Strafe 50

Very simple question, how do you Strafe 50? I hear it all the time and I know it helps you move faster at the expense of being able to turn, but how does one actually pull it off?

You need to keep the following functions down all at once:

key_speed (or have autorun)
key_up
key_straferight (or key_strafeleft)
key_strafe
key_right (or key_left) 

Personally I press either of these combinations:

Space (run), D (forward), S (strafe right), mouse2 (strafe), ~ (right)

Space (run), D (forward), Z (strafe left), mouse2 (strafe), Control (left) 

Usually the first one, because it's more comfortable (closer to the way my hand is during normal movement).

You have to map strafe and at least one of the turning keys close to your movement keys and then switch into position whenever you need to run with strafe50.

eh, moving a mouse to the left or to the right will be much easier than key_right or key_left

if you use AWSD with mouse, you should press <A> + <W> + <RightMouse>(strafe on) and move a mouse to the left

Or, you could have e.g. "strafe on" and "turn left" bound to the same button (like I have), then you have strafe50 just by running normally but pushing down an extra button with the pinky. :-)

The disadvantage with this setup, of course, is that strafe50 will only be possible while straferunning facing either left or right, not both.

Kristian Ronge said:
The disadvantage with this setup, of course, is that strafe50 will only be possible while straferunning facing either left or right, not both.

You can have strafe on a mouse button as well as on a key, so it would be possible to use that method and still be able to do it in the other direction using the mouse button.

entryway said:
eh, moving a mouse to the left or to the right will be much easier than key_right or key_left

Only if you have a lot of space to move the mouse over and don't plan on making long continuous sr50 runs.

I use the method myk describes, albeit with different key bindings (WASD + Ctrl and Alt; strafe-on is the right mouse button). I have always found it very easy to implement - it just requires a minimum of manual dexterity and practice. Given a free choice I'll generally s50 to the right (facing left), but the fact that I can do it either direction is often useful. (I just need to make sure I keep the nail of the little finger on my left hand trimmed quite short!) With a little extra manual dexterity, it is also quite easy to make slight course adjustments by coming out of s50 briefly. (I'd guess this is harder if using a set-up where you need to be moving the mouse, as this is immediately interpreted as turning if you release the strafe-on key.)

I have never even tried using mouse-induced s50 (i.e. by moving the mouse sideways while pressing the strafe-on key). It just seems like an odd way to do it, and won't you run out of space on the mouse mat during a lengthy s50 run? Though I suppose anything can be made to work and feel natural with practice.

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated. Does anyone know of a good strafe-50 only jump in a level that I can practise with?

hmm, maybe you are right. but it's not necessary to move a mouse too fast for effect. only 4-5 sm for one side on MAP12. normally i always used it in multiplayer on map01 (long time ago) or on short distance in singleplayer.

I use WASD and hold Left Ctrl which is set for "strafe on" and "Turn Left (or right)" when i need Strafe50. I mostly use S50 to the left (looking to the right) You can jump over 192 units wide gap. (without wallrun or monster stuck assistance). tha classic gaps in ultimate doom to try this are the ones in E1M4 (in front of exit) and in E4M3 (from start to exit building)

Phil1984 said:
Does anyone know of a good strafe-50 only jump in a level that I can practise with?

A very good and recent example of a strafe50 only trick jump is Esselmap I: Testing Facility. Check the Misc. Demos thread for demos from Belial and myself to see where to make the jumps (you can jump from -- at least -- two places).

E1M4 is surely one of the best known (see the compet-n Speed record if you don't know where it is). It is quite a difficult one even with strafe-50 (you need to be accurately lined up for it), so you'll definitely know you've used strafe-50 if you manage it.

Oh, yes, IWAD maps. Forgot about those, heh. The jump in E4M3 is much harder IMHO, give that a try, too. :-)

Gusta said:

tha classic gaps in ultimate doom to try this are the ones in E1M4 (in front of exit) and in E4M3 (from start to exit building)

not good/ease examples. tricks on these levels need a some luck for doing

Kristian Ronge said:

The disadvantage with this setup, of course, is that strafe50 will only be possible while straferunning facing either left or right, not both.

slightly offtopic but i can straferun to the right no problem, but have serious difficulty doing it to the left ... guess i'm a bit of a zoolander :-)

haevnt figured out my perfect strafe 50 key combo yet, tried a couple but i'm probably hampered by my freaky EASD control setup

edit: thinking about it, i could swap my turn left/right keys seen as i never use them otherwise, so i'd use my strafe-left finger to turn-right, suddenly seems so simple. in a normal persons WASD setup that'd probably be Q turn-right and E turn-left.

cycloid said:

in a normal persons WASD setup that'd probably be Q turn-right and E turn-left.

Except that that has a rather big drawback if you record using Doom2.exe, so I doubt many regular recorders actually use that precise set-up.

Grazza said:
E1M4 is surely one of the best known

The ledge jump is also fun for simple sr50 practice.

That one doesn't require strafe50 though - in fact it is quite easy with just strafe40.

entryway said:

not good/ease examples. tricks on these levels need a some luck for doing

I just mentioned those as a classic jumps that cant be done with Strafe40 only. I remember when I did E4M3 jump for the first time many years ago, that made me believe that Strafe50 really works and is really faster than Strafe40.

Grazza said:

I have never even tried using mouse-induced s50 (i.e. by moving the mouse sideways while pressing the strafe-on key). It just seems like an odd way to do it, and won't you run out of space on the mouse mat during a lengthy s50 run? Though I suppose anything can be made to work and feel natural with practice.

Yea yea, pretty odd, but natural for me :) I always strafe with mouse2 (OK, I'm telling this like 10th time), and strafe50 in not that hard to reach this way, but when I need to do a hard jump or something, I also press A or S (which are mapped for SL and SR). Mouse sensitivity in my cfg is high enough to run quite a long distance without running out of mousepad. And if it is running out, I just quickly change the strafing direction and run further. Yes, that's not a speedrunner's typical setup, but it's grown into me so I'm not changing anything :)

for strafe50 I recommend a strafe50 button which on my computer is turn right + strafe on. For strafe50 to the left I can drag the mouse while pressing strafe on. This works pretty well for a quick boost, but for long distances I would eventually run out of mouse space. In that case I usually try to straferun the other way or just use strafe40. Also, it isn't that big a problem to run out of mouse space, just lift up the mouse and start over again, so you will be using strafe40 for a while.

I have Q/W as turn keys, A/S as strafe keys and left alt as strafe on, and so my fingers starting from A/S go up to either Q/A or W/S, my thumb pressing alt - they're all in a nice line that I can just hit without thinking about it (obviously pressing the run forward button on the mouse at the same time!) It was a happy accident that this worked - I'd been using this layout for about four years before I even realised what strafe50 was and how it made a difference :)

One thing I've noticed about the strafe50 jumps on E1M4/E4M3 is that they seem to depend not only on the angle you leave the platform - obviously it needs to be perpendicular to minimise the jump distance - but also it seems to depend on the length of the run-up. For example on E1M4 it seems better to start off somewhere near the middle of the modified swastika rather than right at the back of that room. Am I imagining this?

no you are not.

Yes, that matches my experience too. In addition to the obvious point of having a long enough run-up (or, if available, a thing glide/wobble) to reach full speed, there is the point that the precise location where your footfalls are (i.e. the player's location at each gametic) effects how much of a "levitation" effect you get. I guess that the door in E1M4 is a poor starting point for the run-up from the point of view of the levitation effect.