Psychonauts

Edit history:

Inexistence: 2010-02-28 01:41:20 pm

2010-02-28 05:39:06 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

I just found a very useful technique for getting deep arrowheads far easier and faster. Bind a second button to 'use' and mash them both when doing it. It makes it very easy to do.

EDIT: I've also done a runthrough, and I got to rank 30 just before Gloria, which was great. I basically grabbed almost every figment on my direct route, especially the one's in Raz's mind, and I got a bunch of PSI markers, maybe 3 or 4 of them, and I got 18 cards that were on my direct path. So 2 ranks from that, 4 ranks from PSI markers, and the figments took care of everything else.

I think when I finish the Episode One run, I'm going to start my own run of this with a different route to bloodisblue, see if I can improve it.

EDIT2: I just found this. That'll be VERY useful for collecting the deep arrowheads for the Cobweb Duster. Though there isn't a map of the area where Linda is chasing you, which is probably where I'd do a lot of hunting, as it's deadtime anyway (And where do went looking for them too), but still very useful Cheesy

I just found a very useful technique for getting deep arrowheads far easier and faster. Bind a second button to 'use' and mash them both when doing it. It makes it very easy to do.

EDIT: I've also done a runthrough, and I got to rank 30 just before Gloria, which was great. I basically grabbed almost every figment on my direct route, especially the one's in Raz's mind, and I got a bunch of PSI markers, maybe 3 or 4 of them, and I got 18 cards that were on my direct path. So 2 ranks from that, 4 ranks from PSI markers, and the figments took care of everything else.

I think when I finish the Episode One run, I'm going to start my own run of this with a different route to bloodisblue, see if I can improve it.

EDIT2: I just found [url=http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL283/1552548/5664138/l-247880833.jpg]this[/url]. That'll be VERY useful for collecting the deep arrowheads for the Cobweb Duster. Though there isn't a map of the area where Linda is chasing you, which is probably where I'd do a lot of hunting, as it's deadtime anyway (And where do went looking for them too), but still very useful :D

bloodisblue

2010-02-28 07:41:17 pm

Wow. That chart seems very useful though you can get most deep arrowheads while Linda is chasing you. (During the part with about 5 doors you have to break there is a deep arrowhead worth ~550 or so.

+ Good luck on you're run. I'll be looking forward to it (and also you're HL2:Ep1 run, it took me forever to beat it)

Currently I'm at the tower portion and I keep encountering an annoying glitch, if you spam skip (for me it's x) to fast (not sure if its frame dependent or anything) then you can get oob, die by falling, start off in a further away spot or start at the correct spot.

I made a quick video of what the oob area is from my two times getting there. --

Also I expect my run to be completed by next week then maybe put it up for verification. (I made a segment at every loading screen though so it's highly segmented which may be a problem but it's considered an autosave)

Inexistence

Edit history:

Inexistence: 2010-03-02 01:59:56 pm

2010-03-01 04:42:24 pm

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

Thanks for the info dude :). I managed the first segment, which was from leaving the cabin, up to just before the minefield in Oleander's dream in 1:14, which ends up me being about 2 seconds behind you. However, I detoured at the beginning to get 2 cards and a psi core, and I collect around 30 more figment points than you do.

Unfortunately, as I was practicing my second segment, my computer crashed, and then the game decided it'd be fun to delete my profile. I didn't have my saves backed up, and so unfortunately I'm now back to square 1. I can match the time again (As I lost the save once already after getting 1:14 and had to redo that), and I can get more figments because I messed up a little in my original segment. I'm not going to move at anywhere near the speed you do progressing with segments, as I spend days on each one, and if my problems with the game persist I might spend more just on one segment :P.

EDIT: I'm very glad that my profile was deleted and I had to start again. I'm much more organised retrying it now. I have a spreadsheet for everything I'll need. I've backed up my save files. I realised I'd actually have to record the very start of the game where I choose new game and everything, as that contributes to my time. I lowered the time for the beginning of the game, since you can skip Ford's speeches and look to the right and up faster and everything, I got that from 35 seconds down to 29.

I've redone the second segment as well, and I've now gotten a time of 2:10, 4 seconds faster than my old one, and this is just better in every way. No mistakes, I missed one figment I aimed for, but I allowed myself to miss one or two figments. Also found a new little timesaver that helped. When you're supposed to shimmy across the ledge, I found you don't need to, you can clear from one side to the other with a double-jump, so that saved time. I finished the segment on 93 figments, so the next segment I'll rank up as I go through the minefield. I'm really looking forward to getting on with this. I'll upload the next segment once I get chance.

EDIT2: Segment 2 - 2:10. Of course, segment one is now just the intro and stuff, that has no speedrunning value so I haven't uploaded it. I'm really happy with this segment.

EDIT3: Well, back to the drawing board. Again. Seems I forgot to update my backup, and the game deleted my profile again. So now I only have my first segment, I have to try and match (Or beat this 2:10). I'm not angry about this for some reason. It's just getting funnier every time now.

Thanks for the info dude :). I managed the first segment, which was from leaving the cabin, up to just before the minefield in Oleander's dream in 1:14, which ends up me being about 2 seconds behind you. However, I detoured at the beginning to get 2 cards and a psi core, and I collect around 30 more figment points than you do.

