Post by D33P on Jul 23, 2014 11:50:03 GMT -5
The first, and probably most important, skill to learn for Fasttrack is the double bind. For those that don't know, a double bind is when you press two keys for one turn direction (either left or right), within a short period of time. If you have set your controls using the guidelines that I laid out in the How-to-Win: Controls post, then your keyboard is already set to perform a quality double bind.
Double binds are used in every aspect of Fasttrack, from camping to boxing, from attacking to counterattacking, from frontdooring to backdooring, and everything in between. Mastering this simple maneuver is key to unlocking your full FT potential.
To begin mastering the DB, one must first be able to do a clean and even DB. "Clean" refers to all of the DBs being the same width, while "Even" refers to all of the DBs being the same length. To do this, first place your index and middle fingers together, as if they are stitched together. Now, begin to hit your double bind keys with your right and left hand in a constant, marching-like rhythm, almost as if your fingertips are drum sticks and you are trying to keep rhythm on a snare drum.
A clean, even DB looks like this:
Once you are able to consistently perform a clean, even DB, the next step is to add speed to your DB. To begin this process, start DBing at an easy pace (think Final Countdown Song pace). Now, gradually begin to increase the tempo of your DB. While you do this, focus on keeping your DBs clean. As you start nearing your maximum DB speed, focus on: keeping your index and middle finger together, lifting your wrists, and hitting the keyboard more softly.
This is what your DBs should look like, somewhat: (*see note below)
*Note: The uncleanliness of some of these DBs (the larger gaps between the lines) are caused by the GIF recorder, which lags my computer, and makes it harder for the keys I press to register.
Now that you have the basics down, its time to start learning how to effectively practice DBs for real life (heh) situations. Often times, you'll find yourself DBing onto a wall of some sort, instead of DBing into empty space. DBing onto walls well is harder than DBing into empty space, as you lose some rubber when you hit the wall.
The easiest way to practice DBing on walls is, well, to do it. First, make a rather long, straight line with your tail. Next, triple back onto your wall and start DBing on your wall. Make sure that you stay DBing on your wall until your wall erodes away. While you do this, focus on keeping the rubber meter as low as possible. This will help you make sure that your DBs are clean.
It should look like this:
After you've gained the ability to DB on your own tail, its time to practice how to DB inside of a box. This means that not only are you losing rubber on the wall you're DBing on, but you're also potentially losing rubber on the wall or walls next to you.
To practice DBing in boxes, simply turn one way around 8-10 times and begin DBing until the box you've constructed has eroded away. While you are doing this, you have to focus on not only having to be clean with your DBs, but also even. This means your DBing "rhythm" should be as consistent as possible, to minimize rubber loss on the walls adjacent to you.
Once you get the hang of this, try and make the boxes smaller and smaller, making sure your DBs are more clean and even than ever. Set a goal box size for yourself (somewhere between 3-5 floor units is a good goal) and keep trying until you reach that goal. Then make a new one! The more you practice, the closer to perfect you become.
Heres an example of practicing DBing inside of a box:
The last DB skill (for this post) you're going to learn, and one of the more challenging ones, is to effectively turn while DBing. While DBing can be an extremely effective strategy, its of little use if you cant turn while DBing and you DB right into an opponents wall! Turning effectively while DBing is especially important while camping (more on that in a later post) since you are in a smaller, confined area, and don't have the time or rubber to make mistakes.
To effectively turn while DBing, you have to trop" one of your fingers while you DB, either a left one or right one. This means when you go to do a DB turn, make it a SB instead of a DB. If you typed this out while dropping a left finger, it would look like this: fd kl fd kl f kl fd kl. Notice how the f is by itself? That means that I dropped the d key, which turned the left hand DB into a left hand SB.
The tricky part with this is remembering what way a left hand or right hand turn rotates you.
If you do a left hand turn (SBing with your left hand instead of DBing), you rotate 90 degrees clockwise, meaning you turn 90 degrees to the right.
If you do a right hand turn (SBing with your right hand instead of DBing), you rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise, meaning you turn 90 degrees to the left.
This means that wha-dever hand you turn with, you rotate the opposite direction (left hand turn rotates right, right hand turn rotates left).
The key to all of this is to do the SB in rhythm with your DBs. It should look smooth, and look like you simply rotated your DB around a clock 90 degrees.
Here's an example of a good way to practice these, by making a "cross" with your DBs (practicing both left and right hand turns, of course):
That's all for this post. These are the basic DB skills that you will need if you want to succeed. If you can master these, then you'll be fully prepared to learn how to camp, box, and pwn, for the win.
Good places to practice double binds:
>>> FASTTRACK ULTIMATE 1v1 <<< - This is my ideal spot for practicing all of my FT skills. There are seldom other players around, and you can remove the AI using the chat command /noai, which means you can play with no interference, for an indefinite amount of time. The tail is short, so you don't have to worry about dying and having the round start over. Address: tronzero.com Port: 4536
>>> RoadRunnerZ FAST TRACK <<< - This is a good place to practice if you want to work on DBing onto your wall with a longer tail. The AIs can't be removed, however.
