Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

2014-05-03 03:27:04 pm

Yeah I think I didn't need to hover, but I wasn't prepared for that jump to happen so I used the hover because I always do!

By the way, is there any chance you could send me the video? I'd like to upload to my channel Cheesy

Enkaybee

2014-05-03 03:49:18 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

I still have my doubts about using Dixie in 3-2 anyway. I've yet to see anyone stop to wait for the barrel rotation in 3-1 and still make the first cycle of the blue zebra. That's a 5 second loss in 3-1 (7 second loss, but 2 second gain using Dixie at the end), which isn't made up by using Dixie in 3-2 and 3-3 as far as I know.

Quote from jnWake:

By the way, is there any chance you could send me the video? I'd like to upload to my channel Cheesy

You can download it here.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-16 01:06:47 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-09 10:18:28 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 08:15:14 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 09:01:16 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 03:00:30 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 02:24:02 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-05 08:31:58 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-05 12:04:10 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-05 12:03:53 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-04 04:33:44 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-03 11:23:25 pm

2014-05-03 11:02:06 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

New world record on 5-1 Harvest Hazards:

Let's talk about this level and doing things consistently. Most of it is muscle memory, but there are a few things to note and some helpful visual cues.

1) To avoid getting hit by the first set of claws that drop down, I like to slam the stick left and then right as quickly as I can while midair at ~0:04.0 by the in-game timer. This slight delay sets up the cycles correctly. (This may or may not be necessary outside of the IL. I don't know where the trigger is for that cycle.)

2) The first cart you ride (0:23.5) - it's safe to go when the front edge of the cart is at the center of the tube thing in the background.

3) Dropping down onto the penguin cart (0:36.0) - it's safe to go the moment his cart starts moving.

4) The stack of spiny balls (0:39.5) - the moment the stack becomes vertical is when you want to go.

5) As I said in an earlier post, I recommend doing a small hop on the RNG cart after the owl in order to guarantee that it doesn't fall off the rails:

Killing the owl also works, but it's slower. DO NOT get on the other side of the cart and make it go backwards. That is unacceptably slow.

6) Taking damage at 0:55 is intentional and beneficial- it sets up the cycles of the rotating platforms just after the two penguins perfectly. If you don't give up the half second by taking damage there, you will need to wait a half second instead.

7)The finish barrel and how to hit it immediately: The trigger for the finish barrel's cycle is somewhere before the 1:05 mark. Basically once you pass the trigger there can be no more rolling. Each roll loses 0.1 second, and you cannot afford 0.1 second.

For the future:

I suspect that it might be possible to bypass the long cart ride starting at 0:30.5 by bouncing on the spiny balls that shoot up from below, but I haven't found a way to do it. I've come close, but I've never actually done it. You need to grab onto the cart and start it moving in order to trigger them, so you would have to do some crazy stuff in order to make it work.

New world record on 5-1 Harvest Hazards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7a8BhdyKyM&hd=1
Let's talk about this level and doing things consistently.  Most of it is muscle memory, but there are a few things to note and some helpful visual cues.

1) To avoid getting hit by the first set of claws that drop down, I like to slam the stick left and then right as quickly as I can while midair at ~0:04.0 by the in-game timer.  This slight delay sets up the cycles correctly.  (This may or may not be necessary outside of the IL.  I don't know where the trigger is for that cycle.)

2) The first cart you ride (0:23.5) - it's safe to go when the front edge of the cart is at the center of the tube thing in the background.

3) Dropping down onto the penguin cart (0:36.0) - it's safe to go the moment his cart starts moving.

4) The stack of spiny balls (0:39.5) - the moment the stack becomes vertical is when you want to go.

5) As I said in an earlier post, I recommend doing a small hop on the RNG cart after the owl in order to guarantee that it doesn't fall off the rails:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/PEOxCRh.png[/img]
Killing the owl also works, but it's slower.  DO NOT get on the other side of the cart and make it go backwards.  That is unacceptably slow.

6) Taking damage at 0:55 is intentional and beneficial- it sets up the cycles of the rotating platforms just after the two penguins perfectly.  If you don't give up the half second by taking damage there, you will need to wait a half second instead.

7)The finish barrel and how to hit it immediately:  The trigger for the finish barrel's cycle is somewhere before the 1:05 mark.  Basically once you pass the trigger there can be no more rolling.  Each roll loses 0.1 second, and you cannot afford 0.1 second.

For the future:

I suspect that it might be possible to bypass the long cart ride starting at 0:30.5 by bouncing on the spiny balls that shoot up from below, but I haven't found a way to do it.  I've come close, but I've never actually done it.  You need to grab onto the cart and start it moving in order to trigger them, so you would have to do some crazy stuff in order to make it work.

Ghoul02

2014-05-04 05:02:32 am

www.twitch.tv/ghoul02

Couple of notes:
I switched my routing around; I use Cranky until the second barrel in 3-2. I'm positive it's possible, even with the barrel cycles, but I'll be damned if it's not a lot easier to use Cranky there. However, I do switch to Dixie and use her for 3-2. That said, I wonder if it's possible to stand near the curve on the cliff, roll up, and then jump to add some extra height. That might be a possible way to use a Cranky route there.

