On this page I try to address some of the questions I can imagine people asking about this project and about stunts in general. I may update this page in the future with new questions and answers.
Q: Why do people do stunts?
A: See this page.
Q: What are stunts?
A: See this page.
Q: What are E.P.s?
A: See Learning Stunts.
Q: What is it like to be a stunter?
A: See this page.
Q: Why did you make this video?
A: It started by me wanting to out-do other video tutorials for stunts on Blood Gulch. Then it became about making a video with every stunt on Blood Gulch. Then, once I realized this was an impossible goal it became about producing a quality tutorial for other stunters, to pass on my knowledge of Stunting. Looking back I can also see many ways in which making this video has benefited me as a person, so I suppose you could say I made it for myself as well.
Q: Who are you?
A: I'm Mator, pronounced "Mah-tore". I got Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) for my birthday 4/28/2006. I've been stunting in Halo PC ever since, and I'm absolutely crazy about stunts. When it comes to gaming my primary interest is Halo stunting, but I play some other PC games as well: Portal, Skyrim, Minecraft, Age of Mythology, etc. I also have an xbox, but I almost never play on it. Aside from gaming- I like pasta, I'm in my second year of college, and have interest in computer science, mechanical engineering, math, philosophy, and writing.
Om nom nom. Pasta.
Q: How did you find all these stunts?
A: Well I got introduced to stunting by some bloke (no idea who!) back in 2006. I thought stunts were really cool, so I started learning as much as I could from other players and video tutorials on YouTube. After I knew about 20 or so stunts on Blood Gulch I started finding things on my own. Usually by messing around or trying out new ideas. All stunts operate on certain basic principles, and if you understand these principles you can systematically discover just about every stunt in Halo. Creativity is an important aspect as well, as you often have to come up with new/unique ideas that aren't trivial or obvious.
Q: What are "new" stunts?
A: "New" stunts are defined as stunts that have never been seen or done before. This makes using the words "new" and "stunt" in the same sentence a big deal, as most stunts in Halo: Combat Evolved have already been found by some person or another. Hardcore stunters often go through many stages of trying and failing to find new stunts before finally finding something that the rest of the community has never seen before. Thus, you might imagine, finding a new stunt is a momentous occasion in our culture. Because of this you should not throw the phrase "new stunt" around lightly. I claim only a few of the stunts in UST to be "new" at the time when I found them. See this page for more information on new stunts in UST.
Q: How many of the stunts in UST did you find on your own?
A: About a third of them. However, it should be noted that most of these stunts were found by other people before me, so they aren't "new stunts", as mentioned before.
Q: Why don't you call them tricks?
A: I want to call them tricks because everyone from other halo games and Halo: Combat Evolved campaign tricking does, but the word stunt has been burned into my mind. I've been using the word stunt since 2006 (like many other players), so it's rather hard for me to just stop using it.
Q: Why don't you call them glitches?
A: Because the word glitch often has a negative connotation associated with players who use them to cheat in multiplayer games. This is something which I don't do, save perhaps as a joke with friends. Also, not all stunts are the result of programming errors so much as unintended results of intended systems.
Q: Why do I keep dieing when trying to launch?
A: Most launches require you to have 800% health and friendly fire off. You can set this up in a custom gametype in Halo. See this page to find out how.
My arms be windmilling all day lawng.
Q: Can I download the flycam screenshots you made of the stunts for the video?
A: Sure, you can download all of the Flycam Screenshots for the stunts in UST here.
Q: What can I do to get this stunt I'm trying?
A: Well it really depends on the type of stunt you're trying. I'll give you some general pointers for each type of stunt below.
For balances you want to focus on the E.P./sequence of events. Balances are very specific, so even the slightest inaccuracy can lead the stunt to fail. Pay extremely close attention to the video, scrutinizing every detail, and try to reproduce what you saw ingame. Note the position of vehicles at every step, and take extremely careful note of the position of the player during steps that involve interacting with the vehicle. Some balances are so specific you may have to fail 20+ times to finally get it, so be patient with yourself.
Patience, learn you must, Yoda says.
For ledges you want to focus on gaining a mental image of your environment. Because you often can't see what you're moving on, it's important for you to be able to imagine the environment and "feel" your way around it. E.g. when you move you should be able to compare what your screen looked like before you moved to what it looks like after you moved to find out if you're going up (usually this is good), down (often means you're at the edge of a line/point, and should stop), or not moving forward at all (means something is blocking you). You should also take your time. Rushing ledges is one sure way to mess things up, especially when you're first learning them. Try to take an extra three seconds lining things up to make extra sure you have things right. If you're having trouble in a section take the time to think about what you're doing wrong and take your time when you're next there.
