Here's another something interesting that you might want to test on your version of the game Giganotabehemoth; I've found that against the Purr-lin juggernauts that block my path I can reliably kill them in one hit by crouching at point blank and firing a grenade right between their legs. This sounds like some silly shit, I know, but so far it has proven to be the second fastest and most reliable Juggernaut kill for me- Right after Charge dart and War Blade.
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Ok I've found another death warp possibility. I'm actually starting to worry about having the need to start collecting tokens along the way now for the possibility of there being several death abuses throughout the run.
Anyway level 5: In the area with the talisman portal. When you emerge and you look left and kill the big Mantid guarding the switch. Then we take the lift to the main bit in the middle. Then you go right into the area to break the wall revealing another big Mantid guarding the force field generator. We come back to the main area. But instead of turning right and jumping down into the small area with a switch and you have to kill loads of insect taking a lot of time, go straight on into the next section. Work you way round and up to the section to activate the talisman portal and collecting the feather. When you collect the feather simply fall off the edge to take you back to the portal that brought you into the talisman portal area to begin with. Now you can just run as fast as possible to the talisman portal. So this strategy cuts out that very long and annoying insect killing room where the door locks on you until you kill them all.
Anyway level 5: In the area with the talisman portal. When you emerge and you look left and kill the big Mantid guarding the switch. Then we take the lift to the main bit in the middle. Then you go right into the area to break the wall revealing another big Mantid guarding the force field generator. We come back to the main area. But instead of turning right and jumping down into the small area with a switch and you have to kill loads of insect taking a lot of time, go straight on into the next section. Work you way round and up to the section to activate the talisman portal and collecting the feather. When you collect the feather simply fall off the edge to take you back to the portal that brought you into the talisman portal area to begin with. Now you can just run as fast as possible to the talisman portal. So this strategy cuts out that very long and annoying insect killing room where the door locks on you until you kill them all.
Man, that's really brilliant! I'd say before deciding about what tokens to collect, first get an accurate count of how many death warps are in there. By the later levels it's pretty common to have 8-9 lives just because of the tokens that are in your way. I've tried doing a bit of shortcut research myself but it hasn't turned out very well. In the Primagen's Lightship there's a switch you have to go back for with the Eye of Truth talisman, and I've tried using a boost from trhe available enemies which didn't work as well as a boost from the 'swimming' you do with the fans which also didn't work. It seems like there's just a wall blocking you from bypassing the normal path. I've also noticed that if you re-take the original path to the switch you can death warp your way back very fast, but it's a much longer walk and probably defeats the purpose of the death warp -sigh-
Yeah that's why I'm going to optimize the whole run before doing anything. Also yeah I remember rather easily having 8 or 9 lives myself by the end of the game. Maybe token collecting won't have to be so involved after all. But we'll see.
I'm still polishing off the route on level 5. I'm sure there are several death warp possibilities everywhere but probably only save a few seconds, so they'd be best not to bother with. Save instead for the bigger ones. By the way I'm finding the headhunter trick invaluable at the start of the level in tight corridors with the 7 or so mantids patrolling them. The great thing about it is that on PC where I'm strafing and going faster, the mantids are too late to react to me, so to speak. By the time they do I'm already on top of them slashing their head off, :P. It saves ammo and the need to aim carefully, and is probably even faster since I don't need to stop strafing to line up shots.
Next level I'm going to do will be level 4. It's a bit more linear in design and should be a bit more laidback compared to this cacophonous nightmare that is level 5. But I'm willing to bet there's some death warp possibilities and some hefty water boosting tricks. I remember the key collection one, very nice !.
By the way. Did I see a mention of nabbing the level 5 Primagen key without the eye of truth ?. So getting it on the first trip through the level.
I'm still polishing off the route on level 5. I'm sure there are several death warp possibilities everywhere but probably only save a few seconds, so they'd be best not to bother with. Save instead for the bigger ones. By the way I'm finding the headhunter trick invaluable at the start of the level in tight corridors with the 7 or so mantids patrolling them. The great thing about it is that on PC where I'm strafing and going faster, the mantids are too late to react to me, so to speak. By the time they do I'm already on top of them slashing their head off, :P. It saves ammo and the need to aim carefully, and is probably even faster since I don't need to stop strafing to line up shots.
Next level I'm going to do will be level 4. It's a bit more linear in design and should be a bit more laidback compared to this cacophonous nightmare that is level 5. But I'm willing to bet there's some death warp possibilities and some hefty water boosting tricks. I remember the key collection one, very nice !.
By the way. Did I see a mention of nabbing the level 5 Primagen key without the eye of truth ?. So getting it on the first trip through the level.
