[incomplete] Individual Level guidance using the debug menu

Unfortunately, there isn't a fair and accurate way to time and set up individual levels at this time.
If more people were to start running IL levels, we should discuss and come up with fair ways to time and set up individual level runs.

The following is an old write-up on how I imagined individual levels could work.

1. The Debug menu
The game comes with a debug menu, but it has to be enabled through unofficial means.
The debug menu has to be used in order to start the level of our choice with the right abilities.
Get the debug menu from the Resources section.

2. Setting the appropriate things
To start off, press F2 to open the debug menu.
You can use the arrow keys to move up or down, or change values left or right in the menu. A cursor graphic on the left shows your selected option.
To "enter" on an item, press your Ring menu button.

Before starting a run, you're going to have to enter a pre-determined set of values for that level. These settings include the health level and the reavers Raziel posesses, so the level knows which puzzle elements to enable and disable. By default, transitioning to a level resets these settings.
At the bottom of this guide, you'll find the settings for each individual level.

3. Starting the level / run
In the debug menu, select the level you want to start at.
Then, in the main menu of the debug menu, make sure that the option "Keep info between level loads" is set to true. This makes sure that our settings don't reset when we select a level in the debug menu. You only want to have this checked when you want to start a run. When first transitioning into the level, or when resetting, you should not have this option checked yet.
Set the appropriate settings for that level. Refer to the bottom of this guide for a list of levels and their corresponding starting number.
Once you have set everything correctly, choose Restart this level from the Levels menu, with the 'Keep info between level loads' option set to ON.
When the level loads, start the timer.

4. Ending the level
Refer to the bottom for more info on when to end your level.

--------------- LIST OF LEVELS ---------------
• Dark Forge
  Level: SWAMP 4
  Settings:
    Raziel menu -> Health System -> Health Level = 1
    Raziel menu -> Special abilities -> All = YES
    Raziel menu -> Reaver sucks soul = YES
  Timer ends when you interact with the last Material Reaver door where you meet Vorador.
!!! might require a change to SWAMP 5, as it's right at the Material Reaver entrance door.
!!! Let us know if you want to run!

• Light Forge
  Level: LAKE 9
  Settings:
    Raziel menu -> Health System -> Health Level = 2
    Raziel menu -> Special abilities -> All = YES
    Raziel menu -> Imbue reaver -> Dark Reaver = YES
    Raziel menu -> Reaver sucks soul = YES
  Timer ends when you interact with the last door exiting to the lake.

• Air Forge
!!! WARNING !!!
!!! This level requires further setup before starting !!!
  When you spawn in AIR 1, immediately backtrack and open the Material reaver door.
  Then, walk to the Dark Reaver imbue font.
  Start the timer when you press Action to imbue the Reaver.
  Level: AIR 1
  Settings:
    Raziel menu -> Health System -> Health Level = 3
    Raziel menu -> Special abilities -> All = YES
    Raziel menu -> Forged reavers -> Dark Reaver = YES, Light Reaver = YES
    Raziel menu -> Reaver sucks soul = YES
  Timer ends when you interact with the last Material Reaver door on your way out.

• Fire Forge
  Level: FIRE 1
  Settings:
    Raziel menu -> Health System -> Health Level = 4
    Raziel menu -> Special abilities -> All = YES
    Raziel menu -> Forged reavers -> Dark Reaver = YES, Light Reaver = YES, Air Reaver = YES
    Raziel menu -> Reaver sucks soul = YES
  Timer ends when you trigger the Janos cutscene on the way to the door.

Edited on 30th of May, 2022: regressed legality status of individual level runs

Any% Tutorial as of 23/01/17 (needs work)

WARNING! if you do not know the glitches used here please watch this video first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDWnoXnLw-c

The first thing you do after the cut scene is head into the time chamber on the other side of the room and rub against one of the walls (doesn’t matter which wall) and activate timestop.

You then wander over to the other time chamber and stand inside the door. Here you need to remove timestop and rotate Raziel so that the loading zone is triggered while in the door and then move into the loaded room.

When in the 2nd time chamber you move over to the left wall (because camera angles) and activate timestop. With timestop on you move outside of the map and you should be able to see the future, literally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyJLoYyY8aE

Avoid disabling timestop until you reach the 3rd time chamber door and repeat the trick with the loading zone. If you don’t load the room successfully and pass into the unloaded area it’s fine. A checkpoint is triggered so you can spectral shift and die (slowly) to the ghouls to reload the room.

You want to get jump storage from the future demons to skip the green barrier and open big double doors to progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFaNnrLCwrY

Follow the passage normally or use an enemy to timestop through the walls to the next loading zone depending on how confident you are.

Once you reach the courtyard you head northwest and take the passage on the right. The next room has two enemies hiding behind either side of the entrance so you can attempt timestop/jump storage to skip opening the door or just ignore them.

In the next area need jump storage from an enemy and to carry it with you through the passage on the left until the small entrance and jump through the wall. I also show an alternative if navigating the corners with the camera like that is too much trouble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAhFRQotmRk

Proceed to open the giant doors to progress to the Ghost Mobius cut scene.
Do the rest of the game as planned up until the place before the Pillars. Use an enemy to skip through the door thus skipping a short movie. I recommend switching to spectral here for the entire section up until the shift point after the Elder God encounter.

Moving forward some more there is a door that you can jump storage through. Progress to the Elder God (unskippable cutscene) and go through the caverns. After swimming for a while you encounter the future demon next to the Dark Reaver path. Use this demon to get double jump so you can make the gap.

Once in the swamp, trigger the door cut scene and use an enemy to jump through. Once inside you must get another storage from the enemy on the other side of the same door you jumped through and use that storage to make the next gap.

