The second episode of Behind The Play is up and this time we’ll be looking at the classic competitive FPS game Quake Live. This episode will give you a variety of lessons useful for understanding professional matches and improving your play. I also recommend watching this pro match for more details. Here is a summary of the main points:

  • Calculate your advantage
  • Learn the timings; use sound to determine pickups
  • Break the map into sections you can control
  • Have a game plan prepared prior to a match
  • You can sacrifice yourself to level the playing field
  • Beware of snowballing
  • Delay timings to gain/regain advantages
  • If disadvantaged, maintain a close gap if possible
  • Everything is a trade off, if I get X, he/she gets Y
  • What does he/she know? What does he/she know that he/she knows I know?
  • Be offensive when exploiting mistakes
  • Be defensive when ahead

Other Tags: QL