Deathmatch Classic certainly lives up to its name: seven years old and there are still people logging onto Steam - you know, the place with the finest and most polished multiplayer shooters ever made - and playing this antiquated tribute to Quake.  It’s so Ye Olden Times you could run it on a calculator, but it turns out that no matter the polygon count shooting at people
is still fun.

A lot of fun.  But there are a few things you’ll need to know when you log onto a Deathmatch Classic server.  You’re engaged in truculent time travel here, and some things aren’t what you’re used to:

1.  One man’s modification
People still sticking with this when things like Team Fortress 2 are available are impressively dedicated to what they like: expect to download a horde of customized map and sound files, as hardcore users tweak their servers to their exact standards.  Most of these are designed to obliterate whatever pet peeve the host hates, so expect spawn-immunity and anti-camp-countdowns.  The bulk of the rest will be dedicated to making this as close to Quake as humanly possible.  ID Software’s magnum opus still lives strong in gamers’ hearts, and many will do whatever they can to keep playing it (except for actually running the original, which has an engine so dated you could probably find dinosaur bones in it).

The upside?  If you host your own HL:DC Server you can set it up how you like it.

2.  True Deathmatch
NO-ONE is on your side.  Deathmatch does exactly what it says on the tin and everyone you see is trying to kill you (and more importantly, so are the ones you can’t).  You might think you’re used to that, but these are people who’ve been here since 1996 in some cases, so while you’re still getting used to the distinctive “Brown and more brown” Quake graphics the score leader will have lightning-sniped you from midair while invisible.  This isn’t Call of Duty with alternate routes and camo - this is you and twenty murderers in an open room filled with an improbable amount of firepower.

3.  Unbalanced Weapons
Everyone trying to kill you wouldn’t be so bad - it turns out a lot of games have that idea - except you’re appearing with a wimpy shotgun and anyone who’s been alive longer than five seconds has a better weapon than that.  The old-school gameplay mechanics include balance-breaking items like Quad Damage and the Lightning Gun, so if you see somebody glowing purple and spewing thunderbolt death think of them as an angry Thor and run like hell.

Why put up with that?  Because it’s incredibly fun when it’s your turn.  Exploding enemies just by looking at them generally is.

4.  Bunny-hopping
A heavily-armed three-hundred pound space marine leaping and prancing like his feet are on fire is an odd sight, but in Quake-like games they’re exploiting the game’s physics to move faster than running and make themselves far harder to hit.  Oh, and sometimes their feet actually will be on fire:  Old school levels include huge lava floors, “haha you fell off” ledges, and various other items modern games have evolved out of.

Keep these simple tips in mind and you can have an awesome time.  Just remember: rockets beat shotgun, and Quad Damage beats everything.

Tags: Deathmatch Classic Servers, game servers, Half-Life Deathmatch Classic

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 11:24 am and is filed under Half Life 1: Deathmatch Classic News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.