Glitch Guide and Observed Glitches

Listing glitches used in the speed run and noting observed ones.  

The speed run has three main glitches and they all center around using a QuickSave(F5) followed immediately by a Quickload(F8). These combination can be buffered during the loading screen after doing a Quickload.  When a quicksave/load is done, in my observations, the game engine does a few things.  First it records the locations of all objects and their current states.  Then it records any running variables by cleaning up any running processes, especially audio, then recording them.  This causes some interesting side effects:

- Duplicating death increments(One Equals Four).  If the level is recording a certain amount of deaths or destroy buildings, doing and Quicksave/load will record the death process, clean up the death process and incrementing the count by one, then the load brings the game state back to mid death process. Repeating this process during the death process allows the death counter to go to any amount as desired to trigger game events.  CAUTION! Some levels, such as The Vortex and The Master Builders require an exact amount of kills to trigger the game ending events.  Doing this over the required amount will softlock the level and must be restarted. ALSO, doing this can cause the game to stack multiple effects in the quicksave and is known to cause crashes. It's advisable to do a safety save before doing these in sequence, especially during The Battle Begins. 

- Player Location Manipulation(Flight Glitch).  The scout is able to manipulate your character's Z Axis. If you fly close enough to your character, the model will "flow" over the model but anchors the character's X and Y axis to where they were left before quick switching.  This changes when quicksave/load happens.  When your character's model is on top of the scout when a quicksave is made, it records it as being on the scout model. The quickload puts your character model onto the scout but doesn't "activate" physics until after all other models and variables are loaded.  Thus if you're able to do a quicksave/load while the character is on a scout, it will anchor it in place.  This does come with two difficulties. First being that the window to do this is only a few frames and getting the right angle can be difficult. Second being that even if you do get the character on the scout, it could still consider your model on the ground, thus becoming an obstacle and destroying the scout.  This can also be observed if the character is on an awkward part of the scout and making any sharp turns.  

- Super Jump(Kermit Jump). This is achieved by starting a long jump then doing a quicksave/load on the immediate frame after the jump starts.  Doing buffered quicksave/load will load the physics, push the character ever so slightly higher and forward.  Repeating this will continue the effect.   For best effect, it's better to do this about two frames after the quickload completes.  Most of the time it's easier to do the flight glitch to travel longer distances but there is one place(The Lady Master Builder) that gets you do a just out of reach trigger. 


Those are the known glitches that are used in the run.  The following are observed glitches but uses in the run are unknown or game crashing:

- When the hammer is combining two artefacts, doing a quicksave/load at that time crashes the game. Unsure if there might be a way to do some duplication glitch with this. Possibly crashes due to where the created item slot is being loaded into?

- When the pause menu(F1) is opened, it's possible to quicksave and start the game with the menu options selectable.  Using the Continue option can have some interesting side effects during certain events. If you are defeated in a level(dying, losing an objective), the screen fadeout will occur but only the pause menu will show.  Pressing continue allows you to continue the game after your defeat, though can hardlock the game. Though continuing after a loss then completing a win objective, the lose screen will always appear.  Might be some way around this to cheat out a win. Another use for this is keeping the pause menu before a win condition is met.  The next level is started with the pause menu over the starting cinematic. Pressing continue freezes all controls until the cinematic is finished.  Although, it is observed in the console that the 'skip_cinematic' script can be run multiple times without actually ending the cinematic.  The hope was this would skip the 5 1/2 min. Fighting a Losing Battle but it does not have any effect. 

-  When deploying a scout and performing a quicksave/load as the exit animation is occurring, the load will complete the original exit and give control to the scout.  However, a second exit animation will start playing. Once it finishes, your scout will snap back to the entrance of the garage and most of the time push the model backwards depending on your moment up as the snap happens.  Doing another quicksave/load does not repeat the process.  With the short time before the snapback, unsure of the use. 

- Falling animation seems to ignore wall physics if coming in at a sharp enough angle. This can be observed by jumping off the island in The Sea of Clouds as the island is approaching the structure  since the island's momentum is still stored on your character.  Very difficult to pull off and unsure of any use.

Speedrun Guide

Brief rundown of each level and any notes about encounters.  For any information about the glitches used, refer to the Glitch Guide or my speedrun.

When  referring to buildings, I will put the level of each at the end of the name then R if it's is a one shot.

The Old Master Builder - Fairly straightforward, skip all starting cutscenes, build the nav tower and start navigating. After the next cutscene, install the turret then immediately take control of it.  Four ships will spawn and four will need to be destroyed to continue.  Do three quicksave/loads ina  row while the first ship is blowing up to make four kills.  After the cutscene, pickup the second turret to get the nav point and go to it to end the level.

The Grey Market - If it hasn't been destroyed already, blow up the turret that was just made and go to the PC immediately across the bridge. After the cutscene, pick up the powerplant01 behind them, go to the top of the hill behind them, and hammer the two gun01. Get the jetpack, pickup the silo01 on the pillar above, then use the nav tower to leave.  Build the gun02 at the front of the island and Keep the middle slot open.  Build the silo01 and powerplant01 anywhere.