On Barrel usage; optimally, you use them on 4-1 and 4-B for Diddy. The former saves about 3 seconds on its own, and also, from what I understand, puts you on the proper cycle for the Dixie barrel later. I do need to look into using a Dixie barrel for the second part. It'd be really easy to use Diddy through more of the level and lose him, but the currents make me doubt he saves much more time. 4-B is slightly trickier; the in game timer doesn't stop for the transitions, but I estimate starting with a Diddy Barrel saves about 4-5 seconds. 4-4 has an easy Diddy change that should only cost about 2 seconds to use, so 4-5 is set that way. I don't think it'll be faster, but 6-3 is another possible point, since Cranky is the fastest there and there is no Cranky barrel. I don't think that's more than 4 seconds however.

Finally, did my first full any% run today. A very terrible 2:05:XX, including a 2 minute+ death to 5-Boss, redoing Panicky paddles because I completely forgot where the secret exit was, and much more random shenanegans. Sub 2 should be free in my next run, and I'm looking forward to improving. Smiley

Couple of notes:
I switched my routing around; I use Cranky until the second barrel in 3-2. I'm positive it's possible, even with the barrel cycles, but I'll be damned if it's not a lot easier to use Cranky there. However, I do switch to Dixie and use her for 3-2. That said, I wonder if it's possible to stand near the curve on the cliff, roll up, and then jump to add some extra height. That might be a possible way to use a Cranky route there.

On Barrel usage; optimally, you use them on 4-1 and 4-B for Diddy. The former saves about 3 seconds on its own, and also, from what I understand, puts you on the proper cycle for the Dixie barrel later. I do need to look into using a Dixie barrel for the second part. It'd be really easy to use Diddy through more of the level and lose him, but the currents make me doubt he saves much more time. 4-B is slightly trickier; the in game timer doesn't stop for the transitions, but I estimate starting with a Diddy Barrel saves about 4-5 seconds. 4-4 has an easy Diddy change that should only cost about 2 seconds to use, so 4-5 is set that way. I don't think it'll be faster, but 6-3 is another possible point, since Cranky is the fastest there and there is no Cranky barrel. I don't think that's more than 4 seconds however.

Finally, did my first full any% run today. A very terrible 2:05:XX, including a 2 minute+ death to 5-Boss, redoing Panicky paddles because I completely forgot where the secret exit was, and much more random shenanegans. Sub 2 should be free in my next run, and I'm looking forward to improving. :)

Le Hulk

2014-05-04 07:07:43 am

SNES rules!

Quote from Tonsana:

Quote from Le Hulk:

Quote from Tonsana:

Right now I got a WR with 48:07 on 4-K. Smiley

Well, congrats, I've just watched your video. That's very impressive.
It took me five hours or so to get that 48:51... my record didn't last very long Grin

I'm surprised to still have the 4-5 WR though. I also took the 5-A WR today.

Thank you. Smiley

Im still going at it with a new WR now with 47:87. I still think I can improve it a tiny bit with the last barrel, but that strat is pretty much maxed out now. Sad

I have spent countless hours on that one level so Im impressed you got such a good time in only 5 hours Tongue

I've watched it, that's insane, congrats!
Indeed, this is probably only improvable by a few frames now. You'll probably keep the 4-K WR for a long time. Wink

jnWake

2014-05-04 07:58:20 pm

Nice post Enkaybee!

If you're up to analyzing another "inconsistent" level, you could look into the last stretch of pogo jumps in 2-2, to see how far it's possible to go without losing momentum, and maybe plan a strategy to make that part easier to do.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-09 11:39:55 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-09 11:38:26 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 04:59:32 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 01:55:39 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 12:00:36 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 11:11:40 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 11:10:18 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 02:17:12 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 11:56:04 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 11:49:45 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-05 11:09:31 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-05 08:47:23 pm

2014-05-04 10:08:06 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Quote from Enkaybee:

I suspect that it might be possible to bypass the long cart ride starting at 0:30.5 by bouncing on the spiny balls that shoot up from below, but I haven't found a way to do it.

I did manage to get this to work a number of times after a lot of practice. The setup for it is preposterous and the precision of the bounces is pretty tight. I haven't been able to save time over doing it the normal way, but I'm 90% sure that there is time to be saved. The world record on 5-1 is wide open and the skill cap on this game is incredible.

EDIT 5/5:
Okay, got it. 1:08.81 on 5-1. This strat shall be called the Enkaybounce:

There's still time to save, but I don't see this getting below 1:08. I wouldn't say this is worth attempting in a run. Using the old strat I was consistently hitting high 1:09's and low 1:10's, so we're not talking about a huge time save here.

Also worth noting is that this bouncing strat actually brings you to bop the slug slower than the original strat by about 0.25 second. The time is made up because you don't have to wait before bouncing over the stack of spiny balls.

