Evil Dead: Hail to the King (Baby)

kakka_rot

Edit history:

kakka_rot: 2012-01-11 01:13:55 am

kakka_rot: 2012-01-02 08:30:14 pm

kakka_rot: 2012-01-02 08:28:17 pm

kakka_rot: 2012-01-02 08:23:00 pm

2012-01-02 04:42:42 pm

Remember your mantra.

(I searched high&low for another thread on this game, but if I am necroposting, please redirect me)
Evil Dead: Hail to the King is a 2000 release by THQ, for both the Playstation & Dreamcast, and runs on a engine that creates gameplay very simular to what is found in the earlier Resident Evil games.

While it isn't the best Poor Man's RE, it is a fun game to play, and though it is two disks, I remember clearing it in a time of under 60 minutes in my youth (I wanna say 0:53 but who knows). My virgin playthrough might of been something over 1:30, and I remember then thinking how short and easily beatable this game is. You play as Bruce Cambell, of course, and much like RE or SilentH, your mission is to run about the map, collecting various interprations of keys, for their various interprations of doors. Enemies appear to be 'clippier' and therefore harder to dodge then RE baddies, but thats an early observation.

Anyhoo, my reason for proposing this thread, is to make running this a little more fun for myself, and perhaps find some healthy competition for getting a run put up on the site. I've looked on simular sites for a run, and found a Spanish runner who kills it in 60:00 minutes, but even in the first thirty seconds of footage, I can tell his run has room for improvement (i.e. menu movement, killing unnessecary enemies, ect.)

If anyone is interested in running this as well, I'll probably begin posting routs and other findings here as their discovered.
Thanks everyone.

EDIT
The game was released on PSX, Dreamcast, & the PC. I personally own a PSX copy, and the run below uses the dreamcast version; smoother loading times& the ability to skip cutscenes before they begin playing (think MGSII) give for a suprisingly large advantage. If anyone has a PC version, it'd be interesting to see how this one stacks up between the other two.

It should also be noted that Part A of HttK is non-linear, and throws you in the middle of the woods, leaving you with many choices of the order you'd like to collect your (various interprations of) keys (i.e. RE).
Part B is, however, entirelly linear, and items must be collected and used in the intended order to progress smoothly (i.e. Fatal Frame).

Thread title:

(I searched high&low for another thread on this game, but if I am necroposting, please redirect me)
[b]Evil Dead: Hail to the King[/b] is a 2000 release by THQ, for both the Playstation & Dreamcast, and runs on a engine that creates gameplay [i]very[/i] simular to what is found in the earlier Resident Evil games.

While it isn't the best Poor Man's RE, it is a fun game to play, and though it is two disks, I remember clearing it in a time of under 60 minutes in my youth (I wanna say 0:53 but who knows). My virgin playthrough might of been something over 1:30, and I remember then thinking how short and easily beatable this game is. You play as Bruce Cambell, of course, and much like RE or SilentH, your mission is to run about the map, collecting various interprations of keys, for their various interprations of doors. Enemies appear to be 'clippier' and therefore harder to dodge then RE baddies, but thats an early observation.

Anyhoo, my reason for proposing this thread, is to make running this a little more fun for myself, and perhaps find some healthy competition for getting a run put up on the site. I've looked on simular sites for a run, and found a Spanish runner who kills it in 60:00 minutes, but even in the first thirty seconds of footage, I can tell his run has room for improvement (i.e. menu movement, killing unnessecary enemies, ect.)

If anyone is interested in running this as well, I'll probably begin posting routs and other findings here as their discovered.
Thanks everyone.

[b][u]EDIT[/u][/b]
The game was released on PSX, Dreamcast, & the PC. I personally own a PSX copy, and the run below uses the dreamcast version; smoother loading times& the ability to skip cutscenes before they begin playing (think MGSII) give for a suprisingly large advantage. If anyone has a PC version, it'd be interesting to see how this one stacks up between the other two.

It should also be noted that Part A of HttK is non-linear, and throws you in the middle of the woods, leaving you with many choices of the order you'd like to collect your (various interprations of) keys (i.e. RE).
Part B is, however, entirelly linear, and items must be collected and used in the intended order to progress smoothly (i.e. Fatal Frame).

kakka_rot

Edit history:

kakka_rot: 2012-01-02 04:48:59 pm

2012-01-02 04:47:36 pm

Remember your mantra.

