1001 Spikes

2014-06-23 08:57:37 am

That's pretty cool vorpal, not sure if that's an 'acceptable' strat but I guess it doesn't break any rules right? I mean you cleared the stage technically.

Elitti gj a pretty slick run of the Ninja, worthy of being called [WR] for now. Shovel Knight looks rad.

phort99

2014-06-23 01:57:17 pm

Ninja's horizontal speed is slightly faster after a wall jump as long as you don't stop running. Your speed resets if you hit a wall, stop moving or change direction. Should some time on the long X-6 stages, and other places.

StoK

2014-06-23 02:25:07 pm

Wow, going to map and advancing levels that way saves a ridiculous amount of time, at least 10 seconds in each world. I don't see why it wouldn't be acceptable, it just gets rid of the time you can't control the character anyway. Now I have to work on another good run with this strat in place.

Sunder

2014-06-23 07:27:55 pm

There's no reason why vorpal's timesave at the end of a stage should be banned as far as I know, thanks for the tipoff and I look forward to seeing the crazy quick times that come from that! Have you done any testing with the World 6 levels? It would be great if this lets us exit the boss stage early (since the victory music plays during the level and then you wait for the treasure room stage, maybe you can skip the wait?) also if it lets us skip the treasure room completely, that would be awesome!

I think I'm going to stay focused on my Aban/AllSkulls time before I move onto anything else, but I discovered something neat when using Jim in casual play: Shoryuken jumps are invincible on the ascending portion (I'm sure you all know this already) but I wasn't aware it was also immune to rolling rocks! I got a crazy fast first section of 5-2 with Jim and I haven't been able to replicate it, but a Jim/Fighter route might be something fun to watch since it might allow for a drastically different 3-5 and 5-2!

There's no reason why vorpal's timesave at the end of a stage should be banned as far as I know, thanks for the tipoff and I look forward to seeing the crazy quick times that come from that! Have you done any testing with the World 6 levels? It would be great if this lets us exit the boss stage early (since the victory music plays during the level and then you wait for the treasure room stage, maybe you can skip the wait?) also if it lets us skip the treasure room completely, that would be awesome!

I think I'm going to stay focused on my Aban/AllSkulls time before I move onto anything else, but I discovered something neat when using Jim in casual play: Shoryuken jumps are invincible on the ascending portion (I'm sure you all know this already) but I wasn't aware it was also immune to rolling rocks! I got a crazy fast first section of 5-2 with Jim and I haven't been able to replicate it, but a Jim/Fighter route might be something fun to watch since it might allow for a drastically different 3-5 and 5-2!

StoK

2014-06-23 08:02:14 pm

I found a faster way to do the boss today, having him do one less jump. Made a highlight, probably easier to understand if you see it.

vorpal

2014-06-24 12:31:59 am

beat ukampa+antarctica in 39:21 w/ aban. the ukampa time was 18:32. figured it was worth highlighting...

http://www.twitch.tv/vopeju/c/4525451

plz don't be scared of antarctica. it's not that hard, i swear! (it definitely was harder to learn than ukampa tho)

Sunder

Edit history:

Sunder: 2014-06-24 01:08:40 am

Sunder: 2014-06-24 01:07:18 am

2014-06-24 01:06:29 am

So I'm pretty sure this is the optimal 5-1 route (barring frame-saved and such). It's super tough, but you look like a badass doing it Tongue

Also, it appears that the animations to the 4 keys for entering Ukampa can be cancelled by exiting the level (and the entire door-opening animation as well). I THINK this can be useful to save about 3-4 seconds if you hit the first key, exit, do keys 2 and 3 regular, and then also exit during the 4th key. You always start at the bottom left of the room, so for 2 and 3 you'll have to run back to them and it might waste time, however for the 4th one it will reset you and open the door which could prove useful? Save the frames, gents

BananasaurusRex

2014-06-24 10:38:32 am

Using all of the newest optimizations that I'm aware of, I was able to get an Any% time of 18:05.86. I only avoided super-risky things that save tiny amounts of time, like the jump straight to the flamethrower instead of dropping down on 2-5, and stabbing the last scorpion instead of 3-shotting him on 4-2. Some big mistakes in the later parts of the run, making it pretty clear that sub-17:30, at the very least, is definitely doable.

vorpal

VorpalEdge

Edit history:

VorpalEdge: 2014-06-24 11:12:30 pm

2014-06-24 11:03:11 pm

i knew the beginning of 4-2 could be done a little faster, but i always figured the stomper cycles would lock you in anyways. decided to give that another shot today, & saved a cycle. you have a bigger margin of error than it looks if you manage to avoid the vertical clip on the little one-tile gap before the stompers, but that's basically the biggest mistake you can make & still get that stomper cycle if everything else goes perfect.

and grats on the new times, everyone Smiley

Akala

2014-06-25 06:03:49 am

Please BRex, let us some WR to get, don't be greedy ! Tongue

Nah seriously, it's a really good run, did you think about an Antartica run ?