I'm glad my advice is working for you ^U^ Above all else the Mantids are the worst enemies to try and hit in the game- They're really fast and their movements are ridiculously hard to track. One thing I'll warn about though; If they go into their 'hide behind an egg' routine while you're trying to chop them either pass them up or use the Charge Dart Rifle. They simply refuse to go quietly in melee combat when they're in hide mode. As for getting the Talisman early, the best thing I've come up with to give a better success rate is to move just barely out of the tunnel and stay in tight against the right side of the tunnel entrance about halfway out according to the map. From there you let him shoot a few times, run up and try to perform a melee attck before you zap him. This is the most accurately lined up you can get the green Mantid with the bridge. From there you line up as close as you can between his back and the bridge and turn to face the ultra health- Lining it up as close to dead center of your crosshair as you can and wait for him to recover and do a melee attack. Next you hold forward just before pressing jump and if timed right he'll hit you near the top of your jump and send you flying. From there it's in fate's hands.
Alright, a few more bits of info I recently dug up- If you choose to take my preferred path and go to level 2 first there's a trick you can do that costs you one life and gives you a grenade launcher. Right near the second save point the launcher is above the water way back against the wall. You have to first alert the nearest green dino-soldier either by jumping and landing or firing, then you need to get him to follow you out to the middle and get between him and the center of the water as he starts attacking. After just a few normal attacks he'll do his combo move that ends with a spinning kick and the kick is where you can get a boost. Just jump backwards as he hits with the kick and he'll throw you into the grenade launcher before the water kills you. Four of the grenades can be used to kill the first and second Sisters of Despair and the last one can help destroy the second Soul Gate. Here's my recommendation for handling the Soul Gates; Soul Gate 1, use 8 explosive shells and two green shells(since you don't have the mag 60 yet). Soul Gate 2, launch your last grenade into it first and when you run out it'll automatically switch you to the shotgun. By this point you will have collected 3 explosive shells for a total of 5 explosive ammo- Spend it all and then immediately switch to the mag 60(It' s notably faster than green shells) and open up on the gate until it's destroyed.
Next, an update on the last switch you have to go back for in the Primagen's Lightship(using the Eye of Truth); You can use a swimming boost from the giant wind tunnel to diagonal jump right across the gap where you'd normally have to extend the bridge(where the razor wind is) so I can now say with certainty that it's faster to go through the starting teleporter of that section and simply death warp all the way back after hitting the final switch to get the level 6 p-key unlocked.
Next, an update on the last switch you have to go back for in the Primagen's Lightship(using the Eye of Truth); You can use a swimming boost from the giant wind tunnel to diagonal jump right across the gap where you'd normally have to extend the bridge(where the razor wind is) so I can now say with certainty that it's faster to go through the starting teleporter of that section and simply death warp all the way back after hitting the final switch to get the level 6 p-key unlocked.
And now a quick update on both of those tips; With the grenade launcher, since you're already at the save point you might as well go in and ask Adon for ammo after getting the launcher. This way you can use 6 grenades against the second Soul Gate.
As for the room where the razor wind is, I've figured a way to use death warping to speed that up the first time through; Use a boost from the giant fan tunnel to jump across to the razor wind, hit the switch to open the door in front of you, then run through to the teleporter at the end. After jumping in, immediately warp back out and run back to the entrance where you normally go to get the Ion Capacitor- You can jump from the nearest console down to the ledge, and then from the ledge into the air tunnel. Now go and get the Ion Capacitor and drop off the cliff. You'll teleport back to the exit to the next map, and it turns out that this way of doing things doesn't trigger the heavy Primagen trooper to spawn(that trigger is somewhere between the last fan and the tunnel leading out).
As for the room where the razor wind is, I've figured a way to use death warping to speed that up the first time through; Use a boost from the giant fan tunnel to jump across to the razor wind, hit the switch to open the door in front of you, then run through to the teleporter at the end. After jumping in, immediately warp back out and run back to the entrance where you normally go to get the Ion Capacitor- You can jump from the nearest console down to the ledge, and then from the ledge into the air tunnel. Now go and get the Ion Capacitor and drop off the cliff. You'll teleport back to the exit to the next map, and it turns out that this way of doing things doesn't trigger the heavy Primagen trooper to spawn(that trigger is somewhere between the last fan and the tunnel leading out).
Edit history:
giganotabehemoth87: 2011-07-04 03:32:31 pm
giganotabehemoth87: 2011-07-04 02:59:11 pm
giganotabehemoth87: 2011-07-04 02:55:50 pm
That's some good stuff there. You've taught me how to damage boost in this game :D, also a staple of super metroid speed running this is really cool and easy to do. I hope it can open up other possibilities. Big shortcuts. I've got one planned for level 5 but I haven't tested it yet.
