Dangerous Dave speedrunning thread

2005-12-07 03:55:49 pm

DOSBox <3

http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=2524
Get the awesome platformer by John Romero, later id Software man, here.

This game, especially the sequel (Dave in the haunted mansion), would be extremely fun and challenging to speedrun, since you need to wait to reload your rifle for couple of seconds sometimes, you need to choose the right moments to shoot, who to shoot, who to skip, right moments to reload, and so on. It is very long and quite hard, so far I've made it to the level where you are in a tower with ghosts as my best. Not being able to save game is pretty bad so single segment it has to be if a way to save isn't found.

I don't think I have the skills to speedrun constantly more than 2 levels, but I'm sure I could give some tips if anyone would decide to challenge this game with a speedrun. And I'm sure many people would like to watch a run, even if it isn't perfect.

Discuss.

Thread title:

YautjaElder

Edit history:

YautjaElder: 2006-01-19 09:06:23 pm

2005-12-07 04:01:21 pm

Speed is the key.

Maybe you could train and get some skills ;).
And if it's too hard SS you could always make it segmented.

Xarthok

2005-12-07 04:53:54 pm

DOSBox <3

Segmented not possible I think... Cause there is no save function... Simply after you finish the level, next one start immediately. Only thing possible to do about it is pause key...

Frenkel

2006-01-19 09:03:52 pm

You can't save in Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion, but you can warp to different levels with cheats:
http://www.student.tue.nl/p/f.a.m.smeijers/sfp/games/dave.htm#cheats

Xarthok

2006-01-20 12:25:53 pm

DOSBox <3

I actually decided to try to run it a bit yesterday. Made Level 1 and 2 quite nicely (without having to shoot) but levels after those become a lot longer and harder. Level 3 started to cause problems. I can make it quick to the bottom tunnel to the stairs by shooting 5 times, but then there are too many enemies and I can't decide which to shoot and which to jump over. The fact that you can't take any hits or you have to start over and that jumping over ghouls and green slime is pretty risky in the first place makes it harder too.

Further for Level 3, I found that I can move up the long stairs quite rapidly, by waiting for a ghoul to come 1 step above me, then just jumping up, he doesn't get a chance to hit then, good that he can't walk upstairs. That works until the end of stairs where there are too many enemies, probably have to camp below and nail the ghouls. Those knife throwing grannies can be ignored.
Level 4, the boss picture is all messed up on WinXP, DOSBox or not Sad

Don't know a solution (it just shows one big black pixel for the boss and the fireballs). Other than that, just need to learn the order of shooting, then it's easy as it moves the same way every time.
Level 5, more problems, mostly caused by the ghosts. Other than that, platforms are pretty long, allowing to jump over most of the enemies easily. But then again, a ghost can mess it all up near the end.
Level 6, just need some good aim when jumping and dodging indestructible skulls and zombie monkeys.
Level 7, not a lot of expierence, just know that you can dodge the second monkey.
Level 8, the end boss is heck easy.

And I was using a different trick to get to desired level quickly. I just renamed that level file I needed to level 1 and I got there instead of the level 1 itself. But Warping seems easier.

Also sometimes I can manage to do many very rapid shots in a row, that could speed things up if I knew how to exactly exploit that.

Anyway, download level 1, 2 and 8 videos here:
Level 1, 6.00MB, 00:21,65 seconds
Level 2, 5.29MB, 00:26,65 seconds
Level 8, 2.88MB, 00:21,15 seconds

I actually decided to try to run it a bit yesterday. Made Level 1 and 2 quite nicely (without having to shoot) but levels after those become a lot longer and harder. Level 3 started to cause problems. I can make it quick to the bottom tunnel to the stairs by shooting 5 times, but then there are too many enemies and I can't decide which to shoot and which to jump over. The fact that you can't take any hits or you have to start over and that jumping over ghouls and green slime is pretty risky in the first place makes it harder too.

Further for Level 3, I found that I can move up the long stairs quite rapidly, by waiting for a ghoul to come 1 step above me, then just jumping up, he doesn't get a chance to hit then, good that he can't walk upstairs. That works until the end of stairs where there are too many enemies, probably have to camp below and nail the ghouls. Those knife throwing grannies can be ignored.
Level 4, the boss picture is all messed up on WinXP, DOSBox or not :( Don't know a solution (it just shows one big black pixel for the boss and the fireballs). Other than that, just need to learn the order of shooting, then it's easy as it moves the same way every time.
Level 5, more problems, mostly caused by the ghosts. Other than that, platforms are pretty long, allowing to jump over most of the enemies easily. But then again, a ghost can mess it all up near the end.
Level 6, just need some good aim when jumping and dodging indestructible skulls and zombie monkeys.
Level 7,  not a lot of expierence, just know that you can dodge the second monkey.
Level 8, the end boss is heck easy.

