Batman: Arkham Asylum

Reaver

Edit history:

Reaver: 2011-02-15 04:59:00 pm

Reaver: 2011-02-15 08:32:01 am

Reaver: 2011-02-15 08:31:47 am

2011-02-14 05:24:52 pm

Just found a quick trick I haven't seen used yet. Saves time.

EDIT: Here's another:

Majority of time saved will probably come from battle strategies.

EDIT 2: I have a few segments up on my youtube account of a practice run. They ain't great but there might be something useful there. Should be 5-15 seconds improvement in each segment.

honorableJay

2011-02-15 11:19:22 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

The first one is definitely nice, didn't think there's be enough time to batarang them all and still knock em out. The second one is almost the same as my strat for that room, except I wind up using 2 dets (one left and one right).

honorableJay

2011-04-16 08:47:35 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Ok, now that the live stream is done an the game is fresh in my memory, figured I'd bump this and say that yes I am now getting this run underway.

honorableJay

Edit history:

honorableJay: 2011-04-18 03:27:56 pm

2011-04-18 12:16:44 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Segment 1

There are a few small errors with rolling (namely after the gas room and when trying to talk to the guard after the Titan) and I missed a jump kick before the last mook fight (just before Titan) but this segment is still a keeper simply because of the opening fight. Taking down all of the mooks before Joker even has a chance to finish his dialogue starts Gordon's dialogue much quicker. Compared to my last best segment (which didn't have any mis-rolls and looked cleaner) this one is a full 10 seconds faster simply because of that first fight. If I had to guess, maybe 3 seconds max could be saved if I got rid of the bad rolls, didn't miss the jump-kick, and landed in the perfect spot next to Zsasz (which causes a faster ground pound animation).

I've decided to end this segment at the elevator for a few reasons:
1) There are a few tricks when climbing the elevator shaft that are easy to mess up even though they're not hard to do (all about positioning)
2) Trying to get a good fight at the top of the elevator shaft along with Intensive Treatment is hard enough, but adding in the opening fight makes the chances for success very low
3) The controls can be a bit twitchy since they're designed for consoles and not ported over the best for pc, therefore longer segments add in more of a chance to screw up something easy

The next segment will go from the elevator shaft to Intensive Treatment.

[url=http://www.gamefront.com/files/20236387/baa_seg1prev_mp4]Segment 1[/url]

There are a few small errors with rolling (namely after the gas room and when trying to talk to the guard after the Titan) and I missed a jump kick before the last mook fight (just before Titan) but this segment is still a keeper simply because of the opening fight. Taking down all of the mooks before Joker even has a chance to finish his dialogue starts Gordon's dialogue much quicker. Compared to my last best segment (which didn't have any mis-rolls and looked cleaner) this one is a full 10 seconds faster simply because of that first fight. If I had to guess, maybe 3 seconds max could be saved if I got rid of the bad rolls, didn't miss the jump-kick, and landed in the perfect spot next to Zsasz (which causes a faster ground pound animation).

I've decided to end this segment at the elevator for a few reasons:
1) There are a few tricks when climbing the elevator shaft that are easy to mess up even though they're not hard to do (all about positioning)
2) Trying to get a good fight at the top of the elevator shaft along with Intensive Treatment is hard enough, but adding in the opening fight makes the chances for success very low
3) The controls can be a bit twitchy since they're designed for consoles and not ported over the best for pc, therefore longer segments add in more of a chance to screw up something easy

The next segment will go from the elevator shaft to Intensive Treatment.

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2011-04-18 05:07:16 pm

TheThrillness: 2011-04-18 05:06:18 pm

TheThrillness: 2011-04-18 05:05:28 pm

2011-04-18 05:04:36 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

Watched the SDA run and was a good watch. Just saw Segment 1 and looks so good. I don't know the game much but some questions.

Are all the fights you do mandatory to get the required upgrades? Been ages since I played the game but this is my thinking... probably wrong.

After cell fights you have 595 points. You take down those two guards just after for 100. The riddler trophies seem to be worth 200 points regardless? Why not avoid those two guards just after and collect the riddler trophy you pass by? (At about 3:04 in on Segment 1). If what I say is correct (and probably not) you would get an extra 100 points and save like 5 seconds.

