Snapshot

Snapshot was released by Retro Affect for PC on August 30, 2012. It's a 2D platformer where you control Pic, a robot with a camera that can capture physical objects and place them elsewhere in the world.

Bugs

• Pressing the restart level button while Pic is performing an action can sometimes make that action carry over to the beginning of the next attempt.
• Similarly, moving from one level to another will occasionally preserve momentum or actions from the previous level. Bouncing Away Part 2 sometimes begins with Pic acting as if he has just landed on a spring.
• Upon selecting "Continue" from the title screen, the first level you play will sometimes have screen-shaking impacts from heavy objects hitting the ground. Beating a level seems to set this back to normal.
• Sometimes selecting New Game from the title screen will just crash the game. If so, simply delete the savegame file in Documents\Snapshot (or the mac equivalent) and then start the program.
• When beginning a new game with no save file in the Documents\Snapshot directory, you may encounter some odd behavior from Pic when moving from one Chapter to the next: he will attempt to turn around and "refuse" to go into the tunnel. Pressing 'd' repeatedly will eventually make him go through. He also starts Chapter 2 standing at the level 2 door, even though it isn't open yet.
• CRASH: In Chapter 4, dying or hitting the goal with a picture of a clone in your photo inventory will cause the game to lock up.
• CRASH: In any chapter, completing a level and restarting it from the finish screen sometimes causes the goal animation to trigger again as soon as the level starts. The player will hear the goal sound effect and eventually see the particles reach them from across the screen, and be unable to move or access the menu, requiring a force-quit to end the program. It's unknown what causes this, but it seems more prevalent in Chapter 4.

Any% Route

Only 5 levels (3 parts each) from each chapter are required to advance to the next chapter. Timing begins when gaining control of Pic in the forest and ends when the word SNAPSHOT appears on the screen after entering the last door and skipping the final photo slideshow.

The recommended level order is:

• Chapter 1: Into the Forest, Spikes of Doom, Photo Zones, Bouncing Away, Elephants Afoot
• Chapter 2: Rolling Snow, Ice to Meet You, Snow Problem, Creepy Crawler, Where There's Smoke
• Chapter 3: To the Sky, Fluffy Clouds, Bunny Hopping, Vanishing Clouds, Gale Force
• Chapter 4: Copy Paste, Second Area, Mag Lev, Bombs Away, Clones

Note: Some people substitute Vanishing Clouds with Sky Creatures, and Mag Lev with Pulling Force. Optimal times are comparable depending on play style and execution.

General Tricks

• Invulnerability: Taking non-lethal damage from an enemy projectile will allow for about a 2-second window of invincibility, allowing you to walk across spikes or be hit by other projectiles without taking damage (though they still affect Pic's momentum).
• Item Tossing: Capture an item, drop it, and capture it again before it hits the ground. Its momentum is preserved in the photo and can be redirected behind Pic in the air to drastically increase his velocity. Larger objects are easier and push him farther. You can also jump off of an object that's pushing Pic through the air if the timing and angle are right.
  • Projectile Tossing: This can also be done with enemy projectiles, at the cost of 1 HP.
• Trigger Proxy: Sometimes you can fling an item or entity into a photo zone trigger that was meant to be activated a different way.
• Item Jumping: By pasting an object under Pic in midair, he can perform a second jump off of it. As long as his downward momentum exceeds that of the object's, he'll come in contact with it and will be treated as standing, allowing you to jump. This can be done multiple times with the same object if you're quick and capture it again.
• Ledge Jump: The timing for jumping off a ledge is fairly lenient, allowing you to jump when Pic is technically already off the edge.
• Tunnel Jump: The above trick can be used when exiting a crouch tunnel as well.
• Spike Toss: The killbox on the green spike platforms lags behind its sprite when it's in motion. You can drop it with the spike side facing down, then redirect the spikes into Pic from below, providing a safe item toss boost (though be careful, obviously).
• Corner/Slope Boosting: Landing on the exact right spot on a corner (or anywhere on a steep slope) and jumping at the right time will increase Pic's forward momentum for that jump. It's extremely hard to get consistently, especially on corners.
• Crouch Tunnel Sneak: By pasting a box slightly above the bottom part of a crouch tunnel that's up on a wall, you have a few frames where you can duck on the box before it falls and move into the tunnel.
• Gallery Item Shortcuts: Some of the secret gallery items can be used to skip sections of a level, since they behave like regular items once photographed and placed.

Chapter 1: Fresnel Forest

• Much of Into the Forest 3 can be skipped by item-jumping off the toxic waste barrel item in the top of the left-side wall.
• The metal cage in Photo Zones 2 can be used as a boost to skip the photo zone switch.
• Bouncing Away 3 can also be done quicker by item-jumping over the gap off the glass beaker.
• You can fling the elephant in Elephants Afoot 2 into the photo zone trigger, rather than having it slowly push the red block into it.

Chapter 2: Vignette Volcano

• It's possible to fling one of the turrets into the photo zone trigger in Ice to Meet You 3, rather than trying to aim its projectiles to linger in it.
• Turrets rest on top of doors as if they're solid objects, which is useful in Where There's Smoke 3.

Chapter 3: Star Sanctuary

• Place the key on top of the photo zone trigger in Fluffy Clouds 3 rather than using it on the lock. It's a solid object, so it will hold the photo zones open while you place clouds across the spikes.
• It's possible to corner boost off the edge of the clouds in Fluffy Clouds, but very risky.
• Running across a bunny platform that's moving in the same direction as you will save a small amount of time.
• With practice, you can capture and place the bunny platforms repeatedly in the air, allowing you to infinitely jump across some levels (e.g. Vanishing Clouds 3)
• Directing the wind in Gale Force into your back can give you the strength to push red blocks, but it's very fickle.
• The spike projectiles in Impalers can be redirected underneath Pic to continuously push him upward.

Chapter 4: Luminous Labs

• You can use magnets to perform long-jumps by placing them ahead of your jump and capturing them just as Pic is about to reach them. Also useful for propelling him into the goal.
• Your clone can be used as a platform and for momentum boosts like any other item. Be careful not to have a clone photo in your inventory when you die or hit a goal, though, as it crashes the game.