I doubt i'll be doing level 2 first to be honest and I don't know if picking that grenade launcher up in that water could add some much unneeded time to the run, where as those soul gates can be blasted with explosive shredder from doing level 3 first. It's really cool idea though and I'll definitely try out the trick coz as I say damage boosting is fun and could open up the game a bit more.
I've found another death warp on level 5. Very good one this and it's quite early in the run. It's in the area with the firestorm cannon sitting high up on the exit of the tube in a room guarded by a mantid. Well when you go into the big dark area to the left and jump down onto platforms with insects, then you go into a room with bigger insects and 3 paths, the one ahead being the force field pole you need to destroy. Well blast the pole and run straight back out into the dark area and fall off the edge. You can even grab the four red tokens before the fall and plasma rifle. Anyway this death warp cuts out a slow tower climb, and two big difficult rooms which are unnecessary since they just bring you back to where the firestorm cannon is I mentioned earlier, which the death warp will take you to almost immediately. The force field pole opened up the path going down on the right of the firestorm cannon room.
[edit] ok mega awesome shortcut/timesaver found in level 2 for the primagen key. Forget my wall edge jump to quickly get onto the platform that takes you to the primagen key. Instead as soon as you emerge in the area go straight left to the primagen key itself floating on the high ledge. Now do the same trick as before (wall edge jump) to get to the thin stretch of wall on the other side right underneath the primagen key ledge. Look up and do the overhead item trick and the key is yours. Thearetically this could mean that you wouldn't need to get the eagle feather and the leap of faith talisman, but then i remembered you need it for level 1 primagen key. I gotta find a way to nab that key without it. As far as I know you don't need the leap of faith talisman anywhere else in the game unless I'm forgetting somethings in level 6 ?
I tried doing the overhead item trick for level 4 key but I can't reach it. It looks so feasible too since you can pick items pretty much that height on level 3. Maybe it's the wall sticking too far out blocking you. But I don't know. I want to get it badly, hehe.
I doubt i'll be doing level 2 first to be honest and I don't know if picking that grenade launcher up in that water could add some much unneeded time to the run, where as those soul gates can be blasted with explosive shredder from doing level 3 first. It's really cool idea though and I'll definitely try out the trick coz as I say damage boosting is fun and could open up the game a bit more.
I've found another death warp on level 5. Very good one this and it's quite early in the run. It's in the area with the firestorm cannon sitting high up on the exit of the tube in a room guarded by a mantid. Well when you go into the big dark area to the left and jump down onto platforms with insects, then you go into a room with bigger insects and 3 paths, the one ahead being the force field pole you need to destroy. Well blast the pole and run straight back out into the dark area and fall off the edge. You can even grab the four red tokens before the fall and plasma rifle. Anyway this death warp cuts out a slow tower climb, and two big difficult rooms which are unnecessary since they just bring you back to where the firestorm cannon is I mentioned earlier, which the death warp will take you to almost immediately. The force field pole opened up the path going down on the right of the firestorm cannon room.
[edit] ok mega awesome shortcut/timesaver found in level 2 for the primagen key. Forget my wall edge jump to quickly get onto the platform that takes you to the primagen key. Instead as soon as you emerge in the area go straight left to the primagen key itself floating on the high ledge. Now do the same trick as before (wall edge jump) to get to the thin stretch of wall on the other side right underneath the primagen key ledge. Look up and do the overhead item trick and the key is yours. Thearetically this could mean that you wouldn't need to get the eagle feather and the leap of faith talisman, but then i remembered you need it for level 1 primagen key. I gotta find a way to nab that key without it. As far as I know you don't need the leap of faith talisman anywhere else in the game unless I'm forgetting somethings in level 6 ?
I tried doing the overhead item trick for level 4 key but I can't reach it. It looks so feasible too since you can pick items pretty much that height on level 3. Maybe it's the wall sticking too far out blocking you. But I don't know. I want to get it badly, hehe.
Man, wonderful advice as always! As for the Leap of Faith talisman, you need to use it to hit the 3rd switch for the level 6 P-key so you'd need it anyways- Though it'd be nice not having to walk through level 1 again for it. With the level 4 P-key I've also tried, and if there were just a barrel directly against the ledge with the key I'd say glitch climb on top of the barrel but the designers didn't leave that option. By the way I've recently done a test run with all the other tricks before what you mentioned just now and according to the game's timer I had 2H 58M and 26S before facing the Primagen, so your original idea of 2 hours and 30 minutes isn't sounding so far fetched. I even made the aforementioned time using my preferred level order so there's obviously lots of room for improvement.