Also, I can do the 1cycle beginning of the 5-1, but the problem is that freaking jump at the end, I can't time it...
And actually, I'm in a "Reset Trap", I reset a lot of run because of a bad world 1&2, I can't get out of it..

BananasaurusRex

Edit history:

BananasaurusRex: 2014-06-25 11:00:30 am

2014-06-25 07:33:23 am

Nice new strat, vorpal. Looks pretty tricky.

Akala, For 5-1, use the music to time your jump. If you do the level the exact same way every time, the jump will always need to be at the same point in the song.

Edit: By the way, has anyone managed to do this scorpion jump yet? Saves about a second, but requires that the level be played to absolute perfection.

Sunder

2014-06-25 04:20:18 pm

Rex: I've been using that Scorpion jump on the All Skulls route for a while now. Waiting for the rock to drop to get the skull, jumping to the right and then to the left puts you there just in time to clear the second scorpion.

BananasaurusRex

2014-06-25 05:56:46 pm

I know that it's possible to jump over the scorpion, but I was wondering if anyone had managed to get there quickly enough to do it on an Any% run without waiting an extra cycle. Currently, everyone gets there just a little too slowly to do the jump, so they wait for the scorpion to go a little farther forward, then stab it. I was demonstrating that with absolutely perfect movement, using the route that I did allows you to get there just in time to make the jump instead of waiting. I wasn't sure if anyone else had found that it was possible yet.

Sunder

Edit history:

Sunder: 2014-06-25 07:59:51 pm

Sunder: 2014-06-25 07:59:00 pm

2014-06-25 07:34:52 pm

Just PB'd at 26:12. Tried out my Key sequence idea before the boss, I choked a bit because I was excited to be PB'ing, but I think the idea is there and I'm almost positive it will save a good 6-8 seconds with good inputs. Key strat starts around 22:44 in the video. (game crashed 3 times during this run, not too happy about that)

StoK

2014-06-25 08:06:55 pm

Nice finds, both the 2-3 and 4-2 are pretty tough to get and I didn't know about before. The only thing I've found lately is a different way to approach 3-1. It's a tiny bit faster, but more importantly safer in my opinion. The hard part is earlier, so deaths aren't as punishing and it lets you push the block a bit more, making beating the flamethrower not a problem. I tried pushing the block in one go, but can't seem to get it far enough before the spikes go up.

BananasaurusRex

2014-06-25 09:05:37 pm

Nice find! The hard timing being closer to the beginning makes it more reasonable to keep a run that you take two tries for that level on, for sure.

BananasaurusRex

Edit history:

BananasaurusRex: 2014-06-27 02:46:37 am

2014-06-26 09:04:06 am

Managed to get a 17:31. Lost out on sub-17:30 thanks to the score level RNG, but oh well! There were three quick resets due to failed jumps at the very start of two levels, and no deaths other than that. A few other minor imperfections, including missing out on slightly faster strats on two levels for a loss of probably about two seconds between them. Pretty damn happy with this run!

Sunder

2014-06-26 03:44:40 pm

Very nice run, Rex! It's gonna be pretty hard for anybody to top that one.

i need to keep up with more runs, it seems I've missed a few faster strats that can be used in All Skulls (like the 4-1 you used). Back to practicing!

Also what is the agreed-upon end of the run? Technically in 6-5 there's a tile that you pass that triggers the end of the level, or are we waiting until "Antarctica Unlocked" shows up for a final split?

BananasaurusRex

2014-06-27 02:38:06 am

Thanks! And usually it's when you lose control of the character, and in this game, I think the first clear indicator of that is when the screen turns black, so that's what I use.

Akala

2014-06-27 01:02:10 pm

Wow awesome job BRex !!
Now try it blindfolded thumbsup

BananasaurusRex

2014-06-27 02:39:20 pm

No

Sunder

2014-06-27 03:42:31 pm

Looks like somebody else liked your run, Rex! Smiley

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/231993-1001-spikes-speedrun-in-17-31

BananasaurusRex

2014-06-27 05:52:33 pm

I saw that! Kotaku had it in their "highlights" thing, too.

Hey Vorpal, I was just scoping out the levels in Antarctica, and I found this cycle skip on 9-4. Not sure if you knew it was possible already.

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to be doing Ukampa + Antarctica, but I'll be on the lookout for route improvements. I'll let you know if I find anything else.

vorpal

2014-06-27 07:46:14 pm

yeah, i knew. had written it off as too hard, but that was before I cleaned my controller and made dpad left a lot more responsive.

i basically came up with the strats on my own. streamchat had some cool suggestions, but they're largely my brainchild over about two-three days of routing. i'm sure there's at least a minutes' worth of strat improvements to be found, and that's not counting the parts where i already know i'm slow, like the end of 10-4 or the final boss.

it's not really a good run lol, i just wanted more ppl to consider playing antarctica Smiley

Sunder

2014-06-27 10:04:26 pm

Do we want to have Ukampa + Antarctica as it's own category? It seems a little weird, considering they can each be their own run, so a god run could technically take 3 WRs at the same time (Ukampa, Antarctica, and both together). I feel like Antarctica would be better as its own category, but I'd rather see what other people have to say on the matter