See that wall? It's made of triangles. Go walk on the edges.
For explosion launches you want to focus on your timing. When doing explosive combinations it can help to press the keys a little bit before you need to press them, so you perform each action in the sequence as fast as possible. However, this isn't always useful (sometimes you don't want to perform each action in a sequence as fast as possible). In addition to this, you may need to adjust your timing relative to other players in order to take lag into account (different latency between players). Finally, the way grenades bounce can be very relevant to your launch (bouncing increases the time for them to explode after they first hit the ground because the timer until their detonation only runs while they're on the ground).
So which go are we going to go on? o_o
For respawn launches you want to focus on the positioning of your vehicle. Remember how you have things positioned as if it is an E.P., and try to return things to the position after each launch. Make slight adjustments in your position and observe the effects of each adjustment. Once you've correlated adjustment with effect you can (hopefully) create the launch you're looking for. You should also be especially careful with the tank you're using to launch the other vehicle. It can respawn too, so if you're exiting it for any reason during the launch you want to do so 5-10 seconds before the vehicle you're launching spawns so you have enough time to get back to it. Also, if you want to be really specific about when launches occur you can use your phone as a timer.
Launch timer ftw.
For warp launches (and the unplug method) you want to focus on varying when you unplug your Ethernet cable and how long you unplug it for. Occasionally positioning of vehicles is also of interest, but usually it's timing which is most important. If a plasma warp isn't working try unplugging your cable slightly earlier or slightly later. Continue adjusting your timing until you find the sweet spot. You can also try unplugging for shorter times or longer times as long as you don't unplug for too long, as that will lead you to lose your connection entirely. For force warps you may have to adjust how far away the object you're trying to warp is from you. If you're warping really long distances you may have to start very far away from the object you're trying to warp. You can also get varied results by moving different distances with "after" force warps. Sometimes Force Warps will change and no longer warp vehicles effectively, if this happens you usually have to move to a different server or try again some other time.
Unplugged too long. D'oh!
For stunts in general it's always good to troubleshoot what you're doing. Good stunters are able to figure stunts out on their own (without tutorials or other players helping them) by troubleshooting what they're doing. Through careful examination you can usually find the problem and make adjustments to avoid it in future attempts (though it may take some time). But don't be afraid to move on if something is frustrating you. Stunting is supposed to be fun, not frustrating. :)
Q: Why do people do stunts?
A: See this page.
Q: What are stunts?
A: See this page.
Q: What are E.P.s?
A: See Learning Stunts.
Q: What is it like to be a stunter?
A: See this page.
Q: Why did you make this video?
A: It started by me wanting to out-do other video tutorials for stunts on Blood Gulch. Then it became about making a video with every stunt on Blood Gulch. Then, once I realized this was an impossible goal it became about producing a quality tutorial for other stunters, to pass on my knowledge of Stunting. Looking back I can also see many ways in which making this video has benefited me as a person, so I suppose you could say I made it for myself as well.
Q: Who are you?
A: I'm Mator, pronounced "Mah-tore". I got Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) for my birthday 4/28/2006. I've been stunting in Halo PC ever since, and I'm absolutely crazy about stunts. When it comes to gaming my primary interest is Halo stunting, but I play some other PC games as well: Portal, Skyrim, Minecraft, Age of Mythology, etc. I also have an xbox, but I almost never play on it. Aside from gaming- I like pasta, I'm in my second year of college, and have interest in computer science, mechanical engineering, math, philosophy, and writing.
Om nom nom. Pasta.
Q: How did you find all these stunts?
A: Well I got introduced to stunting by some bloke (no idea who!) back in 2006. I thought stunts were really cool, so I started learning as much as I could from other players and video tutorials on YouTube. After I knew about 20 or so stunts on Blood Gulch I started finding things on my own. Usually by messing around or trying out new ideas. All stunts operate on certain basic principles, and if you understand these principles you can systematically discover just about every stunt in Halo. Creativity is an important aspect as well, as you often have to come up with new/unique ideas that aren't trivial or obvious.
Q: What are "new" stunts?
A: "New" stunts are defined as stunts that have never been seen or done before. This makes using the words "new" and "stunt" in the same sentence a big deal, as most stunts in Halo: Combat Evolved have already been found by some person or another. Hardcore stunters often go through many stages of trying and failing to find new stunts before finally finding something that the rest of the community has never seen before. Thus, you might imagine, finding a new stunt is a momentous occasion in our culture. Because of this you should not throw the phrase "new stunt" around lightly. I claim only a few of the stunts in UST to be "new" at the time when I found them. See this page for more information on new stunts in UST.
