Space Station Silicon Valley

2010-09-22 11:51:32 am

I'm just trying to impress you.

I bought this game a couple months ago with the intention of running it SS but found the concept of beating every level much too tedious. I have no interest in submitting a segmented run, but for the sake of optimizing your run, if you have any levels you'd like to compete in, we can compare IL times and look for new techniques.

blankzero

2010-09-22 05:14:03 pm

Having some competing times to work with would be awesome, PEACHES_. I'm not too used to the ins and outs of general speedrunning, so having somebody with more experience to benchmark myself against would be quite helpful. Ideally, I'd like to see times for every stage, but that's asking a lot. I'm still getting my own baseline (sloppy execution) times for the Jungle/Desert stages, so I'll post all of those when I've got them. I should be able to narrow down a few stages that need a lot of optimization for you to take a look at.

I'll be able to upload footage of the various wall-hack glitches and my overall routes soon.

PEACHES_

Edit history:

PEACHES_: 2010-09-22 07:55:38 pm

PEACHES_: 2010-09-22 07:19:13 pm

PEACHES_: 2010-09-22 07:17:08 pm

2010-09-22 07:09:51 pm

I'm just trying to impress you.

Quote from blankzero:

I wish I could figure out how Dragorn manages to 5-round Punch up Pyramid. I can't seem to kill any of the opponents three times in a single round.

Reading this makes me worry a little. I've never gotten that far in the game, but just from playing the previous owner's save I got a 4-round my first time clearing this :X decent chance it can go down to 3.

edit: second try was 3 rounds

camel and super camel just beat them down, no punch preservation necessary. kangaroo, save your punches, let him punch 7x then lead him into a corner and use all your punches. camel should die around 30 seconds, super camel should die around 10, kangaroo died at 2 for me but you could prob get it up to 5 or so with more accurate and/or aggressive punches

edit2: wow, evo's escape is nowhere near as hard as it was made out to be earlier in the thread. I can easily hit 12k holding B the entire time. You just carpetbomb the piranha pools and chameleons at the end, hit the side-scrolling turtles with basic shots, and get the two parrots, and you're basically there.

[quote="blankzero"]I wish I could figure out how Dragorn manages to 5-round Punch up Pyramid. I can't seem to kill any of the opponents three times in a single round.[/quote]
 
Reading this makes me worry a little. I've never gotten that far in the game, but just from playing the previous owner's save I got a 4-round my first time clearing this :X decent chance it can go down to 3. 
 
edit: second try was 3 rounds
 
camel and super camel just beat them down, no punch preservation necessary. kangaroo, save your punches, let him punch 7x then lead him into a corner and use all your punches. camel should die around 30 seconds, super camel should die around 10, kangaroo died at 2 for me but you could prob get it up to 5 or so with more accurate and/or aggressive punches 
 
edit2: wow, evo's escape is nowhere near as hard as it was made out to be earlier in the thread. I can easily hit 12k holding B the entire time. You just carpetbomb the piranha pools and chameleons at the end, hit the side-scrolling turtles with basic shots, and get the two parrots, and you're basically there.

blankzero

2010-09-22 07:55:59 pm

Thanks for the tips; I figured out the big thing I was doing wrong. I was moving while punching, which made a few punches miss in each volley and was also letting the camels walk around me in the corners. Just 1-rounded the camel and super camel, and I'm working on the kangaroo now.

PEACHES_

2010-09-22 07:58:08 pm

I'm just trying to impress you.

I punch while moving, but keep a slower rhythm. As long as you're 1) never full of punch meter or 2) on empty meter on the last knockout, you're not really wasting time.

blankzero

2010-09-22 08:19:03 pm

Man, I don't even know what I was doing yesterday. This boxing match is just silly.

In any case, I found that you can get across the log flume ride in Jungle Doldrums without hitting the underwater switch via a few terribly fidgety, precise jumps, but the point is moot since the teleporter won't activate without completing that objective. I tried dive-bombing the switch with the parrot to see if there was any potential for being able to finish the level without having to kill the hippo, but that didn't pan out.

