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Garlyle: 2011-03-07 02:02:57 am
That Guy
Quote:
Who knows...if you can record, you could submit an SS of this when I submit a segmented one.

That would be pretty terrific!  I definitely intend to pick up recording equipment when my income tax comes in, so I definitely hope to be able to do just that! 
And then we need to meet at the next marathon and have a live race >8D

...I need to sit down and write out my exact route, because even though it seems to actually be fairly set-in-stone at this point and I seem to be running stuff pretty similarly I couldn't actually recite most of what goes on.  Let's see what I can remember!

Stage 1 (Fire Man): Preset Cannon in the folder to ensure I continue to get it (I might opt for presetting Minibombs however).  In Den 1, I drop down instead of going over the group of enemies, and use the V-Gun I've been guaranteed to rack up some extra cannon chips quickly, since the more I have the better.  I pick up a MemUp in Den Area 2 which takes about five seconds to get to, and extra MP this early is really useful to me.  Minibomb or Bubbler are used on the mid-boss.  FireMan I kinda have to go with whatever I've got - Cannons are nice, but I'm likely out.  If I can, I preset both Bubblers to shave off a fast 200 HP and then just work with whatever else I've got - Burners, Wreckers, and even DashAtk are great ways to finish once his HP is low enough.

Stage 2 (Guts Man): Preset is Cannon.  I pick up another MemUp halfway through Global 1 (it's near the rail section) for another 5-ish seconds of detour, since I really need it.  This is actually a pretty long and MP-intensive stage in practice, but I get lots of Cannons in the process.  I try to have Bubblers or Minibombs for the midboss just like before, since that one will drop a free Heat-V (Or is it HeatCros?) if I kill it fast enough.  I presently do not do any shopping at NumberMan, but in future attempts I will likely grab a single HP Memory and MemUp from him; it's only a total of 1500z and I should be able to spare that.  Chances are that I then deliberately take a death on GutsMan to recharge my MP, because it's going to be empty at this point - and I want to have stronger chips for GutsMan.  I'm just not sure what I'll use yet.

Stage 3 (Quick Man): This stage is so hilariously easy, just preset cannon and wreck the entire thing.  Seriously, I remember when this stage used to strike fear into me.  For the purposes of a single segment, right now, I do take a detour to the right to pick up an HPMemory and MemUp - it's a little risky but I generally don't screw it up; it does cost some time though so if I'm likely to drop any these are probably it.  I pick up the RegUp in the first half of this stage, and just take a hit against the Sniper Joe to bypass him (it's faster and safer).  The second Sniper Joe, I get right in his face on the ledge below and use cannons to hit past his shield; then I slide under the Flappy viri at the bottom and get a Heat-V from the hot dog at the end.  QuickMan himself... the most accurate chip to use against him is cannons due to its nigh-instant travelling speed - weapons like Bubblers that have an actual projectile might be too slow to connect!  Plus you can hit him from outside of his boomerang range.  After that?  It's just a matter of getting him to co-operate.

Prep: I stop by Higsby's and buy an Unlocker as well as about as many Heat-Vs as my wallet can handle.  I need at least 5 for the fastest possible Needleman kill, but I admittedly like to have more!  I also open both of Mayl's e-mails if I haven't already; the Roll chips are relatively cheap, and they might be a bit slow (as all navi chips are), but they're a really accurate way to damage something in a pinch and recover half my HP in the process, so I'm willing to make that tradeoff, since it's the best HP recovery I'm going to really get.  I also open the one from QuickMan's operator, since that gives me a free FastGauge.

Stage 4 (Needle Man): This stage is hilariously easy, but I do have to be careful not to screw it up too bad.  I want to gather all four TreeBomb1 en-route (Or at least 3/4) and as many of the Spice1 chips as I can as well.  Fortunately, Cannon as a default for this stage is more than enough.  I take a mixture of the low and high road in Garden Area 1 and pick up an HP Memory near the end of the area; and also grab the FireSword that's free halfway through.  For Garden Area 2, I like to have a bomb or Roll to deal with the enemy guarding the locked data, which is a PowerUp.  For now, I'm not grabbing the relatively quick MemUp at the end of the stage, although I definitely could; it's just a little risky getting back.  As for the boss, Heat-V + Needle Man = dha ha, finally, a really really easy boss.

Prep: At this point I stop by Higsby's and stock up on Minibombs with the money I earned during Needle Man's stage.  I usually max it out but I could probably go for a bit less than that if I want to conserve a bit of extra money (Which I'll get to in a bit).

Stage 5 (Ice Man): I actually start with the Heat-V chip prepared - it can one-shot the penguin viri duo with ease, and I farm for 9 Double Jumps (Again I could probably go for less, we'll have to see; for a single-segment I like the extra leeway).  Then I swap to Minibomb to take care of the giant pandas (They take way too many hits to kill otherwise!).  In Waterworks 2, I need to learn to be faster - if you do it right you can land on the initial set of blocks while they're in-progress and save a few seconds; and then save several more seconds as that can line you up to land on the second set of blocks!  I grab the other RegUp here, putting me at 24mb memory, which is all I ever need.  Waterworks 3, I take a death depending on if I have any MP or if I'm basically out, since if I'm pretty much empty, the miniboss not only goes way slower but is much more dangerous.  I also take all the PowerUps I've gathered into Power for the fight to help out, since I'll run out of MP anyway!  After that it's fairly smooth sailing; I like to switch back to Cannons for the IceMan fight, but I'll do whatever.  He's really not that dangerous; it's just his ice spikes that are potentially deadly.

