Part 5 - CTF Strategy |
The best
offense, is a good defense
In the game of hockey no matter how good an offense you have you
can't win without a good goalie. The same is true in CTF. You can
be an expert at stealing flags, but that's of little use if the
other team can just waltz into your base anytime and make off
with yours. If you recall standard CTF rules, a flag is only
declared captured once you return it to your flag at your base.
So if you get to your base and the flag is gone you'll have to
wait until your team gets it back to make the actual capture.
Defense is the key. It's usually a good idea to have at least 2 - 4 people defending the base at any given time (if there are enough people on your team to allow for that). 2 could stay inside the base to guard the flag, while 2 more could patrol the perimeter of the base watching for opponents.
I should point out that in CTF camping is definitely OK. In fact if you're on defense and you aren't camping, you aren't doing your job. People on defense need to position themselves in the most advantageous spot, which usually means above the flag area in a sniper position. When invaders make it into the base you can then shoot at them from above. A second base defender could then go after them on the ground. If invaders manage to make it out of your base with the flag then you should follow and try to get your flag back.
Offense
needs to be sneaky
When you're on offense your job is complicated greatly. Instead
of just camping at a spot you need to be devising ways to
infiltrate an enemy base. This is very hard if the enemy has a
well organized defense. The standard CTF maps however do have
areas that can let invaders sneak into a base. Explore the CTF
maps on your own before playing actual games. Run around them and
get a feel for weak points you may be able to penetrate.
The big point I'm trying to make here is that usually the most obvious entrance to an enemy's base is going to be heavily guarded, so you'll need to find other ways in.
Travel in
groups
One of the best offense tactics is to travel in teams of two. One
person is responsible for grabbing the flag and getting it back
to base, while the other acts as a bodyguard. They're responsible
for defending the flag carrier by attacking enemies or taking
fire for them.
Large groups can also be effective, but you may want to split them up into smaller teams to confuse the enemy more.
Grapple
Hanging
One popular maneuver of base defenders is grapple hanging. Quite
simply it's just grappling to the ceiling and hanging there with
a weapon drawn waiting for invaders. Here's how you accomplish
it:
A demo of this maneuver is included in my demo pak, which can be retrieved from Download Central.
Watch out
for grapplers
Now that you know how to grapple and hang be aware of enemies who
are doing that. Grapple hanging has the advantage of surprise but
it can also leave the grapple hanger in a tough position, as
he/she is often an easy target. When entering rooms or open areas
with large ceilings be sure to give a quick scan up to see if
anyone is attached to the ceiling. Remember that grapple hangers
often like to hang just above doors so they can surprise you upon
entrance.
When
you've got the flag
Here's the situation: you've managed to sneak into the opposing
team's base and make off with their flag. You've also skillfully
evaded any pursuing enemies. Upon returning to your base though
you quickly discover that your team's flag has also been
captured! You can't make the capture until your flag is returned.
So what do you do?
First off you'll probably want to tell your teammates they need to get your flag back (in case they haven't been watching the status icon of your flag). Next you should find a safe place to hide from roving enemies who are also looking to get their flag back. If you've got a couple of defenders with you then stay put in your flag room. Although this is the most obvious place for you to hide you still have teammates with you who can fight off any would-be assassins. Also you'll be in close proximity to your team's flag once it returns.
If you're on your own however you should probably steer clear of your flag room. Hiding with your flag can be difficult because it puts off a pulsing light that can be seen almost anywhere. I recommend finding a room nearby your flag room where there are plenty of dark areas and funny coroners where you can't quickly be seen. Or you should choose a location that will let you get the jump on anyone that should find you.
Using the
grapple for speed
When you're playing CTF you may notice some players who are using
the grapple to move across an area and not up to some normally
unreachable perch. For example they may be at one end of a long
hallway and they shoot their grapple at the other end of the hall
and "grapple" down to that end. This is an old
technique that has its roots in the original CTF for Quake.
The theory behind it was that you could move around much faster with the aid of the grapple than you could by normal running. While this was very true in the original Quake CTF it's not as true in Quake 2 CTF. The designer of CTF has said he never really meant for the grapple to be a speed device. It was always intended just to get players to positions that would normally be impossible to reach (like hanging on the ceiling). It just turned out that the grapple could be used for speed movement in the original CTF. So when time came to design Quake 2 CTF the designer (Zoid, as he is known on the net) designed the grapple more towards his original intention.
So for the most part, it is not a good idea to be using the grapple to quickly "run" across maps. However there are still some cases where it can be quicker to grapple to one location rather than running; particularly underwater.
Changing
Teams
Sometimes when you're playing CTF you may get complaints from
other players that the teams aren't balanced. Hit the F1 key and
a listing of all the players and what teams they are on will
appear. If there's 8 people on one team and only 2 on the other
then the game is definitely unbalanced. In situations like these
some members of the larger team will have to volunteer to switch
to the other team to make things fair.
Switching teams is just a matter of typing in a console command. If you want to switch to the red team type "team red" at the console. To switch to the blue team just type "team blue". Remember that when you do change teams you will loose all the points you've accumulated so far and any weapons and items you may have. You will also respawn in a new area of the map.
Phew! Congratulations because you're just about done with this tutorial. Before we say goodbye though I thought it might be good to give you a few links to some great Quake sites. These sites can provide you with a wealth of information and are a great resource for novices and experienced players alike. Click the link to continue.