Manual / n00b Questions

[Sunastar]

Howdy all,

I'm pretty new to this and have some questions which I'm sure a manual would answer. Since this is an open source project (as I understand it) I won't be shocked if there isn't one. I have seen the wiki, but it does leave a few of my questions unanswered.

So, if you can answer, point me or shoot me, I'd appreciate it. I looked through the forums and even on some Quake 3 Arena sites.

What are the various smiley faces to the left of the player faces when the scores are shown?
There are a ton of game settings, like force model types, anistropy, etc. that confound my three remaining brain cells.
How can I tell who is human and who's a bot in multi player games? (Is that what the smileys are?)
What and how are the comic quote smileys above players heads I see sometimes? I thought it was a "don't shoot, I'll be your best friend", and when I didn't shoot, they shot me... sometimes.
Is there a way to indicate or recognize that someone is typing a message? Like pointing their gun to the ground? I really don't want to be stomping all over protocols that I don't know about.
Is there a way to know who I'm really playing against? A LOT of players seem to use default names...I guess.
Should I be asking this stuff on the forum, or will I get a rousing RTFM? :-7

And, fromhell, were you the "unnamed player" who showed me how to do circular jumping (?) in a practice arena? And, I thought I saw a message from you that started with something like, "No offence Sunastar..." <sheepish voice>What did I do? Momma told me to never shoot women folk, but she never played FPS games neither.</sheepish voice> I didn't see the rest of the message. (Is there a way to see ones that have already disappeared?)

Sunastar

[fufinha]

What are the various smiley faces to the left of the player faces when the scores are shown?

None of these are stupid questions I've always wondered about the smiley face thing too.

Yes, the options can seem very confusing for new players. Should pick up alot of stuff fairly quicky.

Bots always have 0 ping.

Team games usually/nearly always have red or blue team players.. so when you see your player name in the scores and beside a bunch of blue players.. then shoot red

A chat icon appears above a player when they are typing.. like this --> ; D That doesnt mean they want to befriend you.. but its polite not to shoot them until they have finished typing (unless its a free for all game with lots of players)

Never assume a players name is who they really are. I shot George Bush right in the ass last week but not 100% sure it was really him.

circle jumping is something that only a player who is very confortable with mouse movement would be find useful. I know great players who learn much later how to do that stuff.

[fufinha]

This site has lots of useful stuff. The admin still maintains this site, even though its for quake much of the content is still applicable.. http://www.quaketweaks.com/

[sittingduck]

The smilies indicate the bots' difficulty setting. You will also notice the bots will have a 0 ping.
The thing you see above a player's head ingame, is the chat bubble. When someone chats, or types into the console, or hits esc to the menus, that will appear above them.
Catch me on digichalk or duckpond sometime, and I'll give you some tips....
[dk]sittingduck
I'm in the irc channel on anynet too.

[Snickersnack]

Just to add to what others have already said, players named the same as their model are almost always bots (ie arachna, angelyss, sergei, etc). Also, bots don't move anything like real humans do (I'm glad to have them though). Play with them a bit and you'll recognize them without having to check.

Heh, come to think of it, if you casually type 'leileilol' in chat a bot will scold you.

[dash9]

I didn't see the rest of the message. (Is there a way to see ones that have already disappeared?)

You can bring down the console to see the old messages (press `).

[RudyRailer]

I didn't see the rest of the message. (Is there a way to see ones that have already disappeared?)

You can bring down the console to see the old messages (press `).

And when your in console you can use your scroll button of your mouse also so, you dont miss a thing that is typed (if you like to read all typed messages that is)
And If your console does not move automaticaly you need to scroll down.
type /clear to erase evrything that shows in console, (it does not erase your configuration)

[Sunastar]

Thanks y'all!

This forum, made up of the people in it, make life just THAT much better.

Of course, I still wish I knew what fromhell was pissed at me about. Ya know, I can be sensitive, at times. All I want to do is please everybody, then kill them. :-|

Sunastar Daht Calm