Ratchet and Clank

RJWaters2

Edit history:

RJWaters2: 2008-03-23 08:11:06 pm

2008-03-23 08:10:12 pm

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

I used search when I decided to do the run, and only got the R&C 2 thread. I figured this had been deleted.

I did not use the trick to skip most of Nobalis (jumping across the river) because I didn't know of it at the time. I found it myself afterwards, but decided it wasn't worth starting over (I was at Umbris at the time) for to save 30 seconds and lose 100 bolts (from a pile before the bridge). I cut most of the bolt deadlines (buying infobots/gadgets) very close, most of them leveling me to less than 200 bolts.

I won't buy the decoy glove, so any skips involving that are right out. Are there any other skips I should know of? I reread the entire thread last night, but don't want to look again.

Psonar

Edit history:

Psonar: 2008-03-23 10:10:36 pm

2008-03-23 10:07:37 pm

Long live SF64!

At this point I'd say to just continue with your run as planned since you have a promising start... for good shortcuts just look in the last 2 or 3 pages where newmansage and halfmillenium were going back and forth.... the stuff before that with me and TenFold isn't nearly as valuable because I wasn't planning a run as much as trying to break the game as much as possible with decoy glove abuse.

You're right - reading a whole topic in one night is exhausting... oh and be sure to bookmark this topic... that and if you use the google search on the game selection page or go to google.com's advanced search and specify sda as the site, then the word "yabb" in your search and you should be able to find the forum thread....

sorry for the vague reply - I'll look more thoroughly through the topic to see if I can dig up some of the planning that's already occured.

You can also find stuff by clicking the link to "print" the topic... that wil give you the whole topic on one page so that you can search for level names and stuff with CTRL+F... just highlight something on the page first to begin your CTRL+F search below that.

Please don't be overwhelmed by the amount of content in this topic... if your run doesn't include all of the stuff mentioned here, that's ok, you started out outside the forum, and its impossible to incorporate a mountain of unorganized and often conflicting advice when you've already got a direction for your run. Don't shirk planning, but don't get overwhelmed and quit either.

By the way, nice work so far! Keep it up!

At this point I'd say to just continue with your run as planned since you have a promising start... for good shortcuts just look in the last 2 or 3 pages where newmansage and halfmillenium were going back and forth.... the stuff before that with me and TenFold isn't nearly as valuable because I wasn't planning a run as much as trying to break the game as much as possible with decoy glove abuse.

You're right - reading a whole topic in one night is exhausting... oh and be sure to bookmark this topic... that and if you use the google search on the game selection page or go to google.com's advanced search and specify sda as the site, then the word "yabb" in your search and you should be able to find the forum thread....

sorry for the vague reply - I'll look more thoroughly through the topic to see if I can dig up some of the planning that's already occured.

You can also find stuff by clicking the link to "print" the topic... that wil give you the whole topic on one page so that you can search for level names and stuff with CTRL+F... just highlight something on the page first to begin your CTRL+F search below that.

Please don't be overwhelmed by the amount of content in this topic... if your run doesn't include all of the stuff mentioned here, that's ok, you started out outside the forum, and its impossible to incorporate a mountain of unorganized and often conflicting advice when you've already got a direction for your run.  Don't shirk planning, but don't get overwhelmed and quit either.

By the way, nice work so far! Keep it up!

RJWaters2

2008-03-24 04:22:15 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

8th segment done, new projected time of sub-1:40.
I think I'll have to buy the blaster -- I didn't get any ammo in the Drek battle.

RJWaters2

2008-03-25 05:12:42 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

Segment 9 finished. 50:00 at Orxon. I plan on buying the Blaster and some other weapon (probably Mine Glove) instead of the devastator, so I can get ammo on Drek's fight. I probably won't be able to buy either until after the 1st Giant Clank battle due to bolt costs. The last thing I buy is the Qwartu infobot on Oltanis, but I probably won't get 4,500 bolts at that point. (enough for the blaster and infobot)

Update:
Segment 10 finished. Expecting to be on Quartu by 1:10.

Psonar

2008-03-25 07:36:21 am

Long live SF64!

Nice progress.... I'm sorry to throw a kink in your plans with the Blaster, but hopefully it'll save a minute or two in the Drek battle.

