Author: uNity
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Introduction
During my time in this virtual world, I've encountered many a gifted gamer that, ironically, never progressed to the competitive scene. It often seems to me that, though one might be interested in doing so, often times the resources simply arn't there to guide said player, most not even knowing where to begin. This guide, then, is my answer to this conundrum.
Valuable Resources
Programs
- IRC (aka Internet Relay Chat), any program will do, although mIRC certainly is the most popular.
- Voice Communication, Ventrilo or Team Speak.
- There are, of course, various other nifty programs, but really you'll only be using the above 2 (or 3). XFire, though, is pretty cool.
Forums
- Ours, of course!
- Official Atari UT2K4 Forums.
- ProUnreal Forums
Leagues and/or Ladders
- Ours, soon!
- Global Gaming League
- Online Gaming League.
- Proving Grounds
- Countless more (read on to find out why I'm not mentionning them).
The Wonderful World of IRC
IRC is and has always been the most useful resource for any budding competitive gamer. Everything you will ever need can be found in IRC, and most often it winds up being a whole lot more entertaining.
There are, of course, a few things to know before you get going:
- Be a decent person. There's no stressing this. If you want people to help you reach that next tier, don't be an ass.
- Don't spam. It's the simplest rule, observe it.
- As a general rule, it's never a good idea to PM (Private Message) someone you don't already know. If you have a question, ask it in the channel itself, then, if necessary, go ahead and PM those nice enough to answer.
- The above rule doesn't apply to scrim requests.
Now then, moving on.
IRC is, as most of you already know, a program that allows people to chat amongst themselves on a given server, and they do so in various "Rooms", more commonly known as Channels.
Now, for the Unreal Community, the server you want is called ETG, or Enter The Game. The actual server is irc.enterthegame.com . Easy, uh?
Once you're connected, you need to join a few channels. The most relevant, as well as popular, for our purpose are the following:
#kaizen - The Famous clan's channel. Hugely popular and generally holds most of the community.
#utcommunity - Another popular channel. Probably the best place to ask for help on any given subject.
#|wm| - In essence, the most useful channel on the network. Check the next section for my reasoning.
#dz - Although Demise doesn't actually play the game anymore, many of the friends we made still do, and they do indeed idle with us. #dz also houses the creators of UTComp, Lotus and dnx3.
War Machines and the ScrimBot
In essence, #|wm| seems like nothing more than a clan channel, albeit a popular one. The difference resides in the scrimbot, the most useful tool to come out of gamers in some time.
Basically, this bot responds to various commands from users in the #|wm| channel and then sends out a request for a game (known as a scrim) across most, if not all, of the UT-related chans, including the clan channels. This, needless to say, greatly simplifies the whole process of finding games and/or practice.
Now, I won't go over the commands because I have to admit, I don't know them all, but mostly because they're very well covered through FAQs the bot itself provides. Greatly useful.
The Joy of Voice Communication
You'll find that, as you and your team progress, communication becomes an increasingly important factor. Indeed, strong team communication can be the difference between a loss and a victory. So, then, how does one improve in said field?
Simple! Voice Communication software, the two best being the aforementionned Ventrilo and Team Speak.
In essence, the two programs are pretty similar. They provide the same service freely and both work nicely. However, I personally prefer Ventrilo, simply because the sound quality seems clearer and the program itself has features I truly enjoy.
On the other hand, the latest version of Ventrilo doesn't allow for a great deal of people to be on the server, 12 I believe, unless you pay for it. Needless to say, this doesn't matter if your clan is small, but can become a problem later on.
Basically, you'll want to experiment with both programs within your clan to find the one that suits your needs in a more appropriate fashion.
Oh and don't forget, you'll need a working mic and headphones. I know, elemantary, but some people are oblivious.
Leagues and Tournaments
You'll notice that I didn't link a great deal of Ladders/Leagues in the Resources section of this guide, and there's a simple reason: typically, most truly competitive players ignore ladders. The logic behind it is somewhat shady, but basically ladders become repetitive, random and "easy", most often not following the adopted rules of the competitive community.
To rectify this, then, the community itself creates tournaments and leagues, and these are where the strongest players and teams shine. For example, the various One Night Stands I've run, and the TDM.Open tournament a month ago. There are, of course, longer league type tournaments, although due to various reasons, most havn't taken off nearly as well as they could have. Namely, the XTGL.
Regardless, the best idea is to always check the various forums and news sites to find information on any upcoming tournaments. These will always have an IRC channel, making it easy to both sign up and ask questions.
Conclusion
At it's core, the competitive community is very simple:
- Play as much as you can and improve.
- Hang on IRC, get to know people, make friends.
- Find information on tournaments, sign up.
- Play your heart out.
- Rinse and repeat.
I do hope this guide proved useful and that you'll be joining us soon, eh?
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