Revision (current)
Last Updated by adelikat on 7/17/2022 10:30 PM
This is a collection of information for ''John Romero's Daikatana'', a First-Person Shooter with RPG elements, made by the creators of ''[Movies-DOOM-All|Doom]'' and ''Quake'' with similarly designed levels, weapons and music.
This information is geared toward tool-assisted speedruns, though it may also be useful for real-time speedruns.
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%%TOC%%
!!! Basic Information
!! Memory Addresses
[UserFiles/Info/637936906503785510]
* [=userfiles/info/36139505031017285|A more organized watch file of these addresses]
* Y-Position always increases when you go higher and decreases when you go lower.
* The "Stall Y-Position" of the game is 0. If you fall OoB to that Y-value, the game will freeze.
* Y-Speed also determines fall damage. If you stand on the ground and Freeze it on a high negative value (ex: -8), continual fall damage will apply every frame until your health runs out.
* Tip: Walk in different directions to determine which is X-Position and which is Z-Position before TASing a segment.
!! Useful Controls and Shortcuts
With little information in-game or even on the Internet, it's easy to not know these controls:
|A|skip all skippable cutscenes, press buttons and open doors|
|A+R (action button+jump)|crouch, lets you get under some doors or walls, usually required to proceed|
|B+Analog Stick Left/Right|weapon wheel, can be faster than D-Pad L/R if your desired weapon is at least 3 away from your current one|
|D-Pad Left/Right|quickly switch between weapons like in modern FPSes|
|D-Pad Up/Down|Run/Walk, very important! Always set to Run at the beginning of each mission|
|R|Jump|
|Z|Shoot|
!! Movement and Jumping
Hiro's speed when walking forward will be referred to in this guide as "movement speed" or "forward speed". This is the main intended way of advancing through the game's levels. It starts at 1.40 units per frame and will increase with Speed stat upgrades. There is no acceleration; press C-Up for one frame and you will start moving 1.40 units at a time. There is deceleration after the button is released though.
You can also move backwards at half of your forward speed or strafe at roughly 1 unit/frame. Both of these increase slightly as well with Speed upgrades. If you move forward and strafe against a wall, you will not lose any speed, but only move in the direction that's perpendicular to the wall.
See [=GameResources/N64/Daikatana#Straferunning|Straferunning] below for more movement tech.
Jumping is very simple, as you only have to press the button for one frame and Hiro will do his standard jump as high as he can. You can't jump higher by holding the button longer and you also can't steer yourself once you're in the air. This may seem to limit its usefulness, however this behavior can be abused to preserve high speed in the [=GameResources/N64/Daikatana#WeaponBoost|Weapon Boost glitch].
When you land from a jump, you can jump again if you're within 5 units of the floor's collision box. This will preserve your jumping speed as the game doesn't process that you've hit the floor, therefore it is known as a "frame-perfect jump". If you're landing from high enough, this second jump can be a very small jump with decreased Y-Speed. It's not known why this occurs, but if necessary, you can fix it by landing fully on the floor and starting a new jump.
You cannot activate buttons or doors while jumping. You will have to land for a frame or two, even if this makes you lose speed. Remember not to press A and R at the same time though, as that will make Hiro crouch.
!! Turning
Turning is slow in this game, especially compared to Hiro's movement speed. A full 360-degree rotation takes 139 frames with the default Control Stick sensitivity and 111 frames on the highest sensitivity, a difference of 28 frames.
Due to the number of times you turn in the game, including during cutscenes where Hiro may often make 180-degree turns, changing the sensitivity saves a lot of time overall. It's four frames faster to change it after the game has started, even accounting for the pause button presses.
Most buttons and doors require you to be within certain facing angles to be able to activate them with A, though some buttons can be activated no matter which direction you're facing, like the last button in E1M1.
Use the Hor Facing Angle and Ver Facing Angle memory addresses to judge where Hiro is looking. Along with the position and speed values, they are very helpful for comparing paths between two TASes.
