Written by Cyn, revised by the HL2CTF.org community
I've been playing HL2DM and HL2CTF for about a year now, and in that time I've learned a lot from a lot of different sites and people. Even now, every so often I have a moment of epiphany when I learn something new and go, "Ohhhh, that's how you open the doors on rust." or "So that's where the cloak rune is on canals." The purpose of this guide is to take all these revelations and put them in one place. This guide contains a massive amount of information, some of which may be obvious to you and some of which may not. At any rate, this guide is divided into five basic parts - general strategy, weapons, runes, map strategy, and game customization. An appendix has been included covering some tangential topics - demos, movie making, and map making.
Now, page through the HL2CTF Book of Revelations and watch as I pour out the seven bowls of God's HL2CTF strategy guide.
I can't guarantee this guide is 100% accurate. In fact, I know there are some things that are missing and some things are probably wrong. If you have something you want to add or correct, email it to me at sargasmic at hotmail dot com and I'll put it in. At the time of this writing, this guide is missing map diagrams and tips for the new versions of dom_export, dom_raven, ctf_storm, ctf_contrived, and several custom maps (notably, ctf_tower_arena, ctf_mariobeta, ctf_wizard, and ctf_geryophobia [or however it's spelled]). If anyone wants to make those up, I'd be obliged. I may get around to writing them myself, but who knows when.
I'm not going to turn into Commander Manners here and list off any rules of etiquette for HL2CTF, because they can all be summed up by 4 simple words: Don't be a dick.
It's really that simple. Use your head and don't jerk people around. Respect the rules of the server. Respect other players. Help newbies out. Balance the teams if one team is shorthanded. Compliment people for nice kills they make on you. Don't call BS on someone killing you. If you're dead and he's not, it's not BS. Don't bitch and moan, get out and frag him. Remember that at heart the game is about fun, not stats. Don't take it too seriously.
HL2CTF isn't a very big community. If you're playing the game for any length of time you're going to see the same people over and over again. So treat them well. Regardless of any differences you have with another player, remember that everyone has something in common - we all play HL2CTF. Just play the game.
Team coordination is a term I will throw out a lot in this guide. This is because HL2CTF is a team based mod. Individual talent and killing ability is laudable, but no individual can beat an organized team. So how do you organize and co-ordinate a team? Work in groups. Don't fly solo. If you kill a guy with a rune and you've already got one, carry the rune back to one of your teammates. Escort the flag carrier. Attack the flag from multiple points at once. Communicate using the radio and keep your team informed on where you are. Pay attention to when either team steals the flag.
Basically, put the priorities of the team higher than the priorities of yourself. This isn't deathmatch, so you aren't doing your team any good if you just run around aimlessly watching out for number one. This game is all about flags and captures, not your own kill:death ratio, so you have to be willing to throw yourself to your doom once in a while. It's definitely a good idea to stay alive, but don't be afraid to go on a suicide mission for the team. If you die but you return or capture the flag or protect the flag carrier, then you made the play, and that's what's important. You have to get into the CTF mentality instead of the DM mentality.
TeamSpeak is a free 3rd party program designed for multiplayer gaming. If you have a microphone, you can sign onto a TeamSpeak server and then use voice chat with your teammates. You can do the same thing within HL2CTF, but the sound quality of TeamSpeak is better and there are a few more options that can be played with. TeamSpeak is a must for scrimming, clan games, or any serious competition because you don't have to type or use the radio to keep your team informed of what's going on. Most clans have their own TeamSpeak server. Download TeamSpeak here.
HL2CTF is one of only a handful of CTF games where players have the ability to throw the flag. Using this ability is a crucial part of being able to compete as a team, but it requires organization. There are many maps where huge sections of the map can be bypassed by throwing the flag over walls, over waterways, and over inaccesible areas. In the Map Strategy section of this guide I've outlined some examples of good places to throw to and from, but use your imagination and find more.
As for throwing the flag in general, make sure you aren't throwing it right at an enemy. Also make sure no one is in front of you when you move flag to grav gun, because when it's off your back it is fair game to be returned if it's touched by an enemy. In general, after you throw the flag, don't chase after it. After you've thrown your turn as a carrier is over. Now, turn around and fight the people who are trying to return the flag. Often you can get in some cheap shots because the enemy will be focused on getting the flag back, not necessarily on killing you.
One way to organize a team is to play positions, just like in any sport. The positions you want to play vary depending on the map, but they basically break down into 3 categories - defense, midfield, and offense.
Defense players should guard the flag and stick close to the flag area. They are responsible for keeping turrets set up, and places SLAMed if possible. If the flag is stolen, they should chase, but they shouldn't ever chase across the map because that can leave the base defenseless. A common tactic is to steal the flag and lead people across the map. Meanwhile, another guy goes back to the empty flag stand and steals immediately when the flag comes back from a capture or return. The defense player's job is to make sure this doesn't happen. Shield is THE defense rune.
Midfield are escorts and patrollers. They hold important locations, provide cover, and soften the enemy up. They are the ones that catch thrown flags and help throw them home. Midfielders shouldn't be running right into the enemy base. They should be trolling for people in the neutral zone and keeping teammates informed as to where attacks are coming from and where the enemy carrier is going. They are intercepters. Cloak, drain and regen are the midfielders friend.
Offense is the battering ram. These people are the fastest people on the team that can get in, grab the flag and either throw it or run it out. They need the biggest guns and all the health they can get. As soon as they steal, midfielders should be ready to provide cover and prevent the enemy from giving chase. Offense players should have the double damage, shield, or drain.
Of course, these positions are guidelines, not rules. Part of being a good player is knowing when you should change roles. The name of the game is seizing opportunities as they present themselves.
