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.

Plunger Skip

(Discovered by SMK) In Boyd's mind, it is possible to skip getting the plunger item (and hence the 1st mid-boss battle) by going to where the manhole is in the middle of the first section of the world. Below the street, if you look carefully, there is a section of pipe there, which can actually has collision, and therefore can be stood on. If you jump off the side of the street and float, it is possible to land on it (the easiest way to line it up is to jump off the side with the pole sticking out of the street, and just hug the pole as you descend). From there, you can enter the loading zone by jumping towards the vertical section of the pipe, and a little to either side; since the loading zone is square, while the pipe is circular, it means that the zone stretches a little past the pipe at the corners, and hence you can enter the zone from the outside without getting auto-caught by the G-men.

Any% SS Route

Kid's Cabins 1

• Goto the left side of the cabin and collect an arrowhead and the card
• Move towards the other cabin, collecting an arrowhead along the way
• Jump onto this cabin, collect the card, and jump towards the trapeze
• Jump onto the trampoline, collect the card, and palm bomb up to the psi marker
• Double-jump off of the platform, bunny-hopping off the cabin, up the tree trunk
• Enter Oleander's mind

Oleander's Mind Part 1

• Perform the Oleander Bunnyhopping opening
• Skip the first figment, pass the luggage, and collect the figments here and up the ladder
• Collect the figments on the platform, up the pole, and down the ladder
• Enter the underground tunnel, collecting all the figments along the upper path in it
• Collect the figments at the top of the levels, and then perform the ledge skip
• Collect 2 figments below the trampoline, then bounce up
• Climb the wall, collecting the figment along the climb and at the top
• Cross the mine-field, collecting all 3 figments in it, and the one past it
• After the flagpole, collect the figments on the way to the plane, then jump from the plane without collecting any

Oleander's Mind Part 2

• Complete the whack-a-moley thing
• Collect the 3 figments in your path before entering the line of fire of the turrent
• Collect 2 figments while tumbling towards the turrent (you'll get it once)
• Get on the turrent, break the cover, palm bomb into it, and bunny-hop up to the flagpole
• Collect the 2 figments on the ground, and enter the tunnel
• Collect all the figments in the tunnel, and perform the lower swinging section skip
• Swing up the second section, and break the wall
• Jump up the tightropes, and break the wall
• Perform the rail bunny-hop
• Collect as many figments as possible on the rails

Oleander's Mind Part 3

• Collect all the figments along the path
• Perform the wood tunnel grinder skip
• If you do it perfectly, you can grab 1 or 2 20 point figments at the end
• Collect the remaining figments on the rail
• Finish the course

Kid's Cabins 2

• Jump down to the exit to the main lodge area

Main Lodge 1

• Collect the arrowhead on the way to the pole on the left
• Collect the psi card on the pole here, then walk the tightrope (collect the card)
• Jump onto the lodge, collect the card under the roof, and the marker on the roof
• Bunny-hop down to the lake

Lake 1

• Collect the two arrowheads here, and reach the beach to activate the cutscene
• Enter the GPC area from the Lake entrance

GPC 1

• Exit the cave
• Collect the 3 arrowheads at the exit to the cave
• Walk up the path, collect the 2 arrowheads on this side of the lake
• Cross the lake, collect the arrowhead near the girl, then enter the fenced area
• Collect the arrowhead under the right-side ramp, then go up the ramp and open it, and enter Sasha's lab

Sasha's Lab 1

• Jump up to the rafter from the stairs, and grab the fossil
• Drop down and grab the psi card
• talk to Sasha, then enter the Brain Tumbler

Brain Tumbler 1

• Collect 3 figments before the caravan
• Collect the figments on the left side of the path, while hitting the 4 caches for arrowheads
  • You should collect at least 10 here

Sasha's Lab 2

• Enter the tunnel, and goto Ford's Sanctuary

Ford's Sanctuary 1

• Talk to Ford about the learner's permit
• Enter the tunnel, and goto Sasha's lab

