Reply To: Attempting a speedrun!

[DavidN]

#1595

From my initial exploration into the TAS community, they seem very friendly and willing to support newcomers 🙂 I got some great advice from slamo in this thread that helped speed up my workflow: http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20296

And with that, I’ve been able to complete levels 4 to 6 in two minutes flat. (You can use Shift+L at the title screen to enter a practice mode that can bump you up to level 4, but sets your timer to just fifteen minutes – this is supposed to make the game impossible to complete, but I think otherwise! I’m counting this as a legitimate way provided by the game to “complete” levels 1-3 instantly 😉 )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmEM5-43_Ek

It’s odd instructing a computer how to play a game rather than directly doing it yourself – you lose a lot of the feel of the controls and timing, so I was surprised that some parts actually felt more difficult than they would have been if I were doing a human speedrun through levels that I’d memorized years ago. But having the ability to save a state and restart definitely let me try some guard-skipping tricks that I wouldn’t have risked if I were doing it manually.

Level 4

– At the start, there’s a guard on the other side of the portcullis to the right who usually just turns around to face you if you venture on to that screen. But by moving into the screen in a specific way, you momentarily convince him you’re close enough to be worth pursuing, and he obligingly steps forward on to the tile to let you in. This lets you avoid going along the real route to the left, down and up again.

– Having done that, you then rudely teleport past him! By jumping forwards when you’re a very specific distance from the guard, you can avoid his swing and dodge past him. Then, once you’ve bopped him once, you have a window to turn and run.

– Jumping forwards is significantly faster than walking. I’m almost sure I could have fit in one more jump on my way to the right, but the presence of the pit and the spikes mess the rhythm up a bit.

– As I go back to the left after opening the exit, you see a “Sound off” message (which is really turning off the music, not the sound). Disabling the sound saves a few seconds at the end of each level, because otherwise the game’s theme plays and the timer is still running!

Level 5

– No jumping when going to the right at the start, because it would make the Prince too quick and he’d hit his head on the portcullis.

– Tempting the guard down from his platform lets you take advantage of a bug. By coaxing him over to the left and entering combat, you can back on to the screen to the left and the game will think you’re beyond the portcullis. Otherwise you’d have to get here by going up and over, fighting another guard.

– Then a run to the left, alternating between fighting and jumping. The guard skipping trick doesn’t work when you’re facing left – you have to stop, draw your sword and then swap positions before making your escape.

Level 6

– The spikes are arranged really awkwardly here, very hostile to continuous running and jumping!

– The midboss of the game, affectionately known as Fatty, is anticlimactically skipped in the same way as any other guard!

– You’re meant to attempt to jump over to the Shadow and try to climb up only for him to close the door on you, but the level ends as soon as you leave the bottom of the screen so you can just do it yourself 🙂

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The next phase will be levels 7-9, which are much longer and involve more fights with guards, so those will be more difficult – oddly, the game’s levels get much easier again on 10 and 11. Wish me luck 🙂