-AEnubis- said:
...and no, T2A, I will usually munch that guy TAM, unless he has a sub30 ping. The only person that has been able to do that too me is Beynd, and it was a team game, and I was able to consistently frag him when I got within range of him. That's not too say he can't move, predict, etc, etc, but he wasn't doing much of it in that scrim.
I don't remember playing you AEnubis, who were you playing for and what name did you use? I sure your description of our encounter is accurate. I have pretty good primary flak but that is about it from up-close. My movement is pure crap no doubt it, I also use my movement to aim instead of using primarily my mouse so it’s an even trade off I guess.
Also for those of you who think great TAM players can't play TDM worth a crap I beg to differ. It takes a bit of getting use too but a great TAM player can thrive on TDM if he is put on a smart team who knows how to use him effectively (shout out to pure.gaming
).
I can argue TAM vs. TDM for a good page on this board but I will basically summarize my thoughts here. You can be a great TAM player if you master LG and/or shock along with being at least efficient with some sort of up-close weapon like flak or rockets. To be a good TDM player pub wise you need to be efficient with all weapons, particularly your use of the Assault Rifle and secondary shield. Since you don't have your preferred weapon in TDM most of the time you have to improve your overall skill.
With that said TAM has more to do with frag power then TDM does. I use to play TAM for 6-8 hours a day. It is very relaxing in a pub atmosphere and even competitively it’s not a drain on me. TDM on the other hand wears me not physically (hell if any game did that then I would be quite out of shape lol) but mentally it takes a lot out of me. This is especially true in the competitive scene where you have to worry about occupying positions, timing weapons and power ups etc.
In conclusion TAM is great if you just have an urge to relax and play some UT. TAM pub wise basically focuses on an individuals frag power and allows someone to hide most of their weaknesses (like for me movement) by amplifying their strengths (for me aim).
After playing both game types it’s pretty clear to me that TDM is the more skillful mod. As I mentioned before a great TAM player can thrive in a TDM environment but he has to be really lucky in finding a clan who can use his talents and again masks his weaknesses. While my TDM game is better then it use to be it is still not even near the level of the best TDM'ers out there. There is so much involved in becoming a great TDM player that it is overwhelming to the casual UT player or someone who picks up the game for the first time. Nobody wants to come online and get owned, that would be like going into a test trying to get a C. While some people go into a test hoping for a C they certainly don't try to miss a question on purpose. The point of the analogy is basically TAM has appealed to the casual gamer (which conservatively is about 80 percent of the people who purchase this game to begin with).
While I do enjoy playing TDM I would much rather play some pub server TAM especially if I am just looking to blow off some steam and have fun without having to be uber serious.
Oh and BTW to answer the originally topic I think the Shield and power up system is really well defined. I remember reading in the tips Lotus published a while back how if you practice timing enough it will become second nature to you. So players like Lotus, Gimix, and CC probably don't even look at that clock. They have been doing it for so long and so often that they just know where to go (so I am told). What I think would help some of us who haven't played the UT series for a while is actually changing the number between respawns. Say making the 100 shield respawn in 65 instead of 55. Its seems stupid but maybe it will force some of these leet players to recondition themselves. If you don't like power-up timing just play TAM, despite what some people think on these boards there is nothing wrong with liking TAM. In fact the point of a game is to have fun anyway.
GG my summaries are like 2 chapters