Straferunning

In video games, particularly in first-person shooters (FPSs), straferunning (known as speed-strafing among players of "GoldenEye" and "Perfect Dark", and as trichording among players of the Descent series) is a technique that allows a player to run faster through levels by moving forwards and sideways (strafing) at the same time. The game combines these actions and the player achieves roughly 1.4 (square root of 2) times greater speed compared to moving in a single direction. The method used by the game can be demonstrated using vector addition. "Pathways Into Darkness" was one of the first games to allow straferunning, and "Doom" was one of the most notable.

Explanation

The games in which straferunning can be employed treat forward motion independently of sideways (strafing) motion. If, for each update of the player's location, the game moves the player forward one unit and then moves the player to the side by one unit, the overall distance moved is $sqrt\{2\}$. Thus, in games with such behavior, moving sideways while simultaneously moving forward will give an overall higher velocity than just moving forward, although the player will move in a direction diagonal to the direction being faced. This feature is even more enhanced in three dimensions, where allowed in games such as Descent. It should be noted that while this was a glitch in the original two Descent games, it was forced into the third Descent game as a feature.