How's the run looking? Any deaths or major mistakes in the segments you've kept so far? It might be ok if there are, if that was still your best attempt at that segment, I was just wondering.

Sounds like you're making great progress! Keep it up!

Oh yeah, how are you recording? DVD Recorder?

RJWaters2

2008-03-25 11:32:44 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

I couldn't live with an unintentional death. I do use death abuse at least once, but no mistakes as major as a death. The biggest mistake I've let slide so far was going back for a gadgebot that died in the area where you need 10 (the last gadgebot area)
I've decided to buy the blaster on Hoven and the Pyrociter before the Drek battle, and that makes my final arsenal Bomb glove, pyrociter, and blaster. I should have about 500 bolts left over to buy ammo at the end.
I have also cut the run back down to 17 segments.
I am wondering if I should save after beating Drek, but before pressing the switch, to show final time? It would eliminate any need for manual timing.

If I can get my stupid DVD encoder to work, I could get maybe the first segment up for viewing tomorrow.

Psonar

2008-03-25 01:13:49 pm

Long live SF64!

Have you looked into SDA's anri-chan software? It automates the process of creating SDA quality videos from DVD or avi source files...

http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb

Anri-chan is the top link there at the SDA kb (knowledge base). I linked you to the main kb page so that you can see what else is there if you ever need any other info...

anri-chan is capable of producing 6 different quality levels, so if you're looking to make sample videos you might go with the Normal quality h.264 .mp4 encoding or Normal quality xvid... just some suggestions - that and don't be shy about starting a topic in Tech Support to get some expert advice if you run into trouble...

Linkinito

2008-03-25 08:13:36 pm

This is my avatar

Quote:

I've decided to buy the blaster on Hoven and the Pyrociter before the Drek battle, and that makes my final arsenal Bomb glove, pyrociter, and blaster. I should have about 500 bolts left over to buy ammo at the end.

I wonder HOW you manage to beat Drek with this arsenal. I can't beat him without Devastator.
Dunno however if it would be faster to collect some bolts to buy Devastator and beat Drek faster.

RJWaters2

Edit history:

RJWaters2: 2008-03-25 08:29:05 pm

2008-03-25 08:26:34 pm

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

Psonar- I've downloaded and attempted to use Anri-Chan 3 times before, once on Vista and twice on XP, but gotten errors all times. I'll give it another go and actually report my problem this time :p Also, I don't have the physical DVD anymore (my DVD recorder overheat-ed it) just the Video_RM and Video_TS folders. I don't think that will be a problem, though.

Linkinito- I use bomb glove when he's launching fire bombs, and blaster all other times. When he's out of range, I just try to empty pyrociter ammo (to get some blaster ammo to spawn) I've got no chance of collecting an extra 7,000 bolts to buy the devastator.

Psonar

2008-03-26 07:13:59 am

Long live SF64!

I've had mixed luck with anrichan 1, 2, 2b, and 3, but now I'm having good experiences with it, and I've used it to encode my last 2 runs. Hopefully it will work out for you.

That's too bad about the Devastator, but keep pressing forward. If you lose a minute on the Drek fight because of other decisions that saved time throughout the run, that shouldn't be too much of a loss.

I seem to remember not being able to get past one part without the devastator... the spacestation where you take out the towers to lower the forefields (wow I'm rusty on level names... Oltanis?)

Also, I had immense trouble with the last romp through Veldin before the Drek fight... how are you doing with that last level? Do you have a solid method down, or is it a struggle?

RJWaters2

2008-03-27 08:11:58 pm

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

You're right Psonar, I'll have to buy the Devastor instead of the blaster. I might have to do some bolt hoarding in my hoven segment, or start the whole run over again.
I think I'll restart. New route:
Seg 1: Veldin and Nobalis
Seg 2: Metropolis and Eudora
Seg 3: Aridia and get Grindboots on BTS
Seg 4: The rest of BTS

From there on, the route stays the same. I'll need to do more bolt gathering throughout the whole game to buy the devastator in time.

Psonar

2008-03-28 01:35:14 am

Long live SF64!