Also noticed that opening of those barred holes were mega fast compared to 360. How does the PC version handle the required mashing? Tongue

honorableJay

2011-04-18 07:50:52 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

All of the fights that I don't skip are required to pass the area. Most of the time you'll get the "Secure are to continue" message if there's an enemy within range (there are a few exceptions of course). For the most part experience isn't a problem. The only Riddler trophies I'm getting are the ones that I'll lose no time grabbing (which is why I skipped the one in the tunnel after Zsasz). Any others just get wasted anyway. With the current route I'll have almost 3 upgrades ready by the time I get the sequencer, and that's without getting any extra trophies. After the sequencer, the only upgrades I'll get are combo batarangs and proxy det (for the cave titan fight). Mashing on the pc is easy: just mash. Since my run/use is on the space bar, all I have to do is alternate my index/ring fingers. I tried the same thing on 360 but couldn't even open a grating (since I believe you have to push the key down all the way and not just tap).

Glad you liked the stream. The funny part is I was winging it for the entire run since I haven't seen anything after the Boles hunt for months. I'm still shocked I was able to get past Croc in one go.

Anyway, since my last run through I've found an interesting trick. For any ledge you have to jump across, if it's far enough to make you grab onto the next ledge and climb up, turn the camera sideways and run with forward + strafe left/right. For some reason it messes up Batman's running animation, and to make sure it lines up with his jump the game makes him step on air, giving enough for you to make the jump without climbing. I also have a funny strat for the Observatory but I'm not sure how much time it saves (if any at all, wait and you'll see).

All of the fights that I don't skip are required to pass the area. Most of the time you'll get the "Secure are to continue" message if there's an enemy within range (there are a few exceptions of course). For the most part experience isn't a problem. The only Riddler trophies I'm getting are the ones that I'll lose no time grabbing (which is why I skipped the one in the tunnel after Zsasz). Any others just get wasted anyway. With the current route I'll have almost 3 upgrades ready by the time I get the sequencer, and that's without getting any extra trophies. After the sequencer, the only upgrades I'll get are combo batarangs and proxy det (for the cave titan fight). Mashing on the pc is easy: just mash. Since my run/use is on the space bar, all I have to do is alternate my index/ring fingers. I tried the same thing on 360 but couldn't even open a grating (since I believe you have to push the key down all the way and not just tap).

Glad you liked the stream. The funny part is I was winging it for the entire run since I haven't seen anything after the Boles hunt for months. I'm still shocked I was able to get past Croc in one go.

Anyway, since my last run through I've found an interesting trick. For any ledge you have to jump across, if it's far enough to make you grab onto the next ledge and climb up, turn the camera sideways and run with forward + strafe left/right. For some reason it messes up Batman's running animation, and to make sure it lines up with his jump the game makes him step on air, giving enough for you to make the jump without climbing. I also have a funny strat for the Observatory but I'm not sure how much time it saves (if any at all, wait and you'll see).

honorableJay

2011-04-18 11:34:53 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Got a pretty good time to beat for segment 2, although I'm still not 100% satisfied with it.

1) 0:11 Screwed up the initial roll to the cutscene, lost about half a second there (you'll notice I punched first, then rolled).

2) 0:22 Didn't get far on the initial shimmy section jump. It's possible to get a little farther over so when you climb up and start opening the grate Harley is just starting her last "HAAAaaaaa."

3) 0:50 The second shimmy section I have to move a total of 11 times before I can climb up, the optimal though is 10. I keep having a problem where I bump my head on nothing trying to climb up and fall to my doom so I went the safe route here. One annoying thing I've noticed is there's no way to make a flying leap and still grab the ledge. If you're not within a certain range of the "start shimmy" trigger Batman refuses to grab onto the ledge. This is also why I can't completely bypass the first shimmy section with a flying leap to the duct.

4) 1:20 The fight at the top of the elevator shaft didn't go as planned either. It took about 2 or 3 punches more than normal. The best fight allows me to rip open the grate while Joker is still talking about Boles being "another valuable employee." Just gotta make sure I stack the punches to hit 2-3 mooks at once and this fight is over quick.