For offensive players like myself, turrets are the most annoying thing ever because they really whittle you down. However, unless they're placed properly and maintained they're absolutely useless. This section will be divided into 2 parts: fighting turrets and using turrets.
Fighting turrets is frustrating. The best way to deal with them is to approach them from cover or from behind and then toss them with the ggun. Never approach them straight on, you'll get cut apart. Explosives and the grav are your best friends. Nades in particular are good because you can bounce them off walls and knock over turrets without getting in their line of sight. If you grab a turret with the grav, make sure it's facing away from you, or it will continue to shoot you point blank. The most permanent way to deal with turrets is to steal them from your enemies base and throw them into inaccessible places, or take them back to your base. A good example of an inaccessible place is on substation in the flag areas in the tunnel behind the trains. The forcefield prevents people from going in and fetching them back out. Another decent one is on defrost, tossing turrets up on top of the white tank in the middle (near the sniper).
To use turrets effectively you have to be willing to set them back up over and over again. You need someone dedicated to defense who will do this, because a turret on its side is useless.
As for placing them, don't place them side by side, but spread them out. Try to put them on opposite sides of the room so that they can cover each other. Make sure they can't be grabbed from behind easily, and that they aren't right next to doorways. Corners of rooms are good, as are up against walls. To get them right up against a wall or in a corner you have to drop them from your ggun and then push them in place by walking into them. Stacking phys props in front of them helps a little bit, but isn't usually worth the time. If you can, put them behind chain link fences, because the fence will block ggun use and most explosives. A specific example of where turrets are good behind fences is on substation on the bottom floor near the red doors that can be opened. There are two fences that flank the doorway, and turrets behind those can cut up anyone who comes that way. The small fenced in area near the front entrace of the bases on prisonriot works well for this as well.
If you've played at all you've probably noticed that the best players bounce around all over the place. They do this not just to look cool, but also because you move faster than if you stay on the ground. If you want to learn how to do this yourself, the first thing to do is to go into console or your config and type:
cl_showpos 1
This will show a series of numbers in the top right of your screen, including your velocity in units per second. Your default run speed is 235 UPS (190 in DM mode). Sprinting puts you at 320 for as long as your energy lasts. While strafejumping or bunnyhopping you can move between 500 and 700 UPS while using less sprint and making yourself a hard target. Also, there are some jumps and shortcuts on some maps that can only be done by strafejumping. Thus, you should learn how strafejump too. Like many CTF manuevers, it takes practice, but once you've got it it becomes automatic. Also, strafejumping is a technique you can use in many other FPS, such as Quake 1-4 and many other HL2 based games and mods.
Strafejumping is even more important now that 1.7 is out. It's much easier to go very very fast in 1.7 than it was in 1.6 by bunnyhopping. Friction was decreased, so you have a wider window to hit your next jump in, and thus keep your speed up and keep accelerating. This makes mastering the bunnyhop technique even more important than it was in 1.6 because the advantage you gain is even greater. If you're moving faster you're going to be able to get more guns sooner, more health, runes, and be able to assault the flag faster, all while being harder to hit than if you're stuck on the ground. Only suckers run around, so start jumping.
I'm not going to go into depth on how to strafejump because this guide at Fido's Revenge explains it well. In round terms, it's just like how you gain speed while jumping in Quake, except you can't go as obscenely fast in HL2CTF as in Quake. The exact order of actions is: sprint+strafe - turn the mouse the direction you're strafing - jump. You can duck while you're in the air to make yourself harder to hit (this is what makes players bob up and down in the air), but this isn't necessary for speed. Download a tutorial demo of me showing some bunnyhopping and strafejumping on Pedestal: bhoptutorial.dem. (Note: to play demos, put the .dem in your hl2ctf directory and type 'demoui' in console to load it up.)
Bunnyhopping is when you string multiple strafejumps together to keep accelerating.
Bunnyhopping takes a while to master, but it pays off big time. To practice it, load up an open flat map like pedestal, 2castle, or tweak, and then go to town. On a good day I can hit over 700 UPS in 1.7, compared to 525-550UPS in 1.6.
When you're practicing, at first exaggerate the mouse movements you use, swinging the mouse back and forth + - 30 degrees. As you improve and you get better at finding and hitting the 'sweet spot' you can tighten up the arc you move the mouse in. It's a good idea to sprint+strafejump for your first couple jumps in a string, but after that you can keep moving at a pretty good clip without using sprint at all.
If you're having trouble timing your jumps, try using a metronome to keep your jumps on beat. If you're running across level ground you should be jumping 96-98 times per minute, or 96-98 BPM. You can download a free metronome to play around with it yourself here - the E-Metronome.
You can also bunnyhop and strafejump backwards - just reverse all the movements, and turn the mouse away from your strafe instead of towards it.
Download a tutorial demo of me showing some strafejumping and bunnyhopping on Pedestal. bhoptutorial.dem. (Note: to play demos, put the .dem in your hl2ctf directory and type 'demoui' in console to load it up.)
If you lay a flat prop on the ground and then sprint onto it, jump and hit it with the grav gun at the same time as you jump, you can launch yourself up into the air. Most of the time this is just something fun to do, but sometimes it serves a purpose. Using this technique you can get on top of several rooftops that are normally inaccessible, such as the buildings in Canals. Another handy jump is to use a sawblade to bounce onto the sniper rifle building on Dirtwork. Grav jumping is an unreliable technique at best, but it exists. For better results, lay the prop on a short ledge to make it into more of a lever or catapult.
