I already knew about that OoB, it's probably useful for Low% but I just haven't done that yet. However the second video is very interesting. Seems weird for him to just get stuck like that. It would definitely be useful for Low% and make the fight a lot easier, so when I get around to do that I'll look more into it. Maybe the reason why it happens could be found, and a somewhat consistent way to do it too.

Thanks for posting your findings 🙂

I found this out of bounds in the Geoforge level while playing trough the game. It's not useful, but maybe you can do this somewhere else and possibly save time. Just thought I'd share it in case someone would be interested in this.

Around two months ago I had theorized about a potential skip to get on top of the roof, skipping having to zig zag through the level normally, but I never found anything that worked. Now that I came back to the game do some IL's I decided to try again, and found this! It saves ~35 seconds and should be viable in full game runs, with a little practice.

Could someone replace the current wallpaper to one from the actual game? I think one of these would look good:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u7h7x5xknbssw5b/AACBzpgYE6i94b8iEiKrROd-a?dl=0

I thought there were no more skips to discover, but thankfully I tried a little more and found this! It saves ~9 seconds and skips all enemy triggers, except the last one. Unless it can become consistent, it will only be used in IL runs.

Found a small new skip at the beginning of Aspari Extraction. It is hard, so I don't think it's viable in a full game run. It saves ~5 seconds, so it's definitely worth using in an IL run.

Thanks! I'm going to try find some more skips, so if you want me to look into something just let me know.

I finally found a way to skip the Ramon boss! It's actually not too hard, and should be consistent enough to use in full game runs.

If you get first try, and compare it to an ideal boss fight, it saves ~1 minute and 40 seconds. The drawback is that you don't get an upgrade, since the boss fight is skipped, though that shouldn't matter too much.

I found this new skip that lets you get over the gate without using the 2 levers to activate the power to open it.

Currently it's inconsistent and isn't viable in full game runs. However, if a consistent setup would be found it should save a decent amount of time since you don't have to kill the enemies and unlock the gate.

I've updated the rules and fixed Siousatou's time to accommodate for the change. I also added a separate subcategory for 3DS/Vita. So all of it should be good now.

Hey dude, It's great to see someone new being interested in this underrated game. This reply is from both me and Nordanix. If you need more explanations, just let us know.

1. You can avoid all Castanets attacks by walking around him so he cannot hit you. This is performed by walking straight towards him and when he misses his attack you then walk around him. This can also be done from either side, and can jump but it doesn't make a difference, he just did it for some reason.

2. We use the zoom to make it easier to see our characters better, which can help for some certain spots.

3. He always spawns 1st in the top right corner. Then he will always shift to the opposite side of where he got hit, so keep that in mind. He will always be one of the Red/Orange colored ones. But it's always RNG after the first hit.

4. They do have a small collision, so you can land on them. It's hard as you can slide off easily so you are at risk of losing a lot time just to save minimal. It will probably save time but it's more suited for IL's than full-game runs, as it's not worth the high risk-low reward. You might be able to make it consistent, but I at least think going for all 3 pipes is not worth it. Mixing the pipe and ice platforms can also be a possibility.

5. We always try to do the perfect strat, but it requires rather precise positioning and will not always consistent. There's no real alternative, you will have to try stand in the right spot and hope it works.

6. There are no other major skips like the Cactus one but there are smaller time saves due to optimizations. If you want to find out more I suggest watching all our IL's as we did them after our WR run, and use more faster strats.

7. He will always come down in the middle for a free hit, after that it's RNG. However, the 2nd phase is always the same pattern.

8. It does lose time so only use it when necessary, but of course do it if you don't feel comfortable with some jumps. When you first run this game it doesn't really matter but as you improve and get more comfortable you should try to avoid it as much as possible. There are times where you might mess up a jump and reacting with a backup Double Jump can save yourself.

9. The main reason is because the Stage 4 in Music World has a RNG based sound puzzle (the piano) and having that at the end of a run would be too risky/annoying. We prefer to have it early on as if we mess it up badly and kill a run, it's not that big of a deal. In the end, do the worlds in the order that you prefer.

10. We cannot speak for Solo as we haven't tried it. However for Co-op the most important thing is teamwork and communicating with each other. For example letting the other one know when you're ready to clear a jump like at 1:09 (in our WR video), I say to Nordanix "Now!" when he can start run off the button that holds my platforms up. This is one of many examples, but you can figure out what works for you.

11. Generally the worst part are the boss in the Water and Arctic World. Other than that it's mostly skill based and a solid speedgame.

12. It makes the loading faster for sure but we use IGT anyway, which removes the advantage of faster loads. If Emulators affects IGT in levels, I don't know but I wouldn't think so. It can be useful for practicing certain jumps and finding new strats with the help of save states.

We hope our answer will help you with getting into speedrunning this game. We have also created a Discord Server for easier communication in case there's any more questions 🙂

Hey! I just thought of some suggestions for how to improve the leaderboard and stuff, so let me know what you think of them.

1. Change the main category to Any% NG+. I think it's much more fun than a normal NG run and it should be the default category.

2. Change the difficulties name from "Easy", "Normal", Hard" -> "Casual", "Normal", "Hardcore". This is what they are refered to in-game, and so they should have the same names.

3. Adding subcategories for each difficulty. Otherwise it will be unfair for those who don't play on the same difficulty to compete with each other.

4. Add rules, such as when timer starts, ends and what NG+ means etc.

5. Add a better wallpaper. The current one is low quality and should be changed to a clearer and nicer one.

6. Make the theme of the site more fitting to the game's visuals. So maybe use the same colors such as the cover art or something.

7. I've made rank icons and a logo, so they could be added as well.

All the wallpapers, rank icons and logo is in this dropbox link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nt5yelmrrvddoef/AACsETwblgPX_Hoj4F2ejGPra?dl=0

If you want, I could make an All Unlocks category and add the WR video for it. Also, I wouldn't want to attempt it myself, seems way too hard 🙂

I'm glad you like it! I just added a little bolder logo in the link above, so see if that's enough or if it needs even more. Also, I completely agree on that timing rule change, it sounds great and is fair for everyone.

I just finished creating a speedrun logo with a fitting font, that I think looks good. There are two versions, so see which one you like the best. If they need further improvements, just let me know and I'll try fix it. 🙂

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cq5921u91fseqai/AAAnEGmKuqAdeSteGvw_2lTYa?dl=0

I agree that the start should be more fair, and having a negative time start seems fine for console runners. If you feel that it’s a good thing to have, then sure, use it. As long as PC keeps the same timing I’m fine with it.

Though another option if we want a consistent and easy way of timing, is to just say that the timer starts when you gain control of the character. I’m fine with either.

I’m sorry for not responding, I didn’t notice it. 🙁 I fixed my discord name now, which should be correct. Regarding your question about negative time start for console, could you explain a little what it means?

Sure, I could try doing a logo. I've just not been able to find the font that Dark Sector is using. I can try looking for a similar font and see if it looks any good. Though if you would find the game's font, or any other good ones you want me to try, just let me know.

I found an easy way to get OoB in chapter 10, though it's pretty much useless. Also, in chapter 7, it's possible to skip the small cutscene that happens when you pass a pipe. This saves only ~5 seconds, and is very inconsistent for me.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKcAVgPu-fltnOmA4y1rYKkzq1pimbGIx

Well, I was looking around on Steam for a new game to play and potentially speedrun. Eventually I found Dark Sector, which sounded and looked cool, so I bought it. That's pretty much it 🙂