God Hand - Easy Mode New Game Segmented Run Complete

2012-07-15 06:15:33 am

Yeah that is basically the Stooges battle plan.
Unleash on Bruce takes him down to about 15% HP left, Typhoon to kill him plus get a hit on Felix, grab bikini card, Unleash on Conchita + Spank to finish her off, guard break and kick cancel Felix to finish him. Easy strat, works 80% of the time without issue - so this segment is all about future planning with orbs and if an unblockable makes a big difference or not. I haven't managed to get one to test it out properly yet but honestly this segment is quite short already. I'm thinking it might be better to go for more orbs out of boxes instead of the unblockable to prepare for Electric Deathmatch. I'll have more time in a day or two to really test this out, its all theory at the moment. The Typhoon isn't 100% needed with this strat, but it does guarantee the fastest kill. I suppose this means getting two or more orbs out of Fashion Show (which wouldn't be the end of the world - I've done worse in Stage 2 and Stage 3).

As far as the MM5 went, its not just you, they have some of the most random behaviour of anything in the game, hence why I was happy with them rounding themselves up in around 10 seconds in my segment. At least Typhoon x3 is fast once they do line up in the corner...

Yeah that is basically the Stooges battle plan.
Unleash on Bruce takes him down to about 15% HP left, Typhoon to kill him plus get a hit on Felix, grab bikini card, Unleash on Conchita + Spank to finish her off, guard break and kick cancel Felix to finish him. Easy strat, works 80% of the time without issue - so this segment is all about future planning with orbs and if an unblockable makes a big difference or not. I haven't managed to get one to test it out properly yet but honestly this segment is quite short already. I'm thinking it might be better to go for more orbs out of boxes instead of the unblockable to prepare for Electric Deathmatch. I'll have more time in a day or two to really test this out, its all theory at the moment. The Typhoon isn't 100% needed with this strat, but it does guarantee the fastest kill. I suppose this means getting two or more orbs out of Fashion Show (which wouldn't be the end of the world - I've done worse in Stage 2 and Stage 3).

As far as the MM5 went, its not just you, they have some of the most random behaviour of anything in the game,  hence why I was happy with them rounding themselves up in around 10 seconds in my segment. At least Typhoon x3 is fast once they do line up in the corner...

Redlimit

Edit history:

Redlimit: 2012-07-29 10:47:12 am

2012-07-29 10:29:46 am

Update: July 29

Finally got some free time to do some Stooges testing. Getting an unblockable to use against Felix does save time - but only about 3 1/2 seconds worth. You usually spend that long (or longer) getting an unblockable to come out of a box anyway considering you only "need" to break open the bikini barrel and the one orb card barrel. Basically if Bruce or Conchita randomly happen to go flying into a box when they die you have a small chance of getting one, but even then it isn't guaranteed to save time because you need to go out of your way to pick it up which again takes about three seconds.

So basically, the unblockable is nice but isn't part of a necessesary strategy here. Time to try and get some recording done now that the testing is out of the way. A terrible attempt from "Press Start Button" to exiting the grey door is around 2:00, a good attempt should be below 1:45, and if everything goes amazingly under 1:40ish should be possible. I'll try and push it down as low as it can go before I move on (this is an easy segment to re-do because of no item farming or manipulation, its just pure beatdown with a strategy).

Update: July 29

Finally got some free time to do some Stooges testing. Getting an unblockable to use against Felix does save time - but only about 3 1/2 seconds worth. You usually spend that long (or longer) getting an unblockable to come out of a box anyway considering you only "need" to break open the bikini barrel and the one orb card barrel. Basically if Bruce or Conchita randomly happen to go flying into a box when they die you have a small chance of getting one, but even then it isn't guaranteed to save time because you need to go out of your way to pick it up which again takes about three seconds.

So basically, the unblockable is nice but isn't part of a necessesary strategy here. Time to try and get some recording done now that the testing is out of the way. A terrible attempt from "Press Start Button" to exiting the grey door is around 2:00, a good attempt should be below 1:45, and if everything goes amazingly under 1:40ish should be possible. I'll try and push it down as low as it can go before I move on (this is an easy segment to re-do because of no item farming or manipulation, its just pure beatdown with a strategy).

