Although Battle Royale games like Fortnite are incredibly fun and satisfying, they’re equally as competitive. Staying on top of these games can be a bit of a pickle, especially if you’re new to the arena.  On the bright side, you don’t have to sit and watch as your opponents blast you to death every time. There are plenty of settings you can tweak to bring out the beast player in you.  One such setting is mouse sensitivity. 

Let’s break down why mouse sensitivity is critical, and most importantly, how to use a sensitivity calculator to convert your mouse sensitivity to Fortnite or any other game. We recommend syncing Fortnite with a super-efficient, and professional gaming training tool like 3D Aim Trainer to improve your aim in Fortnite, and overall gaming skills.

Why Mouse Sensitivity is of the Essence in Gaming

Even though other settings influence your aiming ability in FPS games, none does so quite like your mouse’s sensitivity. It determines the distance your mouse needs to travel to accurately move and position your crosshair in Fortnite and other shooters. Compared to low sensitivity settings, high sensitivity mouse settings make performing large camera angles at high speeds seamless but make it difficult for you to maintain mouse precision or make small adjustments. 

So, between high or low sensitivity, which is better? Although this is largely a matter of preferences and the game in question, high sensitivity is the way to go on Fortnite. This is because building is the most important element in this game and high sensitivity settings make your mouse more responsive to the directional adjustments you need to make in the process. For an enjoyable building and shooting experience on Fortnite, set your mouse sensitivity between 20 – 28 cm/360. 

In Fortnite, a low mouse sensitivity lowers your building speed and agility, which can decrease your chances of winning. The correct mouse sensitivity in Fortnite is important because it: 

• Enhances your building speed and agility
• Enables you to react appropriately 

Simply put, the right sensitivity allows you to attain your true potential in gaming. But how do you identify the perfect sensitivity for you across all games? Well, you could always try experimenting with your game of choice and then measuring the circumference you’ve moved your mouse using a ruler. Although this method works, it is time-consuming. Moreover, the results may be inaccurate.

Another way to determine ideal mouse sensitivity would be to review the sensitivity the best players use. There are plenty of websites that will give you all the information you need about Fortnite pro players settings so you can sync one on one with your favorite Fortnite player game settings, but keep in mind what works for one person may not work for you. 

Having said that, the best and most efficient way to go about finding your ideal sensitivity would be to use a mouse sensitivity calculator such as mousesensitivity.com.

How to Use a Sensitivity Calculator to Convert Your Mouse Sensitivity to Fortnite

As the name implies, a mouse sensitivity converter is a tool you can use to switch or change mouse sensitivity between games. It allows you to take the in-game sensitivity of one video game, and transfer it to another game for maximum efficiency. For instance, if you are playing CS: GO, you can transfer the exact same sensitivity settings you are using to Fortnite using this mouse sens converter.

How to Change Sensitivity for Fortnite

Most Fortnite mouse sensitivity calculators are pretty straightforward to use. To change mouse sensitivity for Fortnite you will need to key in the following into the mouse sens converter:

• The name of the game you want to convert mouse sensitivity from to Fortnite
• The Dots per inch(DPI) of the mouse you are using 
• The mouse sensitivity you use in the said game 
• The name of the game you are converting to (Fortnite)
• The DPI of the mouse you plan on using to play Fortnite 

Once you enter the above information, sens converter will automatically display the converted sensitivity values.  If you don’t know the DPI of your mouse but plan on using it for Fortnite, you can always input default DPI values. However, if you plan on using a different mouse for Fortnite, ensure you check its DPI out.

The Benefits of Matching Mouse Sensitivity Across Different Games

Learning how to change mouse sensitivity for Fortnite, and maintaining the same sensitivity across all games you like to play within the same genre is beneficial because:

1. It Strengthens Muscle Memory

Remember the first time you ever played a video game? You had to start by learning the controls, and after several sessions of being killed by your opponents, things began getting easier.

After several weeks, every move that once was difficult became effortless, and you could even do it without concentrating. All this was possible because of your muscle memory. Muscle memory is built through constant repetition of the same actions and moves. When you use the same mouse sensitivity settings across all your games, you improve your muscle memory because your brain creates a neural pathway that allows you to execute the same mouse movements with minimal to no conscious effort.

2. It Enhances Your Gaming Capabilities

With improved muscle memory comes the decreased need for concentration on your mouse movements. You don’t have to waste any time getting used to your gaming mouse whenever you switch to a different video game because your brain already knows what to do. This enhances your gaming capabilities and significantly increases your winning streaks on Fortnite because you have more room to focus on other important aspects of the game instead of mouse movements.

Other Ways to Improve Your Fortnite Performance

Now that you know how to change mouse sensitivity for Fortnite using a sensitivity calculator, here are other ways to improve your performance in this coveted Battle Royale game:

Invest in a Good Mouse

A quality mouse is paramount to your performance on Fortnite. Be sure to invest in one and while at it, ensure it’s a gaming mouse. This is critical because while a normal mouse usually has 1,000Dpi, a mouse specifically for gaming may have up to 4,000Dpi. It will also feature specially positioned buttons to make your experience even more smooth-sailing. 

Besides DPI, the most important factor to consider while shopping for one is the size. It should be at least 66% of your hand’s length so you can aim accurately and with ease. Also, ensure you consider the type of sensor. Gaming mice can feature either optical or laser sensors. Optical mice are more popular among gamers because they are more reactive, and do not exhibit lag. Other important features to look out for while shopping for a gaming mouse are its weight, and whether or not it’s wireless.

Turn Off Mouse Acceleration

If you have never tried to tweak your mouse settings, your mouse acceleration is probably on. To improve performance, and maximize the benefits of matching your sensitivity for Fortnite, you need to turn it off. 

Having your mouse acceleration on impacts the way it responds after you move it because Windows is trying to assist you. Although this feature was incorporated to improve your mouse’s response, it can get in the way of you winning by altering the action you intend to perform when you move your mouse. 

So, always ensure you turn it off not just for Fortnite, but for all other games you love as well. To turn this setting off, do the following:

• Go to mouse settings
• Click “change mouse settings” 
• Click “additional mouse settings 
• Click on “Pointer options” on the dialogue box that appears
• Turn off acceleration by unchecking the “enhance pointer precision” box, and then click apply and okay to execute the changes

Use a Professional Aim Training Tool

Playing Fortnite repeatedly is good for your muscle memory, but if you are looking to boost your aim and overall Fortnite gaming skills, you will want to use a professional aim training tool. 

This is because when you play Fortnite repeatedly, you spend most of your time running around and looting instead of practicing your aim or fighting opponents. But when you use a professional training tool like 3D Aim Trainer, you get to improve your overall Fortnite performance because they mainly focus on the mentioned aspects. You also get a plethora of gaming scenarios you can try out to improve your skills.

This is particularly beneficial if you’re looking to improve a specific skill. With this tool you can select one scene and use it to train over and over again. For instance, if you usually find it difficult to take down your opponents while they’re on an elevated area, you can use an aim trainer to practice your aim at elevated targets over and over until you build muscle memory for such a shot.

Update Fortnite Mouse Drivers

You also need to ensure your mouse drivers are up to date if you are to enjoy the full-fledged benefits of matching mouse sensitivity settings. 

To update mouse drivers manually, visit the manufacturer’s website, select the latest drivers available, and update. Make sure the drivers are compatible with your mouse’s model hardware and the version of Windows you use.

Master Other Settings

Although mouse sensitivity is inarguably necessary, there’s more to Fortnite than just sensitivity settings. That said, now that you can match your sensitivity settings across different games, you have one less thing to worry about while playing Fortnite. This allows you to master other settings and take your opponents down effortlessly and satisfyingly.

Join the Pros and Improve Your Fortnite Skills Today

Mouse sensitivity settings can be significantly different between unalike gaming engines and sometimes between games sharing the same engine.

In the past, it used to be that the only way to change this sensitivity was only through the manual, the circumference-measuring method described earlier, or by comparing the sensitivity of pro-gamers. But now we have mouse sensitivity calculators. Thanks to this tool, you can seamlessly change and maintain the same mouse sensitivity for Fortnite and any other games you love and enjoy a smooth gaming experience regardless of the title.