Unfortunately, as I was practicing my second segment, my computer crashed, and then the game decided it'd be fun to delete my profile. I didn't have my saves backed up, and so unfortunately I'm now back to square 1. I can match the time again (As I lost the save once already after getting 1:14 and had to redo that), and I can get more figments because I messed up a little in my original segment. I'm not going to move at anywhere near the speed you do progressing with segments, as I spend days on each one, and if my problems with the game persist I might spend more just on one segment :P.

EDIT: I'm very glad that my profile was deleted and I had to start again. I'm much more organised retrying it now. I have a spreadsheet for everything I'll need. I've backed up my save files. I realised I'd actually have to record the very start of the game where I choose new game and everything, as that contributes to my time. I lowered the time for the beginning of the game, since you can skip Ford's speeches and look to the right and up faster and everything, I got that from 35 seconds down to 29.

I've redone the second segment as well, and I've now gotten a time of 2:10, 4 seconds faster than my old one, and this is just better in every way. No mistakes, I missed one figment I aimed for, but I allowed myself to miss one or two figments. Also found a new little timesaver that helped. When you're supposed to shimmy across the ledge, I found you don't need to, you can clear from one side to the other with a double-jump, so that saved time. I finished the segment on 93 figments, so the next segment I'll rank up as I go through the minefield. I'm really looking forward to getting on with this. I'll upload the next segment once I get chance.

EDIT2: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUt-APAm0Uw]Segment 2 - 2:10[/url]. Of course, segment one is now just the intro and stuff, that has no speedrunning value so I haven't uploaded it. I'm really happy with this segment.

EDIT3: Well, back to the drawing board. Again. Seems I forgot to update my backup, and the game deleted my profile again. So now I only have my first segment, I have to try and match (Or beat this 2:10). I'm not angry about this for some reason. It's just getting funnier every time now.

bloodisblue

2010-03-02 02:07:22 pm

Ok. I have a couple comments on the run. I posted my biggest ones on the youtube video but I'll post the ones that will (probally) help the most.

Biggest Time Saver
You can skip the introduction where he shows you where the cards are and stuff assuming this is a segmented run (which I believe it is seeing that you saved) You skip this by simply Alt+F4 as soon as you get in it, takes zero seconds and since it doesn't count towards time I'm not sure if you have to record it seeing that you never have control by the time the game quits. This probally will save a bit of time.

Other Time savers:
During the talk with coach oleander I believe you can save some time by hitting x after f then spam space to answer then spam skip again.

At around 1:20-1:22 you jump around the flaming rocket and climb the ladder. Seeing that you climb the ladder just to get a couple figments I'd recremend to instead go underground if you can make the jumps (I failed at them so I decided to take the faster route) you collect about 7 or 8 figments with only a slight amount of time added.

Also instead of saving everytime you see a loading screen the game autosaves. I used this in my run so far and I have about 80 segments with 7 real saves (most of them save warps though) Instead of saving at Dogul (shoot I forget his name) if you run past the mine field quickly and into the airplane you can immediatly knock down the door and create an autosave segment there. I did this and I believe that it is faster (unless you're save warps you past the mindfield which would be sweet) and you don't have the two second penalty. The only problem is that there is an extra loading screen for the viewers, 1 for finishing because you can't alt-f4 during the loading screen and another one for actually loading.

My favorite part/speed trick from this segment:
Bunnyhopping, it's very well used in this segment
Super long jump from air blimp (although if you try the underground route this might not be needed Sad

)
Skipping the ledge (I never knew you could do this)

I hope you do well on this run and complete it eventually. I could help whenever possible seeing that I have every single save state backed up. + The reason why I'm going through fast is because I don't have that much free time, mainly just weekends and I'm creating many segments. Right now I'm in the 90s I beleive and I'm not even done yet.

I'm still going to finish my run though. I'm hoping it will get verified (not sure though). And hopefully you will have a good comparision guide.

Ok. I have a couple comments on the run. I posted my biggest ones on the youtube video but I'll post the ones that will (probally) help the most.

Biggest Time Saver
You can skip the introduction where he shows you where the cards are and stuff assuming this is a segmented run (which I believe it is seeing that you saved) You skip this by simply Alt+F4 as soon as you get in it, takes zero seconds and since it doesn't count towards time I'm not sure if you have to record it seeing that you never have control by the time the game quits. This probally will save a bit of time.

Other Time savers:
During the talk with coach oleander I believe you can save some time by hitting x after f then spam space to answer then spam skip again.

At around 1:20-1:22 you jump around the flaming rocket and climb the ladder. Seeing that you climb the ladder just to get a couple figments I'd recremend to instead go underground if you can make the jumps (I failed at them so I decided to take the faster route) you collect about 7 or 8 figments with only a slight amount of time added.

