Bhop revival, Strafe Jumping & Movement tips

[Riv]

FOREWARD
This has gotten pretty long and detailed.  I considered replying to the old bhop thread but it was about 6 months old.  I also have some new thoughts that were not discussed in the last thread.  I was wondering if anybody is still interested in learning more about bhop/movement.  If you are, please keep reading as this is for you.  You probably know most of this already, but it may be new for some.  I don't think I'll ever be the player I used to be, but my brain has retained some knowledge of the game from years ago and more is coming back.  This may sound silly considering how long we've all been playing the game, but check it out and let me know what you think.

INTRO
Although using cl_autobhop 1 on a bhop enabled server is a great way to start learning how to get to top speed and swing your mouse (without having to be a perfect-time drummer metronomically hitting spacebar), it doesn't really get to the key of moving fast: Acceleration.  Learning the mouse movements and how to jump far distances effectively is and should be a more important skill than learning to hold the spacebar down.  What if I told you you could go faster?  In a bhop enabled server you should be able to get the top speed in 1-3 jumps very easily (if you are strafe jumping with the correct mouse movement), especially while holding space. 

But what is strafe jumping and what does it do for you?

Strafe jumping is using your strafe keys along with your mouse swing/jump, and often uses the forward key also in certain situations.  This allows you to jump a greater distance from stand-still than you normally could (i.e. acceleration).  The real benefit of learning how to strafe jump correctly allows you not only to get to maximum velocity in a few quick jumps, but on a bhop-disabled server you can get back up to speed easily if you miss an occasional jump, run into somebody, etc.

This brings me to the main benefit of learning to strafe jump/bhop (which is to bhop freely on a bhop-disabled server):  You run into an invisible wall once you reach the max speed.  Once you hit the wall you completely lose all momentum you had and your next jump is just a regular forward jump, because the game physics won't allow you to accelerate any further.  The larger problem is the bhop cap speed, not the fact that you have to press space on time repeatedly (which can be learned, btw).  So it is imperative for someone wanting to learn to move quickly how to use your mouse movement, forward and strafe keys to go along WITH your bhop, whether you hold the spacebar down or press it to jump.

*TEST YOUR SKILL*  A good test to see how well you strafe jump is to jump across the little water canal in the yard of Well.  You should be able to jump over it as an HW from standing still.  No crouching to make it across.  Will be easier to start as a Sol or light class if you are new to strafe/distance jumping.

If you want to bhop fast, another thing to add to your jumping inventory is the crouch.  Once you get your mouse movements down, you realize you reach the cap sometime within the first few jumps (depending on your mouse swing and use of strafe).  You know your next jump you will hit the cap so you crouch instead and you seem to keep your speed because you've made the slow jump last shorter because you are touching the ground quicker due to crouching (or do you actually maintain some of the speed? I don't really know, but it IS faster).  This allows you to reduce the amount of momentum lost from a regular jump (hitting the cap).  You will get a feel for this as your practice continues and notice that you don't seem to come to a dead stop anymore.  Add your strafe jump to this (if you slow down at all) and you've got a wicked set of movement skills.

CONCLUSION
An automatic transmission can be an easier way to learn how to drive, but if you get skilled at driving a manual transmission, you can eventually outperform the automatic.  I'm not sure if you can relate this exactly to bhop (you cannot manually improve on the timing of holding down spacebar, but you can learn to swing your mouse the right way and coordinate it to when you hit the spacebar for example), however nobody can dismiss the fact that just holding spacebar alone is not going to get you bhopping anywhere fast.  I'm not trying to bash or belittle anyone who uses cl_autobhop 1, because I use it all the time also.  There are definite benefits to it, but for those who have dismissed driving a manual transmission, if you give it a shot it could help your overall driving coordination.  Just some thoughts.

It's difficult to create a guide by text alone, as demos/spectating will show the proper mouse movements, but hopefully somebody found this to be of some help.  Whether you are on a bhop-enabled or disabled server, if applied properly this will help you move with more speed.  Please let me know if I made a mistake or missed something, I don't claim to be perfect, just wanted to help.  By the time I finished this I already thought of a few other things, but I'll wait to see the response.  I'm willing to go to a server and demonstrate this if anyone is interested.

RiVeN

[klumy]

Nice guide riv, thank you for taking the time to make it!

[DaFonseKa]

I think I need a lot of help! 

[Bishop]

Here are some additional tips on bhop/movement and concing.

http://churchofconc.servehalflife.com/CofC.php?tab=tutorial

For the bhop tutorial, click the tab in the top right.  The other tabs along the top have information about concing.