One thing 1.7 changed was that now your own explosives only do half damage to you, and they push you way further. This makes things like rocketjumping in Quake or concjumping in TFC possible in HL2CTF. Naturally, using this technique effectively can be difficult because it does a lot of damage to you. On the other hand, you can move stupidly fast and skip over all kinds of obstacles. Think of explosion jumping as the new Tau or gauss gun, like in HL1DM.
Basically, the idea is to position an explosion right beside you such that the force of it throws you in the direction you want to go. Because there are several different types of explosives in HL2CTF (ie. nades, SLAMs, SMG shells, airbursts, RPG, etc), there are several techniques for explosion jumping (EJ). I'll start with the easiest, which is the least effective, and move on to the more difficult but more rewarding techniques afterward.
The easiest way to EJ is with the SMG shells or the OICW airbursts. To do it, look down at the ground directly beneath you. Now, jump and shoot the floor with your explosion at the same time. This should launch you straight up 2-3 stories, and will probably do 40-70 damage to you. If instead of looking straight down you look down and slightly to one side or the other, you'll shoot yourself up and to the side, which can be useful for launching yourself onto balconies or high platforms. For example, you can easily get yourself up onto the balcony from the bridge on twofortlite by EJing like this. Unfortunately, shells and bursts don't have the oomph that SLAMs and grenades do, so you'll be limited in how high you can EJ, although you'll do less damage to yourself.
A harder way to EJ is by using your own grenades and holding them with the ggun. Remember all the times you've tried to cook a grenade and you hold it too long and it explodes in your hand? That's what we're trying to do here, only in a controlled way so that launches you places. This is my favourite way to EJ because you always spawn with two grenades, so you don't need any special weaponry to do it.
To nade-EJ toss yourself a grenade, and pick it up with the ggun. From the moment you pick it up, you have 3 seconds before it explodes. What you want to do is sprint and jump a fraction of a second before the grenade goes off. So grab the nade, then face the opposite direction from where you want to go. Just before 3 seconds is up, sprint, backup, and jump. The explosion should send you flying into the air if you do it right, but the timing of the jump is very important. If you jump too soon, you'll hardly go anywhere. If you jump too late, you won't go very far either.
As for directing yourself with the grenade, if you're holding the grenade right underneath you, you'll go straight up. If you want to launch yourself a certain direction (ie. from one flag stand to the other on floodzone or pedestal), then look closer to straight ahead instead of down. The more you look down, the more you'll go up. The more you look forward and centered, the more you'll go sideways. Again, practice practice practice. You'll have to experiment to figure out the best angle to use to launch yourself. Ideally you want just enough upward momentum to launch yourself over your obstacles, and enough horizontal momentum to keep you moving fast.
It takes a lot of practice to get the timing of the jump right as well as the angle you're looking in, but if you do it properly you can EJ from one flagstand to the other in pedestal or floodzone. It's a very satisfying feeling to run in, steal, and then soar over your opponents back to your base without having to fight any of them. EJing can also be used to get from the beach to the upper battlements on greatwall, go from the ground to the flag on 2castle, go from the bridge to flag on twofort_lite, and all kinds of other places. Experiment with it and see what else you can find.
Another way to EJ is to just toss the grenade on the ground and then run and jump over top of it while it explodes. This way doesn't do quite as much damage to you, but doesn't launch you as far either. You're also in danger of an opponent grabbing your nade from the ground and using it against you before it goes off. You also don't have as much control over where the grenade is when it goes off, but that's the price you pay. Try it, you'll see what I mean.
Of course, doing an EJ on an empty server is a lot different from using it in game and doing so effectively. Unfortunately, EJing hurts you a lot, so you have to have at least 70 or 80 health before you even attempt it. Also, if you choose to hold the nade with your ggun, you're a real sitting duck while you wait for your grenade to explode, so ideally you want to toss the grenade to yourself and catch it before you're in position, so that by the time you're in position the nade is actually going off.
I've found the RPG difficult to use for EJing, but try it and you might have better luck than I do. The principles are the same, so just give it a try.
A good map to practice EJing on is ctf_jump, which has lots of high platforms and health to play around with.
Also remember that if you have the damage rune you can EJ twice as far. This is particularly good on canals, because with damage you can get most of the way from flag to flag with only one nade. Of course, you also do twice as much damage to yourself, so be careful.
Download a tutorial demo of me showing some EJing on Pedestal. ejtutorial.dem (Note: to play demos, put the .dem in your hl2ctf directory and type 'demoui' in console to load it up.)
Nadejumping is a powerful strategy, but it has several weaknesses. First, the jumper has to have (near) full health when they blast off, or they suicide. Second, they have to actually steal the flag. Third, they will not be firing on defencemen as they enter the flag area. In light of these weaknesses, here is how to shut a jumper down.
First and most obviously is to hit them on their way in. A clean hit with a magnum, sniper rifle, xbow, shotgun, or any explosive will hurt them enough to force them to suicide. However, because they usually enter and exit fast, you've gotta be playing dedicated defence or else they'll burn right by you. By dedicated defence I mean sitting on top of the flag, waiting for jumpers to show up. Because you can't push by someone in CTF, if you're on top of the flag, the jumper won't be able to steal it. In the meantime, you're ultra close range with a shotgun, so you can blast the hell out of him. Even if he gets the flag, if you take him down to half health, you've stopped him from jumping, and he'll be forced to run it out while injured.
The key to this defence strategy is diligence. Whoever is playing on the flag has to constantly be aware of incoming attackers, and can not leave the post unless both the flag zone and middle are absolutely clear of enemies. It's always when you stop paying attention for 3 seconds that they grab your flag, and by then, it's too late. Because they usually won't be firing on their way in, you've got time to lace into them with a few potshots. Use this chance. Explosives are your friend.
Let me re-iterate: STAY ON THE FLAG. IF YOU LEAVE, IT WILL BE CAPTURED.
