. he/she is likely to strafe to avoid getting hit. so i just hold my mouse and when the opponent is a bit off the crosshair I do a flickshot in order to get him right into my crosshair (it is a small flick).
//////more details on how my setup works //////////////
I have my sensitivity and my standard sens bound to all weapons. therefore i dont use nextweap/ prevweap to switch weapons, i directly change to them by using the buttons (in case of doubt faster and more reliable).
then I have a zoom script, if i hit the button once, it zooms from fov 110 to 90, disables mouse accel and lowers my sensitivity from x to x*90/110. if i hit it again it zooms into fov 50 and lowers my sensitivity to x*50/110, keeps mouse accel disabled. whenever i hit a weapon button again it jumps back into fov 110 with mouse accel and sensitivity x. it also resets my zoom script, so whenever i hit the button again it goes to fov 90, x*90/110, no mouseaccel. if i am in zoomfov 50 once i do not get out of there unless i hit a weapon button. my zoom script is bound to mousewheel up/down. sometimes i spin the wheel one way around, sometimes the other way around. it does not really matter to me, it is random which one i use (i guess). therefore my weapon buttons are multifunctional. they are used to change to a weapon and to get out of zoom. so if i rail once and want to get out of zoom without changing weapons i hit the weapon button for railgun (space).
bind mwheelup "vstr zoom"
bind mwheeldown "vstr zoom"
bind f "weapon 1; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
bind q "weapon 2; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
bind mouse3 "weapon 3; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
bind alt "weapon 4; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
bind r "weapon 5; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
bind e "weapon 6; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
bind space "weapon 7; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
bind x "weapon 8; vstr weapons; set zoom vstr zoom_1"
seta weapons "cg_fov 110; sensitivity 2.2; cl_mouseaccel .03; vstr con_set"
seta zoom_1 "cg_fov 90; sensitivity 1.80; cl_mouseaccel .0; set zoom vstr zoom_2"
seta zoom_2 "cg_fov 55; sensitivity 1.10; cl_mouseaccel .0"
/// angles ////
difficult to explain but i try: if you are face to face with a player it is always difficult to out aim him/her. the best one on one railgun player on unfreeze server is newb.zi by far in my humble opinion. therefore you have to use "angles" in the map which means you stand in a covered position so that you can bearly see a door or an entry. you zoom in and wait for a player to pop up, when he/ she does you click and then directly strafe out of the way so that the opponent cannot counter attack. you do not have to actually camp in those spots. it is also helpful if you strafe from left to right around that place, so when an opponent is quicker to shoot than you you are still difficult to hit and can still make your own shot.
i hope it helps you and gives you an idea. feel free to ask and also watch my demos playing. you can tell i use that zoom script a lot (btw not cheat, self scripted).
best regards,
Miroslav/ reDIRKulous/ whoever