[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coolkirby2000/mymoodavatars/master/daikatana-rngenemies.jpg|right]
!! Lag
Nearly all of the lag in this game is "invisible"; in other words, BizHawk does not detect it. Even so, everything on the screen will freeze or move slower as the game tries to process more things at once.
You can avoid or reduce lag by moving differently or turning the camera so as to load different objects onto the screen. You can also shoot some objects, like enemies, before they appear on the screen. For example, with the Ion Blaster, ricochet the shots off walls to hit them while they're still out of sight.
Lag is one of two reasons this game is not hex-friendly, the other being RNG.
!! Randomness
The RNG for this game controls enemy position and sometimes even the type of enemy that appears. For example, in the second-to-last room in E1M4, the two enemies guarding the Daikatana chamber can spawn as either common guards or floating turrets. It is not yet known how to affect this, though a guess is starting the level on a different frame (as it was discovered while fixing a desync in E1M3).
!! Desyncs
E1M3 is the only level so far known to desync, and only around the two timed door guys. Be sure to play back your input fairly often, from the beginning of E1M3 or start of the TAS, to catch desyncs before they ruin a run.
You should also not use the Control Stick on BizHawk's Virtual Pad, as this may cause desyncs as well. Use the UDLR keyboard shortcuts instead.
!! Doors and Invisible Walls
There is an invisible box blocking a door until its "opening" animation has finished. In other words, the visible door has no collision; instead the collidable box despawns after the door fully opens. While you're waiting to proceed, you can shoot enemies in the previous room or align yourself better to enter the door.
For other paths that are blocked by an invisible box, like the Daikatana chamber bridge in E1M4, you must press the necessary buttons to get rid of the invisible box. If it would save time, you can also attempt a [=GameResources/N64/Daikatana#BoostThroughWalls|Boost Through Walls] to get through it.
!! Cutscenes
There are two types of cutscenes: the ones outside of levels that can be skipped with A, and ingame ones that cannot be skipped. The often long length of the latter kind necessitates any method possible to avoid activating the cutscene.
Once the [=GameResources/N64/Daikatana#WeaponBoost|Side Winder] is obtained or the Speed stat is high enough (values shown below), many cutscene triggers can be simply jumped over, being about 20 pixels wide. Some cutscenes, though, must be played in order to unlock the next path (E2M1 Charon's boat) or start a boss battle (E3M4 boss).
In many cases, a cutscene will start with Hiro slowly turning to look at an object. You can save time by turning to face that direction before entering the cutscene. In addition, you can optimize Hiro's position to shorten the time it takes him to face the second object (and third, and so on).
Sometimes you can skip the first of two cutscene triggers and activate the second with no consequences. This works for the E3M4 boss (though you still need all pieces of the Purifier sword to activate the second).
!! EXP and Stats
EXP, or Experience Points, are gained by killing enemies. For example, common guards give 1 EXP, ceiling-mounted turrets give 2 EXP, and each of the bronze statue minibosses of E2M3 give 4 EXP. No matter your stats, the same enemies will always give you the same amount of EXP.
Unlike the PC version, you don't get to choose where your stats are placed when each is leveled up.