[quote="Enkaybee"]I suspect that it might be possible to bypass the long cart ride starting at 0:30.5 by bouncing on the spiny balls that shoot up from below, but I haven't found a way to do it.[/quote]
I did manage to get this to work a number of times after a lot of practice.  The setup for it is preposterous and the precision of the bounces is pretty tight.  I haven't been able to save time over doing it the normal way, but I'm 90% sure that there is time to be saved.  The world record on 5-1 is wide open and the skill cap on this game is incredible.

EDIT 5/5:
Okay, got it.  1:08.81 on 5-1.  This strat shall be called the Enkaybounce:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeWeTONqC1g&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

There's still time to save, but I don't see this getting below 1:08.  I wouldn't say this is worth attempting in a run.  Using the old strat I was consistently hitting high 1:09's and low 1:10's, so we're not talking about a huge time save here.

Also worth noting is that this bouncing strat actually brings you to bop the slug [i]slower[/i] than the original strat by about 0.25 second.  The time is made up because you don't have to wait before bouncing over the stack of spiny balls.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-14 09:27:39 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 12:05:38 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 08:54:13 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 07:53:21 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 07:32:12 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 11:05:40 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 05:33:35 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 05:15:04 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 05:01:43 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-06 04:35:16 pm

2014-05-06 12:36:15 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Has anybody tried running 5-B with Cranky instead of Dixie? Hear me out.

1) 5-B has a global cycle, picking him up at the beginning of the level doesn't lose any time - you get stopped at the same smasher as you would normally.
2) He makes it incredibly easy to use the strat Spike and I use in the beginning section of the level where you bounce on two penguins and a Toucan't.
3) His cane-drop would make the chute faster (correct me if I'm wrong, but falling while caning is faster than just falling).
4) Not having Dixie at the end loses a second at most. And that's assuming it's impossible to jump from the owl to the barrel with a full bounce.
5) Doing this would save the hassle of picking him up in 5-6. That's 1 or 2 seconds saved if you're good at the backwards owl hop, maybe 5 if you're bad at it.

EDIT: I tested it. Cranky is viable. I got a 1:04.82 after just a few tries (WR is 1:04.46). Unfortunately it's impossible to grab him at the first barrel in the real level and still make the first cycle. So the benefit he gives to bouncing on multiple enemies is gone. Too bad. He is on cycle at the second barrel, though, so I think it's best to grab him there and carry him into 5-6.

Has anybody tried running 5-B with Cranky instead of Dixie?  Hear me out.

1) 5-B has a global cycle, picking him up at the beginning of the level doesn't lose any time - you get stopped at the same smasher as you would normally.
2) He makes it [i]incredibly[/i] easy to use the strat Spike and I use in the beginning section of the level where you bounce on two penguins and a Toucan't.
3) His cane-drop would make the chute faster (correct me if I'm wrong, but falling while caning is faster than just falling).
4) Not having Dixie at the end loses a second at most.  And that's assuming it's impossible to jump from the owl to the barrel with a full bounce.
5) Doing this would save the hassle of picking him up in 5-6.  That's 1 or 2 seconds saved if you're good at the backwards owl hop, maybe 5 if you're bad at it.

EDIT: I tested it.  Cranky is viable.  I got a 1:04.82 after just a few tries (WR is 1:04.46).  Unfortunately it's impossible to grab him at the first barrel in the real level and still make the first cycle.  So the benefit he gives to bouncing on multiple enemies is gone.  Too bad.  He is on cycle at the second barrel, though, so I think it's best to grab him there and carry him into 5-6.

Ghoul02

2014-05-06 06:42:35 pm

www.twitch.tv/ghoul02

2-2.... The bigger thing there, to me, would be a way to carry the momentum boosts through that first tunnel. I haven't found a way yet; I always bonk off the top, even with the smaller jumps. When you get a feel for it, it's not nearly as difficult as it looks... The pattern, for me, is long, long, short, then longs until you hit the first platform, then shorts the rest of the way.

Also, amazing work on 5-1 Enkaybee. That's insanely impressive. I'll see if I can't get it consistently... It does look like skill, at least, so it's probably worth learning and seeing if I can get consistent enough with it. After all, I'm looking at much harder tricks later (looking at you, 6-5)

I have another few things to say. IF we can find a quick way to get the 6th hit consistently, I think 2-Boss is Dixie. This allows you to carry Dixie into the start of 3-1, and as far as I know, Dixie only loses about half a second on the first cycle and none on a theoretical quick kill of third cycle. The only thing I can't get is a quick hit on 2nd cycle; I've only gotten it when he's throwing eggs, not on the feather drops (that said, the amount of swag from that hit is incredible. You can only hit him at the peak of a flutter, and directly below him, resulting in you landing in the barrel under him, which fires and hits you off a moving owl afterwards. Totally useless, but it does look amazing.)

Next, on 4-1, I'm not convinced that's worth a Diddy barrel at all. My testing was Diddy vs solo DK... but that's not necessarily the choice. It's Diddy vs Cranky, and Cranky can be very quick on the beginning of that level by just skipping across the top of the water, then swimming spin cancels to get to the Diddy Barrel quickly. My only concern would be barrel cycles later in the level, but I don't know if that's enough to justify the barrel there. That said, I have no idea where to use it. The only other thing I can think of that we haven't looked into is a mid-level switch saving time, which obviously wouldn't be a part of any world record runs for ILs.

