The Last of Us: Exploratory thread

2015-05-26 01:55:53 am

trepidation

I booted up my ps4 version of TLoU, to test some of this stuff out. With your first skip, in bill's town, auto save kept kicking in and ruining my attempts. I made a manual save, but that got overridden too. The door to bill's trap was loaded on the couple of attempts I was able to do. Maybe I'm missing something.

As far as the bucket is concerned, I keep just getting pushed into a terminal fall. Though I've only been trying for about 10 mins, I can't make this work.

TheThrillness

2015-05-26 03:41:06 am

thethrillness.blogspot.com

You pretty much have to do the Bill's Trap skip from a freshly turned on system without any cache loading or anything. You also cannot really restart checkpoint and have to play from the start of the woods. I have got it to work afew times via restarting checkpoint from after Ellie opens the gate but it seems much harder. I'm still not entirely sure why it works... or if it even works on PS4. Just make sure you are going as fast as possible and follow the above steps.

The bucket thing happens like that when your aim is off. You gotta approach it from the right at a somewhat left angle.

Caveberry

2015-06-01 12:12:51 am

trepidation

What are the parameters of this run? Are we running on easy or something more difficult? I find anything less than hard boring, but this is a speedrun. I know there is just the two of us trying to run this, but the effort could benefit a standard.

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2015-06-01 09:46:26 am

2015-06-01 09:44:26 am

thethrillness.blogspot.com

Well the current community on speedrun.com are basically the "i have no idea what im doing" dog so I've again lost interest in this. I want to run a game where the community actually knows what they are doing and plays fairly.

They are doing weird shit like putting my Left Behind Any% run in a different category even though they use Pewable's garage door glitch/skip which ofcourse makes that run Any%, just much worse. They basically refuse to use any other glitches in the game (DLC and main game) even though it's a speedrun. Like I understand that some people don't want to run with glitches and that's perfectly fine but don't just pick and choose what glitches you want to include and THEN not make it Any%. Make an Any% category and then a "No glitches" category, simple.

Also apparently the PS4 version loads insanely quicker so the Left Behind glitch might not work. Bill's Trap apparently does work though.

As for difficulty, I personally believe this is just a speedrun so we go with the fastest difficulty possible. You can argue it's not "impressive" to run on Easy but hello there... it's a speedrun, it's not supposed to be impressive or technically show skill. It's beating the game as fast as you possibly can. Nothing else matters. If you found a skip where you warped to the end credits by pressing a button, you would use it sort of thing.

/rant

Well the current community on speedrun.com are basically the "i have no idea what im doing" dog so I've again lost interest in this. I want to run a game where the community actually knows what they are doing and plays fairly.

They are doing weird shit like putting my Left Behind Any% run in a different category even though they use Pewable's garage door glitch/skip which ofcourse makes that run Any%, just much worse. They basically refuse to use any other glitches in the game (DLC and main game) even though it's a speedrun. Like I understand that some people don't want to run with glitches and that's perfectly fine but don't just pick and choose what glitches you want to include and THEN not make it Any%. Make an Any% category and then a "No glitches" category, simple.

Also apparently the PS4 version loads insanely quicker so the Left Behind glitch might not work. Bill's Trap apparently does work though.

As for difficulty, I personally believe this is just a speedrun so we go with the fastest difficulty possible. You can argue it's not "impressive" to run on Easy but hello there... it's a speedrun, it's not supposed to be impressive or technically show skill. It's beating the game as fast as you possibly can. Nothing else matters. If you found a skip where you warped to the end credits by pressing a button, you would use it sort of thing.

/rant

Elend

Edit history:

Elend: 2015-06-02 04:35:07 am

2015-06-01 11:11:34 pm

Wow, didn't come to this thread for a long time. A lot of things have been discovered ! Shocked

I'm interested in running this game again now, but i'd like to go with the ps4 version.

Can someone please give me a quick list of glitches that work/don't work on the ps4, and that i should work on? i'm currently watching all the videos posted here since last time i came, but there's a lot of things :s

The only things there were when i did my last run were the despawn in the last tunnel, and the oob drop that let you skip a bit at the beginning....

TheThrillness

2015-06-02 11:22:29 am

thethrillness.blogspot.com

New potential 10 minute skip. Smiley

Elend

2015-06-03 04:34:02 pm

Nice find, i'll try this on my ps4 version tomorrow.