And I was using a different trick to get to desired level quickly. I just renamed that level file I needed to level 1 and I got there instead of the level 1 itself. But Warping seems easier.

Also sometimes I can manage to do many very rapid shots in a row, that could speed things up if I knew how to exactly exploit that.

Anyway, download level 1, 2 and 8 videos here:
[url=http://files.filefront.com/Dave2HQL1002165avi/;4640220;;/fileinfo.html]Level 1, 6.00MB, 00:21,65 seconds[/url]
[url=http://files.filefront.com/Dave2HQL2002665avi/;4640239;;/fileinfo.html]Level 2, 5.29MB, 00:26,65 seconds[/url]
[url=http://files.filefront.com/Dave2HQL8002115avi/;4640248;;/fileinfo.html]Level 8, 2.88MB, 00:21,15 seconds[/url]

Stalinist13

2006-01-23 10:55:48 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Oh man, Dangerous Dave is an oldschool one. I used to be pretty damn good at this game back in the old days. Seeings a speedrun of this game would be pretty damn awesome!

nXmaniac

Edit history:

nXmaniac: 2010-03-01 03:58:27 am

2010-02-14 06:22:19 pm

This thread has had more than a 4-year break now. It's time to revive it. I'm currently working on a Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion run since this is one of the first games I played as a child and I think it's a lovely, original platformer. I followed some runs by Sanitars, especially his level 7 run which saved me a lot of research. Now I'm starting to upload my takes on some levels and I'm posting to see whether anyone is still interested in seeing a run of this game. I'm currently using DosBox since it's easier to record on.

runs by Sanitars:
level 1
level 2
level 7
level 8

my runs:
level 4
level 5
level 6
level 7

This thread has had more than a 4-year break now. It's time to revive it. I'm currently working on a Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion run since this is one of the first games I played as a child and I think it's a lovely, original platformer. I followed some runs by Sanitars, especially his level 7 run which saved me a lot of research. Now I'm starting to upload my takes on some levels and I'm posting to see whether anyone is still interested in seeing a run of this game. I'm currently using DosBox since it's easier to record on.

runs by Sanitars:
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH5kTfdHLwI&feature=related]level 1[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unnCcnpwMS4&feature=related]level 2[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1RhTcfyVGI&NR=1]level 7[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVR5ebSzz8I&feature=related]level 8[/url]

my runs:
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x83SSx8v5kY]level 4[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEdjrJrkF4]level 5[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0gSmFnpB4M]level 6[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k56tsayi8oo]level 7[/url]

getter77

2010-02-14 08:28:06 pm

100% runs=great to watch

Definitely still interest for a run! Anytime good runs for true classics pop up, whether they can happen to make it to SDA or not, is a cause for celebration. Good luck knocking out the entire lot of it! 8)

guest

2010-02-26 11:00:15 am

excellent! looking forward to stage 3.

for stage 6, maybe you can reload many rounds once and not one round many times?

for stage 7 last room,
-for the first set of steps maybe you can jump earlier and catch the lip of the second step then jump to the top without hugging the wall?
-for the second set before the chute maybe you can use the blue platform instead?
-if you could get the 2 green gels to behave like in sanitar's video then you got a marvellous run

nXmaniac

Edit history:

nXmaniac: 2010-02-28 06:46:59 am

2010-02-28 05:36:21 am

I'm really glad there are still people interested Smiley

In stage 6, I now reload the two bullets I need for the slimes in the narrow corridor at the same time. I used to think that I can get past one of them without shooting it and it would look clumsy if I was left with one meaningless bullet in the end (I always reload two times at the bear in the end because I have to wait anyway). However, this doesn't seem to happen too often and I'd better play it safe and reload two before the slimes every time, especially since this is the later part in the game and I don't want such a small thing to mess up a whole SS run. I'm going to try reloading all three bullets at the same time now (which is just before I kill the last two zombies from below the platform).
Edit: Reloading all three bullets at the same time works out perfectly!

In stage 7, I've dealt with the green slimes a lot and I haven't found a way to consistently manipulate them :/ What I've found out is that the jump that Sanitars does to attract them just before he enters their room doesn't work a lot of the time so I just don't waste time on it and accept whatever luck I get with them.

Edit: I tried your suggestion for the first set of stairs. No matter how early I jump to the 1st platform it seems like I need to stop moving to the right for a while if I don't want to hug the wall. The way I do it now looks slightly more smooth but I'm not sure if it saves a lot of time.

For the steps at the very end I sometimes use the blue platform and according to my current strategy I should have used it in the posted run because the slime was right in front of me on the ground and there isn't much of a chance that it will always fly off like that allowing me to pass. It should be marginally quicker than just climbing the stairs but whichever path I take there's always risk with those bloody slimes. It'd be very frustrating to end a run there.