Oh, and here is the first of three segements belonging to the run mentioned above, for conversation sake.

As critical as I am, I'm sure some help could be salveged from this runner's work.

kakka_rot

Edit history:

kakka_rot: 2012-01-10 10:07:48 pm

kakka_rot: 2012-01-10 10:03:52 pm

2012-01-10 10:02:15 pm

Remember your mantra.

Congratulations to everyone who helped cordinate, plan, or performed a run for this years AGDQ. I was on the edge of my seat everymoment, and between the runners & the viewers, I'm glad we could make everything that happened possible.
That being said, it's time to clean all the tumbleweeds the forum has gathered this past week, and start preparing the runs 2012 will bring. Chances are, the popularity of the stream will bring in a swarm of newly interested runners looking for a project to work on, and I'd be happy to help anyone with any sort of questions they may have.

Getting back on topic, I only played this a few times over the last week, but I have began noticing trends in enemy spawning & AI, as well as derived a more effecient path then the one demonstrated above.

This post will likely be edited with specifics once someone else becomes interested in this project. Till then, this is essentially a shameless self bump. Happy New Year, everyone.
EDIT:Where are all the survivalhorror runners at?

Congratulations to everyone who helped cordinate, plan, or performed a run for this years AGDQ. I was on the edge of my seat everymoment, and between the runners & the viewers, I'm glad we could make everything that happened possible.
That being said, it's time to clean all the tumbleweeds the forum has gathered this past week, and start preparing the runs 2012 will bring. Chances are, the popularity of the stream will bring in a swarm of newly interested runners looking for a project to work on, and I'd be happy to help anyone with any sort of questions they may have.

Getting back on topic, I only played this a few times over the last week, but I have began noticing trends in enemy spawning & AI, as well as derived a more effecient path then the one demonstrated above.

This post will likely be edited with specifics once someone else becomes interested in this project. Till then, this is essentially a shameless self bump. Happy New Year, everyone.
EDIT:Where are all the survivalhorror runners at?

Itsu de Mo

2012-01-10 11:17:44 pm

Arrested for felony abuse of emotes

A lot of us are still at the marathon with rather... crappy wireless. ^^;; Not that I'm complaining too much, considering it's free, but expect a few more days while people are doing the bonus stream and heading home. ^^

kakka_rot

Edit history:

kakka_rot: 2012-01-11 01:11:25 am

2012-01-11 12:14:28 am

Remember your mantra.

I was glad to see the stream was back up so quick, with alotta faces still there - its cool so many runners decided to hangout & have fun playin' games for a few more days. Despite that, I wasn't suprised to see the average amount of online users has been hotter then I've seen it the last couple months, especially with the popularity of this years marathon. 2012 should be a good year for sda, & speedrunning in general - especially once ya'll are back home & bored again looking for something to do.

kakka_rot

2012-01-17 08:51:31 pm

Remember your mantra.

UPDATE:

So, I've got some bad news, and some good new~

Badnews: My Ps1 copy of this game is fucked six ways from sunday. I've done (+/-) twenty attempts, and roughly 4/5 of the time, my game freezes during the 2nd bossfight, ending the run.
Goodnews: I really didn't wanna run this game on Ps1 anyways, and I just bought a Dreamcast version on eBay for 10 dollars, which should be here by next week. The playstation version is very pretty, and as consiquence, suffers from awful lag, slowdown, and clipping/hitbox errors. Here is an example:

During testing, I realized that I if I was really movin, I could leave the house and be on my way in 30 seconds flat. Of that 30 seconds, 10 of them are used skipping cutscenes& loading the game. The Dreamcast version, instead, starts almost off immeditally after selecting 'newgame' (the video demonstrates what I'm talking about.) Aside from that, the gameplay appears to be overall smoother, and will probably provided a more enjoyable running experience, for both the viewer and the runner.

It would still be interesting to note the differences/speed of the PC version, but as I am typing this on a Samsung with the computing compacity of a dying mule high on morphine, thats an impossibilty for me. If anyone wants to be my best friend, please go right ahead and lemme know what you find.

For anyone interested, my current rout of the first disk, as well as stradegies and times, are hidden below.