Stage 6 (BrightMan): I start with the Spice1 chips; the shield might not be perfect but it can make navigating the various Satelites going around on the top floor much safer, and I go the top route to pick up an HP Memory.  In Shopping 2, I pick up the PowerUp near the start, and the HPMemory located right after the boss' portal (while on the way to pick up the energy capsule).  BrightMan himself I preset the TreeBomb1s for; I try to do it the fastest way possible (Which can be done in about eight seconds), but if I miss once, I much prefer to use the safer way (Fire over him, wait, -then- throw the treebomb so it'll hit him as his taunt ends).  Failing to kill him with the TreeBombs can really slow the remainder of the fight down, but he's not terrible.

Stage 7 (Color Man): Might stop being stage 7 and might become stage 8.  Preset Double Jumps so I can go straight to the key on the left, and if I somehow need another RegUp, I can pick up another one here (I can't think of a reason to, however).  This stage is really quite straightforward, although I do take a couple seconds of detour to pick up an HP Memory at the top of the slot machine section of Arcade 2.  ColorMan himself is a pain in the neck because he's got a lot of HP to mine through comparatively - presetting Swords or TreeBomb1s are great, because every time he's hit he moves closer and that makes his attacks harder to dodge.  The reason that I'm pondering this becoming stage 8 is simple: After Elec Man, I could do my post-stage preparation trip if I have enough zenny and max out my Power Ups, and that would make the enemies of this stage and Color Man himself way the hell easier.  It's just a matter of whether or not I'll actually have the zenny... and also whether or not not being able to make the Global 3 shortcut while I'm visiting NumberMan will be worth it.

Stage 8 (Elec Man): Double Jumps preset.  I use 3-4 to skip about half of the first section, and another one soon after to pick up a PowerUp.  I might start picking up the silver fist directly under it, because hey, free silver fist.  Area 2, I tend to take a deliberate death on the enemy at the start to recharge my MP, then use a couple double jumps to get right back to where I would be anyway.  The last double jumps are used to reach the ladders early near the end of the climb; especially where I have to climb up and down them.  I might opt to climb the left ladder instead and use my double jumps there, as it might be a little faster!  There's another PowerUP right at the end of the stage.  As for Elec Man, preset Spice 1s do some horrible things to his electric element nature.

Prep: Two trips.  The first goes from Dex's PC to Global 3 (to activate the shortcut), then turns around and leaves heading to Outer Net (Picking up an HP Memory on the way).  Prepared Double Jumps at the start of Outer Net get me back to what's supposed to be a one-way shortcut, letting me reach NumberMan quickly.  I need 14000 zenny at this point (I usually only have about 16000-17000 is what worries me), because I buy all three PowerUps from him.  I then max out my Power and Charge.  I choose Charge because although Rapid might be a little more effective for bosses that are on ground-level, any viri or enemy that I have to jump at to hit is faster dispatched with charged shots.  I then Jack Out, and return to Global 3, and make the detour to pick up the Zero Data.  Pretty standard fare.  Jack out again.

Stage 9 (Sword Man): Preset Double Jumps and pray that I get a chip like Satelite, MagnetBomb, WoodBomb, FireSword... anything that can break an aqua aura viri down.  Double Jumps let you skip the entirity of the first area.  For the second area, buster charge shots kill everything except fire-sword viri (Who need a charge and a half) and the aqua aura viri - whom I can either try to jump over/around (and usually fail at) or deal with head-on.  They're kinda precariously positioned.  SwordMan himself is an absolute riot since I have full buster - Charge Shots don't trigger him to attack (unlike flinching from chips) and he goes down really, really fast.

Stage 10 (Gravity Man): The one Green Mystery Data I pick up deliberately is the one in front of Gravity Man's stage.  It either has 300z (Ew), a FireBlde (Never used), or a FstGauge or FulGauge subchip, both of which are awesome.  Preset Double Jumps again... or something like a Heat-V to follow up a charge attack with to take care of the somewhat sturdier viruses here just that little bit faster.  There's not many ways to speed up this level other than being really good at it; the double jumps only save me about 5 seconds about halfway through part 2.  The aura viri near the end of this part are a pain in the ass; although one can be avoided, the other politely declines and -has- to be dealt with; although a bit of waiting and the buster can kill it if absolutely necessary by getting it into the right spot.  Gravity Man is a nice big target for bombs thrown from directly above his head, charge shots, cannons, swords - honestly, anything and everything works on this guy so I just use what I've got.

Stage 11 (Star Man): Double Jumps preset again and I pick up the GMD in front of GravityMan's stage again.  I pick up an HP Memory halfway through the level for about a 2-3 second detour, and then double-jump to skip the second half of the first area (You just have to be careful not to over-jump!).  For the second half, I stick to the top again using some careful use of double-jumps.  The enemies here are way too much of a pain to deal with easily and there's another HP Memory to be had.  The midboss is dealt with by using Heat-Vs, HeatCrosses, Bubblers, and the like; or cannons.  It's an absolute pain if I can't kill it with those, though.  As for Star Man, I like to use TreeBombs on him to shave off large chunks of HP; even if the buster charge can do a lot, it still triggers counters, and his Meteors counter at low HP is generally unavoidable and really painful.  The fight's over quickly one way or another, though.

