King's Quest: Mask of Eternity

2013-10-04 05:21:34 pm

Been messing around with this game lately, and found a number of glitches/skips, so I decided to make a segmented "proof of concept" run, even though I won't be doing any serious running of the game. For one, I couldn't record audio without a microphone, at least via Fraps. Fraps also killed the recording after the loading screens finished, meaning this is effectively a spliced run (which is actually true for a couple segments, but it should hardly be noticeable, and it certainly doesn't affect the route). I added 5 seconds to account for any missed frames this caused, as well as 15 seconds for the missing cinematic at the end of Paradise Lost. Actually, seems the loading screen thing isn't an issue when using the "Direct 3D" graphics option, but the game is too clunky for me to effectively play like that. Anyway, a couple links to the run:

http://www.twitch.tv/korzic/c/3032781

As far as the unusual stuff happening, here's some notes:

Daventry

You can clip into the church window at certain angles, and back out in the corner near the candle, towards the graveyard. This negates the need for the rope and hook to get in/out (it's still needed later), but it seems quite precise. This is done to enter the Dimension of Death early, to minimize backtracking later (the wizard needs to hear of your failed entry before he helps make the Ring of Illumination). The axe is needed to enter the knight's tomb (killing the enemy there activates a cutscene, so don't do it), and also to be able to get the rope and hook. The waterfall area to Castle Daventry can also be clipped into fairly easily (a bit harder to clip out), eliminating the need to clog the waterfall. Also, sheathing or unsheating a weapon will allow you to survive higher falls, but insta-death is still possible if you're too high.

Dimension of Death

Jumping off to the side at the beginning eliminates a small cutscene, though it does need to be fairly precise. A sword is picked up, as it's right on the way, and it's the only melee weapon you'll have for a while. The box (needs to be tall, not short) is pushed to give enough height to get inside Lord Azrael's sanctum without the need for the Lever of Life. Grabbed a rock here, but it's probably not necessary (there's one at the beginning of the Realm of the Gnomes area), so a better path may exist (you can backflip over some of the shorter walls, if that'd create shortcuts). The jump across the River of Death is quite precise, and in my experience, usually aimed towards the corner of the map (though there may be other safe spots at the river's edge).

Swamp

Bow and arrow needed to enter the Witch's castle (crossbow from Daventry will not work, same with the Dimension of Death's hammer); the Witch still needs to be killed before opening the castle gate, though. The fence surrounding the Golden Ladle area can just barely be backflipped onto, eliminating the need for the minion's hand; this also means the puzzles in that area are not active. It also means that the Mask piece in this area can be skipped (when Lucreto's minion would appear), and the game does not appear to check for it in Paradise Lost like it does the next two pieces.

Realm of the Gnomes

Another rock grabbed here, as I thought I'd need it to help get the Flame Sword later, but it's not needed (still, probably the fastest rock to grab so far). Bridge puzzle might be better solved with another pressure plate, not sure. The ledge I fall down near the boulder has small indentations that can be stood on to avoid using the rope and hook, both to descend and ascend. After killing the dragon, quickly jump over the Black Diamond to avoid a cutscene, and again on the way out. When giving the Lodestone to the gnome, you can do so immediately after starting the initial conversation (unlike with Daventry's wizard, it appears).

Barren Region

By using the rock in the middle of the lava, the tomb the basilisk guards can be accessed prematurely. While not strictly necessary, the sword and armor within are taken, as they're significant upgrades to my current equipment. A better route to the Fire Dwarves' tunnels should've been taken (see here), but I initially thought the Jewel of Flame was necessary (it's not), so I took a longer route before realizing my mistake.

Frozen Reaches

The Crystal Scepter is not needed to cross the lake, just some healing items. The invisible beast guarding the Flame Sword can probably be avoided, but it hits pretty hard, so I killed it. By manipulating the camera (in 3rd person mode, right-click and drag the mouse) to be closer than what it normally would be to the ice mound with the Flame Sword, you can grab it without doing the normal puzzle. On top of the orc's citadel, I went off to the side to avoid a cutscene. Thork is not necessary to kill and hits hard anyway, plus he gives little EXP, so he's avoided. The area where the Drake is can be backflipped onto from below fairly easily, again avoiding a rope and hook use. I saved before the Paradise Lost entry, as saving/reloading repeatedly gives you a chunk of free EXP as many times as you'd like.

Paradise Lost

The game only appears to check for the Barren Region and Frozen Reaches Mask pieces (actually not sure of the Barren Region one, but it doesn't matter, as I'll explain in the Realm of the Sun section); it seems to assume you have the Swamp one, as that is needed under ordinary circumstances. So, it lets me enter the Realm of the Sun 1 Mask piece short. Also, Fraps didn't let me record the cinematic (just the audio, not the video); the same is true of the intro/ending cinematics.