Ahh yeah I knew there was something in level 6 that required the talisman. Shame about the level 4 key. Doesn't look much different to the level 2 key height wise, yet that one is obtainable. Can't have it all I suppose. Sometimes oversimplification can ruin a run so I guess it's a blessing in disguise.
Earlier on I did level 1,2 and 3 and came to the conclusion there are no death warp possibilities. Which is good actually because it means more lives for level 5. Which, going by what I've recently discovered, could have up to 5 death warps, due to it's less linear, retracing your position style of progression. I'm willing to bet level 6 has a few too.
Nice thing about the final time. The funny thing was that was my estimate before I found a heap of stuff in level 5. I now think a time of just over 2 hours for PC version at least could be quite accurate.
Earlier on I did level 1,2 and 3 and came to the conclusion there are no death warp possibilities. Which is good actually because it means more lives for level 5. Which, going by what I've recently discovered, could have up to 5 death warps, due to it's less linear, retracing your position style of progression. I'm willing to bet level 6 has a few too.
Nice thing about the final time. The funny thing was that was my estimate before I found a heap of stuff in level 5. I now think a time of just over 2 hours for PC version at least could be quite accurate.
Just been doing some level 6. Good stuff about the razor wind. I knew you could jump over there without using the switch to activate the bridge. PC version is pretty broken because of this strafing lol. I wondered if that teleport activation for a death warp would be slow since you need to go out your way to activate it, but weighing it up it seems all other options are slower. Going through the rest of the tunnels after collecting ion capacitor is slow as hell, and death warping back way before the big wind tunnel is slower still. So good call on that teleporter. I also didn't know you could get a mock water boost from the wind tunnels. Nice !, and it's really cool that because of it you on N64 can make the jump to the razor wind. Now we can both break the game :P.
I found a few other places where my strafe jumping can make some small shortcuts. Namely the area before the wind tunnel which has a bridge out high and in front and you need to take the fan up to get onto the bridge, activate the switch to bring the platform to the walkway, jump off and use the fan again to get up and get onto the moving platform. With the strafe jump I can make one journey up the fan and jump to the platform sitting next to the area the other side.
I found a few other places where my strafe jumping can make some small shortcuts. Namely the area before the wind tunnel which has a bridge out high and in front and you need to take the fan up to get onto the bridge, activate the switch to bring the platform to the walkway, jump off and use the fan again to get up and get onto the moving platform. With the strafe jump I can make one journey up the fan and jump to the platform sitting next to the area the other side.
Hehe no problem. Some small ideas I found for level 6. When you get the eagle feather behind the assembly plant computer I think it would beast to death warp back to the portal, step into the portal and turn right and go into the talisman portal, as it would be quicker than walking back from the eagle feather to the portal. Only problem is getting a nice quick death after nabbing the feather. There is the big heavy armored trooper patrolling the room but he rarely does that attack that drains significant health in a small space of time. Maybe there's a way of getting him to do that. I'll keep you posted on that.
Next: As these threads are getting quite vast I can't remember if this has been mentioned by you before. When at the end of the level and you go to the area with the eye of truth talisman to deactivate the force field around the Primagen key. I think it's much faster to go the normal route through the passageways like the first trip. Use the wind boost from the wind tunnel, go across the razor wind area, keeping the speed all the way up to the switch. Flick the switch and simply fall off the edge. you'll be teleported miles back to the portal way before the wind tunnel, step into the portal and your practically near the main plaza with the now obtainable Primagen key. As I say you may have brought this up before but it's getting quite hard for me to remember everything lol
So anyway that's a total of 3 death warps for this level, and about 4 or 5? for level 5. Not sure about level 4 yet. only played it a bit. I see there really is some crazy water boosting potential already. I kept the longest boost the other day from the place with the gate in the water, then kept the speed round all the tunnels and walkways with the falling rocks. Was awesome !
[edit] I started a casual playthrough to check the token situation and how many lives are easily gotten before level 5. It's safe to say all my fears are gone. Like you said it's really easy to obtain 9 lives by the time you even get to level 4, and even that's doing level 4, 4th and not 5th on the level order.
So far I'm saved just before the water maze on level 4 trying to get the satchel charge by overhead item jump trick. I did the level order 1-3-2 and now level 4. I got the level 1 primagen key after doing level 2 as it's most optimal because it's adjacent to it. I was surprised by all the red tokens lying around, especially with that shortcut path that opens up near the end for you. I found a trick for level two big zombies. Have auto aim on and use standard shell shotgun. Stand around what would be a real life 8 feet away or so and jump and shoot. Head shots killing them in one blow are very common with this trick and I think it could help me lot. Lastly when I saved at the beginning of level 4 my time was 1 hour and 2 minutes, baring in mind I had invincibility, but honestly I can't see my speed being much different. I even made loads of mistakes, hung around a lot practicing things and stuff. I think an accurate time I could have for the start of level 4 for a proper run could be 50 minutes. So I wonder if sub 2 hours is feasible for total time ?