Need more pointers on how to improve your aim at Fortnite? Learn the professional way by joining 3D Aim trainer today.

The post Mouse Sensitivity 101: How to Match it for Fortnite Using a Sens Converter appeared first on 3D Aim Trainer - Training for FPS Games Blog.

The Ultimate Guide to Improving Reaction Time

Picture this: You are one of the last characters standing in the Battle Royale, Apex Legend. The only thing standing between you and winning is one opponent.

With utmost caution, you parkour across the roof looking for positional advantage. As you set yourself up, you catch a slight movement of your opponent, quickly raise your gun but before you could pull the trigger, “BOOM” you’re dead!

Sucks, right? That’s what happens when your reaction time in video games is slow.

On the bright side, reaction time is something you can improve, and in this article, we’ll show you how to improve your reflexes and reaction time.  We’re also working on a reaction time test tool you can use to track your progress.

What is Reaction Time?

Before we look at how to improve reaction time, what exactly is reaction time? Also known as response time, reaction time is the voluntary and purposeful response to an external stimulus. It is how quickly an organism (in this case, you) responds to external stimuli.  It is a complex process but often happens within a fraction of a second. Here are the three main types of reaction time:

• Simple reaction time: This involves reactions to only one stimulus. This type of reaction is typically very quick. An example of a simple reaction time is when athletes respond to the starting pistol during a sprint.
• Complex reaction time: Also known as a choice, this type of reaction time involves a variety of stimuli and responses. Since it involves processing a lot of information at once, a complex reaction time takes slightly longer. An example of a complex reaction time is when a soccer player has to keep up with the ball movement, as well as the movement of other players.
• Recognition reaction time: Also known as the selection, this involves various stimuli and responses – just like complex reaction time. However, the subject has to respond to only one. The other responses are just a distraction.

Factors that Affect Your Reaction Time

Your reaction time varies as a function of factors like:

Stimulus Complexity

The more complicated the stimulus, the more information your brain has to process and the longer it will take you to respond. For example, when a bright light hits your eyes, you automatically close your eyes because the stimulus is simple.

But if somebody slaps you out of nowhere, it takes you time to respond because first you didn’t expect it, and second, you have multiple options.  You could either hit them back, or walk away, and it takes your brain a minute to process the best course of action.

Stimulus Familiarity

It is easier for you to respond to a stimulus you’ve responded to before than it is to a new one. This is because, with a familiar stimulus, you already know what to do, so your brain has minimal processing to do.

But when it’s a completely new stimulus, your reaction time will be lower. For example, when playing a first-person shooter video game you are used to, you’ll have a quicker reaction time because you’re well versed with the map’s layout, you know where to expect enemies, hence you’ll be on your guard when approaching enemy territory.

But when it’s a new video game, it takes you too many sessions of being killed by your opponents before you get the hang of it. How long you take before you can develop the fastest reaction time depends on the complexity of the game. With tactical shooters like Valorant and CSGO, the most important elements to master include the map layout, enemy positions, and rotations.

The Stimulated Sense

The sensory modality triggered by the stimulus also affects how fast your reaction time will be.

Generally, it’s easier to respond to an auditory stimulus than a visual stimulus because the former requires less processing. In a layperson’s language, you have the fastest reaction time when sound is the stimulus than when you are responding to a visual or felt stimulus.

State of the Organism

Your state of mind and body when a stimulus is triggered is the most important factor in determining your response or reaction time.

The stimulus might be simple, and you might be even familiar with it. But if you are not in the right state, your reaction time will be slower.

For example, if you are fatigued while playing a video game, your reaction time will be slower. Other factors that affect your reaction time through your state of mind and body include:

• Temperature (reaction time is slow when it’s too hot or too cold)
• Exercise
• Distractions
• Arousal
• Stimulant or depressant drugs
• Illness
• Alcohol
• Relevance of stimuli to survival
• Age (your brain naturally slows down as you age)
• Fasting
• Gender
• Direct vs. peripheral vision
• Physical fitness
• Breathing cycle
• Learning disorders

How to Improve Reaction Time in Gaming

Your reaction time in gaming is the thin line between beating and losing to your opponents in video games. The faster you press that mouse or controller, the faster you’ll pull the trigger on your opponent. In that light, here are some tips on how to improve reaction time for gaming:

1. Warm Up

Cold hands mean slower reaction times and reduced dexterity. When it is cold, your muscles are usually stiff, and it becomes difficult for you to concentrate, let alone reacting appropriately. Before you hit the start button or even enter your gaming room, warm up first. If it is cold, take a cup of hot coffee or tea to get the temperature going.

Consider getting a hand warmer or a heat bag and regularly rubbing your hands at regular intervals in between gaming breaks. Alternatively, you could get a pair of quality gaming gloves since they are designed not only to offer excellent traction but also to retain palm heat.  

2. Ease Off the Distractions

Most pro video gamers game in dimly lit rooms, with professional headphones. Although they may have company, the room is usually very silent. This to an amateur or a non-gaming individual might not make sense. However, the tranquil environment helps the gamer attain faster reaction times.

That said, one way to improve your reaction time in gaming is to remove any distractions in your gaming environment. Shut the door, put your headphones on, and turn off the lights if necessary so your only focus is the game in front of you.

Also, although multiplayer gaming is fun, it is wise to play in single-player modes when trying to improve your reaction time in gaming. This is because having your teammates constantly talk into your headphones will only slow you down. So, remove any distractions, practice alone, become better, and then join in multiplayer gaming modes when your response is much quicker.

3. Get Enough Sleep

We know we sound like your mom right now, but getting at least eight hours of sleep will significantly improve your reaction time on Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends, or whichever FPS game you are trying to improve your reaction time on.

As mentioned earlier, it takes a shorter time to respond to a familiar stimulus than a new one. That said, when you sleep enough, you give your body enough time to rejuvenate. Likewise, enough rest gives your brain enough time to process whatever you practiced during the day.

These experiences are moved to your long-term memory, which means the next time you’ll need to respond to a similar stimulus, your reaction time will be faster. This is because your brain is already familiar with the process and knows what signals to send immediately.

Besides, enough sleep means better focus, and better focus in video gaming is always a win and will go a long way in increasing your reaction time. So, invest in a comfortable mattress, and as much as it is hard for avid gamers to hit the sack, try to sneak in at least eight hours of sleep. While at it, check out this podcast for some active ingredients you can use to boost your reaction time naturally

4. Try Regular Concentrated Practice Sessions

As cliché as this sounds, practice actually makes perfect. The more you practice, the better your reaction time will be.

Note that concentrated practice is when you focus on becoming better at one particular skill in gaming, instead of all of them. Set aside at least two or three hours, figure out gaming elements that affect your reaction time, and dedicate yourself to improving them.

While trying out concentrated practice, be sure to watch how the pros do it. If you look up to one specific pro, watch their videos to see how they execute a reaction you are trying to learn. Another excellent option is to sign up for gaming courses.

5. Invest in Quality Gaming Gear

You might try concentrated practice, get rid of all potential distractions, and even hit the sack for more than eight hours. But if your gaming monitor has a slow refresh rate or you are using a below-average mouse, your reaction time will still be poor.

Invest in quality gaming gear. If you are a PC gamer, upgrade your gaming rig by getting a quality graphics card, a monitor with a refresh rate of at least 144Hz, and a mouse that fits comfortably in your palm (and tune its DPI settings).

Also, remember sound is critical in video gaming. It helps you detect where your opponents are and even what they are doing. So, while looking for quality gaming gear, make sure you get yourself a pair of quality gaming headphones as well. They should be super comfortable, because you’ll have them on for prolonged periods, and feature crispy clear sound delivery.

You don’t have to blow a hole in your bank account just to get high-end gear. There are some pretty excellent affordable options in the market. You just have to do a little digging to find them.

6. Don’t Sweat It

Lastly, remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and so is your reaction time. You cannot try concentrated practice today and expect to be a pro tomorrow. So, don’t stress yourself if you don’t have the fastest reaction time after one practice session.