Prep: HalfEnrg Subchips at Higsby's please and thank you!  Also an Unlocker while I'm here.

Stage 12 (Zero Account): Preset M-Cannons and stop by the GMD for one last chance at a lucky subchip.  I start the stage off with only one chip at most to deal with some of the aura viri during the stage as necessary (But I can just wait them out).  If I have a FastGauge, I use it immediately.  My goal is to shuffle through chips until I draw Z-Cannon and some other decent offensive chip that I can use on Zero.  Fullgauges might be used here too if I got lucky.  The reason for Z-Cannon stems from his desperation attack; even if I can survive it at full HP due to the number of HP Memories I've picked up by now, I really don't want to have to if I can do something about it; Z-Cannon also does some huge damage and the invincibility it grants is great.

Stage 13 (Shadow Man): I actually preset Minibombs, of all things.  Charge shot lets me get a coupel more M-Cannons here, but what I really need the minibombs for are dealing with a candle viri (Who recovers HP really fast so I need to do a lot of damage fast) and the various Ninji viri (Minibombs arc over their kunai, making hitting them really easy; otherwise I have to take a hit).  DoubleJump doesn't really save me any time and the Gutsman-style-platforms are easy enough without it.  I can skip a bit in the final part of Vacant WWW 1 by riding a nail downwards though, so long as I make sure I'm centered on it.  For Shadow Man himself, I prefer M-Cannons if I have a few, or HiCannons otherwise; if I can get him in a teleporting loop and hit him before he lands this boss can be really fast so long as he doesn't decide to break pattern.

Stage 14 (Pharaoh Man): DoubleJump preset.  I stop by Number Man one last time on the way to Pharaoh Man (Which is done by going from Global 3 backwards, again).  I pick up mostly HP Memories and Memory Upgrades as affordable; possibly some Silver Fist chips but they're falling out of favour.  DoubleJump lets me reach Pharaoh Man's stage quickly as well; and the last of them lets me skip the block segment at the start of his level.  I have to take a hit from at least one of the NapalmMan-style needle walls, but done right I can slide under the second one, over the tree viri, and then jump onto the ladder in a stylish sort of way.  This stage can be a major pain in the neck either way, simply because the enemies are really irritatingly positioned, have lots of HP, and do a lot of damage... but I get by somehow.  Pharaoh Man himself is like Sword Man - they both are really vulneurable to charged shots and don't fight back when pelted with them.  The only thing I have to beware of is to carry some spammable high-damage chips to kill Anubis if he spawns it.

Prep for the finale: MP Charges from Higsby's, HalfEnergies, a FastGauge if I don't have one.  Every cent must go to something!

Stage 15 (Undernet): Begin with DoubleJump prepared and one chip for viri killing; activate Fast Gauge.  If you jump up right away using two, you can avoid the Fire viri entirely.  Elec Viri never need to be fought, just dodged.  The two Wood viri are the ones that must be killed - FireSword will one-shot them if you have it.  After the second, slide under the laser from the first neutral viri, then double jump over him - you'll dodge the second's laser in the process.  Double Jump over him too and fall down the pit right after (I always double-jump to be sure I land correctly but you might not need to).  My goal is to get the Zero chip in my folder by the time I have to fight FireWall, because it saves so much time; if I don't have to wait, I do need an MP Charge to fill up for the fight so I can start with it.  Bombs or Swords are great for taking out the top cannon, then I buster through the core so my MP can recharge in the meantime and because frankly I'm not going to find many faster ways.

After that, it's boss rush time.  The majority of the boss rush is dealt with easily enough using just the buster charge shots.  The exceptions are QuickMan (Buster shots might not reach him or be a little too slow, so cannons are great again!), BrightMan (The window for nailing him after his taunt wears off with your buster is tiny, so WoodBombs, SilverFists, Swords, etc.), and ElecMan (You can turn around and nail him again with the fully charged buster but it requires split-second timing and is tricky; so again, any chip will help a lot here).

Then finally, Life Virus.  There's a spot near the left side of the screen where only his Wood and Elec attacks won't hit you, the Ice will be very clear to dodge by then, and the only danger then is the Fire attack (Which is rage because it comes out really fast).  The difficulty is in dropping his aura - regular'd M-Cannons are probably best for this if you have a few since they can be used from a safe distance.  After that, buster charge shots work great on him, even if you have to fire over his ice or wood attacks.  The final phase is easy enough, I just have to not be a complete idiot and let the boss touch me.  I use whatever; the buster charge drops him fast but other stuff can help make it faster.

...Phew.  There we go.  S'amazing what I can remember just by looking at maps.
That Guy
Morning update FUN TIME.

