Counter-Strike: Source - Need some help

[Orgull]

Okay I played CS:S for the first time today. I spectated for a bit, then jumped in. And got killed over and over again. There was one helpful guy who told me how to use the buy menu, but I can't figure out how on earth to survive my first firefight.

Case in point, I bought a machine gun, came around a corner and there's a terrorist facing away from me... np I figure. I unload all my ammo into his back. He turns, kills me with two shots. What the hell? I should have dropped him long before he could even turn around?

Can anyone give me some pointers as to... 1) What's a good "loadout" to start with, what should I buy?  2) How do I survive a firefight?

I seem to suck really badly, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Chesspieceface]

Buy armor every round. Buy-8-1(or 2 if you can afford it).

The Mp5 is a good reliable cheap smg I think b-3-3(?)

Learn the Deagle N-1-7(?) it is the most powerful handgun and great in a pinch.

Buy ammo by pressing period and comma (for secondary) in a buy zone.

Don't worry about 'nades yet.

Fire only in 2 and three shot bursts unless creating suppression fire for teammates.  Take a second to aim even under fire, the game rewards accuracy.

Stay behind people who know what they are doing, but do not block their path of egress.

Just try to be a good teammate for a while and you'll see some amazing stuff.  Not dying is nearly as good as getting 1:1 kill/deaths.

Everyone dies a lot in the beginning, the game has a distinct feel and it takes some acclimation.

Use sound and radar to your advantage.  Either use 5.1 if you have it or wear headphones.  It gets very easy to know where your enemies are coming from.

Remember where you see people camping on the various maps.  There will be someone there frequently, better safe than sorry.  And on that note, learn the maps.

That's all just stream of consciousness, hope it helps.  Happy to answer specific questions.

[gameoverman]

My general CS(non Source) approach when I was new:

Find a couple of basic 'buy' scripts and customize them for your preferences, so you can buy your gear with a couple of keypresses. This gets you 'playing' faster, you don't want to waste time fiddling with the buy menu while your team is out fighting- that's time you could be out there watching and learning from them.  I don't know that scripts for this are available for CS Source(since I don't have the game I haven't look for them) but I'd be surprised if they aren't.  However you do it, DON'T waste time shopping if you can avoid it, get your gear and move out ASAP.

I'd suggest picking a map and playing only on that map till you feel confident that you know what you are doing(ie, no longer a newbie).  I liked Dust for this purpose, I guess CS Source has few maps anyways so far.  The idea is that at first you want to concentrate on leaning to move, aim, shoot, etc- not learning how to play particular maps. By playing one map over and over, the map becomes second nature to you and you can focus on fundamentals.

Keep an eye on the messages so you can see what your team is doing, if everyone is rushing you don't want to lag behind.  If everyone is going to site A, you don't want to wander to site B.

Whether your team is rushing or not, never jump into the lead pack. You want to be in the back of the middle pack.  This way, you are close enough to the action to see how to play it, but not so close that you are one of the first killed- thereby learning nothing.

[Chesspieceface]

Following up on gameoverman's post, a good map for repetitive play is de_dust2.  Though de_dust is more common it is quite unbalanced in favor of the CT's.

[Creepy_Smell]

Fire only in 2 and three shot bursts unless creating suppression fire for teammates.  Take a second to aim even under fire, the game rewards accuracy.

This is highly important.

If you just hold down the button and go full auto you will spray bullets everywhere, not just where you are aiming.

The guns have different recoil so some are more forgiving when going full-auto.

What I did when starting was find a ct/t gun I was good with and stick with that gun for a while. Once I was comfortable with it I went onto another gun. I still can't snipe for anything, but I dont mind being a medium to close range man.

[Jack Burton]

You'll also have much more accuracy if you stop moving.  If you're just starting out don't jump around and move and dodge while firing (like TacOps players).  You'll die.  First learn to stop, kneel, aim and fire (aim for the head).  Once this works well for you (you'll probably only get 1 kill this way on 1 on 1 confrontations) you'll get a feel for how the weapons work while not moving.  As you get better with accuracy you can then try moving some more and maybe dodging.  This really helped me get on my feet.  

Don't try kneeling against a sniper though.