Psychonauts

Introduction

The goal of this page is to compile as much information about speedrunning Psychonauts as possible.

Completion Requirements

At a minimum, to complete the game, one must reach rank 30 (in order to get PK, TK, and Invisibility), and have purchased the cobweb duster. Currently none of these are skippable completely.

Tricks and Glitches

Tumbling

(Discovered by Aaron_Haynes) By holding 'Lock On' (default: Shift), and then pressing a direction and 'Jump' (default: Spacebar), Raz will perform a front, side, or back-flip depending on the direction held. Though these are normally used as evasive moves, they are also significantly faster than regular movement.

Currently, there is no data about whether any one type of flip is faster than another. This might be helpful...

Faster Climbing

(Discovered by Inexistence (I think...)) When climbing a ladder or a climbable wall, if you continuously double jump as much as possible, you will climb a little faster than normal. Also, if you have levitation, you can climb even faster by holding float while you jump and climb. What will happen is that you will begin to float, and immediately place the ball underneath you, which will force you up a little bit.

It is unclear whether this makes climbing as giant Raz (in Lungfishopolis) any faster.

Bunnyhopping

(Discovered by Inexistence (I think...))

Theory

Any time Raz jumps on an incline, his horizontal velocity will increase relative to the horizontal projection of the surface he jumped from. Hence, jumping on a steep decline will give Raz a significant boost in movement speed in the direction of the slope.

Also, if you continuously jump as soon as you hit the ground (a technique referred to as 'bunnyhopping' in many games), you will avoid losing much or any horizontal velocity, and continue moving at the same speed.

Implementation

By bunnyhopping on sloped surface, Raz's speed will increase with each jump. If you then continue to bunnyhop on flat surfaces, you will be able to maintain that speed as you move around. This can be very useful for moving around the campsite, as the terrain has many slopes everywhere. Note that if you hit a surface whose normal is pointing against your current direction of movement, this will slow you down significantly, so you must be very precise when landing each jump.

Note that a slope need not be continuous to be able to gain a boost off of it. Ledges, if hit at just the right angle, can give you a horizontal boost as well (see the Oleander Bunnyhopping example)

When initially building up speed, one useful technique is to hit the first 'slope' with a palm bomb move (jump and attack), and immediately jumping as soon as you land. The increased vertical speed will translate to faster initial horizontal speed for your bunnyhop sequence. However, since performing a palm bomb stops all of Raz's horizontal movement, it can only be used to gain speed on the first jump.

Note that double jumping while bunnyhopping does not decrease your movement speed, and hence can make covering certain gaps much easier.

Uses

Oleander Bunnyhopping

(Discovered by Inexistence) By using a weird slope at the back of the first room of Oleander's mind, you can gain a slight speed boost through the first section. (Video by Inexistence) Video

Skip the Canoe (Bunnyhopping version)

(Discovered by bloodisblue) Bunnyhopping can be used to skip needing to get the canoe to reach Mila's course. It's difficult to explain, but basically, starting from the main campgrounds entrace, bunnyhop down the slope into the beach, to one of the docks, and then to Mila. (Video by bloodisblue) Video

However, this trick does not skip much, as the course will not open until you receive the Oarsman badge from Sasha anyways.

An improved version (again, using bunnyhopping) is to stand at the edge of the dock near Mila, and perform a backflip such that you'll just catch the lip of the dock, and gain the bunny-hop boost from it, then proceeding to double jump out towards the dock. You will hit the water once or twice, but should be able to make it. (Video by butt3rs) Video

Faster Mila Race

(Discovered by bloodisblue) By continuously bunnyhopping down the slope of the race track in Mila's mind, the race can be finished faster than if using the levitation ball. (Video by bloodisblue) Video

Float Climbing

(Discovered by butt3rs) This trick requires levitation. Float canceling is a trick where you can climb certain slopes that would otherwise not be possible. While holding 'Float' (default: Shift) near a steep edge, press 'Jump' (default: Spacebar) to put the ball back below you. For a brief moment after lowering the ball, if you are touching the ledge, you will be able to jump such that you go almost directly up (if you didn't float cancel, jumping on that edge would send you sideways and down). You can continuously float cancel up this kind of slope. Becareful not to stay too close to the slope, as you will not be able to place the ball under you if you are right up against the slope when pressing 'Jump'.

