Tapping
Tapping is a technique that consists of pressing keys for very short amounts of time (usually 1 or 2 Ticks).
It covers short distances and is used to set the player in optimal position.
The most commonly used taps are the Shift tap, the Walk tap (Unshift tap, Normal tap...) and the Air Shift tap. The sprint tap is mostly unused, but it can be useful and it is not harder than the other common taps.
- Shift tap : While shifting, press the forward key for 1 tick.
- Walk tap : Press the forward key for 1 tick.
- Sprint tap : While sprinting, press the forward key for 1 tick.
- Air shift tap : Jump while shifting, and press the forward key for 1 tick while mid-air.
Analysis of common taps
When the forward key is released, the player will continue moving for a small amount of ticks because of inertia.
If the inertia on next tick is smaller than 0.005 (in 1.8, see Movement Physics), then inertia will be set to 0; In this case, the player will stop moving.
Differences between 1.8 and 1.9+
In 1.9+, the inertia is compared to 0.003 instead of 0.005. This makes all common taps longer by 1 tick, except for the air shift tap which is extended by 6 ticks.
Because of this, we have to find new tap strats when doing a jump in 1.9+.
Nomenclature
There isn't really any existing way to write a tap strat : players will often say, for example, "1 shift tap, 1 air tap backwards" to describe a strat. However we can easily create our own nomenclature.
First of all, let's name the 4 different taps we will be using :
- S - Sprint tap
- W - Walk tap
- s - Shift tap
- a - Air shift tap
Then we can use the following syntax : [Forwards taps]-[Backwards taps] to describe a strat.
For example, "1 walk tap backwards, 1 shift tap, 1 air shift tap" would become "s2a-W" (s for shift tap, 2a for 2 air shift taps, W for 1 walk tap).