Another less effective way to stop them is to keep someone up top at all times. The jumper will fly through the middle over the top with little health, so usually only a shot is necessary to kill them. However, this is a tough shot because they're moving so fast.
Now lets pretend that someone on your team is a jumper but he keeps getting shut down by the above strategy. Your job is to go in first and scatter the defence. Engage them for as long as possible and keep their attention on you. If the defence is playing close to the flag, you know where they are, so cook nades, use sniper and crossbow, whatever you can. Your goal is to disrupt as much as possible and clear a path for the jumper to follow you. Remember, it doesn't matter if you're killing them or not as long as they're paying attention to you. Use their chargers, get behind them, lob nades - whatever you can do to give your jumper that 3 second window he needs.
Walljumping is very ninja, but it's also pretty tough and takes practice. To wall jump, strafe jump into a wall, and then press jump again. Sounds easy, right? Well, it's easy to wall jump, but it's tougher to use it so it does you any good. The best way to use it is to jump over high walls that you wouldn't normally be able to get over, such as the walls in pedestal or dirtwork. If you walljump just right, you can leap onto the top of these walls from the ground in one manuever. Naturally, this means you can skip over portions of the map, attack opponents from directions they aren't expecting you, and generally act like a bad ass.
If you want to practice wall jumping over walls, load up pedestal, dirtwork, or tweak and just start trying. You'll have more success if you start your first jump from the ground a little ways away from the wall rather than from right beside the wall. Also, while you do your wall jump, quickly turn the mouse "into" the wall while you strafe into the wall, I've found this helps gain you some momentum to carry yourself over the wall (although it doesn't gain you any height). In terms of how easy it is to wall jump over the walls, dirtwork is the hardest (because the ground isn't totally flat), pedestal is medium, and tweak is the easiest (the fence in the middle is slightly shorter than the walls on pedestal). Remember, practice practice practice. Don't get discouraged if you can't get it at first.
When using armour or health batteries on the wall, don't just face the wall and stand still like an idiot. You can use the batteries from a little ways away, so move around while you charge up. Even just going back and forth in a 3 foot circle might save your life from a headshot from behind.
When going up against someone with an Xbow or Magnun, use the timing of their weapon against them. Most people when using the xbow will fire a shot as soon as it has been reloaded. If you know how long this takes, you know when to dodge. For example, your opponent has an Xbow and his first shot missed. Run in a straight line for as long as it takes for him to reload, and he'll lead his shot to the end of that line. At the last second, strafe one way or the other. I find this is more effective than doing the random dance the entire time, because you've got better aim when you're not moving frenetically. The same principles apply to the magnum, but the time between shots is much less. Naturally this technique doesn't work very well against someone who's switching weapons constantly, but there you have it.
Ladders blow. They confine you to one speed and 1 dimension of movement, which means you're very easy to hit. Only use them to go up, always jump down (unless it's a suicide jump). Also, turn around when you're going up ladders, don't face the wall.
Learn the maps. Don't wander aimlessly, learn where the weapons are and the best route to take to get them. Learn where health is so that when you're under fire you can heal on the fly. Learning the routes in and out of the enemy base is very handy as well, because once you know where you're going really well you can run out with the flag backwards, thus retaining the ability to fire on any pursuers you may have.
If you are heavily wounded and you have the option of picking up health or armour, go for health first. A portion of damage dealt to you always goes to health, so if you have the choice it's better to have 100/1 than 1/100.
Never stop moving. EVER.
I have a few pieces of advice for anyone who wants to get better at this game. First, unbind the button you press to see the scores. Forget about points and focus on practicing the skills you need improvement on. If you aren't good at cooking nades, spend a few games using only nades. Want to get better at pistolwhipping people? Only use the pistol for a while. Whenever you start practicing a skill you're going to die a lot more at the start than you usually would, but it pays off huge in the long run. In the meantime, forget about your stats. Your points will suck until you learn whatever it is you're practicing, so it's best not to look at them.
Second, become friends with the 'create server' button. If you want to practice walljumping, bunnyhopping, EJing, fast caps, or any other manuever do it on an empty server. It's way easier to focus on refining your technique when you aren't getting blown up by other players.
Third, don't be afraid to get your ass kicked. It's fun to be the ninja on a server full of newbs, but you'll never get any better unless you get shredded now and again. It's only when you're challenged that you see what your strengths and weaknesses are. Of course, this isn't to say that you're only learning when you're getting headshotted over and over again, but don't be afraid to play up.
For each weapon I'll cover the primary and secondary fire, the amount of damage it does for body and head shots, and give a blurb on how to use it best.
At 39 damage for a headshot, fast reload and good accuracy, the pistol is savage. Don't think it sucks just because it's your default weapon (in Pro mode). It's best at mid range, and works OK as a finisher after you've softened somebody up with another gun or a grenade.
Alyx's gun does a bit less damage than the pistol but is considerably more accurate when it's in semi mode, so it's good for tapping off headshots at long range. It also has a larger clip than the pistol, at 25 instead of 18. In full auto mode the spray is less accurate than the default pistol. If you use full auto mode don't shoot more than 5 or 6 bullets in a burst and you'll maintain accuracy more (like in CS).
The magnum is God. With 6 shots in a clip that can each do 255 on a headshot and perfect accuracy (the bullet always goes exactly where your crosshair is), the 357 has more potential for destruction than any other gun. Always aim for the head. Best at mid to long range, or in narrow corridors. Takes a long time to reload, but it will behind the scenes reload. If you hit someone once or twice in the body and they don't die, switch to another weapon like a shotgun or machine gun to finish them off.