%%%Instead, each stat is automatically upgraded at certain EXP values:
||EXP||Vitality||Attack||Speed||Acro||Power||Notes||
|6|__1__|0|0|0|0|values of 1 occur every 5 EXP|
|11|1|__1__|0|0|0||
|16|1|1|__1__|0|0||
|21|1|1|1|__1__|0||
|26|1|1|1|1|__1__|next upgrade is 12 EXP away|
|38|__2__|1|1|1|1|2nd values occur every 8 EXP|
|46|2|__2__|1|1|1||
|54|2|2|__2__|1|1||
|62|2|2|2|__2__|1||
|70|2|2|2|2|__2__|next upgrade is 25 EXP away|
|95|__3__|2|2|2|2|3rd values occur every 18 EXP|
|113|3|__3__|2|2|2||
|131|3|3|__3__|2|2||
|149|3|3|3|__3__|2||
|167|3|3|3|3|__3__|next upgrade is 55 EXP away|
|222|__4__|3|3|3|3|4th values occur every 50 EXP|
|272|4|__4__|3|3|3||
|322|4|4|__4__|3|3||
|372|4|4|4|__4__|3||
|422|4|4|4|4|__4__|next upgrade is 102 EXP away|
|524|__5__|4|4|4|4|5th values occur every 80 EXP|
|604|5|__5__|4|4|4||
|684|5|5|__5__|4|4||
|764|5|5|5|__5__|4||
|844|5|5|5|5|__5__|last upgrade, 5 is maxed out|
There are also temporary powerups placed in the levels for each of these stats, determined by color. A green outline will appear around the currently powered-up skill. Each lasts around 20 seconds in a less laggy area, or at least 2.5 seconds longer in a laggy area, and increases the skill by about 25%.
The most important stats for a TAS are Speed and Acro, in that order. A higher Speed stat will save time in all of the run's movement; Speed upgrades save roughly 1 frame out of every 10 after they are acquired. A higher Acro stat would be used for vertical skips that aren't yet possible with your current Speed and recoil-heavy weapons.
Power and Attack are your damage output and range of fire, respectively. Their values don't change very much from level 0 to level 5 though. For example, the Slugger's rate of fire in the true final boss fight in E4M6 is every 8 frames on Attack 0 and every 6 frames on Attack 5. Speed and Acro are more important for a TAS.
Some enemies can be respawned by entering a loading zone and coming back, but this often wastes too much time. EXP is best gathered as a side goal to beating the missions as fast as possible. However, it will pay off in the long run to spend a few frames at a time on shooting enemies to level up the Speed stat.
!! Speed and Jump Values
Speed values are from forward Run speeds. The Run/Walk switch resets to Walk at the start of each mission; remember to set it back to Run!
||Value||0||1||2||3||4||5||Notes||
|Speed|1.4|1.54|1.68|1.82|1.96|2.1|increases by 0.14|
|Acro|27.6|31.4|35.3|39.5|43.8|48.5|increases by ~4-5|
!! Weapons and Bosses
Weapons should only be picked up if they will be used in the run, and avoided if they won't be. This will make the desired ones easier to switch to later.
%%%"Cooldown" is defined here as the entire time it takes for the weapon to shoot, reload, and be ready to shoot again.
%%%"Rounds" are defined here as max ammo / ammo used per shot.
||Weapon||Brief description||Earliest obtainable||Max ammo||Rounds||Cooldown frames||
|Disrupter Glove|weak melee weapon|E1M1|--|--|--|
|Ion Blaster|basic gun|E1M1|120|120|17|
|Side Winder|rocket launcher|E1M2|120|60|68|
|Shot Cycler|burst-fire weapon|E1M2|120|20|150|
|C4vizatergo|launches explosives|E1M2|120|120|91|
|Shock Wave|high-range energy blast|E1M3|120|120|101|
|Poseidon Trident|powerful burst-fire|E2M1|120|40|51|
|Discus of Daedalus|boomerang|E2M1|5|1|148|
|Sunflares|firebombs|E2M2|120|120|68|
|Hammer|strong melee weapon|E2M2|--|--|59-159|
|Venomous|bio-weapon|E2M3?|120|120|40|
|Bolter|basic bow|E3M1|120|120|51|
|Ballista|shoots explosive arrows|E3M2|120|120|100|
|Silver Claw|weak melee weapon|E3M2|--|--|--|
|Wyndraxs Wisp|like Ion Blaster|E3M3|120|120|67|
|Stavor's Stave|grenade launcher|E3M3|120|120|35|
|Naharres Nightmare|very slow gun|E3M3|--|--|1002|
|Glock2020|pistol|E4M1|120|120|34|
|Kineticore|bouncy ball launcher|E4M1|120|120|51|
|Slugger|chaingun|E4M1|120|120|138|
|Meta Masher|grenades|????|120|120|58|
|Nova Beam|weak laser|????|120|120|101|
|Rip Gun|shotgun|????|120|120|59|
%%%[TODO]: Find the earliest obtainable mission for the E4 weapons, and maybe add weapon vs. boss/miniboss damage chart, to determine best weapon for each (note that they vary with Power and Attack values)
!!! Tricks and Glitches
!! Weapon Boost
Weapon Boost is the biggest glitch in the game. It abuses the recoil of many weapons to allow you to go much faster horizontally and vertically, with the potential for major skips within levels.
