Revision as of 16:44, 13 June 2011

This game has a run page on SDA!

Important Notes for Speedrunners

General

1. The game resets your ammo and health at the start of the following levels:

• Part I, Chapter 1
• Part II, Prologue
• Part II, Chapter 1 (you are assigned about 2/3rds health)
• Part III, Prologue
• Part III, Chapter 1
• Part III, Chapter 7

2. It is recommended that the game be played at 30fps. Anything lower is pushing it a bit quality wise; also playing at 25fps, enemies start to be a bit slower. For example, at the start of p1c7 the first two enemies are slower at chasing you down. Playing at 30fps has enemy behaviour consistent with 60fps or above, but it also allows the super jump to be done with a decent level of consistency.

3. Activating bullet time does not alter time based events, the game seems to rely on the in-game timer for them. An example is you can cause the end of a level to fade out quicker if you use bullet time, but the timer runs right up until the start of the loading screen for the next level so you would just spend longer in the black to make up for it.

New York Minute Mode

• Rolling is the fastest method of travel in New York Minute Mode and should be used at all opportunities. Though, for going up stairs it's often quicker to super jump.

• The game does record 100ths of a second for all the level times even though it only shows the time to the nearest second at the start of each level. So each level should be played to the nearest 1/100th of a second, not the nearest second.

• There is one glitch that is banned. The first time the game loads up a level, the timer will be about 0.2s above what it should be and it will pause for about 16 frames. Playing on 30fps means you can gain about 0.5s because of this. Doing this effectively neutralises the save penalty meaning you could make a run of infinite segments paying no price for it (except having to restart the game for every attempt!). Clearly this can't be allowed so in order to avoid this you simply do a quick reload (so two reloads in total) of the save and then the timer will match up fine.

Real Time Runs

• Running is the fastest method of travel in real time. Strafing, either side to side or diagonally is exactly the same as running forwards. Running backwards or rolling is slower, as is jumping. Therefore, it's often quicker to run around an object than to jump over it. Though for going up stairs it's often quicker to super jump.

• Any run done for best real time should take into account that quick saves cause the game to lag. However, since this lag can depend on you PC, it should be removed from timing. This effectively means that if you are trying to activate a save glitch, you can spam save and you will only pay the price of the 1 save for the save penalty, not the lag caused by quick saving. The lag can either be edited out or counted out when the run is timed.

• Guns in general fire slower in bullet time, so bullet time should be avoided as much as possible. However, The Jackhammer and m4 fire very slightly quicker for the first 2 shots in bullet time (though this is still at the cost of slower movement), after the first 2 shots they will start firing slightly slower than in real time like all of the other guns.

• The Dead Man Walking glitch is not a separate category as it can only be done in one place and does not last past part 1.

Single-Segment Runs

• Since the games autosaves at the start of every level, you can start attempts using the prologue 1 autosave, there is no need to have to view the opening cutscene every time. This was approved since there is no arbitrariness about where gameplay and timing starts.

Tricks/Glitches

Rolling

Discovered by: Many people, but full effectiveness was realised by Shido.

Description: The games enemies are not well equipped to deal with a rolling target and so this can be abused in places. Additionally, in New York Minute mode it is quicker to roll than run.

Explanation and Execution: Rolling is a form of bullet time movement, similar to diving. Therefore, time moves slightly slower. Rolling is one of Max's basic moves.

Super Jump

Discovered by: ridd3r

Description: Ability to jump 2-3 times normal jump height.

Explanation and Execution: C_jump() commands stack, so the jump animation is being triggered twice (very quickly, because of the weapon switch), effectively doubling or tripling the jump height. In order to perform the glitch, select a weapon from the gun menu (default press 1-6), then select the weapon (default mouse 1) and a fraction of a second later press jump. In order to get the timing down, use a metronome set to 180bmp to time the gap between choosing a weapon and pressing jump. It helps to be running the game at 30fps (with FRAPS for example) as this is a frame perfect trick, though it can be done at any fps rate. For further explanation of how to perform the trick see this video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuH3gfvnhPk.

Save Glitch

Discovered by: ridd3r

Description: Maintain full control of Max during cutscenes.