Realm of the Sun

The Tablet needs to be obtained before I can obtain the first key (though if one could manage to find a clip to get the sword and shield here without the key, it'd be given automatically). The snakes are backflipped over as a precaution, as they are quite dangerous (usually, normal jumps don't work). A couple healing potions, as well as a shield one in the second level turned out to be unnecessary. Regarding the level 3 block puzzle, I've a feeling there's a more elegant solution, but I'm not sure (as shown, you can separate blocks away from a row without needing to move an entire row). Regarding Lucreto, the altar room can actually be clipped into at a precise angle, negating the need to find the Mask piece on level 2 (normally required). As the Mask pieces are placed in the exact same order every time regardless of what piece you click on, it doesn't matter that I'm technically short two pieces (the last one placed is the bottom left piece - the one from the Barren Region - though the piece from this area is actually the top right one).

So, that's about all I know. I've a feeling more clips can still be found, but I really don't understand how those work, so I don't know if there's more or not. As for other things, I encountered a glitch in the Swamp when using the rope and hook at the same time as falling from the top platform of the Golden Ladle area. Climbing (either up or down) placed me in a void in the bottom left corner of the map. No idea if this might be useful elsewhere or not, but I did try it for one of the Realm of the Gnomes' ledges, but it just had me climbing from the bottom, nothing unusual. There's also a way to get on top of the Fire Dwarves' tunnels, by backflipping into the corner opposite the keyhole, but I couldn't find anything useful up there.

Thread title:

Been messing around with this game lately, and found a number of glitches/skips, so I decided to make a segmented "proof of concept" run, even though I won't be doing any serious running of the game.  For one, I couldn't record audio without a microphone, at least via Fraps.  Fraps also killed the recording after the loading screens finished, meaning this is effectively a spliced run (which is actually true for a couple segments, but it should hardly be noticeable, and it certainly doesn't affect the route).  I added 5 seconds to account for any missed frames this caused, as well as 15 seconds for the missing cinematic at the end of Paradise Lost.  Actually, seems the loading screen thing isn't an issue when using the "Direct 3D" graphics option, but the game is too clunky for me to effectively play like that.  Anyway, a couple links to the run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOb1cGqfyVk

http://www.twitch.tv/korzic/c/3032781

As far as the unusual stuff happening, here's some notes:

[b]Daventry[/b]

You can clip into the church window at certain angles, and back out in the corner near the candle, towards the graveyard.  This negates the need for the rope and hook to get in/out (it's still needed later), but it seems quite precise.  This is done to enter the Dimension of Death early, to minimize backtracking later (the wizard needs to hear of your failed entry before he helps make the Ring of Illumination).  The axe is needed to enter the knight's tomb (killing the enemy there activates a cutscene, so don't do it), and also to be able to get the rope and hook.  The waterfall area to Castle Daventry can also be clipped into fairly easily (a bit harder to clip out), eliminating the need to clog the waterfall.  Also, sheathing or unsheating a weapon will allow you to survive higher falls, but insta-death is still possible if you're too high.

[b]Dimension of Death[/b]

Jumping off to the side at the beginning eliminates a small cutscene, though it does need to be fairly precise.  A sword is picked up, as it's right on the way, and it's the only melee weapon you'll have for a while.  The box (needs to be tall, not short) is pushed to give enough height to get inside Lord Azrael's sanctum without the need for the Lever of Life.  Grabbed a rock here, but it's probably not necessary (there's one at the beginning of the Realm of the Gnomes area), so a better path may exist (you can backflip over some of the shorter walls, if that'd create shortcuts).  The jump across the River of Death is quite precise, and in my experience, usually aimed towards the corner of the map (though there may be other safe spots at the river's edge).

[b]Swamp[/b]

Bow and arrow needed to enter the Witch's castle (crossbow from Daventry will not work, same with the Dimension of Death's hammer); the Witch still needs to be killed before opening the castle gate, though.  The fence surrounding the Golden Ladle area can just barely be backflipped onto, eliminating the need for the minion's hand; this also means the puzzles in that area are not active.  It also means that the Mask piece in this area can be skipped (when Lucreto's minion would appear), and the game does not appear to check for it in Paradise Lost like it does the next two pieces.

[b]Realm of the Gnomes[/b]

Another rock grabbed here, as I thought I'd need it to help get the Flame Sword later, but it's not needed (still, probably the fastest rock to grab so far).  Bridge puzzle might be better solved with another pressure plate, not sure.  The ledge I fall down near the boulder has small indentations that can be stood on to avoid using the rope and hook, both to descend and ascend.  After killing the dragon, quickly jump over the Black Diamond to avoid a cutscene, and again on the way out.  When giving the Lodestone to the gnome, you can do so immediately after starting the initial conversation (unlike with Daventry's wizard, it appears).

[b]Barren Region[/b]

By using the rock in the middle of the lava, the tomb the basilisk guards can be accessed prematurely.  While not strictly necessary, the sword and armor within are taken, as they're significant upgrades to my current equipment.  A better route to the Fire Dwarves' tunnels should've been taken (see [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mieVOqOxAGk]here[/url]), but I initially thought the Jewel of Flame was necessary (it's not), so I took a longer route before realizing my mistake.

