Glover is a cross between a puzzle and a platforming game. The engine is similar to that of Mario 64. The aim of this run is to complete the game as fast as possible which means not collecting all garibs and thus not playing the bonus levels.
The Game
You are a magic glove whose mission it is to retrieve magic balls in six different worlds from an evil glove to save the kingdom or something to that effect. To do this you must grab the ball and cross through 3 levels plus 1 boss fight in each world without damaging or losing the ball.
Important aspects of basic gameplay.
To complete levels you must usually activate a series of buttons. A red button with a yellow circle is only activated by touching it with the ball. A red and white button with a "+" on it it activated by glover fist slamming it.
You can restart from a checkpoint in a level but only if you are holding the ball AND are resting on the ground. This is why you sometimes see me wait for an unusual amount of time before rolling over a button. I need to wait for the ball to quit bouncing.
Glover can use a magic spell to transform the regular rubber ball into a bowling ball, small metal ball, and a crystal ball.
- Bowling ball - very slow, you can't bounce it, but is very strong and can break things. It also sinks in water, which comes in handy on several occasions.
- Small metal ball - very maneuverable, but doesn't have the bounce and speed of the rubber ball. It is small so it can fit in tight places. It sinks in water as well. Since it bounces worse than the rubber ball, it can be faster to use in places where bouncing is not preferable.
- Crystal ball - delicate and breaks from almost anything. It's only advantage is that it doubles the amount of points & lives you get when you pick up items with it. That means you get 2x points from garibs and 2 lives from and extra life. Points and extra lives are useless for this TAS.
There are several types of potions in glover. Two that come in very handy for a TAS.
- The beachball. Turns the ball into a beachball for a limited time. It is very light and bounces very high. It also can go at insane speed if the camera angle is just right. This allows me to make some mega shortcuts and travel very quickly.
- The Speed potion. Speed potions are always great for a TAS! As you would expect, this makes glover move very fast. This can be used also to make large jumps that would otherwise be impossible.
- The helicopter potion. This allows glover to fly in the air like a helicopter (go figure) for a short time. This is obviously useful. I take some large shortcuts with this.
Aspects interesting for a TAS
Many factors make Glover an interesting game for a TAS. It is a platformer (which are always popular) and a puzzle game (showing interesting ways to solve various situations). Glover has many types of movements and 4 different types of balls, each with its own unique characteristics. It also has a variety of power-ups (potions) with interesting attributes. This means a lot of possibilities to consider when optimizing levels.
Most importantly, the TAS takes advantage of a multitude of shortcuts/glitches/and unorthodox play. What you see in this movie deviates highly from a regular playthrough or a console speed-run.
Tricks/Glitches/etc.
- When glover has no ball, jumping is faster than walking. Double jumping is slightly slower than single jumps in most situations.
- When he has the ball on a flat surface, dribbling it as fast as possible is the fastest movement.
- Cutscene skipping. When you roll/smash a button, a cutscene is triggered. If you pause the game and respawn from a checkpoint the frame you touch a button, the cut scene will be skipped but the button will be still activated. This saves a good deal of time.
- The "chicken" gltich. One of the more bizarre glitches I've ever seen! There is an egg throwing chicken in this game. If timed properly you can get the chicken and glover stuck together by having the chicken jump at glover while he is holding the ball in a throwing motion. Oddly this causes both to fly upwards into the air as long as they are stuck. Glover can become unstuck by simply canceling his throwing motion. This is used in 2-1 for a huge shortcut.
- Dynamite boost. There is a dynamite enemy that explodes when you get near him (much like the bomb-ombs in smb2u). Normally this blows glover and the ball into pieces as one might expect. But if timed right it will send glover and/or the ball flying through the air unharmed. This is an extremely fast movement and also allows for shortcuts but is extremely hard to time so that you end up somewhere useful with both glover and the ball still intact. I use this in World 5 for a nice shortcut.
Summary
- Aims for fastest time
- Manipulates luck (primarily the slot machine in level 2-1, but to also boss behavior to some degree)
- Abuses programming errors in the game
- Takes damage to save time
- Plays on hardest difficulty (has both an easy & normal modes, this one plays on normal)
Special Thanks
Vidar (meepers) played a significant role in the making of this TAS by discovering shortcuts & glitches (like the chicken glitch). Also some parts if this run were recorded by her (some of the world 1 & 3 boss fights); also the whack-o-mole game in 2-1. Also meepers recommended the game to me and motivated me to work on it. I also want to thanks kirbymuncher, maza, comicalflop, and AKA, for feedback on WIPs & general motivation.