Also instead of saving everytime you see a loading screen the game autosaves. I used this in my run so far and I have about 80 segments with 7 real saves (most of them save warps though) Instead of saving at Dogul (shoot I forget his name) if you run past the mine field quickly and into the airplane you can immediatly knock down the door and create an autosave segment there. I did this and I believe that it is faster (unless you're save warps you past the mindfield which would be sweet) and you don't have the two second penalty. The only problem is that there is an extra loading screen for the viewers, 1 for finishing because you can't alt-f4 during the loading screen and another one for actually loading.

My favorite part/speed trick from this segment:
Bunnyhopping, it's very well used in this segment
Super long jump from air blimp (although if you try the underground route this might not be needed :( )
Skipping the ledge (I never knew you could do this)

I hope you do well on this run and complete it eventually. I could help whenever possible seeing that I have every single save state backed up. + The reason why I'm going through fast is because I don't have that much free time, mainly just weekends and I'm creating many segments. Right now I'm in the 90s I beleive and I'm not even done yet.

I'm still going to finish my run though. I'm hoping it will get verified (not sure though). And hopefully you will have a good comparision guide.

Inexistence

Edit history:

Inexistence: 2010-03-02 03:19:59 pm

2010-03-02 02:15:12 pm

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

Thanks for the comments, I'll definitely take it all into account. I'd prefer to keep the first segment, just because I like it being in there to show my name being put up and everything. I guess in final timing this time can be taken out anyway. Also, I don't like using autosaves since if I get to a certain point, surely it's going to overwrite my autosave? And I don't like messing around with the save files, due to an obvious many bad experiences with them :P.

Also, I like having a save at the start of this segment as it warps you forward a bit instead of just being at your cabin.

I'm going to try the underground route and time it, see if it's possible to make it faster than the blimps, since they have a fixed time and they're much harder. I've got some preliminary times and I think it could be faster than the blimps, but perhaps fewer figments overall in fact, because I get a couple just after the rocket, then some during the blimps, and then a bunch climbing up to the steps, whereas the underground doesn't seem to get as many. It seems almost the same though, so I'll just take the fastest route.

Thanks for the comments dude Smiley

EDIT: Underground is faster. I got a time of 2:07. I finished on only 83 figments, but that's certainly worth the 3 seconds I think. I'm going to keep running it. I only missed one figment, and it had a value of 1, so maximum I can finish on is 84. But I think I can get this time down to maybe 2:06 or 2:05.

EDIT2: I also just tested something. Turns out that constantly jumping while climbing, so jumping, then doublejumping and grabbing back onto the ladder is around 20% faster than not doing so. Should help throughout the run.

Thanks for the comments, I'll definitely take it all into account. I'd prefer to keep the first segment, just because I like it being in there to show my name being put up and everything. I guess in final timing this time can be taken out anyway. Also, I don't like using autosaves since if I get to a certain point, surely it's going to overwrite my autosave? And I don't like messing around with the save files, due to an obvious many bad experiences with them :P.

Also, I like having a save at the start of this segment as it warps you forward a bit instead of just being at your cabin.

I'm going to try the underground route and time it, see if it's possible to make it faster than the blimps, since they have a fixed time and they're much harder. I've got some preliminary times and I think it could be faster than the blimps, but perhaps fewer figments overall in fact, because I get a couple just after the rocket, then some during the blimps, and then a bunch climbing up to the steps, whereas the underground doesn't seem to get as many. It seems almost the same though, so I'll just take the fastest route.

Thanks for the comments dude :)

EDIT: Underground is faster. I got a time of 2:07. I finished on only 83 figments, but that's certainly worth the 3 seconds I think. I'm going to keep running it. I only missed one figment, and it had a value of 1, so maximum I can finish on is 84. But I think I can get this time down to maybe 2:06 or 2:05.

EDIT2: I also just tested something. Turns out that constantly jumping while climbing, so jumping, then doublejumping and grabbing back onto the ladder is around 20% faster than not doing so. Should help throughout the run.

bloodisblue

2010-03-02 02:55:14 pm

Nice. Glad to hear my comments helped. + Do you have any specific goals in mind for how many figments to get? Because I found that having a plan makes it much easier to know what to do. Also if it helps the planing I think there are 5 required cobwebs that are on the route so you don't have to collect as many cards.

Inexistence

Edit history:

Inexistence: 2010-03-02 04:28:27 pm

2010-03-02 03:21:39 pm

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

I'm not entirely sure about how many figments I'm going to get. I only know that I ran through the game and collected almost all figments on my direct route, and I got to 30 before Gloria, just, after playing Waterloo as well.

I hadn't thought about those cobwebs. It's 1 cobweb per card right? So I now only need 11 en-route cards. Seems feasible Smiley

EDIT: HA! 2:05 I said. How about 2:02? I don't think I'm going to get better than this. I am backing up the save files right now. I won't lose this! I'll convert and upload it to Youtube, then post it. I'm amazed how much I've improved this by over the past few days, but I think this one is final. I'm very happy with it, and amazed I got it so low, seriously.

EDIT2: 2:02. I'm done with this segment. I need to actually move on.

bloodisblue

2010-03-02 05:40:34 pm

Wow that segment is incredibly nice. Also are you backing up the save states? It's fairly easy to do if you have the steam version (not sure about the other version)

Also I would recremend to use the autosave at the plane as the end of segment 3. It will make getting the soldier game perfect much faster + easier.