5-B: I always figured this was about equal. That said, I've gotten through all the smashers without slowing down as Dixie before; the difference is especially easy to see in a full game run where you start with her and can very easily get to the first barrel without slowing down. That said, I do like Dixie, if for no other reason than that she might save a death at the middle section. She also has the potential to be a broken crutch by slowing you down, so she's not really conclusively better there either. On the bright side, everything in 5-6 is camera based, so going back for the Cranky barrel doesn't cost you any cycles at least. I'd call it a wash/personal preference. The difference isn't more than half a second either way. Also, Cranky falling faster is an optical illusion, I believe. If you'll notice, pulling out his cane will still land in the same place as he does when you just jump normally. If he fell faster, unless the game sped you up laterally as he pulled it out(imagine the tricks you could pull off then), you would land short. He looks like he's falling faster because his model becomes slightly narrower and taller. I don't think his hitbox changes though.

5-5, I spent about 3 hours on this level last night, just grinding the new skip at the beginning. It's incredibly inconsistent so far; HOWEVER, it costs zero time to go for. It's actually quite safe, and if you screw up, it only costs you a cycle. From my understanding, after you hit the spring, the game gives you a certain amount of momentum laterally. That momentum lasts until you touch the ground for a certain amount of time. This momentum is also classified separately from roll momentum, of course, which is what allows for the massive burst of speed with the roll. It also seems that getting hit in midair resets the timer ever so slightly. I have zero idea why this is, but I've never gotten the full jump unless I take a hit form a snowflake on the way there. It's rather... peculiar. That said, the record there can still come lower. I've got a skip there that saves time. Basically, on the way to the first log, the WR flutters off the first spring and grabs the third. However, this doesn't save time; you're still on the same cycle. Instead, go to the second spring. Once there, hit it, and don't grab the third spring. You'll keep your momentum and go under it, allowing you to skip the last bit of the cycle and grab onto the rolling log. It also looks epic.

I think that's most of my recent findings.

2-2.... The bigger thing there, to me, would be a way to carry the momentum boosts through that first tunnel. I haven't found a way yet; I always bonk off the top, even with the smaller jumps. When you get a feel for it, it's not nearly as difficult as it looks... The pattern, for me, is long, long, short, then longs until you hit the first platform, then shorts the rest of the way.

Also, amazing work on 5-1 Enkaybee. That's insanely impressive. I'll see if I can't get it consistently... It does look like skill, at least, so it's probably worth learning and seeing if I can get consistent enough with it. After all, I'm looking at much harder tricks later (looking at you, 6-5)

I have another few things to say. IF we can find a quick way to get the 6th hit consistently, I think 2-Boss is Dixie. This allows you to carry Dixie into the start of 3-1, and as far as I know, Dixie only loses about half a second on the first cycle and none on a theoretical quick kill of third cycle. The only thing I can't get is a quick hit on 2nd cycle; I've only gotten it when he's throwing eggs, not on the feather drops (that said, the amount of swag from that hit is incredible. You can only hit him at the peak of a flutter, and directly below him, resulting in you landing in the barrel under him, which fires and hits you off a moving owl afterwards. Totally useless, but it does look amazing.)

Next, on 4-1, I'm not convinced that's worth a Diddy barrel at all. My testing was Diddy vs solo DK... but that's not necessarily the choice. It's Diddy vs Cranky, and Cranky can be very quick on the beginning of that level by just skipping across the top of the water, then swimming spin cancels to get to the Diddy Barrel quickly. My only concern would be barrel cycles later in the level, but I don't know if that's enough to justify the barrel there. That said, I have no idea where to use it. The only other thing I can think of that we haven't looked into is a mid-level switch saving time, which obviously wouldn't be a part of any world record runs for ILs.

5-B: I always figured this was about equal. That said, I've gotten through all the smashers without slowing down as Dixie before; the difference is especially easy to see in a full game run where you start with her and can very easily get to the first barrel without slowing down. That said, I do like Dixie, if for no other reason than that she might save a death at the middle section. She also has the potential to be a broken crutch by slowing you down, so she's not really conclusively better there either. On the bright side, everything in 5-6 is camera based, so going back for the Cranky barrel doesn't cost you any cycles at least. I'd call it a wash/personal preference. The difference isn't more than half a second either way. Also, Cranky falling faster is an optical illusion, I believe. If you'll notice, pulling out his cane will still land in the same place as he does when you just jump normally. If he fell faster, unless the game sped you up laterally as he pulled it out(imagine the tricks you could pull off then), you would land short. He looks like he's falling faster because his model becomes slightly narrower and taller. I don't think his hitbox changes though.