The Pirates Ravine - Start the nav and immediately control the turret and destroy any ballons that get close immediately, healing any building as you go.  Repeat as needed.

The Mysterious Island - Start nav, go diagonally to the right and jump between the box and rocks.  Keep going till the pile of rocks then long jump to the far right rock and jump around it to get the jetpack.  Pick up the vault, belt upgrade, gun02R, and gun01R.  A spellbomb and battlespell is available but not needed.  Go to the island's lighthouse then flight straight into the sunset.

5. The Attack of The Sentinels
- Nav to island, build vault, deposit turrets
- man turret and destroy boxes
- Pick up booster and powerplant, go to biggun and kill bomber.  Pickup hanger
- Go to island, add hanger
- Control scout, fly to large island in from and perform a One in Four on the blue generator.
	
OPTIONS:
	- Two p_flak turrents available. Only does 2 damage. Possible use but currently terrible
	- Battle Spell

6. The Grey Market (2nd visit)
- Go to NPC, Pick up jetpack, pickup silo01 above the pillar
- Fly to far island, pickup gun02 above the NPC, then go to NPC and pickup the key item
- Fly back to market, Turn in key item, pickup gun01R and biggunR from the turn in
- Use nav out, build biggun at very front of island, store remaining items into vault.

7. The Athanor
- Start nav, Switch to scout
- Kill the three hangers to the right around the mid point then run into bomber that spawns at the end of the nav path.
- Pivot nav to point 2 use biggun to destroy any rocket turrets. After a scout respawns, go to the right small island where the main island will pivot at and pick up the floating biggunR
- On nav2, nav to 3. 
- Appx. half way to point 3, stop nav and control biggun.
- Perform a One in Four on one of the orbs the aim at the base of the chimneys till building explodes.

8. The Grey Market (3rd visit)
- Run up to guys from behind the boxes to puck up gun02R
- After cutscene, go back to island
- If not already, destroy the hanger and all turrets EXCEPT for Biggun. 
- Setup any additional plants and silos as desired and store all buildings to the vault
- Make sure no items are in inventory.

9. The Island Port
- Nav to island, confirm no items are in the belt.
-  There are two piers connecting to the island. Note the third to the left.  Get to the center of the island and align to the third pier before going to the center.
- After cutscene, go directly to the third pier and allign with the corner of the second pier.  Long jump to the second pier then long jump again right as the first pier is destroyed to get back to the island.
- Destroy the biggun and DO NOT touch anything during the cutscene. Game should progress after a few seconds and face out.

	10. The Base
- Get to ship spawner then fly to exit(sunset). End trigger somewhat small.


	11. The Vortex
- Warp twice, perform an exact One in Four on the first blue generator.
- Once the blue shield is gone, ram into middle generator

	12. The Artifact Cache
- Pickup the belt upgrade towards the wall on the first level. 
-Use elevator and pickup the following items: 
- Silo02
- Hammer
- Gun02
- PowerPlant02
- biggunR
- Key Item(drive)

- Get to island, start nav, build hander then biggun at the front.

13. The Sentinels' Fleet
- Start nav and control the scout.
- Attempt to destroy the far left island tower and end by ramming it.
- Use the biggun to destroy first island tower then the second if still alive. 
(Biggun can take large damage from a specific turret, watch for health and heal/rebuild as needed.)
- After cutscene, Start nav to 2 and use biggun to all forward island towers.
- Once passing the slim pathway, immediately fire on island in the far distance to the right.  Once it is destroyed, immediately nav to 3
- During this time, build the hammer then work on making the gun03, silo03, and powerplan03(BE CAREFUL on energy levels when removing power plants). 
- Once the island stops, use biggun to destory the large island tower then work on the three smaller towers to the left. Do building upgrades in between.
- Destroy first island, hit large island until the small island is visible in the for right.
- After the third island is destroyed, nav to the next point.  Work on any existing buildings as possible. 
- After the cutscene, use the drive, skip the next cutschene, then nav to the final point. Level ends quickly after.

	
	15. The Sea of Clouds
- Immediately stop the nav
- Position character for the flight glitch.
- Switch to scout, perform flight glitch, fligh to the tallest pillar with a blue item.

16. The Master Builders
- Start nav, use short time to perform remaining upgrades.
- Before nav stops, use biggun to destroy the ballons.
- Nav to the left then go to 6 after it stops. 
- Either on the nav left or nav 6, perfomn an exact One to Three on one of the blue generators to the right.
- Use remaining time to destory the four turrets on the front facing island and work on any upgrades

	19. The Battle Begins
- Start nav, build any gun02R, gun03R, or gun03 as many as possible. Try to put one at the rear.
- Right before nav finishes, control scout, warp 3 times into the sunset, then turn around.
- Destroy the two 4x bomber skrit waves
- Warp to the island on the far left and destory all 6 skrit bombers
- get closer to the very small enemies and perform a One in Ten(safety save before as this can crash game.)
- Immediately turn around and destroy the three bomber skirts.  The last skirt perform a One in Four
- Warp right then to a One in Nine on the horseshoe skirt(Safety Save recommended)
- Exit control, use nav topwer to leave.