I discovered the following during another SS attempt.
1. I don't ever need to force a death, at least not in ElecMan or GutsMan's stages.  I should have realised this earlier.  It's all possible without taking a death.
2. Single Segment gets about a two minute advantage over segmented.  The in-game timer includes the opening cutscene - however, checking the rules for manual timing, the timer for a manually-timed run will start after the cutscene since that's when control is first gained.
3. I still have so much better I can get at this game.
4. Zero is capable of ending runs whenever the hell he feels like.

The last two require some explanation.  I had an absolutely awesome run this morning.  Only three deaths up until Zero, which was amazing - and only one 'oh whoops forgot to preset double jump' moment.  I tested out putting Color Man after Elec Man, only to find out that I was still 2000z short after ElecMan's stage, so I just went with it; he's not that hard anyway if I use high-power chips, it turns out.  A GMD I accidentally picked up in ColorMan's stage turned out to have a FastGauge, and I got one FullCustom from the one outside GravityMan's stage, so it shouldn't have been too hard to manipulate a Z-Cannon PA.

For the record, my luck was incredible enough that at the defeat of Star Man, my current time was 0:57:44.  The previous time from my initial attempt - which would've put me on par to end at ~1:40-1:43, was at 1:06:46.  That means I had a 9 minute lead.  And it could have been better - although I got seriously lucky in a few places (IceMan's midboss was really easy), I also had some costly mistakes (The biggest of which was accidentally putting a powerup into rapid, forcing me to get the Den 2 one; I also completely forgot what I was doing before BrightMan's stage and hurr'd and durr'd for about a minute trying to remember what boss was next!)

So I had a nine minute lead.  What happened next?

Zero.

I went into the Zero Account, activated Fast Gauge, etc. etc.... Game refused to give me Z-Cannon.  Eventually I decide to enter the battle anyway, throw on my last fastgauge, and start chipping away at Zero.  Lucky me, I draw a Z-Cannon PA when the gauge is half full; sweet!  So I start pounding away at him.  He uses his super wave and I'm glad I got the Z-Cannon... then it runs out, I don't realise it in time, and while I'm confused, I die.  "Well, Hell!", I think.  Then right at the start of the next life my opening draw is a Z-Cannon.  I then proceed to use it against him - only for him to do the super attack twice in a goddamn row, and my invincibility runs out and I die.  And this happens again later and then I just rage quit.

Either way?  I'm officially targetting sub-1:30 minimum for a single-segmented run too.  With the lead I had built up, I know that it's possible now.  Just how far can it be pushed?

...Who knows.
The Speedrunning Teacher
Judging by how well you're getting the SS down, I imagine that the segmented run of it won't be that much faster in comparison.  Will it still be faster? Sure, as I can easily luck manipulate for the right chip draws, thus reducing the need for a few chips/deaths.  But the biggest thing that I am wondering is that two-minute advantage the SS has because of that cutscene.  Can the game be optimized enough in segmenting that I can catch up? After all, an SS does beat Segmented.
Edit history:
Garlyle: 2011-03-07 12:48:39 pm
Garlyle: 2011-03-07 12:45:24 pm
That Guy
It really is a good question.

Ultimately, I definitely think that it's possible - even if it only takes me about 5 seconds to open my menu, set a new default chip, and then pull open the custom screen; if I'm doing that nearly every stage (And I am), there's a good minute lost just in jumping into the custom screen.  And this won't account for the kind of luck setups you can arrange in a segmented run (For instance, a perfect segmented run for the first stage would draw Bubblers and the Life Sword in its custom menu right before Fire Man; and in doing so, kill him in three hits, saving several seconds compared to whittling him down with cannons).  Not only that, but there's no way I can get the optimum chip for every situation when I'm aiming for a single-segment run, and sometimes that can really slow me down (Don't have minibombs for the polar bears?  Well, balls; there's a few seconds there!) and so on.  You can also reliably take the chances necessary to get the best possible boss fights, with strategies that would require near-perfection that just wouldn't necessarily be possible.  Passing over HP Memories (And probably most MP Memories) would get you some additional speed too.

I'm still of the opinion at this point that a segmented run can definitely out-speed a single-segment - there's just too much luck to account for in a single-segment attempt.  But yeah, the difference doesn't seem so huge anymore.

We'll have to see how your segmented attempts go and what the final time actually looks like on them... and I'm going to need a few more dives at SS runs to get a solid feel for just where the limits might lie (I really have had only two get past Gutsman and Quickman up to this point!)
The Speedrunning Teacher
Sounds good.  If I may, I'm going to use what you have set up for your basic SS route to augment/build my segmented route.  Like you said, I can pass over a few more HP and MP upgrades than you will in an SS, but it sounds like PowerUps may still be a necessity even for a segmented run (unless there is a really good chip/advance that obliterates certain bosses).
Edit history:
doicm: 2012-02-28 02:34:30 pm
I just decided to speed run this game for the fun of it (more of a casual speed run), but I feel I may have something to contribute to this game. Looks like this project kinda died, but I was able to do a single segment run in 1:41:46 my first time through. Unfortunately, I don't have any recording equipment.

As far as strategies, I utilized Double Jump wherever I could make the shortcuts, and I got the fully upgraded charge and attack powers up on the buster before I went against SwordMan (the rest of the power ups I needed I purchased from NumberMan). I also grinded for DoubJumps in Waterworks and M-Cannons in Anti-Grav Zone. I purchased and used half-energies where needed. I...forget my other strategies.

