Fano's General Guide to Improving at TF2

[Peahats]

Hey, I tried out the engineer minisentry bind and I found that when I place one it appears as though I'm firing my shotgun even though no ammo is lost. Is this just an unintended side-effect?

[One_Medic_Army]

Bout to try out some autoexec.cfg changes, maybe I'll dial in my sensitivity later on.
First priority is to check for packet loss, happens quite a bit on TV2, even though other servers have higher ping.

[Fano]

Bout to try out some autoexec.cfg changes, maybe I'll dial in my sensitivity later on.
First priority is to check for packet loss, happens quite a bit on TV2, even though other servers have higher ping.

The solution is almost always to increase your cl_interp value, the value to increase it to will differ based on how bad the server is, usually raising it from 0.0152 to 0.024 will do the trick, although sometimes that isn't enough.

As a side note, some people recommend using a higher interp value when playing a hitscan class (e.g. scout, sniper) since it'll smooth out the movement of the players a bit more, but the difference is mostly negligible.

Hey, I tried out the engineer minisentry bind and I found that when I place one it appears as though I'm firing my shotgun even though no ammo is lost. Is this just an unintended side-effect?

Yes, it is. unfortunately sometimes it WILL take up ammo, which can be troublesome if you're using the frontier justice (with crits) or the widowmaker (where you lose metal).

The simple solution if you use one of those weapons is to get used to quick-sentry'ing with the pistol or wrench out, the simpler solution is to switch to the stock shotgun since it's almost always preferred

[YoullNeverWalkAlone]

I wasn't sure what the changes in my config would do, but with an adjustment to the mouse, the video and fixing a few things in the regular settings in game, I had one of the best looking, 60 fps playing, smooth games ever. The fact that I was not very good notwithstanding, the new settings are great. Thanks!

[Zork Nemesis]

Having reread some of the information, i'd like to add another very good practice map (I use this with new weapon releases, I don't have the map you recommend though).

tr_walkway_rc2

I use this map quite frequently, as the main idea behind the map is a long conveyor belt of sort that allows you to practice your aim against moving targets. It auto cheats and produces puppet bots which are assigned to walk long a semi-random path. There's a variety of options to include bot running speed, bot classes, there's a slope that can be adjusted for firing at higher or lower targets, a launch pad that flings the bots into the air with a random velocity and height, and a number of locations throughout the map that you can teleport to with a special console command for easy navigation. Bots can be assigned to perform various actions, such as straffe, jump, occasionally backpedal, and there's even a special mode that spawns soldiers and demos with the intent of airblast practice, forcing them to fire their weapons endlessly.

In addition to the walkway portion, there's also "The sentry room" which allows you to construct various sentry positioning scenarios on a 16x16 grid, which allows for practice at shooting them from around corners, behind cover, or evasion techniques.

The official Wiki has all the information about the map, as well as where to get it and a demonstrational video.

[YoullNeverWalkAlone]

Cool map Zork, I need shooting practice like that.

Really appreciate all the help in this thread, and on this forum. I have become so much less frustrated in my playing after reading and trying stuff suggested around here. I will never be a very good soldier until I can use my mouse (right Fano?), but I can do alright as a medic or pyro, and if I know the map fairly well, Im ok as an engi.

[Fano]

mice are sort of essential, yes

As far as walkway goes: yes it's a neat map to play around in but I've had a hard time doing actual practice on it.

As cool as the launch pad is, even with random angle and velocity, the bots still fly in a fixed path, meaning they are piss easy to hit, whereas most decent soldiers (in actual games) will utilize airstrafing to sort of "snake" through the air as a way to dodge airshots, tr_aim_training simulates this to an extent if you want to practice those. The scout room in tr_aim_training also does a much better job of helping you with your hitscan aim, and the muscle memory room is incredibly useful if you know how to utilize it properly (I need to write up a section on that as well).

[Zork Nemesis]

It's there as an alternative rather than an end-all-be-all. Walkway's got a fre great aspects to it that aim may not, and it's more or less player preference as to what works better for him or her.

[Fano]

It's there as an alternative rather than an end-all-be-all. Walkway's got a fre great aspects to it that aim may not, and it's more or less player preference as to what works better for him or her.

well sure, there are a few things you can practice on walkway that you can't on aim_training. aim_training is specifically catered toward improving your hitscan aim (scout, sniper) and your airshots (soldier, demo), just understand that it's WAY better than walkway at those things, but walkway may have other features which are also useful, such as the ability to practice pyro reflects and stair-stabs.

[One_Medic_Army]

Turns out I've been playing for months at .0152 interpolation, while to not have packet loss on tv8 it needed to be .033
Wonder how bad it is on 2.

[Fano]

Just found out after a short time on tr_aim_training that apparently the airshot room is broken, probably got messed up by some update, so I suppose you can use walkway for that.

Also, Garm3n just added yet another version of his HUD, with even more features. including a hitmarker, that adds a little red X to your crosshair each time you hit someone, pretty useful, give it a try.

[YoullNeverWalkAlone]

Just found out after a short time on tr_aim_training that apparently the airshot room is broken, probably got messed up by some update, so I suppose you can use walkway for that.

Also, Garm3n just added yet another version of his HUD, with even more features. including a hitmarker, that adds a little red X to your crosshair each time you hit someone, pretty useful, give it a try.

But if I have the hit sound on do I need the marker?

[Fano]

Just found out after a short time on tr_aim_training that apparently the airshot room is broken, probably got messed up by some update, so I suppose you can use walkway for that.

Also, Garm3n just added yet another version of his HUD, with even more features. including a hitmarker, that adds a little red X to your crosshair each time you hit someone, pretty useful, give it a try.

But if I have the hit sound on do I need the marker?

you don't need it, but it's nice to have.

[Soup Nazi]

I always have the point marker on (it's just in the options). Shows how much damage you do on each hit. I think it works better than a hit sound, cuz it quantifies it. After a while, you start reading more into it, and can tell when you've got the upper hand or not. I find it especially useful as Scoot, knowing when you've done enough damage to risk moving in to finish off an enemy.

[Fano]

I always have the point marker on (it's just in the options). Shows how much damage you do on each hit. I think it works better than a hit sound, cuz it quantifies it. After a while, you start reading more into it, and can tell when you've got the upper hand or not. I find it especially useful as Scoot, knowing when you've done enough damage to risk moving in to finish off an enemy.

no, this is different, check out this video from Garm3n showing it off:


(it's not the number, it's the little red X that flashes on his crosshair when he hits someone)