Next: As these threads are getting quite vast I can't remember if this has been mentioned by you before. When at the end of the level and you go to the area with the eye of truth talisman to deactivate the force field around the Primagen key. I think it's much faster to go the normal route through the passageways like the first trip. Use the wind boost from the wind tunnel, go across the razor wind area, keeping the speed all the way up to the switch. Flick the switch and simply fall off the edge. you'll be teleported miles back to the portal way before the wind tunnel, step into the portal and your practically near the main plaza with the now obtainable Primagen key. As I say you may have brought this up before but it's getting quite hard for me to remember everything lol
So anyway that's a total of 3 death warps for this level, and about 4 or 5? for level 5. Not sure about level 4 yet. only played it a bit. I see there really is some crazy water boosting potential already. I kept the longest boost the other day from the place with the gate in the water, then kept the speed round all the tunnels and walkways with the falling rocks. Was awesome !
[edit] I started a casual playthrough to check the token situation and how many lives are easily gotten before level 5. It's safe to say all my fears are gone. Like you said it's really easy to obtain 9 lives by the time you even get to level 4, and even that's doing level 4, 4th and not 5th on the level order.
So far I'm saved just before the water maze on level 4 trying to get the satchel charge by overhead item jump trick. I did the level order 1-3-2 and now level 4. I got the level 1 primagen key after doing level 2 as it's most optimal because it's adjacent to it. I was surprised by all the red tokens lying around, especially with that shortcut path that opens up near the end for you. I found a trick for level two big zombies. Have auto aim on and use standard shell shotgun. Stand around what would be a real life 8 feet away or so and jump and shoot. Head shots killing them in one blow are very common with this trick and I think it could help me lot. Lastly when I saved at the beginning of level 4 my time was 1 hour and 2 minutes, baring in mind I had invincibility, but honestly I can't see my speed being much different. I even made loads of mistakes, hung around a lot practicing things and stuff. I think an accurate time I could have for the start of level 4 for a proper run could be 50 minutes. So I wonder if sub 2 hours is feasible for total time ?
Ok time for a massive time saver. Level 4 in the first area where you need a cave door key. Usually you open up two tunnels and shoot the switches to open the underwater gate, go through the water, collect charge dart, up the inclined bridge past the blind one and collect the cave key. Well You collect the key from the bottom using the overhead item trick. This one I really thought it wouldn't work because it's so high but it does. The only downside is not being able to collect charge dart that early but oh well, I'm sure I'll pick it up later.
I've managed to pick up the satchel charge before the water maze 3 times. But your right it's really weird and difficult to get it right. I'm still working on a method.
I've managed to pick up the satchel charge before the water maze 3 times. But your right it's really weird and difficult to get it right. I'm still working on a method.
Man, now I feel amazingly foolish for never trying that overhead trick on the floating cave door key ^o^;;; As for the satchel charge before the water maze; When you're facing down towards the maze it's much more reliable to try the grab -before- the opening where you can see the charge. If that doesn't work often enough then you should switch to looking away from the maze and heading back while doing the trick. A couple other tips I'll mention while I'm thinking about the level- Definitely go for the Sunfire pods as early as you can get them, and zap the crossbow guy guarding them but don't kill him- This prevents the sword guy just ahead from spawning(if it's the same way in the PC version). If you have any grenades to spare, they work great against the spitters, leapers, giant worms, and even giant spiders. If you chose to use the Eye of Truth glitch back in level 3 you can use the Firestorm Cannon effectively against just about anything in level 4 and the ammo is more common than you might think.
Ahh don't worry about it. I wasn't even going to try it myself due to the keys height, but after it worked I think that height is almost no barrier for the trick. More, obstructions like walls in front of you preventing getting directly underneath items are mostly the issue regarding whether it wants to work or not.
Yea the satchel. The three times I got it were when I passed the opening underneath me and turned away from the maze entrance back at the hole in the ceiling, and done a little strafe jump into the hole. It's very finicky though.
I found one death warp for level 4. Nice and simple this one and it's on the 3rd thermal vent. Just as you place the charge, drop into the hole to be teleported back to the area entrance and make a short walk to the portal in front of you. I'll definitely be using this one even though it probably only saves about 10 seconds.
There's also a really cool thing regarding the 2nd level 6 key room. Due to strafe running, if you enter the room and grab the key from the other side and then immediately run as fast as possible you can make it out the room before the shutters come down. Similar to how the water boost makes it possible to escape the first key room. As the shutters are triggered by you collecting the key, so collect them on the far side to be nearer to the exit. It is hard though, and I really doubt this works on N64 due to the speed needed to escape. I can barely make it out on PC, with me getting trapped on most attempts.
