A unique and beautiful sliding dynamic, lurking in your favourite giant cave!

Posted September 25th 2025

• Introduction
• Methods of slide initiation
• The slide
• Having Marines along
• Watching a sliding hog
• Bouncing on the hog
• Riding in passenger spots
• Mid-slide transfers
• Special-purpose checkpointing

At the start of September 2025 I happened to see Spasmodic's short 2015 video 'The Bottom of the AotCR Pit - No Banshee'. With improved graphics, this was actually a remake of his February 2014 original, in which he showed how to descend to the bottom of the cavern by using a remarkable friction dynamic involving two pipes, namely the ones just to the left of the bridge when you enter the cavern (there's also a mirror-image pair opposite on the far platform, which I assume will likewise do).

Basically, you just need to drive the hog so it ends up between the pipes in an appropriate configuration, and then, held lightly by the pipes, it slowly sinks to the bottom while you enjoy the ride! It's an absolute gem of a trick. And how fortuitous was it that the pipes had just the right separation that a Warthog would be gripped yet also fall? Pretty freaky. At least, I assume it was by chance, rather than by design.

Anyway, I soon started exploring this trick (only a decade late, heh), and released some movies on it, the first of which included an alternative slide initiation method which I found easier.

In this article I'll go into details on the whole business, now that I've become familiar with it. That includes also another way of using a sliding hog, namely by getting on top of it and slowly bouncing your way down. Spasmodic had included a brief clip of that additional dynamic as an amusing ending to his remake. And actually, you can even get a ride down in either of the two passenger spots! So all in all, you've got four types of ride available with just this one cute slide dynamic. Pretty good bang for your buck if you ask me!

There are various ways to get the hog sliding down, and I'll cover them here, starting with how it was originally done by Spasmodic, though you may find the left spin method easier.

Classic method

Spasmodic backed his hog up against the wall, with the hog aligned so that when later driven straight forward, the left wheels will be running along the upper pipe.

However, you don't actually need to be so far back. Being closer is fine, just as long as the hog is going to be able to get sufficient speed up. Having it so the front is just back from the pillar-like pipe on the platform is what I'd suggest (see pic), and you can see that in the early tutorial part of BCM587. Having it closer like this will save you a bit of driving on each attempt at slide initiation, so it'll help you work faster. It might even help you control the hog's dynamics a little better.

Having positioned your hog, you now want a handy checkpoint from which to make attempts, because it may take quite a lot! That's easy. Dismounting from the hog, go and trigger a tunnel checkpoint, and keep it delayed by jumping as you head back to the hog. A grenade throw can give you a final bit of delaying while you board the hog and get settled, making sure to be facing directly forward when the checkpoint comes.

Note: you may have to wait a short while before triggering the tunnel checkpoint, because a certain time period has to elapse after the previous triggering, before you can trigger afresh. That period is about 73 seconds on PAL Xbox, but may be a bit different on NTSC/PC.

Now you've checkpointed, here's the slide initiation technique. Drive forward onto the upper pipe in such a way that it ends up sliding off and going down between the pipes, leading to a slide with you still aboard. It's quite tricky and you'll probably need to work at it to get the feel for how much speed to give the hog, and how to do things so you're not ejected.

Personally, I found it rather hard to judge the right amount of speed to give the hog, and I was also somewhat plagued by often being ejected as the hog toppled off the upper pipe. However, after some practice it was taking me an average of about 7 minutes to initiate a slide. So although hard, at least it's not super hard.

Left spin method

Exploring for a different way of initiating a slide, I came up with what I call the left spin method, which is demonstrated in BCM587 around 2:25. I found it much easier, and eventually measured a success rate of around 22% with it, which meant that getting slide was better than a 1-in-5 chance and would often take less than a minute. As such, I certainly recommend it, or at least if you have a good feel for spinning.

With this method the hog is positioned off to the right of the aforementioned pillar-pipe, for a somewhat diagonal run-up which is going to take the hog over the lower pipe. There's a big block on the platform here, and having the hog's front near the corner of that block would be the sort of starting point I'd suggest. Just as before, you'll want to get a handy checkpoint for making attempts at slide initiation.

The method is now to head in the general direction of the pipes but give the hog some left spin so it ends up facing somewhat the other way by the time it arrives at the pipe gap. In doing this, the hog may or may not clatter against the higher pipe. That pipe can act as a backstop, so to speak. If done suitably, the hog goes between the pipes and settles into a slide.

