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In Scavenge multiplayer mode (and its variants), I've witnessed players throw gas cans much farther and higher than I ever could. I've wasted prescious time running, jumping and left-clicking to throw my gas can high and far, but I've never been able to reproduce the effect...

What am I missing? Is it some arcane combination of mouse movement/clicking? I'm looking for a canonical answer, here, i.e. I want a step-by-step "idiot's guide for dummies" for throwing a gas can high and/or far.

jub0bs
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1 Answers1

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After testing this, the trick to throwing gas cans involves shoving the gas can as soon as you throw it:

  • Step 1: Obtain a gas can.
  • Step 2: Put your crosshairs at least 45° from the ground. I had better results the higher my crosshairs were angled.
  • Step 3: Move forward, then throw it by pressing MOUSE1. Don't press E because you'll just drop it.
  • Step 4: As soon as the gas can is released in front of you, shove it by pressing MOUSE2. The shove causes it to launch further.

The timing between MOUSE1 and MOUSE2 is about a tenth of a second. You'll know you did it right if you see the gas can more "flung" into the air (meaning it spins a bunch).

Jumping is optional, as it adds a little height to the throw, but doesn't contribute to distance nearly as much as shoving the can.

A note to those who want to practice this: don't do it on survival. The shove doesn't work on gas cans in this game mode, and after you shove it three times, it explodes into a flamey-gasoliney mess.

To put it in a simplified graph that also doubles as a masterpiece work of art:

Green line is good

This illustrates the importance of aiming upwards vs aiming towards the horizon.

Gigazelle
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    I think there is something more to it. After more research, I've found this video, which instructs to do a right click immediately after the left click. I haven't been able to reproduce the effect, though. – jub0bs Aug 26 '13 at 21:59
  • Interesting. Well the question is pretty open ended, as "far" is a relative term. I'll give this a shot tonight to see if I can reproduce it as well. – Gigazelle Aug 26 '13 at 22:09
  • @Jubobs that right click after probably makes quite the difference(from reading some forums & from personal experience not doing it). you should transpose the steps into a new answer! – Colin D Aug 26 '13 at 22:10
  • Just tried it on a listen server. I was able to do it pretty consistently after some practice. I'll revise my answer accordingly. – Gigazelle Aug 27 '13 at 07:25
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    Up-vote for your edited answer in combination of one of the greatest drawings I've ever seen. It is a shame it was lost in the edit. – Lyrical Aug 27 '13 at 09:20
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    You convinced me to find a way to re-include it. It's too awesome to be omitted. – Gigazelle Aug 27 '13 at 09:51
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    I cannot stress enough how hard this habit is to break after hundreds of scavenge games! I tried more serious survival recently and kept igniting whole piles of cans at the worst possible time. :( – David Harkness Oct 05 '13 at 22:16
  • Can you think of a reason why Valve chose to ignite the gas cans on long-throws when playing in survival / modes other than scavenge? This seems to be a pretty ridiculous decision, a bug even. – chamberlainpi May 28 '14 at 17:15