Movement tips

Movement in The Dig is very tricky. Here are some tips you can use to move a bit faster.

## Leaving a room instantly

You might have already noticed this one. If you double-click on an exit, you'll leave the room immediately.

It's also possible to hold the Enter key instead of double-clicking. Holding Enter is particularly convenient when you quickly move between rooms. Be aware that holding Enter might be risky in some cases, particularly when Brink or Robbins are following you. In these cases, either stop holding Enter or avoid Brink/Robbins while moving the cursor around.

To get the best results when holding Enter, configure your keyboard in your operating system settings and set repeat delay to short.

## Scroll manipulation

So, as mentioned earlier, you can immediately leave a room *as long as you can double-click on an exit*. However, when an exit isn't on the screen, you can't click on it. So you have to walk towards the exit, wait for the screen to scroll until you can see the exit, and then double-click (or hold Enter) on it.

Sometimes this is the fastest way to move, but sometimes it's better to leave the screen through another exit (different than the one you came from) and entering it again. Since you entered the screen from a different place, the screen will now be in a different position, and it's possible that the exit you want is now on the screen. For example, you can do this when [leaving the planetarium to go to the crevice](https://dalek.zone/w/nuT46BioLmdQs8gFAES4wg) or when [going to the monster's nest from the map room](https://dalek.zone/w/2LJ4PhH4Dcq4dzBfHEHVfk).

In other cases, the screen starts scrolling when Low is close to the edge of the screen. When that happens, it's faster to reposition the screen so Low is in the center and you can see the exit. The most common way to do that is opening the communications screen (by pressing the "C" key) and immediately closing it. Looking at a rod also works, but that's slower because you have to open the inventory first. Check the [leaving the planetarium tram video](https://dalek.zone/w/eCikJiivkDa6NqKvdFNuhn) for an example. Here are other places where you can save time using this technique:

* Entering the wreck.
* Leaving the area with the weakened door after taking the museum tram.
* Leaving the planetarium tram area to go to the nexus.
* Going back to the crypt after leaving the screen with the alien inside the pyramid.
* Leaving the monster's nest (both ways).
* Getting on the tram to go to the tomb (the second time around, after you've already called the tram).

There's also one known place where the screen will scroll if you simply open the inventory and close it, and that's the tram museum, when you're going back to the nexus. After reaching a certain point, open the inventory, close it, and the exit will be on the screen. The [leaving the museum tram video](https://dalek.zone/w/mRHLdswVoFEq1Ate5Ck1aH) shows this sequence.

## Schmoovement

Starting with The Secret of Monkey Island, in all SCUMM games characters move alternating a short step and a long step. Usually, when walking to the left or up, characters start their movement with a long step. And, when walking to the right or down, characters start their movement with a short step. So, if you hold Enter while walking up or left and move the cursor constantly, Low will start a new movement after each step, meaning he'll take exclusively long steps, so he'll move faster. The opposite is also true: if you hold Enter while walking down or right, Low will move slower. Credit to mikeSpeedyAdventures for finding this mechanic (and many of the other mechanics mentioned in this guide).

Here are some examples where you can move faster using this technique:

* Walking to the wreck.
* Walking up the ramp after picking up the blue crystal.
* In the museum, walking to pick up the life crystals.
* In the museum, walking to pick up the red rod.
* Walking to the tunnel after bringing Brink back to life.
* Walking to the hole after setting up the trap for the critter.
* Walking to the statue in the tomb (only during the part you're walking to the left), after making sure there's enough light and the platform appears.
* Inside the crypt, on your way to the beasts.
* In the monster's nest, when you're walking to the left.
* Inside the lab, when going up to the light bridge area.
* In the cathedral's light bridge area, when you're walking to the left.

## Turning animations

There are basically three situations that will make Low turn around:

1. When standing still, starting to walk in a direction he's not currently facing.
2. Changing directions while walking.
3. Picking up or interacting with objects he isn't currently facing.

In general, the first situation is the easiest to deal with. Just like you'd do to take advantage of schmoovement, hold Enter and move the cursor. Low will skip the turning animation and start walking immediately. If you're walking to the right, make sure to stop holding Enter when Low's already started walking or, as explained in the previous section, he'll move slower.

Changing directions while walking is the trickiest one and unfortunately every situation is different. Sometimes, Low will turn faster if you do the same trick of holding Enter and moving the cursor. Sometimes, he will not.

Related to this topic, there are a few situations where you can click on certain points while walking and Low will walk in a straight line instead of turning here and there like he usually does. You can see some examples in the [picking up the jaw video](https://dalek.zone/w/5vHmD3TjabJ3uibWQjJaQ4), the [walking to the museum light bridge video](https://dalek.zone/w/2FWG8PYtKXyfV3S6f2pWPe) or the [walking to the portal video](https://dalek.zone/w/cYhCdbGfdrAcXoLGejPT66).