Anyway, I really like this game, so if someone who has recording equipment could pick this project back up or if anyone could pick up the project period, I'd like to see this make it onto SDA.

EDIT: After reading all of these posts and amazing runs by Garlyle, I wanted to input something about Zero. I agree that he's definitely a run breaker. One battle chip that I have found to help out immensely is the Barrier chip. You can purchase these from Higsby's shop for 500 Z per. When you use a Barrier chip, it will nullify one attack, and it will give you a brief invulnerability period after that. When he goes to use his super attack (the one that shaves off 300 HP), use a barrier chip, and neither of the attacks should harm you. I purchased about 5 of these before fighting Zero, and I decided to have the Barrier chip preset and rely on my charged buster shots to do damage. If I run low on HP before he starts using his super attack, I have on hand some HalfEnrg that were purchased from Higsby's shop for 1000 Z. All in all though...it's a lot of luck to take him down, but I figure that this can shave off a lot of time in trying to get a Z-Canon PA.
Edit history:
doicm: 2012-02-28 08:07:38 pm
AHHHH!!! So close to sub 1:30! I just got 1:30:09. Just thought I'd update and say it's definitely possible to get sub 1:30, since I made quite a few mistakes along the way.

EDIT: Here's a run down of some of the things I did to save time:

---

Up to FireMan: I start the clock at the opening cinematic. In the first Den Area, rather than go over all of the viruses, I go down and use V-Gun to take out all of those viruses. In Net on Fire, Instead of trying to beat the FireDog (Spikey), I purposely took damage to get past it. Before I arrive at FireMan, I go into the chip folder and set Bubbler as the default so I can take off 200 damage. The rest is easy.

Up to GutsMan: I equip the Roll chip once I have it. I use it just in case I need to against GutsMan (and in case it pulls up randomly). If I don't have any bomb chips in my arsenal by the time I fight the Spikey, I go into the folder, default to Bubbler, and pull that up to kill the Spikey quick. GutsMan is a lot of luck for me, but I manage pretty well against him after a while if I have sword chips to take down his HP faster while conserving my MP.

To NeedleMan: Before setting off for NeedleMan, I buy 5 Heat-Vs and an Unlocker from Higsby's. I keep Cannon as my default until right before NeedleMan. I then go and default to Heat-V to equip it. 5 Heat-V's, and NeedleMan is down.

To QuickMan: I go out of the way to get the HPMemory and the MemUP. I also make a couple of regular jumps across to get the RegUP. Throughout this run, I want to have three RegUPs by the end of the game, two of them before ColorMan & ElecMan so that I can default DoubJump. The security beams are passed through by memory. I don't take time to get the BckupChp in this level. I've never been good at dealing with QuickMan. I slide at the very beginning to dodge him, then I shoot like crazy until he stops and throws boomerangs. I then pull out whatever battle chips I have and let loose.

To IceMan: I default Heat-V before entering the level. When I reach the second floor down where two Pepes appear at the same time, I use a Heat-V to kill them and collect 2 DoubJumps. I go far to the right, back left, repeat until I have 10 DoubJumps. After the reappearing blocks, there is a drop. To the left there are two upgrades. One is the second RegUP I get in this sequence. In Waterworks 3, I default to Shockwave and use that to take out the miniboss. IceMan is easily taken down with most any chip.

To BrightMan: I make sure that TreeBoms are in my chip folder before starting the level. I also use Spice1 as a shield through the first part (I default it sometimes). When I get to BrightMan, I make sure that Roll is at least defaulted. I hope that I have other battle chips I can use (mainly bomb battle chips...ideally TreeBoms, but that is left up to chance). I tried the strategy presented earlier, but I wasn't able to get it down! I ended up shooting above his head, waiting until his guard dropped, and landing whatever attack I had on him.

To ColorMan: I default DoubJump to reach the AquaCode. I then go over to the right and use DoubJump to get the third and final RegUP. I need this third one so that I can default M-Cannons later for the final boss. I make a straight shot (for the most part) to ColorMan. I default Roll in this...I can never seem to do enough damage to ColorMan, and Roll seems to do both a good job of damaging and healing for this.

To ElecMan: I purchase some Spice1's before going in, in case I don't have that many. I default DoubJump and use that to jump up to the BckupChp, just in case (I realize I may not need this in future attempts...the more you play, the easier things seem, I guess). I get both the PowerUP and the HPMemory towards the end of the first part of the area. In the second area...I mess up pretty bad and die after using all my DoubJumps. Ideally, I DoubJump up to the HPMemory. I then DoubJump near the top to skip the ladder messes. I grab the PowerUP before ElecMan. I then default to Spice1 and use that mainly to defeat ElecMan.

To SwordMan...part 1: I first unlock the entrance shortcut to Global Area 3. I go back to Outer Net after that, use DoubJump (defaulted) to shortcut to the end of Outer Net, and I purchase the remaining PowerUPs so that I have fully upgraded attack and charge. I jack out, jack back in, and get the Zero code. I then jack out again, jack in again, and proceed to Old Area.

