Quake 3 Movement
Jan Pruce
PHYS 211
11/25/2014
Rocket Jumping and Newton's Third Law
"For every force, there is an equal and opposite force" -
Newton's Third Law. This law is applied in certain (but not all
cases) in Quake 3.
Take the Rocket Launcher, for example:
This weapon fires an explosive projectile. Under Newton's Third Law,
there is supposed to be a force associated with the projectile
leaving the barrel, and an opposite force upon the player. However,
for gameplay purposes this force is not applied, and as such there
is no recoil or push-back from firing the weapon. That's the nice
thing about video games, you can disregard physical limitations that
would be present in reality. However, if you are a huge fan of
physics, you may find this gross violation of Newton's Third a
little disturbing.
Do not fear. The projectile DOES emit an explosive force upon impact
with any object after firing. This can affect a player's movement if
the explosion is close enough.
So, by using this information of quasi-Third Law with the explosive
projectile, players have learned a new trick of quick movement: Rocket
Jumping. Provided that they have enough health points, certain
players can combine the explosive projectile with a jump and propel
themselves to great heights and speed at the expense of self-harm.
(Or death, if the player miscalculated.)
When used sparingly, rocket jumping can allow players to get the
edge on their opponents by being able to take shortcuts in the
arena, take the high ground, and quickly grab unattended
weapons/items.