Right now I'm working on stage 3, which in my opinion is the toughest stage to speedrun in the entire game, and on some improvements in stage 5. My consistency on levels 6,7 and 8 is very good I often do them near perfectly after I pass level 5 but I can't say the same for level 5 itself. Anyway, I should get a rough run of level 3 at some point, I plan to use a cute little wall glitch which I cannot pull off consistently. I also don't have a lot of time to speedrun the game so it might take a while.

I'm really glad there are still people interested :)

In stage 6, I now reload the two bullets I need for the slimes in the narrow corridor at the same time. I used to think that I can get past one of them without shooting it and it would look clumsy if I was left with one meaningless bullet in the end (I always reload two times at the bear in the end because I have to wait anyway). However, this doesn't seem to happen too often and I'd better play it safe and reload two before the slimes every time, especially since this is the later part in the game and I don't want such a small thing to mess up a whole SS run. I'm going to try reloading all three bullets at the same time now (which is just before I kill the last two zombies from below the platform).
Edit: Reloading all three bullets at the same time works out perfectly!

In stage 7, I've dealt with the green slimes a lot and I haven't found a way to consistently manipulate them :/ What I've found out is that the jump that Sanitars does to attract them just before he enters their room doesn't work a lot of the time so I just don't waste time on it and accept whatever luck I get with them.

Edit: I tried your suggestion for the first set of stairs. No matter how early I jump to the 1st platform it seems like I need to stop moving to the right for a while if I don't want to hug the wall. The way I do it now looks slightly more smooth but I'm not sure if it saves a lot of time.

For the steps at the very end I sometimes use the blue platform and according to my current strategy I should have used it in the posted run because the slime was right in front of me on the ground and there isn't much of a chance that it will always fly off like that allowing me to pass. It should be marginally quicker than just climbing the stairs but whichever path I take there's always risk with those bloody slimes. It'd be very frustrating to end a run there.

Right now I'm working on stage 3, which in my opinion is the toughest stage to speedrun in the entire game, and on some improvements in stage 5. My consistency on levels 6,7 and 8 is very good I often do them near perfectly after I pass level 5 but I can't say the same for level 5 itself. Anyway, I should get a rough run of level 3 at some point, I plan to use a cute little wall glitch which I cannot pull off consistently. I also don't have a lot of time to speedrun the game so it might take a while.

guest

2010-02-28 08:39:25 am

for stage 6
-maybe you can kill the first ghost at the left end when you are turning to jump to the zombie platforms above?

for stage 5 and 7
-when jumping into the end of stage chute you can jump earlier like in the rockman runs?

for stage 5:
-there was a point where you stopped to kill 2 zombies when you were only trying to kill the slime. maybe you could just kill only the slime?
-also, for the ghosts early on you could kill them on the ladders instead of stopping and turning to shoot?

stage 7:
-i wonder whether it would be possible to not kill any ghosts at all.

finally, i used to practise this way:
you can modify the stages by changing the filenames in the folder containing the stages. for example, when i practised stage 4 i copied the 4th stage file and renamed it 1-8, and replaced the files of the other stages. then i can play stage 4 8 times in a row without using the code.

keep going with that stage 3 man

nXmaniac

Edit history:

nXmaniac: 2010-03-01 03:58:01 am

2010-02-28 05:58:45 pm

Stage 6:
I tried to go past the first ghost but later I need to kill him in a position where I have to stop again so I don't think it's worth it. I've uploaded an attempt at level 6 which shows both this and the three bullet reload. I put a little twist on the latter. I used to reload all three bullets after killing the first zombie but then I discovered that as I climb up to shoot the two zombies one of them is always a bit behind and I have to wait for him so I had time to reload one extra bullet there. This seems kind of risky though. Despite pulling it off on my first attempt I'm not sure whether I'll be able to do it every time.
level 6 new attempt

Stage 7:
Thanks to your suggestions, I made huge progress on this level. Bypassing the first two ghosts and the zombies after that was relatively easy and I can do it consistently now. Bypassing the single ghost after that was a pain though. It is extremely close as you can see in the video but I'm sure I can work out a safe way to do it. The rest of the level didn't go very smoothly. I wasted a couple of bullets here and there but it doesn't matter since I don't have to reload in this level and I was effectively prefiring at the slimes
Edit: Here is the video level 7

I'm not really sure what you mean by jumping into the chute rockman style. Are you saying I should jump into it instead of letting myself fall of the ledge? I remember something like that in rockman using vertical velocity(?!).