Durf's DoubleBind Challenge - This is a great place to increase the speed and precision of your DBs. It offers a DB circuit that starts out wide, but gradually narrows until the very end, where you need super tight DBs to make it through. The difficulty of the server can vary (look at the server's name), so be wary.
Double binds are used in every aspect of Fasttrack, from camping to boxing, from attacking to counterattacking, from frontdooring to backdooring, and everything in between. Mastering this simple maneuver is key to unlocking your full FT potential.
To begin mastering the DB, one must first be able to do a clean and even DB. "Clean" refers to all of the DBs being the same width, while "Even" refers to all of the DBs being the same length. To do this, first place your index and middle fingers together, as if they are stitched together. Now, begin to hit your double bind keys with your right and left hand in a constant, marching-like rhythm, almost as if your fingertips are drum sticks and you are trying to keep rhythm on a snare drum.
A clean, even DB looks like this:
Once you are able to consistently perform a clean, even DB, the next step is to add speed to your DB. To begin this process, start DBing at an easy pace (think Final Countdown Song pace). Now, gradually begin to increase the tempo of your DB. While you do this, focus on keeping your DBs clean. As you start nearing your maximum DB speed, focus on: keeping your index and middle finger together, lifting your wrists, and hitting the keyboard more softly.
This is what your DBs should look like, somewhat: (*see note below)
*Note: The uncleanliness of some of these DBs (the larger gaps between the lines) are caused by the GIF recorder, which lags my computer, and makes it harder for the keys I press to register.
Now that you have the basics down, its time to start learning how to effectively practice DBs for real life (heh) situations. Often times, you'll find yourself DBing onto a wall of some sort, instead of DBing into empty space. DBing onto walls well is harder than DBing into empty space, as you lose some rubber when you hit the wall.
The easiest way to practice DBing on walls is, well, to do it. First, make a rather long, straight line with your tail. Next, triple back onto your wall and start DBing on your wall. Make sure that you stay DBing on your wall until your wall erodes away. While you do this, focus on keeping the rubber meter as low as possible. This will help you make sure that your DBs are clean.
It should look like this:
After you've gained the ability to DB on your own tail, its time to practice how to DB inside of a box. This means that not only are you losing rubber on the wall you're DBing on, but you're also potentially losing rubber on the wall or walls next to you.
To practice DBing in boxes, simply turn one way around 8-10 times and begin DBing until the box you've constructed has eroded away. While you are doing this, you have to focus on not only having to be clean with your DBs, but also even. This means your DBing "rhythm" should be as consistent as possible, to minimize rubber loss on the walls adjacent to you.
Once you get the hang of this, try and make the boxes smaller and smaller, making sure your DBs are more clean and even than ever. Set a goal box size for yourself (somewhere between 3-5 floor units is a good goal) and keep trying until you reach that goal. Then make a new one! The more you practice, the closer to perfect you become.
Heres an example of practicing DBing inside of a box:
The last DB skill (for this post) you're going to learn, and one of the more challenging ones, is to effectively turn while DBing. While DBing can be an extremely effective strategy, its of little use if you cant turn while DBing and you DB right into an opponents wall! Turning effectively while DBing is especially important while camping (more on that in a later post) since you are in a smaller, confined area, and don't have the time or rubber to make mistakes.
To effectively turn while DBing, you have to trop" one of your fingers while you DB, either a left one or right one. This means when you go to do a DB turn, make it a SB instead of a DB. If you typed this out while dropping a left finger, it would look like this: fd kl fd kl f kl fd kl. Notice how the f is by itself? That means that I dropped the d key, which turned the left hand DB into a left hand SB.
The tricky part with this is remembering what way a left hand or right hand turn rotates you.
If you do a left hand turn (SBing with your left hand instead of DBing), you rotate 90 degrees clockwise, meaning you turn 90 degrees to the right.
If you do a right hand turn (SBing with your right hand instead of DBing), you rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise, meaning you turn 90 degrees to the left.
This means that wha-dever hand you turn with, you rotate the opposite direction (left hand turn rotates right, right hand turn rotates left).
The key to all of this is to do the SB in rhythm with your DBs. It should look smooth, and look like you simply rotated your DB around a clock 90 degrees.
Here's an example of a good way to practice these, by making a "cross" with your DBs (practicing both left and right hand turns, of course):
That's all for this post. These are the basic DB skills that you will need if you want to succeed. If you can master these, then you'll be fully prepared to learn how to camp, box, and pwn, for the win.
Good places to practice double binds:
>>> FASTTRACK ULTIMATE 1v1 <<< - This is my ideal spot for practicing all of my FT skills. There are seldom other players around, and you can remove the AI using the chat command /noai, which means you can play with no interference, for an indefinite amount of time. The tail is short, so you don't have to worry about dying and having the round start over. Address: tronzero.com Port: 4536
>>> RoadRunnerZ FAST TRACK <<< - This is a good place to practice if you want to work on DBing onto your wall with a longer tail. The AIs can't be removed, however.
Durf's DoubleBind Challenge - This is a great place to increase the speed and precision of your DBs. It offers a DB circuit that starts out wide, but gradually narrows until the very end, where you need super tight DBs to make it through. The difficulty of the server can vary (look at the server's name), so be wary.