For the giant spiders I find auto aim explosive shredder shots can kill very regularly with one hit if you aim carefully just to the left of their bodies when you see the opening after they descend on their web. And also yeah, the grenade launcher is the weapon of choice for those worms.
Yeah I knew about the sword blind one that doesn't spawn if you don't kill the fat one up top guarding the sunfire pods. However I've seen a couple of sun fire pods near some portals throughout the level. I wonder if it would be faster to collect these on route instead of going up there near the fat one and collecting those. There's not much in it though of course and if the pods on route don't stock me to full then I'll get the ones near the fat one.
I'll just like to add, the headhunter move is fantastic for many levels. Level 4 and 5 mostly, especially when combined with the water boost as most enemies don't have a chance to react to you if I'm strafing as well.
Yea the satchel. The three times I got it were when I passed the opening underneath me and turned away from the maze entrance back at the hole in the ceiling, and done a little strafe jump into the hole. It's very finicky though.
I found one death warp for level 4. Nice and simple this one and it's on the 3rd thermal vent. Just as you place the charge, drop into the hole to be teleported back to the area entrance and make a short walk to the portal in front of you. I'll definitely be using this one even though it probably only saves about 10 seconds.
There's also a really cool thing regarding the 2nd level 6 key room. Due to strafe running, if you enter the room and grab the key from the other side and then immediately run as fast as possible you can make it out the room before the shutters come down. Similar to how the water boost makes it possible to escape the first key room. As the shutters are triggered by you collecting the key, so collect them on the far side to be nearer to the exit. It is hard though, and I really doubt this works on N64 due to the speed needed to escape. I can barely make it out on PC, with me getting trapped on most attempts.
For the giant spiders I find auto aim explosive shredder shots can kill very regularly with one hit if you aim carefully just to the left of their bodies when you see the opening after they descend on their web. And also yeah, the grenade launcher is the weapon of choice for those worms.
Yeah I knew about the sword blind one that doesn't spawn if you don't kill the fat one up top guarding the sunfire pods. However I've seen a couple of sun fire pods near some portals throughout the level. I wonder if it would be faster to collect these on route instead of going up there near the fat one and collecting those. There's not much in it though of course and if the pods on route don't stock me to full then I'll get the ones near the fat one.
I'll just like to add, the headhunter move is fantastic for many levels. Level 4 and 5 mostly, especially when combined with the water boost as most enemies don't have a chance to react to you if I'm strafing as well.
I'm not understanding your meaning with the part about a level 6 key room and some shutters.. The rest sounds solid though, and about the Sunfire pods- If you get the first batch you can use them to waltz right through the blind ones leading up to the last thermal vent, then at the vent itself there's a 3 pod pickup near the hole and another 3 pod pickup to the right of the exit portal.
It's the 2nd level 6 key you have to collect in level 4. As you approach the key don't collect it right in front of you, instead collect it sort of from the side while starting to strafe run to the exit exit. The idea is to make it out before you are blocked and have to kill the creatures to proceed. Like I say though it requires strafing speed and might not be feasible on N64 at all.
By the way, I managed to get the level 5 Primagen key last night several times using your method. It's funny how the game suddenly thinks you have the eye of truth after the damage boost when you are seemingly walking on thin air. The last part of the walk up is quite hard to judge the curvature of the bridge as there are no tokens but it's not too bad. This really is one awesome time saver !!
Also if you've been attempting to get the very first cave door key on level 4 using the overhead item trick and are not being successful, then don't worry I'm having major problems trying to get it again myself. It seems that I got lucky the first time as it only took me about 5 jumps and then I come off the game and posted about it. It's extremely picky to get right, but as it potentially saves a lot of time and cuts out a few rooms I'm going to be persistent with this one and try to nail a method.
By the way, I managed to get the level 5 Primagen key last night several times using your method. It's funny how the game suddenly thinks you have the eye of truth after the damage boost when you are seemingly walking on thin air. The last part of the walk up is quite hard to judge the curvature of the bridge as there are no tokens but it's not too bad. This really is one awesome time saver !!
Also if you've been attempting to get the very first cave door key on level 4 using the overhead item trick and are not being successful, then don't worry I'm having major problems trying to get it again myself. It seems that I got lucky the first time as it only took me about 5 jumps and then I come off the game and posted about it. It's extremely picky to get right, but as it potentially saves a lot of time and cuts out a few rooms I'm going to be persistent with this one and try to nail a method.
