The art of railing refers to the
art or
study of using a high
accuracy sniping weapon in
first person shooter computer games. The
term originated from, and in most cases refers to use of the
railgun in
Quake II and
Quake III.
The
railgun, and it's
equivalents, are
guns that fire an extremely powerful
hitscan (instantaneous velocity)
bullet with a relatively slow
reload rate. Effective use of the weapon requires a lot of
accuracy. Like many
weapons if used properly the
railgun can be a
devestating weapon. However the distinction is that while with
missile based weapons you can
see it coming and
dodge, the
railgun has the
potential to
instantaneously deliver high amounts of
damage over a
theoretically unlimited distance, and the only
truly effective method of defending against it is
hiding.
With such
potential, the
railgun is the
choice weapon of many good
players. Although your average
joe frag can use the
railgun with a degree of effectiveness, a
good player can be
devestating with it. Subsequently the art of railing has
evolved much more than its
counterpart weapons. Many adepts consider it an entire
aspect of the game.
All in all, the
art of railing is all about achieving near-
perfect accuracy. However being able to
point and shoot is a lot
harder than it looks, and there are hundreds of different
methodologies and
concepts involved in it. So much so that
railing in itself is more of a
gaming philosophy than a simple way of playing.