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Edit history:
ktwo: 2021-02-14 09:47:54 am
UraniumAnchor: 2014-02-26 04:05:04 pm
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/SolomonsKey.html

Solomon's Key (Any %) (Single Segment)

Verifier Responses

Quote:
I will start by saying I love this run.  Well routed.  Well executed.  I think the manipulation of hit boxes is what makes the run a pleasure to watch.  Things like the jump in room 14 I verbally applauded when I watched it.  Routing in 22 was great.  Room 30 was great.  Nice block in 39.

Just some thoughts:  I wonder if room 21 could have had faster block forming.  Room 45 had slight hesitations for enemy movement.  Maybe there's a route that eliminates the hesitations.  These are the kind of things I have to find in the run to comment on.  Of course, there are the narrow, cross gap jumps that can always be done, but there are really only a few instances where the runner takes it safe and puts a block down.  Seems to be as many risky jumps as safe blocks dropped, and I love it.

I can say, as someone who never, ever got very far in Solomon's Key when I played it (so basically anyone that played it), that this is one of my favorite speedruns I've seen.  Easy accept.


Quote from PJ:
This is PJ.

Audio and video look good, although the text after finishing level 15 (4:55) is not white like the other levels.  It is green like the background.  I am unsure if this is normal or not, since I've never played this on console.  I don't recall seeing this in his other runs of this, though.  Might be worth checking out.

Ktwo is a monster at this game, and this run is amazing.  He uses a lot more corner jumps than I remember.  At least I think he calls them corner jumps; he jumps from a 1-tile gap without bonking his head on the block above him.  I don't remember there being quite as many as this run, but I might just be misremembering.  Either way, I'm happy to see it!

He plays a really dangerous game with the collision detection.  He cuts it SO close to these enemies, their fire breath, ground fires, etc.  It is amazing to see these risks taken, especially when nobody else runs this game.  It's refreshing to see that level of optimization.

So yea, this run is amazing.  I always love watching his Solomon's Key runs, but this is exceptionally clean.  I don't see any execution mistakes in the entire run.  Routing seems incredibly solid.  The only improvement I could see in a few rooms would be column building.  It would only save a few seconds over the entire run I think, so it's not a major flaw or something.  Perhaps if there's competition we'd see it worked into the route.  ^_^

Anyways, definitely accept.  Great work, ktwo!


Quote from Dragondarch:
Game: Solomon's Key (NTSC)
Run type: Any%
Audio/Video: 3 minor video quips (after room 15, before rooms 22 and 38), but all 3 are accounted for in the runner's comments.
Cheating: Only hitboxes.

When the runner submitted his PAL runs of this game, I remember suggesting for him to use edge jumping more often. I guess that recommendation struck a chord (or something), because there's quite a bit of it in this run.

Outside of that, there's not too much else I can add that the other verifiers haven't already said. Hitboxes were abused to the fullest. Item management was flawless. The routes were well thought out and executed nigh-flawlessly. I saw absolutely no major mistakes.

ACCEPT.


Decision: Accept

Congratulations to 'ktwo'!
Thread title:  
Thanks for taking the time to verify. Thanks also for the appreciation. I had hoped to have a best ending run done before you had verified the normal ending run, but I'm constantly finding new time savers in that category, so I don't have anything for you just yet.

Verifier 1 (room 21, 45): If you find faster ways, please let me know about it. The ones in this run are the fastest that I could come up with.

PJ: I did try to work on the column building a bit. The problem is that in order for it to save time, you need to do what I call "corner landings". If your hitbox hits the corner of a block, you'll land immediately instead of overshooting the block vertically. Corner landings are frame perfect. What you're suggesting is to chain together 8 frame perfect jumps + being able to take care of the enemies' fireballs while at it (even with corner landings, you can't climb fast enough to avoid all the fire). If you don't land on a corner, you can just use the extra hangtime for horizontal movement, which means building a staircase (like I do) is just as fast as building a column.

If more people are interested in this game and think they can push the limits in terms of what tricks to include, they're more than welcome to try. I've written down quite a lot of information about this game in the knowledge base (including more advanced tricks that I'm not using), so there should be material in there to give new runners a good start.
Is PJ
Ah I didn't consider that.  That definitely makes sense.  I was thinking you could beat the fireballs to the top, but that doesn't seem to make sense now.  ^_^