Eight Tips for Improving Map Control
November 30, 2007 3:54 pm Guides Over the course of the past month we’ve been flooded with a wealth of first person shooter games, many of which incorporate some degree of multiplayer functionality. In all of these games, learning the layout of it’s various maps quickly is essential to success in multiplayer matches. This is of particular importance in games with item pick-ups and objectives, such as the recently released Unreal Tournament 3.What better subject for a new guide then, but a - slightly disfigured - handful of tips for learning map layouts quickly!? That’s right, I’ll be sharing a collection of tips to help you learn maps. These tips will be mainly aimed towards new Unreal Tournament 3 players, but should also prove useful in other shooters…
If you care to compete online, then any advantage you can get is useful. And what better advantage to have then knowing how to move around a map and where the powerups and weapons are? Learning these things quickly and efficiently is something that can give you a serious edge over other players, and help rake in those sprees. So if you’ve always wanted to rank up there with the top of the server, or simply want to know your way around a map for a change, then scroll down and enjoy!
- Keep moving! This isn’t just a useful tip for staying alive, but also key in studying map layouts. Someone who hangs around the same areas all the time isn’t going to pick up on the intracies of a map very quickly at all. It’s better to rush into things a bit at first, which might increase your death count, but also ensures that you run across the entire map - and stumble across the less obvious areas in a map much more quickly than defensively oriented players. (Note that this is only intended for asymmetric maps, you’re better off sticking to #4 for symmetric maps)
- Prioritized memorization is key! If you know that you’re not a very fast learner when it comes to map layouts and item placements, try prioritizing. Focus on memorizing just the key areas of maps first, like the main armor spawn, or the locations of your favorite weapons. In general prioritizing health over weapons is a good approach, because it’ll allow you to run from assailants and gear up before getting back into the fray.
- Interface pointers are gifts! You don’t want to ignore them! A glowing trail towards the enemy base is the very first thing you want to follow, because along the way you learn much of the route around the map. This makes learning larger teambased maps in UT3 particularly a fairly straightforward affair.
- CTF means symmetry… and the same goes for Vehicle-CTF and Warfare most of the time. This makes learning these kinds of maps particularly easy. What you want to do is play a game on defense, stick to your side of the map and uncover all the weapons, passageways, etcetera… then towards the final 5 minutes, move out to the center and scout what little might be hidden there. Usually the center of the map holds the most useful of powerups and/or weapons, so this is a crucial area of a CTF map to know well, regardless of which position you prefer to play in. Once you know all the intricacies of your side of the map, you also know the other side of the symmetric map, effectively cutting the learning time in half.
- Think outside the box. At times obstacles like walls and boxes can actually turn into crucial gameplay elements. You might be able to make a walldodge mid-air to reach another level quickly, or use your impact hammer to jump high up in the air to reach hiding spots with your flag, powerful powerups or simply as a quick and easy shortcut! The best way around a map may not necesarily be the most obvious, nor the fastest.
- Keep your pacing in check. If you don’t know a map too well, but just grabbed the enemies flag, it might be best to stick around in known hiding places in the enemy base… until they lower their guard somewhat and you can slip by unnoticed. This wil also help you judge just how effective a potential hiding spot might be in your own base.
- Follow the good players! You might want to join a server as spectator and follow the leading players, those will generally know their way around maps and the proper locations and routes to frequent in order to win. Or you might want to tail a good player in-game, covering their backs and trying to keep up (which might also help improve your movement), this is particularly effective in CTF.
- Mess about offline.. What better way to study a map, then to run around in one alone, uncontested? Try firing up some of the more popular maps and running around in them for a few minutes, without any bots or players. This way you don’t have masses of opponents trying to kill you, which allows you to uncover weapon and item locations much more easily, at your own pace. You could even launch it as a private server, and get a friend in there so you can explore the map together. After all, two heads are better than one!
Hopefully these eight tips will prove useful aids for rookie players trying to find their way in some of the newer multiplayer games. Of course don’t forget that these are just tips to help you get started, perhaps eventually you’ll find your own means of cutting down on ‘map studying time’ and getting to the fun part: blowing pixels to bits! Feel free to share your comments or your own tips! Leave a comment!
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