%%%The following values were gathered using Speed stat 2 and Acro stat 2.
%%%Optimal input may vary based on the amount of lag in the current room.
||Weapon||Max Recoil Speed (Horizontal)||MRS (Vertical)||Optimal Input||Notes||
|Disrupter Glove|0|0|||
|Ion Blaster|0|0|||
|Side Winder|2.8+0.84(1/2*Speed2)|__45.5__+35.3(Acro2)|Z, wait 5fr, U+R|primary vertical Boost weapon, esp. early in game|
|Shot Cycler|0.7,1.4...__4.2__+0.84|17.8+35.3|Z, wait 5fr, R|shoots every 8-9 frames; fastest horizontal Boost weapon despite slow start|
|C4vizatergo|0|0|||
|Shock Wave|1.76+0.84|30.1+35.3|Z, wait 59fr, R|slow to fire|
|Poseidon Trident|0|0|||
|Discus of Daedalus|0|0|||
|Hammer|0|18.0/40.0+35.3|Z, wait 25fr, R|1st value: 0% charge, 2nd: 100%; two-frame window to jump|
|Sunflares|0|0|||
|Venomous|0|0|||
|Silver Claw|0|0|||
|Bolter|0|0|||
|Ballista|2.8+0.84|__45.5__+35.3|Z, wait 13-14fr, R|use later in game once Side Winder ammo gets low|
|Stavor's Stave|2.24+0.84|34.9+35.3|Z, wait 11-12fr, R|fast lil' guy! great for Boost Through Walls|
|Wyndraxs Wisp|0|0|||
|Naharres Nightmare|0|0|||
|Glock2020|0|0|||
|Kineticore|0.756,1.596...3.276+0.84|22.7+35.3|Z, wait 15fr, R|4 shots, like Shot Cycler but you can Jump Boost too|
|Meta Masher|0|0|||
|Nova Beam|0.84+0.84|11.7+35.3|Z, wait 34fr, R|too little boost to be usable|
|Rip Gun|2.24+0.84|34.9+35.3|Z, wait 17fr, R|same speed as Stavor's Stave, could be useful|
|Slugger|0.42,0.84...__4.2__+0.84|11.7+35.3|Z, wait 27fr, R|10 shots, much like Shot Cycler|
! Bunny Hopping
* Jumping backwards and firing a recoil-heavy weapon will give you a much higher movement speed than normal. You can then do frame-perfect jumps to preserve your speed, provided you don't land on a lag frame (though this can be avoided by pointing the camera lower or higher before you fire). You can also turn while in the air and fire again to boost in a different direction (which adds to the current X and Z-Speed).
* This makes normal gameplay much faster and allows you to skip cutscene triggers and parts of levels.
* The fastest weapons for this, in order, are Shot Cycler, Slugger, Kineticore, Side Winder & Ballista, and Stavor's Stave & Rip Gun.
* While the Shot Cycler yields the fastest hopping speed, other weapons will sometimes need to be used instead to conserve Shot Cycler ammo.
* As you have to look up somewhat to Bunny Hop, this makes the run more entertaining by keeping it from looking at the ground all the time to reduce lag.
* You can also [=GameResources/N64/Daikatana#Straferunning|straferun] forward, jump, turn around and then boost to gain a bigger boost.
