Latest revision as of 02:33, 2 July 2013

Advanced Tricks

Magic Framerates

VTMB calculates velocities and acceleration on a per frame basis, so the higher your framerate the easier it will be to gather and maintain speed. By default, the game sets the max framerate (fps_max) to 300. The bad side from having such a high framerate (if your system can actually achieve it) is doors now become the hardest enemies to beat. At anything higher than about 150fps, simply touching a door that's opening will cause it to immediately change direction and can trap you inside of it. If this happens, the chances of getting unstuck are pretty slim and can end a run in a heartbeat.

The ideal way to balance this effect is to limit your maximum framerate to between 100 and 120fps. This will limit the impact of touching doors while still allowing good acceleration and speed.

This still doesn't solve the final issue: physics puzzles. At various points in the game, the player is supposed to push an object to solve a puzzle. In these instances, lowering the framerate cap to 60 will allow the objects to be moved properly. After going above 60, physics objects gain more weight and ground friction, making it near impossible to move the object if framerates are high enough (i.e. 100+).

Bunny Hopping

By combining the speed gains from air control acceleration and repeatedly jumping, it's possible to move at speeds averaging between 350 and 400 (and beyond). Jumping just as you land serves two purposes:

• Friction - This is used by the engine to keep your character from moving faster than his/her max speed, but can only occur while standing on a solid object.
• Speed Boost - By jumping as soon as you land, the game gives your character a small surge of speed forward.

To simplify, jumping as soon as you land avoids the slowdown from friction and also gives your character a small surge of forward velocity. This also presents a bit of a catch-22, since you gain speed from staying in the air longer BUT get multiple speed boosts from jumping more often. To get the best results, it's best to use a full jump for the first jump (or two), then keep the hopping pattern with smaller jumps after that. Binding jump to both the spacebar and the mousewheel will allow you to easily perform both style of jumps.

Normal bunny hopping runs will consist of your player moving in a constant S-pattern, with smooth transitions between turning left and right. This doesn't always have to happen, as switching between left and right is only limited based on how fast you can change strafes and move the mouse. The best acceleration comes from sharp turning at the start and then long sweeping turns as speed builds up. Being able to balance moving in a controlled S-pattern and still moving in as straight a line as possible will take practice, since moving faster means nothing if you're not moving towards your goal. Another technique to build up speed in a small hallway is to rapidly switch back and forth between left and right during a jump. If timed correctly, this can gain as much acceleration as a sharp initial sweep at the expense of a high learning curve.

Aside from simply affecting how fast you can accelerate, your framerate can affect bunny hopping in another way. Unlike the original Quake, all jumping has to be timed manually. There is no way (without scripting) to automate jumping, nor can a jump be primed (Quake allowed players to hold jump before touching the ground) to get perfect timing. Higher framerates make timing the jump upon landing much easier (less control lag, larger window for success). Using the mousewheel to jump and rolling it just before landing can increase the success of proper timing, but even at framerates as low as 60 it's easy to mess up.

Bunny hopping can also be performed while ducking. The biggest difference is that you must turn slower (resulting in a wider circular arc) or all speed will be lost in an instant. Turning in a wider arc leaves almost no room for acceleration, so ducking is only recommended to get through doors and safely pass underneath ceiling props.

Circle Jump

By adding in forward to standard air control concepts while on the ground, you're able to get a burst of acceleration before attempting either a distance jump or a bunny hopping run.

1. Start walking forward
2. Hold a strafe key
3. Turn the mouse in the same direction as your strafe key
4. Jump

While it may sound difficult, performing a circle jump is a lot easier after a little practice. To start off, your target destination should be at a 90 degree angle to your crosshair (to your direct left or right). After pressing and holding forward, press/hold the strafe key that will move you towards your destination, then rapidly turn in the same direction. Timing the jump is probably the hardest step, but nearly every time you'll be about 20-30 degrees BEFORE aiming directly at your target.

• Single landing point - If you're doing a circle jump to extend your jump to a certain spot, continue to hold the forward/strafe keys and turn in a slower, more controlled motion after jumping. This will give a smooth acceleration and minimize your chances of skewing too far to the side.
• Starting a Bunny Hopping Run - The key here is to let go of the forward key just after jumping. This will allow you to keep looking forward while building up speed. Letting go of forward isn't entirely necessary, but keeping circular motion will require you to maneuver your aim much more chaotic. Remember that your movement keys always have to point towards the center of your circle, so if you hold forward AND use a strafe key, you will have to look at a 45 degree angle INTO the circle before acceleration can begin, then turn in a controlled manner. Switching directions while still holding forward will then require you to flick the mouse quickly to a 45 degree angle in the other direction. The chaotic nature of flicking the mouse back and forth while holding forward for bunny hopping runs makes getting enough speed and keeping it a huge hassle.

Players adept at performing circle jumps will find that the trick can be performed without having to be at a full 90 degree angle to start. Once you can perform a circle jump, it is possible to walk straight at something, then flick the mouse either left or right about 45 degrees, then quickly flick in the opposite direction and do a circle jump that gets almost the same speed results as doing it from a standstill at 90 degrees.

Ramp Sliding

Find any object that has a flat, angled surface, then collide with it while traveling in speeds above 500 (estimated, actual speed is unknown). If done correctly, friction won't start to slow you down for about 2-3 seconds. Some of your speed may be lost initially upon landing, but the rest will be saved until friction starts to take effect. During the actual slide, your movement physics behave as if you're in the air, allowing you do to some minor steering. However if you turn too far the sliding effect will be broken. On ramps that are small, or where you manage to land near the top, your speed will allow you to be launched off of the ramp itself.

This effect can be done going either up or down a ramp.

• Going up a ramp requires you to hit the ramp while either still rising from a jump or going straight. If you begin to fall from a jump and hit a ramp it's not guaranteed to stop the slide, but the chances of success decrease the faster you fall.
• Going down a ramp requires you to be falling and still moving forward at about 450. However, like moving up a ramp, coming down too fast can stop the slide from taking place.

Celerity Boosting

Activating Celerity will temporarily increase your character's base speed by a certain factor depending on the current level of the discipline.

• Level 1 - 1.19x
• Level 2 - 1.37x
• Level 3 - 1.62x
• Level 4 - 1.96x
• Level 5 - 2.5x

Start by using Celerity, then jump and deactivate all disciplines to temporarily keep the speed factor without the game slowdown. By itself there isn't too much this can be used for, but combined with other tricks this can have interesting results. Which leads to the next section...

Combining Tricks

By combining tricks or stringing them together, the effects can be stacked (although not always linearly). There are tons of ways to combine different tricks and each combination will have it's own use. Understanding each trick will make combinations easier to come up with. A few examples are:

1. Circle jump or wallstrafing into a bunny hopping run to start off with higher speed.
2. Wallstrafing into an air controlled left/right turn and landing in another wallstrafe to get past two walls at a 90 degree angle without losing speed.
3. Circle jump into a hitbox shift (duck) to land on an object or touch a level trigger normally out of reach.
4. Bunny hopping into a ramp slide to preserve speed.
5. Celerity boost into a circle jump into a bunny hopping run to start off with extreme speeds.
6. Celerity boost into a circle jump into a ramp slide to launch yourself higher than a normal jump or to cross a large gap.