Improve Your Game
Most casual gamers don’t realize exactly how crucial audio and their gaming surface is to their game. If you’re a hardcore PC shooter fanatic, odds are this article won’t apply to you, but if your a beginner or a casual gamer, you just might find some tips here that will vastly improve how you play.
The instant you fire up your favorite game, no longer are you equipped with a “human input keyset” and a “pointing device”, you should think of your mouse and keyboard as weapons of mass destruction! If you spend around 7 hours or more gaming a week, save up and treat yourself to a decent mouse, keyboard, and pair of headphones. Getting a good mouse, mouse surface, and headset are the most important, but if you have the cash to spare, getting a gaming keyboard is nothing short of a good investment.
When purchasing a gaming mouse, make sure that the mouse is comfortable, accurate and resistant to wear and tear from intense gaming. The exact same goes for your mousepad. I cannot stress enough that a good mousepad is just as important as a good mouse. I can personally recommend the SteelSeries QcK+, an absolutely giant fabric pad. There are similarly sized hard surfaces available. A cheaper alternative is to tape waxpaper over card stock on top of your desk. When it comes to gaming, just your desk just won’t do. When fine tuning your mouse, crank the DPI and refresh rate as high as possible, and turn off all mouse acceleration and things like “SmartMove.” Then, in-game, go to the lowest sensitivity you can possibly stand. This low sensitivity will help you be much more accurate. If you have carpal tunnel, or just don’t like flicking your arm around when gaming, you might want to look into a product like a Logitech Marble Mouse.
Audio is key to being good at the games you play, and cheaping out on a headset is not exactly a good idea. Odds are that a cheap headset will break much sooner than a nice set of earphones, and you’ll be stuck buying another. Get some nice 5.1 headphones, you can find them cheaper than you think. Even a decent set of earbuds is better than crappy stereo headphones. If you have a 5.1 sound system, great! Just make sure whatever you end up using, crank the volume up so you can hear details like people reloading, footsteps, etc.
Well, I hope some people will take this advice, and become worthy opponents! I know I did. Happy Fraggin’!
skitzo
Posted on August 31, 2008, in Gaming, News, Technology and tagged FRAG, Gaming, Headphones, keyboard, Mice, Mouse, Mouse Pad. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Welcome to the Underground. 
nicely written article, very useful.
personally, in CS:S, i feel as though the volume is either too loud or too soft. how do i make it feel perfect so it won’t feel like im going to go deaf?
How about you lower the game volume halfway?
Hey thats using the matter between those two imput channels
… i’ve tried that
If your Headset has volume adjustment right on the cable or side of the headset, try fiddling with that until you have it how you’d like it, or if the volume in windows is turned up, lower it and use other controls, such as the in game sound control or the volume on your headset. Another thing you can try is to hook yourself up with a nice, roomy headset. It doesn’t even have to have 5.1 or anything fancy, just make sure it fits YOUR ears, with plenty of room to spare. I had to use a small on-ear pair of phones for awhile instead of my nice over-the ear phones, and the sound felt crowded and muddled. Good bass response is another thing, if your sound card’s settings have too much treble, the higher pitch will sound harsh and unnatural, too loud when its not. If you got the cash, pick up a nice gaming headset if you haven’t, I can’t stress how much of a difference it made in my game. Otherwise, just fiddle with all sorts of settings,find that balance, I’m sure you’ll be fragging with the pros in no time!
how useful are audio cards?
like audigy and stuff, do you really need those?