Inexistence

2010-03-03 11:24:02 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

I'm so ashamed :'(. I didn't quit. I kept going, and discovered something ELSE. Now, you probably realised that the higher you drop onto a trampoline from, the higher you bounce up. Turns out it's not how high you drop from, it's the force of you coming down. So if you do a palm bomb above a trampoline, you get FLUNG into the air. This could be pretty useful for shortcuts later on, but I used it right at the start of my segment 2 to get me onto the roof quicker. I've now redone it a bunch of times and reoptimised it, my new time is 2:00. I really do think I'm finished with it now :P.

RealityO

2010-03-03 04:42:03 pm

This starts to be impressing. I hope one of you guys finish the run. I'm not really active in commenting and helping you guys out, but I'm following the thread and watching the videos.

bloodisblue

2010-03-03 07:54:48 pm

Yhea. 2:00 is a really nice time Inexistence Smiley

Also about my run I need about 2 hours to get this next segment done, climbing up the mansion/asylum is horrible (so bad I might start testing where save warping is possible)
Whenver starting the segment there is about 4 glitches that can happen when you just start the segment and spam close/close quickly (I'm not sure about frame data because I'm not very good with it)

Glitch 1 - Fall underneath the elevator type thing, this leads to an instant death and a segment restart. Frequency 1:5
Glitch 2 - Fall underneath the elevator and the kill zone going OOB, but the only way out is jumping into the kill zone (saving here is also pointless because it warps you where not having a glitch would be) Frequency 1:10
Glitch 3 - Game has some kind of a fatal error. This won't allow you to reopen Psychonauts until you restart you're computer. I absolutly hate this glitch because it happens about 1/20 tries.
Glitch 4 - Game places you in the elevator while it is about half way up. This glitch actually speeds up progress so it is required, but it only happens 1:3/1:4 times which sucks.

Or it places you regularly but since glitch 4 is faster I should use it Sad

but I'll try to finish this run asap. Then I get to look forward to Inexistence beating my time in about a month going at his current rate Smiley

Yhea. 2:00 is a really nice time Inexistence :)
Also about my run I need about 2 hours to get this next segment done, climbing up the mansion/asylum is horrible (so bad I might start testing where save warping is possible)
Whenver starting the segment there is about 4 glitches that can happen when you just start the segment and spam close/close quickly (I'm not sure about frame data because I'm not very good with it)

Glitch 1 - Fall underneath the elevator type thing, this leads to an instant death and a segment restart. Frequency 1:5
Glitch 2 - Fall underneath the elevator and the kill zone going OOB, but the only way out is jumping into the kill zone (saving here is also pointless because it warps you where not having a glitch would be) Frequency 1:10
Glitch 3 - Game has some kind of a fatal error. This won't allow you to reopen Psychonauts until you restart you're computer. I absolutly hate this glitch because it happens about 1/20 tries.
Glitch 4 - Game places you in the elevator while it is about half way up. This glitch actually speeds up progress so it is required, but it only happens 1:3/1:4 times which sucks.

Or it places you regularly but since glitch 4 is faster I should use it :( but I'll try to finish this run asap. Then I get to look forward to Inexistence beating my time in about a month going at his current rate :)

Inexistence

Edit history:

Inexistence: 2010-03-05 07:15:39 am

2010-03-04 09:53:23 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

I've actually reduced it to 1:59, and I'm still continuing to get an error-free run. I can't believe I'm still on this. Don't expect me to get to your point in a month, going at the rate I am, I'll be on segment 3 at that point Tongue

Very unlucky about that glitch with the loading. I'm sure it'll be great when you manage it Smiley

EDIT: 1:58. Finally. I'm finished. I know of no other improvements for this run, apart from not missing that red figment I did. I'm happy with this. Nobody suggest anything that makes me need to redo it. Please Cry

EDIT2: Working on this next segment. It seems fine, but I'd really love to be able to skip the smacking the targets. I've tried jumping over the fence blocking you, and it stops you going past. I've gotten on top of the hut next to it, and it still stops you with a cutscene saying to try again at bashing the button. You can get on top of the clipping for the fence, and can't jump over or around it in any way I can tell.

I've tried every method I can think to attempt to skip the trigger that will cause the cutscene, but I can't find anything. Flipping and cartwheeling, palm bombing to try and get through, punching. Does anyone have ANY ideas?

I've actually reduced it to 1:59, and I'm still continuing to get an error-free run. I can't believe I'm still on this. Don't expect me to get to your point in a month, going at the rate I am, I'll be on segment 3 at that point :P

Very unlucky about that glitch with the loading. I'm sure it'll be great when you manage it :)

EDIT: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtOuTqbMGi0]1:58[/url]. Finally. I'm finished. I know of no other improvements for this run, apart from not missing that red figment I did. I'm happy with this. Nobody suggest anything that makes me need to redo it. Please :'(

EDIT2: Working on this next segment. It seems fine, but I'd really love to be able to skip the smacking the targets. I've tried jumping over the fence blocking you, and it stops you going past. I've gotten on top of the hut next to it, and it still stops you with a cutscene saying to try again at bashing the button. You can get on top of the clipping for the fence, and can't jump over or around it in any way I can tell.