Unless you have shells for the secondary fire, the SMG is worthless. It does about half the damage as the pistol and is less accurate. If you do have the shells, you're in good shape though. The lobbing grenades are the highest damage, easiest to use explosives aside from the RPG, so you can really ruin someone's day with it. Make sure to aim just above your target to compensate for the lob. The SMG does not reload behind the scenes.
I like the pulse. It does a good amount of damage and maintains it's accuracy quite well, even over long distances. However, don't unload the whole clip in one go, its accuracy degrades after the first 20 shots. Try and shoot in bursts. The pulse is great for any range except very long range, and is excellent for clearing out hallways.
The secondary can be tricky to use, but it's a great room clearer. Orbs suck outdoors or in large open spaces, so don't bother. The best way to use them is to fire them into the flag room to clear it out before you assault. Orbs are also key in taking down heavily armoured shield rune carriers. Beware of odd bounces though, because unlike in HL2DM, you can be killed by orbs you fire. Careful of friendly fire as well. You can catch them with your grav gun, and if you're really ninja you can fire one from the pulse, switch to grav, and catch it before it goes anywhere, allowing you to fire it again without having to wait for the charge up.
If you're fighting someone in a hallway and you have a pulse and you want to orb them, don't fire it straight at them because they will likely catch it and throw it back. Instead, fire it at the wall at an odd angle. The orb will bounce all over the place and it will be a lot harder to predict, and thus much more likely to kill your opponent.
The pulse doesn't reload behind the scenes.
The OICW is both the most accurate machine gun as well as the least. If you pray and spray and fire the whole clip at once, don't expect to hit anything. If you tap off single shots at a time, expect every bullet to go exactly where you target it. Thus, go for mid to long range headshots with this gun and nothing else unless you're sure your opponent is very close to death.
Airbursts are about equivalent to the SMG secondary. They're the easiest secondary to use because they go exactly where you point the gun. Fire at your opponent's feet.
Zoom on the OICW is handy for picking off long range headshots, but it's not that useful. You have to bind OICW zoom to its own key. I like binding it to the same key as the OICW itself, so I press X once for OICW, and X again for OICW zoom toggle.
There's a reason most kills are made by the shotgun. It's the ultimate close quarters finishing move weapon. Close range headshots do an obscene amount of damage. It's only good for very short range though, as it spreads out very quickly. Primary fire is better than secondary fire as it is more accurate and doesn't spend ammo as fast. A favourite move of many players (I'm looking in your direction, Ghost) is to hit with the xbow first and finish with a quick blast with the shotgun. New to 1.7 is that the shotgun no longer gets a crosshair except for the quickinfo bars.
The shotgun will reload behind the scenes.
The crossbow is a more elegant weapon from a more civilized time. It's very quiet, will kill an unarmoured opponent in one body shot, and pins people to the wall in amusing positions. It takes a lot of practice to get leading the shot down right, but it's worth it for the havoc you can wreak on your enemies.
The bolts also bounce off walls, which you can use to your advantage sometimes. A great move is if someone is coming at you carrying a big prop for cover is to shoot the crossbow at the ground near their feet and watch the shot bounce up into them. If you hear the slight metallic 'chink' near you as you're running around, that means someone is targetting you and that you should a) jump around and make yourself a hard target, and b) find them.
One thing to note is that over long ranges the bolt drops a little due to gravity, so you may have to aim up just a touch to hit long shots. Also, a headshot with the crossbow does not do any extra damage.
The crossbow will reload behind the scenes, but it takes twice as long to reload as normal.
Ah the RPG. Since 1.7 the RPG isn't as abusive because now it does "only" 100 damage, but it's also regained the guiding laser just like in DM. This means that after you fire it, you can guide the missile by pointing it where you want it to go. This means you can fire around corners or behind cover. Remember to always shoot for the feet, and remember that you can't switch weapons until the rocket explodes. Rockets are great to lob around corners when you know someone is following you. Don't forget to lead the shot a little bit. The RPG shouldn't be too hard to figure out. If you're fighting someone who's using the RPG, try and get as up close and personal as fast as possible, or take them out from long range.
The RPG will reload behind the scenes, but you have to wait for your rocket to explode before you can change weapons.
This is HL2CTF's answer to CS's AWP and Quake's railgun. Huge, frightening, and hitscan. Best used with the scope at long range, but if you're ninja you can use it at close range without the scope. You don't get a crosshair unless you're zoomed, so noscoping is tough but possible. The sniper takes ages to reload, about as long as the magnum, so if you miss your first shot and your enemy is coming after you, switch weapons. If someone is shooting at you with this bad boy, watch for the trail of the spiral shot and you can find out where they are.
The sniper also will shoot through thin walls, like the openable gate on lambda bunker or the stairs/ramps on Pedestal2. It will also penetrate props, so if someone is taking cover behind a barrel or crate you can still blast them.
This is a great weapon to use while you've got the cloak rune on big maps like Kiruna or Canals, but remember that when you're zoomed in there's a great big, very visible laser in front of you, so you lose some of your stealth. If someone is cloaked and destroying you with the sniper, watch for this laser, because otherwise you aren't going to find them.
The sniper will reload behind the scenes.
Humiliating your opponents is always fun, and it's easy with melee. Just get up in front of them and smash them. Try and trap them in a corner or against a wall. If someone is coming at you with a crowbar, back up fast. They have a longer range than you might think.
SLAMs are a good way to slow people down when they're approaching the flag, but they take patience to plant effectively. Try to put them in narrow corridors. Planting them on ladders works well. You can shoot them with anything to blow them up if they're in your way, but don't get too close.