[b]Frozen Reaches[/b]

The Crystal Scepter is not needed to cross the lake, just some healing items.  The invisible beast guarding the Flame Sword can probably be avoided, but it hits pretty hard, so I killed it.  By manipulating the camera (in 3rd person mode, right-click and drag the mouse) to be closer than what it normally would be to the ice mound with the Flame Sword, you can grab it without doing the normal puzzle.  On top of the orc's citadel, I went off to the side to avoid a cutscene.  Thork is not necessary to kill and hits hard anyway, plus he gives little EXP, so he's avoided.  The area where the Drake is can be backflipped onto from below fairly easily, again avoiding a rope and hook use.  I saved before the Paradise Lost entry, as saving/reloading repeatedly gives you a chunk of free EXP as many times as you'd like.

[b]Paradise Lost[/b]

The game only appears to check for the Barren Region and Frozen Reaches Mask pieces (actually not sure of the Barren Region one, but it doesn't matter, as I'll explain in the Realm of the Sun section); it seems to assume you have the Swamp one, as that is needed under ordinary circumstances.  So, it lets me enter the Realm of the Sun 1 Mask piece short.  Also, Fraps didn't let me record the cinematic (just the audio, not the video); the same is true of the intro/ending cinematics.

[b]Realm of the Sun[/b]

The Tablet needs to be obtained before I can obtain the first key (though if one could manage to find a clip to get the sword and shield here without the key, it'd be given automatically).  The snakes are backflipped over as a precaution, as they are quite dangerous (usually, normal jumps don't work).  A couple healing potions, as well as a shield one in the second level turned out to be unnecessary.  Regarding the level 3 block puzzle, I've a feeling there's a more elegant solution, but I'm not sure (as shown, you can separate blocks away from a row without needing to move an entire row).  Regarding Lucreto, the altar room can actually be clipped into at a precise angle, negating the need to find the Mask piece on level 2 (normally required).  As the Mask pieces are placed in the exact same order every time regardless of what piece you click on, it doesn't matter that I'm technically short two pieces (the last one placed is the bottom left piece - the one from the Barren Region - though the piece from this area is actually the top right one).

So, that's about all I know.  I've a feeling more clips can still be found, but I really don't understand how those work, so I don't know if there's more or not.  As for other things, I encountered a glitch in the Swamp when using the rope and hook at the same time as falling from the top platform of the Golden Ladle area.  Climbing (either up or down) placed me in a void in the bottom left corner of the map.  No idea if this might be useful elsewhere or not, but I did try it for one of the Realm of the Gnomes' ledges, but it just had me climbing from the bottom, nothing unusual.  There's also a way to get on top of the Fire Dwarves' tunnels, by backflipping into the corner opposite the keyhole, but I couldn't find anything useful up there.

Korzic

Edit history:

Korzic: 2014-01-26 12:16:40 am

Korzic: 2014-01-26 12:14:30 am

Korzic: 2014-01-26 12:13:09 am

Korzic: 2014-01-26 12:00:17 am

2014-01-25 11:58:45 pm

Couple new finds (too lazy to explain, read the video descriptions):

With regards to the Dimension of Death skip, I should also mention that the River of Death skip is possible from the right side of the map, which will probably save a little bit of time - still as annoying as ever to pull off, though. And while that last video showed skipping the Witch, I'm not sure it's beneficial to pass up EXP that's basically right in the way (not from a boss monster, at least). However, the bow and arrow from the swamp is probably best off skipped, though that would need to be timed (but purifying the cauldron from outside isn't exactly easy, at least not in my experience).

It was also pointed out to me that the weapon sheathing/unsheating varies by weapon, as well as whether you're taking it out or putting it away. So, the invincibility from that trick can last a little longer, meaning the fall from the top platform of the Golden Ladle area is indeed survivable via that method (can also save before hitting the ground, and then reload, but that offers no movement control (unless you have a rock on hand =p), as well as no way to gain height).

Also, some of you might know of the hidden path up the cliffs at the beginning of the game, leading to a picture, It was also pointed out to me that if you explore further, there is a drop-off in the southwestern end (to survive it, you need to do one of the tricks mentioned above), leading to an area with sprites that have yet to be properly loaded (in this case, Gwennie, the knight's ghost, and the Henchman). Talking to Gwennie gives you a nice chunk of EXP, as well as teleports you to her place (near the windmill). Personally, I think playing around up there takes too long for it to be of much use over traveling normally, but still a really cool find. As for the EXP, I'm not at all convinced it's worth the trouble, even though taking out the Henchman and a couple regular enemies, you hit level 10 or so. Anyway, I wonder if there are similar locations that might prove useful in other areas (specifically, I'm wondering about the Swamp King - though I've no idea if it's possible to get out of bounds without cheats in that area).