Rout

I)Grab page & pills, leave using rear exit
II) Grab crack & gas, enter lost woods
-straight
-down
-up
-Grab Chord
-left
-down&out
IV) Mob to Hellbilly House
V) Kill first zombie, use cable on the generator
VI) Dodge pair of zombies, grab crank, and enter house
VII) Say Hi to Granny
VIII) Kill Zombies in Hall
IX) Enter pigsty, dodge pigs, & grab the pump
X) Active Generator
XI) Dodge pig and grab amulet - return to granny
XII) Curbstomp that bitch
PAR: 10:38 ~ Personal Best: 8:06 (8:45-8:50 appears to be my average)
Expect Edits in due time.

Tricks & Tips

Pauseing: Like in Resident Evil, pause can be used to reset Ash's stance. Certain attacks will knock Ash on his butt, instead of simply damaging him, which can cause a nast five second bump. Either pausing or entering the item menu will put Ash back on his feet. This doesn't save very much ingame time, but helps during bossfights & dodging skeletons.

Movie Quoting: The Triangle button is used to make Bruce Cambell say something witty. As a kid, I thought this was just for fun, but now I've realized it has two uses A) Increasing the odds and enemy will drop a Large healthkit instead of a Small one, as well as B) Scaring away enemies.
The skeletons in the Lost Woods like to give Ash a hard time, and you can get caught up easily by their large hitboxs. When they are chasing you, simply pressing the quote button sends them the other direction. Don't ask me why, but something about Bruce Cambell saying "Yo' must be really intimidating.
Quoting can also be used against the first boss, who can only be damaged when she is attacking. Generally, you have to trigger her to attack by swinging your chainsaw, which is a waste of gasoline, but movie quoting works to the same effect.

Enemy Spawns: Before I thought all elements of this game was random, but after many playthroughs, I have reason to believe that nearly all elements of enemy AI & spawning can be predicted. No enemy will appear in the center of the road - it will always either be the left of right side. If you know where they are going to pop up, you can be past them before their emerging animation even has a chance to complete.
I mentioned this briefly above, but one of the only elements of randomness I've noticed is items drops, which are essential for the amount of damage nessecary to take to make it through this game quickly - at least until the document is aquired which allows Ash to turn Mushrooms into fuel and health - then almost everything you need will be provided by the games god generator.

In additon to these tricks, I've made several simple observances:
-Very few enemies require killing
-The first two bosses are the games most difficult, after which they become considerably easier
-Button mashing Triangle while picking up and item bypasses the autolaunching of Item Menu, saving roughly 2-3 seconds per item
-Bruce Cambell is still, and always will be, awesome.

I'm still hoping to find another user to compete times with, so if you're a fan of Mid-Era Survivial Horror, this is a inexpensive idea if you're looking for a winter project. I also recently got a VHS/DVD recorder, and plan to have a demo of this game up by mid feb.

UPDATE:

So, I've got some bad news, and some good new~

Badnews: My Ps1 copy of this game is fucked six ways from sunday. I've done (+/-) twenty attempts, and roughly 4/5 of the time, my game freezes during the 2nd bossfight, ending the run.
Goodnews: I really didn't wanna run this game on Ps1 anyways, and I just bought a Dreamcast version on eBay for 10 dollars, which should be here by next week. The playstation version is very pretty, and as consiquence, suffers from awful lag, slowdown, and clipping/hitbox errors. Here is an example:

During testing, I realized that I if I was really movin, I could leave the house and be on my way in 30 seconds flat. Of that 30 seconds, 10 of them are used skipping cutscenes& loading the game. The Dreamcast version, instead, starts almost off immeditally after selecting 'newgame' (the video demonstrates what I'm talking about.) Aside from that, the gameplay appears to be overall smoother, and will probably provided a more enjoyable running experience, for both the viewer and the runner.

It would still be interesting to note the differences/speed of the PC version, but as I am typing this on a Samsung with the computing compacity of a dying mule high on morphine, thats an impossibilty for me. If anyone wants to be my best friend, please go right ahead and lemme know what you find.

For anyone interested, my current rout of the first disk, as well as stradegies and times, are hidden below.