5) 3:10 Not the cleanest, but I think I've stumbled upon a winning strat. If I wait a little until the mooks start to climb the ladders I should be able to stun them near the top, causing them to fall and get wasted instantly. This will leave one idiot left to deal with manually.

Gonna keep at it for a while longer and see if I can clean up the small stuff, otherwise I'll stick with this and move on. I've also decided to drop the framerate to 30 to keep the files sizes down (makes uploading/posting them easier). Don't worry, I still have the originals, so once this is done it'll be in glorious 720p Smiley

Got a pretty good [url=http://www.gamefront.com/files/20240489/baa-seg2ttb.mp4]time to beat for segment 2[/url], although I'm still not 100% satisfied with it.

1) 0:11 Screwed up the initial roll to the cutscene, lost about half a second there (you'll notice I punched first, then rolled).

2) 0:22 Didn't get far on the initial shimmy section jump. It's possible to get a little farther over so when you climb up and start opening the grate Harley is just starting her last "HAAAaaaaa."

3) 0:50 The second shimmy section I have to move a total of 11 times before I can climb up, the optimal though is 10. I keep having a problem where I bump my head on nothing trying to climb up and fall to my doom so I went the safe route here. One annoying thing I've noticed is there's no way to make a flying leap and still grab the ledge. If you're not within a certain range of the "start shimmy" trigger Batman refuses to grab onto the ledge. This is also why I can't completely bypass the first shimmy section with a flying leap to the duct.

4) 1:20 The fight at the top of the elevator shaft didn't go as planned either. It took about 2 or 3 punches more than normal. The best fight allows me to rip open the grate while Joker is still talking about Boles being "another valuable employee." Just gotta make sure I stack the punches to hit 2-3 mooks at once and this fight is over quick.

5) 3:10 Not the cleanest, but I think I've stumbled upon a winning strat. If I wait a little until the mooks start to climb the ladders I should be able to stun them near the top, causing them to fall and get wasted instantly. This will leave one idiot left to deal with manually.

Gonna keep at it for a while longer and see if I can clean up the small stuff, otherwise I'll stick with this and move on. I've also decided to drop the framerate to 30 to keep the files sizes down (makes uploading/posting them easier). Don't worry, I still have the originals, so once this is done it'll be in glorious 720p :)

InsipidMuckyWater

Edit history:

InsipidMuckyWater: 2011-04-19 09:51:14 am

2011-04-19 09:49:52 am

Visit my profile to see my runs!

720p, nice.

So, you're doing a segmented run for this game? Sweet. Definitely keeping an eye on your progress!

honorableJay

2011-04-19 11:07:02 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Yeah segmented is definitely the way to go since a lot of the small tricks to cut corners require some precise movements (not to mention optimizing the fights).

Well, it is possible to completely bypass the first shimmy section, BUT it's very hard to do. I have to get the right jump angle so Batman starts gliding, then I have to hope he feels like grabbing the ledge. Once that's done I can just climb up into the vent. Funny enough, it's just as fast as getting a 1 shimmy (which is also very hard to do).

For the first half of Intensive Treatment I've found that just running up to the second mook and knocking him out is actually a bit quicker than just silently taking him out since it alerts the last mook and makes him run towards you, which drastically shortens the distance I have to travel. The only thing that sux is there's no way (that I've found so far) to knock him off the ladder on his way up (which is an instant knockout). The second half is just going to be stunning all 3 with batarangs and ground pounds. I tried waiting for them to climb the ladders but the geometry blocks the batarangs from hitting them (and makes me an instant target at the same time). I really don't think even segmenting will get me the outcome I truly want for those last 3 mooks.

Yeah segmented is definitely the way to go since a lot of the small tricks to cut corners require some precise movements (not to mention optimizing the fights).

Well, it is possible to completely bypass the first shimmy section, BUT it's very hard to do. I have to get the right jump angle so Batman starts gliding, then I have to hope he feels like grabbing the ledge. Once that's done I can just climb up into the vent. Funny enough, it's just as fast as getting a 1 shimmy (which is also very hard to do).