Sasha's Lab 3

• Enter Sasha's mind

Sasha's Mind

• Destroy the vases, the censor, and collect the mental health thing
• Rise the level up to the max
• Go 'left' from the starting camera orientation
• Edge jump up to the first target, and hit it
• Collect 8 figments as you cross the bed
• Jump onto the bouncy thing, and hit the target
• Go 'left' from the starting camera orientation
• Collect 3 figments as you head up to the first target
• Collect 3 figments as you head to the second target
• Edge jump up to the top of the tower, and collect 4 figments on the way to the first target
• Hit the other target
• Go 'left' from the starting camera orientation
• Edge jump up, and hit the target
• Hit the 5 targets (go left-right-left-right-left)
• Kill the mega-censor

Sasha's Lab 4

• Enter the brain tumbler

Brain Tumbler 2

• Go up the path, collecting the figments on the left side, hitting the 4 caches for arrowheads
• Hit the monster, and collect the 4 figments in the lower section, and the two caches for arrowheads
• Jump up to the upper section, collect the 7 figments here
• Continue following the path, collecting the figments that are easy to get
  • This means most of them
• Continue onwards, until you get to the tower, hit the two caches, and climb up to the top

Sasha's Lab 5

• Enter the tunnel, and go to the Lake

Lake 2

• Collect the psi card on the way to the dock
• Perform the improved water bunny-hop skip to get to Mila's, and enter her mind
  • Alt: if you're a coward like me, just grab the boat and go there normally

Mila's Mind Part 1

• Collect the figmnet and cross the gap
• Collect the figment, cross the gap, passing through the 3 rings
• Enter the bowl, and perform the super-high-jump to get up to the ladder
• Hit the bouncer, roll up and get to the higher section
• From here, either float-climb or fly up to the upper door here
• Collect the figment in front of the door, and the 3 in the tunnel
• Float-climb or fly up to the grate on the sides
• Climb the pole in the center for all the figments
• From the pole, fly up to the door at the top, collecting the figment, and enter the loading zone

Mila's Mind Part 2 (race)

• Either perform the race normally, or perform bunny-hopping if you can do it
  • Either way, collect about 10 figments

Mila's Mind Part 3

• Collect the figment on the way to the bublers, and collect the figments on the bublers as you rise
• Hit the control at the top, and pass through the 3 rings
• Collect the thre figments before the door at the top, then goto Mila

Lake 3

• Fly back to shore where the marker is, and collect the 2 arrowheads, the card, and the challenge marker
• Get the comic, the two arrowheads, and the psi card up the cliff
• Drop down towards the tunnel, collecting the arrowhead and the psi-card
• Take the tunnel to the main lodge

Main Lodge 2

• Enter the lodge and buy the dousing rod
• Fly up to the rafters in the lodge and collect the voodoo doll
• Exit the lodge, and then roll down the hill
• Fly up to the pole with the psi card and eagle's claw
• Enter the campfire area

Campfire area

• Goto where the fertility goddess is, collecting the card along the way
• Then, fly up to the wire, collecting the card
• Collect the 2 additional cards on the way to the dragon bone
• Collect the challenge marker below, then jump across to the condor egg, collecting the card along the way
• Jump across to the cherry wood pipe, collecting the card along the way
• Enter the GPC area

GPC 2

• Talk to ranger Ford to get +4 ranks
• Grab the challenge marker in the house
• Then, collecting the card along the way, fly up to the second challenge marker
• Collect the card on top of the entrance to Sasha's lab, and enter it

Sasha's Lab 6

• Enter the brain tumbler once more

Brain Tumbler 3

• Go around the perimeter of the thorn tower, collecting figmnets, then fly up to the top where Dogan is
• Enter the chute
• Boss: Blueprints tank
  • too lazy to make a strat, its really easy

