MDK

This description also assumes that the reader has already played MDK. Thus this is not a playthrough but rather a collection of tricks for speed runners.

Game overview

The game consists of 6 levels. Each level consists of the following parts (in that order):

• Freefall (not in level 6)
• Traversal
• Stream (not in level 6)
• Intermission, asking you to save (not in level 6)

General

This description is about the PC version. The PSX version contains many changes; the level layout is different and textures are worse (its creators obviously had to obey the PSX' hardware limits).

This game can be played as individual levels. The only thing that's transferred from one level to the next is health.

An exception is between level 5 and 6. While all character properties and equipment is transferred these are not retained in the savegame you're asked to create there. So it's a good idea to discard it and manually save in level 6 since having good equipment speeds up level 6 alot.

If levels themselves are to be segmented you might need to download "F2 save" patches which enable you to save almost anywhere within traversal. Although these patches are official they are difficult to obtain nowadays, unfortunately. Some game versions already have this "F2 save" ability and don't need to be patched.

Whether you use the "95" (software rendering) or "D3D" (hardware accelerated) version is up to you. I personally prefer the D3D version; while the D3D version has smoothed textures and (if you change gfx settings) also antialiased edges the reflection effects are a mess, some gfx effects are missing or different and it too clearly exposes the fact that this games uses few polygons.

Freefall

This part has a constant duration that cannot be influenced AFAIK. During this part you can collect 3 to 4 extras and should avoid radar (or missiles if you touch the radar ray). Getting hit by a missile will lower your health. However, since you usually want to end the traversal part with health as low as possible one may get hit by missiles intentionally.

Traversal

The most interesting part and the only part that's truly different between levels. General tricks:

• Turbo: don't forget to press the turbo key which makes you run much faster.
• Strafe running: run and strafe at the same time. Velocity vectors are added, making you run 40% faster compared to just running forward.
• Try to end this part (except level 6 where it doesn't matter) with health as low as possible in order to end the "Stream" part quickly.
• Glitch: Suicide in the second before the game ends to make the stream part end as soon as it starts. Also possible right before the end boss is defeated. (Videos: http://youtube.com/watch?v=w1ZVhBPyoy0 and http://youtube.com/watch?v=3lflEcU3PDo). TODO helps suiciding before the boss dies save a second due to SDA timing rules (as player loses control as soon as he dies)?

Level 1

Level 2

• Caveat: You cannot take a shortcut in the "big gun room" by jumping over the trench. Although you seem to run through this room two times during this level these are two different rooms; beyond the trench there's just void.

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Stream

This is your chance to collect health for the next level.

• If you manage to reach the powerup you'll start the next level with health 150.
• If you don't reach the powerup you'll start the next level with health 100.
• If you lose too much health by touching the wall too often (or die right before this part starts) it'll end immediately and you'll start the next level with health 50. This is of course the best choice for speed runs.

Unaccepted tricks

These tricks are possible but will not be accepted by SDA. Maybe they can be appended to the speedrun as a kind of "outtakes".

• Mapping mouse axes to movement. This allows about 2.5 times faster movement than usual but possible performance is heavily influenced by available mouse hardware (and possibly driver software); alternatively one can use an external input mapper program to map keyboard to mouse axes and thus overcome this limitation. Running too fast can also crash the game.