I: Camping
Camping is as much an art as it is a skill. Camping, in
layman's terms is the act of positioning yourself in a stationary location on a map in a first-person shooting
game, rather than engaging a
foe by rushing them.
Many frown on that type of behavior, feeling that staying in one place shows no skill on the part of the player who camps. Rushing is seen with an honorable light, and with good reason. Rushing an opponent takes bravery, and to survive unscathed takes a lot of skill.
Camping has unfortunately become a necessity in games as many of the players have obtained superlative connections to the internet, and others must compensate for lack of connection speed. Since this writeup is about camping and not skill vs. computer speed, let me just say that the fact that some can afford a lightning-quick computer and some cannot leads to compensation.
Camping, in my view, is an artform. If people accuse you of being 'cheap' in a game, or call you a 'camper', this is because you have yet to master camping. The art of camping is in not being seen. It is in finding the blind spots in a level, and exploiting them. A camping artisan would never be accused of camping, as the fallen enemy would never know where you shot him from.
The art is ephemeral, and to master it, takes nothing more than experience.
Helpful Hints
- Find those places that you normally don't look, those spots where if you stood in plain sight you would be overlooked.
- Shadows are your friend, use them to your benefit when you play. Also choosing a dark-paletted character helps.
- Corners, corners, corners. Make sure you find a blind alley, or a corner that no one tracks because of their running path.
- Do not fire until you're sure the enemy will die. A wounded enemy can see where you're firing from. Kill him immediately, and stay hidden.
- Finally, this hint is specific to CounterStrike: Listen. Your best tool in the game is the radar, and the fact that the enemies make noise when they move. Watch the radar.
By paying attention to the enemies' tactics, you can integrate 'camping' into your repertoire of tactics and play with a certainty that you're not being 'cheap', you're simply using terrain and combat psychology to your advantage.