New meaning of "strafe"

[Hugo]

There's an interesting history of the word "strafe" in the OED's June 2014
release notes:

http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/june-2014-update/release-notes-the-language-of-world-war-i

>From the German word for punish, into English for harsh punishment or
attack, then bombardment or attack with weapons, then to close-range
machine-gunning from an aeroplane, and then from other figurative uses from
the machine-gunning.

However, there's another well-used sense of the word "strafe" that isn't in
the OED but is another extension from this WW1 word and is over 20 years
old. In "first-person shooter" (in OED) or "FPS" (not in OED) computer
games it refers to a side-step (moving to the left or right without
turning).

Your character holds a gun, and you can "strafe" to move left and right
from behind walls to shoot at an enemy and then duck back behind cover. So
whilst you may often be shooting whilst strafing, the defining feature is
the movement itself. Wikipedia:

"In video games, strafing is the technique of moving the player's character
from side to side, rather than forward and backward. In the context of
first-person shooters, it refers to the movement alone, even when no weapon
is being fired. Sidestepping is an integral part of any first-person or
third-person shooter as it allows the player to dodge incoming fire while
keeping their view aimed at their target."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafing_(gaming)

The first game I found using the word in this way is Wolfenstein 3-D,
released on 5 May 1992. It's seen as one of the first proper FPS games,
where you play a spy trying to escape Castle Wolfenstein, a Nazi prison.

Here's the 1992 Wolfenstein 3-D manual, page 4:

[Begin]
Strafe--Press the Alt key and the left or right Arrow key to slide side to
side instead of turning left or right.
[End]

PDF: http://www.3drealms.com/tech/manuals/Wolfenstein%203D.pdf

Here's some Usenet bit.listserv.games-l quotes, showing some of the first
players were a bit confused by the terminology, expecting strafing meant
being able to shoot. First by Charles Ledogar, 8 May 92:

Subject: Wolfenstein 3D

[Begin]
Has anyone figured out the difference between strafe and holding on the
fire button?  More specifically, I've never gotten strafe to work.(even
with the nice Weapon).
[End]

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/bit.listserv.games-l/PWJBHoculdA/EkxOKD8aICcJ

And a reply by David M Friend, 8 May 1992:

Subject: Wolfenstein 3-D stuff

[Begin]
Second off, to the guy who couldn't get strafing to work (sorry, can't
remember the name :( ), its not what you think.  Strafing is there name for
side stepping.  Try this: go to some corner, and face the wall.  Hold Alt
and
push the arrow key that points toward the corner.  Voila!  you should be
looking down the hallway you were standing next to.  I thought it had
something to do with the gun too, until I read the directions (hint, hint
:) ).
[End]

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/bit.listserv.games-l/yqGH8n9prHY/4cX_s_AMPzwJ

And Charles Ledogar again, 11 May 1992:

Subject: Wolf3D strafing

[Begin]
RM8B told me that <ctrl><alt><arrow key> allows sideways movement while
firing, for sweeping clean a room full of Nazis.  Others couldn't figure
out the firing part, but said the sideways movement was useful for taking
dangerous corners, sweeping walls for secret doors, getting _through_
doors...
[End]

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/bit.listserv.games-l/2R7YuhF60WM/v91wN6zfBeAJ

In fact, many younger people will only know this side-step meaning and not
(any of) the original meaning(s). For example, here's the second most
popular Urban Dictionary definition:

[Begin]
strafe.

To move from side to side, usually for shooting or evading. Used for many
FPS games.

Nobody ever used the word strafe before they put it in video games!

You can avoid them by strafing.

by Nero7x November 19, 2005"
[End]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=strafe&defid=1523635


Finally, a couple of manuals to show it's still used in recent games.

Halo 3, 2007:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/E/4/6E45E1A3-A1B1-4200-93FB-B257634B2BC1/HaloODST_MNL_EN.pdf
Duke Nukem Forever, 2011:
http://downloads.2kgames.com/dukenukemforever/manuals/pc/DNF-PC-extended-manual-final-PC-US.zip

Hugo

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