Q: How many of the stunts in UST did you find on your own?
A: About a third of them. However, it should be noted that most of these stunts were found by other people before me, so they aren't "new stunts", as mentioned before.
Q: Why don't you call them tricks?
A: I want to call them tricks because everyone from other halo games and Halo: Combat Evolved campaign tricking does, but the word stunt has been burned into my mind. I've been using the word stunt since 2006 (like many other players), so it's rather hard for me to just stop using it.
Q: Why don't you call them glitches?
A: Because the word glitch often has a negative connotation associated with players who use them to cheat in multiplayer games. This is something which I don't do, save perhaps as a joke with friends. Also, not all stunts are the result of programming errors so much as unintended results of intended systems.
Q: Why do I keep dieing when trying to launch?
A: Most launches require you to have 800% health and friendly fire off. You can set this up in a custom gametype in Halo. See this page to find out how.
My arms be windmilling all day lawng.
Q: Can I download the flycam screenshots you made of the stunts for the video?
A: Sure, you can download all of the Flycam Screenshots for the stunts in UST here.
Q: What can I do to get this stunt I'm trying?
A: Well it really depends on the type of stunt you're trying. I'll give you some general pointers for each type of stunt below.
For balances you want to focus on the E.P./sequence of events. Balances are very specific, so even the slightest inaccuracy can lead the stunt to fail. Pay extremely close attention to the video, scrutinizing every detail, and try to reproduce what you saw ingame. Note the position of vehicles at every step, and take extremely careful note of the position of the player during steps that involve interacting with the vehicle. Some balances are so specific you may have to fail 20+ times to finally get it, so be patient with yourself.
Patience, learn you must, Yoda says.
For ledges you want to focus on gaining a mental image of your environment. Because you often can't see what you're moving on, it's important for you to be able to imagine the environment and "feel" your way around it. E.g. when you move you should be able to compare what your screen looked like before you moved to what it looks like after you moved to find out if you're going up (usually this is good), down (often means you're at the edge of a line/point, and should stop), or not moving forward at all (means something is blocking you). You should also take your time. Rushing ledges is one sure way to mess things up, especially when you're first learning them. Try to take an extra three seconds lining things up to make extra sure you have things right. If you're having trouble in a section take the time to think about what you're doing wrong and take your time when you're next there.
See that wall? It's made of triangles. Go walk on the edges.
For explosion launches you want to focus on your timing. When doing explosive combinations it can help to press the keys a little bit before you need to press them, so you perform each action in the sequence as fast as possible. However, this isn't always useful (sometimes you don't want to perform each action in a sequence as fast as possible). In addition to this, you may need to adjust your timing relative to other players in order to take lag into account (different latency between players). Finally, the way grenades bounce can be very relevant to your launch (bouncing increases the time for them to explode after they first hit the ground because the timer until their detonation only runs while they're on the ground).
So which go are we going to go on? o_o
For respawn launches you want to focus on the positioning of your vehicle. Remember how you have things positioned as if it is an E.P., and try to return things to the position after each launch. Make slight adjustments in your position and observe the effects of each adjustment. Once you've correlated adjustment with effect you can (hopefully) create the launch you're looking for. You should also be especially careful with the tank you're using to launch the other vehicle. It can respawn too, so if you're exiting it for any reason during the launch you want to do so 5-10 seconds before the vehicle you're launching spawns so you have enough time to get back to it. Also, if you want to be really specific about when launches occur you can use your phone as a timer.
Launch timer ftw.
For warp launches (and the unplug method) you want to focus on varying when you unplug your Ethernet cable and how long you unplug it for. Occasionally positioning of vehicles is also of interest, but usually it's timing which is most important. If a plasma warp isn't working try unplugging your cable slightly earlier or slightly later. Continue adjusting your timing until you find the sweet spot. You can also try unplugging for shorter times or longer times as long as you don't unplug for too long, as that will lead you to lose your connection entirely. For force warps you may have to adjust how far away the object you're trying to warp is from you. If you're warping really long distances you may have to start very far away from the object you're trying to warp. You can also get varied results by moving different distances with "after" force warps. Sometimes Force Warps will change and no longer warp vehicles effectively, if this happens you usually have to move to a different server or try again some other time.
Unplugged too long. D'oh!
For stunts in general it's always good to troubleshoot what you're doing. Good stunters are able to figure stunts out on their own (without tutorials or other players helping them) by troubleshooting what they're doing. Through careful examination you can usually find the problem and make adjustments to avoid it in future attempts (though it may take some time). But don't be afraid to move on if something is frustrating you. Stunting is supposed to be fun, not frustrating. :)
