If you’ve been following my other posts (link not supplied as I’m too lazy to go find it) you’ll know that I’m new to Half Life. I downloaded the demo, and Amazon should be delivering the real thing any day now.
I have a laptop, and so far, the game is killing me. I’m on the easiest level there is, and I just can’t seem to catch on to the interface. I’m constantly trying to aim the gun to shoot at people, and most of the time I die. Note that I’m usually pretty good at games. Being on a laptop, I tend to suspect the input device is the problem. I have my choice of a touchpad or one of those little stick mice that stick out by the ‘J’ key on the keyboard. They both suck.
So my question is - is it easier with a real mouse? Should I shuck out the bucks to go buy one? If I buy one, I’m gonna get one of those nifty Microsoft USB mice that doesn’t need a mouse pad, so we’re talking 50 or so. Has anyone mastered this #!#1!! game using the keyboard interface?
I highly recommend using a mouse/keyboard interface. It’s several orders of magnitude easier to play with then a touchpad or pointer stick.
I’ve got mine set up for MouseLook always on, which lets me essentially aim with the mouse, and move with keyboard controls. Especially if you set your normal turn left/right keys to Strafe left/right. Just like anything though, use the control set up you feel most comfortable with.
I’ve never used an optical mouse, which is what it sounds like you’re describing, so I don’t really have any opinion on those. People I’ve talked to who have used them seem to like them though.
You absolutely need a mouse for FPS (first person shooter) games. And I wholeheartedly recommend the Microsoft optical mouse (you can get it for $40 if you shop around), I have one myself and it’s far and away the best mouse ever. I can’t say that I would recommend playing a game like that on a laptop though, unless you have an absolute bear of a system. Games like Half-life typically require (or run like crap without) 3D cards, a feature generally not available on laptops. Still though, Half-Life is one of the best (if not the best) computer games released in the past couple years. And if you absolutely get stuck, check around the internet for walkthroughs or cheats. Happy gaming!
I never used the mouse in Doom or Quake and found that I had to use it for Half-Life. I also modified the key mapping to be more Quake-like. I find it very hard to aim without using the mouse, but I use the keyboard to move around for the most part. I can’t even imagine trying to play with a laptop mouse substitute. I think you should get a real mouse.
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Athena:
If I buy one, I’m gonna get one of those nifty Microsoft USB mice that doesn’t need a mouse pad, so we’re talking $50 or so.
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If you are talking about the laser mouse I think it is more like $100. I was going to get one until I saw the price tag. I found a serial Microsoft wheel mouse for about $20 and bought it instead.
Thanks for all the recomendations! Sounds like the problem I’ve been having with the aiming will be greatly reduced by coughing up the bucks for a real mouse.
ElwoodCuse, all I’ve got is the laptop, so the laptop it will be. According to the specs, the video driver is a ‘ATI 3D Rage LT Pro’ which sounds to me like a 3D card. The Half Life demo looks pretty cool, and runs fine (well, almost fine… it blue screened me once or twice but hey! it’s a DEMO!) The ol’ laptop was the top of the line Winbook in Jan '99, so I’m hoping it’ll be OK for this game.
As far as Mice go, I’ll get the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer, USB-flavored. Amazon’s got it for $50. I have one at work, and it’s the most kick ass mouse I’ve ever used. If I’ve got to shell out the bucks for a USB mouse, this one’s the one to get. I’ve got a whole bloody box of PS/2 and serial mice down in the basement, but according to Winbook, the USB is the one to get unless I want to screw with the BIOS settings everytime I go from mouse to touchpad and vice versa.
I just got the sequel ‘Opposing Force’ and couldn’t imagine trying to play either without a mouse. Hell, I didn’t even know you could. But the combination of trying to aim and run in different directions is too wierd for me if they are doing both with the keyboard. With regard to the mouse though, I’d personally just recommend using a cheap piece of crap mouse (many are free with a rebate) rather than spending any real money on one. All this excitement about optical mouses and all I have to say is “Hmmm…more parts that can break and a higher price tag with nearly the same functionality…wow, sign me up.” When they make a good, cheap cordless remote mouse, then come talk to me.
Incidentally, I believe Gamespot.com has the walk-throughs for both Half-Life and Opposing Force, I know I had to use it a few times when I got stuck.
FWIW, I’ve played Half-Life and Unreal on my laptop with no problems (and pretty decent frame rate). I think most newer laptops come with 3D hardware of some sort…
As far as the controls go, I played with a mouse, mouselook always on, and then mapped my turn left and turn right keys to be strafe left and strafe right keys - hence all my turning as well as my firing was done via mouse. This made it quite easy to slide sideways (making me harder to hit) while keeping weapons tightly focused on the the object of my wrath.
I played both Half-Life and Opposing Force on a laptop. My preferred configuration was using the arrow keys to move with my right hand, and my left hand for keys to look up and down, fire, etc. In combat situations, I’d usually take my right hand off the arrows and use the touchpad to aim while firing with my left hand.