I've tried every method I can think to attempt to skip the trigger that will cause the cutscene, but I can't find anything. Flipping and cartwheeling, palm bombing to try and get through, punching. Does anyone have ANY ideas?

bloodisblue

Edit history:

bloodisblue: 2010-03-05 09:05:55 pm

2010-03-05 05:58:16 pm

I just finished the part of the tower climb that was giving me a ton of trouble Smiley

problem is that I was lost about 4 seconds from a "perfect" segment. Here it is . + I found out some of the freezing glitches that were happening to me.

Glitch 1 : Can be avoided by only pressing x once. Thought of this one today Smiley

Glitch 2 : Can be avoided by only pressing x once.
Glitch 3 : This gitch is super annoying. This is what made this segment so hard. I found that if you press x (not sure if it's frame dependent or not) right as the game finishes loading an error that won't let you play Psychonauts again until you restart you're computer occurs.
Glitch 4 : If you can bear dealing with glitch 3 ocasionaly by pressing x right as the screen turns black you always get this glitch which saves about 10-15 seconds compared to not using it.

New Glitch I found.
Glitch 5 : By reloading the autosave while inside the area of the glitched elevator from glitch 4 the game automatically crashes, but luckily this still lets you reopen Psychonauts without turning off the computer. This glitch is hyper annoying because I have to wait about 5 more seconds every time I mess up at the very start.

I don't think that you scan skip the cutscene trigger but if you spam x enough you can avoid the momentum loss kindof.

(my run) minute 4:06 shows an example of this. Basically you do a force palm and you continue falling with semi inverted gravity for a second or two causing you to lose basically no time. Also if you want to make the punching segment much easier use the autosave at the plane door and retry it until you get it right then quickly save. The quick save guarntees you don't have to do it again and it gives you a small teleport so you actually save time by saving.
[EDIT] Plus good luck getting all of the figments on the rail part. RealityO's run does it if a guide would be useful.[/EDIT]

I just finished the part of the tower climb that was giving me a ton of trouble :) problem is that I was lost about 4 seconds from a "perfect" segment. Here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbQI_JgLA3s . + I found out some of the freezing glitches that were happening to me.

Glitch 1 : Can be avoided by only pressing x once. Thought of this one today :)
Glitch 2 : Can be avoided by only pressing x once.
Glitch 3 : This gitch is super annoying. This is what made this segment so hard. I found that if you press x (not sure if it's frame dependent or not) right as the game finishes loading an error that won't let you play Psychonauts again until you restart you're computer occurs.
Glitch 4 : If you can bear dealing with glitch 3 ocasionaly by pressing x right as the screen turns black you always get this glitch which saves about 10-15 seconds compared to not using it.

New Glitch I found.
Glitch 5 : By reloading the autosave while inside the area of the glitched elevator from glitch 4 the game automatically crashes, but luckily this still lets you reopen Psychonauts without turning off the computer. This glitch is hyper annoying because I have to wait about 5 more seconds every time I mess up at the very start.

[spoiler="Original Post Here (mainly for Inexistence)"]I don't think that you scan skip the cutscene trigger but if you spam x enough you can avoid the momentum loss kindof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMfjU1s8fx8 (my run) minute 4:06 shows an example of this. Basically you do a force palm and you continue falling with semi inverted gravity for a second or two causing you to lose basically no time. Also if you want to make the punching segment much easier use the autosave at the plane door and retry it until you get it right then quickly save. The quick save guarntees you don't have to do it again and it gives you a small teleport so you actually save time by saving.
[EDIT] Plus good luck getting all of the figments on the rail part. RealityO's run does it if a guide would be useful.[/EDIT][/spoiler]

Inexistence

2010-03-06 06:00:00 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

Oh well, guess I'll have to just manipulate the targets to be fast. I'm planning to segment right after the fight, as you did.

I've also found a little something out, if you jump, then palm bomb, and keep spamming jump and attack, if you do it right you can get a constant palm bomb going, where as soon as you land the palm bomb, you jump and do another. It might be a faster way to kill groups of enemies?

I've also found a much quicker method of doing the rotating plank room, the one just before you leave Oleander's mind. It's very very quick, and requires no waiting, so you're going forward all of the time.

bloodisblue

2010-03-06 07:42:41 am

That palm bomb tatic might be useful against Gloria's stages boss, but seeing that most guys are ranged there I'm not sure. Other then that I can't think of many places to use this off the top of my head.
Also for the plank room are you still collecting some of the figments in there? Because the probally are worth the time spent collecting some of them (I think)

Inexistence

2010-03-06 08:35:24 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

Nope, I don't collect any that are all around the maze of planks, and I'm pretty sure they aren't worth the time to collect them. The minds that are good to take time to collect figments are Raz's, Nein's, and the Lungfish's, so far from what I can tell, as they all have values of around 9 (Individual figments in the minds have different values, but they usually have an average one), but Linda's (The lungfish) it's better not to take the time to collect the figments, as you move slower.

