Keeping Track

[Dr Sadako]

It is sometime useful to know where a certain teammate is going. If you move your crosshair over him you will get this:



If you get the name in the lower corner instead I suggest you change it. Go to:

Options->Multiplayer->Advanced and check "Center Player Names".


When playing you see e.g. BlueBall being killed you know where he was and you can expect an attack from that direction. The center player names is also useful if you find it hard make out if it is an enemy or not. If it is a CT you will have blue text and T have red text as shown in the image above. With the center player names you can 'scan' for enemies.

You should also keep track of your teammates on the radar. If you hear someone moving a quick glance at the radar will differentiate friend from foe.

[Anonymous]

You must have taken that early in the round - I still have 100 health

[Anonymous]

On a more serious note remember to use ALL of the info available to you to help you create a picture of what is going on...

1. Have you got a card that supports 3D audio? Enable it! If the dots on your radar are on the left, and the footsteps are on the right, guess which side the enemy are coming from
2. Try and watch your radar regularly. If you hear gunfire and you glance at your radar you will frequently be able to tell which "dot" is missing if you have been watching it regularly. That gives another clue as to where the action is. For this to be useful you need to get in the habit of using your radar regularly - it becomes a scanning pattern, every few seconds cast a quick glance at the radar as you build up a picture of where your team are.
3. On some maps your radar will tell you which areas are lightly defended - Aztec springs to mind. You can easily tell how many of your team are at the bridge (if any) and you can then suggest that some more people go help defend it (or move closer to it - remember, you don't have to be IN the bridge room to defend the bridge - a couple of people half way between doors and bridge room can defend a large area of the map and we refer to this as "middle").
4. Use silent talking! What is silent talking? Use this instead of the old "flashlight" technique to let your teammates know it is one of their team in the shadows. The other team can hear a flashlight going on/off. However, if you press the talk button briefly but do not talk the other team will not see the little yellow mark above your head. Your team mates will though! Silent but deadly ;-)
5. Remember that when your teammates speak their white dot on the radar turns to a yellow blob. That will also help paint a picture of who is where - if someone calls for help then call more than once if poss - it allows people to see where you are on radar

[OldBloke]

Great advice BB.

One of my biggest gripes is that the radar is transparent. Such a pain to try and read it properly against a light background  :angry:

Come on VALVe. Gimme the solid radar (and intelligent hossies while you're at it).

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by OldBloke@Nov 23 2003, 07:28 PM
One of my biggest gripes is that the radar is transparent. Such a pain to try and read it properly against a light background  :angry:

Couldn't agree more. Does anyone know if there is a setting to alter radar transparency. I seem to remember one of the add-ins for CS1.5 could alter radar colour.

[DuVeL]

I allways play by sound and radar, when I hear something, check radar, kill.

[Cadaver]

Originally posted by BlueBall@Nov 23 2003, 07:11 PM
1. Have you got a card that supports 3D audio? Enable it! If the dots on your radar are on the left, and the footsteps are on the right, guess which side the enemy are coming from

Now here's a thing that somebody might be able to clear up.

In the sound options there's check boxes for A3D and EAX.  I've currently got both checked (motherboard has nForce2 Soundstorm APU so should be able to do both), and can currently hear directional sound just fine.

My questions are: whether it is better to have just one of these options on?  If so, which one?  Otherwise, does A3D and EAX processing work in combination, or does CS pick one type of processing if both options are checked?  How do you guys have your sound options set?

Experimenting hasn't yielded any discernable results, but then my ears are probably crap

[Sn00ks]

Hmmm, don't think I've got those checked! Best get that sorted now.