Hud and KeyBinds
Ok first thing is the HUD and key binds. A lot of people thing most of these things are trivial, but once you fix a bunch of trivial things you can see a big change, especally between a poor key setup and a good one.
HUD
I don't think the UT2003 HUD is the best thing in the world
. The HUD provides useful information, however it's not nearly as important as what's going on in the world around you. So first off you need to get rid of some of that crap on the screen you don't need.
First thing is you don't need to see your own weapon. Go into the options go to the player tab and set weapon to hidden.
Next big thing is a crosshair. You do not need some big fancy crosshair. You want something simple that shows you exactly where your gun is going to shoot. The best crosshair is going to be the dot.
This thread has some custom crosshairs. If you download the first pack (ownz.zip) it contains a dot crosshair with a black circle around it. IMO this is the best crosshair. Also make it green. First off nothing in the game is bright green/yellow. Second green/yellow just so happens to be the wavelength of light your eye is most sensitive too. Sounds stupid but it's true, and a green crosshair will make your crosshair stand out a lot more.
Another thing you can do is turn of player names. When that enemy name displays off the crosshair it's a distraction. I know that it throws me off
, and I’d suggest turning it off. You can change this in the HUD tab of the settings.
While in the HUD settings turn off display portraits. Having the players picture show up when they say something is completely useless and you don't need it.
Next change your HUD scaling. Again you want to see as much of the action as you can. You can easily change the HUD scaling to something like 80% and see a little bit more. You can also change opacity.
Key Setup
Your key binds are one of the most important things in the game. The three main types of key binds are (in order of importance): movement weapons chat. To change your key binds just go into settings and go to controls. There are more advanced ways of setting key binds mostly by using set input key command. A few useful binds are found
here
Your movement keys are very important. Most people use wasd (w forward a left s back d right). I personally use esdf. Some just use the arrow keys. Some use the number pad (like that n00b han
). What you use is mostly a matter of how you first learned. If your new to games then I'd suggest wasd or esdf. The jump key is also very important. With 3 of your fingers left that leaves only your pinky and thumb. If I were you I'd stick jump to your thumb (which will probably be space and that's where I have it). It makes the advanced dodge moves A LOT easier to pull off
. Some people stick it to their pinky (wouldn't suggest it). Some of the oldskool players that are from quake prefer to have jump to their second mouse button
. Crouch can also be useful to protect yourself from headshots, but it's not that important and can be stuck wherever you want. I have mine set to Z.
Next is your weapons. In UT2003 you switch weapons a lot. Therefore I suggest you have a key bound to as many of the weapons as you can. I have a key for every weapon. The defaults are set on the numbers
. This setup flat out sucks tail. You need to have your keys close to you where you can press them at will without having to reach very far. If I'm using esdf space for movement then awrfgqt are the best keys to put your weapons to. Note that your pinky isn't doing anything with movement, therefore you should stick your most important weapons binds to keys that finger can press. You can also consider using buttons on the mouse. The mouse wheel is set to switch to next weapon by default. However if your setting a key for each weapon you don't need that and that leaves you two open keys that are right there.
Finally you have communications. The two most important things your team needs to know is where your flag carrier is and where the enemy flag carrier is. Use key binds like enemy flag carrier is here. If your short on room it's ok to put a bind to a key you have to reach for. I have my comms on 1-5. Don't forget to add the fun stuff. You need to have a key set to the hump. I can also find a "OMG WTF N00bSPAMMER MINIGUN IS HOMOEROTIC!!!111" bind very helpull
.
Finally here's a list of my key setup. Remember it's a personal thing feel free to change it any way you like.
e: forward
s: left
d: back
f: right
space: jump
a: translocator
shift: lightning gun
q: shield gun
mousewheelup: rocket launcher
mousewheeldown: shock rifle
mousewheel click: flak cannon
w: minigun
t: biorifle
r: link gun
h: throw weapon
Attached is a picture of my HUD.