To SwordMan...part 2: I skip getting the HPMemory in the first part of Old Area and use DoubJump to skip straight to the entrance to Old Area 2. I also use DoubJump in getting to a HPMemory near a Swordy3 (Aqua Swordy). I kill the first Megalian (Aqua Aura guy) using the mega buster (wait for it's head to come out...shoot the head fully charged twice with buster). I skip the second Megalian. Everything else on the way dies. SwordMan doesn't need much preparation. He goes down very easily with fully charged buster.

To GravityMan: This is the area where I will be grinding for M-Cannons. I do the grinding on the first M-Cannon (however, in the runs I've done so far, I wait until after I beat this stage to come back and grind for them). This is the area where I have had the most failed run attempts, mainly because of how much damage I take in this area. There is nothing remarkable here, and there isn't much here that DoubJump is useful for. I skip the Megalian (Heat aura) toward the end of the second part. If I have Rattons or Bombs handy, I use those to take care of the Beetanks (the ones that launch the CrosBombs). At GravityMan, I wait towards the top and wait for him to float at his apex and for his arms to be down to fire my charged up buster shot. I haven't been able to use battle chips on this boss except for the Roll chip if my HP runs low.

To StarMan: I have DoubJump defaulted, and if I haven't grinded for 10 M-Cannons, I do so now (really, I only need 5 or 6 to beat the game, but I get the extras for other bosses if I can use them). I use DoubJumps to skip half of the first part. In the second part, I take the upper path and use DoubJumps if necessary. I grab the HPMemory and battle the giant Yort/Yart...whatever it is that has three yo-yos spinning around it. I usually have some sort of spreader chip equipped. If I don't, I default to my Heat-Vs and use those to take it out quickly and painlessly. On StarMan, I stick with the charged buster.

To Zero: Before I jack in, I purchase 5 Barrier chips from Higsby's shop. I also purchase some HalfEnrgs if I have extra Zenny on hand. I make the quickest route to Zero (pick up an upgrade on the way). I default the Barrier chip. I can usually hold my own against Zero with charged shots. All I do is shot a test shot, he blocks, he warps over to attack, I slide away while charging a shot, and I shoot charged shot to damage Zero. When he gets critical, he uses a really dumb attack that takes off 300 HP damage. This is why I have the Barrier chips. When I see him start to use that, I use a barrier chip. It blocks the first attack, and the second attack doesn't do anything during the slight invulnerability period of the barrier disappearing. He may use it several times (which is why I have 5 barrier chips). If my HP gets low, I use HalfEnrgs.

To PharaohMan: I go to PharaohMan first, since I have more trouble with ShadowMan and like to have more upgrades available before fighting ShadowMan. I connect to Global Area 2, go back to Global Area 1, go to Outer Net, and DoubJump (have it defaulted) up to the warp to the back of OuterNet. I make a trip to NumberMan's to purchase all the HPMemorys and MemUPs that I can. I unlock the cube to Legendary WWW Area and DoubJump up to the entrance. I'll take the time to pick up the HPMemory (although it may be quicker and more effective not to), and I sometimes will pick up the BckupChp. In the second part, I move as quick as I can straight to the boss. I also take damage from the RollDrills to get past them, since they take three charged shots to kill otherwise. PharaohMan goes down very easy with charged buster shots.

To ShadowMan: Default DoubJump. I take the lower path to avoid dealing with the CanDevil3 (guy with the candle). I also go down with the first screw in between the spikes to short cut to the next area. The second area, I use DoubJumps to skip as much as I can or if I get left behind by the moving belt...things....... I don't take time to get Invis's because I don't need them. I go a little out of my way to get the HPMemory towards the end. Before ShadowMan, I default M-Cannon to make things easier. Whenever the M-Cannon is used on him, he disappears to reappear to sword strike above. Before he can strike, I shoot him with another M-Cannon. Before I use up all my M-Cannons, he dies. If I happen to miss enough or use all of them beforehand, I can use the buster for the rest of the fight. I use remaining HalfEnrgs when necessary.

To Undernet, Firewall: Default DoubJump. Purchase supplies with remaining Zenny (HalfEnrgs, FullEnrgs, Unlockers, possibly MPCharge). Use DoubJump at beginning of Undernet to skip several heat Scuttles. I use three DoubJumps, since if I just use two I will get hit by the elec Scuttle's electric shot, stunned, and brought back down. It's annoying. I take damage from wood and light scuttles to get past them. I end up using HalfEnrgs as a result to stay alive. I will go out of the way to get HPMemorys and MemUPs (I don't know if that's necessary either...I don't find myself struggling in the end). When fighting Firewall, I use charged buster to take out the top cannon first, since that one is much harder to hit if the bottom one is destroyed first. I then just use rapid shooting to take out the bottom cannon, and I take my time to finish the core with charged buster shots. Use HalfEnrgs when needed.

(For future runs, I plan on defaulting to M-Cannon to take out the top and bottom cannons more quickly).

To Undernet, Life Virus R: The redo fights are easy. I use charged buster shots for all of them, including QuickMan and BrightMan. Chips and health are restored before the fighting, so I will have access to all chips again, including M-Cannons. If I defaulted to M-Cannon, I can probably use those to my advantage. Before Life Virus R, if I haven't already done so, I default to M-Cannons. Those are restored once again. I can dodge most of Life Virus R's attacks. I use the M-Cannon to disable the aura. This allows me to get two to three charged buster shots in before it goes back up again. Rinse and repeat. I will use other chips if they prove to my advantage. For the core of Life Virus R, I only use charged buster shots. The reason that I don't use battle chips is because they leave a short invulnerability period between battle chip hits. After I make the final hit, I stop the clock.

