Rayman 2: The Great Escape

2017-01-22 05:05:34 am

Just a little thing I found out which is so obvious, it seems silly it wasn't found by any runners or glitchhunters, though it has been reported that someone came across a similar thing here in a casual playthrough.

I found this while I was trying to find out about the easter egg that's supposedly hidden in the Sanctuary of Stone & Fire. It was based on this forum post: http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/834244-Rayman-2-The-Sanctuary-of-Stone-and-Fire-Secret-Forums

It's possible I may've activated this secret many many years ago but I wouldn't know for sure. Is there anyone else this has happened to? And if so, or they might know something about this secret, please do share, because I'm quite intrigued and curious about this secret, which we after the game existing for already 17 years, we haven't figured out yet...

Darnok_PL

2017-04-15 06:36:15 am

I have finally found a consistent way to make a wrong teleport on first door - you simply have to get oob earlier once (for example with plum clip) and then you just press up-right while helicoptering into door.

Saves almost 2 min over full plum-clip...

Darnok_PL

Edit history:

Darnok_PL: 2017-04-22 02:34:34 am

2017-04-22 02:34:12 am

Well, at last I have a pleasure to post any% run with all the newest strats including Jano Skip, Shell Wall Climb and Stone & Fire 2 skip.

SoB after this run is 1:50:58. If I had a consistent setup for S&F2 it would go down by another minute, because for now my best S&F2 in run saved 40s (it is possible to save 1m40s)...

Manocheese

2017-04-30 06:34:57 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

After a long absence, I started playing Rayman 2 again a month ago. I've been doing some playthroughs of the game to refresh my memory and review my strategies. A benefit of not playing for a while is that I can approach the game with a fresh set of eyes, which has helped me spot some new timesavers. I haven't spent a lot of time looking at the tricks that have been found in the past couple years, but I did play around with the Cave of Bad Dreams boss skip. Here's a video of the new tricks I found, the Jano skip on N64, and a few strategies for some old tricks:

Sobinist, nice work figuring out how to exploit the Buccaneer cutscene counter on PS2. It looks like the PS2 version is much glitchier than the others; here's a run in 12:37 from FrozenFrog.

Darnok, congratulations on your runs. I haven't watched them yet, but I look forward to doing so. Have you tried this trick to skip the Cave of Bad Dreams? The video is for the PS2 version, but it's worth trying on PC. By dying in the Clark cutscene, you can prevent the cutscene from activating again, allowing you to go out of bounds and reach the next area.

I plan to look at the tricks that have been found in the last couple years and see which ones can be done on N64. So far, the only ones I've looked at are the Jano skip and this Menhir Hills trick. The Jano skip works, but the Menhir Hills trick does not. You can climb the wall, but nothing happens when you go out of bounds.

Once I've learned the new tricks, I intend to continue running the game. My ultimate goal is to get sub-2:30 100% and sub-2 any%, but it remains to be seen how feasible those times are.

After a long absence, I started playing Rayman 2 again a month ago. I've been doing some playthroughs of the game to refresh my memory and review my strategies. A benefit of not playing for a while is that I can approach the game with a fresh set of eyes, which has helped me spot some new timesavers. I haven't spent a lot of time looking at the tricks that have been found in the past couple years, but I did play around with the Cave of Bad Dreams boss skip. Here's a video of the new tricks I found, the Jano skip on N64, and a few strategies for some old tricks:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJqJMf9spmk[/url]

Sobinist, nice work figuring out how to exploit the Buccaneer cutscene counter on PS2. It looks like the PS2 version is much glitchier than the others; here's a run in [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VJM7CQyOwg"]12:37[/url] from FrozenFrog.

Darnok, congratulations on your runs. I haven't watched them yet, but I look forward to doing so. Have you tried [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdsBetVzMjc"]this trick[/url] to skip the Cave of Bad Dreams? The video is for the PS2 version, but it's worth trying on PC. By dying in the Clark cutscene, you can prevent the cutscene from activating again, allowing you to go out of bounds and reach the next area.