5-5, I spent about 3 hours on this level last night, just grinding the new skip at the beginning. It's incredibly inconsistent so far; HOWEVER, it costs zero time to go for. It's actually quite safe, and if you screw up, it only costs you a cycle. From my understanding, after you hit the spring, the game gives you a certain amount of momentum laterally. That momentum lasts until you touch the ground for a certain amount of time. This momentum is also classified separately from roll momentum, of course, which is what allows for the massive burst of speed with the roll. It also seems that getting hit in midair resets the timer ever so slightly. I have zero idea why this is, but I've never gotten the full jump unless I take a hit form a snowflake on the way there. It's rather... peculiar. That said, the record there can still come lower. I've got a skip there that saves time. Basically, on the way to the first log, the WR flutters off the first spring and grabs the third. However, this doesn't save time; you're still on the same cycle. Instead, go to the second spring. Once there, hit it, and don't grab the third spring. You'll keep your momentum and go under it, allowing you to skip the last bit of the cycle and grab onto the rolling log. It also looks epic.

I think that's most of my recent findings.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-09 09:45:08 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 08:17:23 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 04:56:41 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 04:36:30 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 02:00:06 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 01:59:30 pm

2014-05-07 01:11:32 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Ghoul, you wanted me to find out how much faster Cranky is on 6-3 vs Dixie to see if it's worth it to bring a Cranky barrel in. Turns out that question might not even need to be answered.

Somebody broke the record on 6-2 using Cranky yesterday.

I'll take a look at it and see how hard it is to execute. This could potentially change the route to:

6-1 Cranky
6-2 Cranky
6-3 Cranky
6-4 Doesn't matter
6-5 Dixie
6-6 Dixie
6-7 Dixie
6-8 Cranky
6-Boss Diddy

EDIT: Yep, Cranky's quick. Not too difficult either.

Not only that, but the new world record is pretty sloppy. He damage boosts in the same place as you would with Dixie, which is unnecessary with Cranky. The damage boost would be much better served elsewhere. I might be able to take the top spot within the next few days. I'll post on consistency then.

Ghoul02

2014-05-07 02:53:10 pm

www.twitch.tv/ghoul02

That's something that seems totally obvious in hindsight. Even if you don't damage boost, Cranky can still get to the end very quickly there. He does have to take a hit on the circling owls, but other than that, it should be pretty clean.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-09 01:51:06 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-09 06:44:18 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 11:08:39 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 04:49:39 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 03:34:27 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 03:28:10 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 03:14:26 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 01:18:29 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 08:39:20 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 08:09:37 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 07:20:20 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 06:58:15 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 06:51:37 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 06:50:04 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 06:48:02 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 11:46:46 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-07 11:39:04 pm

2014-05-07 11:31:32 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Ghoul02 has the record again.

Credit to Extreme_S3xiness for discovering that Cranky is viable and posting to Miiverse where I was able to see it (don't ever go on Miiverse - it's cancer). He set what was a world record at 59.35 on May 6th.

Since then, Ghoul02 and I have both destroyed the previous world record on 6-2 and made Cranky available for 6-3. Here is 2nd place:

Not much more time to cut without using strats that would lose Cranky.

Couple notes:
- Not only is this a few seconds faster, it's quite a bit easier once you've practiced it. I went from never having time attacked the level to holding world record in a span of about 3 hours.
- There's a small momentum boost to be gained near the beginning at the end of the first slope.
- We moved the damage boost from the owl bounce area (where it saves no time) to the second vine (where it saves 2 seconds).
- Remember that horn blower on the high ledge that would always manage to hit you with one of his fish? Yeah that's dead simple now.
- Remember the walrus that throws fish and always used to hit you? Yeah that's literally impossible to get hit by now.
- Remember how hard it was to get the consecutive owl bounces near the end? That's like naptime now.

Ghoul02 has the record again.

Credit to Extreme_S3xiness for discovering that Cranky is viable and posting to Miiverse where I was able to see it ([url=http://i.imgur.com/UlaexIf.jpg]don't ever go on Miiverse - it's cancer[/url]).  He set what was a world record at 59.35 on May 6th.

Since then, Ghoul02 and I have both [i]destroyed[/i] the previous world record on 6-2 and made Cranky available for 6-3.  Here is 2nd place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2gSVemdCtM&feature=youtu.be&HD=1
Not much more time to cut without using strats that would lose Cranky.

Couple notes:
 - Not only is this a few seconds faster, it's quite a bit easier once you've practiced it.  I went from never having time attacked the level to holding world record in a span of about 3 hours.
 - There's a small momentum boost to be gained near the beginning at the end of the first slope.
 - We moved the damage boost from the owl bounce area (where it saves no time) to the second vine (where it saves 2 seconds).
 - Remember that horn blower on the high ledge that would always manage to hit you with one of his fish?  Yeah that's dead simple now.
 - Remember the walrus that throws fish and always used to hit you?  Yeah that's literally impossible to get hit by now.
 - Remember how hard it was to get the consecutive owl bounces near the end?  That's like naptime now.

Ghoul02

Edit history:

Ghoul02: 2014-05-08 03:09:01 am

2014-05-08 12:45:33 am

www.twitch.tv/ghoul02

Let me go on the record. I love the guy that found this. It takes a "ZOMG I'm gonna die and can't take any hits" level from the single segment run, makes it faster, makes it more fun, AND it's safer. And as a bonus, it gives me access to Cranky for 6-3, which was my first level that I did time attacks on? You can see the momentum boosts in the WR, although there's some spaghetti near the end. Basically, Enkaybee and I (Enkaybee was the first person to really notice) saw the same things you can do on other ice levels; that is, since the game adds slide momentum separately from rolling momentum, you can have a slightly higher top speed at the end of any slope by rolling and hold using textbook Cranky pogos.