Redlimit

2012-08-07 08:14:56 pm

Update: August 7th

Three Stooges attempts continue. I try to put in at least 30m a day for attempts, but my schedule isn't always allowing that to happen at the moment. I have a 1:39 segment banked, but that includes two or three seconds of Conchita whip-dashing through me twice in a row (everything else was spot-on) so its just a matter of getting one where she doesn't do that (and everything else goes well) and I'll move on to Pattycake.

Redlimit

2012-08-10 07:41:20 pm

Update: August10th

Stooges segment is complete - I was a bit hasty in my unblockable calculations as I managed to get one and a half seconds faster with one even with a bit of running to get it. Bonus points for the unblockable coming out of a box that Conchita's unconcious body slams into. That segment's a keeper.

I'm onto the Pattycake skip now. I know how it is done, but so far I'm unable to replicate it (50ish attempts). Seems harder to do than first advertised. There is a severe lack of knowledge online about it as well. Any confirmations that it can be done on non-JP versions of the game?

Molotov

2012-08-10 09:48:23 pm

Good to hear you've got the Three Stooges out of the way. I'm sorry about not being of any use, but I have this bad habit of getting bored after stage 3 and I kept putting off any further tests/progress. (Though I have attached something close to what I meant about the Shannon fight, if you're interested.)

About the skip though, I've done it a few times on the U.S. version too in single-segment practice. I'm not sure how small the timing window is, but it has to be incredibly small. I've never managed to do it when continuing from a save right before that section, but surely that's just because of how precise it is rather than anything else. It seems to help to get a rhythm going on your dodging before the area finishes loading, rather than mashing and hoping for the best. Sort of like how mashing side dodges seems to be slower than timing them in normal play. Try that out and see if you get any better luck.

It might also help to try doing it from a casual run from the start of stage 4, just to see if there's something up with that.

Good to hear you've got the Three Stooges out of the way. I'm sorry about not being of any use, but I have this bad habit of getting bored after stage 3 and I kept putting off any further tests/progress. (Though I have attached something close to what I meant about the Shannon fight, if you're interested.)

About the skip though, I've done it a few times on the U.S. version too in single-segment practice. I'm not sure how small the timing window is, but it has to be incredibly small. I've never managed to do it when continuing from a save right before that section, but surely that's just because of how precise it is rather than anything else. It seems to help to get a rhythm going on your dodging before the area finishes loading, rather than mashing and hoping for the best. Sort of like how mashing side dodges seems to be slower than timing them in normal play. Try that out and see if you get any better luck.

It might also help to try doing it from a casual run from the start of stage 4, just to see if there's something up with that.

Attachment:

God Hand - Shannon.mp4

Redlimit

2012-08-11 06:10:21 am

Good to know it works at the very least. I'll figure out the timing eventually - 50 attempts isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things for something only seen on video. The stage loads after the God Hand logo in the upper left flashes 9 times so I'll try to figure out something based around that.
If its an "issue" with where the segment picks up from, a hard reset should work instead of a menu reset. I'll be able to try it out more in the coming week at any rate.

Redlimit

Edit history:

Redlimit: 2012-11-10 09:18:22 am

2012-11-10 09:17:31 am

Update: November 10th

It has been an interesting few months since the last update - job switching and general interference from other things meant I was only able to do a few hours here and there with attempts at the Pattycake segment. Saying that, I really must be trying to do this skip wrong.

I have over 500 attempts at this now and not once have I clipped through the wall. I have tried starting from the loaded file, a fresh 4-1 playthrough up to Pattycake and a simple in-game reload from the pause menu and my results haven't been any more successful. I mentioned in the last post that the God Hand logo in the upper left flashes 9 times before the level loads up but regardless of the timing I'm trying I just can't clip into the wall even on attempts where Gene is clearly dodging to the left before the screen fades in. I have watched the Nico video countless times and I just can't get it done.

Something obvious I'm missing here? Getting Gene to dodge before the level fades in isn't too hard, but the second dodge is apparently where I'm getting tripped up here. Thoughts?

Update: November 10th

It has been an interesting few months since the last update - job switching and general interference from other things meant I was only able to do a few hours here and there with attempts at the Pattycake segment. Saying that, I really must be trying to do this skip wrong.

I have over 500 attempts at this now and not once have I clipped through the wall. I have tried starting from the loaded file, a fresh 4-1 playthrough up to Pattycake and a simple in-game reload from the pause menu and my results haven't been any more successful. I mentioned in the last post that the God Hand logo in the upper left flashes 9 times before the level loads up but regardless of the timing I'm trying I just can't clip into the wall even on attempts where Gene is clearly dodging to the left before the screen fades in. I have watched the Nico video countless times and I just can't get it done.