I plan to look at the tricks that have been found in the last couple years and see which ones can be done on N64. So far, the only ones I've looked at are the Jano skip and [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umaRz2n5Ows"]this Menhir Hills trick[/url]. The Jano skip works, but the Menhir Hills trick does not. You can climb the wall, but nothing happens when you go out of bounds.

Once I've learned the new tricks, I intend to continue running the game. My ultimate goal is to get sub-2:30 100% and sub-2 any%, but it remains to be seen how feasible those times are.

Darnok_PL

Edit history:

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-01 02:45:47 am

2017-05-01 02:45:39 am

Welcome back, Manocheese!

Most of new PC strats will work on N64. Also nice vid, there are some interesting and pretty easy optimization, which might be useful for everyone.

We were trying getting out of bounds on shell in Menhir Hills 2 by turning around in room with bridges and by doing shell wall climb but both end in a softlock - shell and Rayman disappear, you have 0 health and can't do anything...

KirbyComment

Edit history:

KirbyComment: 2017-05-01 08:41:56 am

KirbyComment: 2017-05-01 08:41:26 am

2017-05-01 07:50:43 am

I'm really happy to see you've made your return, ManoCheese. To be honest I was convinced you were off the chart.

And this is nice for one of our new runners: Burnsies. He runs the game on N64 and was the only current runner to run this version, so we've been struggling to help him. He's at the moment not actively running, but maybe now that you're back, he could get back into it and perhaps you can help him out and give tips.

Nice big video with several tricks and observations. A few of these we definitely didn't know about and will be useful.

I also could let you know that once summer break starts, I'm planning on going for sub 2 Any% as well, and when I get a run I'm satisfied with, I will submit the run to SDA. I don't know if it will happen yet because I need to send them a test encode first. I just kind of did this partly because I assumed you'd never come back. I will still do runs to submit a run to SDA, but if you were planning to do the same, I'll let you submit your own run, as I think you deserve the spotlight on SDA more than I would. You've been running this game since over a decade ago.

I'm really happy to see you've made your return, ManoCheese. To be honest I was convinced you were off the chart.

And this is nice for one of our new runners: Burnsies. He runs the game on N64 and was the only current runner to run this version, so we've been struggling to help him. He's at the moment not actively running, but maybe now that you're back, he could get back into it and perhaps you can help him out and give tips.

Nice big video with several tricks and observations. A few of these we definitely didn't know about and will be useful.

I also could let you know that once summer break starts, I'm planning on going for sub 2 Any% as well, and when I get a run I'm satisfied with, I will submit the run to SDA. I don't know if it will happen yet because I need to send them a test encode first. I just kind of did this partly because I assumed you'd never come back. I will still do runs to submit a run to SDA, but if you were planning to do the same, I'll let you submit your own run, as I think you deserve the spotlight on SDA more than I would. You've been running this game since over a decade ago.

Manocheese

2017-05-01 05:41:54 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

Thank you.

Kirby, don't feel like you need to defer to me; if you get a good run, then by all means, you should submit it.

Manocheese

2017-05-01 08:04:59 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

I found a much easier way to skip hiding in the bush in the Canopy! Cheesy

This makes the pirate skip very feasible in a run.

KirbyComment

2017-05-02 06:05:08 am

I'll just submit whatever I get to SDA myself then. Though if it turns out my encode won't match the quality standards, then you may submit whatever you want yourself.

Also nice job finding that. Do you need to be against the wall to be able to do this, or does it work from any angle?

Manocheese

2017-05-02 07:24:07 am

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

You need to be against the wall. If you approach from other angles, the door won't open unless you're far away.

Manocheese

Edit history:

Manocheese: 2017-05-07 10:39:01 am

2017-05-06 06:23:11 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

A few timesavers:

EDIT: I timed using the skull teleport in Cave of Bad Dreams to get the lums, death warping, and doing the boss skip. It's a few seconds slower than just doing the fight normally.

