Vicious Vixens Voices: CTF Guide and Deathmatch Strategy by Zippy
In May of 1998, Peachies and Zippy decided to venture out and form a “twentysomething and over” female Quake2 clan. Why female and 20+? Peachies and Zippy explain: “We were in a clan before we started Vicious Vixens… but… most of the girls in the clan were very young, and we really thought it would be better to be involved with a bit of an older crowd. So, we decided to form our own clan. We started a Clan of our own because we felt that there was a lack of communication in the one we were previously in and it was unorganized. There weren’t many matches scheduled and well…. we wanted to play with an older group of women. Why all female? Because we kick butt! We decided to have a clan where women could play and make new friends with other women at the same time. At one point, we thought about doing the male/female thing, but it’s just so much fun having it all female! It’s almost like having a bunch of new sisters we never had! We’re definitely not a “male-bashing” bunch of women, and we really enjoy playing with the guys! In fact, we’ve played more all male clans than female!”
The current members of Vicious Vixens are: Peachies, Zippy, Emmy, Kelela, Ms. Bungle, and Nunnu. Not only do they kick it on the servers, they have a great time doing it! They’re always looking for new members, and they love challenges, so whether you’re looking for a clan to join or a clan to frag, Vicious Vixens are women to be remembered.
https://www.quakewiki.net/archives/qwf/qwfocus/peachies&zippy/p%26z2.html
CTF Guide by Zippy
The Theme Behind CTF
Attack the enemy base, grab their flag, then take it back to your base. You must touch your base flag when carrying the enemy flag in order to score – if your flag isn’t at your base when you return, you or your team must get it back to gain points and captures.
A 3 player team is regarded as the minimum to have a CTF team so heres a description of a three player team; with more players obviously sharing tasks or helping out where needed.
Flag Carrier – This person will be responsible for penetrating in the enemies’ defenses and steal their flag. Speed, agility and skill at avoiding hits are the prime requirements.
Escort – If you’re playing as an escort your job will be simple. Stand between your Flag Carrier and the enemy. Your objective is to protect not kill so sometimes you may need to sacrifice (by throwing yourself at the face of your oponent) thus letting your Flag Carrier escape.
Base Defender – Your job is to protect your team’s flag. Unlike the escort however, dying is not an option for you and you should have sharp aim because killing your sole purpose.
There should be a leader of the team which is NOT the Flag Carrier. Leaders can not be concentrated on such a specific task because they will be shouting orders all the time. If you’re an escort then you’ll die a lot but don’t be concerned as individual kills are not the goal of CTF, helping your team score is.
Grappling Hook
Included in CTF is the Grappling Hook. This tool is not effective as an attack weapon, but is excellent in increasing your mobility. In order to use it, you must bind a key or mouse button to “use grapple”. It works like any other weapon: just point and shoot. The difference is, as long as you hold the fire button down, you will be pulled to the point where the grapple connected to. Release the fire button to let go and disengage from the grapple. With it you can access any area of the level or you can just attach yourself to the ceiling waiting for targets.
Tech Powerups
The tech powerups are incredible. They give you extra spped or power in firing weapons or they heal you automatically or shield you from opposite fire.
Power Amplifier – which is signified by the large nail, increases your attack power.
Disruptor Shield – which is signified by the large gear. It increases your resistance to enemy attacks.
Time Accelerator – It has wings spinning inside of it, and greatly increases your speed.
Auto Doc – which bears a spinning red cross. This tech regenerates your health constantly.
The ones I find that help the most are time accelerator and power amplifier when guarding the base or stealing the flag. The Disruptor Shield only acts as extra armour so it is not used too much unless you are after the opposite teams’ flag. But I feel that the Auto Doc will be most useful when you are either escorting or hunting for your flag. If you get low health, just stray from the action and you will be healed (useful if not much health on that level)
Some Useful commands
Right after you join a server you’ll be given the option (or not, depending on the server settings) to choose your team: Red or Blue. If you are not given a choice or want to switch teams (not loked at favourably unless you go to even the numbers up…in the command console type “team red” or blue depending on what team you wish to join.
bind (used to set up grappling hook)
Type: Function
Syntax:
bind (key)
bind (key) “(commands)” therefore example: bind d “grapple”
Description: Assign a command or a set of commands to a key.
Note: When the command is used with just the key name and without assigning any commands to it, it will display the command which is currently assigned to that key. To bind multiple commands to a key, enclose the commands in double-quotes and separate them with semi-colons. To bind to non-printable keys, use the key name. The escape, and ~ (tilde) keys can only be bound from an external configuration file.( your config files in the q2 directory)
Non Printable Key Name List: escape, F1-F12, pause, backspace, tab, semicolon, enter, shift, ctrl, alt, space, ins, home, pgup, del, end, pgdn, uparrow, downarrow, leftarrow, rightarrow, kp_*, kp_slash, kp_minus, kp_plus, kp_enter, kp_5, kp_uparrow, kp_leftarrow, kp_rightarrow, kp_downarrow, kp_home, kp_end, kp_pgup, kp_pgdn, kp_ins, kp_del, mouse1-mouse3, aux1-aux32, joy1-joy4.
Example:
bind h “say Hey girl!!!!!!”
bind mouse1 “+attack;+moveup;wait;-moveup;-attack;echo Foo!”
bindlist
Type: Operation
Description: Displays all key and button bindings.
invdrop – Drop the currently selected item in the inventory.
invnext – Select the next item in the inventory. ( “]” is faster )
invprev – Select the previous item in the inventory. ( “[” is faster )
invuse – Use the currently selected item from the inventory. ( I usually just hit the return key…its faster)
say (message) – Send a message to all the players on the server. ( hit “t” then type your message to everyone)
say_team (message) – Send a message to all the players on the server who are on your team only.
drop
Type: Function
Syntax: drop (item)
Description: Drop an item from the inventory.
