Glitching to Win

Streeteh · 11 Jun 2009 at 15:19

As kreeee said it depends on the glitch. In some games a glitch requires skill to execute and often add to the game because of it (team fortress classic for example, conc jumping and bunnyhopping were both considered glitches in the engine but both became core gameplay mechanics). It's the really easy to execute glitches that give a huge advantage that do my nut.

Manlove is my forte · 11 Jun 2009 at 15:28

Streeteh said:
As kreeee said it depends on the glitch. In some games a glitch requires skill to execute and often add to the game because of it (team fortress classic for example, conc jumping and bunnyhopping were both considered glitches in the engine but both became core gameplay mechanics). It's the really easy to execute glitches that give a huge advantage that do my nut.

I guess there is a balance between ease of use and impact on the game. BxR for example in Halo2 it required a degree of skill, but was not impossible for someone to learn in an evening if they put the effort in. It did make an impact on gameplay (because you were able to shoot the battlerifle a bit faster). But I feel it was a valid reward for anyone who mastered the technique and was able to either make it instinctive or retain presence of mind under pressure to use it.

SuperJumps on the other hand... Well that was plain cheating.

Hilly · 11 Jun 2009 at 15:51

Interesting enough Streeteh, that was the first example I thought of. However, Valve did implement a patch to limit 'Bunny Hopping'. Which was unfortunate as it did used to add to the gameplay. It changed the element of the game and the make-up of some maps, which you weren't able to openly attack due to certain defensive layouts (Dustbowl - Thought not a league map, was a great benefit on, more maps like Well, where you could conc into the door, bunny hop in pretty much one hop, two most, around the corner. Conc into attic, pick up grenades, conc onto railings and hop to flag and out. The speed of the attack was just superb. As well as other maps which were effected. basement of 2fort another example as you'd be moving so fast, sentry guns couldn't pick you up) it added to the game play and it led to more creative styles of defensive and opened up the maps, which was a good thing.

The basis of the waffle above is that not all glitches are bad, so can't be dismissed out of hand (another example is the Halo 2 jumps as meantioned by 'Manlove' - teehee).

I guess any glitches which are picked up are easily patched by the developers which aren't lazy (The likes of Konami are definately the lazy type).

Streeteh · 11 Jun 2009 at 15:55

Valve really ballsed up TFC imo. They did four terrible things at once:

Removed bunnyhopping
Added teleporters *spit*
Moved to steam (which at that time was crap)
Changed the way cfgs were handled

Any one of those changes could have been dealt with, but all four happening on the same day instantly killed off my clan. I actually only played for about a week after the move to steam, i didn't have the energy to rewrite my cfg files that had been carefully built over two years, and even if i did the mechanics i loved were ruined. I can't think of a single person i used to play TFC with who actually wanted bunnyhopping removed, several servers were running custom mods that reintroduced it, i have no idea why valve got rid of it.

Buffman · 11 Jun 2009 at 15:58

Manlove is my forte said:
To me it seems they have decided that people did not play the Halo2 maps as designed (Lockout being a prime example) and "manipulated" the levels design by using regular jumps to get from place to place in a fashion that was not intended by the designer.

I feel that bungie decided that this sort of attitude was a glitch in the level design that was not picked up by the testers. I believe that in Halo3 Bungie has taken extra steps to ensure that levels are played as "intended" and bungie have taken steps to ensure this by making certain parts of the map out of bounds by putting an instant kill on certain ledges or by implementing an invisible ceiling to prevent exploration.

I also feel that on maps there there are jumps available the designers couldn't have made them any more obvious if they had put a big neon sign above them.

Yes there are still some "secret jumps" on the maps that savy players have found, however I don't feel many of them add much value to the game play.

Its a shame really as these jumps are what made Halo2 so good.

Agreed, blackout is complete proof of this, they added ledges everywhere to make it easier. Superjumps however in halo 2 where annoying when you came across them in matchmaking, however I cant say I haven't done them before in matchmaking

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