Couple new finds (too lazy to explain, read the video descriptions):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPes5Op-csI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrJp5GtszuU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GgOkFFawYA

With regards to the Dimension of Death skip, I should also mention that the River of Death skip is possible from the right side of the map, which will probably save a little bit of time - still as annoying as ever to pull off, though.  And while that last video showed skipping the Witch, I'm not sure it's beneficial to pass up EXP that's basically right in the way (not from a boss monster, at least).  However, the bow and arrow from the swamp is probably best off skipped, though that would need to be timed (but purifying the cauldron from outside isn't exactly easy, at least not in my experience).

It was also pointed out to me that the weapon sheathing/unsheating varies by weapon, as well as whether you're taking it out or putting it away.  So, the invincibility from that trick can last a little longer, meaning the fall from the top platform of the Golden Ladle area is indeed survivable via that method (can also save before hitting the ground, and then reload, but that offers no movement control (unless you have a rock on hand =p), as well as no way to gain height).

Also, some of you might know of the hidden path up the cliffs at the beginning of the game, leading to a picture,  It was also pointed out to me that if you explore further, there is a drop-off in the southwestern end (to survive it, you need to do one of the tricks mentioned above), leading to an area with sprites that have yet to be properly loaded (in this case, Gwennie, the knight's ghost, and the Henchman).  Talking to Gwennie gives you a nice chunk of EXP, as well as teleports you to her place (near the windmill).  Personally, I think playing around up there takes too long for it to be of much use over traveling normally, but still a really cool find.  As for the EXP, I'm not at all convinced it's worth the trouble, even though taking out the Henchman and a couple regular enemies, you hit level 10 or so.  Anyway, I wonder if there are similar locations that might prove useful in other areas (specifically, I'm wondering about the Swamp King - though I've no idea if it's possible to get out of bounds without cheats in that area).

jacobfreemaninc

2014-02-16 08:13:25 pm

I have always wanted to try speed running this game. I was glitch-hunting this game a while back and found some neat clips and tricks.
I may start putting my own route together in a few weeks.

Thank you for this!

Mudpick

2014-06-24 08:02:41 pm

Korzic thanks for sharing this. I love this game and i would definetly start to run it. Have you found any community or place were i can be up to date of the current strats or the record times?

Jacobfreemaninc, care to share some of the stuff you've found?

Thanks guys, hope you're still running this game. Good race

Korzic

Edit history:

Korzic: 2014-11-15 10:27:54 pm

2014-11-15 10:25:26 pm

Hey Jacob and Mudpick, thanks for the interest. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of much strategy talk about this game, nor of any other speedruns of it. However, there's been a Youtube user by the name of Matthew Barich posting a lot of observations and such on my videos for this game; hopefully he'll pop in here at some point so we can have the info in a bit more organized place (he seems to understand the technical aspect better than I do). That, or you can try and dig through the various conversations on my videos (there's quite a few different ones =p).

Anyway, here's videos of some more significant clip findings recently. Further info is in the video descriptions:

As for other notable clips I've found, one is through the Castle Daventry secret passage wall (probably not very useful, especially as there's candle-levers on either side of the wall - also seems to be a one-way clip). There's one in the building with the key to the Fire Dwarves' tunnel (the sealed entrance at ground level, possibly also the passage with the armor - not sure about getting out, though). There are also spots to get both hubcaps without freeing the ice queen (a bit tricky getting in/out of the room with the safe). Then there's one that leads to the cave with the Mask piece chest in the Barren Region (entered via the room with the cells - not too useful, as I'm not sure there's a clip back out, but it's probably faster to kill the henchman anyway). Finally, there's a clip from inside the room with the Mask piece chest in the Frozen Reaches (said chest is empty unless the cutscene is played, so even if there is a clip from the outside of the building, it unfortunately looks like the makeshift ice lever sequence still needs to be done).

Some examples of clips I'm still trying to make work would be in the Realm of the Gnomes, entering the dark passage with the wyrm/lodestone/crystal pyramids (may be a one-way only clip, but this would skip pushing the boulder). I think I mentioned it earlier, but it's possible to get on top of the Fire Dwarves' tunnel (as well as to the side, but that's pretty much a lava area, even when clips there are possible), but it's quite tricky to get up there. There is at least one wall up there from what I remember, but I wasn't able to get through back then, but if so, it may mean skipping the tunnel key. Finally, the various doors within the Realm of the Sun, which would theoretically enable skipping pretty much everything in those areas.

Well, I think the Youtube user I mentioned earlier understands the technical aspect of this game a bit better than myself, but I will say most clips seem to happen when you get caught on certain parts of obstacles, which is indicated by a brief height increase when pressed against at precise angles. I'm not sure, but it sometimes seems like there's object intersection going on at such points, but it's hard for me to tell what the deal is when it happens on a part of a wall not near a traditional corner.

Hey Jacob and Mudpick, thanks for the interest.  Unfortunately, I'm not aware of much strategy talk about this game, nor of any other speedruns of it.  However, there's been a Youtube user by the name of Matthew Barich posting a lot of observations and such on my videos for this game; hopefully he'll pop in here at some point so we can have the info in a bit more organized place (he seems to understand the technical aspect better than I do).  That, or you can try and dig through the various conversations on my videos (there's quite a few different ones =p).