---

I hope that helps those who wish to record runs, as I cannot. As I find more hints to help, I will post them so that others can record them for others to see. Again, my end time was 1:30:09, and I bet that can be reduced quite a bit. Through that run, I died quite a few times more than I should have, and I went off the side to make purchases, think, or get Mystery Datas that I did not need to get.

Good luck!
yay im reading and enjoyin!vids plz!
I'd love to post videos...unfortunately, I don't have any way of recording, and I can't afford it. I figure that I'll do as much as I can to hone these skills until the time comes I can (or someone else can) record this. I hope that this game gets the attention it had a year ago.

I'm going to keep working on getting sub 1:30, since that was the first goal. Thanks for the support!
UPDATE: I DID IT!

I got 1:22:48 today. The starting point is the starting cinematic. The ending point is the last hit on the final boss. This meets the goal for a sub 1:30 run.

Things I did differently:

*I got fewer HPMemory chips.
*I did not pick up any extra RegUPs that I did not need.
*I picked up one fewer BckupChp, namely the one in Power Plant Comp 1.
*I got 8 M-Cannon chips instead of 10, reducing grinding time.
*I defaulted M-Cannon before the ShadowMan fight.
*I defaulted M-Cannon before the Firewall fight.
*I (luckily) defeated Zero without taking a single hit and without him resorting to using his ultimate attack.

Things I wish I didn't do...:
*Die against GutsMan once.
*Die against IceMan once.
*Die against QuickMan once.
*Die against ShadowMan once.
*Die by falling off ridiculous ledge.

With that, it's definitely possible to do a sub 1:20...maybe even sub 1:15. I'm not a big time speed runner here, so I'm not pinching seconds. This is pretty casual too. I don't know if it's possible to do sub hour though...that'd be incredible if it were done....

That's my update! Thanks again to the wonderful tips and tricks posted on this topic that gave me great insights beforehand.
UPDATE: Reduced time to 1:19:34. I'm thinking of getting something to record with so that I can start seriously speed running this game. After I do that, I can start posting videos on here.

I'm new to this whole thing, so any advice would be appreciated.
Just a couple of thoughts on the 100% speed run, if one was ever done. (I know I'm the only one posting...I don't mean to "bump" this, but I keep having things to add).

If the 100% speed run were to include maxing out the counts of all Battle Chips, this would take an extremely long time for some of the chips:

* The PopUp chip is obtained from defeating Mole2 in Legendary WWW Area 1. There is a small chance you will find that virus instead of the Mole1 virus in the area, and it's only found in one part of the area. Also, to destroy the virus, you have to hit it 200 times. It has 200 HP, but all damage is reduced to 1 HP of damage each time you hit it. I remember it taking at least 5-7 minutes to kill one. You also have a chance of not receiving a chip upon defeating it. Overall, this may take at least half an hour to max out those chips.
* There are 2 Roll chips that you get throughout the game. The other three necessary to max out the count are won at random at the Slot Machine in Arcade 2. This can also take an obscene amount of time.
* To get a Navi chip, you must go to the simulator and get close to Rank S to get one. Most of the Navi chips max out at count 5, so you would be repeatedly battling these same Navi's 5 times over with good ranking in order to win all 5 chips for each Navi. On top of that, you also have to max out the Navi's ability chips. This is in between a good ranking and a bad ranking, and I haven't nailed down what ranking you are supposed to get. That's another 5. All in all, you need at least 10 battles on each Navi to get all of these chips. I don't know the estimate on that.

There are other viruses that only appear in one area in the entire game (for example, Buffy virus in Arcade 2 with HeatSprd). However, these aren't nearly as tedious as the above ones.

If a 100% speed run were ever attempted, it would take many, MANY hours to get it done.

As for the low% run, you would need at least a few battle chips with 100+ power to even take out the final boss of the game. There are lots of other factors that could play into a low% run as well.
Great job doicm :). I actually run the game myself, but I haven't done so in about a month, and I've only done three runs >_<. It's cool to see that someone is still running this, and I too would love to see your runs when you get some recording equipment :D.
Thanks, blkyoshi! If I'm not mistaken, it's actually your run I saw that inspired me to run this game myself. So...thank you!

As an update for this, I managed to get my time down to 1:15:17. I was SO close to getting sub 1:15. Hopefully by the time I get my equipment shipped in I'll be able to get the sub 1:15 and get it posted on here.

Thanks for all the support!
:O that's means so much to me!

But thank you rather, now your motivating me to try more runs, maybe I could catch up to your times XD. Plus I would like to discuss some strats with you sometime :P, do you by any chance use skype?
I'm really glad to hear that I'm a motivation. As far as communications go, I'd prefer communicating over PM's, as I do not use Skype. Send me a PM, and we can discuss strategy.
The Speedrunning Teacher
Awesome work here! I know that I kinda let this project die when I was working on it, but I'm very pleased to see that others are willing to pick up on it. If/When a run gets done and submitted, you can count on me to be a verifier for it.