List:
adrenaline – Adrenaline.
ammo pack – Ammo Pack.
bandolier – Bandolier.
bfg10k – BFG10K.
bullets – 50 Bullets.
chaingun – Chaingun.
Environment suit – Environment Suit.
grenade launcher – Grenade Launcher.
grenades – 5 Grenades.
hyperblaster – HyperBlaster.
invulnerability – Invulnerability.
machinegun – Machinegun.
power shield – Power Shield.
quad damage – Quad Damage.
railgun – Railgun.
rebreather – Rebreather.
rocket launcher – Rocket Launcher.
rockets – 5 Rockets.
shells – 10 Shells.
shotgun – Shotgun.
silencer – Silencer.
slugs – 10 Slugs.
super shotgun – Super Shotgun.
tech (ThreeWave CTF) – Tech Powerup
Note: This only works in muliplayer games where instant powerups are disabled. Also, dropped items only stay on the map for 30-seconds, after that time they just disappear.
Example:
drop shotgun
drop quad damage
The command “drop tech” in the console (accessed by hitting the “~” key) will cause you to drop the tech you are currently carrying, to pass it to a teammate or to pick up another one. You cannot pick up the tech that you have just dropped. This is most useful to do when you get disruptor shield and want the power amplifier that just appeared.
invdrop
Type: Operation
Description: Drop the currently selected item.
Note: This is a very useful command in team games where you can supply your team with ammo, powerups, and weapons. This command will drop the item which is selected in the inventory to the ground a little in front of you. If a player is standing directly in front of you and you use this command he will automatically pick up the item that you drop.
give
Type: Function
Syntax:
give (item)
give (item) (amount)
Description: Give an item to the player.
Note: The amount parameter is only available when giving ammo and does not work for grenades. It is possible to take away items by giving a negative amount of an item.
List:
all – All items.
ammo – Full ammo.
armor – Full armor.
health – Full health.
weapons – All weapons.
shells – 10 Shells.
bullets – 50 Bullets.
grenades – 5 Grenades.
rockets – 5 Rockets.
slugs – 10 Slugs.
combat armor – 1 unit of Combat Armor.
jacket armor – 1 unit of Jacket Armor.
armor shard – Armor Shard.
power shield – Power Shield.
shotgun – Shotgun.
super shotgun – Super Shotgun.
machinegun – Machinegun.
chaingun – Chaingun.
grenade launcher – Grenade Launcher.
rocket launcher – Rocket Launcher.
hyperblaster – HyperBlaster.
railgun – Railgun.
bfg10k – BFG10K.
adrenaline – Adrenaline.
ammo pack – Ammo Pack.
bandolier – Bandolier.
environment suit – Environment Suit.
invulnerability – Invulnerability.
quad damage – Quad Damage.
rebreather – Rebreather.
silencer – Silencer.
Example:
give all
give rocket launcher
give shells
give rockets 100
This is the way to restock the person guarding the base if they are running low on ammo
inven
Type: Operation
Description: Display the inventory screen.
Note: When the inventory screen is shown, you can use the invnext and invprev commands to select items from the inventory. Also, if the inventory screen holds more information than it can show, using the above mentioned commands will scroll the inventory screen to show all the information.
I don’t know how these will help or if they do….but they were on a page with commands for q2 so I copied them down anyways. I just use the [ and ] and return….too busy usually to even try to use these:
invnext
Type: Operation
Description: Select the next item in the inventory.
Note: You can use this command without having the inventory screen up, in which case the little icon in the lower-right part of the screen will show which item is currently selected.
invnextw
Type: Operation
Description: Select the next weapon in the inventory.
Note: You can use this command without having the inventory screen up, in which case the little icon in the lower-right part of the screen will show which item is currently selected.
invprev = “[“
Type: Operation
Description: Select the previous item in the inventory.
Note: You can use this command without having the inventory screen up, in which case the little icon in the lower-right part of the screen will show which item is currently selected.
invprevp
Type: Operation
Description: Select the previous powerup in the inventory.
Note: You can use this command without having the inventory screen up, in which case the little icon in the lower-right part of the screen will show which item is currently selected.
invprevw
Type: Operation
Description: Select the previous weapon in the inventory.
Note: You can use this command without having the inventory screen up, in which case the little icon in the lower-right part of the screen will show which item is currently selected.
invuse
Type: Operation
Description: Use the currently selected item from the inventory.
kick
Type: Function
Syntax:
kick (userid)
kick (username)
Description: Remove a client from the server.
Note: You can remove clients from the server by their (userid) or by their (username). If someone is harassing you or bad mouthing and making the game unenjoyable….boot them I’ve never tried it….but it’s been done to me when I was playing good.
This cannot be stressed enough…it is the best way to tell your team where your flag is without alerting the other team that you are going to be coming for it.
say_team
Type: Function
Syntax: say_team (message)
Description: Send a message to all the players on the server who are on your team.
Note: This command can be used directly from the console to send messages to team mates. It can also be used to create aliases which broadcast frequently used team messages or when planning strategy with team mates.
Example:
say_team Let’s attack now!
say_team Let’s regroup and kick the foo out of them!
say_team The base has been overrun!
say_team Our flag is by the Rocket Launcher. Someone get it!
BE CAREFUL WITH THESE!!!!!!!!
You may heve to redo all your binds if you do it wrong!!
unbind
Type: Function
Syntax: unbind (key)…….if you don’t say a key..it will unbind all the ones you have
Description: Remove a binding from a key.