Right spin method

With the hog in the same starting area as for the left spin method, it's also possible to initiate a slide with a bit of right spin, in which case the hog will end up facing the same way as in the classic method. An example is shown in BCM587 around 3:06. But as I said in the written commentary, I found it difficult to nail, with ejection being quite a problem. Perhaps things could be significantly easier with suitable refinement, but I haven't pursued that, as I was doing well with my left spin approach.

Now that I've covered slide initiation, let's talk about the slide itself.

The two slide configurations

When the hog is sliding down, it rests diagonally between the pipes, pointing downwards. The underside scrapes against the face of one pipe, causing major sparking just in front of the back wheel, while the other side of the hog rubs against the other pipe, on its upper rear corner. However, the left side of the hog (the driver's side) can be facing either up or down. As such, there are two configurations: 'left-up' and 'left-down' as I'll call them. It's worth making the distinction there.

Left-up will likely be your typical experience, with left-down being somewhat rare. From within the driver's seat you get a different range of views according to which configuration you have.

I've never seen a manned hog slide down in any other way than just described, so I suspect these are the only configurations possible. An empty hog can actually slide down while inverted, but that's another matter. We're just focused on the case of a manned hog here. And incidentally, you can't drive free of the slide; the wheels don't have the traction.

Slide duration

How long will the slide last? Well, there's an issue here, because what I eventually realised is that wheel direction makes a difference to the sliding speed!

If the front wheels are angled sideways to the direction of travel (see pic), which causes the hog to angle downwards slightly more, speed is about 13% greater than if they're in the more natural orientation of pointing roughly downwards. As such, your slide duration will depend on what the front wheels do on the way down, in terms of direction. And in turn, that will depend on what you do with the camera, and potentially also whether you get the motor going.

For the fastest trip (if you're in a rush for some reason), you'd want to keep the wheels sideways. You can get the wheels sideways either by pointing the camera a certain way or, which seems easiest, by engaging reverse gear when the camera is in certain more natural directions.

On my PAL Xbox and with wheels downwards, the slide duration is about 93 seconds (measured from when the hog has entered between the vertical sections of the pipes, to when it touches the ground), whereas if the wheels are sideways the whole way, the duration is about 81 seconds (13% less).

On NTSC/PC however, it seems that sliding speeds are lower, because Spasmodic mentioned his slide as lasting just under two minutes. I suspect that the difference is due to generally weaker powers of traction/friction on PAL Xbox; thus the hog slides more easily. See my page elsewhere on system differences for discussion that may apply to this sliding dynamic.

In practice, if I'm moving the camera around to get views of things (as I was doing in the course of making BCM587), I tend to get slide durations of around 88-91 seconds, with the average being about 89. Based on my understanding in regard to wheel direction, this indicates that with my typical sort of camera work, the wheels tend to be pointing downwards for the majority of the time.

Incidentally, it looks like engine use (forward or reverse gear) makes no difference to the sliding speed. I did some testing for that. So I think it's just the wheel direction which is relevant.

What I've said so far about slide durations is for the core case where you're at the wheel. If you're not, the wheels will be straight (aligned with the hog), and on PAL Xbox the slide duration is around 86 seconds, close to halfway between the aforementioned 81 (front wheels sideways) and 93 (front wheels down).

At the bottom

When the hog reaches the bottom, you get ejected as it settles in an overturned state (it doesn't seem possible to prevent that by some driving). I've never been splattered on account of this (when in the driver's seat), but maybe it's possible? You could always quickly move clear for safety, or even bail in advance to get clear of the settling.

If you fancy having Marines along for the slide to the bottom, that's no problem. The only difference lies in the issue of getting the delayed checkpoint for your set-up. When you're delaying the checkpoint and you then want to get it, you may need to first make sure the Marines are near the hog so that when you reboard it, they'll join you before the checkpoint comes. However, that's unlikely to be any problem, and bear in mind that if you throw a delaying grenade into the chasm, that'll cause a rather long delay.

Actually though, if you use a Marine-retaining hog instead of the normal one, you won't have this complication at all, because when you dismount the hog to fetch a checkpoint, your passengers won't go walkabout!

When the hog reaches the bottom and settles in an overturned state, the Marines will get ejected and there's the possibility of splattering. I've seen the side-seat guy get killed like that, but usually things have been fine. There's also some risk of Marine splattering when righting the overturned hog.

