Hudson's adventure Island/Game Mechanics - Revision history

Ktwo: /* Movement speed */

2018-08-04T11:51:19Z

‎Movement speed

Ktwo at 16:53, 22 February 2018

2018-02-22T16:53:47Z

Ktwo: /* Movement speed */

2018-02-22T16:29:21Z

‎Movement speed

Ktwo: /* Movement speed */

2017-10-19T19:27:54Z

‎Movement speed

Ktwo: /* Timer */

2017-09-07T13:25:44Z

‎Timer

Ktwo: /* Items */

2017-08-29T19:23:14Z

‎Items

Ktwo: /* Section skips with bonus levels */

2017-08-20T12:37:46Z

‎Section skips with bonus levels

Ktwo at 20:22, 8 August 2017

2017-08-08T20:22:13Z

Ktwo: /* Movement speed */

2017-07-02T16:52:14Z

‎Movement speed

Ktwo: /* Items */

2017-07-02T16:41:09Z

‎Items

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 * The only way to consistently reach a speed of 82 when on skateboard is by following these steps:<br />
 . Jump<br />
-. Release B mid-air. Regardless of your initial speed, you'll revert to 73 after 3 frames (assuming you didn't release right before landing).<br />
+. Release B mid-air. Regardless of your initial speed, you'll revert to 73.<br />
 . Re-press B after landing. After three frames, you'll be moving with a speed of 82<br />
 If done consistently throughout the a run, you'll save very roughly 15 seconds over not using this speed trick.

@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 * When you hit the goal line, the speed is reduced until the base speed is reached. The acceleration follows the same physics as described above. That means if you jump right before the goal sign, your speed will be reduced by 1 every frame iso 3. However, this has no impact on the time it takes to end the stage as it's not related to when Higgins leaves the screen.
 * Some stages have Higgins moving on slopes. This has no impact on the horizontal movement. (i.e. there is no benefit of trying to jump the slopes to try to avoid vertical movement)
 <br />

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 ==Movement speed==
-The character's movement speed is shown in RAM-address 05A4. The unit is unspecified (sub-pixels?).<br /><br />
+The character's movement speed is shown in RAM-address 05A4. The unit is "8 sub-pixels/frame".<br /><br />
 <u>Acceleration</u><br />

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 If done consistently throughout the a run, you'll save very roughly 15 seconds over not using this speed trick.
 * If you're about to pick up a skateboard, make sure your movement speed is 73. This will ensure that the skateboard speed will be 82 (73 + 3*3). Getting 73 when on foot is fortunately easy. Just jump and shoot mid-air. Your running speed will then always be 73 (assuming you didn't shoot right before landing).
 * In the ice stages, there is no way of getting a higher speed than 80 on skateboard. If you enter an ice section (1-3 and 6-2) with 82 speed, you'll however keep it until the speed is dropped to 80 or below (for example by shooting), at which point the max speed for the rest of the ice section is 80. The same reasoning gives 73 as the max speed in the ice stages when on foot.
 * When on foot, it's not possible to consistently regain 74 or 75 once you've slowed down to 73 (which is always the case when for example jump shooting). 75-49=26, which is not a multiple of 3 (same goes for 74).

@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 ==Timer==
 RAM-address 0876 contains the big timer and 0877 the small timer. The small timer ticks down by one every frame (5 when cursed by the egg plant). When the small timer loops, the big timer ticks down by 1. Every stage starts with the big timer on 10 and the small timer on 255. However, the max of the big timer is 12 (it can actually go even higher, but that's by collecting items that aren't relevant for a speedrun).<br />
-Every 32 ticks on the small timer are worth 20 on the end-of-level counter. 20 on the end-of-level counter cost in total 2 frames of countdown.<br /><br />
+Every 32 ticks on the small timer are worth 20 on the end-of-level counter. 20 on the end-of-level counter cost in total 2 frames of countdown.<br />
 ==Speed tricks and other==