Note: This command will remove any commands which are bound to key, in effect making this key functionless. Please consult the bind command for a list of all possible key names. Also, consult the bindlist command to receive a listing of all currently bound keys. This command is useful if a key has been bound by accident and it’s function is no longer needed.
Example:
unbind a
unbind backspace
unbindall
Type: Operation
Description: Remove the bindings from all keys.
Note: This command will remove bindings from all the keys except for the escape and ~ (tilde) keys. Be very careful about using this command, since you will lose all bindings and functions outside of the console. Also, this command should be used by people who write scripts to remove any unwanted bindings before setting up personal bindings.
use
Type: Function
Syntax: use (item)
Description: Use an item.
Note: This command can be used to setup individual key bindings which would use items with the press of a key. This command is also used when using keys to select weapons. Also, this command is able to use the item from the player’s inventory without have the player perselect the item with the invnext or invprev commands.
List:
bfg10k – BFG10K.
blaster – Blaster.
chaingun – Chaingun.
environment suit – Environment Suit.
grapple – Grappling Hook (ThreeWave CTF).
grenade launcher – Grenade Launcher.
grenades – Hand Grenades.
hyperblaster – HyperBlaster.
invulnerability – Invulnerability.
machinegun – Machinegun.
power shield – Power Shield.
quad damage – Quad Damage.
railgun – Railgun.
rebreather – Rebreather.
rocket launcher – Rocket Launcher.
shotgun – Shotgun.
silencer – Silencer.
super shotgun – Super Shotgun.
Example:
use blaster
use quad damage
There are number the ones above the letters which are hotkeys for the weapons…
1=blaster
2=shotgun
3=super shotgun
4=machine gun
5=chaingun
6=grenade launcher
7=rocket launcher
8=hyper blaster
9=rail gun
0=BFG
wave
Type: Function
Syntax: wave (number)
Description: Make the player character display a hand gesture to other players on the server. Note: This command is best used to make fast and quiet gestures to other players. It can be used on enemy players to piss them off. It can also be used with team players to make silent and fast hand gestures to dictate strategy, kind of like millitary hand signals.
List:
h – Flipoff.
j – Salute.
k – Taunt.
l – Wave.
u – Point.
And above all….
Practice with the grappling hook… it takes a little getting used to. And learn the levels so you know where everything is. The element of surprise from the DM writeup also comes into play here…you can tell where the big fight is and if you look around you may even see your flag pass you on the upper levels so you can grapple up and intercept it. Remember…if you fall into lava or too far down…use your grapple to lift you up or stop your fall.
https://web.archive.org/web/19991002065115/http://www.austintx.net:80/lisaf/vv/ctf_manual.htm
DM Strategy by Zippy
Element of Surprise: Get High
Try to stay above the action. Most players will be very alert of what is in front of them, but less so of what is above them. This will give you a good opportunity to get off a few sniper shots, and jump down to finish off your prey if needed. If you encounter opposition on your ledge, hold your position if possible, many players when confronted will try to dodge and weave, and in many cases jump or fall off their perch when hit.
If you are attacked by a sniper from up high, the best thing to do is usually to get underneath him and out of his field of view. If he is on a ledge against a wall, using the rocket launcher is the best way to ensure that he cannot back out of your field of view to avoid your fire. In most other cases, seek cover, and be sure to remain aware of your surroundings. It’s just as easy to walk up to someone looking at the sky and pop them with a super shotgun as it is to do so to someone looking down.
Clean Up After Others
A very effective tactic is to be the third party in a fight. Listen for sounds of fighting, and watch for lights from weapons. Start firing your chaingun to rev it up, or rush in with rockets – chances are you’ll encounter two weakened, engaged opponents who are paying more attention to each other than anything else, and walk away with two free kills. Some people do consider this a cheap tactic because you will be interrupting a battle. However, unlike camping, it is one of those situations in which the same people complaining will jump at the chance of doing so themselves – after all, it is free for all; you kill anything you see, engaged or otherwise.
Seek out Weaker Players
Some of the time, you’ll notice that you’re doing very well on a server – outdistancing the next player by a large number of frags. Then, someone new hops on the server and starts tearing it up. While this can lead to some interesting rivalry/1on1 situations, remember that what you’re playing is free-for-all, and the primary goal is to pass the level as fast as you can/kill as many people as possible. Keep your eyes open, because this new player is definitely your biggest threat, but continue to focus your attention on the unarmed, unarmored respawns. If you’re killed, don’t rush back in looking for a rematch, instead, concentrate on getting as many kills as possible before you see him again. After all, what’s better, beating him 3 times in 4 encounters, but barely finishing the level because you were too busy hunting one particular person down, or losing a couple of scrimmages and maintaining a sizable lead? Remember that most anyone joining a game late will be concentrating on racking up frags and making up his deficit, and not parading around looking for individual confrontations.
Go for the more dangerous target – or run.
when two people are engaged in a fight, they will pay no heed to anything around them, including a beefed up player jumping in and trying to take out both of them. If you’re fighting someone, and someone with a more powerful weapon jumps in, don’t be stubborn, either turn your attention to the more immediate threat, or recognize the potential danger of two hostiles aiming for you, and beat a hasty retreat. If you’re lucky, the intruder will focus his attention on your friend instead of chasing you down. This will give you an opportunity to regroup and face your aggressor on more even ground.
Run – but don’t try to outrun anyone.