Anyway, here's videos of some more significant clip findings recently.  Further info is in the video descriptions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYLnr0Oxv0w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMwHulf-Va8

As for other notable clips I've found, one is through the Castle Daventry secret passage wall (probably not very useful, especially as there's candle-levers on either side of the wall - also seems to be a one-way clip).  There's one in the building with the key to the Fire Dwarves' tunnel (the sealed entrance at ground level, possibly also the passage with the armor - not sure about getting out, though).  There are also spots to get both hubcaps without freeing the ice queen (a bit tricky getting in/out of the room with the safe).  Then there's one that leads to the cave with the Mask piece chest in the Barren Region (entered via the room with the cells - not too useful, as I'm not sure there's a clip back out, but it's probably faster to kill the henchman anyway).  Finally, there's a clip from inside the room with the Mask piece chest in the Frozen Reaches (said chest is empty unless the cutscene is played, so even if there is a clip from the outside of the building, it unfortunately looks like the makeshift ice lever sequence still needs to be done).

Some examples of clips I'm still trying to make work would be in the Realm of the Gnomes, entering the dark passage with the wyrm/lodestone/crystal pyramids (may be a one-way only clip, but this would skip pushing the boulder).  I think I mentioned it earlier, but it's possible to get on top of the Fire Dwarves' tunnel (as well as to the side, but that's pretty much a lava area, even when clips there are possible), but it's quite tricky to get up there.  There is at least one wall up there from what I remember, but I wasn't able to get through back then, but if so, it may mean skipping the tunnel key.  Finally, the various doors within the Realm of the Sun, which would theoretically enable skipping pretty much everything in those areas.

Well, I think the Youtube user I mentioned earlier understands the technical aspect of this game a bit better than myself, but I will say most clips seem to happen when you get caught on certain parts of obstacles, which is indicated by a brief height increase when pressed against at precise angles.  I'm not sure, but it sometimes seems like there's object intersection going on at such points, but it's hard for me to tell what the deal is when it happens on a part of a wall not near a traditional corner.

Matthew1987

Edit history:

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 08:34:27 am

Matthew1987: 2014-12-10 05:39:46 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-10 05:37:31 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-09 09:43:12 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-09 09:42:04 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-09 09:35:16 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-09 09:34:05 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-09 09:32:27 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-09 09:31:30 pm

2014-12-09 09:26:24 pm

I'm the YouTube user you've been talking about.

I've discovered a number of additional things. Here are some of them:

* If you gain enough experience to gain multiple levels at a time, you only gain one at a time. But certain actions will allow you to gain the additional levels without having to get more experience. One of those actions is using health or magic items.

* Since your health is set to max every time you gain a level, you can use this strategically to survive certain areas.

* Many more clips are possible. It seems that most of the walls in the game that aren't technically part of the terrain can be clipped through.

* Most walls that can be clipped through can be clipped through at any point on the wall.

* In Daventry, the most efficient route probably is to go north at the start up to the knight's tomb. If you go up the hill to the left of the path leading up to where the unicorn is (the castle keep is on that hill), it leads right up to where the knight's tomb is. With this route, the ideal places to clip in and out of the knight's tomb are in at the southeast corner and out at the southwest corner. Then go to the waterfall, then the mill where the rope and hook is, then the mausoleum at the graveyard, and then the wizard. It probably also is a good idea to get the dagger and the crossbow, because they're the only weapons you'll have until late in the game. See why below.

* In the Dimension of Death, the portal at the start can be clipped through. You can go around the portal entry trigger. Once you're at where the portal is, clip through it, and you'll be out of bounds. You can then get back in at a few locations, including one right before the east side of the River of Death and one at the Hall of War. From the Hall of War, you can get to the northeast corner of the area where the Swamp portal is by jumping onto one of the corners. This allows you to skip the entire region.

* With the "enclosed" regions, such as the Underground Realm of the Gnomes, it is possible to clip in and out of the tunnels at most locations. In some places, this allows you to skip certain parts. One place where this is very useful is at the start of the Gnome Realm. In that area, there is a tunnel that goes under there, and if you clip out at certain locations, when you fall, you'll land on top of that tunnel. By navigating on top of the tunnels, you can then skip ahead to various areas. Going west will allow you to skip to where the area with the boulder is, and going east will allow you to skip to an area near the steps leading down to where the crystal is. Both routes allow you to skip using the rock to open the door and using the rocks to move the bridge; this means that you don't have to use any rocks anywhere in the game.

* In the Gnome Realm, the wall that leads up to the area where the boulder is from the east part of the region seems to not be climbable until later on; otherwise, you would be able to skip a large part of the region. But actually, the wall is always climbable, but until a certain point (I'm not sure which point), there is another wall blocking it. But you can clip through that wall.

* In the Gnome Realm, the bricks blocking the way to the Dragon Wyrm's lair can be clipped through (either way). This means that you can skip pushing the boulder.