Something obvious I'm missing here? Getting Gene to dodge before the level fades in isn't too hard, but the second dodge is apparently where I'm getting tripped up here. Thoughts?

Molotov

2012-11-13 11:24:47 am

There's not much I can tell you, unfortunately. There doesn't seem to be any good way to time it, so your best bet is just to get a dodge rhythm going and hope for the best. I've tried timing it with the "Now Loading" flashes, but I don't think that ever worked. Instead I just dodged at a steady interval.

I wish there was a trick to it. It did seem easier in the Japanese version, but I didn't extensively test it or anything. Sad

sshplur

2012-11-14 12:54:27 am

God Hand is the best game ever I love God Hand <3

Redlimit

2012-11-14 06:08:47 am

Fair enough. It certainly isn't easy, I'll give it that.
This is just a frustrating segment because it involves exactly zero actual gameplay, and it will only take one actual attempt where it works to move onwards, and my mind is filled with the strats for the rest of Chapter 4.

Hard to believe that this run is passing the two year mark soon - I mean, I know I have a busy schedule at the best of times but I never imagined it might take this long, but since no one else seems to want to torture themselves I'll stick with it for as long as it takes. The overall idea is to give a run to support SDA because I really want to give back to the community again after so many years (not to mention how much I approve of AGDQ and the cause it supports). If having a God Hand run eventually gets SDA a bit more traffic and some of those guys donate to AGDQ it will all be worth it.

Redlimit

Edit history:

Redlimit: 2013-09-07 02:06:11 pm

2013-09-07 01:56:19 pm

Update - September 7, 2013

Well, the run is getting shelved at this point. I tried to find more time to keep it rolling but with work, a little one on the way and just life in general being hectic this is a project that has to make room for other things. I'll keep my three completed stages on YouTube for reference if anyone else in the future wants to take a stab at it.

However - I don't leave you empty-handed. I present the outtake reel of strange/funny/random things that happened in the first four stages. For those who aren't 100% familiar with the game, this showcases just how rough the AI and randomness can really be. Simple tasks like picking up a weapon or hitting an enemy with a roulette move can become extremely difficult given the right (or rather, wrong) situations.

Also, Elvis is really nimble when he wants to be.

Enjoy.

Redlimit

2014-01-18 07:04:52 am

I was sorting through my files and cleaning up my folders/hard drives and I realized I never uploaded the Stage 4 video taken (mainly the Three Stooges fight). I have uploaded it to YouTube and all of the videos are now properly made public and searchable. I'm really happy with this fight in particular as it goes absolutely perfectly - no Bruce or Conchita bad RNG, extra hits on Felix while unleashing on Bruce/Conchita, perfect Unblockable out of spanking Conchita and Felix dies without any bounces or flip-outs (and he dies right beside the exit door).

I may get back to the run later this year as my list of new games to play is almost non-existent so far. That's a good sign, but no promises.

Redlimit

Edit history:

Redlimit: 2015-07-30 10:00:17 pm

Redlimit: 2015-07-30 10:00:04 pm

2015-07-30 09:58:27 pm

Update (!!!)

So, my son is now old enough to sleep through the night and has a regular daily schedule. This means Dad (and Mom) have some actual free time.

I set up my PS2 slim, popped in God Hand and got back down to business. Clearly the extended break did some good as I was out of bounds in "You. Me. Pattycake." within THREE attempts.

Now, this is extremely good news - but that isn't the whole story. I went out of bounds with ease when loading up a fresh 4-1 and clearing the Stooges. I made sure to record this several times and basically for whatever reason when you transition from 4-3 into 4-4 Gene literally starts in a different position. It isn't that the level is any more or less loaded, it is the fact that Gene is a tiny bit to the left but more importantly a full step or two behind where he would normally be which allows the clip to happen.

This is where things get tricky. I tried to replicate the effect of simply playing through all of Stage 4 by doing various loads in 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3 and the effect just isn't the same. Even stranger, when you do skip out of bounds you can keep doing it as much as you want if you die in Pattycake and continue. You will start in the same "wrong" spot again, but if you then open up the menu and load a save (even from another Pattycake save) you will start in the "correct" position.