One of the things very few players, even experienced players, have the presence of mind to do is run away. If you’ve got a shotgun, and the person charging you has a hyperblaster, the best thing to do is probably to high-tail it out of the area. There is no shame in retreat, and in many situations if you don’t, you’re dead. However, the one thing you shouldn’t do is turn around and run straight away. There’s nothing easier to hit than an enemy with his back to you running straight away. One of the advantages of knowing a level well is being able to run away backwards without hitting walls and supports or falling off platforms. This keeps your opponent from following too closely, gives you an opportunity to hit your opponent, and helps you dodge his fire.
Weapons & Powerups
It doesn’t matter what type of game, but try to control the Rail gun, the rocket launcher and the BFG. In Deathmatch servers, your best bet is to know where your best weapons are situated, and learn the fastest way to each of them from anywhere on the level. Grab as much armour on your way as possible. The lack of weapons and ammo on many levels makes weapons control important.
Patterns
Once a person acquires Quad Damage, most times he/she will run, looking for targets to gib. More experienced players may run a specific pattern after picking up Quad, running through high-traffic areas, pick up weapons, health, and armor on the way, and make their way back to the Quad around 10 seconds before it respawns. The one thing to remember about patterns is that they are useful and easy, but it’s also easy for your opponents to pick up on a given pattern and learn to avoid you or cut you off when most vulnerable. The easiest solution is not to run a repetitive routine all the time. Vary your timing and routes, but remember the Quad will spawn every minute, so always be able to work your way back into the area BEFORE the Quad respawns.
Armor also falls into this general category. The interesting thing about armor is that it spawns every 20 seconds after being picked up, therefore areas with any type of armor can be profitable killing grounds. The short respawn time for armor makes it easier to run a simple route between two armor respawns to quickly increase and max out your armor. The armor will help you in battle.
One the subject of waiting for items to respawn, most players with low heath will run into a Megahealth, relish in the fact that they are now > 100 health (but barely), and run along their business. If you have < 30 health when you pick up a Megahealth, consider staying in the area. That extra health will burn off relatively quickly, and the 100H will respawn 20 seconds after it does. It’s the difference between having 105 heath and having 175.
Learn if the level has a Power Shield, and if it does, learn where all of the cell ammunition spawns are. Combined with standard armor, the power shield can boost your armor to roughly 400 (!), and even more if you have a bandoleer or ammo pack. Additionally, the cells that power the shield are also required for two of the most powerful weapons of the game. Keep your eye to the lower-right of your screen, even if you run out of cells, you still retain the shield, so grab some more cells, a hyperblaster or BFG, or another power shield, and hit P to regain that extra level of protection.
Shortcuts
A big part is knowing your way around the levels well. Most deathmatch servers have a certain number of levels that they cycle through – after playing on these servers for a while, you’ll undoubtedly become much more familiar with these levels. However, it is still important to learn THE fastest ways to the different areas of each level. This requires plenty of time to learn and watching others when possible. Some of the fastest paths may require the rocket jump. Health and rocket ammunition is less abundant therefore rocket jumping has become much less used, but it still has its place in any deathmatch game. Rocket jumping can get you to different areas of the map much faster than running to and up the stairs or hitting a button and waiting for a platform, but it hurts. If you’re rocket jumping to a platform to get to a Quad damage and a couple of health packs or an armor, consider rocket-jumping towards the health packs – it makes up for the damage sustained in the jump, and you’ve still reached the Quad faster than you would have otherwise.
The more familiar you become with the levels, the easier you’ll spot good perches to ambush people from and good positions to be at during a fight. This means you have to pay attention to which strategies work for you during actual play and helps you to incorporate tactics that have worked well against you.
Weapons That Have Any Use: Super Shotgun
The most versatile weapon in the game. It inflicts an incredible 102 points of damage with a direct hit, and its spread is large enough to ensure that your opponent cannot walk away from a battle unscathed. It’s also great for medium range skirmishes-just using this gun may be enough to keep your opponent from attempting a head-on charge. Shotgun shells are the most common forms of ammunition found on levels, so you’ll probably never be in short supply. The super shotgun also fires at the exact same rate as the standard shotgun, just over one second per shot. The incredible punch of this weapon is excellent for surprise attacks. If you know your opponent is just around the corner, there’s no better way to surprise him than with a super shotgun blast to the face.
Chain Gun
One of the most useful and powerful weapons in the game. The damage from its incredible firing rate can kill in seconds. And, with Quad, it’s nearly unstoppable. There are several things to know about the chain gun before you can use it to its full potential. It depletes over 40 bullets a second and therefore will runn out of ammo quickly. If you want to charge into a room that you know an opponent is staking out, start firing your chain gun before you round the corner or open the door. If you time it right, when you burst into the room guns blazing, your chain gun will be firing at full speed, and there will be little your opponent can do except die.
Grenades
These timed explosives are useful tools for clearing out opponents hiding around corners. or under stairs etc…Instead of rushing in, bank a few grenades off the wall toward him and force him to retreat to a less fortified position. This should also safeguard you temporarily from the possibility of the enemy rushing out from his spot to surprise-attack you. Either from the launcher or thrown by hand, grenade tossing is also a good way to slow down a person. You can do this by running backwards and tossing grenades at him directly, or by throwing grenades ahead of you as you retreat. This tactic means that you cannot score a direct hit on him-but it greatly increases the chances that he will wander into the blast radius of a live grenade as it explodes. Hand grenades can work very well in this situation. They’re much slower to throw. It is also easy to switch from hand grenades to another weapon, so learn to incorporate them into your killing sprees.
Rocket Launcher
The first trick to know is called shooting ground. This is a very simple technique that can do wonders for your rocket launcher aim. Rockets move quite slowly and are relatively easy to dodge. They have a blast radius (caused by their explosions), meaning that a rocket doesn’t have to hit you directly in order to inflict damage. Here is where the technique comes into play-aim at your opponent’s feet instead of his body. Meaning that your chances of hurting him are substantially higher. Even if you miss him with the actual rocket, the rocket will not fly past him, but will instead explode next to his feet where he will still take damage.