My absolutely ideal situation would be to manage to get to level 20 before entering Boyd's mind, meaning I can learn Pyro and Telekinesis before even going in there, so I don't have to jump out, and when I've learnt those I'd buy the cobweb duster and the psi cores I'd need, then just another 8 ranks before I'd use the cobwebs and cards I'll have to gain the additional 2 ranks to get to invisibility, which shouldn't be too much of a problem in the Waterloo stage and the bull stage. I'm certainly not looking forward to Edgar's mind, but this all seems like it has the possibility to work out well, though I'm sure the amount of figments I get will be a squeeze to manage if I want level 20 before Boyd's mind.

Nope, I don't collect any that are all around the maze of planks, and I'm pretty sure they aren't worth the time to collect them. The minds that are good to take time to collect figments are Raz's, Nein's, and the Lungfish's, so far from what I can tell, as they all have values of around 9 (Individual figments in the minds have different values, but they usually have an average one), but Linda's (The lungfish) it's better not to take the time to collect the figments, as you move slower.

My absolutely ideal situation would be to manage to get to level 20 before entering Boyd's mind, meaning I can learn Pyro and Telekinesis before even going in there, so I don't have to jump out, and when I've learnt those I'd buy the cobweb duster and the psi cores I'd need, then just another 8 ranks before I'd use the cobwebs and cards I'll have to gain the additional 2 ranks to get to invisibility, which shouldn't be too much of a problem in the Waterloo stage and the bull stage. I'm certainly not looking forward to Edgar's mind, but this all seems like it has the possibility to work out well, though I'm sure the amount of figments I get will be a squeeze to manage if I want level 20 before Boyd's mind.

bloodisblue

2010-03-06 10:08:29 pm

You have to remember that each figment on Edgar's mind and Waterloo are only worth 1 point each. I also thought I could use these as a easy way to level, they proved me wrong XD luckily I planned on using cards anyway. + The 40ish seconds it takes to collect the figments on the bridge for 60ish points is definetly worth it. If you get really crunched near the end (about 50 away) you can use the bleachers in Gloria's mind to get them but it takes about 1 minute and is out of the way.

+ I'd say that getting to level 20 by Boyd's mind isn't to hard (maybe it's because I collected the scavenger hunt), especially if you collect a couple of free rank ups in the main world (the cabin one in GED area and ontop of the main lodge are the two easiest to get and the one by the lake is easy to get to after levitate) But after 20 it gets hard to squeeze in enough figments. Because Edgar's mind and Waterloo both have most figments worth 1/2 and there are only about 100 figments so keep that in mind while leveling. So together that is likely 4/5 ranks leaving you a couple ranks behind what is required. Basically I'm just saying that not collecting the figments on the bridge makes the job later much harder and annoying. + I'd say that kick jumping is just as fast in Linda's mind but is hard to control due to the amount of targets around so collecting figments there isn't that bad of an idea.

You have to remember that each figment on Edgar's mind and Waterloo are  only worth 1 point each. I also thought I could use these as a easy way to level, they proved me wrong XD luckily I planned on using cards anyway. + The 40ish seconds it takes to collect the figments on the bridge for 60ish points is definetly worth it. If you get really crunched near the end (about 50 away) you can use the bleachers in Gloria's mind to get them but it takes about 1 minute and is out of the way.

+ I'd say that getting to level 20 by Boyd's mind isn't to hard (maybe it's because I collected the scavenger hunt), especially if you collect a couple of free rank ups in the main world (the cabin one in GED area and ontop of the main lodge are the two easiest to get and the one by the lake is easy to get to after levitate) But after 20 it gets hard to squeeze in enough figments. Because Edgar's mind and Waterloo both have most figments worth 1/2 and there are only about 100 figments so keep that in mind while leveling. So together that is likely 4/5 ranks leaving you a couple ranks behind what is required. Basically I'm just saying that not collecting the figments on the bridge makes the job later much harder and annoying. + I'd say that kick jumping is just as fast in Linda's mind but is hard to control due to the amount of targets around so collecting figments there isn't that bad of an idea.

Inexistence

Edit history:

Inexistence: 2010-03-07 09:29:06 am

2010-03-07 05:39:27 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

Yeah, you're right. Though in Edgar's mind a lot of figments are worth around 6 or so. I used this Figment Guide so I know where the figments are and how much they're worth. It should be helpful.

I've now finished both the target segment and the segment after that, which I finished after the poles, just before breaking through the wall to the ropes. I'm on rank 3 with 53 figments, and at this point the timer now shows 4:06, which I think is pretty damn good Smiley

I'm going to have a look at the 20 point figments in the Oleander finale, see which are reasonable to get, but I don't want to deviate from my shortcut, because it's very fast.

EDIT: I have finished Oleander's Mind, with a total time of 5:22. If you take off the 29 seconds for the intro that probably won't count, you get 4:53. I'm very happy with this.

For the final segment, with the rotating plank room, I managed to get one of the 20 point figments without slowing myself down. I'm very happy with how that segment turned out, and the practice runs I did, I didn't get any figments from that room, so having just that one will be very good anyway :D. I'm putting all of my segments for this level together now, it'll take a while, and I'll put it up on Youtube when it's done and I get chance Smiley

EDIT2: Oleander's Mind - 4:53

Yeah, you're right. Though in Edgar's mind a lot of figments are worth around 6 or so. I used this [url=http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=150742]Figment Guide[/url] so I know where the figments are and how much they're worth. It should be helpful.