If you stress yourself over it, you may experience burnout, which doesn’t help to improve your reaction time. Keep in mind it takes time, regular practice, utmost dedication, and regular assessments using the 3D Aim Trainer assessment to improve your reaction time in gaming. Also, note that the fastest reaction times occur when you expect the unexpected. If you’re prepared for an encounter, you’ll react to it swiftly. That is why it pays to have exemplary map knowledge in gaming.

Improve Your Reaction Time with the Pros Today

Your reaction time in video games is the difference between winning and losing to the opposing team. We highly recommend you try out all the tips on improving reaction time above and combining them with pro training at 3D Aim Trainer today.

Take the Reaction Time Test

We have created a dedicated Reaction Time Test to help you improve your speed. Use the test to warm up and sharpen your skill before starting any aim training routine or any game.

The post How to Improve Reaction Time for Gaming. 6 Ways to Have the Fastest Reaction Time appeared first on 3D Aim Trainer - Training for FPS Games Blog.

Even though it has been here for over three years, Fortnite, a battle royale game, shows no signs of slowing down. According to Statista, the online survival game had 350 million players around the world as of May 2020. This figure is set to increase exponentially with the recent launch of Chapter 2.

This means even more competition for Fortnite enthusiasts.

So, if you’re looking to beat the competition, you must master the best Fortnite settings because your weapons alone won’t cut it. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the best settings for Fortnite PC and the console presets to choose from.

To maximize your prowess, be sure to check out our Fortnite Aim Trainer Guide.

The Best Video Settings for Fortnite 2021

Fortnite is a fun and competitive game with casual yet stunning video and graphic settings. Here are the best Fortnite pro settings for video starting with the display subsection.

Display Settings

These might be standard settings, but they impact your gaming experience. Here are the best settings for Fortnite in terms of display:

• Window Mode: The Window mode setting allows you to tweak the size of the game window. Always opt for full screen since it renders a higher FPS and provides a more immersive experience for PC gaming.
• Resolution: Usually, Fortnite’s game engine automatically regulates the resolution. But for the best experience, your resolution should match your PC’s monitor. Most monitors are typically 1080p, so it’s best to stick to this for optimal performance.
• Frame Rate Limit: When it comes to gaming, the higher the FPS, the better. However, keep in mind that the FPS is often predetermined by your PC’s refresh rate. That means you can only view as many frames as your monitor’s refresh rate allows. Setting “unlimited” on Fortnite when your monitor supports only 60 Hz is a waste of energy. So cap Fortnite’s frame rate limit at your monitor’s refresh rate.

Graphic Settings

Graphic settings on Fortnite will significantly affect your gaming experience. That is why you need to ensure you use the best possible settings.

• Brightness: You always want to have your brightness set at 150% in any game, and Fortnite is no exception. It allows you to see enemies clearly, even in dark areas.
• View Distance: The higher the view distance, the easier it’s for you to spot your enemies and their building activity. This gives you an upper hand as it allows you to plan your next move wisely. Since the view distance doesn’t affect the frame rate, set it to epic.
• 3D Resolution: The best Fortnite settings in PC for 3D resolution is 100%, but since it affects the FPS, it’s better if you keep it between 25% and 75%.
• Shadows: Shadows enhance the visual appeal by increasing depth perception. They also make it easier to spot enemies in the dark. However, they suck the life out of your GPU and affect frame rates dramatically. So, unless you have a powerful GPU, it’s best to turn shadows off in your Fortnite pro settings.
• Anti-Aliasing: The higher this setting is, the smoother the visuals. But just like shadows, anti-aliasing negatively impacts performance. So, setting it to medium or below is the best way to go.
• Textures: For texture, you’ll want to go with medium or low on Fortnite for those extra frame rates.

• Effects: Effects make your gaming experience fun since they give more details in certain scenarios. For instance, they make explosions more detailed. However, they cause extra visual blur which affects your ability to see your target clearly. They’re also more taxing on your graphics card than shadows and textures. So, it’s best if you turn them as low as possible.
• Post Processing: This setting enhances graphic quality by directly adding filters and effects to original Fortnite images. Although it makes them more realistic, it’s better turned low because medium to epic post-processing levels on Fortnite darken your scope’s vision, making it difficult to see far.
• VSync: Turning VSync on ensures full FPS is always rendered so no tearing occurs. However, it causes input lag because for every picture rendered, you are at least one frame behind between the input you give and what’s displayed. So, it’s better turned off.
• Motion Blur: Motion blur doesn’t affect FPS but it’s best if you turn it off because it can make it difficult for you to see when moving at high speeds.
• Show FPS: You always want this one so you can see how many frame rates you’re working with during the game. Show FPS makes it easier for you to tweak and identify the best Fortnite settings on your PC. It allows you to enable various settings and then try them out to determine the impact they have on your frame rate.

Most video settings on Fortnite affect frame rates and in a competitive game like this one, you need to have a high FPS. So unless you have a powerful GPU or if you don’t mind low FPS, the best Fortnite pro settings when it comes to display and graphics are medium and low.

Fortnite Pro Audio Settings

Audio is critical in any battle royale game. With Fortnite being among the most competitive in this category, you need to use every element to your advantage. With the right audio settings on Fortnite, you can tell the direction your enemies are coming from and even what they are doing. Check out the best settings for Fortnite when it comes to audio:

• Music: In-game music makes gameplay fun, but it can be quite distracting. It’s better turned low or off.
• Sound Effects: Now this you want to leave on. Make it 75% or higher because it includes important sounds such as chest volume and your enemies’ footsteps.
• 3D Headphones: If you’re wearing headphones, turn this setting onfor 3D audio. It increases sound quality, making enemy detection through audio easier and enhances your gameplay experience.
• Voice chat: Want to hear and talk to your teammates? Leave this on. If not, then it’s okay to turn it off.
• Subtitles: Not essential, but it doesn’t hurt to leave them on.

Fortnite PC Mouse Sensitivity Guide

Having the right video and audio settings is critical, but it’s only half the battle. It’s best to optimize your mouse sensitivity settings on Fortnite because it greatly affects your aiming ability.

It’s also a pretty expansive subject. But to break it down for you, here are the best Fortnite pro settings for mouse sensitivity:

eDPI: This means effective dots per inch. It is the best way to determine the best mouse sensitivity for Fortnite since it takes into account in-game sensitivity values as well as mouse DPI. As a result, your 360-degree spin distance remains constant. Most professional Fortnite players use an eDPI between 35 – 70, which is equal to 18.4 – 9.2 inch mouse movement when performing a 360° camera rotation.

Sensitivity X-axis: Sensitivity on the X-axis sets the pace for mouse movements in the horizontal axis – the left and right cursor movements. Note, the higher the sensitivity is, the more accurate you’ll need to be and the lower your fault margin. There are no right or wrong Fortnite pro sensitivity settings because it all comes down to your preferences. For instance, Bugha, one of the best Fortnite pro players sets His X-axis sensitivity at 5.0% (40 eDPI) while Mongraal has his at 9.0% (72 eDPI)

• Sensitivity Y-axis: Sensitivity on the Y-axis affects up and down cursor movements. Again, it’s all about preferences But most players keep it in line with their X-axis value..
• Targeting Sensitivity:  To boost aim accuracy when aiming down sights most pro players have a target & scope sensitivity between 30% and 50%. When it comes to Scope Sensitivity, a sweet spot for sensitivity is between 30.0% and 80.0%.

Fortnite Pro PC Keybinds

Just as with mouse sensitivity, the right keybinds set you up for success on Fortnite. That is why we made sure to include keybinding settings for Fortnite PC in our guide:

Movement Keybinds

• General movement (forward, left, backward, right): WASD
• Jump: Space bar
• Sprint: Left shift
• Crouch: Left+ Ctrl
• Auto-run: Equals (=), F4, or any easy-to-access function key

Combat/Weapon Keybinds

Here are ideal Fortnite PC keybinds for combat:

• Target: Right mouse button
• Fire: Left mouse button
• Reload: R/G/Y
• Use: E/mouse wheel up
• Harvesting tool: 1
• Weapon slot 1: 2
• Weapon slot 2: 3
• Weapon slot 3: 4
• Weapon slot 4: 5
• Weapon slot 5: 6

Building Keybinds

Building is what makes Fortnite stand out among other battle royale shooters. Mastering the right keybindings for the task is one way to get yourself to the top.