If you are engaged in a point blank fight with rockets, be careful. A direct shot on your opponent will likely be close enough for you to also take damage from your own rocket (and blow yourself up) . In this case, aim for the floor directly to the side or slightly behind your opponent. This should be far enough from you to prevent suffering damage from the blast radius, but close enough to your opponent to injure him greatly. If your opponent has the upper ground, the rocket launcher can still be a deadly weapon. If he is standing next to a wall, shooting at it should cause him collateral damage from the blast radius, and may be enough to force him away from his advantageous location. Many players (once realizing they’ve been hit from below) will jump down from their spot and attempt to engage you on level ground, where ironically, you will no longer be at a disadvantage.
Hyper Blaster
Damage from each cell is considerable, and up close, the hyper blaster can be as effective as the chain gun and super shotgun. This weapon is very useful in tight corners and narrow hallways, as there is little room to evade the shots.
Rail Gun
One of the most impressive weapons in the game, the rail gun is also one of the most specialized. Not the ideal weapon to carry into a firefight due to its extremely slow firing rate, the rail gun serves its purpose as a long-range sniping weapon. A direct hit causes exactly 100 points of damage, and though the blue smoke trail will show him exactly where you are, most likely your opponent will be too hurt and busy running for cover to attempt to retaliate. Rail guns can also be very useful at the end of long hallways or aimed at doorways when you know exactly where your opponent must enter.
BFG10K
It’s extremely powerful-a direct hit will incur no less than 400 points of damage, but each shot requires 50 cells. The beauty of the BFG is that it doesn’t require a direct hit to do major damage. As the iridescent ball flies toward its target, rays of green light will shoot out from it, lancing anyone in its line of sight. This makes the BFG very useful in several ways. Fire a shot into a large crowd, and anyone in its line of sight will take significant damage from its tracers. Once the blast impacts a wall, any player in line of sight to you and the explosion will take extra damage, in many cases enough to finish them off. So your goal with a BFG is twofold. You must aim the gun so the plasma ball keeps your opponent in its field of view as it travels, and your opponent must have direct line of sight to both you and the ball the instant it impacts with a structure or another player.
Quad Damage
When you have the quad damage you automatically become the most formidable enemy for anyone in the game, and thus the center of attention. The majority of the players you’ll come across will be avoiding you like the plague; however, there’ll likely be a handful of players that will be gunning for you specifically, mainly because you pose too much of a threat to simply be left alone. You need to be especially careful when rounding corners. If you happen to be firing a rocket as you’re rounding a corner, but your opponent (who was waiting around the corner) was able to fire his rocket out first, his rocket will hit you and bounce you off somewhere. If you were pressing the fire button as you rounded the corner, you may find yourself facing a wall and blowing yourself to bits. REMEMBER!!!!!!! The Blast radius also does four times the damage There are no exceptions when using the quad damage; all of your weapons, including the explosions some of them create, inflict four times the damage. With your weapons dealing four times the damage, you can afford to miss your rockets by a bigger margin. Aim for ceilings, walls, pillars, and the floor…anything that is near your opponent. The blast radius should be powerful enough to kill him.
How to defend yourself against a quaded enemy
Use hit and run tactics inside small corridors. You never want to fight a quaded enemy out in the open. Make him chase you into the hallways. Wait around the corner for him to walk inside. When he does, shoot him in the face, then run around to the next corner. If he’s using a chain gun or hyper blaster, do not try running by him. Keep backing up around corners to avoid being mowed down by his rapid-fire weapons.
Power Shield (Energy Armor)
The power shield is an extremely useful item to have. It does not have a time limit, so you will have this item till you die. It can run out of energy, however, and can be recharged by simply picking up more cells. When you have the power shield, do not waste your cells on firing the hyper blaster or the BFG, unless you don’t have any other good weapons. If you couple it with regular armor, it makes you an extremely hard person to kill. Because it’s so effective, you should try to keep the power shield away from the enemy.
If you run out of cells, the power shield deactivates. To turn it back on, reselect it from your inventory. An easy way to do this is to bind a key to “use power shield.”
Silencer
The silencer is a great item to have when you want to snipe at your opponent. Pick a good hiding spot and wait for him to walk by. As soon as he does, use a weapon-preferably a powerful one that does a lot of damage with just one shot-and tag him in the back. Since all he hears is the reload of your weapon, he may not necessarily know exactly what happened or where the shot came from. Remember to use a weapon that doesn’t leave a trace after it’s fired or he’ll be able to follow the trail back to your hiding spot.
Item Respawns
It’ll make it a lot easier for you to control the level. All you really need to know is roughly when the item is going to reappear. So, as long as you get there a tad early, you will be the first to get it. This becomes especially effective if your opponent is really good with a specific weapon and you can keep the weapon away from him by picking it up every time it respawns, preventing him from obtaining his favorite weapon. This tactic can also be used to control the quad damage as well as any other item.
ITEM RESPAWN TIMES
Adrenaline 1 minute
Ammo packs 30 seconds
Armor & armor shards 20 seconds
Backpack 1 minute
Bandoleer 1 minute
Enviro-suit 1 minute
Invulnerability 5 minutes
Power shield 1 minute
Quad 1 minute
Rebreather 1 minute
Silencer 1 minute
Mega-health 20 seconds after it runs out
Weapons 30 seconds
The Importance of Stealth
You want to be as quiet and stealthy as possible. Surprise has a huge effect on the outcome of most matches. You must now learn how to make as little noise as possible when playing, so that your opponent cannot hear what you’re doing, where you’re at, and where you’re planning on going. Since picking up objects generally produces the most noise in the game, if you’re planning on a surprise attack, don’t pick up any unnecessary items or any items at all, en route to the enemy. Sometimes it’s even a good idea to pass up health kits if you’re trying to surprise your opponent. Health kits are usually very scarce and spread out within a level, thus if your opponent hears you pick one up, he can quite accurately guess, by process of elimination, where you’re probably at. Everything comes down to opportunity cost-that you sacrifice one thing for another. The good thing is that he makes noise and you can figure out where he is.