For the first half of Intensive Treatment I've found that just running up to the second mook and knocking him out is actually a bit quicker than just silently taking him out since it alerts the last mook and makes him run towards you, which drastically shortens the distance I have to travel. The only thing that sux is there's no way (that I've found so far) to knock him off the ladder on his way up (which is an instant knockout). The second half is just going to be stunning all 3 with batarangs and ground pounds. I tried waiting for them to climb the ladders but the geometry blocks the batarangs from hitting them (and makes me an instant target at the same time). I really don't think even segmenting will get me the outcome I truly want for those last 3 mooks.

Master ZED

2011-04-20 01:28:45 pm

Quote from honorableJay:

For the first half of Intensive Treatment I've found that just running up to the second mook and knocking him out is actually a bit quicker than just silently taking him out since it alerts the last mook and makes him run towards you, which drastically shortens the distance I have to travel.

A pull down works too since there's a nice loud scream involved for no reason. Tongue

Quote from honorableJay:

The only thing that sux is there's no way (that I've found so far) to knock him off the ladder on his way up (which is an instant knockout).

Yeah, the only thing you can do is batarang him when he reaches the top of the ladder. I'm not even sure you can attack him on his ascent, I never tried it. Then again, I always used the pull down because running seemed slower. :\

Also, you should add in the ? mark riddle in that room. You can solve it in the fadeout between Riddler shutting up post-Sharp riddle and the riddle subscreen's first appearance, and it won't cost any time, unlike the Harley tape.

[quote="honorableJay"]For the first half of Intensive Treatment I've found that just running up to the second mook and knocking him out is actually a bit quicker than just silently taking him out since it alerts the last mook and makes him run towards you, which drastically shortens the distance I have to travel.[/quote]
A pull down works too since there's a nice loud scream involved for no reason. :P

[quote="honorableJay"]The only thing that sux is there's no way (that I've found so far) to knock him off the ladder on his way up (which is an instant knockout).[/quote]
Yeah, the only thing you can do is batarang him when he reaches the top of the ladder.  I'm not even sure you can attack him on his ascent, I never tried it.  Then again, I always used the pull down because running [i]seemed[/i] slower. :\

Also, you should add in the ? mark riddle in that room.  You can solve it in the fadeout between Riddler shutting up post-Sharp riddle and the riddle subscreen's first appearance, and it won't cost any time, unlike the Harley tape.

honorableJay

2011-04-20 03:24:34 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

I'm actually thinking of scratching both of those riddles just because the extra exp isn't needed. If anything I'd need another level up before Intensive Treatment just for the twin batarangs (makes that room go way faster) but I'd have to go way outta my way to get extra trophies (which wastes way more time than it saves). I'll try doing the ledge takedowns and see if that saves any time. When I tried hitting the guy with a batarang on his way up, for some odd reason it always curled around his head even if I tried aiming to the left more.

Btw Zed, not sure if you saw the livestream or not, but my time was estimated at 2:24 with 4 deaths. I'd say that's not bad for not playing the game for almost 3 months Smiley

Master ZED

2011-04-21 12:28:54 am

Quote from honorableJay:

I'm actually thinking of scratching both of those riddles just because the extra exp isn't needed.

In that case... I'd still consider the ? mark anyway just for the hell of it. Actual side goals are more interesting than typical speedrunner ADD antics to me whether they have a point or not. Tongue

I'm interested in seeing how much XP you can cut BTW.

Quote from honorableJay:

When I tried hitting the guy with a batarang on his way up, for some odd reason it always curled around his head even if I tried aiming to the left more.

I haven't had that problem, but IIRC (I haven't played in a few more months than you have), batarang misses were usually the result of bad positioning if the victim didn't make any attempt to evade, or the use of a quick 'rang.

Quote from honorableJay:

Btw Zed, not sure if you saw the livestream or not, but my time was estimated at 2:24 with 4 deaths. I'd say that's not bad for not playing the game for almost 3 months Smiley

Considering how easily everything can come crashing down in some places, I agree. Smiley

[quote="honorableJay"]I'm actually thinking of scratching both of those riddles just because the extra exp isn't needed.[/quote]
In that case... I'd still consider the ? mark anyway just for the hell of it.  Actual side goals are more interesting than typical speedrunner ADD antics to me whether they have a point or not. :P

I'm interested in seeing how much XP you can cut BTW.