• Wall: X
• Floor: V
• Stairs: C/mouse button 5
• Roof: F
• Trap: Y/5
• Crouch while building: Left+ Ctrl
• Repair or upgrade building: Tab button
• Rotate building: R
• Change your building materials: Right mouse button
• Edit: G
• Select edit: Left mouse button
• Reset building edit: Right mouse button

How to Change Fortnite Settings on PC

Fortnite might be a cross-platform game, but it reigns supreme on PC due to the versatility it offers on this platform.

Now that you know the best settings for Fortnite PC, how do you change them? Well, it’s pretty straightforward. Simply follow the steps outlined below:

• Go to the lobby. (that’s where you select the match or challenges you want to play.)
• Click the sandwich icon on the upper right corner to unveil the extra settings we’ve highlighted above.

Best Fortnite Settings for Console

When it comes to console-play, the best Fortnite pro settings vary depending on the platform you are using, which is why we’ll focus mainly on controller settings. Usually, there are four preset options to choose from:

• Builder pro: This is the most competitive default controller option. It links your building activity with your controller’s triggers and bumpers. It’s the best configuration because it allows you to easily access your building sets. It also gives you an upper hand. Why? Well, you can seamlessly outbuild your enemies, and then take them out from your high fort. This configuration is a perfect fit for Fortnite players who rely heavily on buildings.
• Quick builder: This is an easier version of builder pro. Like its variant, it gives you access to building materials, editing interface, and similarly lets you outpace your enemies in building. But as you’d expect, it’s not as detailed as the latter.
• Combat pro: This is for the aggressive players. As the name suggests, this controller configuration focuses more on combat. It’s perfect if you are a sharpshooter and love taking down your enemies without much hassle.
• Old school: This configuration is based on third- and first-person shooters. It’s ideal for beginners who are still learning the ropes of Fortnite or veteran players who hate the complexity that comes with the controller settings highlighted above.

Practice with 3D Aim Trainer Academy

Learning the best pro Fortnite settings is the key to beating your competition now and in the future. We’ve included some of the best settings for Fortnite PC above, but there’s more to becoming king in this battle royale shooter game than just learning the settings. You need to master what works for your favorite Fortnite character, obtain the best skins, and even easily see the weak points of your enemies. 

Start your training today in our online arena to become a pro Fortnite player.

The post The Best Fortnite Settings for Enhanced Performance on PC and Console appeared first on 3D Aim Trainer - Training for FPS Games Blog.

A Glossary of Aiming terms in FPS Games

Let’s dive in to the ultimate glossary for aiming and FPS games

Aiming Down Sights

Also known as ADS is a popular method for players to fire weapons in FPS games, which is usually operated by clicking the right mouse button. This click technique translates In real life too when a gamer raises a rifle up and places the stock right inside the shoulder area, and then leans their head down so they can see a straight line over the top of their rifle. This usually increases accuracy in most shooter games. Nonetheless, it can be limiting in terms of vision and situational awareness as well as mobility, especially in games where you need to be constantly moving otherwise you’re an easy target. The main benefit aside from accuracy is that it only needs a short amount of time to change weapon position.

Arm Aiming

Is when you move the mouse with your arm instead of your wrist. This technique is especially handy when you need to cover more ground and try to combat fatigue during long gaming sessions where recruiting large muscle groups in your arm will maintain your stamina for the duration of your shooter game. Aside from endurance and coverage, mouse sensitivity is another determining factor in whether to opt for arm aiming or wrist aiming. For example, playing on low mouse sensitivity (50cm/360 to 80cm/360)demands using arm aiming as the best technique, while limiting your aiming with wrist movements to only minor corrections, this guarantees covering a larger distance on the mousepad with small in-game movements.

Arm aiming is basically handy in making large, but accurate turns to get your crosshair as close as possible to the target, then use your wrist to make small adjustments plus track your target (for wrist aiming, scroll further down).

The aiming skills that can be mastered with arm aiming are

• Tracking
• Flicking

The main pivot point is located between your elbow and wrist for the larger part of aiming and mouse movement,  2/3 closer to the elbow than the wrist, while a second pivot point is in the wrist for fine-tuning and accurate crosshair placement.

Bullet Hell

A subgenre of shoot ’em up or shooter games: variously termed manic shooters, maniac shooters, these games required players to keep away from overwhelming numbers of enemy projectiles and called for nonetheless greater steady reactions from the participants. Bullet Hell video games arose from the want for second shoot ’em up developers to compete with the rising popularity of 3D games: large numbers of missiles on screen had been intended to affect gamers. Often the screen is completely covered with waves of projectiles in a bullet hell game.

Bullet Sponge

A bullet sponge is a character or object that takes quite a large number of bullets or another projectile to kill. It is a slang term that describes more the annoyance of players who are firing at the character or object for the purpose of destroying it in order to advance in the game.

Circle Strafing

An advanced movement technique in many first-person shooter games where the player utilizes both thumbsticks in console or mouse and keyboard controls on PC to attain a constant circular motion around his enemy while maintaining a steady aim on that target. This practice minimizes incoming fire from the target’s teammates, as any misses are likely to hit and harm their teammate, it basically helps avoid counterattacks while attacking at close range. The player keeps moving in and out of the opponent’s field of view while allowing him/her sustained fire on the opponent. It is particularly useful against opponents that hurl visible projectiles. Circle strafing is also effective in herding a large number of enemies into a compact group as they all attempt to follow the player, and if the group is mixed, has the added benefit of being almost certain to start an infight.

Claw Grip

As the name suggests, a claw grip basically is when you arch two fingers in a claw-like position over the mouse buttons without making any further contact between your palm and your mouse. This position permits more control and pressure over mouse movement which is ideal for fine tracking and micro-adjustments from your wrist. However, it will cause fatigue amongst players more than other grips simply because you’re operating mostly with your accessory muscles.

Dead Zone

A part of the screen in PC games in which the camera is controlled via free look where the mouse cursor can be positioned to lock the camera in place. The dead zone can be adjusted in some games such as Fortnite and COD Modern Warfare.

esports

Organized electronic sports competitions around video games on PC or console, often played for a cash prize and recognition. Considered by many to be one of, if not the first real esports competition, The Red Annihilation event (1997) kicked off and left an immediate imprint. 

FOV

An abbreviation for Field of View is the extent of the observable game world that is seen on the display at any given moment in first-person video games. It is typically measured as an angle, although whether this angle is the horizontal, vertical, or diagonal component of the field of view varies from one game to another. A higher FoV means you’ll have more peripheral vision, but can result in distortion effects when set too high.

The FOV may change depending on the aspect ratio of the rendering resolution. In PC games and modern game consoles the FOV usually increases with a wider aspect ratio of the rendering resolution.

Frames per second (fps)

The rendering speed for any game on your screen is measured in frames per second. The faster a game’s framerate, the smoother it appears. Both 30fps and 60fps are considered standard, but FPS games need to run at higher frame rates to avoid making players feel disoriented.

Grinding

A popular activity that has dominated the video game culture recently, it’s basically performing a repetitive and time-consuming action in video games in general and FPS games in specific before being able to advance. Prevalent in online games, where it is alternately considered an annoying waste of time or an enjoyable necessity, depending on the player’s attitude. Many PC games have taken steps to reduce the ‘grind’, including doing away with traditional ‘leveling’ systems or allowing the player to temporarily ‘boost’ themselves to match the difficulty of NPCs in a given area.

Head Glitch

A Head glitch is when an FPS player hides behind cover where the top of their head is the only showing part, yet has a full vision and can fire freely at enemies without obstruction.

Impact Marks

An option that determines in which detail bullet marks on surfaces should be rendered. Usually, for maximum performance, it is best for this option to be turned off.