Rout
[hidden]
I)Grab page & pills, leave using rear exit
II) Grab crack & gas, enter lost woods
-straight
-down
-up
-Grab Chord
-left
-down&out
IV) Mob to Hellbilly House
V) Kill first zombie, use cable on the generator
VI) Dodge pair of zombies, grab crank, and enter house
VII) Say Hi to Granny
VIII) Kill Zombies in Hall
IX) Enter pigsty, dodge pigs, & grab the pump
X) Active Generator
XI) Dodge pig and grab amulet - return to granny
XII) Curbstomp that bitch
PAR: 10:38 ~ Personal Best: 8:06 (8:45-8:50 appears to be my average)
[b]Expect Edits in due time.[/b]
[/hidden]

Tricks & Tips
[hidden]
Pauseing: Like in Resident Evil, pause can be used to reset Ash's stance. Certain attacks will knock Ash on his butt, instead of simply damaging him, which can cause a nast five second bump. Either pausing or entering the item menu will put Ash back on his feet. This doesn't save very much ingame time, but helps during bossfights & dodging skeletons.

Movie Quoting: The Triangle button is used to make Bruce Cambell say something witty. As a kid, I thought this was just for fun, but now I've realized it has two uses A) Increasing the odds and enemy will drop a Large healthkit instead of a Small one, as well as B) Scaring away enemies. 
The skeletons in the Lost Woods like to give Ash a hard time, and you can get caught up easily by their large hitboxs. When they are chasing you, simply pressing the quote button sends them the other direction. Don't ask me why, but something about Bruce Cambell saying "Yo' must be really intimidating. 
Quoting can also be used against the first boss, who can only be damaged when she is attacking. Generally, you have to trigger her to attack by swinging your chainsaw, which is a waste of gasoline, but movie quoting works to the same effect.

Enemy Spawns: Before I thought all elements of this game was random, but after many playthroughs, I have reason to believe that nearly all elements of enemy AI & spawning can be predicted. No enemy will appear in the center of the road - it will always either be the left of right side. If you know where they are going to pop up, you can be past them before their emerging animation even has a chance to complete.
I mentioned this briefly above, but one of the only elements of randomness I've noticed is items drops, which are essential for the amount of damage nessecary to take to make it through this game quickly - at least until the document is aquired which allows Ash to turn Mushrooms into fuel and health - then almost everything you need will be provided by the games god generator.

In additon to these tricks, I've made several simple observances:
-Very few enemies require killing
-The first two bosses are the games most difficult, after which they become considerably easier
-Button mashing Triangle while picking up and item bypasses the autolaunching of Item Menu, saving roughly 2-3 seconds per item
-Bruce Cambell is still, and always will be, awesome. [/hidden]

I'm still hoping to find another user to compete times with, so if you're a fan of Mid-Era Survivial Horror, this is a inexpensive idea if you're looking for a winter project. I also recently got a VHS/DVD recorder, and plan to have a demo of this game up by mid feb.

kakka_rot

Edit history:

kakka_rot: 2012-02-03 08:56:40 am

kakka_rot: 2012-01-24 02:02:15 am

kakka_rot: 2012-01-24 02:00:38 am

kakka_rot: 2012-01-24 01:57:16 am

kakka_rot: 2012-01-23 09:36:38 pm

2012-01-23 06:16:58 pm

Remember your mantra.

Good News: Game arrived today in beautiful condition, and works great, even for my old Dreamcast.

Shitty News: I had assumed the DC version had faster cutscene after watching the video above, which demonstrated near-instantaneous loading times. Ash & enemies locomotion are certainly quicker, but the loading times between stages are actually worse (meanwhile the DC sounds like it's trying to open a can or something. ~~I only tested it twice before work, but I believe the time taken now from Newgame to first movement is something like 13 seconds instead of a flat 10.~~
EDIT Something interesting. On the playstation version, when starting the timer at New game, locomotion begins at a flat 10. On the DC version, starting the timer at the same time results in locomotion beginning at +/-16 seconds.
That being said, I could almost always grab everything in the house, and leave with 30 seconds on the clock on the PS. Now on the DC, moving at the same pace, I'm out the door instead in 31 seconds.
Despite loading times, in that very, very short window that is the first room, the DC has no problem making up over 5 seconds on locomotion.

Anyway,
The hitbox detection and clipping issues arn't 100% fixed, but they are noticeably better. Overall, I believe I should be able to beat my times using this version.

Thing is, now the video of the current WR has lossed considerable value, and it didn't have very much to begin with. Many loading screens are cut to save time, but even with that advantage, I plan on thoroughly kicking its ass.