Explanation and Execution: If you save the frame before a cutscene kicks in, then reload, you have control during cutscenes. If save is spammed just before the cutscene kicks in, a save can be done almost every frame making this a good method to guarantee the save glitch is activated. Due to the various types of cutscene there are all sorts of different results from using this glitch, such as being stuck out of bounds for a portion of, or all of the cutscene.

No Fire Damage

Discovered by: Many people

Description: Ability to pass through fire at certain points.

Explanation and Execution: A lot of the flames in the game are just special effects and so don't harm you if you know where to go. As the fire builds up though, it will start to burn you.

Fall Cancelling

Discovered by: ridd3r

Description: No falling animation upon landing from a significant height.

Explanation and Execution: When Max falls from above a certain height, there is a landing animation. It is often possible to cancel the landing animation if you spam jump as landing occurs and continue holding strafe so that you land in a roll. Normally it requires an almost individual approach each time and seems to be frame perfect, making it very difficult to do.

Quick Roll

Discovered by: ridd3r

Description: Perform a very fast roll as a cutscene fades out.

Explanation and Execution: This can only be done after a cutscene is triggered showing you a slow-mo view of the deaths of certain enemies you kill or after a scripted slow-mo sequence. If you roll immediately after the cutscene, as the game is transitioning from bullet time to real time, the roll is performed as if no bullet time were in effect. In other words, this shows how fast you are actually moving from enemies and the games perspective (real time) when rolling is normally done (in bullet time).

Out of Bounds

Discovered by: ridd3r

Description: Travel into/through walls, floors and ceilings.

Explanation and Execution: Generally access to out of bounds is done with the super jump, though it can work with anything that gives you significantly greater than normal momentum. Simply super jumping underneath a door frame can work (very rarely though). However, if you manage to get into a wall you will die instantly due to the way the physics works. A noticeable example of being able to do the trick without dying is part 3, chapter 6; it is possible to glitch through the floor by jumping into the corner of the staircase before the room with the falling pillar. Another example is in p1c5, you can jump on the travelling canister which propells you through or into the wall opposite, killing you on impact. This is shown in this video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTEfQxffEWg

Shotgun Rapid Fire

Discovered by: ridd3r

Description: Ability to fire multiple pump-action shotgun shots in very quick succession.

Explanation and Execution: Equipped with the pump-action shotgun, if you fire while falling off an obstacle (e.g. a desk) two or more shots will be fired in very quick succession. It is possible to fire at least three shots using this method, depending on the terrain. This has limited use, but a good example is at the start of p1c3 - you can jump on the chair in front of where you start and kill both mini-bosses with two quick shots.

Dead Man Walking

Discovered by: ridd3r

Description: Enemies don't shoot at you as long as the glitch is active.

Explanation: It is thought that the glitch is activated by a deathline passing through you in a cutscene. A deathline is an invisible trigger than prevents you from getting too far ahead of scripted events (if you try to get past too early, you are instantly killed) - a good example is p3c4, where you can't get ahead of the van for a while. The idea of the glitch is you die in the cutscene, but since you can't die in a cutscene the game gives you full damage, something that is not normally possible. Enemies no longer shoot at you, they only react by moving.

Alternative explanation: Another possibility is that you prevent a scripted event from occuring in the cutscene, something that must happen. In order to overcome the problem, the game teleports you to a new location - as seen when performing the glitch. At this point the game assigns you a default amount of health (or you were teleported through a deathline). Even if this theory is correct, there is an example in p1c7 where you can super jump into the lift with Gognitti, preventing anything from happening and trapping yourself in the cutscene. Here this would be a similar situation, but you are not teleported.

Execution

Currently there is only one known place this glitch can be activated - in the train cutscene in p1c1. The glitch gets reset at the start of part 2 where you health is removed for a level and then a set amount of damage is given in p2c1. In order to activate the glitch, save glitch the train cutscene in p1c1, then stand in front of the train or run out under the falling wooden barrier when the train crashes. Note that while you are effectively invincible as far as enemies are concerned, you do have literally no health. Therefore, even the smallest of incidents, such as a fall or the impact of a grenade hitting you, will kill you. See this video for further explanation and examples of the glitch in action -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAt3TGFNiJg