[quote="honorableJay"]When I tried hitting the guy with a batarang on his way up, for some odd reason it always curled around his head even if I tried aiming to the left more.[/quote]
I haven't had that problem, but IIRC (I haven't played in a few more months than you have), batarang misses were usually the result of bad positioning if the victim didn't make any attempt to evade, or the use of a quick 'rang.

[quote="honorableJay"]Btw Zed, not sure if you saw the livestream or not, but my time was estimated at 2:24 with 4 deaths. I'd say that's not bad for not playing the game for almost 3 months :)[/quote]
Considering how easily everything can come crashing down in some places, I agree. :)

honorableJay

Edit history:

honorableJay: 2011-04-23 12:20:36 am

2011-04-22 11:44:31 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Okay, finally got a better time for segment 2. Beat the old time by 8.5 seconds. I nailed every trick I wanted to and even found the best strat for Intensive Treatment's 2nd wave. Batarang the middle thug (last to drop down), then rang the one on the left (funny how the rangs are heat-seaking once you lock onto someone) to knock him off the ladder as he's trying to climb up, then for the last guy you can just glide kick the bastard. I didn't get the glide kick in this one, so I'm tempted to try a few more times (especially since I got hung up on a railing at one point). I just hope luck will be on my side and let me shave off another 3-4 seconds.

As for the experience, so far I'm about 400-600 behind due to not getting the Riddler trophies. I should have the twin batarangs just after the opening Medical Facility fight. After that I only need the sequencer upgrades and the proxy det. Seeing how far I'll go before I get them things should be fine. I might skip the triple bats until the Botanical Gardens (the way out, right after getting the line launcher) since that's the only room I can think of that I can effectively use it. After playing through so many times it's actually kind of a weak upgrade since I can take the mooks out just as fast or faster without it (ultra-batclaw is more useful).

Okay, [url=http://www.gamefront.com/files/20255074/baa-seg2prev.mp4]finally got a better time for segment 2[/url]. Beat the old time by 8.5 seconds. I nailed every trick I wanted to and even found the best strat for Intensive Treatment's 2nd wave. Batarang the middle thug (last to drop down), then rang the one on the left (funny how the rangs are heat-seaking once you lock onto someone) to knock him off the ladder as he's trying to climb up, then for the last guy you can just glide kick the bastard. I didn't get the glide kick in this one, so I'm tempted to try a few more times (especially since I got hung up on a railing at one point). I just hope luck will be on my side and let me shave off another 3-4 seconds.

As for the experience, so far I'm about 400-600 behind due to not getting the Riddler trophies. I should have the twin batarangs just after the opening Medical Facility fight. After that I only need the sequencer upgrades and the proxy det. Seeing how far I'll go before I get them things should be fine. I might skip the triple bats until the Botanical Gardens (the way out, right after getting the line launcher) since that's the only room I can think of that I can effectively use it. After playing through so many times it's actually kind of a weak upgrade since I can take the mooks out just as fast or faster without it (ultra-batclaw is more useful).

honorableJay

2011-04-25 07:03:03 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Well I couldn't come close to beating my segment 2 time, so I went on with segments 3 and 4, but I've run into a slight snag (grab the video here). Due to me skipping 3 Riddler trophies, I don't get the twin batarangs until right after the Batmobile fight. This makes the fight at the ambulance (right before the Batmobile) not the cleanest. I'm forced to take a shot from one of the goons since I can only stun one of them. I was able to make up some of the time loss with good positioning but overall (compared to the current run) that room is somewhere between 1 to 2 seconds slower. I'm fairly certain that getting the extra trophies that I skipped cost more than the time loss, but I'm curious what you guys think. Here's how I broke it down:

Skipped trophies : estimated grab time
? in vent : 0.5 sec
Arkham Chronicle (top of ele shaft) : 1 second
Harley tape (Intensive Treatment) : 1 second

I'm estimating that grabbing all of those trophies will cost about 2.5 seconds (since menus count towards total time, tapes and arkham chronicles cost more). I could get the Riddler scan right after getting to the surface (scanning the Wayne Enterprises building), but that one takes about a second since I can't do it while running and I have to position the camera. While it is faster than grabbing the Harley tape and the Arkham Chronicle, it's still not enough. I'd have to redo the first two segments to pick up another trophy. Since it costs as much time to grab them as I lose without the twin bats, I don't think it's worth it but I'll wait for some input.