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 [[File:Ai_skateboard.JPG|50px]] - Increases movement speed and allows you to take one hit<br /><br />
 [[File:Ai_fairy.JPG|50px]] - Invincibility<br /><br />
-[[File:Ai_eggplant.JPG|50px]] - The timer ticks down with 5 times the normal speed<br /><br />
+[[File:Ai_eggplant.JPG|50px]] - The timer ticks down with 5 times the normal speed. The egg plant leaves the screen when the timer is just below two on the big timer (see timing section below). The fast tick-down speed continues until the egg plant leaves the screen. The fruit route is therefore very important when collecting the egg plant, to make sure it leaves the screen at the right time.<br /><br />
 [[File:Ai_fireballs.JPG|50px]] - The second weapon. Found in a hidden egg if you have already collected the stone axe. The fireballs fly in a different arc than the stone axe and can also destroy stones and boulders. The weapons are equally strong.<br /><br />
 [[File:Ai_key.JPG|50px]] - Found in hidden eggs. Collect the key and one of the coming platforms/clouds will take you to a bonus stage<br /><br />

@@ Line 81: / Line 81: @@
 ===Section skips with bonus levels===
 In 2-3 and 7-3, it's possible to skip the last section of the level. See the routing section for videos. The explanation is that if you hop on to the bonus platform while moving with the default skateboard speed (49), you'll barely trigger the checkpoint for the fourth section of the level before going into the bonus. Since the bonus stages always returns you to the section following the one you were in, this means you'll re-appear right before the goal. The setup is so particular and no other bonus platforms are placed in similar locations, so this trick only works in these two stages (and unfortunately there is no bonus in 5-2).<br />
 ===Snake poison===
 Snakes spit poison if you during the level have thrown an axe against an object that bounces it off (stone, rock or egg). Combined with the fairy, it's possible to get a big score boost with this trick, but it doesn't have any use for a serious speedrun.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 [[File:Ai_key.JPG|50px]] - Found in hidden eggs. Collect the key and one of the coming platforms/clouds will take you to a bonus stage<br /><br />
-There are more items, but they have no impact on a speedrun.
+There are more items, but they have no impact on a speedrun.<br /><br />
 ==Level overview==
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 Rolling hills: 3-2<br />
 Mountain: 4-2, 6-3, 8-1<br />
-Ice cave: 4-3, 7-1<br />
+Ice cave: 4-3, 7-1<br /><br />
 ==Movement speed==
@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 * When you hit the goal line, the speed is reduced until the base speed is reached. The acceleration follows the same physics as described above. That means if you jump right before the goal sign, your speed will be reduced by 1 every frame iso 3. However, this has no impact on the time it takes to end the stage as it's not related to when Higgins leaves the screen.
 * Some stages have Higgins moving on slopes. This has no impact on the horizontal movement. (i.e. there is no benefit of trying to jump the slopes to try to avoid vertical movement)
 ==Timer==
 RAM-address 0876 contains the big timer and 0877 the small timer. The small timer ticks down by one every frame (5 when cursed by the egg plant). When the small timer loops, the big timer ticks down by 1. Every stage starts with the big timer on 10 and the small timer on 255. However, the max of the big timer is 12 (it can actually go even higher, but that's by collecting items that aren't relevant for a speedrun).<br />
-Every 32 ticks on the small timer are worth 20 on the end-of-level counter. 20 on the end-of-level counter cost in total 2 frames of countdown.<br />
+Every 32 ticks on the small timer are worth 20 on the end-of-level counter. 20 on the end-of-level counter cost in total 2 frames of countdown.<br /><br />
 ==Speed tricks and other==