	20. Fighting a Losing Battle
	- Level takes exactly 330 seconds to complete.
	- Use the middle rocket tower to prevent skirt from getting to your island.
	- Last of the upgrades and building repairs should be done here. 

21. The Lady Master Builder (WIP, very difficult level)

- Start nav, Use biggun to destroy ballons and approaching skrit bombers on the right(most will crash into the cover island).
- When passing the extremely close right island, perform a One in Two on the skrit spawner.
- This will spawn six additional skrit bombers that should attack the island in the distance, giving time to shot any stray bombers.
- Around the One in Two, level will script to destory your nav tower(14 seconds after the first skrit bombers appear), rebuild and start nav ASAP. Use biggun as necessary. 
- Smaller skrit will attack at the front after starting nav2.
- After starting nav3, stop appx half way.
- Perform flight skip an d fly diagonally to the left, staying appx above the smaller cluster of islands. 
- Go to the building to start part 1 of end trigger.
- Go to the spot where the island should be and do a super jump until the second trigger ends.

22. The Refuge
- Fly through the long bottom opening then higher corner opening
- Pickup all three items
- Fly back through the same spots.

	23. Mare Lacrimae

- Stop the nav and pickup the three items on the ground.
- Perform the flight glitch, go to the buildings on the right. 

	24. The Escort
- Long escort mission
- Build rocket tower to use against skrit
- Dont use scout till stop at nav1
- Use scout to destroy spawners at corner and protect escort
- Nav when available
- Near the next corner, destroy spawners
- At next nav availability, use scout to destroy all spawners and turrets in the escort's path to reduce harassment.  Island will go directly to end level.
- Before ending, destroy any rear turrets.

	25. The City of Machines
- Switch to scout, pickup jetpack in front of island.
- Make sure belt has enough for an additional item.
- Fly to far right tower, picking up a red bomb on the way
- At tower, plant bomgb, then One in Four on explosion.
- Use remaining bomb on generator directly across on large island.
	
27. The Queen's Lair (second hardest)
- Destroy any building on front, build the missle building
- Stand in front of missle building the control scout
- Destroy the four skrit spawners: One on right then three past arch on bottom-left, top-left, top right.

- Bug Waves.  Bugs will fall on island, kite to front and explode.
- leftover gas cloud deals ALOT of ticking damage and will trail down the island.
- Bugs can EASILY be stuck on terrain and can destroy buildings easily.  May take some finesse to bring forward. 

[Wave 1] 2x
- Kite to front and explode.

[Wave 2] 2x (Make sure to have FULL energy with silo03)
- Second bug wave attacks nav tower.
- Destroy both simultaneously then get in range to interreact with tower but take less damage as possible from skrit cloud.
- Spam repair on the nav tower with full energy bar.
- Nav will be on fire but should survive if at full energy.

- Use scout to get the backup nav tower and any power from destroyed lighthouse on the left.
- Repair the nav tower and run back to front

- [Wave 3]One Bug in rear.  Might get caught and is slow, navigate to the front.

- [Wave 4] Six bugs. Keep track of the amount of bugs, spread out as best as possible to reduce health loss.  Around this time, the ship will be at nav1 and will pivot to nav2. Bugs will more easily move over terrain during this moment

At some point either on Wave 4 or at nav2, use the scout to destroy the five skrit spawners towards the exit of the level.

[Wave 5] Three bugs.  Drops immediately around time the last wave is dealt with. 

[Wave 6] Five bugs.  Once they are destroyed, build two turrets at the front and stand at the frint.

-[Wave 7] Pull the remaining to the front till transition

	28. The Queen
- Use rocket to destroy tentacles in arena
- Wait till rocket reloads, use rocket again when island is above queen.


Level by Number, Name, and Chapter/Part

1 - The old master builder - c0p1
2 - The Grey Market - c1p0
3 - The Pirates' Ravine - c1p1
4 - The Mysterious Island - c1p2
5 - The Attack of The Sentinels - c1p3
6 - The The Grey Market (2nd visit) - c1p4
7 - The Athanor - c1p5
8 - The Grey Market (3rd visit) - c2p1
9 - The Island Port - c2p2
10 - The Base - c2p3
11 - The Vortex - c2p4
12 - The Artifact Cache - c2p5
13 - The Sentinels' Fleet - c2p6
15 - The Sea of Clouds - c2p8
16 - The Master Builders - c2p9
19 - The Battle Begins - c3p1
20 - Fighting a Losing Battle - c3p2
21 - The Lady Master Builder - c3p3
22 - The Refuge - c3p4
23 - Mare Lacrimae - c3p5
24 - The Escort - c3p7
25 - The City of Machines - c3p8
27 - The Queen's Lair - c4p6
28 - The Queen - c4p7

Name	Author
Glitch Guide and Observed Glitches	ThorOfKenya 1 year ago
Speedrun Guide	ThorOfKenya 1 year ago