Side note, I'm going to pat myself on the back for having my first ever IL WR in this game, even if it may not hold up into tomorrow... especially if Enkaybee has anything to say about it.

Another thing is that Enkaybee saw this on a Miiverse post, of all things... I never check it, and the strat probably would have gone unnoticed by us unless I looked back at WR to compare what I had been doing wrong. I think I might take up FLCs old job and checking the leaderboards once a week or so to see if anything new is found, at least, I'm still not sure the most efficient way to go about it. Maybe I'll track and see if a character changes or 1 second goes down since the last time I watched. We need to monitor that stuff somehow.

EDIT: I just realized something. I don't think the spare Banana Juice goes here now? Do I put it toward the Spaghetti protection fund I've got going on 6-7? I'm also debating on maybe 6-5, since it's really easy to lose Dixie there? 5-4 Diddy Protection? Losing Cranky in 5-6 is pretty bad as well, and not uncommon. One final option would be 6-1, but I don't necessarily think it's needed there either. Hard routing decision.

Let me go on the record. I love the guy that found this. It takes a "ZOMG I'm gonna die and can't take any hits" level from the single segment run, makes it faster, makes it more fun, AND it's safer. And as a bonus, it gives me access to Cranky for 6-3, which was my first level that I did time attacks on? You can see the momentum boosts in the WR, although there's some spaghetti near the end. Basically, Enkaybee and I (Enkaybee was the first person to really notice) saw the same things you can do on other ice levels; that is, since the game adds slide momentum separately from rolling momentum, you can have a slightly higher top speed at the end of any slope by rolling and hold using textbook Cranky pogos.

Side note, I'm going to pat myself on the back for having my first ever IL WR in this game, even if it may not hold up into tomorrow... especially if Enkaybee has anything to say about it.

Another thing is that Enkaybee saw this on a Miiverse post, of all things... I never check it, and the strat probably would have gone unnoticed by us unless I looked back at WR to compare what I had been doing wrong. I think I might take up FLCs old job and checking the leaderboards once a week or so to see if anything new is found, at least, I'm still not sure the most efficient way to go about it. Maybe I'll track and see if a character changes or 1 second goes down since the last time I watched. We need to monitor that stuff somehow.

EDIT: I just realized something. I don't think the spare Banana Juice goes here now? Do I put it toward the Spaghetti protection fund I've got going on 6-7? I'm also debating on maybe 6-5, since it's really easy to lose Dixie there? 5-4 Diddy Protection? Losing Cranky in 5-6 is pretty bad as well, and not uncommon. One final option would be 6-1, but I don't necessarily think it's needed there either. Hard routing decision.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 03:03:04 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 11:21:39 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 09:33:12 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 08:30:48 am

Enkaybee: 2014-05-08 08:12:28 am

2014-05-08 07:45:23 am

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Quote from Ghoul02:

EDIT: I just realized something. I don't think the spare Banana Juice goes here now? Do I put it toward the Spaghetti protection fund I've got going on 6-7? I'm also debating on maybe 6-5, since it's really easy to lose Dixie there? 5-4 Diddy Protection? Losing Cranky in 5-6 is pretty bad as well, and not uncommon. One final option would be 6-1, but I don't necessarily think it's needed there either. Hard routing decision.

Imagine the juice-boosting you could do there though. You could skip the lift before the circle of Hot Hootz and both vines without a problem. You might even be able to get through those three boosts without taking any damage, which would give you another boost in the owl bounce if you want it.

Something else I'd like to test:
This doesn't work.
5-3 Fruity Factory has a conveyor belt early in the level that, if you roll on it, gets you going really really fast - faster than 2-2 I think. The IL doesn't give you a partner by that point, but you enter with Master Cranks in a full run, so there's some serious potential for ridiculous momentum boosting. Similar conveyor belts exist throughout the level, so this is definitely worth looking into. 5-3 very well could be a Cranky level too.

[quote="Ghoul02"]
EDIT: I just realized something. I don't think the spare Banana Juice goes here now? Do I put it toward the Spaghetti protection fund I've got going on 6-7? I'm also debating on maybe 6-5, since it's really easy to lose Dixie there? 5-4 Diddy Protection? Losing Cranky in 5-6 is pretty bad as well, and not uncommon. One final option would be 6-1, but I don't necessarily think it's needed there either. Hard routing decision.[/quote]
Imagine the juice-boosting you could do there though.  You could skip the lift before the circle of Hot Hootz and both vines without a problem.  You might even be able to get through those three boosts without taking any damage, which would give you another boost in the owl bounce if you want it.

