Comments on: Poll Question 113 – Has a mod ever made you a better player

By: Grey Acumen

Grey Acumen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:08:40 +0000

Portal: Prelude did. I can play through most portal mods without any difficulties at all now.

By: Sudsy

Sudsy — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:26:48 +0000

The only thing that makes people better at anything is practice. The more you play the better you get. The better you get the more you’ve learned.

By: MattyDienhoff

MattyDienhoff — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:54:36 +0000

I remember one mod where I learned to climb a rope and swing on it, was like in a hazard course in the army or sumthin.

I suspect you’re thinking of the “Boot Camp” training course in Half-Life: Opposing Force, which was an official expansion pack, not a mod.

By: Ade

Ade — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:33:30 +0000

I remember one mod where I learned to climb a rope and swing on it, was like in a hazard course in the army or sumthin. But that’s learning a new skill. Apart from that, not really, you’re just improving little by little with each mod you play, no mod has ever made me a better player over the night.. As for CS, takes a lot of practice to master the art of crouching and jumping, hiding behind walls and snipering aka camping.. Just joking, I don’t do that and I’m mad as hell when others do that. What I meant to say was even with cs, where it’s all run and gun, takes practice to improve aiming, shooting, grenade throwing, helicopter flying, tank driving and stabbing skills Oh, the stabbing.. good times, good times.

By: Editor321

Editor321 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:35:15 +0000

No mod really made me a better player since most engines play the same way with their modifications. The Real was definately NOT a mod that needed any skill whatsoever, but then again, you will hear about that on this week’s Podcast 17.

By: MattyDienhoff

MattyDienhoff — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:47:08 +0000

Most of what I’ve learned about FPS tactics came from playing tactical shooters like Operation Flashpoint, Red Orchestra and Rainbox Six. When you play a game in which a single shot from a guy hiding in a bush 300 meters away can be your end, you… learn things. Things that are hard to put into words. You learn how to move in such a way that you’re never far from cover to dive into if you’re fired upon. You learn to anticipate enemy movements and use the environment to maximum advantage.

Of course not all of this is applicable in mainstream shooters which are easier and more fast paced, but being ‘hardened’ by tactical shooters still somehow makes mainstream shooters seem easier.

By: Ferrous

Ferrous — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:03:56 +0000

It’s hard to say. Puzzle mods seemed to help me figure out other puzzles but combat, no. It’s never happened for me. TF2 and online multiplayer games of the sort are what I think really hone your skills.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:40:53 +0000

Insurgency simply made me better at shooting people.

I haven’t played but it looks like Kreedz Climbing could increase your exploiting skills?

By: DustBunny68

DustBunny68 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:41:54 +0000

Yes Sven Coop,CS Smod,Wanted,L4D mostly older mods made me ahell of a better player

By: MMAN

MMAN — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:44:28 +0000

Yes, but it’s no specific mod; it more an incremental increase in skills as I play various mods and get better and better in the process.

The variety of mods also helps; many mods exercise different skillsets (or rare ones) that aren’t really explored much in the actual game, which increases your overall knowledge as you get used to playing under different circumstances.

By: john

john — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:57:55 +0000

One of the hardest was Coastline to Atmosphere, where you were trapped in the room and the head crabs kept coming. It made me conserve ammo, take deliberate shots and try for one shot one kill. I finished it via no cheats, but wow was it hard and a great mod. When playing online, you must advance your tactics or be meat. hehe.

By: galocza

galocza — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:21:51 +0000

although cs was indeed a mod so its logical to include i thought the poll was about hl-universe mods. if i was wrong: hitman and later stalker made me to aim for the head in cs, going for headshots in cs made me do the same in hl2 so i change my answer to YES 8).
however… in stalker times im sure i already played cs:s and thats not a mod. so NO again 8).

By: MattyDienhoff

MattyDienhoff — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:50:38 +0000

In some subtle ways, yes.

Nice banner for this poll, Phillip!

By: m82sniper

m82sniper — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:01:58 +0000

Smod tactical on the hardest difficulty – I am now untouchable in Source.. ^^

By: Malkav

Malkav — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:21:40 +0000

Did anybody say counter strike?

By: civanT

civanT — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:03:20 +0000

Definitely Kreedz Climbing. My HL2 jumping skills are over the top right now. Thanks to kreedz climbing.

By: oopla

oopla — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:07:13 +0000

I have to agree that playing mods has made me a better player.

I am hard pressed to think up some specific examples though, it comes down to a practice makes perfect type of thing, with the mods throwing new situations at me and forcing me to play more tactically.

If there was one mod to cite above all the others, I would go with Sortie and cite Minerva: Metastasis. The vertical level design made me think more and threw the most new situations at me.

That and probably my favorite HL2 related moment was finding the way to set up the turrents in the last act, so that the turrets could take out all the zombies and never get knocked over, so that the infinite zombie spawn which had been causing me SO much trouble was suddenly rendered moot. That was a real moment of Triumph, and forced me to look at situations more tactically.

By: Gypsy Jim

Gypsy Jim — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:09:52 +0000

Playing the actual vanilla game doesn’t make me a better player, so what chance do mods have…? (Just ask anyone who’s crossed paths with me on DM….I stink!)

It’s fun though…..

By: ollo83

ollo83 — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:09:33 +0000

i would say that all mods made me a better player, simply because of the time i spent with the game (not only HL). But one particular mod??? No, not really!

By: Sortie

Sortie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:27:09 +0000

I once tried MINERVA on hard. That made me rethink all my usual tactics, just to survive a few seconds. Seems that blindly running into combat doesn’t work, when you actually die from a few bullets.

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:31:24 +0000

If you vote yes, can you say which mod and how and why it made you a better player, thanks.

By: Tyr

Tyr — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:52:07 +0000

I voted no, as the basic skills implemented in the mod were already learned in the original game on which the mod was based on. Unless the mod adds a new mechanic or feature, skills will not be expanded in my opinion.

A mod specifically aimed to learning you to be a better fighter or tactical player, could exist but would not really appeal to me. Others might disagree with me on this, though.

One could call it good practice, but no mods have made me a better player yet.