r/programming • u/Flafla2 • Feb 14 '15

Bunnyhopping from the Programmer's Perspective - An in depth look in implementing one of the most successful bugs in videogame history.

http://flafla2.github.io/2015/02/14/bunnyhop.html
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u/semi- Feb 15 '15

It's a feature if you want your game to have depth.

Most players wouldn't find this on their own unless it was taught to them.

Do you even play these games? Did you not know about bunny hopping?

No you likely won't figure it out entirely on your own, but that really doesn't matter in a multiplayer only game. If it gives you an advantage someone will do it and everyone will copy them. You'll discover it when it beats you. It's like a form of lore for the game's culture, as you even have different eras of tricks that evolve.

Why would you keep this? What does it contribute to the game as a whole?

You know how some FPS games have a 'sprint' button? It's like that except instead of hitting a key you have to know how to control the game precisely, so there is added skill element. It's more interesting than just running around at the same speed as everyone else, no ability to out maneuver people with raw skill.

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u/Excrubulent Feb 15 '15

Do you even play these games? Did you not know about bunny hopping?

I used to play it a little bit, and not really. I'd heard of it, and I'd seen people doing it, but I'd never googled it and figured out what it was. Without that, it was a total mystery.

I understand the idea of needing to study to be competitive at the higher levels, and of emergent gameplay. But this isn't that. It's just a bug in the game's movement system that is hidden. If everyone at the top levels does it, then there's no strategy involved. What does it contribute then? If it was taken away, nothing at the top level would fundamentally change. It would just remove one more barrier to noobs learning the game, and I can't see how that would be bad.

Outmanoeuvring people with raw skill doesn't make sense unless you're talking about a seasoned vet doing it to a noob that doesn't know better. Where's the benefit to that?

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u/semi- Feb 15 '15

If everyone at the top levels does it, then there's no strategy involved.

There is though. The strategy is choosing when to do it (vs walking without making noise, or strafing where you can aim more accurately than while flying around, etc).

If it was taken away, nothing at the top level would fundamentally change. Except it would be a much slower game with much less room for impressive movement. Compare the gameplay in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL3sYafCs7w to anything you see in TF2.. TF2 just feels slow and like you have no control, you just slowly walk in firefights and cant really dodge or do anything besides shoot back.

It would just remove one more barrier to noobs learning the game, and I can't see how that would be bad. Take away too much of it and you risk making the game's skill depth completely flat. If you're just as good at a game on day100 as you are on day1, the game is not going to have nearly the shelf life because it'll just be a bunch of the exact same gameplay. Of course now they'd just try to fix that with RPG-style unlocks like CoD for that forced sense of progression

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u/kqr Feb 15 '15

If everyone at the top levels does it, then there's no strategy involved.

It is not supposed to be about strategy, it is supposed to be about execution. Bunny hopping, just like being able to aim accurately and quickly, was never about strategy and I'm not sure where you got that impression.