From the time chamber you can either activate the machine or timestop your way through the walls. (I haven’t timed them)

From here it’s a journey of backtracking up until you reach the drop and using an enemy to timestop from a high point to an equally high point in another room, thus skipping a trick with bad camera angles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ira2HDzU7Kc

Now the fun part begins. Traversing back to the beginning of the game. An interesting thing to note at this point is that a lot of enemies that should exist do not spawn when we sequence break the game which makes the run faster because some of them come with cut scenes.

When you reach the pillars there is a small ledge that you can use for timestop. A helpful tip is to use the compass to navigate. You want to head South.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9iScYqzdtw

Once you reach the main doors trapped in ice you want to save your game and reload. This gives Raziel the Soul Reaver for the final fight. Use the human lady to get timestop to pass through the door.

IMPORTANT! Do not use the projectile as it messes with the Reaver in this state.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIO0bI0H2sg

The next video shows the whole section that you skip so I’m not explaining that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjCS2Pg3gHw

You can take damage in this section but the boss cannot block your attacks so keep up the offensive.

Setting up the game for speedrunning & troubleshooting

This guide will cover:
• Checking the internal framerate (FRTE)
• Locking the framerate
• Troubleshooting game performance & stability
--------------------
Soul Reaver 2 runs at an unlimited framerate by default. This poses an interesting set of problems when running the game on modern hardware.
You are only allowed to run the game as long as the internal FRTE, as displayed by the debug menu, stays at a consistent 60, and it is only allowed to have very minor fluctuations.

If you're experiencing at least one of the following, your FRTE is most likely above 60:
• Shifting between worlds takes longer than expected
• Dashing during combat moves you faster and farther than expected
• Certain in-game animations play faster than expected
• The timestop glitch is almost impossible to perform
• Jumping physics and camera movement are snappier than usual

Running the game with an unstable FRTE will invalidate your run. Please make sure to check and fix your FRTE before running the game!

----- Checking the internal framerate (FRTE) -----

To make sure your game is running stable, we have to check the internal framerate through the game's own debug menu.
1. Navigate to the Resources section.
2. Download the SR2 Trainer (debug menu) tool.
3. Launch the tool and the game.
4. Start the game, then press F2 to open the debug menu.
5. Navigate with your arrow keys to the SHORT SHORT STATS option and toggle it on with the left arrow key.

If the debug menu does not appear, try launching the trainer as an administrator.

Your FRTE should stay 60 and it is only allowed to have minor fluctuations (between 58 and 60). If you see more erratic changes in your FRTE, refer to the troubleshooting steps below.

----- Locking the framerate -----

Method 1: Install the DirectX 9 wrapper (recommended)
The DX9 wrapper increases compatibility with modern hardware, but most importantly limits the game to run at your monitor's refresh rate.

1. Go to the Resources section.
2. Find the 'DirectX 9 wrapper for Soul Reaver 2' file.
3. Download the zip file
4. Extract the contents of the zip file to the game directory.
If you installed the game from Steam, right-click the game in your library, click Properties, head to the Local files tab and select 'Browse local files...'
5. Run Soul Reaver 2 (sr2.exe) as usual. Do NOT use the modded exe file.

If you have a high refresh rate display and the game runs above 60 FRTE/FPS, lower your display refresh rate to 60Hz in your GPU control panel before starting the game, or ensure that your desired resolution runs at 60Hz.

Method 2: Force Vertical Sync & manually limit the framerate
These methods are recommended only if the wrapper does not appear to function on your system. This will most likely result in unstable internal FRTE.
Consult the Discord server if you need to consider this method.

• Using your GPU control panel, force vertical sync for Soul Reaver 2
• Using a screen/game recording software, limit the game's framerate to 60 FPS. (ex. Dxtory)

If you are unable to make your FRTE stay at a constant 60, please join our Discord and let us know.

----- Troubleshooting game performance & stability -----

Issue: Random crashes during long playtimes
Fix: Limit SR2 to only use 1 CPU core
Steps:
1. Open the Task Manager.
2. Go to the details tab and find sr2.exe
3. Right-click sr2.exe and click Process affinity...
4. Untick all of the cores, except one.

Issue: The game hangs or crashes when a new game is started
Reason: The wrapper or Windows may not be able to handle the game's movies
Fix: Make the video movies inaccessible by the game
Steps:
1. Navigate to the game's folder.
2. Create a new folder, such as "movie backups".
3. Move the movie3.dat and movie4.dat files to the newly created folder.
This will remove both the intro trailer and the credits at the end of the game.

Issue: I don't see the game when it starts up, but there is input & audio
Reason: The game is most likely running at an incompatible resolution
Fix: Modify the launch options
Steps:
1. Navigate to the game's folder.
2. Press the Windows key + R.
3. Clear the text box, then drag & drop the sr2.exe file into the text box.
4. Add '-setup' to the end of the text without the quotes.
5. Click OK and modify your resolution settings.

Issue: Vertical sync doesn't do anything in the launch options
Fix: This option does not appear to work. If you are using the wrapper, it forces vertical sync by itself.

Issue: The game plays random sounds, then crashes
Fix: None. This is a random bug in the game that might be related to unstable FRTE.

Issue: My controller doesn't work.
Fix: Consult the Discord server.

If you're having difficulties with setting up the game or you're experiencing other issues, please join the Legacy of Kain Community Discord server. We are ready to help and discuss any of your questions regarding the Legacy of Kain series, including technical assistance.

Name	Author
[incomplete] Individual Level guidance using the debug menu	xezrunner 3 years ago
Any% Tutorial as of 23/01/17 (needs work)	Twincross 8 years ago
Setting up the game for speedrunning & troubleshooting	xezrunner 5 years ago