I'm very glad to hear that you got the Hive P-key trick working, and I'll continue to look for other time savers like you are. As for the Eye of Truth bridges, they are all physical and solid even if you can't see them- They just lack a notable portion between the ledge and the rest of the bridge ^w^ The next thing I believe I'll look into is the possibility of using both the fan boost and an enemy boost to try and reach that second switch to unlock the level 6 p-key...
Interesting about the eye of truth bridges. Almost like they wanted sequence breaks like this to be found.
I look forward t seeing if you can sequence break the level 6 p-key too.
I've started a test run of the whole game. I'm now on level 2 (having done level 3 just before). It's not absolutely perfect but it's the closest I've got, as I'm saving it a lot. My time is 26:06 at the start of level 2. Something funny and bad happened yesterday when I did the same thing. After blowing up the two first set of turrets to open the gate, I quickly saved the game. When I reloaded the gate was still closed even though the turrets were blown up. So I was effectively trapped and couldn't go on. I warped back into the level to see if it would reset it and make it work but it didn't. The only cure was to restart the whole run. It's safe to say I won't be saving it during the dino ride ever again. lmao.
[edit] Just a few other things I've been meaning to mention since doing level 2. Firstly for the big zombies: The method I described earlier isn't working for some reason now. But instead I've found to use Mag60 with auto aim, and aim above their head from a distance and they will die rather quickly within 2 - 4 bursts usually. I'm able to deal with the 2nd sister area in 20 seconds dead with this method, all the while optimably moving around the area dispatching the big zombies and preparing the grenade launcher for the bitch, lol
2nd thing: Jumping down slopes. I've actually been doing this for years I think on this game and I believe it works with the same principle to get a boosted jump off the curved walls at the end of level 2 that I found. Simply jump down a slope and as you land immediately hit jump again for a nice boost jump which gives a momentary burst of speed before reverting to normal speed. The trick doesn't work in tunnels with low roofs as you probably would guess as you just get stopped by the ceiling. But this trick is especially useful in level 2 since there are a multitude of slopes with high or no ceilings. Definitely when I do my next play through I'll be paying attention to the ground for every opportunity to do this trick.
I look forward t seeing if you can sequence break the level 6 p-key too.
I've started a test run of the whole game. I'm now on level 2 (having done level 3 just before). It's not absolutely perfect but it's the closest I've got, as I'm saving it a lot. My time is 26:06 at the start of level 2. Something funny and bad happened yesterday when I did the same thing. After blowing up the two first set of turrets to open the gate, I quickly saved the game. When I reloaded the gate was still closed even though the turrets were blown up. So I was effectively trapped and couldn't go on. I warped back into the level to see if it would reset it and make it work but it didn't. The only cure was to restart the whole run. It's safe to say I won't be saving it during the dino ride ever again. lmao.
[edit] Just a few other things I've been meaning to mention since doing level 2. Firstly for the big zombies: The method I described earlier isn't working for some reason now. But instead I've found to use Mag60 with auto aim, and aim above their head from a distance and they will die rather quickly within 2 - 4 bursts usually. I'm able to deal with the 2nd sister area in 20 seconds dead with this method, all the while optimably moving around the area dispatching the big zombies and preparing the grenade launcher for the bitch, lol
2nd thing: Jumping down slopes. I've actually been doing this for years I think on this game and I believe it works with the same principle to get a boosted jump off the curved walls at the end of level 2 that I found. Simply jump down a slope and as you land immediately hit jump again for a nice boost jump which gives a momentary burst of speed before reverting to normal speed. The trick doesn't work in tunnels with low roofs as you probably would guess as you just get stopped by the ceiling. But this trick is especially useful in level 2 since there are a multitude of slopes with high or no ceilings. Definitely when I do my next play through I'll be paying attention to the ground for every opportunity to do this trick.
I'll be working on it. As for the heavy zombies, I find that the Firestorm cannon and Flamethrower from the level 3 Eye of Truth stash do a better job than anything else. This is part of the reason I believe so strongly that the trip is worth taking. I also tested a few other boosts and found conclusively that there is no natural way to get either the level 1 or level 3 P-keys early. On the level 3 P-key I even tried climbing the guard tower and weaving around the gunner, then using his melee attack for a boost- Didn't even come close to reaching the gate, much less getting over it. With the slopes I actually think you can gain some advantage with low roof areas, you just need to tap and release jump as fast as possible to reduce the height of your jump.
Hehe yeah I tried that boost from the gunner on level 3 too. The flamethrower may be very powerful weapon but in order to do damage you need to be up fairly close to start doing damage. Where as with the mag 60 I can shoot (with auto aim) from a very large distance and dispatch big zombies from far away, so that I'm nearer to the next zombie that needs to be killed. The same thing applies to the soul gates. You'd need to go right into the room to begin doing damage to the soul gate, but with explosive shredder I don't even need to enter the room. Instead you can stand on the slope and shoot really early at the bottom of the soul gate. So I've probably done 3 shots before the flamethrower has started unleashing napalm, If one was to compare them. Having said this it is harder to aim on N64 I think and I could definitely see the lure of flamethrower early on that version, and tbh it'll be cool to have differing strategies for the different ports, and to have our reasons behind them.