PEACHES_

Edit history:

PEACHES_: 2010-09-22 09:23:17 pm

PEACHES_: 2010-09-22 09:23:00 pm

2010-09-22 09:03:25 pm

I'm just trying to impress you.

ha, I tried that too when I first played Jungle Doldrums. You may not want to hear this but the parrot divebomb DECIMATES the hippo and just jumping over the stationary logs is probably the fastest way to beat the level overall. However, if you do use the hyena, make sure you're doing an extended laugh to kill the hippo in one cycle.

edit: OMFG the parrot takes FOREVER to laugh to death, even with an extended laugh. The damn turtle is probably the best way to take the parrot out.

blankzero

2010-09-25 10:11:05 am

Killing the hippo with the parrot is a few seconds faster, but I'm going to have to put a lot of practice into getting those jumps down without much set-up, as those few seconds gained can be quickly obliterated by sitting on a log and adjusting the camera angle. I suppose pulling off TAS-worthy stunts like this one is the sole purpose of a segmented run, though.

Penguin Playpen is probably the area that feels the least optimized to me; I haven't been able to find a way to cut through any portions of the stage. Haven't been able to get onto the opposite ledge without using the walrus to push the block, and the husky's missiles just completely outclass the penguin's snowballs, making fighting him directly a real nightmare, which means luring him down to the ground level and waiting for the polar bear to notice him. All in all, the stage just feels incredibly sloppy to me, so any help here would be greatly appreciated.

I've found a few quick tricks for the stage, but nothing groundbreaking: When you start the level, you can turn around on the slope downwards and use snowballs to accelerate (there are several other sections where throwing snowballs is faster than walking, as well). Switch EVO into the walrus as you walk the penguin off the edge of the platform back into the water, which saves needing to get back up there with the walrus to switch back after pushing the block. After carrying the husky down to the statue as the seagull, switch into his body to kill the penguin there, since his missiles are much more effective than the bird's talons.

You can kill the other penguins with your snowballs and hit the switches around the statue without dealing with either the husky or seagull, but the teleporter won't activate until you kill the bird (and you need him to reach the teleporter in the first place), meaning you're better off just hitting the switches the way Dragorn outlined in his initial posts.

I'm going to keep trying to find some way to skip the walrus portion at the beginning, because it seems really unnecessary (and with all the other clipping issues in the game, getting onto that ledge without a block seems like it should be possible), and hopefully I'll be able to work out a faster and more consistent method of taking down the ski husky, but any advice or alternate routes would be quite welcome here.

Killing the hippo with the parrot is a few seconds faster, but I'm going to have to put a lot of practice into getting those jumps down without much set-up, as those few seconds gained can be quickly obliterated by sitting on a log and adjusting the camera angle. I suppose pulling off TAS-worthy stunts like this one is the sole purpose of a segmented run, though.

Penguin Playpen is probably the area that feels the least optimized to me; I haven't been able to find a way to cut through any portions of the stage. Haven't been able to get onto the opposite ledge without using the walrus to push the block, and the husky's missiles just completely outclass the penguin's snowballs, making fighting him directly a real nightmare, which means luring him down to the ground level and waiting for the polar bear to notice him. All in all, the stage just feels incredibly sloppy to me, so any help here would be greatly appreciated.

I've found a few quick tricks for the stage, but nothing groundbreaking: When you start the level, you can turn around on the slope downwards and use snowballs to accelerate (there are several other sections where throwing snowballs is faster than walking, as well). Switch EVO into the walrus as you walk the penguin off the edge of the platform back into the water, which saves needing to get back up there with the walrus to switch back after pushing the block. After carrying the husky down to the statue as the seagull, switch into his body to kill the penguin there, since his missiles are much more effective than the bird's talons.

You can kill the other penguins with your snowballs and hit the switches around the statue without dealing with either the husky or seagull, but the teleporter won't activate until you kill the bird (and you need him to reach the teleporter in the first place), meaning you're better off just hitting the switches the way Dragorn outlined in his initial posts.