Hey, I started playing some R&C again for fun and maybe to help support you, and I just remembered something pretty important... pressing start only skips cutscenes up until "Entering Atmosphere of Planet Novalis" but after that you can still skip all cutscenes by pressing all of Start +Select +R1 +L1 +R2 +L2... I usually hold the R's L's and select and rapidly mash start to clear the cutscene ASAP.

You may have picked up on that trick, but it's a lifesaver if you didn't already know about it... it didn't get mentioned on the forums here until after I stopped playing a lot of R&C last summer.

I may try and make a segment 1 video for the heck of it so that you can tell me how yours compares. It's a lot easier to talk strategy when you've got something to look at. Then again you may get more done with less talking...

Good luck!

RJWaters2

Edit history:

RJWaters2: 2008-03-28 04:52:29 am

2008-03-28 04:50:56 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

Yes, actually, you don't even have to include 'select'. The shoulder buttons and start skip cutscenes alone. Wink

I am now doing the aforementioned 'River skip' in Nobalis. It skips going up the steps to the bridge, and crossing said bridge. Because of this, I have leave Veldin with over 900 bolts to still end up with 4000 in Blackwater. (pretty much all bolt planning is centered around having 4000 at Rilgar, then after that, having 10,000 on Gemlik Base)

Just out of boredom/testing my new route, I threw together a single-segment run (not recorded). After defeating Drek, I stood on the button to end the game, and saved with a time of 1:59. There were at least 15 deaths (I had a bad time on Oltanis) Based on this SS, I am going for sub-1:25 segmented.

Another change in my route that saves some time: After buying the Swingshot, I re-climbed the training course and went to where the gold bolt and ~800 bolts were for extra bolts. It took ~45 seconds. By cutting that out and collecting smaller amounts not far out of my way, I can save a lot of time.

Was there ever a decision reached on which was faster to do first, the plumber infobot or the Mayor infobot?

And I get more done when there is more interest shown. If I'm checking the forums when I wake up and see a new post here, it compels me to get moving instead of sitting around for 2 hours, or eating.

Yes, actually, you don't even have to include 'select'.  The shoulder buttons and start skip cutscenes alone.  ;)
I am now doing the aforementioned 'River skip' in Nobalis.  It skips going up the steps to the bridge, and crossing said bridge.  Because of this, I have leave Veldin with over 900 bolts to still end up with 4000 in Blackwater.  (pretty much all bolt planning is centered around having 4000 at Rilgar, then after that, having 10,000 on Gemlik Base)

Just out of boredom/testing my new route, I threw together a single-segment run (not recorded).  After defeating Drek, I stood on the button to end the game, and saved with a time of 1:59.  There were at least 15 deaths (I had a bad time on Oltanis)  Based on this SS, I am going for sub-1:25 segmented.

Another change in my route that saves some time:  After buying the Swingshot, I re-climbed the training course and went to where the gold bolt and ~800 bolts were for extra bolts.  It took ~45 seconds. By cutting that out and collecting smaller amounts not far out of my way, I can save a lot of time.

Was there ever a decision reached on which was faster to do first, the plumber infobot or the Mayor infobot?

And I get more done when there is more interest shown.  If I'm checking the forums when I wake up and see a new post here, it compels me to get moving instead of sitting around for 2 hours, or eating.

Psonar

2008-03-28 05:55:24 am

Long live SF64!

I think the consensus was that the plumber is the more natural first choice...

I'm not sure if that was just what folks liked doing or if there was much of a reason for it. I figure when you come back from seeing the mayor, you're in line to get in the ship as opposed to when you first arrive on the planet, you're closer to the cave, but that's only a second here or there. Also, you're more likely to botch the plumber route, so thats less time wasted on a reset if you fall in or miss a jump or whatever. Bomb usage would be the only other factor, but as long as you have 1 or 2 bombs for the 3 enemies near the major, you're fine.

RJWaters2

2008-03-28 06:03:23 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

Solid, I prefer the plumber first. I'm trying my best to get on Metropolis with ~1400 bolts with 0:04 on the clock.

RJWaters2

2008-03-28 11:30:08 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

Update: 2 segments recorded. I'm currently two minutes ahead of my last run, and after each segment, I'm playing through until Gemlik to make sure I've got the bolts for the devastator/the bolts to bribe the bouncer on Blackwater.

