Glitching
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Glitching is the controversial practice of finding and exploiting flaws in modern video games to achieve something that was not intended by the game designers. Gamers who engage in this practice are known as glitchers (or cheaters, depending on whether or not you agree with glitching.) Glitchers can be found on console video games as well as computer games. With the advent of high speed multiplayer gaming in the form of services such as Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, glitching has grown in popularity. Despite this gain in popularity, glitching is still considered a subculture of gaming and has retained a negative image in the eyes of many gamers.
[edit] Why Do People Glitch?
Glitchers do not see themselves as cheaters and many times do not even use their glitches to gain an advantage in games. Glitchers see their exploits as fair and believe that "if it is in the game, and anybody can do it, it is legal." While the "fairness of glitches" is still debated, rarely do programmers make such a grievous mistake that it creates a glitch that is "undefeatable". Glitches often involve jumping to places that are above the normal plane of vision of other players. Many glitches are areas obscured from sight by walls that have no "barrier physics" to them, that is, they appear to be solid but aren't and thus allow players to walk into them and remain hidden. Glitches vary in their usefulness in multiplayer games, from areas a glitcher can get trapped in to places where snipers can shoot from but cannot be shot themselves. Often, entering a glitch requires the performance of actions that leave a player exposed for a period of time that makes it hard to enter without being seen or killed.
[edit] Examples of Glitching
In Halo 2, players could use the energy sword to lunge at a distant opponent, pressing the B button during this lunge would cancel the damaging effects of the sword upon impact. If two gamers agreed to glitch, one could stand or the other's head and jump while the bottom gamer used the "sword lunge" (pressing B after each lunge so as not to kill the other gamer) to "push" both gamers up a wall to reach heights not accessible through normal methods. This practice was also known as "butterflying".
In several Call of Duty games (especially Call of Duty 2: Big Red One) a player could use a tank to jump onto roofs and other inaccessible areas.
In Battlefield 2 wall glitching is very common. By using a vehicle drop or helicopter one can enter a building. Once they are in they can shoot and see out but other players cannot see or shoot them.
In Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins wall glitching is also seen. By turning by a wall at a certain angle, the player will be able to see and determine the position of the character(s) on the other side. Also, if the enemy is close to the wall, the player can do a forward thrust slash and injure the enemy through the wall.