Kill-to-Death Ratio

Abbreviated KDR / KR is how many enemies on average you’d take out before being taken out yourself. The term is quite popular as a benchmark amongst FPS Players in regards to their gaming skills. 

Keybinds

Applying keybinding functions to a mouse to improve efficiency while playing the game. Learn more about Keybinding.

Level Scaling

A technique in FPS games where the player advances in level, which alters the attributes of his/her character or opponents so that there is a similar challenge in combat. If the player character is several levels higher, either the enemy would be amped or the player’s abilities downsized in order for the challenge to have balance.

Mouse Acceleration

Since the distance of the cursor on the screen is highly dependent on your mouse speed movement, mouse acceleration is when your cursor moves further depending on how fast you move your mouse on your desk. Mouse acceleration is not recommended for FPS games, especially due to the fact that it depletes your muscle memory and makes your gameplay more inconsistent, and reduces your aiming precision.

Muscle Memory

Is a form of memory that involves reinforcing a specific motor task into memory through repetition. You need to train your body to get into the same position consistently resulting in more accurate shots time and time again. You should practice this in both training and competition environments to replicate the feeling for each type of condition.

No-scope

A technique in first-person shooter games used to attack a target by quickly aiming down sights on a weapon and shooting immediately This largely pertains to sniper rifles, when you quickly scope and take a shot with it. Quick scoping gets more accuracy than no scoping.

Peel

Peeling is when you are aiming to save one of your teammates. This is usually done when a character stops fighting their current target and instead uses their abilities to help their teammate.

Quick Scoping

Primarily means to shoot without scoping in, especially when using a high-precision, long-range gun such as a sniper rifle. This is usually very hard to do because the shot when no scoping is very inaccurate. 

Ragdolls

It controls the animation accuracy of dead body physics. But it stresses the CPU not the GPU. Still if you have an older PC set it to “low”.

Sight Picture

Is the visual relationship between the front and rear sight when aiming properly. Sight pictures differ greatly depending on what sighting system the rifle is using, but across the board the shooter should focus on the front sight, thus making the closer rear sight out of focus.

Third-Person Shooter

Abbreviated TPS is a subcategory in 3D shooting games with the camera looking out from behind the character, especially the character’s shoulders. It is very close to First Person Shooter Games the only difference is that the player’s character is visible on-screen during play.

Vsync

Vertical synchronization is a graphics technology that synchronizes the frame rate of a game and the refresh rate of a gaming monitor. One of the Vsync downsides is that it may cause input lag. Tearing occurs when the refresh rate of the monitor is not in sync with the frames per second.

WASD

Refers to a keyboard control scheme usually used to move a character. W is for walking forward, A for strafing left, D for strafing right, and S for walking backward. Wrist Aiming: Is controlling and moving your mouse with your hand instead of your arm. So you’re using your wrist to make fast and precise cursor movements. Wrist aiming is crucial for fast reaction times and increased accuracy over small distances. Wrist aiming is essential when playing on an extremely high mouse sensitivity (1cm/360 to 30cm/360), where it’s likely to just use your wrist to aim, with minimal arm movement. This is due to the fact that a small mouse movement performs large movements in the game, while small wrist movements will spin a big distance.

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April 1st, 2021 Update: Eye Tracking support is temporarily unavailable

Eye Tracking in FPS Games, Why is it Good to Use?

FPS games are undoubtedly among the most difficult PC games out there due to the amount of information you need to perceive, evaluate, and then act upon. So when it comes to visuals: Better vision makes better gameplay! It goes without saying how visual attention makes all the difference between zero to hero in any FPS game. Improve your performance altogether by identifying and analyzing your in-game visual attention. 
To improve your odds of playing optimally any FPS game you should be tracking so many things! From your health and resources to (depending on the game) enemy and allies locations to timers for objectives… etc

While top players can absorb this information and instantly make the best decisions that they can; new players can struggle to keep up and will naturally have more blind spots in their decision-making. And that’s where visual attention is key.

The Five Pillars of Eye Tracking

Metrics to Measure your Progress with 3D Aim Trainer

3D Aim Trainer platform measures a specific set of relevant data to players training routine and performance enhancement. Three of the metrics are readily available, while two are under development and will be launched soon! 

Eye Reaction Time: Measures the time it takes between the target changing direction and your eyes’ reaction. This metric comes in handy when training your tracking skills.

Eye Speed (Coming Soon): Measures the average speed of the eye movement going from one target to another. This metric is helpful when training in multi-target modes.

Eye Accuracy: Gives better insight into your focus. Keeping focus at all times without deviating your gaze from your opponent makes the difference between victory or defeat.

HUD Awareness: This shows your ability to process the information on the screen. Experienced players barely require visual input to understand what is going on. They often rely on “game sense” to know exactly where their opponents are, how many clips they have left in their magazine, and how close they are to a power-up.

Heatmap (Coming Soon): The heatmap represents all the fixations on the screen and provides a post-game summary.

To begin receiving analysis, start training for a few skill routines. Afterward, you’ll receive new eye tracking metrics on your 3D Aim Trainer postgame screen.

Once you play at least five routines in the same training mode, you’ll be able to see substantial data to analyze and improve your aim.

Ready to Dominate?

The post Use Eye Tracking to Take your Aim Practice to the Next Level appeared first on 3D Aim Trainer - Training for FPS Games Blog.

Time's up

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Gamers who have browsed the comments section of a video game review will be aware of the heated debates that often occur regarding how the title has been rated. Is the judgment fair? Have they reviewed the game in enough depth? Do they seem to give better scores to games that are developed and published by larger companies?

This got us wondering: what are the games that the critics dislike but are much loved by gamers all around the world? And, on the other side of the same coin: which games are much loved by critics but underrated by the rest of the gaming community?

To answer these questions, we first turned to Metacritic, one of the largest review aggregate sites on the internet. We gathered the site’s average critic scores and user scores for over 10,000 different video games and ranked them by the difference between each game’s two scores. This allowed us to find out which games are absolutely underrated by critics yet dearly loved by gamers, and vice versa. We then took this one step further and gathered
the average user review scores of games on Steam, to get a comparative dataset and to see what similarities and differences occurred.

Of course, the use of Metacritic’s data does come with certain caveats. Specifically, the User Scores should be taken with a pinch of salt because anyone can review and score any game – this leaves the system open to abuse from trolls and people with an especially aggressive dislike of specific games and franchises. However, there’s no doubt that the data provides an intriguing snapshot of the differences in perception and enjoyment between critics and average gamers.

Now, read on to learn about the results…

Loved by Gamers, Underrated by Critics – Top Three According to Metacritic

Let’s begin with the top three video games that are much loved by gamers but utterly reviled by critics based on Metacritic’s data. The results may surprise you!

The top game loved by gamers but underrated by critics is the shooter Torrente, a Spanish movie tie-in game from 2004. The critics tended to feel that the game was a low-quality imitation of Grand Theft Auto in some ways, but with inferior combat and a far less interactive open world (resulting in an average critic score of 36 out of 100). However, it seems that many gamers disagree with the negative critical verdict – one user even commented, “much better than GTA San Andreas without any doubt.” Overall, gamers gave the title an average score of 89 out of 100.

Interestingly, the other two games here follow a similar pattern: 2 nd place goes to March of the Penguins, another movie tie-in, and 3 rd goes to Yu Yu Hakusho: Spirit Detective, a manga tie-in. Despite both receiving great average user scores (81 for the former and 80 for the latter), both games have critic scores in the low 30s (34 and 33 respectively).

In the case of Spirit Detective, one critic went so far as to say that “the Japanese anime gets butchered here…”

Loved by Critics, Underrated by Gamers – Top Three According to Metacritic

Next, we’ll look at the other end of the spectrum of Metacritic’s data: the three games that critics loved, but gamers despised…

You may or may not find it surprising that all three of the video games loved by critics but underrated by gamers are massively successful titles. FIFA 20 and NBA 2K20, the games in 2nd and 3rd, are two of the world’s most well-known sports games (for example, according to Guinness World Records the FIFA franchise as a whole had sold over 260 million copies by 2018).