So, this means one of two things - either I have to scrap the amazing Stooges run I have segmented right now and go for a full 4-1 to 4-4 segment (or maybe break it into tension gaining 4-1 & 4-2 so that doesn't have to be done 1000s of times for the Stooges) or find a way to allow the Pattycake load to function the same as a 4-3 transition (which may not even be possible).

In the off chance that anyone sees this - thoughts? Doing the Stooges again isn't impossible, but the above recorded segment is one out of 3000ish and will be next to impossible to beat...but even being a second slower in that fight and skipping Pattycake is still way faster than doing the ladder skip instead (easily 20+ seconds saved if not more). Anyone know anything about how the PS2 is determining its loading or Gene's position?

Update (!!!)

So, my son is now old enough to sleep through the night and has a regular daily schedule. This means Dad (and Mom) have some actual free time.

I set up my PS2 slim, popped in God Hand and got back down to business. Clearly the extended break did some good as I was out of bounds in "You. Me. Pattycake." within THREE attempts.

Now, this is extremely good news - but that isn't the whole story. I went out of bounds with ease when loading up a fresh 4-1 and clearing the Stooges. I made sure to record this several times and basically for whatever reason when you transition from 4-3 into 4-4 Gene literally starts in a different position. It isn't that the level is any more or less loaded, it is the fact that Gene is a tiny bit to the left but more importantly a full step or two behind where he would normally be which allows the clip to happen.

This is where things get tricky. I tried to replicate the effect of simply playing through all of Stage 4 by doing various loads in 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3 and the effect just isn't the same. Even stranger, when you do skip out of bounds you can keep doing it as much as you want if you die in Pattycake and continue. You will start in the same "wrong" spot again, but if you then open up the menu and load a save (even from another Pattycake save) you will start in the "correct" position.

So, this means one of two things - either I have to scrap the amazing Stooges run I have segmented right now and go for a full 4-1 to 4-4 segment (or maybe break it into tension gaining 4-1 & 4-2 so that doesn't have to be done 1000s of times for the Stooges) or find a way to allow the Pattycake load to function the same as a 4-3 transition (which may not even be possible).

In the off chance that anyone sees this - thoughts? Doing the Stooges again isn't impossible, but the above recorded segment is one out of 3000ish and will be next to impossible to beat...but even being a second slower in that fight and skipping Pattycake is still way faster than doing the ladder skip instead (easily 20+ seconds saved if not more). Anyone know anything about how the PS2 is determining its loading or Gene's position?

Cursedgamer11

2015-08-01 09:51:19 pm

So there's a runner of God Hand. His name is Zanasob and he's pretty freaking good. I'd suggest you talk with him.

Molotov

2015-08-02 06:52:57 am

I agree that Zanaso is the guy to talk to about God Hand stuff. He actively runs the game, so he can tell you pretty much anything you'd want to know. He said he'd check the topic out later today, but in the meantime, he said you could just do this:

1. Leave the right stick neutral going into the loading zone.
2. Hold the right stick to the left during the loading screen.
3. Jab-cancel the first (automatic) sidestep with another sidestep.

The jab-cancel he mentioned probably isn't strictly necessary, but it's faster anyway.

Redlimit

2015-08-02 11:45:14 am

Yeah, I have the clipping down pat now - it is simply a case of getting the Unblockable + clip in the same segment. It'll happen eventually. Incidentally, getting a second tension meter card also results in the same time I achieved previously so that is two scenarios that lead to the same time.

Basically it is up to the Stooges to behave and pray to RNGesus (as this run usually has to). Still, I'm feeling good that the run can actually move forward. It will be fantastic once I move onto Fashion Show and the rest of Stage 4. I had to dust off my notes for that section (literally, they were in a box in the basement after our move).

I tried everything I could think of to reproduce the same memory load of transitioning from Stooges into Pattycake involving loading and resetting the game from various states and nothing gives the same position as just continuing from one into another. Sucks to have to redo that fight, but it is really the only thing that is going to work.

ZanasoBayncuh

Edit history:

ZanasoBayncuh: 2015-08-02 05:07:20 pm

ZanasoBayncuh: 2015-08-02 05:06:59 pm

ZanasoBayncuh: 2015-08-02 04:51:53 pm

2015-08-02 04:50:59 pm

I just now did the clip, first try, from a 4-5 loaded save. I'm about to stream a bit of it so I can highlight some tests. Feel free to join or check the highlight later if you'd like http://twitch.tv/zanasob

Also yes the jab cancel is necessary if you want consistency because you have X number of frames before the walls push you back in bounds, I've found that merely sidestepping twice is unreliable.