There appear to be a few different mechanisms for clipping. When using the "run" method, it appears to occur as a result of moving against the wall at certain angles and distances. If the angle and distance are within certain ranges, Connor will move through the wall.

I'm the YouTube user you've been talking about.

I've discovered a number of additional things.  Here are some of them:

* If you gain enough experience to gain multiple levels at a time, you only gain one at a time.  But certain actions will allow you to gain the additional levels without having to get more experience.  One of those actions is using health or magic items.

* Since your health is set to max every time you gain a level, you can use this strategically to survive certain areas.

* Many more clips are possible.  It seems that most of the walls in the game that aren't technically part of the terrain can be clipped through.

* Most walls that can be clipped through can be clipped through at any point on the wall.

* In Daventry, the most efficient route probably is to go north at the start up to the knight's tomb.  If you go up the hill to the left of the path leading up to where the unicorn is (the castle keep is on that hill), it leads right up to where the knight's tomb is.  With this route, the ideal places to clip in and out of the knight's tomb are in at the southeast corner and out at the southwest corner.  Then go to the waterfall, then the mill where the rope and hook is, then the mausoleum at the graveyard, and then the wizard.  It probably also is a good idea to get the dagger and the crossbow, because they're the only weapons you'll have until late in the game.  See why below.

* In the Dimension of Death, the portal at the start can be clipped through.  You can go around the portal entry trigger.  Once you're at where the portal is, clip through it, and you'll be out of bounds.  You can then get back in at a few locations, including one right before the east side of the River of Death and one at the Hall of War.  From the Hall of War, you can get to the northeast corner of the area where the Swamp portal is by jumping onto one of the corners.  This allows you to skip the entire region.

* With the "enclosed" regions, such as the Underground Realm of the Gnomes, it is possible to clip in and out of the tunnels at most locations.  In some places, this allows you to skip certain parts.  One place where this is very useful is at the start of the Gnome Realm.  In that area, there is a tunnel that goes under there, and if you clip out at certain locations, when you fall, you'll land on top of that tunnel.  By navigating on top of the tunnels, you can then skip ahead to various areas.  Going west will allow you to skip to where the area with the boulder is, and going east will allow you to skip to an area near the steps leading down to where the crystal is.  Both routes allow you to skip using the rock to open the door and using the rocks to move the bridge; this means that you don't have to use any rocks anywhere in the game.

* In the Gnome Realm, the wall that leads up to the area where the boulder is from the east part of the region seems to not be climbable until later on; otherwise, you would be able to skip a large part of the region.  But actually, the wall is always climbable, but until a certain point (I'm not sure which point), there is another wall blocking it.  But you can clip through that wall.

* In the Gnome Realm, the bricks blocking the way to the Dragon Wyrm's lair can be clipped through (either way).  This means that you can skip pushing the boulder.

There appear to be a few different mechanisms for clipping.  When using the "run" method, it appears to occur as a result of moving against the wall at certain angles and distances.  If the angle and distance are within certain ranges, Connor will move through the wall.

Korzic

2014-12-10 09:20:45 pm

Hey Matthew, thanks for posting here. Smiley

I can't really comment on your proposed route alternatives without proper testing, but those are some interesting finds. I'll definitely need to play around with the Dimension of Death and Realm of the Gnomes clips at a later date.

Have you been able to try clipping through the doors in the Realm of the Sun? On the first level, I've been able to clip near the corners along the walls on either side of the door, but not the wall with the door itself (if that makes sense - sorry, not really sure how to phrase it =p). I believe those wall parts on either side of the door or the door itself (talking about the level exit door, BTW) is probably what is needed, but I can't seem to clip into those areas at all. Unless there's a way to get on top of the level, as you say is possible with the Realm of the Gnomes...?

Quote from Matthew1987:

* In the Gnome Realm, the wall that leads up to the area where the boulder is from the east part of the region seems to not be climbable until later on; otherwise, you would be able to skip a large part of the region. But actually, the wall is always climbable, but until a certain point (I'm not sure which point), there is another wall blocking it. But you can clip through that wall.

Are you talking about the ledge at 30:53 of my speedrun video? If so, that wall is normally accessible by way of a hidden button up top (30:40 of my speedrun video, when I click that rock pile).

Anyway, for those that haven't seen them yet, there are a couple other videos I uploaded about some finds in the Barren Region. The first one is an example of how the updated route through the Barren Regions perhaps should look like (though there are some clips not shown, mostly because they're too hard for me to pull off reliably):

This other one is a strange glitch I encountered when picking up the Mask piece in the Barren Region while bumping into the chest. Strangely, I wasn't able to exit the area when recording that video, but when trying to reproduce it later, I was able to do so. Either way, it doesn't matter for skipping the Frozen Reaches Mask piece, as the game still specifically checks for both that one and the one in the Barren Region:

Hey Matthew, thanks for posting here. :)  I can't really comment on your proposed route alternatives without proper testing, but those are some interesting finds.  I'll definitely need to play around with the Dimension of Death and Realm of the Gnomes clips at a later date.