I'm about 2/3 through level 2. I've just killed second sister and saved after teleporting back out via the portal, and my time is 40 minutes and 21 seconds. I think I'll have this level done at around the 50 minutes mark. Add an extra few minutes to nab the level 1 P-key afterward and I should have about 52 or so minutes total time. Lastly a little thing you may already know about. For the first sister area: The first big zombie you come across in the tunnel before the ladder, you can simply ignore him as he's not part of the set that need to be killed to open the sister tomb door.
I'm about 2/3 through level 2. I've just killed second sister and saved after teleporting back out via the portal, and my time is 40 minutes and 21 seconds. I think I'll have this level done at around the 50 minutes mark. Add an extra few minutes to nab the level 1 P-key afterward and I should have about 52 or so minutes total time. Lastly a little thing you may already know about. For the first sister area: The first big zombie you come across in the tunnel before the ladder, you can simply ignore him as he's not part of the set that need to be killed to open the sister tomb door.
Yeah the strategies seem notably different per version- Particularly as I'm finding that regardless of the range the auto aim is unreliable on the N64. It's very enticing to hear the kind of time your making and I have very big news for you- The Fan+Wheel robot boost WORKS! FUCK YEAH! Now first let me give a couple important notes to make it work for you; 1) DO NOT run all the way up to the edge to start, wait about at the start of the talisman tile. This way you can watch the wheel robot, even as it starts doing a melee attack, and then you can turn and start running in preparation for the second melee attack. You need to diagonal jump too of course. 2) The map only shows the first part of the bridge up to the tunnel- You need to use your own estimate between the health pick ups to guess where the bridge is >.>;;; Still, if you pull this off you will effectively be able to skip both the Heart of Fire and Eye of Truth talisman! I'm very proud of this discovery, I'm sure you can tell ^U^ This is probably the last game breaker available, but if anyone's going to find another I'm sure it'll be you.
ahh dude that is fantastic. Awesome 
!. Skipping needing to go back and get the eye of truth talisman, is great too. But the Heart of fire talisman I already skip. Do I need it somewhere ? . Anyway this also saves that stupid backtrack at the end of the Primagens lightship that we had to always do:D
Well I've been feeling that it's getting to that time when these game breakers are slowing down or coming to a hault. We've certainly found most of them I'm sure of that. There's probably numerous little strategies I'll find along the way while doing this test run, which I will for sure keep you posted on.
[edit] I can happily say that I've managed to do the wind boost+damage boost a couple of times now. It is tricky but it's very cool. I did it with invincibility though and the wheel bot quite clearly shoots the shit of me before going in for the needed attack. How much damage does he do to you on average before he does the melee attack ?. Also I think after that, once you get onto the second bridge, walk some way up collecting a couple of 2 health pickups, get out your plasma rifle and snipe the big trooper up the top, otherwise he'll shoot me to death, especially since he is programmed to do that mega health draining move. When I got to the top and flicked the switch I was worried that you need to die to get back down, which would mean having to go all the way back before the wind tunnel. Then I thought the portal nearby would be the savior by activating it first, but then it dawned on me that you'd lose your wind speed. Thankfully I needn't have worried about any of this as the start point of the first bridge is right underneath the alcove containing the switch, and a simple drop down is all that was needed
Well I've been feeling that it's getting to that time when these game breakers are slowing down or coming to a hault. We've certainly found most of them I'm sure of that. There's probably numerous little strategies I'll find along the way while doing this test run, which I will for sure keep you posted on.
[edit] I can happily say that I've managed to do the wind boost+damage boost a couple of times now. It is tricky but it's very cool. I did it with invincibility though and the wheel bot quite clearly shoots the shit of me before going in for the needed attack. How much damage does he do to you on average before he does the melee attack ?. Also I think after that, once you get onto the second bridge, walk some way up collecting a couple of 2 health pickups, get out your plasma rifle and snipe the big trooper up the top, otherwise he'll shoot me to death, especially since he is programmed to do that mega health draining move. When I got to the top and flicked the switch I was worried that you need to die to get back down, which would mean having to go all the way back before the wind tunnel. Then I thought the portal nearby would be the savior by activating it first, but then it dawned on me that you'd lose your wind speed. Thankfully I needn't have worried about any of this as the start point of the first bridge is right underneath the alcove containing the switch, and a simple drop down is all that was needed