Dummy/zh

Every player has access to a Dummy, which they can control and switch to alongside their main tee. The dummy can also copy your actions, hammerfly for you, and using more advanced features it can jump, hook, and fire. Maps designed for use with a dummy are called Dummy maps, in which the dummy is permanently deep frozen. Dummy is also useful for completing maps by yourself, but some maps may be very difficult or impossible with dummy due to not being able to fully control both tees at once. The bind for switching dummies is located in the Controls menu, or alternatively using the F1 console:

bind x toggle cl_dummy 0 1

Basic Techniques

Hammerflying with dummy

There are two main ways to hammerfly with the dummy. The first way makes the dummy hammer in your direction at a rate that matches hammerfly timing - this is completely automatic and has the benefit of being able to focus completely on driving the hammerfly, but has the disadvantage of not being able to control when the dummy hammers (besides toggling it off and on repeatedly). This option can be bound to a key in the Controls menu, or alternatively bound to a key using the F1 console:

bind x toggle cl_dummy_hammer 0 1 

For more info on binds, see Binds.

The second way makes the dummy hammer in your direction on every key press. This has the advantage of being able to control when exactly the dummy hammers, and is generally superior to the first way, but may take additional practice. There are two ways to bind this:

bind x +toggle cl_dummy_hammer 1 0 

which simply makes the dummy hammer on keypress.

The second way to bind it is by binding the Mouse 1 button using CFG files. A guide for setting this up is located here.

Hammerhitting with dummy

Hammerhitting with dummy is as simple as switching tees back and forth as you hammer hit, but has a couple quirks. If you are holding a key down when switching, that tee will continue holding it down until you press the button again with that tee active. This can be dangerous, as attempting to hammer or hook will do nothing the first time and will easily cause you to fail the hammer hit. The cause for this behavior is an option called cl_dummy_resetonswitch. Setting this to 1 will prevent this problem from happening, but keep in mind if you are hooking to a ceiling or wall and then switch to your dummy, the tee you switched from will reset, potentially causing a fail. For this reason it's important to have cl_dummy_resetonswitch bound to a key press if you wish to use it.

Advanced Techniques

Triple fly

While it may seem impossible at first, triple fly is indeed possible with dummy. There are a few ways to achieve it, but all of the methods use cl_dummy_copy_moves set to 1.

Method 1

This method makes use of cl_dummy_control. To start, you need a comfortable key that you can press while flying normally without problems. Bind this key as such:

bind x "cl_dummy_control 1; cl_dummy_copy_moves 1; +toggle cl_dummy_hook 1 0"

While flying, pressing this key will make the dummy hook where you are looking. Even though dummy copy is activated, the dummy will not jump, hook, or fire when you do - it will only do those on command. In this case, it's the hook. Keep in mind, cl_dummy_hammer deactivates everything for as long as it is toggled on, so to work around it, you need to dummy hammer, then use this command, then dummy hammer, etc. With enough practice, pseudofly triple fly is also possible using this command.

It is recommended to have a key to deactivate both cl_dummy_control and cl_dummy_copy_moves for when you are not using it - or alternatively bind this to a toggle. For more information on how to do this, see Binds.

Method 2

This method requires cl_dummy_copy_moves bound to an easily reachable key, as it will need to be toggled often. Because the dummy will also hook when you hook in this case, often the dummy will hook the tee for too long, ruining the triple fly. To counteract this, toggle cl_dummy_copy_moves on and off to control when the dummy hooks or not. The dummy will still only hook when you do, however.

Method 3

This method requires cl_dummy_copy_moves turned on as well as cl_dummy_hammer bound to an easily reachable key. This method makes use of the fact that when holding down cl_dummy_hammer, the dummy will stop everything, including dummy copy and hook, to hammer you. Therefore, to control when the dummy hooks, hold down the cl_dummy_hammer key when you do not want the dummy to hook - and release it when you do. The dummy will still only hook when you do, however.

Tips and tricks

• Binding the aforementioned cl_dummy_resetonswitch either to a toggle or two keys for both states is a good way to have more control over your dummy.

• Turning on cl_dummy_control allows the dummy to jump, hook, or fire at will. This can be useful for parts that are difficult for dummy on some maps, or for having the dummy jump when you hammerhit it without having to switch to the dummy. Use this command with caution, however, as it changes the behavior of the dummy drastically - it is recommended to keep the option off most of the time.

• It can be very helpful to have an emergency reset button readily at hand if you need it - sometimes, you may have tweaked some settings that affect your dummy in unintended ways, or the dummy is holding keys down that is hard to fix.

A simple bind like that would look like this:

bind x "dummy_reset; cl_dummy_resetonswitch 0; cl_dummy_control 0; cl_dummy_copy_moves 0"

You can then pack on any other commands to it as well.

Advanced Tech

The following section will cover advanced tech that is possible with dummy. Some of the tech is usually only useful for doing dummy unfriendly parts by yourself rather than another player, but some are also viable in more circumstances.

Auto-revert

If the dummy is holding any key down such as movement, hook, etc, and you use dummy copy to have the dummy hold down another key, switching to the dummy will cause it to go back to holding the keys it was before you used dummy copy.

This is useful for parts where you need to quickly change directions when switching to the dummy, as this can make it automatic.

Quick dummy hammer hit

This is a quicker and easier (for dummy) version of a normal hammerhit. Stand right next to your dummy on the left or right, hammer it, walk through, and then jump and have the dummy hammer you.

Dummy control

When setting cl_dummy_control to 1 and enabling dummy copy at the same time, the dummy will only copy movement and aim, and not jump, fire, or hook. Keep in mind that turning this setting on will make dummy hammer performance worse, as occasionally the dummy will miss the hammer compared to it turned off.

Dummy copy mismatch

If you hold down key to fire, and enable dummy copy at the same time, the dummy will only copy your firing command when you release the key, not when you press it down. This allows some control over when the dummy will actually copy your action.