This is ridiculous... the new WR is so obviously unoptimized, but it looks like it just has better routing with the foot health strat

We really need to improve this, it's a disgrace

I think optimal Heinrich spot is right next to stairs, and you pick up C4 in the locked room next to the roof stairs. Am I wrong?

I wonder how precise your proposed route is. I tested totally trashing my feet and had bad results.

One thing I recommend you consider is whether it's worth it to get foot bandages (presumably on floor 31 but I think there's some on 34 as well) in order to increase your movement speed

I don't understand why YV allows this shortcut in No Skips but the very similar shortcut at the start of Rainbow Road is not allowed. Obviously the RRo one saves much more time - is that the only difference?

Neither messes with the lap/checkpoint system, both jump from a higher track level to a lower track level, both jump over out-of-bounds areas that trigger a Lakitu to fish you out if you fall, and both can be done without hitting walls/enemies/items. They seem quite similar to me

Silly meme run based on Desert skip:

This is a huge time save with "last input" timing that most TAS use, I believe you can also save time with RTA timing if you get Abu as the first attract mode cutscene 4 times in a row (to skip Desert, Rooftops, Dungeon, and Cave of Wonders). I believe the odds of getting Abu first 4 times in a row are 1 in 625. TAS would save about 2 seconds doing this, if your levels are slower than 60 seconds on average it could be optimal to skip more than 4

Edit: I don't think the order of attract mode scenes is random after all

Is this the trick all the rules now refer to as "world warping" or is that something else?

^Explanation of Glitch as well as one obvious way to trigger it.

I would assume wiggling your cart is not allowed in runs, but if you can generate other processor errors in the course of gameplay they would also send you to level select

Mickey Mania uses this (mentioned in video) as a core part of their route, might be worth trying to see if we can replicate the effect without wiggling a cart in order to skip levels

Invite: https://discord.gg/B8p3qbq

Some of the game moderators hang out there, and we are happy to answer questions or help you learn new tricks!

I used Wsplit, but I also have 2 monitors and typically keep the timer on the 2nd monitor (recorded in OBS)

Yeah I've been pushing it down from 33min ish to current. There's definitely still some room for improvement.

For the floppy skip you mentioned, I think it's too far off-screen. If it's the one I'm thinking of, you would shoot from the far right, drop down to the telephone wire underneath, and run left to scroll the screen. I've tried that and wasn't able to get it. (Level starts at 13:05 in the 27m59s run)

I'm not sure. I'd lean towards "yes" but that's far from a commitment.

So far I regard platform/spike/enemy movement cycles as basically RNG. I think they spawn in the same spot every time and move left/right randomly (enemies/platforms) before being stuck in their cycle

Howdy! Glad to see I'm not the only one interested in this game. My current run does indeed have a route, but there are no major glitches, so if/when we find stuff the route could change a lot.

As far as I can tell, the power shot (can have 2 bullets on screen at once) is the only powerup that persists between levels, and it saves a bit in most levels, so route is to grab that ASAP then efficiently work your way to the final level

For any future mods or interested visitors: we are trying to balance the fact that this game could have a ton of categories vs the ability of new visitors to see the main categories quickly and clearly. The current solution is to include the categories with the most competition as normal categories and hide everything else under Miscellaneous or ILs.

Additionally, I would make an argument that since NG+ is tied to the game and not a save file (fresh file runs require substantial mucking around in the game config) that NG+ should be considered main categories and fresh file should not. The normal process of play (playing at all then doing a Speedrun or doing multiple runs back-to-back) will naturally lead the player to do NG+ runs.

I'm in

I suspect the optimal X360 route is: skip prologue, double jump for high early foam, save game (down and immediate left, next to HEF), go right to chopper scene, warp, load, run right to trigger final cutscene {essentially the same as the 514 but skipping nades}. As you point out, this version of the corner warp is unproven

I dont think 2% is feasible with the corner warp (if I understand it correctly) because you would be at 200HP and take trap damage. I'm fairly certain 300HP is a more reasonable minimum in terms of the number of E-tanks

I think the route for 2% would be closer to the old gunless route (foam walk down from the field into base, second foam walk down into the trap room) but only because of the framerate limitations