Stage 5 is definitely bad at this moment. I've been working very hard on the area around those 2 zombies you mention. The thing is, it's hard to jump over them 1) because there are two of them 2) because of that small object that limits my jump
I've been trying to go through the corridor under them but as I go up I have to rely on luck with the slime. It depends on where the slime turns out to be and this isn't something I can control or figure out in advance. So right now I'm looking for a safe and consistent way to get through this part without losing too much time because I'm dying there way more often than I should be. I should have a video of this soon.
I can kill the ghosts in level 5 from the stairs but I don't know whether it will make a difference time wise. The way I do it now I have to turn around but there's still the recoil to grant me some speed. That's why I don't think it's worth it killing the ghost in level 6 like I did. It's hard to judge any time losses when they are this small. I'm also not sure whether rapid low jumping is faster than walking (for example in the beginning of level 6). It feels marginally faster when I play but in fact it could be slower for all I know. I'd be happy if someone can figure out these little things.

Edit: Here's a new level 5 video level 5

Stage 6:
I tried to go past the first ghost but later I need to kill him in a position where I have to stop again so I don't think it's worth it. I've uploaded an attempt at level 6 which shows both this and the three bullet reload. I put a little twist on the latter. I used to reload all three bullets after killing the first zombie but then I discovered that as I climb up to shoot the two zombies one of them is always a bit behind and I have to wait for him so I had time to reload one extra bullet there. This seems kind of risky though. Despite pulling it off on my first attempt I'm not sure whether I'll be able to do it every time.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIb487nLSiw]level 6 new attempt[/url]

Stage 7:
Thanks to your suggestions, I made huge progress on this level. Bypassing the first two ghosts and the zombies after that was relatively easy and I can do it consistently now. Bypassing the single ghost after that was a pain though. It is extremely close as you can see in the video but I'm sure I can work out a safe way to do it. The rest of the level didn't go very smoothly. I wasted a couple of bullets here and there but it doesn't matter since I don't have to reload in this level and I was effectively prefiring at the slimes
Edit: Here is the video [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k56tsayi8oo]level 7[/url]

I'm not really sure what you mean by jumping into the chute rockman style. Are you saying I should jump into it instead of letting myself fall of the ledge? I remember something like that in rockman using vertical velocity(?!).

Stage 5 is definitely bad at this moment. I've been working very hard on the area around those 2 zombies you mention. The thing is, it's hard to jump over them 1) because there are two of them 2) because of that small object that limits my jump
I've been trying to go through the corridor under them but as I go up I have to rely on luck with the slime. It depends on where the slime turns out to be and this isn't something I can control or figure out in advance. So right now I'm looking for a safe and consistent way to get through this part without losing too much time because I'm dying there way more often than I should be. I should have a video of this soon. 
I can kill the ghosts in level 5 from the stairs but I don't know whether it will make a difference time wise. The way I do it now I have to turn around but there's still the recoil to grant me some speed. That's why I don't think it's worth it killing the ghost in level 6 like I did. It's hard to judge any time losses when they are this small. I'm also not sure whether rapid low jumping is faster than walking (for example in the beginning of level 6). It feels marginally faster when I play but in fact it could be slower for all I know. I'd be happy if someone can figure out these little things.

Edit: Here's a new level 5 video [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEdjrJrkF4]level 5[/url]

guest

2010-03-01 07:08:55 am

i think your stage 5 and 7 paths are cool. the old stage 6 route looks better.

keep going. and good luck on the slimes. maybe soon you will be able to shoot them as they fly.

nXmaniac

2010-03-14 07:12:00 pm

Lately I've been practising mainly level 3. I've got an ok attempt (level 3) but there is a lot to improve and I'm very far from running it consistently. Firstly, I can rarely pull off the wall glitch from the first try. Sometimes it takes 3,4 or more attempts. The maximum I can afford is to miss it once and get it right the second time but I can't really figure out how to do it consistently. I have a basic idea but it seems like my execution is not perfect. All I know about the glitch is that it should have something to do with screen scrolling.

Secondly, the level is just full of pitfalls. After I shoot the first zombie and bypass the second I have to do a very random jump which sometimes costs me more time because of different positionings of the zombie above. Same goes for the slimes in the bottom part of the level. And the final staircase is just a bitch but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I always seem to think that there is a faster way of bypassing the very last 4 zombies but I can't think of anything else besides saving up bullets and shooting all of them.

Basically, any ideas that you have for this level will be greatly appreciated.

A funny thing happened when I was running the other levels. I mostly practise level 5 but when I pass it I play on until I die and then get back to level 5. One time I died in level 6 but only had one last life left so I thought I'd just kill myself and let myself continue automatically from level 5 without warping. So I jumped into the second zombie and accidentally discovered a quicker way to bypass this area. So here is the new level 6.Nothing significant but still a nice, risk-free improvement.

Lately I've been practising mainly level 3. I've got an ok attempt ([url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWdRsaNo83M]level 3[/url]) but there is a lot to improve and I'm very far from running it consistently. Firstly, I can rarely pull off the wall glitch from the first try. Sometimes it takes 3,4 or more attempts. The maximum I can afford is to miss it once and get it right the second time but I can't really figure out how to do it consistently. I have a basic idea but it seems like my execution is not perfect. All I know about the glitch is that it should have something to do with screen scrolling.