While these two games had critic scores of 79 and 77, their user scores were just 12 and 14.67. In the case of FIFA 20, many of its players have argued that the lack of updates in its Career Mode and Be A Pro Mode (and even its general gameplay) has led to the franchise stagnating in recent years. Maybe this is one of the causes of its poor user reviews.

Meanwhile, 1 st place goes to Warlords of New York, DLC for Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. Released by Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, The Division 2’s release was mixed. While it was the UK’s best selling game the week it came out, Ubisoft later admitted that the game’s sales weren’t as high as they had hoped upon release.

It seems that any goodwill for the Division 2 had dissipated by the time the aforementioned DLC was released. With an average user score of only 7.67 out of 100, the game appeared to have very few fans at this stage, with most people taking a very negative view of it. Of course, the exceptions here are the critics, who gave it a massive average score of 78.33.

Now that we’ve seen the top three, let’s branch out to the top 50 for both categories.

Loved by Players, Underrated by Critics – Metacritic

It’s definitely fair to say that this top 50 is primarily populated by titles that are a little less well-known in some regions around the world (particularly in comparison to the following top 50). Even Pokemon’s single appearance on this list is instigated by Mystery Dungeon, a spin-off of the main series.

There is also a continuation of what we saw in this category’s top three, with many of these games being tie-ins from franchises originating on other mediums like film and television; examples include Shrek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Yu-Gi-Oh! While games like these are often made primarily to raise brand awareness and to capitalize on their movie/TV releases, it seems that many gamers actually rate them as really good games compared to the critics.

Finally, let’s examine the top 50 games that are underrated by gamers but loved by critics.

Loved by Critics, Underrated by Players – Metacritic

Unlike the previous list, this ranking is littered with franchises that are massively popular in the West. For instance, no less than seven of these games are a part of the Call of Duty series, being either full games or DLC. Other iconic gaming franchises that were rated far kindlier by critics than by average gamers include Battlefield, Warcraft, and Pokemon. FIFA also deserves another mention after its appearance in the top three with FIFA 20: a little further down, FIFA 19 sits comfortably in 14th. Similarly, after NBA 2K20’s placement in 3rd, NBA 2K18 and 2K19 took 11th and 12th respectively.

In addition to this, Fortnite’s incredible popularity didn’t stop it from getting into this list, coming in at 49th. After seeing how the results stacked up using Metacritic, we thought it would be worth seeing how the rankings might look using data from another source. We, therefore, took the
time to gather the average user review scores of thousands of games on Steam, then compared them against their average Critic Scores. this allowed us to discover the games that Steam users love but critics don’t, and vice versa.

Loved by Gamers, Underrated by Critics – Steam

Upon seeing the results for this ranking, we quickly noticed that nearly all of Steam’s games in this top 50 differ from Metacritic’s (the only exception is Senran Kagura Reflexions in 2nd place).

We also noted that several controversial games made appearances in this ranking – for instance, 2015’s Hatred, which was condemned by journalists for its extreme wanton violence. Postal, another controversial series, managed to rank highly at various points throughout our study. Two of its titles can be found in this table here (namely Postal Redux in 26th and Postal 2 in 3rd ), while the original Postal reached 74th. In addition, Postal 2 appeared in the top 100 for Metacritic’s Loved by Gamers/Underrated by Critics.

Although some of the franchises found in this list are highly popular (such as Five Nights at Freddy’s and Final Fantasy) many of these games are a little less well-known. This is particularly true when compared to the following ranking…

Loved by Critics, Underrated by Gamers – Steam

Just like our equivalent ranking for Metacritic’s data, many spots in this table are occupied by highly popular franchises – these include NBA 2K, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Battlefield, The Sims, Destiny, and Monster Hunter, to name just a few.

This wasn’t the only similarity between Steam and Metacritic’s respective Loved by Critics/Underrated by Gamers rankings. There were also quite a few reappearances from certain games. Aside from ArcheAge, Artifact, and Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, it was especially intriguing to see all three NBA 2K games return (2K18, 2K19, and 2K20).

On top of this, we noticed that the Call of Duty series cropped up at various points for both Steam and Metacritic’s Loved by Critics/Underrated by Gamers lists, with three appearances in the former and seven in the latter. Are there any games that you think don’t get enough notice or praise from critics? On the other hand, are there any games that you believe are hugely overrated? Either way, let us know in the comments below.

Methodology

To gather the data for this study, we began with Metacritic. First, we scraped the critic scores (Metascores) and user scores for thousands of titles and averaged the scores of games that appeared on multiple platforms (as games released on more than one platform appear as separate listings).

Because Metacritic’s critic reviews give scores out of 100 while its user reviews give scores out of 10, we multiplied the user scores by 10 to make both ratings comparable. We then ranked every game by the total difference between their two scores.

We then gathered the data from Steam in a similar manner. Each game has an average user review score out of 100 – we scraped these results and then matched them to their Metascores to discover the games with the largest difference in scores from Steam users to critics.

If you’d like to see the full rankings of all the game scores that we gathered from Metacritic and Steam, click here.

Speaking of Best Games at 3D Aim Trainer, we’re happy to have Hyper Scape added to our Mouse Sensitivity Calculator on the aim training platform.

The post Gamers Best Hidden Gems & Most Overrated Duds appeared first on 3D Aim Trainer - Training for FPS Games Blog.

4 Pro Crosshairs for CSGO, How to Select the Best One

Choosing the right type, no! The best CSGO crosshair to play with may seem like a matter of personal preference; however, there are many aspects you should take into consideration before making that decision. Understand that fitting yourself with the right crosshair could help you learn game mechanics a lot faster and give you a slight edge in combat over your opponents. Even amongst pro players, there are many interesting differences between CSGO pro crosshair selection. In this guide, we are going to take a closer look at everything regarding the right crosshair for CSGO from types to overall settings.

Types of CSGO Crosshairs: Reticle Shape

First, let’s take a look at the different crosshair shapes available. 

CS:GO is unique when it comes to setting up your crosshair as it allows a wide array of customisations through console (default key ~) use. Taking into consideration all the different settings we have, only a few valid options are then available to choose.

The Cross Shaped CSGO Crosshair

Probably the most common amongst all crosshairs and arguably the best crosshair for CS GO, regardless of what game you’re playing. This is not surprisingly the most popular choice amongst pro and casual players. The cross is very diverse as it allows players to be accurate and retain proper vertical target alignment. Last but not least, CS:GO makes it possible to have a dot inside the cross, giving you high accuracy, while visual obstruction is mostly dependant on opacity and the chosen length of the lines of the cross itself. 

The cross is advised for most beginning players, as it is just an excellent and versatile choice. It will also serve you well in future FPS games to come. 

This reticle shape is used for the vast majority of real-life scopes and attachments, which shows how effective it is.

Examples:

(To get this crosshair, copy and paste the following in console: cl_crosshairalpha 255; cl_crosshaircolor 1; cl_crosshairdot 0; cl_crosshairgap -2; cl_crosshairsize 2; cl_crosshairstyle 4; cl_crosshairusealpha 1; cl_crosshairthickness 1; cl_crosshair_drawoutline 0;)

CSGO Dot Crosshair

Also common, but harder to use. To get the most out of this crosshair, a certain amount of experience in weapon recoil is necessary as crosshair bloom will have virtually no effect. If you are using a dot as your crosshair you won’t have any reference for vertical target alignment, which can be a drawback for beginning players. Although this crosshair provides you with the most screen real estate and thus almost no visual obstruction, it comes with disadvantages that can only be combatted by understanding recoil patterns and in general, having a solid aim.

(To get this crosshair, copy and paste the following in console: cl_crosshairalpha 255; cl_crosshaircolor 0; cl_crosshairdot 1; cl_crosshairgap -999; cl_crosshairsize 1; cl_crosshairstyle 4; cl_crosshairusealpha 1; cl_crosshairthickness 1; cl_crosshair_drawoutline 0; cl_crosshair_sniper_width 1; cl_crosshaircolor_b 0; cl_crosshaircolor_g 255; cl_crosshaircolor_r 0;)

The Square Shaped Crosshair

Not widely used, but a solid choice nonetheless. The square shape is commonly used in CS GO in combination with crosshair bloom. Also, the square itself is made very small so when standing still, it’s similar to using the dot. This tends to be used by people who spray their guns often up close, while always wanting to be as accurate as possible from a distance. The idea is that while spraying (and praying) you have less visual obstruction towards your target. With crosshair bloom turned on, it gets some vertical alignment, although as a reference it’s a lot less reliable than the cross. 