I've now finished both the target segment and the segment after that, which I finished after the poles, just before breaking through the wall to the ropes. I'm on rank 3 with 53 figments, and at this point the timer now shows 4:06, which I think is pretty damn good :)

I'm going to have a look at the 20 point figments in the Oleander finale, see which are reasonable to get, but I don't want to deviate from my shortcut, because it's very fast.

EDIT: I have finished Oleander's Mind, with a total time of 5:22. If you take off the 29 seconds for the intro that probably won't count, you get 4:53. I'm very happy with this.

For the final segment, with the rotating plank room, I managed to get one of the 20 point figments without slowing myself down. I'm very happy with how that segment turned out, and the practice runs I did, I didn't get any figments from that room, so having just that one will be very good anyway :D. I'm putting all of my segments for this level together now, it'll take a while, and I'll put it up on Youtube when it's done and I get chance :)

EDIT2: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqEtx5fsDgw]Oleander's Mind - 4:53[/url]

bloodisblue

2010-03-07 11:02:20 am

Oleander's mind seems basically flawless Shocked

The warp at the helmet was great.
Nice job optimizing the pop up figures (I hated that part)
Nice super jump (I had trouble getting it to work where I didn't grab on the ledge)
Nice new route for the rails, it seems to be 3-4 seconds faster.

One thing I think you could have done differently (altough after double checking you're way might be faster because of the boost) is not save right after the rail segment. Every loading screen is a new autosave so instead of manually saving there you could have simply used the autosave. Besides that this level seems flawless Smiley

good job and I can't wait to see the rest of it.

Inexistence

2010-03-07 11:37:34 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

I don't understand your methods for the autosave thing. Surely once you get to the end of your segment, there's been a new autosave by the game, meaning that your save is now totally gone? How do you repeatedly try so you can get your times lower? The only way I can imagine is by constantly replacing the game's profile with the old one each attempt, which I'd certainly prefer not to do.

It's not much concern to me anyway, as I'm fine with the manual saves

bloodisblue

2010-03-07 02:34:11 pm

Yhea. You guessed exactly how I use the autosaves. I just replace the profile each time (which is fairly easy in the steam version at least). This also lets me keep a permanent back up of every spot. Though normally I reset before I get to my desired spot (like a second before I got there) if I didn't think it was fast enough. But manual saves seem to work just as well (though at the climb segment you probally need to use the auto save to get the glitched path I used)

Inexistence

2010-03-07 02:50:07 pm

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

What climb segment do you mean? Climbing the mental asylum?

Oh, I also found out something relatively obvious that's going to make my run much easier. Right next to Boyd, on a ledge above him, is a psi marker. This means I get 1 extra level to what I originally planned. Should make it all FAR easier.

bloodisblue

Edit history:

bloodisblue: 2010-03-09 07:06:07 pm

2010-03-09 06:56:01 pm

Far easier depends on what you hard/easy. If you aren't 20 already by that point without that PSI marker then you will likely have trouble getting to 30 in time. Also in case you missed where the PSI markers are I'll make a list and which ones are worth getting most likely. (This is from memory, I have a video of all of them except the asylum ones that I might post if you would like a visual guide)

Starting Zone - On the tree, definetly a get in my opinion
Main Cabin Zone - On top of the cabin. Definetly a get, although you're route to the GED zone would take about 20 more seconds, 1 rank > 20 seconds.
GED Zone - There are actually two here, one is worth it the other is questionable. The one inside the cabin is a definite yes, it will take about 15 seconds to get it compared to running straight to continue the story line. The other one requires a 45 second climb to get to the top of a tree (use the vines on the left side of the closed in facility to get to it) This is a no. There are many better uses for those 45 seconds.(such as going to the campfire zone and getting 1 PSI rank + 9 cards)
Campfire Zone - Middle of the map left side from the parking lot. About 45 seconds to collect it, but with a good route you could probally get enough cards for another rank so about 1:45 for 2 ranks I'd give this one a no though Sad

(in you're run, In my run this place is a prime area to collect the scavenger hunt peices)
Parking Lot - None that I could find.
Lakeside Zone - This area has a very easy to get one but it requires levitation. It is on the left side of the map on a giant rock jutting slightly into the water. I tried about 35 times to get it without levitation (including a couple bunnyhopping try) This will take 15 seconds and is a definite yes (I think I missed this one in my run Sad

)
Boyd's mind area - Right next to the gate a definete yes. Takes about 4 seconds.
Main Asylum Courtyard - Right above Edgar, there should be a couple banisters. Definite yes takes about 10 seconds to get this PSI rank.