Secondly, the level is just full of pitfalls. After I shoot the first zombie and bypass the second I have to do a very random jump which sometimes costs me more time because of different positionings of the zombie above. Same goes for the slimes in the bottom part of the level. And the final staircase is just a bitch but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I always seem to think that there is a faster way of bypassing the very last 4 zombies but I can't think of anything else besides saving up bullets and shooting all of them.

Basically, any ideas that you have for this level will be greatly appreciated.

A funny thing happened when I was running the other levels. I mostly practise level 5 but when I pass it I play on until I die and then get back to level 5. One time I died in level 6 but only had one last life left so I thought I'd just kill myself and let myself continue automatically from level 5 without warping. So I jumped into the second zombie and accidentally discovered a quicker way to bypass this area. So here is the new [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5UjDsBUhjY]level 6[/url].Nothing significant but still a nice, risk-free improvement.

guest

2010-03-19 11:11:49 am

i think you have some great progress there.

stage 3:
1) i like the way you "shoot the first zombie and bypass the second"
2) the glitch rocks. does it only work left to right? is the gap before the wall essential? if it was possible to glitch right on solid ground, you can skip the entire stage.
3) what i used to do for the last 4 zombies: ignore the first, jump up to the stairs and shoot the rest while on the stairs, so i do not wait for them to walk down. you may not need to shoot all of them. if the last pair is in the same horizontal plane then perhaps you can bypass both.

stage 5:
my memory fails me, but would taking the door to the roof help? it may save two flights of stairs and that mad rush to the exit.

stage 6:
i counted your kills from your first video:
ghost, zombie x4, reload x3, 2 slimes, reload x2, 2 ghosts

my main point would be the wait for the last werewolf to jump 3 times. with your strategy it blends in the reload nicely but i now think it is not the best
how about you bypass the first 2 zombies, shoot the solo zombie on the platform, shoot one of the zombies and the spider, bypass the remaining, and stand sufficiently left so the last werewolf
would clear the lower ground you are standing on and run offscreen left? also, since you have ably demostrated in stages 5 and 7 that dave outruns ghosts, why dont you shoot only one of the two and leg it to the exit? finally, dave has to trigger the ghosts.
would it be possible to jump over and dodge the trigger point? you may have to memorize the hit box location

keep it up man

ghost 1
zombie x 2 4
spider 1 (optional)
slimes 2
reload 1
ghost 1

i think you have some great progress there.

stage 3:
1) i like the way you "shoot the first zombie and bypass the second"
2) the glitch rocks. does it only work left to right? is the gap before the wall essential? if it was possible to glitch right on solid ground, you can skip the entire stage.
3) what i used to do for the last 4 zombies: ignore the first, jump up to the stairs and shoot the rest while on the stairs, so i do not wait for them to walk down. you may not need to shoot all of them. if the last pair is in the same horizontal plane then perhaps you can bypass both.

stage 5:
my memory fails me, but would taking the door to the roof help? it may save two flights of stairs and that mad rush to the exit.

stage 6:
i counted your kills from your first video:
ghost, zombie x4, reload x3, 2 slimes, reload x2, 2 ghosts

my main point would be the wait for the last werewolf to jump 3 times. with your strategy it blends in the reload nicely but i now think it is not the best
how about you bypass the first 2 zombies, shoot the solo zombie on the platform, shoot one of the zombies and the spider, bypass the remaining, and stand sufficiently left so the last werewolf 
would clear the lower ground you are standing on and run offscreen left? also, since you have ably demostrated in stages 5 and 7 that dave outruns ghosts, why dont you shoot only one of the two and leg it to the exit? finally, dave has to trigger the ghosts. 
would it be possible to jump over and dodge the trigger point? you may have to memorize the hit box location

keep it up man

ghost 		1
zombie x 2 	4
spider		1	(optional)
slimes		2
reload		1 
ghost		1

nXmaniac

2010-03-21 07:26:07 pm

Thanks, it's really comforting to know someone's following my progress.

Stage 3:
The glitch only works if a platform is placed at this exact distance from the wall. Here is how DjScudMissile describes it:
"you can glitch through the wall, if you just move to the left (towards the wall) in slow jerk-like motion (just moving towards the wall one step at the time)."
Instead of moving one step at a time I just tap the movement button as fast as I can creating a similar effect. The problem is that I really can't do it consistently and it only saves about 5 seconds, so if I miss it two times, it becomes really ugly. Unfortunately, it is not useful anywhere else in the game. DjScudMissile said he recalled glitching to the right through the outer wall of level 5 on one of the last floors but I have tried glitching into every bit of this wall and I always get stuck in the first set of blocks without being able to bypass the second.
For the last 4 zombies how can you ignore the first, it's really close to the top of the stairs so I can't jump over it without getting killed by the top 3 zombies.