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2015-06-07 07:03:08 pm

TheThrillness: 2015-06-07 07:02:05 pm

2015-06-07 04:34:07 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

Left Behind run up for verification if anyone wants to offer to verify.

https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/runs_needing_verifiers_1026_new_runs_june_6_2015.html

It's Easy mode, SS, sub 6 minutes (my only goal for the DLC done). Smiley

Good to get the page up and get it noticed so new people can join in.

Caveberry

2015-06-08 06:43:39 pm

trepidation

Congrats on the record! Do you have a link so that I can watch it? I don't know if I'd be a great verifier though, as I've only been concentrating on the main game.

When you get that run done, I'll be there day 1. Wink

TheThrillness

2015-06-08 07:25:31 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

When the run gets 2-3 verifiers, you will be sent a link to the run. You just basically watch the run and check for video/audio quality concerns etc. Don't worry, I've written up a pretty comprehensive comments page which explains the whole run and why we do certain things.

I've uploaded the run on my YouTube if you wanna see it. It's from the IQ 720P encode I submitted to SDA yesterday.

Caveberry

Edit history:

Caveberry: 2015-06-08 08:23:04 pm

2015-06-08 08:21:29 pm

trepidation

Looks great! The only thing I see that might be able to be improved is the times you got shot (though the game may still be loading during those moments, making this a moot point). Even then, not getting hit would be pretty RNG heavy. The only preventable damage I really saw, was when the guy at the top of the escalator shot you at the beginning of the "infected!" fight. I've personally popped that guy quickly, and without taking a hit.

Like I said, I've only completed left behind four or five times. You are likely very well versed in this. I'll see what I can do to get on as a verifier.

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2015-06-09 04:40:27 pm

TheThrillness: 2015-06-09 02:46:56 pm

TheThrillness: 2015-06-09 07:23:12 am

2015-06-09 07:22:02 am

thethrillness.blogspot.com

The first part getting shot is like impossible to avoid. On my last run and this run, I've never made it past without getting hit (either at the bottom or up top). That attempt you saw was like the best I got in 300 attempts. But yeah since it loads there, it's not that big of a problem getting shot (unless the loading trigger is opening the gate which I've not checked).

The second wave can be improved yeah but the guys are all total RNG. Getting 5 consecutive headshots without taking damage is like probably impossible, especially after you just spent like 6 hours to get a decent attempt of a 2 minute part leading up to this. What would be really interesting is segmenting this which should be able to take off another 6-7 seconds with insane strats but no idea how SDA would time that so this will have to do.

I also put this in my comments about further improvement:

"One last idea I have to improve the run. Since this proves that Chapter 1 and 5 are linked, it’s not a big stretch of the imagination to assume that Chapter 6 is. The hope is that Chapter 6 is somewhere on the same map and we can get to it. If that was somehow possible, the run would be sub 3 minutes for sure. If not something like this, then finding a way to get out of bounds sooner in Chapter 1 would save about 30 seconds depending on when/where you did it."

Also new weird as hell glitch I found today:

Also a new ladder glitch. Trying to see if this would be useful to get out of bounds anywhere:

The first part getting shot is like impossible to avoid. On my last run and this run, I've never made it past without getting hit (either at the bottom or up top). That attempt you saw was like the best I got in 300 attempts. But yeah since it loads there, it's not that big of a problem getting shot (unless the loading trigger is opening the gate which I've not checked).

The second wave can be improved yeah but the guys are all total RNG. Getting 5 consecutive headshots without taking damage is like probably impossible, especially after you just spent like 6 hours to get a decent attempt of a 2 minute part leading up to this. What would be really interesting is segmenting this which should be able to take off another 6-7 seconds with insane strats but no idea how SDA would time that so this will have to do.

I also put this in my comments about further improvement:

"One last idea I have to improve the run. Since this proves that Chapter 1 and 5 are linked, it’s not a big stretch of the imagination to assume that Chapter 6 is. The hope is that Chapter 6 is somewhere on the same map and we can get to it. If that was somehow possible, the run would be sub 3 minutes for sure. If not something like this, then finding a way to get out of bounds sooner in Chapter 1 would save about 30 seconds depending on when/where you did it."

Also new weird as hell glitch I found today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvBLH0EvJsA

Also a new ladder glitch. Trying to see if this would be useful to get out of bounds anywhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KkAzlaBVmA

Caveberry

2015-06-11 01:50:18 pm

trepidation

Wow! I really like the first one. I would have never thought to do that. I'll have to try it out on my next go around. Did the game continue normally? I'm hoping we can get a de spawn out of your discovery.

As far as the second glitch goes, it looks like an abuse of the animation system, at least that's MY theory. It actually looks closely related to our existing ledge clip. There are so many damned ladders in the game there should be plenty of places to test. Though, I really wonder what a ladder clip could do that the existing clip couldn't.

