Making a Comeback
7 years ago
United States

So I see a Japanese guy beat my any% WR. That and I started to get a bit nostalgic for the game (it's been over a year since I've touched it), so I'm thinking of making a bit of a comeback.

Obviously, the first and biggest issue is the absence of glitches in the new version of the game. I think if this game has any chance of being speed ran in the future, then this needs to be overcome. The old records need to be beaten.

I spent quite a few hours trying to get my hands on an old version of the game. And unfortunately, there's no reliable way to do it without pirating it. And all of the pirate versions are riddled with problems and flaws that make them unusable for speed runs (crashes, swapping save files, etc.)

So I started doing some research into exactly HOW big of a disadvantage the new version is. And my conclusion is that while it's a disadvantage, it's not a crippling one, especially since runs on the old version of the game are still so un-optimized.

There are a few reasons for this:

  1. The helicopter glitch isn't as advantageous as it first appears. Yes, you skip a 45-second helicopter intro. But, to skip it, you have to spend an extra 1-3 seconds menuing, reload a checkpoint (8-10 seconds), and run a slightly longer distance (5-8 seconds). So in reality, it's likely only a 25-30 second advantage per mission. Throw on top of that the fact that many missions can be reached quickly on ground (M4, M14, M15, M16, M18, M24, M27, etc.) and I think in the end, the helicopter glitch gives a 3-5 minute advantage over the course of a first ending run. In a 2.5 hour run, this is definitely possible to overcome.

  2. A prominent change in 1.10 that has not been discussed here is that damage from assault rifles and explosives have been nerfed across the entire game. What that means is that it is noticeably harder to die in firefights. In fact, in just screwing around in 1.10, it's almost hilarious sometimes where I can run through 4-5 enemies getting shot the whole time and still survive. IMO, this will change some runs, as you can be more reckless going through levels now and worry less about being spotted.

  3. Unfortunately, I have no way to verify this other than some really rudimentary comparisons between my video from 2015 and my new install, but it appears 1.10 significantly reduces checkpoint load times (basically loads where the dog emblem is in the background). My unscientific observation is that it may be as much as 1-2 seconds per load, which would add up to multiple minutes over the course of an entire run. Note: this may be PC-only, I'm not sure.

  4. It may be my imagination but D-Horse and D-Walker don't feel like they're getting caught on stupid rocks and walls the way they used to.

  5. The loss of the wall glitch really only hurts on M6, and even then you lose maybe 15 seconds.

  6. Watching the two new Japanese runs next to their American counterparts, it is clear that language may give a slight advantage/disadvantage. This is something that needs to be tested, but Japanese seemed to be a few seconds shorter during some monologue scenes. If it does turn out that one language is shorter than other languages, again, this could add up to a couple minutes saved over the course of a run.

Returning to an any% first ending run, if all of the above is true, then the 1.10 disadvantage is likely only a couple minutes. That said, I already have some strats I was working on in 2015 that I never recorded that can likely beat this guy's time if I use a lot of his strats as well. So I'll be going for it.

Note: I also believe I've come up with some ideas for an NG all missions% route that could be done in 4-4.5 hours total. That'll likely be my next project.

Edited by the author 7 years ago
Valyssa0 and Killerkaz like this
United States

This just in: Japanese gives a slight time disadvantage (my guess is anywhere from 20-30 seconds over the course of the run). There are no other voice over languages available. So English appears to be the optimal language for runs.

Switzerland

a while back i was looking at the routing for any% firstending and im pretty sure many missions can be reached faster on foot... seems like youve already considerd this. i never found a map with all the ground mission starting points on it so its kinda hard to route... im pretty sure you can do everthing up to and including mission 5 on the ground (its been a while)...

what im trying to say is. i think the biggest timesaves are gonna come from rerouting the missions so you dont have to use the helicopter as often... probably more for all missions though

Edited by the author 7 years ago
Netherlands

"5. The loss of the wall glitch really only hurts on M6, and even then you lose maybe 15 seconds. " You mean D-Horse clipping? Because that still works, I did it just last night. At the very least it still works on the straight walls in OKB Zero, can't speak for anywhere else but I'd be surprised if that was patched

miniomegaking likes this