Timothy
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This is just a basic summary of what we know so far. Input is appreciated and everything is subject to better/more precise descriptions. Hopefully having this stuff in one place will be useful.
Why does MK8 have twerking?
- This tech has been dubbed "fire hopping". It was found on day one of release that the act of starting a drift while under the effect of any boost (single MT, super MT, mushroom, boost pad) momentarily increases speed. By hopping multiple times during the length of a boost, this higher speed can be maintained.
- The typical heavyweight karts allow five hops within the span of an orange MT. Sometimes there is a trade-off between number of hops and line to be taken. Note that is does not matter whether the hops are alternated or if they are all the same way, the racing line will determine the pattern.
- This is possibly the most integral addition in MK8, and is necessary to learn. The basic technique is simple but it becomes more complicated on a lot of tracks. Royal Raceway is a good place to practice.
- Note that this is why double hops can be employed with blue MTs, such as the new strategy on CCB after the water section.
- The genuine pattern that emerged was that fire hopping worked in uphill sections but not downhill, but this is not strictly true as there are exceptions. The best way to tell is to watch the WR videos to see where they employ this technique. It is more detrimental to attempt this on a "bad" section than to not fire hop on a "good" section, your speed is completely killed (Electrodome final straight).
- However, the above leads to the latest development (next question).
Why do I lose speed on the downhill section of MKS but Jak doesn't?
- I'm going to dub this "skimming", if someone has a better name or if a name has already been assigned then please let me know.
- To do this, do not hop as fast as possible, but rather allow the drift to fully begin. This is why it looks slow and graceful. While not as aggressive as the default fire hopping, this is still much faster than doing nothing and already has, and will continue to alter the strategies on a large number of tracks.
Why does Cole hop so much?
- Neutral hopping is simply hopping without any other button input. It has become somewhat spammy but it has two main purposes.
- #1 It is simply faster on many sections, uphill seeming to be where it works (hence rMC uphill hop spam). This may have resulted from Nintendo overcompensating on the opposite effect in MK7, where downhill hopping was much faster.
- #2 It preserves mini turbo speed. When hopping, there is less time in contact with the ground, so it takes longer to return to the default top speed when coming out of a mushroom or super MT boost.
- So use this to preserve your speed, and also to adjust the kart angle if needed when coming out of a boost section.
How do you do the first MT on MKS so fast?
- This is a technique called "softdrifting". This was first used in MKW, to help squeeze out MTs with little room to work with, such as on rMC after the shroom. It's been explained a few times in a few different places but I'll give my explanation.
- MT charge speed is binary. It is either "on" or "off". Of course, it is never "off" insofar as an MT won't charge, but I like using these terms for the sake of explanation. Otherwise think of "on" as "fast", and "off" as "slow".
- You are doing a drift to the right. MT charge speed is "off" when either: #1 You are holding left. #2 You are pressing nothing. #3 You are holding right by an ever so slight amount.
- MT charge speed is "on" when you are holding right anywhere between the full amount (full right) and some cutoff distance from the centre.
- This cutoff distance is not entirely known, but the important point is it is closer to the centre than the positions of the diagonal parts of an octagonal controller mount. This then allows the control stick to be held diagonally (either up+right or down+right) in order to maintain the "on" state while turning less sharply than by holding full right. There is no magic in this technique, it is simply maximising time spent in the "on" state while reducing the amount of turn within that time.
- It is arguably more tricky to learn with the gamepad but no less effective. The circular mount has no diagonal guide but when used to the feel of the "sweet spot" you have huge flexibility in your drifting.
(diagram)
Why don't people trick certain ramps?
- Whether to trick on a ramp or not is a simple trade-off between boost and airtime. When MKW introduced tricking, it was immediately obvious that it wasn't optimal in many instances, due to the large airtime. Speed is generally lower in the air, hence people looking for ways to trick as low as possible.
- The trick boost is pretty small in MK8 (Nintendo nerf lel), and certain ramps like CCB before the water section and TH after first turn give you a small boost anyway. However, tricking on both results in more airtime and slower overall speed. (rMC is an interesting one too).
- Another point of interest is on the CCB ramp, if you time the hop perfectly and just barely clip the top of the ramp, you will be fired forward even faster than simply hitting the ramp.
Why do players release super MTs while their shrooms are still in play? Doesn't this decrease the overall time spent in a boost?
- Releasing MTs (both single and super) while under the influence of another boost has a slight stacking effect, in that the resulting overall speed is higher. It is obvious if done correctly with orange MTs because the nice stream of "fire" comes out of the back of the kart. This is where a lot of people lose time on the RRy shroomspot.
Other tech:
- Brakedrifting: Brake in a drift to turn sharper, used in RR.
- Spindrifting: Similar technique to MKW, not known whether it will have any wider use (unlikely).
- MT charging in mid air is possible. RR, CC and rDKJ all use this. In the case of the latter two, releasing the charged MT will fire you forward as you trick off the round bouncy thing.
Disclaimer: Subject to revision as stated above. Please add input in any shape or form as I can update as and when.
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