Nice finds! I've got some stuff to try out now.

TheThrillness

2015-06-11 03:10:04 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

Yeah a despawn might be possible. What I also didn't show if you go back up and then redo the glitch again the game this time goes to black and restarts you at the outside checkpoint. I'm gonna test some stuff now and maybe get a despawn which would be insane. Hate that fight so much.

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2015-06-11 05:14:05 pm

2015-06-11 05:12:46 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

No luck on the despawn but I was able to replicate this once:

I then did the old shimmy skip and second I went OoB I got Joel saying his phrase of "Come on down" and I got the checkpoint. I can't activate the initial enemy checkpoint when I'm halfway down to test a despawn which sucks. It's REALLY close to the ground. I remember getting it once when I was testing my 2nd try of discovering it but I went all the way back to where Ellie stopped me and they were still there. Maybe it's possible to get the checkpoint and run all the way back before Ellie stops you but meh.

I did however discover a funny glitch while testing stuff:

Caveberry

2015-06-12 10:49:48 am

trepidation

Interesting clip. It sucks that it's so random though.

I remember seeing another clip a lot g time ago. It was in the final area of the sewers where you are fighting a wave of clickers with Sam and Henry. Someone was able to clip out of the building and into the town on the other side. I was wondering if you had seen or tried to replicate it. I've never had anything similar happen. It might be worth looking into though.

Also, just for documentations sake (or if you want to play around with it) right after I rescued ellie in the hospital (when you are carrying her) I allowed myself to be caught. Upon respawning, didn't move the controller. When the guards came again, the whole world unloaded and the enemies disappeared. It still played the whole "you got caught" animation but the enemies were invisible. I doubt it will lead to anything, but I thought I'd mention it.

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2015-08-16 03:18:04 pm

2015-08-16 02:50:50 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

So an update to the Financial District skip... I think it works?

I've had it like reset on me immediately after jumping up and not pausing so I think I gotta wait longer. Be curious to know what PS4 and PS3 disc version does with this.

Edit: Read below

TheThrillness

2015-08-16 03:17:43 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

Okay retried some stuff and...... BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!! IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!

HOTEL, BASEMENT AND FINANCIAL DISTRICT IS SKIPPABLE!!!!!!!!:D Cheesy

Video soon

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2015-08-17 07:49:21 am

2015-08-16 06:02:00 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

Edit: v2

Caveberry

2015-08-17 09:55:14 pm

trepidation

Holy shit! You did it! I'm surprised to see that jump was possible.

What are you looking for during the pause buffers? When loading additional parts of the level, you have a visual hint for when to unpause, but with the final pause buffering sequence, it seems there are no visual things to look for. Also, how consistently can this be done? Is this single segent material, or is it really that temperamental ?

As a final thought, congratulations on sticking with this trick. I was sure that it was a hopeless deadend. I'm surprised more runners aren't clamoring to have a go at this game, given its' amazing success. I look forward to trying this in the future.

TheThrillness

2015-08-18 08:41:15 am

thethrillness.blogspot.com

The skip is about 95% consistent I'd say and with practice, it's probably about 98-99%. I got it 4/4 times. Smiley

The final pause buffering sequence was me just beginning to understand what you are actually doing there. Freako did some looking into it and what you have to actually do. It's WAY simpler than what I showed.

His method is close to about 99% consistent and removes all possible chances of resetting. The only slight improvement I found from his video is if you look down while doing the pausing as you go down to FD. You can actually see Ellie then and it makes sure she loads in 100%.

scaryice

2015-08-19 08:52:06 am

Awesome! Now you just need to find a way to go from Tommy's Dam to the epilogue.

TheThrillness

Edit history:

TheThrillness: 2015-08-19 09:38:44 am

2015-08-19 09:38:17 am

thethrillness.blogspot.com

New fight skip I just found, use it after the massive skip. Another minute saved and no fight RNG. Smiley

Why it works? I think it works like Uncharted 3 where a loading zone meets another and it's activated by the camera. Need to try this at multiple areas.

My next idea to improve that is get out of bounds and keep Ellie in that area and I'll walk around to the next part of game and see what happens.

TheThrillness

2015-08-24 03:18:06 pm

thethrillness.blogspot.com

Caveberry

2015-08-26 12:17:00 pm

trepidation

Is that oob as easy as it looks? You just drop down in that corner? If so, I'm surprised it took so long to find. I thought people had been looking for drops in that area since the beginning.