Listen to the Sounds around You
Others can hear your footsteps approaching them, you should hear them too. Sounds can tell you how close your opponent is by how loud they are and the specific noises each item makes (armour shards being loudest) You must know the levels fairly well and know where everything is in relation to you to do this.
The Art of Deception
Good players learn to use sounds to deceive the enemy. Because listening to sounds is a huge part of the game, you can make sounds specifically intended to lead your opponent to think you are up to something or going somewhere, when you’re doing the opposite. It won’t be long before the other player figures out that you are faking a lot of sounds.
Ways to Trick Your Opponent
Step on a lift or elevator to make it go up, then step off as soon as it starts going up. Your opponent will hear the lift and assume you’re on your way up. But, instead, go around the backside and surprise him while his attention is directed towards the lift. If you know where the other player is, pick up an item that’ll give away your position, then go around the backside and attack him from the other direction. His attention will be focused in the direction of the item you picked up. He will usually assume you picked up the item and will either be on your way out or waiting there for him to come around the corner. My favourite is to jump down on them from behind and blow them away Jumping once or twice does wonders to confuse your opponent. If your opponent thinks he knows where you are, sometimes jumping in place a couple of times will throw him off a bit. When you and your opponent are at a stalemate, meaning you are both firing at a doorway waiting for the other to be aggressive and charge in, try switching to a blaster momentarily and firing off a couple shots, then switching back to your original weapon. Have your trigger finger ready. Firing the blaster will give the other player the impression that you ran out of ammo; that should be enough of a motivator to make him think it’s safe to go in after you. When he charges in, he’ll get a shot right in the face.
Footsteps
Although footsteps give off very little sound, they can give away your position. If you do not want to make any noise while moving, you must walk (not run). Furthermore, if you are walking, you must only use one movement key at a time. You can strafe and you can walk, but do not do them simultaneously. Use this knowledge to sneak up on an opponent.
Watch for Missing items
Pay close attention to your surroundings. Take notice of items that are missing and doors that are opened. If you know the item respawn times, missing items can tell you where your opponent is. Several items respawning in chronological order, from first to last, can you tell what direction your opponent was headed.
Circle Strafing
One of the fundamental techniques you should learn is the circle strafe. Circle strafing is the skill of circling around your opponent while keeping him in your sights the entire time. The purpose of this maneuver is to be able to keep the sights on your opponent and shoot at him while dodging around in a circle. In order to execute the circle strafe, you must be strafing in one direction while turning your mouse in the opposite direction. The key to executing this maneuver successfully is to use smooth and continuous movements, especially when it comes to keeping your aim on the enemy. Although it’s very unlikely that the enemy will stand still and allow you to circle around him, you can adapt your movements based on where he moves to keep him in your sights.
Avoiding Patterns in Your Movement
Good players will pick up your dodging and strafing patterns. If you tend to strafe right a lot more than you strafe left, you will find yourself losing many shotgun or rocket battles. The best way to keep your opponent on his toes is to mix up your strafing tendencies. Start off by strafing left more often than you strafe right. Then, a few minutes into the game, switch and do the opposite. A few minutes afterward, start strafing left and right equally. By avoiding patterns in your movement, you will make yourself an extremely difficult target to track and hit.
Crouching
Crouching is a great way to hide from the enemy’s view and also makes for a great sniping tool. When the enemy walks by, stand up from behind your box, fire a rocket in his back, and then crouch again. When he turns around, you’re nowhere to be seen. Crouching also reduces the size of your bounding box, which basically includes your entire body and your gun-making you a harder target to hit and rockets will fly over your head sometimes.
Jumping
You can actually jump high enough so that you’d jump over a super shotgun blast if your opponent were aiming at your midsection. In fact, you would jump over most weapons if they were aimed at your midsection. You will also sustain less damage if you are in mid-air when an opponent’s rocket explodes beneath you, since you are further away from the blast than you would be if you hadn’t jumped. Being in mid-air also gives you the advantage of being at higher ground; you have a better attack angle at the enemy. Unfortunately, jumping produces a loud noise that easily gives away your position to anyone nearby. You do not want to jump around all the time (especially not through an entire battle) because with repeated usage, your opponent will be able to time when you land after each jump.
Running Backwards
One of the advantages of being able to run backwards well is that you can still shoot at your opponent even while running away. Additionally, if you know your opponent is somewhere behind you, you can essentially watch your back the entire time (by running backwards) and not have to worry about him sneaking up behind you. There are some disadvantages to running backwards, though. One disadvantage is that you have to know the levels extremely well in order to run backwards fluidly, since you cannot see ahead of time where the corridor turns. You must also remember that while running backwards, turning left will make you walk right, and vice versa. Being able to switch from running forward to running backward quickly is also a good skill to have. While running forward, do a quick 180-degree turn, simultaneously switching from hitting the forward key to the backward key. If you do it correctly, you will have switched from running forward to running backward without ever slowing down or veering off course.