On the pro scene, you will rarely see this being used, so if you are not used to this kind of reticle shape, it’s not recommended.

Example:

(To get this crosshair, copy and paste the following in console: cl_crosshairsize “0.5”; cl_crosshairthickness “5”; cl_crosshairusealpha “1”; cl_crosshairalpha “200”;  l_crosshairgap “-5”; cl_crosshair_drawoutline “0”; cl_crosshair_outlinethickness “0”; cl_crosshairdot “0”; cl_crosshairstyle “4”; cl_crosshaircolor “5”; cl_crosshaircolor_r “50”; cl_crosshaircolor_g “250”; cl_crosshaircolor_b “50”;)

The T-Shape Crosshair

The T-shape crosshair trades a bit of your vertical alignment for more screen space, which is why quite a few players are slowly adopting this setting. However, just like the square crosshair shape, it’s still rare to see a pro player using it.

Example:

To activate the T-shape, just head over to the crosshair section in the settings menu. See below for a short guide on how to find it.

1. Colours and Alpha (aka opacity).

Now we have to take a look at the colour and opacity of our crosshair. 

When it comes to choosing the right color for your crosshair, there are a lot more don’ts than do’s. The general idea is to choose something bright so you can always spot it instantly. Bright green, yellow, blue, cyan, .. The color you choose must have good contrast with the ones already in the game. Don’t go for a black crosshair; you won’t be able to hide in the dark anymore. Don’t choose white or flashbangs will become your worst nightmare. 

Opacity is an entirely personal preference as it only changes the visibility of the crosshair. The less opaque (lower the Alpha), the more visual obstruction you would get. If you’re very comfortable with the position of your crosshair and if you’re very familiar with the game in general, then you should increase the opacity of your crosshair, so you never miss a frame or tell. For beginner-level players, it is advised to start with a very visible, bright crosshair with low opacity, that is guaranteed to be the best CSGO crosshair.

2. Crosshair bloom (aka static or dynamic crosshair)

Choosing a static or dynamic crosshair determines if crosshair bloom is turned off or on respectively. Crosshair bloom is for some players very helpful and for others just annoying as it manages whether or not your crosshair visually shows how accurate your next shot will be. This means as you crouch, walk, run, jump or shoot; your crosshair will change the size to let you know how accurate you are.

Most pro players play without crosshair bloom as they understand recoil patterns and the general weapon mechanics. Still, there is a good amount of pro’s who prefer it turned on.

If you are a beginning player, it’s advised to always have this option on, at least until you get a good understanding of CS:GO weapons.

Summary

Taking everything into consideration, we notice that for players at beginner level you really can’t go wrong with the classic cross, with or without a center dot or bloom enabled, it is %100 the best CSGO crosshair. Enabling crosshair bloom will make sure you get visual indications into the mechanics of your guns, which is, when starting a game, essential—accurate, excellent vertical target alignment aid, highly visible.

As your knowledge and experience progress and you feel yourself getting very comfortable with certain guns, you should for sure try out some other shapes and setups. Make sure that the reticle shape you choose fits your gameplay. You all about going up close and personal, try the square. You all about one-tapping heads, can’t go wrong with a dot.

1. Setting up your crosshair, a quick tutorial

First of all, we’re going to head over to the settings menu, then select the game tab and finally scroll down to or click the crosshair section. Here we can select what type of crosshair we can select:

By selecting any of the ‘Classic’ crosshairs, we get a more advanced menu which will make it a lot easier to explain all of the options made available to us.

The classic crosshair menu should look like this: 

Here you can play with a wide variety of options. The visual aid will show you your crosshair in different surroundings. Alternatively, you can also use the console to change the appearance of your crosshair. 

If you have other suggestions for the best CSGO crosshair selections, do leave a comment below.

Enjoy & go ham!

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The FPS Games Aim Training Platform just turned one

Two months ago, we turned one! 365 days of updates, product launches and improvements, new training modes to millions of our users eager to improve their aiming skills in FPS games.

So how did 3D Aim Trainer really happen?

The concept was first conceived in 2017 by Bernd, a passionate pro player, and gamer who you can spot on our leaderboards under the name Mobius. Bernd wanted to improve his aiming practice in a more efficient and effective way than simply playing FPS games online all the time, which was clearly very time consuming and ineffective for the main purpose of getting better at aiming as an isolated skill. He understood that in order to really improve and stand out, dedicated training routines and exercises are necessary.

He shared his idea with his brother, Miquel, and his longtime friend Robin and together they released the first version of 3D Aim Trainer in March 2017. So between the inventor (Bernd), the builder (Robin), and the seller (Miquel), 3D Aim Trainer was incepted with no other goal than to shoot for the stars. Soon enough, they were spotted by an investment fund that allowed them to scale their startup and officially launch as a company in 2019.

Many milestones were achieved in the last 12 months, our multi-platform aim trainer has served over 6 million users ranging from gaming enthusiasts to hard-core gamers in nearly 190 countries. Our numbers are getting higher not only in user count but also in the total time spent on the platform per user, which has tripled, thanks to continuous improvements and additions of new training arenas for a variety of skills and FPS games. We’re the first aim training platform to ever launch a multiplayer mode that allows you to take your training to the next level with 1v1 training drills up against the global community of like-minded aiming pros.

We’re very humbled by the love we’re getting from our community across the globe and in many languages! which includes top pro players, esports teams, and influencers. Our mobile apps which are specially designed to help you train your aim from anywhere and anytime are getting 4.5-star reviews on both the Google Play and Apple stores.

Reflecting on the past year, our co-founder Bernd: “I’m incredibly proud of what the team has achieved in its first year. When I began developing the training platform, it was to help me improve my aiming skills, as I felt there was not a sufficient product on the market. What began as a hobby has since turned into a global platform that has helped millions of gamers. We have big plans for our second year, including expanding our global reach and helping as many gamers as possible to improve their shooting skills and gain a competitive advantage.”

Facts you didn’t know about 3D Aim Trainer

. We’re based in Dendermonde in East Flanders, Belgium.

. We value our team and encourage them to work from anywhere in the world.

. Our co-founder Bernd is the main moderator and to this day makes sure to respond to every comment and suggestion by members in our Discord community. That’s how we learned how to build 3D Aim Trainer for you.

All the hard work has paid off, but we’re not stopping there since obviously we totally forgot about our birthday! We’ve been working super hard to make 3D Aim Trainer, Bigger, Faster, Stronger. There are so many projects in the pipeline and we hope you stick around to see what’s yet to come. 

We Aim to Conquer, what about you?

If you’re passionate about FPS gaming as much as we are and wish to polish your aiming skills, do join our Academy today to start tracking your progress.

The post Happy Birthday, 3D Aim Trainer! appeared first on 3D Aim Trainer - Training for FPS Games Blog.

Before diving into the video game world to explore the most toxic gaming communities, when speaking about video game communities, there was a time when video games were seen as a niche pastime for the few – now gaming is an everyday activity enjoyed by countless people all over the world. With so many people playing games, it has led to the creation of communities and fan bases springing up for individual games. Reddit provides a prime example of this, where the subreddits of larger games like Fortnite, Overwatch, and League of Legends have well over a million members each!

While most gamers are a credit to their respective communities, there is always a small subset that likes to indulge in toxic activity. This can range from derogatory and foul language to trolling and using hacks to gain an unfair advantage over other players.

There are various potential reasons why a player might exhibit toxic behavior. However, generally speaking, it comes down two root causes:

1. The player has a heavy emotional investment in the game and takes it very seriously, leading them to insult or lash out at other players depending on whether the match or game is going well or badly.
2. The player is looking to derive humour from the game by harassing or provoking other players into a reaction.