You can also SLAM launch them in a similar way as you would cook a nade, by tossing a remote SLAM, picking it up with your grav gun and throwing it at enemies, and then switching back to SLAM and right clicking to detonate it. Usually the same effect is easier to pull off by cooking nades though.
Grenades are nearly useless unless you cook them. To cook a grenade, do a short toss, then immediately switch to grav gun, and grab it. From the moment you grab it, you have 3 seconds before it explodes. Hold it for as long as you need to (longer hold for closer range targets), and then fire it so that it explodes directly on top of your enemy. It takes practice to get the timing of the whole manuever down, but it's absolutely deadly. A properly cooked nade can ruin someone's whole day, doing 200ish damage, plus splash. It's also great because you always spawn with a couple grenades, so providing you're good at it, you spawn with a one shot kill weapon.
Remember that you're very vulnerable while you're cooking and before you toss, so try and stay behind cover until you're ready to fire it out. If someone is cooking nades at you you have three options. 1) Get right up in their face. The closer you are, the more likely they'll hurt themselves with the nade. 2) Prove your ninjosity and catch their nade with the ggun and cook it right back at them. 3) If you're in an open area and you're feeling daring, you can wait until they fire the nade at you and then quickly jump away. This will still probably hurt you, but it'll buy you some time.
There are a couple scripts you can use to help you cook nades, but the script can't help you with the hard part - timing the throw.
The grav is awesome. Cook nades, catch orbs, and smash people with toilets. What else do you want? Physics are a great way to kill heavily armoured opponents. Especially the long tables, hotel signs, radiators, sawblades, and most importantly, the explosive barrels. A clean hit with any phys prop will kill anyone. If someone's coming at you with a prop, don't forget that you can catch it. Just get out your grav and right click while looking at the object they're going to throw, and then wing it right back at them. Prop kills work best when you wait around a corner with a big object and crush people as they turn. You can also use props for cover as you advance, but this is dangerous because it obscures your visibility.
If someone is coming at you with a prop, get out your ggun and hold right click while looking at the prop they're holding. As soon as they launch it, you'll catch it, and you can often launch it right back at them for a quick kill. You don't have to right click while the object is in the air.
One other important uses of the grav is to pull items towards you. On many maps there are items that are in precarious or inconvenient positions. Pull them to yourself with the grav to save time. A good habit to get into is to use the grav to collect items while you're jumping through the area. Every second you save by grabbing items instead of collecting manually is a second you can spend capping or fragging.
Some weapons will reload even if you don't go through the reload animation of the weapon. Some you have to watch the reload animation. Example: You have the magnum. You shoot 6 shots and the clip is empty. You switch to shotgun and wait as long as it would normally take to reload the magnum (about 2 seconds). Switch back to the magnum and it will be reloaded.
The weapons that this works for are as follows: Pistol, Alyx's pistol, OICW, magnum, shotgun, xbow, sniper. This does not work for the pulse rifle, and the smg. The xbow takes twice as long to reload behind the scenes than it does to reload it normally. If you switch to a behind the scenes reloading weapon before it's done reloading you will have to watch the whole animation, so make sure you wait long enough before switching back.
Runes are the bane of those that don't have them. So get them. HL2CTF is as much about capturing the flag as it is about capturing the runes and keeping them from your enemies. The most powerful rune is double damage, followed closely by shield, then cloak and drain, then regen, and finally lung. At the start of a match you should run for the spawn points of these runes and grab up as many as you can for you and your teammates. You can wear one and carry another with the grav. If you don't know where they spawn, find out using the maps in this guide. Also, usually the floor where the rune spawns is marked by the symbol of the rune.
This rune increases your damage. In the hands of a good player, they become great. In the hands of a great player, they become unstoppable. All the weapons are good when their damage is doubled, but my personal favourites to use are the magnum, pistol, and shotgun. If you have Damage, keep your health up as much as possible, and don't be afraid to retreat if you're under heavy fire. When you have Damage you are more important than your teammates, because if you die, the enemy will get your rune. Stay in your team's zone of the map and act as a midfielder if you're on your own, and don't assault the flag unless you're working as a team. You're the ultimate point man and battering ram, but you're also a valuable prize to be captured, so be careful.
If you're facing someone with Damage, use high damage weapons, like magnum, xbow, explosives, phys props and orbs. Try and come from a couple angles at once and catch them by surprise. In a pitched battle against an opponent with Damage, unless you kill them right away, you will lose.
With shield you become a tank. A portion of all the damage you take will be absorbed by the rune, effectively making your health ~35% higher. The flag carrier should have shield if possible. Shield is a good rune for a defender to have, since most flags have chargers nearby. Keep your health up as much as possible, because the power of your rune is proportional to how much health you have. If you're in a group, the shield should go first in line. That way if you die, hopefully your teammate will pick up the rune before an enemy does. I can't tell you how many times I've killed a dude with shield only to have his buddy pick it up right after.
If you're fighting shield orbs and phys props are the way to go. You need to do a lot of damage to take down a shield guy, but orbs and props kill anyone in one shot.
Cloak is awesome. You become the predator. While you're moving you can be seen, but when you're still you're invisible (except for certain weapons that have lights, like the xbow, RPG, and sniper rifle (while zoomed)). As a cloaker you don't want to ever steal the flag, but you're the ultimate midfielder or escort. Try and use 1 shot kill weapons and take people out before they see you. If you can't take someone out right away, hide. As soon as you become still you turn invisible, so if you can get a corner between you and your pursuer you can stop and wait for them to come around, then get them from behind. However, remember that your name will still pop up when someone moves their mouse over you, so it's important to hide in places they're less likely to look at.
If you're fighting someone with cloak, keep them moving. Keep the pressure on and keep them in sight. Use explosives, orbs, and the shotgun for best results. Also watch for the sniper rifle laser and other weapon lights.