! Jump Boost
* Looking at the ground, jumping and firing with certain weapons will rocket you up a good distance, usually over twice as high as your normal jump. This works best with one-shot recoil weapons like the Side Winder, as most multiple-shot weapons don't provide enough of an initial boost to keep you in the air.
* This use of Weapon Boost, especially when combined with [=GameResources/N64/Daikatana#EnemyHopping|Enemy Hopping], allows you to skip major parts of levels, reaching higher floors and tops of levels before the game intends you to. All of E2M2 can be skipped with this glitch.
* Note that when on top of a level, some walls will not be visible due to the game only expecting them to be seen from one direction, and many walls will not be loaded in yet. However, their collision is still there, and level maps can be a big help in finding where you can land to continue jumping across the top.
* With the right vertical facing angle (~47), you can do a full Bunny Hop and Jump Boost at the same time. This works best when facing backwards, as in the testrun in E2M2 to make it on top of the hammer room.
* When boosting to skip an elevator, sometimes Hiro will stick to the ground, as his controls will still be locked. This can be canceled out by hitting a wall, or prevented entirely by aiming up more when doing the boost, to trick the game into giving you your controls back.
! Boost Through Walls
* If you repeatedly boost yourself into a wall or polygonal mesh at a consistent angle, your X-Speed and/or Z-Speed will build up until it reaches 89 or -89, at which point Hiro will clip through the wall's hitbox and out the other side in one frame.
* Attaining this speed takes 23-60 seconds depending on the weapons used to boost yourself through the wall. This means it would be most useful in large skips like clipping through a wall blocking a level's exit, rather than minor skips that would make it slower than the intended route. Note that this can use up at least 2 of your weapons' ammo, especially early in the game, and more would need to be found to continue shooting or boosting with them. This might make the glitch slower in the long run depending on the weapons used.
* The best weapon for this is Stavor's Stave. It only uses 1 ammo per shot and has quick cooldown/reload, meaning you can achieve clipping velocity with it in a little over 23 seconds and still have shots left over.
** Kineticore can do the glitch in under 23 seconds but would require 108 ammo, which would probably turn out slower to acquire.
* You can easily go out of bounds with this glitch. However, usually there isn't anything to stand on OoB, and you will fly or fall through empty space until the game freezes.
* If you've built up only your X-Speed, you won't be able to clip through a diagonal wall unless your Z-Speed is also 89/-89. This can be a good thing, as you can use diagonal walls to halt your chaotic movement before you fly too far out of bounds.
** If the level is large enough, you can also turn the camera most of the way around and fire in the opposite direction of your movement, thus cancelling the clipping effect and letting you safely hit a wall and stop.
* This is the main strat in E3M1, using the Side Winder and 66 ammo on either the keystone gate or the south wall of the village house.
! Tips
Make sure you don't run out of ammo for the weapons you're boosting with. You can collect more Shot Cycler and Side Winder ammo in several places in E1, but after that, there aren't any more good boosting weapons until E3M2. Conserve shots for skips or long hallways if possible.
!! Enemy Hopping
* Discovered by AdamAK [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HomZUXyI6xg|on the PC version]. On the N64, you can jump again after the initial jump onto the enemy.
* Enemies will freeze their movements while you're on top of them; this can be good for firing at certain bosses who otherwise move around a lot.
* Some enemies will not allow you to land on them, like Medusa in E2M4.
* This can be used with Weapon Boost to skip some elevators, as elevator ceilings are not solid. Just hop on a tall enemy and boost up to the next floor.
! Spider Hopping
* A variant of enemy hopping with a specific jumping enemy. The E2M2 spiders will jump when you jump to try and hit you in midair. If you jump onto them with precise timing, you can land on them in the air. This gives you extra height to Jump Boost to the top of the level.
* By being on the edge of the spider and having certain input and good RNG (advanced by wasting frames), you can make the spider jump again immediately, usually higher. This allows you to "chain" jumps and reach high places with the help of Weapon Boost.
* The spider's maximum jump height is around 70 units. Get it to jump to a higher platform and jump again if you need more height.