~~This post will be edited tonight after making a couple attempts.~~
Only timed myself once - Spider@7:50 which is a 17 second improvement over my best on the Playstation version. That being said, my best was my best, the 7:50 was shit. This might get interesting.
First disk completed <27 minutes. Running almost eight minutes above current run.
Video should be posted soon. Fuck college.

Good News: Game arrived today in beautiful condition, and works great, even for my old Dreamcast.

Shitty News: I had assumed the DC version had faster cutscene after watching the video above, which demonstrated near-instantaneous loading times. Ash & enemies locomotion are certainly quicker, but the loading times between stages are actually worse (meanwhile the DC sounds like it's trying to open a can or something. [s]I only tested it twice before work, but I believe the time taken now from Newgame to first movement is something like 13 seconds instead of a flat 10.[/s]
[b]EDIT[/b] Something interesting. On the playstation version, when starting the timer at New game, locomotion begins at a flat 10. On the DC version, starting the timer at the same time results in locomotion beginning at +/-16 seconds.
That being said, I could almost always grab everything in the house, and leave with 30 seconds on the clock on the PS. Now on the DC, moving at the same pace, I'm out the door instead in 31 seconds. 
Despite loading times, in that very, very short window that is the first room, the DC has no problem making up over 5 seconds on locomotion.

Anyway,
The hitbox detection and clipping issues arn't 100% fixed, but they are noticeably better. Overall, I believe I should be able to beat my times using this version.

Thing is, now the video of the current WR has lossed considerable value, and it didn't have very much to begin with. Many loading screens are cut to save time, but even with that advantage, I plan on thoroughly kicking its ass.

[s]This post will be edited tonight after making a couple attempts.[/s]
Only timed myself once - Spider@7:50 which is a 17 second improvement over my best on the Playstation version. That being said, my best was my best, the 7:50 was shit. This might get interesting.
First disk completed <27 minutes. Running almost eight minutes above current run.
Video should be posted soon. Fuck college.

kakka_rot

2013-01-24 10:39:53 pm

Remember your mantra.

(EXACTLY ONE YEAR LATER) (Wow, that's actually a little creepy)
Bwahahahahaha omg this thread.

Okay so, I know no one cares, or is ever going to read this, but just for historical data is the SDA forums are unearthed a million years from now, let it be known that the best time on this game I ever got was 53:10 on the Dreamcast version.

Thing is, I was doing another attempt last week, and my Dreamcast shut off just as things were getting good.
I am pretty sure I am sol, though I am begin doing attempts on the PS1 version, just so I can have an understanding of the time differences.

If anyone would like to challenge my time, I would be more than happy to provide a write-up off the boss strats and rout I have worked out. Sub 52 is probably possible, but anything less than that is pushing it.

Cheers

kakka_rot

2014-02-16 05:52:18 am

Remember your mantra.

PS:

I moved to Japan.

I have no PS1 or DC version of this game.
Btb, DC is much, much, much faster.
But, the rout is the same. If anyone wants to run this game, pleas messageme, I would be happy to educate you!
twitch.tw/kakkarot
youngmac13@comcast.net

I know it will be years. But if you want the rout, I know it by heart. I did it maybe 50 times, so ask, I am happy to share, Cheers!

Deuceler

2014-02-16 12:36:08 pm

SPEEDruns not SAFEruns

Man, I've really considered this game (just because I love Bruce Campbell so much) and no one had really done anything with it. Now I know that you have, so you might as well send me your notes Cheesy

I'll PM you, I'm deeply involved in Final Fantasy 4 right now, but I'm looking at picking up a non-rpg this year - and this should do! Thanks!

kakka_rot

2014-02-20 08:21:36 am

Remember your mantra.

Wow interest in this game, no way? Cool.

Like I said, I no longer have a copy of the game. If you ever want to stream a casual playthrough of it, I can walk you through it via skype or chat. Sounds like a fun time. It's a pretty short game, I just wish I had my copy with me, or at least a highlighted run.

Deuceler

2014-02-20 01:02:58 pm

SPEEDruns not SAFEruns

Sounds cool Kakka! It will be a little bit, but thanks for the follow! I will get a hold of you when the time is near, you can always add me on Skype (Just look for Deuceler).

codaMaestoso

2014-02-23 12:44:53 pm

I might ask you about this at some point. I've never played this before, but I love old PS1 horror games. So yeah it wouldn't be as fast as the dreamcast version, but if the routing is the same it may still be interesting to do. Depending on how poor I am next month I could buy it.