As demonstrated in BCM587 at 4:10, it's possible to get the hog sliding down without you, enabling you to then watch it in a Banshee. An interesting external perspective! Or you could watch with a sniper rifle from various locations, after dropping yourself off. You can also have fun blasting the hog, in various ways.

To do it, use a classic set-up but let yourself get ejected onto the lower pipe while the hog heads into a slide. This is actually not all that hard, as being ejected onto that pipe happens so readily. Now just board a Banshee you placed nearby; ideally on the lower pipe itself, for rapid access.

Incidentally, you could have Marines aboard, for this fun. They may not appreciate you going AWOL from the driver's seat, but never mind.

Note: one clip in my movie even shows the hog sliding upside down. So, apparently that's one possibility for an empty hog. A rare sight, in my experience.

At the end of his 2015 video, Spasmodic showed what might be thought of as a bonus activity, though really it can also be viewed as a second descent method. Namely, he was on top of the hog, bouncing non-stop as it slid down. Amusing stuff! He didn't indicate how he got into that state, but I had a go myself and you can see the results in BCM588. Using a classic set-up but letting yourself get ejected onto the lower pipe while the hog heads into a slide, you can then drop down onto the hog and try to get stable.

It's not easy to settle into stability though. Or at least, it isn't on PAL Xbox. I suspect that it might be significantly easier on NTSC/PC due to better traction and drifting ability, but I don't have any experience with that. The drop was rather hard for me, as I very frequently got deflected off. Also I had frustratingly little corrective ability when things started to go wrong. It was rare to retrieve a dodgy situation.

If you do get stable though, you can freely look around, enjoying the sights or whatever, for which I recommend a zoomed sniper rifle with light amplification turned on. Maybe do some grenade lobbing too.

Technique tips

When dropping to the hog, I suggest going for the wheel. There's a stable spot there, though you might not hit it right away. Stability can also be found on the rear corner of the hog, and I've also been stable at a spot which was somewhat in between.

There's also stability to be had in the vicinity of the gun, including over the gun shield. This is something I only realised after releasing BCM588; it features instead in BCM589. The gun area is quite dangerous though, and you can easily end up bobbling around and being deflected off the hog.

Dropping should preferably be done soonish. The bigger the drop, the more prone you'll be to getting bounced off on impact (or so it seems to me), and the more likely you are to lose health or even be killed. A crouch landing could mitigate against these dangers though, and might even help you on more moderate drops. So you might want to try that.

Once on the hog, you can potentially edge into stability by looking at what your footing does on bounce landings. You can try to tweak your position until getting no obvious positional change.

If it seems like you've got some degree of stability, you can check things by holding a downwards aim and monitoring for gradual movement (wandering). A zoomed pistol or sniper rifle will let you see finer detail, to help you make sure you're stable.

Jumping

On your descent to the bottom, you may like to try doing jumps, so you bounce extra high. For that however, you'll definitely want to first of all be stable. Actually, I think of jumping as providing a test for stability. If you can do a jump okay, I'd say you're probably stable.

At the bottom

There was one time when, having been bouncing, I got splattered as the hog settled on the ground. Accordingly, it may be a good idea to dismount in advance, so you're clear of the settling.

In the course of making BCM588, there was one time when I was trying to drop onto the hog to bounce my way down, but unexpectedly found myself in the side-seat instead! So, that's when I knew such a ride was possible. Then a few days later I managed to get some rides down on the chain-gun. Intentionally, this time.

I'd wondered if maybe these rides were a first, but actually, that certainly wasn't the case for the chain-gun. Just as I was working on getting footage of that, a YouTube notification drew my attention back to a video by The Shilt Show which I'd watched a few weeks earlier, in which he'd got a ride down on the gun. I'd become so focused on Spasmodic's 2015 video (to which I'd been lead by the Shilt Show vid), I'd forgotten about that!

Whether that was a first by The Shilt Show, I don't know. Maybe not. And whether anyone has caught a ride down in the passenger seat before, again I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised. Indeed, any time you're going for the chain-gun, there's a chance you'll end up in the side-seat instead.

Anyway, you can see me getting such rides in BCM589,, mostly using a left spin approach. Instead of staying in the hog for a normal slide, I bail before a slide is really under way, so I get time to board a passenger spot (possibly after first flipping the hog, which may or may not be needed). The operation was hard to control though, and certainly you might find it difficult to pull off.

Another way of doing things is to use the upper pipe, and you can see examples of that in my movie, one of which, I later realised, is essentially how The Shilt Show did it. Using bailing would be another possibility, but I didn't fare well with that, so I'd recommend using ejection.

