Note, this movie requires you bind the .iso with the recommended Win98 .hdd to make a multi-disk bundle. Trying to install using just plain DOSBOS-X in BizHawk leads to failures. The .iso used is the original retail game copy released in 1994, renamed to sshock3.iso. This run is played using CDSHOCK for enhanced audio and graphics instead of the SSHOCK floppy release.
SYSTEM SHOCK - DOS 1994
any% goals
Any% is by far the simplest way to run this classic, as the rules are simply to trigger the ending as quickly as possible on any difficulty. Thankfully for our speedrun purposes, this means that we can set all difficulties to '0', which allows us to bypass every single story beat/enemy/objective and race to defeat SHODAN. We must simply dart across every floor and make it to the final 'cyberspace terminal' to beat the SHODAN core.
Notes
- This game is true innovator and ancient, with some seriously esoteric controls. The most obvious effect of this for our speedrun, is that we are limited in our turn speed and cannot simply whip the mouse around to get through corners and turn around quicker. Thankfully however, we can speed up the turnspeed slightly by holding the sprint key. Sprinting also does not function as it does in modern games, as viewers will notice that the Hacker will take what looks like 2 big steps forward, slow down for a split-second, then take another 2 large steps. During these 2 large steps, the Hacker is also lifted very slightly off the ground, which can result in the Hacker flying for a few feet when trying to take a turn that has a slightly lower or higher floor ahead of it.
- The player hitbox is a floating square (literally the camera) with extremely light and floaty physics, with an effect of forced shunting around when you bump into any wall/door/object/enemy. Throughout the TAS, the most important key is maintaining our corner cutting and making sure we avoid as much geometry as possible. Viewers will notice at times the player camera bouncing about after tapping something; this is used to the TAS advantage as much as possible to boost or maintain momentum while rounding tight corners or dodging enemies.
- Our stamina is extremely limited, with our ability to sprint being only for a few seconds before our poor Hacker runs out of breath. Thankfully, we have quick access to a staminup patch, which we get a good seed for letting us max out it's possible time (50-93 seconds) for infinite stamina as we race to SHODAN. The typical route usually takes 2 patches, one in the first room of the game and another that we get in this TAS; thanks to superior TAS movement, we can bypass the first patch and stick to using only the 2nd.
Commentary
- Coming shortly in an edit
CoolHandMike: Claiming for judging.
CoolHandMike: Enjoyed watching the tas, but there are some issues that need improving. I have listed some things that need more work in the discussion thread. One thing in particular that needs improvement are opening and moving through doors. Another thing to pay attention to is that simple frame deletes should not improve actions by a significant amount. A couple users have noted some potential improvements as well in the discussion thread. This is a rather short fast game so imperfections tend to stand out a lot more than they would otherwise. Optimization does not have to be perfect, but please improve a couple things a bit more.
Rejecting for Optimization.