Uses

Black Velvetopia Boss Skip

(discovered by butt3rs) It is possible to skip 3 of the 4 sub-bosses in Black Velvetopia by rising to the top of Edgar's sanctuary, and then floating into the loading zone at the top of where the house of cards would be. Since the sides of the sanctuary area can be float-climbed, you can do so to reach the top of the area, and then float into the loading zone. (Video by butt3rs) Video

Flying Glitch

(Discovered by SMK) This trick requires levitation, and that the levitation skill be assigned to one of the psi power slots. While in midair, press and hold 'Float' (default: Shift) to begin floating. Now, while still holding Float, rapidly alternate pressing 'Jump' (default: Spacebar) and the psi power key that you assigned levitate to (typically this is the 3rd slot). If you alternate fast enough, Raz will begin to rise slowly. This can be repeated indefinetly to reach any height, and skip many parts of the game. If you alter your cadence, you can also use it to cover horizontal distance quickly

Uses

There are too many potential uses to list them all, I will only enumerate those that actually skip portions of the game (rather than just speed up certain platforming sections).

Boyd's Mind Telephone Skip

(Discovered by SMK) In the second area of Boyd's mind (with the book depository), it is possible to skip the telephone (and hence also the sniper rifle, flower, and the need for TK and PK in this mind) by using the flying glitch to reach the telephone wires leading to the rainbow squirts' house. (No video)

Black Velvetopia Boss Skip (alternative)

(Discovered by SMK) As an alternative to float climbing, it is possible to simply stand directly beneath where the El Odio loading zone will be, and simply fly directly up to its location. It is unclear whether this is at all a faster method than float climbing, however it is much more consistent if you can determine exactly where to stand (and hence is a better option for SS runs). (No video)

Gloria's Mind Script Skip

(Discovered by SMK) Its possible to skip getting all but two of the scripts in Gloria's mind (Knight of Joy and Hagatha House) by using the flying glitch on the second stage (happy version) to reach the upper cliff without the boat. (No video yet) Note: although you can get the Hagatha House script directly using this method, if you deliver it to Becky before Knight of Joy, she will not give you the megaphone, the balloon won't appear when you play it on the sad stage, and Becky will glitch out and dissappear. The game will then crash shortly after. (No video)

Meat Circus Stage 1 Skip

(Discovered by SMK) When you first enter the meat circus, and are in the 'lobby' section (the one with the fortune booth that will trade all remaining cobwebs and cards for ranks), you can fly up, and actually reach the 'Tunnel of Love' section of the level above, which completely skips the first stage of the meat circus (the one where you protect Little Oly). (No video)

Water Skip

(Discovered by Inexistence) When Raz is about to be pulled under by the water hands after a 3rd 'bounce', rapidly press 'Cancel' (default: X) and 'Jump' (default: Spacebar). If you do it correctly, it will skip the cutscene of Raz reappearing on the shore completely, and rather than moving, he will instead jump in place, and then have another 2 'bounces' before being pulled in again. This can be used to cross gaps of water that would otherwise not be possible.

Uses

Skip the Canoe

(Discovered by Inexistence) This was the original method discovered to skip using the canoe to get to Mila's. Simply jump out as far as possible, perform the water skip, and then continue to bounce until you reach the far floating dock. The bunny hopping methods tend to be faster and more consistent however, so they are generally preferred. (video by Inexistence) Video

Trampoline Bomb

(I don't know who found this one) The force with which you are sent upwards from a trampoline is related to how much force you have when jumping into it. By performing a palm bomb directly above a trampoline, you can get a lot more upward force than you normally would by just jumping continuously.

Uses

Meat Circus Stage 4 Glitch

(Discovered by butt3rs, independently rediscovered by lookw) In the 4th stage of the meat circus, it is possible to glitch out of bounds, and very quicly reach the top, by palm bombing the trampoline that Raz's Fake Dad is initially standing on, then double jumping, which will fling you out of the level. If you hold float and down, you will rapidly rise up past the top of the level, at which point you can then float down to the loading zone on the platform at the top. (Video by lookw) Video

Pylon Stacking

(Discovered by SMK) A somewhat esoteric trick, but by using TK, you can stack moveable objects into a makeshift platform to reach higher heights. Any possible use for this trick has been superceded by the Flying Glitch, it is listed here only for completeness.

More to Come later

TODO:

• List any other known tricks glitches
  • Including tricks like the plunger skip that don't use a specific trick to accomplish
• List the expected rank/arrowhead collection/distribution
  • I have a plan, I just don't have time to write it up yet
  • The general idea is:
    • 8 psi challenge markers
    • 8 scavenger hunt items (Fossil, psychonauts comic, gold doubloon, eagle claw, fertility goddess, dinosaur bone, condor egg, cherry tree pipe)
    • 14 ranks worth of figments
    • 27 psi cards, adds up to the 29 ranks needed to get to 30
• Write up an any% route through the game
  • Timings for the individual sections too probably