Rocket jumping, as it has been so aptly named, is the simultaneous combination of jumping and firing a rocket at the ground directly beneath you. A rocket jump, when executed properly, will propel you up to five times further or higher than you would normally be able to go/jump. It can be used for offense, defense, shortcuts, or even to get to items that would normally take minutes just to walk or teleport to. There are many different variations of the rocket jump, as well as many different uses for each variation. You will find that the time interval between when you jump and fire your rocket will affect the height and distance of your rocket jump. Additionally, the angle at which you fire the rocket will in turn affect the direction in which you are propelled.
Rocket jumps should be a part
of every Quaker's repertoire
|
|
The Beginning Rocket Jump
In order to familiarize yourself to rocket jumping, you should start practicing
the most basic steps. What I recommend doing is this: load up a single player
game. When you are in the game, type "god" at the console to enable god-mode,
then type "impulse 9" to give you all the weapons. Next, you want to go to an
open area with a high ceiling. When you've done that, go to the center of the
room and look straight down at the floor. When you're ready, hit jump and fire
simultaneously or as close as possible. (Generally you want to hit jump about
a millisecond earlier). As soon as you hit fire, look back up to eye level so
you can look around in mid air. Try to get a feel for what it's like to be
propelled upwards. At first, you might find yourself disoriented and unsure of
where you are when you are in the air. The most important thing is to stay calm
and keep a clear mind and steady hand - try not to move your hand much. When
you've gotten your timing down and don't have to think too much about the
chronology of the keys, you can move on to the standard "running" rocket jump.
 
Just point down and press your
jump and shoot keys together
|
|
The Standard Rocket Jump
The "standard" or running rocket jump is by far the most popular rocket jumping
technique used. The combination of keys to achieve this rocket jump is very much
like that of the basic rocket jump, except with this maneuver you will be running
forward when executing it. While holding down forward, look straight down quickly,
hit jump and fire, then look back up. If you want to make things easier on you at
first, don't look back up. The fact that you are moving forward makes the jump a lot
more difficult. There is a lot more timing and coordination involved, so be patient.
To practice this rocket jump, load up a single player game and turn on god-mode and
impulse9. Find spots on the level where you would not normally be able to jump up to.
(i.e. at the start of e1m1 - try to rocket jump up to the ledge where the green armor
sits) Reminder: The time interval between when you jump and fire determines the
height and distance of your rocket. In addition, for a standard rocket jump, you
always want to aim straight down (as far down as you can look) when doing the rocket
jump.
The Backwards Rocket Jump
The backward rocket jump is used mainly in situations where the standard rocket jump
is impractical. If you have not noticed already, you cannot look directly beneath you.
The lowest point at which you can look is still a few degrees ahead of your feet.
This makes it harder to rocket jump to a ledge that's further away, horizontally…
unless, of course, you perform a backwards rocket jump. With a backwards rocket jump,
you can be propelled further horizontally than a forward rocket jump, by changing the
angle at which you shoot the ground beneath you. The higher you aim your rocket at the
ground, the more horizontally you will be propelled, and vice versa.
 
See that guy escaping down the hall?
He won't get away that easily!
|
|
Next:
Underwater Tricks