While this worked well enough for me to get through both games on the hardest difficulty level, it’s a bad habit to get into if you later move on to deathmatch games, since you’re a sitting duck while aiming. (I also never bothered to learn to use the strafe keys. They’re useful, but not essential for single-player.) I don’t think that it’s possible to really play with just the keys for aiming, because the coarse crosshair movement denies you the necessary precision.
You might also consider using your middle three fingers on the arrows to move, assigning fire keys under your right thumb and pinky, and using your left hand on the touchpad for aiming and mouselooking. That’ll cover most of the necessary options for combat situations and make you a little more mobile than my haphazard method.
Attaching an external mouse will be a pain if you pack up your laptop and move it around frequently. I tried it for a while, but gave up. The touchpad works just as well.
Nurlman, you must be more coordinated than I, because I can’t even get through the easy level on the demo without being killed over and over and over again. I agree, the external mouse could be a pain, but according to Winbook if I get a USB mouse, both it and the touchpad will work with no icky BIOS or software settings to muck with when I don’t want the mouse plugged in.
Yarster, I’ve used many “cheap piece of crap” mice, and I gotta say I think the good ones are worth it. I’ve had the laser one at work for about six months now, and it’s the best mouse I’ve ever used. I think it’s much more stable than a traditional mouse - no moving parts, no mouse ball to get all sticky when you spill beer on the mousepad, in fact, no mouse pad at all. It’s very much worth $50 IMO.
N.B.: The following post is written with the fact you are a total newbie(which may or may not be true) to first person shooters and/or video games in general in mind.
The best button config that I know of (and that I use) is to set up your directions: move/strafe left, move forward, move backwards, and move/strafe right on s, e, d, and f respectively. This allows for easy access to your weaponry on the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 keys. You can also put your “flashlight” key on r and your “use” key on q. Put the “jump” command on spacebar and “crouch” on c or ctrl(whichever you like best) you can use w as your reload(as in reload your gun) button. For the mouse, I strongly recommend putting “primary attack” on the left mouse button and “secondary attack”(because in HL(short for Half-Life), most weapons have a secondary attack, for example, when you use the shotgun, the secondary attack shoots 2 shells at once) on the right mouse button. Of course, use mouselook (which allows you to turn yourself left or right, and look up and down with the mouse only). There, I think I haven’t forgotten anything…
As for buying a mouse, you can stick with a conventional mouse, as long as it’s relatively good quality. I have had the same mouse for 5 years(IBM mouse), a very conventional mouse with 2 buttons, and it works like a charm.
Oh yeah, and remember, if you plan on finishing the game, practice, and practice a lot!
Oh, and just for the heck of it, when you’re fed up with killing monsters, there’s a very good !multiplayer! modification called Counter-Strike. It involves 2 fighting factions, the terrorists and the counter-terrorists, fighting each other for specific goals. Very strategic, very realistic, very entertaining! For more information, visit http://www.counter-strike.net. (this mod is free of charge, of course)
I agree with what everybody has said, but if it’s not too late and you haven’t bought a mouse, yet, I’m going to throw in one more suggestion. My personal preference for FPS’s is a trackball. I tend to play for long periods of time, and my wrist gets sore after using a regular mouse for a while. I use a Logitech Marble mouse, but I know a lot of people can’t stand that on in particular. Still something to check out if you haven’t already.
I have the Microsoft Sidewinder Dual Strike: the game controller that looks like an “H”. It’s lasted almost a year now, but for the first week I had it I couldn’t hit anything; it takes practice. If you wanna play games easily, get a game controller. All the critical controls for HL can fit on the Dual Strike. It’s USB, and all but two of the buttons are programmable. I think the price was down to ~$35 last time I looked. -Another mouse is , , , just another mouse.
I can get through most of the game without cheating but I tried to play online a couple times and I always got pounded fast. All three times I found that I was the only one running a 56K modem; everybody else seemed to have cable or DSL. - MC
Counterstrike realistic? The game where a sniper rifle can fire through 3 feet of concrete and kill someone with one shot, even if it hits them in the foot?
Counterstrike is highly overrated, but it has some die-hard fans, probably because the way it’s set up, once you start winning you will probably dominate the rest of the game (the winning team gets more money to buy better weapons).
Well, compared to Quake 3 it’s damn realistic.
And trough that much concrete you don’t get killed by a head AWP(stands for Arctic Warfare/Police Magnum, the best sniper rifle in the game)-shot. Trough a wooden door, yes you do.
False.
After the third consecutive loss, the losing team actually gets more money than the winning team. Losing team gets 2900$, and winning team gets around 2400$.
Yeah, but by then the winning team will have received more money, total.
And nothing has been said about the ‘realism’ of a bullet passing through three feet of concrete and into the foot of it’s target, killing it instantly…
Obviously you havent played counterstrike much. The winning team does get more money, but the game very rarely comes down to firepower. A good counterstrike player will take you out regardless of weaponry, its more a game where you need to learn when to use what type of weapon. You can only buy one primary weapon and one pistol, and there is no such thing as a “dominating” primary weapon. As well, if one team keeps losing, the amount of money they receive keeps increasing, and if you don’t waste your money you won’t have a problem buying what you want/need.