I'm going to keep trying to find some way to skip the walrus portion at the beginning, because it seems really unnecessary (and with all the other clipping issues in the game, getting onto that ledge without a block seems like it should be possible), and hopefully I'll be able to work out a faster and more consistent method of taking down the ski husky, but any advice or alternate routes would be quite welcome here.

blankzero

Edit history:

blankzero: 2010-09-25 10:21:37 am

2010-09-25 10:20:16 am

Okay, quick update: Skipping the walrus altogether might not be possible, but I just discovered you can use his corpse to climb onto the ledge from the water instead of pushing the block and jumping across, which saves a ton of time.

EDIT: It's also really easy to kill the husky with snowballs, so I don't know what my problem was before.

PEACHES_

2010-09-25 10:58:33 am

I'm just trying to impress you.

Don't have much time to experiment today, but I did find that on Penguin Playpen, you can kill a fish and use it as a ramp to get the walrus into the second part of the level. He kills the husky in one rocket. Not sure if that helps at all because I died when the husky fell off a ramp and I don't have any more time to mess around with the level at the moment.

blankzero

2010-09-25 12:11:18 pm

I can get the two routes about even on time spent up until the husky dies, but the deal-breaker for me is that the gull can't pick up the walrus body, meaning I either need to spend time walking the walrus over to a switch by himself, or killing another penguin to use, both of which add far more time than I save with the one-hit kill. Charging out at the husky from behind the tree as the penguin makes him retreat in the direction I need to be going anyhow, so that portion of the stage is actually pretty solid now. Being really aggressive is something I just need to pick up as a habit for speedrunning in general, I guess.

A few more small notes for various zones:

The Engine Room
You can move the bear during the end of the cut scene showing the location of the card key door (you get control back at about the point that the camera pans down to show the bears guarding the door), which gives you enough time to move close to the racing dog's body and switch EVO into it before regaining camera control.

Jungle Japes
After you cross the bridge, circle around to the right side of the elephant on the right while you open fire on him; his body will get in the way of his partner's water spray, and he'll die much more quickly. You can kill both hyenas in a single volley of cannon fire if you get them to approach you at the same time, and you can do the same with all three piranhas (letting the turtle roll into the water a bit will make them cluster right next to you).

Hot Cross Buns
As with several other stages, you can move around a bit during the tail end of the cutscene that occurs after sitting the vulture on the switch for the third platform (you have enough time to leave the vulture's body with EVO and jump down to where you left the fox body).

It seems like the developers were really lazy with disabling controls during cut scenes, which is pretty convenient for us.

I can get the two routes about even on time spent up until the husky dies, but the deal-breaker for me is that the gull can't pick up the walrus body, meaning I either need to spend time walking the walrus over to a switch by himself, or killing another penguin to use, both of which add far more time than I save with the one-hit kill. Charging out at the husky from behind the tree as the penguin makes him retreat in the direction I need to be going anyhow, so that portion of the stage is actually pretty solid now. Being really aggressive is something I just need to pick up as a habit for speedrunning in general, I guess.

A few more small notes for various zones:

[b]The Engine Room[/b]
You can move the bear during the end of the cut scene showing the location of the card key door (you get control back at about the point that the camera pans down to show the bears guarding the door), which gives you enough time to move close to the racing dog's body and switch EVO into it before regaining camera control.

[b]Jungle Japes[/b]
After you cross the bridge, circle around to the right side of the elephant on the right while you open fire on him; his body will get in the way of his partner's water spray, and he'll die much more quickly. You can kill both hyenas in a single volley of cannon fire if you get them to approach you at the same time, and you can do the same with all three piranhas (letting the turtle roll into the water a bit will make them cluster right next to you).

[b]Hot Cross Buns[/b]
As with several other stages, you can move around a bit during the tail end of the cutscene that occurs after sitting the vulture on the switch for the third platform (you have enough time to leave the vulture's body with EVO and jump down to where you left the fox body).

It seems like the developers were really lazy with disabling controls during cut scenes, which is pretty convenient for us.

blankzero

2010-09-26 10:39:10 am

While playing around in Weight For It!, I found a nifty trick that probably has applications in a few other spots: While you're using the lion's roar, instead of simply waiting for it to recharge, you can pop EVO out of his body momentarily. EVO's energy regeneration rate is much faster than the lion's, so by the time EVO re-enters the body, your bar is full and you can roar twice again, then repeat. I found that this dropped about 20 seconds off of the total time it takes to get the stupid elephant out of the tree.

