In first-person games, the disconnect between what you see and what you are can be tremendous. What you see: your own hands, sometimes a gun. What you are: an awkward flesh mound stapled to a camera, portions of which you have no control over.
The always excellent 3kliksphilip has put out a new video in which he explores how player bodies function in Counter-Strike. His findings are both funny and invaluable if you’re in the business of, you know, not getting shot.
The most immediately surprising fact? Players fire from their faces, not their guns. It may not look that way in the game, but the game’s X-ray vision feature reveals that the true nature of CSGO’s world is stranger than it appears. But, as 3kliksphilip points out, it does make sense. You are a camera with a gun attached. Aim comes from line of sight.
As it turns out, Counter-Strike is subtly designed to take this into account. There are, however, instances where you might be hiding around a corner—completely concealed, for all you know—only for one or both of your legs to be peeking out. Or if not your legs, then maybe a protruding weapon like a sniper rifle, or even your arm when you’re holding a knife. Because of incongruities between your first-person point-of-view and your character model, it’s not always easy to tell when you are, quite literally, hidden in plain sight.
In many cases, your best bet is to point your weapon directly into a wall or look down slightly to minimize those effects; looking down, especially, minimizes your visibility to other players, lowering your character’s head a fair amount even as it renders you essentially blind. But hey, it can be useful if you already know where you’re going.
The video also covers hot button topics like shadows and chickens (no, really). It’s well worth a watch if you want to fine-tune your Counter-Strike game in small ways that could make a world of difference. At the very least, it’ll cut down on the moments where you scream, “HOW THE FUCK DID HE SEE ME,” only to receive an unexpected and not particularly cordial visit from your neighbors at 2 AM.
...Not that I know anything about that.
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