Darnok_PL

2017-05-10 02:28:02 pm

It is possible to get OoB at very ending of Tomb of Ancients 1 and fly directly to 1000th lum without fighting pirates.

Saves ~15s for 100% run, if you combine it with Loadgame-warp in Walk of Power (you don't need golden fist anymore).

KirbyComment

2017-05-10 02:31:15 pm

Nice find, yet another reason why I can't be satisfied with my current PB. Does that spider cutscene happen only if you respawn? Like if you don't do the deathwarp after the second switch, would this cutscene still occur?

Darnok_PL

2017-05-10 02:43:08 pm

I've checked it and you were right - spider cutscene happen only if you deathwarp before. However deathwarping is still faster than not getting spider cutscene.

Manocheese

2017-05-11 10:04:59 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

I did a few run attempts in order to get a better idea of what kinds of times are possible and how far I am from breaking 2:30. I ended up with a 2:32:09. Here's the video:

This run shows that sub-2:30 is definitely possible. I've still only looked into a few of the new timesavers and watched some bits and pieces of Darnok's runs, so I'm going to spend some time going through those and seeing what timesavers can be used on N64. I'm confident that I can get sub-2:30.

KirbyComment

Edit history:

KirbyComment: 2017-05-12 09:27:00 am

KirbyComment: 2017-05-12 09:23:57 am

KirbyComment: 2017-05-12 09:23:49 am

KirbyComment: 2017-05-12 09:21:18 am

2017-05-12 09:20:09 am

Nice run ManoCheese, I'm sure you can get the sub 2:30.

Also just a little optimization trick you probably haven't caught on to yet. There's this thing that if Rayman is falling while strafing, his forward speed is slightly higher than if you aren't holding strafe. There's some sections where you can abuse that by repeadetly canceling and reactivating your hover. When you do that, you'll see Rayman jet forward a little bit. There isn't really a name for it, but personally I refer to it as Jet Boosting. My most recent 100% and Treasure run at the very least do it. I don't think Darnok abuses this trick. It's mainly me who's going for the optimal movement optimizations for the most part. One place where Jet Boosting is especially useful, is the long drop in Precipice 3. In general though, this trick can be applied in any situation where you would hover to reach a platform.

Darnok_PL

Edit history:

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-12 12:58:07 pm

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-12 10:44:43 am

2017-05-12 10:44:12 am

For that strafing optimization it is worth adding that doing it makes Rayman move faster horizontally, but he also loses height faster - that's why it is good if you fly to a platform and can exchange height for horizontal speed. For me (PC) the best place to abuse it is Jano skip (not for N64 though).

KirbyComment

2017-05-13 02:04:34 am

Perhaps another thing that should be tested. On PC there was an airswim found in Whale Bay 2, where you hug the wall that's in front of you when you enter the level as you're swimming on land. Doing this will cause Rayman to not regain his normal physics and if done right, Rayman will zip slightly upwards and allow for airswimming. This could be something that's not just limited for PC, so perhaps this can be tested on N64? If this works, it will allow you to get the 10-Lum cage behind the wall, which for the PC route is faster to get. For N64 it naturally should be faster too and it would really help considering how tight the Lum route is for Any%. And of course it would be useful for 100% as well.

Manocheese

2017-05-13 01:37:15 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

Quote from KirbyComment:

Also just a little optimization trick you probably haven't caught on to yet. There's this thing that if Rayman is falling while strafing, his forward speed is slightly higher than if you aren't holding strafe. There's some sections where you can abuse that by repeadetly canceling and reactivating your hover. When you do that, you'll see Rayman jet forward a little bit. There isn't really a name for it, but personally I refer to it as Jet Boosting. My most recent 100% and Treasure run at the very least do it. I don't think Darnok abuses this trick. It's mainly me who's going for the optimal movement optimizations for the most part. One place where Jet Boosting is especially useful, is the long drop in Precipice 3. In general though, this trick can be applied in any situation where you would hover to reach a platform.

