How to play an FPS

I understand how to play FPS games on consoles but I have never played one on my PC. How exactly does it work?

Im thinking about picking up COD4 or FEAR to try it out but since my kid has dance and gymnastics it eats up a lot of my free money and time. So before i spend 20-50 bucks I would like to understand the mechanics of it some more.

As far as downloading a demo my internet isnt reliable enough to download the file. I have a hard enough time doing Windows updates!

 

Usually the keyboard is used for movement (forwards/backwards etc) and other options (like jumping, crouching etc).

The mouse is used to control the direction you are looking/aiming, and also the mouse button(s) are used for shooting.

Is that what you were asking? You will get the hang of it quickly anyway.

 

VC is correct, the mouse is very intuitive and is easy to get used to.


The combat strategy is the same on PC's and consoles... the only real difference is the mouse as an aiming mechanism.

 

Your in the right direction. With console games each button has a specific function, change weapon crouch and so on. So the keyboard takes care of all those function while the mouse takes control of the shooting, like point and click?

Would either of those games be ok to start with, I dont need to be cursing with a 5 year old running around.

 

W A S D keys are used for movement (forward, left, reverse, right, respectively). I use my thumb to press spacebar, C, V or left Alt, for actions such as, jump, crouch, activate things, etc.

Aim with the mouse, fire with left click, and I set right click for zoom, unless I need something more game-specific (such as "switch to plasmids" )

I have played FPS on console and on PC, and I prefer aiming with the mouse... I think it is much better than a gamepad...

EDIT: wow, am I a slow-typer!... two guys beat me to my response.... I think FEAR is ok to start, the aiming system is nice...

 

You would probably spend some time getting your handed to you on a plate if you jumped straight into a COD4 online game Fluid movement is very important in online shooters.

Have you played the Half-life 2 games before? If not, they are brilliant games, and are pretty slow paced, so you will get the hang of the movement and control easily. I would recommend those as an introduction to PC FPS control, and also just because they are great games.

 

Yeah I second that, the Orange box would be a great started with plenty of decent shooters.

 

Yeah I recommend this as well.


If you're a first time PC gamer you should either get:


1) The Orange Box


2) Call of Duty 4


Beware of multiplayer though, there are a lot of people out there who are like lightning with the mouse. It can get frustrating if you are new to the PC gaming scene.

 

Ok so Orange box is a good start, I dont need a Steam account for that do I? My internet isnt reliable enough for online play right now anyway.

Also will a 7900gs and a C2Duo at 2.16 handle it ok?

 

Download Assualt Cube. It's a free, easy to use open-source 3D FPS. You can try it without buying anything. It downloads in minutes (40MB).

Very basic, and extremely light on resources. It will show you the basic feel of a computer FPS. Then you can purcahse something like COD4 or HL2 if you enjoy the mouse+keyboard control scheme.

http://assault.cubers.net/

 

Your computer will handle it brilliantly, I have a 7900gs and it blazes through pretty much EVERY game that has been released. (With the exception of badly optimised console ports).


The Orange Box has Half Life 2 (and expansions) which is widely considered one of the very best games of all time. Not to mention one of the best puzzle-action games ever (Portal) and some crazy multiplayer fun (TF2). It's unbeatable value.


You can use a 360 controller on your PC if you can't get the hang of the mouse, but I don't think that will be a problem.


COD4 is well worth mentioning if you like more "realistic" shooters.

 

I've a pretty bad connection myself and i loath steams auto updates. If you install the whole orange box be prepared to have to download over 1GB of updates before it'll even let you launch the games

 

Your rig should handle every game mentioned just fine.

 

So you do need a Steam account for the Orange box? Looks like thats out and COD4 is in.

 

yes you do. it's very easy to setup so don't worry.

 

Im not worried about the set up. I have a crappy ISP and my wireless router is on the fritz. I will be RMA'ing it again once it craps out completely.

 

If you have absolutely *no* internet connection some days, then consider Steam an issue. However, as long as you have internet access, regardless of the speed, I've found that Steam is a relatively painless distribution engine. It just depends on your perspective; I have no problem waiting for Steam to log in before playing (it's a one-time connection and then you have access to all your games until you log out, even across hibernation and sleep).

Half-Life 2 and Portal yield gaming experiences beyond compare. Perfect pacing, inventive puzzles, beautiful details even today, it doesn't get better than the Orange Box.

Especially when you're not too reflexive with the mouse, having a high FPS is critical so you don't get too bogged down with jittery combat. HL2 will almost always stay above 60-100FPS with your GPU (on maximum settings), while I cannot guarantee such results with COD4.