I don't think I missed any important ones (seeing that anything later then the Courtyard is useless)

[Edit] Forgot to mention this but Grats on finishing the HL2 run Smiley

[/Edit]

Far easier depends on what you hard/easy. If you aren't 20 already by that point without that PSI marker then you will likely have trouble getting to 30 in time. Also in case you missed where the PSI markers are I'll make a list and which ones are worth getting most likely. (This is from memory, I have a video of all of them except the asylum ones that I might post if you would like a visual guide)

Starting Zone - On the tree, definetly a get in my opinion
Main Cabin Zone - On top of the cabin. Definetly a get, although you're route to the GED zone would take about 20 more seconds, 1 rank > 20 seconds.
GED Zone - There are actually two here, one is worth it the other is questionable. The one inside the cabin is a definite yes, it will take about 15 seconds to get it compared to running straight to continue the story line. The other one requires a 45 second climb to get to the top of a tree (use the vines on the left side of the closed in facility to get to it) This is a no. There are many better uses for those 45 seconds.(such as going to the campfire zone and getting 1 PSI rank + 9 cards)
Campfire Zone - Middle of the map left side from the parking lot. About 45 seconds to collect it, but with a good route you could probally get enough cards for another rank so about 1:45 for 2 ranks I'd give this one a no though :( (in you're run, In my run this place is a prime area to collect the scavenger hunt peices)
Parking Lot - None that I could find.
Lakeside Zone - This area has a very easy to get one but it requires levitation. It is on the left side of the map on a giant rock jutting slightly into the water. I tried about 35 times to get it without levitation (including a couple bunnyhopping try) This will take 15 seconds and is a definite yes (I think I missed this one in my run :( )
Boyd's mind area - Right next to the gate a definete yes. Takes about 4 seconds.
Main Asylum Courtyard - Right above Edgar, there should be a couple banisters. Definite yes takes about 10 seconds to get this PSI rank.

I don't think I missed any important ones (seeing that anything later then the Courtyard is useless)

[Edit] Forgot to mention this but Grats on finishing the HL2 run :) [/Edit]

Inexistence

2010-03-10 07:02:59 am

Yes, Inexistence is a word.

Thanks a lot for the list dude, I have it all planned out already, I'd just missed the one next to Boyd (And the one near Edgar, so that'll make it even easier! :D) I'm planning to get the one near Boyd after I'm at Level 20, so it's okay :). I'm planning to be at Level 20 by the time I'm out of Lungfishopolis, I'll grab my new powers, then jump up and grab the core, then go into Boyd's mind, do all that stuff in there, then carry on. I'll see what rank I'm going to be at after Edgar and Waterloo, and if I need the core I'll take it, if not I'll leave it and no big deal. I'm going to be using 18 psi cards, 5 or so of which I believe will be cobwebs. I need to count how many cobwebs I'll grab specifically too, so I don't take too many unnecessary cards for cobwebs that are in my path.

It is 1 cobweb for 1 psi card right?

So the markers I'm going to get are: Kids Cabin (Already got), Main Cabin, GED zone (Got in my latest segment after Oleander's mind), The lake (It IS possible to get that marker without levitation, but extremely difficult, and requires some very lucky and precise bunnyhopping. I'm getting it just after coming out of Milla's mind), I'll get Boyd's and perhaps the one near Edgar.

Thanks about the hl2ep1 run, I'm really happy that we've finished Cheesy

Thanks a lot for the list dude, I have it all planned out already, I'd just missed the one next to Boyd (And the one near Edgar, so that'll make it even easier! :D) I'm planning to get the one near Boyd after I'm at Level 20, so it's okay :). I'm planning to be at Level 20 by the time I'm out of Lungfishopolis, I'll grab my new powers, then jump up and grab the core, then go into Boyd's mind, do all that stuff in there, then carry on. I'll see what rank I'm going to be at after Edgar and Waterloo, and if I need the core I'll take it, if not I'll leave it and no big deal. I'm going to be using 18 psi cards, 5 or so of which I believe will be cobwebs. I need to count how many cobwebs I'll grab specifically too, so I don't take too many unnecessary cards for cobwebs that are in my path.

It is 1 cobweb for 1 psi card right?

So the markers I'm going to get are: Kids Cabin (Already got), Main Cabin, GED zone (Got in my latest segment after Oleander's mind), The lake (It IS possible to get that marker without levitation, but extremely difficult, and requires some very lucky and precise bunnyhopping. I'm getting it just after coming out of Milla's mind), I'll get Boyd's and perhaps the one near Edgar.

Thanks about the hl2ep1 run, I'm really happy that we've finished :D

bloodisblue

2010-03-11 04:35:44 pm

Yhea it is one cobweb per psi card. Also I think there are only about 2 that are required to continue (Boyd's Mind, Edgar's mind), two that are directly on the path in Waterloo (one to make a skip easier and another right to the left of the carpenters house) but those are the only ones that I remember being right on the path. Gloria's mind has quite a couple, but you have to go about 5 seconds out of you're way to get them. Plus so far you're plan sounds pretty good, but getting 6 ranks in 2 levels seems like quite a challenge especially with the two levels being waterloo and Edgar's mind. (Gloria's mind has about 60 figments in the stands which don't take very long to collect which may be helpful if you run close to the boundary)

Also about my run. I can't get acess to the computer that I use to record the run so I can't finish this weekend and during the next week. Hopefully next weekend I'll be able to finish it (seeing how close I am Smiley

)