Stage 5:
I've tried the door to the roof before but it's about 5 seconds slower :/

Stage 6:
I can now jump over the first zombie I used to shoot, but when I get to the platform with the two zombies and the spider the following ALWAYS happens:
By the time I shoot the first zombie, the second one is really close to the edge. I haven't been able to jump and "bypass" it. Even if I could though, the spider will get me because the "bypassing" move requires me to stand for a second while the zombie delivers his blow to the other side.
Therefore, I don't think I can shoot less than three zombies.

I can manipulate the werewolf from the floor below. It basically jumps a split second after Dave jumps. However, it is difficult because of the slimes and it might slow me down so much that it's not worth doing it. Even if I don't waste any time it's pretty hard to manipulate it exactly to the spot I want it to be. I've only succeeded once by accident. What you're suggesting involves me going to the werewolf then backtracking so that it jumps over me and goes to the left. I think this wastes more time especially since I still have to reload after that.

The ghosts in the end...I first thought about shooting the first and outracing the second. However, the ghost has its "spawn time" before you can hurt him and by the time I can I'm triggering the second ghost and it kills me quickly after shooting the first one. Now I think it's possible to kill the second, possibly from an upper platfrom so that the first flies towards Dave in such a way that Dave can jump over him. I haven't been successful with this yet.
I also don't think that I can avoid the ghosts' trigger points. If I jump too high I activate the ghosts from the top "floor" anyway.

Thanks, it's really comforting to know someone's following my progress.

Stage 3:
The glitch only works if a platform is placed at this exact distance from the wall. Here is how DjScudMissile describes it:
"you can glitch through the wall, if you just move to the left (towards the wall) in slow jerk-like motion (just moving towards the wall one step at the time)."
Instead of moving one step at a time I just tap the movement button as fast as I can creating a similar effect. The problem is that I really can't do it consistently and it only saves about 5 seconds, so if I miss it two times, it becomes really ugly. Unfortunately, it is not useful anywhere else in the game. DjScudMissile said he recalled glitching to the right through the outer wall of level 5 on one of the last floors but I have tried glitching into every bit of this wall and I always get stuck in the first set of blocks without being able to bypass the second.
For the last 4 zombies how can you ignore the first, it's really close to the top of the stairs so I can't jump over it without getting killed by the top 3 zombies.

Stage 5:
I've tried the door to the roof before but it's about 5 seconds slower :/

Stage 6:
I can now jump over the first zombie I used to shoot, but when I get to the platform with the two zombies and the spider the following ALWAYS happens:
By the time I shoot the first zombie, the second one is really close to the edge. I haven't been able to jump and "bypass" it. Even if I could though, the spider will get me because the "bypassing" move requires me to stand for a second while the zombie delivers his blow to the other side.
Therefore, I don't think I can shoot less than three zombies.

I can manipulate the werewolf from the floor below. It basically jumps a split second after Dave jumps. However, it is difficult because of the slimes and it might slow me down so much that it's not worth doing it. Even if I don't waste any time it's pretty hard to manipulate it exactly to the spot I want it to be. I've only succeeded once by accident. What you're suggesting involves me going to the werewolf then backtracking so that it jumps over me and goes to the left. I think this wastes more time especially since I still have to reload after that.

The ghosts in the end...I first thought about shooting the first and outracing the second. However, the ghost has its "spawn time" before you can hurt him and by the time I can I'm triggering the second ghost and it kills me quickly after shooting the first one. Now I think it's possible to kill the second, possibly from an upper platfrom so that the first flies towards Dave in such a way that Dave can jump over him. I haven't been successful with this yet.
I also don't think that I can avoid the ghosts' trigger points. If I jump too high I activate the ghosts from the top "floor" anyway.

Xarthok

2010-03-22 06:43:00 pm

DOSBox <3

I'm still following your progress also. Good stuff.

nXmaniac

Edit history:

nXmaniac: 2010-05-14 06:31:51 pm

2010-05-14 06:21:07 pm

I've got some new videos for you. Nothing too exciting, since I haven't been playing a lot but that's all I've got.

I've been running levels 1 and 2. Level 1 is pretty easy except for the very last zombie just at the door. I haven't been able to find a consistent way to do what's shown so for now it's purely lucky which is annoying even if it's only 20 seconds to replay level 1 and try it again.

Level 2 is where it gets more interesting. The quickest way to enter doors is to jump at them while pressing up. In this way you can open them while you're still in the air so that when you land you enter immediately. It's not very easy to pull off so as you can see, it's hard to do it on all the doors. It also doesn't save that much time but it's just a cool little trick. Other than that, the weakest point of this level 2 is the zombie at the door before last. It is possible to jump earlier then and get away with it if you can pull off the door trick mentioned above.

