Do you know what separates the best players from everyone else? The ability to use all CS:GO mechanics to advantage. Movement is one of such mechanics. Today, CS.MONEY Blog digs into movement mechanics and explains why it is not as simple as it seems at first glance.
Basic movement
Press W to run. It’s simple, right? No. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive engine works through acceleration. This is what underlies movement mechanics in the game. The fact is that when you press W, you start to pick up speed. After about half a second, you max out with your chosen weapon, after which you move at a constant speed.
But what determines top speed? When movement starts, the player model encounters friction in addition to acceleration. This force moves us in the opposite direction. When acceleration and friction equalize, maximum speed is reached.
On top of this CS:GO fundamental, several conditions are applied. For example, the maximum fall damage is 695. Why? Because in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the maximum speed is set at around 3500. You can get such damage by falling from about 180 in-game meters.
Main part one more time: in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in addition to speed, there is acceleration. This is very important to remember in order to further understand the entire movement in the game.
Gaining speed
As already mentioned, the player model gains full running speed in about half a second. After that, friction catches up with the acceleration. In this process, there is only one interesting detail to be noted: acceleration is non-linear. Say, there’s a knife. With it, your movement speed is 250 units per second—a maximum running speed. We have already talked about units in the article about the in-game distances, but briefly, one unit is equal to one inch or 2.54 centimeters.
So, a player takes a knife and starts running. The player model will accelerate from 0 to 50 units per second in 0.032 seconds. It’s swift! Even Usain Bolt accelerates much more slowly. Speeding up from 200 to 250 units per second will take much longer. This will take approximately 0.27 seconds. The difference is almost ten times.
Special movements
Let’s note two particular movement types: climbing stairs and bunny-hopping. Using stairs applies a few rules to the model. Firstly, movement speed depends on where the camera is fronted and on the lateral movement. You can climb the stairs much faster if you look up and hold forward and sideway moving keys simultaneously. Secondly, jumping always “boosts” you off the stairs and pushes the player model away at a reasonably high speed. This technique can be used to quickly descend a ladder or throw grenades from a distance.
The term ‘bunny-hop’ refers to a continuous series of jumps without loss of speed. This jumping style goes back to the days of Quake I. Quake and Counter-Strike series both have the same bunny-hop mechanics. But there is one important nuance. In competitive CS:GO, bunny-hop is cut badly. The maximum bunny-hop speed is limited to 286 units per second. It’s still more than with a knife, but in general, a continuous bunny-hop in CS:GO makes no sense.
Stopping and slowing down
Stopping is much more interesting, though. After the acceleration is gone, the player model starts to slow down due to friction. If you simply release the moving button, it will take the same amount of time to come to a complete stop as it will take acceleration. That is, even after releasing the movement button, your model will continue to move by inertia.
The best way to stop moving is to counterstrafe. That is, quickly press the S button, which is defaulted to reverse movement. If executed perfectly, you can completely stop the character in 0.06 seconds. It’s speedy! One way to stop quicker is to crash into an obstacle.
A separate case of slowing down is when a player model gets hit. The community calls it “tagging.” Any hit, be it a Glock-18 or AK-47, slows a model down. This is a rather complicated system, and we will talk about it separately, but for now, let’s outline the main thing: pistols slow down the least, and AWP shots slow the most. Still, it’s not a simple slowdown, it imposes a penalty. Therefore, if you are shot at and a shelter is too far away, it is better to shoot back than run.
Aerial acrobatics
In addition to ground movement, there is also air movement. Jumping in CS:GO has one important feature: you can direct yourself mid-flight. And although this control is not total, a skilled player can significantly change the jump’s trajectory.
Three steps are enough to complete this trick. First, let go of the move key: you run forward, jump and then release the W button. Secondly, you need to hold down the move key in the direction of the turn. It means, if you want to jump and turn right, hold D. Third, while holding down D or A, also start turning the camera in the same direction.
This will not only allow you to change the trajectory of the jump, but also increase the speed of movement along the way. You start a bunny-hop by connecting several of these jumps into a series. And although the bunny-hop itself is almost useless in a competitive game, the ability to suddenly change the trajectory in flight and literally fly around the corner will definitely come in handy.
Why walk and crouch?
In addition to running and jumping, there are two more types of movement in CS:GO. Walking and crouching. Both are essential tools in the hands of a skilled player. Walking is much slower than running but won’t make a footstep sound. The sound itself, by the way, is heard at a distance of 1100 units. In addition to making you completely unhearable, walking is used in one more case.
If you are far from a corner, you can slowly start peeking from behind it, gradually checking for enemies around it. Due to the peculiarity of the perspective, you will be able to notice enemy shoulders before they see you. But this is possible only if you are farther to the corner or shelter than the enemy. In this case, walking helps to slow down to make this trick easier to pull off.
Crouching, as well as walking, won’t make any sounds. In addition, while crouching, your weapon shoots more accurately, but the recoil remains the same. Crouching also allows you to squeeze into low spaces, such as hatches, or jump onto high obstacles. NB: neither walking nor squatting helps against inertia! Don’t use these tricks when counterstrafeing. You will invariably stop faster by quickly pressing the rear movement key.
Despite the fact that there are only a few types of movement in CS:GO, the mechanics are quite complex. Having mastered the movement at a high level, you can surprise opponents and gain advantage in the game.
Leave a comment