Also, I probably should have found this much, much earlier, but somebody at GameFAQs outlined a few tricks:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/198727-space-station-silicon-valley/49467627
Almost all of these are things we figured out already, or are alternate ways of doing things that are much slower than normal (for example, using the Gorilla/Hyena combo to get the elephant out of the tree is substantially slower than roaring it down, especially with the EVO-regen trick), but the post did point out that it's entirely possible to shortcut through Swamp of Eternal Stench with only one barrel instead of a stack of two, so it was helpful in that regard.

NOTE: While messing around with the barrel/ledge as the gorilla, I somehow managed to send the gorilla flying up into the air, but I haven't been able to make it happen again.

While playing around in Weight For It!, I found a nifty trick that probably has applications in a few other spots: While you're using the lion's roar, instead of simply waiting for it to recharge, you can pop EVO out of his body momentarily. EVO's energy regeneration rate is much faster than the lion's, so by the time EVO re-enters the body, your bar is full and you can roar twice again, then repeat. I found that this dropped about 20 seconds off of the total time it takes to get the stupid elephant out of the tree.

Also, I probably should have found this much, much earlier, but somebody at GameFAQs outlined a few tricks:
[url]http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/198727-space-station-silicon-valley/49467627[/url]
Almost all of these are things we figured out already, or are alternate ways of doing things that are much slower than normal (for example, using the Gorilla/Hyena combo to get the elephant out of the tree is substantially slower than roaring it down, especially with the EVO-regen trick), but the post did point out that it's entirely possible to shortcut through Swamp of Eternal Stench with only one barrel instead of a stack of two, so it was helpful in that regard.

NOTE: While messing around with the barrel/ledge as the gorilla, I somehow managed to send the gorilla flying up into the air, but I haven't been able to make it happen again.

rosalindstarling

2013-11-15 08:43:13 pm

This is a really old thread, but I want to throw my hat into the ring here. I'm going to start really running this game in the next few weeks, now that I've had it for a little bit and have gotten the hang of the (rather clunky) controls.

rosalindstarlings

2013-11-21 05:35:03 pm

Eekum bokum

The level that's holding me up the most is Stinky Sewers. I can see through the wall, but my bomb placement must be off, since I'm not getting through at all. There's no mention of this glitch anywhere other than here and IGN, unfortunately, and neither source is detailed enough for me to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'll keep trying.

rosalindstarlings

2013-11-25 09:19:46 am

Eekum bokum

I haven't been able to get into the Rat King's lair early. I've been trying to lay a bomb in the corner and back the rat over it, in an attempt to get him stuck so that he has nowhere to go but backwards when the bomb explodes. So far, this has been in vain. I've tried it both with and without the toxic barrel, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I've been able to get into the final area with the level exit pad by pushing the rocket dog into the corner of the wall to the right of the door unil his head is pushed backwards into his torso and then ejecting EVO into the room, but this has proved fruitless. Even though I was able to get into the room, turning on the switches in their did nothing. I'm also able to shoot missiles through the bars if they're aimed carefully, but I'm not sure what use this may have as of yet.

I've also been able to skip past the security keycard by clipping with the rocket dog in the same way as above. Simply shove him into the corner of the two walls where the keypad is (be very careful, if you pushed him into the corner of the wall and the door, he *will* get stuck and you have to start the level over) until his head folds back and sort of pulses, then eject EVO. He will land on the top of the door and can crawl over it to the other side. There's a dead dog waiting in the pool of water, so you can simply jump in there.

I haven't been able to get into the Rat King's lair early. I've been trying to lay a bomb in the corner and back the rat over it, in an attempt to get him stuck so that he has nowhere to go but backwards when the bomb explodes. So far, this has been in vain. I've tried it both with and without the toxic barrel, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I've been able to get into the final area with the level exit pad by pushing the rocket dog into the corner of the wall to the right of the door unil his head is pushed backwards into his torso and then ejecting EVO into the room, but this has proved fruitless. Even though I was able to get into the room, turning on the switches in their did nothing. I'm also able to shoot missiles through the bars if they're aimed carefully, but I'm not sure what use this may have as of yet.