The other thing I've got is a SS run of levels 5-8 that actually doesn't have many mistakes. It is very indicative of what an actual run will look like if I don't discover anything new for level 6. Unfortunately, my success rate for level 5 is very low and still, this is not as bad as level 3, where the wall glitch is driving me crazy among other things.

Wow, looks like we've got a Russian speedrunner on our hands. Look at this guy do level 7

I've got some new videos for you. Nothing too exciting, since I haven't been playing a lot but that's all I've got.

I've been running [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLD04NZ6TOo]levels 1 and 2[/url]. Level 1 is pretty easy except for the very last zombie just at the door. I haven't been able to find a consistent way to do what's shown so for now it's purely lucky which is annoying even if it's only 20 seconds to replay level 1 and try it again.

Level 2 is where it gets more interesting. The quickest way to enter doors is to jump at them while pressing up. In this way you can open them while you're still in the air so that when you land you enter immediately. It's not very easy to pull off so as you can see, it's hard to do it on all the doors. It also doesn't save that much time but it's just a cool little trick. Other than that, the weakest point of this level 2 is the zombie at the door before last. It is possible to jump earlier then and get away with it if you can pull off the door trick mentioned above.

The other thing I've got is a [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gSKeE5QwzI]SS run of levels 5-8[/url] that actually doesn't have many mistakes. It is very indicative of what an actual run will look like if I don't discover anything new for level 6. Unfortunately, my success rate for level 5 is very low and still, this is not as bad as level 3, where the wall glitch is driving me crazy among other things.

Wow, looks like we've got a Russian speedrunner on our hands. Look at this guy do [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkiaD5UuZtk]level 7[/url]

Xarthok

2010-05-15 09:37:55 am

DOSBox <3

And holy shit, look at his Dave 3 run, amazing glitches, almost looks like a TAS

nXmaniac

2010-05-15 05:16:15 pm

Yeah, his Dave3 run is probably as fast as the game can be without tools. It's clearly a segmented run but he made it look absolutely fantastic. I can't believe how he managed to discover some of the glitches. It gives me hope that I can find new timesavers in my run. I may try to talk to him and see if he can do more Dave2 videos.

Xarthok

2010-08-13 07:50:45 pm

DOSBox <3

Any progress?

Aspirin18

Edit history:

Aspirin18: 2010-11-24 04:16:33 am

2010-11-24 04:14:29 am

Sega Genesis Fan

nXmaniac

2014-06-29 03:16:18 am

Recently I picked up this game again and I plan to make some progress on it this summer (before abandoning it again probably). I will be streaming my sessions on twitch.tv/nxmaniac. I have updated the strategies for most levels and I will upload some clips to showcase them very soon. Most interestingly, I utilise some sort of warp that skips level 2 entirely. I originally found it in this video whose author claims you need to "100% clear" the level to get it to work. Luckily for us, this is not necessary and the old strategy for level 1 remains unchanged. Again, I will upload some videos of this and other recent discoveries shortly.

Finally, if anyone is interested in watching the stream, let me know and I will try to establish regular streaming times and post them here. My sessions tend to be short because the game burns me out quickly. The streams will be archived on twitch as well, of course. I would be especially happy if someone expresses interest in picking up this project because I probably won't have time for it after the end of this summer and I'm still not ready to attempt the actual speedrun.

Recently I picked up this game again and I plan to make some progress on it this summer (before abandoning it again probably). I will be streaming my sessions on [url=http://www.twitch.tv/nxmaniac/]twitch.tv/nxmaniac[/url]. I have updated the strategies for most levels and I will upload some clips to showcase them very soon. Most interestingly, I utilise some sort of warp that skips level 2 entirely. I originally found it in [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlGlGyBx1BM]this video[/url] whose author claims you need to "100% clear" the level to get it to work. Luckily for us, this is not necessary and the old strategy for level 1 remains unchanged. Again, I will upload some videos of this and other recent discoveries shortly.

Finally, if anyone is interested in watching the stream, let me know and I will try to establish regular streaming times and post them here. My sessions tend to be short because the game burns me out quickly. The streams will be archived on twitch as well, of course. I would be especially happy if someone expresses interest in picking up this project because I probably won't have time for it after the end of this summer and I'm still not ready to attempt the actual speedrun.

guest

2014-06-29 08:56:25 am

looks nice

nXmaniac

Edit history:

nXmaniac: 2014-07-09 06:59:49 am

nXmaniac: 2014-07-09 06:59:20 am

nXmaniac: 2014-07-09 06:57:51 am

2014-07-09 06:57:03 am

Here comes the promised update. I'll break down the new time savers level by level.

Levels 1+2: At the end of level 1 if you hold "up" while entering the door and through the transition to level 2, the game puts Dave inside an invisible door and clears the level immediately. Demonstration here. The trick itself is easy to pull off; the main difficulty in this level remains getting past the zombie in front of the final door.