Nice. This saves a few seconds just in the big drop in the Precipice, and probably a few seconds more if it's done consistently throughout the game.

I've tried that Whale Bay airswim and I haven't gotten it to work on N64.

[quote="KirbyComment"]Also just a little optimization trick you probably haven't caught on to yet. There's this thing that if Rayman is falling while strafing, his forward speed is slightly higher than if you aren't holding strafe. There's some sections where you can abuse that by repeadetly canceling and reactivating your hover. When you do that, you'll see Rayman jet forward a little bit. There isn't really a name for it, but personally I refer to it as Jet Boosting. My most recent 100% and Treasure run at the very least do it. I don't think Darnok abuses this trick. It's mainly me who's going for the optimal movement optimizations for the most part. One place where Jet Boosting is especially useful, is the long drop in Precipice 3. In general though, this trick can be applied in any situation where you would hover to reach a platform.[/quote]

Nice. This saves a few seconds just in the big drop in the Precipice, and probably a few seconds more if it's done consistently throughout the game.

I've tried that Whale Bay airswim and I haven't gotten it to work on N64.

Darnok_PL

Edit history:

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-13 04:39:19 pm

2017-05-13 04:38:55 pm

I've looked at something that was found a few years ago on different platform and it also worked out on PC but wasn't easy

However it is ca. 13s faster but you skip 5 lums that are worth 10s, so timesave for route is ca. 3s - not worth doing until we skip checkpoints Tongue

Manocheese

2017-05-13 07:35:35 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

Nice. I've tried that quite a few times on N64 without any success. Since it's now possible on Dreamcast and PC, I gave it another go on N64 and got it. Here's a video of the trick along with a few others:

Manocheese

2017-05-28 06:20:46 pm

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

A few tricks (nothing major):

Darnok, I watched your 100% run. Great job! It was pretty clean throughout. Unfortunately, I don't think the major timesavers (like the out-of-bounds stuff in Sanctuary of Stone and Fire) will work on N64, but I noticed quite a few smaller timesavers that should work on both versions. I'll watch your any% run as well. Do you plan to submit any runs to SDA?

Darnok_PL

Edit history:

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-29 12:51:31 am

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-29 12:51:12 am

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-28 11:43:08 pm

2017-05-28 11:42:42 pm

Hmm, SDA wants me to record on native resolution, while I prefer to always record it on constant 640x480 to make OBS eat less memory and PC. Also I feel satisfied with just putting movies on YouTube.

For Canopy pole skip: the reason why it is working is that running forward increases a range of your bullets, which allows you to reach to pole from autoaim area, that was intended to be to far away. That's why I want to repeatedly come back and forward. Also I've improve it last time, by running forward normally instead of strafing, because that way you run faster.

There are 3 min of free timesavers for my 100% now, the major one is this:

...and additionally Canopy pirate and bush skips...

Manocheese

Edit history:

Manocheese: 2017-05-29 11:15:34 am

2017-05-29 11:08:01 am

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

One thing I tried recently (and forgot to mention in my last post) is running out of time after getting the last lum in Walk of Life or Walk of Power. If you could time it so that you grab the last lum with almost no time left, I think you could save a few seconds by exiting through the entrance rather than finishing normally. Unfortunately, no matter what combination of checkpoints I skipped, I didn't find a way to grab the last lum with very little time left. I tried in both levels.

Darnok_PL

Edit history:

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-29 12:52:16 pm

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-29 12:51:54 pm

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-29 12:51:36 pm

Darnok_PL: 2017-05-29 12:50:50 pm

2017-05-29 12:50:33 pm

Well, for N64 it might actually save time, for PC I already have a way to skip it (I'll include it in my future runs): starting new game creates a 0.0% savegame - if I don't overwrite it anytime and load this savestate it in the middle of level, Rayman appears in Hall of Doors with all lums and cages collected. I am gonna use it in both Walks and after getting an elixir from Jano (which I did in my any% PB in 34:33).