Something else I'd like to test:
This doesn't work.
[s]5-3 Fruity Factory has a conveyor belt early in the level that, if you roll on it, gets you going really really fast - faster than 2-2 I think.  The IL doesn't give you a partner by that point, but you enter with Master Cranks in a full run, so there's some serious potential for ridiculous momentum boosting.  Similar conveyor belts exist throughout the level, so this is definitely worth looking into.  5-3 very well could be a Cranky level too.[/s]

jnWake

2014-05-08 08:38:12 pm

Congrats on holding a WR for even a few seconds Ghoul. It feels damn good! The first one I got lasted like 2 hours, when I discovered the current strategy for Busted Bayou. Nihashing quickly perfected it haha.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-14 12:26:03 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 04:29:43 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 04:26:43 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 12:38:18 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 12:37:37 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 12:18:06 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 12:17:56 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-11 04:51:27 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-11 04:50:34 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-11 04:50:04 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-11 03:27:59 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-11 03:25:33 pm

2014-05-11 03:17:41 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Another post on consistency:

4-1 Deep Keep: "The Fatass"

Come in at the shallowest angle you can and lie flat against the ground. Works every time. Don't spin near him.

4-A Rockin' Relics: The Secret Exit
I've seen a lot of people make this simple jump into something complicated and stressful when really it's one of the most forgiving tricks in the game:

Part 1: Do a delayed roll-jump and land in a general area in front of the spear penguin. Anywhere in the yellow box will do.
Part 2: Full (no, you won't get hit), full, minimum and you're in. Don't even bother grabbing the vine.
My time attack replay does this (and still manages to get shiny gold Grin

), so you can watch that if you need to see it.
EDIT: This cycle is dependent on having gotten up on the ledge just before (after the water skim) without slowing down at all! It won't work otherwise! Do 4 skims on the water, not 5.

I found Spike's replay. He does it too. Thanks FiveLeafClover

Another post on consistency:

4-1 Deep Keep: "The Fatass"
[img]http://i.imgur.com/nXzei84.png[/img]
Come in at the shallowest angle you can and lie flat against the ground.  Works every time.  Don't spin near him.

4-A Rockin' Relics: The Secret Exit
I've seen a lot of people make this simple jump into something complicated and stressful when really it's one of the most forgiving tricks in the game:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/HI6U1OX.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/84RQhMO.png[/img]
Part 1: Do a delayed roll-jump and land in a general area in front of the spear penguin.  Anywhere in the yellow box will do.
Part 2: Full (no, you won't get hit), full, minimum and you're in.  Don't even bother grabbing the vine.
My time attack replay does this (and still manages to get shiny gold ;D ), so you can watch that if you need to see it.
[b]EDIT: This cycle is dependent on having gotten up on the ledge just before (after the water skim) without slowing down at all!  It won't work otherwise!  Do 4 skims on the water, not 5.[/b]

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWgAQ5uQ2d8&t=1m12s]I found Spike's replay.  He does it too.[/url]  Thanks FiveLeafClover

Ghoul02

2014-05-11 07:14:00 pm

www.twitch.tv/ghoul02

I knew the first bit, but I love you for the second. I wasn't having issues getting that every time, but I was very slow with my setup. I'll try it out later for sure.

Ecko65

2014-05-12 11:21:49 am

DK + Mario Kart 8 = <3

this is nice

its scary everytime on 4-A with the secret exit

thank you for that thumbsup

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 12:16:19 pm

2014-05-12 12:14:27 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

No problem. I just have 6-4 through 6-8 left to learn now, so maybe we can get some races going soon.

spikevegeta

2014-05-12 02:18:02 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Nice 4-1 Consistency. That was giving me a lot of issues. Also, I think I'm going to start editing the first post with the current route I use, and VODS for each IL. Should help people getting into the game.

jnWake

2014-05-12 07:30:35 pm

There could be a small section with the most useful tricks in the game, like: grab+roll to break a barrell and roll without losing momentum, roll+grab+jump to make a long jump and grab something at the same time (used for example in 4-5), roll+jump for quick swimming, etc...

Other tips could be how to control your swimming direction quickly, the jump cancel from the raft in 1-2, pogo jumping chains, etc...

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 08:12:16 pm

Enkaybee: 2014-05-12 08:10:20 pm

2014-05-12 08:09:05 pm

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Discussing load times with Ghoul02, I decided to test them at 480p and at 720p running on the theory that maybe the game has two texture sets.

For level 1-1:
At 480p, load times were 18, 17, and 15 seconds.
At 720p, load times were 21, 25, 22, 18, 18, and 19 seconds.

9 data points is not enough to call this definitive, so I'd like to ask for your help. Next time you load 1-1, time it from the moment you press A on the "Ready to play" screen to the time when the tie moves across the screen. Then report back here with the length of time it took as well as what resolution your Wii U is set at. Here's a stopwatch.

If the difference is significant, Ghoul02 and I think we should standardize on a resolution, as unfortunate as that would be.

Ghoul02

Edit history:

Ghoul02: 2014-05-13 09:07:43 pm

Ghoul02: 2014-05-13 07:41:23 pm

Ghoul02: 2014-05-13 07:37:37 pm

2014-05-13 07:35:32 pm

www.twitch.tv/ghoul02

Ask and you shall recieve.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Apu_D20FII-IdDVUUHRfc3hVNzJDakx4RmxMZ05FTmc&hl=en#gid=0

75 loads, with varying screen resolutions. I also noted if I took a short break to do something between loads.