Have you been able to try clipping through the doors in the Realm of the Sun?  On the first level, I've been able to clip near the corners along the walls on either side of the door, but not the wall with the door itself (if that makes sense - sorry, not really sure how to phrase it =p).  I believe those wall parts on either side of the door or the door itself (talking about the level exit door, BTW) is probably what is needed, but I can't seem to clip into those areas at all.  Unless there's a way to get on top of the level, as you say is possible with the Realm of the Gnomes...?

[quote="Matthew1987"]* In the Gnome Realm, the wall that leads up to the area where the boulder is from the east part of the region seems to not be climbable until later on; otherwise, you would be able to skip a large part of the region.  But actually, the wall is always climbable, but until a certain point (I'm not sure which point), there is another wall blocking it.  But you can clip through that wall.[/quote]
Are you talking about the ledge at 30:53 of my speedrun video?  If so, that wall is normally accessible by way of a hidden button up top (30:40 of my speedrun video, when I click that rock pile).

Anyway, for those that haven't seen them yet, there are a couple other videos I uploaded about some finds in the Barren Region.  The first one is an example of how the updated route through the Barren Regions perhaps should look like (though there are some clips not shown, mostly because they're too hard for me to pull off reliably):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cnqrnpfl0o

This other one is a strange glitch I encountered when picking up the Mask piece in the Barren Region while bumping into the chest.  Strangely, I wasn't able to exit the area when recording that video, but when trying to reproduce it later, I was able to do so.  Either way, it doesn't matter for skipping the Frozen Reaches Mask piece, as the game still specifically checks for both that one and the one in the Barren Region:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxqhtvUNnvg

fairyanna

Edit history:

fairyanna: 2014-12-17 05:48:22 am

fairyanna: 2014-12-17 05:47:41 am

fairyanna: 2014-12-17 05:47:06 am

fairyanna: 2014-12-17 05:46:56 am

fairyanna: 2014-12-17 05:46:55 am

fairyanna: 2014-12-17 05:46:54 am

2014-12-17 05:45:27 am

Lily lara

I'm also interested in running this in the future. With how many different 640-911 braindumps versions it'll have it should be easy to pick up and play. Sadly I have not played the demo because I couldn't donate to the Kickstarter but I have only heard good things about it.

Korzic

2014-12-17 09:41:57 pm

Um, beg your pardon? A demo? Kickstarter? What are you talking about?

This is some kind of spam attempt or something, isn't it? Because as far as I know, there's nothing currently like that related to King's Quest.

Matthew1987

Edit history:

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 08:26:50 am

2014-12-18 06:50:23 am

It appears to be a template spam message, intended to promote that link. I wish this forum had a "report" feature.

Matthew1987

Edit history:

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 11:38:23 pm

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 08:56:27 am

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 08:53:33 am

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 08:50:38 am

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 08:45:46 am

Matthew1987: 2014-12-18 08:42:27 am

2014-12-18 08:31:14 am

I've made another major discovery:

In the Gnome Realm, it is possible to bypass the Dragon Wyrm by clipping through the walls. This allows you to get the lodestone and pyramid without the area being lit, which means that you don't have to get the crystal next to the fire.

To do this, you have to do a total of 3 clips. First, you should clip north out of the corridor into the area south of the east side of the dragon's lair (the area between the corridor and the lair). Then, clip into the east side of the south wall of the lair. Then, clip into the east wall of the lair, and move through the wall to get past the dragon. Make sure you stay in the wall until you're past the dragon -- if you exit on the side where the dragon is, the dragon will attack you, and if you exit on the other side, you will fall to the terrain below. The cutscenes will still occur, but of course they can be skipped. There are two ways you can get back: Doing the clips again, or triggering the first cutscene. If you trigger the first cutscene, it will allow you to get back without having to do the clips again. This is probably faster. The first cutscene is short; the second one is the one that is long. The cutscenes are triggered separately; you can trigger the first without triggering the second.

The third clip is very tricky to do. If you exit the wall, the dragon will attack you, so you have to stay in the wall and do it at the southeast corner of the lair.

Another thing I've found: If you push the boulder so that it falls down the hole but you leave it there without pushing it down the ramp, you can then use the boulder to get back up without the rope and hook. (You need to push it a little more after it falls down to get it into the right position.) This also means that you don't have to deal with the two rock demons guarding the area where you would use the rope and hook.

This means that the rope and hook is only needed for climbing up to the area where the Golden Ladle in the Swamp is.

Quote from Korzic:

Well, I think the Youtube user I mentioned earlier understands the technical aspect of this game a bit better than myself, but I will say most clips seem to happen when you get caught on certain parts of obstacles, which is indicated by a brief height increase when pressed against at precise angles. I'm not sure, but it sometimes seems like there's object intersection going on at such points, but it's hard for me to tell what the deal is when it happens on a part of a wall not near a traditional corner.