Level 3: A few days ago, I discovered a couple of tricks that in total save at least 4 seconds if things go smoothly bringing the time to under a minute! The biggest one is jumping past the three zombies at the top of the last staircase, where I used to wait for all of them to come all the way down to the previous platform so that I can jump over them. Another improvement is in the corridors at the bottom of the map. No longer do I have to shoot the first zombie in each hallway as I enter. This is best showcased at 00:35 and I usually do something similar in 00:41 but due to the positioning of the slimes I needed to improvise. The bottom line is there is less of a setback in these corridors now that I don't need to shoot and I can use the leftover bullets to clear the bottom of the stairs if I need to.

Level 4: I was able to shave a few seconds by using a well-known fast-fire glitch. In this game fast shooting is prevented by a recoil that pushes Dave back. This can also cause him to fall off a platform when he shoots horizontally if he is at the edge. However, he can't fall off the edge if he shoots diagonally. This allows for a shorter recoil animation and faster shooting as you can see in the video. Unfortunately, the fastest way to kill the boss requires reloading one extra bullet because one of the boss' "snowflakes" is in the way but still a second or two is saved over the previous method. There might be a further half-second saved by reloading one less bullet and dropping down to the lower platform but I haven't been able to pull it off consistently and dropping down loses time in its own right so I don't think this is an improvement worth chasing.

Level 5 has seen a lot of practice but there is not much to show for it since the strategy is pretty much the same and I've been working on tightening up the problematic sections and preparing for more scenarios that can arise due to slime RNG. You can look at the stream if you're interested, since I always devote a good portion of it to this level.

Level 6 has seen one minor improvement in that I kill one less zombie at 00:21 in this video which is not even hard to skip compared to the previous two who often screw me over. There are also two ghosts at the end of the level that I used to kill. Starting here I do a couple of calculated jumps which prevent them from spawning allowing me to proceed faster.

Before the recent discoveries in level 3 I was feeling good about attempting the whole run but now I'm gonna need more practice. The entire run should clock at a bit more than 5 minutes if things go smoothly.

Here comes the promised update. I'll break down the new time savers level by level.

Levels 1+2: At the end of level 1 if you hold "up" while entering the door and through the transition to level 2, the game puts Dave inside an invisible door and clears the level immediately. Demonstration  [url=http://www.twitch.tv/nxmaniac/c/4559800]here[/url]. The trick itself is easy to pull off; the main difficulty in this level remains getting past the zombie in front of the final door.

Level 3: A few days ago, I discovered a couple of tricks that in total save at least 4 seconds if things go smoothly bringing the time to [url=http://www.twitch.tv/nxmaniac/c/4627467]under a minute[/url]! The biggest one is jumping past the three zombies at the top of the last staircase, where I used to wait for all of them to come all the way down to the previous platform so that I can jump over them. Another improvement is in the corridors at the bottom of the map. No longer do I have to shoot the first zombie in each hallway as I enter. This is best showcased at 00:35 and I usually do something similar in 00:41 but due to the positioning of the slimes I needed to improvise. The bottom line is there is less of a setback in these corridors now that I don't need to shoot and I can use the leftover bullets to clear the bottom of the stairs if I need to.

Level 4: I was able to [url=http://www.twitch.tv/nxmaniac/c/4559800?t=1m28s]shave a few seconds[/url] by using a well-known fast-fire glitch. In this game fast shooting is prevented by a recoil that pushes Dave back. This can also cause him to fall off a platform when he shoots horizontally if he is at the edge. However, he can't fall off the edge if he shoots diagonally. This allows for a shorter recoil animation and faster shooting as you can see in the video. Unfortunately, the fastest way to kill the boss requires reloading one extra bullet because one of the boss' "snowflakes" is in the way but still a second or two is saved over the previous method. There might be a further half-second saved by reloading one less bullet and dropping down to the lower platform but I haven't been able to pull it off consistently and dropping down loses time in its own right so I don't think this is an improvement worth chasing.

Level 5 has seen a lot of practice but there is not much to show for it since the strategy is pretty much the same and I've been working on tightening up the problematic sections and preparing for more scenarios that can arise due to slime RNG. You can look at the stream if you're interested, since I always devote a good portion of it to this level.

Level 6 has seen one minor improvement in that I kill one less zombie at 00:21 in [url=http://www.twitch.tv/nxmaniac/c/4579650]this video[/url] which is not even hard to skip compared to the previous two who often screw me over. There are also two ghosts at the end of the level that I used to kill. Starting [url=http://www.twitch.tv/nxmaniac/c/4579650?t=1m1s]here[/url] I do a couple of calculated jumps which prevent them from spawning allowing me to proceed faster.

Before the recent discoveries in level 3 I was feeling good about attempting the whole run but now I'm gonna need more practice. The entire run should clock at a bit more than 5 minutes if things go smoothly.