In the Quake series, a Rocket Jump is using the explosion from a Rocket combined with a jump to reach high places. While this can injure the player, the distance covered by performing such a jump often can be rewarding for those strategic enough to manage their health. Since this game, Rocket Jumping has become a staple move of numerous FPS titles and is often heavily utilized in Multiplayer sessions. A Grenade Jump is similar to this skill, but is performed with a Grenade Launcher instead of a Rocket Launcher
Types of Rocket Jumps
Basic
Simply look at the ground, then jump and fire the Rocket Launcher. Running backwards while doing it gives you more impulse by the edge of the blast at the cost of less health loss. Yet when you have no moment to stop by, it can be performed directly at feet by looking straight downwards as well. For reducing the risk of a "dud" jump, player must hit jump as soon as he/she fires at the ground for the initial jump.
Wall Jump
In the air, fire at a wall while looking down at it. Preferred to steer or gain height along towering walls.
Grenade & Rocket Jump
Combining the Rocket Jump with the Grenade Jump will send players flying much further than if either was isolated, though the player will be sacrificing most of their health if they have no Armor or Megahealth.
Quad Damage Rocket Jump
Rocket jumping while under the effects of a Quad Damage will quadriple the amount of self-damage that the player takes & send them flying extreme distances. Note that without Armor or the Megahealth, it will require the player to be hit by the edge of the Blast Radius.
Quake
Rocket Jumping
In Quake, Rocket Jumping is an exploit. While nothing in the game was designed to require Rocket Jumping, the community found it beneficial to travel faster throughout the levels. This skill quickly became a staple of Speedrunning and Deathmatches.
DM2: Claustrophobopolis
- Traveling from the lower floor to the upper floor of the Multi-Level Hallway.
- Bypassing the 2 Moving Floors of the Shootable Button Room.
- Getting to the Red Armor and 100 Health of the Lava Bridge Room without having to press the Button that slides the Bridge over the Lava, If one does not have a Rocket Launcher a well timed Strafe Jump from the Bridge will also get the Player there.
DM3: The Abandoned Base
- Traveling from the hill of the Pit Room to either side of the second floor, or from one side of the second floor to the other.
- Getting to the second floor platform of the Large Water Room from the first floor.
- Reaching the Red Armor of the Main Staircase Room from the middle floor of the staircase.
DM4: The Bad Place
- Ascending from the first to second floor, or second to third floor, of the Central Room without usage of the Teleporters.
- Reaching the third-floor alcove of the Central Room from any point of the Central Room beyond the staircase.
DM6: The Dark Zone
- Bypassing the stairs of the Small Staircase Room
- Bypassing the stairs of the Large Staircase Room.
- Traveling from the first floor to the second floor platform of the Central Room by Rocket Jumping to the Teleporter in the middle of the room, then again from the Teleporter to the second floor platform.
Quake 2
Q2DM1: The Edge
Some of the items that are very hard to reach especially the obsolescent have be destroyed, Rocket jump is often the best way getting there.
- Getting to the Grenade Launcher.
- Getting the Megahealth.
- Getting to the Rocket Launcher.
Launch Command
- There is a secret area that requires Rocket jump to reach. Once you succeed, there is a HUD message says "You crazy Rocket Jumper!"
Temple of the Creator (Call of the Machine)
- This level consists of two boss fights, both of which can be made much easier by rocket jumping. In the first, the player should get the attention of the first Servitor of Creation and then retreat back to the opening they emerged from, and rocket jump back up into the passageway, from where the enemies can be killed easily. In the second, after the slime has drained away, the player should descend on the platform as far down as it will go, drop down to the lower level and then immediately rocket jump back onto the platform, and then rocket jump again up to the upper level. The central chamber will now be open and the final bosses can easily be killed from the upper level.
Quake 3
At higher skill levels, Quake 3 Bots can rocket jump to cut corners and reach important items as well as player. Player can detonate a grenade under feet or blast jump away from a bouncepad to reach high placed power-ups or just plain surprise enemies at the cost of suffering fall damage. Maps at late tiers simply creates playgrounds for poking the curiosity of rocket jumpers with high platforms, elevators, vast open areas and bouncepads.
Q3DM12: The Dredwerkz
Megahealth looking at the main courtyard can be reached with ease from anywhere. It's even possible to rocket jump towards it by leaping from an across ledge.
Q3DM15: Demon Keep
At the Battle Suit main yard, rocket jumping is required to reach and land on the bouncepad hovering at the middle to collect heavy armor and BFG10k. This map is later modified to include a plain bounce pad at the same area, placed under that floating bounce in Quake Live.
Q3TOURNEY5: Fatal Instinct
A rocket jump can be used to reach Quad Damage without the need of climbing stairs once audial spawn cue is heard.
Q3DM17: The Longest Yard
Thanks to open build of this map being riddled with bouncepads and community's sheer interest, there are more than one way to reach Quad Damage platform over the top. Most known one is doing a stacked rocket jump twice from the second floor bouncepads.
Trivia
- Doom is the oldest FPS to have this mechanic, though only the wall boosting variant, since Doom lacked various features needed for proper Rocket Jumps such as vertical mouselook and the ability to jump. In E3M6: Mt. Erebus of that game, the player is expected to wall boost via a blast from RL if they wish to reach the exit to secret level; E3M9: Warrens.
- According to John Romero, id Software didn't know about Rocket Jumping when designing Quake, and therefore designed maps that were not intended to be used with Rocket Jumping. Once id learned of it, they began incorporating it into their maps and made sure that a player couldn't bypass too much of a map while using it. [1]
- id Software intentionally avoided doing Rocket Jumps in Quake due to the amount of damage that such an action would cause. They felt nobody would intentionally do such an act to themselves since it would be suicide. What was not realized was that the damage was exponential, meaning jumping can almost entirely negate the damage.
- John Cash, one of the programmers for the original Quake, is the person that originally discovered the Rocket Jump. Tim Willits and Cash were in a Deathmatch game on Introduction. Cash had collected some Armor, but managed to get himself trapped in a corner with death being likely. He decided to fire the Rocket Launcher at the ground to take out his combatants with him, only to fly into the air and land behind his opponents. [2]
- Despite the term, this tactic can be performed by Grenade Launcher in Quake 2 and 3, and BFG10K in Quake 3.
References
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