I've also been able to skip past the security keycard by clipping with the rocket dog in the same way as above. Simply shove him into the corner of the two walls where the keypad is (be very careful, if you pushed him into the corner of the wall and the door, he *will* get stuck and you have to start the level over) until his head folds back and sort of pulses, then eject EVO. He will land on the top of the door and can crawl over it to the other side. There's a dead dog waiting in the pool of water, so you can simply jump in there.

solidussoap

Edit history:

solidussoap: 2013-12-02 08:50:06 pm

2013-12-02 06:13:17 pm

Glad to see that there is someone else that wants to run this game. I was running this game a couple months ago and want to get back in to it, now that I have time again. Hopefully I'll be running this again by the end of this week.

The skip in Stinky Sewers you are referring to is not too difficult once you know how to position yourself. First of all, you do not have to use any bombs to push yourself through the wall. As the racing dog you push the barrel so it is pretty much touching the wall. Then once you switch into a rat, all you have to do is go to the right side of the barrel and squeeze yourself between the wall. It will then play a cut scene and after that you will be on the other side.

For more clarification I uploaded a video to youtube that shows this skip being done. You can find it here:

Hope that helps.

rosalindstarlings

2013-12-03 12:25:24 pm

Eekum bokum

Awesome! So glad someone else is still wanting to do this. I'll try it right away. Smiley

rosalindstarlings

2013-12-03 12:37:00 pm

Eekum bokum

Thanks so much--with that video I was able to figure out the skip. Turns out I was at the wrong vat all along.

AniMeowzerz

2013-12-03 12:45:29 pm

I know of a pretty useful skip in "Swamp of Eternal Stench" that involves using both gorillas and a barrel to hop straight onto the vine that takes you to the end, but I'll probably have to grab an emulator to record it. I don't have my copy of this anymore :C

rosalindstarlings

2013-12-03 12:59:55 pm

Eekum bokum

The vines are a huge pain, but so is killing both gorillas with that useless laugh attack. Is it worth it time wise?

AniMeowzerz

2013-12-03 01:04:35 pm

That is up for debate, I never timed it. In fact, I couldn't even finish the actual vines, so I bothered to find this instead <_<; I figure I might as well document it though.

rosalindstarlings

2013-12-03 01:51:25 pm

Eekum bokum

So, are you saying that you can stack both the vats up to get to the final area? I'm kind of confused as to the skip you're talking about.

AniMeowzerz

Edit history:

AniMeowzerz: 2013-12-03 02:26:39 pm

AniMeowzerz: 2013-12-03 02:10:56 pm

2013-12-03 02:10:36 pm

I'll try and give a good text explanation of it since I can't for the life of me get this savefile to work.
So knock out both gorillas so you can take control both of them. Use one gorilla to pick up a barrel, and carry it to the left wall (the tallest one). Then exit the gorilla (he should still be standing and holding onto the barrel) and hop into the other one. Jump onto the barrel and it should magically pop you high up into the air and you can land on top of the wall and navigate to the vine without having to use the other vines.

(this was a really poor explanation)
edit: I found a level select code, how convenient. I'll try and get this recorded soon

solidussoap

2013-12-03 02:50:38 pm

Your welcome glad it worked for you.

I am interested in that skip for Swamp of Eternal Stench, it sounds like it may be faster than my current route for that stage.

I should probably upload my other skips I found for different stages if anyone is interested.

rosalindstarlings

2013-12-03 03:22:17 pm

Eekum bokum

Thanks so much for that skip in Swamp--I was able to get it to work with a little fiddling. I took massive fall damage though, and I hit the top of the level before I came back down. I've accidentally done those sort of super jumps before by hitting the edges of things oddly, but this is the first time I've gotten it to be useful. And soap, it would be awesome if you have any more skips you could contribute.