I don't think that clipping occurs as a result of getting caught on parts of objects or object intersection.

I've done some research, and it seems to occur as a result of Connor ending up in surfaces when he bounces off them. I tried using the "getloc" and "move" console commands to get and set Connor's numerical position and angle, and found that whether or not Connor clips into a surface is dependent on his angle and distance from the surface. When Connor bounces off a surface, he often ends up at a different distance than before. If Connor is close enough to the surface, he will be able to move into it. The reason the "height increase" you mentioned occurs is not because of the clipping itself, but because Connor steps onto a surface (for example, the floor of one of the mausoleums, or the upper level of the mill where the rope and hook is) at the exact moment he clips through.

To do a clip, you need to manipulate Connor's position and angle so that he moves into the surface. I've been trying to find strategies for doing this efficiently; one method that seems to work well is finding an angle at which Connor "catches" when he moves against the surface. Moving at angles slightly larger (relative to facing the surface) than that seems to result in Connor moving into the surface. The necessary angle seems to get larger as Connor gets closer to the surface.

Another thing that I've noticed is that when doing the clips into the walls of the area in the Gnome Realm where the Dragon Wyrm is, sometimes Connor will actually clip into the floor when you move against the wall. This appears to be the result of Connor bouncing into the floor, like I was saying. Those walls are sloped slightly downward.

I've made another major discovery:

In the Gnome Realm, it is possible to bypass the Dragon Wyrm by clipping through the walls.  This allows you to get the lodestone and pyramid without the area being lit, which means that you don't have to get the crystal next to the fire.

To do this, you have to do a total of 3 clips.  First, you should clip north out of the corridor into the area south of the east side of the dragon's lair (the area between the corridor and the lair).  Then, clip into the east side of the south wall of the lair.  Then, clip into the east wall of the lair, and move through the wall to get past the dragon.  Make sure you stay in the wall until you're past the dragon -- if you exit on the side where the dragon is, the dragon will attack you, and if you exit on the other side, you will fall to the terrain below.  The cutscenes will still occur, but of course they can be skipped.  There are two ways you can get back: Doing the clips again, or triggering the first cutscene.  If you trigger the first cutscene, it will allow you to get back without having to do the clips again.  This is probably faster.  The first cutscene is short; the second one is the one that is long.  The cutscenes are triggered separately; you can trigger the first without triggering the second.

The third clip is very tricky to do.  If you exit the wall, the dragon will attack you, so you have to stay in the wall and do it at the southeast corner of the lair.

Another thing I've found: If you push the boulder so that it falls down the hole but you leave it there without pushing it down the ramp, you can then use the boulder to get back up without the rope and hook.  (You need to push it a little more after it falls down to get it into the right position.)  This also means that you don't have to deal with the two rock demons guarding the area where you would use the rope and hook.

This means that the rope and hook is only needed for climbing up to the area where the Golden Ladle in the Swamp is.

[quote="Korzic"]Well, I think the Youtube user I mentioned earlier understands the technical aspect of this game a bit better than myself, but I will say most clips seem to happen when you get caught on certain parts of obstacles, which is indicated by a brief height increase when pressed against at precise angles.  I'm not sure, but it sometimes seems like there's object intersection going on at such points, but it's hard for me to tell what the deal is when it happens on a part of a wall not near a traditional corner.[/quote]

I don't think that clipping occurs as a result of getting caught on parts of objects or object intersection.

I've done some research, and it seems to occur as a result of Connor ending up in surfaces when he bounces off them.  I tried using the "getloc" and "move" console commands to get and set Connor's numerical position and angle, and found that whether or not Connor clips into a surface is dependent on his angle and distance from the surface.  When Connor bounces off a surface, he often ends up at a different distance than before.  If Connor is close enough to the surface, he will be able to move into it.  The reason the "height increase" you mentioned occurs is not because of the clipping itself, but because Connor steps onto a surface (for example, the floor of one of the mausoleums, or the upper level of the mill where the rope and hook is) at the exact moment he clips through.

To do a clip, you need to manipulate Connor's position and angle so that he moves into the surface.  I've been trying to find strategies for doing this efficiently; one method that seems to work well is finding an angle at which Connor "catches" when he moves against the surface.  Moving at angles slightly larger (relative to facing the surface) than that seems to result in Connor moving into the surface.  The necessary angle seems to get larger as Connor gets closer to the surface.

Another thing that I've noticed is that when doing the clips into the walls of the area in the Gnome Realm where the Dragon Wyrm is, sometimes Connor will actually clip into the floor when you move against the wall.  This appears to be the result of Connor bouncing into the floor, like I was saying.  Those walls are sloped slightly downward.

ahmedvu15

2015-02-19 12:52:08 am

I don't think that clipping occurs as a result of getting caught on parts of objects or object intersection.

_______________

ahmed

penta

2015-06-06 07:45:48 pm

Does anyone have a fix for the constant crashes in this game?

I managed to make the game run on W8 after installing a patch. But it keeps crashing from time to time :|