Was finally able to get the route through the mess hall. 3 very ugly parts in this attempt, but remember i did this for timing purposes only. It turns out this is the route i will take, as it is almost a minute faster than the route that saves in the mess hall.
the final time at the save is 47:38. Here's a breakdown of the improvements (as well as some other notable things).....
0:25-0:50 - i pause in a few places through the hallways to wait for Farah. Won't do this for the real thing. 2 seconds saved
1:16 - just wanted to point out that this rewind trick can be done with 2 tanks like i show. If i use 2 or 4 tanks, it's ok since it doesn't effect the game clock
1:25 - fell to the bottom ledge incorrectly 1 second saved
1:52-1:58 - waited for Farah. Wouldn't accept that for the real thing. 6 seconds saved
2:00-2:04 - running through the hallway was just weird 0.5 seconds saved
2:17 - running along this wall has given me problems, so i didn't do it here
2:25-2:31 - i pull it further than i need to, and i'm cautious with my jump 3-4 seconds saved
3:23-3:50 - bad luck breaking through the wall 27 seconds saved
4:48-4:51 - wont get this sand cloud for the real thing (i got it to rewind at the scaffolding for screw-ups) 3 seconds saved
5:01 - i can wall run here up to the upper ledge, but i don't do it here cause it's tricky 0.5 seconds saved
5:16-5:25 - worth pointing out that this fight against the scarabs was REALLY good, might not be that good for the real thing
5:49 - i'm going to run along the wall on the opposite side instead of the one i do here. about 1 second saved
6:13-8:53 - HORRIBLE part of the segment. Just terrible luck, but again this part is SO hard to get right. And the important thing is that i got through it to complete this attempt for timing purposes 2:20 saved
10:19-11:00 - all the failed jumps on the scaffolding have no effect on the game clock because i used sand to rewind the mistakes. For the real thing i will get this on my first try (need to practice this A LOT for consistency)
12:21-12:23 - i think there is a faster way to do this, but i'm not sure yet.
12:39-12:46 - waited for Farah quite a long time. Need to figure out a fast way to get here in the room 3 seconds saved?
13:13-14:31 - i have no idea why Farah just continued to run into the wall. Had to kill myself and restart at the checkpoint. Never had this happen to me before 1:17 saved
16:10 - jumping to the upper ledge is difficult. Would save almost 2 seconds, but i can't count on being able to do that for the real thing.
16:23 - jumping to the pole rather than wall jumping is better cause you won't hit the pillar on the swing back. Will see if i can get consistent with that jump for the real thing 0.5 seconds saved
17:15 - blocking the birds doesn't cost much time, so if i do it for the real thing, no big deal.
So, that's a total of 4:24 of possible improvements. Take that away from the 47:38 i was at for the save point and that puts me at 43:14. The segment after this up to the 52% save is really short (somewhere between 1:10 and 1:30 depending on the best route). So that will put me around 44:3x for the 52% save....and that's A LOT better than the 45:2x i would end up at that save if i decided to save in the mess hall to end segment 6.
So it's set, my segment 6 will end at the bridge collapse save. Next up i will see what my best options are for segment 7. Need to figure that out to see how many sand tanks i have to end segment 6 with.
EDIT: i wanted to note that i may kill 2 enemies during the part where you break through the second wall. May make that part easy and more consistent, and i will need sand from a few more enemies with this new route change, in order to get haste for the observatory.
the final time at the save is 47:38. Here's a breakdown of the improvements (as well as some other notable things).....
0:25-0:50 - i pause in a few places through the hallways to wait for Farah. Won't do this for the real thing. 2 seconds saved
1:16 - just wanted to point out that this rewind trick can be done with 2 tanks like i show. If i use 2 or 4 tanks, it's ok since it doesn't effect the game clock
1:25 - fell to the bottom ledge incorrectly 1 second saved
1:52-1:58 - waited for Farah. Wouldn't accept that for the real thing. 6 seconds saved
2:00-2:04 - running through the hallway was just weird 0.5 seconds saved
2:17 - running along this wall has given me problems, so i didn't do it here
2:25-2:31 - i pull it further than i need to, and i'm cautious with my jump 3-4 seconds saved
3:23-3:50 - bad luck breaking through the wall 27 seconds saved
4:48-4:51 - wont get this sand cloud for the real thing (i got it to rewind at the scaffolding for screw-ups) 3 seconds saved
5:01 - i can wall run here up to the upper ledge, but i don't do it here cause it's tricky 0.5 seconds saved
5:16-5:25 - worth pointing out that this fight against the scarabs was REALLY good, might not be that good for the real thing
5:49 - i'm going to run along the wall on the opposite side instead of the one i do here. about 1 second saved
6:13-8:53 - HORRIBLE part of the segment. Just terrible luck, but again this part is SO hard to get right. And the important thing is that i got through it to complete this attempt for timing purposes 2:20 saved
10:19-11:00 - all the failed jumps on the scaffolding have no effect on the game clock because i used sand to rewind the mistakes. For the real thing i will get this on my first try (need to practice this A LOT for consistency)
12:21-12:23 - i think there is a faster way to do this, but i'm not sure yet.
12:39-12:46 - waited for Farah quite a long time. Need to figure out a fast way to get here in the room 3 seconds saved?
13:13-14:31 - i have no idea why Farah just continued to run into the wall. Had to kill myself and restart at the checkpoint. Never had this happen to me before 1:17 saved
16:10 - jumping to the upper ledge is difficult. Would save almost 2 seconds, but i can't count on being able to do that for the real thing.
16:23 - jumping to the pole rather than wall jumping is better cause you won't hit the pillar on the swing back. Will see if i can get consistent with that jump for the real thing 0.5 seconds saved
17:15 - blocking the birds doesn't cost much time, so if i do it for the real thing, no big deal.
So, that's a total of 4:24 of possible improvements. Take that away from the 47:38 i was at for the save point and that puts me at 43:14. The segment after this up to the 52% save is really short (somewhere between 1:10 and 1:30 depending on the best route). So that will put me around 44:3x for the 52% save....and that's A LOT better than the 45:2x i would end up at that save if i decided to save in the mess hall to end segment 6.
So it's set, my segment 6 will end at the bridge collapse save. Next up i will see what my best options are for segment 7. Need to figure that out to see how many sand tanks i have to end segment 6 with.
EDIT: i wanted to note that i may kill 2 enemies during the part where you break through the second wall. May make that part easy and more consistent, and i will need sand from a few more enemies with this new route change, in order to get haste for the observatory.