Riding in the side-seat (which is the harder target), you can enjoy some nice views using a zoomed sniper rifle with light amplification turned on, plus you might enjoy some shooting or grenade work. Meanwhile, on the chain-gun you've got a limitless supply of lead of course. Not that there's a lot to shoot at really, but those chasm walls could do with a good peppering, right?

At the bottom

When you're in either of the passenger spots, I recommend bailing before the hog reaches the ground, so you can be safely clear as it settles into its overturned state. Otherwise there's a risk of being splattered. At any rate, I've seen a side-seat Marine die like that.

In all, there are four states in which you could be descending with the hog as it slides down. You could be in any of the three occupant spots, or instead be precariously bouncing on the hog. Can you transfer from one state to another? That would of course give you another way of achieving a certain state. Eventually I found some possibilities, as follows.

Driver's seat to bouncing state

If you're in the driver's seat with the hog in left-up configuration, it's possible to transfer into bouncing state, as seen in BCM590. Originally I hadn't been able to do it. I just didn't have enough traction to make it up onto the hog - although maybe there's enough traction to do it on NTSC/PC? I'm on PAL Xbox. But I subsequently discovered what I call a jump-bail, and that enabled me to do it.

A jump-bail is when you jump as you bail, causing you to shoot up in the air. This gives you enough time to drift to a suitable landing spot, hopefully finding stability there. I couldn't make it to the wheel (maybe you could on NTSC/PC?), but the gun area is viable. There's stability to be had there, which I hadn't realised when previously exploring the bouncing business. And from there you could potentially shift up higher if desired, using a jump, though I must say, I found such a jump very hard to succeed with.

To do the jump-bail, either press the jump button just as MC is clambering out (it mustn't be too early or late), or alternatively, have the jump button down even before you bail. Personally I prefer the first way, as it feels more natural and is quite easy to do.

Note: a jump-bail might likewise enable you to transfer from the side-seat of a left-down hog to bouncing state. I've not had a chance to confirm that, but it seems like a mirror-image situation.

Chain-gun to side-seat

If you're on the chain-gun and the hog is in left-down configuration, it's possible to transfer to the side-seat, as demonstrated in BCM589.

How to do it? After bailing in suitable fashion, quickly flip the hog, and then you'll get a chance to board the side-seat, despite probably being quite a way off from the hog (see pic). Incidentally, the flip will also cause the hog to end up in left-up configuration.

I was never able to make such a transfer when the hog was left-up. With left-up the flip works differently, breaking the hog free of the pipes and also giving you no chance to board.

Here I cover some potentially useful checkpointing chicanery.

Getting a checkpoint while sliding down

It's possible to get a checkpoint while sliding down, if you're interested in that for whatever reason. I found it useful for certain investigative work for example, and for conveniently exploring a transfer idea in BCM590. Here's the plan for doing it.

With your hog in position ready for an attempt at slide initiation, go off and get a delayed tunnel checkpoint just near where you'll be able to trigger a new one (see first pic), and so that you'll be able to do it right away (remember, a certain time period must elapse between tunnel checkpoint triggerings). Ideally you want to be in a Banshee at this point, because it'll speed the following procedure along; but you don't have to be. Preferably save this; that's just in case you end up with an unsatisfactory checkpoint.

To now make an attempt at finishing off, trigger and delay a tunnel checkpoint, throw a delaying grenade before boarding the hog, then try for a slide. If you manage it, you'll get a checkpoint after the grenade goes off (see second pic). That's assuming it didn't go off too early of course, which depends on your throw; you need to've ensured a long enough delay. If slide initiation fails however, just revert to try the procedure again.

Note: if you want an extra long checkpoint delay with your grenade throw, throw it into the chase. To really max things out, use a high throw into the chasm.

Getting a checkpoint during slide initiation

The same manner of working can be used to get a checkpoint part way through slide initiation. You'll just need your grenade throw to give yourself the appropriate amount of time to reach the state you desire.

As an example, in connection with practicing and investigating bouncing I got a checkpoint as the hog was sliding off the upper pipe, heading for a slide. Also locked into the dynamics was my imminent ejection onto the lower pipe. So, each time I reverted, the hog would start a slide and I'd get a chance to start some bouncing. Very convenient!

Note: it seems impossible to get a checkpoint while bouncing on the hog. I tested this for this (it would've been useful), and it failed as I suspected it would. Evidently the bouncing causes checkpoint delay.

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