Here's to sub 1:15!!!
And...here is sub 1:15!

I just got 1:13:56. Two new things I tried out to reduce the time (although I had several deaths that could have further reduced the time):

*I skipped the HPMemory in Global Area 1 towards the beginning. It takes a bit of time to get it, although it is risky to fight GutsMan with that little of health. I got lucky in my chip selection.
*I discovered a new shortcut in Strange Grav Area 2. At the second HammerJoe, you can use DoubJumps to go above him and skip a Bugtank3 (the one that shoots the CrosBombs). However, I do miss out on a MemUP, but I don't find those that critical at this point.

One major mistake I made:
*I died at the end of Bank Comp 2 to the BigFlappy (the one that uses Quake). ...that costs me about a minute.

...and yes, I'm still waiting for my recording equipment, so I don't have anything to show for it yet. I hope to prove this someday.
Sub 1:15 already?! Wow man that was quick, amazing job :).

How much more do you think you can cut down the time?
As far as how much more I can cut down the time...it varies every playthrough, to be honest. Quite a bit of the run, I've found out, depends on the luck of the battle chips you get in your folder. You have some control over this when you select a default, but I've found several runs ending at FireMan because I only had a Bubbler chip and two low values of much weaker chips, and then the remaining two are Guard and Repair (which do nothing for me!).

Ideally, I'd hope to cut down the time to less than 1:10. I don't know if it's possible to do sub 1:00. The point at which I reach an hour is halfway through PharaohMan's stage (and I play that before ShadowMan's stage). ...we'll see.
UPDATE: Got my recording equipment tonight. However, the capture card I requested online was the taboo EasyCap capture card. It does record my video quite well. However, it doesn't record audio in-game. The only audio I get from it is from a microphone, so I won't be able to submit quality runs, unfortunately.

However, I do still plan on posting some of my videos if they do cooperate the way I want them to.
Edit history:
Shiden: 2012-03-07 01:51:26 pm
doicm, ask nate for an easycap because the ones he has have the audio and video working as they are intended to, I got one from him and it works great (plus, his norichan for recording is superb)! Another solution would be to take the RCA left and right audio out from the console and use an adapter to plug it into your PC line-in, such as these:



Damn IMGboot makes the thumbnail too small..oh well, clicking ftw.
Edit history:
doicm: 2012-03-07 04:39:46 pm
doicm: 2012-03-07 04:39:21 pm
Thanks for the tip, Shiden. I actually am able to get sound out properly with VirtualDub with the taboo EasyCap, so I just need to figure out VirtualDub and I "should" be okay. If it seems to be a big flop in the end, I will ask nate for one.

As an added note for the run, I just got about 1:13:00, which is a new record for me! I also recorded it with the microphone. Although the audio isn't great, the video should not disappoint...is my hope. I am planning on posting links and featured videos by the end of the day.

Here's a segment showing my battle against Zero.EXE. It seems like most of the speed runners that have attempted this battle have lots of trouble. This strategy seems to help, as I avoid any damage (and have the past four attempts I've made):

I got all five parts of my speed run uploaded. Keep in mind the following:

*My video does glitch in several places that I know of, so the audio or video may freak out from time to time.
*This is DEFINITELY not submittable, and I understand that. I'm hoping to improve on the quality of my videos when I try out VirtualDub.
*This is recorded using a Microphone, since Ulead with my Easycap would not record from the cabling.
*I felt good about this run :).

In any case...should I upload each of the videos onto here, or should I just link you to the playlist that contains each of the videos? For now, to avoid causing any problems on the forum, I'll send you the link to the videos.

Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1DF595B9AE9090E4&feature=plcp
New time: 1:11...ish.

However, this is for the bad ending, so I don't take the time to go out of my way to get the MystData. I went this route because...well...the beginning of my run had quite a few mistakes, and I didn't want to reset, so I continued.

Here are some changes:
*No deaths (except for a spike in Bank Comp 1...really dumb).
*I default to mini-bombs for the ColdBear before IceMan. This will kill the ColdBear the quickest while using the least MP.
*I also use the powerups that I have to power up attack and use more regular shots on IceMan.
*Default to TreeBom1 before ColorMan. These whittle down more HP than any other battle chip that I have.
*Default to TreeBom1 before ElecMan. I discovered that they do a wonderfully quick job against him.
*(Biggest time saver) Rather than grind for M-Cannon chips in Strange Grav Area 1, I realize I don't use them until ShadowMan anyway and decide to grind for them in Vacant WWW Comp 1. There are two Canodumb3s very close to each other, and that is a much more effective way, I found, to grind for them than backtracking to Strange Grav Area.

Also, keep in mind that this is a bad ending run, meaning it saved me about a minute by not going out of my way to get the MystData.

Regardless of the errors, I may be able to eventually get a sub 1:10.

Also, as an extra note, I recorded this using VirtualDub with Huffyuv and Xvid. I did lose some frames though (probably because of the capture card I'm using), but I think it came out to decent quality, and it's definitely much better than using Ulead for recording (since I can record in-game audio).

If and when you see the videos (once I have them posted), let me know if it's a quality that is submittable or not. I would greatly appreciate that.

Thanks for the support!