One of COD4's other appeals is its multiplayer feature; however, multiplayer immediately raises the question of one's internet speed. It will get in your way much, much more in COD4Multiplayer than it would in booting up Steam.

Long story short:
+1 Orange Box. You won't regret it!
Forget COD4 for now!

EDIT: You just posted before me that your internet really IS iffy. In that case, COD4 wins. In my opinion, you're still benefitting: now COD4 can build up to HL2 once you finally get reliable internet!!!

 

CoD4 is an awesome game. And don't worry about jumping right into Multiplayer and completely getting owned. Even though you will
I remember my first CoD4 online game (I played it as my first PC FPS and played multiplayer before single player) and I got MURDERED, and I mean badly... But with that ownage, It made me learn VERY quickly, about 2weeks after, I was scoring an avg 90 kills per match (On Team Death Match, of course). So I really think its a good way to learn the game. Getting your butt kicked helps in this case
Also note that the first week I played. I played with a touchpad (Lmao). Trust me. Make sure you have an external mouse

 

what? are you sure your not exaggerating a little? in all the games i've ever played on different servers the highest i've seen is 80-ish, unless i count the people using an aimbot.

COD4 was my first game to play online once i got my laptop and when i first played multi i only got 2-3 kills, but died 15-20 times. Now i can usually get around 45-50 kills, in a crowded game, and die less than half as many times. I can usually get in the top 3 of a game.

 

Nah, I'm underexaggerating, (If thats even a word). Earlier I scored 116kills.
I play on NRNS-GAMES.com server, they score 130+kills-per-match daily, no aimbotting.
They are 30minute/5000points matches.
Come to the server and watch us if you want to
Usually 15-25players on each team.

Server IP: 204.228.228.91

Come on around 9PM Eastern U.S time to see all the "Vets" play scoring 130+ kills with just their knive and MP5


EDIT: I'm not highjacking this thread by any means. I suggest the OP try that server as well as he will learn quite nicely on it because the players will give advice and he can speculate on how true pro's play and get some tips from watching them.

 

I think ill pick it up this weekend and give it a go for a few hours offline and then if my wife/kid are being nice ill see if I can get a decent connection long enough to watch a round or two.

 

No offense, but TDM with lots of people, it's super easy to rack up lots of kills.
Go play some 5v5 or 7v7 SD to see what COD4 is really like.

 

I know, which is why I first stated "In Team Death Match Of Course"

 

I'm surprised no-one's mention Unreal Tournament 2004. It's cheap (You can get the anthology for $20), you should be able to run it maxed out, and personally, I found it a great intro to fastpaced FPS.

I know it's an entirely different breed of FPS to other suggestions made, but that's not such a bad thing lol.

 

If the OP really wants to get into an FPS, I have a free gift copy of HL2 on my Steam account from when I bought the Orange Box.

It's like a 5GB download though.

tlc, if you know anybody who you can take your laptop to and mooch off their internet connection, I'll give you Half Life 2.

 

the op is quite new to fps on the pc. and ut2k4 is quite hard on the beginner i believe.

 

Online, certainly, but there are 7(?) bot difficulties from tard to insane , so you just start off on the lowest to get a feel for the game mechanics and work on tactics later.

It wasn't my first FPS, but my mate's little sister picked it up in half an hour, and she'd only played a little halo on xbox before that.

Mind you, I guess the OP might find a less chaotic game easier to pick up, i dunno, just figured it was cheap enough and had plenty of scalability where difficulty's concerned.

 

Well I'm basically offering him a free copy of the highest rated / reviewed FPS of all time... so it's pretty hard to argue that's a bad place to start.

 

@Jlbrightbill
That sounds great, but I couldnt take it free of charge.

Oh and +1 just for the kindness. Its hard to come by these days.

 

Ok trying to rep but nothing is happening

 

Probably due to your connection

Click the scales beside the report post icon on his post then you should get a pop up box where you can leave a message and add to his reputation.
Try loading another page in another tab(youtube etc.) while you do it to "jumpstart" your connection.

 

Hmmm I tried to rep again and it came back with a spread the love message. I guess it worked but didnt update yet.

 

That means it worked the first time, unless you repped him before and havn't repped 5 or more people since.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=115516

 

It's technically against the Steam TOS to accept payment for their games, plus I wouldn't charge for it anyway.

Basically back in 2005 I bought the Half Life 2 Collector's Edition. Then in early 2008 I bought the Orange Box, which also came with a copy of Half Life 2. The duplicate 'Gift' copy has been sitting on my Steam account unused for over a year just waiting for the right person, which you definitely would be.

If you create a Steam account, just PM me your username so I can gift it.

 

Ok, Ill should be able to set it up this weekend and escape from the house for a bit to give it a go.

Thanks again