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 Walking - 49<br />
 Running - 73-75<br />
-Tripping on stone - 50<br />
+Tripping - 50<br />
 Skateboard braking - 32<br />
 Skateboard - 48<br />
@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 If done consistently throughout the a run, you'll save very roughly 15 seconds over not using this speed trick.
 * If you're about to pick up a skateboard, make sure your movement speed is 73. This will ensure that the skateboard speed will be 82 (73 + 3*3). Getting 73 when on foot is fortunately easy. Just jump and shoot mid-air. Your running speed will then always be 73 (assuming you didn't shoot right before landing).
-* In the ice stages, there is no way of getting a higher speed than 80. If you enter an ice section (1-3 and 6-2) with 82 speed, you'll however keep it until B is released, at which point the max speed for the rest of the ice section is 80.
+* In the ice stages, there is no way of getting a higher speed than 80 on skateboard. If you enter an ice section (1-3 and 6-2) with 82 speed, you'll however keep it until the speed is dropped to 80 or below (for example by shooting), at which point the max speed for the rest of the ice section is 80. The same reasoning gives 73 as the max speed in the ice stages when on foot.
 * When on foot, it's not possible to consistently regain 74 or 75 once you've slowed down to 73 (which is always the case when for example jump shooting). 75-49=26, which is not a multiple of 3 (same goes for 74).
 * By shooting sufficiently close before landing when on foot, your landing speed can't be predicted in real-time. However, as long as it's between 49 and 73 when you hit the ground, you'll have a 2/3 chance of ending up with a higher movement speed than 73.
-* As long as you only shoot while on the ground (or while dropping from one platform to another), the top speed for your state isn't going to change. This is particularly important to remember when on foot since it's so much harder to regain 75.
+* As long as you only shoot while on the ground (or while dropping from one platform to another), the top speed for your state isn't going to change. This is particularly important to remember when on foot since it's so much harder to regain 75. This obviously doesn't apply to the ice stages though.
-* Setting up an 82 speed when on skateboard as described above costs ~1 frame (assuming the thrown weapon doesn't induce any lag, which is far from always the case). You'll roughly earn 1 frame back (compared with a speed of 80) every half screen. So for it to pay off with at least 1 frame won, you should be able to go one full screen with 82.
+* Setting up an 82 speed when on skateboard as described above costs ~1 frame (assuming the thrown weapon doesn't induce any lag, which is quite often the case). You'll roughly earn 1 frame back (compared with a speed of 80) every half screen. So for it to pay off with at least 1 frame won, you should be able to go one full screen with 82.
-* Tripping on a stone costs ~11 frames, but also reduces the big timer by 2 (corresponding to 16 frames of countdown at the end of the stage). And not to forget that the running speed will be 74 after landing (50+8*3). So in some cases it can be beneficial to trip on stones.
+* Tripping on a stone costs ~11 frames, but also reduces the big timer by 2 (corresponding to 32 frames of countdown at the end of the stage). And not to forget that the running speed will be 74 after landing (50+8*3). So in some cases it can be beneficial to trip on stones.
-* As a thumb rule, doing a default jump (without holding down B or the d-pad) costs ~8 frames.
+* As a rule of thumb, doing a default jump (without holding down B or the d-pad) costs ~8 frames.
-* When you hit the goal line, the speed is reduced until the base speed is reached. The acceleration follows the same physics as described above. That means if you jump right before the goal sign, your speed will be reduced by 1 every frame iso 3. However, this has no impact on the time it takes to end the stage.
+* When you hit the goal line, the speed is reduced until the base speed is reached. The acceleration follows the same physics as described above. That means if you jump right before the goal sign, your speed will be reduced by 1 every frame iso 3. However, this has no impact on the time it takes to end the stage as it's not related to when Higgins leaves the screen.
 * Some stages have Higgins moving on slopes. This has no impact on the horizontal movement. (i.e. there is no benefit of trying to jump the slopes to try to avoid vertical movement)

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 [[File:Ai_moneybag.JPG|50px]] - Adds 384 to the small timer (corresponding to 240 on the end-of-level countdown)<br /><br />
 [[File:Ai_bonuspot.JPG|50px]] - Adds a second timer countdown at the end of the stage. It also adds 135 frames of downtime between the two countdowns. This item should always be avoided at all cost.<br /><br />
-[[File:Ai_egg.JPG|50px]] - Visible eggs contain a skateboard, milk, stone axe, milk, flower, fairy or egg plant. The content can always be predicted, but depends on whether you have a weapon and/or the skateboard or if you kick or shoot open the egg. The content of the hidden eggs either contain a key or follows an item cycle. The detailed knowledge of the item cycle is only of interest for a score attack. The only thing to remember is that it will contain the fireballs if you have the stone axe. If you don't have the stone axe, don't open any hidden eggs (as it will then skip the fireballs in the item cycle).<br /><br />
+[[File:Ai_egg.JPG|50px]] - Visible eggs contain a skateboard, milk, stone axe, flower, fairy or egg plant. The content can always be predicted, but depends on whether you have a weapon and/or the skateboard or if you kick or shoot open the egg. The content of the hidden eggs either contain a key or follows an item cycle. The detailed knowledge of the item cycle is only of interest for a score attack. The only thing to remember is that it will contain the fireballs if you have the stone axe. If you don't have the stone axe, don't open any hidden eggs (as it will then skip the fireballs in the item cycle).<br /><br />
 [[File:Ai_milk.JPG|50px]] - Restores the big timer to 12 and the small to 255 (corresponding to 2060 on the end-of-level countdown)<br /><br />
 [[File:Ai_stoneaxe.JPG|50px]] - The first weapon<br /><br />