| Tactics variations
There are a lot of ways to play the deathmatch in Doom2. The most serious is the difference between the altdeath (deathmatch 2.0) and the olddeath. Besides there is a “skill“ parameter which first of all influences the ammo number and also can change the course of game. It may be strange to a newcomer, but the altdeath and the olddeath are two absolutely different games. Partly I’ve already mentioned why it is so. Tactics differences begin from the fact that in the altdeath while organizing the fight and choosing the circumstances for it you can use the health items, collect ammo and weapons, depriving your enemy of the opportunity for some time (30 sec) to pick them up. In the olddeath it doesn’t make sense as the weapon can be taken only once, it doesn’t disappear, and there is no ammo, health items, megaspheres, armor and etc That’s why tactics in picking these items up plays such a role in the altdeath. In the olddeath you can play somehow (though not quite good) without tactics observation, but it’s not the case with the altdeath: you won’t go too far without routing and combat getaway. That’s why in each section devoted to the tactics I will make remarks on what holds true for the altdeath and what – for the olddeath, and sometimes what the differences between the skills are.
The level routing
In order to play at this or that level successfully you should study the map, remember well how to get to different places and where different things can be found. You should remember also the deathmatch respawn spots (rebirth places in the deathmatch) and make up a short plan of collecting of all items needed after the respawn. It’s most probable that there is no need to make up a distinct plan for each deathmatch (it will be a kind of stupid thing). But it would be better to have in mind general ways of item picking-up, get the idea of your respawn spot, choose the best one and follow it. It holds true for the altdeath completely. For the olddeath – partially, as you are only to pick up weapon. Among the olddeath variations it’s the olddeath skill 4 that depends on the weapon largely as you are giving not so many ammo and it can be important to have more than just one weapon. In the altdeath you‘d better pick up 200/200, a couple of favorite guns at least and a bit of ammo to them. By the way a good deathmatch level has often the following feature: items of vital importance can be found in two places at least and can be picked up in two ways (e.g. the megasphere or the blue sphere and the blue armor in the altdeath). Such provision location doesn’t imply the profound ambush by the desired megasphere location spot. In the olddeath it can still be applied only to the weapon issues.
So then route the level. Pick up stuff. In the altdeath it is half the tactics to follow the right routes and pick up items. Though the second half is not to follow the general rules – to be unpredictable (a little bit contradictory issues) and not to be tracked down easy, so with a good map in the altdeath the art of tactics is still of a great importance.
There is also another point in routing: if you fight better in some places, you should be there more often. Try to avoid places where you can be ambushed easily. For example when teleporting in a room and there is only one way out that is to teleport back you can be easily seen or tracked by the sound and then you can be killed by the teleporter on your way back. Thus do such dangerous things very rare.
So, let’s conclude:
1) In the altdeath it’s recommended to take up fight only when you are ready for it. In order to be ready you should pick up useful items, following the preplanned possible routes. But you should avoid the predictability of your actions. You should win every duel: the winner’s health level doesn’t matter as he can recover. Wounded should try to get away and recover. At the same time you should pursue him in order to prevent him from doing it. The altdeath main idea is to win more duels than your opponent.
2) In the olddeath you can accept the combat more often as all you need is just a weapon and some ammo. So the routing is important only in weapon picking-up and fight-spot choosing. The olddeath main idea is to take more health points off your opponent than he does in his turn. While there are still health points, it’s a good idea to get over but it’s possible only for a short time.
3) Avoid places where you can be ambushed. Don’t produce sounds that can attract an enemy and can let your location out. Remember that sounds of lifts, doors, teleporters are your traitors. And of course listen to the sounds produced by you enemy. Having him tracked make a target ambush for him.
4) Accept the fight more willingly at the place where you can fight easily (assume that at open place you fight better than your enemy then prefer to fight there, make him to go out).
5) Stay unpredictable and try to predict your enemy steps.
6) Remember that continuous running and high average speed as well as the high speed playing is not an end in itself. Of course you shouldn’t go too far in the partisan affairs but running just for running is a nonsense. There are levels where continuous running is quite effective, but there are also levels where you’d better scheming constantly, stopping for a few seconds, looking around, studying the situation, listening to sounds trying to track him, launching preventive rockets, outflanking him quietly. Sometime you can stop on your enemy way and wait for him for a while. Of course, running is a must, but bear in mind that it’s quite a stupid thing to judge the playing by the figures of the lmp-processing utilities, e.g. by LurkFactor that characterized the idle time (it’s quite popular). THE PLAYING SHOULD BE JUDGED BY ACTION EFFECTIVENESS, and not by the factors designed by someone! Of course, mean partisanship is still mean but SENSELESS RUNNING is stupid if it reduces the game effectiveness badly. These two tactics are two extremes and the ideal lies somewhere in between, it should be chosen depending on the level and the deathmatch variation/subvariation, enemy tactics and habit, your skill and mood. In a certain point the ideal lies not so far from the SENSELESS RUNNING (that is not so senseless in this case), it includes partisanship issues (though not its extreme ones), so you should be rather creative in finding the right game techniques at each level against the specific enemy.
7) Try to guess what your enemy strong and weak points are. You should know in what you fail and in what you exceed him. Don’t let him use his advantages, make him follow the game revealing his weak points. For example, if your enemy has a better responsiveness but is bad at maneuver accuracy, then it’s quite natural trying to avoid the direct face-to-face contact in corridors where those who shoots first wins for sure, catch him at the preventive rockets, fight at the open place where often the maneuver is more important but not the responsive skills.
By Goblin and Littleb |