RJWaters2

2008-03-29 02:21:20 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

Update: 2 segments recorded. I'm currently two minutes ahead of my last run, and after each segment, I'm playing through until Gemlik to make sure I've got the bolts for the devastator/the bolts to bribe the bouncer on Blackwater.

Update: 3rd segment done, hoping for 20:00 on Blackwater. at this rate, I might be able to get on Drek's Fleet by 1:00!

Psonar

2008-03-29 05:54:36 am

Long live SF64!

Sweet!

Keep it up dude, saving 2 minutes off the first run in the first few segments is crazy... you really needed to restart the run anyway it sounds like.

That's a nice way of planning, playing ahead of your current segment to see how it will pan out. While a fairly simple concept, I hadn't really thought of segmenting that way before - I often just stop at the current segment. Then again I didn't get serious enough with Ratchet and Clank to record, and my other segmented run doesn't carry over stats from level to level, so I guess that makes sense.

Anyways, it sounds like things are coming together. Be sure to watch your segments the next day or so and think about whether or not you're happy with them before getting too much further. Get a good one, then hold it as a back-up and see if you can "prove" that its your best by trying to beat it. Then move on only when you're convinced it's your best attempt.

Any struggles you'd like to share? Anything up until now that has been a real run-killer?

Sweet!

Keep it up dude, saving 2 minutes off the first run in the first few segments is crazy... you really needed to restart the run anyway it sounds like.

That's a nice way of planning, playing ahead of your current segment to see how it will pan out.  While a fairly simple concept, I hadn't really thought of segmenting that way before - I often just stop at the current segment. Then again I didn't get serious enough with Ratchet and Clank to record, and my other segmented run doesn't carry over stats from level to level, so I guess that makes sense.

Anyways, it sounds like things are coming together.  Be sure to watch your segments the next day or so and think about whether or not you're happy with them before getting too much further.  Get a good one, then hold it as a back-up and see if you can "prove" that its your best by trying to beat it.  Then move on only when you're convinced it's your best attempt.

Any struggles you'd like to share? Anything up until now that has been a real run-killer?

RJWaters2

2008-03-29 06:07:16 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

The first run was horribly planned compared to this new one. The hardest part of the segment I'm on now is surviving to the Grindboots while going fast. Those aliens aren't easy to dodge. I luckily realized I can get a lot of bolts by bombing the frogs in the tunnels, as they give dark bolts (which are worth more).

Another goal of mine is to only visit the Gadgetron vendor when buying a weapon, not for ammo.

13013

(user is banned)

2008-03-29 09:47:42 am

Yes Mario Riding A Pole

WHY HAS NOBODY POSTED OR SUBMITTED A VIDEO OF RACHET AND CLANK? WHY DO YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT AND NOT EVEN SUBMIT ONE. GO AHEAD AND SUBMIT A CRAPPY TIMED RUN AND THEN WORK ON THE BETTER TIMED ONE SO AT LEAST PEOPLE CAN SEE IT.

13013

(user is banned)

2008-03-29 09:48:04 am

Yes Mario Riding A Pole

Sorry caps was on and sorry for a double post.

RJWaters2

2008-03-29 09:52:24 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

I'm pretty sure someone did submit a single-segment run that was sub-par. When that happens, the SDA rejects it as not good enough. Lawd. Use the Edit button.

13013

(user is banned)

2008-03-29 10:02:00 am

Yes Mario Riding A Pole

Quote:

As for when I will have a run ready to submit, I'm aiming for the end of the month at the latest, and next weekend at the earliest. If you didn't see my previous posts, I have a video of my 1:51:57 practice run up on FileFront; part 1 is here and part 2 is here (I had to split the run due to insufficient space on my hard drive). Remember that I've changed a lot of what I do since then, so if it seems like I'm wasting time in the video I probably don't do that anymore now.

Well they dont work anymore so can you reupload them.

RJWaters2

Edit history:

RJWaters2: 2008-03-29 11:00:06 am

2008-03-29 10:59:49 am

two rows of links on main page pretty nifty

He doesn't go here anymore.

NK3233

2008-03-29 11:52:53 am

It's-a me, Stalin!

The rejected SS is a good reason to post segments on YouTube. The only thing worse than having your run rejected is being raped.