Mastering Strafing: A Comprehensive Guide

Strafing Example

What is Strafing?

Strafing, a fundamental technique in gaming, involves the precise alternation of keys and mouse movements while airborne.
By toggling between left and right movement keys, players can effectively gain velocity in mid-air.

The velocity increase achieved through strafing is proportional to the player's current speed on any given frame.
The goal is to minimize key overlap during strafe transitions, as there's a brief period of dead air time when switching directions.

Over time, players have developed strategies to mitigate this loss and maximize their velocity climb.

Evaluating Your Strafes: Introducing SSJ

One key metric players use to assess their strafing prowess is the "Speed Sixth Jump" (SSJ).
As the name suggests, this metric indicates the speed reached on the 6th jump by printing it to chat.
SSJ offers insights into the effectiveness of strafing up to that point. Initial strafes, often referred to as "first few jumps," yield the most significant speed gains due to engine factors like wishvelocity.
SSJ was designed to provide a snapshot of a player's speed progress by outputting their speed to chat at a specific jump count.

As the game's development progressed, the SSJ plugin gained additional functionalities such as height delta, gain percentage, efficiency, and synchronization.

Another plugin, Jhud, emerged as a visual representation of SSJ, displaying jump-specific speeds and using color indicators to denote the effectiveness of strafing: Red (bad), Yellow (decent), Green (good), and Cyan (excellent).

Optimizing Your Strafing Technique: Gain, Efficiency, and Nulling

Gain Example

To excel in strafing, understanding metrics like gain and efficiency is essential. Gain refers to the percentage increase in speed achieved during a jump relative to the highest attainable speed.

Efficiency, on the other hand, quantifies the distance traveled during a jump concerning the maximum potential distance.

Nulling Example
Nulling is a technique that players use that makes use of ghosting, or in other words, being able to, or not being able to press multiple keys at once.

This will make it so that while D is held down, A cannot be triggered, and vice versa.

Nulling ensures that the ticks elapsed between switching from one strafe direction to another will nearly always be 0, meaning no key overlap, and less speed loss on transitions.

Counterstrafing: Taming Excess Speed

Counterstrafing is a technique deployed when a player accumulates excessive speed and requires a rapid tap of the opposite strafe key or a flick in the opposite direction to taper off the speed.
This maneuver allows players to maintain control and prevent uncontrollable acceleration.

Exploring Advanced Strafing Techniques

While basic strafing forms the foundation of movement in many games, there are alternative strafing styles to explore.

Off-styles, for instance, deviate from the norm and offer unique advantages.

These styles may involve unconventional key combinations, timings, or movement patterns. Off-styles include many different methods of gameplay such as: W-Only, Sideways, Half-Sideways, A-Only, D-only, etc. Gamers looking to expand their skill set can delve into these off-styles to enhance their gameplay.

For an in-depth tutorial covering all the intricacies of strafing, consider referring to this comprehensive guide: Strafing Tutorial.

Mastering the art of strafing involves a combination of precise key inputs, thoughtful mouse movements, and a deep understanding of velocity mechanics.

Whether you're aiming to improve your speedrunning times or enhance your overall gaming experience, honing your strafing skills can make a substantial difference.

Remember, practice makes perfect, and with dedication, you can become a strafing virtuoso in the virtual realm.