Rocket Jumping
Rocket jumping is the combination of jumping and firing a rocket at the ground simultaneously. A rocket jump, will propel you up into the air, flying several times further and/or higher than you would normally be able to jump. It can be used to escape from or cut off an enemy, get to areas that would otherwise be impossible to reach, and considerably cut down the time it would take to get to certain areas.
Damage Inflicted
A rocket jump takes off about 50 health points, give or take a few health points depending on what height you were at when you fired the rocket. Generally, it is not a good idea to rocket jump unless you have some armor or full health.
Basic Rocket Jump
If you are new to rocket jumping, the basic rocket jump is a good way to learn the simple steps. To execute this rocket jump, make sure you have rockets and enough health and armor to survive a rocket blast. Go into an open area with a high ceiling and walk into the center of the room. Look down at your feet and when you’re ready, press jump and fire simultaneously. Remember that the time between when you hit jump and fire will effect the height of your jump. After you’ve practiced that several times, try to look back up to eye level while you’re in mid-air. When you no longer have to think about the chronology of the keys, you can move on to the running rocket jump.
Running Rocket Jump (Forward)
The running rocket jump is the most standard and common rocket jump used by players. The sequence of keys is the same as the basic rocket jump, except that while you are going through the regular steps, you also want to hold down the forward key. There is a lot more timing and coordination involved when executing this rocket jump, so you should definitely put more time into practicing it. Find spots on the level where you normally would not be able to jump to and try rocket jumping up them. Use the same tip stated at the end of the basic rocket jump section to practice.
Most Effective Weapons (In order): Railgun
Due to the numerous large, open areas in Q2DM1, a good railgun user can easily pick apart his opponent from afar. The way Q2DM1 is constructed, you will find it pretty easy to put distance between you and your opponent if you want to snipe at him. Close combat can be easily avoided, as there are only a handful of small rooms on this map, all of which have easily accessible exits. Since the YA in the arena area takes a while to walk to and is also in the open, good railgunners can pick off their opponents before they can get to it. For those reasons, the railgun is the best weapon to use on this level. However, I would not rely solely on the railgun, but simply use it as a tool to gain an advantage before close combat, or to pick him off when he’s hurt.
Rocket launcher
Still one of the deadliest and most versatile weapons Quake II, an enemy with a RL is always someone to be wary of. Since the most important area in Q2DM1 (the 100% health/YA room) requires close combat skills and weapons, the RL makes its way to #2 as the weapon of choice on this map. (It should be the #1 weapon of choice if your railgun aim is poor) Due to its versatility, the RL can do basically anything. All of the stairs and pathways have walls directly behind/to the side of them, which consequently, makes a player who is on those stairs/pathways relatively easy to hit with a RL.
Chaingun
The high rates of fire, ease of aim, and instant-hit make the chain-gun the weapon of choice to finish off hurt opponents. The damage it can inflict from any range also makes it an ideal weapon to use against enemies who are without armor. Additionally, against good railgunners, a charging chaingunning opponent can place enough pressure to throw off their railgun aim. If you have substantially more armor and health than your opponent, this is a good weapon to use.
Controlling the Level
If you wish to fully dominate another player, you must learn how to control the level. Controlling the level basically means that, at almost any given time, your opponent will be either weaponless or armor-less, because you are able to keep the items away from him. In the instance that he does have both good weapons and armor, you usually have something better. Controlling the level also means that you keep control of the vital items, such as the quad damage and invulnerability. Once you gain control of a level, use that opportunity to rack up your frag count. Other clans do this so be aware and know that there will be a struggle to control the level.
Controlling the Important Powerups (espec. in Lithium)
The focus of your strategy might revolve around the quad when it is in the game if you feel it will be a threat. A good way to time the quad without using the marking tactic is, after the quad runs out, count to 20 seconds then start heading towards it. Be warned, do not arrive at the quad right before it respawns. If your opponent is waiting at the quad, he will be picking up the quad damage as you’re walking into the room…and you may get a quad rocket in the face. The runes in Lithium can make a difference between a good chance and instant death. The most powerful ones are the power amplifier (makes your shots cause more damage) and auto doc (fast fire).
https://web.archive.org/web/19991002085253/http://www.austintx.net:80/lisaf/vv/dm_strategy.htm
Get Glade and Stop Your Bitchin’! by Zippy
My bitch this week is to all those people who have the arrogant …”my shit don’t stink” attitude while playing q2. HEY!!!!!!!! I’ve got news for you! Everyone’s shit stinks..why do think they call it shit???? Whatever happened to playing a nice…(hahah) game where everyone is cool…NO>>>>> that went with the dawning of the Pepsi generation…. It seems. I know alot of people understand me when I say….It is just a game!!!!!! So you get fragged… press your fire button and be reborn! Stop ranting and raving that you died and die gracefully damnit! You ruin the game for others by name calling and the immature “hahah take that, bitch!” that you sprawl across the screen for all to see. Think about it…it is a game…noone cares if you can’t handle being killed..just stop annoying everyone else!!!!!! And remember…. everybody’s shit stinks…. that’s why there are fans in bathrooms and that nifty little spray can sitting on top of the toilet!
https://web.archive.org/web/19991002201625/http://www.austintx.net:80/lisaf/vv/zippy_r1.htm
Vixens Voices, Summer 1998
https://web.archive.org/web/19990225000614/http://www.austintx.net:80/lisaf/vv/voices.htm
Zippy
Zippy started playing Internet Quake2 in February 98. Her boyfriend, OzNimbus, was playing and she became interested from watching him. “There was so much going on that it was fun ..and well I hate watching TV so I started playing.” Now OzNimbus has a hard time getting Zippy away from the computer!
Zippy plays only Quake2. Why? Because she never got around to installing Quake on her hard drive. She figures she’ll stay with Quake2: “why go backwards thru time?”
