Submission #6103: keylie's Linux Völgarr the Viking "best ending" in 14:33.80

(Link to video)
Linux
best ending
(Submitted: best ending)
(Submitted: VolgarrTheViking_v1.36c_Linux32.tar.gz any)
libTAS 1.3.1
52428
60
9512
Unknown 
! Version info: 

libTAS version: 1.3.1

! Annotation info: 

{{Game: Volgarr the Viking 1.36c DRM-free version (taken from Humble Store: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/volgarr-the-viking), i386 binary
OS: Ubuntu 18.04 i386 with Linux kernel 4.15.0-20-generic

The game has several sync issues regarding startup and loading times, as well as video resolution affecting RNG, so the following steps are needed to make the movie sync:
1. Launch the game natively. Press Escape to enter the menu
2. Go to "Options", then "Settings". Check "No loading screens (but high ram use!)". You may also check "Speed run hud" if you want the in-game timer to appear
3. Press "Done" and go to "Graphics". Verify that Display Mode is on "Window". The Scaling Filter may be changed at the Encoder's discretion. Then press "Apply"
4. Close the game
5. Open the game config file which should be located at "~/.config/Crazy Viking Studios/Volgarr the Viking/config.ini"
6. Change "PreferredW" parameter to 1920 and "PreferredH" to 1080. Other resolutions will probably cause a desync. Save the file
7. In libTAS, fill the Game executable path to the game binary, and set "Command-line options" to "-vsync=2". This will force the game to use GPU vsync, and more importantly, it will disable vsync testing at the game startup which is a source of desync. Specify the movie file
8. The game must be launched paused. On the first displayed frame (frame 1), you must wait several seconds for the game to load before advancing to the next frame
9. If the tutorial area is played back correctly, then the whole movie should sync

If playback fails at some point, libTAS deletes the config file (which is a bug), so you need to restart the whole procedure.}}
Submitted by keylie on 9/17/2018 10:24 AM
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Submission Comments
Volgarr the Viking is a platformer game released in 2013, inspired by old arcade games like Ghosts 'n Goblins. Despite having a rigid gameplay, this TAS takes advantage of canceling techniques and micro-optimization to shave of almost 2 minutes from unassisted speedruns.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: libTAS v1.3.1
  • Aims at fastest real time
  • Completes Ending A (best ending)
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Genre: Platform

Main tricks

Landing cancel

Völgarr has a 10-frames landing animation, but by doing a precise slash in the air so that the slash ends just before landing, the slash can be canceled by either a roll, spear or slash, which cancels the landing animation. The most useful application is to cancel to a roll, but if you need to jump again, you can cancel to a slash and then jump when the slash has started. This method does not work for long falls (when the ground is shaking).
Another method to cancel the landing animation is by falling. During the landing animation you can still slowly move forward. If you land very close to an edge, you can move forward and leave the ground, which will cancel the landing animation.

Double jump cancel

Doing a backward spear cancels the double jump, which is useful to avoid hitting enemies (causing freeze frames) and to slash sooner for the landing cancel

Downstab chain

The downstab (pressing down or roll in the air) can be stopped by pressing up after damage, and another downstab can be initiated again. This is very efficient for bosses.

Early rope catch

Approaching a rope from its bottom makes you catch it from much further (see 8:17)

Boss chest manipulation

I manipulated a bit the randomness of chest drops by doing some movements, as the stage ends after you collect all drops

Stage by stage comments

World 1

Taking or not the Mjölnir resulted in the exact same time, so I decided not to take it

World 2

It was faster to not take the second Mjölnir for the boss, and the one from World 3 is a bit faster to take

World 3

Rolling through the giant enemies was really tricky to do, because I had to throw many spears to delay its attack for enough time so that I can get close to him. I was lucky to barely get past the cycle at the middle of the second screen without waiting

World 4

I had to wait a tiny bit on the fireballs at the second screen. Also, it looks like I don't hit the boss as much as I could, but I needed him to do its charge attack as soon as possible because the falling rock does a lot of damage. Doing an extra attack would delay the charge and thus ending up loosing time.

World 5

I needed the Mjölnir for the second part of this stage, and I assumed this one was faster to take than the one from W4 first screen. I could get past the red bird by knocking him at the right time which temporarily disabled its hitbox. The second screen was governed by fan cycles :( I already had to wait on the first two vertical fans. Near the end I traded by Mjölnir to gave me enough time to take the other Mjölnir and reach the last fan in time. In the end I saved two fan cycles compared to the unassisted speedrun.

World 6

I didn't have time to take the Mjölnir here because I would loose one fan cycle. Thus I saved two fan cycles compared to the unassisted speedrun.

World 7

Hitting the glowing balls at the right spot gives you a good horizontal boost despite the freeze frames. The damage boost to reach a platform was unexpected for me, because loosing your helm makes your animations slower and is generally not interesting, but there was a chest just after, so I saved about 30 frames here.
Suggested screenshots: 8290, 20444, 34729
feos: Judging...
feos: The goal of this branch is explained here, added the due label.
feos: Nice run and feedback, accepting to Moons.
fsvgm777: Processing.
Last Edited by adelikat on 10/27/2023 5:26 PM
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