Sasha's Lab 7

• Enter the tunnel, and goto the Lake

Lake 4

• Jump towards the dive tank, collecting the card along the way

Under the lake

• Fly up to the bell, and pull it
• Boss: Linda 1
  • Hit 3 nail boxes while she is sucking in
• Autoscrolling:
  • Take out the dousing rod, as this is where all the remaining arrowheads are collected
  • There is a large cache in the sand just before the plate-glass windows in the second-ish section (its behind the short tower on the right side)
  • After the first shift in vision, there is a large cache at the top of the first flight of stairs
• Boss: Linda 2
  • Same strat as before
• Autoscrolling
  • There is one more nice cache in the section with the plate-glass windows. To get it, just keep the dousing rod out, and don't hit the glass (just wait for linda to break them). Between the 3rd and 4th ones, there is a ~600 arrow cache, which should fullfil your arrowhead needs for the rest of the game
  • There are other caches here, however these are all that are needed for an any% run
• Boss: Linda 3
  • Stand in front of the clams, such that when she attacks, she gets caught
  • 3 rounds will kill her
• Take out the portal, and enter her mind

Lungfishopolis

• Head towards the first prison, get the shield ability
• Head towards the second prison, breaking the guard on the way w/ the shield, and free the pilot with psyblasts
• Head towards the blimp, shielding from the turret, and bounce off the blimp
• Continue onwards, collecting the figments in a rougly straight path to the suspension bridge
• Cross the bridge, and continue across the island, and the boat, to the scyscraper island
• Kill the 8 planes using psyblasts and shield
• Cross over the boats to the boss
• Boss: Kochamera
  • Also a very easy fight, just spam shield, and hit him where possible

Assylum Grounds 1

• Go up the cliff, collecting the card along the way and the marker at the top
• Enter Boyd's mind (ignore the warnings)

Boyd's Mind Part 1

• Figments check: At the start of this mind, you should be at about Rank 25/30, at the end, you should be just at 26
• Get the clairvoyance skill, and use it on Boyd, and exit the house
• Get the stop-sign, and cross the road crew
• Continue along the road to the sewers, and perform the plunger skip

Boyd's Mind Part 2

• Break some of the pylons to get some psyblast ammo
• Fly up to the telephone wires, and ride them to the house
• Knock on the door, then stand at the corner of the steps
• When the girl comes out, target her, and once she's fully outside, psyblast her and enter the house
• Boss: Den Mother
  • Just hit her with psysical attacks, 6 should do it

Assylum Grounds 2

• Collect the card on the way to the assylum lower floors

Assylum Lower Floors 1

• Collect the 2 cards outside, enter Edgar's room, and collect the card and the challenge marker
• Enter Edgar's mind

Edgar's Mind 1

• Use the Bacon to return to Ford's sanctuary

Ford's Sanctuary 2

• Get PK and TK
• Enter the tunnel and goto the main lodge

Main Lodge 3

• Enter the lodge and buy a cobweb duster and 3 psi cores
• Enter the tunnel and go back to Ford's sanctuary

Ford's Sanctuary 3

• Convert the 3 psi cores into the remaining 3 ranks
• Goto ford, and get invisibility, and return to Edgar's mind

Edgar's Mind 2

• Get the free painting, and hang it on the wall
• Fly through the alleyway, until you get to the queen of clubs, and enter the mural
• Mid-Boss: Tiger Luchedor
  • easy fight
• In Edgar's sanctuary, perform the appropriate skip to get to the El Odio boss
• Boss: El Odio
  • Another easy fight

Assylum Lower Floors 2

• Grab the portrait, then go over to Fred, and enter his mind

Fred's Mind

• Enter the map, drop to the worker's shop
• Fly on top of the worker's shop, and kill the vault
• Drop to the worker's door, and recuit him
• Move to the 1st peasant's house, and talk to him
• Go up a level, and exit the map
• Talk to Fred, get the letter, and TK the coin out of the fire
• Enter the map, go down to the peasant's house, and talk to it, and go up a level
• Get the worker to repair the bridge, and the peasant to fight the soldier
• Go down to the 2nd peasant's house, and recruit it
• Fly to the escargo, and collect them all
  • Use TK to draw them in easily
• Go up a level, remove the salt shaker, get the worker to repair the bridge, the peasant to fight the soldier, and flight the escargo to the hearty knight's house
• From the hearty knight's house, fly to the house with the musket, enter and get it, and arm the last peasant
• Go up a level, and fight the last soldier
• Go down a level, remove the blockage from the drawbridge (protip: fly up to it)
• Go up a level, and put the knight in the castle