Finally, when picking up an object, sometimes it's possible to make Low turn around quicker. For instance, if you're approaching an object from the left, sometimes Low will walk to the right side of the object and then turn slowy turn left to pick it up. In this situation, just when Low is about to start turning, you can quickly click on the right and then on the object. Sounds tricky, and it is. It doesn't save much time either (usually between 0.1 and 0.3 seconds). Personally, I only use it during the initial sequence where you set up the explosives, as you can see in the [using the shovel with the boulder video](https://dalek.zone/w/xwBJZ5vnPbd9EtuifzMqX4).

Skips and glitches

There are a few known skips and glitches in this game, and there's certainly potential for more. Here's what we know so far.

## Planetarium and map light bridges

Usually, when activating the planetarium and map light bridges, you click on the strange device, then press the switch. It won't work, so you adjust the lens, click on the strange device again, and press the switch again.

Turns out it isn't necessary to press the switch the first time around. Click on the strange device and, when the screen changes so the switch is shown, leave that screen without pressing the switch. Then proceed as usual.

It saves about 1.5-2.0 seconds each time. Since you do it twice, overall it saves about 3-4 seconds.

## Quick museum and tomb trams

It's possible to enter the museum and tomb trams right after calling them. The trick is to click (or press Enter) on a certain area right after skipping the cutscene. Overall it saves about 5 seconds.

It might be a frame-perfect trick, but luckily there's a way to get it 100% of the time. As soon as you call the tram, hold Enter and skip the cutscenes by clicking both mouse buttons.

The area where you can position the cursor is pretty generous. Position the cursor somewhere on the left, but not too far to the left. Check the [quick trams video](https://dalek.zone/w/1jp7V57iWaYnUks6CsH7bU) to get an idea about where to position the cursor.

This might (and, then again, might not) be related to an annoying bug that might take place at the beginning of the run. Sometimes you click on Miles, but you call Brink instead. Maybe it takes a frame or two to adjust the hitboxes when a screen loads. Or maybe it has nothing to do with that :D.

## Alien device console glitch

This one is very simple but still worth mentioning. At the cathedral, if you double-click (or hold Enter) with the cursor on the alien device console (the one missing the eye part), you'll immediately interact with it, just as you can warp to an exit by double-clicking or holding Enter on it.

## Map room glitch

In the map room, open the communications screen or examine a rod soon after entering from the light bridge room. After closing that screen, you won't be able to move. The good news is that clicking on the panel will result in Low interacting with it immediately, saving a few seconds. The [map glitch video](https://dalek.zone/w/pcdCujTjugCp3XiF3Jmrj7) shows the position where Low should be for this to work. Credit to mikeSpeedyAdventures for this glitch.

There have been reports (by me! :D) about a similar glitch happening sometimes in other places. After certain actions, the screen would stop scrolling and you'd get stuck. Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention to it the two or three times it happened, so there's no video showing how it could be reproduced.

## Brink's machine glitch

After you show the eye part to Brink and skip the cutscene, you can use the eye part with the slot. When you do that, there's a good chance Low will move and use the eye part as if he were right in front of the slot. This doesn't save time because you still need to walk to the machine to pick up the eye after you've used it. However, it might make Brink's movement manipulation easier.

After you pick up the eye part, there's an unskippable cutscene where Brink goes berserk. During that cutscene, Brink needs to move to a certain position, so you have to wait for him to do that. However, when you skip the "using the eye part" cutscene at the right moment, Brink will move to exactly that position, meaning the "Brink going berserk" cutscene will be shorter. The downside is that skipping the "using the eye part" cutscene at the wrong time will make the "Brink going berserk" cutscene longer.

Here's a video example of the [Brink's machine glitch going well](https://dalek.zone/w/5CSReahGCWwK7CfSfu8Njm).

## Water glitch

You can get in the water without walking all the way to the stairs, saving 1 or 2 seconds, as shown in the [water glitch video](https://dalek.zone/w/5NFKymkmQmD92Cgi2wbFvF).

It seems very inconsistent, and currently we don't know how to properly reproduce it.

This glitch can also result in a time loss because Low might walk to the bones before entering the water. The [water glitch gone wrong video](https://dalek.zone/w/aDaPdQhDr6oPnKCNHout72) shows this case.

## Picking up the red rod

Finally, here's a glitch I've only seen once and haven't been able to reproduce. While picking up the red rod, it's possible that most of the animation is skipped. If you'd like to check what happened, watch the [red rod glitch video](https://dalek.zone/w/bPWNTBNV5aSiwCJoijYzC6).

Name	Autor
Movement tips	saruya 6 months ago
Skips and glitches	saruya 5 months ago