Submission #6954: keylie's Linux Braid in 19:39.58

Linux
Speedrun mode
(Submitted: unknown)
libTAS 1.4.0
70775
60
16591
Unknown
! Version info: 

libTAS version: 1.4.0

! Annotation info: 

{{Game: Braid, version published on 2015/06/13, drm-free version (available at https://www.humblebundle.com/store/braid).

OS: Debian Buster amd64 with Linux kernel 4.19.0-5-amd64, libTAS v1.4.0. Game executable is `/path/to/game/Braid.bin.x86`.

The game runs in fullscreen by default. `Video > Virtual screen resolution` must be set to `1920x1080 (16:9)`, because of mouse inputs. In `File > Executable options`, library path must be set to `/path/to/game/lib`. Command-line options should be `-no_launcher -60fps`.}}
			
Submitted by keylie on 12/6/2020 3:46 PM
Submission Comments
Braid was my first TAS made, I'm very happy to work on it again, with an improvement of 4291 frames (71.52 s) of in-game time.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: libtas v1.4.0
  • Running the speedrun mode
  • Aims at fastest in-game time
To unlock the speedrun mode, you have to beat the game once to unlock it. Here is the movie file which beats the game.

Tricks

Boosters

The ground in Braid consists of the succession of a number of collision surfaces. At the intersection or overlap of two surfaces, it is possible to get a booster: landing at that particular point can send Tim to the left or the right. These spots are invisible, so the speedrunning community took a lot of time to locate all these boosters. These spots also occur on ceiling, so head boosts can be obtained from them.

Grab cancel

When grabbing a ladder or trellis, on the first frame, Tim moves according to its velocity, then grab the ladder/trellis, moves again toward inputted direction, and Tim's velocity is set to 0. However, if we cancel the grab on the same frame (using jump input), then Tim moves according to its velocity and grab direction, but is not stuck to the ladder/trellis. This can be repeated every frame, thanks to having two separate buttons for the jump input (z and space).
When doing this trick, your velocity does not change, so you can't accelerate.
This trick is very effective on trellis, because you can boost horizontally. It is also used on ladders to climb up faster, which allows some skips and beats cycles.

Springload

This trick was found by TheChickenleg, and is exclusive to world 4. The conditions to trigger this glitch are not completely understood. It is triggered when Tim is bouncing from within a goomba and is moving left so the goomba is still alive on the next frame. In these conditions, when rewinding and pausing at the bounce frame, Tim will accumulate negative horizontal velocity (toward left). Releasing the pause will send Tim leftward with a very loud bounce sound. A very high velocity can get Tim to clip inside walls, but gaining that much velocity is not always worth. For exemple, it is possible to clip inside the 4-4 puzzle piece, but it takes several minutes of gaining velocity.

Improvements

About every stage was improved with more precise boost speed. Jumping in this game is prevented with horizontal velocity is higher than 240 (200 is default full speed). So, optimally, we want boost velocity to be lower and as close to 240 as possible. Comments below only mentions specific improvements.
LevelOld TASNew TASImprovementCumulativeComments
hub1025101966
2-124532299154160Specific corner boost before the second trellis. Loosing time because of the goomba cycle
2-2122612179169
2-31281124140209Booster on the ground
2-26156132211
2-32542459220
2-42876283541261Grab cancel at last ladder
hub2972970261
3-12912865266
3-2810698112378Grab cancel on trellis
3-3969858111489
3-41706164462551
3-52683263251602
3-63714369024626
3-7959822137763Grab cancel on trellis
3-826692569100863Grab cancel on trellis
hub3103100863
4-13783735868
4-214129324801348Springload to skip the key
4-313697386311979Springload to skip the key
4-417051656492028
4-5144711642832311Using a precise bounce on the rabbit to get just enough height
4-613691350192330
4-718981867312361
hub44844172368
5-124523962374
5-2147013111592533Grab cancel saves half a cycle on the second puzzle piece
5-312661227392572
5-416041542622634Alternate route that doesn't save much time
5-532853242432677
5-6182516162092886Use a chandelier to wake up the boss
5-7842831112897
hub207208-12896Timer freezes here for some reason, and one frame less here
6-126225842900
6-211768842923192Using grab cancel, can be done from the left
6-31052996563248
6-435103465453293
6-525872557303323
6-6376135512103533Pulling the lever earlier
6-7234217136294162With grab cancel, the ring is not needed
hub741698434205
1-426526504205
1-339139014206
1-290890174213
1-190098951584271
epilogue17571737204291

Thanks

A huge thanks the Braid speedrunning community: Del, Ghermann, Kanban, Chicken.

Suggested screenshot

  • Frame 25177

Samsara: HA! OHHHHHH MAN... Hey, it's ya girl Samsara Tell 'Em, and they got this TAS, right, for people who smoke, or people who drink, like if you drink beer and you get drunk or if you smoke weed and you get high, and you just... Anything, like, you, if you... you get fricked up, they got this TAS, right? Ohhhhh no. This TAS called Braid. Hol' up, AY, JUDGE THIS TAS.
Samsara: Sync verified on Ubuntu 20.04, using WSL2. Thanks to fsvgm777 and keylie for helping me set everything up!
References to decade-old videos aside (even if they're national treasures), this is a fantastic run through and through. I watched it once at full speed, then twice more at 25% speed while verifying sync, and I actually was able to appreciate it more when watching in slow-mo. The timings required, the setups for the crazier strats, having more time to see all of that effort made the run that much more enjoyable to watch. Highlights for me were the springloads, of course, but also skipping some of the world gimmicks through grab cancelling and boosting, particularly World 6 and the ring.
According to the thread, entertainment has objectively improved from the published run, so I'm accepting this to inherit the Stars tier (and if it didn't have Stars for some reason, I'd have suggested it immediately after pushing this judgement). Excellent work!
fsvgm777: Processing.
Last Edited by adelikat on 11/5/2023 6:17 PM
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