halo 2:tip of the week#1-Strafing

OK troops. You shared your pinnochle knowledge with me. This is for you to check out if you are so inclined. I have so much more to tell you, but here is something to think about in the meantime, and is the absolute best tip for you besides "know your enemy" (which I will explain in another installment as it relates to Halo 2)

terms:
FPS-First Person Shooter (through the eyes of the protagonist)
IRL-In Real Life
reticle-the little mark in the center of your screen that indicates where the gun is aimed

Halo 2 is an FPS
The FPS attempts to simulate RL phyisics as closely as possible. So there are several things taken for granted IRL that can be applied to the FPS:

1. A moving target is tougher to hit than a stationary target. Most important point in the game. You move, you are harder to hit, you get killed less, yielding fewer points to the opposition, you live longer getting points of your own, you waste no respawn time, and you get to keep your cherished rocket launchers, vehicles, etc.

2. By turning your view (using right stick) in a circle, your lower body (legs) will eventually have to follow because it is modeled after the human body. Twisting at the neck and waist will allow us only to turn our view so far.

3. Running straight at or away from the enemy gives him/her essentially a stationary target. He aims straight ahead at you and lays on the trigger. If two people are running headlong into each other with this technique, the winner will be decided practically at random, or dependent on some other factors (wounds, power of weapon etc.)

This brings us to Strafing, which in FPS terms, is lateral movment (heavy left or right use of the left thumbstick, the motion stick) while keeping the reticle on the enemy (more subtle adjustments with the right stick, the aiming stick).
This coordination of the sticks takes some practice, but whether or not you rack up the kills when you begin trying it, you become infinitely harder to kill, and that already goes a long way in preventing the bad guys from scoring. This also buys you time for reloading and planning and ensures that no one can approach you from behind. If you are going against multiple opponents, strafing allows you to continue to survey the field, and even if you don't know exactly where they all are, you are a moving target for all inolved.
A strafer will always kill a non-strafer, all things being equal. A strafer, out-gunned, will still kill a non-strafer a majority of the time. Seeing the IRL rule #2 above, you can deduce that by continuing to strafe, you will end up circling behind an opponent, which is a great place to be. This will happen every time against a non-strafer. The guy who runs at you when you are strafing actually assists you in getting behind him. Once you get behind him, you can then get creative. If someone notices that you are moving sideways (you begin to take some bullets), simply switch directions, and strafe the other way. You can randomize your movements depending on who you are fighting.

The ghost ( the purple one-seater) is the only vehicle that can successfully strafe, and is consequently, in my opinion, the most deadly object in the game- to the point that it almost sickly imbalances the game.

Assignment #1: Go play a game of dodgeball. Stand still and throw. Then, try lateral movement while throwing. In Halo 2 (or Halo 1), find a tree or rock, and strafe it, first trying to keep your reticle on it, then test by shooting, seeing where the marks end up on its surface. If you are beginning to group the marks fairly tightly while you are moving sideways, you are getting the technique. Remember when you adjust your aim as you strafe, there is little if any vertical correction needed. This means that strafing is mostly side to side movements of both sticks. I want to see everybody using their new strafing skills at the tourney.