But which game communities engage in toxic activity the most? We analysed thousands of comments across the subreddits of the world’s most popular games to find out which communities most often engage in this kind of behaviour. We also found out how often people search online regarding toxic activity in each game.

Which video game community do you think will come out on top? Read on to take a look at our discoveries.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds turned out to have the community that exhibits the highest proportion of toxic behaviour. It ranked highly in most of our data points: it had the highest proportion of references to hacking, as well as the 2^nd highest proportion of general toxic behaviour like trolling and being banned. It also had the 2^nd highest proportion of online interest according to the data.

If you are interested in improving your aim in Call of Duty Warzone you’d better know that the 2^nd and 3^rd place in the final rankings belong to COD Warzone and Counter-Strike: GO respectively. In spite of these two being the only games to have an average score above 5 out of 10 (aside from PUBG), Warzone’s average is still over 1.6 points behind 1^st place, while CS: GO’s average is nearly 2.5 points lower – showing just how far ahead of the pack PUBG truly is!

At the other end of the table, Overwatch’s community displays the lowest proportion of toxic activity. Despite having the 8^th highest proportion of searches related to toxic behavior, it has the highest proportion of positive interaction by far, as well as the 4th lowest proportion of references to trolling, cheating, and bans.

Minecraft and FIFA aren’t far away in 2^nd and 3^rd place – Minecraft has the lowest swearing tendency and number of references to general toxic behaviour, while FIFA has the least mentions of hacking.

For a better understanding of how we calculated these scores, take a look at the rest of the study and read through our methodology section at the bottom of the page.

Next, let’s go more in-depth and analyze the rankings of each individual data point…

Game Subreddits with the Highest Proportion of Swear Words

The first factor we looked into was the number of swear words on each game’s subreddit comments versus the total number of comments that we analysed.

The Smash Bros. subreddit has by far the highest proportion of swearing out of all our games – over double that of Call of Duty Warzone in 2^nd place!

At the other end of the ranking, Minecraft’s subreddit had the least proportionate mentions of swearing. It was very closely followed by Roblox’s subreddit, which was only 0.003% behind.

Game Subreddits with the Highest Proportion of Hacking Mentions

Next, we checked out each subreddit’s proportion of references to hacking.

The game with the greatest proportionate mentions of hacking turned out to be PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. This is a fairly understandable result – cheating and hacking activity have been seen in PUBG even back when the game was in early access, and can still be witnessed online to this day. Of course, this isn’t to say that the game’s developers are doing nothing to combat hackers. For instance, in July 2020 anti-cheat technology was added to PUBG Mobile, to discourage cheating and to identify suspicious in-game behaviour.

The bottom of the ranking includes the games FIFA, Super Smash Bros., and League of Legends. This isn’t particularly surprising with regard to both Super Smash Bros. and League of Legends: in the case of the former, any modding of the game usually results in an immediate ban, while the latter has generally seen very few instances of hacking and scripting compared to other games (although it isn’t unheard of).

Game Subreddits with the Highest Proportion of General Toxic Activity

For our next factor, we delved into mentions of other kinds of toxic behavior, such as trolling, griefing, and references to players being banned.

Rocket League’s subreddit was found to have the highest proportion of references to general toxic activity. Despite cheating and hacking being largely unheard of in the game, it seems that, based on our Reddit data, the community makes up for this with a particularly high amount of trolling and general toxic discourse.

Once again, we find Minecraft at the bottom of the ranking. Just like with its low levels of bad language, it seems the Minecraft community doesn’t engage in a huge amount of griefing or trolling either, compared to other communities.

Game Subreddits with the Highest Proportion of Positive Interaction

For our fourth Reddit-focused ranking, we thought it would be worth taking a look at the other side of the coin. We searched for terms related to more positive behavior, including phrases like ‘well played’, ‘congrats’/’congratulations’, ‘gg’ and many others.

Overwatch’s subreddit comfortably takes 1^st place for this data point, with a positive proportion of nearly 15%! The game has done well in many of our rankings, with the 16^th and 18^th lowest proportions of swearing and general toxic activity respectively. Last year the game’s developer Blizzard Entertainment, implemented an endorsement system which they claimed reduced toxicity by 40%.

Meanwhile, it’s an interesting coincidence that Smash Bros., the community previously found to have the greatest tendency for swearing/aggressive language, also has the 2^nd lowest proportion of positive interaction in this data point.

Games with the Most Online Searches for Toxic Activity

For this data point, we looked at the average number of monthly searches for topics like hacking, rage quitting and for players being banned in each game; we then compared each game’s result to its total amount of monthly searches to get an adjusted proportion.

Top of the table for this ranking is Call of Duty Warzone, although PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is only 0.05% behind. Despite only being released in March 2020, Call of Duty Warzone has built up a massive following, thanks in part to the enduring popularity of the Call of Duty franchise and also for creating a Battle Royale game that players can’t get enough of. Considering the sheer size of its fanbase, It’s not a huge surprise that the game has attracted its fair share of toxic players!

Somewhat more surprising (given its high proportion of swearing and low proportion of positive interaction), is the fact that Super Smash Bros. has the lowest proportion of toxic online searches – it seems that, while the game’s players are often foul-mouthed, they don’t tend to take their toxic behavior as far as many other game communities.
Just above Super Smash Bros. is Valorant in 20th. A relatively new game (fully released in June 2020), it’s great to see that Valorant’s rapidly growing community surrounding seems to be exhibiting lower levels of toxic behavior than many other video game communities.

Methodology

Once we had gathered all the data we needed by scraping Reddit and using Google’s Keyword Planner for our individual categories, we normalised our results to give each game a score out of ten for every factor. To do this, we used the following minmax normalisation formula:

Result = (x-min(x))/(max(x)-min(x))

Once we had these scores, we combined them to find each game’s average, allowing us to create a final ranking that showcases which video game communities exhibit the most toxic activity.

Community Toxicity on Other Websites

Of course, there are various other sites and servers besides Reddit where video game communities gather (including their respective subsets of toxic members), with some of the more famous being Twitch, Discord and Steam.

They each have their own ways of dealing with toxic behaviour. In the case of Discord, their community guidelines recommend that you report anyone who posts messages involving the following:

• Harassment
• Spam messages
• Violating IP rights
• Sharing child pornography
• Glorifying or promoting suicide and self-harm
• Distributing viruses
• Threatening another user
• Sharing images of gore or animal cruelty

Users can also block or mute individuals whose content they don’t want to see. In addition, moderators can kick or ban users on their server if they’re breaking any rules or guidelines.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that sites aren’t working at further refining the ways in which they operate. For instance, March 2020 saw Twitch provide more powerful banning and blocking measures, allowing streamers to remove toxic individuals from their Followers list by blocking them and their Chat list by channel banning them.

On top of this, game developers themselves will often encourage good behavior in their games. For instance, DotA 2 (one of the most popular games on Steam) gives players a behavior score based on their interactions in the game: if you’re friendly and helpful you’ll have a high score, whereas if you continually ruin games and get reported you’ll have a low score. The game applies this when matching up players so that those who have a high behavior score are less likely to interact with those who have a low behavior score, limiting the negative effect that toxic players will have on the rest of the community.

Conclusion

While it’s clear that the level of toxic activity does vary from game to game, it’s also fair to say that no online games are entirely free from toxicity. However, there are certainly better ways of responding to and dealing with this kind of behaviour. For instance:

1. Report them. The majority of online games offer a way of reporting other players if they’re being toxic or otherwise deliberately trying to negatively impact the game.

2. Mute/block them. This depends on the game, but many give you the ability to either mute or block other players.

3. Ignore them. If possible, don’t let toxic players get inside your head. They’re hoping to force a reaction out of you – don’t give them what they want!

These days there are many well-known streamers and gamers who are try to play in a distinctly non-toxic way – they focus on giving out good vibes and they always encourage their teammates and audience to do the same. Examples include:

• CouRageJD
• Cuppcaake
• AnnieBot
• barcode_ow
• Upshall

Can you list the most toxic gaming communities you’ve ever been to?

And how much toxic behavior have you experienced while playing games online?

Let us know in the comment section below.

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