Regen is good but not great. It will heal you 6 health every second. It won't help you out in a firefight, but it's great to help you stay alive on maps with not much health (like greatwall). It's also good to give regen to the flag carrier on domination maps. If you have regen, try to engage from a distance or kill people fast enough that they can't keep the pressure on. If you're fighting someone with regen, keep the pressure on and kill them fast or otherwise they'll whittle you down.
By using the drophealth action you can become a sort of team medic, dropping health for wounded teammates and then healing on the fly. If you do this, be careful not to drop so much health as to leave yourself too vulnerable.
Drain is good fun. It isn't as powerful as Damage, but in the right hands it's deadly. Every time you do damage to someone you gain a portion of the damage you do (~25%) in health and armour, to a maximum of 100H/150A. If you have drain, try and do one shot high damage attacks. Also remember that you gain health from killing people with orbs and phys props, so don't shy away from those just because you have drain.
Drain is a great rune to have if you're stirring up trouble in the midfield or enemy base but not going for the flag. By dealing damage you're not only hurting your opponents but you're also healing yourself. Because you're spending less time recharging and more time fragging, you're even more of a thorn in your opponents side.
There aren't really any special tactics to deal with an opponent with drain, just kill them like you would any highly armoured opponent.
Lung lets you swim underwater indefinitely without taking damage. Almost entirely useless seeing as you can swim for so long without taking damage anyway. The only time I've ever used lung effectively is on twofort_lite by camping the underwater RPG with an xbow and killing people as they came after it.
For each map I've got information on what runes and weapons are on the map, some tips and strategies, and diagrams showing where important items are. Not everything is labelled on the diagrams, in particular ammo for most weapons is unlabelled, but I've got to leave something for you to figure out for yourself. If I only show one part of the map in the diagram, assume that the other half is a mirror image. Most CTF maps are symmetrical. As for labelling, every diagram uses the same labelling scheme, outlined in the legend.
ctf_atomicgarden1.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_barbeque-beta41.jpg | ctf_barbeque-beta42.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_bedrooms1.jpg | ctf_bedrooms2.jpg | ctf_bedrooms3.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_bloodbath-b51.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_canals1.jpg | ctf_canals2.jpg | ctf_canals3.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_citadel1.jpg | ctf_citadel2.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_contrived1.jpg | ctf_contrived2.jpg | ctf_contrived3.jpg | ctf_contrived4.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_curved1.jpg | ctf_curved2.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_defrost1.jpg | ctf_defrost2.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_dirtwork1.jpg | ctf_dirtwork2.jpg | ctf_dirtworkjumps.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_export1.jpg | ctf_export2.jpg | ctf_export3.jpg | ctf_export4.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_flagarena1.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_flagarena2-b1.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_floodzone1.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_gunshot1.jpg | ctf_gunshot2.jpg | ctf_gunshot3.jpg | ctf_gunshot4.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_intervention1.jpg | ctf_intervention2.jpg | ctf_intervention3.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_joust_b21.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_lambda_bunker1.jpg | ctf_lambda_bunker2.jpg | ctf_lambda_bunker3.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_pedestal1.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_pedestal21.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_pedestal_remix1.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_pipeline-pro1.jpg | ctf_pipeline-pro2.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_portalstorm1.jpg | ctf_portalstorm2.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_prisonriot1.jpg | ctf_prisonriot2.jpg | ctf_prisonriot3.jpg| legend.jpg
ctf_smallfort1.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_substation1.jpg | ctf_substation2.jpg | ctf_substation3.jpg | ctf_substation4.jpg | ctf_substation5.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_thegreatwall1.jpg | ctf_thegreatwall2.jpg | ctf_thegreatwall3.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_tower_arena1.jpg | ctf_tower_arena2.jpg | ctf_tower_arena3.jpg | legend.jpg
ctf_twofort_lite1.jpg | ctf_twofort_lite2.jpg | legend.jpg
dom_np_refinery1.jpg | dom_np_refinery2.jpg | dom_np_refinery3.jpg | dom_np_refinery4.jpg | dom_np_refinery5.jpg | dom_np_refinery6.jpg | legend.jpg
dom_rebellion1.jpg | dom_rebellion2.jpg | dom_rebellion3.jpg | dom_rebellion4.jpg | legend.jpg
dom_rust1.jpg | dom_rust2.jpg | legend.jpg
dom_toon-town_b11.jpg | dom_toon-town_b12.jpg | dom_toon-town_b13.jpg | dom_toon-town_b14.jpg | legend.jpg
Your framerate is your lifeblood when you're playing multiplayer first person shooters. If your FPS is low, you can't react as fast, your aiming won't be as smooth, and you'll die. Thus, you want as high and as stable an FPS as possible. Take a read through The TweakGuides.com HL2 Tweak Guide to find all the ways you can turn down detail and pump up your frame rate. For the most part the changes you can make can be divided into two parts: things you change in game, and things you change in your config. The TweakGuides.com HL2 Tweak Guide covers both, so check it out. Note that it doesn't really get into the meat and potatoes of tweaking until about page 5.
To show your FPS in game set:
cl_showfps 1
If you don't know what your autoexec.cfg is, it's time to learn. Take a look at this guide on Counter-Script.net for details on what a cfg is and how you make binds and scripts. While that guide is for CS, the principles remain the same. In short, your cfg is where you put all your binds, optimization settings, scripts, and anything related to the configuration of the way you play HL2CTF. By default, your config will be in Valve\Steam\SteamApps\SourceMods\hl2ctf\cfg. Put any changes you make into a file called 'autoexec.cfg' and HL2CTF will automatically load it each time you play.