* Pressing the keyboard shortcut for U (equivalent to moving the Control Stick up) seems to coerce the spider into jumping.
[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coolkirby2000/mymoodavatars/master/daikatana-stickintowalls_zpsn91lttzw.GIF|right]
! Statue Hopping
* Similar to Spider Hopping, the E2M3 statues at the beginning can be lured on top of a higher platform and made to jump again, allowing you to get on top of the walls.
* This may not be of any use like in E2M2, as E2M3 requires you to collect five tablet pieces before the end trigger appears.
!! Sticking into Walls
The geometry of higher-poly walls and intersections of walls sometimes creates small platforms high off the floor that can be jumped or boosted to. By doing a Jump Boost off of these corners, you can reach higher places.
%%%
%%%
!! Straferunning
* A form of diagonal-running exists in this game, and can be used anywhere, including to start off a Weapon Boost. Running at a perfect 45 degree angle will give you around a 20% increase in speed, or 2.00 at Speed 2 instead of 1.68. It does not increase with jumping.
* Strafing by itself is only about 65% of your forward speed. For Speed 2, you strafe at about 1.091.
* When straferunning at most angles, the X-Speed and Z-Speed values will add up to a value greater than the Speed stat value.
* Backwards straferunning can give you a speed almost as high as your forward speed, and can be useful in some situations.
* Strafecrawling and strafeswimming should always be used instead of normal crawling or swimming, as the faster speed saves lots of time throughout the slow movement.
* One good use for this trick is when walking up to Kage Mishima in E4M5, as you won't have any normal weapons to boost with.
* You can also switch between C-Up+C-Left and C-Up+C-Right to turn corners more quickly.
!! Canceling Fall Damage
* By doing a frame-perfect jump upon landing from a great height, your Y-Speed will go right into the next jump and avoid any fall damage you would have taken.
* Make sure you vary the frame or angle of your jump so your one frame to jump again isn't on a lag frame.
!! Shooting Through Walls
* If your weapon has a large blast area, as with the Side Winder, its shot can reach through walls and ceilings to destroy enemies or objects on the other side.
* This is used in E1M2 to blow up the force field engine without having to crawl through the tunnel.
!!! Miscellaneous
!! Level Maps
For navigating when on top of a level or out of bounds.
* [http://imgur.com/E1rMosI|E2M1 Map] - Unfinished, but shows the major points of interest. A Jump Boost wouldn't save time here since there's only one wall you can get on top of and it's not on the way to or from the drachma.
* [http://imgur.com/dZvIo74|E2M2 Map] - Mostly finished ceilings height map ([http://imgur.com/mZ1jeUs|with testrun route])
!! Ingame Cheats for Testing
Used for testing different things. Enter these at any level intro (where it says Episode 1 Mission 1). Never use in a real testrun or submission, as they may change RNG or other memory addresses!
* All Weapons: C-Left, C-Down, C-Right, C-Up, Z, L, R, C-Left, C-Down, C-Right, C-Up
* Stage Select: C-Up, C-Right, C-Down, C-Left, R, L, Z, C-Up, C-Right, C-Down, C-Left
** Once entered, use Control Stick Up+Down to select a level.
!! Misc. Notes
* Don't insert the Expansion Pak (leave N64>Use Expansion Slot unchecked) for a TAS. Just having it loaded creates lag frames. High-res mode may look better but it would have to be a speed/entertainment tradeoff because of the longer time.
** For casual playing, high-res mode works best with the Glide64mk2 plugin in BizHawk.
* You can get crushed by elevators. Be careful not to be under one when it's coming down.
* Your health is reset to 100 for every new mission, whereas armor and ammo amounts are always preserved into the next mission.
!! Misc. Links
* [=1834G|Input files and BizHawk RAM Watch files]
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laYjEIHw8bE|Encode of the above testrun, up to end of E2M2]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W_yc4uB9aE|RTA/speedrun record (44:11)]
* [Forum/Topics/18749|Forum thread]