I wanted to see a thread for Solar Jetman, so here we go... I don't expect very much activity for this game, so I guess the thread can serve both for runs using warps and no-warp runs (the only two categories that make sense), without risk of being cluttered.
I'd like to eventually get into working on a no-warp run. So far, I've done an emu test run. Here's a summary of it (sw - small wormhole):
Although the game is huge and confusing for casual players (at least until the mapping devices have been collected), the speedrun routing is actually pretty straight-forward most of the time. I won't comment below if one route clearly stands out from watching a map of the planet (available on gamefaqs etc). One thing that's not immediately apparent from a map is the fuel situation. It was a bit tight on a planet or two, but I think overall that the fuel canisters/spare ships scattered around are enough to get through the planets without having to worry about the fuel.
* Planet 1 - The shields must be collected on this planet. They're not strictly required, but anything else would be suicide.
* Shop - Titanium bullets (800)
* Planet 2 - Picking up the speed boosters.
* Planet 4 - X-movement in the space suit is 5% faster than in the pod, so it might be possible to do part of the last underwater stretch like that (or all of it if one wants to death abuse to save time). In practice, it's probably too hard though and it's a fairly small time gain.
* Planet 5 - The fuel cells and sw are spread out in such a way that several different routes are possible just by studying a planet map. I came up with 6 plausible routes. The fastest, but only by a second or so, was the following one. 1) Take fuel #1 below, right of the mother ship back to the mother ship. 2) Continue down left and bring fuel #2 to the sw. 3) Break pod and enter sw. 4) Take fuel #3 on the far right top to the sw on the right side. 5) Take fuel #4 (nearby) back to the same sw. 6) Head right and follow the path to the large wormhole.
* Planet 6 - In order to have enough money for an Italian racing pod after planet 7, start out by picking up the artefact that's up and left from the mother ship. Compared to other items, that treasure is well suited because it's worth ~5000 and not too much out of the way.
* Planet 7 - Use the red diamond in the underwater section for the "red diamond trick" (circle around it repeatedly while towing it for a total gain of 8775). There are also red diamonds on planets 3, 4, 5 and 6, but they are not good for several reasons. By collecting all the diamonds in the bonus games between planets and with the extra money collected on this planet and on planet 6, the total money should now be ~28000.
* Shop - Italian racing pod (can warp between the sw of a planet, 25000) and double-strength boosters (1000) and maybe star bullets (400).
* Shop (after planet 9) - Smart bombs (just what it sounds like) and/or military bullet system (very powerful upgrade to the regular cannon). Both of these are expensive, but money isn't a problem at this point.
The test run took around 1:06 (one hour six minutes) on the European version. It was not at all optimized gameplay, but more to test the route.
There are a couple of shop items that are worth mentioning:
- Time bombs are effective against certain enemies, but are difficult to place correctly and will mostly end up wasting time. Over the course of such a long run, it doesn't feel realistic to rely on repeated use of something that on average wastes time.
- Smart bombs and military bullet system only become available in the shop before planet 10. They are both useful, but buying them costs a few seconds and another second or two is lost equipping them between planets. They do make a few parts easier/more reliable though, so it might be worth it simply because of that.
- Star bullets are a bit like a joker. Very powerful, but slightly unreliable. If they can be wielded correctly through practice/experience, it might be possible to save time with them.
I'd like to eventually get into working on a no-warp run. So far, I've done an emu test run. Here's a summary of it (sw - small wormhole):
Although the game is huge and confusing for casual players (at least until the mapping devices have been collected), the speedrun routing is actually pretty straight-forward most of the time. I won't comment below if one route clearly stands out from watching a map of the planet (available on gamefaqs etc). One thing that's not immediately apparent from a map is the fuel situation. It was a bit tight on a planet or two, but I think overall that the fuel canisters/spare ships scattered around are enough to get through the planets without having to worry about the fuel.
* Planet 1 - The shields must be collected on this planet. They're not strictly required, but anything else would be suicide.
* Shop - Titanium bullets (800)
* Planet 2 - Picking up the speed boosters.
* Planet 4 - X-movement in the space suit is 5% faster than in the pod, so it might be possible to do part of the last underwater stretch like that (or all of it if one wants to death abuse to save time). In practice, it's probably too hard though and it's a fairly small time gain.
* Planet 5 - The fuel cells and sw are spread out in such a way that several different routes are possible just by studying a planet map. I came up with 6 plausible routes. The fastest, but only by a second or so, was the following one. 1) Take fuel #1 below, right of the mother ship back to the mother ship. 2) Continue down left and bring fuel #2 to the sw. 3) Break pod and enter sw. 4) Take fuel #3 on the far right top to the sw on the right side. 5) Take fuel #4 (nearby) back to the same sw. 6) Head right and follow the path to the large wormhole.
* Planet 6 - In order to have enough money for an Italian racing pod after planet 7, start out by picking up the artefact that's up and left from the mother ship. Compared to other items, that treasure is well suited because it's worth ~5000 and not too much out of the way.
* Planet 7 - Use the red diamond in the underwater section for the "red diamond trick" (circle around it repeatedly while towing it for a total gain of 8775). There are also red diamonds on planets 3, 4, 5 and 6, but they are not good for several reasons. By collecting all the diamonds in the bonus games between planets and with the extra money collected on this planet and on planet 6, the total money should now be ~28000.
* Shop - Italian racing pod (can warp between the sw of a planet, 25000) and double-strength boosters (1000) and maybe star bullets (400).
* Shop (after planet 9) - Smart bombs (just what it sounds like) and/or military bullet system (very powerful upgrade to the regular cannon). Both of these are expensive, but money isn't a problem at this point.
The test run took around 1:06 (one hour six minutes) on the European version. It was not at all optimized gameplay, but more to test the route.
There are a couple of shop items that are worth mentioning:
- Time bombs are effective against certain enemies, but are difficult to place correctly and will mostly end up wasting time. Over the course of such a long run, it doesn't feel realistic to rely on repeated use of something that on average wastes time.
- Smart bombs and military bullet system only become available in the shop before planet 10. They are both useful, but buying them costs a few seconds and another second or two is lost equipping them between planets. They do make a few parts easier/more reliable though, so it might be worth it simply because of that.
- Star bullets are a bit like a joker. Very powerful, but slightly unreliable. If they can be wielded correctly through practice/experience, it might be possible to save time with them.
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