If you want an example config you can download and view mine here: cynautoexec.cfg .
Here's a quick list of all the commands for HL2CTF which go can your config. Take a look at my example config if you want to see exactly how to use them.
Weapons
RPG: use weapon_rpg
Crossbow: use weapon_crossbow
SMG: use weapon_smg1
SLAM: use weapon_slam
Pulse: use weapon_ar2
Shotgun: use weapon_shotgun
Nade: use weapon_frag
GGun: phys_swap OR use weapon_physcannon (If you have the GGun out already, phys_swap will switch back to your previous weapon)
OICW: use weapon_ctf_oicw
Sniper: use weapon_ctf_sniper
Pistol: use weapon_pistol
Alyx Gun: use weapon_ctf_alyxgun
Magnum: use weapon_357
Crowbar: use weapon_crowbar
Stunstick: use weapon_stunstick
Previous Weapon: lastinv
Movement
Jump: +jump
Crouch: +duck
Sprint: +speed
Other
Suit Zoom: +zoom
Move flag to GGun: prepflagpass
Drop Rune: droppowerup
Drop Weapon: dropweapon
Drop Health: drophealth
Drop Armour: dropbattery
Flashlight: impulse 100
Spray tag: impulse 201
Team Chat Parser: messagemode2
All Chat Parser: messagemode
Team Chat: say_team [what you want to say]
All Chat: say [what you want to say]
Console: toggleconsole
Scores: +showscores
Note: The Chat Parser commands are what you press in game to type something to your team. The Chat commands are for making binds/aliases that make you say something just by pressing one button. Example:
bind "[KEY]" "say_team Need Backup! $L, $H/$A"bind "[KEY]" "messagemode2"
First off, make sure you directly bind weapons to keys rather than using the default slot system (the way it works in HL2 single player). This will allow you to switch weapons faster and easier.
There are a lot of buttons to bind in HL2CTF. With a dozen or so weapons and a pile of secondary commands, you need to have a good setup to make sure you can perform all the actions you need to. For example, I have an 8 button mouse with a wheel and all of them are bound to something. If you don't have as many buttons at your fingertips as I do, you're going to have to take some short cuts. One good one is to bind the OICW and the OICW zoom to the same button. This way you press [KEY] once to draw the OICW, and [KEY] again to toggle the zoom. To do this, add this line to your cfg:
bind "[KEY]" "+alt1;use weapon_ctf_oicw"
Another pair of good binds is to bind the stunstick and crowbar to the same button (since you'll always only have one of them), and also Alyx's pistol and the default pistol to the same button (because in any circumstance where you'd use the pistol, Alyx's pistol is better). The cfg lines for those binds are as follows:
bind "[KEY]" "use weapon_pistol;use weapon_ctf_alyxgun"bind "[KEY]" "use weapon_crowbar;use weapon_stunstick"
Point being, play around with your config and find something that works for you.
As a preface, let me say that I don't care if you think scripts are fair or unfair, good or bad, or useful or useless. I don't care, so save it. I'm presenting them here so you can try them out and use them if you want or not use them if you don't want. It's your call. I've never seen anything you can do with a script that you can't do manually. That said, some scripts make some manuevers a bit easier. Other scripts are poorly written and only screw you up. As a general rule, the more complex a script is the less likely it will actually work.
This is a server setting that disables the use of scripts on a server. If this setting is set to 1 (activated) your scripts will not work on that server. A script is considered key binded to an alias or a key binded to more than one command using the semicolon.
This is the only script that I definitely think is useful. With it, every time you jump you duck. Hold the key to stay ducked. Here you go:
alias +duckjump "-speed ; +jump ; +crouch"alias -duckjump "-jump ; -crouch"bind "SPACE" "+duckjump" // SPACE can be anything, obviously.
Note that using this script will make it impossible (or very difficult) to use the jump pads next to the beds on ctf_bedrooms. Caveat emptor, I always say.
With this you can use the suit zoom to let you zoom with the magnum. It isn't useful very often, but it's kinda nice on Canals or other big maps. Suit yourself.
bind "[MAG KEY]" "magkeys;use weapon_357"bind "[OTHER WEAPON KEYS]" "regkeys;use weapon_[WHATEVER]"alias magkeys "-attack;-attack2;bind mouse2 +zoom"alias regkeys "-attack;-attack2;bind mouse2 +attack2"
If you're going to use this one, you'll have to change your magnum to be like the first line, and every other weapon to be like the second line. Ie, replace [KEY] with all the keys you have your weapons bound to already, and [WHATEVER] with the appropriate weapon code (see Config Commands above). Otherwise the next time you go to shoot an orb you will do a suit zoom.
To use the script, when you have the mag out, hold right click to zoom. Once you're zoomed, hold left click. When you line up what you want to shoot at, release right click, and you will shoot. Like I said, it's kinda useful, but not very. It sounds better on paper than it is in game because there's a bit of delay on shooting.
This script makes it so that whenever you press and hold a button you get out the grav and start trying to catch whatever's in your crosshairs. When you release the button it puts the grav away and switches back to whatever weapon you were using. Pretty useful, but it's quirky. This is a good script to use if you're trying to learn to cook nades.
alias +grab "use weapon_physcannon; wait; +attack2"alias -grab "-attack2;lastinv"bind [KEY] "+grab"
Only read this if you're planning on making scripts. If not, don't. If you're a scripter, you know that to have a delay between commands, you use the 'wait' command. However, it's important to note two things. 1) All waits are not equal. The length of the wait in actual time depends on the server tick rate, so if you use wait8 in a script and it works on one server, it may not work exactly the same on another, so you may have to adjust. 2) While you're in the middle of a wait, any other commands you type will not execute until after the wait is over. For