For those of you who don't understand, resolution has no effect on load times that I can tell. I didn't get a ton of data points for 720p, but considering that there was not enough of a statistical difference between 1080p and 480p/720p combined to call that statistically significant, I'd say there's not an issue there.

The bigger thing is that taking about a break on the map before starting the level will save you about 5 seconds on that load. How do we want to handle this?

Also of note: I ALWAYS rounded down. a 17.99 would have been recorded as a 17, not an 18.

Edit: I forgot to mention it, but according to this, over the course of an hour and 15 minutes, (how long it took to run the loads, you'd lose a few seconds on the first load.

Edit 2: Also of note, this explains 59% of load time variation btw. The other 41% is somewhat random. It's not much, but it's definitely a fair bit.

Ask and you shall recieve.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Apu_D20FII-IdDVUUHRfc3hVNzJDakx4RmxMZ05FTmc&hl=en#gid=0

75 loads, with varying screen resolutions. I also noted if I took a short break to do something between loads.

For those of you who don't understand, resolution has no effect on load times that I can tell. I didn't get a ton of data points for 720p, but considering that there was not enough of a statistical difference between 1080p and 480p/720p combined to call that statistically significant, I'd say there's not an issue there.

The bigger thing is that taking about a break on the map before starting the level will save you about 5 seconds on that load. How do we want to handle this?

Also of note: I ALWAYS rounded down. a 17.99 would have been recorded as a 17, not an 18.

Edit: I forgot to mention it, but according to this, over the course of an hour and 15 minutes, (how long it took to run the loads, you'd lose a few seconds on the first load.

Edit 2: Also of note, this explains 59% of load time variation btw. The other 41% is somewhat random. It's not much, but it's definitely a fair bit.

Enkaybee

Edit history:

Enkaybee: 2014-05-14 10:01:02 am

2014-05-14 09:23:52 am

twitch.tv/enkaybee

Figured I'd make a post here in case anything comes of this:

The #2 time for 5-1 was set at 1:09.47 using Dixie yesterday by Michael_goldfish (the Yoshi's Story runner). His run is far from perfect, which leads me to believe that Dixie can be faster than Cranky.

The problem, however, is that Dixie is 2 seconds off cycle at the beginning of 5-1 and is completely non-viable for 4-Boss, so I don't see a good way of getting her without wasting more time than you end up saving.

Still, just goes to show that the "obvious" Kong buddy isn't the right one for all levels yet.

michael_goldfish

Edit history:

michael_goldfish: 2014-05-15 10:05:47 am

michael_goldfish: 2014-05-14 10:47:59 am

2014-05-14 10:34:57 am

Two green and a figurine

Hey everyone, I've never actually used an SDA forum before but here goes nothing (also thank you Enkaybee for telling me about this).

So I WAS trying to post last night about how I use dixie for 5-1, but my phone wouldn't actually post it. I was gonna post it now but It's already old news. xD I really didn't think the dixie barrel was 2 seconds off though, whenever I do it non-time trial the dixie barrel was always there right away (I didn't think I was THAT slow). I'll mess around with it more though as I'm probably completely wrong.

@Enkaybee Where could I save time during my IL? I didn't look at any other sources when "routing" with dixie, I kind of just spent a few hours trying stuff (5-1 was also one of the first levels I did time trial) so my strats are probably just slower. Are there specific things I should be doing instead though? I'd love to spend more time with Dixie on it but I'm out of ideas.

Edit: I also want to mention that the Dixie barrel is off cycle during time trial when set to default, not sure if that's what you tested or not.

Edit 2: Didn't wanna double post. People still seem to have a bit of an issue with the last jump in 2-3. A good cue is to jump on the last eight note of the music before the big BUMMMMMMMMM (you'll know it when you hear it). Just makes the timing easier since it's such a silly time loss to miss it.

Hey everyone, I've never actually used an SDA forum before but here goes nothing (also thank you Enkaybee for telling me about this).

So I WAS trying to post last night about how I use dixie for 5-1, but my phone wouldn't actually post it. I was gonna post it now but It's already old news. xD I really didn't think the dixie barrel was 2 seconds off though, whenever I do it non-time trial the dixie barrel was always there right away (I didn't think I was THAT slow). I'll mess around with it more though as I'm probably completely wrong.

@Enkaybee Where could I save time during my IL? I didn't look at any other sources when "routing" with dixie, I kind of just spent a few hours trying stuff (5-1 was also one of the first levels I did time trial) so my strats are probably just slower. Are there specific things I should be doing instead though? I'd love to spend more time with Dixie on it but I'm out of ideas.

Edit: I also want to mention that the Dixie barrel is off cycle during time trial when set to default, not sure if that's what you tested or not.

Edit 2: Didn't wanna double post. People still seem to have a bit of an issue with the last jump in 2-3. A good cue is to jump on the last eight note of the music before the big BUMMMMMMMMM (you'll know it when you hear it). Just makes the timing easier since it's such a silly time loss to miss it.