Instant self-bounce/hit of a Ninja Rope weapon drop

(Up to Tricks and glitches (Second generation))

This glitch (or is it a phenomenon?) occurs when a worm using a Jet Pack or Ninja Rope is descending and travelling in the same direction as a weapon dropped from the rope or Jet Pack. What happens is that the weapon probably spawns 1 pixel below the center of the worm in play, and then hits the worm (probably something to do with their colision masks). If the weapon is an impact detonation weapon, it will explode the worm imediately. If it is not the case, the weapon will bounce and fall in a way that possibly was not planned by the player. However, some experienced players may use this phenomenon on purpose, e.g. dropping a grenade behind.

Details on how the game act when dropping a weapon from rope or Jet Pack

After some testing in a RubberWorm game with zero gravity, it seems that drop-and-run (like Mines) and animal weapons (except Homing Pigeon and Sheep Launcher) go naturally with some force at the same time up and forward (based on the side the worm is facing) 45 degrees diagonally, even if the worm has zero movement. The other weapons depends on movement to move (receiving a force). When a weapon is fired with zero movement, its sprite will appear at the center of the worm, but the explosions (all of them even bazooka and grenade ones that do not naturally throw worms upwards like a mine, a pigeon or a Holy Hand Grenade in some situations) will cause the worm to go far away straight up (proportionally to its power), however clustered weapons will not concentrate the explosions, the clusters will pass the worm. So, the weapons probably spawn 1 pixel below the center of the worm, in an unsufficient position to make clusters explode concentrated at once (which requires more pixels below the center of the worm). The phenomenon probably has to do with the weapon + the worm colision masks (a.k.a. hit boxes), since both the worm and the weapon are moving close together. A weapon that explodes on contact may throw the worm further, other weapons will not break the speed of the worm using the jet pack or the rope, but will bounce on it.

Dealing with the phenomenon

Inducing or avoiding this situation may be useful. It is a question of getting closer or moving away from the weapon in a very short period of time (usually less than a second) when a weapon is released. Trying to predict what will happen before firing is a good idea.

Inducing it

From the Jet Pack

Using two arrow keys at the same time will make the worm go up fast, so if you release a grenade (for example) keeping the same movement, the Jet Pack will probably cause the grenade to self-hit your worm in the air, bouncing it downwards. If you are still decolating without max speed yet and use only an arrow key for a moment to go fastly forwards, the grenade will probably self-hit the worm, but this time going to the opposite direction (behind).

Avoiding it

From the Jet Pack

Avoiding this self-hitting while on jet pack requires practice using the arrow keys. Back-facing weapon drops (releasing the weapon with the worm facing back) usually works very well for drop-and-run weapons or animals (except pigeon and sheep launcher), but for other weapons just keep in mind that right after you release the weapon, you should imediately go away from it (usually going to to the opposite direction if the weapon is not guided by the wind or if it is guided, but was fired on the same direction of the wind). Firing a bazooka against the wind, for example, can be very risky and difficult to escape from the glitch. If you fire a weapon going forward, sometimes using only the up arrow key is better than using two at the same time, but it varies depending on the situation, i.e. the wind, the gravity, the speed, etc.

	This article has a to-do list:
	Confirm or clarify the game logic of this glitch (how exactly it works?) How to deal with the phenomenon from the rope