Stay tuned for the Vicious Vixens’ CTF squad Zippy will be forming soon, and a LMCTF branch forming a bit later. Besides Quake, Zippy is writing game reviews for MPOG – Multiplayer Online Gaming. She’s also written some CTF and DM strategy guides for the Vicious Vixens’ Voices. Recently she just got back from the IMOL WarBirds’ Convention in Dallas and played a bit of the WW2 flight sim online. “Wooohoo! too bad you only get so many bullets in a plane!”.
Zippy would like to see lagless internet play, no matter what game you are playing, as well an end to the name calling and such, on Quake servers. The end of name calling “is not going to happen and I won’t be able to get cable modems in my area until Jan ’99 so I have to wait patiently.” Zippy’s future plans concerning Quake are to keep fragging, get a CTF branch going for the Vicious Vixens, and to get her clan more widely known.
Peachies
Many of Peachies friends played Doom II, and then Quake. She was always really interested in the games, but never even thought about playing herself! Until one day, she loaded up Quake and just played! From then on she was addicted! After worrying she wasn’t good enough to battle it out on a server, she finally just made herself connect, and now she plays almost every day!
Peachies hasn’t played Quake since she installed Quake2! She learned how to play, using the mouse on Quake, but ever since Quake2, there’s no turning back to Quake for her! “I’ve played both… I like Quake2 much bettah!”
Besides playing Quake2, Peachies created, and is the webmistress, of the Vicious Vixens clan site. She’s also done alot of “Quake related” features on other websites. She started off working on War Council, doing reviews, and interviews with developers, and since War Council is now a thing of the past, she does the same over at MPOG – Multiplayer Online Gaming. She’s been lucky enough to attend E3, in Atlanta, the past few years, and has met lots of great people! Peachies also enjoys attending the big LAN parties: QuakeCon, The Frag, and she hopes to one day have her very own gaming site.
There are a few things Peachies would like to see changed about internet Quake. “Until I get my cable modem next month, BETTER connections! LESS lag!” Also, the guys on the net who always think she’s a guy when she plays. “Don’t you think it would be odd for a guy to have the nick “Peachies”??? why on earth would a guy want to pose as a woman?? I mean… I understand (sorta) the reason they use the female model, but sheesh!!!! One of these days those guys out there will realize that women can play too! and play damn good, I might add!”
QuakeWiki.Net: Quake Woman’s Forum, September 1998
https://www.quakewiki.net/archives/qwf/qwfocus/peachies&zippy/p&z.html
Free Speech?? by Zippy
Well I can’t believe what I just read in the paper. The holier than thou CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission) is planning to wreak havoc in the internet. It wants to censor the internet and is considering taxing internet use so that they can get more Canadian content on it! This is BS!!!!! Internet is international…. you cannot censor it without international cooperation… or tax it either. Whatever happened to free speech? And this coming from a country that allows women to walk around topless… go figure! Well so much for a democratic society… What does the Canadian government think they rule the world? I think not! Far from it… go spend the money on doing research that will actually help… like road repairs or something!
Oz and I are going to get a page to protest this once we get web space! Gonna send the mail straight to the CRTC! Damn ….I’m what? no I’m not Canadian…I’m a lowly slave to the Canadian Nazi government that controls all forms of media! heheheh
https://web.archive.org/web/19991002234517/http://www.austintx.net:80/lisaf/vv/zippy_r3.htm
I’ve learned… by Peachies
I’ve learned…
that you can keep going
long after you think you can’t.
I’ve learned…
that regardless of how hot and steamy
a relationship is at first,
the passion fades and there had better be
something else to take its place.
I’ve learned…
that learning to forgive takes practice.
I’ve learned…
that there are people who love you dearly,
but just don’t know how to show it.
I’ve learned…
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I’ve learned…
that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is
be someone who can be loved.
The rest is up to them.
I’ve learned…
that you can do something in an instant
that will give you heartache for life.
I’ve learned…
that my best friend and I can do anything
or nothing and have the best time.
I’ve learned…
that sometimes the people you expect
to kick you when you’re down
will be the ones to help you get back up.
I’ve learned…
that just because someone doesn’t love you
the way you want them to doesn’t mean
they don’t love you with all they have.
I’ve learned…
that your family won’t always
be there for you. It may seem funny,
but people you aren’t related to
can take care of you and love you
and teach you to trust people again
I’ve learned…
that no matter how good a friend is,
they’re going to hurt you
every once in a while
and you must forgive them for that.
I’ve learned…
that it isn’t always enough
to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes you have to learn
to forgive yourself.
I’ve learned…
that no matter how bad
your heart is broken
the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
I’ve learned…
that just because two people argue,
it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other
And just because they don’t argue,
it doesn’t mean they do.
I’ve learned…
that sometimes you have to put
the individual ahead of their actions.
I’ve learned…
that we don’t have to change friends
if we understand that friends change.
I’ve learned…
that you shouldn’t be so
eager to find out a secret.
It could change your life forever.
I’ve learned…
that two people can look
at the exact same thing
and see something totally different.
I’ve learned…
that no matter how you try to protect
your children, they will eventually get hurt
and you will hurt in the process.
I’ve learned…
that there are many ways of falling
and staying in love.
I’ve learned…
that your life can be changed
in a matter of hours
by people who don’t even know you.
I’ve learned…
that even when you think
you have no more to give,
when a friend cries out to you,
you will find the strength to help.
I’ve learned…
that although the word “love”
can have many different meanings,
it loses value when overly used.
https://web.archive.org/web/19991002123544/http://www.austintx.net:80/lisaf/vv/peachies_r2.htm
Donde Quake 2? 