Well I couldn't come close to beating my segment 2 time, so I went on with segments 3 and 4, but I've run into a slight snag (grab the video [url=http://www.gamefront.com/files/20264457/baa-seg3prev.mp4]here[/url]). Due to me skipping 3 Riddler trophies, I don't get the twin batarangs until right after the Batmobile fight. This makes the fight at the ambulance (right before the Batmobile) not the cleanest. I'm forced to take a shot from one of the goons since I can only stun one of them. I was able to make up some of the time loss with good positioning but overall (compared to the current run) that room is somewhere between 1 to 2 seconds slower. I'm fairly certain that getting the extra trophies that I skipped cost more than the time loss, but I'm curious what you guys think. Here's how I broke it down:

Skipped trophies : estimated grab time
? in vent : 0.5 sec
Arkham Chronicle (top of ele shaft) : 1 second
Harley tape (Intensive Treatment) : 1 second

I'm estimating that grabbing all of those trophies will cost about 2.5 seconds (since menus count towards total time, tapes and arkham chronicles cost more). I could get the Riddler scan right after getting to the surface (scanning the Wayne Enterprises building), but that one takes about a second since I can't do it while running and I have to position the camera. While it is faster than grabbing the Harley tape and the Arkham Chronicle, it's still not enough. I'd have to redo the first two segments to pick up another trophy. Since it costs as much time to grab them as I lose without the twin bats, I don't think it's worth it but I'll wait for some input.

tomatobob

2011-04-26 02:13:28 am

I don't have the timing for the two rang + takedown version handy, but it certainly looks like one rang + punchig takes more time than you'd lose by grabbing those.

Does the Harley tape actually cost time? It comes up at a point where there's a good deal of waiting around. I can't remember what the game lets you do during Riddler's intro, but if you can grab the tape then you'd probably take a slight hit from dropping out of the menu but it's not like that time's going into something better. I could be misremembering the tape's exact location though. Taking the Harley tape, the vent trophy, and then Wayne Tower for the double rangs might be quicker than skipping them.

Still it's coming down to a matter of seconds, my gut says to just take the bullet at the ambulance and get the upgrade a bit later since you're still getting it early enough to catch most of the points where they'd be helpful and a 1-2 second difference isn't going to mean a whole hell of a lot in the long run. I'm not convinced it's worth stressing, seems like more of a cosmetic point.

Course if you made it a 100% run it'd be a non issue! Tongue

I don't have the timing for the two rang + takedown version handy, but it certainly [i]looks[/i] like one rang + punchig takes more time than you'd lose by grabbing those.

Does the Harley tape actually cost time? It comes up at a point where there's a good deal of waiting around. I can't remember what the game lets you do during Riddler's intro, but if you can grab the tape then you'd probably take a slight hit from dropping out of the menu but it's not like that time's going into something better. I could be misremembering the tape's exact location though. Taking the Harley tape, the vent trophy, and then Wayne Tower for the double rangs [i]might[/i] be quicker than skipping them.

Still it's coming down to a matter of seconds, my gut says to just take the bullet at the ambulance and get the upgrade a bit later since you're still getting it early enough to catch most of the points where they'd be helpful and a 1-2 second difference isn't going to mean a whole hell of a lot in the long run. I'm not convinced it's worth stressing, seems like more of a cosmetic point.

Course if you made it a 100% run it'd be a non issue! :P

honorableJay

2011-04-27 11:51:21 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Well, I kept at segment 3 and finally cleaned it up. Figured out how to take out the 2 goons without taking a shot, and saved a second on the segment too. Starting on segment 4, which will go from the medical facility lobby to surgery (end the segment just as I get in).

Segment 3
Segment 4 time to beat

honorableJay

Edit history:

honorableJay: 2011-04-29 06:07:23 pm

2011-04-29 06:05:34 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Finished segment 4 and also got a good time to beat for segment 5.