I was able to repeatedly do the skip, with zero failures, loading from 4-4 and transitioning, loading from 4-5, soft resetting then loading from 4-5, hard resetting then loading from 4-5, then hard resetting and loading from 4-5 on disc and HDL 0.8c both. The only thing left I can test is alternate PS2 models. I live with a friend that has a slim upstairs, I'm going to borrow that soonish to test that possibility. Here's the highlight. http://www.twitch.tv/zanasob/v/9477891

Redlimit

2015-08-02 05:12:52 pm

Now that IS interesting. I wonder if it is a PS2 slim thing - as in, I have tried the hard-load many, many times when the run was first abandoned when my son was born but that was over a year ago so the new method of cancelling the sidestep could be what puts it over the edge.

Even if I can't get the fresh load, at this point I can easily just load up another save of the previous stage and do it that way. That means I don't have to redo the Stooges fight (thank god). Extremely helpful indeed. I'll test now and see what happens.

ZanasoBayncuh

2015-08-02 05:17:19 pm

It's POSSIBLE that if the loading segment gets weird you could just simply beat 4-4, do the 4-5 transition, then load 4-5 and it should work fine then as well. Just a theory, I'll test the slim upstairs after I'm done eating my awful junk food.

ZanasoBayncuh

Edit history:

ZanasoBayncuh: 2015-08-02 05:37:37 pm

2015-08-02 05:37:14 pm

Worked on PS2 slim. Model 70012. Simple disc, from fresh start, loaded straight into 4-5.

Redlimit

2015-08-02 05:39:30 pm

That's good to know. I'll get some serious attempts in a bit later tonight. It is looking like the cancel method was the missing piece of the puzzle.

Redlimit

2015-08-03 07:42:19 am

Hmm, well after an hour and a half last night and an hour or so this morning, the skip only seems to work for me if I do the full transition from 4-4 into 4-5.

The cancel method is nearly 100% when this is done so I'm not worried about the out of bounds part any more - I just need a Stooges fight that behaves and I can move on. I tried loading flat into it or with a buffer 4-5 (with Stooges cleared) and doing it that way and it just doesn't produce the same results for me. I'm at like 50/50 for a skip after a Stooges fight but any sort of loading or resetting at all and it never works, even with the cancel method. This is the same "wall" I experienced when the run was dropped beforehand - I had 1000's of attempts at skipping out of a raw load of 4-5 that got no results at all.

At any rate, redoing the Stooges it is. With some minor tweaks to strategy I just need a tension or unblockable card and I can achieve the same time as before.

PS2 slim 70011.

ZanasoBayncuh

Edit history:

ZanasoBayncuh: 2015-08-29 12:50:23 am

2015-08-29 12:36:30 am

HOLY SHIT, THIS IS BIG NEWS. Okay... so I've officially figured out what makes the 4-5 skip work and what makes it fail - however, I don't know WHY. IT SEEMS that you cannot do the 4-5 skip unless you have a charge of God Hand. If you don't have enough juice to use the God Hand you are pushed back inbounds almost immediately. With a charge you appear to stay out of bounds for around 8 frames. I intend to make a video to demonstrate this finding, will take a bit of time.

ZanasoBayncuh

Edit history:

ZanasoBayncuh: 2015-08-31 01:17:50 pm

2015-08-31 12:05:35 pm

Found a way to make this useful, it only skips destroying the crane, but it turns out that you can do it with a simple back dodge. You get the clip, run around the stage to the right, clip back in on the stairs. It's relatively difficult though as the walls make it difficult to see where you're going.

Update: Ugh, unfortunately on NG+ this is about 6s slower at its absolute best, not sure about NG strats, would definitely be faster on Hard NG if you could pull it off but the crane would be less cooperative.

ZanasoBayncuh

2015-09-01 03:54:11 pm

Okay, here's the video showing my findings on 4-5.

I also double checked my findings against Molotov's AGDQ 2012 run, when he tried the skip he didn't have a charge and the skip failed. Also checked Redlimit's segments at that point, he also exits 4-4 without a charge of God Hand, this is why you couldn't do the skip.