Assylum Lower Floors 3

• Go back outside, and enter Gloria's mind

Assylum Grounds 2

• Enter Gloria's mind

Gloria's Mind (Stage 1)

• Take out the cobweb duster, equip invisibility, and head towards gloria's door
• Talk to Gloria, then get the candle, and activate it
• Talk to Jasper, to get the 'Knight of Joy' Script
• Talk to Becky to give her the script
• Move the scene over, then on the 2nd scene, fly up to the cliff, and move it over again
• Grab the 'Goodbye Hagatha House' script, return to the first scene, and change the mood to sad
• Give the script to Becky, the fly up to the top and enter the baloon

Gloria's Mind (Rafters)

• Fly to the top
  • TODO: make a more specific route to the top

Gloria's Mind (Stage 2)

• Boss: Jasper
  • all the bosses in this game are easy

Assylum Grounds 3

• Grab the trophy, and re-enter the lower floors

Assylum Lower Floors 3

• Talk to Crispen, then put on the disguise, and talk to Crispin again

Assylum Upper Floors

• TODO: make a specific route through here

Assylum Roof

• Go up the steps, put on invisibility to pass the crow
• Enter Loboto's field to warp to the upper room
• Collect the Birthday Cake, and roll back down to Loboto
• Equip the cake to lure Pokelope, and TK him out when he is over the hole, and collect him
• Enter Loboto's field again to warp back up
• Roll back down to Loboto, then TK the brain into the tank
• Save Lili (hit her multiple time with any attack)

Boss: Brain Tank

• For the purpose of explanation, the 'ground' blocks are the blocks on the ground that you can freely throw, the 'guard' blocks are the blocks that are encircling the tank in a clockwise fasion, and the wood barrier refers to the burnable barrier that encircles the tank in a counter-clockwise fashion.
• Throw one of the side blocks into a guard block to open a path to the center wood barrier
• Burn down one of the wood barriers on his insides
• Then, find a pair of two adjacent blocks that are just 'ahead' of the gap in the barrier that you just created
  • That is, in a moment, the inner barrier will have rotated such that gap will line up with those two grounds blocks
• Throw the grounds block that is 'closer' to the gap into a guard block farther 'ahead' of the gap
  • Now, the broken guard block and the gap in the barrier wall should rotate such that they both line up just in front of the second block, which you can then easily throw against the tank itself.
• Repeat this 3 times to win.

Meat Circus

• Enter the caravan, equip the cobweb duster, pass those, and enter the main lobby
• From here, fly up and to the right, and ride the rail through the middle section
• Then jump off to the right, to land on the lower rail to reach the end of the course

Boss: Butcher Dad

• Toggle invisibility on/off to cycle his pattern towards his single overhead swing attack, such that he is vulnerable
  • The pattern is usually sideways chop, multiple overhead chops, sideways chop, then single overhead swing
  • Often in between each pattern he will try running towards you and kick you, just continue to toggle invisibility until he moves on

Meat Circus Stage Water Stage

• Perform the meat circus stage 4 skip
  • Or fly to the top if it is too inconsistent

Boss: Butcher Dad and Fake Dad

• Use invisibility to stall for time, then TK a spikey bowling pin into the Butcher Dad's knees, hit him while he's down

Final Boss

• While in super mode, try to force the boss into a corner, and time your hits such that they all connect without him blocking too much
• You should be able to 2 cycle the boss

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 some timings for the Any% SS route
  • Timings for the individual sections too probably