There are a few small errors in segment 4, but I got really clean execution in the gas room which more than made up for the small mistakes. I also was able to get batman to jump down to the lower ledge before the last button rather than glide (as of now I don't know how to force the jump, just randomly happens).

wfp

2011-04-29 06:55:57 pm

i'm uncertain if this has been discussed but you get an exp bonus for doing different moves within a combo that gets fairly significant once all moves are unlocked (moves that count are punch, counter, stun, dodge, combo batarang, grappling hook pull, throw, instant takedown, and ground takedown). i never thought exp was a particularly problem in this game either speedrunning or more casually gaming, but you made mention of an area where unlocking double batarang early would speed things up, and this is a potential alternative to solving riddles (also i think the freeze cell can be solved with no time loss after triggering the harley fight before the cutscene (during the transition)).

honorableJay

2011-04-29 09:24:11 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

The amount of extra exp you get from using different moves during fights doesn't add up enough at this stage of the game. The problem is mainly that I don't have enough moves unlocked to really crank up the bonuses. To complicate things, executing different moves during combat wastes a lot of time, way more time than the extra exp would offset. Besides, the only spot that I'd benefit from twin batarangs is the Ambulance fight right before the Batmobile, which is only 2 mooks (if you check out the finished segment 3 vid above, you'll see I dealt with those two pretty handily). This is the only spot I actually ran into a problem with experience in the game, and I'm fairly confident it'll be the last.

RoboSparkle

2011-04-30 01:41:36 am

Magical. Flying. Bathtub

I don't know whether or not you need the exp, but in the gas room i thought you could getr fireflys riddle without penalty? Why did you leave it?

honorableJay

2011-04-30 07:20:55 am

The Dork Knight himself.

Normally I would be able to get it, but I hit the switches so fast that the gas level was still dropping from the second switch. If I would've dropped down to grab the trophy the gas would've stunned me for enough time to make it impossible to scan the trophy (basically I'd get to zoom in and hold the scan button but the screen would start to fade out, stopping any scans from working). Besides, by this point I don't need that much extra exp from the trophies. The next upgrades I'll get are the sequencer upgrades, triple bats, then proxy det, so I should be fine with exp.

Master ZED

2011-04-30 09:41:27 am

Quote from honorableJay:

(basically I'd get to zoom in and hold the scan button but the screen would start to fade out, stopping any scans from working).

That doesn't sound right; I don't recall having to do anything special to nab the ITL ? mark in run attempts made after the current run, which requires scanning during a fadeout (the game won't acknowledge the answer until Riddler completely stops talking, though you can scan all you want). The Firefly riddle is easier because there's no precision timing involved, and I can nail both easily on the PS3.

You think it could be a version difference?

honorableJay

2011-04-30 10:01:23 pm

The Dork Knight himself.

Maybe it had something to do with where I was throwing the last batarang from, but now I can't recreate it. Only reason I kept thinking I was taking the gas down too fast was during all of my testing (and multiple run throughs of that section) I kept getting stun-blocked by the gas after the last switch. Seems to let me scan now, but I'm not gonna redo the whole section since I don't even need that exp. After finishing Nightmare 1 I'll get a quick 600 bonus exp while going to Bane, then another 1000 for takin him down. That should easily get me to where I need to be for my next set of upgrades.

honorableJay

2011-05-31 12:03:59 am

The Dork Knight himself.

Quick update: I'm still working on this, but segment 5 is being a complete pain in the ass. The opening fight just will not go my way, and even after cleaning up all of the execution errors afterwards I still get times 2-5 seconds slower. I really don't want to just accept that test segment, but if things keep up like this I might have to just to move on.

honorableJay

2011-07-12 06:19:39 am

The Dork Knight himself.

Oh happy day Smiley

Finally got a good opening fight along with nailing every corner cutter I wanted to and shaved off a whopping........*drumroll*..............4 seconds. I honestly didn't think there was that much time to be cut, but I'll definitely take it.

File can be found here: Segment 5

Segment 6 will go from Nightmare 1 until the Bane fight starts.